THEWILL MAR. 21-27 EDITION

INSECURITY: ADVOCATES RENEW CALLS FOR STATE POLICE – page 9

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MARCH 21 - MARCH 27, 2021 VOL . 1 NO. 6

NIGERIAN RUGBY: RIPE FOR THE PICKING?

SEYE KEHINDE: THE LAST MAN STANDING

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Going, Going… Buhari’s Allies Move Against Monguno To Go or Not To Go? That is the question Nigerians are asking concerning the recent alleged scandalous dealings swirling around the National Security Adviser, NSA, to President Muhammadu Buhari, Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd).

Answers may not be long in coming and it is Mr. President himself who will have the final word…

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

AMCON Triggers Fresh Trouble In Aviation Sector

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COVER

Cabal Plots Monguno’s Sack R

BY THEWILL CORRESPONDENTS

ound about mid-January of 1862 during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency in the United States of America, God’s own country was self-destructing because of the civil war between the Confederacy and the Unionists.

As Secretary of War, Simon Cameron was responsible for procurement of weapons and much else the Unionists needed to prosecute the war successfully against the secessionists.

In that position, Cameron, a politician described as “notoriously corrupt,” chose his friends to supply goods to the American government at exorbitant prices. Worse still, some of the goods such as army equipment, horse tack and food were substandard and so jeopardized the fighting soldiers’ lives.

Despite that, Cameron made oodles of cash like his friends he awarded contracts. Of course, Cameron’s fraudulent practice and mismanagement of government resources was soon discovered and the War Secretary called out. Once Cameron’s corrupt ways were firmly established and proven, President Lincoln relieved the bent politician of his job immediately and posted him to Russia as a minister.

Almost 160 years after, a similar scenario might just be unfolding in Nigeria, a country practicing the same presidential system of government as the United States.

As it was with the Americans during the civil war, Nigeria is currently battling an infernal insurgency, banditry and all kinds of criminal adventurism more than the country has ever been confronted with in its sixty-one years of existence as a nation.

Though President Buhari is the chief security officer of the country he presides over, he nonetheless listens to his National Security Adviser almost daily just like his predecessors did in the past. Indeed, it is just possible that past Presidents and Heads of State of Nigeria lent their sympathetic ears to their respective National Security Advisers more than any other cabinet member.

So it has been with PMB after he appointed Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd) his NSA on July 13, 2015. For one, both of them are retired Generals. Again, those who know insist both of them have been close since PMB appointed him as his security adviser. Once Monguno assumed office, his relationship with members of the President’s inner cycle went swimmingly until sometime in 2017 when it turned frosty.

WHAT TRIGGERED IT?

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Monguno

For one, both of them are retired Generals. Again, those who know insist both of them have been close since PMB appointed him as his security adviser

According to sources with knowledge of the power play at the presidency, Monguno on assumption of office started aligning with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, whom Buhari’s close associates were watching closely with distrust because he was getting along nicely with the president and expanding his influence nationally unlike his predecessors. This was the root of Monguno’s issue with the president’s men.

It however happened that Monguno made some request to Buhari for arms purchase to fight the unending terrorism and banditry in much of the northern part of the country. The request was made precisely in March *Continues on Page 4

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COVER

...Aborts Police Procurement Deal *Continued from Page 3

2017.

According to reports quoting leaked memos of the NSA, he had written to his principal to buy arms from the United Arab Emirate through a third party International Golden Group (IGG).

The total sum to be expended, according to the NSA’s estimate, came to $2.51bn. IGG was to also supply Hilux trucks in his proposal to Buhari.

As anyone would reasonably expect, any memo or correspondence to the president must out of necessity, be routed through his Chief of Staff. Thus his COS then, late Abba Kyari, a key member of the president’s powerful clique, got to know of the NSA’s memo to the President and it was time to finally cut Monguno to size and limit the influence of his usually powerful and influential office. He immediately saw flaws in the NSA’s memo and duly pointed them out to his principal.

To begin with, the Federal Government under Buhari had since banned purchase of arms for the Armed Forces through third parties. Because of previous experiences when Nigeria was either shortchanged by third party arms suppliers or sold substandard military hardware, Buhari’s administration preferred, instead, a direct country-to-country negotiation.

One such deal was the supply of 12 attack helicopters to Nigeria by the Russians. There have also been direct negotiations with the Americans wherein they approved the sale of, and later supplied, 12 Super Tucano Aircraft to Nigeria. There have been other such deals with the Chinese government.

Again, IGG, though based in Abu Dhabi, is not a manufacturer of arms. They buy from, say, Ukraine arms dealers or whichever country they can and then resupply to buyers like it did several times with Libya in Gaddafi’s twilight years. In other words, IGG is a commission agent company with the possibility of supplying substandard weapons and ammunition and also making a pile at Nigeria’s expense.

Moreover, despite the UAE’s interest in IGG, it is not a government agency. It is a private company with no known address nor was there a signatory in the document Monguno presented to Buhari. The document also stated that the company in question would buy the arms from some countries in Asia, the EU and the UK, South Africa and the United States.

The supply of Hilux trucks by IGG, as proposed by Monguno, was particularly galling to the deceased COS. Rather than order the vehicles through IGG, Kyari was said to have asked the NSA, why not buy them directly from the manufacturers, Japan?

These were some of the anomalies Kyari saw and pointed out to Monguno and, of course, the President, who frustrated and aborted Monguno’s arms deal according to insiders.

However in what would later turn out be a clash of the titans in the Presidency between the COS and the NSA, the later derisively described Kyari’s actions in a memo to the Service Chiefs as “meddlesomeness,” insisting that he was “interfering in military affairs.”

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Malami

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Monguno availed himself of Buhari’s absence, according to authoritative sources, to present the same memo this time, allegedly, hiking his request to $2.6 billion to including purchasing arms for Lafiya Dole, claiming that before the President travelled for his medical leave, he had okayed the sum for the purchase through the same IGG

The now retired Service Chiefs themselves aligned with Kyari against a frustrated Monguno, who felt his office was being undermined.

While the face-off was going on between the two big masquerades in Aso Villa, their principal suddenly fell ill and travelled to London for treatment. In his stead, Professor Yemi Osinbajo stepped in as Acting President. On assuming presidential duties, Osinbajo set up an Armed Forces and Police Emergency Procurement Committee (APEPC) so as to beef up military operations in the combustible North Eastern part of the country, with Lafiya Dole specifically given priority.

Monguno availed himself of Buhari’s absence, according to authoritative sources, to present the same memo this time, hiking his request to $2.6 billion to include purchasing arms for Lafiya Dole, claiming that before the President travelled for his medical leave, he had okayed the sum for the purchase through the same IGG.

Adamu

The Acting President cold-shouldered the NSA, insisting he was only following presidential orders that, as far as arms procurement was concerned, there will be no third parties.

As most Nigerians now know, the cold war continued until Kyari died suddenly on April 19, 2020 due to complications from Covid-19.

ABORTED POLICE PROCUREMENT DEAL The dust raised by the failed IGG arms deal had barely settled when, again, the NSA made another request to President Buhari. This time, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had gone to him for purchase of equipment for the police and to boost police THEWILLNIGERIA

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COVER

...Schemes To Expose NSA As Corrupt like they did to his ally, Ibrahim Magu at the EFCC. THE PRESIDENT’S MEN SCHEME TO EXPOSE THE NSA AS CORRUPT It is true that most sitting presidents from as long as anyone can remember have their kitchen cabinet, close confidants of the president. Reliable sources told THEWILL the same cabal in the Villa are now angling to get the NSA out. Among these powerful potentates are the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, former governor of Ogun State and serving Senator; Ibikunle Amosun, Mamman Daura, PMB’s much-trusted nephew and Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf, Buhari’s private secretary.

Their main grouse, apart from Monguno disobeying presidential orders, is his arbitrariness in his duties as NSA. A RECKLESS DIRECTOR OF FINANCE OF NSA His narrowing circle of friends and colleagues is bound to shrink even further in the coming days following another scandal involving his close aide, Brigadier General Mohammed Jafaru, Director of Finance in the very office Monguno helms.

Daura

Amosun

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Buhari had been reelected a second time. Kyari remained his COS. The NSA asked the president to approve the sum, allegedly raising it by an extra N14bn totalling N46bn

Jafaru has been interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over questionable ownership of multi-billion naira properties and cash in multiple bank accounts, which a court has temporarily frozen following a request by the anti-graft agency.

According to reports on news website which THEWILL has not been able to independently confirm, Jafaru is allegedly holding the assets in trust for Monguno.

It is often said that when calamities sometimes befall the reckless, they come in battalions. This might just be the case for the NSA. With two failed arms purchase deals around his neck, a reckless finance director under his watch, it is hard to imagine him getting off scotfree, especially given his principal’s aversion to any form of corruption by officials he himself appointed.

Nigerians still remember the fate of disgraced former Secretary to the Federal Government Babachir Lawal.

strategic anchor of the president’s men and the Service Chiefs, who opted to stand with the now deceased COS.

Yusuf

operations. A sum of N32 billion was earmarked. This was in 2019. Buhari had been reelected a second time.

Kyari remained his COS. The NSA asked the president to approve the sum, allegedly raising it by an extra N14bn totalling N46bn.

Again, the president refused, restating, once again, through the advice of Kyari that “only the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Ministry of Defence should be involved in arms procurement.”

This decision significantly weakened the influence of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) over the service chiefs and procurement of arms for the military and police. The bruised NSA would retreat and bide his time to hit back at Kyari, who was a very THEWILLNIGERIA

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The NSA’s recent interview on BBC Hausa Service where he declared that the money provided for arms purchase during the erstwhile service chiefs’ tenure “is gone” bears out his troubled relation with them although he was clever enough to wait for them to be safely out of service before his pronouncement which he has since said was quoted out of context after allegedly coming under pressure from the Villa.

According to sources close to the President’s key allies in the seat of power, they saw Monguno’s comment as an open declaration of war on them for suggesting that billions of naira expended on arms were siphoned.

The forces in the Villa have decided to oust Monguno from his job and have indeed commenced a process they hope would lead to his removal from his job just

After his Secretary of War was indicted on corruption charges, Lincoln wrote Cameron a cutting letter to wit: “As you have, more than once, expressed a desire for a change of position, I can now gratify you, consistently with my view of the public interest. I therefore propose nominating you to the Senate next Monday, as Minister to Russia.”

Lincoln’s War Minister wept on receiving his president’s epistle. Convinced by some of his close confidants to reword the sack letter, to give Cameron a soft landing, Lincoln sent another letter which made it seem Cameron resigned from office.

Whether the president’s allies will succeed in convincing him to send his NSA packing is yet unknown. But if he decides to any time soon or later, you can be sure of something not dissimilar to Lincoln’s piece of mind to a corrupt government official in whom he reposed much trust.

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NEWS Edo 2020: Obaseki, Sports Minister Agree On April 2 As New Date

BY AYO ESAN

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he Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki on Friday met with the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, to finetune plans for the hosting of the National Sports Festival, tagged ‘Edo 2020’.

The festival, which has suffered several postponements from March 2020, is now scheduled to hold from April 2 to 14, 2021.

Receiving the Sports Minister at Government House in, Benin City, Obaseki hailed the commitment of President Muhammad Buhari to support the state in hosting the National Sports Festival.

The governor also led the minister on a tour of facilities for the Sports Festival, adding, “It is clear that the facilities at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium are world-class.”

Noting that the state was ready to host the sports tournament, the governor said the postponement was very challenging for the state following the preparation and resources committed in hosting the games.

President Muhammadu Buhari (2nd right); The outgoing Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for West Africa and Sahel, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas (2nd left). With them is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama (left), and Chief of Staff to the President Prof Ibrahim Gambari (right),during a farewell audience at the State House Abuja on 18TH, 2021

Punishment Awaits Kogi School- Age Lawyers Battle to Save Senator at Tribunal Children Over Failure To Acquire Education FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS

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he Kogi Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Wemi Jones has disclosed that it is now an offence in the state for a child of school age not to be in school or to be found hawking during school hour.

Jones stated this at the weekend in Lokoja, at a Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Meeting on the newly enacted Kogi State Education Law. According to the commissioner, it has become an offence in the state for a child of school age not to be in school or hawking during school hours as stipulated in Section 9 of the Kogi education law. ‘’If any child is seen hawking or doing anything during school hour, that child shall be apprehended by the Special Marshals that will be put in place till the parent or guardian of such child come forward to give cogent reason why the child is not in school, and we are very serious about this’’.

The commissioner also hinted that the issue of proliferation of private schools had become a source of concern and worry to the state government, stressing that Section 20 provides and stipulates the conditions for such establishment.

He however said that those schools that were already established and did not meet the stipulated conditions would be given ample time to come to the ministry and do the needful.

He added that henceforth every private school that wants to operate in Kogi State must get themselves registered with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS).

The commissioner also disclosed that all illegal schools operating in Kogi would be shut down as stipulated by the education law ‘’We are going to be closing all illegal schools in the state as we have been empowered by Section 20, subsection 3, of the education law.

He further added that the advent of law would ensure that all schools in Kogi including missions schools either private or public, have uniformity in Academic Calendar from the ministry that must be strictly complied with.

He also noted that MOCK examination being a preparatory for WAEC and therefore said that every school operating in Kogi must come under the ministry for MOCK examination as from 2022. ‘’Beginning from 2022, all MOCK examinations in Kogi must come under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’’.

He further warned that the issues of examination malpractice and the so called ‘miracle centres’, would come to an end in Kogi, saying the education law has empowered the ministry to punish perpetrators.

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t was a clash of the substance of law and the technicalities of court procedure at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos on Friday as two Senior Advocates of Nigeria and one Lawyer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, deployed technicalities and procedural traditions of practice to save Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, who ‘won’ election to represent Plateau South in the Senate last December.

Sitting at the West of Mines High Court premises in Jos, once the Tribunal clerk called Suit No: EPT/PL/PH/01/2020, Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice D.H. Khobo announced that the business of the day was continuation of hearing of the petitioners case.

Upon the conduct of the senatorial by-election in the Plateau South Senatorial District to fill the vacuum created as a result of the sudden death of Senator Ignatius Longjan, the People’s Democratic Party candidate in the same election, George Edwards Daika, explored the opportunity of the Election Petition Tribunal to lodge a petition in which he challenged the election of the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Daduut, noting that apart from not winning the election, the APC candidate was not validly nominated and that some of the information she supplied to the INEC was either false or contradictory in some cases.

Rising to address the tribunal, counsel to the petitioner, Barrister Sunday Oyewale, who announced appearance with Joshua Emmanuel and two others, tendered, among others, the INEC Election Manual, INEC regulations for conduct of elections, Form EC8e of the 2020 Plateau State Senatorial by-election, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, party constitution.

Oyewale also tendered the 1999 Constitution as amended, an APC letter dated September 11, 2020 to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, in which several other documents were attached such as certificates and affidavits of Professor Nora Daduut, the nomination form - Form EC13c, and certified true copies of the APC elected National Executive Committee.

Noting however that the procedure in law is that response to pleaded documents is reserved till final address, counsel to the first respondent, INEC, Ibrahim K. Bawa, added that if a document is not pleaded, objection could be entertained instantly.

Accordingly, he raised objection to the additional documents brought forth by the petitioner, insisting that they were neither pleaded nor listed in the earlier documents called forth by the petitioner. He cited an earlier attempt by the petitioner to amend documents tendered, which was rejected by the Tribunal, and maintained that to turn around to accept the documents will amount to mockery of the Tribunal.

In their responses, counsel to the second respondent, Pius Akubo (SAN), and that of the APC as third respondent, Garba Pwul (SAN), simply leaned on the frame of objection already established by the counsel to INEC, Ibrahim K. Bawa, saying in effect, documents EC9c and the attachments thereto were objected to as having not been pleaded earlier.

“Hosting the games is the right thing to do despite the challenges from COVID-19; our spirit is lifted. The world is going to the Olympics in Tokyo and it’s important that we participate in the Olympics. We can’t be defeated by the pandemic. Data shows that we are winning the war against COVID-19.

“We will work with you to ensure that the festival holds. We will open up the camp for the games but however the financial position of the state is difficult. As a state, meeting up with all our obligations has put strains on our treasury.

“We would be hosting up to 10,000 athletes and officials within 10 days of the game; it’s going to be expensive. While we strain ourselves to provide the support, we don’t have all the resources to host these athletes while they are here. It’s important that the Federal Government comes through with its commitment before the tournament opens.

“We want to reassure you that the games will hold. I have no reason to doubt the Federal Government knowing that the president is a man of his word. We will commence to prepare to host the tournament,” he added.

On his part, Dare expressed readiness of the Federal Government in supporting the Edo State the Government in hosting the National Sports Festival.

He noted: “The Federal Government is ready and willing to provide financial support to host the National Sports Festival from April 2 to 14, 2021. The process is ongoing and sometimes it takes time and it’s our hope and desire to monitor, follow through and hasten the process”.

FIFA Council: Pinnick’s Election Takes Nigeria Higher on Global Football

BY DAVID AMOUS - OWEI

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ayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has described the election of President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, into the council of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) as another positive development for Nigeria on the global scale.

Governor Diri in a congratulatory message issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, said with Pinnick, Nigeria put its best foot forward to occupy a top seat in the global football community.

He stated that the NFF president has displayed remarkable passion for football development in Nigeria since assuming office and that he was not surprised he has continued to excel as a football administrator.

The Bayelsa helmsman, who was one-time Commissioner for Youth and Sports, noted that Pinnick’s dedication has earned him a deserved recognition and elevation, urging him not to rest on his laurels.

