Saturday 21st January 2017

Obasanjo Heaps Praises on Jonathan, Says His Leadership Exemplary Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday showered praises on former President Goodluck Jonathan for his exemplary leadership at his Ibogun country home in Ifo area of Ogun State, after a closed-door meeting that lasted

almost two hours.

It was a sharp contrast from his constant criticism of the former president in the last couple of years.

Jonathan was accompanied by former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki as well as other close aides.

Though, details of the meeting was not disclosed, Obasanjo,

who spoke to the press after the meeting, tasked leaders across the world to learn from the exemplary leadership style of himself and that of Jonathan, saying that Jonathan went into the office of the President with "little or no experience" but has now amassed more wisdom and experience on leadership after leaving office.

Obasanjo said: "I believe that not only Nigeria, West Africa and Africa and indeed the world will continue to tap into our experiences, our wisdom and I hope and pray that when the call is made to you, you will be more than ready to put your experience, the lessons you have learnt into the service of this country, for African and indeed

for humanity in general.

"I have said to you (Jonathan) before and I will say again that there are plenty of opportunities out there, within the country, within West Africa, within African and indeed in the larger world where people will want you to make contributions.

"I believe that you (Jonathan) are resting now and when you

have fully rested, you will be hearing from me because I have this opportunity to be around the world and I will mention your name in dispatch.

"Since you (Jonathan) left office, you hardly have time to sit down and relax like you have been able to do today Continued on page 6

NBS: Nigeria Imported Petroleum Products Worth N2.58tn in 2016, PMS Gulps N2.01tn‌ Page 10

Saturday 21 January, 2017 Vol 21. No 7947. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

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Trump Takes Oath of Office as 45th US President Against the Run of Play

Reiterates 'America First' policy Vows to make Washington work for ordinary Americans Signs first bill on waiver for his defense secretary Protesters march against new president, confront police, smash windows Yemi Adebowale with agency report Donald Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star who upended American politics was yesterday sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, succeeding Barack Obama and telling a bitterly divided country that he would pursue "America first" policies at home and abroad.

First they said he would not win the primary, he won.

Next they said he didn't stand a chance against Hilary Clinton, he defeated her. Then, they said he would not be President because of the Russian hacking, he was sworn in as president.

His inaugural address may have disappointed many who had thought that he would leave behind his campaign rhetorics and pivot towards a broader inclusive multilateral international agenda. Rather, he used his first speech as president to reinforce those same rhetorics that have caused consternations around the world more especially with America's age-old allies.

Ebullient Trump supporters flocked to the nation's capital for the inaugural festivities, some wearing red hats emblazoned with his "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. But in a sign of the deep divisions Trump sowed during his combative campaign, dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotted the swearing-in ceremony on Continued on page 6

THE TRUMP ERA DAWNS‌

President Trump was administered the oath of office as the 45th President of the United States byChief Justice John Roberts with his wife, Melania holding the Bible in Washington ...yesterday

Yahaya Jammeh Agrees to Vacate Office ...Page 55

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PAGE SIX

How Did He Do It? Trump's Shock Rise to the Presidency

Agency Report Less than 17 months -- that's how long it took Donald J. Trump to reach the White House, besting rivals who had been chasing that dream for years. But his political ambitions go back nearly three decades.

In 1998, on the set of Oprah Winfrey's talk show, the provocative billionaire first signaled his interest in the Oval Office.

"I think I'd win. I'll tell you what, I wouldn't go in to lose," he boasted to the iconic television host.

"People are tired of seeing the United States ripped off," added the real estate tycoon.

The author of the best-selling "The Art of the Deal" ultimately declined to run that year, but the seed was planted.

Beginnings and a breakthrough In 1999, Trump took the idea a step further. He quit the Republican Party and announced an exploratory bid under the Reform Party banner, with neither a conservative or liberal agenda but backing for America's "workers."

He blasted Germany, France and Japan as countries that treat America "like a whipping post" when it comes to international trade.

Trump abandoned his bid after four months, but that early run helped shape his nationalist, populist orientation that would prove crucial to his success 17 years later.

Fast forward to June 2015, when a new race for the White House was cranking up.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders dominated the Democratic field, while 11 Republicans including Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were already running for their party's nomination.

In the glittering lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, Trump threw his hat in the ring pledging to "make America great again" -- a vow that would become his campaign slogan.

A month earlier, he had not even been included in Republican primary polling, and was known far more for his role as the brash reality TV boss on "The Apprentice."

By July, he was leading in the polls.

His candidacy proved a

blockbuster. As controversy swirled and he flung his harsh rhetoric in multiple directions, Trump never apologized.

As his presence on cable news channels grew, he endured endless criticism while soaking up the benefits of wall-to-wall coverage.

The political establishment collectively cringed on December 7, 2015 when he proposed that Muslims be barred from entering the United States -- one month after terror attacks in Paris left 130 people dead.

"The Donald" nevertheless rose steadily in the polls: from 25 percent, to 30, and then 35 percent approval among Republican likely voters.

The primaries On the eve of the first primaries in February 2016, the Republican establishment became convinced that the antiWashington candidate would hit a support ceiling of 30 or 35 per cent, and that another candidate would ultimately consolidate the remainder of the party's support and oust Trump.

But the party's base appeared to be in open revolt, riding the anti-establishment wave

TRUMP TAKES OATH OF OFFICE AS 45TH US PRESIDENT AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY

Capitol Hill.

As scattered protests erupted elsewhere in Washington, Trump raised his right hand and put his left on a Bible used by Abraham Lincoln and repeated a 35-word oath of office from the U.S. Constitution, with U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts presiding.

Afterward, he stretched his arms wide and hugged his wife, Melania, and other members of his family. Then he turned around to a podium and delivered his inaugural address.

"This moment is your moment, it belongs to you," Trump told a large crowd that had earlier booed Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the U.S. Senate.

Revisiting themes from his improbable campaign victory, Trump said his presidency would aim to help struggling middle-class families, build up the U.S. military and strengthen U.S. borders.

"We are transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward it's going to be only America First," he said.

Trump said in his speech: “Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges.

We will confront hardships, but we will get the job done. Every four years we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power.

And we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They

have been magnificent. Thank you.

“For too long, the establishment has reaped the rewards of government while people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs and while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

“That all changes starting right here and right now, because this moment is your moment.

It belongs to you. It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.”

The transition from a Democratic president to a Republican took place on the West Front of the domed U.S. Capitol before a crowd of former presidents, dignitaries and hundreds of thousands of people on the grounds of the National Mall.

The crowd stretched westward on a cool day of occasional light rain.

Trump, 70, takes over a country divided after a savage election campaign. A wealthy New York businessman and former reality TV star, he will set the country on a new, uncertain path at home and abroad.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate who Trump

defeated on November 8, attended the ceremony with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Former presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter were also present with their wives. Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, 92, was in Houston recovering from pneumonia.

Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, began the day attending a prayer service at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House. Trump, wearing a dark suit and red tie, and Melania Trump, clad in a classic-styled, powder blue ensemble, then headed into the White House for a meeting with Obama and his wife, Michelle.

Trump took office with work to do to bolster his image.

During a testy transition period since his stunning election win, Trump has repeatedly engaged in Twitter attacks against his critics, so much so that one fellow Republican, Senator John McCain, told CNN that Trump seemed to want to "engage with every windmill that he can find."

An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found only 40 percent of Americans viewed Trump favorably, the lowest rating for an incoming president since Democrat Carter in 1977, and the same percentage approved of how he has handled the transition.

His ascension to the White House, while welcomed by Republicans tired of Obama's eight years in office, raises a host of questions for the United States. Trump campaigned on a pledge to take the country on a

embodied by Trump and rival Ted Cruz, a senator with Tea Party backing.

On February 1, Cruz snatched a narrow victory in the opening contest in Iowa, and the primaries race congealed around the battle between two figures distrusted and disliked by Republican heavyweights.

As Trump slowly built a lead, outside groups poured millions of dollars in vain into an "anyone but Trump" movement.

But by early May, Trump had seized the nomination.

Victorious, he strode on stage at the Republican convention in Cleveland in July, proclaiming: "America first!"

But the real war was yet to come.

Target: Clinton Trump's tactics hardly shifted as he pivoted to battle the Democrats, who were better funded and enjoyed support from incumbent President Barack Obama.

Trump expertly tapped into the anti-elitism that swelled in communities across America, and despite his brutal rhetoric, he managed to rally most of his party.

At campaign events that often attracted tens of thousands of supporters, he portrayed Clinton as the ultimate political insider, chummy with Wall Street and a symbol of the status quo who deserved to go to prison over her email scandal.

In September, Trump seized on Clinton's bout with pneumonia to portray the 68-year-old former secretary of state as too feeble to lead.

But he lagged behind in public polling.

Clinton appeared to dominate their three televised debates, and Trump earned rebukes when he tangled with the Muslim parents of a US soldier killed in action, and then a former Miss Universe.

Controversies over his foundation and his unreleased tax returns simmered.

One month before the election, Republicans were sent reeling with the release of a decade-old video in which Trump is heard crudely boasting about assaulting women.

But in the campaign's final weeks, the political winds began to shift in Trump's favor.

On October 7, WikiLeaks began publishing emails hacked

from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's account, laying bare the cynicism and indiscretion of her campaign's inner workings.

Combined with a surprise relaunch of an FBI probe into the email case, the revelations proved devastating for Clinton, who thought she had weathered that storm.

Even on the eve of the November 8 election, polls suggested the damage was not enough to reverse the trend line of a Clinton triumph.

But in a surprisingly close election, broad antipathy against Clinton combined with Trump's change-agent message was enough for the political novice to gain ground in several "Rust Belt" states.

The world was stunned to see many white working-class voters in those states -- who once supported Obama -- favouring the Republican candidate.

Even the brash billionaire appeared stunned by his own victory.

"I sort of thought I lost," Trump said, recalling how he had purposely rented a small New York ballroom for election night.

more isolationist, protectionist path and has vowed to impose a 35 per cent tariff on goods on imports from U.S. companies that went abroad.

His desire for warmer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and threats to cut funding for North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations has allies from Britain to the Baltics worried that the traditional U.S. security umbrella will be diminished.

In the Middle East, Trump has said he wants to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, at the risk of angering Arabs and stirring international concern. He has yet to sketch out how he plans to carry out a campaign pledge to "knock the hell out of" Islamic State militants.

The inaugural festivities may have a more partisan edge than usual, given Trump's scorching campaign and continuing confrontations between him and Democrats over his takeno-prisoners Twitter attacks and pledge to roll back many of Obama's policies.

More than 60 Democratic lawmakers stayed away from the proceedings to protest Trump, spurred on after he derided U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia, a hero of the civil rights movement, for calling him an illegitimate president.

Protests around the world…

Away from the Capitol, masked activists ran through the streets smashing windows with hammers at a McDonald’s restaurant, a Starbucks coffee shop and Bobby Van’s Grill steakhouse several blocks from

the White House.

They carried black anarchist flags and signs that said, "Join the resistance, fight back now."

Police used pepper spray and chased them down a major avenue, a Reuters eyewitness reported.

In another location not far from the White House, protesters also scuffled with police, at one point throwing aluminum chairs at them at outdoor café.

Activists in London hung a banner reading "Build bridges not walls" on the city's iconic Tower Bridge yesterday, in a reference to Trump's signature campaign promise of building a wall on the US-Mexican border.

About 30 groups have obtained permits for protests they estimate will attract about 270,000 people on Friday and Saturday, far more than have been seen in other recent presidential inaugurations.

Quick Action…

Trump's to-do list has given Republicans hope that, since they also control the U.S. Congress, they can quickly repeal and replace Obama's signature healthcare law, approve sweeping tax reform and roll back many federal regulations they say are stifling the U.S. economy.

"He's going to inject a shock to the system here almost immediately," Truamp senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News.

Democrats, in search of firm political footing after the unexpected defeat of Hillary Clinton, are planning to fight him at every turn. They deeply oppose Trump's anti-immigrant

rhetoric from the campaign trail and plans to build a wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico.

Trump's critics have been emboldened to attack his legitimacy because his win came in the Electoral College, which gives smaller states more clout in the outcome. He lost the popular vote to Clinton by about 2.9 million.

Trump's critics also point to the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia used hacking and other methods during the campaign to try to tilt the election in the Republican's favor.

Trump has acknowledged the finding - denied by Moscow - that Russia was behind the hacking but said it did not affect the outcome of the election.

To his critics - including Obama who during the campaign called Trump temperamentally unfit for the White House - his straight talk can be jarring, especially when expressed in tweets. His supporters, many of them working-class whites, see Trump as a refreshingly anti-establishment figure who eschews political correctness.

First executive orders Moments after Trump’s inauguration, he started signing his first ceremonial and logistical executive orders as president.

He signed a bill clearing a way for retired Gen. James Martins to be confirmed as his first action as president earlier Friday. Congress passed the waiver making an exemption to a law requiring defense secretary to be out of military at least seven years before service earlier this month.

Trump’s Full Speech Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you.

We, the citizens of America are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come.

We will face challenges. We will confront hardships, but we will get the job done. Every four years we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power. And we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you.

Today’s ceremony however, has very special meaning, because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, DC. And giving it back to you, the people.

For too long, have reaped the rewards of government while people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered period, but the jobs left and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs and while they celebrated in our nation's

capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes starting right here and right now, because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you. It be longs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not what truly controls our government but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

Everyone is listening to you

now, you came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the centre of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighbourhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves.

These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted-out factories, scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash Continued on page 55

OBASANJO HEAPS PRAISES ON JONATHAN, SAYS HIS LEADERSHIP EXEMPLARY and I hope, I sincerely hope and pray for more of such relaxed situation where we can reminiscence situations of the past that we have been through in this country and we can also look at what the future portends.

"When leaders come, they have little or no experience.

When they have to go is when they have a lot of experience; where they have wisdom. For people like you and me who have the grace of God to bow out gracefully, if there is no more constitutional office, we have residual responsibilities to Nigeria."

On the Nigerian nation, Obasanjo said the country was not created by error and “neither by chance.”

He said: “God has created it (Nigeria) to be and God did

not make a mistake when he put all of us together and if he doesn't want us to be together, no power in the world would have made us come together."

He therefore, urged Nigerians, especially the leaders to continue to work together for the success of the country, saying, "Nigeria is a good country and we must never be tired of lifting the country up to the height that God has created it to be."

Jonathan declined speaking to journalists, saying his visit to Obasanjo was private.

But Turaki on behalf of Jonathan appreciated Obasanjo for extending his hand of fellowship to him and for his consistent guidance.

He commended Obasanjo's exemplary leadership, which he said Nigeria had enjoyed so far.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY JANUARY 21, 2017

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SATURDAY JANUARY 21, 2017 T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21,2017

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SUPER SATURDAY Donald Trump Inauguration

Melania Trump Evokes Jackie Kennedy, Ivanka in White for Swearing in

By Jill Serjeant

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ew U.S. first lady Melania Trump stepped out in a Ralph Lauren baby-blue jacket and matching dress on Friday, choosing one of America’s most iconic designers for Inauguration Day ceremonies.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, who lost to Republican Donald Trump in the November elections, also chose Ralph Lauren, and her cream coat and white pantsuit was echoed by the choices of the Trump daughters.

Ivanka Trump, who has her own fashion line, donned a white pantsuit with an asymmetrical cut that was designed by Oscar de la Renta. Tiffany Trump wore a white doubled breasted coast over a white dress. But the outfit getting most attention on Friday was the red hat with white and blue military style coat worn by Trump’s former campaign spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway.

The short, double-breasted Gucci coat had a revolutionary-era look that took social media by storm, evoking comparisons ranging from Paddington Bear to Napoleon and a nutcracker.

Conway’s outfit sparked some 28,000 Tweets in three hours.

By contrast, Melania Trump’s custom-designed Ralph Lauren outfit, worn with long matching gloves, stiletto shoes, and her long hair swept up in a loose bun, had a 1960s vibe and wowed fashionistas.

Womens Wear Daily said the outfit, with its mock turtle neck, triggered comparisons to the late U.S. first

Melania Trump

Michelle Obama and Melania Trump

lady and style icon Jacqueline Kennedy.

Style-watchers agreed, posting archive photos of Kennedy in a similar blue outfit for her husband’s inauguration in 1961, and giving Trump’s outfit a large thumbs-up. “It was very Jackie,” said Joe Zee, editor in chief of Yahoo Style.

“Melania looks every inch a first lady. So beautiful and classy! I’m proud of her!,” admirer Theodora West wrote on Twitter. Melania Trump’s Inauguration Day outfit had been the cause of much speculation after Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and other leading designers said publicly they would not dress the former model for her big day because they opposed her husband.

Lauren and his eponymous corporation became synonymous withAmerican style through his preppy line of Polo shirts, casual slacks and shorts in the 1970s and is regarded as one of the most influential designers of the 20th century.

Ironically, Lauren was also the designer of the pantsuits in many colors that became Clinton’s signature look. He was also the designer Clinton chose for her own Inauguration Day outfit.

Melania Trump, 46, is the first U.S. first lady to come from the fashion world. She began as a teen model in her native Slovenia and has been featured on the cover of magazines like Vogue and GQ. Standing 5 feet, 11 inches (1.8 meters) tall, she tends to favor unfussy dresses in solid colors, tailored coats and killer high heels.

--(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •

JANUARY 21,2017

SUPERSATURDAY Trump Inauguration... Trump Inauguration... Trump Inauguration...

Former President Obama bids farewell to Washington DC after the former first couple were seen off by President Trump and his wife, Melania PHOTOS: Reuters

(L - R) First Lady Melania Trump, Karen Pence, President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, former president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden stand on the steps of the Capitol.

Senators Bernie Sanders and John McCain

Bill and Hillary Clinton at the ceremony

Former president George W. Bush, keeps covered in the rain as he sits with his wife, Laura

The former first couple Barack and Michelle Obama poses for a photo at the White House Gate

Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn

Swearing in of Vice President-elect Mike Pence

President Trump and his wife, Melania during the Church Service

Protesters in Washington yesterday protesting against President Trump

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JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

RingTrue

Yemi

Adebowale Time to Rejig the War against Boko Haram 07013940521 yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

E

vents in the last three weeks confirm that the celebration of the purported victory over Boko Haram terrorists in December last year was political and absolutely needless. It was a clear case of deceit. The military high command knew quite alright that the war was far from over, but had to bow to pressure from a federal government that was desperate to celebrate a devious victory and score a cheap political point. They regaled the nation with the flag and Quran of the terrorists, as if that will disable the terrorists. Just as Human Rights Watch remarked in its 2017 report, the conflict is far from over, contrary to government’s claim. The truth is that the terrorists obviously still exist in large number and very potent too. Attacks by them have been heart-wrenching. This week, they strolled into the University of Maiduguri, killed Professor Aliyu Mani and five others.

The previous week, one officer and seven soldiers were killed in two attacks by the sect in Cinki Gundu and Old Marte, both on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Two weeks ago, there was an attack on an Army brigade in Buni Yadi, Yobe State. A Captain (Victor Ulasi), who was a medical doctor with the brigade and five other soldiers were killed. A day after the attack in Buni Yadi, multiple explosions hit Maiduguri, resulting in the death of five innocent people. The terrorists had earlier attacked a military facility in Rann, in the northern part of Borno State, injuring several soldiers in the process. Madagali was attacked three weeks ago, with 56 people killed.

We are at an unprecedented situation in which officers are now being killed by the terrorists and yet, the federal government is celebrating a deceitful victory. Four Lieutenant Colonels have been killed. Lieutenant Colonel O. Umusu, the Commanding Officer, 118 Task Force Battalion in Borno State was killed, alongside his security details, by an Improvised Explosive Device in an ambush. Others killed are: Lt. Colonel K Yusuf, who was the Commanding Officer of 223 Tank Battalion (October 16, 2016); Lt. Colonel Abu Ali (November 4, 2016);

This morning, I am reopening the issue of using mercenaries. I have for months canvassed for the return of South African mercenaries and greater involvement of Russian experts in this war. We all saw the impact of the mercenaries in the few months they worked with our military during the Jonathan administration.

We are at a level where technology and intelligence are germane for us to truly decimate these terrorists and Lt. Colonel B. U. Umar (November 15, 2016).

Our obviously overwhelmed, overworked and poorly-motivated gallant soldiers erroneously dropped bombs on innocent civilians in the Internally Displaced People’s camp in Rann, Borno State on Tuesday, leaving scores dead. The camp in Kala-Balge Local Government Area caters for thousands of persons displaced

by Boko Haram. The tragedy shows the severe pressure our gallant soldiers are working under.

Any terror group capable of attacking military positions remains a very big threat to any country. Unfortunately, many of the

The Shameful Human Rights Report on Nigeria The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami must spend quality time reading Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) World Report 2017 and advise the Buhari government fittingly. The section on Nigeria upbraided the Nigerian government for large scale human rights abuse in 2016. The HRW reports growing concerns about intolerance of dissent and a heavy-handed response to protests in Nigeria. It said this dominated Nigeria’s human rights landscape in 2016 and that government rhetoric about security sector reform and improving accountability for rights abuses were yet to translate into concrete action.

In the 687-page World Report, HRW reviewed human rights practices in more than 90 countries, Nigeria inclusive, and concluded: “Nigeria is plagued by serious human rights problems on many fronts.

Government inaction against those responsible for violent communal clashes between pastoralists and sedentary farmers has fueled a decade-long cycle of reprisal killings. In the Southeast, police killed at least 40 pro-Biafra members of the separatist Indigenous Peoples of Biafra during protests and processions in February and May 2016. No security agent has been prosecuted for the killings. In December 2015, soldiers killed 347 members of a Shia Muslim minority group, allegedly for blocking the army chief’s motorcade in Zaria, Kaduna State.

“A resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s economic powerhouse, has been met by harsh sweeping security measures against communities perceived as harbouring militants. Soldiers allegedly destroyed homes and businesses in

three Bayelsa State communities during a search for members of the militant Niger Delta Avengers group. As the seven-year Boko Haram conflict wanes in intensity in the Northeast, a near-catastrophic food shortage is affecting many of the 2.5 million displaced people. Severe restrictions on their movement have affected access to basic livelihoods, health, education, and protection from sexual abuse.”

The HRW officer in Nigeria, Mausi Segun, added: “Nigeria’s leaders should focus on providing basic rights to their people who bear the brunt of the country’s economic downturn. Attempts to shrink the space for people to hold government accountable are unhelpful and may be counter-productive.”

I sincerely hope that concerned authorities in our great country will read this report. The National Assembly must also be seen working to ensure respect for human rights. For example, I am surprised that our lawmakers are not insisting on justice for Ibrahim Zakzaky, the detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. Amnesty International had to remind the Nigerian government on Monday to comply with a court ruling to release the Shia cleric and scores of his supporters. Zakzaky has spent more than a year in custody. A judge in Abuja on December 2, last year, called the detention of Zakzaky and his followers illegal and unconstitutional, and imposed a 45-day deadline for their release.

This has since expired. Amnesty Nigeria Director, Makmid Kamara remarked that government “will demonstrate a flagrant and dangerous contempt for the rule of law” if it ignored the ruling. For me, this country can’t afford a confrontation with Shia members.

We can’t afford another Boko Haram.

statements issued by the military after attacks are capable of dampening the spirit of our soldiers and often leave Nigerians bewildered. The other day, after the attacks on troops of 119 Battalion and 133 Special Forces Battalion of 7 Brigade, the Army issued a statement saying that it recovered one Pulemyot Kalashnkova Machine Gun with 67 rounds of ammunition, an AK-47 Riffle with 18 rounds of ammunition, two AK-Rifle top covers, one Rocket Propelled Grenade Tube with three bombs, one Rocket Propelled Grenade charger and smoke grenade.

Members of a purportedly defeated terror group can’t be going around with these high caliber ammunitions.

Pragmatic steps must be urgently taken to stop these terrorists. The first step is to agree that we still have a big problem at hand and work accordingly.

The second step is to swiftly address the issue of equipment and welfare of our gallant fighters. While the terrorists operate with sophisticated weapons, the Nigerian military mostly use outdated ones. Often, we have seen soldiers on the frontlines complaining about not getting their allowances. There was a case of soldiers complaining about lack of drinking water in their base. Some have over-stayed on the war front, leading to fatigue. I have heard some complaining that they have spent over two years on the war front. These must not continue, if we are serious about winning this war.

The third step is to engage key stakeholders in these troubled states on how to tame these monsters. They should be carried along and their suggestions implemented meticulously. Few weeks back, the member representing Michika/ Madagali in the House of Representatives, Adamu Kamale, made a number of suggestions on how to curb Boko Haram attacks. He remarked: “The solution

is for the government to provide adequate security for these communities in Madagali by ensuring that the military has a permanent operational base there. We need the federal government to come to the aid of these vulnerable villagers. I am always embittered each time the government asked displaced villagers to return home on the excuse that their communities had been fully liberated. Let the people have adequate security; the psychological loss to our people is devastating. Their problem is beyond sharing food items to them or merely asking them to return to homes that are not secured.” The military authority is yet to respond appropriately. Legislators representing these hapless communities must be carried along in this war. Their opinion must be taken seriously.

Hunters in some of these communities have made significant contributions to the war against Boko Haram. Their efforts are hardly acknowledged. Government must reward and encourage them to do more. Clearly, terrorists dread these local hunters. Those in charge of this war must use them proactively.

This morning, I am re-opening the issue of using mercenaries. I have for months canvassed for the return of South African mercenaries and greater involvement of Russian experts in this war. We all saw the impact of the mercenaries in the few months they worked with our military during the Jonathan administration. We are at a level where technology and intelligence are germane for us to truly decimate these terrorists.

The mercenaries will offer us this benefit. If we genuinely want to win this war, we must search for and engage the best hands against Boko Haram from anywhere in the world. This is a legitimate step and should not be viewed as a sign of failure or weakness on the part of our military. Rather, it should be viewed as complimentary. The ultimate aim is to truly disable Boko Haram. We must all continue to support our armed forces in this arduous task.

May Allah continue to protect them.

Toothless Electricity Regulatory Commission Our lethargic Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, says Electricity Distribution Companies must metre customers on their networks, who had advanced money to the Discos through the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Initiatives, before February 28, 2017.

NERC has vowed to sanction the DISCOs if they fail to adhere to this new deadline.

The NERC, in a statement on its website, on January 11, said sanctioning of the defaulting DISCOs would begin on March 1. This same NERC had earlier directed DISCOs to conclude metering of these customers before November 30, 2016. I am very sure that nothing will come out of this current threat. My dear Anthony Akah, who is the acting NERC chairman, knows that this agency has consistently failed to adhere to its mandate of protecting the rights of electricity consumers. DISCOs have been exploiting consumers with crazy estimated bills and will do everything possible to ensure that consumers are not metered. They will always succeed, because they have an ally in NERC. Our languid NERC has, over the years, shown that it is more interested in DISCOs than consumers. If electricity consumers are to be genuinely protected, then NERC will have to be overhauled.

Akah

Poor Man’s Kerosene Hits N400 Per Litre As at press time, kerosene, poor man’s cooking fuel, was selling for N400 per litre in some states, thus, compounding the agony of Nigerians. Many households are in crisis, with many forced to resort to firewood, charcoal and other sources of dirty energy. The Nigerian National

Petroleum Corporation has not been able to offer any convincing reason for this suffering. The truth is that NNPC last imported kerosene in September last year.

Major and independent markers have long stopped importing. The masses are in a big mess.

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january 21, 2017• THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

A TALE OF TWO TRANSITIONS

Trump assumes power in the United States while Adama Barrow does in a cloudy environment in the Gambia, writes Akin Rotimi

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his is a historic week in the world as far as democratic transitions are concerned. Yesterday, January 20, 2017, President Barack Obama handed over as President of the United States of America to Donald Trump, the maverick businessman turned politician who won the 58th quadrennial American presidential election.

Last Thursday, January 19, 2017, Adama Barrow was sworn in as the third president of The Gambia – after 22 years of dictatorship by Yahya Jammeh. The two transitions bear some similarities. Aside coming in the same week, both presidents Trump and Barrow won as outsiders, on the back of very strong anti-establishment sentiments, and were given very little chances by the bookmakers prior to their elections. The two transitions came in the face of alternations of power between political parties, and both men were real estate moguls with absolutely no prior experience holding public office.

But that is as far as the interesting coincidences went. The two transitions pose in very stark relief the differences between a country that is grounded in democratic principles and traditions, and one still grappling with the stranglehold of authoritarian dictatorship. The America’s inauguration was held on the same day – January 20 – since 1937, as Donald Trump was sworn-in as president, and in a defined form that featured a number of ceremonies befiting inauguration of a world leader, and the celebration of the country’s 240-years unbroken tradition of peaceful transitions.

Even in instances where electoral outcomes have not been favourable, key political operatives from both sides of the partisan divide have historically put aside their interests and worked to protect the sanctity of America’s democracy. President Obama sums up this patriotic spirit in his post-election speech, “… one thing you realise quickly in this job is that the presidency and the vice presidency is bigger than any of us. So I have instructed my team to follow the example that President Bush’s team set eight years ago, and work as hard as we can to make sure that this is a successful transition for the president-elect.” President Trump has thus benefited from a rich tradition that he himself could not commit to keeping, in the event that he lost the election.

Conversely, the Gambia’s transition is threatened by one man – Yayha Jammeh, the country’s autocratic ruler who came to power in 1994 as a 29-year-old army lieutenant. Jammeh had conceded to Barrow via a state-wide broadcast after losing the December 1, 2016 elections, but recanted a week later citing irregularities in the election. On Tuesday, Jammeh declared a state of emergency in his country, heightening tensions and the military intervention

by ECOWAS to forcefully remove him from office. Senegal is currently playing host to Adama Barrow who was indeed sworn in as President of The Gambia that country; it is leading the regional bloc’s military offensive against Jammeh.

The likes of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria, and John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, by their statesmanlike rhetoric and conduct after losing their re-election bids, can be considered good sons of Africa, who made us proud by ensuring

THE TWO TRANSITIONS POSE IN VERY STARK RELIEF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A COUNTRY THAT IS GROUNDED IN DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES AND TRADITIONS, AND ONE STILL GRAPPLING WITH THE STRANGLEHOLD OF AUTHORITARIAN DICTATORSHIP

peaceful transitions in their respective countries – Yayha Jammeh is a bad son of a good mother, the type that insists on dancing naked in the marketplace covered in faeces. After over two decades as president, he has apparently learnt nothing from history, as he appears to be hell bent on being disgraced and humiliated out of office like Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire before him.

While President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the current Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and other presidents in the region should be commended for their lead role in the mediation efforts, and for taking necessary steps to mobilise the military intervention to remove Jammeh from office, it should be placed on record that they have set a harmful precedent by circumventing democratic principles by failing to respect Jammeh’s right to contest the election results. Amongst other allegations following Jammeh’s volte-face, he claimed there were irregularities in the election and thousands of Gambians with voters’ cards were denied voting even though they were at the polling centres before polling closed.

His election appeal was filed in accordance with section 49 of the Gambia’s constitution, which states that “any registered political party which had participated in the presidential election or an independent candidate who has participated in such an election may apply to the Supreme Court to determine the validity of the result of a president by filing a petition within 10 days of the declaration of the result of the election”. There were however no judges to hear the case. Jammeh had for all the years he has spent in office failed to build the institutions that support democracy, including an independent judiciary. The Gambia’s Supreme Court is not currently constituted and has not held any sitting since May 2015 following the arbitrary dismissal of two justices by Jammeh.

The supreme court was billed to hear Jammeh’s appeal on January 10, 2017, but according to the country’s only supreme court judge and Chief Justice, Nigerian-born Emmanuel Fagbenle, the foreign judges that had been appointed to hear the case would only be available in May or November, 2017, effectively putting paid to Jammeh’s chances of being heard before the expiration of his tenure. This is a constitutional crisis and a rape of justice and ECOWAS is complicit. Jammeh obviously doesn’t deserve it, but the constitution should have been upheld and the appeal heard. ECOWAS had the powers to deploy judges from the member countries to do this, and fast track adjudication on the matter, and the dispensation of justice before the inauguration. To ECOWAS, the dog’s bad name is sufficient reason to hang it – the ends of Jammeh leaving office, justifies the means of a landmark constitutional breach.

The days to come would be very interesting as history would be made. Barack Obama is out, but his name and enviable legacy would be forever etched in gold. Donald Trump has assumed office signalling a new era in America’s history. Yayha Jammeh would most likely go on exile to another African country, and would one day have his day in court – not for his election appeal, but to be tried for his human rights violations while in office.

Rotimi wrote from Abuja

MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES

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Niyi Anibaba writes that Akinwunmi Ambode is committed to taking Lagos to the next level

hen Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State delivered his epochal address at the Yoruba Tennis Club, Onikan in Lagos late last year, he reminded most history-minded observers about the vision of United States of America’s President, John F. Kennedy when he was hosted by a joint session of the Congress on May 25, 1961. The US leader told the lawmakers of his ambitious dream to send an American to land on the moon before the end of that decade.

It was a tall order because the world had only known of the unmanned Sputnik shock of the Soviet Union in 1957 and the feat of the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who became the first man in space on April 12, 1961. He orbited Planet Earth to the consternation of the whole world. But now Kennedy was daring to overthrow that record with the goal of making man walk on the moon before 1970.

His dream became a reality on July 20, 1969 when US astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped off the Apollo spacecraft onto the moon’s surface, scoffing those who mocked Kennedy as a daydreamer, turning the joke on those who said his plan was doomed to fail.

Now, watchful Nigerian commentators are beginning to draw a comparison between Ambode’s yearning projection to make Lagos the third largest economy in Africa and Kennedy’s wild aspiration to take man to the moon. Both are transcendent ambitions that bring forth the ability of great leaders to overcome challenges that come with far-fetched dreams and visions.

But then, what is a leader if he does not raise the bar of governance and administration if they don’t forsake old benchmark to create

new ones?

A purposeful leader must be marked by his knack to dream dreams with both eyes opened while others are snoring and allowing the world to go by in its settled state. A good leader would harness available resources, even if negligible, and bring into being new resources needed to create a fresh order thought to be unrealisable by those given to pedestrian thinking.

That was what Ambode did when he presented his vision of the Lagos of the near future to members of the Yoruba Tennis Club 2016 Christmas Eve Dance. This is how he summed it: “We are committed to making our state globally competitive because by virtue of our indices. Lagos State has become a major city-state in the world. We are Africa’s fastest growing market and still the 5th largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $91billion.

The drop in our GDP value from $131billion is as a result of the fluctuation in foreign exchange but our ultimate goal is grow our GDP to move from 5th to 3rd largest in Africa.”

There is no magic to how it can be achieved just as there was no magic related to man’s conquest of the moon after the idea was broached to a disbelieving world.

With a GDP of $91billion dollars, Lagos is at the moment the 5th largest economy in Africa.

It surpasses that of Ghana whose GDP is $38.6billion dollars. It is also bigger than those of a couple of sub-Sahara nations put together.

Lagos also has a population estimated at 24 million, which again exceeds the total figure for a number of African and European countries.

It is instructive to state that some 15.2 million

of these residents are in the bracket of the productive force, which puts Lagos as the state with the largest share of the working population down the Sahara. The state is also home to 65% of Nigeria’s business, hosting over 2,000 manufacturing companies, 200 financial institutions and the largest collection of small and medium enterprises in Africa.

These are formidable statistics a visionary leader can wield to take the society to the acme of social and economic transformation.

In the hands of an ordinary leader, they do not conjure a potential for radical greatness.

But it is different with Governor Ambode. He is exploiting these facts and figures to call into being a Lagos that would leap into the league of the world’s major city-states like California and New York, both in the United States of America.

The point I am making is that it takes a man with an Olympian mind with objectives that go beyond the ordinary to harness latent advantages into progressive reality even with all its corresponding challenges. For instance, planning revolutionary changes for Lagos brings with it numerous concerns such as infrastructure renewal, human capacity building and insecurity that come with a burgeoning population of immigrants seeking economic opportunities. These are by-products of urban development and the landing of a 24-hour economy Ambode is working out.

