THEWILL SEPT 12 EDITION

VOL 1 NO.31 • SEPTEMBER

12 – SEPTEMBER

18, 2021

NIP, TUCK, & COSMETIC PROCEDURES with Dr. A conversation

Hilda Titiloye

Nigerian Political Parties Are Trading Companies – Prof Nwala

Tee Kuro: Lone Wolf Content Creator

Experts Debunk NNPC’s N287bn Profit Claim

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SEPTEMBER 12 - SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 • VOL . 1 NO. 31

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PDP National Chairmanship: Why Leaders ‘Anointed’ Oyinlola ● Governors Retake Party ●Atiku Offers

South-South VP Slot, Petroleum Ministry STATE OF THE STATES

This special publication of THEWILL x-rays the potentials of the 36 states and the FCT to achieve a quantum leap in development through investment and job creation. The prevailing cash crunch in the country makes the project more compelling for policy-makers, investors and other stakeholders.

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Wike

Obasanjo

COVER

PDP National Chairmanship: Why Leaders ‘Anointed’ Oyinlola

BY AMOS ESELE

L

eaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday fulfilled their promise to set up committees to prepare the party for its national convention scheduled to take place between October 30 and 31 and they announced the outcome to the public. Behind the scene, they did more: they bargained, lobbied and jostled for positions for their protégés and aides based on new arrangements, ahead of the convention.

One of the major positions that was decided behind the scene in an attempt to bury the proverbial hatchet in the party, which is still brewing with litigations between it and the former National Chairman, Uche Secondus, was the position of the National Chairman of the party, as exclusively reported on the THEWILL’s website on Thursday.

Our news report named a former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as the consensus candidate for the position of National Chairman, ahead of the main opposition’s October 30 National Convention.

According to the report, Oyinlola was chosen after key interest groups in the party, including state governors agreed to sink their differences, following negotiations and the politician’s national appeal.

His emergence came on the heels of a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC} of the party held in Abuja last Thursday, which effectively sealed the fate of the embattled Secondus.

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WHY OYINLOLA? Recall that six days earlier, a High Court in Kebbi State had vacated an earlier relief granted Secondus, which had reinstated him as party chairman.

The judge, Nusirat Umar, said the counsel to Secondus intentionally hid crucial facts on the matter, which led her to grant the exparte order in a suit marked KB/AC/M.170/2021 that restored him as party chairman.

In cancelling her earlier ruling, she said, “I also agree that the claimants’/ respondents’ counsel failed to disclose to the court the true subject matter of this matter, namely the suspension of the first defendant, Prince Uche Secondus, from the membership of the second defendant (Peoples Democratic Party) by Ward 5, Ikuru Town in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers state.”

While that ward suspension order is still a subject of litigation, party stakeholders agreed to anoint Oyinlola in order to end the two-month long crisis that had pitched Secondus against a powerful group backed by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

THEWILL can report that Oyinlola, a staunch ally of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was chosen by the PDP Governors to lead the party into the 2023 general elections.

Having found his way back to the party after

a standoff, during which he publicly tore his registration card in a fit of temper in the heat of the anti-President Goodluck Jonathan campaign in 2015 and tried without success to form a PanNigerian political group in 2018 before burying his quarrel with his erstwhile deputy, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and supported his 2019 presidential bid, Obasanjo, with Oyinlola’s emergence, will become even more powerful within the party. Atiku, who is still eyeing the 2023 presidency, cherishes his reconciliation with his former boss and for that reason, readily supported Oyinlola’s candidacy.

Oyinlola, a retired Brigadier-General, also enjoys the support of former military President, Ibrahim Babangida, and Lieutenant-General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, a former military top brass, as well as former President of the Senate, David Mark.

According to sources in the party, Oyinlola’s wide support base would make it hard for any one group within the party to control him. This consensus of support has put him ahead of other aspirants for the position of national chairman, namely a former governorship candidate of the party in the recent Ondo State governorship election, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN and a former military governor of old Ondo State, Chief Bode George. “Oyinlola is the candidate to beat for the position of national chairman, come October 30,”said a competent party source.

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COVER So it was no surprise on Thursday that Fintiri and Makinde featured prominently as officers of committees the party set up for the national convention. Instructively, the National Executive Committee of the PDP, alongside 13 governors elected on the party’s platform, ex-PDP governors, members of the Board of Trustees and Atiku agreed to the decision.

Fintiri emerged as chairman of the Convention Organising Committee with Makinde as secretary.

Their Bayelsa counterpart, Duoye Diri, would serve as deputy chairman.

The zoning committee is chaired by Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, with Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State as his deputy, while Zamfara State deputy governor, Mohammed Mahdi, would serve as the secretary.

Atiku

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbodinyan, addressed journalists after the meeting. He said, “NEC met today to further discuss critical issues concerning the party. NEC commends the efforts of the National Working Committee, the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Assembly Caucus and other stakeholders in resolving the challenges confronting the party.

ZONING ARRANGEMENT According to multiple party sources, the choice of Oyinlola, who is from the South-West, means the party’s presidential ticket would effectively go to the North, while the vice presidential ticket would be open to either the South-East or South-South.

Atiku, a frontline presidential aspirant, according to party sources, has already started negotiations with other party stakeholders to emerge the PDP’s presidential candidate.

According to a top-level source, the former VicePresident has offered the position of either VicePresident or Petroleum Minister to the SouthSouth. It was not clear whether he was deferring to the Wike group that has become too assertive for comfort in the party or playing brinkmanship, following the hazy political signals coming from the South-East where the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has decided to fish for defectors from the PDP amid crises fueled by separatists and secessionists.

Again, as exclusively reported by this newspaper in its August 8, 2021 edition, Wike with the support of Makinde and Fintiri, amongst other notable leaders, facilitated the surprise resignation of seven members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party in a bid to force Secondus to resign. His reelection bid, his opponents believed, would open the old wounds that his erstwhile ‘godfather’ and sponsor, Wike, had harboured against him when he reportedly ‘helped’ Atiku to emerge as the party’s flag-bearer, beating the Tambuwal/ Wike joint ticket during the presidential primaries in Port Harcourt in 2019.

While Governor Aminu Tambuwal is yet to revive his presidential ambition after his failed bid in 2019, another aspirant whom THEWILL learnt is cashing in on Oyinlola’s ‘anointing’, is former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Abubakar Saraki.

Sources, however, say party leaders from up North are keeping him under watch because of his perceived anti-Buhari posture as Senate leader, though they still respect him for his leadership skills at the senate.

WINNERS AND LOSERS As the PDP prepares for its National Convention in October, some chieftains are already nursing their wounds while others are savouring their victory. Among the victors are Governor Wike, his Oyo counterpart, Seye Makinde and Adamawa’s Ahmadu Umar Fintiri. They were the three musketeers that orchestrated Secondus’s removal as national chairman.

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“NEC also approved the composition of the National Convention Planning Committee as well as the Zoning Committee to zone National Working Committee offices.”

Thus, while the Wike group, as it were, became winners under the new arrangement, Secondus and his supporters are the losers, particularly with the ‘anointing’ of Oyinlola, as his replacement.

OYINLOLA’S BIODATA The politician, who was a former Governor of Osun State, will be 70 in February next year.

He was sworn in as Governor on May 29, 2003 and was re-elected in 2007 on the platform of the PDP until the Court of Appeal nullified his election in November 2010 in favour of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of the Action Congress. After several years with PDP, he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) shortly before the 2014 Osun State governorship election. He returned to the PDP in March 2020.

Oyinlola was later appointed Chairman of the National Identity Management Corporation (NIMC). The politician is a prince from the royal family of Okuku Town in the Odo Ọtin Local Government Area of Ọṣun State. His father, Oba Moses Oyewole Oyinlola, reigned as the monarch of Okuku between 1934 and 1960. After leaving secondary school at the age of 18, Oyinlola joined the Nigerian Army in 1969.

Appointed the Military Administrator of Lagos State, he governed the state from December 1993 to August 1996 during the regime of late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. He later retired as a Brigadier-General in 1999 as is very well educated.

Sources within the party further told THEWILL that consultations are still ongoing amongst stakeholders to split the other positions in the party’s National Working Committee to ensure the party runs smoothly after the convention.

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

L–R: Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) Plc, Mr. Oscar Onyema; L–R: Secretary, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Mr Segun Obe; Deputy Chief of Staff to Oyo State Group Chairman, NGX Group, Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo; and Group Company Secretary and Head, Compliance, governor, Mojeed Mogbojubola; and President of the Council, Prince Oluyemisi Adeaga, during the presentation NGX Group, Mrs. Mojisola Adeola, at the 60th Annual General Meeting of NGX Group, held in Abuja on 9/9/2021. of a 16-seater bus to the council by Oyo State Government in Ibadan on 8/9/2021.

L–R: Vice-Chancellor, Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO), Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye; former governor of Edo State/Deputy L–R: Secretary to Federal Government, Boss Mustapha; Mrs. Sam Nda-Isaiah; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN; Chancellor, IUO, Chief Lucky Igbinedion; Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Amb. Tukur Buratai; Chancellor, Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III; and representative of the Etsu Nupe at the 2020 Leadership Conference IUO, Dr. Gabriel Igbinedion; Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; and representative of Awards in Abuja on 9/9/2021. the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Kangye; after a special lecture delivered by the Minister, in honour of the Chancellor, in Okada, Edo State on 8/9/2021.

L–R: Chairman, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Mr. Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN; Group Managing L–R: Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki and Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari; and Chief Executive Officer, NGX, Onu during the minister’s visit to Government House in Benin City, Edo state on 7/9/2021.

Mr. Temi Popoola, during a courtesy visit to NNPC office, in Abuja on 7/9/ 2021.

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NEWS Civil Servants Demand Credible Privatisation Process in C’River

FROM BASSEY ANIEKAN

T

he Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has demanded a credible process in the privatisation of public enterprises in Cross River State.

ASCSN made this known in a comminique issued at the end of its State Executive Council meeting in Calabar.

The ten-point comminique was signed by the Chairman of the association, Comrade Monday Ogbodum, and the Secretary, Comrade Clarkson Otu Esq. They also endorsed the position taken by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the association over the expulsion of the erstwhile National President, Comrade Bola Audu.

The comminique read in part, “The SEC - in- session supports and applauds the position of organised labour in the ongoing attempt by the Cross River State Government to privatise all public enterprises in the state and also demands a credible, transparent process, in accordance with the State Enterprises (Privatisation) Law of 2004.

L-R: Senator Adeola Solomon; Senator Mohammed Sanni; Senator Adelere Oriolowo; Senator Opeyemi Bamidele; Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru; during a courtesy visit of the Senators to the APC National Leader in London on 10/9/2021.

Police Rescue 8 Kidnap Victims in Rivers FROM SAMPSON ITODE, PORT HARCOURT

Allison, Johnson Osel, Gladys Long John, Maimuna Abib, Obianuga Angus and Adekola Opayemi.

he Rivers State Police Command has rescued eight boat passengers who were abducted by pirates in two separate attacks on September 6 and 7, 2021, respectively, along the Bodo/Bonny waterways.

The Police spokesman said the eight were rescued on Thursday night at Bolo Creek in the Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of the state, adding that the victims who were looking quite frail when they were rescued, had been released for medical treatment, while efforts ongoing to arrest other members of the gang and recover their weapons.

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THEWILL on Friday learnt that the rescue was made possible, following intense pressure mounted on the kidnappers by the Operatives of Anti Cultism Unit of the Police, who had earlier arrested one Baridula Gboro of Bodo community in Gokana Local Government Area of the state.

A statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, on Friday disclosed that the suspect opened up and made useful confessions, revealing the identities of his accomplices and the hideout where the rescued victims were kept.

Omoni identified the rescued victims, who were five males and three females, as Ossai Christian, Grace Jumbo, Rita

Omoni said the Commissioner of Police, Eboka Friday, had increased the presence of the Police on the Bodo/Bonny waterways with a view to stemming the tide of attacks and ensuring the safety of passengers.

He advised passengers and other people using the waterways to avoid late night journeys, which might expose them to danger, and abide by all maritime safety protocols.

He equally urged marine transport operators to subject their members for profiling as the kidnap incidents were masterminded by a boat operator.

Sanwo-Olu, Ganduje, Others For NMNA 2021 N o fewer than seven state governors will be honoured at the 15th edition of Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award (NMNA) scheduled to hold at Airport Hotel Ikeja on September 19, 2021.

They are Governors Babajide Olusola Sanwolu of Lagos State; Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Governors Bello Matawalle, Gboyega Oyetola, Ben Ayade, Abdullahi Ganduje of Zamfara, Osun, Cross Rivers, Kano States, respectively.

Also a former governor of Zamfara State, Sani Yerima, and a host of other prominent Nigerians will equally be honoured at the occasion.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers, the Director of Media and Publicity for NMNA, Mr Ajibade Alabi, stated that the governors, particularly Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, would also use the medium to address the press on his developmental strategies and achievements in the last two years.

Alabi, who disclosed that the 15th edition of the award would be held on September 19, 2021 in Lagos, stated that the awardees were selected due to their dexterity and dedication, as well as outstanding contributions to their various fields.

According to him, the award ceremony was initially THEWILLNIGERIA

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programmed to take place in Zamfara State last July, since Lagos had been the host since inception.

He added that they organisers planned to go on a tour of parts of Zamfara State, specifically to inspect some of the state government’s projects, with the winners of the awards and some selected senior journalists.

“Despite this new development, the glitz, glamour, and paparazzi that the award is associated with will not be taken away,” he said.

The organisers said that if the security situation in the country improves, the event could be moved to the North for next year’s edition.

The survey rated governors’ effectiveness in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, security, infrastructure, economy, political sagacity, humility and environmental waste management.

Meanwhile, arrangements for this year’s Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award are going on smoothly. This year’s edition, according to the organisers, is set to raise the bar again, as well as acknowledging some journalists, businessmen and politicians for their commitment.

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“The SEC -in-session endorses the position taken by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Association on the expulsion of the erstwhile National President Comrade Bola Audu from the Association.

“The SEC -in-Session equally supports and commends the NEC in affirming Comrade Tommy Etim Okon as the substantive national president of the association.”

The association charged Governor Ben Ayade to pay attention to pending labour issues, while also passing a vote of confidence on the state chairman and secretary.

They also agreed to partner with MC Global Nigeria Limited, an Estate Developer in the development of the Bureaucrats Housing Estate in Bacoco.

Expert Calls For Synergy Among Security Agencies

T

he Managing director of Pama Global Security Limited, a leading private security based in Kano, Alhaji Hassan Shettima, has called for co-operation between government and privately owned security organisations in Nigeria as a means of tackling the security challenges facing the country.

He made the call during a two-day conference jointly held by government and privately owned agencies in Kano State recently.

Shettima commended the Nigerian Civil Defense Corps (NCDC) for its support as a regulatory body to private security organisations in the state.

However, he emphasised the need for more effort aimed at reforming the security apparatus in the country to meet up with modern standards by providing the necessary equipment to security personnel across the country.

Speaking on welfare of private security personnel, Shettima urged clients of private security organisations in the country to always ensure they remit their payments promptly so as enable the organisations to pay their staff regularly and also at when due.

He received a special award for his immense contribution in the security sector towards the protection of lives and property nationwide over the years.

Pama Global Security Limited has 3,000 staff spread across Nigeria in various branches around the 36 states. He called on the NCDC to liase with the Federal Government to help review the security apparatus of private organisations through re-training and to allow them bear firearms for the purpose of effectively combating crime, since criminals carry out attacks with sophiscated weapons, while private security men and women are only allowed to carry batons.

He called on Nigerians to co-operate with security men and support them with information to enable them carry out their duty of safe guarding our lives and properties.

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GLOBAL NEWS

US Military Trial of 9/11 Suspects Drags on 20 Years After Attack K

halid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, along with four codefendants appeared in a military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay this week for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic began.

The aging Mohammed, now 57 years old, his long beard tinted orange, smiled and gestured with his four codefendants – all kept outside the courtroom in isolation at

Afghanistan: UN Condemns Taliban’s Brutal Crackdown On Protests

the high-security United States prison.

Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Walid bin Attash, and Abd al-Aziz Ali and Mohammed face the death penalty in a trial by military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay that has yet to start and remains bogged in process 20 years after the attacks.

The five are accused of war crimes in the September 11 aircraft hijackings that resulted in the deaths of 2,976 people.

A new military judge has been assigned to the trial, previously expected to start in 2022 but now likely to be

further delayed as lawyers for the defence prepare to attack the legal foundation of the military commission.

“These proceedings are grotesquely substandard under notions of due process, international law, and … regard for the dignity of human beings,” said Gary Sowards, who took the lead on Mohammed’s defence in 2019.

Mohammed’s legal team would be filing a series of motions designed to challenge the legitimacy of the military commissions and bring to light the CIA’s torture of Mohammed and other detainees, Sowards said on Wednesday.

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he United Nations has condemned the Taliban for what it called an “increasingly violent response” to dissent, weeks after the group’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan.

The body said Taliban fighters killed four people during recent protests.

Demonstrations have taken place across Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul on 15 August, demanding respect for women’s rights and greater freedoms.

Taliban fighters have used batons, whips, and live ammunition against protesters, the UN said in its report.

Taliban fighters swept across Afghanistan in August, capturing provincial centres and eventually the capital Kabul itself, in less than two weeks. The US then led an airlift from the capital’s international airport, evacuating more than 120,000 people before pulling out its own forces on 31 August.

The collapse to the Taliban follows two decades of US military operations in Afghanistan, after American and allied forces ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks.

UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani criticised the Taliban’s crackdown on demonstrations in a press briefing on Friday.

Demonstrations have grown since 15 August, she said. But on Wednesday the Taliban banned unauthorised gatherings, and on Thursday they ordered telecommunications companies to shut off mobile internet in Kabul.

It is crucial the group listen to Afghan women and men on the streets “during this time of great uncertainty,” she said. The press statement also noted the deaths of at least four people including a boy - and the violent dispersal of demonstrators in recent weeks.

Biden

“We call on the Taliban to immediately cease the use of force towards, and the arbitrary detention of, those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and the journalists covering the protests,” a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press statement.

Texas Passes Social Media ‘De-Platforming’ Law

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he US state of Texas has made it illegal for social media platforms to ban users “based on their political viewpoints”.Prominent Republican politicians have accused Facebook, Twitter and others of censoring conservative views.

Former US president Donald Trump was banned from Facebook and Twitter after a group of his supporters attacked the Capitol in January. The social networks have all denied stifling conservative views.

However, they do enforce terms of service which prohibit

Trudeau Plays Defence As Opposition Leaders Fight For Points in Debate

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they must “make a choice” about which leaders’ plan is best for the future.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Quebecois Leader YvesFrancois Blanchet and Green Party Leader Annamie Paul each faced questions on their leadership qualities and shortcomings from moderator Shachi Kurl at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que.

Paul contended that Trudeau is “not a real feminist,” mentioning former Liberal MPs Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, causing Trudeau to snap back at the Green leader that he “won’t take lessons on caucus management from you.”

anada’s federal party leaders were quickly put on their heels in the first moments of the English language debate on Thursday, the last face-off before voters go to the polls in the election — and their feet were held to the fire throughout the rest of the night.

As the topics moved into climate change, Indigenous reconciliation, affordability and the COVID-19 pandemic, all five leaders defended their records and plans. But Trudeau, who is seeking a third term as prime minister, faced the harshest scrutiny.

Trudeau once again declined to directly answer why he called an election amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, telling voters

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He was also forced to defend his record on sexual misconduct in the military, with Kurl asking why he allowed conditions that let incidents continue.

Trudeau was on defence throughout the first half of the debate, as O’Toole, Singh, Blanchet and Paul hammered him on everything from Canada’s human rights record to its place on the world stage.

