Issuu

FG to Open Bid Rounds for 30 Marginal Oil Fields, Invites Local Players Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that the federal government would soon open bids to concession 30 marginal oil fields in the country. The corporation stated this

in a statement from its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu in Abuja. The statement noted that NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, spoke on the marginal fields while hosting members of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) led by its chairman,

Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, at the NNPC Towers. At the meeting, Baru urged members of the IPPG to participate in the forthcoming bid rounds for the 30 marginal oil fields. He also urged them to take advantage of the low crude oil price regime to develop their capacity and acquire technology in the oil industry.

Baru, stated that there was a lot of opportunities in the marginal fields which would soon be available, urging the IPPG to work hand-in-hand with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to ensure that they met the conditions that would be required from bidders. "The marginal oil field lease

renewal is an opportunity for your group. You will need to engage the DPR early in discussion to find out the conditions that the federal government is interested in. For example, the supply of gas to power plants and fertilizer plants and I think your group will be successful," said Baru. He also tasked the IPPG

members to ramp up their collective production from 10 per cent of national production to 50 per cent in the next 10 years in order to increase the footprint of indigenous companies in the upstream sub-sector as is the case in the downstream sector. Continued on page 8

Samsung Chief Gets 5-Year Prison Term for Corruption ...Page 8 Saturday 26 August, 2017 Vol 22. No 8164 Price: N250

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FG Asks Court to Revoke Nnamdi Kanu's Bail UN human rights experts urge arrest of peddlers of hate messages, quit notice Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Alex Enumah in Abuja The Federal government has

approached the Abuja division of the Federal High Court for an order seeking to revoke the bail granted the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People

of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. On the same day, a group of United Nations human rights experts called on the federal government to take decisive

step to deal with those behind hate speech, incitement and quit notices. The request to revoke Kanu’s bail was premised on the grounds

that the defendant had flagrantly violated all the conditions attached to his bail. In a release by Special Adviser, Media and Publicity

to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Salihu Isiah, the Federal Continued on page 8

Buhari: Some Groups in London Said I Should Go Home, Indeed, I’m Back

Meets governors, PDP, APC leaders Says Osinbajo deployed his intellect to effectively govern Nigeria Opposition not synonymous with antagonism, hostility Fayose fails to show up to see the man he claimed was on life support

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja For the first time since he returned to Abuja from his medicals in the United Kingdom, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja humorously commented on the protest staged against his stay in London by some Nigerians in that country, saying “Indeed, I have come back home.” Buhari who spoke while hosting the governors of the 36 states of the federation in the State House said: “Some groups in London came and sang the national anthem and asked that I should go back home. Indeed, I have come back home. I hope those who went there (United Kingdom) are not stuck there; that they will come back and join us. "Those that are stuck there with the Brexit, I hope they have Continued on page 8

Balogun, Ladoja, Others to Become Kings Tomorrow, WE ALL PRAYED FOR YOUR RECOVERY… Says Ajimobi R-L: President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; the APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun and Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Ahmed Makarfi during a courtesy visit by APC and PDP officials to the President at the State House ...yesterday … Page 10

Senator Misau Accuses IGP of Pocketing N10bn Monthly from Oil Companies and Banks… Page 10

T H I S D AY SATURDAY AUGUST 26, 2017

T H I S D AY, T H E S AT U R D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ˜ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

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STATE OF THE STATES… President Muhammadu Buhari with state governors who paid him a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa , Abuja …yesterday

GODWIN OMOIGUI

Samsung Chief Gets 5-Year Prison Term for Corruption A South Korean court has found Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chief of the sprawling Samsung business empire, guilty of bribery and other corruption charges.

Lee, the billionaire son of Samsung's ailing chairman, was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday, well short of the 12-year sentence prosecutors had sought.

The criminal conviction is a blow for Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker and South Korea's biggest family-run conglomerate whose businesses are

estimated to account for around 15% of the country's entire economy. The so-called "trial of the century" has gripped South Korea for months.

BUHARI: SOME GROUPS IN LONDON SAID I SHOULD GO HOME, INDEED, I’M BACK weighed the implications that it won't affect them including those that have properties there. Those who are not paying tax here, I hope when they sell their properties there, they will bring some of the money here. We need it very badly here.” One notable figure absent at the governors’ meeting with Buhari yesterday was Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, a staunch critic of the President and his party, the APC. He also failed to send a representative. It would have been a sight to behold, especially if he had exchanged pleasantries with the President whom he claimed was on life support machine during his medicals in London. In his reaction to THISDAY enquiry as to why he was absent, Fayose pointedly stated "My position remains sacrosanct. I can't be part of a make believe. I have said it unequivocally that President Buhari is sick and tired. He doesn't have to be President when his health can no longer carry him. He has become a shield for some cabal that has continuously taken away the right of Nigerians. A leader of an authoritarian government without focus, who only wants power for vendetta. I am not a sycophant. Why and what will be my business in the Villa to further encourage a make believe?" He queried. The President also used the opportunity of his meeting with the governors to shower praises on Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, saying he deployed the opportunities of his age and intellect to effectively govern the country while he was away. He said the commitment of the vice-president was commendable. Buhari said he was so impressed by Osinbajo’s performance while watching him on the television and was compelled to invite him

to personally thank him for his services. “I was seeing him 24 hours on NTA. I congratulated him and I allowed him to come and see me to thank him personally for what he has done.” He also said his morale was boosted by the love shown to him by Nigerians irrespective of their religious and ethnic backgrounds. "I'm very happy with the national prayers. It was very well covered and reported. Across religions and ethnicity, people were praying. I thank you very much. My morale was raised greatly by the love shown to me and the security of the country," Buhari said. The President thanked the visiting governors whom he said pleased him by their performances. He said: "I heard so much information about the states. I am very pleased with the states. You are all doing your best and you are lucky, your best is proving to be good enough on agriculture and solid minerals. You are succeeding in agriculture because I think people cannot afford foreign food. The President said further stated that the current depreciation in the value of the Naira was not the design of his government and would take sometime to correct it, adding that the situation could not be changed overnight. "The valuation of the Naira is not our making. It may not favour us but it will take some time; it is something we cannot change. Some people were asking me if we should be more strict on the borders… but I want to thank God, last year and this year are better than what it used to be. Whereas an informed source had disclosed on Wednesday that the governors planned to use the opportunity of the visit to appeal to the president to grant approval

for the release of the last tranche of London-Paris Club fund, a key figure in the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), told THISDAY yesterday that there was no time to discuss such matter. The meeting lasted for only about 25 minutes. Also yesterday, President Buhari hosted members of the executive committees of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State House, who came to welcome him after 103 days of medical vacation in London. In his address, the President said opposition in a democracy did not imply enmity, hostility or antagonism but rather a vibrant and responsible platform. According to him, the visit of both party leaders simultaneously was an expression of the unity of Nigeria, adding that the situation also showed that the nation's democracy was maturing. Buhari, who further said he was glad to see the leaders, asked them to convey his gratitude to citizens in their respective states who prayed for his recovery as he enjoined them to keep praying for the prosperity of the country. "I thank you sincerely, collectively and individually for finding time from your busy schedules to come all the way to Abuja and welcome me back home. This visit signifies the unity of Nigeria. It is not a party occasion. It is not a political gathering. It is a symbol of our national unity. It is also an expression of the maturity of our democracy. "Multi-party democracy is a very tried and tested form of government. Opposition does not mean hostility, enmity or antagonism. Democracy needs opposition, one which is vibrant but responsible.

"I am very pleased to see you assembled here all shades of opinion in Nigeria. Please convey to our countrymen and women in your respective states my deep gratitude to all those who prayed for my recovery. I am imploring all Nigerians to continue praying for peace and prosperity in Nigeria," he said. In his remark, National Caretaker Chairman of the PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, said despite being in opposition, members of the PDP did not fail to pray for the recovery of the president when he was on medical vacation because they knew that the nation's health was also connected to that of the president. Makarfi who said opposition was not synonymous with madness, added that the party would play its own opposition role "energetically, vibrantly, but very decently and with all sense of responsibility," assuring that this would be done "by giving you a good run for your money and constantly keeping you on your toes as we all strive to make this country better." Pledging the party's cooperation with the President, Makarfi who said PDP lawmakers were already cooperating with their APC counterparts in the National Assembly as well as in the National Economic Council (NEC), said they would continue to cooperate with his government in any programme sincerely designed for the progress of the nation. He tasked the president to build institutions with the capacity to sustain the progress of the country by guaranteeing the independence of notable institutions in the country, so that they can operate freely without interference and consequently making them credible. Continued on page 10

FG TO OPEN BID ROUNDS FOR 30 MARGINAL OIL FIELDS, INVITES LOCAL PLAYERS According to him, the corporation was passionate about collaborating with the indigenous producers in order to grow their capacity and participation in the exploration and production subsector in line with government’s local content policy. NNPC, he added, was very proud of them and was looking forward to a time when about 90 per cent of upstream operations in

the country would be controlled by them. Baru, applauded members of the group for their productive community engagement which had stemmed the incidence of pipeline sabotage along the Trans Forcados Pipeline and enjoined them to extend similar gesture to the communities around the other crude oil lines to help stabilise national production.

According the statement, Adeyemi-Bero, in his earlier remarks, said the group was made up of 25 active indigenous producers. He noted that they were driven to support the 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFA) of the current management of NNPC and the Seven Big Wins of the government. Adeyemi-Bero lauded the government for initiating the Joint

Venture cash call exit programme, stressing that the move would bolster their activities in the upstream sub-sector. The IPPG was formed a year ago with the mandate to promote and advance the collective interest of members in a coordinated manner as a unified advocacy platform for government policies in the upstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry.

"The public is disappointed that this kind of large-scale crime caused by cozy relations between politics and business still happens - it's not in the past but remains a reality,"

Judge Kim Jin-dong said in court. He also laid some of the blame on Park, saying the former president made "aggressive demands" of Samsung.

FG ASKS COURT TO REVOKE KANU'S BAIL government is seeking for the revocation of Kanu's bail and to have him in custody pending the determination of his trial. Some of the grounds the Federal government is seeking the revocation of bail are: That the offence for which he is standing trial is not ordinarily bailable; that among other conditions for the bail of the 1st defendant is that he should not be seen in a crowd exceeding 10 people; that he should not grant any interviews, hold or attend any rallies; that he should file in court medical updates of his health status every month; that rather than observing all of the conditions listed above, the 1st defendant in flagrant disobedience to the court order flouted all conditions of the bail. The federal government further stated that the first defendant had in furtherance to the offence he was charged, inaugurated Biafra Security Service, adding that such an act is a grave threat to national security and unity of the country. Justice Binta Nyako granted Kanu the bail to enable him attend to his ailing health. In granting the bail, Justice Nyako had ordered that Kanu must never be seen in a crowd of more than 10 people and should not grant any press interviews nor hold rallies. "The first defendant Nnamdi Kanu has appealed to the court for bail based on health grounds and it is only the living that can stand trial. So I am minded to grant him bail so that he can attend to his health and face his trial alive", she said then. Kanu, Onwudiwe Chidiebere, Banjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi were arraigned by the federal government on an eleven count charge bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony and illegal possession of firearms amongst others. Justice Nyako struck out six out of the 11 count amended charge filed against the defendants on grounds that the charges lack competence. The United Nations human rights said Nigeria had witnessed a spate of inciting hate messages since a coalition of Arewa Youth groups issued a quit notice to Nigerians of Igbo extraction living in the North by October 1, claiming it was in reaction to the separatist activities of IPOB. In a statement issued yesterday

in Geneva, three UN experts urged the federal government to also take immediate steps to arrest those behind the quit notice and a song that seeks to disparage the Igbos. The statement was signed by Mr. Mutuma Ruteere, Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance; Mr. Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, and Ms. Anastasia Crickley, Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The UN experts said any incidents of hate speech and incitement to violence had to be investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted and punished. “This includes the people behind the ultimatum and those responsible for the creation, publication and circulation of the hate song and audio message,” they added. An ultimatum telling Nigeria’s Igbo minority in the north of the country to flee their homes is of “grave concern”, they warned. The experts also deplored a hate song and audio message being circulated on the internet and on social media. The Hausalanguage audio message urges northern Nigerians to destroy the property of Igbo people and kill anyone who refuses to leave by 1 October, the same date given in the ultimatum. “We are gravely concerned about this proliferation of hate messages and incitement to violence against the Igbo and their property, especially considering the previous history of such violence,” the experts said. “The Government must be vigilant, as hate speech and incitement can endanger social cohesion and threaten peace by deepening the existing tensions between Nigeria’s ethnic communities.” The human rights experts noted that some local and national figures, as well as some media representatives, had publicly denounced any form of hate speech and incitement, but said other officials still needed to follow suit. “We are deeply concerned that some prominent local leaders and elders have not condemned the ultimatum, hate speech and the perpetrators,” the experts stressed.

AUGUST 26, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

RingTrue

07013940521 yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

Yemi

Adebowale

Letter to President Muhammadu Buhari (IV)

y dear President Buhari, I welcome you back from your medicals in the United Kingdom and sincerely hope that you are as fit as a fiddle as we have been made to understand. This idea of working from home, following the alleged mutilation of your office by rats, leaves me bemused. Nevertheless, I was glad when you said you were monitoring developments in Nigeria throughout your 103 days abroad. As a result, I thought you would have deeply reflected on the challenges at home and swiftly effect changes in many areas in order to pull back our great nation from the precipice. Eight days after your arrival, I am yet to see any signal in this direction. When you departed for your medicals, this country was experiencing an unprecedented division. Our fault lines were wide open. You stoked these fault lines with your lopsided appointments and “why should I treat them equally’ statement. By the time you returned, things had assumed a frightening dimension, with some misguided youths even threatening Igbos in the North with a ludicrous quit notice. The truth that must be told is that this country has never been this divided. My dear President, you must take practical steps to patch this division. You have to concretely show that you are a father to all in order to halt this slide and entice everyone to you. This, you have not done in the last eight days. As a first step, I would like to see a fair representation of every part of this country in the top hierarchy of federal departments and agencies to assuage marginalised sections of the country. Please, let’s start seeing eggheads from the South East heading strategic federal departments and agencies. Mr. President, it is pertinent to reiterate that the changes you promised in many areas are yet to manifest. One of such is the faltering war against Boko Haram. I am sure that you monitored stories on the killing of 69 oil explorers and soldiers in Borno State few weeks back. You must have also monitored how the terrorists boldly showed the video of 14 women abducted in Dalwa village on June 20. Boko Haram has spent the better part of this month attacking Konduga and Madagali, with dozens of people killed. The continuous voter registration in the entire Madagali Local Government has been suspended due to the attacks. Many are worried by the spate of suicide bombings in Borno State and the failure of government to curtail the terrorists. The University of Maiduguri has also been repeatedly attacked. In the last seven months, these terrorists have attacked the university nine times, killing innocent people, including a professor of veterinary medicine, Aliyu Usman Mani. Never in the history of this institution has this much pain been inflicted on its staff and students. Tales from other towns and villages in Borno State are not palatable. The terrorists are everywhere. This is why millions of IDPs in many camps across Borno State can’t return to their homes. These towns and villages are still not safe. Mr. President, clearly, the situation in the North East is not getting better. Under your watch, thousands of innocent Nigerians have been killed in the last two years by Boko Haram. It is pertinent to rejig the military leadership in charge of this war. They have to make way for others with fresh ideas. It is also germane to make the welfare of soldiers on the war front a priority. They are at present getting a poor deal from their commanders. Still on welfare of our soldiers, Mr. President, you need to call for the files of the 38 soldiers illegally dismissed by the military authorities last year. There is a deliberate delay in transmitting the appeals of these innocent officers to you.

Buhari

Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers, ritual killers and armed robbers are still ravaging the nation. There is hardly any state immune to any of these evils. Nigerians are living in fear. We are daily assaulted by wellcoordinated gangs of kidnappers, armed robbers and herdsmen. Mr. President, I am sure that you monitored the story of those hapless Lagos pupils that spent over two months in the den of kidnappers. Parents and relatives had to pay N30 million to secure their release. On Tuesday, former minister of labour, Hussaini Akwanga was abducted in his farm in Nasarawa

State. So many other Nigerians without “big names” are abducted daily across our country and forced to pay ransom. Some are even killed in the process. Our security agencies have been lethargic in their response to these challenges. Whether it is the menace of kidnapping, armed robbery or rampaging herdsmen, the truth is that our security agents can no longer adequately protect lives and property, not only because they are ill-equipped, but also because of the high level of ineptitude in these organisations. The police and the DSS require total overhaul, if we genuinely need appropriate response to these security challenges. Mr. President, there is a legion of sycophants around you who are persistently telling you that you are doing well. Don’t be deceived. These people are just out to protect their meal tickets. Infrastructures across the nation are in shreds. The economy is still very much in tatters, with frightening unemployment figures, dwindling industrial capacity utilisation and inflation hovering around 17 per cent. Hunger, disease, poverty, unemployment and malnutrition are ravaging our land. Hundreds of Nigerians are losing jobs daily, no thanks to the recession in our nation. This week, the National Bureau of Statistics confirmed how no fewer than 8,663 banks’ employees lost their jobs in the first half of 2017. A large army of unemployed youths is a time bomb. It is gradually exploding in form of rising crime rate. On your war against corruption, Mr. President, I am not sorry to say that you have been struggling to build Ibrahim Magu, instead of building an institution truly committed to the war against corruption. The EFCC regularly bungle a number of high profile cases due to

the faintness of this organisation. If you don’t carry out an urgent surgery in the entire institution, this war will largely remain rhetoric and a battle against opposition. This institution called EFCC has to be truly independent for it to actualise its mandate. For now, it remains an appendage of the Executive. On the flip side, I am horrified by your persistent medical trip abroad. Since you clearly stated that taxpayers’ money would not be used to pay for foreign medicals of public servants, I hope this will be your last medicals abroad. As a reminder, you announced in April 2016 that your administration would no longer provide allowances for medical trips by government officials, unless the case can’t be handled in Nigeria. You stated this at the opening ceremony of the 56th Annual General Conference of the Nigeria Medical Association in Sokoto State. Health Minister, Isaac Adewole, who represented you said: “The government will not encourage medical tourism with the nation’s resources. While this administration will not deny anyone of his or her fundamental human rights, we will certainly not encourage expending Nigerian hard-earned resources on any government official seeking medical care abroad, when such can be handled in Nigeria.” We have not been told what your current health challenge is, but with focused investment in equipment and manpower by you, I doubt if there is any health challenge that can’t be handled in this country. Mr. President, please, reflect on the recent statement of the Nigeria Medical Association, advising you to upgrade medical facilities in our dear nation to the standards obtainable in the United Kingdom instead of persistently going there for treatment. Please, don’t take upbraids in this letter personal. I am out to challenge you to raise your game in the interest of the country. I simply want you to rise above ethnic and religious sentiment and act as the father of the entire nation, to move Nigeria forward.

The Fallacy About Police Permit to Protest in London Some members of the Buhari band have been creating an erroneous impression on the social media that the protest against Buhari in London last week would not have taken place without the approval of the London Police. One even remarked that “those saying police approval is not required to protest in Nigeria need to know that even in developed societies, an approval is required to protest.” This is a fallacy. The police approval is not the source of the right to protest in the United Kingdom and other developed societies. The source of the right to protest in these countries is the constitution and it is a fundamental right. Refusal of the police to grant the request to protest (which is rarely done) would not mean that a protest would not go on. In these sane societies, police approval is usually sought for protection, particularly to manage disruption by counter-protesters. Even when it is obvious that a protest would likely be violent, approval to protest would still be granted by police in developed societies and preemptive security arrangement put in place. A good example is the protest against capitalism at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July 2005. Scottish police granted approval and took proactive steps to avert violence. Nevertheless, the protesters damaged business premises, attacked policemen and caused chaos on the transport network in Central Scotland. Vehicles, banks and a Burger King restaurant on the Springkerse retail park in Stirling were attacked. Scottish police decently battled them without killing anybody and restored order. Article 11 of the UK Human Rights Act passed in 1998 affirms that the right

to peaceful assembly cannot be interfered with merely because there is disagreement with the views of the protesters or because it is likely to be inconvenient and cause a nuisance or there might be tension and heated exchange between opposing groups. It states further that there is a positive obligation on the State to take reasonable steps to facilitate the right to freedom of assembly, and to protect participants in peaceful demonstrations from disruption by others. In Nigeria, the fundamental right to protest without any police approval has been affirmed (courtesy of Buhari) by our courts and should be respected by all. Recall that Buhari was harassed by the Police on September 22, 2003 while holding a protest (without police approval) against alleged rigging of the 2003 general election. Police justified the disruption with a claim that Buhari did not obtain a permit from them. Displeased with this, Buhari and the ANPP instructed Femi Falana to sue the Police to justify the legal validity of requesting police permit to protest against the government. This resulted in a suit challenging the constitutionality of the provisions of the Public Order Act relating to police permit. In the ruling, the judge held that Police permit was inconsistent with Sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution and Article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights Act (Cap A9) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The appeal against the judgment at the Court of Appeal by the Police was dismissed by Justice Olufunmilayo Adekeye. Sequel to the judgment, the

Falana

National Assembly amended the Electoral Act to facilitate the enjoyment of the fundamental right to freedom of assembly and expression. Thus, Section 94 (4) of the Electoral Amendment Act, 2015 stipulates that “notwithstanding any provision in the Police Act, the Public Order and any regulation made thereunder or any other law to the contrary, the role of the Nigeria Police Force in political rallies, processions and meetings shall be limited to the provision of adequate security as provided in subsection 1 of this section.” Clearly, those still talking about police permit for protest are the biggest enemies of Nigeria.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹͵

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CHARTING A NEW COURSE... L-R: Governor of Abi State Dr.Okezie Ikpeazu, Founder, of the Asasu Show Foundation Ms. Osasu Igbinedion , Honorable Minister of Transportation Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi During the New Economy and Impact on Less Privileged Citizens by Osasu Show in Abuja.... Yesterday PHOTO: Kingsley Adeboye

Nigerians Await PDP to Salvage its Sinking Ship, Says Makarﬁ Ademola Babalola in Ibadan The National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Markafi, and members of his National Working Committee have declared in Ibadan, Oyo State that Nigerians awaited the PDP to salvage the country which he described as a sinking ship that the ruling All Progressives Congress had run aground. He said they were on nation-wide reconciliation efforts to bring back aggrieved party leaders and members who defected to other political parties

with a view to ensuring a strong, formidable and united force ahead of the 2019 elections. Makarfi in his words of encouragement to former Governors Rashidi Ladoja, Adebayo Alao-Akala, Mr. Seyi Makinde, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo and a second Republic Justice Minister, Chief Richard Akinjide, bemoaned the state of the nation under the ruling All Progressives Congress. He assured all the returning members of level playing field, adding that there would be amendment to the party's constitution during the elective convention of the party slated

for December. Markafi was accompanied by former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana; former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; former Minister of Power and Special Duties, Elder Wole Oyelese; former Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide; former Leader of the House of Representatives, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, and Senator Ayo Adeseun. Others were, former Minister of Special Duties and Sports, Prof Taoheed Adedoja; the only PDP member in the House of Representatives from

Oyo State, Segun Odebunmi, and Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, among other dignitaries. He said registration log would be opened soon for all members of the party, including returnees, adding that after the registration, the congresses of the party would be held. Ladoja, however, gave reasons for his defection from PDP and listed conditions for his return, such that the whole structure of the Accord party would move to PDP. He also asked for waivers and probably amnesty for the prospective returnees to PDP

so that there would be equality. Makinde also said he left PDP in 2015 because the national leadership of the party then did not create a level playing field for all the gubernatorial aspirants, adding that he and his followers would return to PDP if the chairman could guarantee internal democracy within the party. "I've been part of the reconciliation process by Prof Gana. We've been consulting, talking. I joined PDP in 2002. I worked for Sen. Ladoja then, he won. I singlehandedly financed the PDP in Oyo South till 2007. I left when things got worse,” he said.

However, Alao-Akala did not receive the Markafi-led national caretaker executive committee in person because he was abroad. However, his supporters, led by Wale Ohu, received them on his behalf. Ladoja had said, "Something pushed us out of PDP, we did not want to leave PDP at the time we left, though we suffered. We wanted to stay on with PDP, maybe we failed to manage our success. "If we look back, it was only the PDP that was in power when PDP governors were impeached wrongly."

IG Pockets N10bn Monthly for Deployment to Balogun, Ladoja, Others to become Oil Companies, Banks, Alleges Senator Misau Kings Tomorrow, Says Ajimobi DamilolaOyedeleinAbuja Senator Isa Misau (Bauchi Central) has accused the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris of fraudulent activities and nepotism in the administration of the police. This is as he dismissed a statement credited to the Force Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Jimoh Moshood that he was on a vendetta against the force. Jimoh in a statement issued Thursday had accused Misau, who retired from the Police as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of several acts of serious misconducts, unprofessional wrong doings contrary to discipline, and other discreditable improper behaviors unbecoming of a police officer, which led him to hurriedly exit the force unceremoniously. The Police position followed media publications credited to Misau where he had alleged that police officers had to pay bribes for special promotions. The Police also disclosed that it had lodged a formal complaint against the Senator to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

Misau, addressing a press conference yesterday, however alleged that under IGP Idris, between N10 million and N15 million was paid for postings such as State Police Commissioners or Mobile Commanders. He further alleged that Idris pocketed about N10 billion monthly from the deployment of over 50,000 policemen to oil companies, banks, and private individuals who made regular payments to police authorities. The money, running to N120 billion annually, is not reflected in police budgets or internally generated revenue, Misau alleged. "The incumbent IGP, based on available records, series of petitions and reports from insiders, has no capacity to run the Police just like the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Rtd. IGP Mike Okiro, who also lacks similar capacity going by N300million scam and others hanging on his neck since 2011 during the Presidential primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) where he served as the head of the security committee. “On nepotism, the IGP is scoring

high marks, by making almost half of the mobile commanders in the country, people of his Nupe extraction and on favouritism, appointing CP Moses Jitoboh an officer who had been out of field of operational service to that of Political service for close to 20 years, as Adamawa State Police Commissioners," he added.