The governor isn’t scared by the change to come. Indeed he is backing his vision with generous but pragmatic budgetary provision.

He has improved on the capital-recurrent ratio in the 2017 Appropriation Bill just passed into

law by the State House of Assembly. For the empowerment of the citizens, he is focusing on employment generation, youth emancipation and vocational training. The budget also plans to build what he has described as “world class infrastructure” to position Lagos as the 3rd largest economy in Africa.

He is also reforming the solid waste collection and disposal profile to achieve the vision of a cleaner Lagos. Transportation has been schemed for upgrade with the government leveraging on water transportation in combination with rail and road networks for an integrated system that will reduce travel time and earn Lagos the tag of a 24-hour economy.

Of course tourism has been identified as a key component of the agenda to diversify the Lagos economy, using Badagry, Lagos Island and Epe as hubs. In 2017 Ambode has set aside N20 billion for these tourism projections.

Ambode told members of the Tennis Club that these strides of development would be heavily secured by a growing investment in power generation and distribution and more spending on security.

And going by the success of the eight days, five centers, Lagos fiesta that dramatically changed the social landscape of the state during the end festive season, it is clear from the governor’s presentation that truly he has an achievable vision required to move Lagos from its present stage to a higher level befitting its name, first as the former capital of the giant of Africa and secondly as the economic power house of the sub-Saharan region.

Anibaba, an economist, wrote from Gbagada, Lagos

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january 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

INSIGHT

What fate awaits Jammeh?

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The Menace of Street Beggars in Lagos

hey are on the streets, at every corner, on the major roads, under the bridges, in shanties, in the traffic, you can’t miss them. Begging takes place in different shades and forms. They also prey on the sick, the old and the handicapped as they use them to attract the attention of passersby while begging for alms.

It is not uncommon to see women with babies, twins or triplet in the scorching sun begging for alms. They do not only abuse the rights of these children but also expose them to danger and risk their lives as they take them through traffic, begging for alms. Apart from this, in some cases these children are either rented or taken without their parents’ knowledge.

It is also saddening to observe that parents also push their children to the streets to seek for alms using their innocence to prey on the emotions of people. These children who are often between the ages of four and 10 years are encouraged to approach well-dressed men and women for money while their benefactors lurk around waiting patiently to collect the money.

This ugly practice is contrary to section 166 sub-section 1 (b) of the criminal code which prohibits street begging with adequate penalty for defaulters. So it is not only morally unjustifiable but criminal for any adult to exploit the innocence of children and the weak for selfish financial gains. It is instructive to note that on the streets, these children are unprotected from predators; man and nature. In most instances, they are also denied the right to education and a good life.

This practice is antisocial especially among Yorubas and Ibos who believe that a beggar is a lazy man who has hands, legs and his whole body intact but refused to work. The culture of begging is taboo to some tribes in the country but society has changed with people losing their values for hard work and honesty. The act of begging is not only degrading, but has become a menace to society especially with the influx of professional beggars from other states of the federation to Lagos State, creating a nuisance.

The professional beggars have honed their acts so well that they sometimes put up public performances such as sudden fainting spells, cardiac attacks, asthmatic attacks and the likes to deceive unsuspecting passersby just to get their attention and eventually get them to part with some change. They have become an eyesore as they litter every nooks and crannies of different areas in the state creating an impression of an unkempt society. It is not uncommon to find seemingly helpless and hapless beggars linked to organised criminal gangs. Some of the beggars have been found to be accomplices to certain crimes for which they sometimes hide weapons as robbers believe they would not readily be suspected.

Street begging has reached an alarming

dimension in spite of regular rescue operations being carried out by the rescue team of the State’s Rehabilitation Department of the State’s Ministry of Youth and Social Development. The department rescued a total of 531 beggars, destitute and mentally challenged people off the street between October 2015 and January 2016. That these staggering numbers of people were rescued from the streets of Lagos within four months is indicative of the humongous number of destitute in the state.

Aware of some of the social factors like poverty, lack and hunger responsible for pushing people into the act of begging the Lagos State Government has gone a step further to ban street begging by establishing a community for beggars in different areas of Lagos State with a functional school, free books and free education. The State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode pledged his unwavering support for destitute and beggars in providing adequate welfare and other social amenities at all special homes built for them, as the sight of beggars on the streets and across the nation paints a picture of undeniable poverty. This social intervention programme by the state government is part of plans to empower beggars and the destitute, educate their children and give them a better life and a brighter future.

To reduce this number, the government also stepped up on its welfare package for the People Living with Disability in the state as it is apparent that an average percentage of beggars are the physically challenged who turned to begging in the bid to

survive. Through the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA) the government has been able to reach out to this group of people by ensuring their needs for infrastructural development, social welfare and amenities, employment opportunities, education and inclusiveness.

Overall, efforts need to be intensified to curtail the activities of professional beggars parading fake medical bills, fake drug prescription note, harassing people and pretending to be helplessness during the day while camouflaging as robbers at night. People should be law abiding and respect the state law against street begging by desisting from patronising beggars. Destitute could be given alms through faith-based organisations and recognised non-governmental organisations or recognised government homes that will handle such donations responsibly.

Temilade Aruya, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

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BetweenTrump and Lewis

resident Donald Trump’s apparent racially related response to the civil rights icon John Lewis’s comment regarding his presidential legitimacy has outraged many in the society. Mr. Trump, insulting a civil rights icon like John Lewis on a MLK Weekend remains troubling and matches what Psychologist Ryne A. Sherman noted about Trump in recent times (posted in Psychology Today, Sep 17, 2015).“Personality of Donald Trump (whom) I have never had the opportunity to assess… his personality (appears as one who)… intimidate others…impulsive…and easily angered”.

Trump, even if the guess on your personality characteristics is right, taking on civil rights leader and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), after he said he would not attend the inauguration ceremony, leaves you open to more future and collective rebuke from the public.

T H E S AT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R Sir, this man you are insulting, the Georgia lawmaker EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE who has served in Congress in the last 30 years, is one MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO of the few and last living speaker of the 1963 March on DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE Washington who was severely beaten after leading civil CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI rights demonstrators across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN Selma, Alabama in 1965. When Mr. Lewis said “I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” because of the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, you in an apparent impulsive way said of Lewis “All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!” T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D Sir, you went on to describe him as presiding over a EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, failing and crime-ridden district when in fact the areas he ISRAEL IWEGBU, EMMANUEL EFENI, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU represents in Atlanta is faring well and remains marked GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA with the median household income of just over $48,000.

DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, Sir, how do you justify attacking a man who risked his life MBAYILAN ANDOAKA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE for equality in America while you reportedly avoided the DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI draft?

SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO Sir, we don’t want you to get America in trouble again CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI as it relates to your line of offensive outpourings and GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI detestable words particularly against Lewis. Sir, consider GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE apologising to this American patriot publicly, and tweeting ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II it will just be fine. Be careful of your use of words, DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO henceforth!

TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com John Egbeazien Oshodi, Clinical/Forensic Psychologist, Miami, Florida

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JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

POLSCOPE

with Eddy Odivwri eddy.odivwri@thisdaylive.com 08053069356

Osinbajo’s Tour of the Niger Delta and Matters Arising

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arly this week, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo flagged off a tour of the Niger Delta region, starting from Delta State.

No doubt, the motivation for the tour is apparently in search of peace. The peace, not for the sake of it, but so there will be conducive atmosphere that will boost crude oil exploration and exportation, unhindered. In otherwords, the tour has a capitalist drive.

That perhaps further explains why the first port of call for the Vice President is Gbaramatu Kingdom, the unofficial headquarters of the Niger Delta militancy. Okerenkoko in Gbaramatu Kingdom is the base of the wanted Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo).

Osinbajo had also secretly met with Tompolo during the visit. This is the same person on government’s (EFCC) official wanted list for the alleged crime of corruption.

That means that the search for Tompolo is no longer an issue, not when there is a more important search for cash.

The visit is in eventual realisation that the tough posture of the federal government in applying maximum force in dealing with the uprising in the region, is counter productive. Yes, the Niger Delta has been on the boil for years, and this has had its hurting economic effects in the nation’s treasury reports.

With oil and gas exploration disrupted, and revenue projections badly affected, the federal government has realised, that dialogue, and not force of might and weapons is what will produce beneficial result. Indeed, it has been proven that even if all the Nigerian army is deployed to the region, it will not guaranty peace for maximum oil production and sales. Many had told the government that dealing with the violence in the Niger Delta region requires utmost tact. It is likened to the perching of a tse-tse fly on a man’s scrotum. Smashing it may kill the tse-tse-fly, but the accompanying pain on the scrotum could also have fatal consequences. Thus, merely driving away the tse-tse-fly may be the surest means of stooping to conquer.

Reading the body language of the stakeholders at the meeting both at the Gbaramatu Kingdom and the one held later at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, one could see a measure of distrust and cautious optimism among the people. A veneer that seems to say we have seen all these before and it led us no where. As

Osinbajo a proof of this, the militants launched another attack on some pipelines in the Ughelli area, just after Osinbajo left the state, although the military authorities claimed that the pipeline damage was due to bush fire and not militant action.

To get to Okerenkoko, the Vice President had to arrive in a helicopter. This is because there is no road to such an important location. If the same nation could construct the Third Mainland bridge, reputed to be the longest in Africa, why is it difficult for the same federal government to build a road network to the creeks from where the money for the Third mainland bridge was sourced? What is the cost of a bridge network that can connect many of the communities in the creeks? What does it cost government to scale up development efforts in the entire Niger Delta region, as a way of assuaging the frayed nerves and compesating them for the damage to their ecosystem because of oil and gas exploration?

Would such a cost be beyond the federal government?

In 1999, I was in a tour of oil facilities in the Netherlands. We had travelled to one small oilbearing community called Pernis, outside The Hague, within the Rotterdam district. Pernis

plays host to one of the biggest refineries in the world, owned by Shell. As small and far as the community is from the centre, it had all, yes, all the facilities and attributes of a modern city.

I dare say that the huge cost of fighting for peace (with little success) in the region is more than the cost of engendering peace through development of the region.

Over the years, governments have come and gone, but the Niger Delta largely remains in its decrepit state. If the succeeding governments have been sincere, the sorry narrative of the Niger Delta would have since been different.

The creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, was about the boldest attempt to address the myriad of issues related to the region.

But it soon got bedeviled by some problems like mismanagement including the refusal of government to even contribute its statutory quota.

Aside the several redemptive works done by the commission across the region, the putting together of the Niger Delta Master plan which was launched in 2007, just before former President Obasanjo stepped down, remains the most scientific and reliable roadmap to the recovery and rejuvenation of the oil-bearing region. That document, produced (at a huge cost) by GTZ, a German firm, captures succinctly, all there is to do to develop the region. But it has long been abandoned. The brains behind the master plan are still alive. Messrs Timi Alaibe and Godwin Omene both former Managing Directors of the commission have the capacity and know-how on how to make the region to work. But today, we seem to be groping in the dark, in search of the solution to the problems which should be in our kitty already. To neglect the master plan and look for short cuts on the Niger Delta question is akin to looking for the eye of a fish around its tail.

Pray, does Professor Osinbajo not know of the Niger Delta master plan? It’s about ten years now that the document has been gathering dust in the president’s shelves. What is Osinbajo going to be told now in this tour that had not been told to his predecessors in government? What did those ones do? When the rain fell heavily, the bucket was not full, is it the fall of the dew that will fill the bucket?

In practical and realistic terms, what can the Buhari administration do to radically change the narratives of the people of the Niger Delta?

Here is a government bed-straggled in economic recession, struggling to climb out of its economic

woes, bugged down by unprecedented inflationary bite, distracted by huge security challenges, wracked by unrelenting corruption forces, harangued by a colony of unemployed youths, weakened by dwindling industrial growth etc. etc….. where will this administration find the money to rekindle the hope and fortunes of the people of the region? The VP promised the revitalization of the Maritime University in Okerenkoko…. It sounded sweet and soothing.

We can only wait to see the activation of the promise.

The late Yar’Adua administration perhaps demonstrated the sincerest attention to the Niger Delta issue when he not only granted the militants amnesty, but also set up a full fledged rehabilitation structure that was meant to redeem the militants and the region. The Amnesty Programme was framed in phases.

Rehabilitation of the militants and retraining them for productive ventures was just one of the phases. There were other phases on how to grow and develop the region. But the succeeding administration of Goodluck Jonathan, abandoned the other phases, immediately some measure of peace was achieved to boost oil production. Those documents are in the archives of the presidency.

Let Osinbajo dust them up and do the needful.

Unless there is clear sincerity of purpose in addressing the issues bedeviling the region, the Osinbajo tour of the region would end up like another expensive jamboree.

While not supporting the spate of violence that has crippled the oil and gas sector, it must be stated that the anger that has produced such actions is justified. As late Chinua Achebe would write, no one who sits at the bank of the River Niger is expected to wash his hands with spittle.

In tackling the problem, the federal government must this time avoid the mistakes of the past: to think that the Niger Delta region begins and ends in Ijaw creeks and water ways. In fact, the anger that all the attention was being given to those who launched the fiercest attacks recently exacerbated the violence in the region. Many of the attack groups sprang up so as to draw attention to their areas as well.

All things considered, Professor Osinbajo was very right to have declared that without peace there can be no justice and vice versa. To engage in dialogue with the stakeholders is laudable. But more laudable will it be to match the outcome of those dialogue with actions. That is only when there will be substance to the dialogue.

Jammeh: The Die is Cast

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ast week, I had hoped that former Gambian President, Yahyah Jammeh would accede to the final entreaty of the ECOWAS leaders to step down and handover power to Adama Barrow who won the December 1 presidential election last year.

My hope was reinforced by the fact that Jammeh had appointed a liaison between him and Barrow.

But all that was shattered after previous Friday’s meeting with ECOWAS leaders where Jammeh insisted on challenging the outcome of the election in a court that wont be ready to sit until May this year.

Clearly, Jammeh wants trouble.

I hardly can understand his argument which lacks rhythm and reason.

Here was a man who called his opponent and congratulated him after the results were announced and declared that by losing the election, Allah was telling him his time was up. Here is a man who had ruled his country for 22 years and massed up great wealth for himself. Why would he not yield to the wish of

his people?

The Gambia is a small West African country with about 1.9million people, just about the population of Mushin (in Lagos) alone, daring the military force of the entire sub region.

Since last Sunday, Barrow had temporarily relocated to Senegal pending when he would assume power. And in his absence, his 8-year old son was attacked and killed by a dog. Some queer metaphysics!

Jammeh had simply unplugged his head from reason. He has ignored all the passionate appeals from within and outside The Gambia for him to save the nation needless bloodshed, by stepping down. Many countries had promised him soft landing and asylum, but he still wont leave without a fight. A bloody fight.

But it is all avoidable.

Tension in Banjul and many other towns in the tiny country has reached a feverish pitch. Many of the nationals are fleeing the country in droves. Six of his ministers, as at Tuesday, had resigned from the cabinet. Some of the soldiers have even fled their posts and granting damning interview to journalists.

And 48 hours to stepping down, Jammeh had

declared a state of emergency for 90 days, with The Gambian parliament extending his rule by the same period of 90 days. This obstinacy has been buoyed by the Gambian army which has pledged to support him all the way. But that is an army that could just be crushed with the ease with which a raw egg can be crashed in the palm of an average adult.

A dog destined to die will naturally not hear its owner’s whistle Surely the die is cast!

As at Tuesday, a Nigerian warship was already heading to The Gambia, with about 800 combat soldiers and Airforce personnel being deployed to the country. Other ECOWAS countries like Ghana, Senegal, Liberia etc., are preparing to send troops to the small country to force the dictator out of office.

One would have thought that Jammeh would learn from the tragic end of Saddam Hussein, or more recently Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya. But he wants to end up a disgraced villain.

The events of the coming days and weeks will be quite interesting in the tiny West African Yammeh country.

15

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

NEWS

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

Fashola Assures Sector Operators, Stakeholders of Improved Power, Gas Supply in 2017 Says efforts on to rectify recent power outage situations through improved liquidity; averse to privatisation cancellation Daji San inYola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has asked stakeholders in the Power Sector to look forward to the implementation of policies that would improve gas supply and liquidity as well as the completion of several power projects by the Federal Government in 2017.

Fashola, while making his Opening Address as Guest Speaker at the January edition of the Nextier Power Dialogue held at the Thought Pyramid Art Centre, said the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing along with other agencies of the Federal Government, like Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, had put together a policy framework that would help establish stronger and better institutional framework needed to tackle the challenges in the Power Sector.

According to the Minister, such policies would help realise a deepening of metering, sanctions for energy theft and better contract performance from Operators in the Power Sector as well as help achieve the financial strengthening of the Nigerian Bulk Energy Trading PLC (NBET).

He explained that he could not discuss the policies yet in details at the event because they were in the process of being presented for consideration and approval by the Federal Executive Council, but however, assured that when implemented, they would take the nation to more gas and assure payment to gas suppliers and generation companies which was the way forward.

He told his audience, “Clearly these policies constitute the way forward and ensures that everybody in the system gets paid. If we have that, at least, we can be sure that those who are supplying gas will not be shutting down because their creditors are pulling them. Then we go to the

MUSIC ON THEIR MINDS...

L-R: Sound Sultan; musicians Adewale Ayuba ; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode with musicians, Alariwo of Africa during the Governor’s meeting with Y2016 One Lagos Fiesta Artistes at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House, Ikeja, recently other side that are angry to see what we can do because gas problem is exacerbated on both sides”.

While explaining the current decreased power supply and outages across the country, he blamed the sabotage of gas pipelines by “some of our angry brothers”, adding that because of the debt owed gas companies by the DisCos, the companies also withheld supply of gas.

The Minister, who noted that there had been some outages across the

country in the last 24 hours, however, assured Nigerians that himself, the Permanent Secretary and other officials of the Ministry were trying to see what they could do to address the situation.

Emphasising the need to increase liquidity in the sector, Fashola explained that as a result of the frequent power outages due to the sabotage of power assets, the operators along the power chain were being owed as distribution companies could not pay

generating companies who equally could not pay gas suppliers who, in turn, could not pay their bankers.

The Minister pointed out that the debts had been accumulating since 2015 leading to gas companies currently shutting their tanks and forcing power again down to 2,000MW. In line with increasing liquidity in the sector, Fashola also said Government intended to quickly complete the audit of its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to enable it pay

proven debts owed the Operators in the sector adding that the payment had been delayed as a result of lack of authentic debt figures.

The Minister further explained, “You have heard that Federal Government is owing and all that; but you know, we don’t have the authentic figures and until we have that I cannot go and tell President Buhari that we want to pay ‘about…’.

He will say we are not serious. So we expect to see the completion

of that so that we can pay what is proven debt”.

According to him, Government also intended to see to the financial strengthening of the Nigerian Energy Bulk Trading (NBET), the bulk trader who stands as the interim partner to ensure that everybody that was doing their part in the system was paid, adding that once that was achieved Government would then insist on better contract performance and sanctions for non-compliance.

NBS: Nigeria Imported Petroleum Products Worth N2.58tn in 2016

Only Restructuring will take Marginal Rise in Allocation Nigeria Out of the Woods as FG, States, LGs Share Say Balarabe Musa, Obi N400bn for December

James Emejo in Abuja

Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu

The total value of imported petroleum products for 2016 stood at N2.58 trillion, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated yesterday.

A breakdown showed 18.8 billion litres of premium motor spirits (PMS), 4.89 billion litres of automotive gas oil (AGO) and 713.79 million litres of household kerosene (HHK), valued at N2.01 trillion, N505.8 billion and N70.7 billion respectively, were imported into the country last year.

Furthermore, petroleum products importation gulped N790.4 billion in the fourth quarter of the year under review (Q4 2016).

The breakdown for the last quarter indicated 4.83 billion litres of PMS; 1.00 million litres of AGO and 182.9 million litres of HHK valued at N629.6 billion; N136.1 billion and N24.7 billion respectively were imported into the country.

According to the Petroleum Products Imports Statistics for 4th

Quarter 2016, which was released by the statistical agency, the month of May 2016 recorded the highest volumes of premium motor spirits (PMS) imported at 2.02 billion litres valued at N249.88 billion.

This coincided with the May 11th, 2016 official announcement by the Federal Government on the deregulation of PMS importation aimed at improving its supply nationwide.

According to the report, State-wide distribution of truck-out volume for Q4 2016 showed that 4.83 billion litres of premium motor spirits (PMS), 1.00 billion litres of automotive gas oil (AGO) and 182.95 million litres of household kerosene were distributed nationwide during the period under review.

Meanwhile, the average monthly landing cost of petrol in October N132.6 per litre; N121.7 per litre in November and N136.71 per litre in December with 1.43 billion litres; 1.65 billion litres and 1.74 billion litres respectively imported in Q4.

Notable political leaders including former Governors, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and Peter Obi of Kaduna and Anambra states on Thursday in Enugu joined the clamour for the restructuring of the country, insisting that only restructuring would take the country out of the woods.

They stated that when restructured, the six geo-political zones would serve as the federating units.

They spoke as guest lecturers at the 18th Annual Convention of the Igbo Youths Movement (IYM) at Universal hotel Enugu on the theme, “How To Resolve the Crisis of Nigeria as a Nation”, Musa specifically warned that the nation would remain in arrested development unless it was restructured to achieve true federalism.

“As presently constituted, the states are virtually all unviable entities which are incapable continuing to exist as viable constituent units of a true

federal structure. Secondly, reverting to say, a six regional structure would reduce the competitive pressure for power at the centre and redirect more attention to regional political competencies”, Musa said..

The former governor of Kaduna State, whose paper was presented by the leader and founder of Igbo Youth Movement, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, sympathised with the Igbo ethnic nationality for accumulated marginalisation and unfair treatment in Nigeria federation especially since after the civil war.

“There can be little doubt that the Igbo ethnic nationality - like many other ethnic nationalities which today constitute the Nigerian State - have had a raw deal in the Nigerian project This has been particularly so since the conclusion of the unfortunate Nigerian Civil war and the failure of the State to continue to be faithful to the policy of 'no victor, no vanquished'.

Ndubuisi Francis inAbuja

Monthly share of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the three tiers of government recorded a marginal increase in December 2016, from N386.879 in November to N400 billion.

The December allocation, which is N13.1 billion higher than the preceding month (November), is however lower than N420 billion shared by the three tiers in October.

Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun traced the marginal increase to increase in royalties collected, Company Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT).

Giving further details, Adeosun, who is the Chairman of FAAC, disclosed that N224.883 was shared as Statutory Allocation with the federal government receiving N105.762 billion; states, N53.644

billion; local governments, N41.357 billion, with N15.504 billion as 13 per cent derivation for oil mineral producing states.

Adeosun stated that N79.273 billion was shared from VAT, giving the breakdown as N11.415 billion for the government at the centre; state governments N38.051 billion and local governments N26.636 billion.

N52.846 billion was also shared as proceeds of exchange gain and N42.998 billion from Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT).

On the maintenance of the PPT account, Adeosun revealed that the account, was being kept as a stabilisation fund in agreement with the state governments. The amount, she said, had a balance of $148 million which would be used to augment shortfalls in revenue to all tiers during difficult times.

She also put the balance of the Excess Crude Account at $2.457 billion.

16

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

THE ALTERNATIVE with Reno Omokri Why President Buhari Ran(n) to Gambia and Away From Rann

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari wants to intervene in The Gambia to prevent a breakdown of law and order which will lead to a humanitarian crisis.

The Gambia has a population of 1.8 million people, while Kaduna has a population of 6 million people of which over 2 million of those are in Southern Kaduna.

Till date, the only person who has died in The Gambia is President-elect Barrow’s son, Habibu Barrow, who was bitten by a dog. But in Southern Kaduna, hundreds of people have bitten the dust.

If in truth President Buhari really wants to prevent a humanitarian crisis, the place he should be visiting and intervening in is Southern Kaduna before The Gambia.

And the penchant of the President for delegating pressing domestic problems to his subordinates while personally addressing foreign challenges of lower priority is on the increase.

I have chosen to empathise with the Buhari administration over the deaths of Internally Displaced Persons and international aid workers at the Rann IDP camp in Borno state by a bomb mistakenly dropped on the camp by a Nigerian Air Force Jet, but for the life of me I cannot understand why the President, who heavily criticised former President Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram crisis, elected to delegate his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and some ministers to visit the victims and survivors of the Rann disaster to offer condolences and supposed support.

And to the Borno State governor who cheekily said there was progress because in his words, there was no “blame game” as would have happened in the previous administration of Jonathan, I would just say, wake up and smell the coffee. I can see no excuse for this faux pas except the Borno State governor is sarcastically trying to call out the Buhari government for its overindulgence in blaming previous administrations.

If it was possible, the Buhari administration would have taken out a registered trade mark on the phrase ‘blame game’.

Never in the history of Nigeria, and perhaps contemporary Africa, has an administration invested so much of its focus and time on blame gaming as the Buhari government. So Governor Shettima would have to pull more fallacious words out of his mischievous magical hat of illusion to be able to pin such a false accusation on the Jonathan government.

It may be necessary to remind Governor Shettima that the Jonathan he so likes to blame visited Borno more than once as President during the height of the Boko Haram insurgency. Has President Buhari even bothered to drop by? That is how much the President thinks of him!

But in all this, we still must give God the glory that the mistake by the air force did not occur while Oby Ezekwesili and Lai Mohammed were combing Sambisa forest in search of the missing Chibok girls.

And let me speak directly to the President. President Muhammadu Buhari, as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, don’t you think you owe it as a duty to be in Rann at this very moment to personally comfort victims and survivors of the unfortunate mistaken bombing by our Armed Forces?

This is more so when some of the dead include qualified doctors who left their countries, homes and profitable businesses to volunteer through Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross.

If those foreigners could leave their countries to go to Rann, sir, you can leave Aso Rock to go there. This bombing is not your fault, but if you fail to visit Rann where lives have been lost, you will send a very wrong message, particularly as you just visited The Gambia where no lives have been lost accidentally or deliberately due to Yahya Jammeh’s actions.

Why President Buhari Ran(n) to Gambia and ran away from Rann would continue to be a mystery for a while. But the truth still remains that you do not focus on putting out the fire in your neighbour’s tiny hut when your own massive estate is on fire.

In Nigeria’s history, no President has engaged in foreign travels like President Muhammadu Buhari yet never before has foreign investment dried up in Nigeria as it is today.

So bad has the situation degenerated to that Reuters, in a piece by Paul Carsten and his colleagues published on January 18, 2017 detailed how President Buhari’s globetrotting efforts to secure foreign loans have hit a brick wall.

The article cited failure to present a coherent economic recovery programme as the reason why foreign donors are wary of trusting the Buhari administration with their hardearned money.

In fact, the article posited that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has been forced to work with a “consultancy” to patch together a policy document that it hopes would be acceptable to foreign lenders.

Now, Nigerians can understand why I questioned the wisdom in the appointment of a polytechnic graduate by President Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s finance minister at a time when we should be putting our best foot forward. The finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, attended the University of East London. The problem is not that this university is one of the worst universities in the United Kingdom today. The issue is that the ‘university’ was actually a polytechnic at the time Kemi Adeosun attended it and was only upgraded to university status in 1992! If you Google this university, you will find that its graduates are one of the least likely to get a job on the strength of their degrees of any university in the United Kingdom.

Buhari

I guess the guidance and counselling department of the University of East London should by now have found a fix for this problem - if you cannot find U.K. employment with your UEL degree, just relocate to Nigeria. Chances are you would be made a cabinet minister!

The funniest thing is that when President Buhari ran against then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, one of his prominent campaign posters had the promise and I quote, “What we will not do - spend 110 days in a year globetrotting.” As I write this and as you read it, the globetrotting President Muhammadu Buhari has travelled all the way to London. In fact, by his first anniversary as President on May 29, 2016, President Buhari had made 30 foreign trips with very little by way of returns to the country from them. So much for his promises. Would the President be man enough to apologise to former President Obasanjo who was the subject of his particular criticism in 2003?

Your guess is as good as mine!

So my advice to the President is that he should spend less time blaming past administrations especially as he is now more guilty than them of the things he accused them of.

I give this advice because I am aware that each time President

The funniest thing is that when President Buhari ran against then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, one of his prominent campaign posters had the promise and I quote, “What we will not do - spend 110 days in a year globetrotting.” As I write this and as you read it, the globetrotting President Muhammadu Buhari has travelled all the way to London. In fact, by his first anniversary as President on May 29, 2016, President Buhari had made 30 foreign trips with very little by way of returns to the country from them.

So much for his promises. Would the President be man enough to apologise to former President Obasanjo who was the subject of his particular criticism in 2003? Your guess is as good as mine!

Muhammadu Buhari blames previous administrations, what foreign and domestic investors see is a leader who loves the perks and privileges of his office but hates the responsibility attached to it. They see a ruler who likes to bask in the glory of his predecessors’ achievements like the Abuja-Kaduna rail and the Treasury Single Account, yet refuses to give them any credit.

And they will not invest their money in a country whose leader focuses on blaming instead of leading. Blame is the cause of the Naira losing value not falling oil price. An economy can survive a price crash but it cannot survive a crash in leadership.

Now, on to other matters. Two weeks ago, I commended the President for fulfilling at least one of his campaign promises. By this I meant the promise to pay N5,000 to the poorest Nigerians.

Again I commend the President. However, since I gave my commendation, I have got some feedback.

It would seem that many Nigerians are not impressed by the N5,000 handout from the APC-led Federal Government because they are already on their own fulfilling President Buhari’s campaign promise of one meal per day because food is too costly and kerosene to cook it is too expensive!

If you are still talking of gas, then you must be superelite because the price of gas has skyrocketed beyond belief! From a price of N1,800 for a 12.5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) under former President Jonathan, the price is now N4,200 under President Buhari and rising.

Under former President Jonathan, Nigeria had many fast-rising political, business, musical and acting stars but under President Buhari, the only thing that is fast rising is the price of food, electricity, gas, petrol, kerosene and dollars! What a fast-rising government!

And it seems Nigerians also misunderstood the President’s promise to make N1 equal to $1. It was perhaps a typo. The printer probably forgot three zeros. He might have meant, make 1000 equal to $1!

And the President’s promise to be fair to all Nigerians is now sounding hollow although the fault is not entirely his. State governments have their own fair share in the blame although one could argue that they took their cue from the President’s body language especially after his famous ‘97% versus 5%’ speech at the United States Institute for Peace in July of 2015.

Today (Wednesday 18th of January, 2017), the police brought Joachim, the man who named his dog Buhari, to court for prosecution. This is the same police that have not yet prosecuted any of the killers of hundreds of Southern Kaduna people. This is the same police that last week released the suspected killers of Mrs. Elisha, the RCCG pastor killed in Kubwa. We are not even talking of the suspected beheaders of evangelist Bridget Agbahime who were acquitted in Kano two months ago. As I always say, welcome to the new and improved Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari!

In the new and improved Nigeria, you are more likely to be prosecuted if you misname a dog and if you steal or kill cattle than if you kill or behead a Christian Evangelist or pastor.

This is even as a governor admits to paying self-admitted ‘foreign’ killers of Nigerian citizens with taxpayers’ funds to induce them not to kill again. Again I say, welcome to the new and improved Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari!

Plus

LOUD WHISPERS MEMOIRS AUTO WRITERS’ WOLRD FASHION FILE PEOPLE

pg. 20 pg. 22 pg. 26 pg. 35 pg. 41 pg. 44

Ned Munir Nwoko

My Life Revolves Around Tourism

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 21, 2017

18

PLUS

I Want to Spearhead a Revolution in Tourism Sector From the road that leads from Edo to Delta, at Udumuje Ugboko in particular, is an incredible view in geography and architecture.

Situated at about 1000 feet above sea level, rich in wildlife with traditional settings infused with modernity, you only approach the entrance through a 9-hole golf course. Listed as Mount Delta by the state tourism board among 21 accredited sites, it is aptly described as a haven of peace. With mild climate, during both harmattan and rainy seasons, the 100-feet tower and the tropical jungle, the tunnel, zoo that boasts of crocodiles, ostriches, horses, sea eagles, porcupines, monkeys, rabbits and other animals and the Olympic-size swimming pool all make it a place to visit. The mansion has over 20 rooms fit for kings with a combination of Arabian and Western designs. Passionate about tourism and deep in culture, the man behind all this comes from the Nwoko family that has produced the protean designer, architect and master builder, Prof. Demas Nwoko. Ned Munir Nwoko is embarking on a cultural revolution. No wonder the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, appointed him Chairman of Project Tourism, a committee saddled with the task of revolutionising the sector. He takes Stanley Nkwazema down the rich cultural heritage and the quest to redirect the minds of government on tourism N

N

woko says his life generally has been influenced by traditions, coming from his background as a member of a royal family. According to him, while growing up all you saw around you were traditional activities.

“I have always been fascinated with by the history of arts and over time, I have come to realise that individually and collectively, we can help to sustain and promote our culture. More important, I have also come to appreciate the fact that in most countries of the world, if not in all, people do appreciate the arts and cultures of others. As a matter of fact, there is no country in the world today even in Nigeria, where tourism is not principally linked to arts and culture of a people. It has become the hub and most important source of earning for most countries. From Britain to France, Thailand, Brazil and the US tourism has suddenly become the number one source of revenue.” Nwoko explains.

To Nwoko, it has reached a point when Nigeria needs to harness all that she has.

“We are blessed with so many resources. I believe that I can in my own little way help to spearhead this inevitable revolution. It will happen. It has happened in other countries. We have all that it takes to make it a reality. We just need to organise ourselves and sustain the tempo when it eventually becomes a reality.”

Spearheading Project Tourism…

Nwoko says he wants to make success of his assignment of the chairmanship of Project Tourism. He says the journey has just begun and it is going to be a very long journey and not a one stop affair or event.

“I foresee a lot of difficulties ahead of us but I want to see how we can overcome them and make a success out of it. To start with, we need support like the platform we have gotten from the

Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC. With the partnership, the private sector will be fully involved.

There will be a lot of awareness which needs to be created. All we can do now is to have the ideas and drive it to that point where every Nigeria will appreciate what we are doing.”

He added, “What we intend doing for the global road show is to highlight the tourism assets of the country where manufacturers, businessmen hoteliers, airlines, transporters and entrepreneurs will showcase their tourism related products.

We will elicit the support of notable Nollywood stars and sports’ celebrities from Nigeria and agencies of government will be offered the opportunity to showcase their products. It will be rotated among states in Nigeria, countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia.”

“The centre will build on already established/existing monuments, arts and sites as one culture village in every state across the country. The village or city to be selected for the project must currently have natural and acknowledged monuments and historical sites. It must also be safe and accessible to encourage growth using cultural contents.”

The Passion and the Urge…

“We need the media to publicise what we are doing. We need to develop domestic tourism first. We need Nigerians to know what we have and what they have and be able to appreciate it. For instance, in my place, how many people are aware of its existence? So we need to help government and government also needs to help the private sector in a symbiotic relationship. It has to work. There must be well thought out government policy or policies that could drive these projects.

For example, in every state, we expect the Ministry of Education to look at the possibility of including tourism in theory curriculum and then ensuring that apart from the theoretical aspect of it, there are practical visits and demonstration of

Nwoko

JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

19

PLUS

Only Nigerians Shop during Holidays; Other People Go on Sightseeing what tourism is all about. This will entail schools visiting tourism sites, location.

There must be education of how Nigerians should be able to appreciate what we have. We can begin to do this from the primary schools; inculcating it into our kids the idea that it is not only in France that they have to go and see Eiffel tower, London Bridge in London, Mausoleum in Italy or Disney World in Florida or the Taj Mahal in India or the Pyramids in Egypt. Through the development of curriculum of what we desire, school kids will travel from place to place within and outside the states. The schools will have to provide vehicles and make adequate security arrangements for such visits.”

‘We Have to Pay for Tourism’ Nwoko says people come here every day and Nigerians still do not understand that they have to pay for such things.