After O’Toole accused Trudeau of failing to secure the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention in China, the Liberal leader said taking a more aggressive approach will not yield results.

content such as incitement to violence and co-ordinated disinformation.”Social media websites have become our modern-day public square,” said Texas governor Greg Abbott, after signing the bill into law on Thursday.

“They are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely.”But there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.”

The new law states social media platforms with more than 50 million users cannot ban people based on their political viewpoints.Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube are within its scope.

Critics say the law does not respect the constitutional right of private businesses to decide what sort of content is allowed on their platforms.”This bill abandons conservative values, violates the First Amendment, and forces websites to host obscene, anti-semitic, racist, hateful and otherwise awful content,” said Steve DelBianco, president of NetChoice trade association.

“Moderation of user posts is crucial to keeping the internet safe for Texas families, but this bill would put the Texas government in charge of content policies.”The law is due to come in to force in December, but may face legal challenges.

In May, Florida passed a law which banned social networks from de-platforming politicians.However, some parts of that bill were suspended by a federal judge, who ruled that it violated the First Amendment right to free speech.

Another Texas law, changing the rules around abortion in the state, is currently being challenged by the US Department of Justice.

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POLITICS

Disquiet in APC Over Ward Congresses

was illegal and unconstitutional on the ground that the 2nd defendant under whose such steps or actions were taken was ineligible to superintend over 1st defendant party affairs while still serving in office as a Governor.

“A declaration that all committee/Ward congress committees set up by the 3rd defendant pursuant to the Ward Congress of 31st July 2021 was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and in total violation of the guidelines of the 1st defendant on conduct of the congress”.

They also sought an injunction restraining the 1st and 3rd defendants from conducting any further congresses into local government and state offices of 1st defendant in Ekiti State, pending the determination of the substantive matter.

The plantiffs asked for an injunction restraining the 5th defendant from recognising or dealing with any ward executive or officers purportedly produced from the purported ward congress of 31st July, 2021 in Ekiti State.

Buni

In Lagos State, four parallel congresses were held on July 31.

They are - Tunde Balogun-led states caretaker committee, which was recognised and supervised by representatives of the CECPC; Moshood El-Salvador faction; Abdul Azeez Adediran and Fouad Oki faction who all organised parallel congresses.

Each of the factions has since submitted its results to the CECPC.

BY AYO ESAN

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his is not the best of times for the All Progressive Congress (APC) as its congresses, which kicked off at the ward level on Saturday, July 31, 2021 have polarised the party in most states of the federation. The division within the party is, however, more pronounced in the South-West.

There were reports of parallel ward congresses in almost 14 states. Several factions in the state chapters held parallel congresses as disobedience to the directives of the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) which kicked against them.

While the leadership of the party at the national level is looking for the means to address these problems, aggrieved members across the state chapters have expressed the determination to give whatever it takes to challenge the authorities in the various state caretaker committees. As if it is carrying out their threat, a group in Ekiti State APC has already gone to court to request the cancellation of the ward congress in the state.

What makes the situation worse was that the party went into local government congresses without resolving the crisis that emanated from the ward congresses.

The appeal panels visited most of the states where there were agitations, but the resolution of the disputes was never done before the local government congresses were held.

“The CECPC just carried on as if there was no serious agitation on ground, but in reality there were such agitations,” a public affairs commentator based in Abuja, John Ojo, told THEWILL. THEWILL gathered that the seeming silence in most states is just artificial and temporary as an implosion may occur by the time the congresses are concluded.

In the South-West states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ondo, some factions that held parallel congresses stated that unless the CECPC took steps to address the injustices perpetrated during the ward ànd local government congresses, the cracks within the party’s hierarchy may widen.

In Ekiti, the consensus agreement reached during the congress by the group loyal to Governor Kayode Fayemi was opposed by the pro - Tinubu group, the South West Agenda for Asiwaju ( SWAGA) led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye .

Speaking on the congress, Adeyeye said it was nothing but a charade.

“We are hereby telling the CECPC, our party members THEWILLNIGERIA

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nationwide and indeed, all Nigerians, that there was no congress in Ekiti State. What happened was a charade that cannot pass the test of democracy and it is totally unacceptable,” he said.

Dissatisfied with the conduct of the July 31 ward congress in the state, SWAGA had dragged the All Progressives Congress to court, calling for outright annulment of the election.

In a Suit Number FHC/AD/CS/21/2021 filed at the Federal High Court, Ekiti State Division, the group sought an interlocutory injunction stopping the conduct of the local government congress or an order declaring the outcome illegal.

The suit deposed to by 36 SWAGA members and contestants in the ward congress on behalf of over 3,650 members of the group in Ekiti was filed by Barrister Ayodeji Odu and five other lawyers for the plaintiffs.

Joined in the suit are APC (1st defendant), the Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni (2 defendant), Ekiti APC Chairman, Paul Omotoso (3rd defendant), Chairman, Ekiti Congress Screening Committee, Samuel Abejide (4th defendant) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (5th defendant).

The plaintiffs sought an order declaring the congress of the 1st defendant purportedly held on July 31, 2021, organised and conducted by or under the instruction/supervision of 2nd and 3rd defendants in Ekiti State as unconstitutional, illegal and null and void.

They also prayed the court to declare that the congress was in total breach of democratic norms and practices, as well as a violation of the Constitution and guidelines issued by the 1st defendant for the conduct of the 2021 ward congresses.

Others include “A declaration that no congress was held in the Ekiti State chapter of the 1st defendant as no result has been declared in respect of the congress as at the date of filling this case.

“A declaration that the 2nd defendant cannot hold the position of Chairman, Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Committee of the 1st defendant as such appointment/role is a constitutional violation of section 187 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and article 8 of the 1st defendant’s constitution.

“A declaration that all actions or steps taken by the 1st defendant under the control, supervision, direction of the socalled caretaker exraordinary convention planning committee headed by the 2nd defendant, including the conduct of ward congresses across Nigeria and Ekiti State on 31st July, 2021,

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The other factions accused the Balogun-led caretaker committee of not following due process in line with party guidelines before the congresses, but their allegation was dismissed by the Lagos APC spokesman, Seye Oladejo, who said forms were on sale for several days at the state secretariat of the party. He said the group led by Adediran, Lagos4Lagos, had decided to constitute themselves as an opposition group within the APC and refused to identify with the state secretariat.

He said, “Abuja definitely will not deal with a caucus within the party but with the duly recognised executive at the state level. The forms were sent to the state and if they refused to go to the secretariat, they only have themselves to blame. This is politics, not activism. When you belong to a political group, you must adhere to the guidelines in its constitution.

“What he did to the best of my knowledge is that his group boycotted the congress because they did not buy forms and follow the guidelines. The ward congress committee was duly constituted and the committee from Abuja set to oversee the congress in Lagos. It also held a stakeholders’ meeting, which everybody attended and they agreed to a consensus.

“If they go to court, we expect that there will be fair hearing.

We have every right to defend our position.”

He noted that the idea of consensus means the aggregation of opinions of a majority of the members of the party, stressing that consensus does not translate to a 100 per cent agreement.

In Oyo State, the July 31 ward congresses held across the state were conducted under the leadership of Alhaji Gambo Lawan.

Although the Chairman of the Elders’ Advisory Council of the party, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala and Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), denied that there were skirmishes and parallel congresses at Ogbomoso and Oke-Ogun zones, the issue of manipulation raised by some groups within the party has placed a question mark on the integrity of the exercise.

A group within APC known as the Oyo Progressives Front (OPF) warned top officials of the CECPC against tampering with the outcome of the exercise.

Another group, The Real Progressives (TRP), cautioned against a purported plan by some gladiators to overturn the ward congresses.

The Progressive Democrat Front (PDF) also cried out, alleging manipulation of the results of the exercise.

In Osun, the congress brought to the fore the division within the party. Parallel congresses were held in some of the local *Continue on Page 11

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

Nigerian Political Parties Are Trading Companies – Prof Nwala The founding Director of Strategy of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and currently President of Alaigbo Development Foundation, Prof Uzodinma Nwala, makes an assessment of political parties in Nigeria, in terms of their impact on the country, in this interview with AMOS ESELE. Excerpts:

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s a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party and its first Director of Strategy, how would you describe the state of our political parties?

You can see what members of the political class are doing today. They are incapable of governing the people. According to the 1999 Constitution and legal definition, they are political parties quite all right. But they are not so in reality. What we have in Nigeria as political parties are trading companies, according to Prof Nkenna Nzimiro (late Marxist Sociologist at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka). Members of the political class can defect to a rival party without qualms.

Don’t you think the major problem is because the political elite lack consensus on Nigeria?

That is political jargon. What is happening is that there is no organised political force with discipline.

That is the only thing that can be of use, a tough organisation or association. Not the kind we have in the country as political parties. See what has happened in Afghanistan. The Taliban are not a state formation, but they have emerged as the force to reckon with in that country.

Politicians are already scheming, ahead of the general election in 2023. Many who are of Igbo extraction are making a case for the presidency to be zoned to the South-East and the two major parties seem to be listening to them. What is your take on this?

Are you sure the political parties are sincere?

What will make the position of the SouthEast strong would be If the region can produce a candidate or two. That is if they can arrive at that strategy. But like I said, that will depend on if the political parties are sincere and what their PAGE 10

Nwala

Look at what is happening in the North. Bandits, kidnappers and terrorists are killing people, whether they are Christians or Muslims, yet President Muhammadu Buhari cannot call the criminals to order or put his military experience and background to good use and lead people to think afresh.

committees have done in that regard. Otherwise, many of the politicians who call themselves Igbo are after selfish gains. What is going on now is that many are against the dream for a President of Igbo extraction. For example, many know that President Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC), is the problem in this country, yet they are defecting into his political party. It shows that we do have the kind of leaders this country needs.

But like I said earlier, if the South-East is able to get a few persons, that will be a good sign, just like what happened the last time we were in the PDP and the military was leaving the scene in 1988. Politicians were engaging the South-East and the then military president Ibrahim Babangida intervened and brought out General Olusegun Obasanjo, just as the South-West also brought out

a candidate.

Could you explain in detail?

On August 13, 1998 at a meeting of the G-34 in Abuja, the group that had successfully campaigned against General Sani Abacha’s self-succession plan. The main agenda of the meeting was the Manifesto of the PDP, especially with respect to power-sharing and rotation of the presidency.

These were some of the most contentious issues at the 1994-5 Abuja Constitutional Conference.

Although the Conference decided in favour of zoning and rotation, the decision was based on a vote which the southern delegates and their northern allies had won.

As soon as the issue of zoning and rotation came THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

“

What is happening is that there is no organised political force with discipline. That is the only thing that can be of use, a tough organisation or association. Not the kind we have in the country as political parties

up, the Chairman of the Contact and Mobilisation Committee, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, stood up and said “Gentlemen, we shall adopt the policy of zoning and rotation. To begin with, we shall zone the Presidency to the South, and not only to the South, but personally to Chief Ekwueme.

Everybody at the meeting seconded Kaita’s position. But the Chairman, Chief Ekwueme, interrupted the discussion and said, “Gentlemen, we can decide that the presidency should be zoned to the South, but it is not a personal matter. It cannot be zoned to anyone.”

As soon the Chairman ruled, I was one of those who rolled their eyes and even shook their heads. For us it was the loss of a great historical opportunity for the right man in our midst to be invested with the awesome power to lead the emergence of the civilian democracy in Nigeria, nay the emergence of a new era in the political history of Nigeria.

Ekwueme’s action was that of a gentleman, a democrat, so to say – a man who was anxious to hold the fragile post-military society together. His position at that moment was guided by the realities of raw political struggle as has always been the case in Nigeria. He would have allowed the debate ignited by Alhaji Lawal Kaita’s proposition to run its full course. At the end he would have simply called for a formal motion and then a vote.

The outcome of the vote would have been unanimously in his favour. The political environment at that point in time was that the civilian politicians in control of the G-34 had become the singular political power. In fact, there was no alternative to them. Every member of the G-34 was anxious for a transition that would have handed political power to them.

The main power brokers, the military hierarchy, were bruised and dazed by the turn of events, following the annulment of June 12 election and the majority of them were anxious to leave the political scene. Abacha was gone, Abiola was gone. No one would have accused Chief Ekwueme and those rooting for him as leader of the G-34 of any political misstep. After all, the G-34 and Ekwueme had called for the release of Chief Moshood Abiola and to have him installed as President, having convincingly won the presidential election of June 12, 1993. Once that opportunity was lost, the ailing military powerbrokers were politically revived immediately.

They quickly sprang into action, shopped for their THEWILLNIGERIA

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candidate, rallied round their local agents, sent their foot soldiers to reach out to the Emirs and other political forces in the North. Finally they reached out to their international political and business partners, who helped them to reach out to the international community.

Then, the sitting military Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who was beholden to the G-34 and preparing to hand it over to them, immediately realised that the political equation had changed. Shortly at a meeting he held with the leadership of the G-34, he mockingly asked the leaders of the G-34, “Do you have a leader who will take over if we have to go?” The answer was obvious. The answer was utter silence! They had taken the rug out of the feet of the G-34. It was a coup against the G-34. They now proceeded to anoint their candidate.

Ekwueme’s chance of becoming the post-military civilian President of Nigeria was lost on August 13, 1998. And that was because he was a gentleman and an idealist in politics.

Don’t you see that chance presenting itself again?

We do not have anybody like that to support an Igbo candidate to run for the presidency. If a man of IBB’s stature can stand behind such a candidate,that will be something. Ekwueme’s example shows that every situation is changeable, no matter the strength of the opposition against you. Again look at how the Taliban outwitted mighty America. In Ekueme’s case, we were bent on making him the President. Unfortunately he was not able to take that strategic step. At the critical point, he should have stood his ground and not decide to fall for the gimmick of Babangida and company.

Do you support the call for restructuring of the country as the way out of its unending crises?

If we can have autonomous regions within a confederal system, then we should demand such a system. With confederating states freedom would come naturally. What is going on in Nigeria currently is a trend globally. State formation is settling down to nationalities with people of the same language, no matter the internal configuration.

What do you say to large groups like ECOWAS, European Union and the African Union with its NEPAD? Two things are happening. Associations of nationstates or republics like ECOWAS, EU and national, autonomous states. Any of the states within the ECOWAS and EU, for instance, can decide to walk away from the union. It is a free entity. Just like you have Ghana, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, which are all autonomous states.

The former Southern African Union, for instance, has dissolved into the independent states that once composed it. Even Great Britain is already giving up. Scotland is virtually out. Nigeria is going to dissolve into its component parts of Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ijaw, Tiv and so on. That is why those of us who left politics want to stay with the people and assist them to control their destiny. That is the purpose of the Alaigbo Development Union. The political class has continued to be irresponsible. It has abandoned the people.

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Disquiet in APC Over Ward Congresses

*Continued from Page 9

government areas by a group loyal to the former governor and current Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola which tagged itself, The Osun Progressives (TOP) and another group controlled by Governor Gboyega Oyetola, known as Ileri Oluwa group.

There were records of skirmishes because of the unresolved mode that the congress would take. Oyetola, who is a member of the CECPC and the Caretaker Chairman of APC in the state, Prince Gboyega Famodun, had insisted on using consensus for the ward congresses. But the state’s Caretaker Committee Secretary, Alhaji Rasaq Salinsile, Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Azeez Adesiji and former chairman of the party, Reverend Adelowo Adebiyi, led other notable members to demand direct elections and rejected the consensus arrangement.

There was violence when the Ward Appeal Committee visited Osogbo, the state capital, to receive appeal from an aggrieved group.

Speaking with THEWILL on the violent clash, an active member of TOP, Barrister Gbenga Akano, said, “It is unfortunate that the situation within Osun APC has degenerated to the level it is now.” But, however, he absolved members of TOP of any blame, saying the governor’s camp were the perpetrators of violence.

“It behoves on us,the TOP caucus of the APC, who had earlier forwarded some petitions to the national secretariat of our party on the development in the state to submit our petitions to the appeal committee. We have grievances. We called for congress, Oyetola’s camp called for consensus. The directive of the National Secretariat on consensus was an advice. It said where possible go for consensus. They neglected ‘ where possible’ and decided to make consensus. We said no , we made a lot of noise on that.

Akano, who was Assistant Chief of Staff to Aregbesola in his first term as governor and later served as Special Adviser on Tax and Revenue Matters during his second term, said: “I led the petitioners to the party Secretariat that Saturday. When we got there we were peaceful, but may be the Oyetola group felt intimidated by the crowd. They started removing TOP caps from our members’ heads.

Those that started the violence were not members of TOP. We were peaceful, orderly and singing songs to motivate our members and to ginger them”.

The Chairman of TOP, Adelowo Adebiyi alleged that Oyetola bought forms for all the candidates with a single teller and that members of the congress committee were held hostage by the governor and made inaccessible to those who wanted to obtain forms.

He said that his faction eventually got forms directly from the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja. Some youths of the party caucus staged a protest against the planned consensus mode. They also accused the congress committee of sidelining their members.

In Ogun State, the unresolved war of attrition between the former governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and the incumbent, Prince Dapo Abiodun played out as their supporters held parallel congresses.

Reports have it that party leaders from both camps stormed their wards with a prepared list of executives, which was later adopted after the head count of party members in attendance.

It was also noted that during the local government congresses a parallel congress was held in Ogun State by a group loyal to former governor of the state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and another group loyal to Governor Abiodun.

Speaking on what happened during the congresses, a chieftain of the party in Osun State said there was nothing new in it.

“I am not new to politics. What we have is normal. You can’t have everybody agree in a political party. But the majority worked for the success of the Congress,” he said.

Political analysts and pundits are however saying that to avoid a deepening crisis, the leadership of the party should look into genuine grievances arising from the congresses.

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POLITICS “That is absolutely unconstitutional. You cannot ask INEC to seek the approval of another agency of government to transmit result electronically when actually INEC has power to impose duties on NCC to achieve electronic transmission of results.

“I completely agree that in the context of underscoring the independence of the Commission, Section 160 of the Constitution has done everything it needs to do. What is left is for INEC to use the power it has under the constitution to achieve its aim,” Ibeanu said, while quoting relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution.

INEC also opposed the NCC’s claim that Nigeria lacked enough network coverage to guarantee the electronic transmission of election results in 2023.

Besides, the electoral body revealed that the NCC was aware since 2018 that the commission had the capacity and capability to transmit results electronically.

El-Rufai

Dazang described the claims by NCC officials who appeared before the House of Representatives as false.

El-Rufai’s Successful Experiment with Electronic Voting in Kaduna

BY AYO ESAN overnor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State recently demonstrated that with the right motivation and determination electronic voting is possible in Nigeria.

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El - Rufai is not like the proverbial lizard that jumped down from the Iroko tree unhurt without being applauded. On the contrary, his successful experiment was greeted with a loud applause from all lovers of democracy in the country.

Unlike many of his colleagues, who always work toward ensuring their party emerges victorious in all local government areas in elections conducted by the state electoral commissions in their respective states, the governor decided to put democracy on course by adopting electronic voting for the recent Local government election in Kaduna State.

El- Rufai said the success recorded in the election was an indication that electronic voting was possible across the country. He stressed that his administration had placed the credibility and integrity of the electoral process above the discredited practice of previous governments’ winner-takesall approach.

He commended the electorate for showing, for the second time, that there was no obstacle to the successful adoption of the electronic voting technology in Nigeria.

The governor recalled that voters in Kaduna first made history on May 12, 2018, when they cast their ballots on electronic voting machines to elect chairmen and councillors for the 23 local government councils in the state.

He also explained that the election had placed Kaduna State as the first in Nigeria to successfully use electronic voting and the first sub-national in Africa to do so.