AdemolaBabalolainIbadan Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State Friday evening confirmed the promotion of all the members of Olubadan-In-Council as new Kings in Ibadan. By the proclamation, all the affected cabinet members of Olubadan are to be installed and crowned tomor-

row, Sunday at Mapo Hall where they would be presented with staff of offices. The government through the secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Olalekan Alli said the panel's report on the review of Olubadan Chieftaincy law had becomes law. Though a beneficiary, High Chief Rashid Ladoja and the Olubadan,

Buhari: Some Groups in London Said I Should Go Home, Indeed, I’m Back Cont’d from Pg.8 "Mr. President, I want to reiterate our offer and assurances of PDP's cooperation with the government on any programme sincerely designed to take Nigeria to higher levels. We identify with, and will continue to support the fight against terrorism as well as other crimes that have sneaked into our consciousness like kidnapping and banditry, as well as farmers/herdsmen clashes and other crimes camouflaged as such and all other anti-social vices that slow down our nation's wheels of progress. "We also offer our support for the

fight against corruption and appeal that the institutions saddled with this onerous task be given a necessary encouragement and independence to do the right thing. This will help in further strengthening our institutions and insulating them from undue political interferences. It will also help give them a more credible outlook in the eyes of the public. "There is no way we can have a respectable voice in the comity of civilized nations until we rebuild our institutions and imbue them with the necessary independence and confidence

that will improve both their visage and standing with the citizenry. The government should lead the change in this regard by, especially, exhibiting greater respect to judicial pronouncements as well as respecting the fundamental rights of all Nigerians," he said. The APC team led by the National Chairman of APC, Chief John OdigieOyegun, also comprised: Bolaji Abdullahi, Inuwa Abdulkadir, Osita Izunaso, Ifeanyi Ararume, Jim Nwobodo and Ken Nnamani. In the PDP team led by Makarfi were Walid Jibrin, Tunde Adeniran and Ben Obi.

Oba Saliu Adetunji are opposed to the development with the former already in court against the state government over the issue, the SSG said the traditional title was conferred on Ladoja along with other eight living members of the Olubadan-in-Council at the House if Chiefs, Parliament Building, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan. Besides, 21 Baales in Ibadan were also conferred with Obaship titles. Ajimobi, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Olalekan Alli, who presented conferment letters to the new kings said the Olubadan would henceforth be addressed as 'His Imperial Majesty' and members of Olubadan-in-Council would be addressed as 'His Royal Majesty' while the Baales promoted to kings would be addressed as 'His Royal Highness.' He warned that it had now become an offence for anyone to address the new kings with their former titles, such as 'High Chief' for members of Olubadan-in-Council, adding tomorrow at 12 noon, all the new kings would be officially installed and crowned at Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY AUGUST 26, 2017

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COMMENTARY

LETTER FROM BIAFRA

Nnamdi Ebo writes that it is in the interest of the Igbo to remain in Nigeria

HE LETTER is a 2012 American movie starring Winona Ryder and James Franco. According to the plot, a playwright suffers from paranoia and hallucinations as she attempts to stage a new production. She is uncertain over whether she is deluded or if there is a plot against her. There is palpable paranoia and hallucinations in the Southeast of Nigeria as some Igbo youth, probably sponsored and godfathered, orchestrate some dangerously amateur experiment with the follies of youth. And the face of this macabre dance routine is a young British-Nigerian born four months before the declaration of the ill-fated Republic of Biafra by the progenitor of Biafra himself. What befuddles me is that almost all the Igbo intelligentsia, prominent politicians and Ohanaeze Ndigbo are mute without calling the follies of youth to order. What is eerie about this ongoing agitation for the Biafra of now is that the Biafra of yore was stillborn ab initio, and the aftermath of the Biafra of yore is yet to settle before some youth (who has never seen, known or experienced hunger, starvation, misery, deprivation, suffering, homelessness, pain, lack, penury, kwashiorkor, blood and death associated with war), is the person attempting to stage a new production of Biafra. Like the playwright, is the British-Nigerian uncertain over whether he is deluded or if there is a plot against the Igbo? Which plot, I may ask? The Igbo resourcefulness, successoriented mentality, a penchant for hard work, resiliency, yearnings for education and achievement has seen them dispersed all over Nigeria and abroad. It is a truism that the dispersal of the Igbo almost everywhere, is not unconnected with the lack of living space (Lebensraum) available to the Igbo in Igboland, and this is intrinsic to the natural dispersal of a people who need space to excel. There is a trite saying that if anybody sojourns to a new land or faraway destination, the first question to ask is: “is there any Igboman here?” If there is non, then the person better vamoose because the new land or destination will not be viable for business or living. Such is the reputation of the Igbo which precedes them. A new Biafra now is not an automatic open sesame to nationhood, statehood, or indeed a country. The Igbo need space to thrive and Nigeria’s landmass is not even enough for the Igbo expansionist disposition to trade, because of their massive population, inadequate enclave-Igboland with population density approximately 500 persons per square kilometre. They possess individualistic and democratic streaks to succeed, and go back to their small villages to show off success stories, both viva voce and materially, once a year or thereabout. The Biafra of yore encapsulated (by accident of regionalism) the present day south-south zone including Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States of the former Eastern region. The Eastern Region was an administrative

THE FOLLIES OF YOUTH MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO GUIDE THE IGBO INTO ANOTHER DEBACLE THAT IS BIAFRA, ALL OVER AGAIN! I’VE SEEN IT BEFORE. THIS IS MY LETTER FROM BIAFRA

region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the division of the colony of Southern Nigeria in 1954. The region was autonomised on October 1, 1954 and stayed like that until the short-lived metamorphosis to the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967. The Biafra of yore included the Igbo, who mostly dominated and lorded over other ethnic groups, viz., the Ijaw, Efik, Annang, Ibibio and Ikwerre (who denounced their Igbohood/Igboness after the Nigeria-Biafra war) and others in the Niger Delta. Is the Biafra of now going to include the people of the south-south zone? These ethnic groups were former Biafrans of yore by accident of colonial partition and amalgamation in 1954, and forced by exigent circumstances of location and geopolitical factors in the 1967 declaration of Biafra to acquiesce, albeit reluctantly, to the Biafran experiment. A proverb says that “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot force it to drink!” These reluctant Biafrans of yore have stated unequivocally that they are not and will never be part of the Biafra of now, the new Biafra. That leaves the Igbo to produce the new Biafra on their own, from five landlocked southeastern states of Igboland with Nigeria in total encirclement of the new Biafra - no access to the sea, just like the Biafra of yore, encircled by the Nigerian 3rd Marine Commandos led by the late military tactician, Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, with Uli and Uga Airports as the only gateways out of Biafra. It will be recalled that the so-called mighty men of war, the “Ohafia brave warriors”, who were supposed to fight and defend the Biafra of yore turned out to be historic relics of a diminished military culture. In his 07:00 am national broadcast on Monday, August 21, 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari stated, inter alia “. . . the late Chief Emeka Ojukwu came and stayed as my guest in my hometown Daura. Over two days we discussed . . . and analysed the problems of Nigeria. We both came to the conclusion that the country must remain one and united. Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable. We shall not allow irresponsible elements to start trouble and when things get bad they run away and saddle others with the responsibility of bringing back order, if necessary with their blood. . . .” The United States of America is the most diversified country on earth, peopled by whites, blacks, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics or Latinos, Europeans and other ethnic groups too numerous to mention, and yet, it is the richest and most powerful nation on earth. There is unity in diversity and the full strength and potential of Nigeria cannot be realised without the Igbo onboard. The ‘follies of youth’ must not be allowed to guide the Igbo into another debacle that is Biafra, all over again! I’ve seen it before. This is my ‘Letter from Biafra’. Ebo, Political Scientist & Author, wrote from Abuja

MAMBILLA: NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISED The suspension of chairman of Sardauna Local Government Area is in order, writes Joe Nguta

here has been a groundswell of anxiety and feeling of disappointment recently among some ethnic groups in Mambilla, with the exception of the Fulani community, over the recent suspension for a period of three months of John Yep, Chairman of Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State and his replacement by Rev. Godwill Sol. The social media has been awash with the expression of all kinds of sentiments against the action, some suggesting that the action was a declaration of government’s support for the Fulani side of the Mambilla crisis that occurred in June. On the Fulani side also, the suspension is being celebrated as victory and a vindication of its position on the crisis. These reactions on both sides of the dispute are, in my own opinion, presumptuous, premature and a misreading of the intension of those who took these decisions. I believe that there is no real basis for these assumptions on both sides of the divide. But first, let me say that I do not have the mandate of the Taraba State Government to defend it on this issue. I’m doing so out of a deep personal concern for peace in Taraba State and Mambilla, in particular - this land of immense treasure which has been in the news for some time now mostly for the wrong and unfortunate reason – communal clashes. This write-up is, therefore, a personal and independent effort by a patriotic advocate of peace to explain the wisdom in the action taken against the former chairman and how it will help the peace process being pursued by the Taraba State Government and other stakeholders in Mambilla and in the entire state. First, it is necessary to clarify that the suspension of the former chairman was not directly

the decision of the Taraba State Government. Rather, it was that of the Legislative Council of the Sardauna Local Government. As an elected chairman, only the council has the powers to impeach or suspend him. The council’s action was right on legal grounds but the reactions to it and the implication of those reactions for the grand peace process being pursued by the Taraba State Government in the area require clarification. Those who have followed events on the Mambilla Plateau very closely since the crisis happened on June 17, this year, will recall that John Yep has been a recurring name in the story of the crisis, especially as often told by the herdsmen side. Some of them accused him of encouraging the fighting. There was even the ridiculous suggestion that he went from door-to-door urging people to go out and fight. Of course, we all know that all of that is part of the propaganda by the Fulani side to discredit and make him un-electable in the future politics of the council area. It is also well known that the suspended chairman was the first victim of the attack by the Fulani during the crisis. But the allegation against him, for whatever it is worth, is an expression of loss of confidence in him by one side to the crisis and I believe it is proper that he is asked to step aside while it is being investigated. But the fact that his suspension came with a prescribed duration of three months leaves the window of hope for his supporters to expect that he will eventually return to his seat. The action, therefore, does not amount to political overkill for Yen or a display of insensitivity to feelings on the Mambilla side of the crisis as

widely speculated. It is normal in the culture of administration that we are now familiar with to ask any official whose role in a matter is under investigation to be asked to stand aside while such is being done. That is what happened in this case and that, I believe, sufficiently explains the action of the legislative council of the local government there. It is important for me to add, for emphasis, that it was not done by the Taraba State Government or by Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku. But that decision left a vacuum which Governor Ishaku was statutorily required to fill. And he did so promptly with the appointment and swearing in of Rev. Sol. The circumstances leading to this appointment were also elaborately explained by Ishaku himself at the swearing in ceremony of the acting chairman in Jalingo on Friday, July 28, 2017. He had said that Sol was a product of the unfortunate circumstance in Mambilla and that he would be in office for three months “pending the resolution of the issues that led to Yen’s suspension.” He was also quick to add that the issues that led to the crisis were being investigated and that his administration was determined to get to the root of it all. These words, I believe, were sufficient assurances of the government’s neutrality on the Mambilla issue. It is, therefore, wrong and premature for conclusions to be drawn on both sides of the divide, for one side to mourn its loss and the other to roll out the drums in celebration of victory. In fact, government’s position which Ishaku has repeatedly emphasised is that there is no victor, no vanquished as far as the Mambilla crisis is concerned. His preoccupation, and I have always heard him repeat this, is to reunite

all the ethnic groups so they can live together peacefully as they did in the not too distant past. This commitment is the reason the governor has had sleepless nights lately. He has appointed two committees and sworn them in immediately to handle various aspects of the implementation of the new law on ranching in the state. The committees will help government chart a new way forward on the new policy on grazing which the new law seeks to promote. One of the committees will handle sensitisation on the law for the farmers while the other will do same for the herdsmen. They are to educate the people on both sides of the immense benefits of the law in order to win their confidence and support for it. The two committees, according to Ishaku, will later get together to compare notes for a successful, hitch-free implementation of the law. The steps being taken by government to restore peace and order permanently to the Mambilla Plateau and the entire Taraba State are far-reaching. They are the most profound steps ever taken by any government in the state to prevent crisis and ensure peace on a sustainable basis. They deserve the backing of all the critical stakeholders. The elites in the state, in particular, must come out this time round and be seen as active partners in the effort government is making to sustain peace in the state. They have been part of the problem in the past. They have not been sincere in the discharge of their roles as bridge between the government and the people. Some of them are even guilty of openly fanning embers of crisis in their communities by giving wrong interpretations to decisions and actions of government. Nguta wrote from Jalingo, Taraba State

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INSIGHT

120 as passmark? Wonderful...

The Many Troubles of Sierra Leone

ierra Leone became independent from British imperialism on April 27, 1961. Based on a 2015 national census ﬁgure, the country has a population of 7,075,641, making it far lesser than Lagos State in terms of human inhabitants. Like many African nations, Sierra Leone has had to contend with numerous complicated challenges of nation- building. In contemporary time, however, the country has been plagued by diverse troubles that have threatened its very foundation. For instance, between 1991 and 2002, there was a devastating civil war that seriously ravaged the country. The tragic war which resulted in the death of more than 50,000 people also left much of the country’s infrastructure in disarray. Equally, it led to the displacement of over two million Sierra Leoneans who became refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2002, with the assistance of Britain, ECOWAS and the United Nations, the destructive 11 years war eventually came to an end. As the country was trying to put the misfortune of the civil war years behind her, it was struck by yet another tragedy in 2014 with the outbreak of the dreadful Ebola virus. The deadly impact of the Ebola epidemic led to the declaration a state of emergency by the county’s authorities. By the end of 2014, there were nearly 3000 deaths and 10,000 cases of the disease in Sierra Leone. The epidemic also led to the ‘Öuse to Ouse Tock’ (a nationwide three-day quarantine) in September 2014. The epidemic affected nearly every aspect of the country’s life. For instance, sometimes in August 2014, national football league matches were cancelled across the country to curtail the spread of the Ebola disease. Unfortunately, the Ebola plague further exerted much strain on the nation’s already weakened medical infrastructure which resulted into more casualties from medical neglect than Ebola itself. It also brought about a huge humanitarian problem which negatively affected the country’s socio-economic development. While the country was gradually getting over the devastating stress of the Ebola brouhaha, another tragedy of greater proportion recently struck, thereby throwing the now much distressed nation into further anguish. On August 14 this year, the country witnessed three days of torrential rainfall that resulted in devastating floods and mudslides around Freetown, the capital city and its environs. Though the precise number is not yet certain, disaster-related deaths are estimated at 400 while thousands of others are either missing or outrightly feared dead. Over 3,000 people were displaced and hundreds of buildings damaged by the devastating mudslides. Happening especially during rainy season, the catastrophe was further aggravated by Freetown’s peculiar geographical reality of being below the sea level and weak infrastructure. Initial recovery efforts were spearheaded by

The Untold Story of IDP Camps

overty, hunger, sickness, regret, rape, sorrow, misery, wretchedness, death: these are probably what ﬁrst come to mind when you hear ‘IDP camp’. Well, that’s partly true, because that is what you see on the pages of the dailies, on television screen and the timeline/feeds on various social media platforms. Having spent plenty of time in different IDP camps recently, a part of me agrees that the IDP camp is not a place to be, a part of me also agrees that comfort and health is a stranger, sometimes, most times actually. Nonetheless, a greater part of me is eager to share the untold story of the IDP camps – a place that is beyond just an enclave for refugees. I am tempted to paint a picture. A picture of leaking ‘batchers’, of bare-footed, scantily dressed children, of pregnant young girls, of despondent T H E SAT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU aged men. DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE A picture MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO of mothers, DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE each with a CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN baby on her back - nudging another for gift items from a relief agency. I am tempted to T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA paint such sad GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, pictures, but I ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU won’t. That’s if GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA I haven’t. DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, An IDP ANTHONY OGEDENGBE camp is more. DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH It is a place for ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO little children CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI to hold hands GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI happily and GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE run through DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO the green TO SEND EMAIL: ﬁrst name.surname@thisdaylive.com field without carrying the

local organisations as well as the American Red Cross while the international community has also been assisting with aid. Authorities are still looking for the more than 600 still unaccounted for in one of Africa’s worst flood disasters in living memory. Aid agencies cautioned that corpses trapped in the mud are likely to contaminate water sources and cause outbreaks of disease, but continuous rain has made the search difficult and dangerous. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 3D mapping of affected neighbourhoods was taking place around Sugar Loaf mountain, which partially collapsed, and said voluntary evacuations might extend to more areas, potentially increasing the number of displaced. According to Amnesty International, international aid is now urgently needed to provide temporary accommodation, proper sanitation and health care to those affected, as it warned that the death toll was likely to rise “substantially.” In a national broadcast, Sierra Leonean President, Ernest Bai Koroma declared a state of emergency and announced the establishment of a relief centre in Regent. He urged the nation, still recovering from the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak, to remain unified: “Our nation has once again been gripped by grief. Many of our compatriots have lost their lives, many more have been gravely injured and billions of Leones’ worth of property destroyed in the flooding and landslides that swept across some parts of our city”. Tayo Ogunbiyi, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

bitterness of who or what displaced them from their father’s land. It is a place for teenagers to learn skills like barbing, soap making, bead making, tailoring, cards making, catering/baking and every other profitable skills they have an opportunity to learn. It is a place for young men to indeed let go of the past, to practice true forgiveness, to channel their energy productively, to restore their hope in Nigeria and to move on boldly with life. It is a place that reminds us of why we should promote harmony and the things that unite us over our differences or things that could divide us - if we permit. It is a place to listen to the stories of the elderly; stories that help us appreciate the priceless worth of peace over war or strife. It is a place to remind us of patience, of courage, of contentment, of appreciation and the value of things we take for granted. It is a place of hope, even to strangers. It is a place to show a suicidal person two million reasons why it isn’t over, yet. It is a place to volunteer one’s self, to engage unemployed youths, to share resources, to network with like-minds, to find one’s purpose for living and to identify ways Nigeria can be rebuilt and become a nation we all can be proud of. It is a place to inspire and be inspired too. An IDP camp is a place to put together the broken bits of our lives - as individuals, as groups, and as a nation. I don’t know what you think about an IDP camp, but I know there are untold stories about the IDP camps and other places of refuge, especially in Nigeria. Adebote ‘Seyifunmi and Alli Abiola, Abuja

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NEWSXTRA

In Brief 7 Missing, Several Injured in Communal Crises

Fourdaysaftertheattackonpassengerboatshadclaimedthelivesoftwo person along the Escravos River in Warri South West Local Government AreaofDeltastate,sevenpersonsearlyyesterdaygotmissinginwhatwas suspectedtobeareprisalattackovercommunalcrisisinUgborodocommunity. Though this time a person died, several others got missing, at same spot of last Tuesday incident, when their boats capsized after allegedly being hit by gunshots from alleged opposing youths. The Government recognised Ugborodo Community Management Committee (UCMC) had tasked the federal and the Delta State governments to investigate the Tuesday's disturbance at the community during which two persons were reported dead. The Committee also called on security agencies to arrest and bring culprits of the sad event to justice, even as it demanded that everything must be done to banish criminality in the oil-rich community and restore order in the area.

ECWA Sends VC on Compulsory Leave

EXPORTING TALENTS.. L-R: Mrs. Nimi Akinkungbe, Mrs. Ekua Abudu, producer, 'Saro' The Musical, Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters and a guest at the premiere of 'Saro' The Musical sponsored by the MTN Foundation at the Shaw Theater, West London, United Kingdom...yesterday PHOTO: Funke Olaode

Ikpeazu, Amaechi, Dakuku, Others Suggest Ways out of Growing Poverty Ogheneuwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the Director General of the Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, yesterday agreed on the need for the federal government to grow the socio-economic life of the nation by diversifying the economy. They spoke in Abuja at a symposium titled "The new economy and its impact on the less privileged citizens’ put together by The Osasu Show (TOS), a television programme anchored by Miss Osasu Igbinedion. Contributing to a discussion on ending poverty and bridging the inequalities gap through infrastructure development and social protection mechanisms, Governor Ikpeazu

said the greatest problem in Nigeria was social mobilisation and social engineering. He regretted the current situation of pervasive lack of belief and faith in government enterprise, adding that the people were no longer on the same page with the government both at the state and the national level. He added that because Nigerians didn’t spend a lot of time to look for peculiar solutions to the peculiar problems in our environment. “It is with this background that in Abia State, we decided to encapsulate our pillars of development around the things we can do very well: trade and commerce. You can’t talk about trade and commerce without mentioning Abia, Aba, Abiriba, and all my people. “You must also realise that we are good in the things we can do with our hands: small scale manufacturing, shoe

production, garment making and all that. But education is important also. “Our emphasis has been to create wealth for our people, using the avenue that they know already and we have been emphasising Made-in-Aba as a means of creating wealth and drawing relevance and growing the confidence of our people. “And of all our efforts in the campaign, we have attracted almost N2 billion by direct sales to the average Aba person in terms of production of military shoes and all those kind of things,” Ikpeazu said. Contributing to the discussion, Amaechi said until the current dispensation, Nigeria was not producing anything other than corruption. The former Rivers governor said before the advent of the Buhari-led administration, Nigeria was importing chicken and tomatoes, with over $3 billion spent on the importation of

chicken and $2 billion for fish. Amaechi however said in order to alleviate poverty in the country, the federal government had to diversify the economy and also came up with the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP). Also speaking, Dakuku said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was an affirmation of the fact that we were facing a peculiar challenge and if nothing was done about it, we would be endangered. Dakuku identified infrastructure as one of the critical ways of ending poverty, saying that infrastructure served as a stimulus to addressing poverty. Dakuku said: “If you want to address poverty, one critical element is infrastructure. It stands as a stimulus to addressing poverty. When we talk of infrastructure, we need to look at transportation.

N30trn Revenue Fraud: Your Kidnapping, Ritual Killing: Fears are Unfounded, Senate Mob Demolish Church, Burn Property in Cross River Committee Tells MAN Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The Senate Joint Committee on Customs, Excise and Tarrif and Marine Transport has said fears expressed by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), on how the threat of arrest of over 30 Chief Executives Officers was detrimental to businesses was unfounded and off the mark. The CEOs, have failed to honour the invitation of the committee in an ongoing investigation into the loss of over N30 trillion revenue by the government, due to the connivance of the companies with officials of the Nigeria Customs Services and other agencies. The committee recently disclosed that it had ordered the arrest of the CEOs, although no arrest is reported to have been effected. The President of MAN, Mr. Frank Udemba Jacobs at a briefing on Thursday, said the threat was embarrassing to the CEOs, sent

wrong signals to prospective investors and cast a shadow on the safety of networth individuals operating in Nigeria’s economy. Jacobs had added that since the allegations involve the NCS, which was the statutory organisation in charge of imports and exports, the logical thing would be for the committee to channel its observations to the agency. “If not satisfied with the response from the NCS and after thorough investigation, the committee may then avail the companies concerned with the details of the alleged infractions and then invite them to make necessary clarifications or defend themselves. All these could be done without the sensational involvement of the press which may result in unfair media trial,” the MAN President had said. But the committee in a statement issued Friday said the allegations by MAN were unfortunate.

Bassey Inyang in Calabar An angry mob on Friday in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State demolished a church, known as ,God's Commandment Ministry over allegations linking it to the alleged killing of a one year old child for ritual purposes. The angry mob which also removed properties from the church and set them ablaze, gave the pastor of the church located on Abua Street the beating of his life. However, the pastor whose identify could not be ascertained immediately was whisked away to safety by some people who came to his rescue. While the demolition was going on, some of the residents of the street said items discovered in the church included used sanitary pads, braziers, pants and other accessories used mainly by women, and many pictures of showing the images of men. The mob, it was observed burnt

some of those items they discovered in the church, while items like building materials were looted. An angry resident on the street who gave his name simply as David volunteered to speak on the development, and condemned such practice in a place ordinarily believed to be a church. “These are just herbalist homes disguised as churches. If they put signpost as herbalists, no one will go, but they make it look like a church. I believe that this one was particularly patronised by women, who are given assignments to look for husbands. You can tell from the many pictures of young men discovered here. Most of those young men have no idea that their picture has been taken somewhere and tied down here. Who knows if they have told any of them to use the soaked pads to cook for men they want to marry them. A lot of bizarre things keep happening, and I wish something would be done to check the activities of these churches,” David lamented.

TheEvangelicalChurchWinningAll(ECWA)hasdirectedtheViceChancellor of Bingham University, Professor Samuel Kursim Leonard Fwa to proceed on leave the visitation panel set up to look into activities of the institution completesitswork.PresidentofECWA,whoisalsotheVisitortotheuniversity, Dr. Jeremiah Gado in a press conference in Jos, Plateau state, added that theViceChancellorwouldhoweverremainwithinreachtointeractwiththe panelwhiletheDeputyViceChancellor;ProfessorAlexandraAdelaiyewould act in his absence. Gado said conditions in the university like many other institutions in the country had not been good due to the negative effect of theeconomicdownturnwhichhadadverselyaffectedtheinstitutionleading to low funding, infrastructural deficit, delay in staff salary payments and low research activities. "

World Bank Disburses N28m to 15 PHCs

TheWorldBankhasdisbursedN28millionto15PrimaryHealthcareCentres and a General Hospital in Bogoro local government area of Bauchi State. ExecutiveSecretaryoftheStatePrimary HealthcareDevelopmentAgency (SPHDA),PharmacistAdamuIbrahimGamawadisclosedthisatapressbriefing inBauchiyesterday.HesaidthatthedisbursementwasundertheWorldBank funded,NigeriaStatesHealthInvestmentProject(NSHIP)whichwasaimed atrepositioninghealthcarefacilitiestorendereffectiveprimaryhealthcare services.GamawasaidthatBogorolocalgovernmentwasselectedforthe pilotprojectwhichwouldbegraduallyextendedtootherlocalgovernment areasofthestate.HesaidthatBauchiandKatagumlocalgovernmentshad been selected for the next phase of the project while additional one had also been earmarked until all the 20 local government areas were covered.

Anambra Gets New Security Outﬁt

Aspartofhisadministration’seffortstoensuresecurityoflivesandproperty in Anambra, GovernorWillie Obiano has inaugurated a new security outfit, Association ofTown Unions (ASATU)Youth Safety (AYSG).The outfit with members drawn from the 177 communities that make up the Association of Town Unions in the state is to maintain peace and safety of during and after the Nov 18 Gubernatorial election. Inaugurating the AYSG in Awka, the Special Adviser to the Governor on security matters, Mr. Chikodili Amara urged the members of the outfit to be diligent in the discharge of their duties. He advised them not to use their organisation to intimidate or exploit the masses as such could cost them their jobs.The Anambra State Police Commissioner, Mr. Garba Umar represented by Mr. Sunday Adeye, a superintendent of police, commended ASATU for initiating a community security which would help in the fight against insecurity and criminality at the grassroots.