“We are still experimenting, encouraging people and trying to create the awareness. Sometimes we even have to give people money to come here, but we cannot do that forever. By the time the government makes it a policy that school kids must go to particular sites as part their curriculum and pay for the upkeep of those places and help to develop other locations, or encourage private sectors to develop their own, you will see things happen. It is not every time they go to locations that they must go back same time. The transporters must be involved, hotels, cooks and all of that. It is a dynamic process that once it starts, it will keep going on.”

It Starts from the Family My children, when they come to Nigeria, do not want to be in Abuja or in Lagos because they love our tradition, culture and what they see here. They

spend more time in the village when they come from the UK. Even my children who are in Abuja prefer to be in Udumuje Ugboko than the Federal Capital Territory. We have a responsibility as adults to let and encourage our children to appreciate our culture and traditions.”

Who is Prince Ned Munir Nwoko?

“I am a prince of Udumuje in Delta State. I am a lawyer, businessman and was a member of the House of Representatives for four years. Honestly, my being abroad in no way affected my appreciation of our rich culture and tradition; it will also not negatively affect my children. I think that it has enhanced my appreciation of our deep cultural heritage. It has also increased my appreciation of my culture because I have seen how they have promoted and preserved theirs.”

Only Nigerians Shop during Holidays “Over the years, I have seen how their high sense of adventure to go to places like Peru, Brazil, Thailand, India etc. In the United Kingdom, for instance every year, peoples’ lives revolve around holidays. They do not go on holidays to shop like we do. They go with their slippers and shorts. They fly economy class booked well ahead that sometimes you begin to wonder if the seats were over-discounted. They plan ahead.

Nobody or very few fly business class.

They want to discover places; they have a very high sense of adventure and they want to climb mountains, valleys, diving, abseiling and go into caves and discover monuments. They have other things but they want something different. Every year they go to such places, they spend foreign currencies and that is what makes those countries thick.

20

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017 with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

LOUD WHISPERS

Lai Mohammed

Lai Mohammed : That Uniform!

My egbon, where did you get that uniform and which tailor sewed it? I am wondering if I was the only one that saw the uniform o. It was a cross between Civil Defence - the people we used to call guguru defence, Air Force, Boys Brigade and the security man’s uniform at the National Stadium. The cap was also very fitting, reminding you of Fidel Castro and then there were badges on his chest. I am sure badges of honour following meritorious battles fought from the trenches of the opposition battles. I am sure when the idea to visit the forest which I think is the most brilliant strategy so far came up, he must have immediately consulted Solomon Dalung, the Minister of Sports, who immediately sent in his tailors numbers and this wonderful creation was made. My bet is that it would soon be mass produced in preparation for the next election in Osun. By the way, is it only me seeing the resemblance between Chief Mohammed and my Lord in Osun, Aregbesola? Finally, the trouser ended up short in the ankle, the type we call ‘sofe’ and made popular by the late American iconic singer, Michael Jackson. Well, me I liked the idea of looking smart and ready for a trip into the Sambisa Forest unlike my Aunty Ezekwezili who wore long skirt for such a risky trip. If anything had happened, how would she have escaped on foot through the forest? You see the sense in uncle Lai’s athletic and smart outfit? One can never be too careful o with these Boko boys.

Tonye Cole: Well Done!

OK, we are not that close, I agree.

But at least, we have sat down beside each other before. We had shaken hands and had smiled at each other so that should be enough to get an invite to his 50th birthday which I hear happened recently. The most painful thing is that I had placed a call to him a day before, to beg for sponsorship of my play –‘Isale Eko’. You know that is now my new pastime. We spoke for some minutes and he promised to ‘do something’ but in that talk he never mentioned his party and so you can imagine my shock when I saw it in the news the next day. Well, if Mandela can forgive those who jailed him for 27 years, why won’t I forgive Tonye especially since I am expecting support for my play? So my brother, I forgive you o, may you live long and may all your enemies end up in Sambisa a Forest looking for food to eat. May God continue to bless you and your family and give you the grace to make you remember to invite me not only to your 51st but subsequent parties in His Almighty name. Congratulations my brother.

The Ripples Nigeria Square Off On the back of sensationalism that

Tonye Cole

Atiku Abubakar

Gov. Ajimobi, the ‘Constituted Authority’ I am sure we all have watched the video where the only ‘constituted authority’ in the whole of Oyo State came out to address protesting students from one kind university. You see, people just like talking without carefully looking at both sides of the story. I have read all the attacks and jibes at my friend, His Excellency who even had to come out of a very important ‘Exco meeting’ to address these people who we are not even sure were students. Look, let me tell you guys, Chief Ajimobi is a statesman, a ‘constituted authority’ and a great son of Oduduwa so you guys can continue talking your rubbish, we don’t care. In fact, go and do your worst, we are ready. What is it, why are people so ungrateful? Nigerians, you can never satisfy them, imagine the kind of words used on this great son simply because he came out to try to listen to these rebels from the Ogunpa flood plains.

After all, the so-called university is owned by two states, what about the other state Governor? Who did not even bother to come out of his bathroom. Look, what are the facts? Me I like facts o. His Excellency was in an Executive meeting properly constituted by the ‘constituted authority’ and so did not have to come out and when he did, the protesters did not all prostrate. Imagine, that was the first mistake. The second mistake

was that we were not even sure they had all taken their baths and this riled us. Thirdly, they did not come to the protest with their admission letters duly signed by an authority recognised by the ‘constituted authority’ so for all we knew we were talking to Boko Haram terrorists? Despite all of these, we still showed uncommon bravery to come out without bulletproof vests in our flowing white agbada to address the motley crowd and one of the ‘students’ had the guts to talk back at His Excellency who despite asking the Police to get the boy, still showed a Mandela-type restraint by granting him amnesty instantly. Look, Nigerians should be hailing Gov. Ajimobi for this new type of leadership instead of running around and saying all sorts of rubbish about him and the way he handled an explosive situation which could have descended into chaos, and the falling of his government. I am sure it is these Biafran people who disguised as students that came to try His Excellency and me I like the way he repelled them.

I have called my Baba to express my support, he did not take my calls. Maybe he was still vexing at the level of rudeness those people showed him. Never mind Jo, Baba you remain my ‘constituted authority’ and nobody should try him o otherwise, we will all go and wait for you. Kilode.

pervades the online news media terrain, Ripples Nigeria, a leading online news outlet with over one million daily readers has decided to bring back legitimacy and credibility to the arena. They are mulling

a platform that would bring political gladiators to square off and face each other with facts instead of engaging in funny pugilistic jingoism on the pages of newspapers. So you can imagine OBJ and the Awujale squaring off or

Chuka Onwuchekwa

El-Rufai and Senator Sani, or Ajimobi and the Students’ Union President of Lautech, debating over who or what makes a constituted authority. I am already salivating at the prospect.

According to the Editor-in-Chief, Sam Ibemere, a veteran journalist, the Ripples Square Off would take place once a year and would give political and economic gladiators the opportunity to engage in public debate on issues of public concern. Each debater would be allowed to choose his team of co-debaters and there would be a chairman and a moderator. However, in the series, there would be no winner, the select audience would be allowed to go home with the conviction of who emerged with a stronger argument in their minds. Or, can you imagine if in a debate between OBj and Atiku, you announce Atiku the winner, me I will not wait for that kind of announcement o. These Ripples people are you sure they are not looking for trouble like this o.

Chuka Onwuchekwa : A Shout-out This is my oga, my mentor and someone I have some of the biggest respect for. I feel I should write something for and about him today because I think he has been using style to ask for it. Since I wrote about his brother and partner, Nnamdi Nwankwo – that one promised me Gucci bag, since Chibok girls were captured, some have been released and the rest will soon regain their freedom, I never see bag o. Chuka has been using style to ask me to write about him. If I come late for work, he will say, ‘you know you are a journalist,’ if I no bring money, he will say, ‘you know you can write,’ if I offend client and client report me, he will say, ‘you know you bloggers’ so I finally got the message when he called me in and said, ‘you see, if you write anything about me, nobody will believe’. So here goes my Lord. I love this man to pieces. He may not know it but it is the gospel truth.

When he pretends to be angry with me and bangs his table in fake anger threatening to circumcise me, I will just be laughing. Chuka is a legend in the finance industry going by all the people that have passed through him and his pedigree. I accord him the highest respect and find myself privileged to work with him. I have learnt a lot from him and will continue to learn from him especially on Fridays when I walk into his office and he immediately stands up to show me his Gucci loafers, Gucci trousers and Gucci shirts and adds it with the quip that always cracks me, ‘Edgar, people don’t know me o, simply because I am a simple man they don’t know that I have taste.’ My oga pass on the baton we remain your boys. God will bless you. You have a good heart. But still talk to Nnamdi about the bag sha. Na Gucci.

21

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

SPY GLASS

with Bayo Adeoye ....08054680651 edly confined him to the wheelchair.

Abimbola, owner of Her Majesty Skin Care Products, is a niece to Senator Buruji Kashamu. Her mother is one of the daughters of the late Ijebu-Ode multimillionaire, Prince Bode Oshinusi.

Hajia Fatima Tukur’s Headache

Yomi Folawiyo, Wife’s Fight gets Messier

Once upon a time, Yomi Folawiyo and Abimbola Kashamu had been an item. They were a delight on the social scene.

Before our eyes, they soon took their love story to another enviable height, as their wedding, which held in December, 2011, was the talk of town for a long time. It became more interesting when the marriage was blessed with a baby.

Sadly, however, there was a crack in the wall of their marriage. But many had hoped that the couple would do the best within their power to resolve the issue threatening the foundation of their marriage. But the couple seemed to have made up their minds to go their separate ways.

The last is yet to be heard about the lingering feud between Folawiyo and his estranged wife, many months after going their separate ways.

Spyglass gathered that months after the wife left their former Apapa GRA, Lagos home with her daughter, Mosunmola, the estranged husband is said to be fighting for the custody of his daughter.

A source disclosed that the feud reached its crescendo last week when the daughter marked her birthday.

Quite expectedly, Abimbola posted the pictures of her daughter on her Instagram page, but it was accompanied with vitriolic attack on her estranged husband.

In her IG post, she wrote: “Us right now laughing our ass out .U denied my child, u tarnished my name, u paid mi evil for being good to u , u left , u tarnished my father’s name , u tried to sell out my uncle, u claimed my child was dead to get sympathy from public , u taught u were bringing mi down but ur lies lifted mi up cos I was true to u. Now u want custody of a child u denied??????I will rather die than watch that happen .

You claim am not responsible. oh u r the responsible one ????? You destroyed my father’s name Kashaam with lies yet u want to protect urs????

No way!!!” (sic) It will be recalled that the once happy couple had been living like a cat and mouse and efforts by their families to mend the cracked wall were rebuffed several times before the wife was reportedly sent packing by her husband last year.

Though it was widely reported that Bimbo was very cantankerous and disrespectful to Folawiyo, a source close to the couple hinted that Folawiyo did not just feel secured with her presence around him, since he was hit by an ailment that has report-

If a soothsayer had told Hajia Fatima Tukur that she would someday be abandoned by those she had helped, she would have dismissed the prediction with a wave of the hand.

But today, beautiful Hajia Tukur, who wielded a lot of power and influence when her husband, Bamanga Tukur, was the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, knows better.

Until recently, the youngest wife of the former old Gongola State governor was a cynosure of eyes at social gatherings.

However, as soon power changed hands and her husband’s relevance in the political scene waned, most of her friends and beneficiaries who once turned her home into a Mecca of sorts have reportedly abandoned her, leaving her to her own fate.

Apart from the fact that she rarely attends public functions nowadays, she is also said to have abandoned her “The Crying Child”, a non-governmental organisation, which was launched with pomp and pageantry in 2013.

But this may not be her only headache, as she is said to be nursing some other pains in her heart.

Oyinlola Plans Star-studded Wedding For Daughter

Come March, 2017, there will be another celebration in the household of a former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as he will be giving the hand of his daughter in marriage in South Africa, after the engagement ceremony scheduled to hold in Lagos.

Those who should know reliably informed us that the society was about to witness yet another star-studded wedding ceremony, as the former governor is leaving no stone unturned to play a perfect host on the occasion. It will be recalled that one of his daughters, Oyindamola, wedded her heartthrob, Eyintayo Temitope, in a star-studded affair two years ago, precisely September, 2015 in Lagos.

Supo Wahab Dosunmu Dies

Barely three years after the death of Sen. Wahab Dosunmu, a Minister

of Housing in the Second Republic, death once again, visited the family, as his US-based son, Supo Dosunmu, passed on last Monday.

The late CEO of Unique Promotions, it was gathered, had been earlier involved in a terrible car crash that left him bedridden for two years.

It was revealed that he underwent several surgeries after the accident, a situation that made him keep a low profile for some time.

The deceased, who was said to be nursing back his career before the incident, was one of Nigeria’s major promoters in America and had taken several top music stars, including singer D’banj and Mavin’s boss, Don Jazzy, on tour.

His late father, a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), died at 74 in a US hospital in June, 2013, after a brief illness.

The late politician was one of those who fought for the actualisation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola through NADECO. In 1999, he aspired to govern Lagos, but lost the ticket to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

He, however, won a seat into the Senate on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) before he later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Amb. Oluwole Coker Buries mother in style

Live a good life and you will be celebrated even in death! Such was the scenario that played out recently when Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Ivory Coast, Amb. Oluwole Coker, and his elder brother, Col. Oladipo Coker(retd.), held a befitting burial for their late mother, Christiana Modupe Coker, who passed on at 92.

It was gathered that the Christian community also played an active role during the week-long event in Kaduna and Lagos States, respectively.

The ceremony, it was gathered, kicked off in Kaduna, where the deceased, who was the wife of the first Baba Aladura of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement in Nigeria and Overseas, lived until two years ago.

Among the dignitaries who graced the burial ceremony in Lagos were African’s richest man and business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State chapter, Otunba Henry Ajomale; Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, former Director-General, Nigeria Tourism Development Commission, NITD; Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (retd.); the first Military Administrator of Osun State, Col. Leo Ajiborisa (rtd.); top businessmen and women, top government

officials and members of diplomatic corps.

Wale Tinubu Bounces Back

Looking at the king’s mouth, one may be tempted to believe that he never sucked at his mother’s breast.

This popular African proverb captures the rise of the Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu.

From a relatively small and unknown company, Ocean and Oil Service, Tinubu has grown into perhaps one of the biggest players in world oil business. To those with discerning minds, his success, which ranks him as not one of your run-off-the-mill businessmen, is rooted in his uncommon brilliance and business acumen.

Wale Tinubu’s emergence as the King of African Oil did not come as a surprise to those who knew him early in life. “As a highly intelligent man, Wale Tinubu began to exhibit a high level of skills and attitude very early in life,” a source said, adding, “When he dabbled into business many years ago, his clear vision was to lead the company as a leading indigenous exploration and production player on the African continent, and today he has achieved that dream.

Typical of all successful men in history, Tinubu is not insulated against challenges. As part of his own trying times, the past two years was not particularly fantastic as oil business has suffered decline around the globe.

In spite of this though, the businessman referred to as ‘King of African Oil’ has been able to keep his head above water.

But it is now obvious that the brilliant businessman is starting 2017 on a very good note as he has bounced back like the hero that he is, especially with the new contract he won recently, it was gathered that the Lagos state born oil and Gas wizard is among other oil gurus that won crude oil term contract, for the purchase and lifting of Nigeria’s crude oil. It was said the contract will run for one year effective 1st January 2017 for consecutive twelve circles of crude oil allocation.

Tinubu’s success may not come as a surprise to those close to him because he has over the years, shown evidence that he’s well versed in oil and gas business; and like a deep thinking businessman , he knows when to invent and even more importantly when to reinvent in a shaky business climate.

22

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •

JANUARY 21,2017

MEMOIRS Pa Agboola Kuye

At Almost 76, I Have No Regrets in Life Pa Agboola Kuye

His mien contradicts the antecedents of his heyday as a show promoter. Humble, jovial and firm, shy of his 76thbirthday. And with children who are making waves in their professions, one could count him among the lucky ones. But for Pa Agboola Ayodele Kuye few months shy of clocking 76, born on August 8, 1941 in Ode-Irele, Ondo State, where he grew up under the tutelage of his maternal grandfather, a traditional ruler, having lost his father at age four. Though he grew up in the palace, Kuye could only acquire Standard Six before he began to fend for himself at a relatively young age. But if you ask him his memorable moment, he would tell you it was his ability to organise and take the afro juju crooner, Sir Shina Peters, on his first ever overseas tour of the United States of America in 1990 where they traversed the country’s big cities.

He has since retired and counting his blessings. He tells Funke Olaode about his early days, his foray into entertainment and how hardwork, perseverance and determination paved way for his breakthroughs From Losing Father at Age 4 to Being a Palace Boy, I Have Reasons to Thank Providence On My First Visit in 1958, Lagos Practically Wowed Me

H

ow I became a Palace Boy! Losing one’s father at the age of four could be traumatic for any young child; especially later in life when he starts feeling the absence of the patriarch of the family. But for Ayodele Kuye, losing his father nearly turned a blessing disguise as this pushed him to a life of privilege and abundance as a palace boy.

“I was born at Ode-Irele in Ondo State on August 8, 1941. By the time I was born my parents were farmers. Ironically, I didn’t have a faint recollection of my father because he died when I was just four. I was raised by my maternal grandfather who happened to be the king, the Olofin of Irele, Oba Adetunbokanwa, who trained me. I remember I was bearing his name throughout my primary school

and only changed it when I got to Lagos.

My mother had two boys; myself and my younger brother who had been living abroad for ages. I moved to the palace at age six where I began to enjoy a fantastic life. I enjoyed all the privileges of being a king’s son. There was love and I was hobnobbing with all the affluent people, especially the high chiefs that thronged the palace daily. This made me popular among my peers.”

Kuye says Ode-Irele then was a primitive setting. There was no light or pipe borne water. Though he knew other big cities such as Abeokuta, Ibadan and Lagos existed but there was nothing he could do even if he desired to go there. So village life was all he knew as he was growing up. However, he was grateful for one thing: farming was never part of his life.

“Farming wasn’t part of my daily routine. The king was always in the palace

and I was the one serving him and in turn he was training me. In my case, I had to be at his mercy but it was still a privileged beginning for me because I had enough food to eat and even had money. I enjoyed my youthful days because people loved me and my grandfather also trusted me. I was the only one allowed to enter his inner chamber out of the children.

Around 6 pm, I would go into his room to light the lamp and when the gas lamp came, we switched over. So I would ever be grateful to this man who came to my aid when all hope was lost. Honestly, if he hadn’t volunteered to train me I didn’t know what would have happened to me.”

The Memories of My Childhood are Forever?

Kuye started formal education when he was nine. And this was because it was the policy of colonial masters in those that

your right hand must be able to reach your left ear before you could start school.

Even at that, he enjoyed the experience.

“I eventually enrolled at CMS Primary School at age nine in 1950 because my grandfather was a member of the church.

But when my mother remarried, I was transferred to the Methodist School where I eventually finished my primary education. We were the last set of Standard Six in 1955/56 before the free primary education was introduced by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. After my primary education, I was living in my hometown doing nothing. I desired to go further but my benefactor (my grandfather) didn’t have the capacity. In 1958, a relation came from Lagos and asked me what my next move was. I said there is no secondary school in my town and I don’t have anybody that would send me to all the popular secondary schools in Ondo, Akure, Abeokuta and so on. Moreover, I didn’t take common entrance. This God sent man suggested if I could follow him to Lagos I gladly accepted his offer and followed him to Lagos. My mother was apprehensive and I remember she came to my room on the day of my departure and I stood my ground. But the day I told her that I got a job and I had further my

23

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21,2017

MEMOIRS I Took Shina Peters on His First Ever Oversea Tour...

Cont’d from Pg. 22

Looking at my life, it can only be God. I started my early life in a primitive setting where farming was only available vocation on ground but I never wanted to be a farmer...

Although if I could turn back the hands of clock there were things I would have loved to do differently but it is not possible now. All in all, I thank God that one is not consumed.

I have a supportive wife who has supported me all the way.

My children also responded to training and didn’t give me any problem

with wife during his father-in-law’s chieftancy title ceremony in Ijebu in the 80s

around 1990, my brother-in-law, Sanya Ogunfowora, who was based in the United States, contacted me and sent a letter to me that he would like to promote Shina Peters. He said music is a good business and if I can run the expenses in Nigeria, we would all smile. That was when my interest to follow Shina’s music trajectory grew. I found my way to Shina’s place, we entered into an agreement and the papers were signed. It was his first ever trip outside the country. It was tagged ‘Sir Shina Peters Ace USA Tour ‘90’. In September 1990, the crew headed to the United States where we entertained in many states. Our first play was in Kilimanjaro Club in Manhattan in New York. From there, we had another one at New Jersey, then to Chicago, Houston in Texas and back to Washington. We had the last show in Brooklyn.

We spent four months in the USA and came back on December 15th, 1990. On personal ground I lost interest in entertainment and withdrew myself.”

L-R: Shina Peter, his relation and Muse Gbadebo during a tour in America

education she was delighted.”

Facing the Crucible in Lagos When Kuye came to Lagos in1958, he was blown away by its modernity. He saw electricity for the first time and all the basic social amenities. But he wasn’t carried away by this but rather immersed himself into what the city had to offer. His first job was as a bus conductor at Ahmaddiya Girls’ High School at Surulere where he was able to save some money for his education.

“My salary then was four pounds. It was a private bus arrangement to take the student to and fro. I would join the bus in the morning in front of the house of the proprietor of the school, Alhaji Jubril Martins. In the afternoon, we would go and take the food vendors for the students. These food vendors would give me food and life was a bit comfortable for me. The turning point in my life that propelled me to see my life beyond being a bus conductor was the day the school went on excursion to Ibadan. We had a good outing but on our way back to Lagos my spirit mind was awakened and I said I must go further in my education. These girls were singing, relating their experiences and I made up my mind that I must go back to school. I went to a relation that I would like to go back to any secondary in Lagos.

But this man advised me to go to Modern School. I didn’t like it because I considered it a waste of time but who would pay for my secondary education?”

Swallowing his pride, he enrolled in a secondary modern school in 1959. He spent two years and in 1961, he left his brother and moved to Chief Otedola’s house at Idi-Oro. “With my modern school certificate, he got a job for

me as a junior clerk at the Nigerian Textile Company in Ikeja. I was being paid 11 pounds per month. I spent a year at the textile company. There was this urge to further my education but there was no money. I went back to Eko Boys High School and by the grace of God after one year I was able to acquire Class Four Certificate.

That was how I began another phase of my life. I got a job at Oceanic and Coastal Marine Limited in 1974 as a store keeper. I was sent on training and this was when I began to enjoy God’s blessing. I worked with this company for 10 years. In 1984, I quit as a Senior Store Keeper and floated my own enterprise, Agboola Ayodele Kuye and Sons. I was into supply of goods to many companies in Lagos: like the Nigerian Airways, the Nigeria Police Force and used to get contracts from the ministries. This is what I did until I retired.”

Journey into the Entertainment World While he was living at Idi-Oro, many musicians used to converge there. These included Ebenezer Obey, the late Fatai Rolling Dollar. Then Obey was a complete singer and Fatai Rolling Dollar would be playing the guitar.

This was in the early 70s. Reminiscing, Kuye says there was one woman selling food and they would all sit and eat there.

“Obey was fond of me. I had a friend then, one Mr. Balogun from Irele, who was good in local music. He would say: ‘Agbo, let us join Ebenezer Obey’. But I was reluctant because my people believed then that it was only lazy people that were doing music. I didn’t join Obey but I became his fan. I had all the records and wherever Obey was playing I must register my presence.

This was what influenced my interest in music. But

Marriage and Fatherhood Kuye got married when he was about 38. This was on March 30, 1979 when he married Olubunmi, a native of Ijebu in Ogun State. The marriage is blessed with five children including a set of twins who he says makes him proud.

“Sincerely, I have played my role well as a father over my children. I did not acquire a university education but they have compensated me. My first child went to a polytechnic, another went to Babcock University, another set went to Federal University of Technology, Akure, Obafemi Awolowo University and my last child is in Caleb University.”

No Regrets Considering his journey through life, in spite of the ups and downs Kuye says he does not have any regrets.

“Looking at my life, it can only be God. I started my early life in a primitive setting where farming was only available vocation on ground but I never wanted to be a farmer. I remember when I arrived Lagos in 1958 my intention was to go abroad. I had a friend who went to London and even encouraged me to save enough money.

I was aiming towards that but unfortunately this friend of mine, Femi, only spent two years and came back that was how the idea of going abroad was jettisoned.

But God was with me all the way directing my path.

Although if I could turn back the hands of clock there were things I would have loved to do differently but it is not possible now. All in all, I thank God that one is not consumed. I have a supportive wife who has supported me all the way. My children also responded to training and didn’t give me any problem. I got born again under the tutelage of Tunde Joda before I moved to the Redeemed Christian Church of God where I currently worship. Mind you, God can only work for you if you are sincere and have a clear mind. For me, God has been good to me all the way. What else can a man ask for? I am fulfilled.”

From losing his father at age four and then becoming a palace ‘courtier’ to promoting a leading juju music star on tour of the United States, Elder Agboola Ayodele Kuye has seen a lot.

And that is what memories are made of…

24

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

INTERVIEW YUSSUFF

Strong Opposition Necessary in a Democracy

Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Olasunkanmi Sulaimon Yussuff, discusses the state of the nation in this interview with select journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State. Hammed Shittu was there

H

ow will you react to moves by some politicians both within and outside your party, APC, to form a mega party ahead of next election? Do you not feel threatened?

I’m going to answer it this way; Mega party or whatever party you call it, the best thing in a democracy is that there is opportunity in opposition, and when you don’t have strong opposition then bad governance continues.

As APC government, we are doing our best, and I think as of now, our best is sufficient for Nigerians to know that we mean business. For instance, so many things have been revealed in the last one and a half years and Nigerians are more aware about what government does today than they did in the past. Most government in the past were shrouded in secrecy but today we talk about NNPC; people now know what goes on there. It is the same for FIRS, EFCC. People now know more of government than what they used to in the past. So, as a party, we have opened up government, people know what National Assembly does as one arm of government; from budget, to making bills to representation. So, whether it is mega party or minor party or majority party, we are not threatened at all, and don’t forget that in politics it takes time before you take root. If anybody is aggrieved about what is going on in the party, they should follow what they used to preach to us, that is, explore the internal mechanism of the party to get solutions to such grievances. People should come back to the party, if they are planning to leave the party.

Anyway, I’m just guessing now, they should not forget what they’ve always been telling us that if there’s a problem they should stay within the party and sort it out and fight but if anybody feels cheated and he feels the best for him is to leave and go and form a mega party, then since all of us are politicians, we are going to face ourselves. We have done it in the recent past in Edo; we knew what we did in Ondo and Ekiti and, Osun election is coming in 2018.

So, all of us have come of age, no politician can threaten anybody again in Nigeria. We are all politicians whether it is mega party, or minor party. Mega party is not a threat; democracy is for everybody and political party is like an open market with open entry, free exit. If you are dissatisfied with the political party then you can go and form your own party. As far as I’m concerned, APC has done well in taking care of Nigerians. Political party don’t belong to some sort of people alone, it belongs to everybody and if your interests are not being taken care of, then you opt out and if you think that your interest can still be taken care of then you stay. People are talking about mega party and we are waiting for them.

Nigerians went through tough times last year, what should their expectation be this year?

We are all aware that the Nigerian economy has gone down because of so many factors, not only human factors, but also some natural occurrences and because for a long time, Nigeria did not plan for certain things to happen. 2016 was tough; we were not able to implement the 2016 budget, particularly the practical part of the budget. The new government has been talking about the diversification of the economy and, of course, it’s not something that can happen overnight. When you consider all these factors that means going into 2017, we have to do a follow-up to what we have been doing. Things have been difficult in the economy and I don’t want to talk too much about oil. As I always tell people, our economy can do well at the productive stage, because it is when you are able to do well at the productive stage that you will have something to build on to the manufacturing stage. So, when you are able to do well at the manufacturing and productive stages, then you can now talk of the service sector of the economy. In Nigeria

Yussuff today, we talk about service and telecommunication, internet, foreign exchange, all these belong to developed economy. What we should concern ourselves with as Nigerians is the productive sector of the economy vis-à-vis the manufacturing sector and, what is the productive sector, we talk about raw materials, exploitation and exploration of mineral resources, and not oil alone. Definitely, we are still going to follow slightly the same pattern of 2017 because if you talk about diversification, it doesn’t happen overnight.

If you go into agriculture, for instance, there are two broad based of crops, we have the arable crops, we have the cash crops. For cash crops, it takes from 4 – 5 years before you begin to harvest; so you don’t diversify and expect quick result, it takes a reasonable length of time. There is not going to be market difference in 2017 from what we had in 2016. The government should also block all the loopholes, make sure that the level of ghost workers are minimised to be able to save more money and invest. Again, when we talk about investing in infrastructures, the way they do it in other countries is different from the way we do it in Nigeria. Most of our roads in Nigeria are supposed to be constructed and toned, it’s painful. It is true that we have the highest rate of capital flight, whereas in developed countries, construction is done to stimulate the economy by giving jobs to local contractors, but in Nigeria when we talk about road construction, we are talking about giving contracts to foreign companies and, as such, we have capital flight. I wish local contractors are encouraged.

As of today, Nigeria is doing N2 trillion local contracts. If you want to go into construction of roads and houses, you have to patronise local contractors to stimulate the economy.

These are areas I think the government should look into in 2017 and, of course, as a deputy speaker, we have always being telling the executive that the most important thing in an economy is to be able to retain whatever money you have in the system; at least minimally, 80% of whatever money you have. That is the only way the economy can be stimulated. There’s not likely going to be market different in 2017 from what we have in 2016. Other than administratively,

government is becoming tighter, cleaner and neater. So, the era of government as usual is gradually coming to an end in Nigeria because the executive is bringing sanity into the system, and that is part of development too. When business is not being done as usual again that means government can focus largely on development.

The poverty rate in Nigeria is growing, particularly under this administration. What can be done?

Poverty is a natural phenomenon; no matter how you try, some people will be poor and no matter how stringent the condition is, some people will be rich. But, what the government tries to do at every point in time is to improve the lives of the people called the masses by providing security for them. The present poverty that is permeating the length and breadth of Nigeria is self-induced. People don’t want to create wealth before they earn a living and this is important. I am not saying that government has been doing what it ought to be doing; government has a lot to do. But like I said, people should be fully engaged.

If you talk about education, there is no country anywhere in the world that can employ 10% of the workforce. I want to clarify that; no country all over the world can employ 10% of the workforce. What that means is that almost 80% of people who go to work on daily basis are employed in the private sector and these private sector employees are your drivers, your cook, your gardeners, and in overseas countries, those are what they call jobs. These are the things we must look at, create such environment and provide jobs that we are talking about.

You may think that they are menial but they are not. In oversea countries, if they say that they have two or three jobs, its either they go to the airport to be luggage pusher, security guard elsewhere, and so on. You have to be fully engaged in something. So in Nigeria, the idea of employment is of somebody who has gone to school and is now employed in an office space; that is not what is called employment. So, my appeal to people is that while government is trying to alleviate poverty, they must be conscious

of the fact that they must find a way to horn their own skills, to be skillful in certain things.

I have seen a lot as an Engineer, those who enjoy the economy are the artisans, welders, bricklayers, carpenters and the rest of them, because these are the people who are always fully engaged at all times. So, nobody is praying that anybody should be poor, nobody likes a poor environment but the fact still remains that people should understand that the so called jobs we are talking about is not with government, it’s with all of us. We must be able to use our hands to do certain things. Government alone cannot eradicate poverty- it’s difficult for any government to do that- what any government can do is to provide the enabling environment, which is even difficult to provide now. If the government wants to award contract, let it be given to local contractors, so that it can retain the money within the economy.

What is your message for the people of Osun State, as the election year approaches?

Yes, first and foremost they have my sympathy, I know workers there have not been earning their salaries regularly and, when they do, it’s only in Osun that I hear people are earning half salaries. I’m not so familiar with it now. I have been out of that system for about one and a half years now, I cannot specifically say some things, but I know that people have not been earning their full salaries, and when such salaries come, it comes in trickles, in half or something. My message first and foremost is to workers, that they should know that things are going to get better, and that it’s a lesson for all of us that when an economy is struggling, paid employees suffer most. Those who have to change the face of the economy are likely to use the money that is supposed to be used in paying salaries and so, they have my sympathy. I want to again generally touch on the people of Osun, I know that they are resilient; I know they are hardworking, but they should have hope that things are going to get better. And some of us in our own little ways are making frantic efforts to go back home to invest and empower people to make sure that things get better.

25

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21,2017

EXPRESSION

MEDIAGAFFES BY

This Time Round or Around?

T

HE NATION ON SUNDAY of January 15 welcomes us this week with just three gaffes: “Mixed reaction greets sackings” This is no news: mixed reactions greet sackings “DIG commends army, police over (for) Yobe attacks” Lastly from Fatai Atere Way: “Onitsha is better now, say Obi” What’s going on here?

Let us continue with a visit to Champion House, Ilasamaja, Mushin, Lagos: “Soldiers take over troubled spots” Let peace reign: trouble spots.

“Post election violence spreads in The Gambia” (Vanguard Front Page Bold Headline, January 10) Towards a better life for the people: Post-election violence….

Yet another headline solecism from Vanguard of the next day: “Post poll violence continues” Solution as above. Somebody should inform editors at Kirikiri Canal of this recurring lapse.

“President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, expressed sadness over the sporadic violent protest (protests)….” (Vanguard, January 17) The next headline blunder is from last week’s edition of this medium: “Police arrest four over Maiduguri explosion” Do we arrest the entire editorial team for (not over) lexical recklessness?

“This time around we want change through the power of….” Edifying God: This time round, preferably. The wrong-footed extract is sheer Americanism!

“Bribery enthrones mediocrity and crucify merit.” (Source: as above) The Tabernacle of bribery crucifies merit.

“Gang up against Buhari will fail” (NIGERIAN Tribune Headline, 15 January) Phrasal

verb: gang up; noun: gang-up (which applies here).

“We were treated to another similar incidence.…” All newspapers should know the difference between ‘incidence’ and ‘incident’ (which applies here).

“Although the governor’s last minute romance with the main opposition party is held against him.…” Saturday People: lastminute (take note of the hyphen) romance “Thus, a core investor…with regards to optimal use of the machinery.…” (THE GUARDIAN, January 12) Either: as regards or with regard to….

“In the heydays of the goggled General when fuel was often unavailable…” (THE GUARDIAN, January 17) Stranglehold of oil workers: heyday (uncountable).

“Last year, many houses of the Igbo in Ajegunle, a suburb of Lagos, were razed down.…” (THISDAY, January 17) No word abuse: simply razed (not razed down). Discard the contrary views by some registers!

Yet another headline gaffe: “Restrictions on inter-bank foreign exchange trading is (are) killing the market.”

“Armed robbers now have good company–street thugs and unofficial vigilante groups.” (THE GUARDIAN, January 16) Democracy as a disincentive: vigilance group.

“PDP candidate points accusing fingers at INEC….” (DAILY SUN, January 17) People in the news: PDP candidate points the finger.

No obtuse addition.

“Nigeria is at a crossroad” (VANGUARD, January 17) Fixed expression: at a/the crossroads “Stationeries badly needed by.…” (DAILY INDEPENDENT, January 17) ‘Stationery’ is non-count.

“But what appears criminal is the desire of these off-springs of.…” ‘Offspring’ does not

take any inflection.

The next three goofs are from Vanguard of January 13: ”…the process of economic integration from which will emerge an economic block (bloc).…”

“There is a tussle going on between these two (would it have been three?) arms of government.”

“Nigerian leaders and politicians have continued to adopt and acquiesce to (in).…”

“Globacom sets (set) to rule domestic market” (Nigerian Tribune, January 17) “I have been briefed that the wrangling among the leaders of PDP are (is) over.”