“Pinnick has shown remarkable passion for football development not only in Nigeria. I therefore congratulate him and Nigeria, which put its best foot forward to ensure he was elected into the FIFA Council. It is a deserved call to further service towards football development in Nigeria, Africa and on the global level.”

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SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

AMCON Triggers Fresh Trouble In Aviation Sector Over NG Eagle

•Arik Workers Risk Massive Job Loss •Union Vows To Stop New Airline The crises sparked off by the emerging NG Eagle Airline being set up by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) are getting messier. Workers of Arik Air may lose their jobs enmasse even as their Union appears set to move against the new airline. ANTHONY OKECHUKWU reports.

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ince last year (2020), efforts have been reinvigorated by many investors to join the domestic airline operation in the country. As it is, there are hosts of new airlines that are currently battling to get the Air Operators Certificates (AOC), to enable them start operations in Nigeria.

An AOC is the approval granted by the Civil Aviation Authority to an aircraft operator to allow it use its aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public.

Checks at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) show that some new entrants have shown interest in the ownership of airlines, just as others have reached various stages in the acquisition of their AOCs. Some of the airlines THEWILLNIGERIA

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are NG Eagle, Green Africa Airways, Rano Air, Northeast Shuttle and a host of others which have expressed interest too but are still being considered.

While stakeholders have received the good news with enthusiasm, the emergence of NG Eagle is already causing a lot of ripples in Nigeria’s aviation industry. The alleged establishment of the NG Eagle by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), first started like a rumour, until last year when two Arik Air 737s were repainted in livery of NG Eagle.

The yet-to-take off new airline, NG Eagle, has, therefore, pitched the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, against the Management of Arik Air. The union is specifically seeking to know where the staff of Arik Air stands as the airline Management has commenced the deployment of assets and its personnel to the upcoming airline.

Recall that Arik Air has been in receivership due to its inability to pay workers and creditors, prompting the government to take over control of the airline.

Before the takeover, Arik Air had been struggling with debt amid a currency crisis in Nigeria, as customers were invoiced in Naira but fuel suppliers and other overhead expenses were paid in Dollars. *Continue on Page 8

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Ten years down the line, there are allegations that AMCON had gone ahead to float a fresh airline christened NG Eagle. AMCON’s new moves have equally elicited reactions from stakeholders who are querying why AMCON would be floating another airline when it is presently in receivership of two airlines – Arik Air and Aero Contractors

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SPECIAL INVESTIGATION ...Fresh Trouble In Aviation Sector Over NG Eagle In his reaction, CEO of Arik Air, Capt Roy Ilegbodu, said there is no connection between Arik Air and NG Eagle, insisting that NG Eagle is solely owned by AMCON while Arik Air itself is in receivership and the receivership was instituted by AMCON which is based on the fact that Arik owes AMCON substantially.

On Arik Air 737s that were repainted in livery of NG Eagle, Capt Ilegbodu said, “I can boldly say that, in our industry, those airplanes are what we call ‘recovery’. So, they have been recovered. If a company owes and it cannot pay, you recover the mortgaged asset. Those airplanes were actually mortgaged to AMCON and it is very clear that at some point they took their assets and that is what was done.”

Ilegbodu maintained that the fact that they carried the name and logo of Arik doesn’t mean they belong to Arik; the owners have taken their property. By law, those are mortgaged assets and the owners of the assets have every right to take their assets”, Ilegbodu said.

In his reaction, former Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Group Capt John Ojikutu (rtd), said his position from inception of the receivership of Arik and others by AMCON was that AMCON or the relevant authorities should assess the local and foreign debts of the airlines in the receiverships; get credible foreign and local investors as well as technical partners to buy into the assets and debts and form a new airline.

According to Ojikutu, none of these were done but AMCON went on a long journey of wanting to recover over N300bn which he said he knew was not possible for it in 30 years.

*Continued from Page 7

As at 2012, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) document showed that Arik owed 85 billion naira ($279 million) to AMCON – an establishment created by the Federal Government in 2010 to stem financial crises among deposit money banks. Since then, AMCON had taken over N132 billion debts from 12 Nigerian airlines, including Arik.

Ten years down the line, there are allegations that AMCON had gone ahead to float a fresh airline christened NG Eagle.

AMCON’s new moves have equally elicited reactions from stakeholders who are querying why AMCON would be floating another airline when it is presently in receivership of two airlines – Arik Air and Aero Contractors, being a 60 per cent shareholder in the latter.

The stakeholders’ worry is that AMCON’s unstated objective is to open a window of business opportunity as a way to recoup its heavy financial losses through the heavy debts in Arik and Aero. According to them, AMCOM, after 10 years of existence, appears helpless to recover its outstanding debts, adding that the Corporation is expected to deliver by quickly recovering as much debt as possible.

In addition, these stakeholders are also afraid that AMCON’s real intention may not be unconnected with the quest to sidestep the debt overhang, particularly in Arik Air, while continuing to make money from the airline business without any real capital injection. But the key aviation union, Nigeria Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE ) has vowed to stop AMCON from its plans of establishing the new airline.

Speaking on behalf of the union, General Secretary of NUATE, Comrade Ocheme Aba, told THEWILL that it is the most open secret at this time in aviation in Nigeria that the AMCON has chosen to float a new Airline known as NG Eagle.

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This is because given the manner the operations of the receivership was being conducted, it cannot make a net profit of N10 billion annually to be able to offset the N300 billion

finally unveils, he pointed out there are ominous signs that what should ordinarily be a lofty project will likely run into a heavy storm being created by a thoroughly fouled and convoluted industrial atmosphere at Arik Air. He said: “We consider it most unfortunate that an odd combination of AMCON’s egoistic, evasive and self-defeating tendencies on the one hand, and Arik Air’s unrelenting penchant for courting crisis on the other hand, as well as overly demonstrated lack of capacity/disdain for labour relations practice have evoked a perplexing atmosphere of forlornness in the Airline. Under this atmosphere, it is practically impossible to be hopeful of any good thing; hence, our misgivings concerning NG Eagle.

Comrade Aba noted that NUATE considers this to be a very positive and welcome development as a new airline would normally create job opportunities, provide incentives for deeper business penetration and generally widen the Nigerian aviation horizon.

“This, it intends to achieve, by moving all valuable assets of Arik Air, including human assets, into the new NG Eagle. The question is: what becomes of the carcass of Arik Air and its personnel after.”

Although, Aba promised that all stakeholders, including NUATE must extend warm welcome to the NG Eagle when it

Already, AMCON is said to have moved some personnel of Arik Air to NG Eagle while being loudly silent on the service records of such personnel in Arik Air.

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“This is because given the manner the operations of the receivership was being conducted, it cannot make a net profit of N10 billion annually to be able to offset the N300 billion”, Ojikutu stated.

Ojikutu, who is also an Aviation Security Consultant, opined that the news of AMCON or any other authority setting up of NG Eagle Air from Arik Air may now amount to reverting to his earlier suggestions.

Explaining further, he said “which aircraft of the fleets are being organised into AMCON NG Eagle and which for AMCON Arik? Note the over 20 aircraft we knew once in the airline fleet have been depleted to less than half and that should be an area of concern to stakeholders. The recent news about a bad aircraft in one flight in the operations of the airline should be of concern too about what is going behind in the receivership and the management of the airline In his views, former General Secretary of NUATE, Comrade Olayinka Abioye, noted that as at the time AMCON took over, things were a bit unstable.

Comrade Olayinka pointed out that questions that needed to be asked include: the genuineness of the intent and purposes of AMCON in the matter; how much was Arik owing; who are the institutions, groups or persons being owed; what role did the NCAA play in all these till date, and has AMCON opened its book to allay fears of unfairness, ulterior motives and underhand deals since it took over Arik? Another important question that needed an answer, according to Abioye is how much has AMCON injected into the airline since it took over?

Abioye said, “While setting up another airline has its advantages, so are pitfalls; but does AMCON have the power to set up an airline -- by the Act setting it up? If not, then the exercise becomes ultra vires more so when existing employees are being coerced into becoming fresh employees of the new AMCON airline”.

Wondering what will happen to these employees’ past services in Arik, Abioye asked, “Will the number of years put in service be written off, or will it be continued in the new airline? Has all labour related matters been taken up and resolved amicably by all parties? What becomes of the fewer employees that will remain in the original Arik and what fate does the carcass of Arik have at the end of NG Eagle?”

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Buhari

POLITICS

Insecurity: Advocates Renew Calls for State Police

BY AYO ESAN

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he prevalent insecurity in the country and the seeming helplessness of the state governors to have a direct control of the Nigerian Police has brought to the fore the agitation for the creation of state police.

Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, recently restated the case for the creation of state police.

Osinbajo, who made the call at a recent international conference on Patriotism, Security, Governance and National Development, argued that a decentralised Police Force will help to check the current security challenges in the country.

According to Osinbajo, “we must accept that there is a need for greater decentralisation of the Police Force. I have been a frequent advocate of state policing and I believe this certainly must be the way we must go.”

Aside the Vice President, over the years advocates of restructuring have listed the decentralisation of the police as one aspect that must be considered. Those who have added their voices to the call for the creation of state police include the leaders of Pan-Yoruba socio- political group, Afenifere, especially its Acting Chairman, Pa Ayo Adebanjo and its National Publicity Secretary , Mr Yinka Odumakin, among others.

Other prominent Nigerians who have made similar calls for the establishment of state police as one of the strategies to ensure the security of the country is the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Ekweremadu recently canvassed strongly the establishment of state police. He had challenged his colleagues and the National Assembly on this, saying that the constitution could be amended in 10 days to legalise state police.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) which is the ruling party had THEWILLNIGERIA

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the creation of state police as one of its agenda during the 2015 electioneering campaign.

Also the Nasir el-Rufai-led APC Committee on Restructuring has decentralization of the police and specifically, the creation of state police as one of its recommendations.

Also speaking with THEWILL, former Minister of Education, Professor Tunde Adeniran, said: “I believe either you call it community policing or state policing, that will also help.stem the high level of insecurity we are currently facing.

“Policemen should be familiar with the environment where they work and be familiar with the whole locality where they function.

Then of course, the terms of operation, how they are structured, how they function also matters. Because when you have most of those things, there should be designated areas to be covered by those police, either you called them community policing or state police. It is very important, there are some areas for them to cover while the national police will cover some other areas”.

Comrade Sola Olawale, who is a member of the Campaign for Democracy in Ogun State frowned at a system whereby the state governors would be addressed as the Chief Security Officers of their respective states and yet lack power over the personnel, saying “the deceit should stop.”

According to him, the challenges affect everybody in the country irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliations, even as he stressed the need for separate arrangements across the country to float outfits that would handle their peculiar security challenges.

“

We must accept that there is a need for greater decentralisation of the Police Force.

I have been a frequent advocate of state policing and I believe this certainly must be the way we must go

Security and political analysts are in unison that whichever way one looked at it, the current reality has proven that the centralization system of policing in the country is not working and may not work to *Continue on Page 10

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*Continued from Page 9

‘Time For State Police Has Come’

curtail the present banditry, kidnapping, raping and killing which are prevalent in every part of the country.

Those who are apostles of creation of state police have in recent times maintained that it is the lack of it that has probably led to the increasing rate of insecurity.

Paul Ojo, who is a security expert based in Lagos, while speaking with THEWILL said he believes lack of state police is the explanation why terrorists and bandits are having a free day.

“It can explain why terrorists, bandits, killer herdsmen and kidnappers have not been effectively caged. There is no way the present centralised policing can guarantee effective security in the country, especially when the number of policemen is a far cry from the required personnel”, he said.

Watchers of security situation in the country believe that the present central police arrangement and the low number of police personnel is a serious issue that must be addressed urgently in order to stem the level of insecurity in the country.

With less than 500,000 personnel, they believe there is no way the Nigeria police can adequately secured the country with 36 states, 774 Local Government Areas and over 200 million population.

“It is believed the poor numerical strength of the force is responsible for ineffective policing of the country. That is why it is difficult to protect many communities across the country, they opined.

Advocates of state police believe the problem cannot only be limited to low number of police personnel but that most of the personnel are posted to areas they know nothing about its culture and terrain.

They believe therefore that creation of state police will solve the problem of lack of adequate knowledge of terrain and topography being faced by the national police.

State police, they therefore said, will afford the personel’s adequate knowledge of the culture and terrain of those areas.

They also said state police personnel will enjoy the cooperation of the people of the state, who will often look at them as part and parcel of the environment .

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El-Rufai

Adebanjo

Ekweremadu

POLITICS

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All things considered, experts in the security sector believe the advantages of state police are more than the disadvantages. And that notwithstanding the perceived shortcomings, the time for state police has come More importantly, advocates of state police said if created, the state governors, who hitherto do not have control over the national police formations in their territories as the police commissioners take instructions from the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja, willl have direct control in a state police organisation and will be able to deploy the personnel to trouble areas promptly.

leaf from the United States and other federal entities where the arrangement works. Since every crime is local, there is need to localise the policing system so that every section will be protected.

“State police arrangement is at the heart of the clamour for restructuring of the country. It is consistent with the principle of true federalism and devolution of powers that many have been clamouring for. State policing will ensure that governors effectively maintain law and order in their domains. It will help to tackle the mounting security challenges in the country”, he said.

Those that are opposed to the creation of state police are having the fears that some governors may abuse the state police.

A political analyst, John Odey, advocates that there must also be measures to check such excesses of the governors , so that they may not turn it to means of harassing or humiliating their opponents.

All things considered, experts in the security sector believe the advantages of state police are more than the disadvantages.

And that notwithstanding the perceived shortcomings, the time for state police has come.

They have therefore called on the National Assembly to enact relevant legislations that will ensure the creation of state police.

It would also be recalled that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State recently joined his counterparts in the South West to renew the call for the creation of State police as one of the major steps to stem the growing tide of insecurity in the region.

Speaking with THEWILL, James Ponde , a security expert in Abuja, said “Most governors have complained openly that they are only chief security officer of their states in name or theory as the police has a centralised command structure based in Abuja.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, alongside Governors of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States, recently converged on Ibadan for a Stakeholders’ Security summit with a resolve to end what they described as unholy invasion of the region by armed bandits suspected to be from other tribes in the country, thereby causing security breaches and creating unnecessary tension in the relatively peaceful zone.

“In times of emergency, the response from the police is usually so slow and ineffective. There is, therefore, an urgent need for an arrangement that allows, at least, three levels of policing: federal, state and community. We can borrow a

The chief executives of the six states in the region, therefore, unanimously agreed to the creation of State police so as to confront the challenge head on, listing the benefits in having it.

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POLITICS

Dakas

Lalong

Plateau 2023: APC Aspirants Jostle To Succeed Lalong

chances of winning the party’s ticket differ in labyrinth and scope.

Governor Simon Lalong’s deputy, Soni Gwanle Tyoden, is prominently in the race to succeed his principal. Unlike what has obtained in a few cases since 1999, Tyoden, who has not been a happy deputy under Lalong, does not seem to have his principal’s blessings or approval to emerge as the party’s candidate, let alone become the state governor in 2023. Like some graffiti, the writing of Lalong was manifest on the wall when Tyoden’s delayed birthday celebration held last December. A few days to the event, which was marked as a grand slam which combined his wife’s 60th birthday with launch of the deputy governor’s two published works, Lalong, in a much disputed and controversial development, tested negative to Covid-19, and, invariably, was justifiably in quarantine while the birthday bash that adorned all the trappings of a political declaration, held at the Victoria Gowon Hall, Government House, Rayfield, Jos. Although Lalong was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the state, no one can say Lalong’s presence or lack it was some endorsement of the Tyoden ambition and gubernatorial project. Thus, Lalong’s opposition and other issues are problems already working against ‘Tyoden 2023’! Garba Pwul, SAN, is the first Plateau State indigenous lawyer to be honoured with the legal practice privilege of senior advocate. Well known across the state and in legal circles across the country, he has been counsel to former governor Joshua Dariye; and was also lead counsel that countered the petition of the PDP against Lalong in the 2019 gubernatorial elections tribunal. He has the wealth and means to run the race, but his political short-comings include being a Mwaghavul from Mangu Local Government Area that has the highest number of aspirants in the race.

Latep Dabang, a former chairman of the State independent electoral commission,PLASIEC, has been the Chairman of the State APC from inception to these anomalous times when he was again converted to ‘acting’ chairman of the state ad hoc executive committee. His long stay as state chairman has not translated to peculiar advantages that will see him through his new ambition. He is of the Mupun minority in Pankshin North; and during his tenure as state chairman of the APC, he made and marred some interests that may have found a vital opportunity in his gubernatorial project to take their own pound of flesh by frustrating his ambition. Besides, the mostly reactionary elements of the Joshua Dariye political orphanage seem not to be at home with a possible ascendancy of Dabang to the headship of the disparate Dariye boys.

Dakum

Dabang

Not even Governor Lalong has been rumoured to be supporting Dabang to emerge as the APC state flag bearer in 2023. Former commissioner for information in the Dariye administration and now director, Centre for Human Virology, Patrick Dakum, may not be boasting of infinite respite and high points as he waxes strong at the range. The Dariye elements in the APC seem to prefer him; but as a minority of Mupun stock in Pankshin North, he is certainly walking a tight rope in a contest that will be determined more by the arsenal of ethnic clout than pedigree and role of the old fashioned Dariye political war machine.