According to him, it also positioned Nigeria as the second country in Africa, after Namibia to use the technology.

“The local government elections held on September 4, 2021 further validated the Kaduna State Government’s decision to invest in Electronic Voting Machines to promote electoral integrity and transparency.

“Kaduna State is proudly upholding a new chapter in elections in Nigeria by using electronic voting technology, championed

PAGE 12

by a government that is determined to respect the outcome, win or lose,” he said.

With this, el-Rufai has not only opened a new chapter in Nigerian politics, but also validated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s claim that it has the capacity to transmit election results electronically.

Earlier, while reacting to a statement by the National Assembly that it would require the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to transmit election results electronically, INEC told Nigerians that it does not need any such approval to do that.

The commission had declared that the decision by the National Assembly to surrender its constitutional power to conduct elections to the NCC was absolutely unconstitutional.

It would be recall that during the debate on Section 52(3) of the Electoral Amendment Act Bill (which deals with electronic transmission) in the National Assembly, the lawmakers had asked the electoral umpire to seek the approval of the NCC before going on with e-transmission of results.

A National Commissioner and Chairman, Electoral Operations and Logistics Committee, Prof Okechukwu Ibeanu, said that rather than seek the NCC’s approval, the electoral body has the constitutional mandate to impose duties on the NCC to achieve the electronic transmission of results.

“

It is now clear that our legislators are selfish. They are more concerned with winning elections by all means possible. They know that with electronic transmission of results, the usual manipulation between the polling units and the collation centres will no longer be possible

He said, “In January 2018, INEC approached NCC that it wants a technology- driven commission and both have been working closely to deliver a free, fair and credible elections in our country for the benefit of citizens.

“They are also aware that two network providers, MTN and Airtel, have assisted JAMB to conduct their examinations across Nigeria. So INEC is still wondering why the NCC has suddenly made a U-turn that there is not enough network coverage in every part of Nigeria.”

Dazang noted that INEC had introduced innovations designed to clean up Nigeria’s tainted electoral processes, adding that those innovations worked perfectly during the off-season governorship elections held in Edo and Ondo States, as well as during the states and National Assembly By-elections held across Nigeria.

According to him, the constitution has given INEC powers that cannot be shared with any agency of government, pointing out that the new directive of the Senate on e-transmission is akin to stripping INEC of its powers.

On the fear that INEC’s servers might be prone to hacking, Dazang allayed the fears of the public, saying, “There is no website that is not prone to attack by hackers, even in the most advanced nations, but Nigerians should be rest assured that INEC has what it takes to fight off hackers and the commission is well prepared to safeguard its websites against hackers.”

He urged the lawmakers to be patriotic enough to reverse their earlier decisions to vote against electronic transmission of elections results, adding that they should consider the image of the country in the comity of civilised democratic nations.

Speaking with THEWILL on the conduct of the local governments election in Kaduna through the use of technology, a member of the Campaign for Democracy, Comrade Laolu Ayetan, said el-Rufai has demonstrated love for democracy with his action.

“It is now clear that our legislators are selfish. They are more concerned with winning elections by all means possible.

They know that with electronic transmission of results, the usual manipulation between the polling units and the collation centres will no longer be possible.

“All lovers of democracy should commend Governor elRufai. He deserves commendation. It is now clear that electronic voting and transmission of results is possible in Nigeria. We cannot but be grateful to him,” he said.

Will the National Assembly members reverse their earlier decisions to vote against electronic transmission of results?

Nigerians desire good elections and this can only be guaranteed via electronic conduct and transmission of results, as it will reduce human interference with election results.

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ARTS

Yusuf Grillo: Exit of An Art Colossus

courses leading to specified diplomas. Growth had finally begun at YCT. From the Ordinary Diploma to the Higher National Diploma, from establishing a robust pedagogy appropriate for the newly introduced classification to the construction of an imposing, functional structure, one that anticipated growth and the pliancy necessary for expansion, Grillo was the incomparable mastermind, the quiet but zealous power that did not only dream, but also willed his dream to actuality.

BY DELE JEGEDE

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eeting Grillo is different from knowing him. The former implies a casualness that is an inevitable part of his job as a teacher, artist and public figure.

The latter gestures at having or earning a privileged status.

To meet him is to be in the presence of an enigma; to know him is to be granted a favour; to be admitted into a loosely constructed circle of trusted friends, including former colleagues and students. Meeting him demystifies all the manufactured shibboleth that supposedly marks the artist as this enigmatic, right-brained persona, easily distinguishable in any community by his appearance, even behaviour.

As a painter, sculptor and mosaicist, Grillo’s work is imbued with an organic structure that may or may not be visible to the ordinary eye, but which is responsible for the tensility that gives his work its springiness and allure. Grillo’s structurally configured mannerism is most manifest in his paintings. Often swathed in enchanting fields of soothing blues, magentas, greens and pinks, the enduring feature and the matrix upon which his paintings are built is composition. In single paintings, often of seductive Yoruba women, it is the structured faces that are most revelatory of the working of Grillo’s mind. The faces become the frontier where his fondness for mathematics and science gives creative force to his love for minimalist deployment of colours. In his paintings, the master artist’s channeling of an assortment of masks from Gabon, specifically of the Punu and Fang variety, comes to the fore.

The coquettishness of Grillo’s women is accentuated by the artist’s stylistic gesture, by which the women’s gaze is down; they hardly make eye contact with their admirers.

Presumed to be queer before that word became a politesse for non-binary identity, the artist was this piece of work with a zany sartorial taste and a haircut that leaned on or anticipated Rastafarianism long before it became hip in Nigeria. Grillo’s persona evinces none of these Quixotic s. Always regal in his white or off-white top and pants casual suit, he was the epitome of class, subtlety, carriage, poise and dignity. Not one to raise his voice in public, he was a positive force. He spoke with apodictic authority on matters pertaining to tertiary education, broadly; he was oracular on matters relating to the practice and teaching of art. And in the reach and import of his work, sculpture, painting and murals, no less than stained-glass, Grillo was peerless. He despised publicity and was never one to toot his own horn. Instead, he left a legacy for humanity that will remain indelible across time and space.

But you may not sense any of these attributes until you have known him. He was at ease with spinning one mischievous joke after another, often at your expense. Those who are in the trade of weaponising jokes know that there is a variety of jokes. There are jokes that are mere stubs—without a punch line. There are jokes that you throw a cheap smile at, merely to humour the source. There are jokes that you chuckle at, perhaps because of the space you are in. Grillo’s jokes, which he would tell only to those who are privileged to know him, provoked guffaws.

I met Grillo when I enrolled as a student at the Yaba College of Technology (YCT) in the mid-1960s. As a teacher, he was an affecting presence: calm but forceful, methodical, inspiring and detail-oriented. If you were unable to go out and work on an assignment that called for the study of an actual scenery, but cooked up something anyway, you would be hoisted by your own petard.

Grillo was known to take dissembling students (in his Ford Zephyr) to supposed sites simply to prove that the students’ sketches were fictional. And he was always right. I knew Grillo much later. I was an honoured recipient of the Y. Grillo Prize for the Best All-Round Final Year Student in 1973 when I graduated from ABU. I was delirious with joy when this revered icon bought one of my paintings—my self-portrait— at my first solo exhibition in 1974. The painting was one of a few, including one of Kolade Oshinowo, hanging in his living room in Ikeja. Of course, the decision to invite him to formally open my 1977 exhibition was simply a no-brainer.

Certainly, his teaching methodology evolved just as did his perspectives and vision for tertiary art education in a newly independent Nigeria. After completing his education at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, (NCAST) (now Ahmadu Bello University, ABU), Zaria in 1956, he headed for King’s College, Lagos. He knew he was going to be an art teacher. His education at ABU was on Federal Government scholarship. Hardly had he settled at King’s College than he was sent to the then Department of Art at the Yaba Institute of Technology, a department that was then under the suzerainty of Paul Mount from 1955 to 1961.

The critical word that encapsulates Grillo’s mission and legacy is structure. Quietly, methodically, but determinedly, Grillo embarked on his diocesan task of giving structure to his vision of a future in which artists would not have to accept their confinement to a subaltern status in their respective communities. During the quarter of a century that Grillo spent at YCT, starting in 1962 and culminating in his retirement in 1987 at a very old age of—wait for it—53— he bequeathed to the college the comely architectural edifice that now exteriorizes the college: the School of Art, Design, and Printing. But Grillo did more than erect an edifice to the THEWILLNIGERIA

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“

Here was a man at once public but elusive. His legacy would have been phenomenal if it had been limited simply to the thousands of students whose lives he touched directly or vicariously

future at Yaba. He gutted the system that Mount handed over to him. In place of a laissez-faire approach that dated back to the years of Yaba Technical Institute, Grillo re-structured the art department in ways that would meet the aspiration of a growing population of budding artists.

As one who had participated in the now much celebrated art students’ subversion in Zaria (with other Zarianists, such as the late Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, and Bruce Onobrakpeya) Grillo knew that the Mount model was too loose to succeed in his envisioned new nation. Mount had thrown the art programme open to anyone who was interested in studying art to do so on their own terms. Fresh from Zaria, he carried the philosophical principles that birthed the Art Society in Zaria to the establishment of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) in 1963. As the first president of the SNA, he provided a structure for professional artists to effectively contribute to national growth.

The Yaba that Grillo inherited comprised a smorgasbord of students, civil servants, youths, spouses of diplomats and anyone else, all of whom chose what they wanted to study.

He streamlined the programme. Instead of the prevailing open sesame, he introduced basic qualifications for prescribed

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Perhaps it is Grillo’s mosaic murals and stained-glass works for churches that most apparently display the artist’s penchant for structure. When members of the Zaria Art Society made their debut in the early 1960s, it was a case of sheer serendipity.

The emergence of a new breed of young, proud, articulate and enthusiastic professional artists in the year of Nigeria’s independence provided the fillip that Grillo and others needed.

Grillo received advice from, and patronage of architects, expatriates, diplomats, other professionals, and a few upper class Nigerians, all of whom collected his paintings. Early in his career, Grillo branched out into other novel areas of art production. With commissions coming from architects, such as Robin Atkinson, Grillo went into designing huge murals for public buildings. It started in Lagos with the Independence Building in Tafawa Balewa Square in 1963, but soon his mosaic murals spread across the nation, including the New Nigerian newspapers building in Kaduna.

Again, it was Atkinson that lured Grillo into designing stained glasses for church windows. Today, his stained-glass designs, which started with the Presbyterian Church, Yaba, can be seen in numerous churches across the nation, from St Dominic’s at Yaba to Oko in Anambra State. I once asked him how as a Muslim, he was able to interpret the Bible so perspicuously, more so since his design would have to dig into the Bible and Christian liturgy. Grillo displayed his fond knowledge of the two great religions by distilling their epistemic canons into two: worship and love. You should worship God, who is the same in the two religions and then love your fellow man as yourself. In pursuit of these two decrees, Grillo would convoke an assembly of his colleagues and friends, Christians and Muslims, during the annual Eid-el-Kabir, for his famous Chrislam feast. Perhaps in adherence to his religious principles, Grillo did all he could to shun publicity. He was not one to celebrate December 16, which is his birthday.

Here was a man at once public but elusive. His legacy would have been phenomenal if it had been limited simply to the thousands of students whose lives he touched directly or vicariously. But there is more, much more, to Grillo than the number of those whose career he designed. Grillo designed houses, large murals, and stained-glass windows for churches.

He was a colossus in word and deed. Grillo gave much more than he took. He bequeathed to the nation and mankind an art that is evocative and cathartic. Grillo bestrode the Nigerian art field as a visionary. He became the golden standard by which delectability and constructive synergy in art are measured.

I most certainly am bereaved. But the nation and, indeed, the world are the poorer for his exit. For a man who stood tall and straight in the exercise of principles no less than the demonstration of his creative temper and administrative savvy, Grillo will forever remain a looming presence.

•Emeritus Prof Dele Jegede wrote in from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.

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EDITORIAL

Buhari’s Grazing Routes Policy D

espite public outcry against the proposed recovery of grazing routes in the country, on Thursday, August 19, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari, announced the approval of 368 grazing routes in 25 states. The approval, the President said, followed the recommendations of a committee set up to review “with dispatch” 368 grazing sites in 25 states to determine the levels of encroachment.

It would be recalled that on May 11, 2021, 17 governors of the southern states proscribed open grazing due to public outcry on the atrocities being perpetrated by herders.

In a sharp response to this initiative, the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN (AGF), condemned the governors’ decision and compared open grazing to spare parts trading in the northern parts of the country by mostly Igbo traders and others from the South.

Consequently, on June 14, 2021, President Buhari expressed his opposition to the decision of the southern governors, saying that he had instructed the AGF, to “go and dig out the gazette of the First Republic” and vigorously pursue the recovery of grazing routes in many states across the country.

The position adopted by the President and the AGF attracted widespread criticism from different parts of the country, especially from states where open grazing had been banned based on criminality and insecurity.

group, the Oodua People’s Sovereign Movement (OPSOM), has vowed to resist the establishment of grazing routes in the South-West.

Explaining its position, the presidency said the Federal Government decided to take this step in order to halt the bloody clashes between herders and farmers across the country. The statement read in part: “The President’s directive followed his approval of the recommendations of a committee chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.

“The committee also recommended the production of maps and geo-mapping/tagging of sites, analysis of findings and report preparations, as well as the design of appropriate communication on grazing reserves and operations.

“The number of the grazing reserves and states were deduced from considerations of existing security concerns and other pre-existing socio-economic conditions. The President directed that the assignment be undertaken with dispatch to bring more understanding on the grazing reserves and implementation.”

But OPSOM maintained that it would resist any attempt to establish grazing routes in any part of Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States. The group argued that grazing routes would not solve any problem as it would aggravate the existing ones.

Some Nigerians, who are opposed to open grazing, have argued that cattle rearing ought to be a private business and the Muhammadu Buhari administration had no right using the country’s resources to promote one ethnic group to the detriment of others. Some even accused the President of trying to turn the country into a ‘cow republic’.

Registered under the umbrella body of Yoruba selfdetermination groups, Ilana Omo Oodua (IOO) and led by a renowned historian, Prof Banji Akintoye, OPSOM expressed its displeasure with the way the Federal Government has “consistently devised means to ensure the establishment of cattle colonies in Yorubaland through a backdoor policy of tracing and reclaiming abandoned and archaic practice of grazing routes that was in existence in the 1960s.

In response to President Buhari’s quest to recover the grazing routes, a pan-Yoruba self-determination

“The council resolved to apply the instrumentalities of the law, media and intellectualism to fight what is con-

sidered illegality and a subtle attempt at land grabbing in favour of certain part of the country.”

The grazing routes in Nigeria date back to the 1950s when a certain Hamisu Kano created a grazing reserve in the North with the aid of the then administration.

He had used the abandoned government resettlement schemes (the Fulani Resettlement). The reason for the establishment of the grazing reserve was to prevent food shortage in the North and to accommodate herders in the North.

The historical reference to the formative stage of grazing reserves in the country is to give more credence to the argument that the Grazing Reserve Law was only aimed for enforcement in northern Nigeria and not the entire country. This is because the grazing routes, which enabled herders to move from one grazing reserve to another, only allowed for such areas where the grazing reserves were available. And that is the North.

We do not support the Federal Government’s policy of encouraging open grazing, despite widespread opposition to it, as this may portray it as being insensitive to the insecurity pervading the country.

We cannot agree less that ranching rather than open grazing is the modern means of raising cattle across the World and Nigeria cannot be an exemption.

Therefore, we call on the government to shelve the proposed resuscitation of grazing routes and instead, encourage and support ranching.

This will also avoid unnecessary conflict between the governments of the southern states, some of which have already passed the Anti-Open Grazing Laws in their respective states.

We need cooperation between the various levels of government, especially at this critical stage in our country’s history, not open confrontation.

AUSTYN OGANNAH

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Editor – Olaolu Olusina Deputy Editor – Amos Esele Politics Editor – Ayo Esan Business Editor – Sam Diala News Editor (Online) – Felix Oboagwina Copy Editor – Chux Ohai Cartoon Editor – Victor Asowata Entertainment/Society Editor – Ivory Ukonu Photo Editor – Peace Udugba Head, Graphics – Tosin Yusuph Circulation Manager – Victor Nwokoh Nigeria Bureau: 36AA Remi Fani-Kayode Street, GRA, Ikeja. Lagos, Nigeria. info@thewillnigeria.com / @THEWILLNG +234 810 345 2286, +234 913 333 3888. EDITOR: Olaolu Olusina @OLUSINA [Letters/Opinions: opinion.letters@thewillnigeria.com] PAGE 14

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OPINION Rape As Social Hazard

BY ADEPARUA DAMILOLA

T

he rate at which rape is becoming rampant in the society is quite alarming. The most dreadful part of it is the fact that people do not get raped in confined places outside their homes these days, but right inside their homes by those who are supposed to protect them.

Recent happenings in the society expose fathers who rape their female children consecutively and get them impregnated. Some of these children die in the process of giving birth to these children, while some of them become teenage mothers with mental instability as a result of the shame and depression such acts bring upon them.

These days, some men even rape women as a way of punishing them as reported in the case of a rapist who confessed to raping a woman because she refused to greet him! In addition, on June 10, 2020, in Kano, as reported by BBC, a man confessed to raping over 40 women, including an 80 year-old woman, within one year.

The term ‘rape’ originates from the Latin word ‘rapere’, which means to snatch, to grab or to carry off and since the 14th century, the term has come to mean to seize and take away by force.

According to Wikipedia, rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person’s consent. This act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability or is below the legal age of consent.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines rape as a form of sexual assault, while The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) includes rape in their definition of sexual assault; they describe rape as a form of sexual violence. The 1998 International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda defines rape as ”physical invasion of a sexual nature committed on a person under circumstances which are coercive”.

As posited by a source, the age at which an individual may give effective consent to sexual intercourse is commonly set in most countries at between 14 and 18 years, while in some countries, it is 12 years. Sexual intercourse with a person below the age of consent is termed statutory rape. In this case, consent is no longer relevant.

Statutory rape also refers to any kind of sexual assault committed against a person above the age of consent by an individual in a position of authority like employers, teachers, doctors and parents and it often leaves the victims with long-term psychological and physical damage, including sexually transmitted diseases and the inability to bear children.

Statistics shows that South Africa has the highest rate of rape in the world at 132.4 incidents per 100,000 people. According to a survey conducted by the South African Medical Research Council, approximately one in four men surveyed admitted to committing rape.

It is also estimated that approximately 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime. In most countries with data available on rape, less than 40 per cent of women who experience sexual violence seek help and less than 10 per cent seek assistance from law enforcement agencies.

Age is one of the factors, which enhance rape. Rapists go after vulnerable or younger people who they can easily incapacitate. According to Wikipedia, young women are usually found to be more at risk of rape than older women. Data from justice system and rape crisis centres in Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua, New Guinea, Peru and the United States of America state that between one third and two thirds of all victims of sexual assault are aged 15 years or less.

Statistics also shows that women from ages 16-19 are four times more likely to be victims of rape and sexual assault and female college students ages 18-24 are three times more likely to experience sexual assault.

In addition, alcohol and drug consumption may put one at risk of being raped. Drug abuse among the youths of nowadays is a serious issue that calls for a serious attention as videos showing many youths acting under the influence of drug abuse surface online almost every day. In such a situation, if rape occurs, the victim may be unable to protect herself/himself or it may even lead to death as a result of violence.

