Saturday 6th August2016

AMCON Recovers N644bn from Debtors, Explains 2015 Loss Ozekhome: Decisions without board approval null and void

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku and Obinna Chima The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) yesterday put the total amount of cash and assets it had recovered from its debtors at

N644 billion.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, AMCON, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, who disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, also said 56 per cent of its debtors had

approached the corporation for “settlement.”

Kuru explained that by the term “settlement,” he meant individuals that had entered into agreement with AMCON on their repayment plan.

He faulted the framework

on which AMCON was set-up.

Also yesterday Mike Ozekhome (SAN), social crusader and constitutional lawyer bluntly warned AMCON that "any decision, or resolution, or contracts executed or action taken requiring supervisory

board approval without a board in place as currently the case is null and void in eyes of the law going by the Act establishing AMCON." This could open some decisions of the current management to legal challenge.

AMCON on Tuesday posted a 2015 loss of N304.35 billion, wider than 2014 loss of N275.49 billion, after it wrote-down the value of collateral recovered from its purchase of bad loans.

Continued on page 6

Fitch Affirms 8 Nigerian Banks' Ratings on Sovereign Criteria Change ... Page 53 Saturday 6 August, 2016 Vol 21. No 7772 Price: N250

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Padding? What Does That Mean? Dogara Weighs in Tobi Soniyi and Damilola Oyedele in Abuja Essentially, toeing parliamentary line, which says it can alter, change, subtract and add to the budget presented to it by the executive before

passage, the Speaker of House Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara yesterday weighed in on the raging budget padding controversy that has set the house leadership on war path in the last two weeks after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential

Villa, Abuja. It was, however, not clear if the allegation of 2016 budget-padding currently rocking the lower house was discussed as Dogara refused to reveal the purpose of his visit to the villa.

Speaking to State House Correspondents after the

meeting, Dogara reiterated his earlier statement that he would not resign over the budget-padding allegation.

The speaker, who arrived at the State House around 2:25Spm, went straight into the president’s office.

He came out of the presi-

dent’s office at exactly 2:58 pm, feigning ignorance of what budget-padding was all about.

When approached by State House Correspondents, Dogara simply said: "I am a lawyer and have been a legislator for a while. I never knew of an

offence called budget padding.”

The speaker said budget padding was not an offence in Nigerian law.

He also said since he had not committed any offence, the question of him resigning “does Continued on page 6

PDP Leaders Planning New Party Should Sheriff’s Distractions Continue BoT Says party’s chairmanship not for sale Jerry Gana heads new peace committee

Yemi Adebowale in Lagos and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

LANRE DELANO

As the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP continue preparations for its next national convention scheduled for Port Harcourt on August 17, highly competent sources close to its leadership hinted THISDAY last night that a “Plan B” is in the party’s bag, in case former acting national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff continues to distract the party.

The party has been in turmoil, several weeks after its last National Convention in Port Harcourt, where the tenure of Sheriff was terminated and Ahmed Makarfi appointed as acting national chairman.

However, Sheriff refused to recognise Makarfi and has been parading himself as acting national chairman, while also using the court to frustrate efforts to properly reposition the party.

An apparently frustrated member of PDP’s Board of Trustee, BoT who pleaded for

SuperSaturday pg. 8-9

Continued on page 6

My Childhood Was Filled With the Sound of Music

PATRICK CHIDOLUE

At the Age of 21 I Had 256 Employees

Plus pg. 17

THE EMINENT DEFENCE FELLOW

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari presenting Eminent Fellow of the Defence College award to General Abdulsalam Abubakar during the graduation ceremony of Course 24 of the National Defence College in Abuja …yesterday

At Defence College, Buhari Vows to Deal Decisively with Rampaging Fulani Herdsmen ... Page 6

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At Defence College, Buhari Vows to Deal Decisively with Rampaging Fulani Herdsmen SGF condemns attack in Adamawa

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja and Daji Sani in Yola Rampaging Fulani herdsmen may be in for a tough time with President Muhammadu Buhari stating yesterday that his administration will no longer tolerate acts of banditry and criminality from the herdsmen.

The president stated this in his address at the graduation ceremony of Course 24 of the National Defence College, Abuja.

President Buhari informed the audience that security agencies in the country had been mandated to adequately deal with such act as it was capable of truncating the peace of the country.

Clashes between herdsmen and farmers have resulted in many casualties across the country for over one year.

The president also said that he was committed to tackling the issues of underdevelopment and neglect in the Niger Delta area.

"This is a priority we have set before us and we intend to make appreciable gains in correcting the ills of the past in

infrastructural development; delivering inclusive growth; and prioritising the welfare of Nigerians.

"We believe that this budget, while helping industry, commerce and investment to pick up, will as a matter of urgency, address the immediate problems of youth unemployment and the terrible living conditions of the very poor and vulnerable Nigerians", he said.

Buhari commended the successful graduates and urged them to employ high level of professionalism and technical competence in their career.

He said: "We know that the National Defence College is a truly unique institution, one which we believe, has empowered you with the highest levels of skills in management practices of present day administration and governance for development of our institutions.

"We are also very pleased to learn that the blueprints of training at this College have kept pace with our current security environment. In this vein, you will be pleased to note that in

the last one year, through the hard work, dedication and sacrifices made by members of our armed forces and security services, we have been able to degrade significantly, the capacity of Boko Haram insurgents to wreck havoc on our society.”

The graduation ceremony featured a total of 130 officers drawn from the Nigerian Army, Navy, Airforce and Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service, National Defence College, Defence Intelligence Agency, Department of State Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigerian Prisons Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and Federal Road Safety Commission.

Seven foreign nationals were among the successful graduates.

In attendance were the Chief of Defence staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant Gen. Buratai, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibas and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar.

Adamawa Attack: SGF sympathises with Victims Meanwhile, the Secretary to

the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Babachir David Lawal has sympathised with victims of Fulani herdsmen’s attack on Kodomun Village, Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State on Monday.

Lawal described the attack as barbaric and inhuman and that all Nigerians needed to condemn the attack in strong terms. He appealed to Nigerians to learn how to coexist despite their differences and background.

The SGF, who was represented by the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Policy, Analysis and Development, Alhaji Ibrahim Bepetel, during a visit to the victims of the attack at Demsa Primary School where they took refuge said the federal government was determined to find lasting solution to the lingering crises between the herdsmen and famers in the area.

An elder statesman, Mr. Remount had earlier said the attack happened as a result of gross negligence from the security agencies and the Paramount Ruler in charge of the areas.

itself for 2019 in order to do that it needs to earn the trust of Nigerians by providing a virile opposition which Sheriff is frustrating."

Meanwhile, the leaders of the party’s Board of Trustees yesterday reminded members that the chairmanship of the party “is not for sale to the highest bidder.”

As part of its renewed efforts to find lasting peace in the party, the BoT said that it had set up another peace committee headed by Prof. Jerry Gana to reach out to Sheriff.

The BoT statement came just as Makarfi assured that everyone was still free to contest any position despite the zoning arrangement approved

by the party.

The chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jubrin said what the party at the moment needed was an honest and upright person and not someone who would buy his way into office.

"This party is not for sale.

This party must be a party of very conscious people. We are telling every delegate to reject anybody that comes with money. We need an honest and upright person," he said.

Jibrin who spoke during the inauguration of the planning committees for the convention, warned that the BoT would no longer accept any leadership that is forced on it.

"We must remind all of us that the party is supreme

and above personal interest.

This party is not for sale.

This party must be a party of very conscious people. We are telling every delegate to reject anybody that comes with money. We need an honest and upright person. This party will not want somebody that will come and buy his way into office," he said.

"Therefore I implore all of us to abide by this principle.

Today is party is characterized by court cases. I can count about 15 court cases which is alien to the PDP. We have a constitution that set out procedure for settling grievances and for us to solve our problems internally.

"But unfortunately, rather

than judging ourselves, our problems are going out and we are being judged by someone else outside of our constitution.

We are not afraid and we cannot sit down as fathers and conscience of the party and allow things go astray. The BoT has sat down to look at the issues. While we accept in principle the agreement reached for the national convention, we are looking at another theory of reconciliation.”

While inaugurating the committees, Makarfi explained that the though the party in its wisdom had zoned the post of national chairman to the South West, it did not preclude others from different zones from participating in the contest.

They were not charging interest at all because the businesses were dead. At the initial stage, there was a gap between the purchase price and the face value of the liabilities.

“So, for some of these obligors, by coming to AMCON, already they had a discount.

Almost 51 per cent of those accounts were restructured.

Now, in CBN’s valuation and based on prudential guidelines provisions, any account that you have restructured with a payment plan, is a performing account. Let us not forget that

these accounts were brought from somewhere they had been buried.

“For you to now say AMCON is going to make profit in the next couple of years is not possible because these facilities are hard-core facilities and they are not performing. The only thing we can do is to continue to recover them. Let us not forget the fact that AMCON was not set up to make profit. It is not a profit-making organisation. AMCON is a resolution company that has a timeline,” Kuru added.

The AMCON boss explained that the corporation gets on the average, about N100 billion every year from the sinking fund.

He estimated that the contribution of the sinking fund, as the banking industry grows, would continue to improve.

“The initial concept was that they would contribute 31 per cent, but not based on what is happening, they are going to contribute about 60 per cent of the total liabilities of AMCON, which is around N5.1 trillion.

The most important thing for AMCON is the ability to, at the end of its sunset period, be able to discharge its obligation and I think AMCON would be able to do that diligently.

“We have about four countries that adopted this type of model and the institutions in those countries are still not profit making ventures. They are still having challenges with profitability because what they are trying to do is to be able to meet their obligations.

“Even if I am making profit today, it still goes back to the

settlement of the bonds. So, what is important is that at my sunset period, I am able to meet my debt obligation so that AMCON can wind down,” Kuru added.

Onyekpere faults AMCON’s operation without board…

Also yesterday, another legal practitioner and the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Mr. Eze Onyekpere, has faulted the operation of AMCON’s management in the absence of a functional board.

He argued that the government was expected to reconstitute the board of AMCON and other corporations as soon as they are dissolved.

Onyekpere said AMCON needed a board to superintend the affairs of its management.

“Decisions and activities which need the attention and endorsement of the board should have been left alone by the management until a new board is constituted. It is also imperative to state the government should not have dissolved existing boards if it was not ready to constitute a new ones immediately.

“The decision to dissolve a board should not be taken as a matter of routine once a new regime comes to power.

It should have been taken on a corporation by corporation basis after analysing the performance of the boards to determine if they should be allowed to continue or get changed. It is also fundamentally flawed to dissolve boards whose tenures are defined by law, without allowing the board to be dissolved by the effluxion of time,” he said.

The lawyer argued that AMCON’s management is not in a legal position to repudiate terms of settlement reached by debtors with the previous management and approved by the previous board. According to him, it is up to the affected debtor companies and individuals to challenge such unilateral decision in court and the courts may likely set aside such unilateral action of the new management.

“Unless there is evidence to show that the terms of settlement were reached based on deliberate misrepresentation by the debtor company, the decision of the new management cannot stand.

The enabling laws of corporations set out the specific tasks and functions of these boards.

They play major policy roles and provide direction for the day to day running of the corporations by their management.

“The fiduciary duty of boards ensures that they properly liaise between the state which is the owner and the management and staff of the corporation to guarantee good performance and focus on the achievement of stated policy goals.

“Many of them are professional boards that add value to the chain of operations in their respective industries including directions to management that have impact on the bottom line of corporate operations. The absence of the boards has left a vacuum that is difficult to fill,” he said.

The lawyers' reactions followed complaints of highhandedness and breach of extant rules and settlement agreements reached with AMCON by some debtor companies.

improve the economy and fight corruption. As it is, this is our unfinished business from the past and dates back to the creation of our republic, yet to this day, corruption and poverty remain our main national problems.

"As part of efforts to address the problem of corruption, we have set in motion legal processes to recover whatever we can and bring to justice those who betrayed their trust. Thus far, we have been able to recover billions of naira from indicted companies and individuals. In addition, through the implementation and enforcement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), we have been able to save more for our nation.

"Furthermore, in our fight to end poverty in Nigeria, we have set up social interventions and reliefs for the poor, and already, data is being collated by the Economic Planning Office of the Vice President in conjunction with the World Bank.

"In addition, through our 2016 budget, we intend to stimulate the economy, making it more competitive by focusing on

the Niger Delta by assuaging inherent grievances," he added.

He further said steps were being taken to rebuild the terror-ravaged North-east.

He said: "Let me state that this administration has been working assiduously in conjunction with our local and international partners, to rebuild damaged communities in North Eastern part of our country."

The president also said the fight against corruption and recovery of stolen funds would continue.

According to him, billions of Naira has been recovered from individuals and organisations.

He reiterated his pact with Nigerian upon his assumption of office, saying he was still committed to securing the country, improving the economy and fighting corruption.

He said: "You will all recall that on being sworn into office on 29 May 2015, I outlined certain core areas of our national life that require immediate intervention, some of which I would like to reiterate here today. First, we should seek to secure the country,

PDP LEADERS PLANNING NEW PARTY SHOULD SHERIFF’S DISTRACTIONS CONTINUE anonymity, told THISDAY that every effort being made to unite the PDP was being frustrated

by Sherriff “despite several court orders that effectively nullified his tenure as interim chairman.”

The source said the party’s leaders had resolved that should all the peace overtures to the renegade Sheriff fail, they would all leave the party with all the governors and national assembly members to form a new party with a new name and “leave the rump to sherrif, to continue with his charade.”

He added: “Sheriff is President Buhari’s in law (his son is married to one of Buhari's daughers). The thinking among

the party leaders is that the All Progressives Congress is using him to continue this distraction of the PDP. The APC has found in Sheriff a willing tool to destabilise the opposition party. We know their game plan. But we will not allow them to kill the opposition; more so now that Nigerians are being pummeled by the APC government. The APC is struggling to face the reality that it must pack out of Aso Rock by 2019. A weakened PDP is in the interest of President Buhari and the APC and Sheriff is there to ensure they achieve their objective.”

The source also revealed that PDP is ready to move on from its loss of power, reposition

AMCON RECOVERS N644BN FROM DEBTORS, EXPLAINS 2015 LOSS But its Executive Director, Aminu Ismail explained that there was improvement in the corporation’s results in terms AMCON’s stand-alone because in 2014, the loss was N344 billion, but in 2015, it came down to N310 billion.

He further explained that the large chunk of the loss driver was the six per cent interest it is currently paying, just as he expressed optimism that as AMCON recovers and restructures more loans, the interest elements charged in subsequent years would also

go down.

Also, Kuru explained that the loss situation of AMCON would continue to reduce over a period of time.

AMCON has a 10-year period.

“Now, loss is unavoidable.

When we bought these facilities between 2010 and 2011, if you recall, there were interest elements on them. The obligors were made to pay interest which in itself from beginning was faulty. That is because, the banks that sold these facilities to us had already provided for them.

PADDING? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? DOGARA WEIGHS IN not even arise.”

Asked what informed his visit, he said: “I can't come and see my president? Do I need any reason to come and see my president? It's a private visit.

Below is Dogara's encounter with the State House Correspondents: Was the issue of alleged budget-padding discussed during your meeting with Buhari?

What is budget-padding?

The language emanated from your chambers?

I don't know, educate me, I am a lawyer and the Speaker and I have never heard of the word padding, what does padding mean?

Your former chairman of appropriation is saying you padded the budget?

Ask him, he who alleges must prove, that's the law in Nigeria Are you not going to defend yourself?

Am I before a court?

There are people saying you should reconvene the House before September resumption time and step aside for thorough investigations?

We have rules and regulations, this is not a mock institution, we operate by rules and we will follow the rules Will you resign?

Resign for what, for what?

On this allegations?

What is the allegation?

That you and some members of the leadership padded the budget?

What is padding? You haven't told me. Ask Jibrin what is padding? For me, I studied law and I have been in the legislature and all this period I have never heard of the word padding being an offence under any law, if I don't know, you are the media. Research the law and let me know Are you worried?

Worried for what? Worried over nothing, why should I

be worried? As far as I am concerned, I am not worried over anything Will there be sanctions for Jibrin?

I am not the chairman of ethics committee of the House so I wouldn't know and I don't know what padding means.

Lawmaker Advocates Equal Allocation for Constituency Projects In a related development, the lawmaker representing Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Daniel Reyeneiju (Delta PDP) has called for equal monetary allocation to all lawmakers for their constituency projects.

This, he said, was necessary, in the face of reported padding of the 2016 budget and the crises it is generating, particularly in the lower chamber.

Reyeneiju, in a telephone interview with THISDAY yesterday, described the crises as unfortunate, painful, and avoidable.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY AUGUST 6, 2016

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

SUPER SATURDAY Lanre Delano

Why I Left Nigeria Police – They Preferred Me to Carrying Arms to Playing Music

Delano

His life can be summed up in one word: MUSIC.The Chief Executive Officer of Church Organ Projects In Nigeria (CHOPIN) and the Organ & Music Magazine O&MM, Lanre Delano, was raised by parents who adored music. He is also the representative and sole dealer of the biggest organ manufacturing company in the world – Allen Organ Company of USA. Being one of first set of two students to start a Music degree programme in 1978 at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and graduating in 1982, Delano had done nothing else but things related to music. The simple bungalow located on the quiet part of Surulere, Lagos, gives an insight into his taste – portable, but magnificent. From the exterior to the interior, the whole apartment is just the way Delano wants it. At the right corner of the living room lie antique church organs. Plaques and photos of award presentations hang on his walls. The brown-eyed, huge, dark-skinned Delano speaks with Adedayo Adejobi and Funmi Johnson about his struggle to excel academically, his passion for the piano, and support from his parents and how he has built his music organ business

H

ow would you describe yourself?

In my younger days, I was a very adventurous boy in every way conceivable which might have influenced my foray into the organ music business.

While growing up, what are some of the things you used to do musically within the home?

My parents are great lovers of music and they did all they could to help us grow musically. Although they were average income earners, they hired a music teacher who taught us at home because music was not part of our secondary school curriculum at that time. Again because ours was a strong Christian family, every morning we usually have an opening hymn and a closing hymn; my father would tell me to take the hymns on the piano. So it was a full service and this helped me because it was a kind of distraction for me from too much

play. I was not particularly an academically intelligent person probably because I was always playing and getting hyperactive and as such was not good in terms of academics but with music; I was calmer and concentrated more which was why my parents decided to follow up the special interest in me and did all they could to see me succeed.

What sparked your music interest?

My interest in music dates back to my childhood and I was favoured to have understanding parents who encouraged me fully to study music since that was my only major and academic interest. One of the encouragements I had was being allowed to watch and listen to Fela Ransome – Kuti’s music only at the shrine. My father insisted I studied music formally by sending me to Pa Kobinna Creppy at Kose Lane, Lagos, where I obtained my Grade 5 ABRSM in February 1978. My other teachers were Mr. Kayode Oni who taught me at the Music Department of The Polytechnic,

Ibadan in 1977 before I gained admission into University of Ife as one of the first set of two students to start the Music degree programme in 1978.

I was under Prof. Adetunji Vidal who was then head of department at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). I graduated in 1982 with a Bachelors (Hons) degree in Music. In 1983, I did my NYSC programme with the Nigeria Police Force Band Ikeja under the then Director of Music, Police Commissioner, Ben Odiase, who composed the present national anthem. After my National Youth Service Corps, I applied to join the music section of the Nigeria Police Force. I went through all the physical drills and was employed as a cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police on Grade Level 08. Unfortunately, and to my surprise, I was posted to the General Duty Department of the police because of my physique. I had to leave the force because they did not accept my deployment to the Music Department.

What role did your parents play that led you into music business?

My parents had a deep love for music and hoped to develop same in their six children. To achieve this, my dad bought an upright piano. Though my sister and brother played the piano, I was the most involved. We used to play the organ at church, during morning and evening services as well as special services for Christmas. My mother believed I had special talent for music, though I was often distracted by other things due to my adventurous nature. Sometimes while playing the piano to my mother’s listening pleasure, I would suddenly excuse myself with a flimsy reason and never returned.

Some people once said my parents took a risk by allowing me to study music in the higher institution as against more glorified courses like medicine, law or architecture.

Today, the story has changed because I have brought a lot of honour to my family through music and my parents are very proud of me and what I have achieved.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

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SUPER SATURDAY I Joined the Police Because of My Love for Music...

How and when did you get into the organ music business?

That is a question I have continuously asked myself because I did not set out to do that kind of business – I knew nothing about it. Though I am one of the first two graduates of music from the University of Ife, we never had a course on organ music studies not to talk of having an organ in the department. Yes, I liked the sound of the organ which fascinated me at St Judes Ebute Meta, now Cathedral of St. Jude’s.

That was all. I admired the pipe organ in a few other churches like St Peters, Aremo Ibadan, Cathedral Church of Christ Marina in Lagos and Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu. That was all. It surprises people when I tell the truth that I never saw a digital organ in my life till 2001 at a small goods and appliances exhibition in Dietzenbach, Germany. However, I have been in the business for 14 years now.

My company CHOPIN – an acronym for Church Organ Projects In Nigeria, was founded in 2002 and I sold my first church organ a week after the launching of the company.

How have you been able to fare well in the business when classical music isn’t widely accepted in Nigeria?

It is true that classical music is not as popularly embraced here like the highlife, hip-hop and Juju music and that is because it is not our culture. However, despite this fact, we still have an appreciable number of people who love, listen to and patronise classical music. It is western music and of course it cannot be as popular as the ‘pakurumo’, Juju, or highlife music but there is market for it. Church organ business in Nigeria is developing rapidly mainly because the interest in organ music has been rekindled especially in churches.

CHOPIN is trying to create more interest in classical and contemporary music as well. We organise concerts and events and although we may not get the kind of crowd that the likes of Sunny Ade or Davido will get, we have a sizeable audience and we are content with that.

Who are the class of people who give you major patronage?

The elites are the major patrons and I tell you, we have a sizeable number of them.

We organise music festival concerts and events. Also, churches are our patrons and you can imagine the number of churches we have in Nigeria and what that will translate into if we have the patronage from most of them. The love for organ music is getting bigger and increasing even among individuals. People are getting more and more interested in organ music these days and that means more business for us.

Would you describe the business as lucrative?

Yes, lucrative in all its ramifications; including the stress.

Including the stress – how?

With the brand of organ my company represents and sells – which is the Allen Organ, as well as conditions to remain a sole dealer – I will say the business is capital intensive. We are talking of the Rolls Royce of organs. Another factor is that in view of the economic situation of the country now, a lot of things have changed and have been affected. Since the business is based on foreign exchange, the depreciation of Naira has made the price beyond the reach of buyers. We have also been caught between some transactions. There was an example of a customer we gave an organ at the cost of $40, 000 at the exchange rate of $150 to N1 which translates to N6 million. Just like the Afrobeat king, Fela’s song, ‘...They start to save and save and save when alarm come blow …’ at the time they were to make the purchase, Naira had hit N250 to $1 translating to N10 million.

They had to start raising more funds to reach the N10 million and just then the

Delano

It is true that classical music is not as popularly embraced here like the highlife, hip-hop and Juju music and that is because it is not our culture.

However, despite this fact, we still have an appreciable number of people who love, listen to and patronise classical music. It is western music and of course it cannot be as popular as the ‘pakurumo’, Juju, or highlife music but there is market for it. Church organ business in Nigeria is developing rapidly mainly because the interest in organ music has been rekindled especially in churches dollar went up again to N350 to a dollar.

What would you expect? Same organ, same dollar of $40, 000 at N6 million now costs N14 million! In some other cases customers would pay deposit at $250 and when their balance is due for payment, it is $350. It is so sad. These are some of the challenges and stress we face in the business.

What are the notable installations you have been able to do over the years and for which organisation?

We have done 74 installations all over Nigeria to date and this was done for various churches and organisation. Majority of our installations are for orthodox

and Pentecostal churches. We also did some installations for a few individuals and we did for MUSON as well. However, the notable ones for me include the one we did at Aso Rock Villa at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Aso Rock where the Vice President worships. It is really a thing of joy for me and that for us is a landmark because that single job has fetched us several referrals. Another notable installation was the one we did for the MUSON in Lagos about six years ago. We organised the first organ recital at MUSON Centre, Onikan in Lagos on April 27, 2002 to formally launch the company and this paved way for the centre to purchase its first organ, to be featured at the MUSON Centre and included in the teaching curriculum of MUSON School of Music. Although it was a small organ we installed there, it was a landmark for us because we were the first to organise the first organ recital in MUSON and that helped greatly in developing the interest and awareness for organ music in Nigeria.

Is it a competitive business?

Yes, it is competitive in a way. But I am quick to let people know that what CHOPIN is doing and stands for is very different from other organ dealers. Based on my experience, I have categorised the competition into three main types: there are product competitors made up of representatives of other organ brands that jostle for the attention of the customer and try to convince them against choosing the Allen organ; I encounter in-house competition from members of the decision-making committee that try to influence the purchase of another organ brand other than the one I represent, mostly because of their selfish interest and the business stakes they might have with the other brand; and resistance might also come from certain antagonists who have no vote of confidence whatsoever in CHOPIN or my organ brand.

Why are you are the sole dealer of Allen organ in Nigeria?

I can’t answer that question. It is only my principals that can answer that question.

They get inquiries on a regular basis from people who want to be dealers and they

immediately forward such to me. They emphatically tell all inquirers to contact their dealer, Lanre Delano of CHOPIN. Many mischievous people send all kinds of emails but my principals are able to decipher the wheat from the shaft.

Is it a straightforward business in terms of getting orders and executing?

In some cases it can be straightforward if the customer knows exactly what organ is wanted. But where the customer throws himself open to all kinds of opinions, then it becomes a complex situation even till after installation. It could be filled with intrigues. I have experienced loads of unhealthy competitions and surprisingly I don’t know how I have survived and still remain on top.

Do you need to learn some skills to be able to do the business?

Not really but you need to have a knowledge of the good marketing skills coupled with knowledge of business, accounting and music.

Does it have a peak season?

No peak season. We actually get orders when we least expect.

Do you play the organ?

Yes; I play the organ but I cannot describe myself as a professional organist. I am into the business of organ sales and installation. I play the organ well, but I am not an organist.

As a graduate of Music from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, how would you describe the music industry in Nigeria today?

I would say that there has been a lot of improvement and development over the years but I know that with some exposure they can do better. That is why I would give them a pass mark because if they can get this far without exposure, how much more will they fare if they now have all the necessary exposure – even in the classical music.

My Childhood Was Filled With the Sound of Music

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

NEWS

News Editor Ahamefula Ogbu 08116759810 (sms only) Email ahamefula.ogbu@thisdaylive.com

WAEC Records Improved Performance in May/June WASSCE Uchechukwu Nnaike

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has recorded an improved performance in this year's May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), as a total of 878,040 candidates representing 52.97 per cent of the 1,544,234 candidates that sat for the examination, obtained credits in five subjects and above including English Language and Mathematics.

In the 2014 and 2015 WASSCE, the percentage of candidates that obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics was 31.28 per cent and 38.68 per cent respectively.

Announcing the release of the results in Lagos yesterday, the Head of the Nigeria National Office (HNO), Mr. Olu Adenipekun, attributed the improvement to the hard work and commitment of the students, teachers, government and other stakeholders in the education sector. He expressed hope that the trend would continue next year and beyond.

He said out of the 1,544,234 candidates that sat for the examination, 1,393,907 candidates, representing 90.26

per cent had their results fully released, while 158,718 candidates, representing 9.74 per cent had a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors mainly traceable to the candidates and schools in the course of registration or writing the examination.

"Such errors are being corrected by the council to enable the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released subsequently."

A further analysis showed that 1,014,573 candidates, representing 65.70 per cent obtained six credits and above; 1,167,484 candidates (75.60 per cent) obtained five credits and above; 1,282,204 candidates (83.03 per cent) obtained credit and above in four subjects; 1,370,094 (88.72 per cent) obtained credits and above in three subjects; while 1,438,679 candidates (93.16 per cent) obtained credits and above in two subjects.

Adenipekun stated that a total of 133 visually challenged candidates registered and sat for the examination; out of who 23 candidates (17.29 per cent) obtained credit in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

According to him,

RESTRATEGISING FOR VICTORY...

L-R: Former Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Mukhtar Yero; Chairman, Board Of Trustee, People Democratic Party, Alhaji Wali Jubril and Former Senate Deputy President, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu, during PDP inaugural convention committee meetingheld in Abuja yesterday

candidates who sat for the examination would be able to check the details of

their performance on the council's results website www.waecdirect.org today.

However he said candidates whose state governments were still indebted

to the council would not be able to access their results immediately.

Nigeria Scales Up ANC Suffers Major Setback Nigeria Beats Japan 5-4 Nuclear Power Agenda in South Africa Elections Despite Delay Flight Patrick Ugeh in Abuja

As part of its incremental development of nuclear power, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, NAEC, has scaled up the process with the signing of Memoranda of Understanding with six universities, one in each geopolitical zone, for manpower development.

The latest of the educational institutions to benefit from the programme is the University of Abuja whose vice chancellor, Professor Michael Adikwu, and NAEC’s DG, Dr. Erepamo Osaisai, endorsed the document empowering them to collaborate.

The other universities involved are Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Port Harcourt; University of Maiduguri and Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

Under the agreement, Osaisai said, students of University of Abuja would be allowed to go to China for nuclear studies for between six months and one year. He said Nigeria was working towards using highly enriched uranium for different developmental purposes.

In addition, the university and NAEC also agreed to exchange information in capacity building, enrich-

ing the contents of existing programmes in the physical sciences and engineering, as well as curriculum development in nuclear science and engineering.

Other areas of cooperation are the implementation of the approved curricula by way of structured university degree programmes and establishment, development and operation of a network of physical facilities and devising appropriate mechanisms for sharing and effective utilisation of the resources.

Staff development and exchange programmes; and conducting research and development activities for the purpose of manpower development are also part of the package.

Hailing the partnership, the vice chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof. Adikwu, lamented that the bane of Nigeria was the desire by most people to want to go solo, saying collaborations such as that between his institution and NAEC were the way most great countries attained their level of development.

He said he had already told his engineering staff to draw up a curriculum in nuclear engineering, and hoped that with the MoU, things would move faster.

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has suffered its worst electoral setback since apartheid ended in 1994.

BBC reports that “With 98% of the votes counted after Wednesday's municipal elections, the party has lost the key battleground of Nelson Mandela Bay to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).

“The two parties are in a close fight for Johannesburg and Pretoria. But the ANC is still in the lead nationally, with 54% of the vote.”

The ANC is said to have won more than 60% of the vote at every national election since the end of apartheid more than two decades ago.

Unemployment and corruption scandals surrounding President Jacob Zuma have tarnished the ANC's image.

Named after ANC liberation hero and South Africa's first democratically elected president, the loss of Nelson Mandela Bay is a big blow to the party.

Many of the leaders of the struggle against apartheid come from the area.

The DA, which took 46.5% compared to the ANC's 41% in Nelson Mandela Bay, says it is in talks with other parties to form a coalition in the municipality on South Africa's southern coast.

Its leader Mmusi Maimane

said Nelson Mandela Bay had voted for change.

"I think that to me says that our message got through - it says our people heard us and South Africans still believe in a dream of a non-racial South Africa, South Africans still want our country to prosper," he said.

The ANC has conceded defeat in Nelson Mandela Bay after initially saying it was going to challenge the result.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa promised the party would learn from the experience: "They think that we are arrogant, they think that we are self-centered, they think that we are self-serving, and I'd like to dispute all of that and say we are a listening organisation."

It looks like no party will win an outright majority in the economic hubs of Johannesburg or Tshwane, which includes the capital, Pretoria, and coalition negotiations are already underway.

BBC South Africa analyst Farouk Chothia says the ANC's urban vote has collapsed with both black middle and working classes switching to DA. It is a historic moment showing the extent to which people are fed up with corruption and the ANC's failure to deliver on its promises, he said.

The Nigeria U-23 team against predictions in the early hours of yesterday defeated Japan 5-4 notwithstanding long delays in their flight from Atlanta, United States of America (USA) on Thursday night to Brazil.

Apparently elated by their triumph in spite of the frustrating experience in their long tortuous journey to the Rio Olympic, Brazil, the four-goal-hero in the 5-4 victory of the Nigeria U-23 team against Japan, Oghenekaro Etebo has said his target was to help the team win the gold rather than pursuing the highest goal scorer award.

Speaking at the post match press conference, Etebo who was given the match ball after the game, said: “Scoring all the goals in this competition and not winning the gold medal would have amounted to a waste of effort and that’s not my target. Yes, it would be great to see my efforts contributing to the success of the team, but if it will not lead us to the gold, then I do not want it.”

Etebo disclosed that the motivat-

ing factor in the team was Coach Samson Siasia who had played the role of a father to the players even in times when they did not believe they could do it, adding that the players were motivated to win for him.

Calling on Nigerians to continue to support them, the Portugal based marksman said they were happy to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians who they knew were awake all night to watch them play the Japanese.

The team had been stranded in the United States of America where they kept camp due to paucity of funds and had to arrive at the venue of the match just hours before the match with Japan.

Some pundits had predicted that the team would not be able to make it to the march venue before the blast of the referees whistle.

However, an arrangement saw Delta Airlines lifting them to Rio at the last moment where the team went ahead to snatch victory from Japan which had been on ground and well rested for the encounter.

CORRIGENDUM In the promo section of an interview with the Managing Director/CEO of First Bank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, published in our edition of July 31, 2016, his name was wrongly spelt as Adedotun instead of Adeduntan. We regret the error.

Editor

11

AUGUST 6, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

RingTrue

07013940521 yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

Yemi

Adebowale

Governor Al-makura Liable for Death of Protesting Worker

C

ivil servants across the nation have never had it so bad in the history of this country. The last one year has been harrowing, with huge unpaid salaries, pension and gratuities across the states. That of Nasarawa State has assumed a chilling dimension.

For those who have not been following developments in this state, Nasarawa’s civil servants were at the Government House, Lafia, last week, to protest unilateral and illegal cut in their salaries by Governor Tanko Al-makura. They were led by the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba. This cold-blooded governor cut their salaries by 50 per cent in this very difficult era. Unfortunately, these hapless workers, while fighting for their rights within the precincts of the laws of our land were viciously attacked by policemen stationed at the Government House. Their offence was that they dared to stage a protest at the Government House. At the end of the cruel attack by the policemen, one of the workers, Ali

Al-makura

Umbugadu, a staff of the state’s Ministry of Education was killed. Musa Saliyu, a staff of the Finance Department, Doma Local Government Area of the state, survived with gunshot wounds; Mrs. Salamatu

A Word for Governor Yahaya Bello

The opponents of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State say he has mismanaged the N48 billion he obtained as bailout from the federal government. One of such opponents, called Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA), wants the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe the governor.

The group further alleged that N912 million was paid from Kogi State’s infrastructural account number 1010756707 at Zenith Bank to AG Vision Construction Nigeria Limited Account No 1920001651 at Skye Bank “as part payment for the construction of Agasa-Ukpogoro road, a fictitious no-existing project as at today.” My dear Yahaya, the allegations against you are weighty. I am shocked that you have not responded appropriately. You need to properly account for all you have collected from the federal government as bailout. Already, Kogi State is neck deep in debt because of this bailout. This generation and indeed, future generations of Kogi State will be responsible for the payment of this

much suffering in this state with decaying infrastructure. Hospitals, schools and other public institutions are in a mess. All these are happening in a state that has been turned into a personal estate by the governor. Al-makura’s wives and children run the show here.

It is also a shame that over a week after this bloody incident, the Nasarawa police authorities are yet to fish out the officers responsible for the shootings. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Abubakar Bello, has simply been grandstanding. Bello is obviously doing everything possible to protect the culprits. It is very sad. The organised labour should go beyond rhetoric.

By now, I expect them to have shut down Nasarawa State. What is Wabba and Bobboi Kaigama waiting for? This is the time to go for Al-makura’s jugular.

The Nasarawa governor has been moving around freely as if nothing has happened.

He is not perturbed by the death of comrade Umbugadu. I am not surprised. He is in the club of “Governors from Hell.” Just as Bobboi Bala Kaigama, President, Trade Union Congress, TUC, noted, “Many of our governors are guilty of massive looting of the treasury, thereby causing miseries in the process. There is no excuse that can be given to justify owing workers’ salaries for eight or nine months.

This is nothing but sheer wickedness; to pillage the treasury and leave workers to go home for months without salaries. The welfare of workers should be paramount to both the states and federal governments for the nation to achieve meaningful development.

We in the association believe very strongly that time has come for our dear country to develop a new economic model that will take into consideration the variables that are relevant and consistent to the Nigerian situation.”

So, What Happened to Buhari’s N2.2tr in 12 Months?

Bello

debt. It will be heart-wrenching if indeed, the fund was mismanaged as alleged. Yahaya, must account for every kobo obtained.

Globetrotting Zamfara Governor’s Venom Globetrotting Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State finally viciously killed moves by the state’s legislators to impeach him. This was after he got operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) to teach the leaders of the state’s House of Assembly a big lesson. Wonders will never end. This brutal governor got the DSS in Abuja to invite and detain the speaker, Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Abubakar Gumi, the majority leader, Isah Abdulmumini and the chief whip, Abdullahi Dansadau. The remaining 20 members of the Assembly had to flee to Kaduna to avoid being arrested.

This action was clearly a gross abuse of office by the DSS and Yari. Prior to this, Yari used miscreants to attack the Speaker. The intimidation worked, with the lawmakers withdrawing their impeachment notice last week.

Notwithstanding, Zamfara legislators have made their point about Governor Yari’s ineptitude, misappropriating allocations to the state, corrupt usage of local government funds, failing to implement the budget in the last five years and nonremittance of pension funds to pension administrators. These are hefty allegations. Rather than addressing the issues, Yari, who is constantly abroad, resorted to political intimidation, arrest and detention of principal officers of the House and other supporting staff. Zamfara governor must account for the almost N12 billion fund he collected from Buhari.

Mohammed, a judicial worker remains critically ill; and Mr. Rabiu Mohammed, a journalist with the Nigerian Newsday, a state-owned media outfit, was unconscious for several hours. Several other civil servants were badly injured. As at press time, another injured protester was speculated to have died.

The overzealous policemen on duty at the Nasarawa Government House on the day of this tragic incident were clearly out to impress Al-makura. The governor was at home and shut himself in, instead of coming out to address the seething workers. Of course, the supporters of the governor are claiming that he did not tell the policemen to shoot the protesting workers. At the same time, Al-makura, obviously, did not tell the policemen to allow the protest unhindered. The policemen read his body language perfectly and moved against the workers. I am shocked that this governor has not uttered a word, over a week after the murder of this civil servant. Al-makura must be held responsible for the death of comrade Umbugadu. The blood of Umbugadu is on the head of Al-makura. Where are the so-called human rights activists in Nigeria? They have all suddenly gone mute. Who will fight for justice for comrade Umbugadu? Almighty Allah will fight for him.