A multitude of gubernatorial contenders are gathering and agitating in Plateau State. The jostling for who to succeed the incumbent governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, is more pronounced in the state chapter of the All Progressive Congress, (APC). It is seen that the race will be determined by templates predicated on ethnic considerations, minority’s fears and age-long stereotypes, more than incumbency perquisites and privileges. UKANDI ODEY, reports.

A

s of today, the clock is still ticking and the register of gubernatorial aspirants on the platform of the APC is still open and enlisting. Many of those who have been sharing the APC broom with Lalong are jostling to replace him in Government House, Little Rayfield come 2023. The early race in the APC is not surprising given the fact that the incumbent governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, is from the APC and is already serving his second and last term. The ante is fixated in the Plateau Central Senatorial zone – the same zone that produced the now embattled former governor, Joshua Dariye, at the inception of this Republic in 1999. Of the five local government areas that make up the zone – Kanam, Kanke, Pankshin, Mangu, and Bokkos – the picture so far is that of a looming political ‘war’ between the dominant Mwaghavul ethnic group in Mangu Local Government Area and the Ngas cultural group that dominates Southern Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Area and the Mupun ethnic group in Pankshin North. Yet, some relatively obscure minority groups located intricately between the Mwaghavul majority in Mangu and the sizeable Mupun people of Pankshin THEWILLNIGERIA

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North are also asserting their interest and stake, as one or two of their own have indicated interest in the race. When the chips are down, even without the chicks coming home to roost, the main contest is going to be situated within the three local government areas of Mangu, Pankshin and Kanke. Bokkos Local Government Area may be out of calculation because it produced Joshua Dariye in 1999. Kanamis may also be veritably out of it due to certain peculiarities that characterise its population, identity and to that extent shapes its demography. Those that are authoritative confirmed to be in the race are Barrister Garba Pwul (SAN), (Mangu/Mwaghavul); incumbent deputy governor and emeritus Professor, Soni Gwanle Tyoden (Mangu/Mwaghavul); Latep Dabang, currently caretaker committee Chairman of the State APC (Pankshin/Mupun); Dr. Patrick Dakum (Pankshin/ Mupun), Barrister Dakas Clement Dakas, (Mangu/Keirang); Dr. Danlami Lenkwot (Kanke/Ngas), and the current INEC resident commissioner in Benue State, Nentawe Yilwatda (Kanke/Ngas).

All the aspirants so far are as varied in their pedigree as their

The recent appointment of emeritus Professor of international law, Dakas Clement Dakas, SAN, as member of the APC national constitution review committee appears to have also heightened his political valuation in recent assessment of his chances to emerge as party candidate. However, Dakas’ ambition has a fundamental set back as a victim of identity. While the erudite scholar claims he is Mupun by tribe which is in Pankshin and part of Shendam LGAs, he actually hails from Keirang, host village of the popular SWAN water, which is in Mangu Local Government Area. Quite a well-accepted scholar, he is not likely to benefit from Mwaghavul or Mupun sentiments that will reign and run the show during the gubernatorial congress.

Dr. Danlami Lenkwot is a well established medical practitioner.

Having been elected as executive chairman of Kanke LGC in 2006, he has some political structures to lean on as he goes into the gubernatorial race. He is also of the Ngas stock that populates Kanke and Pankshin substantially. His tenure as executive chairman of Kanke is going to be re-appraised as even the Ngas nation has not made a statement on his endorsement.

His branded campaign vehicles are increasing and making waves around. It has been audio without visuals in the case of the resident INEC Commissioner in Benue State, Nentawe Yilwatda: neither posters, nor campaign vehicles, nor office. Of Ngas stock from Kanke, his opponents are apprehensive that the mischievous hand of officialdom may wade in to service his ambition, saying anything can happen. Whatever happens, whoever wins the Plateau state APC ticket, the greater truth is that the gubernatorial election in 2023 in Plateau State is going to be driven by geopolitics and zoning; but it will be decided by sentiments that include majority mobilisation, minority fears, and sundry sensitivities heightened or worsened by the acts of omission or commission of the outgoing Lalong administration such as branding Plateau farmers falsely as carriers of Ak-47 rifle.

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

‘Restructuring Will Surely Lead to Political, Economic Development ‘ Chief Martins Onovo is the Presidential Candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2019 presidential election. In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on the state of insecurity in the country, the renewed call for restructuring, role of opposition in the nation’s politics, among other issues as they affect the nation. Excerpts

Onovo

T

he state of insecurity all over the country and most especially now in the South West is alarming. What is your take on this?

It is very clearly a consequence of the catastrophic failure of the General Muhammadu Buhari government. The government is, as we foretold, the worst since independence. Even, the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had clearly said before the 2015 elections that, the choice before Nigerians in the 2015 elections is simple: A choice between going forward or going backward”. Now we are going backward. Corruption is worse, the economy is ruined and insecurity is the unprecedented daily norm.

With the copious confessions and statements published widely, and the physical evidence obtained in different cases, we know the following; That the Fulani terrorists in Nigeria were brought in from Mali, Sierra Leone, etc., by the APC for the 2015 elections as confessed by Alhaji Kawu Baraje, a former leading national chieftain of the APC. That the bandits are commanded by a northern Governor as alleged by Dr. Obadiah Mailafia.

That the Nigerian Armed Forces are conniving with the armed bandits as confirmed by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

That Nigerian security forces know exactly where the terrorists are camped as confirmed by Sheik Ahmad Gumi. That a herdsman arrested in Plateau State was

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“

If you also watched the video of his meeting with bandits, you will see where he told the bandits that it was not the Muslim soldiers that were shooting at them but Christian soldiers. Have they not already divided the Army?

armed with a Nigerian military rifle as confirmed by Police. Further, the Police gave the rifle’s number as HC2614. That the herdsmen repelled and captured in Ogoja, had rifles from the Nigeria Army barracks in Ogoja as confirmed by Col. Tony Nyiam. That in Yewa, Ogun State, after the herdsmen were expelled by their host communities, the Nigeria Army escorted

them back as published by The Nation Newspaper.

How will you react to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi’s recent call for amnesty for bandits?

Gumi is a man that should be watched. It is not only amnesty he called for. He is also quoted as saying in one Hausa newspaper that Boko Haram is a blessing to Nigerian Muslims. If you also watched the video of his meeting with bandits, you will see where he told the bandits that it was not the Muslim soldiers that were shooting at them but Christian soldiers. Have they not already divided the Army? But they will now be telling us that the opposition is trying to divide the Army. Is Gumi not inciting the bandits against Christians by claiming that it is Christian soldiers that are shooting at them? Let us not continue to deceive ourselves until the whole country goes up in flames.

Imagine Gumi even comparing Niger-Delta militants with bandits. What a shame. But I’m not surprised.

When the source of a river is dirty, that river will be virtually dirty, that’s what I can say about Gumi. If a religious extremist like Gumi will call for anything, you will know that what he is calling for is very wrong. It is obvious that there is no basis for comparison between Niger-Delta militants, and bandits. If Gumi can say Boko Haram is a blessing to Nigerian Muslims, then you expect same Gumi to bring a reasonable solution to any problem in the country, I don’t agree with that.

For me, Gumi didn’t went to negotiate with bandits, he THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW went there to incite them against Christians.

How can the nation get out of these crises?

The country must be restructured. Nigeria need a major political adjustment, and restructuring is the only safest option because it will be least expensive, and also because an overwhelming majority of Nigerians agreed that we need to restructure. Already, four out of the six geo-political zones in the country have agreed on restructuring through their socio-cultural organizations, so what we should have been doing is to discuss what should be the terms for restructuring.

My own terms which I believe should be ideal for us is that we should have six regions using the current six geo-political zones with six constitutions. A federation is a federation of constitutions, this is the proper definition of proper federalism, and that is what the original founders of Nigeria agreed upon.

At the Lancaster Conference in London, that was what the founding fathers agreed upon before the military disrupted the agreement. We need to go back to that original agreement with some updates and modifications .Nigeria was founded as a federation but the Army truncated that arrangement and imposed their own structure. When you go against your own foundation, your structure will collapse, and that’s why Nigeria is having all these challenges.

The kidnapping of students in the North and payment of ransom by governors, how do you see this development?

That is direct sponsorship of terrorism that was started by the Gen. Buhari government when it was reported that it paid two million dollars or Euros as ransom to Boko Haram for the release of some of the kidnapped Chibok girls. We condemned it then and the unpatriotic supporters of the government and a section of the mass media, celebrated it as usual.

Like you said, many believe restructuring will solve lot of problems confronting the nation presently.

Very clearly. Restructuring will mitigate many problems including insecurity, corruption and excessive dependence on oil revenue. Nigeria at independence was founded on federalism. We did better before the military came and imposed their unitary structure. In a restructured Nigeria, the economic diversification we have been longing for will be achieved naturally as each region will develop with its comparative advantage. We must remember that during the First republic, we had the palm oil export of the Eastern

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It is the constitutional duty of the mass media to hold the government accountable to the people.

So, it seems clear to us that the mass media has been intimidated to abdicate its constitutional role

Region, the cocoa export of the Western region and the groundnut pyramids of the Northern region. On the political side, the fierce contest for a larger share of the national cake will be mitigated. Therefore, we know that restructuring will surely lead to political and economic development.

Since you believe in restructuring, how best can it be achieved?

Very simply, we get the Federal Government to send a bill to the National Assembly for a new Constitution that is modelled like the 1963 Nigerian Constitution.

We will use the six geo-political zones as federating units and agree on the Exclusive, Concurrent and Legislative lists in the new Constitution. Most other items like Fundamental Human Rights, National ethics, Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy will remain mostly unchanged.

Many believe the way the country is going, 2023 general election may not hold or that Nigeria may not survive till then?

Well, we do not know tomorrow but we know that there are serious contentions and conflicts across the country. If these conflicts are not well managed now,

they can grow into a conflagration. All Nigerians have also been told by Dr. Obadiah Mailafia that the bandits plan to start a civil war in 2022.

Nigerians believe the opposition parties have abdicated their role and that, that is why the APC led Federal Government is having a field day. How true is this?

False! Very false!! It is the duty of opposition political parties to present alternative policy positions and alternative candidates. It is the constitutional duty of the mass media to hold the government accountable to the people. So, it seems clear to us that the mass media has been intimidated to abdicate its constitutional role.

President Buhari and the APC in 2015 promised ‘Change’. Looking back after six years will you say Nigerians are better off now?

Even the blind can see that Nigerians are worse.

Corruption is worse, insecurity is worse, democracy is worse, the economy is worse, national unity is worse, lawlessness is worse, poverty is worse. Let us look at the indices for all these national priorities.

Corruption (CPI): in 2014 we ranked 136. In 2020 we ranked 149. Insecurity (GTI): in 2014 we were fourth most terrorized country in the world. In 2020, we were third most terrorized.

Democracy: in 2015 INEC arranged a charade. In 2019 INEC perverted the elections with impunity.

Economy: In November 2014 Dangote cement exfactory price was slashed to N1,000. In January 2021 it is N3,050.

National Unity: In 2014 we had a united country. Now, Nigeria is more divided than ever.

Lawlessness: In 2014 governance was in compliance with the Constitution and court orders. Now, the Constitution is disregarded and court orders violated.

What changes do you want in our electoral system?

The situation in INEC in Nigeria is a rogue-corp situation. We must improve security for elections and then, hold INEC officials accountable for collation frauds.

Do you believe in zoning of presidency? If yes, which zone in your view do you think deserves presidency?

Zoning is a universal democratic standard for inclusion in politics. In my ward, we zone. In my Local Government, we zone. In my home State, we zone. In all political parties in Nigeria, national offices are zoned. In Nigeria, we zone. In Switzerland, they zone. The presidency must be zoned to the South East based on justice and democratic representation.

What can you say about President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC – led government’s fight against corruption?

The mass media has been unfair to Nigerians by claiming falsely that the government is conducting a “fight against corruption”. The most corrupt government since independence cannot fight corruption. We alleged in 2016 with incontrovertible evidence that the Gen. Buhari government was deliberately promoting corruption.

Today, all can see that we were right. The ‘Corruption Perception Index’ of Transparency International confirms that we are right. The US Department of State Report confirms that we are right. The numerous corruption scams confirms that we are right. The audit reports of the Auditor General of the Federation confirms that we are right. The government simply named its agenda of political and religious domination by the persecution of political opponents a “fight against corruption” and the mass media with its claim of investigative journalism and editorial power was deceived by the semi-illiterates in government in Nigeria.

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EDITORIAL The $1.5bn Gamble On Port Harcourt Refinery

T

he Federal Government appears set for yet another wild goose chase as it seems to have failed to learn from the failures of the past. Little surprise, then, that condemnation has continued to trail its decision to continue pumping money into unprofitable ventures instead of focusing on areas of great need at a time the country is experiencing real paucity of funds.

The approval, last Wednesday, of a whopping $1.5 billion by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for yet another turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the moribund Port Harcourt Refinery is nothing more than a wild goose chase and a big gamble for that matter.

The decision to splash a whopping equivalent of N600 billion on a facility that stopped functioning almost two years ago can be anything but a wise one, especially at a time Nigerians are calling for the outright sale or privatisation of the nation’s three redundant refineries, More disturbing is the fact that the same Port Harcourt Refinery, which stopped processing crude oil since April 2019, generated only N10.33 billion in five years and posted a loss of N229.14 billion within same period, according to NNPC report for 2015 - 2019. THEWILL then wonders about the wisdom in chasing shadows, thinking that the current TAM will work.

Sadly, Nigeria has been depending largely

on imported fuel for many years as the Port Harcourt Refinery shares the same predicaments and misfortunes with the Warri and Kaduna Refineries with their combined capacity remaining at just a paltry 445,000 barrels per day despite the huge sums allocated for their maintenance every year.

With a combined loss of N778.71 billion in five years and total generated revenue of a paltry N21.12 billion within same period, there can be no justification for further investment into the facilities that have clearly outlived their importance.

We also find the recent $1.5 billion approval for a facility that has already been listed for

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With a combined loss of N778.71 billion in five years and total generated revenue of a paltry N21.12 billion within same period, there can be no justification for further investment into the facilities that have clearly outlived their importance

disposal by the Federal Government worrisome and suspicious as the Port Harcourt Refinery is one of the Federal Government properties listed for sale in order to fund the 2021 budget.

More so, the timeline for the latest TAM at Port Harcourt Refinery is fixed at 44 months, a period that definitely goes beyond the tenure of the present administration. The recent exercise is therefore bound to become another inconclusive project and might just be abandoned mid-way.

THEWILL therefore joins other well-meaning Nigerians, both individuals and corporates, in condemning the latest attempt to continue in the wasteful tradition on TAM for the nation’s moribund refineries. We want to also believe that TAM works in our refineries have become avenues for corruption.

We therefore call for a halt to this latest attempt as we implore the Federal Government to fasttrack the privatisation process of the moribund refineries instead of wasting scarce resources on them. We believe that building new refineries and encouraging the ongoing efforts on modular refineries will benefit Nigerians more than the continuation of a wasteful tradition.

It is really sad and unfathomable that the Federal Government, with full knowledge of the potential in the almost-completed Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, would want to continue sinking money into a wasteful venture as the Dangote Refinery would simply dwarf all the nation’s refineries once it takes off.

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

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

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OPINION 2023: Fayemi and Development-Minded Presidency

BY JEROME-MARIO UTOMI

I

t is in the public domain that Members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, recently, endorsed the 2023 presidential ambition of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, despite that he has not openly declared his intention for the top seat. Speaker of the House, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, who spoke on behalf of the 26-member Assembly, gave the endorsement verdict at the Assembly Complex while receiving a group under the auspices ‘Our Belief Project’.

Expectedly, the resolutions by the lawmakers coupled with similar positions in the past have elicited reactions.

To many, the development did not come as a surprise as the interest subjects take in their leader is not in absolute terms predicated on the leader’s physical and intellectual abilities; but, rather in what he can add to their lots in life. Fayemi, in their objective estimation, has done well as a Governor. He placed the economic interest of the governed at heart and, therefore, should be entrusted with a higher office.

For others, considering the timing, the development came with a bit of surprise, as such, early and open support is capable of getting a leader that is not firmly derailed. Having acknowledged that fact, they, however, argued that the early endorsement is in line with, and remains, a strategic plan of action for maximizing one’s strength against the forces at work in any given environment.

Indeed, without minding the fact that Fayemi’s endorsement came at a time when the whole system in the country appears dysfunctional, the latest support/approval in the opinion of this piece says something different. More than anything else, It signifies that the race for the 2023 general election has graduated from mere speculation to reality. And so, shall the responsibility before Nigerians morph from peripheral conversations/debates to asking solution-oriented questions.

Fundamentally, before we elect a president that will arrest the drifting situation and reform the system, we must first of all know what the overriding goals of reform is all about? Other questions include but are not limited; who will be the most capable hand to pilot such responsibility? Will Kayode Fayemi be in this bracket if elected president? Can he manage/handle the spiraling security challenges in the country? Will he initiate, implement or allow individuals; groups, communities and states have a right in decisionmaking, planning and implementation of programs that affect them and their resources?

Or allow states and people affected by a development activity to participate in ways capable of transforming their social, political and economic conditions rather than merely using them as instruments to legitimize predetermined goals and priorities? Will his development initiatives accord priority to human rights and press freedom/free speech? What is his academic cum professional background? Can he

manage a geographical entity plagued with development challenges such as widespread poverty, insecurity, corruption, gross injustice and ethnic politics? Above all, will he view and approach governance from a development perspective as currently preached by the United Nations Independent Experts on the Right to Development?