(SUNDAY VANGUARD, January 15) BusinessDay of January 16 disseminated a recurring impropriety: “Now that the Police has (have) taken over the supervision of the….” “…and ensure it does not reoccur again.”

(THE GUARDIAN, January 17) ‘Reoccur again’? Run for cover, my dear reader! Just recur. Recur, recurrence, recurrent. Occur, occurred, occurrence.

“Lack of incentives anger (angers) local manufacturers” (THE GUARDIAN, January 16) “They provide temporary relief.” (Source: as above) ‘Temporary relief? I strongly object to that clumsy expression because there is no permanence in ‘relief’.

Blueprint of January 17 circulated three solecisms: “The patients pay for each act of ‘healing’ through their noses.” Get it right: they pay through the nose.

“At the launching programme (launch) in Abuja.…”

“A cursory look at the figures show (shows) that.…”

Daily Sun of January 17 circulated copious shibboleths: “The end point is that people wait for between three to five hours to pay in their drafts.” English without tears: between

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three and five.

“With the attainment of the highest office at any strata of government….” Singular: stratum; plural: strata.

“It may be difficult for Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu to resurrect again politically after his disastrous outing in the just-concluded presidential elections.” Please, yank off ‘again’ in the interest of lexical sanity and our democracy.

“They better not rely on INEC.” This way: They had better not rely on INEC. “Like (As) we had said at various forums. …”

“So, the government cannot ask the Supreme Court to interprete the law.” Spellcheck: interpret. (Source: as above) “…the reduction in the number of road accidents and causalities.” This way: casualties. “...to that extent, we shall congratulate its authors for (on/upon) hearing the deafening cry of Nigerians for an effective legislature.”

(Nigerian Tribune, January 17) “…were simultaneously a continuation of the power-bloc struggle in Nigeria and unanticipated fallouts from that struggle.”

‘Fallout’ is uncountable. “…appeal to the discredited tactics of past times also wreak havoc on the procedural sanctity of the democratic path.” (Vanguard, January 17) Notes of disquiet: pastime.

“Out-of-control trailer crushes 15 persons to death” When people are crushed by a trailer, they cannot be alive except there is divine intervention. So, ‘crushed to death’, to me, smacks of lexical insensitivity. This is my own perception of ‘crush’, especially in vehicular circumstances. You are at liberty to accept or not. After all, some dictionaries question my journalistic and communicative licence on this!

Ajimobi and the Failure of Constituted Authority

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enator Abiola Ajimobi, the burly but tactless governor of Oyo State has been in the news for the wrong reasons. That does not bother him apparently. And ordinarily it should not bother this writer, who not being from Oyo, could be rightly accused of being a meddlesome interloper. The purpose of this piece however is not whether this self-assigned wailing wailer has the locus to interrogate the governor’s stewardship or not. There are many eminently qualified indigenes and residents of Oyo State who are better qualified to undertake that task.

The intention here is simply to extrapolate the isolated case of Mr. Ajimobi’s recent gaffe as a template for discussing leadership failure in Nigeria and most of its constituent parts.

The phrase ‘constituted authority’ was recently foisted on the lexicon of public discourse by the garrulous governor.

In fact, thanks to social media and the ubiquity of its eternal imprints, no one can reasonably deny the governor credit for the notorious connotation the phrase now commands. That is surely a remarkable achievement for a governor whose critics say his tenure in office so far has brought nothing more than disrepute to governance and disgrace to the rich heritage of the Oyo people he leads (or misleads, as it were). But as stated earlier, let us leave the full story of Ajimobi’s governance in Oyo for another day and for those better qualified to discharge that responsibility. Suffice for this piece to celebrate his sterling contribution to the vocabulary of public discourse in Nigeria.

That inglorious intervention has made the governor popular albeit a butt of jokes in conversations everywhere- in students’ hostels, beer parlours, business boardrooms, corridors of power and conclaves of constituted authorities.

For those who missed the story of ‘constituted authority’ a quick reference to YouTube to view the pathetic video of Mr. Ajimobi’s bellicose interaction with protesting undergraduates of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) may be worth the while. In the clip, you find a governor debasing his otherwise esteemed office by trying too hard to assert himself over students who ironically were enjoying the humour of subtly undressing the arrogance of a magisterial overlord.

It was bad enough that the governor was not perceptive to the irony of his vain attempt at empty glory; it was even worse that he would choose an inopportune highlight of governance failure involving vulnerable students to advertise his disdain for the very citizens he solemnly swore to serve as stipulated in his oath of office. Worst of all, he spoke in vernacular almost throughout the recorded encounter and found it convenient to murder the English language by asking a student “what course are you doing?” Mr. Ajimobi told rightfully agitated students whose school had been shut for eight months that he was doing them a big favour by coming out of an executive council meeting to dress them down. “This is the constituted authority for Oyo State. Even if I don’t pay salary or I don’t pay this, the fact is that I am the constituted authority. It does not remove that authority,” he thundered. Determined to enforce the rule

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Ajimobi

of engagement in Agodi Government House on the alutachanting students, he fired on: “You should have little respect for constituted authority, no matter what. And if somebody of my caliber meets with you... You complain that your school is shut for eight months. Am I the person who closed your school? If this is how you want to talk to me, then go and do your worst. If you want to be troublesome, I dare you. I’m ready for you, let’s see what happens then. This is not the first time schools are getting shut. So what? It’s not to come here and sing ‘it will be rough this time.’ To be rough for who... is it for me?”

It is hard not to notice that throughout the recorded encounter the students were neither bullied nor bowed as the governor intended them to be; rather they gleefully poked fun at him in a typical display of the aluta spirit. Mr. Ajimobi was made to look very ordinary even in the raw display of power he tried futilely to enforce.

A governor who has not been embarrassed enough to defuse the huge public outcry which greeted his shameful gaffe by as much as an attenuating statement thereafter surely has a deep disdain for those who elected him. An attempt could have been

made to explain the incident as an ‘accidental discharge’ from a constituted authority consumed by momentary fits of anger; but no, it was a deliberately orchestrated lash out at ungrateful citizens who fail to appreciate the sacrifices being made on their behalf by constituted authorities. Here was a man so enamoured of the aura of fleeting power of his office that he is more concerned about respect for constituted authority than the telling indictment an eight-month closure of a school under his jurisdiction confers on his stewardship. How ironic!

But do we not have countless ironies assaulting sensibilities of citizens on a regular basis in this country? There are several other constituted authorities that have failed to live up to the billing of their offices. The sad situation in Southern Kaduna where hundreds of lives have been lost to the menace of rampaging Fulani herdsmen points to a case of failure of constituted authorities. It is same failure of constituted authorities that have enabled and emboldened same ubiquitous and iniquitous herdsmen to run amok in killing and maiming spree in Benue, Delta, Enugu and other states of the south.

The grinding poverty, acute lack of good governance and age long environmental degradation in the Niger delta where trillions of naira have been diverted into private pockets at the expense of the suffering masses is a classic case of failure of constituted authorities. It is an annoying instance of failure of constituted authorities that millions of harangued citizens displaced by boko haram terrorism can be further exploited by greedy government officials and denied of resources voted to ameliorate their pitiable plight. Indeed what more can count as a failure of constituted authorities when Nigeria in spite of her abundant human and material resources is allowed to slip into economic recession with no clear-cut clues of exit? What else can define failure of constituted authorities when citizens demonstrate loss of confidence in government by embracing the odds and risks of investing their lean and hard-pressed resources in MMM against warnings from government? It is evidence of failure of constituted authorities when citizens ignore the police and other law enforcement agencies in preference to instantaneous mob killings and lynching on the streets. Is it not a failure of constituted authorities that our roads and highways have become death traps? Is it not a failure of constituted authorities that for many years now our public hospitals and maternity centres are no more than mere consulting theatres and mortality enhancers? What about the failure of constituted authorities in the fact that despite the billions of dollars that have been sunk into provision of power in Nigeria we remain blessed with darkness and frequent power cuts at best?

The list of examples of failed constituted authorities is endless and it is hard for any aspect of leadership in the public sector to escape it. What I can say for now is that these are sobering days for Nigeria. It is even more sobering because there is little or no silver lining visible in the sky.

––Epia, Publisher of OrderPaper.ng is on Twitter @ resourceme.

26

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

AUto

2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 interior

Next-Gen Mercedes GLA Caught Testing Stories by Bennett Oghifo

I

t’s barely been a week since the refreshed Mercedes-Benz GLA crossover debuted and already the automaker has begun initial testing for the next-generation model.

The updated GLA bowed at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show last week, with refinements and enhancements to hold it over until the next-generation model arrives. Mercedes-Benz isn’t

wasting anytime on developing the new GLA, as spy photographers have caught a Mercedes A-Class prototype serving as a mule for testing purposes.

Considering the new A-Class and GLA models will share the same platform, it’s no surprise the German automaker is using the A-Class for early testing.

The mule has a higher ride height, larger wheels and tires and what appears to be a slightly wider track, all evidence that this is being used to test the new

GLA. The next-generation model isn’t set to arrive until late 2019 or early 2020, so there will still be plenty of time before spy photographers will manage to catch Mercedes-Benz testing the actual body.

Like the existing model, expect to see a range of gasoline engines available, as well as a high-performance AMG variant. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if the company adds an electrified variant to the lineup.

2018 BMW 6 series redesign

Next-Gen BMW 6 Series Surfaces

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he successor to the BMW 6 Series has been spied while undergoing winter testing.

It’s still unclear if BMW plans on changing the nameplate to 8 Series when this particular model arrives, or if it will retain the 6 Series moniker. It’s more likely that it will stay the BMW 6 Series given that its proportions and styling are similar to the

existing model despite the heavy camouflage concealing all the details. Still, rumors persist that BMW plans on marketing a 6 Series model as a Porsche 911 fighter, but we have yet to see evidence of that.

Spy photographers caught both the coupe and convertible models testing in the snow and regardless of which nameplate BMW chooses to attach to the models, they will both ride on the

German automaker’s CLAR platform, so expect it to shed quite a bit of weight compared to the current 6 Series.

The company previously trademarked the 850, 860, M850 and M8 nameplates, suggesting it is moving forward with an 8 Series model. It’s just unclear whether these prototypes spy photographers have caught testing in recent months will be the 8 Series.

New Ford SYNC AppLink Smartphone-toDash Projection for Navigation Apps Introduced

W

ith most smartphone owners saying they use navigation apps while driving, Ford Motor Company is introducing new SYNC® AppLink™ capability that will project navigation apps directly from a smartphone to the vehicle touch screen. Sygic Car Navigation is first to take advantage of the new capability.

“Ford understands how customers are using their smartphones, so it’s important we offer them more choice in how they connect and control their capabilities in the car,” said Don Butler, executive director, Ford Connected Vehicle and Services. “Our new SYNC AppLink mobile navigation capability will help keep drivers’ eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel while using the apps that they love.”

According to a 2015 study by Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone users. Of more than 1,600 who participated in the study, 67 percent said they use their smartphones at least occasionally for turn-by-turn navigation when driving, while 31 percent frequently use navigation apps via their smartphones.

When a smartphone is paired to the vehicle via USB cable, control of the Sygic app is removed from the device. The app is automatically projected to the vehicle touch screen making the navigation app more convenient to manage.

The technology aims to reduce a driver’s urge to pick up and look at a mobile device.

Sygic is the first mobile navigation app to take advantage of Ford AppLink capability to move mobile navigation from the phone screen to the in-vehicle touch screen.

Available in more than 200 countries and about 40 languages, Sygic technology is used by 150 million smartphone owners across the globe. The Sygic Car Navigation app is optimized to work seamlessly with Ford SYNC 3 – giving drivers more choice in how they navigate.

“Sygic is committed to exploring the boundaries of navigation, a philosophy that directly contributes to our enduring reputation as the leader in navigation for connected cars,” said Sygic CEO Michal Štencl. “We look forward to unveiling premium new cutting-edge features and further developments as part of our global relationship with Ford.”

The new SYNC AppLink mobile navigation capability will launch on 2018 Ford vehicles.

SYNC AppLink provides drivers with the ability to control compatible smartphone apps using their voice.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

27

AUto

Soole: An Indigenous Concept in UrbanTransportation Stories by Bennett Oghifo

C

ommuting in an urban space as Lagos’ should not be stressful as it is presently. Besides the urge to travel anonymous and safe in a taxi, people should also have a choice to determine their means of movement at their own convenience.

This is what Soole is bringing to the roads of Lagos. Soole is a mobile transport apps/application coined from the word, ‘drop’ in Yoruba. Soole

dates back a long time ago, as a fast and cheap means of transportation. The major attribute of Soole is that it is affordable and easy to get.

Soole has a place in the history of commuting in Lagos, and it is wholly indigenous. In the good old days, ‘Soole’, meaning drop him/her, was a fast and cheap way to travel and it is preferred by commuters who cannot stand the stress of using the costlier traditional motor parks. It was a battle ‘cry’ between freelance drivers and motor park operators.

Although Soole had a rogue element in the past, but it has now been adopted and reworked to be a safe brand-name by its promoter, Iworld Transit Solutions Limited.

Some of the services under this application includes: Taxi Services; Ride Sharing Services; Charter Services; Shuttle Services; and Ladies Only Ride but there are two major flagship services, Taxi Services and Ride Sharing.

According to Mr. Charles Ojo, the Chief Executive Officer of Iworld Financial Services, parent

Soole ride

company of Iworld Transit Solutions Limited, “the two major flagships we are pushing now is the ride sharing and taxi services.”

The underpinning features of our services, he said are: stringent registration and verification process that ensures the safety of both drivers and passengers, affordable pricing model beneficial to both drivers and passengers, efficient feedback and review feature to ensure premium customer experience enabled by our mobile and web application, a dedicated call centre, as well as a full-fledged, back-end office for all-round support, no cash intervention; thereby supporting the cashless policy and ensuring efficient reconciliation and safety of funds. Full support of the local content drive, using fully indigenous human resources.”

Describing the process, Ojo said, after downloading this app on their phones, as drivers, they expect passengers to contact them. A prospective passenger, who has downloaded the app, would impute their destination and the price s/he is willing to pay- there are price options- and if it is alright by the taxi driver closest to the point where the journey begins, then he accepts and seeks his passenger. Ojo, who had with him the Chief Marketing Officer of Iworld Transit Solutions Limited, Itiola Ikudinakin said, “The beauty about this app is that it is that the prices are stated to give room for negotiable, i.e. choice of bargaining.

The whole process, Ojo said is monitored from their office in Victoria Island, and that the drive is followed by means of their special GPS. There are different categories under the taxis- the Standard, Deluxe, and the Executives. The Standard taxis are cars without air conditioner but with road worthiness and MOT, just like the regular yellow cabs. The Deluxe are with air conditioners and are car model year of between 2000 and 2009, and the Executives are more of the extreme and recent types of cars.

Kia Motors, Rafael Nadal back again at Australian Open 2017

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s the major sponsor ofAustralian Open 2017, Kia Motors handed over a fleet of 110 official tournament vehicles to TennisAustralia during a ceremony in Melbourne attended by executives from Kia MotorsAustralia and TennisAustralia, as well as Kia’s global brand ambassador and former Australian Open champion, Rafael Nadal. This year celebrates Kia’s 16th consecutive sponsorship of the Australian Open, and Kia will roll out various on- and off-line programs for tennis fans around the world.

“We are delighted once again to accept the fleet of Kia vehicles to help keep theAustralian Open moving

smoothly over the next few weeks, connecting visiting fans from around the world to the biggest annual sporting event in January,”Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley, said. “It’s a huge logistical exercise to move all our players, officials, media and staff around Melbourne during the tournament and every year this is achieved thanks to Kia’s reliability and support.” This year’s fleet of vehicles, including 50 Carnival MPVs, 40 Sorento CUVs and 20 Optima mid-size sedans, will ensure smooth and safe transportation forAustralian Open 2017 by transporting players, officials and VIPs to and from matches and other activities throughout the year’s first Grand Slam tournament.

Kia Motors supplies 110 official fleet vehicles for Australian Open 2017

Driving Offences and Penalty Fines

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ometimes last year, I had the rare privilege as the Zonal Commanding Commanding Officer Zone 7, comprising the Federal Capital Territory Abuja and Niger State to be conscripted by my boss,Dr Boboye Oyeyemi,the Corps Marshal to the Federal Road Safety team to a Public Hearing seating at the National Assembly presided over by the House of Representatives Committee on Road Safety. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Raji Fashola was also invited to the hearing. During his presentation, the Minister who as Governor of Lagos State demonstrated his disdain for traffic infractions proposed communal service as punishment for traffic infractions. His concern was that traffic fines are yet to drive home the needed change required. He therefore reasoned that communal or community service where traffic offenders are compelled to undertake community service such as cleaning drainages or sweeping public places will go a long way in deterring people from irresponsible driving.

His proposal sounded different from the usual position people like me canvass which is always on increased fines. This position is the similar to what countries like the United Kingdom tow always. Just last December, the Transport Minister, Andrew Jones during a gathering of

SAFE DRIVING with

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amnipr, mcipr,mprsa,arpa (Corps Commander) Corps Public Education Officer Federal Road Safety Corps. + 2348033026491

Parliamentarians on road safety in London said a new fine regime was being introduced to curb driving and phoning violation. While I still hold rigidly to my views that increased fines will do the magic just like Lagos has done, I have however had cause to do a rethink on his stand pondering on the novelty of such punishments. Will it bring about the needed change or should it be targeted at which driving offences; the trivial to severe or to all? For the records, I must state here that in other climes, everything from driving without a seatbelt to drunk driving can result in penalty points on your license, a hefty fine or even jail time. Whether it’s a speeding ticket through the letterbox or a court summons for something more serious and this explains why I am still marveling at the Lagos State novelty especially the jail term angle. The reason for my excitement is very simple-human

beings are almost the same world over. The same applies to drivers irrespective of the color of the skin or the sex or even age. What deters the average driver in developed climes is the fact that infractions are not treated with kid gloves as you can end up in jail or lose your right to drive based on what is regarded as cumulative penalty points.

It is therefore key to understand the penalties for driving offences to promote safer driving.

The National Road Traffic Regulations contains all these traffic violations meant to deter drivers from committing offences.This write is therefore a must read for every licensed driver. Although the penalty point system is not fully implemented as is obtainable in countries such as the United Kingdom, I will no doubt start with the definition of what some basic terms are. First is the penalty point which refers to Points allotted to traffic offences accumulated in the driver’s record? If a driver receives a statutorily maximum number of points, the driver shall be warned and or have his licence suspended or withdrawn. FINE: Is payment of a sum of money made to satisfy a claim of an offence committed as penalty. WARNING: Is notification issued to a traffic offender who has accumulated 10 – 14 penalty points. SUSPENSION: Is the temporal removal or interruption of authority or right to drive a vehicle or ride a motorcycle/tricycle, as a punishment for a period

of time, having accumulated 15 to 20 penalty points. WITHDRAWAL: The act or condition of taking away the authority or the denial of the right to drive a motor vehicle or ride a motorcycle/ tricycle on Nigeria roads, having accumulated 21 and above penalty points.

The second definition is on the USE OF NOTICE OF OFFENCE SHEET The Notice of Offence sheet is issued by a Road Marshal to a traffic offender who has violated any of the Road Traffic Laws and Regulations. It is a legal document and as such should be properly understood and filled, as it may be tendered in the law court for prosecution purposes.

Having defined these terms as a guide let me now focus on the Notice of offences which contains thirty-seven specific traffic offences. These numbers are not restrictive as they can either increase or decrease depending on that the traffic regulations provide at a time. It is your responsibility to know and understand these offences and to daily strive not to run foul of any .In dealing with the offences, you will get to know the offences, their categories, definitions, penalties and penalty points: Since specific infractions have become the norm, I think it will be appropriate to look at offences such as speeding, use of phone while driving, seat belt related offences, drivers license and vehicle paper offences, in addition to assaulting marshals on duty among others.

28

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • January 21, 2017

FAMILY HEALTH with

Dangers of Embolism

T

he human body is made up of very complex structures all interlocking and working in perfect harmony as God ordained it to be. But there are instances when things could go wrong, and bearing in mind that , we are all delicately made, any error in the body process would cause serious consequences for the body. And one of the things that can go wrong is embolism.

An embolism is a condition where the blood flow in an artery is blocked by a foreign body, such as a blood clot or an air bubble. To function properly, the body’s tissues and organs need oxygen, which is transported around the body in the bloodstream. If the blood supply to a major organ – such as the brain, heart or lungs – is blocked, the organ will lose some or all of its function.

We can have ARTERIALAND PULMONARY embolism.

An arterial embolism is a blood clot that has travelled through your arteries and become stuck. This can block or restrict blood flow.

Clots generally affect the arms, legs, or feet.

An embolism is anything that obstructs blood flow. A single clot can cause more than one embolism. Pieces may break free and get stuck in other parts of the body. Some emboli travel to the brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys.

When an artery is blocked, it can cause tissue damage or death in the affected area.

Because of this, an arterial embolism is a medical emergency. It requires immediate treatment to prevent permanent injury.

A number of things may cause an arterial embolism. Damage to the arteries by disease or other health conditions is one major cause.

High blood pressure may also increase the risk of an embolism. Having high blood pressure weakens the arterial walls, making it easier for blood to accumulate in the weakened artery and form clots.

Other common causes of blood clots include smoking hardening of the arteries from high cholesterol surgery that affects blood circulation injuries to the arteries heart disease atrial fibrillation — a type of rapid and irregular heartbeat Symptoms : The symptoms of this condition depend on the location of the embolism. If you have any of the following symptoms, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. You may notice some of the following symptoms in an arm or leg after an embolism has formed: Coldness lack of pulse lack of movement tingling or numbness pain or spasms in the muscles pale skin a feeling of weakness. These symptoms will likely be asymmetrical, appearing only on the side of your body with the embolism.

If left untreated or worsen,, there may be the following appearing , ulcers (open sores), an appearance of shedding skin, tissue death.

Risk Factors • smoke tobacco products • have high blood pressure • have had recent surgery • have heart disease • eat a diet high in cholesterol • have an abnormally fast heart rate • are obese • live a sedentary lifestyle • advanced age.

The risks factors include your medical history and cancers, surgery, heart disease and any activity that immobilizes you in any way for long period of time.

Complications can occur .

Pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening.

About one-third of people with undiagnosed and untreated pulmonary embolism don’t survive. When the condition is diagnosed and treated promptly, however, that number drops dramatically

Diagnosis Your doctor may check for a decrease in your pulse or heart rate, as the lack of a local pulse may indicate tissue death. Your doctor may also use diagnostic and imaging tests to locate any emboli present in your body. Common tests include: • angiogram — examines the blood vessels for abnormalities • Doppler ultrasound — watches blood flow • MRI — takes images of the body to locate blood clots.

The treatment and prevention of embolism are important. Treatment include the use of medication and surgery. A quick intervention is important to save lives. These include : • avoid smoking • refrain from eating foods high in fats and cholesterol • exercise several times a week.

Your recovery will depend on how long you’ve had the embolism, the location of the clot, and the severity. Many people recover successfully from emboli. However, an embolism can recur after treatment, so it’s important to be aware of your symptoms and talk to your doctor if you may have an arterial embolism. Quick treatment is key to preventing permanent damage to the affected area.

Pulmonary Embolism Pulmonary embolism symptoms can vary greatly, depending on how much of your lung is involved, the size of the clots, and whether you have underlying lung or heart disease.

Common signs and symptoms Shortness of breath. This symptom typically appears suddenly and always gets worse with exertion.

Chest pain. You may feel like you’re having a heart attack. The pain may becssome worse when you breathe deeply (pleurisy), cough, eat, bend or stoop. The pain will get worse with exertion but won’t go away when you rest.

BOBO BODE -KAYODE

lifeissuesfromwithin@yahoo.com, .Cel, 08053372356

Cough. The cough may produce bloody or blood-streaked sputum.

Other signs and symptoms that can occur with pulmonary embolism include: Leg pain or swelling, or both, usually in the calf ,Clammy or discolored skin (cyanosis), Fever Excessive sweating, Rapid or irregular heartbeat, Lightheadedness or dizziness.

Pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening.

Seek immediate medical attention if you experience unexplained shortness of breath, chest pain or a cough that produces bloody sputum.

Causes: Pulmonary embolism occurs when a clump of material, most often a blood clot, gets wedged into an artery in your lungs. These blood clots most commonly come from the deep veins of your legs. This condition is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). In most cases, multiple clots are involved but not necessarily all at once.

The portions of lung served by each blocked artery are robbed of blood and may die. This is known as pulmonary infarction. This makes it more difficult for your lungs to provide oxygen to the rest of your body.

Occasionally, blockages in the blood vessels are caused by substances other than blood clots, such as: Fat from the marrow of a broken long bone, Collagen or other tissue, Part of a tumor , Air bubbles.

Risk Factor The risks factors include your medical history and cancers, surgery, heart disease and any activity that immobilizes you in any way for long period of time.

Complications can occur . Pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening. About one-third of people with undiagnosed and untreated pulmonary embolism don’t survive. When the condition is diagnosed and treated promptly, however, that number drops dramatically.

The diagnosis and treatment is similar to that of arterial embolism. It is important that you see a good doctor or visit a good medical facility for timely intervention.

GLOBAL SOCCER

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JUNE 16, 2011

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

21.01.2017

Ademola Lookman

A New Star for Super Eagles?

CRUNCHY BATTLE PAGE. 29

Pre-

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

GLOBAL SOCCER

From Playing on the Streets to Everton Wonderkid Pep Guardiola is regarded as one of the best coaches in world football, especially with the successes he recorded with FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich not only in terms of trophies but the way he transformed the clubs. But last Sunday, against Everton, the Spaniard was handed his worst defeat in his coaching career. One of the players that orchestrated Everton’s victory was Nigerian-born England Under-21, Ademola Lookman. His performance has been enjoying media attention since then. Kunle Adewale, in this report, writes about Lookman’s spectacular performance and the lad's possibility of earning a call to the Super Eagles squad or choose to play for the Three Lions

W

ith the attention Ademola Lookman is enjoying, it may not be too long before the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) starts making move for the England Under21 player to play for Nigeria as against the country of his birth, like the federation had done in the case of many English players with Nigerian descents. Victor Moses and recently, Alex Iwobi are good examples.

Lookman came on in stoppage time of Everton’s 4-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday to score the fourth goal after capitalising on a mistake from John Stones despite being on the pitch for just for minutes.

The £7.5m signing from Charlton was delighted with his performance and said afterward: “The gaffer just said 'play behind Rom. I was lucky to anticipate the ball and put it in the back of the net. My first premier league goal, this is my chance to score it - and I took it well.”

With his goal-scoring debut for Everton, 19-year-old Lookman is already dreaming beyond the Toffees.

“One day I want to win trophies. Of course I want to play at the highest level – whether in England or Spain, I want to be at the top. You have teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid. As a kid, I dreamt of playing for one of those teams," he said.

When Everton poached Leicester's head of recruitment Steve Walsh in the summer, it was easy to understand the logic. The 52-year-old's reputation had hit new heights after he unearthed Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante to inspire Leicester's title triumph, and Everton were eager to apply the same expertise at Goodison Park.

Idrissa Gueye, Yannick Bolasie and Ashley Williams were the headline arrivals in Walsh's first transfer window as Everton's director of football. Penultimate week, they began their January spending with a less familiar addition, when Lookman arrived from Charlton as a little-known teenager with no Premier League experience. At £10m, he is the most expensive ever signing from League One. The fee reflects just how highly he is regarded

by Everton. A rapid rise into Charlton's first team convinced Walsh that the speedy, skillful little forward could be the next breakout star from the lower leagues, and Ronald Koeman has already described him as an important part of his long-term vision for the club.

Like many of Walsh's best signings, Lookman has had an unconventional route to the top. The jump from League One to Premier League has drawn parallels with Dele Alli's move to Tottenham, but while Alli was on MK Dons' books from the age of 11, Lookman did not set foot in a professional academy until he was 16. Charlton U21 coach and former Wimbledon striker, Jason Euell remembers how Lookman came to the club's attention. "It was right at the end of the U-16 year in 2014," he tells Sky Sports. "The majority of scholarship decisions had already been made, but every year our U-16s play a game against Inner London, an FA side for the best players in South London."

Charlton had received a tip-off about Lookman.

The youngster was playing what Euell describes as "innocent Sunday football" for an amateur team called Waterloo FC in the London borough of Lambeth, but

he produced a dazzling performance for the county side in front of Charlton's watching coaching staff.

"He had no academy background at all," says Euell.

"Sometimes it can happen that a player slips through the net, but we were lucky to already have a relationship with the county and with Waterloo FC. We signed him on a scholarship straight away."

Lookman was drafted into Charlton's U18 side during his first season at the club, scoring 17 goals in 29 appearances as they clinched both regional and national titles. It wasn't long before Premier League clubs started to take note, but Charlton are experts in youth coaching and understood the need to be cautious with his development.

"We knew the talent he had but sometimes it's about taking your time with someone like him," says Euell.

"He had been training once or twice a week but he had to get used to every day, professional football while doing his school work. He had growing to do and he had to start a full-time weight programme, so we had to be careful with how we used him."

Lookman was eventually promoted to Euell's U21s, and in November 2015 he made his senior debut in a 1-0 defeat to MK Dons. Charlton's season would end in relegation to League One, but a little over a year on from playing Sunday league football, Lookman took the step up in his stride, scoring five goals in 24 appearances and landing the 2015/16 Championship Apprentice of the Year award.

Lookman's breakthrough was recognised with his first England U19 call-up last May. His outstanding attributes are his pace, dribbling and powerful finishing ability with both feet, but without any professional coaching before he joined Charlton, there were areas of his game which required extra attention.

"There were a lot of things he missed out on, and that was the learning and understanding of the game," says Euell. "Young lads always say they can play football, but then comes the tactical side of it, the game understanding and the decision-making process.

"We didn't want to stop Ademola from doing what he does because that's what makes him special, it was just about getting him to understand when and where to do certain things. At every level, every game is different. He had to learn what was needed from him in and out of possession."

Charlton rejected an offer from Crystal Palace in the summer, but Lookman never lost focus and added seven goals in 25 appearances for Charlton in the first-half of this season.

Euell chuckles as he recalls having to drag him off the training pitch at Charlton's Sparrow's Lane headquarters.

That determination to improve should serve him well at Everton.

"He's a great character and everyone else at the training ground would say exactly the same thing,"

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JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

GLOBAL SOCCER

says Euell. "He is just a humble boy who loves his football. He hates being injured and he always wants to do extra work. He just wants the ball at his feet and wants to improve. He's one of those guys who absolutely hate losing."

Charlton manager Karl Robinson only coached Lookman for a few weeks having taken over at The Valley in November, but he described the teenager as an "incredible talent" and a "joy to work with" when the deal was confirmed. Lookman has made a positive impression on just about everyone who has known him, and he heads to Everton hoping for more of the same.

"He called me up to say goodbye," says Euell.

"I said: 'Goodbye? It's only a see you later; you're only going up north!' We had a nice chat. I gave him a bit of advice and wished him well." Lookman is still learning, but he has the talent and he has the temperament too. In his new Merseyside surroundings, he might just become Walsh's latest success story.

Former Nigerian international, Paul Okoku, is of the opinion that it would be a right decision in the right direction if the NFF should make a move to convince Lookman to don the colours of the Super Eagles.

In a telephone chat with Okoku from his base in the United States, the St. Finbarrs College of Lagos graduate, who claims he has been watching the progress of Lookman from his days at Charlton Athletic, said it would not be a bad idea if the NFF starts monitoring the progress of the 19-year old from now on and try to woo him to play for Nigeria.

“I think he is the kind of player that will fit into the style of the Super Eagles. I’m not saying he should just be drafted into the Super Eagles just like that. Of course, he would have to earn the national team’s shirt to justify his inclusion when the time comes.

However, the federation should first try to convince him on the need to play for his fatherland and not another country,” Okuku said.

The 1988 Africa Cup of Nations silver medalist is of the opinion that with the performance of Nigeria in the World Cup qualifier, it won’t be too difficult to convince Lookman as the Super Eagles is in a good stead to hoist its flag at the 2018 Mundial in Russia.

“Unpalatable experiences of some Nigerians that had tried to play for England in the past are enough for any Nigerian player to think twice in their choice of country to play for. Moreover, Eagles' dominance of their group in the World Cup qualifying rounds is enough to lure any player of Nigeria extraction to play for the country. “Also, at this time, we need young players that would play for the country for 10 or more years and dominate the world stage like what we witnessed during Clemence Westerhof’s era.

That is why players such as Lookman is important to the Super Eagles’ project,” the defunct Union Bank of Lagos player said.

Born as Ademola Olajade Lookman October 20, 1997, in Wandsworth, London to Nigerian parents, he attended St. Thomas the Apostle College in Peckham where he achieved three As asteriks and five As at GCSE. Lookman signed for Everton on January 5, 2017 for a fee of £7.5m rising to £11m on a four-and-a-half year contract and made his debut for the club 10 days later.

He scored on his debut.

He received his first international call up on May 16, 2016 being named in the England U19 squad for a double header against Mexico. He was subsequently named in the England squad for the European U19 Championships the same summer.

G LO B A L S O C C E R ASSISTANT EDITOR KUNLE ADEWALE 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

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

GLOBAL SOCCER

Crunchy tackle... Jan Vertonghen and Sergio Aguero

In-form Spurs Set to Compound Guardiola’s Woes Regarded as one of the best managers in world football after his exploits with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola had never had it this bad in his coaching career since joining Manchester City. Last weekend, he was handed his worst defeat

by Everton. Against in-form Tottenham Hotspurs today, the Spaniard may be in for another rough patch

W

While Manchester City have been boosted by the arrival of 19-yearold Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, Tottenham Hotspur will need to cope without the services of Jan Vertonghen when the Citizens host Spur at the Etihad Stadium today The Belgian is sidelined with an ankle ligament injury. Scan results revealed that the influential defender will be ruled out for up to two months.

The 29-year-old has been Spurs’ backbone in defence since arriving at the club from Ajax in 2012. It’s no easy feat to adapt the intensity of the Premier League but the towering defender habitually seized a spot at the core of defence and never looked back. He was rock-solid when Spurs put on a surprise and strong competition for the title last campaign.

Putting aside the disappointment of losing the race to Leicester City last season, Vertonghen has pulled up his sleeves and performed pretty well this term too.

He has racked up 20 league appearances out of 21 and helped his side conced only 14 goals so far, the lowest in the division.

Mauricio Pochettino will be upset as his side will be facing Manchester City next and Liverpool in coming weeks, two teams who are gifted with a plethora of attacking power to unravel opponents.

However, second-placed Tottenham will provide a major test to City, having won seven matches in a row and having beaten Guardiola's men at White Hart Lane earlier in the season.

Jesus will certainly provide another option for the Citizens though, having had Brazilian legend Pele dub him as being better than Barcelona star Neymar after he fired Palmeiras to the league title, scoring 12 goals and laying on five others in 27 appearances.

Jesus has also proved to be a star in the

national side, after having helped the U23s to Olympic glory. He reportedly had the choice of joining Barcelona or Real Madrid and Guardiola could be thanking his lucky stars that the youngster chose City while Spurs boss could be ruing the timing of his arrival ahead of their Premier League clash.

Besides a well-oiled first team, another thing the Argentine has achieved is healthy squad depth. There is no need of sourcing for a stopgap in the winter window, as either Ben Davies or Kevin Wimmer will be picking up the centre-back’s duty. The former came on for the Belgian against the Baggies and looked comfortable till the final whistle.

However, Guardiola’s men will be looking to bounce back after the humiliating 4-0 defeat at Goodison Park. The result was never seen coming as the Manchester club hammered West Ham 5-0 in the FA Cup a few days before.

Sitting right outside the top four, nothing less than three points against Spurs this weekend will further derail their chances of combating Chelsea.