If Al-makura had properly engaged the workers, things would not have reached this stage where they came out to protest. For months, they had pleaded with him to reverse his draconian policies, but he refused. This governor has spent the last one year pummeling Nasarawa civil servants. There is so

Yari’s frequent trips abroad are evidently impacting negatively on the day-to-day running of government, apart from imposing financial burden on the state. This state remains one of the most backward in Nigeria. That was why elder statesman, Senator Saidu Dansadau, petitioned Buhari, asking the President to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara State. Dansadau, an indigene of the state, alleged that Yari had committed some infractions that could jeopardise the security of lives and properties of the people of the state.

He urged Buhari and the National Assembly to invoke the necessary provisions of the constitution which empowered them to declare a state of emergence in the state in the interest of peace and safety of the residents.

Dansadua said: “The governor hardly stays in the state as he prefers to travel all over the world at the expense of the state resources and safety of the people. He has spent only about 20 per cent of that whole period (five years) in Zamfara State. He had utilised the other 80 per cent junketing from one part of the country to the other and shuttling around the globe. All matters of state that require action are kept waiting until he returns to the state. Consequently, intelligence and security reports are kept in abeyance. For instance, at a period, out of 60 straight days, the governor spent only two days in Zamfara State.”

I sincerely hope Yari will amend his ways, by spending quality time in the state in order to tackle the numerous challenges of Zamfara State. The level of poverty in this state is shameful and unacceptable.

Whenever President Muhammadu Buhari’s apologists say that the regime’s failing is partly because of inadequate cash, I always laugh.

I hope they now know that the federal government under Buhari got a total of N2,203,573,573,563 from the Federation Account as allocation between June 2015 and May 2016.

This thorough compilation was done by theEconomic Confidential. Just as I reported a couple of weeks back, we all now know that Buhari got over N2.2 trillion in 12 months. This is good

money anywhere in the world. What happened to this revenue? Why is there so much suffering in our land amidst so much money? Our dear president needs a lot of talking to do on how this N2.2 trillion was spent instead of persistently blaming others for the challenges facing the country. Buck-passing remains a major reason why this administration has failed to deliver on any of its campaign promises. Clearly, blaming others is not a quality of a true leader. A true leader must take the blame, which compels him to look for solutions.

The Mortification of Ngige It is puzzling that a man will be defending the marginalisation of his people by a government, simply because he is part of the government.

That was the scenario that played out this week at the Town Hall meeting for the South-east region organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Enugu. The obsessive Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, a son of the soil, deemed it fit to defend the lopsided appointments so far made

by President Buhari. He struggled to deflate criticisms of the appointments made by his principal, stressing that anyone in position of authority would work with people he could trust. The minister got appropriate response from his people as he was booed repeatedly. The gathering responded by repetitively shouting “No oooo”, to him. At a point, the hall became

Ngige

uncontrollable, and it took a lot of effort for the organisers to restore order. Rather than fighting for his people, Ngige chose to fight for his pocket. He has suddenly forgotten that power should be used for the benefit of the people. This minister is obviously not a good student of history.

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AUGUST 6 , 2016• THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

A WINNING FORMULA AGAINST HEPATITIS

T

Good personal and environmental hygiene could help in preventing hepatitis, writes Bilkis Bakare- Ogunnubi

o most Nigerians, HIV/AIDS is the most deadly disease in the world. But then, perhaps, one of the most unknown contagious diseases is hepatitis, a silent killer.

The word hepatitis comes from the ancient Greek word “hepar” meaning liver and the suffix “it is” is Latin for inflammation. Therefore, hepatitis means inflammation of the liver cells due to injuries caused by alcohol, medicine, toxin or poison, attack on the liver by the body’s own immune system and sometimes bacterial infection although the disease is mostly caused by a virus.

It is worth noting that while the skin is the largest organ in the body, the liver is the largest gland in the body. It can be found on the right side in the thoracic region of the abdomen. It weighs approximately 1.36kg, reddish brown in colour and is divided into four lobes of different sizes and lengths. These lobes are further divided into thousands of lobules which consist of many hepatic cells. Hepatic cells are the basic metabolic cells of the liver.

The liver performs many functions such as getting rid of harmful substance or toxins from the body, storage of vitamins A, D, K, B12 and minerals, synthesising of certain amino acids [the building blocks of protein] and production of 80% of the body’s cholesterol. Other functions include production of bile for digestion, maintenance of proper levels of glucose in the blood by converting it to glycogen, production of urea and production of hormones among others.

In hepatitis, the liver swells thereby preventing it from performing its functions. The onset mimics symptoms of common cold or flu. In fact many people with the disease go undiagnosed because it is mistaken for flu or because there are no symptoms. It can heal on its own in which case it lasts under six months. This is referred to as acute hepatitis. But sometimes it lasts a life time in which case it becomes chronic.

The type of hepatitis is named after the virus that causes it.

Basically, there are five main types viz: A, B, C, D and E. The A virus is endemic worldwide, an acute disease which occurs sporadically. It is caused by contaminated food or water or anal/ oral contact during sex. Infection with the type A virus does not lead to chronic disease as anyone can be infected and make a full recovery. And once a sufferer recovers he develops immunity and probably will never get it again. It is considered less destructive because it rarely leads to permanent liver damage.

On the other hand, hepatitis B virus is sexually transmitted.

It is a serious and common infection that can be spread through contact with infected blood, semen, and some other body fluids.

Therefore, people who engage in unprotected sex, using used syringes and needles, usually common among drug addicts or those who tattoo their bodies, run the risk of contacting the hepatitis B virus. A baby can also be infected through the mother’s milk while those bitten by a sufferer can also be infected.

Hepatitis C occurs usually as a result of parenteral contact with infected body fluid such as through blood transfusion. Contami-

PEOPLE WHO ENGAGE IN UNPROTECTED SEX, USING USED SYRINGES AND NEEDLES, USUALLY COMMON AMONG DRUG ADDICTS OR THOSE WHO TATTOO THEIR BODIES, RUN THE RISK OF CONTACTING THE HEPATITIS B VIRUS

nation of anesthesia by not adhering strictly to basic hygiene rules can also result in hepatitis C. But in hepatitis D, only a person that has already been infected with the C virus can develop it because it is caused by all the causative agents in Hepatitis B. However, in hepatitis E, infection is possible through drinking of contaminated water that contains the E virus and through anal/ oral sex. The incubation period following the exposure to the HEV ranges from three- eight weeks with a mean period of 40 days.

The most common symptoms of hepatitis are loss of appetite, fatigue [tiredness], mild fever, muscle or joint pains, nausea and vomiting and abdominal pains, among others. Other symptoms include dark urine, light colored stools, jaundice, generalised body itching, internal bleeding and altered mental state, stupor or coma in rare cases.

If left untreated, hepatitis can result in liver cirrhosis, liver failure, hepatic cancer, internal bleeding, stupor or coma. Blood test is usually needed in the diagnosis of hepatitis.

There is no clear cut cure for hepatitis except in cases of infection caused by hepatitis A and B viruses which one can be immunised against. Consequently, the aim of treatment is to manage the patient in a way that as much as possible stress and strain are taken off the liver. It is recommended that a hepatitis patient should avoid the following foods and drinks: saturated fat, meat, alcohol and soft drinks, spicy foods, fried and salty foods and dietary supplements, among others.

On the other hand, the diet of a hepatitis patient should include plenty of fruits and vegetables, grains such as brown rice and barley, protein rich foods categorised as lean protein e .g. fish, skinless chicken, egg whites and beans and non- fat dairy products. Drinks recommended include lemon juice mixed with water which can be taken upon waking up in the morning before eating. A teaspoon of olive oil clinically confirmed to stimulate bile production can also be added.

Hepatitis infection can be serious but knowing what puts an individual at risk can help in protecting him from the disease.

Good personal and environmental hygiene goes a long way in preventing hepatitis. Frequent washing of hands before handling food and after visiting the toilet or cleaning of babies after defecating can help prevent the disease. Given a “head” to one’s partner should be discouraged as this is unhealthy and can contribute to the transmission of hepatitis. In addition, unprotected sex should be avoided as well as sharing of paraphernalia of drugs like needles and syringes. Using of unsterilised needles and equipment for tattooing and ear piercing should be avoided. Also, sharing of toothbrushes and razors should be discouraged. Treatment for autoimmune hepatitis involves very effective medicines that suppress the immune system and reduce inflammation.

Ogunnubi, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

LION OF THE DESERT

I

have never been a fan of Ali Sheriff’s kind of politics. It is a political philosophy predicated on the principle of the end justifies the means. His praise epithet known as ‘’kirari’’ in Hausa was recited at all his political gatherings before he mounted the podium throughout his eight-year rule as governor.

Perhaps, a critical analysis of this praise epithet will help Nigerians understand why he will continue to be a source of nightmare to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), unless he has his way.

Anyone who openly challenges SAS, as he is popularly called, has murdered sleep. The way and manner he humiliated late Mala Kachallah out of office in 2003, describing his election as a mistake (kuskure) and how he almost made Borno ungovernable for Kashim Shettima between 2013 and 2015 tells the story of the ‘’Lion of the desert’’.

The duo’s crime was that they refused to be puppet governors.

However, there are three qualities I admire in the former governor. One, he is a gogetter who never sleeps until he gets what he wants. Two, he never takes anything for granted such that the way he will fight a common man on the street undermining his political interest is the same way he will fight a governor or president. Thirdly, more than any other living politician in Borno’s history, he understands the power of money in achieving political goals. This partly accounts for why he has come this far in the murky waters of Nigeria’s politics. I believe that these qualities if better managed can propel him to greater heights. But blind ambition and obsession with power have so

The PDP chairmanship crisis is self inflicted, argues Abdulrafiu Lawal much blurred his vision that he cannot see these political assets.

His unending desire to become the PDP national chairman at all costs after the duo of Governors Ayodele Fayose and Nyesom Wike tricked him underscores his obsession with power. This has continued to erode his remaining political capital, if he still has any. A keen follower of the chairmanship crisis does not need a soothsayer to know that some chieftains took advantage of his financial war chest, collected his money and hoodwinked him into becoming acting national chairman, but left him in the cold at the eleventh hour. This was also the basic ingredient of his political philosophy while he held sway as governor of Borno for eight years. Sheriff does not deserve anybody’s sympathy over his current travails, as what you do unto others shall be done unto you.

Perhaps, late Dele Giwa had him in mind when he said “any evil done by man to man will be redressed; if not now then later, if not by man then by God. For the victory of evil over good is temporary’’.

For those who have forgotten, I will recall three major instances out of many to buttress my point. In 2003, he had promised Mohammed Kumalia, one time All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) minority leader in the House of Representatives that he will make him governor after dethroning late Mala Kachallah. The young, charismatic and eloquent Kumalia took Sheriff’s words as the gospel truth, started campaigning underground, putting up political structures and even sold one of his property in Abuja to raise enough money for the project. At the eleventh hour,

Sheriff told Kumalia at the tarmac of the Maiduguri Airport that he has changed his mind because people said he cannot deliver the state to the party. Kumalia was heartbroken; their relationship degenerated leading to his expulsion from the party. He has not recovered from this political blow till this day.

There was also the case of his other political soul mate, Fati Kakeena and controversial strong woman of Borno politics. He had promised her the ticket of the Borno North Senatorial district under ANPP. After the elections got to the elections petitions tribunal, he turned his back on her and attempted to bring Ambassador Ahmed Baba Jidda, his then secretary to the state government. This episode led to a longdrawn political and legal battle between him and Kakeena that they have remained sworn enemies till this moment.

While the case of Kumalia and Kakeena sounds like a child’s play, Kabir Wanori, a staunch Mala Kachallah loyalist is one politician who will never forget the former governor. Sheriff made him decamp from the PDP to the ANPP, promising him heaven and earth, only to dump him like garbage as soon as he joined the party. Wanori became stuck politically like a car broken down midway into a journey, until Governor Kashim Shettima rehabilitated him two years ago.

The PDP on the other hand does not deserve the sympathy of Nigerians too. They knew who Ali Sherifff is before bringing him on board. One thing he loves after his life is power. You cannot befriend a mortuary

attendant and say you do not want to see dead bodies. The PDP should not shed crocodile tears. The party was built on deceit and thrived on injustice for 16 years. It is responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes today and reaping the fruits of its labour.

The question is does Ali Sheriff need to be PDP National Chairman to be relevant in Nigerian politics? The answer is no. In fact, the manner he has continued to move from one court to another getting all sorts of injunctions is injurious to his political career.

The PDP as it is today is a liability and bad brand that no amount of rebranding can cleanse it.

In addition, the chieftains seem not to realise the import of Olusegun Obasanjo’s tearing of his membership card in the countdown to the 2015 general elections.

The former president simply tore the future of the party and no amount of coalition can revive it. Sheriff is just one of the party’s many problems.

He also does not have what it takes to lead the party. Sheriff still has a hangover of Borno’s kind of politics where there is no plurality of views. Hence, he failed to understand the inner workings of the PDP that he said through his aide that he had expelled the likes of Jerry Gana and others who are founding fathers of the party. It was from this point his trouble with PDP started.

It is ridiculous that a man who is a barely two years in a party will expel those who wrote the constitution of the party 17 years ago.

Lawal, a public commentator, can be at rafla2002pl@yahoo

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AUGUST 6, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

INSIGHT

Plight of pensioners...

President Buhari And Nepotism

O

n March 28, 2015, Nigerians trooped out to their respective polling units apparently to vote out the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of power. The aged, young boys and ladies, the working class and the businessmen and women, were all out to see that PDP was dislodged, simply because Muhammadu Buhari was seen a timely redeemer of the nation from corruption and other perceived administrative wrongdoings. The votarist, epigones and liege men of ‘change mantra’ was the most intimidated tagline and catchphrase adopted by the All Progressive Congress (APC) throughout the elections campaigns especially in the northern part of the country. The change mantra could mean different thing to different people, but what was likely on the mind of an ordinary person might mean changing the government in power and their mode of governance to a better one.

Divinely, what God has destined to happen had surely happened: Muhammadu Buhari emerged victorious at the 2015 Presidential Election. During his inauguration, Buhari’s catchy line, ‘I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody’ appealed to all. The statement has further justified the struggles and equally gave courage to those who voted for change. Unfolding and unfurling events in the PMB’s government especially on the recent secret employment by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Inland Revenue Services and the war against corruption that has spared his serving ministers including Rotimi Amaechi and Abdulrahman Danbazau even as there were serious allegations against them contradict Buhari’s “zero tolerance to nepotism and corruption”. During the elections, neither PMB’s sons and daughters nor that of the highly placed Nigerians were seen out to support him. But it was only the sons and daughters of ordinary Nigerians who firmly believed that when voted into power, PMB was going to give them the best in governance, without fear or favour.

It will be recalled that there was secret and controversial recruitment of 909 staff conducted by the CBN with a reasonable number of the beneficiaries being children and relatives of highly-placed persons in the country. It was done without equity, fairness, and justice as it equally breached the federal character principles as encapsulated in the 1999 Constitution.

Similarly, as the agents of change mantra were still finding it difficult to comprehend what’s really happening under PMB’s watch, another employment “fraud”was unearthed in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) where Mr. Babatunde Fowler, a protégé of the National Leader of All

Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu was alleged to have supervised secret recruitment exercise of 349 new staff from privileged families and political associates without following laid down rules of public advertisement of vacancies to be filled and approved by the Federal Character Commission. Despite the outcries and protests by concerned Nigerians coupled with investigative media reportage which contained the names of the employees and their states, yet there wasn’t a convincing action taken by the present administration, a condition that angered the deprived youths, parents, and the change advocates.

The stench of nepotism in this government is quite unfortunate. According to Ambrose Bierce;‘Nepotism is appointing your grandmother to the office for the good of the party’.

PMB should realise that he was widely supported because his ardent followers believed that he would run a representative government where citizens enjoy equal rights. While Nigerians are still waiting for a reversal of the secret employments, the APC-led government should know that nepotism has damaged the image of the people in power.

Dahiru Hassan Kera, Abuja

I

Obiano and the Price for Excellence

f Governor Willie Obiano ever doubted that excellence comes with a heavy price, his doubts must have been erased by now. In the past one week, Chief Obiano who took only two years to change the narrative of Anambra State and rekindle hope in the citizens who have been on the cross. Obiano’s sin is quite simple – he dared to be different. To represent the future, when some people would rather regress to the past.

For this simple reason, the mob is beginning to gather at the periphery. They just can’t understand why the auguries should favour Obiano; why Senator Ben Bruce, Prof. Pat Utomi, Senator Ben Obi, General Ike Nwachukwu, Labaran Maku, Ben Akabueze and even Oby Ezekwesili should endorse him as a great performer who has justified the confidence of the electorate in just two years. In fact, this extremely destructive group, heavily funded by opposition figures who have sworn to reverse the wheel of progress in Anambra State felt violated by the string of awards and recognitions that have trailed Obiano’s two-year regime. His emergence as the Governor of the Year 2015 through a rigorous process carried out by The Sun newspapers seemed such a bitter pill to swallow to the opposition that they

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rolled out a fat budget for a smear campaign that ran simultaneously with the award to dilute the image benefits therefrom. But their blood pressure hit an all-time-high when Obiano was named a winner of the Zik Prize for Leadership in the Good Governance category. It was one massive blow too many to their solar plexus. So, this time, they doubled their efforts but it still went down in a whimper.

Their search for a chink in Obiano’s armour took a dangerous turn though, and sooner than later, something had to give. The opportunity presented itself in the recent interactive session the governor held with Anambra communities in Abuja and the North. Cross-eyed with rage over the impressive turnout and the epic approval that Obiano garnered from the elders and leaders of Anambra, they latched onto the wrong straw from the governor’s report card and hired Sahara Reporter to execute their plot. They are miffed that Obiano should have the audacity to claim that Anambra has been exporting vegetables to Europe; an idea that didn’t seem reasonable or feasible to them when they held sway in Awka.

So, they scrambled up a puerile piece that couldn’t have been published in any respectable media outlet and Sahara Reporters quickly rushed out with a screamer – “Obiano Lied.” The story is the typical antithesis of good journalism; the very epitome of writings that ruin the party for journalism anywhere in the world. It was never researched, never verified and never thoroughly edited. A pathetic piece that advertised its ignoble mission on face value!

As if choreographed, once Sahara Reporters screamed “Liar!” other vuvuzelas swung into action. They had found a free-for-all. Bitter people who had hitherto waited for the slightest crack to aim a shot at a man whose profile had constituted a source of concern, all crawled out from tiny slits in the wood. Those who also hate to hear that anything good can come out of the Nigerian political class felt it was time to put out the flickering hope that Obiano represents. For me, the lowest point in this despicable episode was when a certain professor of Literature and African Studies in Canada jumped into the fray, committing the rather unexpected error of speaking with neither facts nor evidence and lumping Obiano in the same basket with some APC governors. His commentary was so derisive that it could only have come from someone who is not adequately informed on the matter he was engaging.

James Eze, eziokwubundu@gmail.com

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AUGUST 6, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

POLSCOPE

with Eddy Odivwri eddy.odivwri@thisdaylive.com 08053069356

Budget Padding: Before Dogara Goes to Court

F

or about two weeks now, the nation has been entertained by the appalling drama of the members of the House of Representatives. The major Dramatis Personae are the Speaker of the House, Hon Yakubu Dogara, his deputy, Yusuf Lasun, Whip Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor on one side and the former Chair of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon Abdulmumuni Jibrin.

The latter was sacked by the Speaker on a series of accusations including abuse of office, incompetence and blackmail.

Obviously pained by the sack, Jibrin has decided to extract his own pound of flesh by spilling the beans. That way, what had remained odious secret of the illicit deals in the House has been unearthed and openly displayed in the market place.

It is remarkable to note that the bitter fight between Dogara and Jibrin is a fight of erstwhile chummies. Having known each other very closely, the cuts between such combatants are understandably deep.

Jibrin had accused the quartet of the Speaker and his three-some allies of padding the Budget to the tune of N40 Billion.

Hit on the face by the exposé, the Speaker has in turn accused Jibrin of also padding the budget with over N4 billion as well as making improper demands from MDAs (Ministries Departments and Agencies), by virtue of his office as Chair of the House Committee on Appropriation.

Since then, the accusations and counter accusations have been flying back and forth, to the chagrin of Nigerians.

Feeling reputation-ravaged by the deep cut of the accusation, Dogara had given a 7-day ultimatum to Jibrin to apologise to him or face court action. The ultimatum expired last Wednesday.

I therefore should expect that Dogara will be briefing his lawyers anytime from now on the next line of action.

But Mr Honourable Speaker, before you file those charges and pay lawyers from tax payers’ money, let us make a few checks: First, was the budget ever padded or not? The likely answer is that it was not. But we know that the president had rejected the budget on two occasions on account of either not having details or that the budget estimate he sent to the National Assembly was completely over-dressed by many strange items engrafted into it by the National Assembly thus ballooning the overall figure of the budget. Mr Dogara, did this engrafting of projects/ strange items into the budget take place or not?

Secondly Mr Speaker, it was said that in an attempt to make provisions for National lawmakers to have the so-called Constituency Projects, a budgetary provision of N60 billion was made for members of the National Assembly.

But that the 20-member leadership of the National Assembly (ten apiece in both chambers) conspired to engraft another N40 billion worth of projects into the budget thus shooting up the

or television viewing centre in a community?

Very annoying cases of abuse of privileges. It also shows the vacuous mental capacity of many of the lawmakers. Town hall my foot!

What is more, where is the moral and constitutional propriety of lawmakers in exercising oversight functions on projects they jointly owned and executed with the executive arm of government? Lawmakers have become contractors. Is this not an axe on the doctrine of separation of powers?

Are we not aware that many of the constituency projects end up in the pockets of the lawmakers as their companies or those of their cronies are the ones awarded the contracts? That is if the contracts are ever awarded and executed.

By allocating even N60 Billion (N10 billion per geo-political zone) to lawmakers’ constituency projects, most times without such projects being the outcome of the need assessment of the electorate, nor are such projects products of feasibility study in terms of location or suitability, nor are the costbenefit analysis of such projects done, it is believed that the executive has indulged the National Dogara Assembly members.

But even if we waive the propriety and process Constituency Budget figure to N100 Billion, all in of allowing lawmakers to determine and also the name of Appropriation. Sir, is this true or not? execute constituency projects, is it fair that while Thirdly, Mr Speaker, as lawmakers, does your all the 451(360 members of the Lower House and Appropriation power, empower you to recreate 91 members of Upper Chamber) members of the an executive Budget by introducing strange items National Assembly share N60 billion worth of and projects the executive did not envisage into constituency projects, just 20 of the leadership share its budget? Put simply, are you, as lawmakers, the N40 billion worth of projects? owners of the executive budget as to warrant its Fourthly Mr Speaker, is it true that you diverted radical recreation?

Pray, which section of the constitution empowers federal government water project to your farm in Nasarawa state? Is it true that you have a farm or lawmakers to insert their own projects into the not? If yes, the water project there is from which budget proposal of the Executive, in the name of source? It is pertinent to ask these questions Appropriation?

Yes, by virtue of your office, you are expected to because many Nigerians were excited at Dogara’s attract development to your constituents. This thus emergence as Speaker, not only because he is young (48) and so should belong to the new order requires you lobbying the executive to graciously of better disposition to governance, but also because site certain projects in your constituencies so he turned out the popular and independent choice your constituents will feel the impact of your of the members of the House. representation. It is a privilege, not a right.

But it is disappointing and sad to hear that just But it is not for you to seize the prerogative after one year into his speakership, there is ruckus of drawing up your own budget of over 2,000 controversy over alleged issues of integrity and projects, awaiting when the executive brings its corruption. own and while pretending to be appropriating It is even sadder that right from the first Speaker, the executive budget, you engraft your own into Salisu Buhari to Dogara (except Ghali Na’Abba it, without the knowledge or permission of the and Bello Masari) all other Speakers of the House of executive and then blackmail the executive to Representatives have been enmeshed in one form sign same into law. 2,000 projects! How many of integrity crisis or another. lawmakers are there in the National Assembly?

It is ironic that the Dogara crisis is coming at a Does this criminal act appear right in your eye? Is this not why former President Olusegun Obasanjo time his own party (the All Progressives CongressAPC) is waging a fierce war against every form of blandly described the nation’s lawmakers as corruption. thieves and robbers?

But House members like Abdulrazak Namdas, It is bad enough that these lawmakers have appropriated the functions of the executive by also Uzoma Abonta, Edward Pwajok etc, who drawing up their own budget, yet it is worse when have been defending the status quo in the lower chamber have practically sold short our collective you hear that most of these so-called constituency intelligence. They raise and push very specious projects are not projects that will improve the arguments that negate logic and commonsense. overall development index of Nigeria. Or how Jibrin has not only blown the whistle, he has shall we justify the use of federal government promised to give all the evidence that will confirm fund to build a community town hall, or market

the complicity of Dogara and co.

It is not so much that Jibrin himself is an upright man. He too had been a partaker in the feast of unleavened bread in the National Assembly. He is not innocent. Many believe he would not have become this “accidental activist” that he is, if he was not sacked from his position. Is it not remarkable that the budget he prepared was rejected by Mr President? The one eventually signed by Mr President was harmonized by the Deputy Speaker of the House. At 39, he is a ranking member of the House. He thus spoils the case for younger men who have been craving to take charge.

Jibrin, I believe, is as guilty as those he is accusing, even though I regard almost all his accusations as plausible.

Intelligent as he seems, he could be likened to that woman in the Bible whose baby died and began to claim the living baby of her fellow woman as hers and when she appeared before King Solomon, she agreed that the living baby which belongs to the other woman be split into two. That way, neither she nor the legitimate owner of the baby will have any.

The pro-Dogara lawmakers claim that what happened had been the practice for over ten years.

So does that make it right? So what is the whole Change mantra in the APC campaign about if we are yet going to keep doing the dubious things of the past?

Is it any wonder that despite the huge sums appropriated every year in the country, there is nothing to show for it?

Pray, where are these constituency projects around us in the last 16 years? I don’t see them.

The story was told of how some dubious lawmakers in the Niger Delta will engraft the same projects they proposed in their Constituency projects in their state government budgets and even in Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) budget. They get the NDDC to execute the project and go ahead to claim that it is their constituency project. All they just do is change the signboard of the project on the day the National Assembly members come for oversight inspection.

Many of the lawmakers are simply criminals who have been short-changing the rest of Nigerians in the name of being their representatives.

It is for sharp practices like these that make the elite our problems. They are the biggest cogs in our development efforts.

Already the House members have ben split with Transparency Group being one of the splinter groups. The weeks ahead will be quite telling for the House.

Finally, Mr Dogara and co including the Jibrin himself have to submit themselves to external investigation. Dogara cannot be allowed to be a judge in his own court. They must spare us the silly shenanigan of reducing this scam to “internal affairs” of the House. Nigerians want to know the whole truth and those who have compromised their offices should face the music otherwise Col Sambo Dasuki (retd) et al should be allowed to go home and enjoy their loot.

The Pick-A-Ward Initiative

P

erhaps the greatest asset of a man (or woman) is his or her health. Of what use is a huge bank account when there is no health? That makes the health delivery institutions a major area of attention by governments and non governmental bodies.

But the sad news is that Nigeria’s health sector is in a dismal state; one where healthcare is not exactly guaranteed. With obsolete and non-functional equipment, poor and ill-trained medical personnel, over-crowded hospital wards, infection-friendly facilities, the challenge of seeking and getting effective health care in Nigeria is indeed huge.

Even then, there is no hope in sight that things will get better soon. With dwindling economy, brain drain and desperation of crooks in the medical sector, it is certain that the federal or state governments alone will

not have the capacity to attend to all medical issues in the country.

That perhaps explains why some young Nigerians under the auspices of Great Ideas Team have taken it upon themselves to launch a campaign aimed at encouraging private individuals and corporate entities to undertake the Pick-A-Ward initiative with the ultimate aim of improving overall service delivery in the health sector.

According to the group, the essence is to encourage “an individual, corporate organisation or non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) to pick up a ward in any of the federal or state institutions: teaching hospitals and federal medical centres and renovate it to international standard to help deliver a first class service. It is important to note that medical tourism alone costs Nigeria more than $800m annually”.

The group lamented that “none of Nigeria’s teaching hospitals or federal medical

centres is among top 100 hospitals in Africa”, especially as even poorer African countries like Niger, Ghana, Chad and Mali had better ranking.

Great Ideas Team believes that with cleaner hospital environments, infections from even within hospitals will be minimized just as the frequent resort to tradomedical measures in treating aliments will be reduced.

Determined to collaborate with foreign medical institutions to promote the upgrade of Nigeria’s health services, the group stressed that , “The objective is to make our hospitals great, robust, affordable, accessible, environment-friendly clean and marketable.

It regretted that in April 2011 Heads of State in African Union (AU) met and pledged to set a target of 15% of their annual budget to improve the health sector, but the Federal Government spends just

Prof Adewole (Health minister) about 5-6% of the annual budget just as even some states make lower budgets for the health sector. Beside the intrinsic satisfaction of having helped to save lives, individuals and corporate organisations who embrace the initiative will have a veritable means of marketing the needs of their brands in a way that exceeds the normal corporate social responsibility niche.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

NEWS

In Brief

Naira Gains on Parallel Market

The naira pared some of its losses on the parallel market yesterday as it closed at N395 to the dollar, higher than the N400 to the dollar the previous day. But the nation’s currency fell on the interbank market where it closed at N318.91 to the dollar yesterday, lower than the N315.06 to the dollar it was the previous day. Some market analysts expressed dismay over the federal government’s approval of N197 to the dollar exchange rate for intending pilgrims travelling for the 2016 hajj in Saudi Arabia, saying it was a sign that the government was insensitive to the situation in the economy.

Special Message to Team Nigeria

As the 2016 Olympic Games opens in Rio De Janeiro, President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed optimism that the country's team would put up an impressive showing to delight fellow countrymen. In a message to the Nigerian Olympic contingent on Friday, Buhari said he hoped that the victory of Nigeria’s Under 23 football team, the "Dream Team Six" over their Japanese opponents in the early hours of yesterday would serve as an inspiration to the entire contingent of the grand show Nigerians expected from our athletes. “On behalf of the government and people of our great country, I wish to express my support to our athletes who have arrived in Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games. I am particularly delighted by the outcome of the football match early this morning in which our football team defeated their Japanese counterparts.

Maritime Academy Loses 2 Rectors

CONSOLIDATING NEW ORDER...

L-R: Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retired) and the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Apapa Area Command, Comptroller Willy Egbudin when Ali paid a visit to the command yesterday in Apapa, Lagos

NDLEA Arrests Malian, 4 Nigerians with 4.580kgs of Drugs in Kano Chinedu Eze The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Malian and four Nigerians in connection with illegal sales of 4, 580 kilogrammes of psychotropic drugs in Kano.

The agency said the seized drugs comprising 2,592kgs of codeine cough syrups and 1,988kgs of tramadol were recovered from five secret warehouses located within the metropolis by officers of the Kano State command.

NDLEA explained that the arrest was part of efforts to reduce the sales and demand for psychotropic substances in the State.

Kano State commander of the

NDLEA, Mr. Hamza Umar gave the names of the suspects as Ikechukwu Ukwuoma, 34 years old arrested with 2,010kgs of codeine cough syrups; Nura Ibrahim, 30 years old caught with 886kgs of tramadol and Zakari Muhammadi, a Malian found with 850kgs of tramadol. Others are Earnest Asogwa, 34 years caught with 582kgs of codeine syrup and Ikenna Osuizugba, 34 years old found in possession of 252kgs of tramadol.

The arrests and seizures were made following intelligence report on the illicit drug activities of the suspects.

"The abuse of psychotropic drugs like codeine cough syrups and tramadol is prevalent among

young people and married women in the State. It is common to see iced bottles of codeine cough syrup instead of beverage drinks in a gathering of young people" Hamza stated.

Ikechukwu Ukwuoma, a secondary school certificate holder, married with three children is one of the major distributors of codeine cough syrups in the State. Ikechukwu who hails from Orlu Local Government Area in Imo State said that he was in the business to make money. In his words, "I began selling codeine cough syrup because of the high profit involved.

The drug sells fast and I was only interested in the profit. A bottle of codeine in Kano is twice the cost price in the east. I did not know how the

officers discovered my warehouse where the drugs were kept. I regret my action".

Nura Ibrahim who hails from Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State also attributed his involvement to quick turnover in the business.

He was found in possession of 886kg of tramadol. Zakari Muhammadi, a Malian married to two wives with four children. Zakari blamed his friends for his involvement in drugs. He was arrested with 850kg of tramadol kept in his rented shop. Ernest Asogwa caught with 582kgs of codeine syrup and Ikenna Osuizugba found with 252kgs of tramadol told officials that they decided to sell the drugs because of the profit involved.

'My Differences with Amaechi Death Toll in Kpaidna Shouldn’t Destroy Rivers State' Village Attack Rises to 15 Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said that even though he had political differences with his predecessor and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, such disagreement should not lead to the destruction of the state.

Wike, who was responding to a question yesterday during his engagement with editors at the 12 All Nigeria Editor`s Conference holding in Port Harcourt, insisted he had no personal disagreement with his former boss.

He however said that he and the Minister of Transportation differed politically because they belonged to different parties.

"There is nothing personal.

We differ politically because we belong to different political parties. We want peace in the state and it is my desire to ensure that the state is peaceful. My disagreement with Amaechi should not destroy Rivers State”, he said.

He said it was his desire to ensure that the state remained peaceful that led to his attendance at the peace talk brokered by the Inspector General of Police Wike also said that former President Goodluck Jonathan did something special to ensure peace in the country by conceding defeat during the 2015 general election.

"Jonathan should be commended for this single act.

People should emulate this move to ensure peace in the country,” the governor said.

According to Wike, Amaechi was his boss as governor and they had good times serving the state.

"We should make sacrifices for peace. The state must move on. We only differ politically and that should not be to the level that will destroy the state,” he said.

Wike also stressed the need for peace and unity in the country saying that Nigerians should not compromise that stand.

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The death toll in last Thursdays attack on Kpaidna village in the Bosso local government area of Niger state has risen to 15.

This is as the senator representing the Niger East Senatorial district in the state; David Umaru condemned the invasion of the community.

It was learnt from very reliable source close to the police and the army that among those that were killed were people in uniform.

One of the deceased according to the source was a senior army officer who was said to have led the operation.

A document containing the names of those on the operation was said to have been found on him when his remains were taken to the Minna general hospital mortuary.

A combined team of soldiers and air force personnel were said to have been dispatched to Kpaidna to recover arms and ammunition which intelligence claimed had been stockpiled in the village.

The villagers reportedly mistook the soldiers for Fulani herdsmen that attacked the community a month ago and in self-defense, attacked the soldiers.

THISDAY gathered that Niger State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Ahmed Ketso who was to go to the community to commiserate with the people could not enter the village because of the tense atmosphere.

Ahmed Ketso returned to Minna from Barakata village following advice from his security team.

Senator David Umaru in a statement posted to media houses on Friday condemned the attack and said four other villages were invaded by the soldiers.

David Umaru named the other villages attacked as Bambe, Legbe-dagma Kopa and Lunku In the statement captioned ‘Military invasion of Kpaidna, Bambe, Legbe-dagma, Kopa, Lunku and surrounding villages’ Senator David Umaru asked the Niger State government ‘to immediately set up an inquiry into the massacre of these innocent people’.

About eight months after the demise of the Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron in Akwa Ibom State, Ambassador Joshua Enun Okpo, the Institution has again been thrown into mourning as the acting Rector, Dr. Anthony Anayo Ishiodu has equally died. Dr. Ishiodu was said to have died from an undisclosed terminal ailment in the Abuja Medical Center during the week; few weeks after returning from similar medical treatment abroad. When receiving the news of the death of the acting Rector, the management, staff, cadets and students of the Academy who were holding a Solemn Assembly cut short the gathering and called for emergency meeting. At the emergency meeting, the Registrar of the Institution, Mr. Mkpandiok A. Mkpandiok briefed the management of the development saying the acting Rector could not overcome the ailment he suffered from.

Buhari Eulogises Ehirim

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday eulogised the virtues of the former chairman of the Nigeria Union Journalist, Abuja Council, late Chuks Ehirim as he was laid to rest. Ehirim, who died on June 16 was buried in his hometown Iseke in Ideato North Local Government Area in Imo State. The President who was represented by the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said that the late Ehirim was among the few journalists that fought for the enthronement of democracy in 1999. According to the funeral oration presented during the burial, he stated that Ehirim had an abiding faith that despite the hardship in the country the present administration was going to bring the country out of the woods. In a brief funeral oration, Okechukwu said, "May I on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, commiserate with the wife, children, family, friends and colleagues of Comrade Chuks Ehirim for his untimely death and pray for the repose of his soul.

IT Camp Trains Children in Oracle

Parents who decided to send their children to participate in an eight-week IT boot camp organised by SPARK were recently given a glimpse of the value they get for their money when the young participants, whose ages range from seven to 17 showed their programming aptitude to Oracle Academy panelists in the first week of the camp. Referred to as 'The Geeks,' the youngsters demonstrated their ability to use Alice, a Java code, to produce visual and audio programmes and were awarded certificates by Sefunmi Fadahunsi, a representative Oracle.

The number of children participating in the programme subsequently increased from 30 to 40 by the second week. Aside core computer programming, children are also being trained in other useful computer applications and by the end of the camp, are expected to be competent in graphic design, video editing, website design, and robotics.

Pfizer Appoints New Country Manager

Leading biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has announced the appointment of Mr. Mark Wagstaff as its Country Manager in Nigeria and East Africa Region. It disclosed this in a release that Wagstaff brought to the role a wealth of experience gained across a variety of pharmaceutical companies and markets. According to the Director Corporate Affairs, Margaret Olele, the new CM had accumulated a significant experience working for multi-national companies within the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Pfizer, the last 18 years had been spent in the emerging markets, primarily in senior commercial roles, living and working in seven countries across three continents including Nigeria. The roles include: general management, business development, project leadership and encompass many pharmaceutical segments like vaccines, branded generics, innovative and established brands.

Niger Female Chief Judge

Niger State has produced its second female chief judge in Justice Maria Sanda Zukogi whose appointment by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has been ratified by the state house of assembly. The ratification of the appointment of Justice Maria Zukogi also followed the retirement of former Justice Fati Lami Abubakar wife of former Nigerian military Head of state General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar. The screening of Justice Maria Zukogi during plenary did not last more than 20 minutes because majority of the lawmakers were convinced that she was eminently qualified for this exalted position'. She was therefore asked ' to take a bow and go' while the speaker, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa directed the clerk to communicate the decision to the executive for her swearing in.