Providing answers to these questions in ways that will make 2023 general election rewarding will demand taking politics out of the way, in order to understand the basic reasons why the existing system in the country is currently made possible and challenge these fundamental assumptions.

As incentives to further appreciate the leadership challenge we face as a nation, it is a public knowledge that throughout the early decades, successive administrations in Nigeria and some other countries of the world paid little attention to what constitutes development.

Such conversation, however, gained global prominence via the United Nations introduction, adoption and pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, which lasted between the year 2000 and 2015. And was among other intentions aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger as well as achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, and improving maternal health among others.

Without going into specific concepts or approaches contained in the performance index of the programme, it is evident that the majority of the countries including Nigeria performed below average. It was this reality and other related concerns that conjoined to bring about 2030 sustainable agenda- another United Nation initiative and successor programme to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)- with a collection of 17 global goals formulated among other aims to promote and cater for people, peace, planet, and poverty.

Even now, the ongoing 2030 agenda is equally threatened by failure.

Looking at the above realities, one may again be tempted to ask; will the coming of Fayemi and his likes bring a change in narrative and usher in growth and structural change, with some measures of distributive equity, modernization in social and cultural attitudes, bring about a degree of political transformation and stability, an improvement in health and education so that population growth stabilizes, and an increase in urban living and employment?

Essentially, while it is not the objective of this piece to say what is right or wrong with his coming or determining answer to his capacity, Fayemi’s personality profile, track records and achievements affirms him as a personality laced with competence for the task ahead.

Let’s look at his particulars.

Starting with his age, he was born on the 9 February 1965. Such an age in absolute terms cannot be described as too young or too old for the position of the nation’s number one job. Also working in his favour is the consciousness that before vying into politics, where has served as Federal Minister for Solid Minerals and now in his second term in office as Ekiti state Governor, John Olukayode Fayemi, as a

well educated Nigerian achieved a global reckoning in development/ civil society world. He served on numerous Boards including the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, Baobab for Women’s Human Rights among others.

As we know, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are reputed for promoting peace and fighting infrastructural decay, insecurity, unemployment and economic stagnation.

Analysts believe that the ‘transformational leadership” currently enjoyed by the hitherto ‘war-turned’ Nigeria Governor Forum (NGF),an umbrella body of the 36 states governors in Nigeria, where Fayemi presently functions as the Group’s Chairman stands as an example of how his association with Development/peace-building organizations has impacted in his leadership and peace building acumen. We must commit to memory also the current and sustained peace in Ekiti state.

Away from peace building to security issues, a new understanding/ indications that the nation will be in a safer hands under his watch emerged recently with the disclosure by security experts across the world that to quell the challenge of insecurity is no longer about government holding all of the powerful weapons but a function of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of unstable individuals.

And using research on issues related to terrorism and extremism for informed policy decision-making/roadmaps.

Examples of such new development they argue is ; the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) in Islamabad, to conduct joint-research on issues related to terrorism and extremism for informed policy decision-making, to create public awareness, and build a counter-narrative in the country.

As a researcher/scholar, Development/security expert, many consider him (Fayemi) conversant and one of the best in the areas of fighting insecurity with modern security innovation and roadmaps.

As the piece continues in subsequent parts to methodically beam searchlight on leadership qualities on Fayemi and other presidential hopefuls in order to educate Nigerians, two things stands out; First, Fayemi, from available records is a dynamic national leader exceptionally good at painting a clear vision that inspires and motivates the populace.

Secondly, he is among the few politicians and public office holders in Nigeria that have “demonstrated a passion for their purpose, practiced their values consistently and lead with their hearts as well as their heads’ •Jerome-Mario, Programme Coordinator (Media and Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), writes from Lagos.

Ibori’s Loots: Deltans Should Purge Themselves of Patent Lies, Hypocrisy

BY KAYODE AJULO, PHD

T

INTRODUCTION: he signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the British Government and the Federal Executive Council alongside the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami SAN, on the repatriation of the looted fund of the sum of £4.2 million which was laundered by the former Delta State Governor, James Ibori which led to his conviction on 10 count charges bordering on fraud and money-laundering in February, 2012 and the subsequent decision of the Federal Government to utilize same for the for the completion of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja – Kano expressway and the Lagos – Ibadan expressway has generated torrents of reactions and diatribes from political pundits across party lines and constitutional legal minds.

Some political experts and legal practitioners including concerned citizens, particularly some indigenes of Delta State have been clamouring for the return of the looted funds to the coffers of Delta State Government, as was done in Plateau and Bayelsa State, but the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Malami, had argued that the offences for which James Ibori were charged were Federal offences and hence, the Federal Government is the victim of the crime.

On the backdrop of the above, I am compelled as a Counsel and front row participant who was privy to the trajectory and sequence of the Ibori’s case to set the records straight in order to enlighten the unlearned and the ignorant.

BACKGROUND FACTS: It must be recalled that my clients who were the patriotic Delta State, Elders, Leaders and Stakeholder Forum (Elders Forum) under the able leadership of Chief DR. Senator Edwin Clark, OFR, CON, had at a time during James Ibori’s administration petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the several illegal activities of James Ibori and his cohorts among which was his use of Appropriation Bill to siphon state funds of about $1Billion Dollars, which was an equivalent sum of N159Billion Naira then, and about THEWILLNIGERIA

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N500 Billion at present, and some underhand dealings of some company shares acquisitions.

Surprisingly, the then EFCC Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had clandestinely refused to neither investigate nor prosecute James Ibori, claiming his “hands were tied”. But, being resolute on the conviction to ensure that justice was meted out against James Ibori who had illicitly enriched himself with the commonwealth of the people of the State, the Elders Forum proceeded to the Federal High Court for an Order of Mandamus to compel the EFCC to prosecute James Ibori and others.

It is also interesting to recall that the case went through several courts in Abuja, Kaduna, Asaba and Dubai before it was finally resolved at the Southwark Crown Court, London in the United Kingdom. I was present throughout the proceeding till he was convicted and the proceeds of crime were recovered from him. It was even in the course of the event that I started my Doctoral research in the UK. Let me mention that some emminent Nigerians like Chief Ogbetuor, Chief Sunday Iwaya, Chief Brume, Chief Godwin Oberabor, Albert Okumagba, and Elder Orubebe among many others too numerous to recall committed themselves to this course while Elder Orubebe dramatically withdrew when he was nominated as a Federal Minister.

Similarly, many other patriotic and passionate Nigerians like Allen Agbaka among others, inspired by Femi Falana, SAN and some Civil Society groups, approached the Court to ensure that the end of justice was done in the case.

EFCC an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria should be commended for their patriotic stand despite the initial opposition of the President Yar’adua’s Attorney General’s opposition to the UK trial.

THE ATTITUDINAL DISPOSITION OF THE DELTA STATE GOVERNMENT: While I totally agree that the form of Government being practiced in

Nigeria is federalism, however, what many of the agitators loyal to the Government of Delta State have failed to understand and which has made the scenery appear like a flying object of unidentifiable origin and a burgeoning folklore of marginalization of the Delta people by the Federal Government was the belligerent and lackadaisical attitudinal disposition of the Delta State Government at the time of the trial of James Ibori.

What is more crucial and fundamental are the facts which culminated in the recovery of the funds looted by James Ibori and the nagging ironies attendant upon many of them.

It is pertinent to note that as at the time of the trial of James Ibori, the Delta State Government with an unslackened enthusiasm had outrightly denied the looting of its purse by the Ex-Governor and questioned what they described as a “cooked up” charges against him.

History will never forget how the Ex-Governor was greeted with funfair upon his release from prison. The flock of supporters that visited his Oghara, Delta State residence to accord him a heroic welcome is a clear testimony and confirmation of the fact that the people of Delta State strongly believed Ibori’s innocence. In fact, they had believed that lbori was a victim of political machination and regard the period he spent in the penitentiary as a learning experience in the University of Life But more importantly, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, headed

by Honourable Justice Kolawole, in 2016, had ordered that Delta State Government should not benefit from another recovered funds from Ibori, consequent upon its failure to cooperate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during Ibori’s trial, thereby permanently forfeiting the Ibori’s loot to the Federal Government.

I want to also bring to attention that the current Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay (SAN) who has insistently been clamouring •Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

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Setting Agenda For New Chiefs Of Aviation Agencies PAGE 33

GT Bank Posts N238.1bn Pre-Tax Profit, Customer PAGE 35

Despite Covid-19, POS Transanctions Continue To Change The Game PAGE 34

Bank Chiefs, Others Jittery As EFCC Moves On Asset Declaration

BY SAM DIALA

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he industrial calm that has pervaded Nigeria’s financial services sector currently engaged in unveiling their statutory annual reports and holding shareholders’ meetings, may be heading for unprecedented turmoil soonest.

This follows a directive of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to all bank employees in the country to declare their assets “in accordance with the Bank Employee’s Declaration of Assets Act”.

•Agency Enforcing Existing Law - EFCC •We Are Strategising – Bank Employees •May Be a Fruitless Exercise – Legal Practitioner

“

They outsource the jobs to their own firms or their friends’ or relatives’ that they pay handsomely as consultancy fee; the consultant will thereafter pay the casual/outsourced worker peanut as salary. The system is rotten and I support what EFCC is going to do

The Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, disclosed this on March 17, while speaking with journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

Bawa said the Act requires every bank employee to make full disclosure of all assets within 14 days of assuming duty with a bank, adding that the Commission has set a June 1 deadline for the bank workers to comply with the directive.

He said his discussion with the President centred on the efforts of the Commission towards the eradication of financial crimes in the country, explaining that the move was aimed at checking the role of banks in keeping funds acquired illegitimately.

He also disclosed that some top bank officials are also deeply involved in fraud and that they outsource many positions that require being filled by regular employees.

“Let me just put this, we understood that at the tail end of every financial crime is for the criminal to have access to the funds that he or she has illegitimately gotten and we’re worried about the roles of financial institutions.

“They outsource the jobs to their own firms or their friends’ or relatives’ that they pay handsomely as consultancy fee; the consultant will thereafter pay the casual/outsourced worker peanut as salary. The system is rotten and I support what EFCC is going to do”, Ukutt added.

“And we have discussed, but we hope that all financial institutions, particularly the bankers, will declare their assets as provided for by the law, in accordance with the Bank Employees Declaration of Assets Act. “And that the EFCC, come the 1st of June 2021, will be demanding for these asset declaration forms, filled by the bankers so that the line that we have drawn from the 1st of June is really complied with by bankers in particular,” he had said.

Virtually all the bank executives contacted declined to speak on the matter; those who did insisted on not having their names published “for obvious reasons”. Some middle-level and junior members of staff who volunteered to respond also preferred speaking on condition of anonymity.

An executive with a new generation bank showed displeasure at the development.

He expressed concern that the move might open a chapter of industrial disharmony in the banking system which is yet to recover from the crisis of Covid-19 and the #EndSARS protest.

“This government has lost focus; the leaders go to bed with a headache and wake up with a stomach ache in the morning.

They are always experiencing a bad dream. They have all the sophisticated channels of security and intelligence to monitor illicit funds and locate where they are. Why disturb an ordinary bank employee who is battling with all-round stress and uncertainty that surrounds him?”, the banker spoke on phone from the bank’s head office in Lagos.

A middle-level female employee of an old generation bank in Abuja told THEWILL that many bank workers might chose to disengage from the system to avoid being trapped in a battle between government and bank executives.

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Bawa, EFCC Chairman “It is better to avoid getting involved with this government because they could deliberately make life miserable for you for no just cause. Asset or no asset, if they want to rubbish you, they will do it. Remember what happened at the Supreme Court?”, she told THEWILL in a phone chat.

A legal practitioner familiar with bank cases, Victor Ukutt, Principal Partner, Victor Ukutt & Co, supports the action of EFCC. Mr Ukutt told THEWILL that many bank employees live above their means and that they also engage in massive fraud that makes them live Largger than their real worth.

THEWILL contacted the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) but could not speak with the President because he was not available. However, the Head of Research and Strategy, Comrade Zaka Adekunle, told THEWILL that the Association was aware of the development and that appropriate actions were being taken.

“We are strategizing”, Adekunle said in a telephone chat.

When contacted, the Deputy General Secretary, National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (UBIFIE), the umbrella union of junior employees, Sola Aboderin, said he was driving and requested that the phone call be repeated about 7 pm Thursday. However, network issues made it impossible to reconnect.

Ukutt said he had handled many bank-employee related matters which proved that some bank employees engage in fraud that harms both their employers and the bank customers.

Barrister Ukutt stressed that the matter was not as straightforward as the EFCC had thought because, as he put it, the system is awkward and those involved are smart. “What is happening in the banks is happening in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Many of these people live big in hard times. Even those that want to enforce the law are also not clean.

The EFCC might be engaging in a fruitless exercise because the entire system is rotten.”

“How can a bank employee earning N400,000:00 thousand in a month own assets like petrol stations, housing estates, posh cars, hotels, and others like that? Some operate in syndicates which makes it difficult for you to trace them and pin the real perpetrator down. Some have since disengaged from their places of work while others have fled abroad; I do not know how the EFCC is going to recover such stolen assets”, Ukutt told THEWILL via telephone.

When contacted, the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwajuren, said the exercise is not new because the Bank Employee’s Declaration of Assets Act is as old as the Commission. “We are enforcing existing law”, he said. Asked how the Commission would handle the cases of disengaged bank employees found culpable and who did not execute the asset declaration form, Uwajuren said, “I do not want to speculate. When we get there, you will know what happens”.

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AVIATION

Setting Agenda For New Chiefs Of Aviation Agencies

ANTHONY OKECHUKWU, in this piece, looks at major hurdles the newlyappointed Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) and Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N), will face in their agencies.

bit weak in some respects. This legal framework needs to be strengthened, so that NIMET will be able to boost its revenue base through efficient provision of meteorological services to both private and public organisations. It is therefore germane for the new DG to work out enabling laws, developmental policies, and the political will to enforce them.

Not only should there be developmental and enabling laws to govern the agency, they will have to enforce those laws is essential. This is because the aviation industry is one which should be highly regulated and monitored to attain the utmost safety, which must be achieved with integrity and no compromise in any manner.

NIMET is ISO Certified 2015. The ISO is an international organisation that monitors what manufacturers, service providers and development partners are doing and ensure that they offer goods and services that are up to certain specified standards. Sustainance of such standard is one area that the new DG needs to uphold.

Others are funding, training, mobilemet project and security in terms of facilities that would be hosted at the numerous observatory stations across the country. As aviation agencies, NIMET challenges are not however, different from NCAT as Captain Modibbo Alkali has to also face the inadequacy of funding, training equipment and other infrastructural facilities.

More important is that NCAT has been granted the Regional Training Centre of Excellence (RTCE) status by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) few years ago. The new status gives the college the opportunity to train critical manpower in the aviation sector, not only in Nigeria but within the West African sub-region and beyond.

The regional training centre status also empowers NCAT to develop training programmes for all ICAO annexes. This entails development of training programmes in aerodromes, air transport, facilitation, environment safety and security.

Olateru

Matazu

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ecently, the Federal Government appointed new CEOs for Aviation Agencies that will pilot their affairs for the next three years.

President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed the appointment of Professor Bako Mansur Matazu as the new DirectorGeneral of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Captain Modibbo Alkali Mahmud as the new Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT) Zaria. The reappointment of Engr. Akin Olateru as the Commissioner /Chief Executive Officer of the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria was also approved.

Announcing the new appointments, The Federal Government stated that the changes were in line with the administration’s commitment to the implementation of the Aviation Development Roadmap. Records have, however, shown that the new helmsmen are all experienced professionals with wealth of industry experience, spanning decades.

For instance, Prof Matazu, who replaces Professor Sani Abubakar Mash, holds a PhD in Geography (Applied Meteorology), with membership of the Nigerian Environmental Society, African Forestry Forum, Nigerian Meteorological Society, the Climate Change Network, Nigeria and the renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Nigeria (REEN). He was, until his appointment, the General Manager, Meteorological Research in the Agency.

On his own part, Captain Modibbo Alkali Mahmud, the new Rector of NCAT, holds the Airline Transport Pilot Licenses of the Federal Aviation Administration, USA, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Embraer, Citation and other international professional certifications. Until his appointment, Captain Modibbo had served in various capacities, including Pilot in Training, Fleet Captain at Dornier Aviation Nigeria, Max Air and other organisations and has clocked about 6000 hours of flying career.

Engr. Olateru, an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with Nigerian, UK and USA licenses began his career in engineering maintenance with Pan African Airlines and the THEWILLNIGERIA

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The regional training centre status also empowers NCAT to develop training programmes for all ICAO annexes. This entails development of training programmes in aerodromes, air transport, facilitation, environment safety and security.

Nigerian Police Air Wing after which he left Nigeria for further studies abroad. He has also worked with multiple airlines in Europe including KLM, Martin Air in Holland, British Aerospace Engineering and British Midland Airways.

He attended City University, London and graduated with an M.Sc. in Air Transport Management with specialisations in research and simulations into accident investigations.

Despite their robust experience and knowledge of the aviation industry, each of the CEOs is bound to face some hurdles in their new posts. One major issue the new NIMET DG, Prof Bako Mansur Matazu, will face is the inadequacy of Nigeria’s weather observatory stations which is about 54 now. The density of Nigeria’s stations are extremely low. It is therefore expected that within the time Matazu will spend as DG, he will ensure that the density of stations is increased adequately.