StarTimes Empowers Rural Communities

Nigeria’s pay TV Company, StarTimes, is bringing ease of life to rural communities in Abuja with the empowerment of Hulumi community, with state of the art digital television experience.The flagship corporate social responsibility initiative, dubbed 'Digital Village Project’ witnessed the deployment of satellite television equipment that would broadcast over 400entertainmentprograms,movies,educationalshows,telenovelaseries among others to the communities. StarTimes, in its mission statement to Hulumi said it would help five villages enjoy Digital television programs as was obtainable anywhere in the world. Speaking on the Digital Village Project, the Chief Operating Officer, StarTimes Nigeria, Tunde Aina, said theprojectwouldnotonlyhelpthelocalpeoplewatchthevariousdomestic TVprograms, it would also help them get in tune with educative programs.

Huawei Trains Nigerians on ICT

Inabidtobringfirstclasstechnicaltrainingoninformationandcommunication technology(ICT)toteemingNigerianyouths,HuaweiTechnologiesNigeria Limited has disclosed that its plans to send 10 out of the best participants selectedfromthe1,345studentsforfurtherstudiesinChinaonitsongoing ICTforChangeProgramme.Itstressedthattheprogrammewasinlinewith government’s youth and student development and job creation which was seemingly in direct response to President Buhari’s drive to empower and encourage young Nigerians. According to the company, "We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government of Nigeria on a ICTfor Change Programme.

Ambrose Alli University Alumni

The alumni association of Ambrose Alli University, (AAU) Ekpoma, North AmericaChapterhassetafive-pointagendathatwouldimpacttheuniversity positivelyandbringdevelopmenttothe36-yearoldinstitution.Speakingat theinaugurationofthechapterinLasVegas,Nevada,UnitedStatesrecently, Dr.ChrisAkaeze,PresidentoftheAAUNorthAmericaalumnilistedsomeof the projects to include construction of hostel to ease the accommodation challengesfacedbystudents,buildhealthcarecentretocarterforthehealth needsoftheEkpomacommunity,awardscholarshipstobrilliantbutindigent students,educationalexchangeprogrammesthatwillseerenownedscholars fromtheUnitedStatesandCanadianuniversitiesvisitAAUperiodicallyto share knowledge with the University and library enhancement to ensure that the university community has access to scholarly publications to aid their studies and research.

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NEWSXTRA

N’Delta: Shell Spends N7bn on Infrastructure in 8 Months Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

Contrary to insinuations that the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) had not done much for its host communities in the Niger Delta, the oil giant said Friday that it had spent at least N7 billion on providing basic infrastructure between January and August this year. Representatives of the multinational company told journalists in Yenagoa , Bayelsa State, during a two-day SPDC-JV Integrated Stakeholders Engagement that much of the funds were used in financing General Memoranda of Understanding (GMoUs) with the host communities including building schools, hospitals and skills acquisition. Dr. Alice Ajeh, the company’s Stakeholders Relations Manager, who represented Mr. Igo Weli, General Manager External Relations, said on the sidelines of the event which was also attended by the security agencies, that the funds were jointly managed by Shell, government and the communities. “We have spent N7 billion in the Niger Delta this year in the GMoU clusters, not in Bayelsa alone. What happens with the GMoUs is that we agree with the communities in the programme they will have and shell puts money into it. So that money goes into an account that shell, government and the communities operate. “Many of the areas include health , education, entrepreneurial development and other infrastructural development. But that is what has been released, it does not mean that that is all we are spending,” she said.

EMPOWERING THE PEOPLE... L-R:Nnenna Okenwa, Area Manager, Port Harcourt II, Damond Bank; Mark Ifashe, Head, Emerging Businesses, Diamond Bank; Eugenia Marcus, CEO, Truﬄes Global Resources and Nkem Okoro, Head, Regional Businesses South Directorate, Diamond Bank during the Bank's 63rd Business Seminar in Port Harcourt

The company also reiterated its earlier position that it had between 2012 and 2016 along with its partners contributed $29 billion to the Nigerian government while $1.8 billion was paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since inception in 2002. Data made available by the oil

company also indicated that its share of royalties and corporate taxes paid to the Nigerian government stood at $ 1.04 billion in 2016, while 94 per cent of Shell’s contracts were now awarded to Nigerian companies amounting to $ 0.74 billion. It also showed that 96 per cent

of the entire Shell employees in the country were Nigerians while direct spending on social investment by the company and its partners was $29.8 million. Ajeh said the consultations with stakeholders had become important so as to iron out areas of disagreements as well as update

them on the direction the oil and gas industry was headed globally. “We are here because we believe that we need to discuss with our stakeholders and we are holding these meetings according to clusters. We are opening up the conversation. It’s not about Shell but about the Niger Delta, our challenges, but

also challenges of the delta and how we can solve them,” she said. The Shell representative added , “ We would like everybody to see the issues the way we see them and also make recommendations and solutions as a people. We are bringing global issues to the people’s attention.

APC Primary: Buhari, Party has no Participants Commend Anointed Aspirant, Says Shettima Diamond Bank on SMEs David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

Borno State Governor and chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC primary election in Anambra, Kashim Shettima has said that President Muhammadu Buhari did not have any anointed aspirant among the 12 contenders for the party's governorship ticket in today (Saturday) poll. Shettima who was in Anambra, where he led a delegation of the party's aspirants to the Anambra state police command said the party leadership did not also have preferred aspirant, but would work for the emergence of the

most popular among the pack. He said, "We are irrevocably committed to the conduct of free and fair primary. It is truly a family affair and whoever wins, it is considered that APC won. "Anybody that says we have a candidate from Abuja is merely playing politics. The President is a democrat who believes in the supremacy of one man one vote. There is no anointed candidate and the party has none too. We urge you all to work as a team through the primary election and at the main election too." The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Garba Umar who

welcomed the delegation assured that his Command had made adequate arrangement for the election, while calling on the aspirants to eschew violence during the exercise. He said, "We have made adequate arrangement for the primary and we urge you to conduct yourselves decorously and do not bring thugs to the venue as we are providing you with all the security that you need. "We will only allow delegates that are rightly accredited by the panel, so tell your supporters, if they are not delegates, they have no business at the venue."

Diamond Bank Plc has again reiterated its support for SMEs in the recently organised SME Seminar held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. .The increasing need for financial freedom and entrepreneurship in the southsouth was demonstrated when hundreds flocked to the business seminar organised by the Bank at Atrium Centre on Stadium Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Speaking at the event, head, emerging business of Diamond Bank, Mark Ifashe, said all hands must be on deck to groom business owners to cut down on the high mortality rate of

new businesses. He said new business fail because of wrong practices. This, he said, prompted Diamond Bank to always bring entrepreneurs together for teaching and grooming to reduce casualty syndrome. To drive home their passion for SMEs and their commitment to entrepreneurial development, the South-South regional head of Diamond bank, Mkem Okoro, welcomed participants, saying the seminar was deliberately made free to help them grow their businesses, imploring them to “Make sure you take something home to implement

in your business”. The event had in attendance different participants from different industries ranging from full time business operators to professionals in the health sector including medical doctors, pharmacists and full time employees who also own their own businesses and desire to move their business to viable corporations. A pharmacist and CEO of Kingzy Pharma Limited, Kingsley Amagba, commended Diamond Bank for their sustained passion for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and for their loan policy that boosts business operators.

No Easy Passage to Europe through Bayelsa Govt. Excited Over Students WASSCE Results Irregular Migration, Group Warns Bennett Oghifo Nigerians considering irregular migration to Europe have been advised to quash such ideas because of the dangers involved. A group, Nigerian Diaspora in Europe said in a statement that “Many of the migrants left Nigeria lured by the false promise of people-smugglers who deceive their victims into paying, sometimes, thousands of dollars for a passage to Europe. The fact is there is no easy passage to Europe through irregular migration. The illegal route

to Europe is littered with hardship and death. “In Libya, for example, there are up to 1 million migrants trapped in transit where they are exposed to hash living conditions and widespread human rights abuses. Some are traded as slaves for ransom, labour or sex by gangs of people-smugglers and many die in the appalling conditions of detention facilities run by both the Libyan authorities and militia forces. “A substantial number of these irregular migrants are Nigerians. In fact, Nigerians constitute the single

largest group of sub-Saharans in Libya. “The Nigerian Diaspora in Europe is deeply disturbed by this situation hence its decision to do something about it. This is why The AfricanGerman Information Center (AGIC), and The African Courier Verlag – both owned by Nigerians living in Germany – in collaboration with Germany’s Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is launching the information campaign ‘Migration Enlightenment Project in Nigeria’, supported by Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria MEPN ‘Look before you leave.”

EmmanuelAddehinYenagoa The Bayelsa State government yesterday expressed delight for consistently making it to the top five among the 36 states at the annual West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in the last four years. It said that the results were due to its commitment to education in the state and vowed to sustain and improve on the “massive gains” already made in the sector. The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite ,

who spoke in Yenagoa, pointed out that the development had placed the state as one of the most consistent in all external examinations since 2013. He recalled that Governor Seriake Dickson in 2012 had declared a state of emergency in the sector, stressing that the subsequent follow up programmes was a major turning point for the state. According to the Bayelsa government, the improvement had become even more notable taking into account “the massive decay of infrastructure and the disadvantaged position of the state”. Obuebite said that over 500

infrastructure were either developed or renovated across the state, coupled with an increase in public primary and secondary school intake, because of the free and compulsory education policy initiated in 2012. “A serious minded government that means well for the people of the State, the government has followed up its initial policies by also introducing new all-boarding secondary schools, including the iconic Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama and the others, spread across the 8 local government council areas in the State,” he stated.

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NAL Charges Nâ€™Assembly on Devolution of Power Bennett Oghifo The National Assembly has been urged to revisit the issue of devolution of power in the on-going Constitutional review. The Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) stated this in a communiquĂŠ signed by its President, Professor Olu Obafemi, after its 19th Convocation, Scientific Session and Investiture of new Fellows, held at the University of Lagos. The nation, according to the group, â€œneeds to urgently reassess the structure of power to enable sub-national interests to have a voice in the scheme of things.â€? They said the governing

elite must genuinely promote a national conversation to establish the basis, terms and nature of our nationhood. â€œA true sovereign national, unfettered and unrestrained referendum must be engendered and empowered from the centre. â€œAll the previous recommendations that had been gathering dust should be revisited and a final document made which can then be submitted to popular acceptance through a referendum.â€? â€œThe envisioned restructured Nigeria should be a blend of federalism that encompasses greater fiscal autonomy, geopolitical zone structures and internal

boundaries based on ethnic and subethnic divisions and identities. As interim measure, Government should revisit the report of the last National Confab and implement relevant recommendations that seek to resolve fiscal imbalance. In addition, the humongous salary structure of our legislators should be reviewed downward with due economic sense and equity. â€œOur education system should be overhauled to inculcate a genuine sense of patriotism in our schoolchildren. History as a subject should document for our people our areas of successes and failure as a nation, project key ethical and moral conduct and

perspectives such that can trigger national Patriotism and national survival; Government at all levels must rise up to defend and cater for its citizens at all times through appropriate policies for living up to its responsibilities in order to restore hope and commitment to the Nigerian state,â€? they said. They called for â€œa transformational process of cultural education and reorientation so that our indigenous languages, flora, fauna and ecosphere take pre-eminence in our values and material formations. Our governments must, therefore invest in our formal and informal educational and research institutions.

APDA Suit: Court Fixes August 28 for Interlocutory Motion Justice Y. Halilu of Abuja High Court has fixed Monday, August 28, 2017 to hear the interlocutory motion filed to determine the authentic National Chairman and National Secretary of the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA). Meanwhile, counsel to the former Interim National Chairman of the party, Mohammed Kabir Shitu, and the Interim National Secretary, Emeka Okengwu have withdrawn from an action instituted against them by the party The APDA filed an action before an Abuja High Court for an order restraining the defendants from parading

themselves as the National Chairman and National Secretary of the party respectively. Their counsel, Kayode Ajulo, only appeared in court on Tuesday to announce his withdrawal from the matter APDA is also asking for an order directing them to handover the national secretariat, the original certificate of registration and other documents to enable the party prepare for the Anambra state governorship election The action was filed with the background that the tenure of the interim officers lapsed in June and new officers have emerged.

Glo Laffta Fest Returns to Suleija

GVIVING BACK TO ALMA MATA... Dr. Chris Akaeze, President, AAU alumni America, Mr. Frank Egboh, Chairman, Lagos Chapter, Ms Cleopatra Omorodion, BoT member, AAU America and MS Fredrica Sule, Assistant Organising Secretary, AAU America at the inauguration of AAU alumni North America chapter in Lag Vegas recently

Former PPPRA Boss Joins Ekiti Governorship Race Shola Oyeyipo

The pioneer Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and former Executive Secretary, Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), Dr. Oluwole Oluleye has joined the Ekiti State governorship race. Oluleye, who declared his governorship ambition on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday at the party secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital said his

decision to join the race to succeed Governor Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party was borne out of the conviction that he was capable of bringing about the much needed positive changes in the state. The Ekiti-born United Statestrained technocrat who had earlier on Thursday signified his governorship ambition at his Efon Alaye home town said he desires to return the state to the path of glory and harness the latent potentials of the state for the benefit of the

people of the state. While addressing party faithful at the state secretariat, Oluleye said he planned to â€œPut an end to the denigration of our common heritage as a hardworking race, whose hallmark of integrity is fast eroded by series of political developments in the past. I am home with you to inform you of my genuine desire to give a new lease of life to politics and governance in Ekiti State.â€? According to him before declaring his interest, he moved round the state to feel the pulse of the people

and was able to identify that the peoplesâ€™ collective yearning is for a meaningful, positive and impactful change that have eluded the people in the past. The governorship aspirant who is a son of the late Major General James Oluleye who had held several national assignments and boasts many years of meritorious service to the country vowed to put the wisdom that comes from experience, and wise counsels of his parents to positively improve the fortunes of the state if elected.

For the second time in one month, Nigeriaâ€™s foremost telecommunications company, Globacom, is visiting the rustic city of Suleja with premium entertainment as the company takes its comedy show, Glo Laffta Fest to the city. Globacom had on August 5, rocked Suleja with its music concert, Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour. The show slated to hold at 1 pm at Tommy Hill Station Hotel in the heart of Suleja, will treat the residents of this major city north of Abuja to the best of humour, as they have done in 19 locations across Nigeria in the last four months. Apart from local talents who will be given an opportunity to entertain the audience, accomplished stars who will mount the Glo Laffta Fest stage in Suleja include Bovi Ugboma; Godwin Komone, popularly called Gordons; Basheer Hammed, better known as Bash; Osama Akpunonu; Mc Tagwaye, and Princewill Ayiri. Globacom said in a press release from its head office in Lagos that the show would give residents of Suleja and its environs Grade-A comic entertainment. Glo Laffta Fest has been held in Port Harcourt, Abuja, Owerri, Warri, Yenegoa, Calabar, Uyo, Ibadan, Benin, Ijebu-Ode, Kaduna, Abeokuta, Victoria Island, FESTAC, Ikorodu and Kubwa, in Abuja. One of the show headliners, Bovi said the show would be the biggest collection of top comedians under one roof in the city of Suleja, calling on residents not to miss out on the fun. All the other comedians billed to perform equally spoke with a passion about the show, giving their words to give their best.

Folorunso Alakija Launches Global Platform for Women Empowerment

TY Bello, Amadi-Obi, Animashaun, Others for Live Market Photography

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

The finest of everything: people, photographers, models, make-up artists, camera lenses and prop will be on display at the most viable and vibrant market-place in Lagos on August, 27. In a press statement signed by Bukola Oyinloye, Managing Director, SMEZone, organisers of the Live Market Photography event, notable photographers such as Kelechi Amadi-Obi, TY Bello, Shola Animashaun and

The Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil Ltd., Mrs. Folorunso Alakija has launched â€˜Flourish Africaâ€™, a non-profit organisation aimed at creating a global community that encourages and helps women to thrive in all aspects of their lives. The online-based platform which was launched yesterday, is the first phase of a series of initiatives under the Flourish Africa umbrella, designed for women

by women to empower both the young and the old to prosper in all aspects of their lives. The Flourish Africa project is a worldwide network rooted in the local realm. The organisation wants to begin by empowering women in Nigeria through several initiatives that would run throughout the year to enrich the lives of women both locally and internationally. In a statement made available to the press, â€œFlourish Africa was

conceived to create a community of like-minded women, who share their individual experiences and encourage each other to be who God has created them to be.â€? Mrs. Alakija who is currently ranked amongst Forbesâ€™ most influential women in the world, with a net worth of $1.7 billion, is well known for gender advocacy and women empowerment projects, one of which is her flagship, the Rose of Sharon Foundation (NGO), for widows and orphans.

many more have thrown their support behind the event, adding much colour to the vibrant event. The Live Market Photography edition which will take place at the Zone Centre, Gbagada, Lagos is the ideal place to enjoy different creative expressions from exhibiting photographers and it will offer visitors opportunity to book their choice photographers at very discounted rates and network with friends and loved ones.

To attend the Suleja edition of Glo Laffta Fest, Glo subscribers are expected to use up to N2,000 credit within one month and text LOL with the location name to the short code 240; for example, "LOL Sulejaâ€? to 240. Subscribers who do not meet this criterion but who wish to attend the show are advised to purchase N2000 airtime at the event venue for their own use. They will then be entitled to a ticket. After Suleja, the show moves to Kano before going to other locations, such as, Anyigba, Lokoja, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Makurdi and Ajah.

CHANGE OF NAME

Plus

LOUD WHISPERS POLSCOPE AUTO GLOBAL SOCCER FASHION FILE SHOWBIZ FLAIR

pg. 20 pg. 24 pg. 26 pg. 29 pg. 41 pg. 44

Ngozi Madueke Dozie My Goal Is to Transform How One Billion People Consume Contents

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž AUGUST 26, 2017

PLUS

Ă‹Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂžĂ™ Ă? Ă‹ Ă‹ĂĄĂŁĂ?Ăœ Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă– Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă“ĂœĂ?Ăž Ă?Ă‘ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂĄ Ngozi Madueke Dozie is the CEO and Country Manager of I-ďŹ‚ix, the worldâ€™s leading Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) service for emerging markets. The hard-working and dedicated head-honcho whose deep experience in scaling technological products in Africa has high hopes hinged on Nigerian youths, rapidly growing internet and smartphone penetration, and huge appetite for digital contents and entertainment to grow the I-ďŹ‚ix brand, reputation, adoption and market wallet in Nigeria. She speaks with Adedayo Adejobi about her dream, fulďŹ llment and achievements of the enterprise she leads

ow have you been able to make a mark with just two year in Nigeria? Iflix global is two years old; we began operating in Nigeria just last year and we launched in August 2017. However, Nigeria has the privilege to be the first country launching in Africa, but our doors have been open with focus on getting the right people. Our content acquisition is handled locally by our employees. We bring in people who understand that we work hard and play hard. We enjoy being playful, simple, curious, brave, and those are the ethos of our company. I believe these have helped us achieve much. What plans do you have to make the best contents available on your platform? The content we offer is quite different from any of the other players who operate in this region. One of the things we offer is a variety of content from Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood, Korean movies, and kidsâ€™ shows. We have strong content partners in Viacom, Voxel, Nickelodeon and the likes. We donâ€™t have competitors who have the breath and length of the content that we offer. Telenovellas are coming on board in a couple of months.

Ngozi

Photos: Tolu Fasoyiro

Your model company, apparently the worldâ€™s streaming giant, presently claims a valuation of $60billion. How much are you worth and can you pull such weight against deep pockets in this clime? We donâ€™t do comparison. We are similar because we are subscription video on demand (SvoD), but different in purpose and value propositions. We are the leading emerging markets (SvoD) service provider. The differentiator is our focus on emerging markets. Data compression, share wallet, affordability, payment challenges, cost, and infrastructural challenges especially when it comes to data are important to us, and make us different from other players in the market. In terms of value, we just closed a second round of fundraising at $133m. Considering being two years old, we have raised over $200m this year alone. In terms of age, we can boast of over five million subscribers and iflix Africa will increase iflixâ€™s global footprint to 23 territories worldwide, with additional regional markets to be added over the coming months. Weâ€™re transforming the way emerging markets consume

contents. How well are you positioned toward fulďŹ lling your ambitions? Our goal is to transform how one billion people consume contents in certain regions with specific challenges. We deploy global technology with local execution. Our content acquisition and marketing is very local. Do you see the future of TV in Nigeria being internetdriven? The reason mobile technology has catapulted the way it has grown in the trajectory is because itâ€™s the platform everybody has. The truth is TV never got the level of penetration that it has got in other regions of the world. By 2020, the ratio of TV to phone would be 5-1. With poor internet penetration in Nigeria, have you ďŹ gured out your brand would use the same unstable Internet connectivity, to make a great consumer experience? Internet is one of the challenges we face in Nigeria. Timing of market entry is crucial to our success. If we came in four years ago, the story would have been different. There was a time the telecom firms had their prices high, but now the cost of data is significantly low and to our advantage. Your global template is well known for a no-vacation policy that lets workers set their own hours and time-off schedule. Are you adopting the same approach to creative freedom? We have a certain age of our talent pool, and there are certain expectations they have of their employers. You also find out that the tech companies that focus on innovation, pay attention to those who deliver, as opposed to people that clock in and out. We care about being responsive. We use different platforms to communicate from the phone to, software, WhatsApp and email. Considering we are a global company, itâ€™s all about being responsive. With a solid culture, we are productive and we thrive. It works out such that people have flexible schedules that also help because Lagos traffic is unbearable at times. The focus is on people that understand that delivering is more important than clocking in and out. Where would iďŹ‚ix be ďŹ ve years from now? Iflix global is two years old and we have five million subscribers. Itâ€™s such an unbelievable achieve-

AUGUST 26, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

PLUS I am big on Learning. I’ll rather be respected than be feared...

Ngozi Dozie in her creative oﬃce space

Fulﬁllment for Me is Tied to What I Give ment. It stems from the ability of the founder and co-founders to dream big. We are brave enough to dream it and go for it. I don’t think they thought two years ago, they would be launching in over 20 countries. Five years would be three times exponential growth from now. We want to transform the way a billion people consume contents. What drives you? Doing what nobody has done before. Cracking the nut of SvoD in Nigeria drives me. Trying to do what nobody has done before and that means we are doing things differently. What was your journey like to get where you are? When I moved back to Nigeria, my journey started at Interconnect – the backbone of porting, moving to another network maintaining your number. I then moved to MTN, Facebook, Iroko, and Viacom before I moved to iflix. I happened to have worked in the three major sectors that have now converged. This seems to be the place I was ultimately preparing for, unbeknown to me. Every CEO is constantly faced with new tasks and challenges. How do you learn? I learn from challenges and everything around me – the big and small ones. There is nothing learned that is a waste of brain space. Sometimes, it’s how to connect better with people; at other times, it’s to solve a problem.

Would you be rather respected or feared? I’ll definitely rather be respected. How old were you when you had your ﬁrst job? It was my sophomore year, and because I was an international student, I couldn’t work outside campus. My first job was calling Alumni office and soliciting funds to raise money for the university. I had never had so many people hang up on me mid-sentence. I had to time my calls because people were working and couldn’t call at work. So, I called after work between 5-8 pm when it’s family time. I got to hear random responses like, ‘I just lost my job and don’t have anybody.’ ‘I blame you guys.’ I also had some callers who were so happy to give money. So, at the beginning of every week, I had a target I am supposed to raise, and what I was hopeful to God for, is that my first few calls are those who have so that I’m able to reach my target before midweek. What are you really into outside work? Outside of work and being a mother, I’m an avid runner. What was growing up like for you? It was interesting. I went to Queen’s College. Going to a Federal Government school kept me grounded, as I interacted with people from all parts of Nigeria from all spectrums of the

economic strata. The moment you start to feel too big or too small, you see a middle ground and it makes you appreciate what you have. That taught me contentment. And my dad has always been big on being grounded, regardless of what you achieve or how far you’ve gone, you must remember that it’s only because you were lucky. I believe and like the idea that intelligence is given randomly. What sets you apart will be linked to your parentage, quality of education, parental training, love, care and support through finding your potential. A lot of times you look around, it lets you know how blessed you are when you see people with potential not fully harnessed. While growing up, did you have an eye on where the future might take you? Yes, I wanted to be a lawyer. My dad would say, ‘You say one, and Ngozi would say 20.’ I was always ready for an argument and in fact, I lived for it. So, they felt surely law was my future. Until I found out in the United States, you have a first degree before you do Law. There was a lot of reading involved than talking. I immediately looked for another course. It’s so not where I want to be. It’s such a departure. Looking back, do you ﬁnd fulﬁllment where you are now? Yes, I find fulfillment where I am able to add value. If I am going to walk the earth, I must say what my contribution is. Fulfillment is

not necessarily in my office. It’s about how I’m able to encourage people. I learn from every single interaction I have. I learn when I take my kids to school when they ask random questions like why is that girl on the street. And I have to explain to them that it’s because she doesn’t have a home. My daughter teaches me. I like learning. Fulfillment for me is tied to what I give. Women are nowadays in big roles men used to play. What’s your take on gender equality? I wonder if that’s true. I would say though that I have never, at least here in Nigeria, something wasn’t given to me because of my gender. It still exists and it’s not men that do it to women. It’s a general perception of women in society. Women do it as much as men do it. I do look to the day when a man and a woman are evaluated and you don’t have to adjust for gender. Society sees us differently, and I think that to a large extent does impact the decisions we make – good or bad. What advice do you have for young ladies who are aspiring to be great? I’m a mother of girls, and so what I’ll tell them is whatever they want to do they can do. I do not let gender determine what careers they want. Even when they are choosing curricular activities, I support them. That is what I would tell any woman. Dream; don’t let the society stop you from being the version of yourself.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 26, 2017 with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

LOUD WHISPERS

Buhari

PRESIDENT BUHARI : Daddy oyoyo!!!