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SATURDAY AUGUST 6, 2016 T H I S D AY

Plus Patrick Chidolue At the Age of 21 I Had 256 Employees

LOUD WHISPERS TRAVEL AUTO GLOBAL SOCCER FITNESS FASHION FILE

pg. 20 pg. 25 pg. 26 pg. 29 pg. 40 pg. 41

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 6, 2016

18

Plus

I’ll Rather Beg God Than Man His rise to the top was lonely, cold and gloomy; an apprentice at the age of 12, he was destined to become a patent drug store owner. Completing his apprenticeship at 16, that was not to be -a jealous and worried master would not want him to ply the same trade he trained him for. Determined and optimistic, he chose a path less travelled at that time. His inspiring story is hinged on character, conviction, decency, devotion, grace, trials and triumphs. From selling patent drugs to audio and video cassettes, producing Nigerian local films, to making and losing millions, Patrick Chidolue has had his fair share of highs and lows. The self-made billionaire has always remained a risk-taker, with his eyes on the prize. Over the years, he has learnt never to buckle under pressure or take the easy way out. As a steady, measured and well-informed businessman, his life-long devotion to excel has seen him rise to greater heights. Chidolue, the smart, tough, and tenacious Chairman of Chelsea Group speaks with Adedayo Adejobi on his love for his wife, children, grandchildren, parents and golf.

He also presents a narrative of how he turned a medium-sized business into something of an empire

W

hat is your story?

My name is Patrick Tobechukwu Chidolue.

I am a businessman, father of seven children and married to Evelyn Chidolue. At the age of 12, I went for patent medicine store apprenticeship when I completed primary school education. By the age of 16, I left my master to start a record business in Aba. Other issues made me quit the patent medicine store.

I decided not to do the same business as my master because most people would want to come to me. He was afraid that if I was in the same business, his would suffer. He commanded me that I would not for any reason do the same business. I then switched to selling records and music cassettes. I was doing that in Aba till I was able to move down to Lagos, following my uncle’s invitation to see the back of his shop in Lagos where his brother was.

He asked me if I liked it, I answered yes without seeing it. I stayed there and rented a shop. At that time, Nigeria’s economy was booming in 1980. Within a period of six months, I was able to buy a shop of mine for N14, 000. Those shops now sell for more than N25 million. On my birthday, I also bought a car, and a land which I started developing. My philosophy for buying that land was that it was affordable at N43, 000 and its proximity to the market. I built a bungalow on the land within three months.

My reason was simply on the impulse that if for any reason, I had any accident in business, I would not have to be sent home. I would at least be able to stay in my own house until the problem is resolved. Shortly after that, I decided to start manufacturing video cassettes. The first thing I found was the Nollywood we now have today. I started paying people to

act films. We recorded and mass produced same for distribution and sell to dealers and street hawkers. The very first film we sponsored was the Biafra-Nigeria war in 1981 or 1982. It sold very well. Most of the people acting in Nollywood today are offspring of my business. Andy Best, Iwomas Venture and most of the actors are the ones we sponsored.

What other business did you go into?

Along the line, I also went into properties where we built houses, developed shops and markets. This was what I was doing until I had some setback in business.

I sent one of our staff to bring in cassettes because the demand was mind-blowing.

Unfortunately, the cassettes they brought were not good. I then decided to go into properties by selling one of the buildings I had developed – Cooperative and Commerce Bank in Alaba for N8.5 million and used the proceeds to solve the pending problem, thus using the remaining sum to come to Abuja with a view to investing in properties. At that time, Babangida was asking people to help in the development of the Federal Capital Territory. Besides, we analysed the future of Abuja based on value, it being a virgin land and the fact that the government was moving to place. With that in mind, within a short time, the property value in Abuja would be like Ikoyi and Victoria Island where the government was residing at Bonny Camp.

We now called a meeting of Igbo people, shared the postulations with them and all moved to Abuja that year. We got here and developed the National Assembly Estate Quarters, Solid Minerals Quarters, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and more.

All these we did until 1991 when we wrote the President on the privatisation of telecommunications. But, even at that, the sector wasn’t privatised until 1995 when decree 75 that established NCC.

Chidolue, wife and daughter We tried to get a licence because most of our businesses depended on imports and long international phone calls. And at that time, it was a Herculean task going to make phone calls with long and endless queues at NITEL. We luckily got the licence in 1999 with the name Cell Communications, sold to Jim Ovia with a changed name, Visafone, now MTN. We then moved on to hotels because they employed up to 800 people in one location, because they have shifts with a minimum of seven floors.

You also established a university; what informed that step?

Chelsea University; the reason is that Nigeria as a country has land and human resources which are the biggest assets. Turning these into real results, we discovered that we needed a university; as it’s only a privileged few that could afford to send their children to schools abroad, where you must pay school fees at an average of $20, 000 per annum. With that in view, we sought to bring to Nigeria, the same quality of Ivy League class of education and lecturers to teach in Nigeria. We figured out that we had to partner with Texas A&M University; a co-educational public research university located in College Station, Texas, United States. They focus on agriculture and mechanics. We are partnering with the university which is nearing completion. For the IT section, we are partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology, whilst the library comes with a partnership with Oxford University and Amazon. Entrepreneurial Studies will be compulsory, as the first 10 years of the

institution would see and bring almost all the would-be captains of industry there.

By the time we take off, our target is to develop them so that they’ll in turn develop others. And our policy would be one-year theory and one-year practical.

So, by the time you are graduating, you are practically trained in your field of influence. We can now partner with you get a credit line so that you can set up a thriving business to practise what you have learnt over the years. This is entrepreneurship which the Igbo people have practised all their lives, and the success rate for the apprenticeship is 98 per cent. The university has acquired 10, 000 hectares of land in Kogi State for agriculture, and 11, 000 hectares in Imo State for industrial parks. We have a roadmap and we would do it in phases.

All the students would be working in the factory learning keeping records, accounts.

Our target is not to train people who will end up looking for jobs, but people who will create jobs. If we succeed, I believe that before I die in my lifetime, I will sit down and thank God for a fulfilled life.

Looking back at the economy in the 1980s and now, what has changed?

Nigeria is a very rich country. People often wonder why we are not developed as opposed to the whites who are technologically advanced. Necessity is the mother of invention. Why is it that children of the rich don’t develop? But the children of the poor excel in everything. They are simply complacent. The black man is in paradise. Economy of Nigeria today is not very good, but for an entrepreneur, there

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AUGUST 6, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

Plus

At the Age of 21 I Had 256 Employees is an opportunity, a golden opportunity. I have had to see people in governance who are deliberately blind to human resources.

Meanwhile, these are the people they need to create wealth. Let it be that agriculture is the major source of wealth for this country, you will see public office holders begging people to come and see them in the office. They will dignify and value people whom they serve.

What would you say is the major challenge of running your kind of business?

I’ll put that to laziness and greed. Most of our people are lazy and they want everything money can buy. I used to mentor my workers. I advised them to share their salary into two halves, by managing the first half and using the remaining to invest in properties which would appreciate in value. Many of them had done that and are happy. Nigerians don’t want to think out solutions. There is dignity in labour.

When we started the telecommunication business, wireless telephony, the first thing my friends did was to buy telephones, plastic tables and chairs and umbrellas, recruiting school leavers awaiting admission into the university. One man could own as much as 300 of these phone-call spots. That’s how business centres started.

Everyone wanted to make a call, but could not afford to buy a phone then. It was until GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) came in that the barrier broke. A lot of people made a huge living from that ingenuity and grew to an unbelievable level. I know some who started the business and ended up far richer than I am. Opportunity abounds, but people should be disciplined enough to harness this opportunity, thus being faithful and upright.

What is your assessment of the mobile telephone space in Nigeria?

The industry has done very well. I subscribe we do proper privatisation of electricity. Ernest Ndukwe did a great job whilst he was at the helm of affairs in Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) by championing the auctioning of GSM licensing operation in Nigeria under Obasanjo. Everybody took it for granted; now they have done electricity.

Is anybody benefitting from it? We are worse--off than where we were. If this was the same way telecommunication was handled, we wouldn’t have telephones today. When privatising, we expect people to inject money. Electricity wasn’t properly privatised. If I were the President, I would call a meeting of all stakeholders, and re-privatise electricity because it’s the engine of growth, and without it Nigeria would be in one spot. When Soludo came in, there were plenty ‘struggling’ banks in Nigeria. He quickly asked them for a minimum capital base of N25 billion, and they had to merge, went to the stock market to raise money. The rest went, leaving banks that have N3 trillion in assets and more, as opposed to N14 billion they had. Now, they can fund businesses.

In power, we do not need more than three companies to distribute.

Chidolue, wife and daughter What is it like being a husband and father?

It’s a beautiful feeling. My wife is God-given. She is from my town, though I wanted to marry another person outside my town, Nnewi, and I did not tell the person. I had told the parents of the lady who were local parents for me. When I went to Lagos, I was still very young and I saw myself doing well. One of my older brothers had married from that family, and so I attached myself to the family and I needed a guardian so that if and when I derailed, I would have people to fear and respect. By then, I was 21 years old with 256 workers, and so I had grown to love their children, particularly the 16-year-old girl I told them I would marry. When I got home and told my mother I had seen someone I wanted to marry, on hearing where she is from, my mother told me I could not marry her. She then offered to get me a wife.

Did she give reasons?

She did; but not the kind of reasons I would want to share with anyone. So I accepted. When I came back later in the year, for yearly bazaar in the village, I went to the harvest. My mother had spoken to my would-be wife’s parents though I had not met her. I eventually saw the girl’s mother when she came to greet me. On seeing her mother, I thought she would be equally as dark in complexion as her mother. She then pointed to some ladies saying my wife is amongst them.

I nodded in agreement that all the girls looked good. I eventually met her and the rest they say is history. The fourth commandment says honour your mother and father so that your days may be long in the land of the living. And I have found out that it’s easy for a child to rebel against his father and mother. If I had not married my wife, maybe it would have been a different story today. And indeed it would have been a different story. I later found out that it would have been a different story.

Because I listened to her, my mother loves my wife and vice versa. There is harmony in the family, and everyone loves one another.

My mother is my angel. I grew up under her and she mentored me. What she suffered at the age of eight, I prayed to God to give me money so I can take good care of her. I asked God for money so I could buy bags of rice that would fill my parlour, such that my mother would eat and never be hungry again. In fact, I finished that prayer feeling God had answered. I reckon that when you pray and they are not answered, it means you don’t know how to pray. One year after that, a day in the evening, I took shovel with energy, packed the sand by the side so vehicles could drive past. By the time I finished, I had heaped about five trips of sand, and was exhausted by 2 am. The next day I woke up late to an unknown man’s shout ‘Who owns this sand?’ I was hearing it in my dream and woke up to see the man. I told him I am the one.

While struggling to tell him why I packed the sand out, he asked how much, and I asked him to pay whatever he had. The man paid, tippers came in to take the sand away, and that’s where I got money to buy my first bicycle in 1971. There were few people riding bicycles, amongst which were old people. I had money remaining after buying the bicycle. I continued to give my mother money, and she never lacked till she died four years ago.

So, how has that helped you to play the role of a husband and father?

As a father, I am doing my best to train my children. But ultimately, it’s God that trains them. As a father, I make sure I show good examples to my children; get them to do the right thing at the right time; urge them to study when they have to; and to play when they have to play. I teach them to be respectful, take charge of their lives and decisions they make. I feel fulfilled because I am a multiple grandfather, and I am proud of my children. And my wife and I are very close.

How do you feel as a grandpa?

Good, fulfilled and happy. My grandchildren are good looking, intelligent and healthy. I believe they will be very successful too.

Who offends who the most?

By her nature, she is quiet; so I offend her more. I apologise though. I am afraid of offending her because she will not tell me I offended her and she will take it to heart and suffer in silence. I avoid offending her. But we are mutually mature.

Do you take out time to give her a treat?

Why not? My recommendations to people who want to get married, I say to the woman, look at how the relationship between both parents of whom you want to marry and the man. If he cares for and respects his mother, he will definitely respect you. If it’s the reverse, it’ll turn out to be the same for you. You might be enticed by love, as he showers you with temporary gifts. Once you say ‘I do,’ he

The industry has done very well. I subscribe we do proper privatisation of electricity. Ernest Ndukwe did a great job whilst he was at the helm of affairs in Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) by championing the auctioning of GSM licensing operation in Nigeria under Obasanjo.

Everybody took it for granted; now they have done electricity.

Is anybody benefitting from it? We are worse off than where we were.

If this was the same way telecommunication was handled, we wouldn’t have telephones today will just treat you the way he treats his mother. If he is not proud of his mother, he will not be proud of you, because within few months you will become like his mother. And if it’s a man who wants to marry the lady, look at the way she treats her father. If she doesn’t honour and respect her father, the man is in for trouble because he will never be honoured by her.

These are triggers one should watch out for.

I see you have a mini-golf course here. You love golf?

I love and play golf. I thought tennis was addictive, until I started playing golf.

It is an interesting game. In golf, you see a man the way he is. In fact, in Japan, if you are being interviewed to assume the responsibility as a departmental head of an organisation, your employer will go to play golf with you. And the employer playing golf with you will show them who you are. You can hide when playing other sports, but not golf, because it is played over four to five hours. And in those hours, you are unconscious of what you are doing, because you are focused on the game. If you are conscious of what you are doing, you will not play golf. All your character traits will show in those hours of game played on the golf course.

If you are a generous, honest, dishonest, sociable, hot-tempered person, that will show. Golf is a living game.

So, what handicap are you?

I play off nine. It could be better. As you know the game depends a lot on your state of mind. If you are in difficulties, it would be hard to play a nine.

You have a rosary. You come across as a man with some spiritual leaning Are you?

Yes. God is awesome, slow in anger and rich in compassion. Sometimes I feel like God is my direct father. When things get difficult and I remember God, I feel relieved. I most often do not feel the need to worry him in prayers, the way I should worry him. Because I feel that if I ask him once, it’s done. Sometimes I struggle to ask, until I am pressed, God then comes handy. We are all beggars. It depends on the kind of beggar you are. I’ll rather beg God than beg man.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • August 6, 2016 with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

LOUD WHISPERS Jennifer Obayuwana: My Salute This is my friend o. Last Sunday, I worked into Tera Kulture looking for who will buy me lunch when I stumbled on this extremely beautiful damsel with her also very goodlooking fiancé Peter. Jennifer was glowing and looked really fulfilled. I had a small chit-chat with her and that and immediately took my leave since it was becoming apparent that I was really spoiling their fun.

The two young couple looked truly in love and this was reflected in the food they ate.

Jenifer is the hard-working daughter of that purveyor of luxury John who has continued to redefine that space in the country. Last time I saw them was at their store in Abuja.

I was really impressed because this was late in the evening and father and daughter were still at work. Let me use this opportunity to be the first to wish her well in her forthcoming nuptials while wishing her the very best in life. Enjoy, my sister, you deserve it.

is cold and expected. If you have worked in a bank before and have been faced with bad debt from your customer you will understand what I am trying to say. It is a lonely place to be as the system moves against you.

No emotions and no pity. You start on the road to perfidy from suspension without pay, to out-right sack and in some benevolent cases you are ‘borrowed’ the money to pay back. All these happens irrespective of the fact that before the money was disbursed the application had gone through rigorous risk management processes and approvals at all levels from the Board to the Head of Department. But when the loan goes bad, the poor account officer is left alone in the cold, stark naked with his cross to bear. I am not happy that this young man lost his life and I am also not sure he did what he did as a result of the loan, but I am happy this has given me the opportunity to say my own about this wicked practice. I have seen it happen to too many bright young bankers who have lost their careers and future needlessly because of a cowardly system which celebrates mediocrity at leadership levels. Our ‘’ogas’ have never heard of the moniker, ‘the buck stops here’. For them, in the case of a loan gone bad, the buck stays with you. How many more suicides will we see before something is done? To me, this boy is a matyr, I wish I was this courageous.

God save us.

House Padding Scandal: The Parliament Wades in The parliament sits every other day in the sleepy Eric Manuel street of Bode Thomas in Surulere. It is coordinated by lanky Emeka who amongst others is a failed footballer.

National issues are discussed and dissected with a passion that can only be found in Dogara’s House of Representatives. Friday, the pot-bellied lothario fired the first salvo.

He did not see why Dogara could not just slap Jibrin and strip him naked for his effrontery. Friday is a PDP supporter and has lost countless elections in his native Kogi State, so you can at least understand where his frustration is coming from. This drew a lot of laughter from parliamentarians especially Mobutu who had just walked in. Mobutu supports Biafra with a caveat, that the exit of Biafra would not stop the inflow of his lovely stock fish. Mobutu wondered why Jibrin should be given such a fate especially since he was exposing secrets that we had all suspected but could not prove. He was shouted down by Osa who was high on the coca cola he was drinking. To Osa, the whole National Assembly should be disbanded and a new crop of assembly members appointed representing the only groupings he believed in. For him, our true representatives are the Fulani Herdsmen, representing the northern geo-political zones, the OPC representating the South-west, the Avengers representing the South-south and the IPOB representing the South-east. This was no longer a laughing matter . As he spoke, I looked at his face to see if he was trying to be funny but the seriousness in his eyes and the fact that he had not paid for his drinks made me realise the seriousness with which he was speaking. Rufus walked in. Now Rufus is a short but very handsome Igbo man who used to ride all over Lagos with a powerbike pretending he was the Igbo Elvis Presley. His position was that the leadership of the National Assembly should be filled up with Igbo men. To him, Igbo men who were brought up chewing kola nut and drinking well fermented palmwine would never sing the way Jibrin was singing. To him, this was the height of cowardice and that no true Igbo man would sing like this no matter the provocation. His shiny bald head was brimming with sweat as he spoke and just when he was about to end his eulogy, his bill was presented to him. After looking at the bill, sweat pouring from his head, he beckoned on Friday the pot-bellied former Kogi politician to help with the bill. Friday with a smirk announced that he should get his fellow Igbo man to pay for him. In all of these, me a minority from Ibibio land kept mute not saying a word so as not to annoy

I do not know how many people remember this classic tune from the great Abami Eda, Fela Kuti himself.

He it was who sang these evergreen words, ‘you be thief, I no be thief, you be army robber, I no be army robber.

Argument, argument......’ This perfectly describes what is going on in our House of Representatives today. Both sides are calling each other thieves revealing all sort of documents and information to buttress their positions.

I really pity this Dogara person, he is really receiving a merciless beating from his ex partner. This is truly a lovers quarrel gone so bad, he must have really hurt his ex lover who is surely stopping at nothing to destroy him. Everyday, Mr. Jibrin is up to some mischief or the other all in his quest of bringing down Dogara. He is either visiting the security and anti corruption agencies with several petitions or going on Twitter or Channels television to preach his gospel of the

latter day anti-corruption crusader.

Dogara brought all these to himself, I am sure he will be regretting now.

He should have just left him in his post and in fact promulgated a law ensuring that he was the Chairman of the Appropriation committee for life, I am sure today we would not be remembering this Fela song. For me, I am enjoying this drama, playing my Fela song and listening intently to the words which perfectly describes what is going on right now. This is what Fela calls Roforofo fight- a fight where everything is thrown up and the combatants throw caution into the winds and jump into the fight with everything. This fight is really rough and humiliating to all parties as the mud is being smeared on both sides.

As I listen to Jibrins latest salvo as he is invited to the APC Headquarters, another of Fela’s hot tunes immediately start playing in my head, ‘Beast of No Nation’. I tire.

Igwe who had signified his intention of paying for my drink as long as I did not pad the bill. I was disenfranchised and could not join the debate, so I kept mute. Finally, it was time to pass the House resolution and Honourable Ita who is a new member introduced by the great Osa was given the task of reading the communique. He stood up, adjusted his falling trousers and with a loud voice proclaimed the Parliament’s full support for Honourable Dogara stating clearly that since Dogara had nothing to do with the local government officials who constantly came to the parliament to disturb us in search of free drinks under the guise of collecting dues, he cannot be guilty. The House screamed in amazement, this was not what was agreed by the sub-committee

headed by Ifeanyi who was given the task of streamlining all inputs and coming out with a position. Kai, some people had smuggled in another position and padded the communique thereby misrepresenting the true position of the House. Only in Nigeria. Igwe still paid for my drink. Phew!

Jennifer Obayuwana

Jubrin

Pastor Adeboye

House Padding Scandal: ‘You Be Thief, I No Be Thief’

The Banker’s Suicide I write with a heavy heart. I am sure you guys have heard the story of the banker who killed himself over debts. The story like we have heard is that the hapless young man put a bullet to his head because of debts he could not handle but owed the bank by his customers. The bank has come out to deny this, stating that he was subsumed by personal debt. This statement from the bank

Pastor Adeboye and the Non-cooking Wife I only go to church when I am in trouble.

In fact, the last time I went to church was when the Great Nicholas of Investment One sacked me. That time, I went to church to pray for deliverance and a new job, but the sweet girls distracted me with their short skirts and did not allow me send my prayers ‘upstairs’. So you can imagine my dilemma when I walked into a group of young single girls discussing with righteous anger the highly respected Pastor Adeboye’s advice to young men. I hear he had asked them not to marry ladies who could not cook amongst other words of wisdom. These girls were very angry with the Pastor and told him in no certain words to mind his business. What has cooking got to do with being a good wife, after all there are maids who would do all that, they chorused. Kai, I pity these ones o. They will never keep a home. As the day wore on, the message went viral on the Internet with ladies reacting negatively to the words of wisdom. We are in trouble in this country, so majority of single ladies do not believe in cooking for their husbands anymore? You see why men, will continue to look outside. Our mothers have failed us if they cannot indoctrinate these salient facts into the thick heads of their daughters. So as a lady you expect that you will have a stable marriage if you cannot cook? Well, I have informed my madam, to immediately start the cooking lessons for my 12 and seven year old girls. Before the end of the year, I have told them, they must both cook Afang and Afia efere for me to eat, failure which, I will finally marry a new wife. That is the caveat I have given my wife this night. My dear Pastor I am on your side this time, any woman who cannot cook is as useless as uselessness can be. I owe nobody an apology.

Donald Trump is My Candidate To my fellow Americans, I want to state here that ever since I saw the nude pictures of Trump’s wife, I have decided to cast my vote in favour of the only American who will make porn legal. So I urge all Americans to please cast their votes for this baba so that more pictures of that his lovely wife would come out. Na beg o.

Trump

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

SPY GLASS

with Bayo Adeoye ....08054680651

Ita Giwa and Abba Folawiyo

Ita Giwa’s Love For Abba Folawiyo

With fashion icon, Abba Folawiyo and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, there can’t be any better definition of true friendship.

They are like two bodies in one soul; and they, no doubt, understand the spirit and letter of friendship. Their friendship, to those who have been following their stories, has stood the test of time. And you won’t be exaggerating, if you describe it as friends made in heaven.

In some sense, they have a unique way of appreciating each other. As proof of their abiding love, trust and understanding, Ita-Giwa recently celebrated Folawiyo when she turned 75.

Spyglass gathered that the former Special Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo hosted friends to dinner in honour of the birthday ‘girl’ at the prestigious Sky Restaurant, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event was attended by dignitaries, including members of diplomatic corps, top government functionaries, business tycoons and socialites.

Beyond the fanfare, Ita-giwa, it was gathered, also serenaded the guests with the tale of her long-standing relationship with Folawiyo, who was full of smiles and appreciation for the gesture.

Folawiyo, famously called Sisi Abba, is a showstopper any time, any day. If you are not drawn to her commanding dress sense, you will be stopped in your track owing to her graceful steps.

On her part, Senator Ita Giwa , a politician and philanthropist, is widely acknowledged to have positively impacted her society. She is recognised as one of the most famous women in the Nigerian social and political circles. She has remained relevant even after many years of leaving government.

Pastor Sunday Adelaja’s New Move

It is an incontestable fact that several Nigerian pastors are making waves in Europe. But among the lots, PastorSunday Adelaja , the founder and senior pastor of the Embassy of God, an evangelical-charismatic mega-church in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, surely leads the pack.

For years, the pastor had carried on with his pastoral assignments without a blemish. But his fame suffered a temporary decline recently when he allegedly confessed to have slept with over 20 women in the church.

Adelaja, whose church is said to be the biggest in the whole of Europe with over 400 branches across Ukraine, was also said to have relocated to Nigeria to stave off the heat generated by the allegation.

But unknown to the rumour mongers, who are said to be some disgruntled members of the congregation, the revered pastor was unperturbed because he knew “the devil was at work”.

Interestingly, having put the ugly development behind him, Adelaja is set to storm Nigeria to pursue another divinely inspired mission. His vision, it was gathered, is to embark on national transformation rather than starting a church or denomination. In other words, he is more interested in teaching the Nigerian churches how to practically apply what he described as “kingdom

principles to transform the Nigerian society.”

The handsome man of God became a born-again Christian at the age of 19.

Although he was born and raised in the Anglican Church, he didn’t have any premonition of serving the Lord until he had an encounter with God in Russia.

Peter Obafemi Celebrates Mum @90

Otunba Peter Obafemi, a businessman and socialite, has every reason to thank God for so many things. Not too many are as lucky as he is in life.

Indeed, if there is anything at all that he is thankful to God for, it is the fact that He has kept his mother, Madam Patience Olutayo Obafemi, alive till old age in good health.

Consequently, Obafemi, a former Ekiti State governorship aspirant, is leaving no stone unturned towards celebrating his mother who turns 90 Sunday, August 14.

In celebrating his beloved mother, who will join the club of nonagenarians next Sunday, Obafemi has reportedly engaged the services of the famous events planner, Bimbo Arije, for the event scheduled to hold at the Eagles Club on Adeniran Ogunsanya, Surulere, Lagos.

Determined to make the coming event most memorable, he is also said to have engaged two leading Juju artistes, Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and Sir Shina Peters, to thrill the invited guests on the occasion.

Dignitaries expected d at the event are: Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; ex- governor of Cross-River State, Donald Duke and his wife, Onari Duke, among others.

Of Tunde Oshinowo and Troubled Soul

Tunde Oshinowo, owner of Tulsa Press, used to be a familiar face at most A-list events.

But suddenly, the happy-go- luckyman fizzled out of the social scene, thereby fuelling so many rumours about his whereabouts. While many claimed that he was having a running battle with the National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, some attributed his disappearance from the social scene to his new law business with branches in Lagos and Abuja. However, in order to dispel the rumours about his whereabouts, he launched back himself on the social scene and partied hard like he used to do.

Sadly, just when his fans were applauding his comeback, the handsome man, again, was enmeshed in another scandal, which has since forced him to recoil into his cocoon.

The lawyer-cum-businessman,

Pastor Sunday Adelaja

Peter Obafemi

alongside Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and ex- Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, is being investigated for his alleged involvement in the unlawful diversion of over N4 billion from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, by Col. Sambo Dasuki(Retd) .

SPYGLASS gathered that since his name was mentioned by a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial, Oshinowo is said to be running from pillar to post to escape the wrath of the law.

Azonobo’s face became a rarity at his regular hangouts and social events.

This phase, no doubt, gave a lot of his friends a serious concern. During this period of hiatus, many claimed that Azonobo, aka Dagogo, was broke, while some maintained that he was only trying to kick some old habits. But one thing was obvious: many night clubs counted their losses with his new found ‘lifestyle’.

Interestingly, Anozobo seems to have found his groove, after experiencing a temporary reversal of status. Just as many were wondering what had really become of the top player in real estate, he made a sudden appearance.

Almost immediately, he, again, won the admiration of night clubs owners with his usual heavy spending. And many are quick to confirm that he has again got back his groove.

Top Fashion Designer, Uche Ibezue, Plans Big for Father’s Burial

This weekend the sleepy town of IndiImaga Elu in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State will, once again, come alive, as Uche Ibezue, a US-based Nigerian born fashion designer, buries her father, the late Hon. Prince Paul Udonsi, a former national security manager of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, NPN. According to Ibezue, top politicians, businessmen and government functionaries, among other eminent Nigerians, are expected at the 2-day event to honour the deceased who was also a former national director of security, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and National Director of Special Duties, Joint Mobile Sanitation Agency of Nigeria. He is survived by his wife, Lady Nnenna Udonsi, children, in-laws and brothers, among other relatives.

Ibezue, who is described as creative and cosmopolitan, has consciously and consistently built her fashion house, O’ Mak Designs. Over the years, she has been going round the world to showcase her works, while also encouraging the youth who are interested in the business through African Arts and Fashion Initative founded by Princess Fifi Efindu.

Gerald Anozobo Gets Back His Groove

At a time, multi-millionaire Gerald Azonobo aptly fitted the description of King of Groove, if there was anything like that.

Apart from his academic qualifications, his other credentials in the social circle, so to say, were that he drove posh cars, wore expensive designer watches and was a VIP card-carrying member of many A-list night clubs on the Lagos Island.

In fact, SPYGLASS gathered that club owners could afford to shut any other person out of their clubs as long as the man was around.

But suddenly,

Olori Oladunni Sijuwade’s Untold Story

For some, the month of July usually brings about beautiful memories. It reminds them of some events that can never be obliterated from their mental notes. But it may not be so for Oloori Oladunni Sijuwade, one of the beautiful wives of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II. In her case, July has often brought with it some unpalatable experiences that she would rather grudgingly talk about.

It all started on July 26, 2011 when Oloori Sijuwade, a lawyer, lost her billionaire father, Chief Harold Sodipo.

Three years after, when she was warming up to mark the third anniversary of the passing on of her loving father, death, in all its unpredictability, stealthily plucked life out of her loving mother, Madam Flora Harold Shodipo, on July 24, 2014. Though her mother died at a very ripe age and lived a fulfilled life, the London-trained lawyer was so distraught and inconsolable over the sad occurrence.

Again, death was unsparing when it fatally forced her into a mourning mood a year after. This time around, the 59-year-old stylish woman lost the love of her life, the Ooni of Ife, at 86, in a London hospital on July 28.

Indeed, you can imagine the fears in the mind of the CEO of Dalora Ventures, a graduate of Law, Economics and Politics from Buckingham University, whenever the seventh month of the year beckons.

22

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

SHOWBIZFLAIR

Tosin Clegg

07062816737 e-mail: tosinclegg@hotmail.com

TRACY AND TREASURE DANIELS

We are Women of Substance, We Stand Up for Each Other As twins, they are making double impacts on Nollywood. So far, they have worked with Patience Ozokwo, Tony Umez, Francis Duru, Rita Edochie, Bishop Ime Umoh, Frank Artus and others. In this interview with Tosin Clegg, they talk about their career, new movie and more

W

Getting to know us e are Onyi and Amaka, the Nollywood twin actors popularly known as Tracy and Treasure Daniels. We joined the movie industry far back in our secondary school days, but officially registered with the Actors Guild of Nigeria in 2002.

Challenges not unique to the movie industry Challenges are same for women trying to carve a niche for herself in any career.

However, one of our unique challenges was the reluctance of our colleagues to take us seriously, because of the fact that we joined the industry as young adults. Everyone saw us growing into the women we are now and we finally got over that.

Our major breakthrough in Nollywood I would say our break through was when we did Divine Twins in 2006; that’s the name people still call us till date. It stayed on Africa Magic popular demand list every other week for a very long time; the sequel to it, Beloved Twins was recently released and it’s doing well too.

What has set us apart as twin actresses It may appear easy for people to believe that what distinguishes us in the movie industry is simply that we are identical twins, but that’s not so true because there are several other twins out there in the industry. It may not appear obvious but our patience, integrity, tenacity and perseverance set us apart in the entertainment industry as a whole.

Our new movie I must confess, because, I know we are creative, I won’t deny that fact, but the creativity we had put out through our movie, Unknown Caller, beats us till now. I can’t explain how we came about such idea.

It’s divine and most people who had seen the movie in the cinema attest to that. It’s beyond the borders of the regular Nollywood movies.

Choice of characters In general, we have been in more than fifty movies, individually and collectively, and out of that figure, I will mention five that were our brain child and our production. Divine Twins, which

featured Patience Ozokwo, Bruno Iwuoha, Geraldine Ekeocha (God rest her soul).

Then, Love and Cash, which featured Tony Umez, Francis Duru, Rita Edochi. Beloved Twins is a sequel to Divine Twins. Fashion Police featured Bishop Ime Umoh, known as Okon, Frank Artus and Mather Ankoma from Ghana, Denrele Edun, Karen Igho, Ruth Kadiri, Prince Malumi, T.T Temple, Maureen Okpoko, etc. And now, “Unknown Caller,” the block buster. It is suspense-filled; if you don’t go and watch the movie, you can never unravel anything about it.

About our other works We have worked with almost all the high profile actors who know their onions, and they all have so much respect for us, both cast and crew.

Where we see our career In five years, we would have successfully merged Hollywood with Nollywood both as directors, producers, actors, distributors and investors. We are high profile actors, reputable public figures, movie investors and producers, distributors, prolific writers, role models and business owners.

We might not own an airline business for now but hopefully soon, but we currently run a hair salon in Oniru and we are employing many creative young Nigerians. We take pride in Twins Saloon, Oniru, Lagos.

Recounting success We are women of substance, entrepreneurs and lovers of God, but that doesn’t mean in any way that if you cross us, we will just say God bless you; we stand up for each other. We are compassionate like Christ, and all who have had dealings with us in the past can attest to that, but if you take our good heart for granted, we can flog with whip like Jesus at the temple too.

Mentors and inspiration Our mentors include our mum and dad, Reverend and Evangelist Mrs. Felicia and Daniel Nwokike Idenyi, the best parents anyone can have, and the mentor to so many others that are not from their loins; so, we are privileged.

Other role models are Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Mitchel Obama both successful career women, holding their home together; it’s not common and we admire that so much.

Daniels

23

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ͞˜ ͺ͸͚ʹ

MY STORY JINMI ABDULS, THE NEW KID ON THE RISE Jinmi Abduls is a name that has become familiar in the ears of most online music listeners.

In the past year, we’ve seen his growth and evolution into one of the new school’s favorite rising talents.

The 18-year-old singer and songwriter, personally first caught the eye with his song, Pose. He then followed it up with a brilliant remix on which he teamed up with DRB vocalist Boj and grabbed heavy online attention, especially with the video.

Less than three months later, he followed up with Tinuke Eko, which

YINKA ELUDINI

My First Short Film Will Be Out Soon

also had brilliant visuals and received warm reception.

The song has, since June, spread like wildfire from Twitter and other social media sites to the streets, and Abduls is confidently securing his spot, alongside the likes of Mayorkun, Dremo, Mr. Eazi and others, as a new school artist.

A little research into the young unsigned artiste revealed his style as “Modernised Highlife.� He’s an alternative singer and many seem to compare him to the great Adekunle Gold.

SUPERSTORY, PURPLE PREMIERE ĂŤ STARS & SCARSĂ­ Wale Adenuga Productions (WAP) in collaboration with Purple began broadcast of a new season of Superstory, titled Stars & Scars on the 28th of last month. According to Wale Adenuga Jnr., producer of the multiple-award-winning Superstory TV Drama, “We are glad the last season titled ‘The Other Side’ was tremendously successful in provoking discussions that interrogate negative stereotypes that hinge on women in leadership, decision-making and violence against women.â€?

Stars & Scars, this season’s offering, takes us through a journey in the lives of a celebrity couple; their

Yinka Eludini is an actor, fashion designer and entrepreneur. He has featured in a few short lms, with Ko , Owen Gee, Deyemi Okanlawon, Seun Kentebe, Muyiwa Ademola and others.

In this chat with Tosin Clegg, he talks about his career

struggles, the intrigues behind the bright lights and the undercurrents of a dark side.

It features Rykardo Agbor, Susan Festus, Khing Bassey, Ireti Osayemi, Saheed Balogun, Rachel Oniga, Paul Adams, Lanre Hassan, Chi-Chi King, Jaywon, Annabell Zwyindila and a host of others.

Superstory/Purple’s Stars & Scars will be enjoyed by millions of families weekly on NTA Network: Thursdays 8:00 – 9:00pm, AIT Network: Thursdays 9:00 – 10:00pm, WAPTV Network: Thursdays 8:00 – 9:00pm and online on www.youtube.com/ waptvchannel.

FUN WINE BERTHS IN NIGERIA It was fun all the way at the official briefing and wine tasting of Fun Wine in Lagos. The event took place at Studio 24 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. This was a way of sensitising the public to the availability of this wine in a can. The Group Managing Director, Mr. Yariv Brosh made a speech through Skype to the hearing of everyone at the event and talked about the history of Fun wine.

According to him, Fun wine started in the mind of one of the world’s best food and beverage specialists – Mr. Joe Peele.

It contains vitamins, low alcohol -only 6%, and low nutrition value, compared to the alternatives.

Christian Romance Movie, Benevolence,Warms Up Hollywood Nollywood filmmaker, Doris Ariole’s Benevolence, took centre stage in Orlando Florida, USA, last week as she unveiled her first Christian movie to Hollywood fans.

Benevolence earned a place in Hollywood after it was selected and nominated for ‘Most Inspirational Feature Film’ at the International Christian Film Festival in Orlando, April 2016.

Benevolence, which got yet another wild admiration at its screening to the American press last week, will be screened for two consecutive weekends starting August 12 in Orlando. She met the sponsors of the Orlando premiere and screening at the festival held in April.

Speaking to the press after the screening, Doris Ariole said Benevolence, a genre of Christian Romance, is about a young woman called Ruth, her tenacity to hold on to her faith in God despite hard times, to keep her hope alive for a better tomorrow

and insist on the kind love that she believes she deserves.

Benevolence is partly inspired by Ruth and Boaz’ story in the bible, but spiced up in a thought-provoking and incredible storytelling manner.

The movie features top acts in

Nollywood which includes Kalu Ikeagwu, Ijeoma Peters, Emeka Smith (the comedian), Tim Godfrey (award winning gospel artist), Veteran actor Patrick Doyle, Chioma Nwosu and model singer Fragrance Kayoh.

Doris Ariole is known for her remarkable script writing and her works includes Breathless which has gotten top three movie nominations and 41Love which debuts in cinemas nationwide August 19.

On why she ventured into Christian movie, Doris said, “I make Christian movies because God called me to do so. Christian movies weren’t my initial plan, I just wanted to make ‘morally correct movies’. “But over time in my relationship with God I realised how He wanted me to use the creative talent He blessed me with. My film production company is called Hadassah Studios, that’s the Jewish name of Queen Esther of the Bible,� she said.

W

hen did you start your career?

I am an actor, fashion designer, serial entrepreneur and a budding film maker.

I started off about a decade ago and have grown largely in short films and fashion designing.

What’s new in your acting career?

Let me say I’ve been doing an understudy of myself in a while to know what my audience expects of me as an actor, and also a producer as my first short film will be dropping soon.

Mixing your couture label and films, how has it been?

Well, it’s been tasking but I see synergy, as both of them have one thing in common, which is creativity. And, when you’re working on a movie without planning costume then it’s incomplete. So, like I said, there is synergy.

Where do you see your career in five years?

I should still be working on myself because to penetrate the film industry requires giving ones best but my first cinema movie should be out before then.

Who are your mentors and role models in the film industry?