As it stands, the enabling law establishing the agency is a

Apart from the RTCE status, NCAT has grown in number of students over the years. From about 600 students in 2011, the figure has gone up and it cuts across different schools including: the flying school, the AME School, ATE School, Engineering School and the ATSCOM School under one umbrella. In addition, NCAT has to fix the problem of accommodation since it already has a policy that stipulates certain categories of students must be accommodated in the college.

For example, students in AME School, Engineering school, ATSCOM School and Flying School must be accommodated in the college. This limits the number of students NCAT can take at any given time due to a lot of logistics. Even having the accommodation, the college is still restricted by law because the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is maintaining the safety oversight of the college.

On the other hand, stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry have applauded the reappointment of Engr Olateru as AIB commissioner having given his best during his first tenure.

So far, AIB-N has released a total of about 57 final reports since its establishment in 2007 and a total of 35 final reports, including Safety Bulletins have been released since the inception of the current administration of Engr Olateru.

Having done well in accident investigations in Air Transport, one key area that Olateru has to contend with is the proposed Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) Bill.

The Bureau had earlier called for the establishment of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), an independent unified body charged with the responsibilities of carrying out investigation of occurrences involving all modes of transportation with the aim of promoting and enhancing safe transportation in Nigeria.

When passed into Law, the NSIB Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly, would put the agency on its toes to reinforce safety in all modes of transportation in Nigeria through distinctive, efficient and effective investigations of accidents and serious incidents involving any of the mode of transportation within Nigeria or anywhere else Nigeria’s interest is affected.

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MOBILE MONEY INTELLIGENCE

FINANCIAL INCLUSION: Despite Covid-19, POS Transanctions Continue To Change The Game

BY SAM DIALA

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nvestigation THEWILL has revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Point of Sale (POS) transactions in several ways during the three quarters of 2020, a development that is both strategic and imperative for monetary policy.

The PoS is a critical element in Nigeria’s financial services reform that began about a decade ago. It has also proven to be a key success factor in driving the Financial Inclusion Strategy (NIFS). The NIFS was launched in October 2012 to reduce the large population of the unbanked. The critical role of POS centres on two key benefits namely, creating jobs and driving financial inclusion.

INTERRUPTION, DISRUPTION However, NIFS suffered a setback six years after it was launched.

This was due to a myriad of factors ranging from inadequate awareness to structural challenge. The CBN in 2018 admitted that the scheme had lost steam and needed to be reinvigorated. It expressed concerns that the 2020 target year could turn out a mirage, hence the need to revisit and rejig the scheme.

“Overall, Nigeria has failed to meet its financial inclusion targets due to a variety of factors; a step-change in the pace of progress is needed to close the sizeable gap between the current status and the targets. While some notable milestones have been achieved, overall financial exclusion rate stands at 41.6 per cent based on the biennial Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey”, the CBN said in a circular signed by its director, Development Finance Department, Mudashiru Olaitan.

According to the apex bank, “Performance did not meet expectations across all inclusion targets for products, channels and enablers.

Among product categories, credit, insurance and pension fell short of targets by the most significant margins. Point of Sale (POS) terminals and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) showed the least progress among channels.”

In its exposure draft titled ‘National Financial Inclusion Strategy Refresh’, the CBN said it would collaborate with the deposit money banks and other stakeholders in accelerating the implementation of the NFIS. It was in the programme’s comatose stage that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele’s second tenure began in June 2019.

Emefiele promised to accelerate the NFIS towards achieving 95 per cent inclusion by 2024.

“Over the next five years, through initiatives and policy measures such as the Shared Agent Network (SANEF) and the payment service banks, we intend to broaden access to financial services to individuals in underserved parts of the country. Our ultimate objective is to ensure that 95 percent of eligible Nigerians have access to financial services by 2024”, Emefiele assured.

Six months into his second term, the Covid-19 pandemic struck, creating a crisis that resulted in the total lockdown of the economy.

However, remarkable progress had been made at the time Covid-19 pandemic occurred in January 2020. There were concerns that the crisis might create a hitch in financial inclusion tempo, especially among the POS operators across the country.

The POS operators belong to the Mobile Money/Agent Banking group that constitutes a chunk of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) – the engine of the economy. As a result of the uncertainty that surrounded their business at the time, there were concerns that the Covid-19 impact might boost or mar efforts in actualizing the 95 per cent financial inclusion target by 2024.

Experts who expressed this concern focused on the twin grave impacts of the situation: global crisis of a health pandemic and economic shrink from prolonged lockdown. Besides harming the livelihoods of the low-income population globally, they pointed to a long, dark tunnel of devastating economic uncertainty. Covid-19 “is an unparalleled global macro-economic shock of uncertain magnitude and duration. The uncertainty is what makes it so very dangerous,” said Financial Inclusion Advocacy Centre (FIAC) of UK in a report last June.

FINDINGS, OUTCOME It is, therefore, imperative to ascertain the impact of the global pandemic on POS transactions. This is against the backdrop that the crisis disrupted business activities and created huge economic setback. Focus is on the first three quarters of 2020: January-March (Q1) before lockdown; April-June (Q2) during lockdown; and July-September (Q3) after lockdown – when gradual relaxation of restrictions was effected. This is against the backdrop of rising confirmed case of the pandemic which hit global peak of 45.24 million and death toll of 1.18 million as of October 31, 2020. Nigeria recorded 62,964 with 1,146 deaths during the period, representing 1.8 per cent of confirmed cases across the country.

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Transaction volume of 138.62 million in the first quarter did not record significant change in second quarter of 2020, hit by the Covid-19 lockdown. The figure for second quarter was 138.65 million, showing severe impact of the lockdown on businesses

This can be deduced from the number of POS terminals registered and deployed during the periods under review. While transactions Value and Volume showed no increase in the second quarter of 2020 which was the peak of the lock down, the numbers of POS registered and deployed rose from 965,589 and 918,456 to 1,488,711 million and 1,130,379 million, representing 54.17 and 23.2 per cent respectively.

When compared with the corresponding period of the preceding year, POS registered and deployed showed 55.0 per cent and 47.77 raise per cent: from 2.7 million to 4.17 million and 2.16 million to 3.12 million, respectively.

The aftermath of the pandemic crisis tremendously added a fillip to the alternative payment channel and became a boost to financial inclusion. The renewed vigour indicates a rapid drive of the financial inclusion project, according to reports by the NIBSS, during and after the peak of the Covid-19-induced lockdown.

It is a good sign that POS transactions did not suffer any setback of considerable dimension arising from the crisis. This suggests that a greater number of people are embracing the POS as alternative payment system. It is also an indication that the poor service delivery of the banks’ ATM terminals most of the time, forced financial services consumers to patronize the POS operators.

Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows that POS plays a key role in driving the financial inclusion strategy.

The alternative payment channel has maintained an exponential growth in the past four years – in value, volume, registration and deployment. THEWILL findings revealed that Covid-19 crisis had mixed impacts on POS facilities – minimal in the aspects of transaction in volume and value only. But there was overall accelerated tempo.

Again, the drive for urban-rural migration added to the city pressure.

This is compounded by pollution, high cost of living, dwindling income-generating opportunities, multiple taxation, traffic jam and other social pressure. All these contribute to forcing people to look homewards. The increased in local businesses creates opportunity for POS transactions which dot shops and other premises in the rural areas. This is on the heels of banks de-emphasizing rural bank branches which used to be the trend some decades ago.

Analysis of the findings showed that POS transactions Value which recorded N1.009 trillion in the first quarter of 2020, dropped by N32 billion to N976.91 billion in the second quarter during lockdown, representing 3.17 per cent; to climb by N223 billion to N1.20 trillion in the third quarter or 22.82 per cent. The N3.18 trillion total transaction Value for three quarters of 2020 was 83 per cent compered to N1.74 trillion in the corresponding period of 2019.

The NBISS in its 2020 half year report stated that POS transactions which hit N1.64 trillion in the first five months of 2020 was the highest in four years. The value of transactions done across POS channels in Nigeria increased from N1.14 trillion recorded between January and May 2019 to N1.64 trillion within the same period in 2020.

Transaction Volume of 138.62 million in the first quarter did not record significant change in second quarter of 2020 hit by the Covid-19 lockdown. The figure for second quarter was 138.65 million showing severe impact of the lockdown on businesses.

Most businesses that use POS for transactions were forced to shut down their operations and close their physical offices following the restriction of movement ordered by the government.

However, activities picked up in the third quarter with transactions Volume hitting 162.62 million – a difference of 23.97 million representing 17.38 per cent rise. Total Volume for the three quarters was 400 million as against 289 million for the corresponding period of 2019 representing 38 per cent upward trend. The rise was occasioned by the return of most businesses and companies to the normal working hours attended before the coronavirus outbreak.

Findings also showed that many people resorted to POS business as alternative activity to sustain their means of livelihood hit by the lockdown.

The report implies that the total value of transactions from POS machines rose by N500 billion, which represents a 43.8 per cent increase in five months. The total volume of POS transactions also increased from 152.6 million to 228.86 million within the period under review. This indicates that the volume increased by 76.26 million, or 49.9 per cent.

A Labour Economist, Benneth Ujah, told THEWILL that rising rate of unemployment is forcing many Nigerians within the labour force to look for alternative means of livelihood aside paid employment.

“This shutdown caused the steady growth in demand for alternative payment, which POS business has benefited from. Mobile Money and Agent Banking operators, as small businesses, will respond to the situation naturally”, he said.

Evidently, the Covid-19 pandemic impact has created rapid expansion in PoS transactions. The contribution of PoS channel to the mobile money and agent banking sub-sector is significant in facilitating the financial inclusion initiative.

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BUSINESS NEWS Equity Market Loses N391bn In One Week

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nvestors in Nigeria’s equity market lost N391 billion in the second week of March ended Friday March 5, 2021 as trading ended on a negative note. The NSE ASI depreciated -0.12 per cent to close 38,648.48 as against 38,697.17 recorded on the previous trading of Thursday March 11.

Market capitalization closed N20.221 trillion on Friday down 0.12 per cent against N20.246 trillion on Thursday. Friday’s market capitalization (N20.221 trillion ) was N391 billion less than N20.612 trillion recorded on the first trading day of the week on Monday. NSE ASI lost 699.4 basis points as at Friday against 39,396.57 on Monday.

A total of 293,970,400 shares in 3,760 deals, corresponding to a market value of NGN 3,769,759,464.28, were traded at the end of the last weekday Friday. Compared with the previous trading day (Thursday, March 11), Friday’s data shows 74 per cent improvement in volume, 78 per cent improvement in turnover, and 5 per cent improvement in deals.

A total of 17 gainers and 23 losers were recorded. Regency Alliance Insurance Co. led the gainers table while Skye Shelter Fund led the losers pack.

L-R: Representative of International Visitor Leadership Program, Mr. Joseph Iorwuese; Sole Administrator, Ekiti State Waste Management Authority, Mr. Bayo Kelekun; Executive Secretary, Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, Mrs. Agharese Onaghise, and a Team Member, Mr. Taiwo Adewale, during the official flag-off of Ekiti State Recycling Project in Ado-Ekiti on 19/3/2021

GT Bank Posts N238.1bn Pre-Tax Profit, Customer Deposits Soar 38.6% T

ier-1 lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, recorded a profit before tax of N238.1 billion for its full year ended December 31, 2020. This represents a growth of 2.8 percent over N231.7 billion in the corresponding period of 2019.

lender in its 30-year history.

Amid unprecedented challenges occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemics, customers’ deposits increased to N3.509 trillion in December 2020 from N2.533 trillion in 2019 representing a 38.6 percent increase.

These facts were contained in the Group’s Audited Financial Results for the year ended December 31, 2020 released to the Nigerian and London Stok Exchanges.

The Group’s Loan book (Net) grew by 10.7 per cent from N1.502 trillion in December 2019 to N1.633 trillion in December 2020, suggesting the bank’s active participation in growing the economy that slid into recession in Q3 2020.

Gross earnings climbed to N455.230 billion up from N435.307 billion, equivalent to a 4.6 per cent growth.

GT Bank will pay shareholders a final dividend per share of N2.70 for 2020, having paid an interim dividend of N0.30 during the year in a move that will culminate in the biggest dividend payout for the

That implies a total of N88.294 billion to rewarding shareholders for the last financial year.

Commenting on the financial results, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said; “2020 was arguably the most challenging year that the world has faced in decades. In such unprecedented times, we sought to live out the full extent of our values; safeguarding lives and livelihoods for our people, our customers and across the communities where we operate.

“We were on solid footing going into 2020; the strength, scale and liquidity of our balance sheet, coupled with the quality of our past decisions and the efficacy of our digital-first customercentric strategy gave us the resilience and flexibility to navigate the economic shocks and market volatility that dominated the year.”

NNG Convener Lists Nigeria’s Four Major Challenges

Airtel Africa To Explore Potential Listing Of Mobile Money Business

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irtel Africa has announced the signing of an agreement under which The Rise Fund, the global impact investing platform of leading alternative investment firm TPG, will invest $200 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airtel Africa Plc. The AMC BV is currently the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations; and is now intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries.

The Transaction values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65 billion on a cash and debt free basis. The Rise Fund will hold a minority stake in AMC BV upon completion of the Transaction, with Airtel Africa continuing to hold the remaining majority stake.

The Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including necessary regulatory filings and approvals, as necessary, and the inclusion of specified mobile money business assets and contracts into AMC BV. The Transaction is the latest step in the Group’s pursuit of strategic asset monetization and investment opportunities, and it is the aim of Airtel Africa to explore the potential listing of the mobile money business within four years.

The Group is in discussions with other potential investors in relation to possible further minority investments into Airtel Money, up to a total of 25% of the issued share capital of AMC BV. There can be no certainty that a transaction will be concluded or as to the final terms of any transactions. The proceeds from the Transaction will be used to reduce Group debt and invest in network and sales infrastructure in the respective operating countries

Union Bank Profit Dips N1.2bn In 2020

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he convener, New Nigeria Group (NNG), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa has listed what he described as the four major challenges to the development and rapid transformation of the country just as he proffered solutions for them.

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Earlier in his speech, the national coordinator of the group, the Rev Okechukwu Obioha insisted that emergence of the next president of the country in 2023 from the South East geopolitical zone has become a necessity.

nion Bank of Nigeria has reported a drop in 2020 profit by N1.203 billion. The audited financials of the bank published by the Nigerian Stock Exchange showed gross earnings declined 3.75 per cent to N160.292 billion from N166.545 billion a year earlier. A surge in total expenses by 10.5 per cent from N71.017 billion to N78.467 billion hurt earnings.

Ohuabunwa stated this when he hosted the South East for President 2023 which has mounted pressure on him to run for the presidency in 2023 at his country home, Arochukwu in Arochukwu local government area.

“To achieve our goal, we intend working at persuading like minds across the country to support our vision just like we have supported presidential candidates from the other zones in the past to succeed,” he related.

Profit before income tax climbed 4.5 per cent from N24.844 billion to N25.974 billion. But a sharp rise in Union Bank’s loss from discontinued operations net of tax as well as income tax spend contracted its full year profit.

He said the challenges are poverty, corruption, injustice, and insecurity, saying addressing them requires a commuted and an unbiased leader, who understands the situation at hand and has the capacity to tackle them.

Obiora, who argued that emergence of the president from the zone will amount to justice and equity in the polity, added that sharing of political offices had been existing in the country since it gained independence in 1960.

The loss resulted from the tier 2 lender discontinued operations of ‘subsidiaries held for sale in line with the bank’s divestment plan.’

Union Bank is about consummating sale of Union Bank UK and is currently awaiting regulatory approval.

Appreciating the group for the confidence they reposed in him and for the call, the pharmacist assured them that he will heed the call in the belief that God had apportioned a role for him to play in repositioning the country.

“We, therefore, want to appeal to the major political party, especially the ruling APC and the PDP to cede their presidential tickets for the election to the zone. We have enough credible candidates for the office,” the minister added.

Profit after tax shrank by 6.1 per cent from N19.875 billion to N18.672 billion.

FROM OKKEY UCHENNA, UMUAHIA

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Shareholders fund edged up by 4.7 per cent from N252.342 billion to N264.318 billion.

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NEWS Vaccination: Udom Pleads For Understanding

UDEME UTIP, UYO he governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has applauded scientists and researchers behind the manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines within a short time.

The governor who gave the applause during the official flag off of Covid-19 vaccination at the Government House, Uyo, encouraged citizens especially those in critical sectors to openly embrace the ongoing vaccination in the country.

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Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River State (M); Deputy Governor of the state, Prof. Ivara Esu (4th L); Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi (4th R), Registrar of the University, Mr Gabriel Egbe (R) and others, during a courtesy visit to the Governor in Calabar on 18/3/21.

Obaseki Canvasses Agricultural Development for Sustainable Growth

BY AYO ESAN overnor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has charged governments at all levels to prioritise agriculture and adequately harness the untapped potentials of the sector to fast-track economic growth and development.

Obaseki stated this when he received the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri, who was on a courtesy visit to Government House in Benin City.

The governor noted: “We want to thank your ministry for the collaboration that we have enjoyed. You know that Edo is very uniquely positioned as you have said, especially in the area of tree crops.

“We have the benefit of hosting two Federal Government research institutes in the area of rubber and cocoa. For us, we are moving agriculture back to what it should be; not as social service, but as a business. We understand that our future lies more in agriculture.

“Yes, we have oil and gas; we were better off when we relied solely on agriculture in the 1950s and 60s. So, what we have done as a state is to find how we can intervene and change the paradigm.