Those days, when my dad came back from his usually long days out of the house, my only sister, Gloria, who is today one of the most beautiful women in this country; Kai, you should see her light skin and gait. She is so fine that….wait, this article is not about my sister abeg but let me just mention before I leave her, she has a tooth-gap smile and her eyes are the most bewitching. You should see her when she has finished for church; she usually looks like a sweet Akwa Ibom goddess. My sister is beautiful o, but wait let me finish my talk abeg. So as my dad would blare the horn of his Peugeot 504 car, my sister would run out with all sorts of stories of things that happened in my dad’s absence. She would just be singing like a canary. I used to feel like taping her mouth and locking her up in the wardrobe where my mum used to keep her shoes. I used to be the main victim of those reports: “Daddy, Joe took meat from the pot, “daddy joe jumped the fence to go talk to the neighbour’s housemaid,” daddy Joe gave the neighbour’s housemaid a tin of milk.” I used to wish we could sell her to the itinerant mallams who came to exchange old cloths for those plastic coolers that my mother used to love so much. But today as the ever-popular President returns or how do you explain the horde of Nigerians who lined the streets to welcome him back? I suddenly feel like my sister all over again. I feel like running out of my Shomolu castle to daddy to report all that had been happening while he was away. Although I am very sure that Uncle Lai would have beaten me to it but I will still do my own after all, amebo no be monopolistic endeavour. It is a free entry and free exit business. My dear daddy, in your absence, a lot happened o. Your brilliant deputy grew grey hair o. I am sure when you first saw him you must have been shocked at the way he has aged. But do you blame him with all the wahala that comes with running this our country? The man try. Hope you brought a box of chocolate for him? While you were away, CharlyBoy, (remember that lip-stick wearing and skull-loving former musician?) went everywhere fainting in his bid to get you back. Well, he was chased away from the Wuse market, thanks to the traders. I think you should pay a thank-you visit to the market to appreciate the traders who stood by you. Forget that the whole thing took an ethnic colouration, the truth is that Charly Boy was thrown out of the place. Nnamdi Kanu kept on his struggle despite bail conditions but it is looking like his mission is becoming funny, today he will ban Anambra elections, tomorrow he will unban it. I think you should just ignore him. Fayose was alleged to have threatened to commit suicide if you came back. He has now denied saying that, but no problem, please draw him close to you. He is your son. Pay him a visit in Ekiti and take an Okada ride round the city so that you can better understand him. He means well, I tell you. Sir, now that you are back, I think you should not stress yourself too much o. Let Osinbajo continue abeg, so you can rest o. Life is more than all this Nigerian wahala. The wahala did not start today and you cannot end it within your tenure. Please do not forget to take your drugs regularly, do morning jogs. You can jog from Aso Rock to the Airport and back; drink a lot of water. Do not read Saharareporters so as not to stress yourself, avoid the National Assembly, those ones are another kettle of fish. Visit Obudu Cattle Ranch and spend 30 days there, the temperate climate there will further aid your continuous healing. Listen to a lot of Nigerian music to further soothe your soul. The music you listen to must reflect national character as all the geo-political zones of the nation must be reflected in your choice of music. But if I was to advise you, do a lot of Timi Dakolo and avoid Olamide’s latest video, the smoke in that video is too much and will not assist you as you recover. Also try not to listen to Davido’s especially that one the boy was boasting about N30b in his account. I swear knowing syou very well as you finish listening na Magu you go first

Murray-Bruce

ASUU STRIKE: Enter the Dragons Command School Alumni My bro o distribute 10,000 loaves of bread or do I go to the next meeting on Okada and share Akara? I have even worn jeans and T-shirt to present my speech and have sworn that the incumbent president, Mr. Olumide Lala has incurable rashes on his bum bum. All to no avail. Frustration is catching me o. My brother please come to my aid, we have to conquer these people o. If I try civilian tactics he no work, I go cross to the other side o . aaaaaaah am I appealing to the right person, shouldn’t I be talking to the Jagaban himself? Abeg, where is this keke Marwa we have to head up to the Lion of Bourdilon? Yes o, these ones are pre-historic. Just like the fossil animals they themselves taught us in school, they have allowed their brains go extinct and frozen up. Relying on very old theories and ways of thinking, they have continued to hit their heads on the wall, expecting the wall to shift which you will agree with me is impossible. I have since lost respect for lecturers especially their leaders. My in-law, Professor Mowete will kill me o, but my love for his sister and the possible withdrawal of her services in the ‘other room’ will not stop me from making my point in the most forceful manner that I can muster. You see, anytime I hear that lecturers are going on strike to fight for the same things they have been fighting for since they themselves were students, I get really upset. As perceived custodians of knowledge, I remain stupefied at their crass inability to see that the world has changed and moved on, leaving them behind with their tired theories and syllabuses. Fighting for increased government funding and welfare not only beats my imagination but also makes me start to understand why even my driver is looking for money to send his child to school abroad. ASUU has shown with these continued annual fights that they have lost the plot and also, relevance. I swear they need to all go have a collective rethink of their position in society for if they continue like this, we will only choose to ignore them. Today, government can no longer afford to keep funding tertiary education and the fight should be a total disengagement of government and the entry of private investors. Simple! Is this so hard for these our

so-called eggheads to see? In recession with significant drop in government revenues, inflation and paucity of funds, government is forced to prioritise in a bid to achieve a balance in expenditure. So do you blame government when they put defence, health and agriculture ahead of education in their order of priority? When you are now fighting for increased salary as against the need to push more funds into power or the fight against Boko Haram, you will not blame government if you are ignored. The government should sell all these schools to the highest bidders and convert the NUC into a true regulatory body, providing guidelines and ensuring a responsible oversight environment for all stakeholders. Private money should be running education, the time for government involvement is over and if these lecturers cannot see this, how they will be able to teach and guide our children beats me. So ASUU please, commission a research work to look into government’s withdrawal from education and that way, you will find your Eldorado. The problem is the laziness of some of these our lecturers, people who still rely on research reports commissioned when Jonathan was running around without shoes to lecture in today’s world - where information is moving per second per second. Their fear is that they may not be able to attract private funding which chases quality and is guided by the forces of demand and supply. ASUU, you guys have lost the plot, kindly take a step back and smell the coffee. Let me leave you guys with this: I just recruited a young genius in my office. He attended the University of Benin where he studied something like creative arts. During the interview, I noticed a two-year lag period in his Curriculum Vitae and when I asked, he said he realised after graduating that he wasted four years of his life in school and that by the time he graduated, the world had passed him by. So he spent the next two years to re-educate himself on the internet at home and now he felt he can come out to face the world. You see!!!!! make una dey fight for better salary and welfare, your students are seeking for knowledge elsewhere. I just tire for these people.

call. My lord welcome back, I personally remain enamoured with your continued popularity despite the suffering we have faced during your time and the seeming inability of your government to tackle some of these issues especially the economy, joblessness, despair and poverty. Boko Haram attacks are increasing and the militants in the Niger Delta are warming up for another round of violence. The war against corruption is looking like it is derailing. Despite all these, you still remain quite popular if you consider the way Nigerians of all walks of life have reacted to your return. The contradiction is amazing. So I would like to seriously challenge you to ride on this new-found wave of popularity to make things happen for us. Suffer dey this country o. Anyway, welcome back and I wish you well sir.

SENATOR BEN MURRAY-BRUCE: The threatened recall Me I have tried to avoid yabbing this my brother. The last time I mentioned him on this page, I got a call from his people and we had a lovely conversation after which I promised myself to be nice and gentle with the amiable senator. But as I was looking for something to write with my brain going into mute mode, I stumbled on a small piece in a national newspaper reporting that student leaders in his constituency have given the senator 10 days to change his ways, otherwise they would commence a recall process. These people no get sense o. They have been blessed with such a handsome senator dem come dey complain, what else do they want? Have they seen what my senator looks like? These Bayelsa youths should go and sit down, haven’t they seen the eloquence of their senator? Haven’t they listened to him speak? This is one of the most eloquent senators in the chamber today and he should not be threatened like this. I am hoping this report is not true o because any attempt to destabilise my friend will be viewed as an attempted attack on me, the Duke of Shomolu which would be met with concurrent reprisal. I stand with the senator. Nobody should threaten him o, the man has been the custodian of common sense and this is not a small task. With Senator Bruce I stand. My brother, I don defend you now o. Can I take this write-up to the cinema and ask for a free ticket as a reward for this my support? It is just common sense.

HARRY EBOHON: New Kid on the Block Forget the “kid” in the title of this piece. Harry is not a kid at all o. The man old small. But today, I want to celebrate his industriousness for he has built an empire almost from nothing. Trading under the Oando brand and now his own Propetrol brand, Harry has been able to put about 300 Nigerians under his employment, while securing a multi billion- naira oil and gas conglomerate which should be looking at the stock market listing any time soon. That I respect his business acumen and his resolve to meaningfully contribute to the economic development of this country cannot be discounted. Today, he is looking at a massive expansion programme which should see more Nigerians taking part through his Propetrol in the downstream retail distribution platform that he is building. This new initiative of which he has refused to give me the full details, but you trust me na, I have learnt, would involve over 500 Nigerians having a stake in his empire through a well thought-out public participatory scheme, thereby creating more jobs, redistributing wealth and generally impacting society. The only problem with Harry is that anytime I am in his office, he will give his cook signal not to bring his lunch until I leave, but as a cunning Duke of Shomolu, I will just pretend I am going and immediately I leave, the cook will serve his lunch; I will just rush back and seeing me through the CCTV, he will be rushing the meat but my speed usually baffles him as I would have jumped in before he puts the second meat in his mouth. I will now shout billionaire Harry, na meat we dey fight for?

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

SPY GLASS

OLORI WURAOLA

REAL REASON OLORI WURAOLA MOVED OUT OF OONI ‘S PALACE

It is no longer news that the Ooni of Ife, HRM Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi’s marriage to beautiful Wuraola Zaynab Otiti (née O) has hit the rocks, less than two years after it was contracted in an elaborate ceremony. Since the news of the crash broke, many have hurled accusations bordering on infidelity on Olori Wuraola and also called her unprintable names. However, a close source to the estranged couple has revealed the real reason Olori Wuraola voluntarily packed out of the palace, otherwise known as the House of Oduduwa. The source disclosed to Spy Glass that Olori Wuraola had been victimised by some of Ooni’s family members due largely to the fact that she is not Yoruba and because they wanted to turn her to their slave. She, according to the source, however, bore the pains silently because she not only loves her husband but respects the institution of marriage. Contrary to the insinuations that she couldn’t stand the sight of another woman sharing the bed with her husband, the source said, ‘‘Olori Wuraola is aware of the Yoruba tradition that a king is allowed to marry more than one wife. It was part of the orientation she was given before marriage. However, the plot to bring her person down and relegate her in her marriage is what she can’t stand. “ The source, who was quick to also dismiss the allegation of infidelity against the Olori, said, “The Yoruba cosmology and belief state that when a king is married to an Olori, nobody else dares sleep with the Olori. Death is the repercussion. If Olori is truly promiscuous, why is she still alive or why is it that none of the men who had allegedly slept with her has died? “It’s widely known that before Adeyeye married this Olori he has chased away two women in his life. This shows that the problem is not from Olori Wuraola, but from the Kabiyesi himself.” Faced by this development, she immediately moved to Lagos recently, while planning to relocate to Abuja to start a new life soon. Speaking further, the source said Wuraola had all the while been suffering in silence. She was said to have been abandoned most of the time by the King. In fact, she never enjoyed the marriage for a day, she kept wondering what actually led her into the marriage in the first instance. It was that terrible” Olori Wuraola, who was described as a millionaire and a successful businesswoman before she got married to the first-class

with BAYO ADEOYE .... 08054680651 monarch, was said to have supported the Oba in so many ways. It was learnt that the Ooni’s three sisters were the architects of the disaffection the Ooni had for Olori Wuraola. The sisters- Princesses Folashade, Adeshola and Adebimpe– had allegedly encouraged their brother to take another wife. ‘’The three sisters have never liked the beautiful Benin born from the very first day she set her feet in the palace. And they didn’t pretend, they showed it to her. But she didn’t get the signal,’’ the source revealed. It was reliably gathered that none of the Ooni’s sisters had been in any blissful marriage. “Princess Folashade is married to an American returnee, who has a wife and kids in the United States. Princess Adeshola broke up with her Pastor husband for unpublishable reasons. Adebimpe, at 40, also left her husband, Dawudu, who still works in the Ooni’s palace,” said the source. The three sisters known as Yeye 1,2,3 according to our source rely on their brother, the monarch for survival.

LAGOS VIBRATES AS TUNJI OYEBANJI HOSTS PARTY AT 60

If future is worth giving up on when things aren’t rosy, probably, Tunji Oyebanji wouldn’t have a grand celebration when he clocked 60 penultimate weekend. This may be due to his grass to grace background. However, the Mobil boss organised a private party without official invitation card turned out to be a well celebrated. It started with a thanksgiving at ‘Our Saviour’s Church’ (TBS), in Lagos. After which he ferried few family members and close friends to party with him at the Bay lounge, along Admiralty way, in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. The party was a fanfare as expensive, classic liquors and sumptuous meals littered the well-prepared table that salivate guests before feeding, giving to a caliber of Tunji who is highly connected with the high and mighty not only in the oil industry but home and abroad. His profile speaks for him despite having sour taste of life before life took positive twist on him to have him head various positions in one of the most successful multinational companies operating in Nigeria. At the event, Oyebanji was described as a pragmatic, courageous and decent business leader by the UACN boss. He further added that the celebrant’s life had been a source of inspiration to him. That in 16 years of close relationship with him, both had built an enduring alliance between their two companies and their families. For the chubby birthday boy, a lesson he has learnt over time is the fact that one should never despise small beginnings. Today, Oyebanji is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mobil Oil Nigeria. Mobil Nigeria is one of the six major petroleum products marketers in Nigeria and leader in the oil industry in efficiency and brand management. Tunji holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Lagos and also holds an MBA in Marketing from the City University, London, UK. He started his career with Mobil in late 1980. After a few more assignments, Tunji decided to take some time off the job to study for his masters in the United Kingdom. After one and half years away studying, he returned to his old job and that was the time he experienced the first breakthrough in his career. From that point onward, Tunji grew from one position to another in the company. He

was first appointed to the Board in 2002 and after several foreign assignments, he was reappointed in 2007. In October 2008, he was later appointed the Chairman and Managing Director of Mobil Oil Nigeria. The selfless Tunji posited that he wanted to leave a legacy that must have built a stronger company than he met, considering that the oil company has existed for over a 100 years; and would want to add up another century

OLU OKEOWO GLOBETROTS

Olu Okeowo, a property merchant and philanthropist, is one of the successful men living their lives to the hilt. Wealthy and influential, he has always dazzled his competitors and delighted his admirers. No doubt, his success story is such that will make anyone green with envy. He works hard for his money, so he spares nothing to spoil himself with the good things of life. Spyglass gathered that the dark-skinned businessman has been globetrotting, it was revealed that he has touched many countries around Europe and South America. But if you think he is globetrotting for the fun of it, you better have a rethink. The property merchant is busy attending to his many businesses around the world, having business and board meetings. We also learnt that Okeowo is coming home with a new business idea that would shake the country’s business climate to its very foundation. The shrewd businessman, who is unarguably one of the best property merchants in Nigeria, has been around for sometime. He is known for a number of imposing properties scattered around the country. Today, Okeowo has become a reference point in the nation’s property sector.

ALIKO DANGOTE, TYCOON WITH MIDAS TOUCH

Alhaji Aliko Dangote! That name means so many things to many people. But what no one can’t deny is the fact that the name is essentially synonymous with success. The Kano State-born mogul has successfully engraved his name in the hearts of the generality of his compatriots. Even across the globe, he is not a colourless personality. Like every creature, this amiable billionaire too has his own humble beginning. But his is one that will inspire any ambitious soul any day. As a young man, he had a clear vision of what he wanted to do later in life and he pursued it with unwavering doggedness. While growing up, the only thing that caught his fancy was business and he refused to be swayed by any other interest. Though he started out as a trader at 21, he is today the Africa’s leading businessman. His chain of companies is spread across 16 countries around the world and he has over 15,000 people in his employ. He is the richest African man on the planet, with a personal fortunes worth over $25 billion. As an entrepreneur, he always sees opportunities, while others are bogged down by morbid fear of failure. It is clear that he is a man born under a lucky star; it is also clear that he is endowed with the proverbial Midas touch. No wonder, he has always made a success of all that he has ventured into. From trading in commodity to sugar refining and from cement manufacturing to petroleum product refining, it is all a success story. In the thinking of his traducers, he is

APOSTLE SIMEON no more but a beneficiary of government waivers and concessions. But those who know him too well will attest to the fact that he is a hard-working and shrewd businessman. Dangote was born into a wealthy family in Kano. But rather than being pampered, he was given a chance to pursue his love for business. His uncle, Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata, eventually gave him a loan of N500, 000 that has today turned into a mega fortune. Apart from his business acumen, he is also a philanthropist of note. He has collaborated with the Bill Gates Foundation to invest in the provision of health, especially the eradication of polio in Africa and other parts of the world, where the disease is still prevalent.

APOSTLE SIMEON JOSHUA MAKES WAVES IN SOUTH AFRICA It is an incontestable fact that several Nigerian pastors are making waves in South Africa. But among the lot, Apostle Simeon Joshua, Founder and Senior Pastor of Command of Faith Miracle Ministries Worldwide (CFM Ministries), is said to be leading the pack. Born of devout Christian parents, his mother is said to have vowed to God that if He gave her a son, he would be a gift to the body of Christ. Mercifully, her prayers were answered with his birth several years ago. Evidence that he is born to be great in life first manifested when he had what could be described as a ‘Damascus’ experience in his early 20’s. His experience, at that time, could be likened to that of the biblical Apostle Paul who had an encounter with God. When he later ventured into business, he made a success out of it. But his mother was not under any illusion that he was born to work in the vineyard of the Lord. Initially, he didn’t plan to be a pastor; all he wanted was to live a life of a champion. But after an encounter with the Lord at the age of 24, he gave his life to Christ and began to tow the path the Lord had mapped out for him. He, thereafter, attended the Word Of Faith Bible Institute, Lagos. While observing a 40-day prayer and fasting, the Lord appeared to him with a divine instruction to establish the CFM Ministries Worldwide. While he was growing up, Apostle Joshua had valued diligence and excellence as his personal virtues. No wonder, this has become an integral aspect of his CFM Ministries Worldwide. He obtained his Ph.D in Theology at the Jordan Institute of Mission & Ministerial Acts (J.I.M.M.A). Today, Apostle (Dr) Joshua Simeon and his wife, Pastor (Mrs. Blessing Simeon, are committed to winning more souls into the vineyard of God

DANGOTE

OYEBANJI

OLU OKEOWO

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 26, 2017

SUPER SATURDAY

LATEEF ADEDIMEJI ADETOLA My Relationship with Odunlade Adekola One of the most eligible bachelors in Yoruba movie industry and Nollywood, Lateef Adedimeji Adetola, has proven his versatility. He seems to have artistry in his blood: give him a script to play any role, and you have a gem on your set. From a corporate guy role to that of an imbecile, Lateef is there to hold you spellbound as a gifted thespian. He tells Tosin Clegg, about his career I Will Like to Work with Denzel Washington I Was Trained by an NGO ateef was actually trained by a non-governmental organistion. But little did he know his career was actually about to take off. He takes up the story: “Back then, they dealt with HIV and other sexually related issues. So they went to secondary schools and picked their best students to train them and make them peer educators and counselors. But basically they passed messages across through the grassroots, market women and some others who didn’t have access to TV all the time. So we went to them and used the best ways to pass the message through acting, singing and dancing. That was where my acting career started from and two years after I was sent to a performance studio workshop to learn more about the job. After that, I went to the university to study Mass Communication and finished in 2007 which was when I produced my first movie. During my time in school, I trained my own crew with the knowledge of acting I got from the non-governmental organisation. So I had a background in the field already.”

The First Movie Break Lateef said he was advised that in the Yoruba movie industry, one needed to belong to a group to be called for jobs. That was how he joined the likes of Afeez Eniola, Muyiwa Ademola, Bayo Tijani and began from there. Kudi Klepto was the movie that actually brought him to limelight. “It was by Yewande Adekoya and marketed by Olasco Films. The first time I met Yewande was at a rehearsal and that was where we got along. Yewande has been in the industry for long and when she wanted to produce Kudi Klepto, she told me she would want to feature me in the movie. The production manager and crew didn’t know me so they had to be showing them pictures to know it’s me. But she told me I shouldn’t disappoint her at the production as she trusted me and knew I could do it. Eventually when I got the script, I had to lock myself up for like three days. I kept rehearsing and eventually when I got to location; my expression was ‘wow’. My acting got me my first award in the United States of America, a BON award and so many others.”

Adetola

Becoming Who I am today From the kind of training Lateef received at the NGO, they were taught about 18 topics and all of these have actually been part of him. And it was actually the beginning of fame. And perhaps, fortune. “How do I manage the fame? The minute I had it in my head that I might blow, I started training myself on how to handle fame and package myself. I have always been told that whatsoever you do, be you famous or anything, you should affect lives and that has been my goal. So, more of what I do is to replicate the training from the NGO and blend into it. So I try to teach, make people see me the way I am and make people believe. You have to believe yourself before people can believe you. I try to make people understand that it goes beyond talent. What are you doing to make your talent stand out? What can make you so different that when a hundred stars shine, they can actually single handedly bring you out and think you’re

different. So those stuffs are actually what made me who I am.” A Flexible Style “Like Uncle Antar (Laniyan) once told me, the acting is in you but the ability is what makes you extraordinary. So he merged it together and gave me the name Actability. You have the Actability in you and now everybody can act and can use words but how do you use your own words? How do you play with your voice and what swag do you bring into your acting that’s basically what makes you different? In the Yoruba world, there is no characterisation or whatever as when you leave this location you go on another location and yet another one. So you as an actor you have to take your time to understand what the story is about and take your time to give yourself a character from the understanding of the story, that’s what will make people see you in different movies and not see the same person always. So basically I take my time when I get to location or ask the producer or whoever wrote the script that who is this character and can you explain this person to me? Apart from you telling me the story when you were writing, what character were you thinking about of this person? Tell me then I might be able to link it up to my person, assimilate it and fall into the character.” The Challenges so Far Lateef says a particular movie, Ireje, is one of the most challenging he has had to handle. He said this was so because he had to switch in between different emotions. “At some time you laugh, then next minute, you cry. But the most challenging is by Muyiwa Ademola where I had to play hunter. That (role) had to make use of eulogies and not being used to that character, it was a bit challenging for me. But of all the movies I have done, Kudi Klepto is still my number one challenging movie maybe because that’s the first movie I had to play a major role in it. It was a bit challenging but I was able to deliver.” Between Me and Odunlade Adekola Many have seen him as rival to another leading Yoruba act, Odunlade Adekola. Though many admit that Adekola is his senior in the industry, Lateef is seen as the one that will take over that ‘slot’ in Yoruba movie hierarchy. But Lateef says they get along very well. “The relationship is cool and for me it’s not always easy when you have a striking resemblance with someone and you are in the same field line with but I have come to realise and learn that I do not see any actor as a competitor. The minute you see your co actor as a competitor you want to start acting to impress and the minute you start doing that you over-act and people will notice it. So you must understand your own character and just let things flow. So another thing is that I see Odunlade as a good actor in every aspect and what do I gain from him? I sit to watch and learn from every other actor: Odunlade, Femi (Adebayo), Muyiwa (Ademola). Then I pick from them and add to myself which brings a lot of value to me. We have met a lot of times and he would always tell me that if he leaves this work I take over as we purely look alike. But I said

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPA P PER ˾ GUST 26, 2017

SATURDAY THE DAY UNCLE ANTAR LANIYAN SLAPPED ME ON SET

gp an NGO to help sell its message g to a household name in Nollywood, the jjourney y has been exciting g for Lateef Adedimeji j . But the road ahead is still long. g And the interesting g thing g is that this y young g man is well aware of that next big g project p j is his next move. “It’s a movie that will be going g g through g people p p and that’s the movie that’s on my y head now. After that I will be doing g some major j Yoruba movies too. Things g that have to do with p people p and the society is what I’m bent on doing now.” I’m a Deep p Muslim Guy y Lateef admits that the way y they y brought g him up p in his family y was to be a devout Muslim. “In my y quiet q time, if I’m not acting g or something, g it’s either I’m on my yp praying y g mat or I’m reading g or I’m trying y g to upgrade pg myself y because what I am carrying y g is even beyond y me. So I’m to know about a little of everything y g and if you y would be leading g a lot of p people, p certain q questions will be thrown at you which may y y throw y you off balance and if you aren’t prepared you may be in trouble.” Bimbo Oshin is my y Crush “I told Bimbo Oshin p point blank that she is my y crush. But dealing g with the female fans isn’t easy y but I think it’s about the carriage g and knowing g what y you want. It’s also about knowing g that as much as fame comes, y you don’t g get carried away y with it. My y father will say y that y you when y you see a lot of females appreciating pp p gy you, y you know that y you have arrived then thank your y star you’re y getting g g to where you’re y going. g g Then when you y see they y are becoming g too many, y thank your y star again g but be careful as it may y lead to y your downfall. So that has always been in my head all the time.”