I follow, to detail, works of men like Biyi Bandele, Kunle Afolayan and Uncle T.K.

24

THISDAY, THe SATurDAY NewSpAper • AUGUST 6, 2016

TRIBUTE Ode to Francis Mbakogu,The Foreign Reserve Iconoclast

G

Ifeyinwa Mbakogu

reat men have been born at different periods in history.

Great men have also been born in countries other than ours with their exploits trickling down to touch those they never imagined or knew existed. But the greatest men are those known to us, who began from humble beginnings, struggled to attain greatness, yet remained untouched by it, by making themselves open to the needs and aspirations of others. One of such great cherished Nigerians was Chief Francis Uzuegbunem Mbakogu. Chief Mbakogu was a First Republic politician and ebullient Junior Minister (Parliamentary Secretary) in the Ministry of Economic Development in the First Republic. Francis Mbakogu was a distinguished political reformer, Economist and a political iconoclast. As a Junior Minister, he brought his deep knowledge of economics to bear in the fulfilment of his public duty. As the Nigerian economy worsens, Mbakogu’s great contributions to the economic development of Nigeria are worth remembering today. Unknown to many Nigerians, Francis Mbakogu or F.U. as was fondly called by his friends and associates was the first Nigeria politician to move the revolutionary motion for the Nigerian Government to have a substantive Foreign Reserve.

Born in 1926 at Amesi in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, Mbakogu died on August 7 1986. Mbakogu might have appeared to some at that time as a young Minister full of dreams. This was probably because he always sought to achieve that which seemed impossible to those aware of his humble beginnings. But then, when one was passionate about something, that passion spurred the affected to achieve positive results against all odds. The young Francis was passionate about his people, the Igbo people in general and the Awka constituency in particular and the need to create opportunities for them to rise above their then unchallenging state of being. That undying passion led him into the world of politics. F. U. was a man driven into politics to prove that change though a difficult and tireless effort was also attainable. Driven by this belief, he plunged into his campaign with the dynamism of one ready to lay down his life for the wellbeing of his people. And he did almost that! During his campaign in 1954, only a year after his wedding, F.U. had a fatal accident at Nkpor, which permanently affected proper use of his left arm. After the accident, he was left to recuperate at the Adazi Hospital for an entire month. This inexplicable absence from the political scene spurred his opponent, an Independent Candidate from Uga to seek to steer the campaign in his favour with the unsavoury tale of F.U. Mbakogu’s death.

People had to believe him, until, almost like a dream; F. U. Mbakogu made a surprise appearance on the campaign ground to the admiration of his supporters and the chagrin of his detractors.

Indeed, history was made when in 1954; Chief F. U. Mbakogu was elected to represent Awka South Constituency at the Federal House of Representatives on the platform of the defunct NCNC. He represented the Constituency for ten years, from 1954 to 1964.

From 1960 to 1964, he served as a Junior Minister (Parliamentary Secretary) in the Ministry of Economic Development while Hon. Ibrahim Waziri was the Minister of Economic Development. At the end of his tenure, the primaries to elect the N.C.N.C. Party Flag bearers for Awka South Consistency into the house came up in 1965. At the first election at Aguata he won overwhelmingly. However, his opponents deliberately put more voters’ cards into his ballot box to discredit him.

The election was repeated. But this time, his opponents were even more adventurous for they poured acid into his ballot box. That was the perfect ploy for they knew he was an honest man. Though young, only thirty-eight years old at the time, Francis Mbakogu had

Mbakogu always aspired to play politics the fair way; that is politics as it is played in developed countries. Not the politics of intrigues and bitterness that was threatening to rear its ugly head in the erstwhile sane Nigerian terrain. To buttress this fact, one man openly remarked at a gathering that: “Mbakogu was in the House of Representatives for ten years yet had nothing to show for it. He had neither a house in the urban area nor his village; nothing but indebtedness to those from whom he borrowed money to finance his campaign.

Expectedly, after that incident, Francis Mbakogu refused to contest. That marked the end of all political involvements for him.

However, it was ironical that those that won the election into the House of Representatives based on the 1965 election had a short period of service before the military takeover in 1966.

As I said earlier, Mbakogu was the first Nigerian politician in the House of Representatives and in Nigeria’s history to move the motion for the urgent need for the Nigerian Government to have a substantive External Reserve. However like all ideas with good intent, this Bill was not passed because the then Secretary of State, a Briton, considered it inconsequential. And why was such a Bill considered inconsequential for the young nation that Nigeria was at the time?.

Amazingly, years after his death, a newspaper columnist dug deep into the archives to acclaim F. U. Mbakogu as the foremost brain behind Nigeria’s proud claim to an External Reserve. Nigeria certainly owes a debt of gratitude to Mbakogu for recognising early enough that Nigeria needed to have a Foreign Reserve and for courageously moving the motion to that effect. Sadly, several years after he moved the motion, Nigeria’s leadership is still struggling with several questions for understanding the significance of External Reserves and adopting sound management practices. It is interesting that today debates abound on how to really and truly boost Nigerian’s External Reserve and how to preserve it from spiral inflation especially in this age of recession. While some argue that Nigeria’s Foreign Reserve should be kept in multiple foreign currencies, others advocate for a trade liberalization that would increase the inflow of the much-needed foreign earnings to would see Nigeria on the part of economic recovery. Were Francis Mbakogu alive today he probably would have provided lots of useful insights and explanations on what his dream was all about.

Unlike the times we live in, Francis Mbakogu went into politics because he considered himself relevant to the social advancement of both his constituency and the wider Nigerian populace. He often said that: When my existence is evaluated, and I have failed to move my constituency from their erstwhile existence to the dynamic challenges of civilisation, then I am nothing

but “a failure”…Definitely, a hapless fellow that has made an unforgivable ridicule of the confidence so trustingly reposed in me.” That driving motivation made it possible for Mbakogu to combine the dual roles of teaching and fulfilling his duties at the Federal House. For clarity, when Francis Mbakogu was in office, Nigeria operated the parliamentary system of government. With this system, members of the Federal House of Representatives were not on full time duties as we experience today.

Rather, members of the House were expected to leave their normal employment to report for such crucial deliberations as budget sittings where they remained for about six months and without housing provided – they had to search and pay for their own housing. It was only during the independence celebration in October 1960 that members of the House were allocated apartments in Legico Flats.

And when Mbakogu became Parliamentary Secretary, he was provided a house in Ikoyi which he vacated after his stint in politics. But even after vacating the Ikoyi residence, the Ministry in charge of assigning housing to public officers, undertook detailed inventory and thereafter sent notices to F.U. asking him to account for about five pieces of cutlery.

Unable to account for the lost cutlery, F.U. was asked to pay the monetary equivalent.

This was within an era where both public servants and the relevant facilitating ministries were accountable to the citizenry for safe maintenance and return of housing and other perks of office. Nevertheless, while at the House of Representatives, Francis Mbakogu’s contributions and eloquence endeared him to a great number of his colleagues. His contributions at discussions always seemed to hit his audiences with the blazing force of a seer. Not surprisingly too, for he appeared fraught with ideas beyond his time, ideas, which at several points, he found difficult to get others to understand and accept.

Before his retirement from active politics in 1965, he was instrumental among other things, to:The establishment of the Water Supply Scheme for Aguata Local Government Area; The construction f the Post Office at Aguata Local Government Area Headquarters; The establishment of Aguata Community Secondary School and the establishment of the Federal Emergency Science School, now the Federal School of Arts and Science, Lagos.

Francis Mbakogu was a man of integrity and exemplary character in both private as well as public life. An ardent campaigner

AsIsaidearlier,Mbakoguwas thefirstNigerianpoliticianin theHouseofRepresentatives andinNigeria’shistorytomove themotionfortheurgentneed fortheNigerianGovernment tohaveasubstantiveExternal Reserve.Howeverlikeallideas withgoodintent,thisBillwas notpassedbecausethethen SecretaryofState,aBriton, considereditinconsequential.

AndwhywassuchaBill consideredinconsequentialfor theyoungnationthatNigeria wasatthetime?.Amazingly, yearsafterhisdeath,a newspapercolumnistdugdeep intothearchivestoacclaimF.U. Mbakoguastheforemostbrain behindNigeria’sproudclaimto anExternalReserve

for the development of his community, he was until his death, the Patron of the Lagos Branch of both Amesi Improvement Union and Aguata Progressive Union. He was also a member of the Amesi Social Club. A man who inspired those who had the privilege of making his acquaintance, he led a successful life through hard work, determination and, of course, the active support of his beloved wife.

Undeniably, F.U. was a man who willingly answered the call to serve his people and his accomplishments are apparent testimony that he not only possessed an intellect that soared ahead of his time; but he also never made a ridicule of that confidence so trustingly reposed in him. In the year 2006, twenty years after his death, a foundation, leveraging the Great Chief F.U. Mbakogu educational endowment fund was set up in his honour.

The foundation currently offersan annual fund to facilitate University education for indigent members of his community But Francis Mbakogu is most remembered for his fervent love for education. He always maintained to whoever came his way, that “Knowledge is Power.” If his passion for education was close to an addiction then that was one addiction he was happy to live with until his death on the 7th of August 1986. As a young man, Francis Mbakogu encouraged many interested students to embark on Correspondence courses of the Rapid Results College, London. It was always interesting that young boys especially those with their minds set on business were always afraid to visit his residence for fear of being asked unwanted questions about school. He always remained undaunted by their livid looks and went ahead to advise them that even if they aspired to become businessmen, the most successful businessmen are the educated ones for where the educated businessman can confidently walk in for negotiations, the illiterate businessman would feel too inferior to enter. Francis Mbakogu was never known to abandon any intelligent but disadvantaged child introduced to him. As such, his house was always comparable to an off campus hostel, harbouring relatives and non-relatives alike with the set goal of affording others the opportunity of a bright future. Many students of his at the colleges where he taught English Language and English Literature with unrivalled adeptness, have always accosted his wife; Mrs Christiana Mbakogu to do nothing but pay glowing tribute to a man they alleged boosted their prowess at the English language. This they explained was done via, “THE ONE HOUR READING STRATEGY.” Using this strategy, the students were given a literature text to read for one-hour every day and thereafter asked to write a summary of it. At the end of the week, they were again required to give a summary of their entire one-hour readings for the week. That way, his students grew into men with vast vocabulary power and confidence to converse anywhere and anytime in the English language.

On his retirement, to encourage young people to aspire to academic excellence, Francis Mbakogu instituted a monetary price for any Amesi indigene graduating with a Second Class Upper from any Nigerian University. As if to amplify the point that every living being should have an insatiable quest for knowledge, in 1975, Francis Mbakogu enrolled at the University of Lagos for a Bachelor of Law programme.

Although he sustained and clearly enjoyed the first year of the programme, he was forced to withdraw in 1976 due to ill health.

In later years, in addition to setting up many young men and women from different parts of the nation in various business activities, his enduring belief: “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER,” led him to encourage many men and women, morally as well as financially, in their pursuit of higher education both within and outside the country. Hence, the name “Onwanaetirioha” became an embodiment of his contributions to the educational, moral and economic well-being of Igbo people.

–Dr. Mbakogu is a Nigerian scholar in Canada and the Chair, International Conference on Women and Children.

25

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ͞˜ ͺ͸͚ʹ

TRAVEL&LEISURE

by OMOLOLA ITAYEMI omolola.itayemi@thisdaylive.com 08054699602

KOLA OLAYINKA

ĂŤ Nigerians Love to Travel Whether Winter, Summer or SpringĂ­ Ă’Ă? ĂœĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă’ Ă“ĂœĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? Ă?Ă‘Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ù××Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?ĂœËœ Ă?Ă?Ăž Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ëœ Ăœ ÙÖË Ă–Ă‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă•Ă‹Ëœ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?ĂĄ åÓÞÒ Omolola ItayemiĂ?Ă˘Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă?ÒÙÙĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă?âÚĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă Ă?Ă– ĂŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂĄĂ“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ăœ ÒÙÖÓÎËãĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂŽĂ™Ă—

Y

ou have been the country manager at British Airways for 6 years,so you are quite familiar with local travel habits and patterns.To which countries do you think Nigerians prefer to travel during winter?

Nigerians love to travel at any time in the year, whether in summer, spring or winter.

One major destination that is a firm favourite, for visiting friends and relatives and also because of business ties, is the United Kingdom. The United States and Canada are quite popular with Nigerians too.

A recent British Airways survey shows that Singaporeans travel to the UK to try out new food and also to shop. Although we love to shop,not many Nigerians have very adventurous palates,so new culinary experiences may not top our list. In your experience, why do Nigerians travel, especially during winter?

Shopping of course and football. The 2016/17 Premiershipseasonstartssoonandwhethertravelling on business or pleasure plenty of Nigerians will find an excuse to try and see a game when visiting the UK. We have noticed an increasing tendency for people travelling on business to add a leisure component to their trips. The phenomenon has even been given a name – bleisure travel – and Nigerians are as partial to adding a bit of sightseeing, shopping or a game of football to their business trips as anyone else. Of course, it’s hard to generalise, but popular sights to see would be the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are kept, a river cruise, the London Eye and possibly the London Dungeon or Madame Tussauds. Madam Tussauds is particularly popular with Nigerians especially those with young children.

When it comes to shopping, we tend to be big on fashion and technology. On the football front you really are spoilt for choice.

Like you just mentioned Madame Tussauds and also the theatres in the West End are all time favourites on London’s tourist circuit, alongside Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. However, one gets tired of visiting the same places after a while. Which locations off the beaten track can Nigerians explore when they visit the UK? There are tons of things to see in London. If you want a different take on football, for example, a number of the clubs offer backroom tours of their home grounds. Alternatively, you could learn to ski in Fulham Broadway. The sessions take place on revolving astro turf mats which can be adjusted to suit your abilities. If you’re travelling with younger children, you could visit the Puppet Theatre Barge moored in Little Venice. If your family is a bit older and more adventurous, you may want to take on the rapids at Lee Valley White Water Centre. This is where the kayaking and some other water events were held during the 2012 Olympics.

What about fresh sights to see in the United States and Canada?

I have just started exploring Canada myself, having recently returned from a trip to Toronto, Halifax, Montreal and Ottawa. Canada is a very beautiful country with many interesting cities. There is also a lot of history and culture with Canada and the people are very friendly and welcoming. The variety of food options is interesting and hotels and restaurants are available in very good quantity. For those who want tostickwithNigeriandishes,restaurantsofferinglocal Nigerian meals are available especially in Toronto.

However, a good afternoon coffee at Tim Hortons and a bag of miniature flavoured donuts do come highly recommended. As for the U.S, the opportunities are limitless and you can really pick and choose

Olayinka

from city to city. From the Big apple, New York to the lone Star state of Texas, to Atlanta or Maryland or for the more adventurous, Chicago or the more Westerly parts, travellers are literally spoilt for choice.

The good thing is British Airways flies to all major American gateways, so a choice of flights will not be a problem in any way!

2016 has been a challenging year for Nigerians, but it appears the economic difficulties have not significantly impacted the volume of international travel.What are your top tips for traveling in difficult economic times?

I would say do your homework and book early.

The internet is a fantastic tool for travellers www. ba.com. You can compare prices and sites such as TripAdvisor give you access to a cross section of honest reviews. Also bear in mind that a number of popular attractions and activities will give you a discount if you book in advance. An added bonus is that advance bookings often mean you can beat the queues. As a general rule of thumb the further ahead you book, the better the deal you will get, so a little forward planning is a good idea.

What special packages would British Airways be offering travellers on its Northern Hemisphere routes in the fourth quarter of the year and what are the best ways to take advantage of these offers?

I will like to keep that close to my heart at the moment, as our Industry is an incredibly competitive one and I will not want to let the cat out of the bag yet. What I can say is that our customers are in for a very big treat in the last quarter of the year. BA will be celebrating 80 wonderful years of operating into Nigeria, so I will say to you and our customers, please keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground!

There’s a new product, British Airways Offers Instant Rewards during Check-in.Tell me about it?

BritishAirwayshascommencedaninstantrewards scheme for customers in Nigeria, with all travellers who are non-members of the airline’s Executive Club loyaltyprogrammereceivingfrequentfliermilesupon check-in. With this initiative which began last week at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, we have observed that customer details would now be automatically registered for BA Avios, whether or not the customer is a member of the Executive Club. It would be superfluous to say at this point that Nigeria is experiencing challenging economic times. As an active corporate citizen that cherishes its customers, we will keep doing all we can to help.

With the new rewards program, customers will earn miles instantly for every trip. Needless to say, they will earn more miles as they fly, so they can keep a bank of their Avios miles for their children to use as they go to and from school or save them up for a flight to a holiday destination. The Instant Avios programme is also open to travellers who are still planning their trips. They can register for rewards on future flights.

TRAVEL NEWS ĂŤ One LagosĂ­ P ropels CityĂ­ s Global Tourism Ranking One of the major visions of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration for Lagos is to transform the state into one of Africa’s biggest tourism hub by leveraging on entertainment and culture. In keeping with this vision, the governor over the weekend launched the One Lagos Brand; a project established to reinforce Lagos’ reputation as the entertainment capital of Africa and make it the tourism hub and entertainment destination in the continent. The “One Lagosâ€? brand is conceived to drive economic growth across all communities in Lagos State by taking advantage and drawing strength from its over 20 million population, diverse multicultural mix and the uniqueness of its people.

The launch was heralded by an elaborate three-day music carnival that expectedly

attracted thousands of Lagosians to the Bar Beach Victoria Island. The three-day event featured musical performances by top rated and upcoming artistes, comedy shows and food festivals. Other elements of the event are dance competition, cultural display and kids’ entertainment segments.

The Commissioner for Tourism in the State, Folorunso Folarin-Coker said that the rationale behind the event was to further bring the diverse multi-cultural heritage of Africa’s largest mega-city to the forefront and show case the vibrant energy of its people.

According to him, “One Lagos� brand will showcase the true spirit of Lagos through different creative expressions while leveraging on the city’s abundant soft power to reverse negative conversation about the city of Lagos.

International Beer Day At The Sheraton Lagos On the 5th of August, 2016, The Sheraton Lagos Hotel invited all lovers of beer and lager to celebrate International beer day at the renowned Goodie Pub. The hotel team believes it is important to celebrate this day as Beer unites the world under a themed banner, by celebrating the beers of all nations together

on a single day.

The celebration included a commemoration of those responsible for brewing and serving beer.

The Goodies Pub is known for serving some of the best beers in town for great deals such as 500ml Castle Draught Beer for N500.

NCPC to Flag O 2016 Youth/ Family Pilgrimage The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Rev. Tor Uja, has disclosed that the flag off of 2016 Youth/Family pilgrimage to Israel would take place on 27th August, 2016 at the Pilgrims’ Terminal, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. He stated this in Abuja while playing host to the Chaplaincy Committee for the National Christian Centre for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) headquarters who were in his office on a courtesy visit.

The NCPC boss assured the clergy that they would be key participants in the activities of the commission.

He thanked them for their purpose visit to pray for the commission. Rev.

Uja further said that the commission would ensure that everyone who goes on pilgrimage will come back a better person.

He further charged the church to take the ownership of pilgrimage in Nigeria. According to him, “we will like all the churches to take over the ownership of NCPC and Christian pilgrimage in Nigeria�.

He appealed to the church leaders to begin the process of healing by forgiving each other and minister to those who are wounded.

He further called on church leaders who have pending cases in court to withdraw it for the progress of the church.

Igbo Traditional Rulers Prepare for Igbo≠Ukwu Yam Festival Traditional rulers from Igbo speaking states in Nigeria have commended the numerous achievements of the Director General of the Nigerian TourismDevelopment Corporation (NTDC), Mrs Sally Mbanefo. HRH Igwe (Dr.) C.N, Nwajagu led the delegation of traditional rulers on a courtesy visit to the NTDC office to seek collaboration regarding the forth coming IriJi Ndi Igbo National New Yam Festival 2016.

“We sincerely appreciate President Muhammad Buhari for keeping our daughter, Sally Uwechue-Mbanefo, whose contributions to the development and promotion of tourism in Nigeria are immense.

Sally has been dutiful in her responsibility, which made us proud as a great nation, because our strength lies mainly and squarely in our cultural diversity, said Igwe Nwajagu.

26

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

AUTo

Driving Test is Compulsory for Prospective Drivers, Says Corps Marshall Stories by Bennett Oghifo

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t is mandatory for everybody to have licence to carry firearms and to drive a motor vehicle because both are deadly equipment.

Both are projectiles that kill if used willfully or when mishandled, that is the reason people required to use them, said Mr. Derek, a lead trainer with Ford Motor Company.

It is the same reason the Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi insists that every aspiring driver must go through the mill- from a certified driving school to show driving competence at an approved centre before being issued a licence by the FRSC. Oyeyemi, who was special guest at the maiden training workshop of Nigeria Auto Journalist Association (NAJA), which held in Lagos, recently, said To improve road safety through proper driver training and certification as well as enhance the integrity of the driver’s license being a vital national document, the Corps has embarked on measures at aligning the operations of Driving Schools in the Country through the DSSP. He said, “ Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) involving Fleet Operators across the country in recent time have been on the rise. The Corps’ database shows that from January to June, 2016 alone about 183 cases were reported which resulted in 226 deaths, 760 people injured and the involvement of 2,326 persons in Fleet Operators’ related road mishaps.”

He said the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) 2014 –2018 has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and Endorsed by the National Economic Council-Roles of all Stakeholders have been clearly delineated, adding that implementation would soon commence.

Oyeyemi at a training worshop... recently

Hyundai Tucson Receives J.D. Those Who Make Things Power 2016 Appeal Award Happen at LASTMA Akinwunmi Ibrahim

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2017 Hyundai Tucson

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.D. Power designated the 2016 Hyundai Tucson as its most appealing small SUV in the 2016 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) StudySM. In its 21st year, the APEAL study examines owners’ emotional attachment and level of excitement across 77 attributes, ranging from the power they feel when they step on the gas to the sense of comfort and luxury they feel when climbing into the driver’s seat. Vehicles and their brands are measured on a 1,000-point scale.

Tucson outscored all other small SUVs

and performed particularly well in the categories of vehicle fuel economy, seats, HVAC, storage, exterior, visibility, driving, interior and audio/comm./entertainment/ navigation.

“We are thrilled with the recognition of Tucson in this year’s J.D. Power APEAL study,” said Scott Margason, director, product planning, Hyundai Motor America.

“The new Tucson looks great, has two fuel efficient engines and a roomy interior that satisfies a wide range of SUV buyers.

The team did a great job launching the all-new Tucson this year.”

ave you ever sighted Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s official convoy, how he moves within the metropolis without siren and, yet, enjoys a smooth movement? There are some competent officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority working behind the scenes to make sure that the governor moves freely without the use of sirens. They are called the LASTMA GOV. They are group of competent LASTMA officials who are not just highly educated, they know the nitty-gritty of Lagos traffic.

THISDAY sighted one LASTMA GOV at work recently when the Redeemed Christian Church of God had their monthly service, titled “Victorious Grace.” Not many will forget the huge trucks which blocked the entrance leading to the Redeem Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway that day. It was such that many worshippers had to go through Asese route to enter the camp.

The LASTMA official, Alausa Rasak, gave orders and directed traffic even outside Lagos, while many of the road users beamed with smiles as he did that which he knows how to do best. Many are always full of admiration for LASTMA when they see officials of the authority in the convoy of the governor along Marina road and then in Ikeja. The many beautiful scenes of Hollywood movies seemed to be replayed live on the day we spotted ESCORT 1 leading PILOT 1 in the traffic in a most civil manner.

One could not but notice the professionalism with which the LASTMA Officials lead the convoy and cleared the road. Their use of public address system for vehicles to clear the way and for the public to hear them and pave way for the governor is conducted in a most humble manner.

Undoubtedly, managing humans is the most

difficult thing to do. Research establishes this. Controlling the traffic of Lagos is such a herculean task for anybody to embark upon.

Yet, LASTMA officials performed excellently on that day. However, these LASTMA officials are not armed. But this does not deter them from giving their best performance at work. At first, when they came on board, the whole thing looked like scenes from Hollywood. This was before reality dawned on us.

It was, indeed, a confirmation that LASTMA officials are well trained.

With the good organisation from the LASTMA officials, it is almost certain that cases of a governor’s convoy ramming into other road users have practically been eradicated.

The convoy of the Lagos State governor abided by the speed limit, followed the traffic rules, and did not act like a power intoxicated road bully, as some are wont to do.

This LASTMA GOV official has been there since the era of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Some of his colleagues were moved, while were retained. Even former Governor Raji Fashola ascribed the success of his desire to have a noiseless convoy to this LASTMA GOV who always works ahead of other security operatives to ensure he has a smooth drive on daily basis.

Ambode’s LASTMA GOVs include Adewale Agbaje, Ojugbele Adebowale, Alausa Rasak, Hunsu Olusegun, Olaluwoye Omotayo, Sasi Oyekunle, Akerele Suleiman, and Adenigba Akeem.

Over time, Lagosians and visitors had often commended the state government for not giving up on the body. One can only imagine the travail Lagosians or visitors would go through in traffic without LASTMA. By dint performance, other states of the federation have been emulating the Lagos State Governor Patrol convoy, especially the LASTMA team. This will, no doubt, guarantee better safety on the road.

27

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

AUTo

‘Ford Committed to Safe Driving in Sub- Saharan Africa’ Stories by Bennett Oghifo

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ord Motor Corporation has said it is committed to safe driving in subSaharan Africa, which was why it sent a seasoned trainer, Mr. Derek Kirby to a workshop organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) in Lagos, recently.

Ford was the lead sponsor of the maiden training workshop of NAJA, which was used as a platform to launch its Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) programme at the facility of Coscharis Motors, one of its distributors in Nigeria.

The General Manager, Marketing at Coscharis, Mr. Abiona Babarinde welcomed the Nigeria Auto Journalists and thanked them for allowing the Ford brand to be part of the training session.

Babarinde said, “Ford, as a committed and responsible corporate citizen in Nigeria, is making a significant contribution to promoting safe driving with the introduction of its global Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) programme.

“At present road safety is an important topic in Nigeria, it’s the responsibility of each and every one of us as Nigerian citizens to consider not only your life but the lives of fellow drivers and pedestrians when you are on the road.

“Coscharis is glad to be hosting the Driving Skills for Life team here at our Lekki offices and we look forward to the learnings that we will all take from today. Derek Kirby from DSFL will take you through the essence of this programme.

“Ford and Coscharis have both enjoyed great support from the journalists sitting here today. Ford is a growing brand in Nigeria. The Ford Ranger has continued its dominance as the best-selling Ford nameplate in Nigeria. In support of the Ford Ranger we are currently running a ‘Truck Month’ campaign offering a free Ford Protect maintenance plan (4 year /120 000KM). There are currently three Quick Lanes operating in Nigeria, providing quick

Specialist, Automotive Communications Consultancy, Dr. Oscar Odibor; Training Director, DSFL, Ford Motor Company of South Africa, Derek Kirkby; and General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Services, Coscharis Group, Abiona Babarinde, at the launch of Ford’s Driving Skills For Life and training for members of the Nigerian Auto Journalists Association, in Lagos... recently

vehicle maintenance and light repairs. These are open to both Ford and non-Ford vehicle owners.

“We thank our fellow Nigerians for continuously supporting our brand over the years.

This has made it possible for us to introduce three new vehicles into the Nigerian market this year: The new Explorer (currently available at Coscharis); The new Figo (currently available at Coscharis); The new Edge (available in Q4 of this

year) and we intend to continue to grow the Ford brand in Nigeria through the delivery of vehicles that represent the very best quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and value.

He then invited Derek Kirby to kick-off what turned out to be an exciting and rewarding training session. According to the Chairman of Nigerian Auto Journalists Association, Mr. Frank Kintum said, the full involvement of Ford Motors Cor-

poration Sub-Saharan Africa in NAJA training programme attest to the fact that the organization is committed to promoting safe driving in not just Africa but worldwide.

He disclosed this while delivering his opening speech at the maiden edition of Nigeria Auto JournalistsAssociationAnnual Training Workshop Friday 29th July, at Nero Hotel, Sangotedo, Ajah, Lagos.

FG, Innoson Plan Joint Youth Empowerment Programme

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resident Muhammadu Buhari’s youth entrepreneurship and skill acquisition programmes is on the verge of receiving yet another boost from the private sector following a recent meeting between Innoson Group and the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja.

Innoson Group which owns automobile and motorcycle assembly plants in Nnewi and an ultra-modern plastics factory in Enugu, also runs an academy which is focused on providing unemployed youths with relevant artisanal training towards sustainable livelihood.

During the visit to the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Innoson management led by the Chairman of Innoson Group, Dr Innocent Chukwuma, and the Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Kiara Academy, Mr. Endi Ezengwa, made a presentation and later held discussions which both sides described as very fruitful.

While making the presentation to the minister, Ezendi had outlined Innoson Kiara Academy’s activities and programmes, pointing out areas of possible collaboration with the Federal Government on skill acquisition and youth development.

Impressed with the rich content of the illustration, the minister commended Innoson management for the noble initiative of equipping the youth with the vital training towards a gainful living – which

he said is in tandem with the Federal government’s programmes.

Senator Ngige said the visit by the Innoson delegation was timely, considering that government is launching various skill acquisition programmes designed to empower young Nigerians and provide them with life-long skills and tools to enable them improve their lives and make a difference in their immediate communities.

He assured them of the willingness of the Buhari government to train and empower Nigerian youths for which it has earmarked N500 billion.

Senator Ngige further assured that the government would partner with the Innoson Group and other relevant organisations in order to ensure the success of the programme. He restated the commitment of the government to an importreduction regime through heavy patronage of made-in-Nigeria products to which Inoson Innoson Group contributes a long list of items through its subsidiary companies, including Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM) which manufactures passenger cars and commercial vehicles in Nnewi, As the training arm of the Innoson Group, Innoson Kiara Academy offers courses that are tailored to meet the technical personnel needs of various factories within the ‘family’, in addition to providing skill acquisition training for participants in the amnesty programme for the Niger Delta

L-R: Chairman, Innoson Group, Chief Innocent Chukwuma; Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige; and Chief Executive Officer, Innoson Kiara Academy, Mr. Endi Ezengwa, when the management of Innoson Group visited the minister in Abuja… recently

ex-militants, as well as other organisations.

Abatch of the ex-militants which has been undergoing training at the Innoson Kiara Academy in partnership with the Presidential Amnesty Office, is expected to pass out before the end of August. At

various stages in the course of the training which commenced in 2015, the participants were deployed to different sections at the Innoson auto plant in Nnewi, for training as welders, spray painters, auto mechanics, and electricians, among others.

Toyota Records Best July in Four Years

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oyota has recorded its best July in four years, selling more than twice as many new vehicles as any other brand.

Corolla and HiLux combined for a sales quinella as the nation’s two most popular models, helping to lift Toyota to 17,465 sales - its strongest July result since 2012.

Toyota’s tally was more than 9,000 sales ahead

of the nearest competitor and 9,800 higher than the third-placed company.

The market-leading total was 3.7 per cent higher than for July last year and the fourth consecutive month it has achieved year-on-year sales growth.

Corolla was Australia’s best-selling car in July with demand topping 3,400 cars while HiLux was second with 3,136 deliveries. These were

the only vehicles to exceed 3,000 sales for the month.

Camry joined Corolla and HiLux among the top five best sellers after posting 2,172 deliveries, its best July since 2005.

Last month was also the best July on record for the LandCruiser 200 series wagon (launched in 2007) and the best July for LandCruiser Prado since 2012. Toyota Australia’s executive direc-

tor sales and marketing Tony Cramb said the results showed the company and its dealers had bucked the industry trend of focusing on June end-of-financial-year sales at the expense of July. “A consistent approach to managing our business and focusing on our customers has enabled Toyota to achieve a healthy July-on-July sales increase on top of a robust market-leading result in June,” Mr Cramb said.

28

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • August 6, 2016

FAMILY HEALTH with

BOBO BODE -KAYODE

Know Your Eyes

lifeissuesfromwithin@yahoo.com, .Cel, 08053372356

H

uman beings are made of five access points or opening of interaction with the environment. This include response to stimuli, in action – reaction, in times of flight, fear , anxiety and hunger.

The human eye is an organ that reacts to light and has several purposes.

As a sense organ, the mammalian eye allows vision.

Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth.

How Do We See? In a nutshell, the human eye can be compared to a camera which gathers, focuses, and transmits light through a lens to create an image of the environment.

In a camera, the image is created on film; in the eye, the image is created on the retina, a thin layer of light sensitive cells at the back of the eye. The lens of the eye bends, or refracts, light that enters the eye.

The cornea, which is a clear, transparent covering in the front portion of the eye also contributes to focusing light on the retina. Nerve fibers extending back from the retina’s nerve cells come together behind the retina to form the optic nerve, a “cable” of nerve fibers connecting the eye with the brain.

The optic nerve transmits messages about what we see from the eye to the brain. Like a camera, the human eye controls the amount of light that enters the eye through the lens under various lighting conditions.

The human eyes, can distinguish up to 10 million colours. It is an astonishing feat. It is a very sensitive and vital , if not the most important organ in your body.

A miracle muscle in your body, allows your eyes to blink fastest , with 5 blinks per second.

Vision problems/diseases The most common problems with vision are: • nearsightedness (myopia), • farsightedness, (hyperopia), a defect in the eye caused by • nonspherical curvature (astigmatism) and • age-related farsightedness (presbyopia), according to the National Eye Institute.

Most people will develop farsightedness in their 40s or 50s, and start needing reading glasses. With age, the lens gets denser, making it harder for the ciliary muscles to bend the lens.

The leading causes of blindness include • cataracts (clouding of the lens), • age-related macular degeneration (deterioration of the central retina), • glaucoma (damage to the optic nerve), and • diabetic retinopathy (damage to retinal blood vessels), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• Other common disorders include lazy eye and crossed eyes.

How To Protect Your Eyes • Eat for Good Vision. Protecting your eyes starts with the food on your plate.

• Quit Smoking. Smoking makes you more likely to get cataracts, optic nerve damage, and macular degeneration.

• Wear Sunglasses.

• Use Safety Eyewear.

Caring For Your Eyes Your eyes are your windows to the world, so it’s important to take good care of them. Things like seeing an eye doctor regularly, getting enough sleep, and giving your eyes regular breaks while you are using a computer can help keep your eyes in good health. If you are having problems with your vision, you should schedule an appointment with an optometrist as soon as possible.

Tips for Healthy Eyes Your eyes are an important part of your health.

There are many things you can do to keep them healthy and make sure you are seeing your best.

Follow these simple steps for maintaining healthy eyes well into your golden years.

Visit an eye care practitioner regularly. These are trained professionals who specialize in looking after the health of your eyes. They can be ophthalmologists (eye doctors) or optometrists. To keep your eyes in good health, have your eyes checked regularly or when you are having problems with your vision.

Learn more about your eyes and ask your eye doctor questions when you have them. Learning more about

Using an allergen-reducing eye drop during allergy season may help ‘get the red out’ and sooth itchiness, but daily use can actually make the problem worse.

It can cause something called rebound redness, which results in excessive eye redness because eyes no longer respond to eye drops.

Know your family’s eye health history- . Talk to your family members about their eye health history. It’s important to know if anyone has been diagnosed with a disease or condition since many are hereditary.

This will help to determine if you are at higher risk for developing an eye disease or condition

your eyes and how to prevent eye diseases will help you to feel more in control of your health.

• If you don’t have any vision problems, you should visit an eye care practitioner every 5-10 years during your 20s and 30s.

• If you don’t have any vision problems, you should visit an eye care practitioner every 2-4 years between the ages of 40 and 65.

• If you don’t have any vision problems, you should visit an eye care practitioner every 1-2 years after the age of 65.

Have a comprehensive dilated eye exam - You might think your vision is fine or that your eyes are healthy, but visiting your eye care professional for a comprehensive dilated eye exam is the only way to really be sure. When it comes to common vision problems, some people don’t realize they could see better with glasses or contact lenses. In addition, many common eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and age-related macular degeneration often have no warning signs. A dilated eye exam is the only way to detect these diseases in their early stages.

During a comprehensive dilated eye exam, your eye care professional places drops in your eyes to dilate, or widen, the pupil to allow more light to enter the eye the same way an open door lets more light into a dark room. This enables your eye care professional to get a good look at the back of the eyes and examine them for any signs of damage or disease. Your eye care professional is the only one who can determine if your eyes are healthy and if you’re seeing your best.

Use allergen-reducing eye drops sparingly.- Using an allergen-reducing eye drop during allergy season may help ‘get the red out’ and sooth itchiness, but daily use can actually make the problem worse. It can cause something called rebound redness, which results in excessive eye redness because eyes no longer respond to eye drops.

Know your family’s eye health history- . Talk to your family members about their eye health history.

It’s important to know if anyone has been diagnosed with a disease or condition since many are hereditary.

This will help to determine if you are at higher risk for developing an eye disease or condition.

Eat right to protect your sight -- You’ve heard carrots are good for your eyes. But eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, particularly dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or collard greens is important for keeping your eyes healthy, too. Research has also shown there are eye health benefits from eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut.

Maintain a healthy weight--- Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing diabetes and other systemic conditions, which can lead to vision loss, such as diabetic eye disease or glaucoma. If you are having trouble maintaining a healthy weight, talk to your doctor.

Remove your eye makeup at the end of the day--Always take time to remove

your eye makeup before you go to bed. Never go to bed with your eye makeup still on. If you go to bed with mascara or eyeliner on, it can get into your eyes and cause irritation.

Wear protective eyewear ---- Wear protective eyewear when playing sports or doing activities around the home. Protective eyewear includes safety glasses and goggles, safety shields, and eye guards specially designed to provide the correct protection for a certain activity. Most protective eyewear lenses are made of polycarbonate, which is 10 times stronger than other plastics. Many eye care providers sell protective eyewear, as do some sporting goods stores.

Take your contacts out at the end of the day --Avoid wearing your contact all day, for more than 19 hours. Wearing contact lenses for too long can cause permanent vision damage as well as extreme discomfort to your eyes.

Quit smoking or never start -- Smoking is as bad for your eyes as it is for the rest of your body.

Research has linked smoking to an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and optic nerve damage, all of which can lead to blindness.

Be cool and wear your shades -- Sunglasses are a great fashion accessory, but their most important job is to protect your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. When purchasing sunglasses, look for ones that block out 99 to 100 percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation.

Give your eyes a rest --- If you spend a lot of time at the computer or focusing on any one thing, you sometimes forget to blink and your eyes can get fatigued. Try the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look away about 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds.

This can help reduce eyestrain.

Get plenty of sleep --- Inadequate sleep may contribute to eye fatigue. Symptoms of eye fatigue include eye irritation, difficulty focusing, dryness or excessive tears, blurred or double vision, light sensitivity, or pain in the neck, shoulders, or back.