Furthermore, poverty can also enhance rape. People who are poor often do not have time to monitor the activities of their children due to their search for means of livelihood. Apart from the fact that they engage their children in child labor which may at times send the children away to unsafe places where they may get raped, majority of them also stay out till late night, leaving their children with either relatives or neighbors who may not be trustworthy

In our society, people show little or no concern for rape victims because they are usually more interested in the victim’s look or appearance before the incident because it is believed that if one is properly dressed, rape cannot possibly occur and this in effect leads to more perpetration of rape in our society. The United Nations Women posits that what a woman is wearing, what and how much she had to drink and where she was at a certain time is not an invitation to rape her.

Also, many rape cases go unreported while the perpetrators go unpunished because the society places more importance on family honour than people’s well-being as it is believed that such a case may bring dishonour to the family’s image in the society.

In a bid to curb sexual related violence, the United Nations Action, which is aimed at addressing sexual violence in conflicts and beyond, was created in 2007 in response to the “call to action” of the June 2006 symposium on sexual violence in conflict and beyond, held in Brussels. The establishment of UN Action responds to calls from within the UN, as well as from women’s rights organisations, non-governmental organisation (NGO) and member states to elevate sexual violence politically as a peace and security challenge and as a humanitarian, human rights, gender and development issues.

Even though it is of utmost importance that measures are taken in order to curb the menace of rape in the society, yet, unless thesociety stop attaching certain depraving attribute to the men folk like “men will always be men” or the misconception of men’s entitlement to sex not minding wherever they get it from, putting an end to rape in the society will be infeasible.

According to a source, rape can be curbed by challenging images of violence against women in advertising, pornography and other forms of media. Also by supporting women and men, who are working to end sexual violence and recognizing that sexual violence will not end until men become part of the solution.

Conclusively, no one deserves to be sexually harassed or assaulted because it leads to shame, humiliation, confusion, fear, rage and perpetual feeling of defilement; an inability to feel clean, an overwhelming sense of vulnerability and a paralyzing feeling of lack of control over the victims’ lives. Parents are urged to pay proper attention to their children in order to ensure their safety and drugs should not be abused for any reason as it is inimical to health and hampers the well-being of the society.

Of Lagos Gentlemen And Abuja Patriots

BY ISIDORE EMEKA UZOATU

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here is a sign that will confront an African hunter setting off for the night’s job in a distant forest and he will call off the hunt instantly. Like his left toe hitting an object as he saunters out, for instance, or either of his eyes sighting either of his ears in a flash.

If in doubt, ask Kenyan poet, Jared Angira. Same too for writers set on sunning their vocabulary in a weekly column. If, for instance, they wake up and are confronted by something greater than their farms, truly I say unto you, unless a fortuitous circumstance supervenes, it may lead to them selling off their barns.

You know, like when something greater than Nte the Igbo cricket enters its hole.

Well, with yours truly yet bestriding that tenuous periphery between wake and sleep, my own predicament was different.

If anything, it was comparable to that between Prophet Jero and his apprentice Brother Chume in Wole Soyinka’s ‘The Trials of Brother Jero’. If you can recollect, it had the latter wishing he exchanged crosses with his master.

Welcome to a day in my life. For starters, it is quite unlike Paul McCartney back when he was still a Beatle. Or I would have opened like him with, ‘Have you heard the news today o boy?’ Or that of Ivan Denisovich, as told by Alexander Solzhenitsyn either.

Yes, being no beetle a la Albert Camus and needing no reveille to rise, the morning in question broke with my eyes in a suspended reverie. Coincidentally, they had dozed off while admiring one of Olu Oguibe’s public sculptures. The billboard in question made a short and sharp statement: Sex Work is Honest Work.

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As the tide of contemplation ebbed, I could not but wind up contemplating the honesty or otherwise of my countrymen and women engaged in various occupations. Of course, Nigerians are used to such pithy sayings. It is a historical thing, I figure. In fact, it has been rumoured that it goes right back to the clay with which we were moulded on creation day. As manifested in the country’s doings from day one.

The question that remains unanswered however is: How many of us are engaged in honest work? For instance, as you make to enter Abuja, you would be harassed by billboards of welcoming you at the perennially underlock city gate. Not so with good, old Lagos.

As you roll in, perhaps on the ageless Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the three white-painted wisemen on a pedestal at the city’s alwaysopen gates will spare you only a thinly-veiled warning: This is Lagos.

It stops short of telling you that you are on your own in the racy town. And for no other reason other than that anything more than those three words would term you a fool.

Yes, in Lagos you don’t get a second chance, much like in modern day athletics. Beat the gun once and a straight red card confronts you. No yellow, like in Association Football a.k.a. soccer, perhaps to differentiate it from the ones played with helmets and shoulder pads. Or green, like in Field Hockey, so differentiated from the one played on rinks.

Which recalls how the American boxer, James Quick Tillis compared boxing and tennis. According to the fast-footed pugilist, if you mess up in tennis all you lose is five lovers. In boxing, according to him, it will amount to you losing your baby.

So, in Lagos, nay Nigeria, it is either you are wise or you are dead.

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And wise men are seldom honest. It is for this selfsame reason that you will often hear that there is no gentleman in Lagos. Never mind the whole lot of the male species dressed out in designer clothes and accessories parading its high and low places. If the hood does not make the monk anywhere, it is in that damned city. But don’t be carried away just yet as it concerns the new FCT. As we soon found out as we set sail thence in search of a living patriot. The reason for this change was simple. No sooner did we start the same search in Lagos than we found that patriotism had long left the city. As soon as Babangida hurriedly relocated to you know where after the Gideon Orkar coup, we were informed.

And this is where the issue of honesty pops up anew. Like once debated off a podium, honesty is often touted as the best policy in every sphere of life. Whether as a corporate entity or a mere employee, we are often expected to play with open cards. In turn, this raised ethical questions that ended up bouncing off one another.

Not unlike the age-old one about the persistence of evil in a world beholden to an omnipotent and all-loving creator.

Yes, many companies currently riding the waves are also often known for undercutting government taxes. Others still comply with their taxes and other corporate social responsibilities but deal in contraband and other obnoxious transactions. And like we were to discover, while the ungentlemanly Lagosian is ubiquitous, finding a patriot in Abuja proved most daunting.

In Lagos, for instance, all the researcher needed to do was take a trip to a bus stop - anyone at all. (One only hopes that the new terminals will not get rid of them.

Conversely, in Abuja the abounding politicians appear so overly patriotic that to think them otherwise appears an unthinkable anomaly.

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Stakeholders Carpet FAAN Over Logjam on Lagos Airport Road

NNPC Did Not Make Any N287bn Profit – Obiaraeri

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UBA Records N76.2bn 2021 Half Year Profit

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Experts Debunk NNPC’s N287bn Profit Claim

BY SAM DIALA

F

The investment and energy expert noted that the NNPC collects the profits made by its subsidiaries and the dividends from the Nigeria National Liquefied Gas Limited on behalf of the Nigerian government.

inance and investment experts, as well as active players in the global space of oil and gas, have picked holes in the recently published accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which showed a humongous net profit of N287 billion in 2020. Notwithstanding the depth of professional touch that is reflected in the account presented, experts who spoke to THEWILL maintain that the document, going by its antecedent, could not be treated as one that contains the ingredients of transparency.

“Their profits are meant for the Federation Account. The money (in the Federation Account) belongs to the federal, state and local governments. For instance, we have the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) which is a subsidiary of NNPC. It is an independent entity with its own balance sheet. Their responsibility is to manage the oil blocks and other assets on behalf of the Nigerian government,”

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, on August 26, 2021, presented the corporation’s 2020 Accounts at a press conference held in Abuja, after President Muhammadu Buhari, who also doubles as the Minister of Petroleum, had applauded the corporation’s feat after 44 years.

Obiaraeri further explained that dividends received from these joint ventures had been paid into the Federation Account but the arrangement changed in 2019 when NNPC began to retain a portion of the receipts which it did not pay into the Federation Account. He noted that “over four decades, dividends received from these joint ventures have been paid into the Federation Account”, adding. “What I suspect may have happened was that in 2019, against the usual practice, most of those companies paid dividends and NNPC decided to retain a portion of those dividends.”

The GMD also added that the NNPC saved a lot of cost through contract renegotiation by up to 30 percent on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, introduction of technology that drastically cut travel cost through reduction in in-person meetings and the general automation of processes that enhanced efficiency across the group’s businesses. He said the management’s focus on the prioritisation of investment and staff welfare also helped in boosting the corporation’s overall productivity and bottom line.

But the views of most industry experts and stakeholders, who spoke to THEWILL, was that the NNPC’s published accounts should be taken with a pinch of salt as it may not have been a work of transparency and sincerity of purpose. They argue that for a legacy loss-carrying establishment to jump out of a deep hole of losses into the orbit of humongous profit means that not everything must have been considered.

The first salvo was fired by Nigeria’s foremost investment banker and founder cum pioneer CEO of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, who is also President and Founder of Anap Business Jets Limited, Atedo Peterside, told THEWILL that NNPC should come clean.

“There is an allegation that the management of the NNPC dipped their fingers in the federation’s cookie jar in order to announce a bumper 2020 profit; they should come clean and publish the details of all dividends received by them and tell us which ones they recently diverted from the federation to themselves,” Peterside said in a note to THEWILL. In an exclusive interview with THEWILL, the Managing Director/ CEO, Taurus Capital & Advisory Servicee and Taurus Oil & Gas Limited, Dr Nnaemeka Obiaraeri, explained that the NNPC financials that showed a profit of N287 billion in 2020 should be interrogated adequately. According to him, the business of NNPC falls into three which did not show any window of activity that would result in a profit since 2015, not to talk of hitting N287 billion in a COVID-19 year.

“The NNPC as a corporation did not make any profit. If a business enterprise says it made profit, the first thing is to find out what business it does. What goods and services does the business produce or offer?

“The NNPC buys PMS (petroleum motor spirit) at an average of

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Kyari

Kyari attributed the turn-around of the corporation from a loss of ₦803bn in 2018 to profit of ₦287bn in 2020 to the aggressive implementation of cost-cutting measures, improved efficiency through business automation, emphasis on commercially-focused investments and non-interference in the management of the Corporation from any quarters.

“

NNPC must cut costs to make profit. They are not cutting costs. There are obvious ones in their books – those refineries.

You cannot be carrying a loss-making venture and still want to make profit.

Let them privatise the refineries. By privatising those refineries NNPC will be eliminating over N150 billion loss from their operations. You can’t be carrying a loss and say you are making

N250 and N270 per litre, depending on what the market price is.

They will sell it at a reduced or subsidised price of N148 per litre to the marketers. They bring in an average of 20 billion litres per annum. This year, it is going to be more than that since they say they import 110 million litres per day. On this, they will be making between N2 and N3 trillion loss because they are buying at a higher price and selling at a discounted price. Now, they will dip their hands into the Federation Account to make up the price. That is what they called subsidy which, on its own, is an offence because it was not appropriated by the National Assembly. The law says you cannot spend such funds that have not been appropriated by the National Assembly. That is one side.

“The other business they do is managing the refineries. The refineries are not producing. NNPC, on their own, create losses on those refineries. Between 2015 and 2020, total losses incurred by those refineries are over N800 billion. So, from where did the NNPC make the profit?” Obiaraeri said.

“Again, NNPC has been making losses. From 2015/16 to 2020, they made accumulated losses of over N800 billion. Now, all of a sudden, in 2020 when the world was on lockdown, it made such a humongous profit. Did NNPC operate in a different world? Look at the balance sheets of other nations’ oil and gas corporations: Saudi Arabia’s Aramco declared over $110 billion profit in 2018. In 2019 they declared $83 billion profit. In 2020, when COVID-19 was ravaging the world, they declared $42 billion profit which is about half of the 2019 figure,” Obiaraeri said (see full interview).

Dr Olu Fasan, Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, argues that the government has no business running a refinery as that should create an avenue to prevent the losses being recorded by the national oil corporation.

“My view is that the government has no business running a refinery.

The seven refineries in the U.K. are owned by private companies, while the government provides a regulatory environment. The NNPC should be fully privatised, and it is a mistake to “privatise” with 100% federal government ownership as required under the PIA. “The NNPC can’t be properly run and make profit as a state-owned enterprise. SOEs are not known to be well-run and profitable anywhere in the world. Nigeria won’t attract quality investment into the oil and gas sector unless the government’s role is reduced to that of a light-touch regulator.

“In any case, if the NNPC is not making profit, where will the 30% for exploration in frontier basins come from, as under the act it should come from NNPC’s profits,” Dr Fasun said in a note to THEWILL. Dr Ik Muo, Economist and Finance Teacher, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Owoye, Ogun State, said NNPC must have made profits since they receive and retain monies from the subsidiaries and profits from other government investments.

“I was among those elated and surprised when NNPC declared such a humungous profit . I was surprised because most of the refineries are either idle and are maintained with intimidating sums or are operating at laughable capacities while the full operational costs are borne. However, technically speaking, the NNPC did make some profits because they could have finished all these monies on 1001 expenditure subheads. *Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

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SEPTEMBER 12 - SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

AVIATION Confirming that the traffic logjam usually starts from Ikeja under bridge, Yakubu added “we are working with the Lagos State government to address the gridlock. It is from Ikeja under bridge”. .

Meanwhile, eyewitness accounts have attributed the persistent logjam to a traffic build-up, which starts from Ikeja Under-bridge and extends to the road that leads to the airport. They however, insist that FAAN has a key role to play in ensuring that there is free flow of traffic.

Commenting, a newspaper vendor, Wasiu Akinbode said, “The traffic logjam starts to build up from Ikeja Under-bridge, which is the cause. Whenever there is a blockage around this point, it affects vehicles inside the airport premises and even extends to Beesam Bus-Stop”.

Explaining further, Akinbode added “The traffic is worsened by the movement of motorists from Apapa, Isolo, Ajao Estate, Mafoluku who tend to divert to the road leading to the airport, thereby avoiding the Oshodi area. This helps to pile the traffic gridlock along the road. FAAN must find a way to decongest the road by all means because it is risky for the airport environment”.

With vehicles held for hours and air passengers delayed unnecessarily along the airport road, there are fears that such irregularities may pose security risks to the airport community.

This is worsened by commercial buses plying the Lagos Airport Access Road, which may equally pose security risks to members of the public and airport users.

THEWILL gathered that there are about 100 commercial buses operating on the road and the background of the owners, the drivers and the buses registration particulars may not be substantially known and guaranteed for assessment of airport security.

For a more serene airport environment, most stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry have called for a better organised shuttle system within the airport premises. For instance, Centurion Aviation Safety and Security Consults (CSSC) , a company that has over the years been involved with the security of the Nigerian airports, had proposed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to consider giving it the concession for running a global standard shuttle transport buses between the MMA four terminals of General Aviation Terminal (GAT), MM2, the International Terminals and the Cargo Terminals.

Stakeholders Carpet FAAN Over Logjam on Lagos Airport Road Logjam on Lagos Airport Road, Ikeja.

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

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ir travellers plying the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA) road, especially those coming to catch their flights from Apapa, Isolo, Mafoluku and Ajao Estate areas of Lagos State are having difficulty reaching the local terminals of Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2) and the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the airport in good time.

Due to heavy traffic that now characterises Airport Road, air travellers are made to spend three to four hours between Beesam Bus Stop and MMA2, a journey that would have taken just about 10 minutes. They have blamed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for the pain and difficulty they experience on the road, alleging that the authority is insensitive to the traffic situation A recent investigation by THEWILL (on September 3, 202), showed that at one time a gridlock on Airport Road lasted four hours, between noon and some minutes past 4pm, a situation that left many travellers missing their flights and others wasting their man-hours.

The same scenario played out on Monday September 6, 2021.

A traffic snarl lasted for three hours without an intervention from any quarter. According to motorists that ply the route, the traffic situation has become a daily occurrence and road users are THEWILLNIGERIA

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Photo: Peace Udugba

gradually getting used to the resulting hardship. Those rushing to catch their flights were seen jumping out of their vehicles to climb onto commercial motorcycles, popularly known as ‘okada’, in order to to complete their journey to the local airport terminal.

It was a field day for commercial motorcyclists or Okada riders as the intending travellers were left at their mercy. They charged between N2,000 and N3,000 to ferry desperate travellers with their luggage to the airport terminal, which is just three poles from the traffic jam.

Speaking to THEWILL, an air traveller en route Abuja on an afternoon flight, Mrs Mary Ige, said she was embarrassed that she could be held for over an hour on the road, advising FAAN to do something very urgent to arrest the situation.

Mrs Ige pointed out that in addition to the delays, it was a security risk for intending travellers to be held at a spot for many hours on a road used all manner of vehicles and people.

Another air passenger, Chucks Bardi, blamed FAAN for the traffic gridlock, stressing that the authority should take a drastic action to ensure that there is free flow of traffic on the airport road.

Commenting on the traffic situation, General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Henrietta Yakubu told THEWILL that the Authority is doing something to arrest the menace.

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In a letter addressed to the Managing Director of FAAN, with reference number: CSSC/FAAN/300/19/003 dated August 19, 2019, the Chief Executive Officer of CSSC, Group Captain John Ojikutu, had declared his intention to give the airport the desired international image and to assist FAAN to achieve global best practices of ACI for its airports with a view to providing a purse friendly and standard 36- Seater transit bus services for passengers and airport users.

The proposal, titled, ‘Proposal For The Concession of Shuttle Buses For Passengers Between Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminals,’ according to Ojikutu, was planned to reduce traffic around the airport by 30 per cent, if the commercial buses are replaced by standard buses and by 50 per cent, if FAAN would address the closure of Beesam and airport toll gates.

Ojikutu further stressed that in the midst of the complicated and uncontrolled urban development and other surrounding road networks, including the Airport Service Road, the airport could be a reservoir for the overflow of disturbances from the urban environment.

“The heavy traffic on that road could also be an albatross to the management of the airport in the event of any serious occurrence or an emergency requiring the urgent evacuation of victims of aircraft accidents. Moreover, the security of the airport infrastructure and safety of travelling passengers cannot be sufficiently guaranteed,” he said.

According to him, solving the problems of the Airport Service Road should start with the FAAN management retaking and exercising proper ownership of the service road that is being used as a public road. “The objectives will be to restricting the public traffic transiting on the road from Abeokuta Expressway to Apapa- Oshodi Expressway and return. Retaking and claiming may also require closing the road linking the Bisam Area to the Airport Service Road and closing the toll gate, which purpose is only to generating revenue from road users and not entirely to servicing the airport users.”

Meanwhile, the Murtala Mohammed Airport Security recently came under the focus of the industry stakeholders and the public.

First was the concern expressed by the British High Commissioner that the airport lacks shuttle buses for passengers connecting flights between local and international airlines.

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW

NNPC Did Not Make Any N287bn Profit – Obiaraeri

Managing Director/CEO, Taurus Capital & Advisory Services and Taurus Oil & Gas Limited, Dr Nnaemeka Obiaraeri, speaks on the N287 billion profit recently declared by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and related matters, in this interview with SAM DIALA. Excerpts:

Y

ou are a finance/investment expert and a key player in the global oil and gas industry. What is your take on the N287 billion profit (after tax) recently declared by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)?

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not make any profit. Let us stop deceiving ourselves. The NNPC as a corporation did not make any profit. If a business enterprise says it made profit, the first thing is to find out what business it does. What goods and services does the business produce or offer? Let us face facts; the NNPC is an entity. What is its responsibility? What it is currently doing is to import petroleum products and distribute them to the marketers.

The other business the NNPC does is managing the refineries.

The refineries are not producing. The NNPC on its own creates losses on those refineries. Between 2015 and 2020, total losses incurred by those refineries are over N800 billion. So, from where did the NNPC make the profit?