“Government’s key role is to enable the citizens to undertake meaningful and profitable agriculture by creating an enabling environment for them to do so. The enabling environment we mean is by making sure that people have

access to land.”

He continued: “I am pleased to assure you that if you apply for land today in Edo for residential purposes or agriculture, within 60 days, your C of O will be ready. We have also come to the realization that the key to agriculture is manpower and research.

“We have restructured agricultural institutions to train manpower; we have restructured the Edo State College of Agriculture into three campuses across the three senatorial districts of the state.

“We are taking advantage of some federal government programmes particularly the scheme promoted by the Central Bank of Nigeria. We also have a programme called the Edo State Oil Palm Production Programme where we are putting almost a hundred thousand hectares of land for production of oil palm.”

Earlier, Shehuri noted, “I am aware of the potentials of Edo State in the production of rice, cassava and maize. Edo State is a clear leader in palm oil and rubber production and of recent the cocoa production in the state has come up to rival other states.”

He further commended the governor for focusing on agriculture and providing rural development to support communities in the state, noting that the Federal Government is very much aware of all his agricultural programmes in the state.

BY DAVID AMOUS - OWEI

kingdom in the INC,CITRE and other pan- Ijaw affairs.

ommunities of Kerebiri Mein kingdom of Bomadi council area of Delta State have protested what they alleged was non-inclusiveness and deprivation by the traditional umbrella body of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, the Conference of Ijaw Taditional Rulers and Elders Forum with the connivance of lawmakers.

They restated that the acts perpetrated by the Akugbene Mein kingdom were capable of breaching the peace in the two separate, autonomous kingdoms.

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The governor who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, maintained that vaccines have over the years provided protection against non-treatable diseases even as he assured of the safety of the AstraZeneca Vaccine, adding that no report of life-threatening side effect has so far been recorded in the country.

He said; “I want to assure the people of Akwa Ibom State that the vaccines have been put through conventional safety and quality assurance processes and was largely approved

by WHO and other relevant bodies ” We started administration of the vaccine on health workers and I want to assure you that we have not got any report of life-threatening side effect”. he assured Recall that the state government on March 10, 2021, took delivery of 69,030 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the Federal Government.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health Prof. Augustine Umoh declared that the vaccination was the last hope against non-treatable diseases and viruses.

He urged the people to step up the speed by accepting the vaccination as a means to control spread as well as protect themselves against contracting the virus.

Prof Umoh listed those at first line charge of vaccination, based on the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency arrangement, to include; Frontline health workers, other health workers, opinion leaders, top government functionaries, security personnel and senior citizens.

Highpoints of the event was the vaccination of the representative of the governor and Secretary to State Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem and other top government functionaries as well as security chiefs.

Ijaw Communities Finger NASS, State Lawmakers In Communal Crises

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The communities in a letter addressed to the CITRE which was made available to newsmen in Yenagoa during the last meeting of the CITRE, dated March 16, noted that the protest was necessitated by the non recognition of the kingdom by the constitution of the umbrella Justice Francis Tabai’s led Ijaw National Congress, INC. The letter which was signed by Chief Clement Tikpa,Secretary of the Kerebiri Mein kingdom, alleged that following their non inclusiveness by the INC an alien kingdom, Akugbene Mein has been usurping and appropriating roles and functions originally meant for their

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Speaking to newsmen shortly after their protest letter to the meeting of the CITRE, the trio of Chiefs Clement Tikpa,Ordley Oyindoubra and Barr.Francis Omoko called on the leadership of the Ijaw nation, Governors Douye Diri of Bayelsa and Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta states to hold the trio of Senator James Manager, Representative Nicholas Mutu and Hon. Kenneth Preyor responsible in the event that the crises escalates.

The trio alleged that the three names identified by the kingdom were the Federal and state legislators representing the constituencies of the feuding areas.

The people alleged that despite repeated pleadings made by the Kerebiri Mein kingdom, the lawmakers failed to intervene in containing the problems facing the communities.

The kingdom described the attempts by the Akugbene Mein kingdom as surreptitious, incessant oppression and intimidation, saying it was highly provocative, just as they noted that if not urgently handled might escalate to a crisis situation.

THEWILL recalls that both Kerebiri Mein and Akugbene Mein kingdoms were Ijaw clans situated in parts in Bomadi and Burutu council areas of Delta state respectively.

It was in a bid to finding lasting peace amongst factions in the INC ,the conference of the Ijaw Traditional Rulers and Elders Forum, CITRE convened a meeting in Yenagoa capital of Bayelsa state during the previous week.

However, due to the suspension of the market election, traders used the occasion to hold market convention whereby the embattled Chairman accounted for his stewardship for the passing year without rancour nor any form of opposition.

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INSIDE:

•Popular Lagos Entrepreneurs, Adenike Balogun, Masidat Kasim At Daggers Drawn Over N120,000 40 •Breakup Rumour Trails Chioma Akpotha’s Marriage 41 THEWILLNIGERIA

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SEYE KEHINDE The Last Man Standing

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Journalism, Way Of Life For Me - Seye Kehinde

When you talk about soft-sell magazines in Nigeria today, two names quickly register – City People Magazine, the brand and Seye Kehinde, the founder and publisher of the brand. Not only is City People behind the success stories of many entertainers, the magazine is responsible for the visibility most businesses and important personalities across banking, politics, etc. enjoy today. At a time when all soft-sell magazine in Nigeria have either gone under or embraced online publishing fully, Seye Kehinde has managed to remain dogged with his vision to serve never-before-heard quality gossips and jists that make toes curl. As the magazine clocks 25 years, Seye Kehinde speaks to THE WILL’s Entertainment and Society Editor, IVORY UKONU, about some of the things that have kept him going and helped him to stay afloat.

How does it feel being the only soft-sell magazine still in the publishing business?

I can only say it is the grace of God actually. I don’t want to lay claim to one strategy or one principle. That we’re still in business, it’s just the grace of God and the fact that one has remained focused on what we’re are doing and all that.

Definitely, challenges will come but I try to find ways around.

City People is like a school of journalism of some sort for the entertainment and society beat. A lot of great journalists have passed through this brand and have gone on to do great things.

Yes, that’s the good thing about it. I never even knew of it until one day when I went for a program and comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, who was the anchor of the event said I should stand up for recognition. He came up with something similar to what you said and it just dawned on me that so many people of note today have passed through City People.

He mentioned specific names and I was like haaa! So, that humbled me. I was like if this is the situation then one has to keep at it and do things that will continue to make the product to stay afloat.

With this in mind, are you thinking of setting up a school

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Seye Kehinde

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ity People magazine is 25 years old this year. When do you hope to hold the grand celebration?

It’s going to be a one-year celebration. It began on January 1st and we’re going to be having different activities to celebrate it till December. It is basically a way of helping the product because if we decide to just pick a date to celebrate, once the party is over, that’s the end of it. I didn’t want that. You realize that with the challenges of publishing these days and all that, you need to look for something to use to galvanize interest around the product. So, I felt that republishing our old editions, looking back at celebrities, where they are now, what they are doing now, is enough content for one year if done properly. So, for me if the product takes some positive vibe from the celebration, I think I’m fulfilled.

of journalism specializing in that beat?

I’ve actually been thinking of it for a while now and there’s a friend of mine who keeps stressing me about it. It is prophetic that you’re raising it again. It’s something I want to do because I also realize that there’s a need for it right now and there are basic things that we know that we need to pass on to the younger generation and the new generation coming in which they don’t teach at Harvard Business School.

How would you describe your job as a journalist?

It has become a way of life. I remember in those days, before Dele Giwa died, he used to call NewsWatch a way of life.

With this kind of job, your whole life is attached to it.

How did journalism start for you?

My dad made me become interested in it because he was a civil servant and, in those days, senior civil servants usually come home with newspapers and I realized that he used to pay so much attention to reading the papers. So, it got me wondering, what’s this thing all about. So, I picked an interest and started reading. Then near where we lived in Ibadan, Tribune Newspaper was there just like in our neighborhood.

So, one day, I took a walk there and I met the editor and told him I wanted to be contributing opinion articles. He agreed.

I was studying History and Political Science at that time.

I’d pick topics and just write about them. When the first and second article got published, I was so excited because Tribune for me was like a power house in the South West. If you got published in Tribune, then, it means you’re doing something great. So, that was how my interest developed. Then of course, the next phase was when I met the likes of Dele Giwa when he started Newswatch. At that time, I just knew that journalism was it for me. When I asked to do my internship with Newswatch, I was nearly sent back. All I wanted to do was hang around because Newswatch was really hot then.

After Newswatch, I went back to school. I was hoping to come and work with them but Dele Giwa’s death changed all of that for me. I went back to Ilorin to serve. Immediately I landed in Ilorin, I went straight to Herald. That was the only paper they had at that time there and it was a government paper. So, I walked in there again, introduced myself to the guys there and I started writing opinion articles for them every Tuesday. But my real primary assignment was at Kwara Polytechnic where I got a lecturing job to lecture History and once I finished with them, I’ll go to Herald. After that, I came back to Lagos and joined African Confidential. After a year, I left for District, stayed there for three years. While I was there, my friends who were in African Concord said I should join them especially with my profile. So, I went to African concord where I met a lot of brilliant guys and became a part THEWILLNIGERIA

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of them. Then, of course, came the big issue of when African Concord was shut down because of a story we wrote and the fact that the Head of State at that time, Ibrahim Babangida, said we should apologise for the story.

What was the story?

It was a special edition we did on Nigeria. IBB had made a remark, something like, he doesn’t know why Nigeria is still working, Nigeria is on auto drive or something and we ran with it. We examined it economically, politically etc. He didn’t like the article and so he shut African Concord down.

So the owner of Concord at that time, Chief MKO Abiola, went to meet him and he said that unless we beg him and we all write letters of apology, he wouldn’t reopen African Concord. MKO told the leader of our team, Bayo Onanuga, what IBB said and Bayo said, there’s no way we were going to apologise as most of what we wrote had statistics to back up our article on how the economy has been going down and all of that. The businessman in Abiola was like, ‘let’s just beg him and let them open it.’ But we refused. Eventually, all nine of us resigned since we weren’t ready to apologise.

And this is despite Abiola being IBB’s friend, ironically Yes, ironically. He went to Aso Rock and asked IBB, “your guys have closed Concord, what is the problem?” He said he wasn’t aware but will find out and get back to him. Abiola was like, “How can your guys close down African Concord and you’re not aware?’ It was after applying a bit of pressure on IBB he now said unless a written apology was given to him by us, he wasn’t going to reopen it. Abiola told him he doesn’t work in Concord, he just owns it and he can’t determine what his employees write.

“

City People’s idea came while I was still in school.

Because of History and political science which I was studying I had to read a lot of books about very prominent people. I found them very interesting and that also fired something in me

After we left Concord, a few of us, to keep body and soul together, had to work with African Guardian. After a while, we left and started TheNews Magazine.

Immediately, it came on the street, the same government banned it and wanted us arrested because they felt we were radicals and we didn’t want to listen to government instructions and all that. So, we went underground. Thereafter came Tempo and from Tempo, I left to set up City People.

So, it’s been a lot of moving from one media house to another.

You got tired from moving from one media house to another and decided to set up City People?

No. City People’s idea came while I was still in school. Because of History and Political Science which I was studying I had to read a lot of books about very prominent people. I found them very interesting and that also fired something in me. At some point, I used to have a friend in school then who sort of nudged me in that direction. Also, I found interesting, the stories in the existing soft sell magazines at that time. I started developing interest in them. So, one day, I brought out a sheet of paper and designed how City People will look like, taking a cue from the existing soft sells at that time. After designing, I now asked myself, what next? I just folded the paper and kept it, hoping that someday, it will be useful.

After school, when I hanged out with that my friend for drinks, I’ll be the one to tell him about what’s going on in his own sector, banking, things about Fola Adeola, Tayo Aderinokun…. and he was like, ‘you’re not in my sector, how come you know so much?’ I realised that I have a knack for knowing about things happening around. My friend asked me to put something together. But I knew that to set up a paper in Nigeria is expensive. I didn’t have the resources and to raise money from people is stressful. So, I let it slide again.

My friend kept pushing me, saying I’m cut out for this thing.

I started thinking about it seriously and to take care of the no resources issue, I decided to start with a 16-page black and white. This is despite the fact that other papers were now introducing colour.

How was the black and white received?

Instant success. Initially, we thought that the market might not receive it well and we did 500 copies with just Lagos market in mind and it got exhausted. We increased it to 1000 and by the third edition, we had vendors coming in from Ibadan to come carry papers themselves. It was then clear that we needed to expand our scope and we extended it to South West and then Port Harcourt and Abuja. It was actually the market that drove us to those areas. The initial concept was just a Lagos based weekly that’ll talk about people.

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achievement running City People?

The fact that it started as a dream or passion and how I’ve been able to turn it to a reality and it has continued to be a reality. Everything was like an experiment. So, we were moving from one phase to another and that gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Journalism is no longer what it used to be. Things have changed. The younger ones are not ready to put in the work. Why do you think this is so and what do you think should be done to rectify this?

Taking it back to schools, most of the courses that used to be taught at that time are no longer being taught. History for instance got removed from the curriculum and with the larger society, everybody began to chase money and the aspiring journalist who is still in school is thinking, ‘how do I drive this car by the time I leave school?’ and attention stopped being paid to hard work. Also, the fact that Rome was not built in a day, you have to pay your dues. I must admit that journalism has suffered a draught. All the good journalists are now outside journalism and the corporate world benefitted from that. Suddenly, there’s a big vacuum and how do you fill out with the new set of people who are coming in and not ready to work? There’s a crisis facing the media. To that extent, there’s no gatekeeping. I think the professionals should pay attention to rebuilding the media. It’s going to be a conscious thing and not just hoping that it will change.

The practitioners, gatekeepers, editors and even the owners of existing publications must consciously find a way to bring back good hands and ensure that structures are built and those coming in are encouraged to do proper journalism because these days, a lot of people get carried away with frivolities and everybody is now a journalist with a phone without paying attention to the rudiments of journalism. That’s the right thing we can do about it.

Even practicing journalists are part of this problem Yes. Some of them also don’t show good examples because if you call yourself a professional journalist and you’re doing a thousand and one things, the ones coming after will want to live the same lifestyle by paying more attention to themselves than the job.

Perhaps it’s because we are old school I guess, because as journalists, you are not supposed to promote yourself, celebrate yourself. But all of that has changed now and it is the new way of doing things that the new generations see and they’re trying to be like.

Have you been tempted to call it quits in 25 years?

I won’t say yes and I won’t say no. Why I won’t say yes is that from day one, I had it at the back of my mind that there was no going back. I knew that failure is not an option and that I would rather drown with my vision. So, each challenge that I had, I always see it as a stepping stone to the next level.

There have been frustrating times and I started with little funding and that made it a little difficult. It’s like eating from hand to mouth. In all of this, it’s been the grace of God and some personalities that came my way. Some of them will give me a token and say, ‘you can add this to whatever you have.’

We came in when Abacha was the Head of State and things were tough and tight and we were also scared of the stories to write. That has been the story.

City People organizes several award ceremonies. What’s the idea behind having all of these awards?

When we started City People, some people came to us to say, ‘you guys are always criticizing us, can’t you also applaud and identify people who are doing well and celebrate them?’

It was actually the second year of City People coming on. So, the first thing we did was to set up City People’s Award for Excellence and that was like the major thing and after a while, I just realized that it couldn’t take care of certain sectors like the entertainment industry, the fashion industry, the beauty industry, real estate etc. So we came up with these awards to accommodate them.

So far, what would you say has been your greatest

If you have to do it all over again, journalism, publishing, would you tow this same path?

Of course, I will. For me, I still don’t see what I do as a job, I see it as a past time. In the first instance, I don’t have a working schedule. Once I wake up, I start work and when I’m tired, I close.

For me, it’s like a way of life. To that extent, I don’t get frustrated if I don’t get things. done or when I’m faced with challenges. So, I don’t have any regret and I’ll do it all over again. If I had set out to do it because of money, I’ll probably leave it for something else that will bring me bigger money except if what you do is borne out of interest and passion. I can work for two days and not get tired because I enjoy what I do and what I do has become part of me.

Your children are not particular about journalism. Do you have a succession plan?

Well, I’m hoping one of them will be interested in...

You are hoping?

Yes, because I know it’s difficult and when they see what I go through, they get discouraged because they’ve also read about how difficult it is to sustain a publication in Nigeria and of course they belong to the new generation of sit down and be ‘taken kiaroff’. It’s not even about them, it’s about their generation. They believe there’s no money in journalism. So, they would rather go the advertising or Public Relations way. I found that out when they were still in school when I ask some of their friends if they are coming into journalism, they say no and I ask why, they say there’s no money in journalism. And that’s also part of the problem. Journalism has, to be able to attract the young people sufficiently enough to want to build a career in it.

Being a workaholic, how do you let off steam?

Well, three things. One, when I’m at home I just gist about other things. That helps me a bit to get my mind off work.

When I go for parties and events, I love to go to parties and gist with people and just let off steam. I am also trying to add exercise because I know it’s very important in this day and age. You need to work out, engage in sports. For me, it’s the ultimate way of letting off stress.

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STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

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Dbanj Reconciles With Former Manager, Bankuli

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igerian music producer, artist manager, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Bankulli has reconciled with Dapo Oyebanji, more popularly known as Dbanj, almost a decade after parting ways with him as his manager during the days of Mo’Hit. Bankulli just like Dbanj, is as gifted they come as he has worked with the likes of Kanye West, Beyonce and Jay Z. His issue with Dbanj began in 2019 when during an interview, he had revealed how Dbanj during the Mo’Hits days, met Kanye West at an airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. According to him, they approached Kanye and Bankuli introduced himself and Dbanj. They played him some of Dbanj’s music and told him about plans to catch up with Snoop Dogg to which he told them to meet him up in New York.