Make sure that you get enough sleep every night to help prevent eye fatigue. Adults require about 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

Exercise regularly --- Regular exercise can help prevent other diseases such as diabetes. By getting at least 30 minutes of exercise three times per week, you can reduce your chances of developing serious eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Clean your hands and your contact lenses properly --- To avoid the risk of infection, always wash your hands thoroughly before putting in or taking out your contact lenses. Make sure to disinfect contact lenses as instructed and replace them as appropriate.

Practice workplace eye safety -- Employers are required to provide a safe work environment. When protective eyewear is required as a part of your job, make a habit of wearing the appropriate type at all times and encourage your coworkers to do the same.

Finally, your eyes are very important, care and nuture them very close to your heart.

GLOBAL SOCCER

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JUNE 16, 2011

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

Community Shield Prize at Stake PAGE. 29

06.08.2016

Samson Siasia

Will He Rise against All Odds in Rio?

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

GLOBAL SOCCER

Will He Rise against All Odds in Rio? Samson Siasia might have failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and unsuccessful in booking a place at the 2017 AFCON but his coaching ability has never been in doubt. He qualified Nigeria for the final of the 2005 U-20 World Youth Championship in Netherlands and won silver in the football event of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With Nigeria’s slipshod preparations for Rio Olympics – coaches’ salaries unpaid for five months and Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, denying knowledge of the team’s camp in the United States – will Siasia, against all odds, go one step better than Beijing in Rio? Kunle Adewale asks

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Siasia

io Olympics will go down as Nigeria’s worst in recent history in terms of preparation. At a point, Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, denied knowledge of the football team’s preparation in the United States for the games. There were fears that coach Samson Siasialed team would be stranded if the Federal Government did not respond as a private sponsor only shouldered their bills for 10 days. But the team managed to survive.

Dalung was reported to have said that he was not aware that the Nigerian team was in Atlanta in spite of the fact the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was said to have submitted their Olympic Games preparation programme well over two months before the team decided to camp in the US. “The minister said that he was not aware of our camping here in Atlanta.

He said he didn’t know we are in the US,” one of the team officials had said.

To compound the team’s problem, Siasia’s car was even robbed in Atlanta and valuables stolen. “It is true that my car was burgled but I have taken the necessary steps on the items stolen in the car. We are focused and preparing hard for the Olympics; that is what I can tell you for now,” Siasia said.

Meanwhile, Siasia has appealed to the NFF to pay his salaries and offset the backlog of bonuses and allowances owed him and his players. The former Nigeria international has not been paid for months.

He said: “I am appealing to the NFF and the Sports Ministry to pay our salaries. After the Olympics, that money will just go on voice mail.”

It would be recalled that while the under-23 squad for a training camp in Gambia before the team took on Senegal in one of the qualifiers for Rio Olympics, Siasia's mother was kidnapped, which really affected the morale of the 1994 AFCON gold medalist. “I beg them to please release my mother so that I can concentrate on this task of qualifying the U23 national team for the men’s football event of the Rio Olympics,” Siasia had appealed then.

The gaffer who won silver in 2008 Beijing Olympics has said he could not

give assurance on winning a medal.

“We are not ready for the tournament; my team is not perfect yet. We are still working on the team and hopefully we’ll be ready and give a good account of ourselves at the Olympics. I can’t give assurance if the team will win a medal at the Olympics, we just have to believe and continue to build the team,” Siasia stated.

However, in an attempt to ensure stability in the team, the former Nigerian international appointed Chelsea star, Mikel Obi as captain of the team, saying Obi was a natural choice to lead his team as he is also the captain of the Nigeria Olympic contingent as well as the Super Eagles.

He takes over from Turkey-based midfielder Azubuike Okechukwu, who led the Dream team VI to win the 2015 U23 AFCON in Senegal.

Siasia said: “It’s just natural for me to pick Mikel as our captain. Aside the fact that he is the captain of the Super Eagles, he is also Team Nigeria captain. So, after meeting with both of them and explaining my position, I am pleased to say Azubuike Okechukwu, who has been our captain understood and was happy to hand over the captain’s band to Mikel.

“It is a thing of joy for my team to produce the first footballer to captain Team Nigeria to the Olympics. This, to me, is more than gratifying.”

The players unanimously accepted Mikel Obi as their captain and expressed delight at the role he has been playing since he joined the team.

On his part, Mikel expressed joy at being made the captain of the Dream Team and said he sees it as an honour that must yield result in Brazil.

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Ike Shorunmu, believes that if Mikel employs his wealth of experience and assists in instilling commitment to the national U-23 players, the team will excel at the Rio Olympics football event.

Shorunmu said including the Chelsea of England star, as one of the overage players to the Dream Team VI camp, was a good step in the right direction, adding that the presence of the Super Eagles captain is capable of

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Siasia carried shoulder high by players after winning the Africa Youth Championship trophy

Will He Rise against All Odds in Rio? raising the spirit of the players to give their best.

The erstwhile Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer explained that the Dream Team’s ability to win medals at the games, lies on the ability of the players to remain focused and determined to prove a point to the world that Nigeria is still a force to reckon with in football despite any odd that comes their way.

“Inviting Mikel to the U-23 team is a good step in the right direction. His impact in the team will assist Nigeria excel at the football event. As the oldest player in the team, Mikel’s wealth of experience will be highly needed. At this point in time, Mikel’s love for the game of football and the nation should be exhibited while representing the nation at the games. The Dream Team has all it takes to outshine any opponents, if the players give their best,” he said.

Nigeria is placed in Group B alongside Sweden, Colombia and Japan at the group matches of the Rio Olympics.

However, former U-17 and U-20 striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, was one of the big misses in Siasia’s final list of players for the forthcoming Rio Olympic Games. The Liverpool striker was only able to make the cut as one of the standby players as he failed to make the final 18-man squad list that has now been submitted.

Mikel, was selected as one of only two overage players, with the other being Chippa United of South Africa goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi.

Another high profile name missing in the Olympic squad is Kenneth Omeruo, as his availability couldn’t be guaranteed for the games.

Also, surprisingly left out of the list is new Greuther Furth of Germany signing, Erhun

Obanor. The defender had been a part of the team from the outset and was captain at some point.

Following on the preparation scandal that went viral Dalung has vowed to discipline Siasia and other team officials who took to the media to vent their frustration with regards to perceived poor preparation for

G LO B A L S O C C E R ASSISTANT EDITOR KUNLE ADEWALE LAYOUT DESIGNER WAHAB AKINTUNDE THISDAY ON SATURDAY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE THISDAY NEWSPAPERS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE

Siasia with the Africa Youth Championship trophy

the Olympic.

According to a press statement issued by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Anibeze, Dalung, who is in the USA to visit the U-23 football team before heading for the Olympics, said officials who violate code of their profession would be sanctioned.

Dalung frowned at the camp's conditions and welfare of the players, with the statement adding that the ministry was not carried along in line with approved training and camping programmes for the Games.

“There is no doubt that the ministry was not considered while plans were being made for the Olympic football team. Nevertheless, we shall intervene to remedy the situation. I have appealed to the captain to assume control of the team and restore sanity.

“For officials who decided to violate the code of their profession and take to media rampage(sic) to secure cheap blackmail, their conduct will definitely be measured with existing rules. We have decided to restore sanity and discipline in Team Nigeria. We shall stop at nothing to sanction any conduct that is not within the code of Rio operations. All federations are hereby directed to stick to the rules.”

The team's inability to prepare well and other discouraging circumstances surrounding their departure to Rio – as they are expected to land in Rio less than 48 hours to their first match – may hamper their success.

Meanwhile, the team arrived just hours before their opening Rio 2016 match after being delayed because their plane was too small. "The players were uncomfortable with the size of the plane," team media officer Timi Ebikagboro said.

He said they would leave on a bigger plane and arrive in time for kick-off against Japan. "The Nigerian government stepped in," he added.

"The players have been assured of adequate medical care on the plane. It's been challenging but most importantly we will be ready for the first game."

Their flight is set to depart at 1200GMT for the seven-hour flight to Manaus, where their Group B opener kicks off just 13 hours later.

The squad had originally been stranded in Atlanta because of a problem that seemed to be caused by money having to go through different bank accounts and currency conversions.

"The money paid by the sports ministry for the charter flight did not hit airline's account on Tuesday so they refused to fly the team to Brazil," a source close to the NFF said.

"It is a cumbersome exercise but they should have started the process much earlier, which NFF was pointing out. This issue has nothing to do with the NFF," the source explained to BBC Sport.

One of the players explained to the BBC on Wednesday: "We've been told to get ready to fly out in few hours but that's been the story since last week."

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How Nigeria Created History in 1996

O

n August 3, 1996, Nigeria made history as the first African nation to become Olympic football champions at the Atlanta Games.

For Taribo West, the former Auxerre, AC Milan and Inter Milan defender, that 3-2 triumph over Argentina in the final is still fresh in his memory.

"The Olympics in 1996 is one of the most fantastic periods in my career," West reminisces to BBC Sport.

"We had a team that could match any in the world."

West says the build-up to the Games, under the guidance of Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere, was ideal despite being beaten by Togo, in Lagos, in their final pre-Olympic friendly before travelling to the USA. "Before the Olympics, we were well prepared in the USA. We were not distracted by the usual things we encounter back home in Nigeria, where family and friends can come and visit us in camp," he remembers.

"We were in a very remote place and we were very focused on the task at hand. Jo Bonfrere's preparation of the team was excellent."

After their opening 1-0 win over Hungary and a subsequent 2-0 victory over Japan, the West Africans lost 1-0 to Brazil in their final Group D match in Orlando, Florida.

With a 2-0 win over Mexico in the quarter-finals, the "Dream Team", as the Nigerians were nicknamed back home, collided with the Brazilians once again, in what was an epic semi-final.

The 31 July encounter is one that West, renowned for his dreadlocks and robust defending, will never forget.

After going 3-1 down in the first half, with Brazil's Flavio Conceicao scoring in the game's very first

minute, the Nigerians were in a particularly tough spot.

"We knew that in the first half of that game, we had played very poorly," West admitted.

"But the key to our comeback in the second half was our extraordinary determination.

"The voice of the leaders came up in the dressing room. We won that match in the dressing room.

"Fortunately, we had Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh and Uche Okechukwu. It was a big advantage for us."

Victor Ikpeba, the AS Monaco striker who was voted as Africa's top player a year later, reduced the tally in the 78th minute.

But when Jay-Jay Okocha blew the opportunity to draw level, fluffing a penalty with just minutes left on the clock, the match seemed well and truly over for Nigeria.

That feeling, however, was not in the mind of Nwankwo Kanu, the two-time African Footballer of the Year.

The former Ajax, Inter and Arsenal striker scored the equaliser in the 90th minute and displayed uncanny presence, agility and finesse to score the winner four minutes into extratime, sending the Eagles' bench into delirium.

After such a dramatic victory against the team of Bebeto, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo, which had won the World Cup only two years before, West says the Nigerians were certain they had a golden date with destiny, in the final against Argentina, at the Sanford stadium in Athens, Georgia.

"There was something in our spirit that made us realise that we going to win, although we didn't know how," West recalls.

"As soon as Argentina got the first goal, we were not discouraged. Amunike was able to give us the winning strike.

"When [Italian referee Pierluigi] Collina blew that whistle, I just collapsed on the field and knew my dream had come true.

"My (gold) medal in is the bank overseas. It is something to show to my children."

Mourinho

Mourinho Begins United Journey with Community Shield English football’s traditional season opener takes place this weekend as Manchester United take on Leicester City in the Community Shield at Wembley. While shock title winners Leicester, will be looking to show the crowd just why they were crowned Champions, whereas fans will also get the first competitive glimpse of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. There will be plenty on offer for fans of both sides, as well as the neutrals.

T

Since wining gold at the 1996 Olympics Nigeria claimed silver at the 2008 Games in Beijing

his weekend will see Mourinho’s first competitive game in charge of Manchester United.

Whilst heralded as a cult hero at Chelsea, all eyes will be focused on how his side sets out and performs against Leicester City.

A well-renowned tactical genius he may well be, but it’s going to be a difficult game for Jose to prepare for. Does he sit cautiously on the counter-attack, like he favours to do, despite Leicester City playing the

same way? Or does he go for the kill to try and exploit Leicester’s “inexperience” on the big stage?

Whatever system he chooses, it will offer fans an insight into just what Manchester United are capable of this season.

Ex-tinkerman Claudio Ranieri led Leicester City to the most unlikely title victory last season, and this weekend’s game at Wembley will be fans’ first opportunity to see how they plan to defend their crown.

Despite their inexperience on this stage, Ranieri will be confident at

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Mourinho's Community Shield Record With Sunday's game against Leicester City marking Mourinho's fifth Community Shield clash, below is a look at how he's got on in the four previous encounters…

2005 Community Shield: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea A brace by Didier Drogba was enough to give Mourinho's Chelsea victory at the Millennium Stadium. The win was Mourinho's first and to date only - victory in the competition.

Mourinho said: "It's always nice to win and we go home with a smile on our face but this has no consequence on the Premiership."

What happened next? Chelsea made a formidable start to the defence of their Premier League crown, winning their first nine games and sealing the title with two games to spare.

2006 Community Shield: Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea New signing Andriy Shevchenko scored on his Chelsea debut but Peter Crouch's late goal won it for Liverpool. Mourinho and Rafa Benitez did not shake hands afterwards.

Mourinho said: "I know my face is not always a very nice face. I am aggressive and so on, but do not always make me the bad boy."

What happened next? Chelsea lost their first away game of the Premier League season to Middlesbrough and, though they recovered well, were unable to defend their crown.

2007 Community Shield: Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea (Man Utd won 3-0 on pens) Florent Malouda's goal cancelled out Ryan Giggs' opener for Manchester United but Mourinho's Chelsea failed to find the net with any of their three penalties in the shootout.

Mourinho said: "The season starts on Saturday and we didn't lose the game itself."

What happened next? Chelsea edged past Birmingham in their Premier League opener but amid off-field issues Mourinho departed in September after a run of one win in five games.

2015 Community Shield: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea Arsene Wenger got a first win over Mourinho as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's goal decided it in Arsenal's favour. The two managers did not shake hands at the end of the game.

Mourinho Begins United Journey with Community Shield Mourinho said: "I expected the lack of sharpness. It's normal."

What happened next? Chelsea lost three of their first five Premier League debuts for both Zlatan Ibrahimovic games and never recovered. Mourinho was sacked in December with the keeping his players grounded, just and Henrik Mkhitaryan. It’s hard not team one point above the drop zone. as he did during the title run-in last to talk about Zlatan these days, and season. Will the Italian stick to their after his bicycle kick finish against Conclusion deadly counter-attacking football?

Galatasaray, all fans will be watching Mourinho's only Community Shield victory preceded a march to the Or will he try to control games to see what magic he conjures up this Premier League title, while the three defeats did not. Moreover, the Pormore? No matter what, the Leicesweekend (if any). tuguese was out of job within months on two of those occasions. Nobody ter City players will play with a Leicester have added in all areas is expecting such drama again, win or lose on Sunday, but Mourinho's smile on their faces this weekend. in preparation for their title defence. history suggests victory would be the more positive omen for what's to Undoubtedly one of their key Ron-Robert Zieler was signed from come. players last season, Leicester will Hannover to offer Kasper Schmeichel be without Kante this weekend. serious competition in goal, but it Mourinho also knows the importo settle for playing in midfield this The tireless midfielder moved to seems as though the Danish keeper season, and this weekend’s game tance of starting a campaign well, Chelsea in July, leaving a huge gap will keep his place in the side this will give us a clue about where with a poor pre-season with Chelsea to fill in their midfield. weekend. Spanish defender Luis Mourinho wants to play him. last summer sowing the seed for his A one man team Leicester are Hernandez arrived from Sporting The weekend’s fixture is set to be eventual dismissal. certainly not, but he will be a huge Gijon, with Mendy coming in from a great opening game to the season, A recent 4-1 humbling at the miss for the side. However, Ranieri Nice for around £15million. and will be gloriously well received hands of Borussia Dortmund in the will have a number of options on However, Leicester’s main signing as fans usher in the beginning of the International Champions Cup was hand to replace Kante. Nampalys this window has been winger Ahmed new football season. not exactly ideal preparation for the Mendy joined from Nice earlier Musa. The speedy Nigerian winger For many United fans the Comchallenges that lie ahead and the Poron in the window, and could slot arrived from CSKA Moscow with a munity Shield will be their first tuguese trainer will hope his side’s straight into Kante’s vacant posilot of hype and excitement surround- chance to see the new faces in the performances are much improved by tion. ing him, and fans may get their first club’s iconic red colours and assess the time the Community Shield rolls Other than new signing Mendy, glimpse of the attacker this weekend. their ability to fit into the current around.

Andy King, Gökhan Inler or Matty Despite being club captain, it looks squad. Ibrahimovic in particular Should United start the season James could all also be given a as though Rooney could have a battle should excite the supporters and well, most will anticipate and chance. However, regardless of on his hands for a starting role in dream of a Premier League title provide a predatory edge in the who comes in, the Leicester City Mourinho’s side. challenge, with the bookmakers final third that was missing for the side will miss the energy and work Despite Mourinho claiming he will majority of 2015-16. placing Mourinho’s men as second rate from Kante. play upfront, Rooney has massive The Swede is a proven winner favourites to be crowned English Both teams have made considercompetition in the form of Ibrahichampions in 2016-17. and will want to start his time at able investment in their sides over movic and Anthony Martial. In most United with a trophy, while most However, lifting silverware and the transfer window, and neither cases, competing with Zlatan does not bookmakers have the former getting a good run out against seem to be finished just yet. end well. And, after England’s poor Paris Saint-Germain striker as third Leicester will be the first step in what Manchester United’s new signperformances at the Euro’s, Rooney favourite to top the Premier League promises to be an exciting and hopeings will obviously be the biggest has not done himself many favours. goalscoring charts this season, at fully successful campaign at Old talking points this weekend, as The England captain may well have 10-1.

Trafford. the game may see competitive Ranieri

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

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GLOBAL SOCCER\\OTHER SPORTS

Skoro delivering one of the deciding punches on Christmas during the GOtv Boxing Night 8 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos

Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank, Segun Agbaje and the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun handing over the trophy and the cash prize of one million Naira to the captain of Alamuwa Grammar School, winners of the 2016 GTBank/Ogun State Principal's Cup (boys category)

Okoku's Foundation Donates Items to IDP Kids in Jos Still fresh from spoiling indigent village school kids in Delta State with food packs and drinks, the Paul Okoku's Greater Tomorrow Children Foundation has continued to carry out its charity works by donating relief materials to children at the Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Jos, Plateau State.

He was accompanied by the ambassadors of GTCF, exinternationals, Dahiru Sadi (MFR), Baba Otu Mohammed, Sylvester

Ekoja and the protocol officer, Nigerian National Assembly, Abuja, Alhaji Khalifa Labaran Mohammed.

The donation was done to The House of Recab, which runs the children home and is run by Mr.Sam Akaakaa The dust from the foundation's trip to Ndokwa Local Government to celebrate Children's Day and World Hunger Day with pupils of Igbe Ogume Primary School

is yet to settle as the kids are still counting their lucky stars with such an august visit from the foundation founded by exinternational Paul Okoku.

With a mission statement to help less-privileged children in Nigeria and in diaspora to achieve their maximum potentials by empowering them to create a brighter future through hunger relief, medical programs, education, sport activities and mentoring, the

Greater Tomorrow Foundation has since it was launched in Abuja a couple of years ago been delivering on its set objectives.

After doing charity works in Lagos and Delta States, the foundation last week took its humanitarian train to Jos, Plateau State, where it donated relief items to 207 children displaced because of the unrest and insurgency in northern Nigeria, particularly the north-east.

Alamuwa Grams Win Ogun State GTBank Principals’ Cup Alamuwa Grammar School, Ado Odo, Ota on Tuesday at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Abeokuta, defeated Methodist Comprehensive College, 2-1 in a highly competitive encounter watched by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and the Managing Director-CEO of GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje.

In the female category earlier played at the same venue, a scintillating performance by Olajumoke Abideen propelled defending champions, Muslim High School, Isolu, to a 3-2 victor over hard fighting Iganmode Grammar School, Ota. Abideen scored her school’s first and third goal in the first

half, with Suliat Adeniji scoring the second. But two goals from Adeola Failat were not enough to save Iganmode from defeat.

The champions in both the male and female schools were rewarded with the sum of N1,000,00.00, while the first, second and third runners-up were given N750,000.00, N500,000.00 and N350,000,00

respectively.

Commenting on the significance of the competition in Nigeria’s educational framework Agbaje believes “the competition paves the way for youths to cultivate their sporting talents, while fostering and building a healthier lifestyle at a critical stage in their lives”.

Lagos State Adopts Monopoly as Sport Lagos government achieved another milestone in sports when it approved Monopoly as one of the sporting activities in the state.

The birth of Monopoly in Lagos is a partnership between Lagos State Sports Commission and Bestman Games. According to the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Deji Tinubu, who is also the Special Adviser on Sports to the Governor of Lagos State, many people know about Monopoly but they have not

really capture it the way Bestman Games is about to bring it to the limelight in Lagos.

He said that the philosophy behind Monopoly is in line with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s vision on sports where he wants to create opportunity for every child to engage in sports, while the government will provide the enabling environment with active collaboration with the private sector.

He said: “I want to officially announce that Monopoly is now

a recognized sport in Lagos State.”

To the CEO of Bestman Games, Mrs Mini Akinkugbe, Monopoly began its in road into Lagos in December 2012, saying “we gathered at the imposing City Hall on Catholic Mission Street for the launch of the City of Lagos Edition of Monopoly by the former Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. It was the first African city edition of Hasbro’s World Famous board game and we are

deeply proud that the Mega City of Lagos was honoured with that special status. Our company, Bestman Games is the African distributor of customized edition of Monopoly.

She revealed that a tournament tagged City of LagosU-17 Monopoly Championship will hold on 17 September where no fewer than 2,000 students from 100 schools from both private and public will vie for the position of Lagos State champion.

GOtv Boxing: Skoro Eyes Kakembo Rematch Waidi “Skoro” Usman, winner of the best boxer award at GOtv Boxing Night 8, has expressed readiness to fight Uganda’s Edward Kakembo, who beat him to the African Featherweight title at GOtv Boxing Night 6 last December.

Skoro, who won the

N1million cash prize for the best boxer on account of his defeat of David Ekpeyong said he is in the right shape to beat Kakembo and claim the continental title.

“I’m ready for Kakembo.

He will see a different Skoro whenever we meet. I’m fitter and I have worked on the

gaps in my boxing. Kakembo will fall,” he said.

On being adjudged the best boxer, Skoro said his gratitude goes to his fans, who cheered him all through his fight with Ekpeyong.

“My fans cheered me nonstop and I thank them for believing in me despite the

fact that I lost the chance to win the African featherweight title to Edward Kakembo of Uganda in December.

“I intend to repay their trust in me by beating Kakembo anytime there is a rematch. There will be no hiding place for him,” he boasted.

Ikeja Golf Club Celebrates Late Ibru Members of Ikeja Golf Club have joined Delta State and millions of other Nigerians in paying glowing tributes to the late former Governor of Delta State, Olorogun Felix Ibru, who was laid to rest on Wednesday at his home town.

In a press release signed by the Captain of the club; Akin Areola, he describe the late Ibru as a man with vision whose contribution to the growth of Ikeja Golf Club cannot be easily forgotten, saying his demise is a big

loss to the golfing community, especially members of Ikeja Golf club.

‘He was a great golfer, a lover of our great club and anytime time Ibru was in Lagos he must visit the club and when he visits we enjoy his company. His fatherly advice, his gentle nature and above all his love for the game of golf are some of the memories we will miss most in him’ Areola said.

Areola added that even when the former governor could no longer play golf as

he used to, he still manages to walk round the course enjoying what he described as the ‘fruit of his labour’.

Olorogun Ibru, the captain explains further, was one of the founding fathers of the club in 1968 and remained a faithful member until his death.

Before his demise, the distinguished Senator Felix Ibru was a Trustee of the Club and has contributed immensely towards the development of the club, as well as fostering unity among its members.

To show his love for the club even after his death, a cheque was received by the club as a voluntary donation towards the development of the club.

While wishing him a peaceful rest, the Captain on behalf of the Trustees, Management and members of Ikeja Golf Club pray that the almighty will give those he left behind the fortitude to bear the loss.

A yearly golf tournament is also being instituted in honour of the great golfer.

Rio Olympics 2016

Russia Still Together At a time when competitors should be making finishing touches to their Olympic preparations, Russia's athletes have had a very different build-up to Rio 2016.

Claims of state-sponsored doping, subsequent bans and appeals have meant some athletes arriving in Rio unsure whether they will be competing when the Games open.

Despite this two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, who will represent Russia in tennis, said that the Russian team is "more united than ever".

"I think we come all together and singing the national anthem today, it was a great atmosphere," she told BBC World Service Sport.

"Definitely we try to prove that we deserve it and we are one of the best nations in the world. I think it is very important that this political situation hopefully doesn't touch us and we become even more stronger."

'We are a clean nation' Kuznetsova, who represented Russia at the 2004 and 2008 Games, said that it was "frustrating" for the athletes in Rio who still do not know if they will be allowed to compete.

"I believe we are a clean nation and we all try to do our best each day," she said. "We work really hard to achieve a place to be in the Olympic Games and represent our country.

"Tennis is different to sport. We have our Grand Slams and we have our sport but still the Olympics is very important for us. I feel, for example, very sorry for athletes who compete for their life just to be in an Olympics and they couldn't come, and they deserve to come. "The athletes try to be stronger and become better and help everybody. Hopefully more athletes that deserve will compete."

Reception from other athletes A number of British athletes were angry at the decision not to ban Russia from competing in Rio, while British IOC member Adam Pengilly said the Russian federation had "mocked" the Olympic movement.

However, Kuznetsova said that she and the athletes had experienced a "great atmosphere" so far in Rio. "I think anything we are going to get, support or opposite, it is just going to bring us together and stronger," she continued.

"I didn't feel any reaction from other countries. I feel like we are united. We are here, we deserve a place to be here. "I just miss half of the team that we are missing. The rest is great."

Orsu L/gTalent Hunt Season 2 Underway All is now set for the season 2 of the Orsu Local Government Area Development Union Lagos branch organised Grassroot talent hunt and Football competition billed to kick off this Sunday 7th of August 2016.

Tagged 'Akwuago' 2016,the competition which is open to all autonomous communities in Orsu Local Government Area in Imo State but resident in Lagos is designed to showcase the abundant talents in the Local Government Area.

Speaking at the draws ceremony,the Chairman Local Organising Committee ,Chief Okwuchukwu Okafor said the season 2 will be bigger and better and that the success recorded in season 1 will be improved upon this year.

While the President General of the Union,Chief Raymond Okoligwe announced that the Union will not only reward the winners but will also support exceptional talents discovered during the tournament.

He added that the event have surpassed all expectations and that it will be permanent feature of the Unions program in Lagos."When we started this last year,we wanted to provide a platform for all indigenes of the various autonomous communities resident in Lagos to fraternize,we never knew that it was going to be such a huge success.Indeed,this years semifinal and final will be played at the Local Government Headquarters in Awo Idemili in December."

Dignitaries expected at the opening ceremony includes the Commissioner for Sports Imo State, Hon Rodney Ajaelu, Member Representing Orsu in Imo House of Assembly ,Hon Uche Agabiga, Orsu LGA Chairman,Hon Peter Clinton Iheajiagwa and Patrons and Grand Patrons of the various Town Unions in the Local Government resident in Lagos The football field of the Lagos State Polytechnic is the venue for the opening match when Okwu Etti from Awo Idemili tackle Amazu at noon and immediately after it will be Amankwo against Okwu Amarihe.

Other teams participating in the tournament includes Eziawa,Amaruru,Ufuruaku and Amaebu

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AUGUST 6, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

AFRICA PLAYS

with KENNETH EZAGA 0807 0530 677, zigi199@yahoo.com

NPFL TITLE RACE

C’mon Rangers! Let’s Win this Thing for the Old Order The Nigerian Professional Football League is just 11 weeks from the finish line and I am unabashedly rooting for my enemies Rangers International FC, who provisionally lead the table with 10 games to go, to finally lift the crown for the first time in 32 years! Yep, for some of us the NPFL goes that far back and even farther back. Call us the old order, we were the people who slept overnight in stadiums to watch our Nigerian clubs play crucial games, we were the people who rooted for our clubs as they fought battles for the ages, we are the people who have a thousand stories to tell about the Nigerian league and clubs. Back then four clubs were generally seen as the pillars of the league. There was the no-nonsense Rangers, the gentlemen from the ancient city of Ibadan - IICC Shooting Stars, the noisy Stationary Stores of Lagos and the sexy young athletes from Benin City, my dear club, Bendel Insurance FC. On our day we crushed Rangers, dismissed IICC and beat Stationary Stores in their own backyard. Sadly however, the old order has been in the shadows for decades. The last time any won the league was 18 years ago! When Shooting Stars claimed their fifth title in 1998. Since then some ‘small boys’ courtesy of support from their state governments have dominated us. So please pardon me for supporting Rangers, I want the old order restored and Rangers triumphing this season may spark that.

I

made a new friend at the Lagos Country Club recently. This gentleman is Dr. Arinze Onubogu and he is the chairman of the tennis section. A general argument about who should coach the Super Eagles of today somehow morphed into the local league. I was pleasantly shocked to find out how up-to-the-minute he was in the matters of the NPFL at a time Nigerians have become more European about the European leagues than the Europeans themselves. We dived into enthralling stories about the times when our clubs ruled the roost. He being a staunch Rangers fan meant I could not resist ribbing him about how we thrashed them 3:0 in the Challenge Cup final in 1978. It is a popular tale between supporters of both clubs, and he had his own payback stories.

It was fun. It is easy to feel the passion when the old order talks about Nigerian football, our Nigerian clubs were the centers of our universe. We are the ones with the sort of compelling stories the NPFL needs to grow more popular with modern day Nigerians.

We need that at this time, we need the league to attract more sponsors, to attract more fans and consequently to create new jobs and wealth in our stricken economy.

This is not to say I do not value the contributions of the new order championed by the likes of Enyimba International and Kano Pillars, after all Enyimba now hold the record for the most NPFL titles won, while Pillars recently won three straight titles.

Both have been utterly dominant in recent years, claiming 11 of the last 15 titles, and both are in contention for the crown this year. Still, when men were men and women were won by men who deserved them, Enyimba were upstarts and Pillars were not even born. It would be fascinating to see the old order rise again and probably for us to engineer a healthy rivalry between the old and the new. It would be riveting and I would desperately want Bendel Insurance to be part of this.

Bendel Insurance FC as a campaign issue A gubernatorial election campaign is actually ongoing in Edo State and I will like to call on all Bendel Insurance fans to make the club a campaign issue. Maybe because I have only ever loved this club or maybe because of the indomitable spirit and swag of your typical Bendelite, Edo-Delta, this is one club I believe has an unbelievable marketing potential if properly tended.

This club belongs to the Nigerian top-flight and nowhere else. It is insulting to see us struggle in the lower division. Thankfully we lead our group in the NNL and, fingers crossed, could return to the top-flight next season, but this is not cast in stone and we have waited too long. We need to have the

Enugu Rangers

candidates tell us what their plan for the club is, and if they do not believe that the government should fund the club, then they should midwife a process of getting it into the hands of a credible investor.

This would be great for the club for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the NPFL is growing in popularity and the sooner we are back on board the better. Success in the increasingly richer league would help put many more people to work in the state. Young talents will get better attention, infrastructure will be upgraded, beverages companies, farmers (who produce the food we eat when we enjoy our sports), TV and radio broadcasters, the print media, medical professionals, lawyers, agents et al, are all players that can benefit. I doubt it can be disputed that any event or phenomenon unites our typical divided peoples more than football. The upsides are many, but you have to play big.

Dream big people – the world is putting billions into football The leadership of the NPFL recently

signed a partnership deal with their Spanish La Liga counterparts and that is a great start for any of our clubs looking to go global. You just need a good brand – like Bendel Insurance of course – with a rich history and wide fan base, then you need to be in the Nigerian top-flight. The old order leads in this and can attract some serious investments from overseas. They can solicit for partnerships with global brands like Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Malaga etc.

Those clubs would put down some money annually in aid; send over technical teams to assist in talent development, coaching and management, and all they would require is the right of first refusal to your best talents. In a country that has produced global stars like Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Sunday Oliseh, George Finidi, Mikel Obi, Kelechi Iheanacho, etc, surely there must be rich overseas clubs betting on finding more of such.

Today a single player is about to cost more than 100m pounds (almost N50b) in transfer fees, surely investing about

five million pounds yearly to search for a clutch of new big Nigerian talents would sound like a sensible investment to these hypercompetitive overseas clubs. And even if you cannot interest the Europeans, woo the Chinese. They have got billions to burn and are paying silly money for players past they sell-by dates.

The Chinese have plenty of business in Africa and are looking to strengthen their hold on the continent. Before this fever cools, jump in now and partner one of the Chinese Super League clubs. We may even be fortunate to get one of those wealthy Chinese tycoons to put up what he may consider peanuts into Bendel Insurance, for instance, and take us to the top of Africa.

Billions of dollars are crisscrossing the globe yearly in football investments, but we are blind to these because we are lost in the English Premier League and other European league, basically playing the role of cheerleaders. It is madness, because we easily have the dynamics to be far and away the best and richest league in Africa.

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JUNETHE 16, 2011 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER THISDAY, SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

FAIRGROUND

Vlisco Boutique Opening

with

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

K

unmi Abdul is the Chief Executive Officer, LKA Fabrics Limited. She runs the popular Vlisco Boutique and, recently, she opened another branch at the Centro Mall, Lekki. The Vlisco Boutique, which has five major branches in highbrow areas in Lagos and Abuja, was established in November 2012. According to Kunmi, she has always dreamt of having a fabric boutique for Vlisco because of the brilliant colours displayed.

The Lekki branch, which was declared opened by Hon. Lola Abiola-Edewor, witnessed an impressive turnout of guests and other stakeholders in the fashion industry. Among them were the Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun; the General Manager, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Mojisola BakareAiseru; Mrs. Toyin Ayeni; and a host of other prominent guests.

L-R: Kunmi Abdul, Mr. Wole AKinleye, Mr Lekan Abdul and Mrs Akinleye

General Manager, Sterling Bank, Mrs Moji BakareAiseru

Hon. Lola Edewor

Models

Mr and Mrs. Folorunsho Mustapha

Mr and Mrs Akin Akindubi

The Abuja Housing Show Series for Nigerian Real Estate Sector

T

he Abuja housing show is an annual series for Nigerian Real Estate sector The award has grown to become the biggest industry award scheme since it started in 2006 – The award is organised by Fesadeb Communications ltd The biggest and largest housing show in West Africa took place recently in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Five governors and companies bagged various awards during the event held at the prestigious International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja which had The Honourable Senator Bukola Saraki and

his excellency the honourable minister of works and housing Babatunde Raji Fashola as key note speakers.

The recipients were awarded for pursuing mass housing policies and bringing innovations to the construction sector. The governors honoured include: Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, Umar Ganduje of Kano, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Simon Lalong of Plateau and Mohammed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa.

In the companies’ category, Sungold Estate Limited stood out as it bagged the Fastest Growing Estate Company of the Year award. See photos from the event below.

L-R Amarachi Iwuanyanwu ( Chairman SunGold Estate Limited), Reverend Ugochukwu Chime REDAN President

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

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FAIRGROUND

STYLVO Launches Giveaway with 30 African Brands

I

ntroducing STYLVO, the highly anticipated official website dedicated ultimately to African fashion and beauty industries. The STYLVO launch is marked by a one month giveaway which began on July 4, featuring over 30 Brands representing 13 ountries within Africa and the Diaspora.

STYLVO also announced the launch of its official website www.stylvo.com, a digital destination for top-notch and inspiring content from all over Africa and the Diaspora, focused on fashion, beauty and lifestyle.

STYLVO is dedicated to empowering and supporting the African fashion, beauty and lifestyle industry through: up-to-date information; interviews; events; and workshops that help both brands and enthusiasts grow.

“STYLVO’s presence in the African fashion, beauty and lifestyle industry is set to be a defining moment in the digital media space.

It is an outcome of a need to harmonize and represent the often-ignored and undermined African fashion and beauty industry. Thus, I sought to create a platform where fashion and beauty brands, enthusiasts, influencers and

bloggers from across African and Diaspora can connect, share and grow,” said Elizabeth Laiza Kalu, STYLVO’s founder.

The Giveaway The STYLVO launch is commemorated by a giveaway with over 30 brands, representing 13 countries. “We are being supported by brands such as Osei Duro (Ghana), Summerheart (South Africa), Ziko Afrika (Kenya), Oriki (Nigeria), Zazaii (Nigeria), Kahina Giving Beauty (Morocco), Taibo Bacar (Mozambique), Tina Lobondi (Congo) and much more. There will be one brand giveaway per day throughout the month of July.”

A true representation of African and Diaspora fashion, beauty and lifestyle industry, STYLVO is not focused on one country; it is focused on the entire African continent and the Diaspora. For the first time, the global curiosity about the undeniable creativity buzzing within Africa and Africans across the world can be satisfied. The STYLVO offering is a visual and beautifully written gateway into the daily happenings of Africans in Africa and in the Diaspora in places such as Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Mozambique, Angola, Morocco, Ghana, United States, United Kingdom,

Nigeria, France and everywhere.

Shop Africa “We want the world to Buy Africa...Created in Africa, Made by Africans, Inspired by Africa directly from Africans within Africa and across the World,” said Ginikachi Eloka, Lead Editor of STYLVO. This segment is dedicated to brands and provides the reader insight into various amazing African brands and their product offerings. Most importantly, readers are directed straight to the source in order to discover and also make a purchase.

The Shop Africa segment creates mini experience-focused posts to encourage people to shop African brands. “We are giving them incentives to buy, not just showing them products. We are also building connections between brands and their potential consumers.”

Shop Africa is going to be majorly focused on crafting content that engages, motivates and excites people to patronize African brands both within Africa and across the world.

STYLVO Connect STYLVO Connect serves as an educational platform for fashion and beauty entrepreneurs through founder stories, insightful interviews and free educational resources. It is also a

Elizabeth Kalu

platform where information on STYLVO organised workshops and conferences is displayed.

About STYLVO Launched in June this year, STYLVO is an online fashion community platform. “We curate the best of fashion, beauty and lifestyle news across the African continent through a team of creative and dedicated editors, in-house writers and contributors in order to keep our readers and followers in the loop about news and events shaping the ever evolving African fashion and beauty scene.

Kehinde Bankole Covers Independence Issue of Nolly Silver Screen

F

ast-rising Nollywood actress, model and musician, Kehinde Bankole is the cover girl for the Independence issue of Nolly Silver Screen magazine. The award-winning actress, who plays the role of Tawa in Kunle Afolayan’s blockbuster October 1, reveals that she shares some characteristics with her onscreen personality. “I am a strong man’s woman; I am only for that strong one.”