Also, we have the subsidiary businesses. I want us to understand this: By the Act of the National Assembly, there are companies and other business entities in which Nigeria has stakes. Most of those companies in the oil and gas sector earn revenues and make profits. Their profits are meant for the Federation Account. The money (in the Federation Account) belongs to the federal, state and local governments. For instance, we have the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), which is a subsidiary of NNPC. It is an independent entity with its own balance sheet. Its responsibility is to manage the oil blocks and other assets on behalf of the Federal Government.

We also have the NLNG Limited (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas), where the government has 49 percent equity in private public partnership with the oil majors. That stake belongs to the federation not to NNPC. The NLNG is an entity which operates independently, has its own balance sheet, corporate governance and other statutory requirements. We have other entities, such as the West Africa Gas Pipeline and other ventures that the NNPC operates with other oil majors and investors, including insurance services. They all earn revenues on their own.

What has been the practice in the past and what has changed now?

In over four decades, dividends received from these joint ventures have been paid into the Federation Account. You will recall that under former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Federal Government disclosed the dividends received from the NLNG, which are paid into the Federation Account and shared among the three tiers of government (federal, states and local governments). If you remember, when the Buhari-led government came to power in 2015 and was faced with financial challenges, the $2.1 billion received from the NLNG as our dividend from the declared profit was paid into the Federation Account and shared among the three tiers of government. That provided some succour to the new government at the time.

The state governors, over time, have insisted that any money

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Look at Petrobras of Brazil, it declared over $10 billion profit in 2019. In 2020, because of COVID-19, it achieved a little over $1 billion.

Similarly, Petronas of Malaysia made a profit of about $21 billion in 2019. In 2020, it made a loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check Emirate Oil and other nations’ oil and gas firms, there is no corporation or oil and gas industry operator that declared bumper profits in 2020. All of a sudden, NNPC is declaring over 2,000 percent profit. Profit from where?

And Nigerians are clapping away. What it (NNPC) simply did was move numbers from one place to another. It is financial engineering.

Can you suggest how NNPC, as an entity, can make profit?

As a corporation, NNPC can make profit if its management does what is right. It can make profits if it wants. Remember that British Petroleum was once a public corporation until it decided to commercialise and privatise. The last profit it declared as a public enterprise was in 1987. That is what we have been urging the Federal Government to do. If the NNPC wants to make profit it should privatise or commercialise. Simple.

But the Group Managing Director of the NNPC explained how the corporation made the profit – through prudent management of resources, cost-cutting, etc All this talk about prudent management and cutting costs is so annoying. In a country that has sharp minds, some people think they can just wake up and tell us that they made bumper profit? I can’t understand this. How can you tell us you cut costs by over 30 percent in a loss-making venture you have been carrying all along?

NNPC must cut costs to make profit. It is not cutting costs. There are obvious ones in its books – those refineries. You cannot be carrying a loss-making venture and still want to make profit.

Let the corporation privatise the refineries. By privatising those refineries, it will be eliminating over N150 billion in losses from its operations. You can’t be carrying a loss and say you are making profit.

Obiaraeri

The NNPC buys PMS (petroleum motor spirit) at an average of N250 and N270 per litre, depending on what the market price.

It will sell the PMS at a reduced or subsidised price of N148 per litre to the marketers. It brings in an average of 20 billion litres per annum. This year, it is going to be more than that, since its managers say they import 110 million litres per day. On this, they will be losing between N2 and N3 trillion because they are buying at a higher price and selling at a discounted price. Now, they will dip their hands into the Federation Account to make up the price. That is what they call subsidy, which on its own is an offence because it was not appropriated by the National Assembly. The law says you cannot spend such funds that have not been appropriated by the National Assembly. That is one side.

billion profit, which is about half of the 2019 figure.

“

The NNPC has been making losses.

From 2015/16 to 2020, they made accumulated losses of over N800 billion. Now, all of a sudden, in 2020 when the world was on lockdown, it made such a humongous profit. Did NNPC operate in a different world

that comes from those entities must be paid into the Federation Account. What I suspect may have happened was that in 2019, against the usual practice, most of those companies paid dividends and NNPC decided to retain a portion of those dividends. No governor went to court to challenge the action of the NNPC. So, it was taken as something permitted by law.

But the Constitution supersedes every other (subsidiary) law – NNPC, NLNG, NPDC … The law says that every revenue accruing to the federation must be paid into the Federation Account and shared among the three tiers of government in the approved formula. Did any governor go to court to ensure that the monies should be paid into the federation account? No. Again, the NNPC has been making losses. From 2015/16 to 2020, they made accumulated losses of over N800 billion. Now, all of a sudden, in 2020 when the world was on lockdown, it made such a humongous profit. Did NNPC operate in a different world? Look at the balance sheets of other nations’ oil and gas corporations: Saudi Arabia’s Aramco declared over $110 billion profit in 2018. In 2019, it declared $83 billion profit. In 2020, when COVID-19 was ravaging the world, it declared $42

Secondly, it has to fully deregulate the oil and gas market.

Through deregulation you remove the subsidies. That is the way you will make profit.

The NNPC has to concession the other assets. It has to commercialise or concession the onshore and offshore facilities, pipelines, etc. It will have to downsize and remove most of the bottlenecks in the system. That way, we know it is making profit. There is nothing that the leadership of the NNPC made that is novel or different from what they have been doing.

The NNPC has congratulated itself for seamlessly importing petroleum products to tackle the shortage of the commodity in the country. Is that not a plus for the corporation?

The refineries have not been working since 1999. Yet, they tell us we consume 103 million litres of PMS (premium motor spirit) per day and they will blame smugglers. How can we believe such stories?

Look at the daily domestic demand of all our neighbours in West Africa, from Cameroun to Benin Republic, Togo, Niger Republic, Chad and Burkina Faso. Assuming these countries are so unwise that they cannot even import their own petroleum products, assuming they depend 100 percent on smuggled petrol from Nigeria, which is not true, they would not consume the quantity of petroleum products that is ascribed to them.

These countries have their own oil and gas corporations. For instance, Niger Republic refines three times what they consume.

They have a refinery at Zinder that is refining 20,000 barrels of crude oil every day, whereas what they consume is about 6,500 barrels.

Let us assume that all these neighbouring countries are buying from or depend solely on Nigeria, which is not true. If you add their 8.6 million litres total consumption per day to what the US EIA record says is our consumption rate – about 39 million litres per day – it means that we and our neighbours are consuming about 46 million litres. So, where is the remaining 57 million litres that the NNPC says is being smuggled? To smuggle 57 million litres of PMS every day, will require about 1,800 12.5 feet long trucks. If you line up those trucks at the same time on the road, bumper to bumper, they will cover about 22 kilometres stretch of road. How can trucks move in a convoy that covers over 22 kilometres without security agents – Police, Army, Air Force, Navy – seeing it? We are not fools. The NNPC should deregulate and we will listen to it.

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com THEWILLNIGERIA

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TEE KURO: LONE WOLF CONTENT CREATOR

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Twenty-year-old online content creator, Tamunokuro Tonye-Nathan, also known as Tee Kuro, has about 188,000 and 100,000 followers on Instagram and Youtube, where he has scored over a million views. He speaks to IVORY UKONU about his career and the thing he loves to do best, which is storytelling. Excerpts:

Tee Kuro

I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT ACTING, STORYTELLING – TEE KURO H

ow did your journey to content creation begin?

It began with me basically trying to make a name for myself. In 2017, I had just taken the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and made a skit just for fun. I was yet to be admitted to the university.

I only showed the skit to my family and they found it hilarious. I didn’t put it up on social media because I was shy about it. I just left it in my phone for about a year.

My elder sister kept hounding me to harness the Internet.

She literally held my phone while it was in my hands and posted it because I was so scared of posting it, I didn’t know what the reception would be like. When she posted it in September of 2018, it kicked off from there and I have been making videos till this day.

How did your family react to your decision to become a content creator?

I don’t think my family really had the opportunity to react.

It is not like I gathered everyone and told them I want to be a skit maker. It just happened. When I started, I told my mum that I wanted to start making funny videos. She pronounced blessings on me and I started. My family accepted what I wanted to do and sometimes when I need privacy or need them to be quiet when shooting, they oblige me. And today, they are happy for me.

What inspires the kind of contents you create?

My life, the people around me, what I see, what I hear and what I have experienced. These are the factors that inspire

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Tee Kuro

my choice of content. Basically, just being myself also does the magic. Content about family is something I can easily create because it comes naturally to me, I don’t have to force it because I have a family; three siblings and my parents. Besides, my audience likes the family characters.

Do your contents reflect what happens in your family?

No. They don’t reflect what happens in my family.

Obviously, bits and pieces come from what happens in my family and what happens in other families. When I get an idea, I build on it, exaggerate it a bit and over-emphasise some things for comedy’s sake and for the purpose of entertainment, just to make it lively.

How do you source the costumes you use in your skits?

About 80 per cent of the costumes I use in my skits are from my home. I invade my mum’s wardrobe. I also have two sisters. So it is easy to source the costumes. And everyone’s clothes fit me perfectly. For other costumes I need that aren’t easily available at home, I reach out to my colleagues, friends or just source for it if what I need it for is important. Luckily, I get the kind of costumes that suit what I need them for.

When you started out, did you ever think that your contents would be well received?

Like every beginner, I was sceptical about the first content that I created. I didn’t think it was good enough, compared to what my older colleagues were putting out. But as I

kept on doing it, I began to find courage in what I was doing. Also, I had people who were encouraging me. Any time I came up with contents, I would show them to my older brother and my friends to find out if they were good enough to post or not. After some time, I would just make contents without showing anyone. I became bold and confident enough to post my contents, believing that what I was making was good enough.

One of your skits is a two-part series depicting the kind of epic movies Nollywood churns out. And your acting is top-notch. Are you thinking of doing a stint in Nollywood?

Nollywood has always been at the top of my agenda.

Not just Nollywood, but also film making. Even before I started making skits, I knew that I wanted to break into the film industry as an actor, director or script writer. I have always known that storytelling is what I want to do.

At the time, I started with acting stage plays. As I grew to understand the craft more, I was convinced that this was what I wanted to do. Even before I began to make skits, I tried to get into Nollywood, but I couldn’t get an audition for a movie role. The few times I applied for an audition online, I didn’t get a response and so I started posting my skits online. Nollywood has always been a part of my journey.

I often say to myself that the first day I recorded myself acting in a skit and posted content online was the day I became a part of Nollywood. I feel that what I do, THEWILLNIGERIA

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although it is shorter than a five-minute video, is the same as a movie. I act, shoot and edit the skits in my own little way, just like they do in Nollywood. I didn’t have to wait for anyone to hire me. The difference is that people are watching my stuff on a small screen rather than on the big screen. I am not thinking of doing a stint in Nollywood because I am also part of Nollywood. I am also working on stuff that I will release soon. I don’t think you have to appear in a Nollywood movie to be a part of the industry.

Some people are visible in Nollywood movies, but not in the film industry. I am in Nollywood.

before. Even if I want to copy a video, there is no way I would copy it so that it will come out the same. It won’t be the same because I will add my flavour to it. So that being said, I can’t remember having a conflict of interest as regards my contents.

You look very much like a lady when you get into your feminine roles. Have ever been teased for this?

I look very much like any role that I want to look like, not just the female role. I just think that I am blessed with a very attractive face and features. I think the audience is more fascinated by the female character because people can’t fathom why a boy would look as legitimate as that while playing a female role. I don’t know if it should be a compliment, but I feel like I am impersonating well and I am making it as believable as I can.. Being teased about it?

I haven’t really paid attention. Anyone who is bothered by it should know that I am only doing my job.

You are quite good at editing. Are you self-trained or did you acquire your editing skill from a school?

Thank you. I taught myself how to edit a film. I didn’t attend any editing school. I haven’t even been to any film school yet. I learnt how to make films and create content online. I learnt from YouTube and Google, read articles, watched behind the scenes videos, checked out animation videos, dug up information on who did the voice-overs, how they were done. etc. I have always been inquisitive about these things and so learning editing came naturally to me. I didn’t have anyone to edit my contents; I had to learn to edit them myself.

Beyond the feedback you get in the comment section of your social media platforms, what other kinds of feedback do you get that spurs you on?

When I meet some of my fans in person, I see how they respond to my skits. They are always excited. Sometimes, they call me my characters’ names and tell me their favorite videos. This shows that they have been following my work and they appreciate it so much. This motivates me.

What about feedback from older colleagues and entertainment celebrities?

I do get feedback from my fellow content creators, influencers, etc. From time to time the feedback is in my comment section. At other times, they send me direct messages to tell me they love what I am doing and that they admire my work. I am grateful and I am humbled that people that do what I do also see that I am doing it right.

I see older colleagues and celebrities that I look up to, commenting positively to my skits. Some of them follow my page and that wows me. I remember Bovi, the standup comedian, telling me he is a fan of me. I was really excited.

A lot of these celebrities; actors, movie directors, etc. follow me and tell me they like my stuff and I am really humbled that people that are in the industry see something in me and appreciate it.

Who are some of the people you look up to in the industry and why?

There is quite a number of them and it depends on the exact side of the industry they belong. I am a hyphenate and I do a lot of things. In terms of content creation, I admire Maraji. When I started creating content, I used her works as guides because I was really inspired by what she was doing all by herself. I could relate with her contents and I could see that she always strives for the best. She has an excellent spirit and I like that about her. She is hard working. I feel that we are alike when it comes to work ethics. Maraji doesn’t like mediocrity and she puts in her best. I am that kind of person. I’d rather not do it all, if I am not going to give it my best. I was opportune to meet her in person and we connected. I also like Broda Shaggy.

Aside from his contents, I think he is one of the most hardworking content creators in Nigeria. In other parts of the industry, I like Funke Akindele-Bello because she is a versatile actress. I watch her behind the scenes in Jenifa’s Diary; acting, writing, producing, etc. She is really hard working. So I look up to that side of her. I also love movie producer/director, Kemi Adetiba. I think that she is a good story teller. To top it all, it has to be Tyler Perry. I feel that he is one of the greatest filmmakers and storytellers. I am amazed by his success story, about how he never gave up despite the obstacles he encountered.

You are based in Port Harcourt, but most skit makers live and work in Lagos. Do you think location matters in what you do?

As much as I like to tell people that location doesn’t matter, I feel that they can leverage wherever they are, as long as there is access to the Internet there. Your works will THEWILLNIGERIA

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Tee Kuro

I look very much like any role that I want to look like, not just the female role. I just think that I am blessed with a very attractive face and features. I think the audience is more fascinated by the female character because people can’t fathom why a boy would look as legitimate as that while playing a female role

always speak for you. But I must say that location plays an important role. I know the number of times I have missed an opportunity or turned down an offer, invitation or request because I wasn’t in Lagos. Not being where it is happening and seeing other skit makers attending to those things you have the privilege to attend to as well, can be quite painful. I achieved some of the greatest things I have achieved in my career in Port Harcourt. Some people are surprised that I live in Port Harcourt when they meet me. People already have this mentality that if you are this successful in what you do, you are obviously based in Lagos. I am proud of myself. I call myself the lone wolf creator or the one-man army because I am grateful that I have achieved so much in Port Harcourt. But I do come to Lagos from time to time and I am working on being here for a while.

Some skit makers also portray the family setting like you do. Has there ever been an occasion where there was a conflict of interest as regards your contents being similar to that of another skit maker’s?

I feel like everyone is different. If you give different content creators the same concept, everyone will churn out different contents because there is something different about everyone. Mine will turn out different because everything I have been through shapes my content. I tell content creators not to beat themselves up because there is nothing new under the sun. So, if they are striving to create something, it is their authenticity that makes it fresh.

Obviously, there are contents I have made only for me to realise that a lot of people have made that kind of concept

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Have you ever been a victim of online bullying?

No, not in more than two years I have been creating content. Although early in my career, there was a particular troll who made sure he left a bad comment on each video I created. I saw that this guy was intentionally trying to get to me by insulting everything I made. This was in 2019.

I didn’t say a thing, but the few fans I had at the time turned on him and insulted him. Eventually everything died down and I deleted his bad comments. A few months later, the same troll sent me a direct message asking, ‘Boss can you repost my video (skit)?’ I just laughed. When he did what he did then, I didn’t quite realise that it is what public figures face and it almost got to me. Other than that, I haven’t experienced anything major. When it happens, I will be ready for it because I am better prepared mentally.

How old are you?

I am 20 years-old What was growing up like?

As funny as this may sound, I really don’t remember much about my childhood. I am usually blank when my primary school mates who see me or send me direct messages tell me they were my classmates. I don’t have a lot of memories of my childhood. I think that my childhood was like the usual average Nigerian childhood.

What are the challenges of skit making?

It would be pretty convenient to just say some of the challenges are paucity of ideas, inadequate equipment for shooting, location, social media algorithm, etc. But for me, I would say, consistency because skit making is a fulltime job. I do the entire production myself, making sure I drop contents every week, these are what matters most.

So aside from all those other minor challenges, no matter what happens, just remain consistent, productive and make sure you do what you do, which is creating content. A lot of people actually start by making a few videos and when the videos fail to get the traction they expected or a repost, they quit.

What did you study in school?

I studied Theatre and Film at the University of Port Harcourt If you weren’t a skit maker, what other profession do you think you would have excelled in?

I am a filmmaker, a visual storyteller. My contents will not just end with skits. I have made short films. I have a lot of stories to tell that the world needs to hear and I have only just scratched the surface. So even if I wasn’t a skit maker, I would have been doing something in the entertainment industry. I don’t see myself doing a nine-to-five job. In the worst case scenario, I would have been a master of ceremony.

Have you ever thought of quitting?

I have gotten tired at certain points. I have had creative burnouts where I was exhausted and didn’t want to do anything, I have had days like that. But I think I have come too far to quit. If I quit, it means quitting my dreams as what I am doing is beyond skit making, it is bigger than me. What I do is very powerful because people watch what I do and I think having the platform I have is a blessing. I pray to God to continue to strengthen me enough.

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BY SHADE METIBOGUN

LIZZY ANJORIN SUED FOR DEFAMATION N ollywood actress and businesswoman, Elizabeth Anjorin-Lawal, also known as Lizzy Anjorin, has been dragged to a Lagos State High Court by a Canada-based Yoruba art and culture promoter, Mr Joel Olaniyi Oyatoye, also known as Baba Asa. He is requesting the sum of N30 million as compensation for damages and unlawful assassination of his character by the actress.

Oyatoye met Lizzy Anjorin in 2018 in the course of promoting Yoruba art and culture. He was preparing to organise the 2018 edition of Asa Day in Canada when the actress was introduced to him. Lizzy was

contracted to participate in the event and all issues relating to her welfare and participation in the event were sorted out.

However, a few weeks after the event, the actress took to social media and posted a statement in which she called Oyatoye a ‘fraudster of Manitoba and Winnipeg.’ She also alleged that he made attempts to defraud her and some people connected to her. Upset by the post, Oyatoye said she had no justification for calling him names. He added that her action was disparaging and damaging to his character. He therefore slammed a defamation suit on the actress. A letter was delivered

Nuella Njubigbo Bounces Back After Marriage Breakup

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Anjorin-Lawal by his counsel at her business address in the Lekki area of Lagos.

Despite that, Lizzy still continued to taunt him in subsequent posts.

In the suit filed against the actress, Baba Asa asked the court to order Lizzy Anjorin to delete all posts slandering him and tender an unreserved apology for her actions.

He also asked the court to grant an order of perpetual injunction restraining the actress from further defaming his character on any social media platform. He also demanded a compensation of N30 million from the actress. However, all attempts to serve the actress the court process in person have not been successful.

Emeka Rollas Slams Critics Over Social Media Post

Rollas

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meka Rollas, the National president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, has responded to the backlash he received recently for posting on social media that Nollywood should not be transformed into

a dumping ground for evictees from popular reality TV show, Big Brother Naija.