Adetola my y character is different but he tells me y you have to wrap p it up. Nonetheless, it’s been fun all the way.” Antar Laniyan y is My y Role Model Lateef says y Antar Laniyan, y an actor of many y decades experience p is one man he has always y looked up p to. “There is this carriage g he has and the voice. There is a way y he plays p y with his voice and eventually y when I met him on set for the very y first time I received a slap p from him and I was g going g to act normal as that scene is the very y first scene and my y line the very y first. And I just j said: ‘Yes you y are my y father’. And he replied p that they y should cut. He didn’t even correct me but just j slapped pp me and I was confused. Then, he said, I should shut up that next time if you y see it, is the first scene or first line it must be catchy y so you y must look for a way y to play p y with your y voice. He then asked me to take it again. g He said there is a yes, y a comma before the father so understand the line. You need to shout on your father that what he is doing y g is wrong g so emphasise p on the ‘Yes’. And I had to do that and I think that was the day y he told me you have the ‘acting’ y g and ability’ y so you y have the Actability. y He is someone I have always looked up p to. Eventually, y when I got g into the industry more I looked and searched for

Ibrahim Chatta as he is another crazy y actor. When he is acting, g I sit to study y the way y he does his things g and look at Odunlade as well but Antar is always someone I looked up to.” Awards Lateef admits the movie, Kudi Klepto, p earned him the award of Best Actor and he also won a Heritage Award in Atlanta, United States. “Kudi Klepto p also g gave me Odua Movie Awards too in 2014 and 2015 as Best Actor and it also g gave me Best Actor in supporting pp g role at BON Awards. I also won City y People p Awards and Lagos g Under-30 Best Actor of the Year Awards.” I amPassionate P about NGO “Basically y most of us that call ourselves celebrities but when they y ask us what it takes, most of us can’t really y say. y This is an endangered g generation and we have to do g something. g I know the minute you y become a face on TV y you have some authority. y So if something g is black y you can say y it’s white because of the love they y have for you. y They y can actually y follow you y and believe in what you do. So with that alone I feel I can do a y whole lot and affect the young y g ones as somehow, somewhere we are all endangered. So

IWill Like to W Work with Denzel Washington W g Lateef has one big g dream though: g he wants to work with celebrated American actor, Denzel Washington. g “I love him; I love his carriage g and apart p Great Minds Initiative is actually y for y young g from his acting g world when he talks as well people p p who have talents in them but no p place there is something g for you y to actually y pick. p to display p y the talent or are not working g with If he speaks p for fi five minutes there must be the right g set of people p p to display p y these talents. something g for you y to actually yg gain and that Some can do a lot of stuff so GMI is actually y makes a lot of sense. It means he is leaving ag gathering g for every yy young gp person who is ag good land mark. That’s about him and willing g and ready y to do something g but don’t something g I envisage g for myself y not because have a place p or avenue to drop p it. So you y can of anything y g but it’s more like a mentor and come to GMI and drop p it in a g gathering g of motivational speaker.” youths willing y g to support pp y you towards y your career. So I did a retreat in Ilorin for over 60 Why y I Am Called the Crying y g Machine youths from p y parts of Nigeria g and they y all Due to his versatility, y Lateef can switch came around jjust to sanitise and open p them between emotions seamlessly. y And this to what GMI is about. If you y are carrying y ga has made people to conclude he is a crying name they y must see it in you y and know what machine. you are all about. I took them through y g all of “This has g got me thinking. g Aside from the those topics p and the movie project p j I’m work k- fact that I have to think of a lot of stuff, I’m ing g on is titled ‘The Endangered g Generation’ being g trained by y Aunty y Ann Ojido; j that if which is about young people and what we it’s g going g to be emotional there is always y a go through. g factor. Wherever you y fi find y yourself, be it in Lateef says y he can g give up p at any yp point in stage g or even here, there is always y a factor time but wants the world to say y something g that can make y you cry y easily. y So whenever about him when he is longer g on the scene. you want to cry y y on set and you y can’t, quickly q “That’s what I’m trying y g to do in the best flash back to something g emotional always y way y I can; to speak p to a life and that’s a basic remember to look for the factor around you. y challenge g for me. So I’m trying y g to work on From being gp picked by y an NGO to help p sell a lot of stuff to give back to the society that its message g to a household name in Nolmade me.” lywood, y the jjourney y has been exciting g for Lateef Adedimeji j . But the road ahead is still My y Next Big g Project j long. g And the interesting g thing g is that this The Kwara State-born thespian says his young man is well aware of that.

Bimbo Osin is My Crush…And She Knows

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 26, 2017

POLSCOPE

with Eddy Odivwri eddy.odivwri@thisdaylive.com 08053069356

Canticles... Suddenly, Oshiomhole No Longer BelievesinRestructuring? The Return of the Lion King

he initial title suggested for this piece is “The Metamorphosis of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole”, but I dropped it because it sounded so judgmental Last Wednesday, he was booed and jeered at by Labour leaders and activists who had gathered in Abuja at a colloquium to discuss the issue of restructuring the Nigerian federation. He drew the ire of the people when in his presentation, he claimed that those who were calling for the restructuring of the polity are those who lost out in the 2015 general election. The rejection of this declaration was instantaneous with the yell of “No, No No”. It took the intervention of the NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba for Oshiomhole to regain the attention of the audience, many of whom had asked him to drop the microphone and “gerrrout”. The loudness of the protests against Oshiomhole is even more significant because it seemed ironical that a man who made a career out of agitation for the masses, is suddenly sounding like an oppressor. Who would have thought that Oshiomhole, given the ideological identity he has and seemingly pursues, will make such a fallacious and wild claim: that the new buzz word among those who lost the 2015 election is restructuring? Pray, when the All Progressives Congress (APC) eventually set up a committee to examine the agitation for restructuring, is it also because APC lost the 2015 election? Here is a left-wing democrat, whose folks men and ideological background support the call for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation, suddenly declaring that it is the cry of the 2015 election losers. He even went ahead to argue that the modern trends in federalism is to crave for a stronger centre. Hear him: “The trend in most federal systems is towards a stronger central government that guarantees minimum standard for the constituent parts and capable of making intervention that promotes the welfare of citizens.” Really? In which country Mr Comrade? The truth is that there is a strong craving for a weaker centre and stronger constituent parts. That is the whole talk about devolution of power and fiscal federalism. But our Comrade is obviously not on the same page with the rest of us. As president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oshiomhole was verily involved in the strong agitation for not only resource control as championed by the South South governors at the time (1999-2003), he supported and craved for even more than 14 per cent derivation benefit to oil-producing states. He was also loud and visible in the

Oshiomhole

campaign for the abolition of the onshoreoffshore dichotomy, not forgetting the pro-masses campaign against oppressive government policies especially on increase in the cost of petroleum products. His arguments at the time, marshaled intelligently, with heavy Bini accent, made a lot of sense and drew applauses from the people. Those were the “micro-chips” that helped to build the Oshiomhole brand. Many of us did not think he was merely playing to the gallery. We believed that he believed and meant his arguments, because they were logical, convincing and popular. That brand became the password to winning the Edo governorship election, despite the initial hitch he had with Professor Osunbor usurping his mandate. And that was why his final ascendance of the governorship seat was not only celebrated by the Edo people, civil society groups across board, but by the entire progressive stock in the country. Oshiomhole was seen as one political leader who will dare to be different, having carried, for so long, the cross of the masses. He stepped down last November after serving eight full years in office. I visit Edo State pretty often. I am not disappointed that a comrade governor was in the Osadebey house for eight years. The signposts of his works in the state are emphatically on display, perhaps for a long time to come. But Oshiomhole who hitherto earned the reputation of a frank and fearless speaker on national issues, has shown tendencies to be shifty and inconsistent. The booing he got last Wednesday was certainly not the first. In December 2011, he was also booed and jeered at when he crossed the “redline” of public expectation. The occasion was the symposium organised by Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) to discuss “Removal of Fuel Subsidy, In Whose Interest?” Against all expectations, then Governor Oshiomhole who had had a long history of opposing increase in the price of petroleum products, suddenly made a detour by declaring that the removal of the subsidy will be in the overall interest and benefit of Nigerians. It was not clear if he was trying to please the establishment at the time or whether indeed, the scale had fallen off his eyes and he now realises that many of those hardline agitations by labour leaders are borne out of “ignorance”. He was then in the saddle. He knew the content of the till and the arithmetic of financial inflows. And his reasoning changed. But if his U-turn at the time is financially motivated, it is to be understood as governmental exigency. But what can be said to be behind the opposition to restructuring of the polity? Is Oshiomhole satisfied that the warped Nigerian federation has refused to really grow and develop because of the sociopolitical imbalances in the country? I am not convinced that Oshiomhole is opposing restructuring simply because he wants to be in the good books of the ruling Fulani hegemony from whom he hopes to get a ministerial or executive appointment. I do not think so! But why is Oshiomhole opposed to restructuring suddenly when both his state, region and even political party are baying for it? Whose voice is he echoing? At least, in principle, the APC has set up a committee to review the agitation for restructuring of the polity. That was before President Buhari returned last week. It is not certain if he will override that committee and oppose restructuring. Does supporting the wise demand for restructuring offend the political aspiration and career of Oshiomhole? If he does not want to devalue his brand, he must endeavour to stay true to his ideals and values, which over the years had defined him.

ou have been smiling all week. You look excited and fulﬁlled. Tell me, did you win some lottery? I won more than lottery my brother. So what is it? What else can be more than the return of Mr. President? I had a bet with my colleague who swore that Mr. President will not come back alive; especially after rumours filled the airwaves that he was in a coma and on life

support.

But is it not true that he was on life support? Please don’t ask me unfounded question. Were you there? Did you see him on life support? Where is the evidence? And even if he was, are you not happy that he survived, and today he is back with us in flesh and blood? But he does not seem sufficiently strong yet, after 103 days of treatment. Don’t join the mass hysteria of uninformed foul-mouthed critics to say graceless things about our President. What is graceless in saying that he is not sufficiently strong yet? Or is he? Did you not listen to his broadcast last Monday? Did you not hear how weak and faint his voice was? Did you not notice that the speech was less than six minutes? That was a man who had been away for over 100 days and he couldn’t afford to read even a 10-minute long speech? Did you not hear that the presidency announced that he’d be working from home? Did you not hear that he even cancelled the Federal Executive Council meeting last Wednesday? Are those the signs of someone who is healthy? You are asking too many questions. Be wise and cautious. Look, the man told you he has been ill. His UK doctors confirmed he is strong enough to return home to do his work. But don’t forget that for a man who had gone through so much health travail, he will need to recuperate and regain his strength. Recovery process is gradual. It will be unfair to expect a recovering man to hit the ground running. Don’t forget he is not a young man. So why don’t they say he is not yet strong enough to resume his normal official routines instead of telling us that he is working from home because rodents took over his office and so the office is going through renovation? Point of correction: he has resumed. He is working from his residential office. Did you not hear he met with the service chiefs during the week and gave orders to them to tackle every form of threat to the country including Boko Buhari Haram, IPOB and co? Did you not hear that he received the report on the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and the NIA DG, Ayodele Oke? How else can a man be seen to be working? Hmmm, Baba-chir, Baba-chir, the grass cutter…Do you think the anti-corruption sword will cut him? Or will he be protected because he belongs to the sacred ruling class? In any case, what is it about the narrative on rodents and all that wart? Is it true that it is the said renovation of the president’s office that is making him to work from home or is it that he is not yet strong enough to go through the daily grill of being in the office? Pray, how did rodents find their way to the president’s office? Is it so dirty as to provide such a conducive habitat for rats to hibernate? Were the state house cleaners not cleaning Mr President’s office while he was away? And lest I forget, what has the presidency done with the N4, 953,184,635b appropriated for annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations, building/civil and environmental services within and around Aso-Rock villa facilities in the 2017 budget? How can rodents chase Mr President away from office when the over four billion naira is meant to chase the rodents away? What an audacious set of rats! And do you really think Nigerians believe that story? It is not for them to believe or doubt. There are even rats in the White House. Do you remember how they (rats) disrupted President Obama’s press conference? Ok, so were you satisfied with the content of Mr President’s address? Many think it was shallow and staid, saying nothing new and failed to address salient burning issues. That is your own narrow opinion. Many have commended the focus of the speech as it touched on vital issues of the land, including threats from herdsmen, terrorists, kidnappers, ethnic bigots, separatist agitators and hate speech mongers. What was missing? If he could mention his meeting with Ojukwu, without proof, as a reason for Nigeria’s unity being settled, why did he not specifically chide the Arewa youths for giving quit notice to the Igbo in the north. And pray, what mandate did Buhari and Ojukwu who were both not in power at the time, to decide the fate of over 180 million Nigerians? And 14 years after, it cannot even be revisited? And when he said,“Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable. We shall not allow irresponsible elements to start trouble and when things get bad they run away and saddle others with the responsibility of bringing back order, if necessary with their blood”, was he not indirectly referring to the same Ojukwu who instigated the idea of a Biafra Republic which led to the Nigerian civil war? Look, I don’t have time for these many JAMB questions you are asking me. The good thing is that the lion king is back. And all the hyenas and jackals are staying contained, not daring to cross the red line. The wild and wide jubilations nationwide on Buhari’s return is clear evidence that Nigerians are happy to have their lion king back. Stop this your fixation with lion-king cliché. If I may ask you, in the real animal world, how will a common rodent like rat dare to harass a lion, let alone the king of the lions, out of its domain? Well, one inalienable rights of democracy is free speech. But let me warn you that right now, even the security agencies are monitoring whatever you say. So be cautious!

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 26, 2017

EXPRESSION

MEDIAGAFFES

Remand in Custody, not Prison

EBERE WABARA

ATURDAY PUNCH of August 19 leads the faulty bunch today: “… remanded in prison…” Just remanded—usually in prison/EFCC custody DAILY SUN Editorial of August 16 goofed on two occasions: “What this means is that the explosives have been lying idle for over 47 years, posing a threat to lives and property.” ‘Life’ here is used generically—it does not mean just a life. This way, therefore: life and property. ‘Return back’ (wrong); return (right); ‘log of wood’ (wrong); simply log (right) Still on DAILY SUN Editorial: “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” Get it right: forewarned is forearmed. The extract is a Nigerian creation unfit for any formal writing, especially an editorial. OVERHEARD: “How is your children”? My dear reader, over to you! “The feeling is that many don’t want to be seen to take a position which would be interpreted as confrontational and as such they have resulted (resorted) to lobbying prominent figures outside government to….” “These 17 luxury cars and SUVs of the former governor which will make any Arabian Sheik grin (green or green with envy) are parked in his GRA Jos adopted home. “The actual name of the person expected to chairman (chair/preside over) this occasion is….” Wrong: atimes; right: at times (two words) “Those who have the power to release the suspect but are passing the bulk (buck) to the courts should be informed

that it is against the national interest to refuse to release….” “The former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, explained that it was not the first time that banks would be liquidated and that the history of bank failure in the country dated (dates) back to 1958 or 1959.” Note: dates back to or dates back from is a stock expression. “In reaction to the leaflets being circulated, the Kano State Commissioner of Police…made a radio and television broadcast telling the people to ignore the leaflets which he described as the handiwork of mischieve (mischief) makers.” Special note: make-believe (not make-belief). “When the storm rages, men can do nothing about the storm, but when the storm has seized (ceased), its destruction can be redressed.” Theoretical linguists, curriculum experts and “educationalists” (educationists or educators), working together or separately, have been busy putting forward suggestions for language education reform. Note especially: “educationalist”, like “invitee”, is not in any respected dictionary. These comic words were invented by Nigerians. “Armed robbers again jolted the commercial city of Lagos last week Friday (last Friday/last Friday week or on Friday, last week).” “Students write exams half naked (half dressed/half clothed/half covered or half clad, or naked/bare to the waist).” “I stood up, took another coin out of my pocket and put it near my half–empty (half–full) beer glass.” Special note: in editorial English, we say or write: half clothed/half covered/half dressed/half clad (‘clad’ is obsolete as a participle)

naked or bare to the waist or clothed from the waist down or naked/bare, or fully dressed: half-full (not half-empty); semi-literate/half or sub-literate/half lettered (not semi illiterate); half sighted (not half blind); half alive (not half dead); employment problem or unemployment (not unemployment problem). Unlike other intellectual leaders of Nigerian progressive movement, such as Professors Ikenna Nzimiro, Eskor Toyo, Akin Oyebode, G.G. Darah, Doctors Edwin Madunagu, Ola Oni, Segun Osoba, O. Onoge, Bala Usman, Dr. Tunji Otegbeye is not an “academician” (academic) in a formal sense. Special note: ‘an academician’ is not synonymous with ‘an academic’ just as ‘presently’ is not synonymous with ‘at present.’ ‘Presently’ always means SOON and ‘at present’ always means NOW.

FEEDBACK

EBERE, you have become, like Ndaeyo Uko, a man well-known for his sardonic wit and wisdom and for his penchant for the use of irony and pun. Truly, some Nigerians, including journalists, writers and columnists, are trying their hardest to un-English the English language beyond recognition, just like the people of Virgin Islands! These people’s variety of English is called ‘Calypo English’ just as the African–Americans have ‘South or Black English.’ And Nigerians have ‘Nigerian English’! But English, like truth, is one. It should be noted that although “still yet” is not accepted as a standard phrase, “yet still” is quite accepted. “Yet still” is used by modem writers, particularly British journalists and writers. Example: “At home (in the U.S.A) the terrifying problems of crime, racial violence, social disharmony refused to yield to oratory, however inspiring, or to law,

ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948

however comprehensive yet still the Kennedy magic advanced. He was not really a radical; if anything, he was a careful conservator. Some select people called “speech writers” are very fond of mechanical errors that result in failed, fractured or diseased English. It is very sad. Yes, it is our moral duty to ensure that some folk are not allowed to kill this universal language. Please note that while ‘general consensus’ is unacceptable, ‘broad consensus’ is and while ‘heavy downpour’ is not allowable, ‘great downpour’ is. (Anonymous) “IT is wrong and insulting to the Office of the Vice-President (V-P) to write ‘Vice President’ as journalists do without hyphenation. In my opinion, ‘vice president’ (without hyphenation) is a president who is immoral and wicked. My view is based on one of the meanings of the noun ‘vice.’ I stand to be corrected. (Stanley Nduagu, English language teacher and principal, Evangel Secondary School, Isiala Ngwa/Abia State/08062925996) I agree with the intervention a fortnight ago that in a presidential system, a general election, rather than general elections as used in THE NATION’s Editorial, is correct. It means the totality of scheduled presidential and legislative polls. Also in the same medium: “Pandemonium and near anarchy was let LOSE” at the Kogi State House of Assembly during an attack by thugs” (see DAILY SUN, August 2, 2017, page 6). The paper meant LOOSE, a situation that is out of control. “As a student, I had always wondered why...they need to WADE (WARD) off competitors….” (THE NATION ON SUNDAY, August 13) (KOLA DANISA/07068074257)

INSIGHT

Rulers Vs Leaders Duke Ogunbor

have always regarded Ile-Ife, in Osun State (or State of Osun as Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola prefers to call it), as a second home. I visit it as often I can, because my sister, a lecturer at OAU and her lovely family live there, and when I was still single, for other very colourful reasons - which the missus must not hear about. Anyway, until recently, it was a quaint little town, where everywhere of notewas just a three-minutes drive away; in fact, I used to describe it affectionately as a “three-minutes-noodle-town” because of the ease it took to get around. But that was then, and this is now. During my last visit, I was shocked by the sheer number of Okada riders - those ubiquitous, dare-devil riders with an obvious death wish. Like a swarm of bees, they seem to be everywhere; on pathways, walkways and most times, brazenly riding against traffic. When I mentioned this to my sister, she bemoaned the menace they had become, and how the orthopedic wing of the teaching hospital had been kept very busy, by a seemingly, endless stream of Okada accident victims. Sad as it was, this was no news to me, issues around and about Okada and its riders are a familiar tale in most Nigerian towns and cities - where they serve both as a means of transportation and employment. However, my interest was stirred when she mentioned that the town’s Okada Riders Association had contributed money to buy for their chairman, a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) or Jeep, as most Nigerians prefer to call it. Ordinarily, this itself should be no news - it could very well have been a gift for his exemplar service to the association, b-but, alas, that was not the case. The reason for the SUV was because the association’s members felt it was incongruous for their leader to attend the town’s transport association meetings, in a less befitting vehicle – they simply did not want to look like poor cousins at such gatherings. Now, this to me was news. It beats the imagination that an association with no pension, welfare or health insurance scheme for its highly vulnerable members, will elect instead, to spend millions on a vehicle, ostensibly for the comfort of its chairman, and just to keep up appearances. What next, you might ask, probably, another huge vote for a luxury accommodation in an exclusive location, while, its members continue to toil and live in abject poverty. This is most certainly not an isolated case –– we live with it every day of our lives –– we see it in our politics

Aregbesola and even religion – and we have unwittingly become complicit in the warped logic, that those elected to lead us should live a life of comfort and luxury, even as they rule over us; whilst we live a life of servitude. Unfortunately, the line between leadership and rulership has been permanently blurred. I have equally come to the painful realization that our collective lack of understanding of the difference(s) between ruler ship and leadership is the very reason why we seem to be forever mired in this morass of economic and political non-development. You see, by simple definition, a ruler owns his subjects; lock, stock and barrel; them accountable to him, but he, not unaccountable to them - exactly the same relationship a person has with property. Some people feel that their rulers should never be questioned, and must be provided for at all times, with all the trappings of their positions and none of the responsibilities – in their opinion, rulers are beyond reproach. On the other hand, leadership is the direct foil of ruler ship, but with added benefits - it is selfless, visionary and inspiring.

Clearly, there is a dearth of visionary leadership in our polity, this I have serially mentioned in previous articles. Instead, we have rulers who regard us as their private property, to be treated with contempt and downright rudeness. Over the years, I have kept a detailed record of these slights by those we have had the misfortune to be our rulers, and save for Abacha’s, no other administration comes any close to this present one, for the condescending tone with which it engages the populace – for instance, innocuous questions about the whereabouts and health status of the President were routinely and flippantly brushed aside. This is aside the derisive name-calling and intemperate use of words to describe political opponents or people with alternate viewpoints, not to mention the brazen and conscienceless fudging of facts and figures to mask their disastrous anti-people policies. Sadly, the above-mentioned pales in comparison, to the excuse(s) tendered for the continuous retention of the unusually high number of aircrafts in the Presidential fleet. In a nation without a recognizable national carrier (please no one should get me started by describing Arik and Medview as national carriers), the populace are left to suffer the indignity of connecting flights, unjustifiably exorbitant fares; while an aircraft from the presidential fleet was reportedly left idling away on a London airport tarmac, for the entirety of the President’s over-extended medical vacation. And in case we have all come down with a sudden case of selective amnesia, let me remind us all that the President, then a candidate, railed against the wisdom behind such an extensive presidential fleet – things do really change when you become a ruler. Sigh! Some will describe it as the perks of office, and I do not begrudge their right to hold this viewpoint. However, we must insist that those perks come with responsibilities, and as we say in marketing communications –– deliverables. After all, it is our sweat, and taxes that pay for it, therefore, we must insist, always, that our collective welfare and well-being must always be paramount. So, as I share with you in the coming weeks and months, my thoughts on leadership, and suggest steps we can take to redefine our collective roles, permit me to share this poignant quote I stumbled upon online “…a ruler is an owner of property, and a leader is a driver of ideas and ideals...” Nigeria needs leaders. Nigeria deserves better. ––“Be resolute in your convictions, but never absolute in your views” –Duke Ogunbor

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹͵

ESSENTIAL SKILLS with STEPHEN DIESERUVWE (Director General, Delta State Traﬃc Management Authority (DESTMA)

Dual Carriageway

2018 Jaguar XJ

2018 Jaguar XJ Lineup Includes 300KM/H XJR575 Stories by Bennett Oghifo Jaguar has announced a range of enhancements to its XJ luxury sports sedan. The 2018 model year (2018MY) updates include the introduction of the XJR575 performance flagship model, a host of technology upgrades and the addition of the latest intelligent safety features. ThenewXJR575isthemostdynamicderivativeinthe line-up and delivers 423kW and 700Nm of torque for effortlessaccelerationandrefinement,accordingtothe automaker. The 18kW uplift in power is delivered by JaguarLandRover’s5.0-litreV8superchargedengine andpowerstheluxurysportssedanfrom0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds and to a top speed of 300km/h. Available in standard wheelbase bodystyle, the XJR575reinforcestheXJR’sstandingasJaguar’sfastest production sedan. Customers will be able to choose between two bespoke exterior colour finishes created at Special Vehicle Operations’ state-of-the-art Oxford Road facility: Velocity Blue and Satin Corris Grey. Tailor-made exterior details include a rear spoiler, side sills, front bumper and lower air intakes featuring Gloss Black surrounds. Updated XJR575 exterior badging and twin bonnet louvres mark the vehicle out from the rest of the range while 20-inch Farallon

gloss-black wheels with red painted brake callipers are the final dynamic flourish. Inside the XJR575 features bespoke embossed tread plates, 575 intaglio and diamond-quilted seating available in Jet/Jet and Ivory/Jet colour options and finished with additional 575 branding. Headlining the technology updates in the 2018MY XJ is a central console that now features Jaguar’s large, 10-inch InControl Touch Pro infotainment system.As wellasgivingcustomersgreaterclarity,thebiggerscreen functions like a smartphone allowing occupants to pinch and zoom when using satellite navigation and create custom homepages for shortcuts to favoured features. Jaguar’s sedan car line-up promises strong safety credentials and the 2018MYXJ features the latest intelligent safety technologies. Forward Traffic Detection is designed to assist drivers when forward visibility is restricted, for example when pulling out of blind junctions. Lane Keep Assist is able to determine the car’s lane position and monitor steering inputs. If the vehicle drifts out of its lane without indicating, the system appliesgentlesteeringtorquetocorrectthemovement and prevent the unintended lane-change. In addition, Driver Condition Monitor is able to identify periods

of little or no steering activity followed by sudden or excessive inputs – a clear indication of driver fatigue – and display multi-stage visual warnings to prompt the driver to take a break. The XJ reaffirms its status as the most dynamic, distinctive luxury sedan in the world Performance flagship. XJR575 delivers 423kW and 700Nm for seamless acceleration from its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine. XJR575 joins the line-up alongside XJ Luxury, Premium Luxury, Portfolio, R-Sport and top-of-the-rangeAutobiography;Boldexteriordesign includes full LED headlights and unique double ‘JBlade signature’ daytime running lights; Powerful 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine delivers 221kW/700Nm with CO2 emissions as low as 184g/km; 10-inch central touchscreen features high-quality graphics and intuitive user interface; Reconfigurable 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster offers full-screen navigation; All-Surface Progress Control enhances traction on low-friction surfaces such as snow and ice – all the driver has to do is steer; Black Pack options for subtly enhanced exterior styling; Suite of advanced Driver Assistancesystemsincluding,AdaptiveCruiseControl with Queue Assist, Reverse Traffic Detection, Blind SpotMonitoring,360-degreeSurroundCameraSystem and semi-automated bay- and parallel-parking.