Kenny Banks, as she is fondly called added: “October 1 gave me the chance to live what would otherwise have remained an imagina-

tion of what it was like living in the old times, because yes, I often times have wondered.

It’s not about the volume of work, it was and still remains. Speaking about the Independence edition, Isabella Akinseye, Editor of Nolly Silver Screen said, “Our Independence edition coincided with the release of October 1. And we were lucky to speak to key cast members; Kehinde Bankole our cover girl, the film’s director Kunle Afolayan, Sadiq Daba and Demola Adedoyin. This edition is also special because it is also the first anniversary of the ninth issue of the monthly 40-page digital magazine also includes

interviews with Charles Novia, Daniel Etim Effiong, Walter Taylaur, Judith Audu, Ugoma Adegoke and Amarachi Onoh.”

Film critic Wilfred Okiche compiles a top 10 list of the best Nollywood films ever made.

Also featured in this edition are reports from the Nollywood Film Festival Germany, Nollywood E-Golden Awards, Abuja International Film Festival and the Arusha African film festival.

“Our readers can expect insightful articles, humorous cartoon, news, listings, red carpet fashion, competitions and much more in our Independence issue,” said Akinseye.

Temple Management Company Launches Full-service Talent Agency

T

he Temple Management Company (TMC) has announced the formation of a 360 management company which is poised to bridge the gap between the Nigerian corporate space and the burgeoning creative and entertainment sector.

At a time of rising global recognition of and demand for the work of Nigerian creative talents, the perennial challenge has been that to compete properly with their international counterparts, Nigerian creatives needed better branding, access and positioning.

Industry experts have also pointed out that brands have failed to maximise their potential because of the sub-par representation they currently get.

TMC, which began operations in March 2016, primarily in the entertainment, sports, media and art sectors, is set to change all that, and bring Nigerian talents to the same table with their international counterparts.

Incorporated in Nigeria with strong international affiliations across Africa, North America, and Europe, TMC was founded by serial investor and art aficionado, Idris Olorunnimbe.

The company set out with a mission “to continually improve on content, bridge the gulf between local talents and their foreign counterparts in line with international best practices,” he said, and that With a formidable team

parading some of the brightest young professionals in entertainment, fashion, arts, finance, law and media, TMC is fully prepped to deliver its objective to raise the profile of local talents.

Olorunnimbe, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer, sums up the TMC vision this way, “With the constant expansion of the entertainment industry and growth of sporting activities, our vision is to remain the leading African talent and event management outfit, representing the biggest talents in entertainment, sports, media, the arts and other relevant areas.”

Olorunnimbe added, “Our focus is now to expand the recruitment of agents to create a new enduring institution in this country.”

According to him, TMC would focus on the core functions of talent

representation but would, allied with corporate organisations, also provide a wide range of financial and advisory services, manage endorsement portfolios, and package bespoke events for domestic and international markets.

Within a short spell, TMC has already sent shock-waves into the industry by signing management deals with some of Nigeria’s biggest talents, including Nigeria’s biggest record label Mavin Records; renowned disc jockey DJ Jimmy Jatt; award-winning visual artist and writer Victor Ehikhamenor; media personality, Bunmi Davies; artist/ jeweller, Mode Aderinokun; and the doyenne of Nigerian broadcast media, Funmi Iyanda.

After signing the deal with TMC a few weeks ago, Mavin Records CEO, Don Jazzy, said, “We are stepping into the future with The Temple Management Company as they redefine creative talent management in Nigeria.”

The TMC board includes luminaries of Nigerian industry and enterprise such as Mr. Tunde Folawiyo and Mr. Ajibola Abudu. The diversity of the Executive team includes individuals who have worked with Nigeria’s leading law firm, Zenith Bank, Samsung, McDonalds, Nestle UK, Eurosport, the English Football Association, 234Next, the Lagos State Government and in the music industry, with LA Reid, Pharrell, Jamie Foxx and Sean ‘P Diddy’ Comb.

Kehinde Bankole

Port Harcourt Agog as Warri US Music Search 2016 Takes off

A

All is now set for the commencement of the second edition of the Warri’us Music Search.

This year, the organisers are targeting over 10,000 contestants. The event has already kicked off with the release of the registration forms.

As you read this, the Garden City of Port Harcourt is agog, as it is set to host the first auditions slated for September 2nd-3rd, 2016.

The forms are selling at the cost of N3,000 each at all Fidelity Bank branches in the South-South region and at Fidelity online marketplace, www. greenmall.ng and www.warrius. com. According to the organisers, the scope of Warrius 2016, which will climax on October 1 in Warri, Delta State, has been expanded to accommodate the six South-South states.

Zonal auditions will be held in Port Harcourt, Benin City, Calabar with the grand finale in Warri on October 1st. This year, the judges will include Trizonna McClendon, Emmy Award 2015 winner, who will be supported by other celebrity judges at the grand finale in Warri. Meanwhile, there will be a Nigerian

celebrity judge to represent each zone at auditions.

Warrius, is a brainchild of Autoserve Entertainment Centre boss, Mitaire ‘Mimi’ Okumagba.

According to him, the show, which offers N1m star prize alongside a music recording deal, is aimed at discovering the enormous talent imbued in several unprivileged youths residing in South-South Nigeria.

All finalists, Okumagba said, would also go home with consolation prizes which further serves as a platform to take the mind of the youths off crude oil wealth and focus on ways to harness their God-given potentials.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • August 6, 2016

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • August 6, 2016

FITNESS FILE

How to Stay Trim During Your Vacation

I

t’s time for that perfect summer getaway! A number of you have worked hard to get in shape to fit into that bikini, but what happens while you’re there. People come back from the summer break with many tales, good and bad, but what seems to be consistent is that they put on weight. So I’m going to give you some tips to maintaining and even improving your frame during this period.

The vacation getaway can be a healthy lifestyle’s greatest nemesis. For many, a vacation is used as an excuse to let go and throw away good habits. Restaurant dining, lounging and lazying about, late night snacks, the excessive consumption of alcohol and disrupted sleeping habits can all contribute to a vacation that leaves you more exhausted than before you left. For a vacation to be truly relaxing and rejuvenating, it is important to try to preserve some semblance of normalcy even while you are traveling.

Many individuals find that incorporating an exercise routine during their travel plans is a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle while still relaxing. In fact, because the body often responds negatively to drastic changes, the best way to rejuvenate and relax during a vacation is to continue with the exact same aerobic and weight lifting regiment during your travels. This can be very difficult if you don’t have access to weight lifting equipment or workout space.

Here are some simple steps you can follow to help you incorporate a healthy exercise routine into your travel plans Research the area you will be traveling to ahead of time. Determine whether or not there are any exercise facilities available for out-of-town visitors. Contact professional gyms and aerobic centers and inquire about weekend passes that may be available for visitors and tourists to purchase. With a pass like this, you can have full access to a workout facility during your vacation.

Carefully plan out your travel schedule and make note of any gaps in your itinerary that can be filled with an exercise

routine The best time to schedule an aerobic activity is in the morning. Because many travelers are busy either with business or pleasure during the day, the nighttime can be a difficult time to find the motivation to workout. Waking up just thirty minutes earlier and incorporating a quick aerobic exercise routine into your day can dramatically transform the rejuvenating effects of your vacation.

Pack equipment and information that will help you construct an exercise routine while on vacation While you may not be able to feasibly pack heavy weights, a pair of lightweight dumbbells can be very beneficial in a travel workout plan. Pack any of the following if it will also help you complete your workouts: a pair of running shoes, lightweight clothing for working out, a pedometer, a heart rate monitor, a small floor mat and an mp3 device or other portable music player if you prefer to workout with music.

Discuss your workout plans with a traveling partner Working out in pairs or groups is a far more effective way to ensure that you don’t put off your intended exercise routine. Keeping each other accountable will ensure that you follow through with your exercise goals while on vacation.

Pair an exercise routine with healthy eating while on vacation While it is tempting to throw caution and care to the wind and eat whatever you feel like, your exercise routine will be far more effective if you maintain a healthy diet while on vacation. Bring lightweight, non-perishable foods along with you if necessary. You can have them as snacks between meals, or as meal substitutes, particularly on the days when you’re en route to your next destination.

Research restaurants that cater to health-conscious diners. If you have food allergies, explore gluten free restaurant options in the places you’ll be visiting. If you eat a raw food diet, look for places to visit that accommodate your eating

The Edenlifestyle corner with

MAJE AYIDA

majeayida@edenlifenigeria.com www.edenlifenigeria.com, 07062614551 regime.

Be creative and think about different ways to exercise at your hotel Book rooms at a hotel that has a workout facility or a swimming pool.

When the exercise facility and pool are easily accessible, you will be much more likely to utilise these facilities to complete your exercise routine. Use the hallways and staircases of your hotel as a walking track if you prefer not spending time outdoors. Perform several circuits by crossing the hallways and walking up flights of stairs and then back down.

Keep your heart rate up for 20 to 30 minutes for an effective hotel exercise routine.

Choose sightseeing and tourist activities that require aerobic activity Opt for a walking or cycling tour rather than a tour bus to burn calories and incorporate aerobic activity into your vacation. Plan a day on your vacation completely devoted to an outdoor task such as hiking, cycling, mountain climbing or even all-day shopping. Take stairs instead of escalators and elevators.

These are merely suggestions, look online for more details on what to eat or avoid. If your hotel room doesn’t have a workout facility and you forget to bring a set of dumbbells, you can use bottles of water as an effective substitute. Perform several sets of 12 to 15 reps of exercises such as military presses and arm curls with filled bottles of water.

Always feel free to ask the hotel concierge about recommended walking or running paths in the vicinity of your hotel.

Have a great summer!

While you may not be able to feasibly pack heavy weights, a pair of lightweight dumbbells can be very beneficial in a travel workout plan. Pack any of the following if it will also help you complete your workouts: a pair of running shoes, lightweight clothing for working out, a pedometer, a heart rate monitor, a small floor mat and an mp3 device or other portable music player if you prefer to workout with music

AUGUST 6, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

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FASHION FILE

Otumemine 2016 Luxe Collection

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

FASHION FILE

By Azuka Ogujiuba azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

Luxe Collection

H

ouse of Couture designing, Otumemine, recently unveiled its new collection dubbed, ‘Luxe Collection’. The label which is known for its richly elegant ready-to-wear, couture and bridal pieces, stayed true to its design aesthetics in this collection made upof beautifully-embellished and hand-painted evening pieces that had taken the designer, Otumine Nelson Moore, three years to put together.

On 22nd May, 2016, the brand opened its Ikeja Flagship store on Oduduwa way, GRA, which will be exclusively selling its luxury pieces that are presently on display for viewing.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •AUGUST 6, 2016

WITH

MARKET PLACE

OMOLABAKE FASHOGBON 08033621009

Country Manager, InnJoo Mobile, Rakesh Rocque; Co-founder, TecSync Technology Co. Ltd., makers of InnJoo Mobile, Tim Chen; Special Guest of Honour and former CEO, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe; President, TecSync Technology, Jack Lee and Chairman on the occasion, Leo Stan Ekeh at the official launch of the InnJoo Max 3 phone at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja,Lagos.

L-R: Regional Manager, Mid-Belt-West Candel, Mr Jacob Olobayo; one of the Lucky Winners of Candel cleanfarm project, Mr Gambo Ajako; and Managing Director ,Candel,Mr. Emmanuel Kattie, at the presentation of gifts to Lucky winners in Lagos recently.

Firm to Operate Solar-powered Vehicle Assembly Plant Plans have been concluded by indigenous renewable energy company, Arthur Energy Technology limited, to build the nation’s first solar powered vehicle assembly plant in Akwa Ibom State.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the company Arthur Anthony Okeyika, N500 million has been set aside to actualise the dream in partnership with Akwa Ibom State Government.

Okeyika noted that the “green” market potential of Nigeria cannot be neglected especially with the present trend in the economy, hence the need for the latest development. “Fossil fuel as sole energy source for Nigerian cars, homes and industries is not a sustainable option if the conversation on nation building is to be taken seriously. We need an integrated solution to power our lives for

the future. At Arthur Energy Technology limited, we believe the solution is solar power”, he affirmed.

He explained that the company was consolidating its focus on solar power to attract local and foreign investment in Nigeria’s renewable energy market adding that the latest move was expected to generate over 20,000 direct and indirect employments

Yudala to Reward Shoppers as it Unveils Zero Gravity

BlackBerry Releases World’s Most Secure Android Phone

Composite retail outfit, Yudala, has announced plans to reward its customers as it officially unveils “Zero Gravity” , a multi-city digital entertainment concert instituted to celebrate customers’ loyalty in its one year of existence.

Billed to feature annually, the company hinted that efforts were being put together to make the inaugural edition of the megaconcert an unforgettable experience in the three hosting cities to include: Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, with a lot of surprise packages for attendees.

According to the company, a free pass would be offered to existing customers on the basis of purchases made from August 1, 2016 on its online platform or chain of experience stores nationwide while non customers who wish to experience the concert could obtain ticket at Yudala online or any of its experience stores in their preferred city of attendance.

Founder/Vice President of the firm, Prince Nnamdi Eke said: “For every purchase made from any of our platforms from August 1, shoppers will earn points and once they reach the purchase threshold for attendance, a notification will be sent informing them of this development. The customer will then get a chance to select his or her preferred city of attendance. Also, customers will be upgraded to VIP or VVIP status based on further purchases which may take them to the threshold for these categories.”

Describing the uniqueness of the show, Ekeh hinted that it would witness pure acoustics performances to be delivered with world-class digital musical equipment from New Concept Media Group.

“Unlike other entertainment events that have been hosted in the past, guest artistes comprising both headline and budding talents, will not perform their hit tracks from recorded tapes and CDs. Instead, we will be setting a new standard. All invited artistes and performing acts will perform their songs to perfectly synchronised beats from a live band manned by a crew of experienced and talented musical performers, beat makers and multi-instrumentalists.

Branded DTEK50, is BlackBerry’s second device running on android operating system after Priv, which was aimed at the high-end market.

Beautiful, cost-effective, and compact,DTEK50 is unarguably considered world’s most secured smartphone with key safety features like rapid security patches; DTEK by BlackBerry application which enable users to monitor and ascertain their security status; hardware root of trust which allows for tracking, verification and provisioning as well a secured boot process among others.

The just released, which is also BlackBerry’s thinnest device ever is fully equipped with android’s best, Marshmallow 6.0, and combines BlackBerry’s unique security, privacy and productivity in an all-touch design, at a price point said to be accessible to consumers and ideal for enterprise fleet deployment.

According to BlackBerry’s Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, Devices, Ralph Pini, the

new device which is programmed to encrypts users’ information, including businesses, critical and personal data such as pictures, videos and contacts had come to address the rising spate of cybercrime being carried out via smartphones.

“DTEK50 was designed to address the security and privacy needs of today’s uncompromising android users. Smart phones are increasingly being targeted for cyberattacks through tactics like malicious apps, scareware notifications and insecure Wi-Fi connections.

“We take our customers’ privacy seriously. That’s why we’re proud to have all the security and privacy functionality that’s built in our latest.

DTEK50 merges the unique security and connectivity features BlackBerry is known for, with the rich Android ecosystem”, Pini explained.

The device is presently available for pre-order at ShopBlackBerry.com in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and The Netherlands.

Online Market Gets New Entrant A new online marketplace, Complex Africa, has been launched in Lagos for entrepreneurs who wish to list their businesses and match them to buyers using brokers and business advisory companies.

Business Development Manager of the firm, Frederick Ereku noted that millions of small and medium business owners in Africa have little opportunities for exits in their businesses as well as limited room to scale, through the buying of other businesses.

He said “the lack of an exit culture in most SME’s makes businesses susceptible to death in Africa, many small and middle market companies in Africa go through

the business life cycle of startup, maturity and end in death, Reasons for this can vary from bankruptcy, retirement or death of business owner, tough competition or just simple loss of interest by the business owners.”

According to him, the new platform will tackle dearth of opportunities for exits in small and medium businesses across Africa where little merger and acquisition deals happen ,catalyse market as well as offer business brokers a one stop shop to carry out as many businesses as possible.

The site is launching with over 100 businesses already vetted and listed as well as brokers who have been pre-qualified.

for Akwa Ibom youths.

“As a continent, Africa only enjoys 1.4% of the 3,700 ‘Clean Development Mechanism’, CDM, projects worldwide and the only way to attract foreign direct investment in renewable energy is to create an enabling environment which will encourage international investors”, he concluded.

Euro Global Foods Announces New Brandy Lovers of brandy have more variants to choose from as Euro Global Foods and Distilleries Limited unveiled ‘St. Almanac Blended Cognac Brandy’, which hit the market recently.

Blended with finest imported cognac, along with grape brandy made from handpicked grapes, the new product has come to bridge the gap between Nigeria made brandy and imported ones.

Describing the new product, Managing Director of the firm, Manish Uniyal said, “St. Almanac is a premium drink that celebrates the age-long tradition of quality cognac.

It was carefully crafted and blended to give a distinctive taste that pairs well, local and foreign cuisines. We are thrilled to offer this luxury blend to discerning consumers who appreciate quality”.

According to the Sales Director of the company, Mr. Felix Aighobahi, Nigerians need not look further for an imported brandy as the just produced offered much more better than foreign ones.

“Our latest represents our desire to provide quality products to all class of Nigerians. We have quite a number of drinks for everyone for all occasions. These range from soft drinks to wines and spirits. The grapes used for this brandy are some of the finest hand-picked grapes from Europe. We are proud to say that St. Almanac is much better than some of the products currently being imported”, he vouched.

The product is already in selected stores and supermarkets. It will be made available nationwide by midAugust.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Budget Padding a Ruse; House Standing Rules Support Actions of Lawmakers Olaoluwakitan Babatunde

S

ince two weeks ago when the news of alleged budget padding first became public knowledge, till date, Nigerians have been treated to different versions of the story. What many did not, however, know is that even the House Standing Rules support the action of lawmakers, especially as relates to introduction of new projects into the budget proposal, as sent by the Executive arm.

The world over, the legislative arm, is primarily set up to carry out three main functions: One, to make laws for the good governance of the country. This includes Appropriation Acts or what is called power of string of the purse. Two, to oversight other arms of government in the spirit of checks and balance. Three, to approve certain appoints, such as Ministers, Ambassadors and oversee and regulate external affairs of the country.

Primarily, it is the sole responsibility of the legislature to appropriate funds for the country. This no doubt explains the shutting down of the US economy, once under Bill Clinton and twice under President Barrack Obama, following the absence of appropriations.

Instructively, in the process of working on the Budget proposal, as presented to the Legislative arm by the Executive arm, the lawmakers reserve the powers to alter such proposals, as they deem fit, as may be guaranteed by the country’s laws.

In Nigeria for instance, apart from Sections 80 and 81 the constitution, which guarantees the lawmakers the Powers to alter the Budget Proposals, Order 12 (6) of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, states clearly that “any Committee to which a Bill is committed shall have power to make such amendments therein as the Committee shall think fit, provided that every amendment shall be relevant to the subject matter of the Bill and to the subject of the Clause to which it relates; but if any such amendments shall not be within the title of the Bill, they shall amend the title accordingly, and shall report the same specially to the House.”

Interestingly, Order 12 (7) [1] of the same Standing Orders, further states that “any amendment proposed to the Bill of which notice has not been given shall be handed over to the Chairman in writing.” This Order, no doubt, supports members’ action on the 2016 Budget, as even the axed Appropriations Chairman, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, himself was emphatic when he said the Constitution allows members to do “insertions” while working on the Appropriations Bill.

The 2016 Budget, it was gathered, was worked on, applying the Rules of the House and in accordance with the Constitution.

However, it is the same process, the erstwhile chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House, Jibrin, is now faulting, describing it first, as “Padding,” and later as

Hon. Yakubu Dogara “Insertions.”

Ironically, in all his allegations, nowhere did he say what the House did was illegal or unconstitutional; the only thing he kept saying in recent times was that the insertions were “senseless.”

Hear him: “There were a lot of insertions in the budget and I raised the issue with the Speaker, but he did nothing. Although the Constitution allows us, it doesn’t say there should be senseless insertions. I don’t believe it was padding, but I believe it was a case of insertions,” Jibrin, had told Channels Television, last Sunday, during an interview.

Responding on the same medium, on the same day, however, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, insisted that as far as the budget consideration was concerned, Jibrin failed the House and was only looking for a scapegoat. What he probably did not add was that long before Jibrin’s removal, pressure had mounted on Speaker Dogara to remove him for allocating projects worth about N4 billion to his Bebeji/Kiru Federal Constituency, to the detriment of other members of the House.

As a matter of fact, in an executive session held on Wednesday June 15, the session was said to have turned a rowdy one, with lawmakers openly rejecting the Kano lawmaker’s continued stay as Chairman of Appropriations Committee.

Sources at the session had revealed that lawmakers, who were aggrieved over the lopsidedness in the spread of constituency projects, even accused some principal officers of being selfish in the spread of projects that should have been spread across other constituencies and states, but which were restricted to the States of these Principal

Officers.

Specifically, Deputy Speaker, Hon. Yusuf Lasun and House Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, were singled out in this particular instance.

“Gbajabiamila and Lasun were greedy.

While other Principal Officers, tried to assist members, by sharing part of their project envelopes with them, Lasun and Gbajabiamila, cornered all theirs for their Constituencies alone. Go and check the budget, all you see is Surulere, Surulere, Surulere, where the leader comes from, same goes for Lasun, who is from Osun State, whereas, Dogara, even shared part of his, to members who are not from Bauchi State, or even from the north.

“Under Tambuwal, it was the same thing.

He used to assist members, outside his constituency, same thing for David Mark, as Senate President. And so when the projects are executed, the members and by extension, the Principal Officers, who made it possible, get the credit. The envelope system is such that you are given limit of amount, within which you cannot exceed in nominating projects. Same thing goes for ministries and MDAs,” one of the Committee Chairmen, who is very close to the Principal Officers, volunteered.

Before 2007, the Nigerian lawmakers, while exercising their powers, influence one or two projects to be done within their immediate localities. But when late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was sworn in, in 2007, he met with lawmakers and proposed the idea of a Zonal Intervention fund, rather than putting micro projects in the Budget proposal. He gave an envelope of N100 billion, out of the year’s over Three Trillion Budget proposal.

According to one of the lawmakers, a Committee Chairman, who incidentally, is close to all the Principal Officers, but who does not want his name in print, the amount is usually shared on 40-60 bases, between the House and the Senate. This intervention funds, he continued, are not money given to the lawmakers to spend, rather it provides an avenue for the lawmakers to impact positively on the lives of their constituents by nominating projects that would benefit them.

He further revealed that the envelopes are shared equally, among the States within the zone, adding that the only zone that slightly has an advantage over other zones is the South-East, which has five States.

It was gathered it was the avenue the Deputy Senate President cashed on to make the award of contract for the upgrading of Enugu into an international airport possible.

He was said to have reasoned with the Enugu State Caucus of the National Assembly that it was more beneficial to aggregate all their envelopes and persuade Yar’Adua to make up the sum to award contract for the international airport. Yar’Adua was said to have been moved beyond words at Ekweremadu and South East’s ingenuity and gave a marching order for the project to be included in the budget.

Asked how that of the leadership is

shared, the lawmaker further said: “whatever comes to the House, from the Zonal Intervention Fund envelope, the leadership has 20 percent. But they are going to share the 20 percent with members of the Appropriations Committee and the Finance Committee.

“It will also interest you to know that when Jonathan came in, while his Budget figures increased, the Intervention Fund remain the same. Ordinarily, with the increase in Budget figures, it should also increase. But we sacrificed. This is why even though the Buhari’s budget was about N6 trillion, we still sacrificed and allow the Intervention Fund figure, to remain same.

“But that is not the only sacrifice we made, the Senate President and Speaker, sacrificed the money meant for the completion of the official residences, for other projects, for the sake of Nigerians, largely because of the economic situation in the country. Nigerians must also be aware that in the history of our democratic dispensation, from 1999, this is the first time, we will not increase budget figure. Instead, we reduced it by close to 17 billion.

And all these things were checked by the President, pictures of which were celebrated on the Social Media, before he assented to it. Therefore, it will be presumptuous for anyone to say we made outrageous insertions in the budget. Which budget are they talking about?” he asked rhetorically.

The lawmaker is also questioning the inclusion of the Minority House Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor and the House Whip, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa, who were part of the team that harmonised the budget, in the allegation by Hon. Jibrin.

“If you recall, following the failure of Jibrin to carry out his duties responsibly as Committee Chairman of the Appropriations, which led to the President refusing to sign the budget, when it was first passed, this much was revealed by the House’s Spokesman, in his recent response to Jibrin’s outburst, a Special Committee was set up, led by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Lasun, to rescue the budget.

“This Committee had the House Leader, Hon. Gbajabiamila, his Deputy, representatives from the Senate and representatives from the Executive arm. But Leo Ogor, Doguwa and Barde were not members of the Committee. How come, Jibrin is mentioning their names, and he is leaving out Gbajabiamila? I am not insinuating anything, but you be the judge,” the lawmaker, added.

As at the time of filing this report, Jibrin has filed his petitions with all the anti-graft agencies in the country, including the Police.

It is left to be seen, how these agencies, all of which are part and parcel of the Executive arm, will come in, in the light of the clear Principles of Separation of Powers between the two arms, and considering the fact there settled Court Rulings to the effect that except the Parliament invites it to do so, no agents of the Executive arm, including the Police, can interfere in the internal workings of the Legislature.

POLITY

Six States to Kick Off 2016 Growth Enhancement Scheme, Says Cellulant Kunle Adewale

A

t a recent stakeholders forum of the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) programme, the Chief of Service Delivery (CSD), Cellulant Nigeria Limited, Gbenga Owolabi, has said that six states are to kick start the commencement of the 2016 (GES) programme.

He said that the GES will commence in some selected centers in six states of the federation, including Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Imo, Zamfara and Rivers.

The forum which was graciously attended by dignitaries within the Agric

sector including the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Chairman of Growth Enhancement Supoort Agrodealers Association of Nigeria (GESAAN), Alhaji Kabiru Umar Fara amongst others, Mr. Owolabi stated that “for this year’s programme, since we are starting with selected centres we are ready, but we are not yet ready to cover all the redemption centres in the country. If we start with some selected centres, as the weeks go by, we can add more to them. “What we have received so far are roll out packages from about six states of the federation, including Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Imo, Zamfara and Gombe. We intend to keep up with Katsina State.”

He noted that the programme this year was different from what had obtained in the

past where there are shortfalls arising from falsification of figures in the programmes they had before.

“New measures have been put in place to make sure the credibility level is higher than what we had before. In some instances, agro dealers were giving stock of what they expected of what they have in their warehouses which are far away from the redemption centres, and what we expect is what is physically present in the redemption centres. It is from those that we can do a roll out. He added that in the 2016 GES, it is also expected that every farmer must have a phone as a means of identification and confirmation that indeed there is redemption, stressing that no room amymore for offline transactions as we discovered in the time past

where there was an abuse of the programme and people claimed there was no network.

“For the 2016 programme, we have also incorporated the services of telecoms service providers, Airtel, MTN, Etisalat and Glo such that they are providing inputs as to network availability in all the states, and also opened a system of communication wherein the absence of network is documented instead of having people to call in and tell us” Owolabi said.

On his part, the Chairman of GESAAN, Alhaji Fara noted that the essence of the forum is to flag off the commencement of 2016 GES programme. Fara said that GESAAN will ensure its continued support to the Federal Ministry of Agric as well as all other stakeholders.

45

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Are Christians Second Class Citizens in Nigeria?

Femi Fani-Kayode

I

am glad that Father Ejike Mbaka of the Catholic Church has finally seen the light and has denounced the Buhari regime.

This, coming from a man that once supported the President vigorously, even when members of his own flock and faith were being slaughtered, marginalised and humiliated, is cheery news.

Yet there are still many more Church leaders that supported the Buhari government; that sold their souls to the devil and that need to follow Mbaka’s example and recant.

The great philosopher, writer and intellectual Mr. Dante Alighieri once said that “the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who maintain their neutrality at a time of moral crisis”.

To add to this, it was our very own Professor Wole Soyinka, the distinguished Nobel Laureate, that said “the man died in him who remained silent in the face of tyranny”.

I have no doubt in my mind that this is the time to speak out because we are not only in a time of great moral crisis in our country but we are also facing persecution and wholesale tyranny.

I am making this contribution not out of fear for the plight of the Christendom in Nigeria because I know that, as the Holy Bible says, “the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church”. It also says “He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps”.

It follows that no matter what the enemies of the gospel throw our way, at the end of the day, we shall prevail.

I am making this contribution not out of fear or to divide our nation but rather in an attempt to inform the Nigerian people and the world about what is really going on in President Buhari’s Nigeria.

What many fail to appreciate is that the Church and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ was built and spread by the blood and the bones of the Christian martyrs.

It follows that the more you persecute, jail and kill Christians and the more you subject them to terror, shame, insensitivity and humiliation the more the Church grows.

Where the so-called “great” Christian

Buhari leaders of Christendom with the megaChurches and the better known pastors and bishops in the land have compromised with evil and have chosen to either side with the enemy or remain silent when confronted with the tyranny of the state, the Lord will raise other voices to stand up for and speak for His people.

Nobody is indispensible to the Living God, no matter how large, rich and powerful your Church is and no matter how many people you have in your congregation.

Once you have betrayed the faith and joined hands with those that seek to destroy the gospel and persecute Christians in our country, you are finished and your end has already been determined by God. It is just a matter of time.

Yet, thankfully, there are some men and women of God that have refused to be silenced; that have proved to the world that they are not cowards and that have chosen to remain true to the faith.

These are the true believers who have not sold their heritage, faith and future for a mess of pottage. These are the faithful remnants that have refused to sit back silently and watch our Lord and His message being

crucified all over again. These are the true saints whose reward is the Kingdom of God. An example is Pastor Bright Bayo Oladeji, who is a journalist by profession and a Baptist preacher by calling.

On the 2nd August 2016, he wrote the following on his Facebook page: “Where are the Christians who sold the Church?

Professor Ishaq Oloyede, a prominent Islamic fanatic who said he was not aware Christians are being attacked and killed is now to head JAMB replacing Prof Ojerinde, a Baptist.

Four Muslims were not replaced but left to continue. Out of the 17 offices, 9 new replacements are Muslims and 4 retained are Muslims. 13 out of 17 are now Muslims. NUC, Muslim. JAMB, Muslim.

TETCOM, Muslim.

“Where are those Christian leaders who sold the Church for a plate of porridge?

Where are those telling us Professor Yemi Osinbajo will stand for the Church being a pastor?

Do they involve him in all these lopsided appointments in favour of the North and Muslims or not? Do we have Christians among the APC leaders? Does Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman of the ruling party really belong to the Catholic Church?

“The fact that Buhari released these appointments the same day that the PUNCH Newspaper published an editorial titled “Buhari’s parochial appointments” (this is a paper that endorsed his candidacy) is a dirty slap on the nation.

To say the least, it is a corruption with impunity. Many are afraid to speak out and are being intimidated by the security operatives. Have we become second class citizens in our own country?”

Pastor Bayo, as insightful and courageous as ever, has asked a pertinent question. Sadly the answer to that question is “yes”: since Buhari came to power, Christians have become second class citizens in Nigeria. We warned our people but they wouldn’t listen.

Nigerians said they wanted “change” and now they must live with it. Every Christian that supported him and the APC, including some of the most prominent Church leaders, should bow their heads in shame.

As long as this evil continues, we will

not remain silent and neither shall we be intimidated. No matter how hard they try, Nigeria will never be Islamised and neither will our Christian faith be rubbished.

When Christians are treated with respect and dignity and when they are honored in the land that is when we will know that true change has come.

When Yoruba Muslims are allowed to lead their northern counter-parts in prayer in the mosque, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When the secularity of the Nigerian state is reiterated and confirmed, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When southerners are regarded as being on the same level as northerners in the affairs of our nation, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When the murderous Fulani herdsmen and militias are finally disarmed and when they stop slaughtering our people with impunity and without any fear of retribution from the state, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When Christians are no longer murdered in cold blood in some parts of the north simply for exercising their faith whilst the govetnment turns a blind eye, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When Christian leaders are no longer subjected to insults and brutal assault by over- zealous security agents simply for praying and reading the Holy Bible, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When the Igbo people are not treated as pariah citizens and when their children are no longer shot in the streets like stray dogs simply because, as a people, they have their own dreams and aspirations and simply because they are protesting against the manifest injustice that they have been subjected to in the land, that is when we will know that true change has come.

When Middle Belters and the northern minorities are allowed to carve out their own identity and when they are freed from the intimidation, harassment, hegemony, genocide, cultural imperialism and slavery of the core Muslim north, then we will know that true change has come.

Until then, the change that the Buhari administration has offered and served to the Nigerian people is nothing but fake. It is a classic case of 419. It is evil. It is wicked. It is nothing but a monumental fraud.

Rochas: Worst Imo Governor Ebere Wabara

P

enultimate Thursday I discussed with a colleague of mine based in Enugu over his earlier reportage on Imo State.

After lengthy elucidations and exchange of professional banter on the activities of the governor, erratic Rochas Anayo Okorocha of the APC, his eccentric leadership style and allied good governance issues, I did an opinion article last Monday entitled “Rochas: Misperceived and demonized.”

From the multi-media responses I got, I knew, for the first and last time in my overthree-decade quintessential journalism, that I had been misled by a colleague of mine!

This has confirmed professorial admonitions I had received in my profound communications scholarship that I should never depend on secondary sources for critical information.

I had largely taken a laudatory standpoint last week that bordered on unmerited and misinformed eulogy for maverick Rochas.

Following the copious feedback I got last Monday, I was so livid that I had to travel to Owerri pronto to see things for myself. At the end of my four-day visit, I was embarrassed and scandalized by what I saw and heard.

Some of my audiences said inconsistent Rochas did fairly well in his first term, but that the second tenure has been characterized by cluelessness, haughtiness, indifference and gross irresponsibility. The people are so despondent, disenchanted and disillusioned that they wish 2019 was tomorrow. Most Imolites who spoke with me dream of the possibility of having a divine

intervention that could end the Okorocha maladministration today! Bitterness and regret over the opportunistic emergence of Rochas symbolize their rage.

Again, for the first time in my robust career as a developmental journalist, I am compelled to retract the undeserved encomiums I lavishly and inadvertently poured on megalomaniac Rochas. As I apologize to those offended by my unwarranted celebration of insensitive Rochas, I responsibly declare that Rochas is the worst governor Imo State has ever had for reasons adduced presently. Hopefully, there would be no accident of another chimerical Rochas at the helm in 2019.

I unequivocally assert that Rochas is in no way misperceived and demonized. The perception is an incontrovertible reflection of his weirdness and affirmatively not demonized. In fact, what I was hoodwinked about his aloof government is a microcosm of his incompetency and uncompleted projects mania like a possessed bloke.

Indeed, taking his two immediate predecessors, Achike Udenwa and Ikeddy Ohakim, into reckoning, Rochas pales into disastrous insignificance, comparatively. I never believed any governor could be as bad as vicious Theodore Ahamefule Orji of Abia State of yore—the only former governor who recklessly and stupidly stopped President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) from campaigning in Umuahia township stadium shortly before the last presidential election and also desecrated royalty by dealing with the traditional ruler who defiantly gave PMB a chieftaincy title during the aborted electioneering. Even journalists who

covered Buhari’s campaign were endlessly harassed while those who reported APC activities in Abia were brutalized by sadist Ochendo. PMB never forgives nor forgets! At the fullness of time, T.A. Orji will inevitably get his Dasuki treatment from PMB. Going by Okorocha’s boyishness, political harlotry (needless serial defections) and other utopian democratic antecedents, I can reasonably affirm that he is one of the vanishing Igbo political stalwarts whose charlatanistic pedigree, utter disregard for people’s feelings and nonchalance to credible governance underscore South East retrogression and neglect by the APC central government because of the region’s unflinchingly inexplicable loyalty to the thievish and dubious PDP of yesteryear!

On arrival at Owerri, I went to the Federal Medical Centre where I saw not less than 2000 outpatients waiting for attention. One of the tragedies of Rochas is the curious attempt by him to build ill-conceived 27 uncompleted general hospitals across the state all of which are not functional (and will never be completed going by the governor’s reputational notoriety for abandonment of wild-cat projects) hence the swamping of the FMC. Three efficient and effective government hospitals in the senatorial headquarters and a few well-stocked clinics in the remote areas would have touched copious lives.

The cab driver took me to sites where people’s structures were callously and indiscriminately demolished by Rochas for purported urban renewal. The irony, according to the victims some of whom I interacted with, is that nothing had been done with space from previous structural demolitions.

Yet, Rochas goes ahead like a bull in a china shop destroying more and more properties amid executive arrogance and stubbornness arising from absolute power satiety.

I stopped over at the Ministry of Justice and some courts in Owerri. They were like graveyards as there was no activity due to unpaid salaries and infrastructural deficiency.

The dismay, I was authoritatively informed, is that Rochas does not care a hoot about the year-long unprecedented degeneracy! I was also in Okigwe where no project had been inaugurated in the past five years.

I equally went to Orlu: the roads that were accessible before the misadventure of unstable Rochas have all become craters— almost impassable even for pedestrians!

Rochas must realize that constructing all manner of elitist parks, spaces and erection of monuments and comical signposts are of no benefit to most people.

Virtually all the Owerri municipal roads like Wetheral, Bank, Douglas, Egbu, Okigwe, Orlu have been taken over by heaps of refuse. Unlike in the past (MCC, RCC et al), pretentious/dubious/phony road “construction” is being done by nondescript companies that offer poor quality services.

The few existing good roads are the ones built by De Sam Mbakwe and military administrators and marginally rehabilitated

by Udenwa/Ohakim.

Wabara (ewabara@yahoo.com) is a Lagos-based writer.

Read full article online: www.thisdaylive.

46

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6,, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

As Wike Leads Onslaught against Cultists, Kidnappers Woye Lebechi

P

rior to the coming of the Nyesom Wike led administration in Rivers State, the state had been known for cases of civil disturbances especially during the peak of Niger Delta militancy.

Through concerted efforts, the state witnessed some level of calmness to the knowledge of every Nigerian, but recent developments occasioned by the activities of cultists, kidnappers and hoodlums suggest that the same criminal activities of the past are back.

The media is often times awash with stories of cult, kidnap, and other related crimes, thereby creating an unsuitable image for the state that is currently on the path reinvention.

For the residents of the state, who freely gave their mandate to Governor Wike, the development comes very disturbing and as such demands to be arrested before its spirals out of control.

Indeed, the administration, which had the security of lives and property among its cardinal campaign promises, has never left anyone in the dark that it abhors all forms of social unrest.

Hence, the vigour, courage, and determination with which the state governor is confronting this challenge that is capable of distracting it from its laudable plans from the state.