On the other hand, Tottenham are equipped with prodigious firepower, spearheaded by Kane and Dele Alli, who will look to keep City’s defence busy and troubled. At the moment, no team look more capable of stopping the Blues than the Lilywhites. Apart from being on the coattails of the table-toppers, their stock even raised when they ended Chelsea’s 13-match winning streak with a 2-0 triumph.

No doubt, Vertonghen will be missed but Spurs no longer look like a team heavily reliant on a single star.

Meanwhile, former tottenham midfielder, Peter Taylor is of the opinion that the White Hart Lane side have an excellent chance to lift the title this season, because they have such a strong squad.

Spurs are in a rich vein of form, win-

33

JANUARY21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

GLOBAL SOCCER Premier League Chelsea Tottenham Liverpool Arsenal Man City Man Utd Everton West Brom Stoke Burnley Bournemouth West Ham Southampton Watford Leicester Middlesbrough Crystal Palace Hull Sunderland Swansea

21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21

30 29 25 26 15 12 9 0 -6 -8 -7 -9 -7 -13 -10 -5 -10 -25 -20 -26

52 45 45 44 42 40 33 29 27 26 25 25 24 23 21 20 16 16 15 15

Premiership v v v v v v v

Swansea Watford Everton West Ham Man Utd Sunderland Tottenham

12:30 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 17:30

SUNDAY Southampton Arsenal

v v

Leicester Burnley

12:00 14:15

ning their past six league games on the trot, scoring 19 goals in the process.

Although the north London outfit trail table toppers Chelsea by seven points in second spot, Taylor, who made 123 appearances for Spurs, reckons Pochettino's men have learned the lessons of last season and are equipped this time round to sustain a challenge.

"I think Harry Kane is very important again. He's such a good player - physically fit too. He runs all day and that's what he does so well. Tottenham have a great chance of winning the title - they seem to be improving.," Taylor told Express Sport.

"They seem to have learned from last season. Mauricio Pochettino has a brilliant squad - you can change the full-backs and it doesn't make too

much difference to the team. That's an important position. The midfield has also been improved - Eric Dier was fantastic last year, but Pochettino has brought someone in who keeps him out of the team and now he is playing in another position. "Pochettino has been incredibly clever and good. He's got a great squad and if they keep on with the same confidence, they could do very well and have a strong chance."

And Taylor thinks Spurs might just edge out Pep Guardiola's men.

He added: "I think it will be a close game. They are two very good teams and so it should be a very good football match. It's whoever plays well on the day. At the minute you would fancy Tottenham as they are probably a bit more confident."

Match Facts Tottenham have won their last six Premier League matches There have been over 2.5 goals scored in eight of Man City's last 10 Premier League games.

Man City have seen over 2.5 goals in their last three home matches against Tottenham in all competitions.

Tottenham have scored at least two goals in their last six Premier League matches.

Tottenham have been winning at both half time and full time in their last three Premier League matches.

Man City have won their last three home matches Premier League.

Tottenham have won their last three matches against Man City in all competitions.

There have been over 2.5 goals scored in five of Tottenham's last six Premier League games.

Man City have scored at least two goals in their last three home Premier League matches.

Tottenham have scored at least two goals in their last three matches against Man City in all competitions.

Juventus Roma Napoli Lazio Milan Inter Atalanta Fiorentina Torino Cagliari Udinese Chievo Sampdoria Bologna Genoa Sassuolo Empoli Palermo Crotone Pescara

19 20 20 20 19 20 20 19 20 20 20 20 20 19 20 20 20 20 19 19

Head to Head 16-02-14 15-09-26 15-05-03 14-10-18 14-01-29 13-11-24 13-04-21 12-11-11 12-01-21 11-08-27 11-05-09 10-08-13 10-05-04

Man City Tottenham Tottenham Man City Tottenham Man City Tottenham Man City Man City Tottenham Man City Tottenham Man City

Hot Shots

Diego Costa Zlatan Ibrahimovic Alexis Sánchez Harry Kane Jermain Defoe Romelu Lukaku Sergio Agüero Dele Alli Eden Hazard Sadio Mane Christian Benteke Michail Antonio Theo Walcott

Madrid Sevilla Barcelona Atletico Sociedad Villarreal Bilbao Celta Vigo Eibar Las Palmas Espanyol Alavés Malaga Betis Deportivo Leganés Valencia Sporting Granada Osasuna

17 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 18 18 18

30 16 30 18 5 14 3 -3 1 -2 -3 -3 -5 -10 -5 -16 -7 -18 -24 -21

40 39 38 34 32 31 28 27 26 24 23 22 21 21 18 17 16 12 10 9

Spanish La Liga Fixtures

TODAY Liverpool Bournemouth Crystal Palace Middlesbrough Stoke City West Brom Man City

Seria A

La Liga

24 23 22 13 8 10 8 5 9 -13 -2 -6 -4 -7 -5 -6 -15 -23 -20 -21

1-2 4-1 0-1 4-1 1-5 6-0 3-1 2-1 3-2 1-5 1-0 0-0 0-1

45 44 41 40 37 36 35 30 30 26 25 25 24 23 23 21 18 10 9 9

Tottenham Man City Man City Tottenham Man City Tottenham Man City Tottenham Tottenham Man City Tottenham Man City Tottenham

Chelsea Man Utd Arsenal Tottenham Sunderland Everton Man City Tottenham Chelsea Liverpool Palace West Ham Arsenal

14 14 14 13 12 12 11 10 9 9 8 8 8

TODAY Espanyol Madrid Alavés Villarreal SUNDAY Osasuna Bilbao Betis Sociedad Eibar

v v v v

Granada Malaga Leganés Valencia

12:00 15:15 17:30 19:45

v v v v v

Sevilla Atlético Sporting Celta Vigo Barcelona

11:00 15:15 17:30 17:30 19:45

Bundesliga Bayern Leipzig Hertha Frankfurt Hoffenheim Dortmund Köln Freiburg Leverkusen Mainz Schalke Augsburg Wolfsburg B’gladbach Bremen Hamburger Ingolstadt Darmstadt

16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

29 16 8 10 11 16 6 -6 -1 -4 1 -4 -9 -10 -14 -17 -13 -19

39 36 30 29 28 27 25 23 21 20 18 18 16 16 16 13 12 8

Bundesliga Fixtures TODAY

Augsburg

v

Hoffenheim

14:30

Schalke

v

Ingolstadt

14:30

Darmstadt

v

M’gladbach

14:30

Bremen

v

Dortmund

14:30

Wolfsburg

v

Hamburger

14:30

Leipzig

v

Frankfurt

17:30

Leverkusen

v

Hertha

14:30

Mainz

v

Köln

16:30

SUNDAY

Serie A Fixtures TODAY Chievo AC Milan

v v

Fiorentina Napoli

17:00 19:45

SUNDAY Juventus Bologna Empoli Genoa Palermo Pescara Atalanta

v v v v v v v

Lazio Torino Udinese Crotone Milan Sassuolo Sampdoria

11:30 14:00 14:00 14:00 14:00 14:00 17:00

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

34

GLOBAL SOCCER\\OTHER SPORTS

David Haye sends an opponent to the canvass

Djokovic congratulates Istomin on his five-set win

AFCON 2017

Djokovic Defends Loss to Denis Istomin A deflated Novak Djokovic defended himself against accusations of lacking motivation after his stunning second-round elimination

by Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin.

The former world No 1 fell victim to one of the greatest shocks in Grand Slam history as Istomin condemned the Serb to his earliest exit at a major in nearly a decade 7-6 (10-8) 5-7 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.

After winning four slams in a row between 2015 and 2016, Djokovic has now gone three without adding to his 12 major triumphs, raising more questions about his ability to stay at the top after dominating tennis for the last six years.

Djokovic denied there

was any hangover lingering from his breakthrough French Open victory last June, and the underwhelming second half of last season which ensued Asked if his longawaited victory at Roland Garros had taken the edge off his hunger, Djokovic said: "I don't know. I mean, it's not a time now to go so deep into it.

"I didn't reflect on that at all at this stage. I started a new season, a new year, as everybody else did. I forgot about it, in a way.

It's not affecting me."

Djokovic, who began the year by beating Andy Murray at the Qatar Open earlier this month, had lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 only once since 2010.

Defeat to Istomin,

however, ranked 117th in the world, halts his revival and raises questions about his drive to stay at the top.

"I started the season very well. Again, it's a tennis match," Djokovic said. "On any given day, you can lose. I mean, nothing is impossible.

"There is over a hundred players playing in the main draw. I guess the quality of tennis keeps rising each year. Everybody becomes more professional. I guess they improve.

"They get better on the court. What can I do? I did try my best till the last shot, but it didn't work."

As the match slipped beyond Djokovic's control, he could conjure little emotion to rally in the fifth set but he denied that his ruthless, steely attitude he

once depended on were lacking in the stunning upset.

"There was intensity, of course," Djokovic said.

"We played four-and-a-half hours.

"It's just one of these days when you don't feel that great on the court, don't have much rhythm, and the player you're playing against is feeling the ball very well.

That's sport.

"Of course, I'm not used to losing in the Australian Open second round. I've always played so well.

Through the last 10 years, I've won six titles here.

"This court has been so nice to me. I enjoyed it very much. Of course, it's disappointing. But at the end of the day I have to accept it."

Bellew, Haye Get BBB of C Warning ahead of Heavyweight Bout Tony Bellew and David Haye have been warned by the British Boxing Board of Control about their conduct during this week's filming of The Gloves Are Off, says promoter Eddie Hearn.

The bitter rivals will come face to face for the first time since their press conference bust-up in November and have continued to trade insults ahead of their heavyweight grudge fight at The O2 on March 4.

Tempers boiled over as they posed for press conference pictures as Bellew shoved Haye, who responded by aiming a punch at the Merseysider, and the Board has vowed to take severe action if there is a repeat of these scenes.

Hearn, who is Bellew's promoter, told Sky Sports: "Of course you're in a situation where it's the first time they have come face to face since the last time where one pushed one and

one hit the other, so it's not ideal.

"But I think Tony is sensible enough and they have both been warned by the British Boxing Board of Control. Any more problems and they both have the threat of their licence being taken away."

Asked if he will speak to Bellew, Hearn said: "One hundred per cent, both of them actually.

"David is not really going to listen to me,

but I feel like I have got a relationship with Tony where I can. But when you're a foot away from another man that you dislike and the insults are being traded across the floor, anything can happen.

"That's also the beauty of the show. We need to keep the rawness of that and also remember that we have a reputation to keep, and an image to protect for the sport of boxing."

Magnussen Hits Back at Old Team Renault after Criticism New Haas driver Kevin Magnussen has rejected criticism of him made

by Renault following his departure from the French manufacturer team.

Magnussen turned down a one-year contract extension at Renault to join the American-owned Haas outfit for 2017.

Following the Dane's departure, Renault Sport

managing director Cyril Abiteboul was quoted as telling France's Auto Hebdo magazine that he had been "disappointed" by Magnussen performances in 2016 and that the 24-year-old had searched for "excuses".

In an interview with Sky Sports News HQ, Magnussen hit back at those accusations and expressed regret that

Abiteboul had not kept the matter private.

"I think it's easy to say that someone is making excuses," Magnussen told Craig Slater. "I've said what I think and I've made my opinion clear about certain things and he was unhappy about it.

"It's fair enough, I can't stop him from being unhappy with me, but it became a very public

matter which I regret a little bit.

"I prefer things to be, if you are unhappy about something keep it between the person you are unhappy with, which he didn't do.

"He didn't keep it between me and him, he went public with it, and that's his way of doing things. That's fair enough with me."

MichoHailsDuoAvailabilityagainstEgypt Uganda coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic has welcomed the return of midfielder Khalid Aucho and central defender Murushid Juuko who were suspended for the Ghana tie on Tuesday in Port Gentil.

The pair played a crucial role in Cranes Afcon 2017 and Fifa 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign and will indeed provide experience in Uganda’s upcoming game against Egypt on January 21.

Micho told supersport.com that, “Those players are the backbone of this team.

They will add to our defense and midfield.There is no selection headache. They will immediately come into the starting lineup.The left foot of Khalid Aucho going forward is crucial for us and we are happy to have them back.”

“With full force, full power and with no injuries, we are preparing for this match on a more serious note wishing that after paying a very expensive scholarship of missing the first match after 39 years in the first group, first match and first point.”

Uganda visibly missed Aucho in the opener as they failed to string consistent passes in the midfield often losing the ball in the first half however Micho introduced winger Moses Oloya for Michael Azira who had been dismal.

Hassan Wasswa played at center back in Juuko’s absence but with the return of the latter, Wasswa could still feature but in a midfield role.

TOTAL Sends 14 Customers to AFCON Finals For its customers to enjoy the glamor and excitement of the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon, Total Nigeria Plc will be sending 14 lucky customers to watch the semi-finals or final matches of the competition.

According to the General Manager Sales and Marketing, Mrs. Adesua Adewole, “Total is creating excitement at all our over 500 service stations nationwide by giving 14 lucky customers a chance to watch the semi-finals or final matches in Gabon.” Adewole said through the ongoing Total AFCON Promo in Nigeria 14 lucky Customers stands a chance to an all-expense paid trip to watch the semi-finals and finals matches in Gabon as they buy any non-fuel products of N2,000 in any Total service stations.

“A scratch card is given to the customer where he or she stands a chance to win an instant gift and at the back of the scratch card and gets a unique code which will be used to register for the draw on the portal: www.football together.total. com/tombola.

The draw for the grand prize is scheduled for January 25.

In addition, N50,000 worth of fuel and other branded Total products are up for grabs for customers who participate in the Selfie Challenge.

To participate in the Selfie Challenge, a customer should take a selfie portrait at select Total station, load their picture on the portal-www.football-together.total. com/selfie, and share the link of their picture to friends and family on social media to vote. The highest voted selfie portrait wins.”

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Total reached an agreement under which the group became the official sponsor of African football for the next eight years.

Total will support CAF’s 10 principal competitions, starting with AFCON 2017.“This partnership is a major milestone in our ongoing search for additional resources to accelerate African football’s development, bring its governance up to date, upgrade its sports infrastructure and advance its performance globally,” said CAF President, Issa Hayatou.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Total, Mr. Jean-Philippe Torres has reconfirmed Total’s continuous presence in Nigeria and its support for youth and sports development as evident with the Total group’s sponsorship of AFCON.

Stenson Defies Practice to Fire Opening 64 in Abu Dhabi Henrik Stenson celebrated his first competitive round of 2017 with a flawless 64 despite having "limited preparation" ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Stenson outplayed his fellow major champions Danny Willett and Dustin Johnson on the opening day of the Desert Swing, racing to the turn in 30 and picking up two more birdies over his last three holes to earn a two-shot lead on eight under par.

The Open champion started with a solid four at the long 10th and converted excellent approaches to the 12th and 13th before missing the green with his second to 14, although he atoned with a sublime chip-in for his third birdie in a row.

He rolled in another confident putt at the 17th and two-putted for another gain at 18, but the putts dried up on the front nine as he posted six consecutive pars before breaking the run with a superb mid-iron to eight feet at the tricky seventh.

Stenson finished in grand style with his eighth birdie of the round at the ninth before telling Sky Sports that he came into the event vastly under-prepared.

"Lack of sleep, lack of practice," said the Swede.

"I'm delighted with that score. I think I scored a bit better than I played, but I kept it under control somewhat and hit a couple of close iron shots and made the putts. There wasn't too much stress out there.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21,2017

WRITERS’ WORLD

TheThrills of a Lagos Conspiracy

BISI DANIELS

This review of one of the works of my hands by Armsfree Ajanaku caught my attention during the week on the blog Nigerian Best Forum, NBF. I share it unedited

bisi.daniels@thisdaylive.com Blog: www.bisidaniels.com, 08050220700

S

ynopsis of the novel: When Thomas Katta, a graduate, arrives Lagos on a job hunt, everything he had feared about the city begins to happen to him.

His bag is stolen at Oshodi and he is called a thief but the policemen who save him from lynching arrest him for theft - of his own bag.

Working at various times as a construction worker and bus conductor, he ends up in a hole when as a gardener he refuses to sleep with the wife of a political chieftain. Deep in the hole, he becomes a political thug and goes into armed robbery after a season of political elections.

After many close shaves with death, he is saved by a prostitute, the same woman who pushed him into the hole, and a speech he wrote for a governorship candidate.

The review: Every city has its identity, that character, which it possesses, that will make outsiders to either crave to be there or to be scared of going there. So how does one describe a city like Lagos, the vastness, the pace of a constantly mobile humanity and the limitless desire on the part of people from other parts of Nigeria to come over to this chaotic, but attractive piece of space?

Furthermore, how would a writer engage the realities and the underpinnings of the quest for the proverbial Golden Fleece, in a land that has assumed the character of simultaneously being the maker and destroyer of dreams? That is where the pen name, Bisi Daniels, and the gripping work, Conspiracy of Lagos come in.

In this 393-page creative delivery, the writer presents the most visible side of Lagos. This is done in a way to serve as a kind of reminder of the need for change.

With attempting to create a maze of flamboyant and thought splitting ideas, the writer delves into the heart of the matter right from the moment the reader begins the journey in the first chapter.

The scene captures an Oshodi, the typical and real one that Lagosians knew before Fashola’s bulldozers came for a visit that left pains, anguish and eventually, real sanity in its wake. Daniels shows us the almost surreal and visceral picture of humanity in perpetual chaos.

In the midst of this, a young man in trying to find opportunities to better his not so bad lot. At the end of initiation into the brutal realities of a city that had held so much allure for him, Thomas Katta eyes were opened to the deep seated injustices of life, and the travails that a nameless man would have to face on his way to the top in a country like Nigeria.

Thus, it happens at the very beginning of the work that Katta loses his belongings to a roughneck in Oshodi, but his attempt to seek for help almost results in his being lynched by a mob who mistook him for the thief. As such, the writer establishes, right from the beginning the basis of what unravels as a spatial concern, where the thief escapes unhurt, while the real owner, or the victim of thievery becomes the hunted.

This is no doubt the reason why Katta eventually found himself in a detention cell, where he met with other characters that were to accelerate his fall from grace to grass. He was to rise from the grass again.

It is also obvious from the way this page turner was crafted that the writer was very eager to draw attention to those ingrained contradictions, which have ensured that those who should have constituted the

Courtesy of: LAGOS in MOTION: A Photo Album of Africa’s Largest Megacity by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima. creative forces of the society, eventually degenerate into monsters that perpetuate more havoc on an already crumbling society.

This point becomes crucial because Katta, the lead character in Conspiracy of Lagos at the long run degenerated, to the extent that he became a criminal, harming society and constituting a stumbling block to the progress and well being of those who were unfortunate to fall victim to his criminal tendency.

Even in the Police cell, where Katta spent his first night, he gets to experience the blood curdling realities of life in the city.

Katta is shattered by the fact that armed robbery suspects could be summarily executed by the Police, even when they are yet to be proven guilty “beyond reasonable doubt.”

What these heart rending experiences served to do was to disrobe him of his innocence, and open his eyes to the cut throat nature of the struggle for survival.

Beyond these, the writer succeeds in interrogating the problem of young people moving from other parts of the country to Lagos, a city without no pity or plan for the weak and struggling new comer.

This point is reinforced by the fact that Katta was a teacher in his home town of Moso. Then, it suddenly occurred to him that he could actually up the ante of his life by moving over to Lagos. In the mind of the reader, the lifelessness of the rural areas, as against the lopsided development of the urban centers is likely to come to the fore in bold relief.

For instance, the question may be asked: if he had all he needed to fulfill his life’s dream in the place where he was before taking the ill fated plunge of coming to Lagos, maybe he would have experienced peace and he won’t have to go through the excruciating process of degenerating into a criminal, and an enemy of society.

So in his quest for greener pastures, Katta, the writer’s well-created character evolves or deforms, from being a teacher, one who moulds minds, into a criminal,

one who destroys and makes others miserable. This is the crux of the matter in Conspiracy of Lagos, but that is by no means the end of the matter.

The craftsmanship of the writer makes it inevitable that such a sordid climb down will not be all that is to the story of a promising young man. Thus, the writer creates another phase, a different layer of the young man’s story with the theme of transformation in mind.

So just as the reader begins to think that Katta is finished, a transformation begins to occur and it takes place from the same milieu in which the character had lived his hitherto retrogressive lifestyle.

So it happens that the intricate web the writer has spun, gives rise to a prostitute, who eventually begins the process for the salvation of Thomas Katta. By the time the book zooms to an end, the reader would have been taken through different spheres of life in the vast, cruel, but also fun filled city of Lagos.

Thematically, the writer preoccupies himself with capturing the undercurrents of human interaction in a space where the rules of engagement are constantly changing. Also, the place of power, the quest for wealth; and the realities that come with facing the challenges of life are amply dealt with by the writer.

Many readers who have had rough times starting life in the constantly moving city of Lagos would definitely see themselves in the story of Katta. Above all, the story upholds the notion of Lagos as a place of possibilities, the place where a pauper can rise to fame and fortune.

For Katta the story ends happily, even though he had to confront his past somehow. Other characters who took to crime were not that lucky. Fanni for example one of Katta’s colleagues in the underworld is caught by the long arm of the law and thus suffers dire consequences.

The writer paints Thomas Katta, as someone who was willing to repent and lead a new life, while the others stuck to

the wrongs they did, as a way of protesting against the ills of society. Such a mindset of destroying society in the name of protest is shown by the writer to be counterproductive.

One strength of the book, Conspiracy of Lagos is the way the writer moulds the characters that he uses to tell his story.

Those characters jump off the pages to identify with everyday realities of the Nigerian life. From the petty criminal to the scheming politician, the writer shows and paints a society at war with itself, struggling to converse with itself.

Some of the characters are alienated, like the beggars in Oshodi, others want their share of the wealth, and they try to get using the language they understand. The bank manager for instance becomes too loud, and a bullet redesigns his head.

Even in the things they say, the characters deployed by the writer reveal their loss, their needs and ultimately, the extent they are willing to go to get what they want.

The plot of Conspiracy of Lagos comes across as an intricate web of happenings that traverse politics to love, and other areas of human life. Treachery, political machinations and all those foibles which make human beings, especially Nigerians who they are come out in bold relief from the way the book is written.

Lagos as a city comes out the way it is; Oshodi, Apongbon and all other areas that portray the city’s life. The reader gets the imagery of petty criminals snatching phones, and similar realities confronting the specie of humanity. Language usage is simple, allowing the story telling to flow seamlessly, an attribute that projects the novel as a winning material for literary contests both at local and international levels. Indeed, Bisi Daniels has achieved something enduring in this effort.

And by the time the on-going efforts to transform Lagos to a mega-city are concluded, Daniels’ offering will continue to serve as a flash-back for the cruel culture of living.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

FAIRGROUND

Jennifer Olize Throws End-ofYear Party at Le Reve Pieces

with

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

D

aughter of veteran broadcaster, Frank Olize, Jennifer, CEO and Creative Director of Le Reve Pieces Jewellery and Accessories recently had an end of year party at her fashion store located in Lekki Phase 1.

Le Reve Pieces (LRP) is another brand of serial entrepreneur, Jennifer. She launched the brand in 2012, just a year after she launched Music Meets Runway, one of the biggest Fashion and Music shows in Africa today.

Le Reve Pieces (LRP) stocks a variety of unique and outstanding pieces in various forms. The Brand consists of Fashion Accessories, LRP Shades (Fashion Sunglasses) and Le Reve Bride (Bridal Jewellery and Accessories). It is considered the best collection of jewellery and accessories from all over the world.

“Le Reve Pieces, ‘the dream pieces’ is targeted exclusively at stylish, trendy people who believe in the extra touch of accessories to create the perfect look. We wish to provide our customers something different, unique and so beautiful anyone would love to wear, at a reasonable price point,” said Jennifer.

Barbara Barbarinsa

Kemi Sholanke

Jennifer Olize

Nnnenna Okafor

Taje Prest

Oluchi Onuigbo

Osasu Ogbebor

Jide Jreason

Thelma

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

FAIRGROUND

Ibinabo Celebrates Birthday, Awards Scholarships

B

eauty queen, actress, philanthropist and current President of Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Ibinabo Fiberesima, celebrated her birthday, recently, in grand style.

The event, which had the who’s who in the movie and entertainment world, was held at Liligate Hotel in Lekki, Lagos.

Unlike other celebrity birthdays characterised by binge partying, Ibinabo decided to make her own different by changing the lives of deserving young Nigerians. She gave out eight scholarships to eight Nigerians from across the country.

In a chat with Box Office, Ibinabo thanked the recipients for allowing her to be a part of their lives. “It is good to have children who you can give the best education, but when you look out there, you see thousands of children whose parents cannot afford to send them to school. I know assisting eight people will at least change their lives in some ways,” she said.

These will not be the first set Ibinabo would assist; she has been interested in children and even adopted some as her children.

She asked other Nigerians to take up the challenge of assisting children who are in need to go to school.

Those who benefitted from her ‘Go To School’ scholarship scheme include, Paul Prince Stephens from

Ibinabo Fiberesima, her children and some of the beneficiaries

Akwa Ibom, Arinze Maxi Chukwu from Anambra, Odunaike Olamilekan from Lagos, and Treasure Okwuke from Edo State. Others are, Oluwafemi Usman, and three other children

from one family in Kogi State.

At the event were celebrities, like Charles Granville, Aneke Twins, AY, Ricardo Agbor, Monalisa Chinda, among many others.

The parents of the children took turns to thank Ibinabo for her kind gesture and they also urged other Nigerians to borrow a leaf from her act.

Reality TV Shows: Television for the New Generation

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eality TV shows have become the toast of the entertainment industry.

In Nigeria, we have seen reality TV shows like Gulder Ultimate Search; Amstel Malta Box Office; MTN Project Fame; Maltina Street Dance Africa; West African Idol; KoKo Mansion; Omotola; The Real Me;and Make Me Beautiful become engaging television content people tune in to watch.

One of such reality shows is the widely acclaimed Big Brother series. It is considered one of the biggest shows ever to have been conceived in the world with different countries staging their own versions. Nigeria is by no means left out in the Big Brother craze. In 2006, M-Net created the Nigerian version of the show and that signalled a new dawn in reality TV shows in the country. Despite its varying controversies and the call for an outright ban, millions of people still covet the series because of its raw and undiluted entertainment that resonates with today’s generation.

Reality shows have the power of

Eyo Bassey, MD Payporte

taking someone from obscurity to fame.

A prime example would be the Kardashians with their eponymous show, Keeping up with the Kardashians, which has been on air since 2007.

They have been dubbed America’s

most famous family and have built a global empire from a string of endorsements and merchandises which rake in millions of dollars.

In Nigeria, reality TV has produced some of our biggest celebrities. Music star Iyanya was the winner of the 2008 MTN Project Fame reality show and he is currently one of the hottest and most sought after musicians in Nigeria.

Omawumi Megbele became famous when she came second in the first edition of West African Idol. O.C Ukeje is unarguably the biggest Nigerian actor to have emerged from a reality TV show. Ukeje won Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO) a platform that launched his acting career.

Uti Nwachukwu, first participated at the celebrated Next Movie Star before entering the Big Brother Africa house.

Today, Uti has since become a celebrity as he co-hosts the popular African Magic programme, Jara while becoming a host for various events.

After 10 years, Big Brother Nigeria is coming back and has now rebranded as Big Brother Naija. The number of Nigerians who auditioned for the show tells a story of how the new generation wants

to be on TV and become famous. While some are a bit skeptical on the return of what they see as a controversial show, majority cannot wait to have something to keep them entertained for the next three months.

Reputable brands are also jumping on the trend; they know they can reach out to their target audience through these shows. Payporte, the biggest online shopping portal in Nigeria, is the main sponsor of Big Brother Naija.

Big Brother Naija will air exclusively on DStv and GOtv platforms. And for the next three months, we will watch 12 strangers in one house. The 12 strangers will become household names at some point and viewers will also have a favorite. The winner of the show will not only become a celebrity but also a millionaire, as the prize money is a whopping N25 million.

Reality TV will be here for a long time.

We have seen it create new generation of celebrities and we will see more celebrities come out of the shows. In reality, the controversies, drama and scandals are what draw the new generation of TV watchers to such shows.

Tunde and Wunmi Obe Complete Video for ‘Rise Up’

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unde and Wunmi Obe, who won the Best Contemporary Afro Video for the song, ‘BIANU,’ at the just concluded Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA), are not leaving any loose ends as they keep dropping video after video from their new album titled, ‘T.W.O. Plus’.

The album, T.W.O. Plus employs a more urban production feel and socially conscious messages. It features production from elite Nigerian music producers such as Del B, Samklef, Papi J and B. Jay Productions.

The un-relenting couple, Tunde

and Wunmi Obe, aka T.W.O, just concluded the video shoot for the single, ‘Rise-Up’. It is a reggae flavoured song, which is directed by the highly renowned video director, Clarence Peters. The track ‘Rise-Up’ is a unique and different style of music from the couple which they claim is for the enjoyment of all reggae fans in the world.

In their words, “The song, ‘RiseUp’ is for all reggae lovers out there.

Though we are not reggae artiste, we decided to do something different for our fans and to celebrate all the great reggae musicians alive and those we have lost. You all are going to love the video and get lost in the feel of the music. The video will be

dropping very soon.”

T.W.O. Plus is a 15-track album with hit singles, ‘Green White Green’ ft. 2face Idibia, ‘Omonsa’, ‘Bianu’ ft. Floss, Rise Up, Ire ft.

Brace, Ayanmo ft. 9ice and ‘Wedding Day’, whose video has won the NMVA 2014 award for Best Use of Costume.

The couple, who are Nigeria’s most recognisable husband and wife act, first achieved recognition and public acclaim in the ‘90s and over the past two decades, their creative collaborations have spawned successful albums such as ‘T.W.O 4 Real,’ ‘T.W.O. Legit’, as well as popular anthems such as 2005 smash hits ‘Mogbomoya’ and ‘Adupe’.

Tunde and Wunmi Obe

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • January 21, 2017

FITNESS FILE

The Edenlifestyle corner with

Low Energy? No Problem

T

MAJE AYIDA

majeayida@edenlifenigeria.com www.edenlifenigeria.com, 07062614551

ired of feeling tired? Our energy levels sometimes take a nosedive, making it harder to perform when it matters most. If you’re feeling fatigued, follow these simple steps to bring your energy levels back

up.

Are you absolutely shattered? You’re not the only one. For a number of reasons, many people feel that their batteries have been completely drained at the end of a long day. There are a number of simple steps you can take to stop you feeling sapped. First of all, however, you need to recognise the source of your fatigue. If it’s depression, or you suspect it could be related to an illness, then you should consult your GP. On the other hand, if it’s just a simple case of low energy that has left you lacklustre, read on Keep your motor running You should think of your body as a car. Like any motor, it needs fuel to run, and that fuel, of course, is food.

The right food. First of all, you need a good breakfast. Bacon and sugar-laden cereals are out, fruit and porridge are in. Fruit is really important in the morning because it helps to rehydrate and flush out all the waste and toxins from our liver and digestive system.

Protein is also great morning fuel because it is more slowly digested than refined carbohydrates that you find in cereal, meaning it delivers a steady stream of energy throughout the morning, rather than a burst followed by a dip.

An ideal breakfast would be a bowl of berries with natural yogurt and some flaked almonds or seeds. Porridge is also a good choice and contains fibre for slow release of energy.

Cook with water and some coconut milk or coconut oil for brilliant energy release and serve with berries, seeds or nuts.

A number of people are probably guilty of reaching for a coffee when they need an energy boost. But there are more efficient ways to hydrate.

Caffeine triggers a release of sugar into the blood stream, temporarily giving us a burst of energy. However, this is borrowed energy that leaves us depleted and low afterwards. It is also very addictive and over time more and more is required for the same physical effect. The body works hard to process it, using up precious nutrients and making the liver work harder to detoxify the caffeine.

As for sugar-loaded energy drinks, forget about it. The dramatic spike in glucose into the blood stream is followed by a big dip, again leading to very low energy and mood. People then reach for another or some chocolate or a coffee to get back the high, a vicious cycle that leads to sugar and caffeine addiction. The whole process depletes the body of nutrients, particularly B vitamins, magnesium and vitamin C, which are used in the energy cycle. For a more healthy energy boost, eat a banana, a few nuts and (if you must) wash down with a fresh espresso.

It sounds too simple, but just stay hydrated. Dehydration can really zap energy. Super foods like fresh green juices, wheatgrass powder and acai are brilliant for some extra daily energy.

Eating some essential fatty acids in the afternoon can keep you going, while sushi, egg, coconut bars and pumpkin

seeds are also good options.

Log off It should also go without saying that, without a good night’s sleep, you’re going to struggle to make it through the day without needing a nap. Try to stick to a routine of going to bed and getting up at the same time and banish all distractions from the bedroom. This means no TV and, increasingly, no social networking. A survey conducted earlier this year found that 72% of people spend time in bed before falling asleep updating or checking Facebook (20% even said they stopped midway through sex to look at an incoming text message, which is just insane). Exposure to bright screens before sleeping will have a major impact on the time it takes to fall asleep, making you feel tired the next day. So keep all gadgets out of the bedroom.

If you frequently feel like nodding off at your desk, then sit up straight to feel more alert. Bad posture means

your muscles have to work harder, depleting your energy levels even further. Getting up from your desk and walking around the office every hour, meanwhile, will open up your chest and give you a boost.

Stress will also ravage your getup-and-go. Try to introduce relaxing activities into your day. This could be working out at the gym, or a gentler option such as listening to music, reading or spending time with friends.

Whatever relaxes you will improve your energy.

Keep on running It may sound counterintuitive, but working out may actually make you feel rejuvenated, rather than even more exhausted. It’s always better to exercise first thing in the morning when possible. First of all, it’s done and work or your social life can’t get in the way. Exercise helps the feel-good hormones surface, so why not let these hormones out of the bag first thing in

the morning?

Fast, high intensity workouts, such as spinning, are particularly good at sending our energy levels through the roof. Our mood and energy levels are very much linked. We can get a boost from low and high intensity exercise, but the higher the intensity, the shorter amount of time it takes to produce the positive effects on our mood and therefore energy levels.

Finally, if you are feeling completely worn out, you might just need to clear your schedule and put your feet up.

To improve energy levels you can eat better, exercise, even meditate, but sometimes the best way to improve your energy is to simply rest. The work, work, work mentality will lead to burnout. Go for a stroll, read a book and generally take time out so you can unwind and recharge.

Sluggishness is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong.

The best way to fix it and get over your energy slump? Listen to it.

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JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

FASHION FILE

Aboutthatcurvylife

Collective Collection

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

By Azuka Ogujiuba azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

FASHION FILE

Aboutthatcurvylife

T

he Aboutthatcurvylife Collective that showcased at Lagos Fashion and Design Week 2016 went down as one of the most memorable fashion events of the year. Pioneered by media IT GIRL, Latasha Ngwube, the collective was officially introduced at a press conference, where tech giant; Intel was announced as the official sponsor for the ground breaking event. The collective featured emerging contemporary plus fashion brands; MaBello Clothier, Aisha Abu Bakar, Makioba for womenswear & Assian for menswear. The presentation was a 30-piece strong show with each designer handpicked by Latasha Ngwube on the basis of their creativity and passion for the body positive movement.

In the days leading up to the showcase, the pieces were supervised by Style Mania’s Magazine Editor; Godson Ukaegbu, was also working with the designers to oversee their process, ensuring the first plus size outing at Africa’s biggest fashion week was nothing short of spectacular. The plus size models were also handpicked at a model casting event and trained by veteran model; Andy Ogbechi of AA Squared Network whose expertise proved invaluable to the models who walked the runway.

The general theme for the womenswear designers who showcased was MONOCHROME but each brand expressed their vision for plus size high fashion.