Apparently irked by the interview he granted an online TV, Dbanj accused Bankuli of lying and urged him to start telling the truth.

But Bankulli fired back at D’Banj. He wondered what truth Dbanj was looking for at the stage he was in life and advised him to keep his energy for his failing career and loved ones. Still not done, he allegedly accused Dbanj of doing drugs and advised him to stop as it would only worsen his case. He called him a shining prospect who frittered it away with his bad character. He added that it wasn’t too late to seek forgiveness, to look inward and change his lifestyle, to stop lying to himself that all is well and to go back to the source (apparently Don Jazzy) so that all can be well with him.

“You have done so much evil to many people that we both know and today I speak for them all,” he concluded.

But all that anger has now been resolved. The duo linked up this past week in Accra Ghana where they both buried the hatchet and settled their differences.

to demand for her money. She blocked the entrance of the café and a little scuffle ensued between Masidat and the police. Both parties got invited to the police station to get the matter resolved. It turned out that Adenike has a standard 14 days policy for repayment but rather than wait for the 14 days, she transferred N90,000 out of the N120,000 to Masidat when Masidat began to foment trouble, leaving an outstanding N30,000 which was paid to Adenike from

by Masidat’s friend. Adenike insisted that Masidat gets a signed note from the person which she must present before the money can be refunded. But Masidat told Adenike that she had paid the person from her own account already and insisted that she should be paid the N30,000 since she’s paid it and she sent in evidence of the payment. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen which was why Masidat went to Café de Flores to block their gate. The matter was eventually resolved by the police, with the balance N30,000, paid and Masidat made to apologise to Adenike. She was also made to pull down all of her offensive posts to Adenike.

DBanj

How Oxygen Machine Became Late Sadiq Daba’s Companion Months Before Death

Daba

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eteran actor and broadcaster, Sadiq Daba, may be dead and long buried, but his life and times will continue to resonate with lovers of his work for a long time to come.

Unknown to many, in 2020, Daba’s health had deteriorated to a level where he had to always appear on the set of Citation, the last movie he featured in before his death, with an oxygen machine. This much was revealed by the movie’s producer, Kunle Afolayan who worked with the late broadcaster on several projects. Afolayan revealed that even while filming October 1, the first Nollywood movie Daba featured in after a long spell from acting, it was such a struggle as he would be so sick sometimes the cast and crew would have to wait for him to regain his strength. This was despite reservations from some quarters. But Afolayan insisted. Daba died on March 3rd as a result of complications from a protracted battle with leukemia and prostate cancer at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). He also won the Africa Movies Academy Awards, AMAA for best actor for his role as Inspector Waziri in the movie October 1.

Bankuli

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t has been a show of shame these past few days on social media as Adenike Balogun, a popular Lagos serial entrepreneur and Masidat Kasim, another entrepreneur both threw caution to the winds and openly vilified themselves over a paltry sum of N120,000. Adenike on one hand runs Cafe de Flore, Maggie’s Fleur Box, Diamond Ink Luxury Events and the famous Tea Room Lagos, all located on Lagos island. Masidat Kasim on the other hand runs Pink Diva store, a fashion boutique with branches in Ikeja, Lagos and Ibadan, Oyo State. Trouble began when Adenike advertised a small event to take place at Café de Flore. The event was supposed to have an outdoor cinema. Believing it would be a fun outing for herself and her friends, Masidat made reservations for four people and paid N90,000 for three people at N30,000 each.

Her friend, the fourth person made a direct transfer of N30,000 to Adenike’s account. Her four sisters not wanting to be left out asked that she helps them make reservations as well. When Masidat told Adenike about four more seats, she was told the outdoor cinema would no longer feature if they weren’t up to 10. Now this was contrary to the service advertised and which got her interested enough in the first place to pay. When Masidat asked why it wasn’t stated that an outdoor cinema won’t be available if she was turning up with less than 10 people, Adenike got all rude, replying that she doesn’t own a cinema and insisting that if the group wasn’t up to 10 people, there won’t be any cinema. Masidat then requested for a refund since this condition wasn’t stated earlier in the advertised service, besides she was only notified of the new terms and condition an hour after she paid. Unfortunately, Adenike refused to refund Masidat’s money. This got Masidat all riled up and she took to social media to call out Adenike for refusing to refund her money. Both of them went for each other’s jugular, calling each other unprintable names too vile to be published here. She called Adenike a chronic debtor saying that if others were comfortable with leaving their money with her for fear of attracting unnecessary attention to themselves, even after offering them bad or nonexistent service, she wasn’t going to let that happen to her as she was ready to go as low as possible to retrieve her money.

While this played out, quite a few others used the opportunity to relay their own terrible experience in the hands of Adenike who has to tried to come off as a member of the upper echelon who provides ‘top notch, classy services’ to her patrons. Most of them were in agreement with Masidat’s claim of Adenike being one who bullies her way out of any bad situation she has created for others.

One case that got public attention and readily comes to mind was the wedding of Super Eagles striker, Emmanuel Emenike to his wife, Iheoma Nnadi in 2018. Iheoma had contracted Adenike’s Diamond Ink Events as her wedding planner and had paid hugely for premium service but rather than provide the services she was paid for, in full, Adenike made a mess of Iheoma’s wedding such that a day after the wedding when she should have been at her honeymoon, Iheoma took to social media to call out Adenike. She referred to Adenike as extremely rude, inexperienced, arrogant and one who has no idea how to plan a wedding. She complained of food, drinks getting finished and not going round, mint sellers finding their way into the wedding hall, people’s personal items getting missing, some dishes she paid for not making it to the wedding reception etc. The wedding that was a strictly by invite wedding became an allcomers affair, the décor wasn’t up to standard and body guards lost their guard. This she said happened despite the millions of naira she paid. Unfortunately, Adenike was unapologetic. This infuriated Iheoma all the more as she threatened to drag her to court. The matter was eventually settled.

Back to Adenike’s situation with Masidat Kasim. Adenike got the police from Alagbon involved when Masidat went to Café de Flores

Adenike & Masidat

Popular Lagos Entrepreneurs, Adenike Balogun, Masidat Kasim At Daggers Drawn Over N120,000

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BY SHADE METIBOGUN & JOY ONUORAH

Breakup Rumour Trails Chioma Akpotha’s Marriage

Ogbodo

Uche Ogbodo Fights Stella Dimoko Korkus Dirty Over Pregnancy Tale

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ctress Uche Ogbodo and journalist turned blogger, Stella Dimoko Korkus, are at logger heads. The reason for the altercation between the two who used to be friends, is about a story Stella wrote about the pretty actress. Stella had revealed that the single Nollywood actress has embarked on a nine months course and that the tiny patter of baby’s THEWILLNIGERIA

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feet will soon be heard in her home. Stella revealed that the mother of one is already at the beginning phase of her last trimester but that her baby bump is not yet big enough for many to notice. Stella added that the identity of Uche’s baby daddy is unknown. The news obviously didn’t go down well with Uche who launched a verbal attack on the blogger, calling her “witch” and a “failed journalist”. Uche felt that Stella should have been courteous enough to ask her and seek her permission before reporting the pregnancy since they are both friends rather than announcing something she wanted to keep under wraps.

The news of her pregnancy came weeks after Uche boasted that she was celibate.

According to her, she decided to abstain from sex for two years. And so news of her pregnancy came as a shock to people who thought she was abstaining. Despite being on a movie location, the actress has successfully hidden her pregnancy from the peering eyes of her colleagues and fans because her tummy isn’t big yet. Uche was briefly married to a man named Apo Arthur.

She left the marriage when she was 10 months pregnant having realized that the union was built on lies Today, the product of the brief marriage, a beautiful girl is six years old.

Akpotha

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his is the question on the lips of followers of the fair skinned actress who saw a wedding picture of the delectable actress on social media. However, fan’s inquiring about her marital status didn’t get any response from the serial entrepreneur. The only caption she gave the picture is “This is not today. I just decided to post it today. Thanks everyone for the messages and prayers. God bless you”.

However, the actress still got a lot more people confused when her colleagues, some of who are quite close to her, kept on congratulating her on their own individual social media pages while acknowledging their congratulatory messages individually. But investigations have since revealed that the actress got married secretly a while ago.

According to a reliable source, the actress who got engaged two years ago walked down the aisle earlier this year. It was a hush hush affair such that most of her colleagues were left in the dark about it. The wedding took place outside Lagos State and there was strict adherence to Covid-19 rules making it almost impossible to invite a lot of people. Only a few people family members and those very close to the actress knew about her wedding and they were reportedly sworn to secrecy, not to tell anyone about it. Her husband is said to be a big player in the business world with interests in real estate and some other lucrative ventures.

Africa To The World! Burna Boy, Wizkid Join Sikiru Adepoju, Babatunde Olatunji To Bring Home The Grammy

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he African continent has yet again been done proud following the great and well-deserved win of the Grammys awarded talented afrobeat singers, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu more popularly known as Burna Boy and Ayo Balogun more popularly known as Wizkid during the 63rd annual Grammy Awards Ceremony held on March 14, 2021.

Wizkid

Is Actress Tayo Sobola Truly Married?

Burna Boy

Sobola

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few months ago, rumor had it that beautiful thespian, Chioma Akpotha’s marriage to Franklin, her husband of 15 years had packed up. It was alleged that the mother of two had moved out of their matrimonial home to a rented apartment with her children about a year ago and is already living happily as a single mother. According to close sources, Chioma tried to salvage the situation as best as she could, but when it became obvious that her marriage couldn’t be saved, she let go and moved on. Good enough, they moved on amicably and are taking care of their children as they should. However, despite her marital situation, Chioma has tried to prevent the media spotlight on her marriage and for this reason, has refused to revert to her maiden name or remove her husband’s name from her social media handles as opposed to her colleagues who would have reverted to their maiden names at the slightest hitch. One of her social media handles still has “happy wife and a proud mother” in the bio. But in a recent post on her social media, she was spotted wearing a fashion ring on her ring finger. A very private person and very protective of her family, Chioma has never showed off her children or her husband on social media. Her marriage life has been shrouded in secrecy since she walked down the aisle years back. But in an interview sometime back, she praised her husband to high heavens saying he is the best husband and father of her children. She even stated that not seeing him around her was a mutual agreement to make their marriage private. We hope she patches things up with her husband as she is one of the few actresses who have remained scandal-free despite stardom.

The award meant to recognize spectacular achievement in the music industry was awarded Burna Boy in the Best Global Music Album Category for his album, “Twice As Tall” and Wizkid in the Best Music Video Category for his feature in the “Brown Skin Girl” song

by Beyonce.

Needless to say the Grammy win is unarguably a big win for Nigeria and the African continent as it further shows that the Afrobeat sound is heard and appreciated across the world. More so, it serves as a huge inspiration for other artist on the need to remain focused, consistent and creative as they’re recognised across borders.

Still basking in the euphoria of the win, it is safe to recall and recognize those who have towed this path and earned success by bringing home the exclusive Grammy Award amongst several nominees in the past.

Though late now, Babatude Olatunji was part of Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum projects, including the album, Planet Drum, which won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album of 1991, the first year for which the award was given. A music educator, Olatunji was also an activist who toured America with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Also, in 2008, Sikiru Adepoju, a percussionist and recording artist primarily in the genres of traditional African music took home a Grammy. Adepoju who used to be Ebenezer Obey’s drummer, was also part of Mickey Hart’s group, Global Drum Project, whose title album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 51st annual Grammy Awards.

Other Nigerians who have been nominated but never won are Femi Kuti who has been nominated four times (in 2002, 2009, 2011, and 2013) for a Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category; his halfbrother, Seun Kuti who now leads his father’s former band Egypt 80 and has only been nominated once for the Grammys for his album, Black Times in 2019.

Others are King Sunny Ade who has been nominated for the Grammy twice. His original body of works nominated for the Grammys are, ‘Synchro System’ in 1984 and ‘Odu’ in 1999. Then there is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, award winning Nigerian novelist. She was nominated for a Grammy award for her feministinspired collaboration with Beyonce, on her 2013 track, ‘Flawless’, following her TEDx talk on why ‘We Should All Be Feminists,’ Beyonce incorporated the writer’s essay into her single, which further brought more life to her craft.

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Ex-BBN Star, Erica Nlewedim, Shuts Lagos Island For 27th Birthday Celebration I

BY SHADE METIBOGUN

t was a night of glitz, fun and glamour on Sunday, March 13 when ex Big Brother Naija housemate, Erica Nlewedim, celebrated her most anticipated birthday bash. The star-studded party held at different locations around Lagos.

Here are snippets from the day’s most talked about event.

The pre-event billboards: Days to her birthday, a countdown began with the erection of two cube LED giant billboards at strategic locations on Lagos Island. One was at the Alexander roundabout in Ikoyi and another at Victoria Island/Ikoyi Link bridge. Pictures of the celebrant loomed large on those billboards with inscriptions such as ‘Countdown to world Erica’s day’. That singular gesture gave Lagosians a hint that Erica and her fans, referred to as the ‘Elites,’ meant business.

The parties: There were several parties organized in Erica’s honour on the said day. From a brunch party by her Elite fan club, to another mini party at a brand-new house she unveiled, where singer Praiz serenaded her. Later in the evening, there was an exclusive party held for her at the Sky lounge, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, with an after party at Crossroads located at Eko Hotel and Suites as well.

A kind and worthy gesture: The birthday wasn’t all about her alone as her fans contributed N891,000 to pay for the West Africa Examination Council, WAEC and the National Examination Council, NECO of 54 students in Command Day Secondary School, Ikeja, her alma mata. In addition, a N10,000,000 scholarship was awarded to a student from secondary school up to any private university of his or her choice.

No strict compliance to Covid 19 rules: Even though the day was a huge success, Covid19 protocols were discarded.

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Nlewedim

Only a few complied with the rules.

What’s up with Kiddwaya? Erica‘s ex and former fellow housemate, Kiddwaya, son of wealthy businessman, Terry Waya, also attended the event. He comported himself and kept to himself most of the time. He turned down the celebrant’s request to join her on the dance floor. That didn’t go down well with the celebrant though.

Dasilva-Ajayi

The gifts: Erica was inundated with lots of gifts. She got a three-bedroom flat with a boys’ quarter maisonette in Lekki, an all-expense paid trip to Kenya, $10,000 dollars worth of stocks in Tesla, Amazon, Disney and United Airlines, #500,000 cash gift, a 65 inches smart TV, another 70 inches smart TV, refrigerator, sound system, 27 boxes of real pink and white roses, seven beautifully decorated cakes and so many more wrapped gifts. When it was time for the presentation of the house to her, she was told to cut the ribbon. But sensing something was amiss, she hesitated wondering why, but her fans urged her on and when she did, they told her it was hers. Walking into the house, a few household items were already purchased for the furnishing of the house. At that point, she burst into tears. The keys were handed over to her and she proceeded to sign the documents of the house.

One of Erica’s buggest supporter, Dele Momodu, getting groomed for her party

The guests: Her three parties were star-studded. Besides some of her Big Brother Naija housemates, the guests were mostly made up of socialites. People like media entrepreneur, Dele Momodu, who has been one of her biggest supporters and promoters; Funke Kuti, her manager; fashion designers, Lanre Dasilva Ajayi and Lisa Folawiyo, music producer, Don Jazzy; Master of ceremonies, Denrele Edun; Venita Akpofure, Serwaa Amihere, TV producer, Tola Odunsi, Mercedez Richards etc. She got a huge dose of massive support with their presence.

Eke

The Hollywood themed party: The main party which was held at Sky Lounge, Eko Hotel was an old Hollywood themed party. Guests turned up in the timeless elegance of old Hollywood glam. The celebrant herself, not wanting to be out done by her guests, wowed in dresses by celebrity designers, Lanre DaSilva Ajayi and Tolu Bally for the party.

She later changed for the after party. All her looks were styled by stylist to the stars, Swanky Jerry.

What a show of love: That Erica is well loved can not be over emphasized. Despite the fact that she got disqualified from the reality show, the massive show of love she has received since leaving the house is unprecedented. From all over Africa and beyond, her fans have continued to wish her well and would go over and beyond just to put a smile on her face.

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SHOTS OF THE WEEK PHOTOS: PEACE UDUGBA (08033050729)

Director-General, World Trade Organizations (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (left), during a L-R: Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo; Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri; courtesy visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, at the State House, Abuja. March 16, 2021. Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, at the opening of a three-day Bayelsa Cabinet Retreat at the Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on 18/3/2021

L-R: Wife of Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat; her husband, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Wife of the first civilian governor of the state, Alhaja Abimbola Jakande; Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his wife, Dr. Ibijoke, during a Day of Tribute in celebration of Life and Times of Alhaji Lateef Jakande at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan Stadium, on 17/3/ 2021.