This is one area, where I opine that even the critiques of the administration, who are fixated on frustrating the government, would acknowledge Wike’s determination to excel.

Of course, right from the electioneering days, the governor did not leave anyone in doubt that the provision of security and welfare of the citizenry as enshrined in the 1999 constitution, would not pose a challenge to him.

It was the severity of the situation that prompted the Governor to decry the situation during a recent security meeting with the Acting President, Yemi Osinbanjo.

The Governor said that these cult groups were sometimes patronised by some multinational companies to protect their facilities which results in battle for recognition and supremacy amongst the groups. He declared that the state would no longer tolerate the excesses of the cult groups.

At the moment, there are several efforts worth mentioning which the governor initiated to make Rivers safer

Wike

for all. These efforts which were encapsulated in his declaration of war on criminals terrorising the state include but not limited to: Signing of the Rivers State antikidnapping bill into law, funding of security interventions, provision of necessary logistics for security agencies, effective collaboration with security agencies, and demolition of houses of criminals in the state among others.

In fact, for making security the key aspect of his closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on May 16, 2016, it became very obvious that Wike would go any length within the ambit of the law to secure Rivers.

He told the President Buhari that his administration would tackle cultism and insecurity in the affected four local government areas of the state, namely Abua/Odual; Ahoada-East; AhoadaWest and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas.

Indeed, his administration has taken concrete measures to improve the security of the state through funding of security interventions and provision of necessary logistics for all security agencies.

On the heels of that was the donation of 64 patrol vans, fully equipped with

security gadgets and 500 raincoats to the Rivers State Police Command and other security agencies in the state.

There were also cash rewards for the family of any security officer felled in the line of duty and anyone who provides useful information to the police for the arrest of criminals in the State.

However, the signing into law, an amendment to the state anti-kidnapping law passed by the state House of Assembly, is providing the traction needed to flush out criminals from the state.

While signing the amendment into law at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike expressed hope that it would discourage kidnapping and related crimes.

Under the new Rivers State kidnap (Prohibition) Amendment Law, 2015, Kidnappers are to forfeit proceeds of their crime, whether in the form of assets or otherwise, to the state government.

One is marvelled that the governor did not abandon the job of implementing the law alone to security agencies.

He has physically been at the forefront of execution of the law as had variously been witnessed in the state.

Specifically, he is known to have driven fear into kidnappers, cultists, and other gangsters in the state recently when he personally led security chiefs to demolish their identified hideouts in Port Harcourt and Obio Akpor local government areas.

Within one week, he supervised the demolition of several properties belonging to the criminals and confiscated their landed property, vowing to erect public facilities on them. He stood by as bulldozers leveled the structures. This was done in the full glare of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Folunso Adebanjo and men from other security agencies.

At Eagle Highland where two hideaways were located, he said the government would build a police station on one and health centre on the other.

The governor commended security operatives in the state for their doggedness in battle to rid the state of hoodlums, adding that communities and other stakeholders should volunteer timely information to security operatives to enable them to succeed.

His words, “The Rivers State Government has taken over the criminal hideout of these arrested cultists. After the ongoing demolition of their hideouts, we will build a police station and

mini barracks in this location. We have also taken over the home of the kingpin that we have also demolished.” “This is to let members of the public know that this administration is serious. We will not allow anyone to cause insecurity in this state. We will chase criminals to their hideout and reduce crime”.

While many who witnessed the exercise which was a spectacle to behold, dismissed it as a one-off show, am impressed the governor had this as a response: ‘’The exercise would continue until the entire state was cleansed of cells operated by the miscreants.’’

Unlike in some places, were opinions are often divided on laudable tasks of this nature, the Rivers people are speaking with one voice, indicating that the war on criminals would be won with one voice.

Even the often critical opposition is the state, was elated by the development, which is ushering in an ambiance of tranquility in the state; which state has also developed and enhanced surveillance networks in the local communities to provide intelligence for security agencies to root out criminals in the communities.

With the direct involvement of stakeholder groups in all the communities, the results are pouring in, despite the challenges posed by political interference from politicians from the other political divide.

However, beyond securing lives and property, the efforts at securing Rivers State, are also aimed at creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

This will consolidate the economic growth being witnessed in the state with the attendant benefits of mass employment and improved standard of living for the people of the state.

Indeed, these efforts to improve local security are yielding the desired results as Rivers State has, once again, resumed its position as a destination of choice for both local and foreign direct investment.

Also, this positive approach has made Rivers State one of the safest places to visit, live and do business in the country.

This is noticeable from the number of high profile local and international socio-economic activities being hosted by the state to the admiration of many.

• Lebechi, a national commentator writes from Choba, Rivers State

POLITY

FCT Area Councils Share N2.07bn from Federation Account As FCDA ordered to complete bombed UN building

T

From Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

he FCT Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) has distributed the sum of N2,076,826,375.10 to the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory being monies accruing to them from the Federation

Account.

The FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello said that the meeting was sequel to the earlier meeting held by the Federation Account Allocation Committee

on July 20-21, 2016.

According to him, the sum comprises Statutory Revenue Allocation of N693,573,662.37; Value Added Tax of N1,225,698,970.67, and Exchange Rate Gains (June) of N141,394,993.28; Share of Solid Minerals Revenue of N16,158,748.78 totalling N2,076,826,375.10. Bello revealed that Abuja Municipal Area Council received the highest share of N483,398,486.25; followed by Bwari Area Council that got N346,279,184.91. Others are Gwagwalada Area Council with N322,556,405.52; Kuje Area Council

got N313,546,166.14; Kwali Area Council received N316,305,794.87 and Abaji Area Council which received the lowest share of N294,740,337.19 for the month of June 2016.

According to the minister, the statutory deductions were made in accordance with the Fund Allocation Monitoring Act payment of the Primary School Teachers Salaries, 15% Pension Fund, 1% Training Fund as well as 7.5% Employer Pension Contribution.

He further disclosed that after all the statutory deductions, Abaji Council had net allocation of N134,509,460.25;

AMAC received N172,972,985.46; Bwari received N137,625,620.69; while Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali received N163,545,302.29, N137,864,095.91 and N141,670,287.82 respectively totalling N888,187,752.42.

The JAAC meeting was chaired by FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye.

In a related development, Bello, has issued a directive to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to hasten the complete rehabilitation of the United Nations House to ensure quick handover.

47

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6,, 2016

POLITY Frank Okafor

Providing Shelter for Lagos Residents My Priority Shelter no doubt, is one of the basic needs of humans. Anayo Okolie, who visited some of the projects executed by Chief Frank Okafor, the Managing Director of Marcopolo Group of Companies, in order to meet the housing needs of Nigerians, writes

H

ousing is known to be a major component of creating stable and healthy communities; however, both federal and state governments in Nigeria have failed to provide this important amenity to their citizens.

The failure of government to provide affordable, quality and comfortable housing for Nigerians has made individual with business acumen to thrive in real estate and hospitality business.

Therefore either temporarily or permanently, it is expected for a man to live under a roof.

Although, people from the private sector, especially those in real estate business have strived very high to put the housing problem of Nigeria to an end, the dilemma still remains.

It is widely believed that the problem continued to exist because the government has not been able to develop a viable and sustainable housing finance system.

In a bid to alleviate this problem, Chief (Sir) Frank Okafor, the Managing Director of Marcopolo Group of Companies, has proved to the world that he is a man to be reckon with by doing a lot in the real estate and hospitality business to make life comfortable for people in different parts of Nigeria, especially in different parts of Lagos, where his company has built several estates and first-class hotel.

Okafor, the CEO of Marcopolo Properties Limited and Marcopolo Hotel and Suites, who is heavily involved in the day today running of his companies with support from capable, reliable and committed staff, has thrived where many people failed, having used his business acumen and skills to redefine real estate and hospitality business in Nigeria.

In the Lekki/Ajah axis in Lagos, Chief Okafor is well known as a big real estate player. Over 15 years ago, he single handedly built the Marcopolo Group of companies which is heavily into real estate and hospitality

Managing Director of Marcopolo Companies, Chief Frank Okafor

business.

Marcopolo Properties, according to Okafor has over the years provided real estate services within Nigeria at different locations.

The company has delivered quality properties to its numerous clients.

However the company realises that it is not just the quality that is most important, rather it is delivering the right quality at the right time and at the right place.

The company has a history of embracing new approaches to established norms and breaking away from set patterns in order to generate exceptional results and it is constantly thinking to attain greater efficiency and faster

growth.

Marcopolo Properties is pioneering to be among the leading real estate developers by applying innovations to deliver quality services in the areas which we conduct business.

In Marcopolo Properties, customized orders are available to suit specific construction requirements from their clients in which case the company build and deliver same as requested. It also builds according to client’s discretion and affordability.

One of the remarkable and unique projects of the Marcopolo Properties is Cruz Garden, an architectural and aesthetic masterpiece is located in the high brow area of Lekki in Lagos, the Centre of Excellence.

The garden provides breathe taking serenity, class and a true experience of the lagoon breeze.

Cruz Garden, which is strategically located at a beautiful neighborhood for a blissful family life, is tastefully designed to be a home in every definition and offers a life within Lekki.

Cruz Garden is a premium residential gated community, providing good drainage system and detailed POP finishing.

Chief Okafor’s ventured into the real estate business because of his quest to solve housing problems in Nigeria.

According to him “The truth of the matter is that I went into real estate business because I found out that Nigerians need houses. One of the challenges we are facing in Nigeria is that government is not doing much in terms of housing units.

For a long while now we have been looking at how to partner with government and that is my main aim of entering into the business.”

With over 15 years in the real estate business, Okafor despite various challenges that came his way has not quit, rather his companies is growing in strength by building more than giant 20 estates in Lekki. He has

built Marcopolo Properties Limited into a big name in the real estate sector.

According to him, “It is quite challenging because basically government policies are not too friendly. The workmanship in Nigeria, the commitment level is poor. I have never allowed the challenges to slow me down because I see challenges as part of life and I don’t think there is nothing you are doing that you will not face its own part of challenges.

“So, because it is one of the things I like doing, we always find a way of solving the challenges and move on. We always find our weakness and trying to make it to be our strength in the next level of our construction.

“We have been there for a while and we started from scratch. And over time it is a brand we want to turn into a big name that when you think of quality housing. So over time we keep on improving in what we have done, that is why about two years ago, we were able to set up a hotel (Marcopolo Hotel and Suites) to be like our brand that people can always see the quality of business we have done.”

Unlike many real estate businesses which do not protect the interest of the lower and middle class people, Okafor’s Marcopolo Properties Limited is affordable for all because the company operates in three categories of the business.

Marcopolo is a brand that provides for the lower, middle and high classes in the building sector.

One unique thing that stands Marcopolo out from other estates and competitors is quality. “What stands our brand different is quality. We believe so much in quality.

We have engineers in different departments that will make sure we come out with the best quality that can stand in any part of the world.

Read full article online www.thisdaylive.com

‘Nigeria Must Scale-up None-oil Exports for Economic Growth’ Bennett Oghifo

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here is need to scale up non-oil exports from Nigeria and improve the production capacity of Nigerians for the nation to be able to compete favorably in the global market.

Increase in non-oil exports will also help the nation to get out of it current economic slow down.

These remarks were made by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Segun Awolowo, during the launch of Zero to Export programme, organised by the NEPC in partnership with Fidelity Bank in Lagos, recently.

Thursday in Lagos stressed Ni need to scale up non-oil exports from Nigeria and the production capacity of Nigerians for the nation to be able to compete favorably in the global market and get out of it current economic doldrums.

Awolowo said other countries, including the United States, relied on non-oil exports to come out of recession, stating that dwindling oil revenue could be used to fuel the growth of non-oil export in the nation.

Non-oil export, he said was the solution to the current economic crunch in the nation, adding that Nigeria the nation’s oil revenue had dwindled from 70 billion dollars to 40 billion dollars between 2014 and 2015, making it a loss of 30 billion dollars in 12 months.

According to him, there were indications that the oil revenue would still reduce in 2016, and that an annual import bill of 50 billion dollars was what Nigeria has been relying on while in the real sense had made a loss of 30 billion dollars within a period of twelve months in our oil revenue.

L-R: Head of Legal Services, Fidelity Bank Plc., Bimbo Ilupeju; Regional Director, South West Nigeria, Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Babatunde Faleke, Executive Director, NEPC, Segun Awolowo and Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo, at the inauguration of Zero to Exports by Nigeria Export Promotion Council and Fidelity Bank, in Lagos... recently

He said that there was need to can scale up production of non-oil export and production capacity of Nigerians for the nation to take its rightful place in the global market.

The event was also used as a platform for the graduation of the 4th set of trainees under the `Zero to Export` initiative and the inauguration of the 5th session to train 80 participants in the South West, the NEPC boss said that that President Obama after the collapse of the US economy explored exportation as a means to bounce back from recession adding that Mexico, an oil producing nation was where Nigeria was today about 30 years ago and that it was able to use non-oil export to recover from recession.

Awolowo said two years ago, it was

discovered that that services was what was driving the GDP of Nigeria citing ICT, telecommunications and banking industries as examples drawing a conclusion that Nigeria’s economy was already diversified but that Nigerians were not producing.

He said that the non-oil exports would soon take over from oil exports to drive the nation’s economy because oil revenue was a great opportunity for the growth of non-oil export if properly harnessed.

“The economy is already diversified, it is just that you are not producing and that is why oil was the one giving Nigeria its revenue.

“Mexico is an oil producing country and was where Nigeria is today about 30 years

ago. They are not exporting oil but in agro business, Mexico is doing 398 billion dollars annually in non-oil exports.

“We need to focus on non-oil exports, especially after the International Trade Centre has stated that Nigeria loses more than 12 billion dollars annually to informal non-oil export trade through our porous borders.”

He said the top 20 richest countries were exporting countries, and “this goes to show that no country can build wealth for itself and coming generations without exporting.

“The Zero to Export Programme, one of our initiatives, is one that simply trains selected individuals and company representatives who know nothing about exports and train them in the basics of exporting non-oil products and guide them through starting till they become big exporters.

“The major challenge is not that we lack what to export, we have over 100 globally export-ready commodities and these are even in its crude form. Most of our items are still crude, shea butter, cashew, ginger, cables, steel, kernel, agricultural products, and there is still capacity gap in the best global practices to make them export-worthy,” he said.

Awolowo said the council in recent times had been engaging in export packaging clinics which included, capacity building, packaging and labeling, export processes information, among others and advised would be exporters to take advantage of the various training programmes.

Awolowo advised women to take advantage of the She-Trades programme offered by the International Trade Centre for women exporters under the council urging them to log on to www.shetradesict to get more information.

Read full article online www.thisdaylive.com

48

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • August 6, 2015

INTERVIEW Hassan Bello

Government Will Not Put a Kobo into National Shipping Carrier, It’s Entirely Private Sector Driven The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, spoke with John Iwori on the activities of the council as an economic regulator, midwifing the new national shipping carrier, its efforts at protecting shippers, among other issues in the nation’s seaports. Excerpts.

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New National Shipping Carrier s the Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on National Carrier, I can assure that all stakeholders in the shipping industry who want to be a part of the proposed national fleet will be given opportunities to do so. The plan for a sustainable strategy in the national fleet operation was to ensure a vibrant privately driven shipping enterprise with ship owners who already have capacity to kick-start and sustain the plan. Government will only be encouraging the establishment of a national fleet; Nigerian flagged ships, not establishing it. So, the first targets are the ship owners. Government is not putting a kobo into the establishment of the new national shipping carrier. Government will give Nigerian ship owners the option of participating in the business that is theirs. This is due to the fact we need their experience. We need their capacity. We need their infrastructure and we also need their assets. Maybe they have ships and so many other things.

There will never be a monopoly. Everybody will have the right to come and operate.

But what we want is an aggregate, coming together. This is because when you come together, you have advantages, especially economies of scale. As part of the value addition, a vital part of the strategy would be to ensure that the participating vessels were competitive and attractive to cargo owners, who are actually the ones who nominate vessels for use. Government’s obligation is in ensuring an enabling environment. This will include looking at the policies and laws and make them effective or favourable for the establishment of the new national shipping carrier. Other obligations would be to consider the financial structure and source for cargoes, and other issues on tax rebate, tax exemptions and many other incentives to the private sector. This will encourage ownership of vessels and operation by Nigerians, and their sustainability.

Benefits of New National Carrier The implementation committee which I presently head as the chairman is looking at the issue of cargo availability. We have been working hard right from the day we were appointed by the Honourable Minister.

Members of the committee are carrying out a research on cargo availability. The benefits of establishing a new national sipping carrier are enormous. The multiplier effects of Nigeria having a national shipping carrier.

There are direct and indirect employments.

We can dictate some trade terms when you have the ships to carry your cargoes. It is an opportunity for Nigerians to own and operate ship in the international waters.

Thousands of Nigerians will be engaged in the running of the new national carrier. It will provide opportunity sea time experience for the beneficiaries of the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

This is very vital for the cadets to get their certificate of competency (CoC). There is also the issue of so many professionals in the maritime industry who are presently not fully engaged because they do not have any avenue to exhibit their skills and talents. It is also an avenue to give life to the Federal Government diversification of the economy campaign. Related industries will also benefit. For instance, the insurance industry will also benefit in so many ways in terms of premium payments. Besides, there is the issue of national pride that Nigeria, nay Nigerians now have ships in the international waters that they can now call their own.

There is dignity and honour when you see a Nigerian ship trading in the international waters and flying Nigeria flag once again.

This is not new since we have done it in the past but it is important we get back to that era once more. It will also provide Nigeria an opportunity to partner with other serious maritime nations to add value to Nigerians.

sues. How many documents will I sign before I bring my goods out of the port? Is that port automated? Can I track my cargo? What is the dwell time for cargo? How many free days do I have? What is the tariff? How much am I going to pay? It is a matter of economics.

It is not a matter of we decreeing that Nigeria is hub. You cannot decree that! It is a matter of efficiency and competitive pricing and that is what we are urging the terminal operators to do. Look at what has happened in other ports and copy it. Because if they are competitive, if their prices are fair, reasonable, then, they will have more profit than they are having now. And why should we be having problems because we say that? So, it is a matter of moral persuasion or moral suasion.

It is a matter of economics. It is also a matter of obeying the laws of Nigeria.

Bello

Assessment of the 14th edition of the maritime seminar for judges There was active participation from the judges, interactive sessions, and you could see from the contributions of judges that we have guessed right because we always see the issues in admiralty law that they are facing or that is giving them challenges. So, I think the issue of cybercrime, the issue of the responsibilities of organisations at the ports really stimulated a whole lot of discussions and practical scenarios were discussed. That goes to the heart of why the seminar is. That is to educate the judges on contemporary issues that they have no experience or knowledge on. The seminar was extremely lively. There was huge participation, not only in numbers but also in discussions.

And if you read the communiqué, it is so rich and I think that judges now will be able to handle issues that were raised efficiently.

Terminal Operators and the integrity of the council We have been protecting the interest of terminal operators. There is what is called guaranteed minimum tonnage (GMT) payment that they have to make and we have said that some of them should not make such payment because government has not fulfilled its obligation. We have made the authorities provide certain things for the terminal operators. Like in Port Harcourt, we have made cases for the provision of the road leading to terminals operators. We have made cases for the review of the concession agreement. The auto policy affected the RORO terminals and we have made a representation to the government that they should not do that even if you want to change policies. What happens to the RORO terminals now that they are starved of cargo, they should be consulted.

So, Nigerian Shippers’ Council is not biased.

Nigerian Shippers’ Council is doing everything to bring balance because if we have balance, then the economy will thrive. Nigerian Shippers’ Council has scolded the Federal Government about its attitude towards the provision of power at the terminals, and the roads leading to the ports or the terminals. We have always said government should bring a marshal plan for the development of the ports.

Some of the problems you see are because government has not fulfilled its obligation. It should provide conducive atmosphere.

Whether we like it or not, the terminal operators, the shipping companies have changed the way we do shipping in Nigeria.

Nigerian ports are on the ascendancy now.

They are going to be efficient and we are going to have cargo returning. We have done that, we have brought them cargo from Niger and Chad. We have done so many meetings, travelling to Niger to bring them cargo so that they will profit from that. So, we are having cooperation, we are working with the terminal operators.

The problem is for them to come together because some terminals are good. Some are not. That should not be the case. What happened was that there was brigandage. There was a laissez–faire attitude for eight years and nobody was regulating them. I have always given the example of kicking football in the park where there is no referee. Suddenly, the referee will appear, blow the whistle and say these are the rules. You know you are not going to be popular; we are not looking for popularity. We are looking for the right thing to be done. You are in this country, do the right thing. Do you go to other countries and do what you are doing here in Nigeria? You cannot be above the law of this country. That, we will never compromise. We have a duty to perform. The Federal Government has given us that charge and it is not for them (terminal operators) to say that this is how we are going to do it. Never! It will never happen.

Expensiveness of Nigerian ports We want the port to be attractive. What we are trying to do is to make Nigeria the destination for cargo. The more cargo we get, the more it is profitable. The more it is profitable for terminal operators, for shipping lines, for the freight forwarders, for NPA, for NIMASA and the economy in general. That means the transportation sector will have a boost. The warehouse sector will have a boost.

That means more employment and contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP).

What people do not know is and I think so many things are married to it.

Before a shipper will want his goods to come to your ports, he will consider a lot of is-

Terminal operators and prices review Yes, they could review but it is not unilateral or arbitrary. Even the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Local Shipping Charges Act says nobody can increase without consultation or negotiation with Nigerian Shippers’ Council; neither will NPA do that nor any terminal operator. The reason is obvious. If you allow anybody to raise charges as they will, everybody will just leave. Does it make sense for an operator to raise his cost just like that?

What I want to say is that the tariff and their cost can never be fixed. There are many reasons they have for reviewing upwards these tariffs, and they are genuinely there basically but what we are saying is that bring these things for consideration and approval.

That is what is done in civilized countries.

Nobody is saying, this is one naira and it is going to be like that for 20 years. No! But there are processes; there are mechanisms for bringing about such a review.

We have benchmarked NIMASA 3 per cent levy. We have done that with NARTO when they wanted to fix the price of haulage from Lagos to Kano. They came and said please the tyre of the trailer was X, not Y. And we sat down with them and we put a rate - the lower and the upper with a gap in between- for competition. They may not all have the same fixed rate.

People see Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) as a cartel.

They cannot come together and fix prices. That is anti-competition. It is anti-trust. There should be competition. Have you ever seen advertisement of a terminal? That’s because they don’t care. But if you have competition, that means there is no distortion in the market and you can say no regulation. Because some industries are not regulated, they regulate themselves because of the level of competition.

The consumer is king. He should have options. He should have choices. That is what the shipper should be able to do. But as it is now, we have efficiency on the sea side of it. We have NPA also fulfilling its obligation because they have introduced a lot of things now that are helping Nigerian ports become more competitive- electronic Ship Entry Notice, even the electronic payment. Before, it was six days before you pay but now, it takes seconds. That is what we want our ports to be. We want our ports to be automated. We want to have trade facilitation mechanisms that will increase the efficiency of our ports and have us rank high in ease and cost of doing business. That’s what Shippers’ Council is interested in.

And you have to guard against and check.

For example, there was one time Shippers’ Council and other organisations were called to review the concession agreement and we said no. We said you cannot review the concession agreement without the terminal operators because they know where the shoe pinches; we will not be doing it unilaterally. So, we are fair. It is just that some people are above the law and that cannot happen. What they want is for Shippers’ Council to go and lie down.

We have been given an assignment and we go to bed and allow anything to happen? That is not going to happen! It is impossible.

49

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

EXPRESSION

MEDIAGAFFES BY

EBERE WABARA

Still on Budget Padding

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aily Sun Front Page of August 1, 2016, welcomes us this week with a headline infraction: “Budget padding (Budget-padding) scandal” From DAILY SUN of July 25, 2016, comes the next set of faults: “We are depleting reserves, yet there are no attempts to beef it (them) up.”

“Olam invests N20bn on (in) high yield (high-yield) rice variety” “The question is (a comma or colon) should a tax paying (tax-paying) citizen be punished for entries that are right or wrong without considering the facts….”

NATIONAL MIRROR Front Page of July 28 takes over from Voice of The Nation with many flaws on offer: “Dogara gave Jibrin seven days to tender an unreserved apology and retract all allegations made against him or face legal (a legal) action.”

“Jibrin, however, said he stands (stood) by his accusations, adding that his lawyers have already began (begun) the processes to drag the Speaker before the….”

“FG’s school feeding (school-feeding) programme captures 200,000 pupils in Ogun….”

Still on National Mirror under focus: “NESREA sensitises (sensitizes, preferably) Enugu communities on (to) causes, prevention of flood” “Oyo and the long awaited (long-awaited) council poll” “…also advocated for what he called institutional reforms to shield security votes from abuse.” (NATIONAL MIRROR Editorial, July 28) Delete ‘for’ because of its redundancy.

“Elujoba, pharmacist sets (set) to cure OAU’s prolonged ‘headache’ “…other ex-Eagles pay last respect (respects) at Illah” (THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER, July 30) “With the new system in place, where every country have (has) equal representation….” (Source: as above)

This is the foundational point—every other thing rests on it. What is the capacity of your vocabulary? Do you have a rich store of words? Is your pool of phrases and expressions deep? How is your mastery of communication principles? Can you read at least one book in a month? Can you write a clinical 1,000-word analysis or editorial on any given topic within 60 minutes? When and where can colleagues of yours bank on your professional capabilities and skills? The only way to measure your competency in information gathering, management and dissemination is to score at least 50 per cent in each of the foregoing posers. Anything short of that margin is sub-standard and demands improvement.

There are six categories of readers: (A): Those who read at least a book in a month; (B): Those who read at least a book in three months; (C): Those who read at least a book in six months; (D): Those who read at least a book in nine months; (E): Those who read at least a book in a year; and (F): Those who do not read at all! Where do you belong? This is at the heart of vocabulary build-up. For instance, if you need to be a referential fellow in journalism, you must read—it is not optional. Otherwise, you are confined to journalistic artisanship!

Writing is not mechanistic. It is architectural in nature: it must be planned, organized and systematically presented.

You must have a mini-library at home and in the office indispensably containing at least a current dictionary, thesaurus, Bible/Quran (for spiritual regeneration), and a modern book of quotations. These are companionable materials. You must study (peruse)—not just read—them daily, morning and night. Learn at least a new word (and its synonyms) or phrase or idiomatic expression each day x 7 x 30 x12 = work it yourself! Familiarize yourself with each addition: as much as possible scarcely employ those you have internalized over time.

Let your writings exude novelties and fresh-

ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948

ness (the difference should be that between crisp and worn-out notes).

Listen to good speakers on radio and TV. Attend colloquia, conferences, symposia, seminars, workshops, short-term courses and any other cerebral meeting. Participation in these sessions adds immeasurable value to your overall scope and knowledge base. Do not wait for your employers to send you or depend on external intervention (sponsorship). No, invest in yourself, periodically!

Network reasonably and leverage all its concomitants. Good writing skill is a function of self-development and commitment to cerebral matters. Nobody can do it for you.

For inexplicable reasons, some expressions have become institutionalized in this part of the world and rabidly known as Nigerian English. This is unacceptable in any formal/ standard writing. Somewhat, these informal collocations creep into the print and electronic media. In fact, it is so bad that at times purists begin to doubt themselves because of the ubiquity of these informal creations!

Newspaper language is elevated, formal and standard. Any other entry outside this is colloquialism and should not be allowed in a soar-away market leaders like DAILY SUN or even provincial publications, for that matter. The audiences of your racy medium comprise the elite in business, governance, politics and the academia. You cannot afford to be like the floundering, ragtag media outlets on the fringes. I have an attachment of some of the ‘Nigerian English’ oddities. The list is inexhaustive—you should be able to add as many as possible!

You must develop yourself in such way that you become critical of any written work, no matter the author or the apparent perfection. Once you attain this level, it becomes easier to spot blunders and improve on even well-written materials. To reach this height will require compliance with the foregoing and other germane issues that are not captured

here.

We must be conversant with new media technologies and their usages: Goggle, Yahoo, Dictionary.com, Answers.com, social network sites and other online portals too numerous to be mentioned here. Conventional communication methodology is giving way to this latest technological onslaught.

Your choice of words, their organization and your style determine your sentence and paragraphs and ultimately what are cumulatively known as syntax, lexis and structure in grammar. Once the foundational collaterals (parts of speech, word usage, sentence construction, paragraph harmonization, spelling, punctuation and sequence) are faulty at any point in the lexical equity chain, communicative dysfunction sets in. So, instead of ‘big words,’ use simple ones. Clarity is critical to writing—don’t write to impress anyone with verbosity. Needless or worthless verbiage is antithetical to good writing. Always remember that simplicity is the soul of writing.

Any of the above sub-heads is the greatest enemy of classical writing and fine prose that flourishes. They diminish the flow of reading and quality of output. Avoid them as much as you can—in fact, as the bible says, flee from them lest they lead you into poor craftsmanship and ruin you irredeemably!

You will not be there with the reader of your work to explain the inevitability of the blunder.

Overall, cultivate tight writing—it forecloses errors.

If you do not understand the foregoing basic principles, rules and grammar of the English language, you may not go far professionally in this business of writing. Even if you circumstantially (or, as they say, accidentally!) do, the quality of your work will inevitably underscore people’s perception of you and your reputational reckoning. As Prof. Adidi Uyo of Unilag would say, if you must write, write it right!.

Amina Ali as Metaphor for Post-war Cluelessness

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ews during the week that the ‘Islamic State’ has crowned a new leader for the Boko Haram terrorist group raises fresh concerns that although Nigeria’s battle with the dreaded sect may have been won, the war still rages. Expectedly, the military which has been quick to claim victory over the largely degraded group has shrugged off the naming ofAbu Musab al-Barnawi, as the new leader of Boko Haram, saying it will not be distracted from wiping off the remnants of the terrorists from Nigeria’s territory. From indications so far, the gallant troops of the armed forces are walking their talk as the mindless bloodsuckers are now resorting to spasmodic attacks typical of retreating guerillas. Unfortunately, same cannot be said of political authorities that should take responsibility for post-war rehabilitation and reintegration of displaced persons back into society.

Nothing depicts this worrisome lack of anticipation more than the dilemma ofAminaAli, the kidnapped school girl recovered from Boko Haram captivity in May. Recall that the country was agog at news of the girl’s chanced recovery so much so that she was instantly transmuted from the dreary underworld of Boko Haram hold to the poster face of victory over the deadly sect. The dizzying drama was both queer and weird as the timid and trauma-tossed Amina together with her little baby were thrust from the obscurity of Sambisa forest to the royalty of the presidential villa. The First Family led by President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife dutifully shone in the glory of the girl’s presidential visit as the camera lights flashed endlessly to expose the emptiness of it all.

Three months later, echoes have escaped from the hollowness of that whole opportunistic affair thereby justifying the fears and concerns raised by the BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group at that time. The BBOG which by the way has not hidden its disappointment at the Buhari administration’s failure to stick with its commitment to rescue the Chibok girls had then observed that the handling ofAminaAli’s case showed a lack of a comprehensive post-Boko haram war plan. In its now seemingly characteristic penchant for impatience with criticisms, government spokespersons had then disagreed with the Oby Ezekwesili-led group. But events unfolding appear to be proving the crusaders right at least, until government offers a plausible explanation as to what has been happening to the youngAmina in solitary confinement inAbuja and why.

The world got a peep intoAmina’s supposed liberated life when her mother, BintaAli, opened up to the media this week. Her accounts indicate that government’s ‘restoration process’ for the girl and her child is either unsatisfactory or unacceptable. Or both in a worst case scenario. Binta suggests that her daughter harbours mistrust for her present habitation and would prefer to be released to her family in Chibok from where she was hurled into trucks amongst some over 200 girls in a tales-by-moonlight human hijack by Boko Haram inApril 2014.According to the story published Wednesday in THISDAY Newspaper, Binta told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Chibok “having briefly returned there to seek medical treatment” that her daughter was not a happy girl after all.

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OKE EPIA Telephone (sms only): 07059850016 Email: resourceman.oke@live.com.

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Amina Ali

“Before she was kidnapped, she wanted to further her education,” Binta was quoted as saying aboutAmina who now curiously wants to become a tailor because she is now “afraid of schooling, and she wants to be close to me at home.” In case you do not yet hear it, this brief account stated above contains alarm bells that should not only worry the BBOG group but the rest of the world that has followed the Chibok abduction drama since two years now. Why in the first place wouldAmina’s mother leave the comfort ofAbuja to Chibok to seek medical treatment as the report says? Would being inAbuja as prized guests of the Federal Government once feted by the First Family, not have afforded BintaAli a better medical attention than whatever she could have gone to receive in a Chibok community that is just barely picking itself up from the ruins of terrorist devastation? Is it thatAmina’s mother was not entitled to receive medical attention that is presumed to have been provided for her daughter that is undergoing rehabilitation? Or is it that theAlis are not satisfied with what is being provided by government?And could that be whyAmina is said to be unhappy in protective custody meant to be part of the curative healing process? If these questions are disturbing enough then the dimension about the girl’s religious preferences

should be thoroughly upsetting to the guarantee of fundamental rights.

In the report under reference, Binta also told the world that her daughter was being pressured to stick with the Islamic religion she was forcefully proselytized into by the Boko Haram terrorists who had seized her many months back. This was how the ThisDay report put it: “Binta said she was also worried that her daughter was being pressured into following Islam, having been forced to convert from Christianity to Islam by Boko Haram militants during her captivity.

“Amina herself does not want to remain a Muslim,” Binta said, explaining how an Islamic teacher had visited the house several times and told her daughter to maintain her new faith.

“She did not want to see him,” Binta said, adding that the teacher had stopped visiting after she complained about him.”

Could that be real? Was it some joke? Or was BintaAli simply spinning a conspiratorial tale to achieve some hidden agenda? But whatever it was does not remove the suggestion that there was an attempt to temper withAmina’s religious convictions against her wish.

At least, the part of the story about a response from the presidency that did not emphatically dismiss such suggestion only tends to give credence to it. Here again I quote the story: “Garba Shehu, Buhari’s spokesman, saidAmina’s confinement in the house had nothing to do with religion.” What does such a terse riposte from a presidential spokesman suggest? Given the gravity of the issue and being one that has not placed his principal in complimentary public perceptions since May 2015, Mr. Shehu would have done more to dispel the claims made by Binta to a foreign media organization.

But communication lacuna (assuming that was what happened in the case above) would not be the only area where a lack of preparedness is perceptible. In fact, that is only tangential to the trend of impromptu and adhoc responses to the emerging humanitarian situation regarding the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-east of Nigeria. The authorities have displayed an acute lack of foresight if not simple anticipation of the avoidable embarrassment the country is faced with at the moment. Scenarios of overcrowded IDP camps struggling with insufficiency of food, medicines and other basic supplies have become harbingers of malnutrition, epidemic and death now stalking the region now liberated from the reign of terrorists. The Northeast is fast sliding into a grotesque collage of grim statistics common to war zones and places ravaged by drought or other natural disasters. This is because the victory march of soldiers on the field was not marched by the thinking caps of politicians who should have anticipated and planned for the upsurge of IDPs finding their ways into already crowded camps from liberated territories. Perhaps because they would rather continue to play selfish politics with the plight of the displaced and realize their grand plots of theft and corruption, they would rather wait for the situation to become near implosive before running helter-skelter in a deliberate pattern of beneficial confusion. It is doubly sad however that thoughAminaAli is not in one of such camps of confusion, her current state in presidential rehabilitative custody leaves much to be desired.

––Follow writer onTwitter @resourceme

50

SATURDAY AUGUST 6, 2016 T H I S D AY

RC 299647

PUBLIC WORKSHOP ON NIGERIAN CONTENT FOR ZABAZABA DEVELOPMENT PROJECT- FPSO EPCI PACKAGE 1.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) (hereafter COMPANY), Operator of the OPL 245 is organizing in conjunction with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) (hereafter the Board) a three (3) day public workshop for interested Nigerian Service providers, suppliers and OEM representatives, vendors and manufacturers based in Nigeria, supplier trade umbrella/ associations and any other reputable provider of products and services to the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

The workshop is being organized in accordance with the provisions of the NOGICD Act to sensitize the general public on the high-level Nigerian Content Plan associated with the main facilities of the Zabazaba and Etan Deepwater integrated project. In addition, it will provide a platform for local companies to interact with international service providers who are prospective EPCI tenderers for the following works/services: Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Installation (EPCI) + Chartering, Operation & Maintenance for a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Tanker Facility Complete with Mooring System.

COMPANY hereby invites for the three (3) day workshop, representatives of relevant Government Agencies and Regulatory Authorities (Federal Ministry of Environment, DPR, NIMASA, Nigerian Custom Service, Nigerian Navy Service, NPA, NEPZA, Nigerian Shippers Council, FIRS, etc.). Similarly, Company also requests for expressions of interest to participate in the workshop from Nigerian service companies, local manufacturers, vendors/suppliers, and other supplier stakeholders in the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry (e.g. PETAN, NCCF, MAN, etc.) wishing to attend this three (3) day workshop with the International Service Providers, to present their available in-country capabilities and exhibit their expertise under the services scope with a view to forming synergies/alliances with the FPSO providers for the delivery of one or more modules, products and services of the FPSO systems.

The Nigerian Content Opportunities for the FPSO Work Package include but shall not be limited to the following: Project Management/Consulting Services Detailed Engineering on Deep Offshore Facilities (Topsides, Hull and LQ, Mooring, HVAC), Fabrication & Construction Engineering, Integration Engineering, Installation Engineering, Maintenance and Inspection Engineering, Pre-commissioning/Commissioning Engineering, etc.

Materials and Procurement Fabrication & Construction o Pressure Vessels o Topside Modules Fabrication o Topside Modules Integration o Hull Appurtenances and ancillary elements o Helideck o Living Quarters and Accommodation module outfitting Telecommunication and Support Services DCS, Main Automation and Control Major rotating equipment packages Process and Utilities packages Mooring equipment and Navigational Aids Data Management Services HSE o Catering Services o Cleaning and Laundry Services o Security Services o Medical Services Marine Operations and Logistic Services o Supply Vessels o Cargo Barges o Tug Boats o Installation Vessels o Security and firefighting Vessels Provision of skilled manpower and services for FPSO Operations and Maintenance Services Mechanical testing and inspection services Training

2.

DATE AND VENUE The workshop is scheduled for 16th, 17th and 18th of August 2016 Time is 9.00am daily.

Venue is Transcorp Hilton, 1, Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja.

3.

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS To be eligible for participation in the workshop, interested Service Companies are required to be legally registered in Nigeria by CAC and possess valid DPR permit Registration on the NCDMB NOGIC JQS and in NipeX Joint Qualification System (NJQS) database including being prequalified for one or more NJQS supplier category(ies) related to the Scope of Work in subject would be of advantage.