MaBello’s pieces opened the collective with a chic approach to a woman who is all about class and sophistication with studded details on lace jackets that were cut clean at the collar and stellar pieces like a jumpsuit with a stomach cut out and other stunning pieces. Menswear brand; Assian was the collective’s breaker and he featured a military inspired line up of clean cut jackets and pink boyish shirts, kimonos and other aesthetics in a presentation that featured a slow match in entrance with bag packs and purses courtesy of Nodrog St. After Assian’s presentation Abuja-based designer, Aisha Abu-Bakar, presented a very upscale collection than what the plus side was used to and it featured bold aesthetics like dangling shapes, full on rules and heavily fringed dresses, skirts and blouses.

The final collection came from Makioba who brought elegance to the catwalk with a glamorous take on evening wear with fierce trends like capes sown into jumpsuits and dresses cut into perfect silhouette and illusion necks. The highlight of the collection came to a close when Makioba’s muse Taje Prest strutted with cameras ablaze giving a rip-roaring twirl.

To end the groundbreaking showcase and take her Bow, Ngwube came out clad in a monochrome ensemble from Fia Factory, gracefully waving at the crowd that had been extremely generous with cheers and screams throughout the full collective showcase, she reached for her phone and stopped to take a selfie with the spirited crowd eliciting even bigger cheers and applause.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

WITH

MARKET PLACE

OMOLABAKE FASHOGBON 08033621009

L-R: MD/CEO, Lotgrand, operators of Grandlotto, Niyi Adekunle; winner of a N10. 8 million cash in the Yellow Terminal Machine Number lotto game, Razaq Adewale Abdulmali; and COO of Lotgrand, Wale Adekunle, at the cheque presentation ceremony to the winner in Lagos...recently

L-R Executive Director, Commercial Services, Bank of Industry, (BOI), Mr. Jonathan Tobin; Acting Managing Director/CEO, BOI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju; Acting Director General, NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni and Director,Special duties, NAFDAC, Mr. Abubakar Jimoh, during the signing of MOU between BOI and NAFDAC on regulated products in Lagos...recently

Amstel Malta Repackaging Fuels Fears of Product Faking among Consumers Despite efforts by Nigerian Breweries Plc. to secure public trust for its Amstel Malta brand following its alleged imitation in the market, some Nigerians are yet to come to term with the company’s reconciliation.

According to the company, the concerned products has no imitation in the market contrary to the information that is being circulated across some platforms.

It noted that it had only effected some changes in its package to comply with the

guidance of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC and the new mandatory NIS quality logo from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, a development which many misconstrued as being counterfeited.

Shedding more light on the issue, the Corporate Affairs Adviser of Nigerian Breweries Plc., Kufre Ekanem, explained that it was expected that there should be two kinds of Amstel Malta in the market for now, the old

and the new package, since the product had a shelf of two years, both will co-exist in the market until the depletion of the old stock.

Meanwhile, the effort of the company to clear the air has not doused concerns as some still expressed fear and distaste for the different packaging of the same product which they said could be unhealthy for consumption.

“When I heard the information, I disciplined myself not to take the malt drink again because I love my life. I became more afraid when I

saw a video posted on Facebook displaying the drink mixed with maggots. Even when the company came out to clarify the issue, I found it hard to erase the video from my memory.

Already, my psychology is affected, so I would rather go for a substitute, but definitely not Amstel Malta”, Janet Ugianbe said.

Some however claimed they were yet to hear the company debunk the information even as they expressed mixed feelings on the originality of the brand.

British-American Tobacco Seals $49.4bn Acquisition Deal with Reynolds

Master Card Unveils New Payment Technology

The British-American Tobacco, BAT has finalised move to acquire US firm, Reynolds American for $49.4bn, thus creating the world’s largest listed tobacco company.

According to BAT, it would purchase the 57.8 per cent of Reynolds American that it did not already own.

The deal brings together a raft of global brands, including BAT products; Lucky Strike, Rothmans and Kent, and Reynolds’ brands such as Newport, Camel and Pall Mall.

The combined company will have a strong foothold in the United States and a significant presence in high-growth markets, including South America, the Middle East and Africa.

Commenting on this engagement, the Chief Executive Officer of Bat, Nicandro Durante said in a statement, “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Reynolds and we look forward to putting the recommended offer to shareholders” He added that the new business would create a stronger, global tobacco with direct access for the company’s products across the most attractive markets in the world. “We believe this will drive continued, sustainable profit growth and returns for shareholders long into the future.”

Under the terms of the transaction, Reynolds shareholders were expected to receive $29.44 billion in cash and 0.5260 BAT ordinary shares.

The offer comprises $25 billion worth of BAT shares and $24.4 billion in cash and values the entire Reynolds group at more than $85 billion.

BAT forecasts that it will make at least $400 million in annualised cost savings following the purchase, while the deal remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) Microfinance Bank ha said it is determined to act tough on loan defaulters just as it hosted its customers at a consumers forum recently.

The financial institution which confirmed that though it was satisfied with some faithful customers, it may have to resort to using security agents to go after loan defaulters as this was necessary to keep the financial institution viable.

At the forum, the Managing Director of the bank who was represented by the company’s Secretary, Mrs. Osaro Idemudia, stated that contrary to belief, the bank was available to serve customers from all walks of life and not just members of the force.

She explained that the forum was organised for the bank to relate with its customers and discuss way forward for both customers and the bank, while also re-assuring customers that the company was committed to helping them realise their dreams.

The institution’s Head of Marketing, Mrs. Fatima Olajumoke, added that “this forum also sought to sensitse the public on the activities of the Bank as it is not meant for the men and officers of Nigeria Police community alone, but for the general public and we are ready to assist small and medium scale industries to grow.”

She said that the bank had varieties of products in stock to assist as many customers as possible to make them excel in their endeavours, noting the bank was expanding rapidly across the nation to serve Nigerian populace better.

The company also seized the moment to reward customers in the Small, L.R:Area Marketing Manager, Power Oil,Imo State,Emeke Ugbeh;Public Relation Manager, Azeez Omotayo;Traditional Prime Minister ISII Ubomiri,Autonomous Community,Chief Mathew Enwere and Power Oil Medium Enterprises/Micro wing with gifts and other items.

Medical Consultant ,Dr Nwakwo Oluchi during the firm health activity at Owerri in Imo State...recently

As technology company and payments industry leader, Master Card has finally announced the activation of its new payment option, Identity Check Mobile, the password technology and other conventional identification techniques may no longer find relevance.

The latest option relies on biometrics, including fingerprint and facial recognition, to verify a cardholder’s identity and simplify online shopping.

According to the company, the roll-out of the new technology followed a launch of MasterCard and BMO Financial Group as well as positive public reactions.

Vice President, head, North American Corporate Card Products at BMO, Steve Peterson, stated that, “The pilot tested the potential of delivering greater security and convenience using biometric technol-

ogy. Our goals were to understand the attitudes and perceptions of our participants toward biometrics as an online payment security solution.

“After using Identity Check Mobile, our programme participants gave strong reviews on biometric security and ease of use, especially as compared with passwords. We are looking forward to bringing this same experience to our clients in 2017,’’ he added.

The latest technology is said to have minimised the need for passwords, speed up digital checkout process while also improving security.

“A cardholder can verify his/her identity by using the fingerprint scanner or facial recognition technology on his/ her smart phone with the Identity Check app”, the company said.

NPF Microfinance Bank Engages Customers, Talks Tough on Debtors

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • January 21, 2017

PEOPLE Archie-Abia

I Didn’t Study Arts But I’m a Gifted Visual Artist

Veteran artist and gallery owner, Archie-Abia Godwin, has auctioned several artworks.

Years of being on the beat has not in any way affected his groove. He brims with passion and ideas after decades as a studio artist. Godwin reckons that government’s investment in the arts would go a long way in promoting local artists from going to Dubai in search of greener pastures Adedayo Adejobi explores the life and arts of Godwin, who is also the proprietor of WinArc Gallery in Ikeja, Lagos

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The Artist and the Holy Spirit odwin Archie-Abia is a graduate of History and International Relations from Lagos State University. He is a self-taught artist who has never attended any art class in the conventional sense, apart from hand work class in primary school and the several classes he has been to in his dreams. Aside appearing on recorded and live shows on TV, Archie-Abia has done many private and public exhibitions such as in Didi Museum and Nimbus Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Surprisingly, Archie-Abia sees the Holy Spirit as his inspiration. He has this to say about the industry: “The industry is doing well in Nigeria but we need to do more in terms of content, materials and lots more. There is the need for in-depth knowledge of the work as well as the development of participatory interest in art. We need more avenues like exhibitions, auctions, workshops and seminars, where artworks are sold, exhibited and discussed.

Nigerian art is moving forward, with some private individuals promoting and investing in the arts.”

As an artist and gallery owner, he combines the two divergent roles in the industry well, even though he acquiesces to the fact that it had not been easy.

Before now, he used to have the gallery, WinArc Gallery, and studio under one roof. Currently, he has his studio away from the gallery. He makes it a point of duty to visit the gallery three times a week but spends more time in the studio because of the commissioned works he’s involved in. He separated the gallery from the studio so that the business of the gallery could be run more efficiently.

WinArc Gallery has many artists, he only happens to be the coordinator. He strongly believes there is a room for everybody in the market. With focus and increased capacity, he believes a breakthrough in the market is guaranteed.

Although he started as a bone collage, time and lack of power pushed him to diversify. He says God gave him the vision to drive it in whatever medium he chooses. Now in the sculpture and mixed media, his work gets more patronage because the outdoor exhibition attracts more attention. He said his customers were the constant variant in his choice of work.

‘Artists are not and should not be Poor’

Abia

He said artists in Nigeria are perceived as poor because of people’s materialistic view.

“In art, like any other professions, you have rich and poor. Again, what qualifies one to be rich or poor? It is not the amount of cash you have. You may be materially poor but in terms of ideas you are very rich. I know many artists in this country that are comfortable, they buy what they want to buy at any given time.

If you can afford what you want, you are a rich person. Should arts be driven by profit motive alone? No. But at the same time, don’t cheapen your works. There should be a common ground. There are commercial artists and their artworks are for sale. There are bills to be paid as an artist, so you must keep that in mind.”

Archie-Abia says that auction in Nigeria is a good development. This is for people driven by the love of arts and also profit. To him, it is like that all over the globe. Art by itself may not necessarily refer to the beauty or aesthetics of the work. He says some works regarded as questionable may be the best works for some people and they might pay any amount for them. The auctioneers are in the business to make money.

25 Years and Still Counting When asked why he went into art, he pointed out that he was called to be

In art, like any other professions, you have rich and poor. Again, what qualifies one to be rich or poor? It is not the amount of cash you have. You may be materially poor but in terms of ideas you are very rich. I know many artists in this country that are comfortable, they buy what they want to buy at any given time.

If you can afford what you want, you are a rich person. Should arts be driven by profit motive alone? No. But at the same time, don’t cheapen your works. There should be a common ground. There are commercial artists and their artworks are for sale.

There are bills to be paid as an artist, so you must keep that in mind an artist. An English and International Relations graduate from Lagos State University, he has been into arts for more than 25 years. His first set of collection for sale to corporate organisations was many years ago. An institution gave him a contract to furnish their office with artworks but he had been selling artworks before then. He has also sold works abroad. In 1996, an art collector bought works from him and took them to America for an exhibition. He exhibited at Didi Museum in 1996 and Archbishop Vining at Ikeja, Lagos. He also exhibited at THE NEWS Magazine Art Exhibition. Many of his works have been exhibited abroad through art collec-

tors. His major collectors are numerous.

They include individuals like Bart de Bruyne who is based in Germany, Felix Bonati, Luckson Orunma and institutions like Nigerian Ports Authority, Cadbury, Dangote, Covenant University; just to mention a few. Archie-Abia recycles works, bone collapse and does sculpting.

He uses metal fibre, glass, colours. He loves to play with so many materials.

He’s inspired by the spirit He recalled the challenges he faced when he started. The enthusiastic attitude towards art now was glazed over by apathy then. He explains: “When we started, people did not appreciate arts but now things have changed. Corporate people and private people are taking arts in a serious form. The government should create an enabling environment for artists.

The government must diversify in her investment. In America, through their films, their government earns something.

Even in India with Bollywood. The government should provide an enabling environment for the artist; they should encourage and cooperate with organisations to promote art exhibitions. The federal government should give tax relief to organisations that promote arts. Our roundabouts should be adorned with artworks.”

‘Tax Relief for Organisations can Promote the Arts’ He believes tax relief to those organisations who promote art will encourage other organisations to promote art pieces that are done in other countries. This will stimulate the economy. To him, one artist is like an industry. On piracy, ArchieAbia said.

“It is not common. The artist can draw his inspiration from other artists but the work cannot be the same. A visual artist needs to be original. He has masters like Bruce Onobrakpeya, Aina Onabolu and the others to thank for impacting him.

Nigerian art has come to stay. Some artists go to Dubai still. There is an Art House that auctions Visual Art here.”

When asked about his view with regards how auctioning of visual art works of young artist can help develop the art, he responds: “Yes, those auctioning art in this country should look beyond the masters and auction works of young artists that are very talented. For you to grow the economy in the art world, the older artists should be there, the young artists should also be there. The new govern-

JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

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PEOPLE Nigeria Should Have Arts Endowment Fund ment should draft in a programme to exhibit art works in all our embassies across the world. They can sell artists through that which can attract interested buyers around the world.”

The gifted artist said football has made a lot of money for a country like Brazil because of her talented footballers. To him, state governments should also have art galleries across the world.

“I appeal to the government anyone they want to choose for Minister for Culture, should be a professional who will be earnest all these things I am saying. Our embassies should be able to organise exhibitions and draw artists from every geo-political zone. The National Gallery did it in the past but now I don’t know what is going on.”

Could the artiste be indicting the National Gallery, with a subtle condemnation that the arm is no longer serving its purpose anymore? He is quick to respond.

“I am not saying that because I don’t know their programme. I won’t sit down here to criticise what I don’t know. But 15 years ago, National Gallery of Nigeria used to take works of artists out Nigeria for exhibition. We should be able to have National Galleries in all the 36 states so that we can draw young artists from the grassroots. We should think art because art is everything.”

‘My Passion Has Given Rise to Action’ Speaking of the thrust of the newly invented technique, one he claims no Nigerian artistes knows about, ArchieAbia says his thrust is the passion that has given rise to action to expand a new frontier in visual arts. He says this, more importantly, should be seen as something to occupy and provide a forum, platform for dialogue and contemplation and evangelism mix-media and metal fabricaton.

“I see my technique as something to occupy and provide a forum, platform for dialogue and like what I have been doing with others previous media-bone collage, mix-media and metal fabrication.

This new medium has been very interesting and challenging. Having practised arts for more than 26 years, I have gained enough knowledge to think and create a medium that will stand the test of time. My new style I call it graven painting. The material has to be glued to either board or canvas panel to create a relief format. First I sketched, provide the materials, engrave the materials before I glue to either board or canvas panel to create a super relief effect. Then I prime the materials on the panel and allow to dry before I start applying colours to it at the end of the day I am out with a super and unique work.”

He said this medium was unique because of the richness of the materials and the colour effects of impasto rendition.

“I can achieve any concept with the medium but it is very interesting and challenging. One has to put his head down to create a work that is of internationally accepted standard.”

‘Let’s Have an Arts Investment Fund’ Giving his voice to issues surrounding

government seeming lack of direction in a dwindling economy, Godwin had, in the past advocated for the diversification of the nation’s economy.

“No serious economy will want to undermine the importance of creative industries, in which visual art plays a vital role. In developing economy like Nigeria, where total dependencies on a mono-product has exposed the country’s economic strength to instability, all hands must be on deck to evolve a supporting and alternative economic platform for the country to lean on for survival. The Nigeria government from inception has not taken seriously development of arts sector as vital platform for the re-engineering of the national economy.

My appeal to the government, banks and investment institutions is to invest in arts sector. I hereby advocate that there should be an Art Investment Fund that looks at arts solely as an asset and seek to provide investors with exposure to the benefits of an appreciating market.”

He further advocates that government should also give tax incentives or reduction for any hospitality business, organisation and private companies that encourage artist and art patronage. By so doing artist will stay on their job.

“By so doing, we are reducing unemployment in this sector. Artists are trained to create jobs. Government should put in place enabling laws to support and encourage entrepreneurs and by so doing, growing the arts. Government should come up with a policy of art embellishment in all our foreign embassies even encourage them to organise art exhibitions for artists thereby exposing them to foreign countries. With this, more artists will stay on their job. I believe arts (visual arts) should be taught every Nigerian child and made compulsory. This will help to make creativity and creative thinking in every child to have improved by the time he or she grows up to become somebody in life.

He will think creativity and add value to the society. A society with a bad creative life gets a bad technology growth. The society that lacks in these important two things produces bad leaders. Our society in the past had values, but today there are a lot of violence, so much frustration and suffering. Life has become valueless and my advice to fellow artists is we should create works whose formalistic and thematic thrust is socially relevant.”

The self-taught artist urges the administration to walk the talk on diversification policy, adding that the government should evolve a viable supportive economic platform for the country. He said no serious nation will undermine the critical role of its creative industry, in which visual art plays a vital role.

Godwin may not be a household name, but the ideas he has espoused have a way of making the most inattentive government pause and take a second look and see if truly visual arts can improve the nation’s economy. And going by ideas he has espoused, surely they can. Even with the help of Holy Spirit from which the talented artist draws his inspiration.

I appeal to the government anyone they want to choose for Minister for Culture, should be a professional who will be earnest all these things I am saying. Our embassies should be able to organise exhibitions and draw artists from every geo-political zone. The National Gallery did it in the past but now I don’t know what is going on

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PERSPECTIVE

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

KEMA CHIKWE

Elegance Made of Sterner Stuff Kingsley Anaroke

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ne of the striking qualities of Kemafor Nonyerem Chikwe, (fondly called Kema), is her love for people; a rare quality among leaders in modern Nigeria. She once confessed this to the media, “I love people around me. I love human beings.” This innate quality has taken her beyond the realm of the ordinary.

Another quality of hers is humility, which is cheap yet very difficult to come by amongst the Nigerian political leaders. This explains the surprise when availed of the secret of her political success, which underpins the significance of loyalty and service to leadership. Kemafor rode on these values to become a political machine. She became the first female Minister of Transport and first female Minister of Aviation and later, Nigerian Ambassador to Ireland and Iceland.

However while she may be people oriented, she is not patient with mediocrity.

She may not fly off the handle like they say but those who work with her knows they must deliver promptly as she is not a fan of procrastination. No wonder she is impact-centric in leadership. She ensures that she lives memorable footprints of growth and development wherever she is called to serve.

She demonstrated this leadership virtue in the ministries she headed between 1999 and 2003, with unprecedented reforms that were to reposition the industries. These land mark legacies in both ministries earned her honours and respect in the sector, as she was not only conferred with the title of a Fellow by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Nigeria but was appointed a Board of Trustee member.

She will be remembered in maritime sector for abrogating the repulsive cargo sharing policy that was anti-indigenous capacity development, while she created the enabling environment for active private sector participation in the aviation sector on the aviation plank.

Ironically, Kema, an educationist, did not

Chikwe

like school in her early days. “They actually used to force me to go to school,” she said.

She had her reasons though. They lived far from the school, this meant that whenever her father travelled, Kema and her siblings had to walk all the way to and back from school and she did not find this funny even at the little age of five.

She told a story of how on her first day at school, her class teacher had a cane in his hand. “He shouted at one or two children and I was really scared of the cane.” Because of this, she feared the cane and she refused to close her eyes during prayers. “One day the class teacher caught me and told me off,” she revealed.

Based on this antecedent, nobody will believe she would be interested in education.

But like she explained, her interest in that area was fired up because of the looming presence

of her father, Nathan Ejiogu, a well-known educationist and her brilliance was effortless.

Her father however had so much influence on her and this help to shape her trajectory in life. “I think taking education as a career was due to my passionate attachment to my father,” she said in an interview.

Born January 12, 70 years ago in Owerri, Imo State,Kema majored in French at the Advanced Teachers’ College, Owerri. She obtained her first and second degrees in French from Queen’s College of the City University of New York. Her Doctorate was in Curriculum Education from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Asked why she studied French, she said that from the beginning, she always perceived the subject as synonymous with sophistication. For those who know her closely, her entire world seems delicately wrapped in

this word. In her career path, Kema became a radio journalist, editor and a publisher.

She was chief executive, Prime Time Limited, publishers of Ash magazine. She has published three books, edited a number of publications and contributed to several books.

She became involved in a number of non-governmental organisations, first joining politics in the second republic. Her foray in politics began with her sympathy for the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). She progressed later to the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP). She was appointed Minister of Transport, and then of Aviation

by President Olusegun Obasanjo and she held that office until May 2003. She later went on to run for the position of Governor of Imo State. In 2009 she became the Nigerian ambassador to Ireland and Iceland.

As a politician, she believed in the God factor and service. As the then women leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), she, together with her team organised a prayer session for the release of the abducted chibok girls. She was quite vocal during that prayer session which unsettled so many. “Today, we will pray for miraculous revelations and solutions to this issue. We have convened this prayer session to bare our hearts open to God as Christians and Muslims. We shall make a way in our hearts for God to come in and settle, as we are contact points of our party members and all Nigerian women.”

Recently she announced her decision to quit her position and also said that she is no longer interested in contesting for any position under PDP. Her tenure was however eventful especially for empowering women and mentoring younger ones in polical leadership. Talking about her blueprint for that office, she said “You know my office, I have a strategic plan, but in politics you don’t really disclose what you want to do. What is important is that we are focusing on empowerment of women; we are partnering with those who have the resources to empower women and we have structured it to ensure that women are actually engaged in commercial activities so that they can earn their income.

Senate, SERAP, Magu and the Dearth/Death of CSO’s in Nigeria Jude Ndukwe

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he Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, recently wrote a letter to Mr Michel Forst, the UN Rapporteur on situation of human rights defenders on Senate’s refusal to confirm Mr Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, claiming political and other concocted reasons for the said refusal.

It is the purpose of this piece to vehemently urge Mr Forst to ignore the letter in its entirety as it was written out of mischief and towards actualising narrow and self-serving purposes.

Let it be stated that in rejecting Ibrahim Magu’s nomination, the legislative body acted within the ambits of the law and principles of democracy that permit it to act as a check on the executive.

The description of Magu by SERAP as “a human rights defender within the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of individuals, Groups and organs of society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom of 1998 (UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders)”, is nothing but a figment of the imagination of SERAP concocted to impose an anti-corruption chairman whose deliberate, vindictive and gross abuse of the rights of citizens under the guise of fighting corruption is not only well-documented but also legendary.

For example, a well known critic of the present day government, Chief Femi FaniKayode, former minister of aviation, was illegally detained for a total of 91 days, 67 days in the first instance and then 24 days in the second. The arrests and detentions were done

by Magu’s EFCC with questionable warrants where there was any at all, and outright disregard to the constitution where there was none at all, making such arrests arbitrary, tortuous and designed to inflict trauma and wear down the victims to the extent of getting them hospitalized in the process.

To lend credence to the above, Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on November 14, 2016, upbraided the EFCC in open court for arresting Fani-Kayode in the court premises without a warrant and for detaining him illegally for 24 days without detention order from any court despite the court’s earlier advice to the EFCC not to rearrest the former minister since he was already on a court bail granted as far back as July 4.

Eventually, the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, had to apologise to the court on behalf of the anti-corruption agency.

Also, Mr Ibrahim Magu’s gross abuse of citizens’ rights as EFCC chairman extends to innocent spouses and infants of suspects.

On Monday, October 17, 2016, Femi Fani-Kayode’s wife, Precious Chikwendu Fani-Kayode was stopped from withdrawing from an account operated by her, and was subsequently detained by the bank on the orders of EFCC despite carrying her infant with her while awaiting to be taken away by the commission until Peter Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti State, came to their rescue hours later.

These are just very few instances among the many issues of gross violations of rights of citizens by the anti-corruption agency under the guise of fighting corruption.

Apart from this, Mr Magu has mastered the art of deploying compromised media outfits to declare Nigerians under its radar guilty long even before such persons are arrested.

This is usually done to create a leeway, harass,

intimidate, detain and torture their victims without much resistance from CSO’s the media and members of the public. Such detained citizens become helpless as lies after lies are churned out against them in the media while they remain incarcerated and unable to refute the campaign of falsehood against them. By the time they face prosecution, their images and reputations are mortally battered and nearly irredeemable even if the courts eventually find them innocent.

It is nauseating and an insult to the sensibilities of human rights watchers all over the world, how SERAP has condescended so low to defend the indefensible and make excuses for the inexcusable! How could SERAP “believe that the action taken by the Senate of Nigeria and other agencies of government apparently working with them undermines and violates Nigeria’s international obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of the citizens, which eventually creates a duty for the government to establish efficient and independent anti-corruption mechanisms” when Mr Magu himself is known to be a gross abuser of people’s rights?

It is unfair of SERAP to accuse the Senate of not offering Magu an opportunity to fair hearing. Even if this is so, SERAP should have availed itself the opportunity of seeking redress in the court rather than run to the UN for a matter that can be handled by our courts.

Rather than attempt to vilify the Senate on this score, they should be commended for saving Nigeria and Nigerians from a man of vindictive tendencies who has no respect for our laws and who acts according to his own whims and caprices just to settle political scores with perceived enemies of government and members of the opposition thereby giving the day’s government continued avoidable bad publicity.

Let SERAP be asked if they are aware that despite petitions with overwhelming copious and cogent evidence against some members of the current administration and ruling party, none of such indicted persons have been invited for questioning by Magu’s EFCC not to talk of prosecuting them.

Example of such people who have petitions against them lodged with Mr Magu’s EFCC but which Magu has consistently ignored, neglected and or failed to act upon include Mr Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation among others, while the likes of Timipre Sylva and the late Abubakar Audu were cleared to contest elections as governors in their respective states.

It is laughable that while SERAP makes desperate attempts to clear Magu of any association with a corrupt person, it claimed the property Magu is currently occupying was not paid for by one retired Commodore Umar Mohammed who himself is being investigated for corruption by a sister security agency but by the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA). This is not only shameful but also disgraceful!

Mohammed was said to have paid N40m for the property and lavishly furnished it with another N43m.

Even if we decide to agree with SERAP that the property was paid for by the FCDA and not Mohammed, the question is, when did it become the function of the FCDA to pay for and furnish properties for public officials?

That is corruption in itself as it puts Magu in a position of conflicting interest. For Magu to have accepted such ‘gift’ from a government agency or any person or institution at all shows that the man is not fit to head our anti-corruption agency or any other office of responsibility.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

PERSPECTIVE

Senate’s Unkind Cut Against Babachir Babande Musa

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ay after day, it is becoming very obvious that the Senate Committee’s report, which purportedly indicted the Secretary to tzhe Government of the Federation, David Babachir, over so-called corruption, was cunningly but poorly crafted by ‘’political enemies’’ to deliberately open holes in the SGF’s character.

But, in doing the dirty job, the Shehu Sani-led Senate Committee took too lightly the worth of work done by the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE) as overwhelming evidence has shown in the past few days.

Just recently, the Senate was said to have been confronted with overpowering proof by members of the PINE, which revealed that the Senate Committee actually misled the apex law-making organ in its attempt to carry out the request of its master(s).

To be sure, the assertion by the Senate committee that PINE was a ‘’grass cutter, who actually did not cut any grass’’, has been demonstrated to be wholly deceptive and absolutely erroneous as the Senate committee refused to take cognizance of the facts that PINE had delivered excellently on the huge responsibility given to it by the federal government.

As a matter of fact, it is absolutely preposterous, illogical and nonsensical on the part of the Senator Sani-led committee to suggest that the powerful Presidential Initiative on North-East (PINE) under the watch of the SGF, is a mere ‘’grass cutter’’, especially when juxtaposed with the fact that Engr. Babachir is a well-intentioned precursor of the no-nonsense Lt. Gen Theophilus Danjuma-led Presidential Committee on North-east Initiative (NCNI).

Save from working from answers to questions, the Senate would have discovered sound findings on the real mandate and excellent works that have been executed by PINE within a very short time it functioned under Engr.

Babachir.

At the beginning of its work, the then President Goodluck Jonathan administration embedded PINE in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) with most of the preliminary works and related expenditures done under the watch of the NSA. But when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, he reorganised it and placed it under SGF apparently for ease of coordination since many of the agencies working on the troubled North-east are government ministries and departments, which SGF directly supervises.

As redesigned by President Buhari, the

Babachir mandate of PINE was to mobilise resources to provide emergency assistance to people and communities displaced and unpleasantly affected by the Boko Haram terrorists; kickstart and stabilize the region’s economy; and strategically position the region for long-term prosperity.

While inaugurating the initiative that was mandated to coordinate all interventions in the region ravaged by the deadly terrorists, President Buhari had said that the worst of terrorism in the north east was over due to the gallant effort of the military. He had expressed confidence that the committee chaired by former Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Danjuma, would deliver on its mandate.

He asserted that the devastation to human lives and livelihoods by the terrorists in the North East was severe, with more than an estimated 20,000 persons killed, over 2.4 million persons displaced and billions of naira worth of personal and public assets destroyed.

“Many humanitarian intervention efforts, national and international, have worked over time to assist in coping with the task of bringing succour to the IDPs in and outside the region, with most of these efforts aimed at providing short-term emergency assistance and relief to the victims of the violence and displacement,” he had stated.

Buhari had noted that there remains a need for better coordination of these efforts particularly the humanitarian resettlement and reconstruction of the region.

With these huge challenges, it will be very

mean-spirited and spiteful for the Sani-led committee to suggest that Engr. Babachir, a very close confidant of President Buhari, would mess up; and surely he did not, as unfolding facts have rightly suggested.

In an accomplishment of first putting into practice strategy of providing emergency assistance, PINE got involved tremendously in the provision of relief assistance, including food and non-food materials to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the peak of the crisis till the Senate intervention.

It is now clear that PINE acquired relief materials, comprising 960 tons of food items, 450 tons of non-food items, including 17,500 bundles of roofing sheets (zinc), 300 tons of cement for IDPs across the region and 360 tons of food items for IDPs in Niger Republic, and also provided 2,005 tents for IDP families in Borno State.

With all these revelations, coupled with the PINE’s pursuit of it second implementation strategy of restoring lost livelihood by starting a very painstaking process of rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, I am sure by now the Senate would have been embarrassed to discover that the entire Senate was misled. With the ongoing works, it would not only assist in resettling the displaced but would also provide the masses some jobs as the rehabilitation works begin.

As a matter of fact, PINE has renovated 28 schools burnt down by the insurgents; it also renovated 32 police stations and two police barracks that were burnt down by Boko

Haram in Adamawa and Yobe States; it has upgraded and equipped the Burn Centers at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the Federal Medical Center, Yola.

PINE also provided two ambulances to the Federal Medical Center, Yola and the State Specialist Hospital, also in Yola.

It has also removed invasive plant species on River Kumadugu and channelled the river in order to provide irrigation for the affected troubled communities along its banks as part of its core mandate of restoring economic activity to the ravaged communities.

Like somebody said, the most important work that PINE did was the development of a Marshall Plan for the resettlement and reintegration of the communities ravaged by the insurgents, which was developed by a 22 member special committee, including representatives of relevant government ministries, departments and agencies, Victims Support Fund, North East Economic Summit Group, Nigerian Red Cross Society, some large companies in the region and several development partners.

In spite of these colossal works done by PINE, the self-styled human rights activist, Senator Sani, refused to note them and decided to rubbish the initiative with an out-of-the-way case of a mere private business transaction between Josmon Technologies Limited and Rholavision Nigeria Limited---over the funding of a contract won by the former: the transfers of monies from Josmon to Rholavision, insisting that the transaction was suspicious. Senator Sani’s misgiving was that Babachir had interests in Rholavision and that the transfers were softeners for a contact Josmon got from PINE that was then under the watch of the SGF. Having discovered that Sani-led committee misled the Senate, the appropriate thing for the leadership of the Senate to do is to move swiftly to reverse itself and apologise to SGF. But that will be a wishful thinking, especially when the decision of the committee was planned and executed by the leadership of the Senate.

However, trust President Buhari: the Senate committee’s report is as useless as waste papers, that will not be given any further consideration than the presidential enquiry the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has conducted. Surely nothing concrete has been found. Otherwise more than a week after he submitted his report, the president would have come out smoking, given his no-nonsense approach to corruption.

–Musa is of the Coalition for Truth, Maiduguri

Trump Bulls in the White House, Red Flags on US Debt Hussein Sayed

D

onald Trump’s administration is bullish right out of the gate. He’s chosen a cabinet made up of oil business tycoons like former Exxon chairman Rex Tillerson, so the agenda is clear; boost US big business and jobs. It’s less clear what Trump plans to do about the national debt, currently just shy of 20 trillion USD and 103% of GDP. The debt is a red flag challenge that has the bulls in the White House lowering their horns for battle.

In the 10 years since the real estate subprime and financial crises, US debt more than doubled. The 700 billion USD it cost to bail out the crippled financial sector in 2008 was just the beginning. A costly but necessary QE programme supported US Treasuries throughout the recession and recovery.

QE combined with low interest rates helped to restore investment confidence. The Federal Reserve’s cautious monetary policy nursed the economy through the worst period. But government debt overheated dramatically, going from nine trillion in 2007 to nearly 20 trillion in 2017.

It’s likely that the national debt will skyrocket under Trump’s presidency.

Trump swears he will make America great again through aggressive fiscal policies.

He has pledged to accelerate growth and create jobs and wasted no time rallying his network of mega business owners. During his pre-inauguration conference, Donald Trump said he was proud that Ford had decided to expand its factory in Michigan

Trump

instead of building one in Mexico. Also, he is pressing General Motors to build its factories in the US instead of abroad. The president-elect promised that Big Pharma would be pressured into bidding for government contracts. He believes this would save billions of dollars over time. In short, Trump wants to run the federal government like a business, and make it more efficient.

Trump wants to be the ‘greatest job creator’ ever seen.

The president-elect’s rhetoric is all very well. But common sense says that money -

especially debt - talks louder. Even with savings on government contracts, at some point soon, taxes on business and households would have to be increased so the Treasury can service and even reduce US debt. This is unlikely to appeal to the Republican agenda of low taxes and less red tape, which is why Trump wants to raise import taxes instead.

The alternative to reducing the national debt is even less appealing. There is a risk of the US losing investor confidence in its bonds. This could lead to a huge rise in the cost of financing the massive debt, and the threat of default. The end result would be another prolonged recession. This scenario is highly likely if Trump goes ahead with high tariffs on imports from China. There are increasing risks linked to alienating China and other emerging countries which play a big role in lending to the US. As it stands, import tariffs slapped on top of a strong USD will have a cost of its own.

The strong USD and higher interest rates will start pricing US products out of the export markets, meaning lower export revenues. Higher import costs due to increased taxes will heat up inflation. This would make goods less affordable for consumers, and reduce importers’ overall revenues.

Higher import taxes might bring in money for the US Treasury. But at the same time, reduced demand for exports would mean lower tax revenues from domestic exporters.

Nonetheless, it can’t be denied that there is an upside to protectionism for domestic energy companies. If there are increased taxes on imported commodities like crude oil, it would increase local demand and

revenues for US suppliers. In that case, US companies like Exxon would theoretically be able to boost the number of jobs on their payroll.

On the markets side, Trump’s rhetoric has a motivating effect, as Wall Street picks up the bullish tone. Everyone wants to go back to a strong economy and away from the pain of the recent recession and struggle to recover. But a return to pre-2007 economic conditions may still be a long way off, especially if Trump’s gamble on protectionism backfires.

The bottom line for investors is that the USD crosses, US share prices, and commodity prices still face a period of uncertainty. Gold is likely to remain an attractive hedge, and a great deal depends on GDP performance in the US. The outlook isn’t earth-shakingly optimistic. The World Bank forecasts a modest US economic growth of 2.2 percent in 2017. Equally modest is its global growth forecast of 2.8 percent in 2017.

This is accompanied by downside risks in emerging and mature economies. Clearly, local and global supply and demand are still not as bullish as Donald Trump’s rhetoric.