“I have seen different people ranting and saying different things that are uncalled for. If I wanted everybody to understand the post, I would have

explained it. My words are laced with meaning. Those who have eyes to see should see and those who have ears to hear should hear,” he said.

Arguing that he didn’t make a new law, only made a statement and wondering why it was generating so much noise from different quarters, Rollas said there were certain conditions that must be fulfilled and some things, which aspiring actors need to familiarise themselves with, before they can become Nollywood practitioners.

On Sunday, September 5, 2021, Emeka Rollas made the statement after evicted controversial housemates, Boma and Tega declared their interest to join the movie industry. The post ignited mixed reactions from his colleagues and fans who were not pleased with the statement.

ollywood actress Nuella Njubigbo, the beautiful ex-wife of Tchidi Chikere, has obviously moved on after the breakup of their marriage.

Not only has she yanked off her husband’s name from her social media handles, she is now facing her business squarely as she is now the only one responsible for their child’s upkeep. Nuella has expanded her business frontiers to include a luxury fashion outlet called Nuella Luxury, which she opened last weekend. Located in Lagos Island, the store boasts of luxury items for lovers of fashion and upwardly mobile men and women.

Ahead of the ceremony, customised invites in the form of gift packs were sent to some of her close friends and associates.

The likes of Mercy JohnsonOkojie, Destiny Etiko, Chacha Eke, Lucy Donalds, Belinda Effah, Mimi Orijekwe, Chizzy Alichi-Mbah and a host of others were given the luxury packs, which were delivered before the opening ceremony. The opening was witnessed by friends and colleagues of the thespian who stood by her when her marriage to Tchidi Chikere was riddled with crises. They all rained dollar bills on her.

Tchidi Chikere, actor and movie director dumped Sophia, his first wife and mother of three of his children for the actress. He and Nuella had their traditional wedding in Anambra State in March 2014 and welcomed their first child, Tessa in December.

The beautiful couple were legally joined together in December 2015 at the Ikoyi Marriage Registry while their church wedding took place at the Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Victoria Garden

City, VGC, Ajah on Saturday June 9, 2018. However, in April 2021, Sophia, Chikere’s ex wife, alleged that his union with Njubuigbo had hit the rock. The couple denied the tale and released a video to prove that their marriage was still intact. But a few weeks after they debunked their break-up tale, Nuella deleted her husband’s name from her social media page and moved to Ghana. Their marriage was said to have ended because of domestic violence.

Njubigbo

How Incredible Kids Became Overnight Success

Collaboration With Wizkid Catapults Tems’ Career

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t seems that fortune has not stopped smiling on talented music act, Temilade Openiyi, otherwise known as Tems, after she featured in Wizkid’s song, Essence.

The profile of the graduate of Economics has continued to rise and she has gained more experience and exposure by performing alongside big names in the music industry.

Thanks to her collaboration with Wizkid, one of the biggest music acts Nigeria has ever known. Wizkid’s image as a Grammy Award winner has not only changed her fortune, but also helped to improve her ranking on the international scene.

The moment Essence became a hit in the United States, Tems also became a force to reckon with globally. The song also earned her a place on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart as it became the first afro beat record to enter the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Just recently the song got certified gold in the U.S.

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Tems has also been named

by Black Entertainment Television (BET) as the amplified international artiste in the month of August and the next big thing to watch out for in the music industry. She was recently seen hanging out with Canadian rapper, Aubrey Drake Graham, more popularly known as Drake, after she was featured in Fountains, one of the hit-songs Openiyi from his album titled, Certified quit her marketing job in 2018 and Lover Boy. released her debut single titled, Mr Born in Lagos to a British-Nigerian Rebel. father and a Nigerian mother, her The singer’s first recorded song family moved to the United Kingdom earned her two Headies nominations shortly after she was born, but her in 2019 as Best Alternative Song and parents separated when she was just Best Female Vocal Performance. Her five years-old. She began to show next song, Try Me, had over seven interest in music at the age of seven million streams on Audiomack. after seeing Beyonce on television.

She has also featured in Know your Tems attended Dowen College in worth, a single by American singer, Lekki, Lagos before acquiring a Khalid Donnel Robinson, also known Bachelor’s degree in Economics. She as Khalid.

Incredible kids

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he group known as Incredible Kids is gradually worming its way into the hearts of music lovers with its creativity and dance steps. The group, comprising six children; five boys and a girl (David Azubike 15, Daniel Emmanuel 11, Joshua Anu 15, Vincent Marcus 8, Lucky Micah 7 and Emmanuella Micah 4), came into the limelight after it was openly acknowledged by Mavin Records boss, Michael Collins Ajereh, also known as Don Jazzy.

Although the kids have been visible on the social media space for more than a year, fortune smiled on them after dancing to Good Samaritan, a single by up-and-coming act, Ayra Starr, who is signed on to Don Jazzy’s records label. Their effort was appreciated by the music producer who gave them the sum of N1 million as a token of his appreciation. But the members of the group have only their manager, Maliki Emmanuel, to thank for the kind of publicity they have been getting.

Emmanuel took interest in the children after watching them dance. He visited their parents THEWILLNIGERIA

who gave him their consent to take the kids under his wings. With rigorous training and discipline, each child was able to learn different dance steps and became an integral part of the group. He also became their benefactor as their parents left the children to survive on their own in the streets.

Burdened by the pressure and backlash from naysayers who saw him as an opportunist, milking young talents dry, Maliki at some point thought of quitting, but the positive feedback from fans, especially celebrities, kept him going. Besides his love for children, he is also a pencil artist and the proceeds from his art works are also used to cater for the children.

The doggedness and die-hard spirit displayed

by Maliki finally paid off as more professional dancers have acknowledged their talents and now repost most of their creative videos on their own platforms, a gesture that has earned Incredible Kids an enviable ranking in the entertainment industry.

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BY IVORY UKONU AND SHADE METIBOGUN

WHY FOLAKE Tiwa Savage AKINDELEBuries Dad COKER STAYED in Style AWAY FROM N BURIAL OF DAPO ABIODUN’S DAD ABEOKUTA GOLF Okoye Olumide

Akindele-Coker

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hen dignitaries thronged the several events lined up to celebrate the life, times and the eventual interment of Pa Emmanuel Adesanya Abiodun, father of Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, a few eagle-eyed social watchers expected to see Folake Akindele-Coker, boss of clothing brand, Tiffany Amber at some of the events, particularly the final ceremony.

Unfortunately, she was conspicuously absent.

For many who do not know, Abiodun who was a successful businessman before occupying the Ogun State government house is neck deep in a love relationship with Folake. The couple has been at it for several years now, long before Abiodun became governor.

While Folake, who is the daughter of Chief Bode Akindele, the billionaire industrialist and the Parakoyi of Ibadanland that passed on in June 2020, is very much single after her

marriage to Folorunsho Coker, the Director-General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation ended, Abiodun is still very much married to the beautiful mother of his children and the first lady of Ogun State, Bamidele.

Despite this, Abiodun has carried on with his love relationship with Folake with utmost discretion but to the wife’s full knowledge. What they have together is reportedly so deep that the governor has been known to bend over backwards and break protocols for Folake’s sake.

So, it therefore came as a surprise that she stayed away from all the festivities put together to bid Pa Emmanuel a final goodbye.

Perhaps, Akindele-Coker chose to stay away to avoid a repetition of what happened during her lover’s inauguration in 2019. She attended on his invitation, but the first lady, knowing that she would be at the inauguration, gave explicit instructions

he last may not have been heard of the tussle between ex-beauty queen, Helen Prest-Ajayi and the family of late Dr Tosin Ajayi, over the ownership rights to the late doctor’s assets scattered across the country.

Barely two days after a Federal High Court in Lagos declared that the former Miss Nigeria is entitled to 50 per cent of the net assets of her late ‘husband,’ the late Dr Ajayi’s first wife, Yemisi and her five children are crying wolf over the court judgement.

On Tuesday September 7, 2021, Justice Tijjani Ringim of the Federal High Court gave the ruling in a suit filed by Helen and one of her daughters, Tomisin. The judge granted the 13 reliefs sought by them, which included that Helen is entitled to 50 per cent or so much as the court may sanction upon audit and valuation, constituting the net assets of the First Foundation Medical Engineering Company, a medical firm owned by the late doctor, after satisfying all taxes and debts as family and investment partner of Dr. Tosin Ajayi, from 1996 till 26 April, 2020 to the exclusion of Oluwayemisi Ajayi, the late doctor’s first wife.

Other reliefs sought by Helen and her daughter which were supposedly granted, also includes, among others, a perpetual injunction restraining the Registrar-General of the company from recognising the first wife, Yemisi as entitled to run the firm and a perpetual injunction restraining her from dealing with the assets and

properties belonging to the late doctor.

However, Yemisi and her children have denied that Justice Ringim ever made this judgement, insisting that it is a concocted lie told by Helen who has exhibited the highest level of desperation. According to the first child of Yemisi, Mrs Olutomi Deru, the order, which was strangely granted in the absence of a representative of the company and their mum, only granted Helen and her daughter permission Prest-Ajayi to institute their main action and restrained their mum from running the company, pending the determination of the main suit. She added that the orders were temporary and that the court did not make any order granting Helen any share in the estate of her late father, contrary to the blatantly false and sensational stories being sponsored by Helen and her supporters for mischievous purposes. They further said that the orders were fraudulently obtained as no hearing notice was served to their mum or the company or their lawyers.

Shockingly, the family revealed that they only just discovered that Helen and her daughter, Tomisin, had filed for letters of administration several months before the late doctor’s funeral.

Irked by her action, they described Helen as a woman who aggressively

to the security agents on ground not to allow her anywhere near the inauguration grounds. On being stopped, Folake quickly put a call through to her lover who simply overrode the order. Naturally, the first lady didn’t find this funny and the already frosty relationship she has with her husband further got damaged.

Not that the Ogun State first couple was ever on good terms. Theirs has been a marriage plagued over the years by suspicion, distrust and unfaithfulness. Unable to continue to pretend that all was well, the first lady literally left the marriage and only returned after emissaries approached her on the need to be by the then governor-elect’s side. After much thought, she accepted, returned and both have been carrying on as the quintessential couple, contrary to the fact. In fact, according to a very close family member, the Abioduns are only married on paper and do not behave at all like a typical married couples.

Late Dr Tosin Ajayi’s Wives Fight Over His Assets T

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pursues a public perception of grace and class which is all a façade as she is a shameless and classless woman who badly wants the recognition their late father refused to legally grant her during his lifetime. They however maintained that they are ready to accommodate Helen’s daughter, Tomisin, in the estate of their father, despite not being introduced to any member of the family as his daughter.

Dr Tosin Ajayi, who died on April 26, 2020 at St Nicholas Hospital in Lagos after battling a kidney problem, didn’t get buried until 10 months after, because his five older children from his first wife were at loggerheads with Helen over the circumstances surrounding his death. They alleged that Helen was in the best position to tell what really killed their father, besides what the public knows.

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CLUB PLANS TOURNAMENT IN HONOUR OF OLUMIDE

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ine years after Egba high chief, Apagun Stephen Oluwole Olumide, passed on, the Abeokuta golf club is planning to celebrate his life and times with a memorial golf tournament. The idea of a golf tournament is due to his passion for the game and his selfless encouragement of golfers across the country, regardless of their level. Apagun Olumide had a great vision for Abeokuta Golf Club and he sacrificed a great deal of his time to making it an enjoyable experience for many. This prompted him to beautify the club’s premises with an artificial lake called Lake Toria.

The inaugural annual tournament, which is scheduled to hold on September 24 and 25th, 2021, will also serve as an opportunity to launch a funding mechanism to irrigate the golf course. It will be the golf club’s way of ensuring the late Apagun owns the legacy of achieving the irrigation project which would help improve the playing condition of the golf course during the dry season. This was his vision, but unfortunately, he couldn’t accomplish it before he passed on.

To this end, the club is seeking financial support from family, friends and the golfing community at large, to actualise the proposed annual golf tournament which will cost about N10 million. The five categories of sponsorship to raise the N10m are Platinum (N3 million and above); Diamond (N2 million); Gold (N1million); Silver (N500,000) and Bronze-any amount of one’s choice.

A strong supporter of modern development, culture and tourism, Apagun Olumide committed the last two decades of his life to the golf project in Abeokuta Golf Club and through this project, he became one of the biggest promoters of tourism in Ogun State. He was a philanthropist to the core and a passionate promoter of Egbaland both locally and internationally.

igerian singer and songwriter, Tiwatope Savage, received an overwhelming show of love from her colleagues in the entertainment industry as she laid her father, Prince Olanrewaju Savage, to rest in a star-studded event that lasted two days. The burial carnival started on Friday, September 3, 2021 with a Christian wake and service of songs held at the City Mission Methodist Church, Surulere, Lagos.

The event continued the second day after the deceased was interred. A grand funeral reception was held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. Most of the guests in attendance complied with the dress code for the event.

They wore beautiful royal blue aso-ebi specially chosen for the event, while some flouted the rule. The hall where the reception took place was filled to capacity as COVID -19 protocols were not duly observed. However, it turned out to be an evening of glamour and fun as friends serenaded Tiwa and her family. Queen Ayo Balogun kicked off the night by serenading guests from her repertoire of songs. Then Adeshina Fashola, more popularly known as Naira Marley, honoured her by performing from his hit lists. He took over the stage as soon as he entered the venue and guests rocked the dance floor as he sang to their delight. Ilerioluwa Oladimeji, popularly known as Mohbad, another artiste signed on to Naira Marley’s record label, Marlian, also thrilled guests to the melodious tune of his hit song, Ko Por Ke. Live bands were also available to further serenade the guests. One of the highlights of the party was the presence of two Eyo dancers. Their beautiful performance left the guests wowed and geared up for the rest of the evening.

Tiwa Savage and her little son, Jamil, were not left out on the dance floor. They both showed their swag and moves as guests rained naira notes on them. The dance floor later became a battleground for the celebrities who could spray naira notes the most. Media girl, Toke Makinwa, actress, Eniola Badmus, Bobrisky, entertainment personalities and businessman, Soso Soberekon, night club owner, Pascal Okechukwu, aka Cubana Chief Priest, were among celebrities who sprayed bundles of naira notes on the dance floor.

The list of entertainers who ensured they supported Tiwa was endless. From the music industry to Nollywood, broadcasting and even the fashion industry, they were all on their toes rocking the party to the end. The likes of Toke Makinwa, Banky W and Adesua Etomi, Iyabo Ojo, Toju Foyeh, Ini Edo, Idia Aisien, Moet Abebe, Lilian Afegbai, Don Jazzy, Stephaine Cooker-Aderinokun, Zina Anumudu, Teni, Abraham-Ajeyemi, Rita Dominic, Eku Edewor, Adeyemi Okanlawon and a host of others were in attendance.

Savage

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SEPTEMBER 12 - SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

BY IVORY UKONU

Naira Rain, Reptile Delicacies at Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi’s Movie Premiere

IFEANYI UBAH GIVES OUT 23 SUVS TO MARK 50TH BIRTHDAY I

t is no longer news that controversial businessman and politician, Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, is indebted to the tune of N135bn and all efforts to retrieve the money over the years have proved futile due to his determination to frustrate the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) from making satisfactory progress in its quest to recover the outstanding facilities he got from various banks, including the interests that has accrued.

In June 2013 when his company, Capital Oil and Gas, was taken over by the then Managing Director of AMCON, Mustafa Chike-Obi, his company’s total indebtedness was put at N65 billion. In 2014, after a series of litigations following the takeover of the company, Ubah reached an agreement with AMCON on how best to settle his debt and quash all pending suits. But rather than honour the agreement, he continued to evade payment of

his debts.

In November 2019, the Federal Government filed criminal charges against him and his company for frustrating the efforts of AMCON. But like a leopard that won’t change its skin, he repeatedly failed to appear before the Ubah court and in no time, his accumulated indebtedness rose to N135bn. But that seems to be the least of Ubah’s worries at the moment. He is more interested in cutting the image of a generous man and philanthropist who has the interest of the people at heart. But all that is a facade as has been proven over the years.

When Ubah clocked 50 on September 3, 2021, to be precise, he decided to give out 23 Toyota Sport Utility Vehicles to some people.

Naturally, the recipients

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enultimate weekend, Nollywood actress and influencer, Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi’s much talked-about movie, ‘The Ghost and the Tout 2’, premiered at Imax Film House in Lekki, Lagos. The event was attended by a large audience comprising her fans, family and colleagues.

Here are the titbits of what went down at the event:

were pleased with his kind gesture. With inflation biting hard and the dollar exchange rate shooting through the roof, why won’t they? While this may not be the first of this kind of gesture from him, the recipients had better pray that Ubah doesn’t retrieve the vehicles from them.

In 2014 when he first contested governorship election in Anambra State under Labour Party, Ubah gave out more than 50 cars to some people he felt could help swing things in his favour.

Unfortunately, he lost the election. He then invited all those he gave the cars to his home for a bogus appraisal of his performance at the polls. When they all assembled, he simply retrieved the keys to the vehicles from them and bade them farewell.

Meet Pero Adeniyi, The lady Giving Annie Idibia Sleepless Nights her matrimonial home for the singer’s soothing embrace.

Pero’s marriage to Borokini, which ended abruptly, had produced a child. She also has three children with 2Baba. Two of the three children, who are his spitting image, are the oldest among his seven children. The last of the three was born in 2013, the year 2Baba married Annie Idibia at a lavish and star-studded ceremony held in Dubai.

Although Annie had been in 2Baba’s life longer than his two baby mamas, (one of who is Pastor, Mrs. Sunmbo Adeoye, née Ajaba), it was not always a stable relationship. Pero has remained a recurring decimal in his life for approximately 16 years. Many even assumed Pero would end up being the one in 2Baba’s home, but that didn’t happen as Annie beat her to it. This is despite the fact that Pero is Adeniyi allegedly married to 2Baba, according to her father who made this revelation. Perhaps, this explains he is tall, leggy, dark skinned, gap toothed and why 2Baba shares an unbreakable bond with Pero, beautiful. She is Pero Adeniyi, the only lady who has a situation Annie has never liked. Annie knows this been giving Annie Idibia sleepless nights for almost and as much as she tried to break that bond, it only 10 years. Pero, who recently clocked 43, is a divorced got tighter over the years and thus triggered off her makeup artist based in America. She also runs an NGO feud with Pero which lasted for years. called A Life Alive Kidney Foundation, which started Infact one of the singer’s siblings recently shortly after she donated one of her kidneys to her mother, insinuated that while Annie controls 2Baba, Pero who is still alive till this day. Her father is 83 year-old gives him peace of mind. Annie only sheathed her businessman, Jide Adeniyi of the famed Poatson Group of sword about three years ago to finally embrace Companies, a conglomerate that is into transport, graphics Pero. She must have thought this move would design, music promotion, etc. Long before Pero met further endear her to 2Baba and Pero, enough 2Baba, she was married to a businessman, Tunde Borokini, for both of them to respect her marriage, but that who was based in New York, USA. A chance meeting with backfired, prompting the social media outburst and Innocent Idibia, aka 2Baba, in 2005 got her abandoning leaked audio where she vowed to “ruin everything”.

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A 2-in-1 party The date for the movie premiere, Sunday, September 5, 2021 coincided with AbrahamAjeyemi’s 39th birthday and so she decided to settle for a 2-in-1 party.

The special invite A special invite designed in purple and gold was sent to the guests, ahead of the premiere and birthday party.

Powered by Revolution Plus, a real estate firm and Devonkings, the invite had a video playing device embedded in it such that when opened, it played snippets of the movie, with a voiceover by the celebrant inviting the recipient to the event.