Kia Provides Top-of-the-segment Cars in Nigeria

ia’s trendy and superior design, quality engineering and intuitive technology has continued to outwit its competition in the world over. As a brand that’s ever-vibrant and strives to make life richer every day, Kia has redefined the automotive technology with appealing designs and best-in-class quality model range making it a driving force in the automobile industry. Aligning with Kia’s global trajectory in Nigeria, the company has over the years distinguished itself in the industry and hinged its business operations on providing exceptional customer service to meet the ever-increasing demands of customers. The unflinching resolve to provide outstanding offerings and exceptionalafter-salesservicemorecustomer-focused has always reinforced customers’ confidence in the Kia brand. Taking a leap to strengthen its brand superiority in the country, Kia has been consistently focused on transforming its brand image, from just being a ‘value for money’ brand to one that is seen by the world’s consumers as dynamic, innovative and technologically-advanced. Its new generation of products has been conceived, designed and engineered to meet the rapidly changing market needs.

Dual Carriageway A dual carriageway is a multi-lane road, with two or three lanes, having a central reservation usually of grass verge in the centre of the road with or without crash barrier separating streams of traffic travelling in opposite directions. On a dual carriageway, you should normally drive in right-hand lane; use the left-hand lane for overtaking or turning left. If there are slower vehicles in the right lane, after overtaking, you should return to the right lane when you have passed them. On dual carriageways, the average speed is higher than many other roads, and we encounter pedestrians, motorcyclists, tricycles (Keke), parked vehicles, entrances to building, etc. When driving on dual carriageways you should use your mirrors even more frequently. Look well ahead for problems, and anticipate what may happen. You may join a dual carriageway in three ways. Your road may simply turn into a dual carriageway ahead; from a slip road; and emerge directly onto a dual carriageway from a T-junction or crossroad. Driving along dual carriageways After you have joined the carriageway check your mirrors; cancel your signal; keep in the right lane; and make good progress. When driving on dual carriageways you should use your mirrors even more frequently. Respond early to other traffic, by giving those behind you time to act. Look out for obstructions in your lane; vehicles ahead slowing down; vehicles turning through central reservation; and traffic joining the carriageway. Emerging directly onto dual carriageway To turn right Where there is no slip road you would need to emerge as you would to turn right onto a major road. Take into account the speed limit on the dual carriageway to help judge a safe gap as traffic may be approaching very fast To turn left When joining a dual carriageway to take a left turn you will need to cross the first carriageway before you can join the carriageway you want. This is easiest where the central reservation is wide enough to have room to protect the full length of your vehicle to enable you to emerge from one carriageway at a time. Where there is not enough room you would need to be extra careful and turn left when both carriageways have a safe enough gap for you to drive across safely. Making progress on the dual carriageway When on a dual carriageway, if the road is clear and the weather conditions are good then maintain an appropriate speed. Keep a safe following distance by applying the two second rule: - “Only a fool would break the two second rule”. To make good progress you should overtake slow moving traffic when you are sure you can do so safely. In next week’s article we shall be discussing how to safely deal with expressways using the hazard routine. For further explanations or clarification on the articles in the Essential Skills of Driving column, consult the author. Stephen K. Dieseruvwe

Kia Quoris interior

The global acceptance of Kia and the brand’s affinity with its customers continues to rack up recognition from the auto industry and reel in reputable awards. Following the stream of its international and local awards, Kia brand has carved a niche for itself in the

automobile industry and belongs in the top echelon of carmakers in the world. Having been the only company that offers a 5-year warranty to its Nigerian customers, the brand’s quality and service offering is second to none.

Director General, Delta State Trafﬁc Management Authority (DESTMA) **Driver Trainer and Road Safety Consultant **Email: sdieseruvwe@gmail.com **Tel: +2348167814928

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Uber Extends Insurance partnership with AXA Mansard

The New Porsche Cayenne

New Porsche Cayenne Passes Through Global EnduranceTest Stories by Bennett Oghifo

he third generation of Porsche’s Cayenne is in the starting blocks. The new edition of this successful model, which has achieved more than 760,000 sales since 2002, has undergone a complex and challenging series of examinations, the automaker has said. Taking place across the globe and under extreme conditions, these tests ensure that the SUV meets the highest quality requirements set by Porsche. In conditions ranging from minus 45 degrees to plus 50 degrees, the prototypes and pre-series vehicles

complete a total of around 4.4 million test kilometres. Porsche is celebrating the world première of the completely redeveloped Cayenne on August 29, 2017. The drive, chassis, display and control concepts of the new model have been redesigned to further increase the spread between sportiness and comfort. The main objective of the extensive testing process is to achieve a perfect balance between the many components, some of which were developed especially for the Cayenne. The assessment process began as far back as 2014 with the unit carriers and has continued to this day with prototypes and pre-series vehicles. In addition to increasingly accurate virtual simulations, testing under real-life conditions is still highly valued at

Porsche and represents the final examination for every new model produced by the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer. The full vehicle test is implemented to harmonise the interaction of all individual components, whilst also analysing operational stability and functionality in customer usage scenarios. The aim is always to meet the highest quality standards set at Porsche. Specifically, this process includes tough endurance tests on Hydropuls units – a hydraulic testing facility that applies artificial vibrations to both the chassis and body. The range of assessments also cover on and offroad operational stability, which take place at the Porsche Weissach development centre, inside and around the facility.

berhastodayannouncedanextended commitmenttodriver-partnerprotection in Nigeria with an expansion of itsstrategiccollaborationwithleading insurance company, AXAMansard. Coming on the heels of its recently launchedGreenlightHubinLagosandthesecuring of Insurance cover from AXA Mansard for every rider earlier in the year, Uber driver-partners will all receive insurance coverage for medical expenses, permanentdisabilities,andaccidentaldeathbenefits from incidents occurring while operating on the Uber App. Commenting on the origins of this solution, Yomi Onifade, Divisional Director,AXAMansard Insurance plc said, “We are constantly looking for ways to enhance the standard of living of Nigerians taking into consideration our changing lifestyles and practices. Uber has now become part of our daily lives as it brings convenient and affordable travel. As two customer-centric and innovative organisations, this partnership is in line with our commitment to provide solutions to ensure that people are protected as they go about their daily activities and businesses.” Alon Lits, General Manager for Sub Saharan Africa commented, “We are deeply committed to the Nigerian market and the safety and security of Uber driver-partners is core to our success in the African economy. In addition, this commitment aligns with the President’s vision of ensuring ‘every Nigerianhastherighttoliveandpursuehisbusiness anywhere in Nigeria without let or hindrance.’ As weareconstantlylookingforwaystoimproveupon the Uber experience and to ensure that we create value for driver-partners, we are thrilled to extend our partnership withAXAMansard, a world leader in insurance solutions.”

Industry Players Commend BUSCAR Entry into Market

heproduction,inNigeria,theBUSCAR coach bus range specifically for the African market has been lauded by industry players. BUSCAR, which was unveiled this week at the Zen Garden, GRA Ikeja, Lagos, is an innovation that integrates the bus technology with the luxury and convenience of a car. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, which witnessed the attendants of guests from all walks of life, the National President, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Nojeem Yasin commended the BUSCAR Company for the boldness of initiating a vehicle brand for the African market and with its origin from

Nigeria. He said that this is an indication that great things can come out of Nigeria. He advised the Company to ensure they maintain the high standard which they now set, especially with the warrantees placed on the range. Mr.Nojeem added that they should ensure that there is adequate supply of genuine spare parts for the operators and also to enshrine this as a matter of business principle. The Assistant Corps Commander, RS2 18, Ikeja Unit, Command Emma Fekoya applauded the management of BUSCAR for such a great initiative and for the efforts made in ensuring that all the necessary safety elements are recognised in the conceptualisation, design and production of the BUSCAR range.

L-R: Managing Director Cummins West Africa Limited, Kwame Gyan-Tawiah; National President, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Nojeem Yasin; Managing Director Buscar Nigeria Limited, Friday Yange; and the Assistant Corps Commander, RS2.18 Ikeja Unit, Emma Fekoya at the unveiling of Buscar brand in Lagos... recently

Driving in Convoy

ast week I had the honor to anchor a training programme for a corporate organization whose details I would prefer to keep to myself for now until we conclude the series of trainings packaged to tilt the ugly and embarrassing corporate crash trend which they have recorded between January till date this year .The training programme is an all inclusive training meant to raise the driving standard for professional company drivers, workers and most significantly, security and pool drivers whose responsibility is exclusively convoy driving. We just rounded up and would probably be guest again to another set. For me, the first set were a delight to behold especially the ones assigned to do convoy who werefrankenoughtoownupthateventhoughthey have been on the job for quite some time, most of the things they learnt in the course of the training sounded Latin as they were hearing them for the very first time. My five days experience with these drivers prompted me to take another look at the topic for today. While preparing materials for the piece, I scanned through my archives to see if there were materials on this. While searching, a sense of amusement or would I say relief, dawned on me as I suddenly realized that for some time now, the country has been saved the trauma or would I say the embarrassment of recording multiple road traffic crashes that was the order of the day especially between 2012 and 2014.

SAFE DRIVING with

JONAS AGWU

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

Despite the level of sanity that has been achieved in reducing convoy related crashes which is a testimony to the ongoing convoy driving training for top executives, we in the Federal Road Safety Corps are optimistic that with a change in attitude not just among drivers but also among chauffeur driven executives, a significant measure of success will be recorded in our determined strategy to rid our roads of avoidable road traffic crashes. I do hope my new found friends would become polished and save their company and Nigeria the horror of avoidable crashes. Before I share with you a piece I did way back in 2013 at the height of the incessant convoy crashes, let me inform you that my redeployment to Zone 4, Jos, the capital of Plateau State comprising Plateau, Benue and Nassarawa states has opened me up to frequent travels allowing me to see the horror we call driving in our clime. The greatest tragedy is that common courtesy

which is the first and perhaps most important rule of driving safety has become alien as almost everyone on the wheel has become a terror on the highway although there are still some very pleasant Nigerian drivers whose love and compassion even on the wheel is a delight. Besides lacking courtesy, these vehicle movers, according to my Pastor,Pastor Gbenga Gbadeyan of Rhema Chapel International Churches, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, can barely stay in their own lane, let alone share the road with other vehicles even if it is an emergency designated vehicle which could be on its way to a hospital with a road traffic crash patient or on its way to offer rescue services to road crash victims .Some drive at terribly slow speed which is not an offence unless it is inappropriate. This explains why when such drivers are opportuned to become convoy drivers, they become suicidal. It is even worse if the convoy is organized with armed security support. Before I drift away from my focus, a convoy like any group activity is like a chain and is only as strong as its weakest link. It has its rules which must at all times be complied with .Some of these rules threw some of my participating drivers off balance as they feigned ignorance especially when we emphasized on pre-trip meeting with drivers which is one of the rules that requires that the team goes over the rules and guidelines guiding convoy driving. Wikipedia defines a convoy as a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and

protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support. It may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas. Convoy driving is different depending on the situation and conditions. It could be in a group of five vehicles or a long convoy of about ten or thirty cars which is best with a police escort – The rules for a small convoy are different from the rules for a large one and there is the need to adapt depending on the type. For emphasis, I need to stress here that a convoy is like a whip: The first two cars are like the handle as they control the direction, speed and flow .These two cars will form our focus in this write up even though every vehicle in a convoy is important .Like I said earlier, whether the convoy is organized with armed defensive or used in a non –military sense, giving priority to professionalism and competence is key in achieving success. This why in any convoy, communications is key. Communication can be useful during pre-trip and the drive proper. Since we are talking safety, we do not recommend cell phone because of the distraction. Decide at the drivers meeting the channel, route and any possible detour in the event of an emergency. Therefore, knowing the route in vital. It also prepares you for lane changes and your position and where to catch up when you miss out. Murphy’s Law comes to mind here because if it can go wrong, it will. Without radios... turn signals and hand signals can help, but radios are best. Aradio in the lead car and one in the last car is the minimum, especially when negotiating in town traffic.

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FAMILY HEALTH

Getting Pregnant at 50 and Above

hen you decide to get pregnant, your heart . thought and your whole being is geared towards this expectation. It is a good thing to desire to get pregnant at an advanced age. We must bear in mind that nature has its own programme to limit and regulate when and how a woman or man should reproduce. This decision can get you drawn into months or even years of trying to achieve this feat. There are pros and cons to your achieving this desire. It can either occur by a very minuite possibility, this comes with a period of expectations and anxiety. On the other hand, with the introduction of assisted reproduction techniques, it is quite possible to achieve your great desire. I have been privileged to have an over 50 woman as a patient, who did conceive and give birth. Age is the single most important factor affecting your fertility and your chances of having a child. A womanâ€™s age affects her fertility. Age is no barrier to achieving many things. But it can reduce the chance of a woman getting pregnant and having a healthy baby. A womanâ€™s age is the single most important factor affecting her fertility . As a woman ages, more of her eggs contain chromosomal abnormalities, which can result in miscarriage or the baby having a serious condition like Down Syndrome or Turner Syndrome. Key points : r8PNFO BSF CPSO XJUI BMM UIF FHHT UIFZ XJMM FWFS IBWF As a woman ages, her eggs age with her, diminishing in quantity and quality. r"HF JT OPU TPNFUIJOH XF DBO DPOUSPM #VU JG ZPV XBOU a baby or another baby, and youâ€™re in a relationship, you can have a conversation with your partner sooner rather than later. r5IF GBUIFS T BHF DBO BMTP JNQBDU PO DIBODF PG DPODFQtion, time to pregnancy, risk of miscarriage and the health of the child. Facts : women, age and fertility : As a woman ages, it takes longer to conceive and the risk of not being able to get pregnant increases. Also, the risk of miscarriage, and complications in pregnancy and childbirth, increase. The figures about women, age and fertility Chances of getting pregnant without IVF : Starting at about age 32, a womanâ€™s chances of conceiving decrease gradually but significantly. From age 35, the fertility decline speeds up. By age 40, fertility has fallen by half. At 30, the chance of conceiving each month is about 20%. At 40 itâ€™s around 5%. Pregnancy and birth risks for older mothers: r5IF SJTLT PG QSFHOBODZ BOE CJSUI DPNQMJDBUJPOT m BOE DBFTBSFBO TFDUJPO m JODSFBTF XJUI BHF $PNQMJDBUJPOT JODMVEF gestationaldiabetes,placentapraevia,andplacentaabruption. r0MEFS XPNFO BSF NPSF MJLFMZ UP IBWF B CBCZ XJUI CJSUI defects or genetic abnormalities. r" XPNBO PWFS JT OFBSMZ UJNFT NPSF MJLFMZ UIBO B younger woman to have a stillbirth. By age 40, she is more than five times more likely to have a stillbirth than a woman under 35. r'PS B XPNBO BHFE UIF SJTL PG NJTDBSSJBHF JT HSFBUFS than the chance of a live birth. Menopause Shows Up: Actually, most women who get pregnant at age 50 do so with the help of in vitro fertilization. And given that the average age for menopause is 51, older moms typically use donor eggs of younger women in order to conceive. Your average 30 year old woman has a 20 percent chance of getting pregnant every given month, providing sheâ€™s having regular unprotected sex. That might not sound like a very high chance, but the vast majority of women in their thirties get pregnant during their first year of trying. By the time 40 rolls around, those odds have dropped sharply. The average 40 year-old woman only has a five percent chance of conceiving every month. Multiple factors have roles to play here. Fifty-one is the average age of menopause. Menopause means,bydefinition,thatawomanhasbeenfreeofmenstrual periods for a full year (12 months). Before reaching that milestone, a woman will go through a period of perimenopause that can last longer or shorter. During this stage, she notice her periods become less regular and less frequent. She may go without a period for three months, only to be surprised with menstruation just when she was thinking it wouldnâ€™t happen again. Itâ€™s no surprise that ovulation becomes erratic during this stage.At the same time, the actual quality of a womanâ€™s eggs also declines. This fact explains why woman are less likely to conceive at 40 and beyond, even before entering the perimenopause. Nonetheless, pregnancy can happen between a womanâ€™s late forties and early fifties, IF she is still having periods, even irregular ones. Unfortunately, being pregnant at 50 isnâ€™t without its health risks. It comes with an increased risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and heart problems. And, since a womanâ€™s blood circulation isnâ€™t as good at age 50 as it was when she was younger, the babyâ€™s growth could be stunted. Despite the difficulty getting pregnant at a later age and the increased health risks, experts say itâ€™s absolutely possible for women to have a healthy pregnancy at age 50â€”in fact, there are several patients in their 50s who have delivered healthy babies. Itâ€™s hard to predict ahead of time whether a

As a woman ages, it takes longer to conceive and the risk of not being able to get pregnant increases. Also, the risk of miscarriage, and complications in pregnancy and childbirth, increase

woman will have complications, but generally speaking, the healthier the woman, the more smooth the pregnancy will be. POSSIBILITIES: Pregnancy over age 50 has, over recent years, become more possible for women, due to recent advances in assisted reproductive technology, in particular egg donation. Women age 50 and over rarely get pregnant without in vitro fertilization and donor eggs. Just 0.01 percent of all births occur in women over age 47. , The average age for menopause -- after which natural pregnancy is no longer possible -- is 51, with a normal range of 45 to 55. But in the years before menopause, periods become irregular and sometimes infrequent, which could make you think pregnancy is impossible. If you think you cannot get pregnant, you could miss the early signs. If you have not gone through menopause yet, you might think you are starting menopause if you miss a menstrual period or two. Menopause can cause some of the same symptoms of early pregnancy, such as fatigue, needing to urinate more frequently, mood swings or being warmer than usual. Menopause will not cause typical pregnancy symptoms, such as sore breasts, abdominal cramps or nausea -- but hormone replacement therapy can cause these if you have recently started taking it to alleviate menopausal symptoms. RISKS: Pregnancy at 50 carries more risks, for you and your baby, than pregnancy at a younger age. Unless you used donor eggs to get pregnant, you have a higher risk of pregnancy complications, including miscarriage. If you suspect you might be pregnant, do a home pregnancy test and see your doctor as soon as possible if you have a positive test. AGING WITH MEN : AgingMeansProblemsOnYourSpermProductionprocess. Women are born with all the eggs theyâ€™ll ever need. Men, on the other hand, are literal sperm factories. You make about 1,000 swimmers every time your heart beats. Most never fertilize an eggâ€”theyâ€™re either released through ejaculation or broken down by the body once theyâ€™re past their prime. Butafteryouhitaboutage30,someofyourmachinerystarts to misfire. You can blame exposure to things like radiation, environmental toxins, and plain old aging. For instance, one study from the U.K. found men age 35 and older had a 50 percent lower chance of conceiving after a year of trying than guys younger than 25.

with

BOBO BODE -KAYODE

lifeissuesfromwithin@yahoo.com, .Cel, Í¸Î€Í¸Í˝ÍťÍťÍżÍşÍťÍ˝Íž

A study in theAmerican Journal of Epidemiology found that women with partners age 35 and older were 27 percent more likely to experience a miscarriage than those with partners 25 or younger. That link remains even after researchers factor in the effect of the motherâ€™s age. This also boosts the chances of complications, since womenâ€™s eggs decline in number and quality over time. Other mutations donâ€™t affect conception or fetal development,butcancausebirthdefects,chromosomalabnormalities, or other genetic diseases in children.They concluded that the risk of having any of these issues increased from 1 in 50 among the general population to 1 in 42 among babies born to men age 40 and older. And concerned couples can also go the in vitro fertilization (IVF) route, and use a technique called preimplantation genetic diagnosis, which tests each embryo for genetic diseases before itâ€™s implanted into the womanâ€™s womb. The choice is yours: Some women have their first baby in their twenties, while others prefer to wait a few years, or even decades, to take the step forward. Likewise, a mother at the age of 50 could have three, four, five kids while another woman might be discovering the joys of motherhood at the curve of the sixth decade of her life. Make up your mind: Each woman should feel free to set her own clocks and manage her body and life the way she wanted it to be, regardless of what anybody else thinks or believes. Nonetheless, there has been some scientific and medical evidence as to the possibility of an increased risk of pregnancy and labor complications in mothers approaching, at, or over the age of fifty. The changes and pressure of the body of a fifty year old can sometimes pose a threat to the health of the mother and the baby, depending on many factors such as the overall health of the mother, her lifestyle, and medical history. Your ovaries matter: The quality of the job performed by the ovaries and the eggs diminishes slowly after the age of forty, leaving women with less and less opportunities for naturally occurring pregnancies. In fact, a study shows that women over the age of forty have a likelihood of 5 percent of getting pregnant naturally; that is without the aid of technology, IVF, or donation. These statistics pave the way for one to imagine what the numbers look like for a woman in her fifties, rather than in her forties. Generally, women approaching the age of fifty start to experience signs of menopause, or pre-menopause. Some women have already reached the stage of menopause as soon as they had crossed the mark of forty or forty-five years of age. Of course, if by any chance fertilization occurs naturally, the eggs would not be functioning completely and the uterus would not be as strong to handle the weight of a baby. Step out to begin your walk: As women approach the end of their forties and fifties, some of them start to take on desperate measures to insure a final, or first, pregnancy before all hope goes out. Taking an extra shot or two of estrogen, IVF, egg donations, and the list goes on and on of the possible resorts women tend to run to. More than twenty babies are born to mothers over fifty years of age through a combination of IVFs and donor eggs. MISCARRIAGE: Statistics have shown that not only is getting pregnant problematic at an older age, but also keeping the baby. Doctors describe getting pregnant over the age of thirty-eight as â€œhalf the battleâ€?, only. The risk for having a miscarriage increases dramatically from around 25 percent in mothers in their twenties and early thirties to a just about 75 percent in mothers over the age of thirty-eight. Of course, these numbers consistently rise as the age of the mother increases, one year after another. Nowadays, blood tests are available to determine the likelihood of having a successful pregnancy and delivery based on the age, hormonal levels, and the status of the uterus and the eggs to give a mother some degree of realism to their expectations of a completely healthy pregnancy and baby. However, most women are exposed to higher risks of miscarriages related to age, aside from the fact that it is as difficult to get pregnant in the first place. C SECTION: Giving birth to baby naturally places a huge amount of stress and pressure on the spirits and body of the mother. In ordinary cases, where the mother is aged in her early or late twenties, the chances for a C-Section hover around 21 percent. Whereas in older mothers whose ages are above 35 years, the percentage is almost doubled to reach 41 percent. The reason for this is related to all other conditions that an older mother might suffer from, such as diabetes, or preeclampsia. Older mothers with diabetes are at a risk of having larger babies that would only place extra pressure on the muscles and bones of the mother, especially if she has not given birth before.Also, the stress that the mother is placed under would increase the levels of blood pressure, which is a case known as preeclampsia. The final reason for having a c-section is that the uterus of an older mother is not as strong for performing the contractions necessary to push the baby out through the birth canal. Therefore, they would not usually experience full on labor contractions. Finally, your choice to have a baby at over 50, is good. But you must make sure you are attached a good and certified fertility specialist, who would give informed choice of treatment. The critical care before , during and after treatment is very important.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ë¾ JUNE 16, 2011

GLOBAL SOCCER A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

26.08.2017

Ahmed Musa In the Throes of Career Revival

SUPER SUNDAY PAGE. 29

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In the Throes of Career Revival

Ahmed Musa

move to revive his career. And he is close to agreeing a deal to make the move to Turkey where he feels he can finally show his best form after his troubles in the midlands. Meanwhile, West Brom and newly-promoted Brighton are said to be keen on snapping up the winger. "Musa wonâ€™t leave England even if he leaves Leicester City. The interest from Turkey is very strong but he wants to remain in England. He could get his wish because some clubs have contacted us about him. "West Brom and Brighton are among the clubs to have sounded him out over a potential move. In the coming days, maybe when he resumes pre-season with Leicester, a decision will be made over his next destination. But leaving England is out of it," his representative, Tony Harris told OwnGoalNigeria last month. Hull City manager, Leonid Slutsky, also hinted at a possible loan move for Leicester City forward. Slutsky previously worked with the Super Eagles winger at CSKA Moscow for four years. â€œWe have some loan options and maybe at the end of the transfer window, getting players from the Premier League is possible. We are waiting for the decision of big clubs on some players. He is not our player but, of course, every coach is better working with players he knows and I worked with Musa for four years. I know him and he knows me, it is normal. His position is not the only important one though in this situation,â€? Slutsky told Hull City Daily Mail. Musa himself admitted to having a bad first season at Leicester, saying, â€œI know I have to work hard to get back in the starting line-up. My first season didnâ€™t go as well as I expected but this season will be better for me,â€? Interestingly, Musa had earlier been linked with a return to former side CSKA Moscow Musa scored 17 goals for Viktor Goncharenko's side penultimate season, and his absence has been obvious this year as CSKA have scored just 41 times in 28 league games. A report claims that the Russian club's general director, Roman Babyev, has had to repeatedly respond to questions regarding a move for Musa this summer, and had consistently failed to deny suggestions that he could well return to the club. With Musa desperate to resurrect his career and life after a tumultuous few months in England, he could be handed a lifeline by his former employers and offered the chance to return to the CSKA lineup, where he could either play on the wing, or as a centre-forward. Many reasons have been attributed as to why Musa was not able to settle down in England, most especially issues seven starts in the Premier League. His only two Premier League goals came in October relating to his matrimony. last year as it became clear he was struggling to adapt to He was once questioned by Leicestershire police after life in the top flight. Leicester now look to have decided they were called to a disturbance at his home in Counto offload the 24-year-old as manager Craig Shakespeare testhorpe, though he was later released without charge tries to build his squad having agreed to a three-year deal â€œA row ensued between Musa and his wife, Jamila to remain in charge. which drew the attention of neighbours and the police If report emerging from Turkey is anything to go by, were notified,â€? said his agent, Tony Harris. â€œThe police Leicester has agreed to a ÂŁ17.4m bid from Fernerbahce. duly spoke with Musa along with a couple of witnesses Musa himself is understood to have already held talks in the house and have since closed the matter with no over personal terms, having decided he needed to make a further action whatsoever as there is no case to answer. No

Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹ ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă?ĂŒĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÍžÍšÍžË›ÍšÍž Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă—Ă™Ă Ă? ĂžĂ™ ĂžĂ’Ă? ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍ˝ËšÍšÍž ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă—ĂšĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă“ĂžĂŁËœ Ă’Ă—Ă?ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă‹ËŞĂ? ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă˜Ă‘Ă–Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă— ĂžĂ™ ĂŒĂ? Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă—ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂŽË› Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœËŞĂ? ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă&#x;ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă˜Ă?Ă˘Ăž ĂŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂĄËŞĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ Ă™ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂžËœ Kunle Adewale Ă–Ă™Ă™Ă•Ă? Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ’ĂŁ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜Ă™ Ă“Ă–Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă•Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă?ĂŽ ĂžĂ™ Ă?Ă?ĂžĂžĂ–Ă? ĂŽĂ™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă‹Ăž ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™ĂĄĂ?Ăœ ĂžĂ‹ĂŽĂ“Ă&#x;Ă—

hmed Musa arrived at King Power Stadium full of promises and he perhaps gave the Foxes an impression of what he had in stock when he scored twice in a pre-season friendly against Barcelona. When it came to the crunch, he was unable to impose himself in the top flight, scoring just four goals in 31 appearances for the club. The Kano-born striker struggled to hold down a starting place with the Foxes first-team and has endured arguably the most difficult season in his career with just

AUGUST 26, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

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Gov Ambode: Here is How Sports Culture Can Save “Unlivable” Lagos (1)

A report claims that the Russian club's general director, Roman Babyev, has had to repeatedly respond to questions regarding a move for Musa this summer, and had consistently failed to deny suggestions that he could well return to the club. With Musa desperate to resurrect his career and life after a tumultuous few months in England, he could be handed a lifeline by his former employers and oﬀered the chance to return to the CSKA lineup, where he could either play on the wing, or as a centre-forward charges were brought against Musa or his wife. “It’s normal for a couple to have a bit of a row now and again. However, Musa did not at any point hit his wife nor was he attacked by her. It was a mere domestic issue which has now been resolved and they are now talking again.” Harris added: “Everyone knows Musa is a jolly good fellow. He doesn’t drink or smoke, doesn’t party and has never been in trouble with the police all his life. He couldn’t harm a fly.” The story was overblown in some paper in England, which upset and distracted Musa in no small measure culminating in his decision to take a legal action. Musa married a new wife in Juliet Ejue, after exchanging vows with his lover at an Abuja Court, signalling the end of his marriage to Jamila the mother of his two children. With critics calling for his head over his private life, the former CSKA Moscow footballer took to Instagram in April, asking “Who are you to judge the life I live?” The Super Eagles Star did not enjoy the best of times in his maiden season in England as he failed to meet expectations having been signed by the Foxes for £16.6 million in July. It remains to be seen if Musa would rediscover his form again amidst many distractions that surround him. Musa however finally ended his Leicester City goal drought that lasted

almost eight months after finding the net in the Football League Cup clash with Sheffield United. The Nigerian forward had previously failed to score for the Foxes since the January 7, when he struck twice in an FA Cup win over Everton. And having gone 22 games without getting his name on the scoresheet, the moment finally arrived in Tuesday's Football League Cup Second Round tie Sheffield United as he fired home to hand his side 4-1 victory at Bramall Lane.