The bulls in the White House are ready to do the kind of mega business that made America great, that much is clear. But calibrating an entire economy is a challenge on a much larger scale, especially one that’s only just back on the road to growth.

Until Trump deals with the question of the national debt, investors will have to see it as a significant risk to their portfolios.

–Hussein is Chief Market Strategist at FXTM

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

48

PERSPECTIVE/POLITY

The Elite Rape Nigeria Eddie Mbadiwe

T

hat Nigeria is still afloat is a miracle. This is against the backdrop of jugular bleeding inflicted

by Nigeria’s elite financial rapists.

This small group has mercilessly battered and plundered Nigerian at all fronts and from every angle waiting for Nigeria to die. A lot of them are evil geniuses.

Before someone categorises my write-up as another case of Nigeria bashing, I plead not guilty. For Nigeria to win the war against corruption, the fundamental principles of operation must and also be seen to be transparent and non-selective. Public perception must confirm this because Corruption does not carry a party- card. In any scientific endeavour, we must know where we are coming from to appreciate where we are and plan accordingly for future success.

Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Obafemi Awolowo formed the tripod that received independence from the British on October 1, 1960.There are other operators among whom is no particular order were Tony Enahoro who moved the motion for independence, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Herbert Macaulay, Mbonu Ojike, Michael Imoudu, Aminu Kano, Kingsley Mbadiwe, Michael Okpara, S.L. Akintola, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Eyo Ita, Margaret Ekpo and many more. Well documented positions of these early leaders about Nigeria abound but that discussion will be far another day.

Compared with today’s rogue operators, the early leaders were Angels.

Who are these naira guzzling vampireelite that have caused our country so much pain and derision in the international community and placed us near to zero growth fifty - six years after independence. Nigeria is still faffing around and there is no destination in sight. Briefly speaking, this class ELITE is small, rich and powerful and exerts an influence far in excess of their numerical strength. They operate in cuckoo land and have forgotten that public service is a sacred trust.

For any society to advance, the elite must positively engage and mould public opinion in the national interest. They have to be good role-models for the young generation. Is that

Magu the case with Nigeria?

In developing countries unfortunately, the elite are first generation graduates and seem so blinded in the dash for wealth both legal and illegal. Their modus operandi is grab it all today for there is no tomorrow.

A sub-group within the elite is the intelligentsia who should be hard-nosed thinkers in pursuit of naked truth. Normally money cannot buy this group but as Prof. Jega found out in 2014 general election, a good number of his appointees were compromised. No wonder our education has literally collapsed for how can this group look at their students’ eye ball to eye ball and preach integrity and honesty. The Nigerian intelligentsia has to be salvaged for it is the dedication and superior thinking of the intelligentsia that transformed the world. A few examples will fleshen the discussion.

In the field of religion, Jesus Christ, Mohammed and Buddha stand out. In science and medicine Charles Darwin and the origin of species/ natural selection, Edward Jenner

and vaccination, William T.G. Morton and the discovery of anaesthesia, Albert Einstein and the theory of relativity, Henry Ford and the automobile are all people who changed the world permanently. The invention of the web by Tim Berners Lee in 1989 permanently transformed communication, truly making the world a global village.

In the field of politics, the names are legion but regardless some excel. Among these are Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Karl Marx, Moa Tse Tung, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Fidel Castro, Angela Merkel.

Coming to Africa, Nnamdi Azikwe, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela all etched imprints that inspired millions to fight for freedom.

Within the context of our country Nigeria, one asserts that our intelligentsia rank among the best in the world. They excel abroad.

On arrival home for some inexplicable reasons, it looks as if a nerve synapse snaps and there is a 180-degree decline. How can one understand the sickening and gargantuan sums of money bandied around in the press and social media and said to be stolen by political office holders, military personnel, civil servants running into billions and trillions of naira.

The monies allegedly stolen if recovered can fund our national budget for 2 years or more. How can anyone justify to Nigerians that a Governor after serving for 8 years appropriates to himself through his rubber stamp house of assembly #200 million to build a retirement nest. This is a Governor who for 8 years controlled all contracts awards. Lo he is a comrade and labour keeps quiet. What example are we setting for the other 35 states? The people of labour keep quiet when many of their members have not received their pension for years. Is it not insanity for a minister to allocate to himself 12 plots of land in our Federal capital? What of the housing estates some retired permanent secretaries have in Kenya, South Africa, Dubai, Abuja, Lagos?

The malfeasance is so systematic and deep rooted that even Vice-chancellors are being arraigned for thievery running to billions.

A system where Senators who are head and shoulders above governors in order of

national protocol resign to contest for governor needs re-examination. This invariably must be to access unchecked state budgets.

Over-sight by state assemblies is like chorus singing.

The tragedy of financial rape is not just that our commonwealth is decimated but the damage done to our international image has deprived us of funds and Nigerians continue to live in perpetual poverty. No serious investor, foundation or government will throw away their tax-payers’ dollars into bottom-less pits without transparency and accountability.

In as much as one disagrees with 80% of American President- elect’s tweets can anyone seriously pick bones when he says African nations may be better off being re-colonized for 100 years to teach them governance as their leaders both government and opposition sit like hyenas waiting to devour their hungry citizens. How sad.

Africa must understand the mindset of the incoming American administration.

Sage Nelson Mandela rightly said ‘’ The world will never respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect’’. The fight to reduce corruption drastically is also a crusade for the soul of the black man world-wide and we must not fail. We have a duty to ensure that those who rape our nation never enjoy their loot. Are we as a people condemned? The answer is an Empathetic No. Every nation must protect itself.

Apart from confiscation and seizure, the judicial system which now is excruciatingly slow must be re-configured by all the three arms of government. We have to agree to set up special courts which will be chaired by an honest lawyer.

The other members don’t have to be lawyers. Mega sums of billions and trillions belong to these courts while smaller millions can be handled by smaller courts. These special courts will only hand down two sentences (a) seizure, confiscation and one life sentence. (b) seizure, confiscation and two life sentences. There will be right of appeal to the Supreme Court whose pronouncement is final with no provision for parole or pardon.

Unless we introduce draconian measures, this cancer will kill Nigeria and mortally would Africa.

– Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe writes from Abuja

Abagana Committee of Friends Rewards Academic Excellence Kasie Abone

A

s part of its corporate social responsibility in support of academic excellence, Abagana Committee of Friends (ACF) held 18thedition of its annual Award for Academic Excellence and Symposium. The event which held at Girls Secondary School, Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State aimed at encouraging healthy academic competition and excellence amongst the two secondary schools, Nnamdi Azikiwe Secondary School, Girls Secondary School and eight primary schools all in Abagana. The event featured award of prizes to students who excelled in different subjects, symposium and other activities.

Speaking at the occasion, Anambra State governor, Dr. Willie Obiano charged the students and Anambra youths to remain focused so as to achieve academic excellence.

Represented at the occasion by his Special Adviser on Youths Empowerment and Mobilisation, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezi, Obiano described the occasion as a worthwhile program worthy of government attention. In his words he said “Don’t lose hope in Nigeria.

It is a great country; the Igbo man has seen the worst where they had nothing during and soon after the civil war; how much more now.

So, there should not be any reason to lose hope.” He added that the state has created enabling educational environment and urged them to take advantage of government’s efforts to achieve academic excellence as a foundation to future career success.

Ibezi added that government is doing so much to improve the lot of students in the state schools. He said ACF involvement to support government initiatives to advance teaching and learning is a welcome initiative.

Speaking on the theme “Youths In Nation

Second Right ACF President, Mr. Tom Okoye, Representative of Anambra State Governor, and Senior Special Adviser on Youths Mobilisation and Empowerment, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezi, ANSIPPA Managing Director, Mr. Joe Billy Ekwunife, Principal, Girls Secondary School,Abagana, Mrs. Felicia Eboagu and other ACF members during the annual Award for Academic Excellence and Symposium at GSS,Abagana...recently

Building” Prof. Pat Utomi, who was the guest speaker at the occasion, charged youths from South East to shun the quest for materialism and return to the glorious path of pursuing academic excellence. He said only through academic pursuits could they stand shoulder to shoulder amongst their peers in the global stage.

The erudite professor of Political Economy and management expert reminded the youths that education was the only tool at their disposal to achieve real success.

Speaking on the theme “Youths in Nation Building” Utomi who was the guest speaker at the occasion admonished the students to shun the urgent quest for materialism which has taken the shine off the region and strive to attain academic excellence. He harped on the need for the East to return to the glorious past

when communities support their brilliant but indigent subjects to realize their dreams of acquiring education. He added that Eastern communities should not allow their brilliant youths to die with their brilliance due to poverty as the society as a whole stands to gain from the education of such a child.

Also present at the occasion, Managing Director of Anambra State’s Investment Protection and Promotion Agency (ANSIPPA) Mr. Joe Billy Ekwunife extolled ACF for such laudable initiative adding that he would replicate such programme at his home town, Abba.

Earlier in his welcome address, President of the association, Mr. Tom Okoye while commending all the partners to the annual event said the award was instituted as bedrock to equip and encourage students who want

to seriously pursue their academic as a foundation to their future endeavours. “Since education is the key to the success anyone can make in life, we in the ACF brought in this Award for Academic Excellence as our little way of encouraging students to seriously pursue their studies so that anywhere they may find themselves in the future, they may not be cowed by the circumstances around them.” He added that besides the award the symposium was aimed “address academic, social and psychological development of the students and pupils for future career endeavours.”

In the past eighteen years, the body had also equipped and powered computer libraries in the two secondary schools at Abagana; through their NGO (Rural Health and Educational Development Initiative (RHEDI) partnered with Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc to deworm pupils in the eight primary schools in the town; with assistance of medical doctors of Abagana origin organized health match, diagonised and treated none communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and stress.

The award is in three categories namely cash prize for the Best Overall SS2 Student in each of the secondary schools, cash prize award for the Best Overall Student of JS 2 in the two secondary schools and cash prize award for the Best Overall Pupil in Primary 5 in each of the eight primary schools.

Other endowed awards include Arc. Jidemma Foundation Award for the Best Overall Student in Mathematics in SS2 and Overall Best Student in Basic Science and Technology both in Nnamdi Azikiwe Secondary School (NASSA), Abagana.; Celine Ezenwa Foundation Award for Best Physics students in SS2 and Best Mathematics Students in JS 2 in G. S. S. Abagana and Dr. Chris Anyakorah Foundation Award for Overall Best SS 2 Economics Student in both NASSA and the

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

49

MARITIME BITS

WITH

JOHN IWORI 08057763164

The Officer-in-Charge, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Benin Toll Gate Base, Edo State, Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) Usman Shehu Dahiru flanked by other officers addressing the press shortly after the burning of frozen poultry products in Benin City...recently.

L-R: Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) General Manager, Special Duties, Ugo Madubuike; General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Ajayi; Political Counsellor, British High Commission (BHC), Abuja, Ben Llewellyn-Jones; NPA Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Dr. Sokonte Davies; British High Commissioner, His Excellency, Paul Arkwright; Managing Director, NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman; Executive. NPA Director, Finance and Administration, Mohammed Bello-Koko; Communication Manager and Political Adviser, BHC, Wale Adebajo; NPA General Manager Maintenance, A.A. Jato; NPA Legal Adviser and Board Secretary, Mrs. Eniola Williams when Arkwright paid a courtesy visit to Usman at NPA House, Marina, Lagos…recently.

Wike to Unveil Land Ship, MV Rivers Pride All is now set for the unveiling of Nigeria’s land ship, MV Rivers Pride, by the Rivers State governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.

Situated at Ozuoba, along the East-West Road, Port Harcourt, the land ship was built by an indigenous and privately-owned maritime training institution, Charkin Maritime and Offshore Safety Centre.

The land ship comprises full mission navigational bridge simulator; ECDIS Simulation Room; GMDSS (Navigation) Simulation Room which conforms to the 2010 Manila Amendments by the global maritime watchdog, the International Maritime

Organisation (IMO); and the basic dynamic positioning class.

Other components of the land ship are advance dynamic positioning and examination class; nautical institute examination room; and the drilling system crane simulator.

The centre has the approval of local and international regulatory agencies across the globe.

These include the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), OPITO, United Kingdom, and the International Well Control Forum (IWCF), United Kingdom.

WMC Seizes 850 Bags of Imported Rice in the Creeks Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Western Marine Command (WMC) has made its first seizure in the New Year with the interception not less than 850 bags of imported rice.

The rice which is in 50 kg bag and imported from Thailand was smuggled into the country through the numerous creeks and kept in selected warehouses in a coastal community called Itekun near Agbara, Ogun State.

They were said to have been imported by desperate importers through the ports situated in the neighbouring countries and conveyed in boats in small batches through the creeks by dare devil smugglers in order to avert the prying eyes of security agencies.

The seizure which is valued at N3.8 million in the open market has a duty of N2.7 million.

It also has a duty paid value (DPV) of N6.5 million. The Customs Area Controller (CAC), WMC, Comptroller Yusuf Umar disclosed this at the command headquarters, Apapa, Lagos while displaying the seizures loaded into two trucks to journalists.

Giving an insight into the how the seizure was made, Umar said: “The process of making the seizure started on January 17, 2017 with the surveillance of the area (Itekun waterside), Agbara axis, Ogun State. Then it was noticed that wooden canoes conveying bags of smuggled rice in small quantities that can be considered negligible. But it was observed that the suspected smugglers were consistent in their activities and

by Sunday morning, January 15, 2017, from our estimation, the quantity conveyed and stored in different warehouses must be reasonable enough to warrant arrest, so we returned to WMC headquarters to re-strategies”.

Continuing, the CAC said: “After proper arrangement, we struck on January 16, 2017 and no fewer than 850 bags of smuggled foreign rice in 50 kg each were seized and conveyed into base in two trucks”. The Customs Chief commended the role played by the paramount ruler of Itekun community who ordered his subjects to allow us perform our statutory roles and responsibilities without any interference.

He explained that this was why the operation did not record the death of anyone before, during and after the operation which lasted for hours. He also expressed appreciation on the roles played by other sister government agencies, especially the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Army.

According to him, the role played by the Naval Commander, Commodore Dogo of FOB, Badagry helped in no small way to ensure the success the WMC recorded in the operation. The Commanding Officer, Colonel Garba of Nigerian Army, Badagry also helped tremendously in his quick response and back up to our operations.

Others are the Nautical Institute (NI), Oil and Gas Training Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), International Association of Safety and Survival Training (IASST), United Kingdom, and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigerian (PETAN).

Besides the fact that it is a member of British Safety Council among others, it is also affiliated to the Regional Maritime University, Accra, Ghana.

A statement issued by the centre and obtained

by THISDAY said Wike will unveil the MV Rivers Pride on February 9, 2017.

The governor will also use the occasion to lay

NPA to Partner British High Commission to Develop Ports The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and British High Commission have resolved to join forces to improve on the present level of seaport development in the country.

The resolve of NPA and the British High Commissioner to partner on the development of the development of the ports in Nigeria was revealed during a courtesy visit to NPA House, the corporate Headquarters of the authority at Marina, Lagos by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Arkwright.

Arkwright, according to a statement by signed by NPA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Ajayi stated that was jointly received by the Managing Director of the authority, Ms. Hadiza Usman; Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mohammed BeloKoko; and the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Dr. Seconte Davies and other top management

staff of the authority.

Ajayi explained that while the High Commissioner promised to assist the authority to address the challenges facing Nigerian port industry, Usman also pledged more stronger relationship with United Kingdom’s companies operating in the Nigerian maritime sector.

Arkwright who identified piracy as one of the major challenges in the country’s maritime industry said that Britain would make significant contribution to enhance operational efficiency in the port.

The British High Commissioner stressed the need to support NPA towards find a lasting solution to the issue of piracy in the country’s waters.

According to the statement, Usman said the NPA would welcome any assistance that would boost port efficiency from Britain in order to move the port forward.

16 Vessels Discharge Petroleum Products, Bulk Wheat, Others Amidst fears in some quarters that the prices of petroleum products, especially premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol will be increased shortly by the Federal Government, more and more vessels laden with the products have arrived in the nation’s seaports.

At the last count, no fewer than 16 ships are presently discharging petroleum products and other commodities at the nation’s seaports situated in Lagos.

A manifest of incoming vessels into the country called Shipping Position and prepared by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) showed that the petroleum products and the other commodities are being discharge in Nigeria’s busiest ports, Apapa Quay and Tin Can Island ports.

According to the Shipping Position which is a daily publication of the NPA which has Ms Hadiza Bala Usman as the Managing

Director, the ships at the ports discharging bulk wheat, petrol, empty containers, general cargo, bulk fertiliser, bulk sugar and diesel.

The Shipping Position which was obtained by THISDAY revealed that no fewer than 22 ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Lagos ports before the end of this week.

The NPA said that the expected ships would ferry into the country, base oil, general cargoes, containers, aviation fuel, bulk gas, empty container, bulk fertiliser, frozen fish and petrol.

In the same vein, no fewer than 21 ships, 17 ships, 16 ships, 22 ships are expected in different dates in January 2017.

The document noted that six ships had arrived the ports, waiting to berth with general cargoes, container, frozen fish and petrol.

the foundation stone for a 200 marine cadets accommodation block.

According to the statement, Charkin Maritime and Offshore Safety Centre is always committed to providing maritime education and training of international repute. Charkin has a trend of rendering and improving on high quality training to guarantee competence in a conducive and friendly environment. It is a one-stop-shop for the marine, oil and gas training.

The academy stated that the unveiling of the facility was meant to bridge the gap in maritime education and training in the country.

Accolades for a Customs Chief Accolades have continued to pour in for the strides the Officer-in-Charge, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Benin Toll Gate Base, Edo State, Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) Usman Shehu Dahiru has made since his deployment to the base.

Described as the “hit man” for the NSC, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone ‘C’ with headquarters in Owerri, Imo State, the officer was said to be the arrowhead of the several seizures of contraband in the build up to the Yuletide and thereafter.

Customs Area Controller (CAC), NCS, FOU, Zone C, Comptroller Uba Garba Muhammed in a recent briefing in the Edo State capital lauded the Dahiru for burning as well as burying frozen poultry products as directed by Customs High Command which presently has Colonel Ibrahim Hammed Ali (retired) as the Comptroller General. The CAC commended Dahiru for his good performance since he was posted to the base which is a key component of Zone C which covers 11 states situated in the South- South and South East geo-political zones of the country.

The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) directive was sequel to reports in some quarters that some seizures not properly burnt or buried found themselves in the open market.

Some of Dahirus’s colleagues told THISDAY that the regular interceptions and seizures by the FOU Zone C were largely due to the enforcement activities of the men and officers stationed at NCS, Benin Toll Gate base.

Dahiru who joined NCS in 1993 has continued to spur members of his team to deliver on their statutory roles and responsibilities especially the anti-smuggling campaign in the area under their watch.

THISDAY had reported that several seizures, including 1,073 sacks of Indian hemp, found in a 40 feet container, were intercepted in Benin where, CSC Dahiru who also served in Maiduguri from 1996 to year 2000 is the officerin-charge. In the same vein, no fewer than 21,000 cartons of frozen turkey were intercepted and seized recently by Dahiru and his team.

The Customs Chief has worked in various Customs formation since he joined the service nearly three decades ago.

Apart from Anambra/Enugu States Area and Apapa Area Commands, Dahiru has served in Seme; FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos; CG Special Team in Onibukun Customs Base on Sango-Ota/ Atan-Owode/Idiroko Highway in Ogun State where he served as second in command in 2014.

On what spurs him into action in the discharge of his duties, Dahiru said: “I have no other job or profession than the one I am presently doing. Customs work is the only engagement of my life since after graduation, 25 years ago and I really love this job. I have no other job”.

50

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

POLITY

Alleged Theft: The Trial of Ex-REP, Chidi Duru Olaoluwakitan Babatunde

T

he Nigerian pension industry was agog last Monday following the arraignment of a former Member, House of Representatives, Nze Chidi Duru, on four-count charge of stealing, impersonation, conspiracy, and breach of the

peace.

Also arraigned with him before the Chief Magistrate Court, Tinubu, Lagos by the police was a senior lawyer, Mr. Smart Iheazor.

The duo were alleged to have conspired and committed the offences on Wednesday, January 11, 2017, when they, in company of other suspects still at large, invaded the head office of the First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL), located at No. 65, Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun Ikeja Lagos.

Drama and Intrigues However, the duo’s arraignment before His Worship, A.A Adefulire, was not without drama. Lawyer to the accused, Chief Emeka Etiaba (SAN), had informed the Magistrate that Hon. Duru was at the verge of slumping in the courtroom. He explained that he was just discharged from the hospital in the same of Monday, January 16 that he was matched straight to court.

The prosecutor, however objected, insisting that the doctor at the police hospital, where Duru was admitted, duly certified him fit to stand trial. Adefulire then ordered the defendants to take their pleas.

It could be recalled that there were media reports at the weekend preceding the arraignment, that Duru took ill and collapsed in police cell.

However, when contacted by newsmen, the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Dolapo Badmus said: “Yes, he claimed that he fainted and we have well-equipped hospital. He is being treated; we will soon charge him to court”.

Sources close to the police said it is instructive that his ill health started when efforts by his lawyer, Chief Etiaba, in the company of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Duru’s associate, Hon. Chuma Nzeribe, to secure his release proved abortive as he was alleged to have previously been declared wanted by the police for allegedly jumping bail.

Duru was said to have tried to intimidate the police, warning them of the implications of flouting presidential orders, which he claimed he had, to takeover the PFA. Besides, pension stakeholders were not also moved by what they termed Duru’s “sudden illness”.

The stakeholders, who spoke through the Centre for Humanity (CfH), a propensioners Non-Governmental Organisation, maintained that “a crime against pensioners is a crime against humanity” and that Duru must be charged to court immediately.

The statement signed by the CfH’s spokesperson, Ngozi Ogbu, recounted alleged previous breach of bail. It said: “We readily recall that in 2012 the former Inspector General of Police (IGP), M.D Abubakar released Chidi Duru on bail, but only for him to vanished.

“The police declared him wanted in a gazette entitled: “Nze Chidi Duru ‘M’: Wanted by the Office of the InspectorGeneral of Police, Louis Edet House, Abuja” and marked CR: 3000/GP.SEC/ MU/TB/ABJ/21/02/13.

“The gazette partly read: ‘The above named person is hereby declared wanted

Former Member of House of Representatives, Nze Chidi Duru being led to Court by Security Agents over allegations of stealing, conspiracy, impersonation, and breach of peace

by the Nigeria Police on C.R.O Form 5, Issued by the Office of the Inspector-General of Police…. He is wanted for the offence of conspiracy, forgery, theft, and cheating.

Method used in committing the offence is that suspect illegally diverted the sum of N20 Million Naira, which belong to First Guarantee Pension Limited’.

“We also recall that his brother, Ugochukwu Duru was declared wanted in the same gazette for the same offences.

“We wish to further remind the police that Chidi Duru was previously arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2011 in connection with alleged crimes against the First Guarantee Pension and shareholders.

He was admitted to administrative bail in October 2011, with his relative, Mrs. Christie Chinyere Ekweonu, currently a Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice as his surety.

“But when Chidi refused to face his charges, the EFCC ended up arresting her around 10:15am on 11th May 2016 and detained her for some time.”

The stakeholders also alleged that although PenCom granted him a softlanding through resignation in 2011 following indictment by its examination reports, he“used the opportunity of the reprieve to sue PenCom, thereby opening a floodgate of litigations currently before several courts, including the Supreme Court”.

“We advise the police and members of the public to ignore Duru’s theatrics and charge him to court immediately in the interest of justice and pensioners”, the stakeholders stressed.

The Charges Marked No. 12/02/2017, the charges were read out by the court Registrar as follows: “That you, Nze Chidi Duru ‘M’, Smart Iheazor ‘M’ and others now at large, on the 11th day of January 2017, at No. 65 Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, in the Lagos Magistrate District, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit stealing and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 409 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011 “That you… did steal (3) three office files, (1) one HP Laptop valued at the

sum of 250,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) property of First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 285 of Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

“That you… did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace by wilfully and unlawfully invading First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) offices with an intent to forcefully takeover the management and assets of the company and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 111(d) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

“That you…, with intent to defraud, did introduce yourselves as Vice Chairman/Secretary, respectively, of First Guarantee pension Limited (FGPL) and acted same in an attempt to takeover the management and assets of the company and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 378(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2011”.

The accused, however, pleaded “not guilty”.

No Bail on Self-Recognition Counsel to the accused, Emeka Etiaba, urged the court to grant his clients bail on self-recognition.

He argued that the two accused were senior lawyers, adding that Duru was also a two-term Member of the House of Representatives, while their alleged offences were bailable offences.

The prosecutor, however, objected to the bail on self-recognition. He argued that both men should be given to sureties.

The Magistrate deferred to the prosecutor and granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000 each with one surety each in like sum.

The case was thereafter adjourned till March 9 and 10, 2017.

The Genesis The previous leadership of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) under Mr. M. K. Ahmad, sacked the Board of FGPL and set up an Interim Management Committee (IMC) pursuant to Sections 88 (2), 20(i), and 21(j) of the Pension Reform Act 2004 (as it was then).

The regulatory action followed alleged findings of the various routine and

Despite the alleged invasion, the Interim Management (IMC) of FGPL, has assured customers that funds accumulated in their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) were intact. Addressing the press last Sunday, the Chairman of the FGPL’s IMC, Comrade Isa Aremu and the Managing Director, Chima Akalezi, assured “clients that the incident has no impact on the pension funds under management of the PFA, which remains safe and secured in the custody of our Pension Fund Custodian (PFC) special examinations carried out on FGPL in the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, exposed persistent infractions and unhealthy corporate governance practices, which put FGPL at serious risk.

Those indicted and sacked along with Duru, who chaired what he called “Executive Committee” of the company, were Chief Orlando O. Ojo, the former Chairman of the PFA and one Mr. Derrick Roper (representing the interest of Novare Holdings (Pty) Ltd of South Africa) over violations of the Code of Ethics and Business Practices as well as Code of Corporate Governance for Licensed Operators issued by PenCom, the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004 (at it was at the time), and other laws of Nigeria.

PenCom also accused Duru of obtaining N30 million worth of shares with cheques, which values could not be traced to the account of the PFA. Although he reportedly resigned vide a letter to PenCom dated July 21, 2011, he subsequently reneged and sued PenCom and some of the lawsuits, including his own appeal are pending before the Supreme Court, and some in the Court of Appeal.

Pension Funds Intact Despite the alleged invasion, the Interim Management (IMC) of FGPL, has assured customers that funds accumulated in their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) were intact.

Addressing the press last Sunday, the Chairman of the FGPL’s IMC, Comrade Isa Aremu and the Managing Director, Chima Akalezi, assured “clients that the incident has no impact on the pension funds under management of the PFA, which remains safe and secured in the custody of our Pension Fund Custodian (PFC)”.

They carpeted Chidi’s action as criminal and “specifically an act of contempt of pending court processes”.

The company stated that the “desperate efforts to confiscate the personnel files of his siblings currently facing criminal investigations, lap tops, official vehicles and physical demand for money to pay his hotel expenses was disgraceful conduct by the former legislator”.

51

JANUARY 21, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

RETURNEE

The Returnee Driving in Lagos Nigerians will tell you, that if you can drive in Nigeria, you can drive anywhere in the world.

Anywhere – in – the – world… Oyinkan Braithwaite writes

M

y fellow Nigerians, this is a fallacy we seem determined to propagate, despite our daily sightings of accidents on the road.

We say Nigerians can drive anywhere, because of our ability to drive on the roughest roads, in the roughest of manners. But the truth is, if we were to carry this style of driving outside of Nigeria, we would get arrested in a good number of countries.

First of all, we do not know traffic laws. And I count myself in this. When I took my driving test a couple years ago, in order to renew my driving licence, I failed. But I still got my licence. And I know I’m not the exception. Most drivers on the road, don’t know when or how to give way. In fact, I’m certain many have never heard the phrase ‘give way’. Give way means to allow someone else to pass, especially if they are in the roundabout, already passing you, reversing, etc. But we are strangers to this concept of letting someone pass us. In fact, letting someone pass you is considered a sign of weakness. You must surpass everybody – maybe it reminds us of when our parents would ask, why we let Uche pass us in class – does Uche have two heads?

Another traffic law that we are unfamiliar with are speed limits. We have all watched the news, or at least we are familiar with American movies – going above the speed limit will cost you money (and I don’t mean the N500 you may use to bribe); and too many speeding tickets will result in some jail time. Speeding is taken seriously because it can cause major accidents. How many bodies do we need to see on the road before we realise that the sign that states 50mph is there for a reason.

In England, there was an overhead bridge that I passed on the motorway

which stated how many deaths had taken place on that road, that year. The number was one. Could we boast such a number on the Lekki-Epe Expressway or the Third Mainland Bridge? We have got so used to seeing car that appear to be a part of our culture.

Secondly, the enforcers of the law are more concerned with lining their pockets than with keeping the road safe. The LASTMA officers are more likely to wish you a happy weekend and wait patiently for you to bring something from your wallet than to pay attention to a danfo running a red light. After all, what do they stand to gain from pursuing a danfo, besides a headache?

Of late, I have learnt to spot the brown and yellow uniform from afar; because I know I don’t need to be doing anything wrong to be asked to park. And so, I have subconsciously created the culture of dodging those in uniform – LASTMA, police, VIO, KIA – when in fact, I should be able to trust that they are there for my safety and protection; but that is a topic for a different article.

A friend once told me that the way to know whether or not you were a good driver was using the passenger test – how comfortable does the individual sitting beside you feel? Do they have their seatbelt strapped across them twice? Are they holding their hand to their heart? Are they pressing imaginary brakes?

Of course, the reason for a lot of the aggression on the road is the traffic. In Lagos, there is traffic at almost every hour of the day. And we are all so eager to avoid it. But if we can’t avoid it we are determined to beat it. So, you end up with a motorway full of drivers behaving as though they are an extra in a Fast and Furious movie; and ignoring the fact that those people are fictional characters.

One way to combat this would be with better public transport systems.

When I was in England, I didn’t have a car. I took buses, trains and tubes everywhere and I wasn’t anywhere near as stressed as I am when I am driving here. This helped to greatly reduce the congestion. The last time I travelled there, on my way from the airport, I wound down the window and listened to the sound of the wind. No one was horning. No one had to horn.

Here we horn for everything – Get out of the way; I’m coming; Don’t hit me o! Are you crazy? Once I came across a man who seemed to be leaning on his horn, because it was just one long sound and it went on and on. I didn’t even know who he was horning at. Perhaps he didn’t know. But most of us, don’t realise that horning isn’t meant to be an hourly occurrence. It may surprise many of you to know that there is car horn etiquette. Car horns are meant to notify drivers of dangers and prevent accidents.

They are not supposed to be used to bully or harass other drivers. They can startle a driver into pressing their brakes at the wrong time. Those of you who are customising your car horns…those things can cause a heart attack.

I would also like to address the issue of changing lanes. Please, commit to the lane you started with. I understand, the other lane is now moving faster than your own lane; but don’t give in to temptation. You are not a snake, drive in a straight line. In ‘the abroad’, swerving is only considered to be appropriate if you are avoiding a hazard, but many of you are swerving into another lane. In truth, any action of yours that causes the other drivers to brake suddenly is poor driving.

It is worth taking another look at the way we treat our traffic laws and the way we behave on the road. Let’s practise our culture of kindness and generosity when we are driving, as well as in our homes, schools and places of work.

Here we horn for everything – Get out of the way; I’m coming; Don’t hit me o! Are you crazy? Once I came across a man who seemed to be leaning on his horn, because it was just one long sound and it went on and on.

I didn’t even know who he was horning at. Perhaps he didn’t know. But most of us, don’t realise that horning isn’t meant to be an hourly occurrence. It may surprise many of you to know that there is car horn etiquette.

Car horns are meant to notify drivers of dangers and prevent accidents.

They are not supposed to be used to bully or harass other drivers. They can startle a driver into pressing their brakes at the wrong time. Those of you who are customising your car horns…those things can cause a heart attack

52

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • JANUARY 21, 2017

POLITY

Governors Forum: Fayose, Right Man for the Job, Says Ekweremadu Olaoluwakitan Babatunde

T

he Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has congratulated the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, on his emergence as the new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum.

Ekweremadu, who described

the Forum as an important group within the party, expressed confidence in the ability of Fayose to rally the governors elected on the platform of the party, theming PDP faithful, and supporters to hold the fort in opposition.

He said: “Governor Fayose is a strong voice in the opposition. He is an unapologetic PDP faithful and has the audacity, political sagacity,

and benefit of experience from his number of years as a Governor to provide quality leadership for the Forum. I, therefore, nurse no doubts that he is the right man for the job.

“However, I would like to see a greater synergy and understanding between our governors on one hand, and National Assembly Members of PDP extraction on the other hand, to avoid the usual need-

What GOtv Subscribers Should Expect on Big Brother Naija

G

Otv subscribers will, for the first time, be part of the exciting times on the hit reality show, Big Brother Naija.

The show, formerly known as Big Brother Nigeria, is making a return after a decade and will be aired on GOtv Plus channel 29 from today until 9 April. GOtv Value subscribers will also have the opportunity to watch highlights of the show on Africa Magic World, GOtv channel 10.

Big Brother Naija will feature 12

housemates selected after auditions in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

The housemates will perform a range of mental and physical tasks, and every week, the housemates will nominate other housemates for eviction. Every Sunday, the evicted housemate voted by the public will leave the Big Brother house, and at the end of the show, the housemate who has not been evicted will win a cash prize of N25million and a brand new KIA Sorento car.

The presenter of the show is former Big Brother Nigeria housemate,

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, and the voice of “Biggie” (Big Brother) will be Nigerian. As with all Big Brother shows around the world, the identity of Big Brother is a mystery and will remain so during and after the show.

During the course of the 78-day show, the housemates will be visited by various Nigerian personalities, including musicians and performers.

Big Brother Naija is an offshoot of globally successful Big Brother reality show. It debuted in Africa with the immensely popular Big Brother Africa.

less rivalry and mutual distrust that have hurt the party in the past” While commending the out-gone Chairman of the Forum, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State for his meritorious service to the party and his State, the Deputy President of the Senate urged the PDP faithful to remain strong and hopeful as the party would bounce back stronger and soon to lead the nation out of the current stinging economic hardship.

He said that having tasted two different puddings, Nigerians now know that despite PDP’s shortcomings and mistakes, which he said the party had also learnt from, it remains the only party with pan-Nigerian outlook, tolerance, liberal orientation, experience, and national appeal to manage the country.

He enjoined Governor Fayose and the PDP Governors Forum to revive PDP’s trademark grassroots mobilisation to assure the people that the party would emerge stronger to “restore economic prosperity, democratic rights, and sanctity of the ballot box”.