Toyin AbrahamAjeyemi’s grand entrance The celebrant made a grand entrance sitting on a horse and supported by a few of the male guests.

The purple aso-ebi Guests turned up in purple aso-ebi made into different Abraham-Ajeyemi jaw-dropping designs.

Cash prize for best dressed male and female guest The sum of N150,000 each was announced as the cash prize for the best dressed male and best dressed female guests. This gesture was powered by Cassie Hair brand which Abraham-Ajeyemi represents as an ambassador. As at the time of going to press, the winners were yet to be announced.

Guests served barbecued reptiles This seems to be fast

becoming the norm. Shortly after the movie premiere ended and the real owambe party began, guests were served barbecued baby crocodiles and alligators garnished with cucumber, tomatoes, onions and the likes.

King Sunny Ade thrilled guests As guests relished the reptile delicacy, King Sunny Ade (KSA) mounted the bandstand to do what he knows how to do best to the delight of the guests who sprayed naira notes on him and the celebrant. So happy was Abraham-Ajeyemi THEWILLNIGERIA

with the KSA’s performance that she proceeded to shower praises and prayers on him while on her knees.

The after party The party train continued at Fespris Lounge owned by Toyin’s colleague, Iyabo Ojo. The roll call The event was attended by Mo Abudu, Joke Silva, Debola Williams and his newly wedded wife, Kenny, to Toke Makinwa, Tiwa Savage, Don Jazzy, Tola Odunsi and many other celebrities.

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SEPTEMBER 12 - SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

BUSINESS NEWS Onyema Elected To Board of World Federation of Exchanges

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he Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Group (“NGX Group”) Plc, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, has been elected to the Board of World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

This decision was reached at the 60th General Assembly and Annual Meeting of WFE on 9 September 2021.

With the election, Onyema will serve on the WFE board for a 3-year term, representing Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region.

L-R: Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Mrs. Ore Famurewa; Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Michel Deelen; Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Kadri Hamzat; Managing Director, of FrieslandCampina subSaharan Africa Cluster, Mr. Ben Langat; and Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, during the flagging off the 10-monthlong celebration of 150 years of FrieslandCampina’s grass-to-glass global dairy cooperative business at the FrieslandCampina WAMCO head office in Lagos on 08/9/2021.

UBA Records N76.2bn 2021 Half Year Profit

BY SAM DIALA

internal capital generation. In line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc has declared an interim dividend of 20kobo per share for every ordinary share of 50kobo each, held by its shareholders.

The pan African financial institution delivered a 33.4 per cent appreciation in its profit before tax which rose to N76.2bn as at June 2021, up from N57.1bn recorded in the same period of 2020, translating to an annualised Return on Average Equity of 17.5% as against 15.1% a year earlier.

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, expressed delight over the bank’s performance in the first half of the year, adding, “This has been a strong first half for us, as global economic recovery exceeded expectations, creating a positive rub-off on consumer and corporate confidence, savings and investment activities. We saw this positively impact our business, as we continued to leverage our key strategic levers – People, Process and Technology, and our Customer 1st Philosophy, to revolutionise customer experience at UBA.”

•Declares 20k Per Share Interim Dividend

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nited Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced its audited half year financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2021, showing impressive growth across all major income lines and performance indicators.

This feat was recorded despite the challenging business and economic environment that emerged from the slow pace of activities following the global lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The results filed with the Nigerian Exchange, showed that the Group’s profit after tax stood at N60.6bn representing a significant rise by 36.3% compared to N44.4bn recorded in the half year of 2020, while gross earnings grew to N316bn from N300.6bn as at June 2020; a 5% growth.

As at June 30, 2021, the Group’s Total Assets crossed the N8trillion mark as it soared to N8.3 trillion up from N7.7trillion at the end of the 2020 financial year. Customer Deposits also crossed the N6trillion mark growing by 7.4 per cent to N6.1trillion in the period under consideration, compared to N5.7 trillion as at December 2020.

The Group’s Shareholders’ Funds remained robust at N752.5bn up from N724.1bn in December 2020, reflecting its strong capacity for

He added that the bank’s investment in the Rest of Africa (Excl.

Nigeria) continues to yield good results for the group. In his words; “The benefits of pan-African business diversification accruing to the Group is once again evident, with gross earnings and interest income growth of 5.1% and 8.2% respectively, despite the low yield environment in our largest market, Nigeria. We are making remarkable progress on our strategy that is progressively positioning UBA as the bank of choice on the continent, driven by our emphasis on tech-led innovation and best customer experience.”

Continuing, the GMD pointed out that the bank recognises the farreaching effects of the pandemic on businesses globally, and remains focused on its promise to always provide our customers with the best banking experiences possible. “Our H12021 performance reflects our progressive efforts in building on the strong momentum that we started the year with. As a purpose-driven organisation, we remain resolute in our drive for sustained growth in customer acquisition, transaction volumes and balance sheet, as we consolidate our ‘Africa’s Global Bank’ market position in the years ahead, uplifting livelihoods across the continent,” Uzoka explained.

GTBank Reports N93.1m PBT In H1, 2021

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uaranty Trust Bank Plc (“GTBank” or “the Group”), now Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, has released its audited financial results for the period ended June 30, 2021, to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.

A review of the results shows a decent performance across key financial metrics against the challenging business environment. This performance reaffirms GTBank’s ability to cope effectively in depressed times, and as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria.

The Group reported Profit Before Tax of ₦93.1billion, representing a dip of 15.2% compared to ₦109.7billion recorded in the corresponding period of June 2020.

However, the Group’s transactional income maintained an upward trajectory as shown in fees and commission income which grew by 44.7% from ₦26.5billion in H1 THEWILLNIGERIA

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2020 to ₦38.3billion in H1 2021.

The structure and earning capacity of the Group’s balance sheet remains resilient with total assets closing at ₦5.017trillion, primarily driven by a 4% increase in deposit liabilities from ₦3.611trillion in December 2020 to ₦3.755trillion in June 2021 and a slight dip in loans (net) by 1.8% from ₦1.663trillion as at December 2020 to ₦1.632trillion in June 2021. However, the dip in profit can be attributed to the present realities of the operating environment.

Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 24.0%, while Asset quality was sustained as NPL ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 6.0% based on IFRS (6.8% based on CBN Prudential Guidelines) and 0.27% in June 2021 to 6.4% and 1.18% in December 2020, respectively.

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Commenting on the development, Onyema stated, “I am honoured to be elected to the board of the WFE which is the global group for exchanges and clearing houses (CCPs) around the world. This is an important achievement for Nigerian Exchange Group and the Nigerian financial market. It is an indication of our prominent regional and global position and a testament to our contributions to the WFE in respect of our input on issues confronting the African and global capital markets. We are committed to fostering greater synergies between the WFE members and industry partners, and supporting the Federation to consolidate its position as the leading voice for exchanges and clearing houses, amongst global stakeholders.”

Nigerian Exchange Group has been a member of the WFE since 2014, when it made history as the first West African exchange to be granted full federation membership status.

On her part, the Chief Executive Officer, WFE, Ms. Nandini Sukumar noted that “The WFE welcomes Nigerian Exchange Group and Oscar N. Onyema, OON, a leader and thinker, to the Board of Directors. As an industry, we will all benefit from the perspectives and insights he brings. We look forward to working even more closely with African markets in future and bringing more of them into WFE membership, and the standard that represents.”

Milliners Association of Nigeria To Hold Hat Exhibition Oct 9

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

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o showcase the unique creativity prowess of Nigerian Milliners, promote the sector and celebrate great Milliners in the industry, Milliners Association of Nigeria (MIAN) has concluded plans to host the 4th edition of the yearly event of the Nigerian Hat Exhibition on October 9th, 2021.

Milliners Association of Nigeria is a body of creative and professional Milliners ,with same vision to place Nigeria Millinery on the world map and bring it to global recognition.

It would be recalled that since the mass-manufacturing of hats began, the term milliner is usually used to describe a person who applies traditional hand-craftsmanship to design, make, sell or trim hats primarily for a mostly female clientele.

In the past three years, Milliners across the nation, including practitioners from Ghana and other neighbouring countries, have come together at the yearly event of the Nigerian Hat Exhibition to showcase their work portfolio.

Speaking on their preparedness for the upcoming exhibition, Founder, Milliners Association of Nigeria, Folake Oladipupo Okunaiya said, this year’s Hat Exhibition scheduled to hold at Nelo’s Place, Mobolaji Bank Anthony, Ikeja, Lagos will be the 4th edition, adding that the exhibition is going to be bigger and better as Nigerian Milliners expect to showcase the best of their works and unveil their new collections.

With a membership strength of over 300 Milliners cutting across, about eleven states and a few Nigerian Milliners from other African countries as part of it’s members, Okunaiya who is also a Creative Director at Belle Signature, said the association has five physical chapters which include: Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos State.

Each chapter according to the President, is saddled with the responsibilities of creating an enabling work environment for each of it’s members by working together, collaborating, organising trainings , seminars and workshops so as to encourage unity and synergy.

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SEPTEMBER 12 - SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

STATE OF THE STATES

BY SAM DIALA & OLAYEMI SHABA

Introduction:

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

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

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

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

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

two states per edition. It endeavours to unearth hidden treasures in each state and ascertain, through consultations and evidence-based survey, areas of comparative advantages and economies of scale. The publication will show-case, in no exaggerated terms, the socio-economic status of each state and highlights the opportunities and threats.

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

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

State of the States, a bi-weekly publication, will periscope

This week periscopes Edo and Delta.

EDO STATE

8. National Museum, Benin City: This national museum is home to various antiques and bronze artwork originally from the ancient Benin Kingdom.

9. The Benin Moat: The Benin Moat also known as ‘Iya’ is the largest man made earthwork in the world. Indeed, one of the wonders of the world that you should see. It predates the use of modern earth moving equipments or technology in these parts.

The moat encircles the perimeter of the city and was constructed as a defensive barrier in times of war. Oba Oguola (about 12801295) dug the first and second moats to fortify the city from invaders.

Benin city

10. Okomu National park is located in Ovia South Local Government Area of Edo State. It’s some 45 kilometres west of Benin City. The park houses rare species such as a white throated monkey. The park is also home to other animals which include buffaloes, chimpanzees, elephants, porcupine, monkeys, antelopes, birds and several others.

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do State was created in 1991from the Northern portion of old Bendel State and its capital is Benin City the largest urban centre of the state.

The economy of the state depends majorly on agriculture.

Edo has favourable climatic and ecological conditions with 70 percent of its land blossoming with the agricultural sector. It is endowed with three ecological zones: the rain forest, with some mangrove swamp in the south; a little rain forest and savannah in the central; and more of savannah and a little rain forest in the north.

The vegetation belts of the state can be generalised into: Fresh Water Swamp, Lowland Rain Forest and Derived Savanna, with almost nine months of rainfall in the southern part of the state.

The weather is classified into two seasons: rainy season starting from April to October and dry season from November to March.

There is a cold harmattan between December and January.

Prominent crops grown in the state include rubber, oil palm, cashew, cassava, rice, maize, cocoa, timber, plantain, pineapple and cashew.

Solid Mineral The state government recently identified about 200 solid minerals in different locations. It looks forward to partnering with investors to harness them. Some of the minerals include marble, gold, granite, lime stone, kaolin, gypsum, feldspar dolomite and saline. Others are tantalite, gemstones, quartz, bitumen, bentonite, laterite and sharp sand.

Tourism The Edo people constitute the largest population of old Benin Kingdom in the state. They are known to have rich culture, history and civilization dated back to the 16th century. Known for their work of arts, Benin artefacts are among the most exquisite and coveted in world’s history. It represents the earliest civilization among blacks, specifically Africans. This makes the state rich in tourism. Some of the places of tourist attraction include: 1. The Palace of Oba of Benin: Located in the heart of Benin City is the Oba of Benin’s Palace. It is one of the most popular

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11. Ososo Tourist Centre: Ososo tourist centre offers a pleasant site of viewing two states at the same time – Edo and Kogi. The centre has a rest house at the top of Ososo Hill. sites in Edo State. The palace has been in existence since 900 AD. The current structure was built in 1914, and is actually onetenth of the original palace which was destroyed by the British Forces. The palace has an array of local art and crafts, and historical pieces. No vacation in Benin City is complete without visiting the Oba of Benin’s palace.

2. Somorika Hills: Somorika is about five kilometers north east of Igarra and 165 kilometers from Benin City. The hills are a part of the rolling landscape of the Kukuruku Range. The beauty of the scenery is huge.

3. Ughoton: Ughoton is about 42kms from Benin City, historically very important to the Binins and Yoruba regarded by historians and researchers to be the “East” that Oduduwa of Yoruba land migrated from.

4. The Tombstone of Captain James Phillip: Located at Uruokhokho, this sight marks the spot where Captain Phillip and his party were killed and buried, the event that led to the British invasion of Benin Empire in 1897.

5. Igun-Eronmwon Quarters: Lover of arts, should visit the Igun-Eronmwon quarters popularly known as Igun Street (listed as a Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO). It is home to the brass/ bronze casting industries in Benin City.

6. The Local Markets: Oba market. New Benin market, Agbado market, Osa market, Oliha market, Ogiso market, Ikpoba hill market and Uselu market are all in Benin City. They are markets to interact with the locals and buy nice souvenirs.

7. Chief Ogiamen’s House: Chief Ogiamen’s house is located at No. 97 Sakpova Road in Benin City. It is a National Monument situated within the city walls and Moat (another historical monument). It was built about 1130 AD with great significance as the only building that predates the emergence of Obaship in Benin’s political organization. It is also the only building that survived the 1897 British expedition and siege. It was declared a National Monument on May 26th, 1959.

12. Igun Bronze Casters And Crafts Centre: This is the home of brass and bronze castings in Nigeria. It is quite peculiar to Edo state. It is located at Igun Street and has been listed as a Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. FACT-FILE

Local Govt Areas: 18

Population: 4.1 million @ 2019 Land area: 6,873sqmi Registered businesses: 1,665 Registered vehicles: Public primary schools: 1,500 (circa)

Public secondary schools: 510 (circa)

Polytechnic: (5) Federal 1, State 1, Private 3.

State College of Agric: 1

Technical School: 7

Colleges of Education: (3) one federal, two state Universities - (7) One federal, Two state 4 private Total Revenue: N94.15bn Total tax: N 23.53bn @ 2020

IGR: N27.18bn @ 2020 (31.76% of total revenue)

FAAC: N58.40bn @ 2020 (68.24% of total revenue)

Domestic Debt: N80.78bn @ 2020

External Debt: $280.29m @ 2020

Unemployment rate: 19.0% 2020

Edo state has one airport - Benin airport.

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STATE OF THE STATES

Investment in Agriculture is Solution to Food Insecurity – Obaseki T

he Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, recently called the attention of The Federal Government on the urgent need to shift focus from crude oil to agriculture. He urges that the nation can earn $20 billion annually from the cultivation and production of oil palm.

have taken the bold step of increasing the production of oil palm by supporting investors through the provision of land and a peaceful, secure and business friendly environment to boost their investment.”

Obaseki stressed that at this crucial period of economic downturn due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, agriculture is a reliable alternative source of revenue.

He said “effectively and efficiently encourage investors; the state launched the Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP) in partnership with other private sector stakeholders including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

The governor said he is investing in the agriculture as solution to food insecurity and create wealth for Edo citizens.

“Under the programme, the CBN committed about N69 billion to support investors who invested in oil palm in Edo State, in line with the Federal Government’s determination to diversify the economy.”

He said: “The Nigerian oil palm economy has the capability of earning over $20 billion for our country yearly just for cultivation and production. This is why in Edo State, we

The state is positioning to take advantage of the AfCFTA scheme to boost the real sector. According to the governor,

“We are encouraging creative young talents and local manufacturers in Edo State to tap from the offerings from the AfCFTA. We are expanding capacity at the Edo Production Centre and the Edo Innovation Hub so that we can build an army of productive young people to grab the opportunities offered.

We have success stories from these facilities already.

We have already initiated the Edo Tech Park project as another veritable launch pad. We are confident that these initiatives would empower our people to create wealth and employment opportunities to improve the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Challenging Factors: Insecurity, erosion menace, inefficient electricity supply, poor state of the roads and multiple taxes by state and local governments.

ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Palm Produce: The state is hugely endowed with vast and suitable land for palm plantation. Partnership with Okomu Oil and Presco, two oil palm producing giants in the state, could boost business potential in this sector.

Rubber Processing: Edo is the largest producer of rubber in Nigeria. This could be modernized in partnership with foreign experts.

Cassava: Processing factory in small and medium business categories has huge business potential

Tourism: Edo is rich in sites of tourist attraction – especially well documented areas of ancient facilities.

Transportation & Courier Service: Strategically located as a gateway state to the North, West, East and South offers opportunity for well organised road transport system and couries business

Crafts and Textile: The rich cultural heritage can find expression in craft and textile with high patronage made possible by high road network that links the state.

Restaurants: Being a stop-over for transporters from different parts of the country, well organised restaurant will attract appreciable patronage especially if take-away is incorporated.

Mining: Exploration of vast deposit of mineral resources has huge potential.

Furniture: The state is naturally endowed with forest trees to feed wood processing and furniture-making

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STATE OF THE STATES

The state shares common boundaries with Edo and Ondo States to the north west, Imo and Anambra to the north east, Rivers and Bayelsa to the south-east. In the south and south-west, it has approximately 122 kilometres of coastline bounded by the Bight of Benin on the Atlantic Ocean.

Its location in the tropics is the cause of its climatic fluctuation, ranging from the humid tropical in the south, to the subhumid in the north-east. The lessening of humidity towards the north is accompanied by an increasingly marked dry season. The average rainfall is about 266.5mm in the coastal areas and 190.5mm in the extreme north. Rainfall is heaviest in July. Temperature increases from the south to the north.

Delta is the second largest oil producing state accounting for 35% of Nigeria’s crude oil and some natural gas. The nation’s second refinery as well as petrochemical plant are located in Warri.

Despite making its major earnings from oil production, Delta’s other potentials are tourism and agriculture. Its major agricultural produce include tubers and root crops such as cassava, cocoyams, yam, potatoes, oil palm, rice, corn, rubber, timber and fish farming.

Nonetheless, the state government is said to have invested huge portion of the revenue derived from oil into agriculture, taking advantage of its coastal environment to boost fisheries, sea foods, forestry, veterinary services, produce planning and research.

Oil facility

Natural Resources: The state is rich in various collections of solid mineral such as silica, industrial clay, limestone, ignite, kaolin,

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decorative rocks. All these are confirmed raw materials for making bricks, ceramics, bottles, glass, chalk , sanitary wares proven by experts to be underutilised.

Tourism: 1. Nana’s Palace: Built by Nana Olomu of Ebrohim (Itsekiri) in 1852.

2. River Ethiope: Reputed to be the deepest inland water in Africa.

3. Araya Bible Site: Housing a copy of the Bible believed to have descended to the spot miraculously from heaven.

FACT-FILE Local government area: 25 Registered businesses: 2,416 Public primary schools: 1,509 @ 2019 Public secondary schools: 615 @ 2019 Universities: Eight: Federal 2, state 1, private 5.

Polytechnics: Five: federal 1, state 3, private 1.

Colleges of education: Six: federal two, state 4.

College of agriculture: One.

4. Demas Nwoko Edifice: Build entirely with traditional materials.

Institute of petroleum: Two

5. Mungo Park House: Site of the national museum in Asaba.

Nursing schools: Three.

6. Ogulagha Beach: Noted for its calm environment and warm shores

Total revenue: N246.56 @ 2020

7. The Niger Bridge: Over 2km concrete and iron bridge connecting Delta and eastern states, commissioned in 1965.

FAAC: N186.82bn @ 2020 (75.77% of total revenue)

8. Lander Brothers’ Anchorage: Built in Asaba in memory of early British explorers. The complex has a museum, a graveyard, and many artworks and writings. It houses a replica of one of the boats that was used by the two brothers, Richard and John, during their expedition in 1804-1834.