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

e are not a people given to introspection, so it did not come to me as a surprise to hear that the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, waved away the recent ranking of Lagos as the second least livable city in the world, after Damascus, by the respected Economist magazine. The international magazine and the state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, have had a thorny history, but this must not obscure the need for the state to be mindful of the views of the people it aims to attract, and I speak of quality foreign investors. The fact is, a little self-examination should reveal to us just how badly we have mangled Lagos, and why it no longer meets the standards most international travellers expect of a 21st Century city. Ten years ago, my mother-in-law turned 65, and to celebrate, we went to Ocean View Restaurant in Victoria Island for lunch. After the meal, we all went out to the relatively small green space at the back of the restaurant to unwind. As we talked, the kids ran around and played. Then, at about 5pm a couple of Asian families, Indians or Pakistanis, I think, strolled in. Their children were carrying cricket equipment and the parents looked ready to teach them the sport. This interested me, and the more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that in the famed Victoria Island and Ikoyi - the twin communities housing the richest and most elite Nigerians - this was the only ‘public’ green space available to foreigners, and even locals, to play sports. It was ludicrous. About this period I received a brief to come up with an advertising campaign for a new housing project somewhere along the Lekki stretch. Looking at the plan and seeing the provisions for green areas and excellent roads due to a consideration for sports and healthy living, I thought the contrast with wider society could not have been starker. We eventually came up with a campaign theme “Living Intelligently”. It was basically about living in an environment designed to enhance interaction and sport between neighbours, as well as the symbiotic flow of ideas. That, on a larger scale, is what the most livable cities look like, and what Lagos is not at this time, sadly. The Economist report did say that five broad categories were considered, namely: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education and infrastructure, and added that “these can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure”. In Lagos we all live in cages, properly barricaded by iron bars and high fences. The majority simply just move from one enclosure to another, even when we go out to school; to have fun; or to places of religious worship. Only a few engage in sports, and the few health conscious people who take to our streets to walk or jog know the hazards they face as they have to duck between cars, humans, bikes, Keke Marwas and pot holes. So, Lagos may not really be the second

Governor Ambode least livable city in the world, but it is not exactly the gold standard for a modern city. So how can a sports culture help? There are many ways sports can help in enhancing Lagos as a livable city. Recently I wrote here that sports have an impact on regional planning. If a child wants to play football in his neighbourhood in Lagos today, chances are that the only government property open to them are our largely untarred roads. This is why in foreign reports our international sports stars are always said to have started their careers on the “dusty streets” of Africa. Better built cities have numerous sports spaces like football parks, basketball and tennis courts, and other training facilities in virtually every community. You don’t have to “run two miles” to the nearest playground to train. I live in an estate with probably 100 houses, yet there is no sports field, no green area or even umbrella trees. It would be a nightmare for any foreigner from a developed country to live like this. To be fair, Lagos’ damage predates Ambode and his team, and to fix the mess will take a gargantuan effort. The government might probably have to start buying up private properties, tearing them down, and converting them to green belts and sports grounds. Lagos is never going to control its population through building more housing estates everywhere, but if the government must build, then build high rises and free up space for quality and intelligent living. I also think investing in water sports would be great, especially for foreigners. I am one of those people who think Lagos is wasting its biggest asset – the lagoon. Water is where the rich, especially the westerners, love to play and the lagoon is an untapped gold mine. Not only will cleaning up the waters pull more quality visitors to Lagos, it would lengthen their stay and increase their spend per visit. We could have deep water swimming competitions, boat races, fishing contests, school excursions, holiday events, day and nighttime entertainment events etc. Water and sports are a magnet for quality tourists. The government must also stop the sand-filling of the lagoon, and where it is too late, build glitzy resorts on them where tourists can have a wonderful time by the water. Next week I’ll share a dangerous little idea of mine about where a giant Lagos Central Park can be located and how this can enhance the sports culture of the city. My guess though is that it will be too controversy. We’ll see.

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SUPER SUNDAY

Merseyside Teams Try Londoners for Size Ă’Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă”Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă? Ă™Ă–ĂŽ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă?Ă˜ĂŽËœ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă–ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽĂŁ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ĂžĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂžĂ™ Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă–Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ę¨Ă˘ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă—Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă’Ă?Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă?Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă™ĂĄĂ?Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă? Ă&#x;Ăš Ă™Ă˜ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă™Ă–Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂžĂ™Ăš Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ă“ĂŽĂ? Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ? Ă‹Ă‘Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ăž ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂžĂĄĂ™ Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ™Ă˜ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ă? Ě‹ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ë› Ă’Ă“Ă–Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă–Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă? Ă Ă?ĂœĂžĂ™Ă˜ ĂžĂ™ ĂžĂ‹Ă—Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽ ĂœĂ“ĂŽĂ‘Ă?Ëœ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ăž ĂžĂ™ Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂšĂ™Ă™Ă– Ă‹Ăž Ă˜Ę¨Ă?Ă–ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ Ă‘Ă‹Ă—Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ Ă‘Ă™ Ă‹ Ă–Ă™Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ ĂŽĂ?Ę¨Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă˜Ă‘Ă?ĂœËŞĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă™Ă˜

fter getting their campaign firmly back on track with threesuccessive wins in all competitions, Liverpool will hope to keep the momentum going into the international break with three more points against the Arsenal. A fortnight into the new season and Jurgen Klopp can already tick off one of his big targets for the campaign, having guided Liverpool past Hoffenheim in what looked like being a tricky Champions League playoff tie. That proved to be far from the case in the end, as a rare defeat on home soil for the German was too much to overturn in the return match at Anfield on Wednesday; Emre Can producing a stellar display to earn a 6-3 aggregate victory. A trophy will now be next on Klopp's agenda, whether in one of the domestic cup competitions or in the holy grail that is the Premier League and Champions League, both of which appear to be slightly out of the Reds' reach at this point. Liverpool looked a million miles away from being credible title challengers on the opening weekend of the campaign, in fact, when their defensive frailties once again came to the fore as they were held to a 3-3 draw away to Watford. Despite the criticism aimed their way, Klopp was quick to defend his backline and even described their performance last time out against Crystal Palace as "outstandingly good" following another clean sheet - their sixth in eight league matches. The 1-0 win on Merseyside last weekend was a welcome boost for the Reds, sandwiched between their double-header against Hoffenheim, and restored some hope that they could just be there or thereabouts come the end of the season should Klopp play his cards right. Liverpool heavily rotated for the visit of a lacklustre Palace side, spearheaded by former Red Christian Benteke, yet still managed to get themselves over the line once Mohamed Salah and Dominic Solanke added some fresh legs in attack. Not for the first time since joining last summer, Sadio Mane proved to be the match-winning hero thanks to his welltaken finish, and the Senegalese - with five goals in five league starts against Arsenal - could now become the third Liverpool player to score in three-successive matches to kick off the campaign. As Arsene Wenger has found out down the years, Arsenal are never too far away from a disaster. Two games into the new season and already there are murmurs of discontent following last weekend's all-too-familiar loss at Stoke City. For all the Frenchman's claims when penning a new contract in May that he was prepared to change approach, some things quite simply never change as his men went down to a Jese Rodriguez strike to make it one league win in eight visits to the Potteries. That came on the back of a somewhat fortunate 4-3 triumph over Leicester City on the opening day; a thrilling match that saw Arsenal show plenty of character to net two quick-fire goals in the final 10 minutes to somehow snatch all three points. Like Liverpool less than 24 hours later, the North Londoners were criticised for their abject display at the back in allowing the Foxes to net three times, completely falling apart at times with the three-man backline that performed so well in the tail end of 2016-17. That tactical tweak is looking increasingly likely as though it was just a shortterm fix, however, again luring supporters into a false sense of hope that this season would finally be the year that it all clicks into place. Three points from six suggests that will not be the case, though victory at Anfield and all of a sudden Wenger will

Liverpool stunned Arsenal at the Emirate in last season's Premier League opener no doubt be hailed once more. Arsenal's biggest problem last season - and there were many of them as they finished down in fifth - was taking points off the teams around them, with just nine accrued from a possible 30 to give them the worst record in the top-six mini-league. That is in complete contrast to weekend opponents Liverpool, who racked up 20 points from their 10 matches against top-six sides, winning seven and drawing five of those fixtures. To make matters worse for the Gunners, they are winless in 12 away matches against teams from last season's top six, while also losing eight of their last 13 games on their travels overall stretching back to last season. Unless that record drastically improves, starting at Anfield on Sunday, it is likely to be another nine months of unrest. Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez is set to make his first appearance of the season at Anfield. The forward's future with the Gunners continues to be speculated upon as he begins his final contracted season with the club, and has been sidelined with an abdominal injury since his delayed return to pre-season training. Klopp however believes Arsenal will be significantly boosted by the return of their "world class" striker Alexis Sanchez when they visit Anfield on Sunday, but is counting on the fans to help give his side an edge at home. "Arsenal are an outstanding, strong side," Klopp told a news conference on Friday. "Sanchez is probably back first time on the pitch so that gives this team another boost. That's one advantage for Arsenal, but I think we all can remember the atmosphere of (the Hoffenheim game) and that's what we want to have. It's Arsenal. Big experience, big quality, speed, technical skills, different systems, good players in each position on the pitch." Arsenal have not won a league game at Anfield since 2012, but Klopp has a couple of injury concerns before the match. Meanwhile, defending League champions Chelsea will host Everton earlier on Sunday,

hoping to build on their 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Week 2. The Blues had a false start to their title defence with the 3-2 loss against Burnley, but after beating Spurs, a win over a solid Everton squad would leave manager Antonio Conte's men in a respectable position, while Everton held Manchester City to a draw in Week 2 and will like their chances at Stamford Bridge. Cesc Fabregas is expected to reclaim his spot in the Chelsea starting XI after he returns from suspension, with summer signing Tiemoue Bakayoko likely to move to the bench. Gary Cahill remains suspended. The Toffees will be without the suspended Morgan Schneiderlin, and Ross Barkley is expected to miss the match through injury. Everton have enjoyed a solid start to the season with a win over Stoke City and a draw against Manchester City, with veteran forward Wayne Rooney netting in both outings. The former Manchester United man announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday, freeing him up to focus exclusively on the Toffees: Defensively, Everton have shown signs of weakness, but summer signing Jordan Pickford has started the season in fine form, preserving the win against Stoke and putting in another top performance against City. His excellent start to life as a Toffee could be an issue for the Blues, who were erratic in front of goal against Burnley and nearly gave away the win against Spurs by missing several late chances. The absence of Diego Costa has been one of the top storylines involving Chelsea this early in the season. Alvaro Morata wasted a great chance early against Spurs and never seemed entirely comfortable, while Michy Batshuayi's cameo resulted in a goal for the hosts, not the Blues. Marcos Alonso saved the club at Wembley Stadium, but the full-back can't be expected to do so every week. One of the forwards

will have to step up, and with the creative passing of Fabregas boosting their looks on goal, things should get a little easier. Everton are rolling right now, however, and will be looking for yet another positive result.

Ă?Ă‹ĂŽ ĂžĂ™ Ă?Ă‹ĂŽ 17/04/03 1614/08 16//13/01 15/24/08 15/04/04 14/21/12 14/16/02 14/08/02 13/02/11 13/30/01 12/02/09 12/03/03 11/20/08 11/17/04

Liverpool Arsenal Liverpool Arsenal Arsenal Liverpool Arsenal Liverpool Arsenal Arsenal Liverpool Liverpool Arsenal Arsenal

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

Arsenal Liverpool Arsenal Liverpool Liverpool Arsenal Liverpool Arsenal Liverpool Liverpool Arsenal Arsenal Liverpool Liverpool

Fixtures TODAY Bournemouth Crystal Palace HuddersďŹ eld Newcastle Watford Man Utd

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Man City Swansea Southampton West Ham Brighton Leicester

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

SUNDAY Chelsea West Brom Liverpool Tottenham

v v v v

Everton Stoke City Arsenal Burnley

13:30 13:30 16:00 16:00

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

˺˺

L–R: Mr. Jimi Shogbesan, COO, Media Vision; Austin Eguavoen, Chief Coach, Camp GTBank 2017; Tolu Onipede, CSR Oﬃcer, GTBank PLC and Dotun Coker representing Seyi Akinwunmi, Chairman Lagos State Football Association during the Camp GTBank 2017 press conference held in Lagos recently

MAYWEATHER VS MCGREGOR

McGregor’s Unpredictability Could Doom Mayweather For months, it seemed as though Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor was the fight that would never happen. But now, this year’s Fight of the Century is hours away. Although Mayweather is the overwhelming favourite to win the contest at the T-Mobile Arena, McGregor’s braggadocio has seen him dominate the vast majority of the pre-fight headlines, and odds on the Irishman have shortened in recent weeks. Can he actually do it? A McGregor victory would be one of the greatest sporting upsets in recent memory, but few pundits are willing to stick their neck and tip him for victory. What are their records? Mayweather boasts one of the finest records in the history of boxing. After 49 professional fights he has 49 victories, including 26 by knockout. In his 19 year professional career, he was only knocked to the canvas once – by Carlos Hernandez in 2001 – in a fight he won by a unanimous decision. Mayweather, who was ranked by ESPN as the greatest pound for pound boxer of the last 25 years in 2016, needs just one more win to surpass Rocky Marciono’s flawless record of 49-0. McGregor meanwhile boasts a professional record of 21-3 and a UFC record of 9-1. At UFC 194 he knocked out José Aldo in just 13 seconds to become the UFC Featherweight Champion, and at UFC 205 he knocked out Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship, to become the first fighter in the history of the company to hold titles in two

weight divisions simultaneously. The Irishman has never been knocked out in his career – with his three professional defeats all coming via submission – and began boxing as a 12-year-old at Crumlin Boxing Club under two-time Olympian Phil Sutcliffe. What are the rules? This is a boxing match, so normal boxing rules apply. This was confirmed very early on by Dana White, the president of the UFC. “It’s going to be straight up boxing,” he said when asked if the fight could be contested under hybrid rules. There have been rumours that kicks below the waist could be allowed, or that the fight will take place in a cage rather than a ring, but there was never any chance of Mayweather agreeing to this. How much will the ﬁght make? The fight will almost certainly be the most valuable fight of all-time. The fight is expected to gross almost 5million PPV buys, which would net a cash windfall of $475m. Sponsorship would likely top $20m, while the projected Nevada betting on the fight stands at $30m. White has estimated that Mayweather will net up to $100m for the fight, with McGregor slated to earn around $75m. “He [Mayweather] feels like he’s the A-side and he should get more of it. But we haven’t really gotten into that negotiation yet,” White explained back in April. The real reason that McGregor stands to earn substantially less than

Mayweather is because McGregor is locked into his contract with the UFC, as Jake Cohen explains in this article. But this will still be the largest purse of McGregor’s career by a substantial distance. However, the likelihood of McGregor beating Mayweather under boxing rules is, undoubtedly, slim. However, if there wasn’t a chance of McGregor winning then we wouldn’t be counting down the hours until the first bell. There is an intrigue around this fight like I’ve never seen before and the majority of that is down to McGregor. There’s no denying that Mayweather is the best the world. He has beaten every man he has faced in the professional boxing ring. Forty-nine times they have tried and forty-nine times they have failed. But every one of those opponents was a boxer. What McGregor brings, that Mayweather hasn’t previously encountered, is unpredictability. This is about real fighting. McGregor will not fight like a boxer and he won’t replicate what other boxers have done in the past. He has a different fighting stance and he has the power to throw a punch down the barrel and connect with Mayweather. McGregor is also the bigger man and has an understanding of over and underhooks, and head position that Mayweather will be unlikely to have encountered in his entire professional career. It’s this element of unpredictability from McGregor that intrigues me the most and, when you have punching power like McGregor has, there’s always a possibility to win.

Battle for WBC New ‘Money’ Belt The winner of Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor will be awarded with a special 'Money' belt created by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The crocodile leather belt is encrusted with 3,600 diamonds, 600 sapphires, 160 emeralds and 1.5kg of 24-karat gold. “Floyd Mayweather represents boxing and has come out of retirement to face

Conor McGregor the superstar of mixed martial arts who represents the UFC," the WBC said in a statement. "The UFC has stood behind Conor and the WBC stands firm in support of Floyd. “The WBC is proud to present the ‘money belt’ which is without a question the most incredible unique piece ever

made in the history of all sports.” Mayweather, who goes by the nickname 'Money' has won 25 WBC world championship fights and been awarded with special belts in the past. The undefeated boxer won a ‘Diamond’ belt against Miguel Cotto, a ‘Gold’ belt against Canelo Alvarez and an ‘Emerald’ belt against Manny Pacquiao.

National Youth Games: Team Lagos Shine at Zone 1 Eliminations Lagos State contingent have emerged winners of (Zone1) South West Zonal Eliminations for the third edition of National Youth Games 2017 which will hold in Ilorin, Kwara State. At the zonal eliminations for five team sports, basketball, volleyball, cricket, handball and hockey held at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium and Adamasingba Stadiums, Ibadan, Oyo State, Team Lagos won six gold, two

silver and one bronze medals, while Oyo State placed second with three gold, one silver and 4 bronze medals, Ogun State came third with a total of 1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. Team Lagos in basketball qualified for male and female categories of the games, the cricket male team also made it to Ilorin Championship, handball male and female teams as well as hockey (male and female) and

Volleyball (female) all made it to the Youth Games. No fewer than 118 athletes represented Team Lagos at the zonal eliminations that have six states as participants in attendance. The state were Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun states. The 3rd edition of National Youth Games will be held in Ilorin, Kwara State from 7-19 September, 2017.

GTBank Develops Students, Coaches through Football Camp Guaranty Trust Bank plc, is sponsoring 40 outstanding young talents discovered at its football tournaments as well as 60 school coaches on an all-expense paid intensive player development and coach-training programme tagged, “Camp GTBank.” Camp GTBank is a football and educational development initiative designed to train and develop outstanding football talents discovered at the GTBank football tournaments which include the GTBank-Lagos State Principals Cup, GTBank-Ogun State Principals Cup and the GTBank Masters Cup. Since its inception in 2011, Camp GTBank has helped more than 120 footballers, some of whom have been selected to represent the country in international tournaments at various levels, and are currently playing in both domestic and foreign league clubs. Holding in Lagos from August 21 to 28, this year’s edition of Camp GTBank has helped prepare outstanding talents for successful football careers whilst building the capacity of the coaches to improve the quality and potential of grassroots football. The eight-day residential camp featured renowned coaches such as Augustine Eguavoen, the former coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Jolomi Atune, coach of the Nigeria’s U-15 Future Eagles, and Ajuma Ottache, the only female coach of a professional male football team in Nigeria, amongst others. The coaches will take the players through all the aspects of the game, expose them to modern rules and regulations and improve their physical and metal conditioning to position them for a professional career. The coaches are also offering expert coaching lessons to the school coaches and sport instructors over a two-day period to develop and enhance their knowledge and technical competence. Commenting on the Camp GTBank, the Managing Director/ CEO of GTBank, Segun Agbaje, said “Given the amazing talents shortlisted for this programme and the quality of the coaches overseeing their development, I am confident that Camp GTBank will be a seedbed for the emergence of professional footballers who will go on to have very successful careers. This goes to the heart of our sports education initiatives, which are aimed at actively engaging the youths through sports whilst identifying, nurturing and grooming young football talents.”

IHS, VConnect Go for Broke in Remita Corporate Champions Cup Final All is set for the final of the Remita Corporate Champions Cup between IHS and VConnect slated for the Yaba College of Technology playing ground on Sunday. As a way of creating awareness for the final, the sponsorsRemita and organisers-Media Vision, on Thursday went on a trophy tour to the corporate headquarters of the two finalists, IHS and VConnect. An obviously elated and confident Chief Commercial Officer of IHS, Olufemi Arosanyin said his company is in the final to win just as he hailed the face of the tournament, Peter Rufai for his visit to IHS. “We are playing to win and it’s even a great honour to have Peter Rufai here, (IHS corporate headquarters). He is a national icon,” Arosanyin said. Also speaking, COO, Media Vision, Jimmy Shogbesan said, “Every time it gets to the finals of the Remita Corporate Champions Cup, we take the trophy to the finalists so as to create awareness. The competition represents the pinnacle of corporate football,” Shogbesan said. For the Team Lead, Marketing, Remita Ltd Lanre Adelanwa, its always an exciting time for the company as a brand to associate with corporate bodies on a social level. To qualify for the final, IHS defeated UBA 2-0 in the quarter final and got the better of Leadway 3-2, via penalty shootout after a goalless draw in regulation time. VConnect on its part defeated First Bank 1-0 and Nestle 2-0 in the quarter finals and semis respectively. The final promises to be very exciting as there would be other attractions like having to score from the penalty spot against Rufai by top personnel of the two finalist. Music would also be by the side too.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍžËœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍľ by OMOLOLA ITAYEMI omolola.itayemi@thisdaylive.com 08054699602

TRAVEL&LEISURE

A Bold Move to Amend the NTDC Act Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? Î€ĂžĂ’ Ă?Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ăœ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“Ăš Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ™Ăœ Ă&#x;Ă•Ă™Ă–Ă‹ Ă‹ĂœĂ‹Ă•Ă“Ëœ ĂžĂ™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă— Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă? Ă‹ĂžĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă–Ă?Ă‘Ă“Ă?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ ĂžĂ™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă— ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂšĂ&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă’Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă— Ă?Ă Ă?Ă–Ă™ĂšĂ—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ě™ Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĚš Ă?Ăž Ă’Ă?Ă–ĂŽ Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ăž ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă• Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă”Ă‹Ë› Omolola Itayemi ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?

ourism industry stakeholders understand the need to have a smooth ground for business to thrive, thatâ€™s why it took little or no prodding from the members of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism for a full house appearance in Abuja last week. This is in fulfillment of the constitutional process of passing the Nigeria Tourism Development Authority, (NTDA) ACT CAP N137LFN, 2004 9 Repeal and Enactment) Bill , 2017 (SB.429). This Committee has distinguished itself as having a rare interest in the development of tourism by ensuring the planting and entrenching of the fundamental legislations necessary for the sector to blossom and for seamless exploration and enhancement of tourism potentialities by the nation and its citizens. It is on the record that barely eight weeks ago, the same committee under the leadership of Senator Matthew Urhoghide gathered stakeholders at the same venue for imputation of their views, contribution and input into NIHOTOUR Bill 2017 which was successfully conducted and applauded by the stakeholders. Senator Urhoghide said: â€œIt is needless to mention that the act which established some of these agencies under our purview made them mere agencies while other exist without any law to back their existence. All we are doing is to provide for those that do not have and amend those acts which do not allow such agencies to operate to meet with set objectives and to generate revenue to do so. â€œThe NTDC was established through an Act in 1992. The act since its enactment has not gone throughanyformofrevieworamendmentdespite the country having passed through several years of socio-political and economic changes. TheAct like most laws made under the military regime is characterised with so many inadequacies and shortcomings. We will be doing the country evil if we do not review, amend and enact a new set of laws which are in consonance with global trend.â€? â€œThe only law existing in Nigeria prior to this Bill is the NTDC Act of 1992, which this Bill seeks to repeal and enact. In addition, the subject matter of the Bill is under the legislative purview of the National Assembly. Hence, the Bill does not violate any existing law in Nigeria,â€? Urhoghide said. Opening the deliberation, the Senate President and other senators took great objection to the absence of the Minister of Information, and Culture, who â€œfailed to send any representation after he was appropriately informed, invited and acknowledged about this Bill which is for a major parastatal under his ministryâ€?.Although a Deputy Director who claimed to be representing the Minister, had no paper or message delivered than â€œmy Minister has sent me here to apologise for his inability to be hereâ€?. This action according to Naâ€™llah, reiterated the need for a separation which is imperative to enable the tourism sector enjoy autonomy for rapid development. â€œOur ministries have never been helpful in anything developmental. So, the long and short of the story is that the Senate wants to give freedom to the parastatals, particularly the culture and tourism sector,â€? Naâ€™llah said. Folorunso Folarin Coker, Director General NTDC, commenced the discussion over the Bill after Urhoghide had set the rules and educated stakeholders on the essence of the Bill. Coker with rich history in the hospitality industry understands the times and what is expected of the agency. Speaking from the heart, in a no-holds barred speech, he appealed to the economic sensibilities and patriotism of the stakeholders: â€œWe are in times of great changes, the economic order of the past is gradually becoming invalid, slow in operation, passive and skewed against the tide of ultra-fast, hi-net, e-net financial and economic globalisation templates. We cannot continue to toe the old path of doing tourism business via the old order.