L-R Chioma Ahueze, Operations Manager, Consumer Marketplace, Cars45; Henry Akeru, Telesales Manager, OList; Patricia Duru, Head, Marketing, Lead Management & Marketplace, Cars45; Gbenro Dara, Managing Director, OList, and Mobolaji Odumosu, Head, Technology, Cars45, during the Cars45 and OList partnership agreement signing, held at Cars45 Head Office, in Lagos. 16/3/2021

L-R: Supervisor, Niger Delta Province, Rt. Rev. Blessing Eyinda; Bishop of Owerri Diocese, Rt. Rev. Chukwuma Opara; Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. David Onuoha; Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo L-R: Jennifer Ukoh, Public Relations Manager, GOtv Nigeria; Joseph Ternenge, a GOtv Max State; Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma; Archbishop of the Niger, customer, and Adetunji Beyioku, Senior Marketing Manager, MultiChoice Nigeria, during Most Rev. Alexander Ibezim, and Archbishop of Aba Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Isaac Nwaobia when the the 1st prize presentation ceremony in the ongoing GOtv Awoof Overload promotion held at clergymen paid a courtesy call on Governor Uzodimma at Government House Owerri ahead of a Joint meeting of South East and South South bishops in Owerri 18/3/2021.

MultiChoice Office in Victoria Island, Lagos on March 18, 2021.

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ARTS/BOOK REVIEW

Fraternally Yours

MUSTAFA JAMAL

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Cults and Gangs: Before the Rooster Crows by Cosmas Eze 11, Vicosy Books, 151pp

o week passes without Nigerians reading in the newspapers or seeing on television cult related killings somewhere in Bariga, Ikorodu, Mushin, Port Harcourt or Uyo. There have been gory tales of rival gangs in neighbouring streets attacking one another on revenge missions or spontaneous gang wars resulting in fatalities through direct shootings to the face or back of the head, decapitations and acid baths.

The Black Axe Organization aka Neo Black Movement is the only one whose formation was influenced by the apartheid regime in South Africa.

As the name suggests, the frat’s aim was basically continental. As the author writes, “in solidarity with the oppressed black people of South Africa and in protest against the murder of Steve Biko, a chapter of the anti-apartheid movement, the Neo-Black Movement was formed.”

Last May, the Metro Section of some Nigerian newspapers reported how a rival gang trailed a certain Daniel One aka D1 in a tricycle near his home by Fenton Street in Calabar, hacked him to death with machetes and then hung around long enough to ensure he was dead before leaving.

This time, it was not the premier university but the University of Benin, where Maphites was also formed the following year. Big Vikings, Maphians, Ku Klux and Trojan Horse Organization are some of the confraternities the author writes about in Cults and Gangs, and has the good sense to include one formed by a female confraternity – the Black Bra.

D One’s death, the papers reported, was a result of supremacy struggle between two rival cults (Black Axe and KKK) in the capital of Cross River state.

Recently, Delta State Police Command foiled an attempt by some cult members in a mission to kill one hotelier in Sapele.

All through, the author shows his disdain for cults. Like a modern day Pentecostal evangelist condemning sinners to the pit of hell, Eze has the same message for cult members. A secret cult/ criminal gang, he scoffs, “is a cobweb of bloody intrigues, unholy bonds and sacrilegious alliances, where all is permissible and nothing is forbidden.”

In well-laid out plans you might call an anatomy of a plot starting from Sapele to Port Harcourt, complete with a photograph of the victim, guns bought, oiled and serviced, cash already paid with promises of building houses for the assassins after the job, the victim himself trailed from week to week down to an uncompleted building near his home in Sapele, it all crumbled just when they were about to strike.

And its members, he insists, live “in a world of make believe, a region of stupid fantasy and a universe of insane illusion…whichever direction it is appraised from, either as a member of the phylum of the reptilian or from the state of the deranged personality, the adherent is unwholesome but he is unaware. He believes that he is normal and he is oblivious of the fact that he has been baptized into a family of beasts, a clan of monsters and a village of vampires.”

Fortunately for the hotelier, and for whatever reason, one of them squealed to the authorities whereupon they were all arrested. Nothing, anyone would imagine, could be handier for any serious crime fiction writer looking for materials for a sizeable thriller.

If readers hope to read any of such encounters in this book, they will be disappointed not because the author, Cosmas Eze 11, a senior police officer, has failed in his duties but because he looks at cults from an entirely different perspective – from the time cults, confraternities originated in Nigerian universities. In that sense, there is something to glean from Cults and Gangs: Before the Rooster Crows.

A serving police officer, Eze writes like an insider. He knows his game, giving the reader a blow by blow account of the history of the pioneer confraternities, their organisations, when they founded them and in which institutions of higher learning. (A major flaw older readers would notice right on is the policeman/ author’s lumping together some of the confraternities mentioned in his book.)

For instance, when Wole Soyinka founded, along with six others, the Pyrates Confraternity way back in 1954 at University College Ibadan, it was a union of like-minds meant to fight injustice in whatever guise. There were cases of malpractices aided by lecturers who favoured female students during exams, not unlike the sex-for-grades today in some Nigerian universities.

From that year, confraternities have been formed by either breakaway factions from existing ones or by completely new members and for different reasons. In his tiny book with bullets as part of the illustration, the author avails the reader with all the relevant information about the history of cults in Nigeria.

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“

Like a modern day Pentecostal evangelist condemning sinners to the pit of hell, Eze has the same message for cult members

Also at Ibadan, a second confraternity was formed by a group of 10 students who wished to live unrestricted lives like birds in the air. The year was 1965. The name is Eiye.

Like the first and those that came after, all the frats have their signs and dress code and colours. These are marks of identification supposedly known only to initiates. They also have their unique songs sometime made into anthems, also known only to members to distinguish them from rival fraternities.

The Buccaneers Association of Nigeria which came after The Seadogs and Eiye was a breakaway faction led by Bolaji Carew, Tunde Jawondo and Kunle Adigun in 1972, citing lack of “comradeship and patriotism” where they belonged before.

Despite all that vituperations from the police officer, the allure of being a cult member is as strong to some teenagers today as having a tattoo on their biceps or midriffs. In reported cases, for instance, youngsters barely out of their britches in secondary school and touts on the streets routinely boast of their membership of one cult or the other.

Though published six years ago, Cults and Gangs is a handy digest for lubbers on how confraternities came to be in the country. What is lacking, however, is the author’s disinterestedness in exploring how an association of radical lecturers with progressive ideas and idylls for society morphed into the belligerent and notoriously violent clique of today. Again, sensitive readers may be less keen to read the book because of the errors and haphazard page planning.

Moreover, Cults and Gangs is an annoying example of gratitude that grates. Eze devotes seven long pages to acknowledging a whole battalion of people ranging from retired military personnel to serving senior police officers, dozens of chiefs and traditional rulers in his community and elsewhere, a gaggle of businessmen and politicians, his siblings and cousins, his wife and other relatives.

The police officer that he is, Eze does however offer one possible solution to deter youngsters from becoming cult members – and that is by seeking knowledge. To that end, he culls several quotations by authors ranging from the language expert, Noam Chomsky to the book of Corinthians and Mahatma Ghandi. There are also quotations by some politicians in Nigeria to help his cause – all of them in support of knowledge.

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FEATURES

Umahi’s Giant Strides In Ebonyi

At a time when all states universities were increasing their tuition fees, Umahi reduced the fees of Ebonyi State University and resumed sponsorship of Ebonyi state foreign scholarship programme.

The governor completed and relocated traders to the Margaret Umahi International Market Abakaliki. The market alone has employed an appreciable number of Ebonyi people. Businesses of varying degrees have started springing up in the market.

The governor did not stop there, he attracted investors all in a bid to create employment which engaged many Ebonyi people.

Ebonyi have Roban Stores already operating with many Ebonyi people in its employ.

Also, the shopping mall is nearing completion and that one alone will employ a lot of people because it is double edged, for investors and white collar workers.

Additionally, as an infrastructure grand master, construction works are going on in many projects across the state thereby employing many Ebonyi people.

Today, theer is a tricycle manufacturing centre in Ebonyi State, not only tricycles, many things are produced there,done by skillfully trained Ebonyi people, courtesy of the governor.

Even the good road networks across the state have also created sources of livelihood for the people in terms of operator of automobiles. Politically, about 4,000 Ebony people are gainfully employed as government appointees in the state.

In keeping with his promise to make the state number one economy across the the country, upon assuming office, he established Ebonyi state waste to wealth plant known as recycling plant.

The plant which is being test run at the moment, apart from the revenue that will come from it for the state has the capacity of employing about 300 skilled and unskilled people when completed.

Umahi

As the state continues to rise in leaps and bounds, Umahi has built and equipped new world class Government House equipped with conference theatre for executive functions, executive chamber for council’s meeting, a Governor’s office, press unit, clinic and helipad.

FROM KENNETH IKE, ABAKALIKI

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he Engr. David Umahi’s giant strides in all sectors of development in Ebonyi State fulfils the popular saying that when a good leader is on the throne the people rejoice.

Since May 29, 2015, when the Apostle of Change came on board as the third civilian governor of the state, he has changed the face of the 24-year-old salt of Nation, and his name written in gold in the annals of the state as a result of the progress he has made in the areas of infrastructure development.

The initial projects which President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned include a 700-metre twin Trans-Sahara bridge linking Enugu and Ebonyi states with Cameroon; the Senator Offia Nwali flyover; the 14.5km Abakaliki-Afikpo road; foundation laying of the Ebonyi city mall; foundation laying of the Muhammadu Buhari bridge and unveiling of the Akanu Ibiam statue.

Interestingly, the latest flyover embarked upon by Umahi’s administration include the Abaomege, in Onicha local government area of the state which was named after the oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze. Notwithstanding the meagre Federal Allocation and state’s low internally generated revenue, Umahi also embarked on another two ongoing flyovers at Ezzamgbo in Ohaukwu local government and Nkalagu in Ishielu local government areas of the state.

With the on ongoing projects across the three senatorial zones in the state, Governor Umahi commenced an international airport at Onueke in Ezza South local government, which he THEWILLNIGERIA

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vowed to complete come 2022 before the expiration of his administration.

Other ongoing projects in the state include the College of Medicine at Uburu Ohaozara local government his home town, the dualisation of Abakaliki-Afikpo road, Abakaliki-Enugu and the state international stadium.

As his achievements continue to ring bell not only in Ebonyi state, the nation but across the globe, Umahi has built an ultra-modern state Christian Ecumenical Centre in the city of Abakaliki which people have rated as a world class edifice.

A rebust achievement has also been recorded by Umahi’s administration in the area of sports. lt started with the reconstruction of Abakaliki Township Stadium now, known as Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium.

The stadium has been modernized and brought to international standard to the surprise of many. The government has also gone a step further to put up a five-star Guest House by the side of the stadium.

Other notable projects executed by the Ebonyi state government under Umahi include the 2.8 solar hybrid power plant at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University in the salt rich Ndufu Alike Ikwo, in lkwo local government Area of the state, which was commissioned by the Vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Recently, the state governor gave an approval for the renovation and reconstruction of additional three 150-bed capacity in each general hospitals at lkwo, Onicha and lshielu local government areas of the state to provide quick medical services to the people.

Since he assumed office six years ago, township and rural roads in the state have received adequate attention like; the 23.8 kilometre Hilltop-Agbaja-Nwofe road, the 21.kilometres Amasiri-Amangwu Edda road and the 23-kilometre AmasiriOkposi- Uburu road,the 20.4- kilometre Ugwuechi- EbiajiOnueke road, all was built on 8 inches concrete pavement.

He has also constructed a 300-bed lsolation and treatment centre at the Federal Medical-Centre Abakaliki, the reconstruction of the School of Health and Midwifery, equipping of the first class southern virology centre.

In the Agricultural sector, the state government has introduced several programmes and policies to encourage greater yields, ensure food sufficiency and zero oil dependency.

Currently, his administration rolled out an empowerment programme to lift 2,400 youths/hawkers with ₦250,000 each to enable them to either trade or farm; ₦250,000 to each of 800 persons comprising civil servants, women and men and stipend for 85 physically challenged persons.

These include programmes like one-man, one-man hectare, Home-grown school feeding, the Anchor borrowers.To enhance yields and revenue to the state government, he has revived and expanded the Ebonyi state fertiliser and Chemical Company to boost food sufficiency.

In addition, Umahi has involved about 400 youths in governance as senior Technical Assistants.

The fertiliser blending company is the toast of farmers in the South-East as over thousands of metric tons of fertilisers are given to farmers annually at reduced amount along with improved seedings and other incentives.

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SportsLive

Nigeria Rugby Players

Nigerian Rugby: Ripe For The Picking?

BY JUDE OBAFEMI

O

n the eve of the 2021 Betfred Championship season, one of the rugby teams competing for honours, Swinton Lions RLFC of Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom, announced a new partnership with the domestic rugby side, Kano Lions of Nigeria, as part of their Community Club Development Programme.

For the majority of sports fans who are not conversant with the game of rugby and who are unaware that the professional game which the eminent English war hero and inspirational statesman Sir Winston Churchill described as “a hooligans game played by gentlemen” is played by gentlemen in Nigeria, this will come as a thorough shock.

Rugby in Nigeria may not have the popularity of football, by far the most favourite sports activity in the country with the most rabid fan base across local and international competitions and imbued with a unitive character within the country, nor does it possess the attraction of basketball, another major force for sporting fans tuned to the best of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from America.

Yet, within the Nigerian sporting sphere, in that nebulous region where less popular non-football sports find a place of their own, rugby stakes a claim as a sport with a niche fan base that is just as devoted to following the game as it is played across the world and who go out of their way to render support and encouragement to their favourite teams whenever they are in action, just like in every other sporting competition.

Not only that, there is in place a solid development structure adminstered by head coach Gavin Hogg and a team, nicknamed the “Black Stallions”, that represents the country in rugby tournaments captained by David Akinluyi. Both these men have rugby experience in their years, which together they have brought to bear in the Nigerian senior rugby team as they try to expand the space for the sport to thrive and grow towards the recognition of deserves.

“

Within the Nigerian sporting sphere, in that nebulous region where less popular non-football sports find a place of their own, rugby stakes a claim as a sport with a niche fan base that is just as devoted to following the game as it is played across the world the 2009 Middlesex Sevens and was in the 2009/2010 England Sevens Training Squad.

This is a snapshot of the experience in the anchors of the Black Stallions’ side and it has helped to forge the entire team into a unit with iron resolve to grind out results, but they often compete against tougher and more rugby-involved countries than Nigeria.

This is why Nigeria has yet to qualify for a Rugby World Cup. The Stallions tried unsuccessfully for the first time for the 2007 Rugby World Cup but lost 6-48 to Senegal and 8-18 to Cameroon. They also failed to get past the pre-qualifier for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, falling victims to Cameroon again in a 6-26 loss.

In 2015, Hoggs led the side he managed at the time, Bury St Edmunds to the glory of becoming National League Three London and SE champions. Founded in 1925 as Bury and West Suffolk Rugby Football Club, they currently play in the fourth tier of the English league system, National League 2 South.

That has not meant the Black Stallions cannot be reckoned with.

They have competed in qualifying tournaments to put Nigeria’s name in the global checkerboard for rugby. For instance, Nigeria’s first ever rugby international was against the Sables of Zimbabwe on August 1, 1987. Unfortunately, it was a losing debut that spoke of the gulf that existed between both sides. The rugby minnows that the Black Stallions were, they took a 111-12 trouncing in Nairobi.

Akinyuli, who started out representing his school in Cambridge, played for the University of Cambridge before other stints in the Old Olavians RFC from 2007 to 2009. He later joined the Birmingham and Solihull Bees on a non-contract basis for the 2009/2010 season.

The talented player was selected in the Help for Heroes squad for

That heavy loss must be juxtaposed alongside the fact that the Stallions were only beginning to get their feet wet in the internationals and came headlong into a fixture against a Zimbabwean side that had benefitted from the popularity of the sport in the southern

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African belt with neighbours South Africa being one of the most feared sides in the sport globally with their Springbok rugby team.

The basis for excusing the Stallions from that debut whitewashing by the Sables is because they learnt from the walloping and grew in confidence and experience to avoid a repeat of such heavy loss such that by the turn of the 2013 Africa Cup, the Nigerian team recorded what remains their greatest success in the international game of rugby when they beat Mauritius 63-3 in group 1C of the Cup’s early stages.

A host of Nigerian talent that may have featured for the country but were either born abroad or emigrated for a variety of reasons are influential parts of the rugby squads of the countries where they settled and apply their gifts for the rugby honour of these other countries to the disadvantage of the Black Stallions. A full catalogue of all these stars with Nigerian origins will run into several pages but the most prestigious of them all is Maro Itoje.

The rugby professional, whose full name is Oghenemaro Miles Itoje, plays as a lock or as a blindside flanker for English Championship club Saracens and the England national team. He signed his first professional contract with Saracens in 2012, and made his first appearance the following year. So far in his rugby career, he has won four English Premiership titles with Saracens, three European Rugby Champions Cup titles, and three Six Nations Championship titles.

While it can be argued that he may not have been as successful if he had remained in Nigeria where the reception of the sport is below par, where the facilities and training are lacking and where the guidance and coaching cannot compete, there is also the argument to be had that someone like the captain of the Black Stallions, Akinyuli, who developed his capacity for the sport got his training abroad but still returned to represent his country of origin and captain the senior team.

Therefore, it does not matter where the skills are acquired, what is essential is that those skills are applied for the development of the game back home. That is where the partnership that the Greater Manchester-based club Swinton Lions reached with local counterpart Kano Lions comes in and gains relevance in the bigger picture of rugby growth in Nigeria.

Swinton’s Director of Development Damian Ridpath alluded to some of this when he said, “Swinton Lions have set out to support community clubs both at home and abroad over the last 12 months and we now welcome Kano into our family. We will look to share good practice and offer development support moving forward to the Kano branch of our pride of Lions.”

*Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

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