PHOTO NEWS

L-R: Chairman, Economic Summit Group, Mr. Kyari Abba Bukar; Deputy Managing Director, First Ally Capital Ltd. Mr. Obianlon Ohiwerei; Chairman, Top Services Ltd., Mr. Tokunbo Omisore; Chairman, First Ally Asset Management, Biodun Arokodare; and CEO, First Ally Capital, Mr. Ebenezer Olufowse, at the signing ceremony of Top Services Real Estate Investment, held in Lagos...recently PHOTO: Sunday Adigun

L-R: Managing Director, Eternity Services Limited, Mr. Tunde Makun; President, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Mr. Akani Oladiti; Baale, Marine Beach, Apapa, Lagos, Chief Joseph Ogunmola; Managing Director, Total Nigeria Plc, Mr. John -Philippe Torres; and Lagos State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Hyginus Omeje, at the inauguration of a new fleet of trucks in Lagos...recntly PHOTO: Biodun Ajala

L-R: Pastor, This Present House, Pastor Del Balogun; Executive Director, My Lagos Diaries, Mrs. Adeola Bali; Coordinating Manager, Freedom Foundation, Sola Bello; and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Freedom Foundation, Dr. Tony Rapu, at the media screening of ‘My Lagos Diaries’, held at Filmhouse Imax, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos... recently

L-R: UAC Restaurants Franchisee for Mr. Biggs Asaba, Mrs. Pauline Nwana; 3rd Prize winner for Lagos region with Samsung Galaxy tab, Mrs. Ogbu Ngozi Felicita; UAC Restaurants Franchisee for Mr. Biggs Broad Street, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olukogbon; and Marketing Manager, UAC Restaurants, Eustesia Ogunsusi, at the prize presentation of Mr. Biggs Stick a Stikka Campaign in Lagos...yesterday

53

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

NEWS

In Brief

'Rare Role Model' 100-year Monarch

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has described 100-year old Ohworode of Olomu Kingdom in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, HRM Ovie Richard Ogbon, Ogoni-Oghoro I, as a "rare model" who had been able toshoulderthehugeresponsibilityofthetraditionalofficeofaroyalfather for decades in amazing fashion. Okowa, who made the remarks at the monarch's centennial birthday celebration on Friday, said that only by divine grace could a king live so long and healthily despite the great burden of looking to the affairs of his people as the custodian of the people's customs and tradition. Okowa said, "This is a day of joy in Delta State and in our country, Nigeria. I congratulate all of you for this special blessing which can only come from God. For a King who has a lot of burden to carry to live up to hundred years is very rare to see; and, I believe that every day of your life, you will continue to press on for the ultimate crown. You must work consistently to ensure that you get the crown of glory on the last day; you are a role model to a lot people, including me."

Lawmaker Trains 50 Youths

ROYAL FELICITATION...

Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu (Left) congratulated by HRH, Igwe Greg Ugwu after conferring the chieftaincy title of Omereoha I of Attakwu Kingdom, Akegbe Ugwu, Enugu on the Senator, recently

Troops Kill 15 Boko Haram in Rann Attack Over 20 Children Injured in Rann Bombing as ICRC Team Cares for Victims Michael Olugbode inMaiduguru and Ibrahim Shuaibu inKano

The military yesterday said it killed 15 members of the Boko Haram sect attempting to attack Rann, headquarters of Kala Balge, Borno State, North East Nigeria.

This is as more than 20 children were injured in the air strike by Nigerian Air Force on internally displaced persons camp in Rann, the International Committee of the Red Cross

(ICRC) said on Friday.

According to the Commanding officer of the 3 Battalion, Rann, Lt. Col. Patrick Omoke, the insurgents came in two Hilux vehicles at about 5pm on Thursday.

The Commanding Officer, who showed the corpses of those killed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai that visited the town to sympathise with the people over Tuesday airstrike, that one of the insurgents was

captured alive.

He said one Hilux vehicle was seized by the troops as the insurgents fled in the second vehicle.

He said: "We engaged them for about 30 minutes," adding that: "The captured suspect says he speaks Shuwa Arab, the main language of the people of the area."

He noted that some of the Boko Haram killed by the troops also had improvised explosive devices (IEDs)

strapped to their bodies.

He said some of them appeared like foreigners from neighbouring African nations, perhaps Cameroon which is just eight kilometres from Rann.

The Army spokesman, Brig.

Gen. Sani Usman who accompanied the COAS to Rann, said the appearance of the slain Boko Haram confirmed the military position that most of the insurgents currently fighting were foreigners.

One Killed, Scores Injured at Pensioners Hopeful as FG's IPOB Rally for Trump, Kanu in Verification Exercise Ends P’Harcourt in Bayelsa Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt At least one person was killed and scores of supporters of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wounded yesterday as the pro-Biafra group defied security agencies and marched through major streets of Port Harcourt to celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America and also call for the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

However, the police have denied knowledge of the death of any IPOB protester. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO ), Nnamdi Omoni (DSP ), however said the police arrested 63 persons who participated in the illegal rally. He also said the police used intelligence it gathered before the protest to ensure that commercial activities were not crippled in the metropolis as planned by the IPOB protesters.

IPOB's spokesman, Emma Powerful, however alleged that no fewer than 11 members of the group were killed by security men during the rally.

A security source, who did not want to be mentioned, said

the shooting incident happened at about 10am along Aba Road by Okporo Road and Artillery junction when a joint team of security operatives shot at the advancing demonstrating youths in an attempt to disperse them, adding that the deceased and those injured were later carried away by security men.

IPOB members, drawn from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River Imo and some parts of Rivers State, who were clad in black, had converged on Aba Road with the aim of marching into Port Harcourt to celebrate the inauguration of Trump.

The protesters, who were also calling for the release of detained IPOB leader and director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and were carrying American, Israeli and Biafran flags and chanting "All we are saying, give us Biafra", marched through the streets towards the city centre.

The procession was very peaceful until hoodlums infiltrated the crowd and started harassing motorists and commuters, blocking an entire stretch of the dual-carriage Aba-Port Harcourt, as well as snatching handsets and handbags from commuters.

Emmanuel Addeh inYenagoa

Emergency health workers were on red alert yesterday as the federal civil service verification exercise meant to screen pensioners ended in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Some pensioners participating in the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), hailed the arrangement, describing it as “welcome”, especially if it would ensure better welfare for retirees.

Many pensioners in the country recently slumped and died at the venue of the verification following the unavailability of health services during emergencies.

Mrs. Cynthia Fred-Boufini, the Deputy Director, Bayelsa State Emergency Medical Services, said that the emergency services were stationed to avoid unnecessary loss of lives during the three-day event.

“We have had enough medical equipment that can take care of any emergencies or situations; we have government house clinic, where we can refer to any case that needs such attention.

“For the pensioners, we advised them not to stress themselves; those on medication should ensure that they maintain the intake of their drugs during the duration of the exercise” Fred-Boufini said.

Describing the exercise as "successful", Mrs. Ada Ugochukwu, Team Leader, Bayelsa Verification Team for Federal Civil Service Pensioners, assured that the screening was held to address challenges in the pension payroll.

According to Ugochukwu, apart from identifying ghost pensioners and putting a stop to fraudulent payments, it would facilitate the restoration of monthly pension payments to genuine pensioners.

“We had called on those who had not come out for the exercise to come with their all necessary documents, including original and photocopies of their relevant credentials for the exercise which had been taking place for three days,” she said.

The programme, according to PTAD officials who addressed the retirees was aimed at identifying genuine pensioners and those who had problems getting their monthly pensions.

Nofewerthan50youthsfromOhaozara/Onicha/Ivofederalconstituencyin EbonyiState,yesterday,commencedempowermentandsupporttraining on fish production. The youths are being trained by the Federal School of Fisheries and Marine Technology Lagos and facilitated by the House of Representatives member for the constituency who also is the House chairman on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, Hon. Linus Okorie.

The Youths are to receive training on how to rear consumable fish and also on how to produce different types of feeds. Declaring the training open, Okorie told the participants that the training was meant to enable them apply the knowledge in creating wealth for themselves. He said, "The country is changing and people need to eat.The country should produce what it eats and eat what it produces. Importation of fish is telling on the economy and now the government says we must feed ourselves. Even if we have all the food, we still need the safest protein which is fish. Since we produce considerable quantity of food in Ebonyi state, we are going to complement it with fish production so that we can attain self-sufficiency."

'Anyaoku at 84, Pride of Africa’

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has congratulated former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku on his 84th birthday describing the elder statesman as one ageing gracefully as the pride of Africa. He said Chief Anyaoku remained a model and an inspiration to the younger generation having done the nation, Africa and Ndi Igbo in particular proud in all ramifications. According to him, as the Secretary-GeneraloftheCommonwealth,ChiefAnyaokuacquittedhimself well and proved that given Africa the opportunity, they could offer the right direction to the entire world, stressing too that the Igbo were proud that Chief Anyaoku was one of their own. The governor remarked that the nation at the moment needed more leaders like Chief Anyaoku who had demonstrated unbridled patriotism and glaring love for the oneness and development of the nation at the expense of their personal comfort, noting that when the history of Nigeria, that of Africa and the world will be written, Chief Anyaoku would be accorded befitting chapters.

Ebonyi Holds LG Elections April 22

EbonyiStateIndependentElectoralCommission(EBSIEC)hasannounced that the commission would conduct local government elections in the state on April 22, 2017. Since the nullification of the local government elections held in 2013 by the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki on the use of open ballot system in 2015, the state Governor, David Umahi on assumption of office appointed 13 local government Caretaker Chairmen. While releasing the time table, the state chairman of EBSIEC, Mr. Josy Eze disclosed that commencement of electioneering campaigns by political parties had just started. However, before the release of the time-table and guidelines, the governor signed Ebonyi State Electoral law and related Matters, adopting Open secret ballot system. "If in the past, the commission had defaulted, we are going to address all issues.

Elections will be free and fair. We will offer level playing ground to all the political parties. Every vote counts. At the end of the elections, all the votes will be collated and announced. Justice must be clearly seen to be done. Our duty is to sensitise and not to mobilise for any political party”, EBSIEC chairman assured.

12 Persons Injured in Auto Crash

No fewer than 12 persons yesterday sustained serious injuries with two of them in critical condition in an accident at a spot near Ayegunle Oka along Owo-Ikare Road, Ondo State. The accident, which involved two Toyota Sienna commercial vehicles happened at about 4pm when the vehicles had a head-on collision when the driver of one of the vehicles was trying to overtake another vehicle at a sharp bend. Occupants of the two vehicles were however rescued from the wreckage by people who forced them open with sharp objects. However, two of the occupants were in critical conditions as they hardly could breathe with blood coming oozing out of their ears and noses. Others had fractures on their legs and hands, while two of them escaped unhurt. Attempt to speak with officials of the Federal Road Safety Corp was not successful.

200 Corpses for Mass Burial

Twohundredcorpsesinapublicmortuaryaretobegivenmassburialbythe AkwaIbomStategovernmentwithinthefirstquarteroftheyear,thestate Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong saidThursday.The Health Commissioner made the disclosure while defending the 2017 budget of his ministry indicating that the corpses were abandoned. According to him, the abandoned corpses were to be evacuated from the mortuary at Ikot Okoro General Hospital, Oruk Anam Local Government Area of the state, stressing that similar exercise was carried out by the ministry at Immanuel General Hospital, Eket LGA a year ago. He explained that almost all public hospitals where mortuary services were provided in the state were overloaded with abandoned corpses. The Health Commissioner attributed the high number of abandoned corpses at the public mortuaries on poor burial planning which, according to him, at times took their surviving relations between two to three years without fulfilling.

54

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

NewsXTRA

One Dead, 2 Injured Isaba in Ogbe-Ijoh Aladja Clash Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Aladja community in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State was yesterday turned into a theatre of war as the people of Isaba and Ogbe-Ijoh in Warri South West Local Government Area allegedly attacked Aladja community leaving one dead and several others injured.

A Vigilante, identified as Mr. Amama was allegedly shot dead while a Pastor identified as Apostle Jobome and a Mobile policeman stationed at Aladja were seriously injured.

Former President of Aladja community, Hon. Dennis Etabuko told Journalists last night that the attack by Isaba and Ogbe-Ijoh on Aladja started at about 3.20 p.m.

PDP Defectors Will Pay Political Price, Says Makarfi

CENTURY STRONG...

L-R: HRM Ovie Richard Ogbon, Ogoni-Oghoro I who is 100 years and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state at the centenial celebration of the Royal father... yesterday

N323bn Contract: House C’tee Orders Ministry to Produce Documentation for Rivers Road Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives has directed the Ministry of Niger Delta to submit all contractual agreements, procurement documents and financial details regarding the N323 billion contract for the dualisation of the East West Road, Rivers State.

The committee, at an investigative hearing with the officials of the Ministry yesterday, berated the officials for deliberately withholding the documents of the contract, particularly those related to fund releases, and outstanding payments, after claiming at an earlier meeting that the documents were ‘available’.

The officials were given a 48 hour ultimatum to submit all the requested documents, with 40 copies for each member of the committee, chaired by Hon. Kingsley Chinda (Rivers PDP).

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. William Nwankwo Alo, however told the committee members that the documents cannot be reproduced, in the time limit as the ministry does not have power supply.

"As I speak with you, there is no light in the ministry with which to reproduce the documents for you in 48 hours. We will therefore plead for two weeks, considering the volume of the documents you are asking for and their quality.

Akwa Ibom PDP to Recall Senator Nelson Effiong over Defection Okon Bassey in Uyo

Less than 20 hours after the Akwa Ibom State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Nelson Effiong defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC) the State Chapter of the PDP has vowed to recall the Senator through legal process.

The Party frowned at the defection of Senator Effiong to the APC describing the action as shocking and embarrassing to the party in the state.

The State Chapter of the party said it received with mixed feelings the announcement of the defection of Senator Effiong to APC emphasising of plans to commence the process of recalling the defected Senator from office.

The position of the party on the defected Senator was contained in a statement issued in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Capital on Thursday

and signed by the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Barrister Ini Ememobong The embattled Akwa Ibom Senator was quoted to have cited internal crisis and division at the national level of PDP as his reason for leaving PDP to APC saying, “any politician worth his salt will not stay back in a party that is sinking like the PDP. "The Senator who had been in the eye of the storm recently for his below par performance in and out of the Senate, cited the division at the National Level of the party as his reason for defecting. That any politician worth his salt will not stay back in a Party that is sinking like the PDP. "The State Chairman of the Party, Obong Paul Ekpo has directed the Legal department of our party to commence the process of recovering the mandate freely given to Nelson Effiong and manifestly mismanaged and corrupted by him.

"At about 3:20pm of on Friday 20th January, 2017 groups of persons from Isaba and Ogbe-Ijoh attacked Aladja with sophisticated weapons in a bid to overran the community.

"It took the intervention of the Mobile Policemen stationed at Aladja to avert a full blown war. In the process one our boys Mr. Amama was shot dead and Apostle Jobome an indigene of Aladja sustained bullet injuries", he added.

Commissioner of Police, Delta state, CP Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim said he was on his way to the warring communities to confirm the incident but a senior Police Office stationed between the communities confirmed that both communities were shooting in the bush of the disputed land.

It is not something we do in a hurry. We are not also expected to take government documents to commercial centers for production and reproduction," Alo said.

The Niger Delta Ministry was queried by the 2013 Audit report of Auditor General of the Federation, which, at the time of the report, questioned the over 50 per cent mobilisation paid to contractors, when only 24 per cent of the contract, had been executed.

At yesterday’s meeting, the committee also queried why the contractors had received N312 billion, with only N11 billion outstanding payment, when the projects are yet to be completed and handed over.

Alo, responding told lawmakers that the contract was now at 91 per cent completion.

The Committee Chairman, Chinda, however insisted that the time limit for the submission of the required documents remained 48 hours, particularly as the documents were already requested for by the committee, at an earlier meeting late 2016.

The Chairman added that the committee would conduct an assessment tour of the project for on the spot assessment, instead of just relying on the documents, which the ministry officials seem reluctant to release.

The hearing continues on Monday.

Onyebuchi Ezigbo inAbujaand Victor Ogunje inAdoEkiti

The Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi has warned members leaving to join the ruling All Progressives Congress that they would soon begin to regret their actions.

He warned that the PDP was going to take action to reclaim the seats of legislators who crossed to other parties because their claim of division in the party was erroneous.

Speaking at late night meeting of the leadership of the party, that of the Governors' Forum and the National Assembly caucus held at the private residence of the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose in Abuja, Makarfi assured that the PDP was not divided and that it would soon bounce back to reckoning.

This is as the Ekiti state government has hailed the appointment of Fayose, pointing out that the emergence of their governor was going to help put the dictatorial tendencies of President Muhammadu Buhari in check.

"May I use this opportunity to tell those who are running helter-skelter for one reason or the other and saying that they are cross-carpeting , that there is no division in the PDP. It is unfortunate but they will pay a political price for making such decision.

He said although it was painful to lose anybody but that it was a wrong decision taken by them, insisting that what was coming into the PDP was much larger than what may be contemplating leaving the party.

He disclosed that a meeting of enlarged national caucus of the opposition party would be held Thursday next week in Abuja to discuss a way forward for the party.

He said the leadership of the PDP fully endorsed the emergence of Governor Fayose as the new chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, adding that the party would work together with the chairman of the forum to provide more effective and focused leadership.

Makarfi said though it was the prerogative of the governors to appoint the chairman of their forum but as matter of keeping to tradition, the party was consulted.

Arms Deal: Protesters Demand Niger Delta Group Accuses Fayose's Arrest, Say Immunity Clark's PANDEF of Blackmailing not as Sacred as Human Lives Federal Government AdedayoAkinwalein Abuja

Protesters under the banner of Patriotic Mothers Without Borders on Friday besieged the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to demand the immediate probe and prosecution of the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose over his alleged involvement in the arms deal.

The group said though the governor enjoyed immunity, no Nigerian must be spared in the ongoing war against corruption , stressing that immunity was not as sacred as human lives.

The leader of the group, Ms. Nnnenna Jideofor stated that the reality was that people were unanimous in desiring that the anti-graft agencies must not lose the anti-graft war.

According to her, "there are deep running concerns in the land that the EFCC has been caged but we do not want to believe this. We do not want to accept that the EFCC is merely making a show of fighting corruption."

Jideofor stated that, "several develop-

ments contributed to the spread of this impression among Nigerians but our strong belief is that EFCC’s inability to do anything about the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, publicly known beyond every shadow of doubt to have been a key suspect in the theft of money meant for purchasing weapons to fight Boko Haram terrorists, is the leading cause.

"The Ekiti State Governor and his accomplices have blood on their hands in addition to taking public funds. They took part in stealing the money meant for buying arms to fight Boko Haram.

"The crippling of the military’s fighting capabilities as a result of this have made some women widows and children orphaned.

"What Nigerians are saying is that the EFCC can lose its cases against others that took part in the theft of the arms money simply on account that Fayose is being treated as one who is above the law thereby providing his collaborator with the excuse that the Ekiti state governor cannot be walking free as a direct beneficiary while they get punished as partakers.

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

An elite body, South South Reawakening Group (SSRG) yesterday berated the Chief Edwin Clark's led Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), accusing it of blackmailing President Muhammadu Buhari and the nation for the development of the Niger Delta region.

The group, in a statement signed by its Convener, Joseph Ambakederimo, said PANDEF's demands for the peace to reign in Niger Delta did not reflect the general wish of the people of the region.

"PANDEF is blackmailing the President and by extension they are blackmailing the rest of Nigeria. The President has spoken our minds in the SSRG, when he said the leaders of PANDEF are not trustworthy and we believe this is largely due to the antecedents of some of them and the pettiness that characterised the demands put forward by leaders of PANDEF during the meeting with the President.

"The demands certainly are not the aspirations of the people of the Niger Delta. If for anything the people in PANDEF have lost touch with reality on ground in the region", it added.

SSRG maintained that what was needed in the region was fresh thinking and new approach to tackle the crisis rocking the region.

It declared: "What we want in the region right now is fresh minds, fresh thinking, new approach and thinking out of the box. For instance you cannot ask an investor to put his or her money in a troubled and volatile environment no matter the level of persuasion.

"First we need to stop the incessant kidnapping, destruction of oil and gas facilities these must stop, and we move to sustain peace and renewed confidence. These are the only conditions on which any investor can have a rethink to relocate to the region once again full time, anything short of the stated conditions above would be like pouring water on the back of a duck", the group said.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •JANUARY 21, 2017

55

News

Jammeh Agrees to Vacate Office as WACSOF Urges Gambians to Protest Chineme Okafor inAbuja

The incumbent Gambia’s President Adama Barrow has confirmed that his predecessor Yahya Jammeh has agreed to step down and leave the country.

Barrow made the announcement on his Twitter handle after hours of talks aimed at persuading Jammeh to recognise the result of the presidential election held early last month.

The presidents of Guinea and Mauritania were locked in talks with Jammeh for hours yesterday negotiating his future.

The motorcade for the delegation of West African leaders was later seen leaving The Gambia's presidential residence, according to Reuters news agency.

It was not immediately clear if Mr. Jammeh was inside one of

the dozens of vehicles.

The man who once said he would rule The Gambia for a billion years is finally leaving.

He is thought to have been offered an amnesty deal, so that he will not face charges of human rights abuses. He had wanted to stay in The Gambia but this was not negotiable.

There have been suggestions he may now go to Guinea, although he has been offered asylum in Nigeria and it is thought Morocco has done the same.

Jammeh's term expired at midnight on Wednesday - but, while still president, he engineered a parliamentary vote to extend his presidency.

As Barrow has already been sworn in, the country could be said to have two presidents at the same time.

Ecowas said that its forces, from Senegal and other West African countries, had encountered no resistance after entering The Gambia.

After first accepting defeat in the election he reversed his position and said he would not step down. He declared a 90-day state of emergency, blaming irregularities in the electoral process.

The electoral commission accepted that some of its early results had contained errors but said they would not have affected Mr. Barrow's win.

Jammeh had said he would stay in office until new elections were held.

West African nations have deployed troops to The Gambia, threatening to force Jammeh out of office.

Barrow was sworn-in Thursday

in the neighbouring Senegal and has since been staying in the Gambian embassy.

His legitimacy as President has been recognised internationally, after he won December’s Presidential election.

Although leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had threatened to use military force against Jammeh, WACSOF however asked civil society organisations in the Gambia to galvanise citizens to complement ECOWAS’ efforts.

The Acting General Secretary of WACSOF, Mr. Auwal Musa who made this call on yesterday at a press briefing in Abuja on the situation in the Gambia, also requested governments of all countries across the world to stand against Jammeh and break all ties with his government.

Osinbajo Begins Role as Acting President Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterda started performing his role as the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari, before proceeding on 10 days medical vacation in the United

Trump’s Full Speech

Kingdom on Thursday had informed the National Assembly that Osinbajo would perform the duties of the President in his absence.

Osinbajo, who was in Davos, Switzerland when the President left the country returned to Nigeria on Thursday night.

After some engagements in Ibadan, Oyo State on Friday morning, Osinbajo returned to Abuja and perform some of his first functions as Acting President of Nigeria.

His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity posted in his twitter handle that Osinbajo

with every breath in my body. And I will never ever let you down.

America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.

We will follow two simple rules, buy American and hire American.

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example.

We will shine for everyone to follow.

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and reform the world against radical islamic terrorism which we will eradicate from the face of the earth. At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.

When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when god's people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue sold art. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

There should be no fear. We are protected and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected

by God. Finally, must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it.

The time for empty talk is over.

Now arrives the hour of action. Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail.

Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease and harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions. It's time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.

We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms. And we all salute the same great American flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed and speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad led dignitaries that attended the fidau prayer of Alhaja Amudalat Alake Olusesi in Ilorin, Kwara State yesterday.

Alhaja Olusesi, mother of the Managing Director and Editor- inChief of National Pilot Newspaper, Alhaji Billyamin Adedamola died last Saturday in Lagos at the age of 85.

The well attended fidau prayer was held at IMAN centre, New Yidi Road, Ilorin.

Saraki, who had earlier sent a condolence message to Adedamola was represented by a three-man delegation led by Hon. AbdulWahab

received updates on the situation in The Gambia.

Osinbajo, he said, also received some cabinet members on Friday.

The posting reads: "VP Osinbajo on return to Abuja receives update & briefings on the situation in Gambia & also briefings from a number of cabinet ministers."

of Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look at the same night sky. They fill their heart with the same dreams and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator.

So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words, you will never be ignored again.

Your voice, your hopes and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage, goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again.

We will make America safe again.

And yes, together, we will make America great again. Thank you. God bless you. And god bless America.

Thank you. God bless America.

MISSING DOCUMENT

THIS IS TO NOTIFY THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY REGISTERED AS NUMBER 80 AT PAGE 80 IN VOLUME 1985 AT THE LAND REGISTRY OFFICE AT ALAUSA IKEJA, LAGOS BEING THE TITLE DOCUMENT COVERING THE PROPERTY SITUATE AT AND KNOWN AS PLOT NO 242 BLOCK 14 AMUWO ODOFIN RESIDENTIAL SCHEME BELONGING TO ALHAJI JIMOH RAMONU IS MISSING. LAND REGISTRY ALAUSA IKEJA, LAGOS STATE PLEASE TAKE NOTE SIGNED: WALTER OBIAJULU (MR)

Omotise.

Governor Ahmed was represented by his Information commissioner, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe while the speaker of the state house of assembly was represented by Lukman Adam.

Other dignitaries that attended the prayer included the Special Adviser on political matters, Alhaji Usman Ajape, Professors Hassan Salihu, Badmas Lanre Yusuf, a former Grand Khadi, Justice Solihu Mohammed and chairman, Kwara State council of NUJ, Biodun AbdulKareem.

The Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheik Muhammad Bashir Solihu, who led other Islamic Scholars at the prayer session, described the deceased as an exemplary figure.

'Mamacare Programme Improved 200,000 Lives in one Year' Ugo Aliogo

Cont’d from Pg.6

but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealised potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. We are one nation and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams and their success will be our success.

We share one heart, one home and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we have enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidised the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.

We have defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own. And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

But that is the pass and now we are looking only to the future.

We assemble here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city in every foreign capital and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.

From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first.

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.

Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you

Saraki, Ahmed, Others Eulogise National Pilot MD's Mother

As part of its drive to improve antenatal care and assist women from pregnancy to child birth and beyond, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa has improved the lives of 200,000 people in one year.

The founder of the foundation and the Wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, who spoke in Lagos yesterday during a courtesy visit to the Medical Clinic of Brigade 9, Ikeja Cantonment, noted that through the mamacare antenatal education classes, they educate women about their bodies and babies.

She added that the classes which were delivered in military hospitals

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as FALODUN SUNDAY OLUSOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as OLUSOLA SUNDAY SAMUEL. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MICHELLE ADA ENEKOLE ADOLE, now wish to be known and addressed as ENEKOLE MICHELLE ADA MARK. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OMAMEGBE EMESOMHI COMFORT, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS COMFORT OMAMEGBE UMOLU. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OGEH JOSEPHINE UYOYO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS UGWA JONATHAN JOSEPHINE. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as AMADI OHAKWE EUCHARIA OLUWABUKOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as OLUWABUKOLA ELIKOR OHAKWE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as EKETAN MOROMOKE OLADELE, now wish to be known and addressed as MAJEKODUNMI MOROMOKE OLADELE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as OYEKUNLE-OYEBISI ODUNITAN now wish to be known and addressed as OYEKUNLE-OYEBISI RASIDAT also my date of birth was wrongly written as 25th of September 1990 instead of 25th September 1991. All documents remain valid, GTBank and the general public should please take note.

in Lagos and Kwara States deploy skilled midwives at no cost to military families in order to provide them education and support about their health from birth to age.

“At present, we have reached over 350 military spouses each week, but we are determined to scale this programme across Nigeria for the benefit of civilians and service people alike.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as MISS ITHENAYE BLESSING LOVELYN, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BLESSING ITHENAYE NDUKA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as EVELYN IFUNAYA AUNOBI, now wish to be known and addressed as EVELYN IFUNAYA ABANOBI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OLUSEYI OLUSEUN ADENIKE ADENUGA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OLUSEYI OLUSEUN ADENIKE WILLIAMS. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OMAMEGBE EMESOMHI COMFORT, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS COMFORT OMAMEGBE UMOLU. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as OLAREWAJU OLAYINKA, now wish to be known and addressed as OLAREWAJU OKIKIOLA OLAYINKA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

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I formerly known and addressed as TRACY UJU NWAWULU, now wish to be known and addressed as TRACY UJU NWAWULU EGEONU. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

TR

Saturday, January 21, 2017

UT H

& RE A S O

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Price: N250

MISSILE PDP to Military

The military must excuse itself from the ruling party’s propaganda and deceit of scoring cheap political points and concentrate more on the job of really wiping off the insurgency in the North-East.”

– The opposition Peoples Democratic Party chastising the military’s accidental bombing of Rann Internal Displace Persons’ camp in Borno State.

PENDULUM Dele Momodu

dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com

A Week of International Diplomacy “Every person in Ghana, whatever his race, place of origin, political opinion, colour, religion, creed, or gender, shall be entitled to the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual contained in this chapter but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for public interest…”

–The Ghanaian Constitution, Section 12 (2)

F

ellow Nigerians, let me apologise for my sudden absence from this page last week.

It is not in my character to abdicate my responsibility at any time and if I do so at all, you can be sure that it must be with cogent reason. I’m actually totally addicted to writing Pendulum but my itinerant existence sometimes gets in the way and I’m not able to fulfil all righteousness to you. Last week was one such exceptional occasion that I just couldn’t do anything about. By the time you read the article I started on our flight to Banjul last week in the company of eminent ECOWAS leaders past and present, you will understand and appreciate why I couldn’t deliver. Please, forgive me… In the meantime, let me continue where I left off last time.

Fellow Africans, as I was saying last week (a couple of weeks ago now), the former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has decided to retire to his farmlands in the Akosombo area, about one hour from Accra by road. I had worked closely with him in the last couple of months and discovered a leader who was not desperate for power but passionate about developing his country at the speed of light.

No challenge was too big for him to tackle.

It was as if he knew he had little time to do the gigantic projects he had embarked on – a mere four years!

He was bold and courageous in his decisions and execution. He did not play the game of typical politicians who would lie through the teeth just to grab votes by all means. He would later suffer the consequences of not speaking the political language despite being a consummate communicator in his real life. He offended the unemployed youths by not promising to give them jobs that would never come unless certain infrastructural projects were in place.

He would not borrow money to pay certain personal allowances that would have endeared him to selfish interests. However what he was prepared to do was that he would rather ensure the roads were tarred, the airports were upgraded to international standards without disrupting normal activities and modern and well-equipped hospitals where doctors and nurses and others can be gainfully employed were built. For him development was not stomach infrastructure but the electrification of Ghana including the rural areas, industrialisation of Ghana by resuscitating moribund and comatose industries, and such similar large program development projects.

What is more, JDM, as we fondly call him, is a true pan-Africanist who threw the doors of Ghana open to all Africans, particularly Nigerians.

I found his affection for Nigeria and Nigerians, and his great respect for our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, most refreshing. His was not a non-productive competition or bickering against Nigeria and Nigerians. He grew up in Kano when his great dad, a Ghanaian politician in the Nkrumah days, was forced into exile.

Mahama has fond memories of Nigeria and has made many friends along the way.

He awarded a great and enigmatic Nigerian businessman, Dr Mike Adenuga Jnr., the Globalcom Chairman, the highest civilian National Honour in Ghana. Under his leadership, he

President Yahya Jammeh with Dele Momodu last week in Banjul gave us access to his developmental projects and Ovation International became a veritable part of his media campaign. Our team worked assiduously to showcase his phenomenal infrastructure projects which were previously under publicised for whatever reasons. It was a work that brought us into collision with some powerful forces but we were determined to promote one of the few great leaders doing wonderful things in Africa. We did what we had to do not just because of the elections but mainly because we saw it as an opportunity to permanently record the gargantuan efforts of a true patriot. Mahama’s simplicity is truly infectious. It made our task even simpler. He performed his duties without fuss, and almost effortlessly. He made us proud as Africans.

Just as he feels very much at home with Nigerians, he regards all Africans as one and is committed a united and democratic Africa comprising African States that look out for one another and champion each other’s causes.

Despite the unexpected outcome of the Presidential election, JDM was never grumpy.

In fact he comforted those of us who felt sad at the results letting us know that that it was the will of God and certainly not the end of the world. His cheerful disposition lifted the initial gloom around our team and we subsequently held our heads up high because of the great work that we had all done. JDM bore the loss with uncommon equanimity and chose to hand over power and move on quietly with his life when he could very easily have taken the long road and either manipulated the election results or challenged their validity. But it has not been as simple as that and the solitude, anonymity and relaxation that he craved have been taken away from him.

In the last couple of weeks, JDM has started what looks like a new assignment, foisted on him

by ECOWAS and our President, Muhammadu Buhari. Two days after leaving office, JDM was invited to join a few African leaders from Senegal and Liberia in Abuja. Their purpose

was to discuss ways of resolving the logjam in The Gambia following the decision by former President Yahya Jammeh to renege on his previous laudable acceptance of defeat and congratulations to the victor, President Adama Barrow. I was pleasantly surprised when JDM invited me along on the trip even though he knew I was desperate to return to Nigeria to deal with urgent business and personal matters.

For me it was a call to service and I knew it was imperative for me to make some personal sacrifices if it meant I could help in some way.

I saw it as a vote of confidence in me by JDM. Though we had succeeded in establishing some enviable chemistry, I still did not know the extent of our relationship. He had spent two days in Lagos last December and attended the Ovation Carol at Eko Hotel Convention Centre. I found it ironic that it would take JDM inviting me to my own country for me to enter the Aso Rock Presidential villa again.

That is another story for another day, anyway.

It did not end there. Following the deliberations in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari, for the second time in a week, invited JDM and a few other leaders to join him in Banjul to broker a peace deal with the former strongman of The Gambia, Yahya Jameh. Again, JDM also invited me along. In fact, I began writing this piece on the plane, on our way to picking the President of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in a country where I was gowned nearly ten years ago and was given the Chieftaincy title of The Kiazolu of Grand Cape Mount County…

This was the point at which I stopped writing in the hope that I would complete the article on our return journey. But The Gambia proved a naughty nut to crack. Right from the airport, it was obvious President Yahya Jammeh had no plans to quit power. After a meeting between Presidents Buhari, Sirleaf and Mahama, they decided to head to Jammeh’s Palace. When we got there, he came out to welcome them before they all retired behind closed doors. When they

emerged from their meeting, he saw them off again. We headed back to the hotel earlier used and that was when the leaders decided to meet with the then President-elect of The Gambia, President Adama Barrow. News later came that neither opposition nor government had agreed on anything tangible and a press conference was arranged and addressed by Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, who should be credited for creditably coordinating the elaborate peace initiatives deftly and adroitly. He was a picture of charm, calm and diplomacy and he made me proud to see a Nigerian Minister who clearly knew what he was doing and who succeeded in doing it well to the admiration of all.

Once the negotiations collapsed, it then became a matter of “to thy tents Oh Israel.”

We headed back to the airport. Adama Barrow and a few others, including the Chief Justice of the Gambia, Nigeria’s own Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, and his wife, joined us on the trip to Liberia where Madam Sirleaf disembarked with Barrow. I did not realise the significance of the presence of the Chief Justice on our return trip until this Thursday when everything clicked into place as the Chief Justice swore in President Adama Barrow at the Gambian Embassy in Senegal.

By the time we got to Monrovia, a second time on the same day, it was too late for me to finish Pendulum. But in view of the Gambian debacle and the failure of diplomacy that was the least of my concerns. What was uppermost in my mind was the peace that had eluded a once tranquil nation known for its beaches and as a great tourist attraction and I was truly sad. Unknown to me then, the only option left was to swear in President Barrow on foreign soil which has now transpired and then return him to the Gammbia with the aid of oreign troops including Nigerian soldiers and Air Force which is ongoing. The rest is now history.

Before we left The Gambia, I had tried to check the mood of President Jammeh by chatting briefly with him. I had known and met him a couple of times since the year 2000 when we were invited by Ms Isha Tejan Cole to establish Ovation’s presence in Banjul. Jammeh and his beautiful wife were very receptive at the time with their popularity rating still high enough. I never expected him not to quit while the ovation was still a bit loud. The Jammeh I spoke to last week Friday was a shadow of himself. He was not as confident and assertive as he used to be. He appeared jumpy and fidgety. Like a thief whose hand has been caught in the cookie jar. As we shook hands and I left him, I could not but remember the proviso to section 12(2) of the Ghanaian Constitution that I have cited above in so far as it relates to “respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for public interest …”. I was seriously convicted and compelled to pray that God would mercifully rescue the good people of The Gambia from the ambition of one man who failed to realise that he must properly respect the rights and freedom of his people to freely choose any leader that they want and the attendant public interest in doing so. Yahya Jammeh should have known that whatever has a beginning must have an end. Thai is the simple lot of Man. It is my fervent hope that it does not end in tragedy for him and that he will indeed quit today as he now seems to be saying having seen the noose tightening around his neck! God let wisdom and uncommon sense prevail! Amen

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