To attend the workshop, a confirmation of participation request should be sent to the following e-mail address: ncworkshop2016@naoc.agip.it on or before 4pm Monday 15thAugust 2016 stating: i) Name and registered address of the Company ii) Name and official designation of the nominated representative (please note that only one authorized representative for each Service Company will be admitted to participate) iii) NJQS supplier category(ies) for which the Company is pre-qualified iv) NOGIC JQS registration number v) CAC certificate of incorporation (attach copy) vi) DPR registration permits (attach copy)

4.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NAE hereby makes clear that all the expenses/costs connected to the participation to the workshop (including but not limited to: travel, board and lodging, etc.) shall be borne by the participants and NAE will not grant any form of compensation.

This announcement of Workshop shall not be construed as a commitment on part of NAE, nor shall it entitle Applicants to make any claims whatsoever and/or seek any indemnity from NAE and/or any of its Partners by virtue of such Applicants having responded to this announcement.

MANAGEMENT

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AUGUST 6, 20 16 •THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

ENTERTAINMENT FILE

with AKPOR GBEMRE; 07063000929. instagram: @mister411

25 Facts about Nigerian Hip-hop Star, Wizkid

Many enjoy his music and love to watch his musical videos as well. But only a handful of his followers know anything about the artiste called Wizkid.

They just like listening to him, downloading his songs and making them the ringing tones on their android phones. But Wizkid is more than these.

He has come a long way even at a relatively young age. Below are some interesting 25 facts you need to know about the young but successful singer 1. Wizkid, born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, started his career recording demo and singles with OJB in his Surulere studio at the age of 11.

2. Wizkid’s critically acclaimed songs, ‘Pakurumo’ and ‘Tease Me’ in debut album ‘Superstar’ was produced by Samklef.

3. Wizkid first gained some major attention when he featured on MI Abaga’s ‘Fast Money, Fast Cars’ in 2009.

4. Wizkid dropped out of Lagos State University, LASU, in 2009 to focus on his music career. He was later admitted to Lead City University in Ibadan but also dropped out after two sessions.

5. Wizkid’s debut album, ‘Superstar’ was released in 2011 amidst so much anticipation from fans. The album contains hit songs like ‘Scatter the floor’, ‘Pakurumo,’ ‘No Lele,’ ‘Love My Baby’, ‘Don’t Dull’, ‘Tease Me’ and many others.

Collaborating with Banky W, Skales, Wande Coal and D’Prince.

6. In 2009, Wizkid signed a record deal with Banky W’s and the Demuren’s Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) imprint. The deal was facilitated by former manager, Osagie O. He rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of ‘Holla at Your Boy’ single.

7. Some of Wizkid’s major local collaborations include ‘Girl’ (with Bracket) ‘Fine Lady’ (with Lynxxx) ‘Sexy Mama (with Iyanya), ‘Slow Down’ (With R2Bees), ‘The Matter’ (with Maleek Berry) ‘Pull Over’ (with KCEE) and ‘Bad Girl’ (with Jesse Jagz).

8. Wizkid was ranked 5th on Forbes’ and Channel O’s 2013 list of the Top 10 Richest/Bankable African Artistses.

9. Wizkid became the first ever Nigerian musician to have over one million followers on Twitter.

10. In a 2012 interview with Tim Westwood, he said that his father has three wives 11. On 12 June 201, Wizkid hosted an album launch concert at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel and Suites. The album’s launch event featured performances from Banky W, Skales, 2face Idibia, Samklef, Wande Coal, D’Prince, Olamide, Eldee, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, Lynxxx and Seyi Shay.

12. The album, ‘Superstar’, won Best Album of the Year at the 2012 Nigerian Entertainment Awards and was nominated for album of the year at The Headies 2012.

13. On 5 January 2015, Wizkid released the music video for ‘Ojuelegba’, a song that highlights the struggles he endured in the early years of his recording career. The official remix to the song features vocals from American rapper, Drake and Skepta,

which was recorded in London.

14. In 2011, Warri-born rapper, Yung6ix, featured Wizkid in his official debut single titled, ‘Follow Me’, shortly after 411 Entertainment launched Yung6ix music career.

15. Wizkid became Nigeria’s first artiste to emerge on Billboard’s chart following his feature on Drake’s ‘One Dance’ single, which charted at number 21. On May 12, 2016, the song reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

16. Wizkid toured London in 2012 and performed at the HMV Apollo on 4th June 2012. On 12 November 2012, he performed at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Live, O2 Academy in Brixton alongside Trey Songz, Tuliza, Kendrick Lamar and Angel.

17. Wizkid joined Chris Brown on his ‘One Hell of a Nite’ world tour in May 2016.

18. In 2012, Wizkid signed a one-year endorsement deal with Pepsi reportedly worth 350,000 U.S dollars.

19. Wizkid signed a one-year ambassadorial deal with MTN Nigeria on 28th May 2014.

20. The pop star inked another endorsement deal with Guiness for the ‘Guinness World of More’ concert. The concert was held at the Eko Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos on 3rd November 2013.

21. On 18 June 2015, Wizkid ditched MTN and signed a N128 million deal with GLO. 22. He signed his first artiste L.A.X to his Starboy label on 20th August, 2013. He made the announcement moments after debuting the music video for ‘Caro’, the label’s first official single. On May 7, 2016, Wizkid announced the signings of Efya, R2Bees and Mr Eazi to Starboy Entertainment. He made the announcement shortly after his performance at the 17th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards After winning African artiste of the year award.

23. Wizkid’s contribution to the Nigerian music industry has earned him several awards, including a BET Award, a Mobo Award, Five Headies, two Channel O Music Awards, Six Nigerian Entertainment Awards, two Ghana Music Awards, two Dynamix All Youth Awards, two City People Entertainment Awards and a Future Award. He has received three nominations at the MTV Europe Music Awards. He has also been nominated four times at the World Music Awards.

24. Wiz is currently managed by Sunday Are and Disturbing London owned

by Tinie Tempash. Prior to Are, he had worked with Godwin Tom and Osagie Osarenkhoe, his first manager.

25. Wizkid is one of the major headliners of the One Africa Fest holding in Barclays Centre, New York this July.

Wizkid with Chris Brown

52

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

POLITY

C’River Remains Safe, Secured for Investment, Tourism, Says Ayade

G

overnor Ben Ayade of Cross River State Government has assured both local and international investors and tourists that the state remains one of the safest and secured tourism and investment destination in the country.

Ayade while citing the latest travel advisory report released by the United States government to its citizens warning them of some volatile states to avoid in the country excluding Cross River State during a brief appraisal of the security situation in the state concluded that the state government’s efforts to provide 24/7 security network across the state had started yielding phenomenal results.

“The latest US government’s advisory report to its citizens and the general public on which states are peaceful and secured is unambiguous and we take credit and feel vindicated that, after all, our efforts to secure our state are paying off. There is nothing further from the truth; which is why I want to seize this opportunity to again assure both local and international investors and tourists that our state is not only safe and secured, it is an investment and tourism destination of choice that ranks to none in the entire country,” Ayade stated.

Giving a breakdown of efforts that his administration has been putting in place to secure the state, Ayade said he recently set out to collaborate with France to establish a security outfit to complement existing federal security agencies in the country,

adding that once approved by the state legislature, the outfit will be known as the Cross River Homeland Security.

The governor explained that the decision to establish the security body was part of the proactive approach to sustain the peace and security the state is known for, adding his action was imperative considering that the security of Calabar, the state capital and its environs, had come under serious threats by cultists and sundry criminals.

Clarifying the role of the new outfit, Ayade pointed out that the operatives would not bear arms and will be a complete departure from the traditional methods of policing. He also hinted that the security outfit will create over 3000 jobs for people of the state as well as provide intelligence and profiling of visitors to the state, carry out neighborhood watch and provide data and services to the police Ayade recalled that “Recently the Consul-General of France in Nigeria visited our state and our deliberations centred around how we can collaborate to solve the security challenges facing the Niger Delta, and also looked at how Lafarge can do business better in a less security tensed atmosphere. It became an imperative for us to create a security architecture that could protect Lafarge and other core investors, citizens and visitors to Cross River State.”

The governor said he was convinced that the innovative thinking is the best way to tackle challenging security situation in the region, restating that “Cross River has been the home of tourism, a signature and

PHOTO NEWS

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Technology Times, Mr. Shina Badaru; Head, Corporate Unit Services, Technology Times, Adebola Adenekan; Chairman, Photo Journalists Association of Nigeria (PJAN), Lagos, Mr. Ademola Akinlabi; Auditor, (PJAN), Mr. Kola Olasupo and Mr. Kehinde Gbadamosi, during the association courtesy visit to Technology Times on PJAN forthcoming workshop in Lagos...recently

L-R: Deputy Rector (Academics), Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), Mr. Innocent Akhuemonkhan; Execution Excellence Manager, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), Mrs. Eno Martin-Eyo; Rector, Yabatech, Dr. Margaret Ladipo; and Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution, NBC, Mrs. Chinwe Odigboegwu, during the MoU signing between NBC and Yabatech for the Coca-Cola bottle competition in Lagos...recently

hallmark of hospitality and good lifestyle for all Africans. It is imperative we make it very safe.”

Ayade explained that he “personally led a security exercise which deliberate aim was to let criminals know that his team was in absolute control of the entire situation and ready to flush out criminal elements out of the state. We have done a complete surveillance of all the possible routes, all the waterways through which these criminals escape. “We deliberately carried out that exercise to demonstrate that we are in absolute control and we are going to keep Calabar totally safe. We have uncov-

ered specific hideouts including access to water ways and fronts and have security operatives have taken care of that as well as commenced door to door search of locations in Calabar metropolis and across the entire state.

“After our last security meeting, we made adequate budgetary provision, reduced some of our spending while transferring some of the overheads to guarantee sufficient ammunition as well as other security and logistics support to enable us achieve what we have achieved today and we will do more in due course, “ he assured.

The newly wedded couple, Rev. and Rev. (Mrs.) Osas Obasohan, the groom parents, Rev. and Mrs. Emmanuel Obasohan and parents of the bride, Archbishop Goddowell Avwomakpa and Rev. (Mrs.) Avwomakpa in Ekpan, Warri, Delta State...recently

L-R: Airtel Public Relations & Communication Manager, Erhumu Bayagbon; Head of Public Relations, Airtel, Adefemi Adeniran; Actor, Kunle Bamtefa and General Manager, Mass Market, Airtel, Oladapo Jolaosho at the Airtel Smart Connect 2.0 Media Launch in Lagos...recently PHOTO: Abiodun Ajala

L-R: Managing Director, Mixta Nigeria, Mr. Kola Ashiru-Balogun; Finance Director, Mixta Africa, Mr. Marcel Escriba; Former Executive Director, Mixta Nigeria, Mr. Bode Olaibi; Mrs. Bode Olaibi and the Managing Director, Mixta Senegal, Mr. Saliou Niang, at the Wàkáá musical event sponsored by Mixta Africa in London...recently

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

53

newSXTRA

Appeal Court Shuts Out Otti, KOWA Community Commends Ugwuanyi Party from Abia Governorship Dispute for Seizing Kidnappers Den Tobi Soniyi inAbuja The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, has dismissed the applications by the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Oti and KOWA party, Dan Onyeonagu respectively seeking to be made parties to the appeal challenging the judgment of a Federal High Court which removed Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as governor of Abia State.

Otti, a former Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank PLC had through his counsel, Mr. Patrick Ikweto, SAN applied to be joined in the legal tussle between the incumbent governor Ikpeazu and another PDP member, Samson Uchechukwu Ogah, on the ground that he had vested interest in the governorship tussle.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Abubakar Dati Yahaya, the appellate

court unanimously held that the two applicants failed to establish their interest in the internal affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The court held that the subject of litigation between Ogah and Ikpeazu, who are members of the PDP, was the primary election of the party conducted on December 8, 2014.

The two applicants, the court held, being members of different political parties, had no locus standi to question the primary election of the PDP. Justice Yahaya also held that the applicants failed to give circumstantial reasons to sway the court to exercise its judicial discretion in their favour.

Among others, the court held that the two applicants failed to transmit the proceedings of the trial court, the Federal High Court Abuja, to

the Court of Appeal where their interest was supposed to have been established but merely relied on affidavit depositions to join the legal tussle at appeal court.

The appellate court further held that allowing the applicants to join the dispute would amount to attempting to change the nature of the suit from an intra-party to an inter parties which was not an issue before the court.

Describing the two applicants as meddlesome interlopers, busy bodies, aliens and strangers to the dispute between Ikpeazu and Ogah, the court said they cannot have interest recognisable in law in the domestic affairs of another party.

Justice Yahaya further held that from the documents placed before the court, the applicants were not deprived of anything belonging to them since they did not participate in the PDP primary election adding

that nothing has been taken away from them with the outcome of the said election.

"Let me make it clear that the issue at the Federal High Court which gave birth to the pending appeal here, was the primary election of the PDP conducted on December 8, 2014 in which Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu emerged winner and Samson Ogah came second.

"The respondent here (Ogah), based on information made available to him after the primary election, approached the Federal High Court to complain that the winner of the primary election was not qualified to be nominated as a candidate by PDP on the account of the submission of alleged false tax clearance to obtain the PDP nomination and that he (Ogah) sought to be declared the winner of the said primary having scored the second majority lawful votes.

AkpashaAkegbugwu community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State and land owners in the area have commended the state government for its prompt action in the revocation and clearing of an expanse of land in the area, which they alleged was used surreptitiously as a den of kidnappers and robbers.

The said parcel of land, according to the land owners within the vicinity, was last occupied by the former Nigeria Bricks and Clay Products Limited, which had closed down business for a very long time prior to acquisition of the individual landed property within the area.

Reacting to claims by a company, Bridgeways DPG Ltd, that it owns the property and had made huge investment in it, the concerned land owners faulted the allegations as "strange, false and misleading".

In a joint statement by Engr. Moses Udeh, Chief Mike Onwanze, Dr. Dennis Ngene and Mrs. Josephine Nnamani, the private land owners described the company’s claims as "a failed calculated attempt to undermine the efforts of the government to enhance security of

lives and property of the people in the area and stamp out kidnapping in the state."

They alleged that the said property had been lying fallow for over 15 years after the Nigeria Bricks and Clay Products Limited closed down business, stressing that no investment had taken place in the land since the company left the state.

The neighborhood regretted that they have not been able to commence full development of their own landed property because of the criminal activities of kidnappers on the parcel of land under reference.

They said that the intervention of the government through the revocation and clearing of the land was belated and a welcome development that had paved way for rapid development.

The group alleged that there was an agreement reached between the community, government and former Nigeria Bricks and Clay Products Limited, that if the company refused to develop the land for commercial use within a specific period of years, government should take over the property for public interest.

Usoh: I Left N3.6bn Asset in NSC as MD

John Iwori

REWARDING SERVICE...

L-R: Chairman Project Committe, St. Gregory College Member and Board of Governors Trustee Old Student, Sir. Bandele Obilana; President, St. Gregory College Old Boys Association, Chief Ayo Iroche; Awardee/Hon. Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Lagos State, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson and his wife, Funke at an award presentation to the Commisssioner for his merritorous service in the development of Lagos State by the College of 1966-1970 set during its 50th Anniversary thanksgiving Holy Mass and Reception at the College Hall in Ikoyi, Lagos...

Fitch Affirms 8 Nigerian Banks’ Glo tops New Internet Ratings on Sovereign Criteria Change Subscribers Acquisition in June Obinna Chima

Fitch Ratings yesterday affirmed the national ratings of eight Nigerian banks. The banks are First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fidelity Bank, Diamond Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Union Bank , Stanbic IBTC Bank, the Bank of Industry (BOI) as well as Stanbic IBTC Holdings (SIBTCH).

A statement from the international agency explained that the rating actions followed Fitch's downgrade of Nigeria's Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'B+' from 'BB-', as a result of which it now equalised with the long-term foreign currency IDR. It further explained that its latest action was driven by the change in Fitch's sovereign rating criteria.

“Following the sovereign criteria change and rating action, Fitch has recalibrated the National Rating scale for Nigeria. As a result the national ratings for the aforementioned banks were affirmed as there is no change in their relative creditworthiness,” it stated.

According to the agency, the national rating of UBA was based its standalone creditworthiness and

was also underpinned by potential sovereign support.

Also, the national ratings of FBN, Fidelity, Diamond, FCMB and UBN were based on potential sovereign support given their systemic importance, just as the national ratings of Stanbic and SIBTCH were based on the probability of support from their parent, Standard Bank Group Limited (SBG; BBB-/ Stable).

SBG has a majority 53.2 per cent stake in SIBTCH, which in turn owns 100% of Stanbic IBTC. “Fitch believes that SBG's support would extend equally to both the bank and the holding company.

The national ratings of BOI are driven by potential sovereign support reflecting its 99.9 per cent state ownership, its policy role and the bank's strategic importance to Nigeria's economic and industrial development.

“The banks' (apart from UBA, SIBTC and SIBTCH) national ratings are sensitive to a weakening ability of the Nigerian sovereign to provide support. UBA's National Ratings are sensitive to both a weakening in sovereign support as well as any change in its standalone credit worthiness", it said.

Globacom, has again beaten other operators to the top position in acquisition of new internet subscribers in the month of June.

This emerged from the latest figures released by the industry regulator for the month of June.

According to the figures, Globacom closed the month of June with a total of 26,628,065 internet subscribers up from 26,355,391 in May. This showed that the operator added a total of 272,674 new subscribers during the month.

The figure represents a quantum leap from the total number of subscribers gained between April and May. Glo recorded 49,124 new subscribers in April.

The closest operator to Globacom is Airtel, which recorded a total of 17,325,423 subscribers in June, up from 17,280,089 in May. In essence, Airtel added 45,334 new internet subscribers.

On the other hand, Etisalat had a total of 15,253,513 internet subscribers at the end of June, down from the

15,508,024 internet subscribers the operator had in May, effectively losing a total of 254,511 internet subscribers in one month.

MTN Nigeria on its part recorded a total of 32,974,177 in June, down from the 33,108,786 internet subscribers that the operator had in May. Consequently, MTN lost a total of 134,609 within a month.

By the new figures, Globacom accounts for about 86 per cent of the total internet subscriber acquisitions in the industry in the month of June.

The steady growth Globacom has recorded in the area of acquisition of new internet subscribers may not be unconnected with a broad bouquet of innovative products and services the company has introduced in recent times.

Among the offerings currently thrilling subscribers is Jollific8 which gives subscribers eight times the value of their recharge. It is widely acclaimed to be the best value for money in the industry.

The former Managing Director of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Dr. Kingsley Usoh has said that he left a net asset profile worth N3.6 billion in NSC when he left the Federal Government parasatal.

He disclosed that when he was appointed the helmsman of NSC in 1984, the net worth of NSC was only N13, 906.

Usoh’s clarifications is coming on the heels of last Saturday report which stated that he left N3.6 billion cash in the coffers of the Federal Ministry of Transportation parasatal as he retired.

A trained maritime expert who obtained his first and second degrees in the United Kingdom, including a masters degree in Transport Engineering and Operations from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Usoh told THISDAY in Lagos that he did not leave N3.6 billion cash but assets worth N3.6 billion.

According to Usoh who as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NSC was the head of the Nigerian delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to negotiate trade in services between 1995 and 1996 and to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1980, when compared with the insignificant amount of N13, 906 it has in 1984, the NSC asset appreciated by 258,881 per cent as at October, 1996 when he was retired.

He revealed that it was in 1994 not 1984 that he built the magnificent 11 storey building called Shippers Plaza which presently serves as the corporate headquarters of NSC in the port city of Apapa, Lagos.

A septuagenarian and author of several books on transportation, Usoh stated that he would continue to do his best to ensure that Nigeria got it right in the transport industry in the years ahead.

Kogi Governor Invites Faleke to Work with Him Tobi Soniyi in Abuja Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has invited James Faleke, who rejected to serve as his deputy to come and work with him for the development of Kogi State.

Addressing State House in Abuja after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari, Bello said he inherited Kogi in a state of mess.

He said: "I have extended olive branch to my opponents on several occasions and at this time, I am extending it again to my brother, Hon. James Faleke, to come and let us join hands together to lift Kogi State.

"The state was in a big mess as of the time we came on board.

He should join hands with me to save the state from the claws of those who had held it down over the years."

Faleke is laying claim to the governorship seat claiming that the election had been concluded

before, the All Progressives Congress' candidate, Abubakar Audu died.

Following the nomination of Bello to replace the late Audu, Faleke turned down his party's invitation to him to run as deputy to Bello Both the state election tribunal and the Court of Appeal had upheld his election. There are however indication that the those challenging his election will go to the Supreme Court.

He denied the existence of a face-off between the state's House of Assembly and the executive.

According to him, there had never been any face-off between the executive and the legislature.

He said: "There has always been misunderstanding in every legislative house and Kogi State is not an exception. As of today, we have one united Kogi Assembly."

Bello said he came to the State House to offer Friday prayers with the president.

54

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 6, 2016

newS

Finally, FG, LASG Move to Save Marine Beach Bridge Gboyega Akinsanmi The Federal and Lagos State Governments yesterday disclosed plan to save Marine Beach Bridge, which connects Apapa Central Business District (CBD) to Lagos Island and Lagos-Ibadan expressway via Ikorodu road.

Before they unveiled the new intervention, a portion of the bridge had caved in, thus putting its structural integrity to question and causing intractable gridlocks that often paralysed businesses in Apapa CBD. But in a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Ekundayo Mobereola, the federal government had directed that repair works should com-

mence on the bridge, whose present conditions pose threat to national economy, lives and properties.

Consequently, the statement said the bridge, whose construction started under the regime of former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and completed under the regime of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, would be closed to allow the Federal Ministry of Works, Power & Housing carry out studies on the bridge.

The statement explained the essence of the studies, which it said, was to determine the state of the Bridge and effect appropriate repairs, though detail about when the bridge would be closed was yet to be released.

The statement added that the emergency and immediate closure “is to also allow the federal ministry of power, works and housing carryout studies to determine the state of the Bridge and effect appropriate repairs.

“While the federal ministry of power, works and housing has assured of immediate action towards repairing the Bridge as it may deem fit, the Lagos State Government is committed to putting in place effective traffic management strategies that will mitigate the impact of the closure.”

The statement listed alternate routes for the use of commuters.

It advised motorists coming from Wharf Base/Point Road “to divert at service Lane (Marine Beach

Road) by Leventis Junction to Link Lilly Pond by Dockyard and ascend Ijora Bridge to continue their journey.”

It equally advised motorists traveling to Ajegunle “to take a left turn at the second junction under the Apapa Road Bridge to Marine Beach Junction inward Ajegunle or back to Ijora Bridge and continue their journey.

However, the statement said the traffic advice “is not to be used by heavy duty vehicles,” thereby imploring National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG) and its members to observe the reroute especially so as not to block the road when accessing the tank farms at Lilly Pond.

Okonkwo Calls for Synergy between FG, Property Developers Anayo Okolie

Nedcom Oaks, a private developer has advocated for a proactive synergy between the federal government and property developers in Nigeria, saying it would play a vital role in alleviating the problem of housing in Nigeria.

Mr. Kennedy Okonkwo, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Nedcom Oaks, a property development company operating within the Lekki-Ajah axis of Lagos State stated this yesterday during a meeting with stakeholders.

According to him, “this meeting is essentially to discuss way forward, appreciate and thank our friends and partner agents whom have been an integral part of our organisa-

tion; who have consistently supported and marketed our products.

The synergy between developers and federal, according to Okonkwo, was important because it would enable developers have access to some basic amenities. “We are in the business of design, build and sell; but we also have facility management company, which temporarily manages the facilities until we hand over to the subscribers, because we believe that the subscribers are the owners of the properties, so they determine if our facility management company would continue to manage on their behalf or they could well employ a third-party facility management company to manage their property.”

NUC Approves Law Degree Programme for Edwin Clark University Sylvester Idowu in Warri The National University Commission(NUC) has approved the Law Degree Programme of the Edwin Clark University (ECU), Kiagbodo, Delta State.

Announcing the approval of the faculty of law to newsmen in Warri yesterday, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Timothy Olagbemiro said the faculty of law of the university which had all the necessary facilities to take off was recently approved by the National University Commission (NUC) and the Council of Legal Education respectively.

The elated VC said; “The University hereby announce

LET'S WORK TOGETHER...

L-R: Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong and Minister of State for Solid Minerals Development, Hon Abubakar Bawa Bwari, during the Governor's visit to the Minister in Abuja.... on Friday PHOTO: SUNDAY ADIGUN

Niger Delta Avengers: Don’t Link us with Criminal Activities Sylvester Idowu inWarri

Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) warned yesterday that it should not be linked with any criminal activities in any part of the country.

The group, which has been claiming responsibilities for bombings of oil facilities in the Niger delta, however advised the press not to quote it out of context.

According to a statement signed by its Spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo "The Nigeria

press community should not misquote the NDA on our statement on the Nigeria military killing innocent civilians in Arepo, Ogun State", it stated in response to its last Thursday release condemning the military onslaught in Lagos and Ogun states.

It stated that NDA only bemoaned and condemned the reckless war game that the military was embarking upon with the lives and property of defenseless law abiding citizens in those communities

while the criminals have fled the area.

"We should not be linked to activities of criminals and illegal bunkering going on in any part of the country that the Nigeria security agencies are the main benefactors and collaborators.

"The military should not use such contrived video clips to justify their killings and destruction of property of defenseless citizens in Ogun State.

That we cannot be intimi-

dated by these video clips of propaganda and drones", the militant group maintained.

It stated further "The press and the general public should not quote us out of context; we only expressed our concern on the bombing by the government when the criminals have already fled the crime scene which amount to the death of innocent citizens in Arepo.

"So the military should stop justification of extra judicial killings. That is our position", it added.

Lagos Seals 18 Hotels, Event Centers over N91m Tax Evasion The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has shut 18 hotels, restaurants and event centers for alleged failure to pay taxes due under the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Laws of Lagos State 2009.

The Hotels and Restaurants were said to owe the State a cumulative sum over N91million.

Director of Legal Services of LIRS, Seyi Alade listed the affected hotels as Starfire Hotels, Ikeja; Zaaz Hotel Lim-

ited, Ikeja; Le Parisian Suites, Opebi; Cottage Guest House Two, Opebi; Suite 29, Ikeja; Bec Ind Catering Company, Ikeja; Hotel De Jas, Oshodi; Florida International Motel, Ajao Estate; Atlantic Product Limited, Victoria Island; Soul Centre, Okota and Taesuites Limited, Ikoyi.

Others include Larex Hotels Limited, Shomolu; Piccadily Suite, Lekki; D Yard Entertainment, Surulere; Peaceland Hotels, Yaba; Nufcam Hotel Limited, Ojodu Berger; Posh

Spice, Surulere and Cristabol Place, Lekki.

Alade on Friday during the state-wide tax enforcement exercise; warned that defaulting Hotels, Restaurants and Event Centers would henceforth face the full wrath of the law if they failed to deduct and remit their taxes as provided by the law.

According to him, failure to deduct and remit taxes as and when due attracted very serious penalties that may lead to the sealing and the seizure of the goods and chattels of

the affected entities.

He said the LIRS usually gives a long rope by issuing multiple notices to the taxpayers to inform and also remind them of their tax liabilities adding that only recalcitrant taxpayers are shut down as in the present case.

He therefore urged all business entities operating in the state to ensure prompt remittance of their taxes to avoid the costly disruptions that could be visited on their businesses as a result of a distrain exercise.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as BASSEY ANDREW INYANG, now wish to be known and addressed as INYANG BASSEY ANDREW. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as ADEYEMI ABDULRARIDI, now wish to be known and addressed as OYESHOLA ABDULRARIDI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as ADEOLA ZAINAB ADEDEHINBO, now wish to be known and addressed as ADEOLA ZAINAB TORIOLA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS SAMUEL ADEPEJU OLUWAKEMI ,now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BABAFEMI ADEPEJU OLUWAKEMI. All former documents that carries my formal names still remain valid, GTBank, Wema Bank and all my institutions should please take note

This to notify the general public that my correct names are JOEL DOUGLASS EBIKEME EPAIN and not PERES EBIKEME JOEL, EBIKEME EPAIN as wrongly spelt in my bank details. All former documents remain valid, Unity Bank, UBA and the general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OJIELU RUKAYYETU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS RUKAYYAT OSIREMUZA ABDULRAHMAN. All former documents remain valid. Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, N.Y.S.C. and the general public should please take note.

the take-off of its Law Degree Programme, in the Faculty of Law, named after the Legal Luminary, Chief Fredrick Rotimi Alade Williams, in September, 2016.

Our Law Degree Programme is kicking off immediately next month, September”.

According to him, ECU had recorded a number of achievements since inception, noting that the approval of the law faculty was another milestone.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as MISS RACHEAL OKEH, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS RACHEAL ISMAILA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OLUFUNTO ESTHER OMOBOWALE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ESTHER OLUFUNTO JOSHUA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as OKEKE AMARACHI MONALISA, now wish to be known and addressed as OKOYE AMARA MAUREEN. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as SADAM OSSAIN GARUBA, now wish to be known and addressed as OUMAR GARBA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as ODOYE EMMANUEL, now wish to be known and addressed as ODOHI GODWIN EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as AJENE CHINYERE MARGARET, now wish to be known and addressed as NWANYA CHINYERE MARGARET. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY AUGUST 6, 2016

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MISSILE Ize-Iyamu to Oshiomhole “It is only a wicked, insensitive and irresponsible governor that will deny workers their salaries, especially when Oshiomhole just donated N120 million to some selected market women for supporting his administration. Pensioners and local government workers have not been paid 10 to 18 months salaries. The state governor is ungodly, absurd and inhuman for subjecting the good people of the state to untold hardship.”

– The Edo State PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu chastising Governor Adams Oshiomhole over the plight of pensioners and local government workers.

PENDULUM Dele Momodu

dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com

When Honour Comes From Abroad

F

ellow Africans, let me start by thanking hundreds, if not thousands, of all those who felicitated with me last weekend on the honorary Doctorate degree bestowed on me by one of Ghana’s most prestigious institutions, the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA).

UPSA started out as a privately owned professional institute named the Institute of Professional Studies in 1965. In 1979, it was taken over by the Government of Ghana and in 1999 it became a tertiary institution by virtue of the Institute of Professional Studies Act 1999 (Act 566). The mandate of the newly revamped Institute was to offer professional programmes in the disciplines of Accountancy and Management leading to the award of degrees, diplomas and certificates.

The Institute was affiliated to the University of Ghana in so far as the award of degrees, diplomas and certificates was concerned.

However, the baby graduated to adulthood and the institution became a full-fledged University on 1st September 2008 when it was granted a Presidential Charter with authority to award its own degrees, diplomas and certificates.

The Institute metamorphosed into a University in status and name when the University of Professional Studies Act 2012 (Act 850) received Presidential assent on 31 July 2012. The Institute was renamed the University of Professional Studies, Accra.

In the history of the University only three people had been honoured with honorary doctorate degrees and this was in 2013. It was thus a special and privilege and honour for the University to singularly consider me as the next most worthy recipient of its honorary degree and this was made even more exceptional by the fact that I was the only recipient and the first non-Ghanaian.

In effect, what this particular recognition accorded me was awesome and apparently took into account the myriad of ways in which I have become an adopted son of Ghana. My close relationship with the Republic of Ghana spans more than two decades. In those twenty one years, many have come to see and accept me as an Associate Ghanaian primarily because of the way in which I have acted as the Chief Promoter of tourism and investment in the country. Through the extensive networks of Ovation International, we’ve been able to attract countless visitors and investors to the gentle giant of Africa. Before our very eyes, Ghana has repositioned herself as a destination of choice in Africa. Furthermore, I have done a great deal to repair the rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria and instead created a relationship of brotherhood borne out of genuine affection, goodwill and determination to jointly succeed.

Whenever Nigerians have needed a voice in Ghana I have immediately hearkened to the call and ensured that our position was clearly stated especially when attempts were made with smearing us by stereotyping us. I also was in the vanguard of promoting and encouraging the influx of Nigerian Banks into Ghana and now most Nigerian banks are represented there. In addition Nigerians are establishing indigenous Ghanaian banks all because of our attempts to create conducive atmosphere for their investment.

As a friend told me, whatever good you do may seem unnoticed but someone, somewhere is watching and recording and someday the reward would come when you least expect. Such was the situation I found

Dr Dele Momodu with President John Mahama at UPSA last Saturday myself in last week as honour came from the most unlikely and unexpected corner. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a mail from the Council of the University of Professional Studies a few weeks ago informing me that the Council had resolved to confer me with the Honorary Doctorate Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

The institution had obviously studied my resume and found it worthy of being greatly honoured. What was more, no condition whatsoever was attached to the award of the honorary degree. No one asked me to make donations or pay for this and that.

The University wanted to appreciate “a pan African ambassador and role model” in its own inimitable way. The University was of the view that I had done a lot to showcase the very best of Africa generally and Ghana in particular and that it was necessary to give honour to whom it is due in his lifetime. I cherish the kind and gracious gesture of the Governing Council of UPSA and they have created a committed, fervent and ardent adopted Alumnus.

In addition, I believe the University wanted to tap into the super brand that we had created beyond the shores of Ghana and by so doing extend the same international exposure to this outstanding Ghanaian institution which has done so much for the creation of a professional elite in Ghana. This expectation of the University has clearly worked. It is unbelievable how the University’s name exploded and trended for days after the convocation ceremony that heralded my honorary degree. It was so incredible. I thank God immensely for ensuring that UPSA received accolades for its decision. I sincerely relish what the University did for me.

As the icing on the cake I was thrilled and honoured when the President of Ghana, Joh Dramani Mahama informed me that he would be attending the convocation ceremony as a mark of honour and a demonstration of his respect for me.

What then can I say about President John Dramani Mahama? I’m not sure there are enough adjectives in the lexicon to describe this perfect gentleman. An invitation had been

extended to him to attend the convocation at UPSA. From all indication, it was going to be a tough call as the President has been travelling within Ghana rendering accounts of his stewardship to his people. Also more pressing was the 40th day funeral service for his beloved mum which according to Islamic rites, was coming up a day after the convocation. But the President still made the huge sacrifice of honouring us with his presence as he had promised. And he stayed with us from beginning to the end.

I was particularly touched by his speech. He gave three reasons why he decided to attend.

Firstly, He spoke about UPSA being one of Ghana’s greatest universities. Secondly, he eulogised the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Joshua Alabi who he asserted had demonstrated how internally generated revenues can be judiciously managed to sustain universities. He had therefore come to pay tribute to the great scholar whose tenure expires this December. Lastly, he told the congregation that he had honoured the invitation to attend particularly because of the honorary degree being awarded to me. In this regard, he had very generous words for me: “My third reason for being here this morning is to honour a great journalist and a respected African personality in the person of Chief Dele Momodu. I do this for his outstanding contribution to both national and international discourse, his strong personality, his vision, his perseverance in and strength in the face of adversity …” the President said amongst other kind words he spoke of me. This is what true friendship means.

I had met Mr Mahama before he became the Vice Presidential candidate to Professor John Evans Atta Mills. We got introduced by Mr Victor Smith who’s currently the High Commissioner of Ghana to Great Britain. I met a very charismatic and humble man and we were well attended to by Mr Mahama and his equally simple wife, Lady Lordina, when we visited their home then. And that was it.

Mr Mahama would soon become Vice President and we met on a few occasions thereafter. One of such opportunities was at an event hosted by GLO, Nigeria’s widely celebrated telecom prodigy, in Accra. I noticed the security around him was scanty, practically non-existent and may have been deliberately designed to be unobtrusive. I approached his table and his face lit up as soon as he saw me. “Wow, Dele, long time no see…”

It was clear that he genuinely meant this and was not merely patronising me. On another occasion, I saw him in Abuja and his demeanour and disposition towards me was still the same. I discovered a man who has not been transfigured by power. Similarly, when President Muhammadu Buhari visited Ghana last year, President Mahama was quick to inform President Buhari that I was as much a Ghanaian as I was a Nigerian.

As fate would have it, his boss, Professor Atta Mills took ill and died and presidential power landed on Mahama’s laps. I watched this development from the distance and was proud that the new found power still didn’t change Mahama. I became his secret admirer unknown to him. Since I do not partake in government contracts, I had no business running to him for anything. He served out the first term of his boss and went through his own election and won. My interest in watching his performance increased because I wanted to

see if such a cerebral leader would debunk the belief that professionals often fail in politics.

Contrary to expectations, Mahama unleashed an elaborately ambitious master-plan for the development of Ghana and littered everywhere with a plethora of world class projects. Despite my regular visits to Ghana, I did not realise the extent of his vision. I only noticed that the airport kept changing for the better. The roads in the city were being tarred or resurfaced.

I expected him to be commended for his uncommon efforts but he was being savagely attacked. I decided that the beautiful story of his achievements must be told now because of the African penchant for only saluting the valiant deeds of their leaders or heroes long after they are gone. The Mahama project is a compelling story that must be told not just to honour and laud this bright star of Africa but to show the world the exciting leadership prospects and possibilities available in Africa.

I promise you a mind-blowing experience when you see what we are talking about. Very soon…

SEGUN ADENIYI’S WORTHY CAUSE In 2004, my brother and friend, Segun Adeniyi started hosting an annual Youth Conference, essentially for Teenagers. At the time, he was Editor of THISDAY and head of Teens Church at RCCG, Good Shepherds Pasture, Alagomeji, Lagos. The idea was to bring teenagers together to listen to expert advice on career choices in today’s dynamic and challenging world and the programme was always open to all RCCG Parishes in Lagos so attendance was always huge.

The maiden edition in 2004 featured the late Dr. Dora Akunyili who was then the DG of NAFDAC along with Pastor Sam Adeyemi.

The second and third editions in 2005 and 2006 featured Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who was Finance Minister and Mrs Oby Ezekwesili who was the Education Minister, respectively. The preparations for the 2007 edition were truncated when Segun was appointed as spokesman to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on 30th May 2007.

As fate would have it in 2014 Segun became head of the Teens Department of The Everlasting Arms (TEAP) in Abuja. One of the teens who is on holiday from the UK rekindled the idea of a career conference in him and Segun swung into action.

He came up with a Teens Summer Conference with the theme “YOUR LIFE, YOUR FUTURE: NOT A LAUGHING MATTER”. The conference will hold in Abuja on 13th August 2016.

Speakers at the conference are, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; the former Chairperson, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, the Director General of PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu and ace comedian, Mr. Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere (aka Ali Baba) Attendance at the conference will be by registration at a portal already opened at www. rccgteapteens.org. I am sure that this Abuja Conference for Teens will inspire them. The objectives of the conference include teaching the teenagers to take responsibility for their future and making them realise that no matter the odds, they can reach their goals. I commend it to all our teenagers and I will ask parents to support this worthy cause which can only uplift and enhance their young children. There are still limited places available and I will urge our teens to register online at www. rccgteapteens.org.

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