9. Falcorp Mangrove Park: Based in Warri with a beautiful zoo, among other side attrctions.

10. Warri Kingdom Royal Cemetery: A 512-year-old burial ground which serves as the resting place of past rulers of Warri Kingdom. A tree is planted on each grave.

Maritime institute: Two. Land area: 6,833 sq mi Total tax: N 53.87bn @ 2020 IGR: N59.73bn @ 2020 (24.23% of total revenue) Domestic Debt: N248.45bn @ 2020 External Debt: $62.056m @ 2020 Unemployment rate: 40.3% @ 2020 Population: 5.4 million @ 2019 Airport: Asaba international airport.

Seaports: Four.

Water falls

D

elta State was created from the then Bendel State on 27th August 1991. Its capital is Asaba. While Warri, the largest and most populous city in the state, is the business nerves centre.

DELTA

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STATE OF THE STATES

Delta on Fast Lane of Maritime, Tourism, Agriculture Development

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he instability of the oil sector poses a threat to states that depend mainly on the sector as its major source of revenue. This compels such states to diversify to other viable channels for sustenance. The state has at various times indicated its determination to develop its tourism potentials, taking advantage of existing infrastructure and natural resources in diverse ways.

The state has to its advantage the recently commissioned WarriItakpe railway line that runs through Agbor, connecting Delta, Kogi and Edo states which will eventually connect with Abuja.

The state appears set to cash in on this privilege to develop tourism and transform it into a major source of sustainable alternative revenue.

“The private partners will see to the day-to-day running of these projects.

Recent projects created to achieve this objective include the Asaba Leisure Park and Film Village Projects. The state government explains that the initiative is in line with its determination to build sustainable infrastructure to boost tourism potentials in the state.

The Film Village project has editing suites, sound studio amphitheater, guest house and hostel facilities, engineering and maintenance as well as a site for epic movies.

The leisure park on the other hand will have a zoo for wildlife, an artificial lake, a swimming pool, a big restaurant, and an 11-story observatory tower.

Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Engr. Lawrence Ejiofor, during an inspection of the Asaba Leisure Park and Film Village Projects recently, reveals that the commencement of the project was thorough and highly professional to specifications, ensuring durability for long term usage. He further said the project was backed by the Private-Public Partnerships (PPP) model adding, “we are going to partner with Nollywood and other private sector stakeholders to manage this place and give government returns.

“I was in Abuja some time ago to market Delta as a tourism destination. However, what we are doing now is to put our tourism facilities to modern standards.

“We just signed the memorandum of understanding for Lander Brothers Anchorage between the state government and Jabi Boat Club.

“They are committing N550 million into a special purpose vehicle ( SPV) of 70:30 percent to rebuild and manage it over time.”

Maritime Development: Delta state, has four seaports in Burutu, Warri, Sapele and Koko. Mercury Maritime Concession Company (MMCC) Limited, promoter of the proposed $2.9 billion Escravos Seaport Industrial Complex (ESIC – 1) in Delta State, recently secured a provisional approval from the Federal Government through Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT) to commence the

port project.

The Concession company chairman Andrew Okoja said the deposit of the sum of $1billion is a commitment and capacity to deliver the port project.

The port project, is reported to include a deep seaport, free trade zone, crude oil refinery and gas complex, intended to run on a ‘Build, Own, Operate and Transfer’ (BOOT) model and would be on a lease for about 50 years.

The $2.9 billion funding required for the project is being sourced from foreign investors. The port is expected to ease the Lagos ports, and attract about $50 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Nigeria and by extension boost the economy of Delta state.

The project is said to include industrial layouts, an independent power plant (IPP), a conservation park, an international airport, prime infrastructure, new towns and cities.

The development is expected to create about 30,000 to 40,000 jobs upon completion.

The project is maritime-driven and is cited on approximately 31 hectares of land in Escravos, Delta State.

Benefits to include transformation of the coastal/foreshore line between Benin River into prime lands for seafront property development, and support for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) operations, among others.

Challenging Factors: Insecurity, erosion menace, inefficient electricity supply, poor state of the roads and multiple taxes by state and local governments.

ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Tourism: The state government is strategically developing this sector; investment in value-chain boosting ventures is highly recommended, especially through SMEs.

Yam, Cassava, Plantain Processing: Delta is part of Nigeria’s food basket. Investment in this area is worth considering.

Mechanized Agriculture: This will boost food production, especially in partnership with the state government.

Financial Service: Efficient financial service is critical to support the developmental projects of the state, especially in expanding tourism and agriculture.

Restaurant: This is a strong investment platform to attract tourists.

Hotel & Guest House: Investment in well-developed hotels and guest houses is strategic.

Maritime: Water transportation, trawling, cold store, repair workshop, tools/parts fabrication are germane to effective maritime service.

Shops, grossery stores: Retail shops and grossery stores will thrive in the emerging business climate of the state.

Private Security Service: Professionals who venture into this sector will help to boost capacity.

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TOURISM Nihotour Matriculates 500 Students, Trainees

STORIES BY JANEFRANCES CHIBUZOR he National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (Nihotour), recently matriculated no fewer than 500 students and trainees for the 2020/2021 academic session.

T

The Director-General of the institute, Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, disclosed this during the matriculation ceremony held at the institution’s headquarters in Abuja.

While congratulating the students for gaining admission to the institute, Kangiwa also stated that Nihotour was one of the most rated projects of the UNDP/ILO and the Federal Government for professional travel, hospitality, tourism training services and research in the country.

“More importantly, our tuition fees are the least among tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The management subsidises fees of students to attract the less privileged and also provides avenues for professional organisations to access capacity building for their agencies.

“We are doing all we can within the resources available to maintain the needed conducive teaching and learning environment for your smooth training and studies”.

He admonished the new trainees and students to use their youthful energy positively to enhance the growth and development of the institute and not to bring shame and bad publicity or damage its good image.

The DG urged them to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations of the institution, as well as to focus on studying hard so as to leave with good results.

The President of FTAN, Mr Nkereuwem Onung, commended Kangiwa for his passionate leadership and unwavering quest to sustain the position of Nihotour as a leading global brand to be reckoned with.

“We appreciate what you are doing and the many lives you are changing and growing positively. A few years ago, students of tourism and hospitality were laughed at for not choosing more serious career paths.

“Jobs in the sector were not taken seriously and building a career in the industry was not regarded as an option at all.

“A few years down the line, we are here today celebrating with new students who are interested in pursuing a career in travel, hospitality and tourism,” he said.

Onung noted that the world had entered a phase commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, a period characterised by a technological revolution that is massively reshaping and transforming the way industries, communities

and societies operate and engage or relate with each other.

He said the travel, hospitality and tourism industry, which is largely labour intensive and has the potential to realise growth and make significant contributions to the economic development of communities around globe, has the capacity to rapidly fill hundreds of thousands of new positions with qualified people.

“The industry is particularly dependent on its ability to hire young men and women aged between 17 and 25 years, who make up the largest share of employees in the industry.

“Going forward, the nature of travel, hospitality and tourism businesses will change to functioning with only qualified manpower and more efficient operations, where a balance between smart and skilled labour is sought after”.

“Our dear matriculants, while NIHOTOUR is performing its duties of providing you with adequate level of quality education, it is imperative for you to know that educators and employers have found that for young people to succeed in today’s rapidly changing and globalised world, they need an educational foundation that includes more than just academic and technical skills. You critically need life and employability skills as a way to prepare you to be motivated

Monarch Unveils Programme for 2021 Igbo-Ora World Twins Festival

T

he Olu of Igbo-Ora, Oba Jimoh Olajide Titiloye (Asoroolu Ayinla V), has announced dates for activities lined up to mark the 2021 edition of the Igbo-Ora World Twins Festival, an annual cultural tourism event celebrated to promote the multifunctional cultural heritage of Igbo-Ora in Oyo State.

A statement jointly released by the facilitators of the festival, Ambassadors Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye, states that the festival will commence on Sunday, October 3, 2021 with a special church thanksgiving service at the Methodist Church, Igbo-Ora, which will be followed on Monday, October 4 by traditional cleansing of the town.

The statement further discloses that a debate competition among twins in junior secondary schools in Ibarapa land will take place on Tuesday, October 5, while the session for senior secondary schools session comes up on Wednesday, October 6.

According to the release, the much anticipated Twins traditional/cultural games Day will hold on Thursday, October 7. This will also feature an exhibition of local games for twins by the community. On Friday, October 8, there will be a Special Jumat Twins Service at the Igbo-Ora Central Mosque, to be followed by royal homage to the paramount ruler of Igbo-Ora. Friday night will witness a special tributes procession in honour of departed twins. It is tagged, ‘Twinless night of honour.’

The statement also states, “The grand finale, which is also the Twins Pilgrimage Day event comes up on Saturday, October 9 at the festival arena, Methodist Grammar School, Igbo-Ora.” According to the statement, the festival which has the theme, ‘Twinning for global medical breakthrough’ is expected to celebrate the medical team of the National Medical Centre, Abuja that successfully separated the conjoined Martins twins in 2020, among other activities.

Governor Seyi Makinde will be the Chief Host, while the Life Grand Patron of the festival, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi Atanda, is expected to lead other dignitaries spread across the globe to welcome all and sundry to the festival.

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and confident decision-makers who can overcome adversity and realise your potential”.

“At this point, we encourage you all to develop a career vision and to chart a career path in this sector. This entails accepting responsibility for how far you want to go. The vision must be clear, you must acquire the competence required while expecting definite constraints which creativity and concentration will deliver.

“The importance of life skills for the travel, hospitality and tourism industry cannot be overstated. It is not unusual for entry-level staff in a hotel to interact daily with hundreds of people with different cultural backgrounds, languages, service expectations, and needs. Travel, Hospitality and Tourism industry workers must be able to rapidly adapt to accommodate a degree of diversity unheard of in other lines of work,” Onung added.

He appealed to all practitioners in the industry to join hands with NIHOTOUR as a matter of urgency and necessity to encourage up skilling, re-skilling and continuous education as a means to building capacity to meet travel, hospitality and tourism industry skills gap for quality service delivery in Nigeria.

I

Igbo Cultural Group Inaugurates Runsewe’s Statue in Igbo-Ukwu

gbo cultural group inaugurates Runsewe’s statue in IgboUkwu life-sized sculpture of the image of the DirectorGeneral of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, was recently unveiled in Etiti village, Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra State.

The historical project and first in public sector tourism administration in Nigeria, was inaugurated by MBIDO Igbo Association, an inter-agency committee on culture, arts and tourism.

A tribute written by the cultural body notes that Otunba Runsewe will forever be remembered for constructing the biggest Yam House in Nigeria and for enlisting the New Yam festival on the national and global cultural festival calendars during his time at the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) in 2007.

Words on marble at the site of the DG’s six-foot effigy reads,” This statue of Otunba Segun Runsewe, OON, the indefatigable icon of culture in Nigeria and tourism dynamo of our time, stands as testimony of a detribalised Nigerian who gave the Igbo race the deserved voice in the cultural tourism world.”

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SportsLive

Super Eagles’ Winning Start To Qatar 2022

BY JUDE OBAFEMI

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igeria’s senior national football team, the Super Eagles, kicked off their race to Qatar 2022 World Cup, in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) region with two Group C matches in the September international window. In a group where they were drawn against Liberia, Cape Verde and the Central African Republic (CAR), the September schedules pitched Nigeria against Liberia at home on September 3 and away at Cape Verde, four days later.

The Super Eagles put that worry aside and engaged the Lone Stars in the first qualifier at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos where the pitch managers did a brilliant job handling the conditions on playing grounds, considering that there was a downpour before the 5pm kickoff time which left several parts of Lagos State flooded.

The Lone Stars and the superstars of the Super Eagles played without any soggy pitch problems, focusing only on their football and the determination to begin the race to Qatar with victory and the confidence boost that comes with it.

It was Nigeria that got a deserved victory at the final whistle.

Leicester City’s forward Kelechi Iheanacho, who finished last season with the Premiership record of being the only player to have scored a goal on every day of the week in one season, was the twogoal hero for Nigeria in that Friday, September 3 opening match of the qualifying series. Iheanacho’s two first half goals decided the game as Nigeria played a controlled match without giving away too much to the visitors.

For the first goal, Iheanacho profited from a short corner kick that looked like something straight out of the training ground. He exchanged a one-two pass with Alex Iwobi before firing into the near corner, allowing the goalkeeper, Ashley Williams, no chance to react fast enough to keep it from going in. Iheanacho doubled that 22nd minute lead with his second goal in the 44th minute. Again, Iwobi was involved as a throw-in from the left side of the Liberian half was allowed to drift into the danger area. After Everton’s Iwobi nudged the ball behind him, Iheanacho held off his marker strongly enough to turn towards goal and poke the ball in.

There were some Nigerians who were not pleased that chances for Nigeria to punish the Liberians even more, especially in the second period, were frittered away as no further goals came about. They also queried the manager’s ability to read the game, questioning his selection choices and concluded that Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr appeared to be making substitutions arbitrarily rather than focus on a d need to strengthen a weak position or improve the game plan. The German introduced Genk’s Paul Onuachu for the conservative Victor Osimhen of Napoli, while the two-goal forward Iheanacho was rested to give Ahmed Musa the chance to feature in the 85th minute.

The game was soon over and Nigeria bagged all three points and a two-goal difference for a winning start that placed the Super Eagles firmly atop Group C. The other group game between CAR and Cape Verde, which was played two days earlier at the Stade de la Réunification, Duoala in Cameroon, ended one goal apiece leaving each side one point. Therefore, after the opening bit of football, Liberia was at the bottom of the group as the only country without a point. Attention quickly turned to the next fixtures.

With the situation still unchanged and Cape Verde very much in the red-listed countries of the UK, Nigeria was going to be denied the services of key first-team players in all three departments of the defence, midfield and attack. Significant names that Nigeria was going to be without included Everton’s Iwobi and Leicester’s Iheanacho, who combined successfully for the two goals against Liberia and Wilfred Ndidi, Iheanacho’s teammate at Leicester and a solid commander of the midfield advance towards attack. Rohr was also going to be unable to field talents, such as Watford’s duo Oghenekaro Etebo, William Troost-Ekong and Brentford’s new signing Frank Onyeka. Furthermore, because Scottish football THEWILLNIGERIA

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Super Eagles

However, even before the selection of players for these significant games was finalised, it became clear that there was a need to make contingent plans to handle a situation where Super Eagles players plying their trades in the United Kingdom were going to be restricted from making the trip to Cape Verde. This was because the Archipelago Island was one of the countries red-listed by the UK for the prevalence of COVID-19 and football clubs in the UK did not want their players to be away for 10 days at a stretch, which was the standard enforced quarantine period for anyone re-entering the UK from any of the red-listed countries

operated under UK guidelines, it meant Rangers’ Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun were out of the team.

It got even worse for the German coach because, although the selection of the squad to prosecute the qualifiers made allowance for this, he had the number of players available to him cut down by a further double subtraction. Rohr was denied selecting the duo of Bordeaux’s Samuel Kalu from Ligue 1 and Tyronne Ebuehi, who was currently on loan with Serie A’s Venezia from Portuguese side Benfica. The two were said to have failed a COVID-19 test in controversial circumstances reminiscent of the case involving Alex Iwobi during the final stages of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Rohr was left to make do with a squad of 19 players, including a much-changed defence. It was a situation that none other than Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, himself foresaw when he asked the UK government to provide players with exemptions to allow them to honour their international commitments, even if it meant them travelling to any of the UK’s “red list” countries. This was the same premise behind Rohr’s conclusion when he pointed to the exemptions England enjoyed during the Euro 2020 competition this year. But, no such exemptions were granted and Nigeria had to make do with the circumstances as they were.

On September 7, without the UK players, Nigeria’s Super Eagles kept their leadership of Group C in tact with a 2-1 victory at the Estádio Municipal Aderito Sena in Mindelo, Cape Verde. It was not the most impressive of performances by any means, given the gap in quality between the two sides, with Cape Verde 43 places below Nigeria’s 34th position in the current FIFA Ranking. Yet, as snappy a win as it was, which depended on an own-goal from Kenny Santos, a Cape Verdean defender, it was all they needed to secure the all-important three points and maintain a perfect start to the race to Qatar 2022.

In the absence of first team defenders Balogun and Troost-Ekong, the quartet of Jamilu Collins, Shehu Abdullahi, Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem of Rohr’s makeshift backline allowed Dylan Tavares the opener to give the hosts the lead after only 19 minutes of play. The goal was against the run of play and it illustrated the poacher’s gift of Tavares because of the execution. It was not the kind of start that Rohr was expecting, even with his side looking very different from the one that had beaten Liberia four days earlier.

Fortunately, having Napoli’s Victor Osimhen eligible to play paid off handsomely. The striker, who is serving a two-match ban for the red card he was issued during Napoli’s Serie A season’s opener against Venezia, drew Nigeria level 10 minutes after the Tavares goal. Osimhen displayed his striker’s instincts by taking full advantage of a defensive slip-up to pounce on a rebound, after Super Eagles’ defender Jamilu Collins’ cross was directed goalwards by a poor clearance from Cape Verdean Kelvin Pires.

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The time was ticking away in the second period while the score remained level as the hosts grew with confidence the longer the game went on. The chances that came the way of the Super Eagles were not optimised as more than once, Ahmed Musa was guilty of profligacy. Rohr decidedly rang in the changes on the attacking front to get the victory. Lorient’s Terem Moffi replaced Musa while Henry Onyekuru was introduced in place of Moses Simon.

Onyekuru almost marked his introduction with a goal after being on the pitch for a minute but his left-footed strike, off a counterattack, was saved.

The seeming elusive winner came via a gift from the Cape Verdeans in the 76th minute, as much as it can be said to have come to bear due to the pressure the Super Eagles incessantly mounted on the danger area of the Blue Sharks. A lack of communication between defender Kenny Santos and keeper Vozinha, resulted in a back pass which left the goalie stranded, as the ball went over Vozinha’a head and crossed the line. It turned out to be the winning goal that earned the Super Eagles a N20 million windfall promised them for victory against Cape Verde, by Allen Onyema, the Chairman of indigenous airline company and Super Eagles’ sponsor Air Peace.

The heavily changed squad had done enough to fashion a comeback that saw Nigeria maintain an early grip of proceedings in the Group C qualifying series. Rohr’s charges gained the maximum points required to top the group under the challenging circumstances. Yet, it did not need to have been this difficult just as Nigeria did not have to be without her best players to prosecute as important an international function as a qualifier for the most important football event on the global stage, where every point is of significant weight.

In the next window, Nigeria will be facing a less challenging prospect in the double-header against bottom-placed CAR. With most of the team expected back, the Super Eagles are the clear favourites over both legs, on paper. Should they earn full points in both, the Super Eagles will make the final group fixtures, which include a trip to Liberia and hosting Cape Verde, with all the confidence in the world and with the assurance of finishing on top the group guaranteed.

The momentum is firmly on the side of the Super Eagles and when October comes, it will be worth seeing them file out in the home tie against CAR, on October 9, with the full strength of the squad in place and the possible featuring of some new names that have proven themselves.

Yet, THEWILL believes it was a missed opportunity that Nigeria did not join other countries to petition FIFA to force clubs that held back Super Eagles players to enforce the five-match ban penalty.

The fact remains that every extra pressure counts and that some pushback from significant football countries like Nigeria can go a long way in bringing about positive change in limiting the excesses of football clubs in the perennial country versus club conflict.

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