Member of the Committee on Culture and Tourism , Senator Ovie Omo Agege; Representative of the Senate President, Senator Bala Ibn Naâ€™ Allah ; Chairman Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism ,Senator (pharmacist ) Matthew Urhoghide; member of the Committee on Culture and Tourism ,Senator Rose Okoji Oko and a member of the Committee on Culture and Tourism ,Senator Samuel Anyanwu during the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation Act Cap N137 LFN,2004 (Repeal and Re-enactment ) Bill , 2017 (SB 429) held at the Senate Conference Hall, National Assembly in Abuja recently

â€œThe old order is fastened and aided by old statutes, order, laws which bear no relevance, and of obsolete, antiquated, mis-matched with the dictate of modern technology. Though, the new order respects the ancient and traditional immeasurable heritage sites, museums, wonderful falls, eco- caves, wonders of the worlds, beaches, geographical but needs to entwine and align with the refreshing breath of modern templates of doing business.â€? â€œLet us collectively shun our present situations and personal posturing by embracing an altruistic perspective of advocating the best for the tourism sector. It is not about me as the Directorâ€“General of NTDC today, it is not about the Senate or members of the Senate Committee with definitive tenure, but it is about the economy of this country. It is about the image of this country. It is about making the sector decent, neat, alluring, and attractive for investors and investment and for you the stakeholders and practitioners. It is all about having a tourism sector which all of us can be proud of and happy to sell. It is about the practitioners and the market getting the best of each other. It is about the present economy and the future prosperity. It is about you, me, the nation and our future. I enjoin you to support the Bill.â€? Flowing from the recent comments of the NTDC, DG, Mr. Folarin Coker, the tourism sphere is set to be opened up to both international and domestic tour operators. To ensure that there is a credible precedent, the bill seeks the establishment of a Tour Operating Company which will be run commercially. This replaces the National Travel

Bureau which was a feature of the old 1992 act. Going into joint-venture partnerships with states and other stakeholders to drive tourism is another new feature in the proposed act. The proposed act also seeks to accredit all hospitality and tourism establishments in all states of the federation. This signposts a new NTDC which is now evolving into a regulator/ administrator in line with global best practice. A carry-over from the extant Act is the establishment of the Hotel Inspectorate Division to monitor the accreditation, classification and grading of hospitality outfits as well as collect fees and impose sanctions imposed on defaulters. Dropped totally in the proposed act is mention of State Tourism Boards or Local Government Tourism Committees. This may be in line with the new democratic dispensation which allows the states to operate tourism in their jurisdictions. Instead, NTDC intends going into joint-venture partnerships with states and other stakeholders to drive tourism, another new feature in the proposed act. The bill seeks the establishment of a Tourism Development Fund which will fund tourism development and tourism-related projects and programmes. The fund is also expected to be applied to the marketing and promotion of tourism within and outside Nigeria. Furthermore, it will be applied to capacity building, market research and development of tourism infrastructure as well as the development and promotion of other tourism-related entrepreneurial activities. Tourism export tradeoriented activities of institutions and tourism

and training will be financed by the Fund. A Tourism Development Levy provision on the other hand regularises an already existing charge on international airline tickets and visa fees. This prescribes a tourism visa fee for inbound travellers. The establishment of the levy also means a tourism departure levy for outbound travellers. Bankole Bernard, President National Association of Travel Agencies (NANTA) and CEO Finchglow travels gave such brilliant summations in support of the bill. He had no objection to the Bill and commended the Senate particularly the Senate Committee of Culture and Tourism for its stride at moving the sector forward. A poster-child for Tourism and Travel in the social-media age, Bernard pointed out significant areas the legislators need to work on in helping NTDC achieve its aim of enhancing inclusive economic growth and development of our economy. Four major parts of the Bill were spotted, Regulation, Membership of the Board of Governing Board, and Sources of Funding of the Authority and Operation of Tour Company. All these were clinically examined, sieved and peer comparison were made to and agreed that the Bill was not out of the tune in some of these areas of controversies going by countries which are today raking in fortunes out of tourism. The public hearing came to an end with the stakeholders calling on the Federal Government to remove Tourism from the Ministry of Information and make it a full Ministry like in other countries and at best a Department under the Presidency.

Winners Emerge in Jabulani Cocktail Competition Three Nigerian barmen have emerged winners in the maiden edition of Jabulani cocktail competition organised to announce the new makeover bottle for Amarula cream. Ferdinand Obule of La Cour Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos came tops at the end of the three-month competition. He defeated his colleague, Razak Yusuf also of La Cour to the second place while Anthony Oriyomi of Shadez Lounge came third. Speaking shortly before presenting cheques to the winners, Mr. Roelof Stoltz, Country Manager, Distell, producers of Amarula, said

the competition was organised to usher in the new bottle, which looks like the face of an elephant, and to also discover those Nigerian barmen who are talented and have the knack to mix a variety of cocktails using Amarula. He explained that the move was to sustain the image of Amarula, and also to reduce faking of the product, now considered as South Africaâ€™s gift to Africa. â€œAmarula recently had its bottle upgraded to a perfectly intricate detailed bottle, shaped by Africa called the Jabulani bottle.

To introduce this bottle to the bars in Nigeria, we embarked on a 3-month nationwide cocktail competition where the stakes were high and everyone won a prize. The competition involved 60 outlets selected from three major cities in Nigeria, namely Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja and held between April and June 2017. After the expiration of the Jabulani cocktails competition, where a lot of recharge cards of different networks were won by participants, three Barmen emerged winner.â€?

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ͱʹ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

World’s Highest-paid Author Dethroned by Magic

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

For three years, incredibly prolific thriller powerhouse James Patterson sat pretty at the top of the pack of Forbes highest-paid authors; and he was expected to continue. However, his reign in what was becoming a boring dogbite-man story ended when JK Rowling returned to the magic world of Harry Potter.

n a war waged by wizards, Patterson was dramatically dethroned in the 2017 ranking of highest-paid authors. The Harry Potter novelist is this year’s highest-paid author, grossing a hefty $95 million in the year to May 31 on the magic wings of her play script, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” It sold over 680, 000 print copies in the United Kingdom alone in the first three days of its release last summer, making it the fastest selling book since the final Harry Potter novel. Rowling’s fortune was further boosted with the release of “Fantastic beasts and where to find them,” a film set in the Harry Potter world for which she wrote the script. Also, Bloomsberry, her original publisher had been releasing illustrated versions of the Harry Potter novels to mark 20 years of the publication of the first in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Rowling last topped the big earners’ list in 2008. Forbes producer Hayley Cuccinello disclosed that Rowling’s earning increased increase $76m over 12 months, attributing the surge to recent successes from the Harry Potter franchise on stage and screen. Forbes uses a mix ebook and audio sales data, television and film earnings and expert industry opinion to come up with its list of print. No 1 spot on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest authors, almost a decade after she last topped it. All earnings are for June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017 before taxes and other fees. All book-sales data are sourced from NPD BookScan, which tracks 85 per cent of the domestic print market. Estimates are compiled by examining print, e-book and audio book sales, considering TV and movie earnings, and talking to authors, agents, publishers, lawyers and other experts. Rowling comes in this year $8m ahead of second-placed James Patterson, the thriller powerhouse, who earned $87m. For second place Patterson, it would be the second time a woman would dethrone him. The first was in 2013 when Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James, who came 9th in the latest ranking, dethroned him.

Forbes’s observation Forbes, in a report, observes that : “Fans of the printed (or digital) word will be

The2017Forbeslistofthe world’shighest-paidauthors 1 JK Rowling (UK) – $95m 2 James Patterson (US) $87m 3 Jeﬀ Kinney (US) $21m 4 Dan Brown (US) $20m 5 Stephen King (US) $15m 6= John Grisham (US) $14m 6= Nora Roberts (US) $14m 8 Paula Hawkins (UK) $13m 9 EL James (UK) $11.5m 10= Danielle Steel (US) $11m 10= Rick Riordan (US) $11m

cheered to know that although five writers on our list had novels made into movies this past year, they nonetheless earned the bulk of their bucks from their books. Together these 11 writers sold nearly 30 million volumes in the United States over the past 12 months, logging $312.5 million in pretax income. “We close the covers--for now, at least--on a couple of scribes who fell off the list this year: Game of Thrones’ George R.R. Martin and The Fault in Our Stars’ John Green. Both will likely return; Martin has four Thrones prequels in the works, and Green is publishing Turtles All the Way Down, his first novel in five years, this October. “Dan Brown’s latest movie adaptation was a flop, but in the past year, The Da Vinci Code scribe still doubled his earnings from the same period 12 months earlier, thanks to an estimated eight-figure advance for his upcoming novel Origin. Prior to Origin, Brown’s most recent Robert Langdon novel, Inferno (source of that cinematic misfire), was 2013’s adult-fiction bestseller, with 1.7 million hardcover sales alone, according to Penguin Random House. “British novelist Paula Hawkins, author of the psychological thriller The Girl on the Train, debuted on Forbes’ writers list last year and just keeps a-rollin’: She sold 2.2 million print books in the U.S. over the past 12 months, the most of any female author save the inexorable J.K. Rowling. The film version of Train grossed $173 million in 2016; Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners has acquired the rights to her second novel, this year’s chart-topping mind-bender Into the Water. Notably, nearly half of the world’s highest-paid authors are women. This year, Veronica Roth of the Divergent trilogy left our ranks, but five female authors kept their places on the list.” Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney came third with $21m over the last year. Dan Brown

comes in fourth, according to Forbes, with earnings of $20m. His earnings “doubled in a year due to an estimated eight-figure advance for his upcoming book”, said Forbes, referring to the forthcoming new Robert Langdon thriller, which Brown will publish soon. “Our celebrity lists tend to have a substantial percentage of international stars,” Cuccinello said, “but it is remarkable that nearly a third of the highest-paid authors hail from the UK. That said, I think it’s more noteworthy that nearly half of the list members are women.” Horror superstar Stephen King comes in fifth place, legal supremo John Grisham and romantic suspense bestseller Nora Roberts in sixth, with romance author Danielle Steel and children’s writer Rick Riordan tying for 10th place.

J.K Rowling J.K. Rowling is one of the world’s best-selling authors, but she wasn’t always so successful. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” the first book in the “Harry Potter” series that made her famous, was rejected by several publishers before being picked up by Bloomsbury in 1997. In her own autobiography she remembers with great fondness, when her good friend Sean became the first person to give her the confidence that one day she would be able to make a very good writer. Sean was also the owner of a battered old Ford Anglia, which would later appear in one of the Harry Potter series as a flying car. It was in 1990, that J.K.Rowling first conceived of the idea about Harry Potter. As she recalls, it was on a long train journey from Manchester to London when she began forming in her mind, the characters of the series. At the forefront, was a young boy, at that time not aware that he was a wizard. The train was delayed for over four hours, but she didn’t have a pen and was

too shy to ask for one nothing, “To my immense frustration, I didn’t have a pen that worked, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one.” But she remembers being very enthusiastic, and excited about the ideas which were filling her mind. On arriving at her flat in Clapham Junction, she began work on writing the book immediately, although, it would take several years to come to fruition. It was also in December of 1990 that J.K.Rowling lost her mother, who died of Multiple Sclerosis. J.K.Rowling was very close to her mother, and she felt the loss deeply. Her own loss gave an added poignancy to the death of Harry Potter’s mother in her book. She says her favourite scene in the Philosopher’s Stone is, The Mirror of Erised, where Harry sees his parents in the mirror. In 1991, J.K.Rowling left England to get a job as an English teacher in Portugal. In Dec 1993, she returned to the UK, moving to Edinburgh where she tried to finish her first book. She was surviving on state benefits and bringing up her daughter as a single parent. She would often go to Edinburgh cafes to work on the book whilst her child had a nap. Eventually, she finished her first copy of the Philosopher’s Stone’, and sent it off to various agents. She found an agent, Christopher, who spent over a year trying to get a publisher. It was rejected by 12 major publishing houses. But, eventually, a quite small publisher, Bloomsbury agreed to take the book on. The editor Barry Cunningham also agreed to pay her an advance of £1500. The decision to take on the book was, in large part, due to his eight year old daughter’s enthusiastic reception of the first chapter (However she was advised to continue her training as a teacher because she was told writers of children’s books don’t tend to get very well paid.) Within a few weeks of publication, (1996) book sales really started to take off.

James Patterson Patterson’s secret to success is persistence. “You’re lucky to find something you like to do and it’s a miracle if somebody will pay you to do it. That’s kind of been my gig since I was in my twenties,” Patterson, 70, told Forbes. “My first book got turned down by 31 publishers... but you keep churning along.” He doesn’t write his novels alone. He is responsible for the vision and plotline of each novel and series but he gives a detailed outline to the hired writer, with who he usually shares authorship. Patterson reads, revises and demands new drafts until he is satisfied. In 2016 he co-authored seven novels with seven different writers. Patterson has created more enduring fictional characters than any other novelist writing today with his Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club, Private, NYPD Red, Daniel X, Maximum Ride, and Middle School series. As of January 2016, he has sold over 350 million books worldwide and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers. In addition to writing the thriller novels for which he is best known, he also writes children’s, middle-grade, and young-adult fiction and is also the first author to have No.1 new titles simultaneously on the New York Times adult and children’s bestsellers lists.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹͵

FAIRGROUND

OONI of Ife, Alaafin of Oyo, Kick-Off Peller Unity Cup Grand Finale

with

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

here was a massive turnout of important people Grand Finale of the just concluded Peller Unity Cup 2017. Some of the guests were paramount rulers, of the Yoruba Race,Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. After intense rounds of matches, all road led to the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Iseyin, Oyo State for the 3rd place match between Irepo United and Saki West Rovers; and the final match between Iseyin City and Iseyin United. Oba Adeyemi and Oba Ogunwusi kicked off at the final match in company of other royal fathers such as: Aseyin of IseyinOba (Dr.) Abdulganiyu Salau, and Ona Onibode of Igboho- Oba AbdulRasheed Jaiyeola; dignitaries from the Oyo State Ministry of Youth and Sports; as well as from the Oyo State Football Association. The tournament which was part of the events lined up to celebrate the 20th-year memorial of the Professor Peller, according to his son Shina Peller, was designed to empower youths and promoteunity in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State in partnership with Oyo State Ministry of Youths and Sports and Oyo State Football Association. “As much as this tournament is in the memory of my late father, Professor Moshood Abiola Peller, it is noteworthy to know that it was also created to improve the development of grass-roots football not just in Oke-Ogun but also Oyo State in general. The tournament is nothing Political,” Peller said. With the attendance of the likes of Davido, and Sound Sultan at the opening ceremony of the tournament in July, attendees trooped out en mass to watch the performances of Kwam 1, 9ice, Small Doctor, CDQ, Eniola Badmus, Taye Currency, Skiibi, Terry Apala, Baseone, Juniorboy Que Peller, who were present at the grand Finale . The matches were nothing short of high intensity as the third place match was decided on penalty in which Saki West Rovers defeated Irepo United. The final match was won by Iseyin United who defeated Iseyin City to lift the trophy. The highest goalscorer and most valuable player of the tournament are Ridwan Ayaka (Saki West Rovers) and Azeez Adefabi (Iseyin United) respectively. Peller, Chairman, Aquila Group of Companies and the sponsor of the Peller Unity Cup in his closing remarks thanked all dignitaries present, other corporate sponsors, media partners, and promised to continue to support development in Oke-Ogun and the oyo state.

Otunba Akin Alabi, Founder Nairabet

Shina Peller and Family

Alaaﬁn of Oyo, Alaaﬁn, Shina peller and wife

Aseyin of Iseyin1

Ooni of Ife Presenting cheque to winner

Shina Peller and CDQ

Small Doctor and Kwam1

Airboy performing on stage

9ice and Kwam 1

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;, 2017

PERSONALITY PROFILE Owoyemi

Blazing the trail in Nigeria’s Energy Sector

othing prepared Georgia Arnold for the next question I was about to ask her. We were chatting via Skype at Viacom’s office in Ikoyi, Lagos. Her employee, Anita Aiyudu, who is the MTV Staying Alive Founda on. Like Arnold, she wasn’t expecting the question from me. The interview has been going on smoothly so far. An accomplished and resultsoriented senior leader with a proven ability to develop and strengthen team members to maximize company profitability and efficiency. Executive Director- Commercial, Business Development and Technology, Century Group, Engr. Alaba Owoyemi is an epitome of the saying by Tony Robbins , an American actor that, “People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed , and the more they find a way to succeed.” A company founded in 2002, Century Group (CG) is a 100 per cent indigenous conglomerate, allowing clients to benefit from enhanced local content participation without compromising service quality. It has the technical competence, financial backing, as well as domestic and international partnerships relevant to achieve rapid growth and to deliver on its vision of solving problems, enabling people and creating value. CG has grown to be the largest indigenous operator of Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading Vessels (FPSO’s) and flow stations in Sub-Saharan Africa. CG is committed to developing host communities holistically and believes employment creation is a sustainable solution to poverty alleviation. As an accomplished technocrat, he has held several positions across

the globe including field services, technical advisory, sales management, business and project development for large multinational organisations operating in the Power, Oil &Gas and extractive industrial sectors. He also has extensive experience in emerging market particularly African countries, business start-up and implementation. He also has a well-developed acumen in P&L management, complex business transactions, including statutory requirements, contract law and negotiations. As the saying goes, “ to whom much is given , much is expected “, Prior to his appointment, Owoyemi was the Managing Director, at Aggreko International Ltd – Lagos, Nigeria , a Scottish firm that specialises in providing temporal power solution and temperature control across the globe. He spear headed market penetration especially in the area of providing captive power for the manufacturing sector. Appointed to the Board of Aggreko Projects Ltd (a fully owned subsidiary of Aggreko International Company in April 2014), he was leading, driving and managing the overall P&L of the business in Nigeria, ensuring business development and operational growth before his resignation While in Aggreko, Alaba was responsible for driving growth, operation excellence for Aggreko Nigeria, and setting strategic direction to drive top and bottom line growth and increase customer satisfaction. Before joining Aggreko held various leadership positions in Invensys Nigeria Ltd, now a part of Schneider Electric, where he worked in partnership with a broad range of industrial and commercial customers to design and supply advanced technologies that optimise their operational performance and profitability. From oil &

Owoyemi

Gas companies to power stations After leaving Aggreko, He became Director, Gas to Power Africa, General Electric (GE) – Lagos, Nigeria in November 2016, a post he held till May 2017. A registered member of Council Regulating Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is an accomplished and result-oriented leader with a proven ability to develop and strengthen teams. He has a well-developed acumen in financial & commercial management and business development. He is a graduate of Electrical Engineering and a Chartered Engineer with over 19 years of professional experience in the industry and

allied fields. Century Group (CG) is one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous industrial groups operating in the energy and non-energy sectors through seven main subsidiaries. Its mission is to identify and solve problems; to enable people, create value. CG carries out Operation and Maintenance of FPSOs, Logistics Base Support Services; EPCI of Oil and Gas Facilities; Mooring and Installation; Chartering and Management of Offshore Support Vessels; Procurement and Materials Supply services; Training and Manpower Development; Bunkering Services; Tank Farm Operations among others.

EVENT

Rivers Government to Create More Employment for Youths

ivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that his administration will continue to create more employment opportunities for the youths of the state. Speaking after inspecting the ongoing construction of the GarrisonTrans-Amadi-Elelenwo Road on Thursday, Governor Wike noted that his administration is investing in youth empowerment. Hundreds of youths trooped out to celebrate the governor as he supervised the road, which will create greater access to Trans-Amadi, the business hub of the state. He said: “We are investing in infrastructure as a means of developing the economy of the state. We have also used the development of infrastructure to employ many youths. “We will continue to engage our youths. We will continue to run a government that will respond to the needs of the people. The governor assured the youths that his administration will always

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike addressing youths after inspecting ongoing construction of the Garrison Trans-Amadi-Elelenwo Road on Thursday. With him is Senator George Thompson Sekibo

cater for their needs, adding that he will continue to interface with them. He was accompanied on Thursday’s project inspection

by Senator George Thompson Sekibo. –Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

T H I S D AY SATURDAY AUGUST 26, 2017

AUGUST 26, 2017 Ë¾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

FASHION FILE

LDA X VLISCO

new look book collection

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 26, 2017 By Azuka Ogujiuba azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

FASHION FILE

LDA X VLISCO new look book collection

he Vlisco/ fashion-designer collabos have never been for the faint of heart. But, then again, neither are bold, mixed prints. Indeed the Vlisco brand name is synonymous with pattern and whimsy, and their S3/2017 collection was no different. This time they collaborated with industry favourite Lanre da Silva Ajayi to create very feminine looks while also showing off expertly layered prints-on-prints. From a slew of international fans to the every day Nigerian woman, Vlisco has definitely ly y captured p the hearts, minds, and p pockets of the sartori sartori-ally inclined, d, with collaborated designs thatt are certainly y unlike anything else se traipsing down the runway. This season’s on’s lookbook creations aree made by y Lanre DaSilva Ajayi, yi, a well-known y fashion designer igner g in Nigeria. g Lanre’s stylee is rich in femininity and her designs igns g normally y use a multitude off embellishments.

To show how the colour changes the final look, Lanre created every outfit twice by using the same Vlisco design in another colorway. From extraordinary sleeves to minimalistic shapes, this campaign is all about inspiring women to express themselves in their own unique way. As every woman is unique, the brand believes her outfit should be as well. The lookbook features multi-faceted curator and creator Asiyami Gold alongside two gorgeous models. Photographer:: @TheFifog@TheFifog rapher Model:: @FewModels Make Up : @Awelewama @Awelewamakeovers Creative Direction:: @The @The-style_concierge Brand:: @Urbanandchique Fabric : WhiteDiamond

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ 2017

MARKET PLACE with Omolabake Fashogbon... ͸΀͸ͻͻ;ͺ͹͸͸΁

Director, Admin & Human Resources, LASTMA, Bamidele Adeniran ; Country Manager, OLX, Lola Masha ; General Manager, LASTMA, Olawale Musa and Marketing Manager of OLX, Fife Aiyesimoju during the presentation Of raincoat to LASTMA oﬃcials recently

L-R: Service Manager, Central and North Africa, Canon, Mr. Anil Nambiar; Managing Director, Technology Distribution (TD), Mr. Leye Ajala; Markerting Director, Central and North Africa, Canon, Mr. Somesh Adukia and Managing Director, Kontakt, Mr. Sham Doulatram, at the launch of the canon service partner event in Lagos recently

OLX Donates Raincoats to LASTMA Leading online classifieds, OLX Nigeria, has supported the operations of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, with sets of raincoats. According to the organisation, this was part of its efforts at ensuring smooth traffic management in the state which was needed for enhaced economic activities. The Country Manager of the firm, Lola Masha, added that the gesture was the company’s little way of appreciating the officers of the agency

Delta Airlines Plans Big for 10th Anniversary Leading United States Airline in Africa, Delta Airlines has announced plans for its 10th anniversary in the Nigerian market. According to the company, the anniversary which had been slated for December, would see the company launch newer and improved products in the market. The company’s Senior Vice President Transatlantic, Dwight James noted that as part of the company’s efforts to celebrate its unqualified success in the past 10 years, plans had been concluded to introduce three weekly non-stop flights from Lagos to New York-JFK to its operations as the airline would operate both its New York-JFK and Atlanta routes using Airbus 330-200 aircraft. This will be effective from March 25, 2017. “Nigeria has been a strategically important market for Delta over the past 10 years and a mainstay in our African network. As we look ahead to the next decade, we are improving the product offering with the A330 and increasing the number of seats from Lagos. “Delta’s Lagos to New York-JFK flight will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and the return on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Night-time departures from Lagos have been scheduled to offer customers easy connections to more than 60 onward destinations via Delta’s New York-JFK hub including Boston, Washington, Baltimore and Chicago,” James stated. Also speaking on the development, Delta’s Commercial Director for Africa, Middle East and India, Jimmy Eichelgruen said,”We are proud to be the only airline to offer service to multiple U.S. Destinations from Nigeria. Nigeria is an important market for Delta and this new flight reflects the increased demand for travel between U.S. and Lagos. “Alongside the increased number of travel options, our service is tailored for our Nigerian customers, offering regional cuisine using local ingredients and showing popular Nollywood blockbusters as part of our in-flight entertainment.

whose operations had been able to avert a number of traffic crises in the state. “We commend the work of the agency in seeing to free-flowing traffic, safety of road users and providing rescue and emergency services to Lagosians. “In particular, we are focused on helping and empowering the communities in which we operate, which is why we constantly find ways to partner with key stakeholders who provide value for our users and our community

at large,” she stated. Speaking during the presentation of the items, General Manager of LASTMA, Olawale Musa, thanked the OLX team for the gesture. “We are deeply touched by this recognition given the commitment of our men to work. We specially appreciate this particular donation as we all know that it’s not too easy coordinating traffic in the rainy season. This donation is in the interest of all Lagosians and we promise not to disappoint you all,” he said.

‘Indomie Peace Meet Up’ Thrills Nigerian Youths Dufil Prima Foods, makers of Indomie Noodles, has demonstrated its commitment to Nigerian youths in its ‘Indomie Peace Meet Up’ exercise, an initiative that aims to celebrate the contributions of youths to conflict prevention and resolution, socio-cultural inclusion, social justice and sustainable peace. The initiative which was observed on the occasion of the 2017 International Youth Day, IYD, had students in seven Nigerian universities engaged in all kinds of social activities including workshops. The universities visited were: University of Lagos; University of Ibadan; Auchi Polytechnic; Imo State University, Owerri; University of Port Harcourt; Bayero University, Kano and University of Abuja. According to the company, the essence of the initiative was to further charge Nigerian youths to continue to engage in activities that would promote peace and development in the country. Speaking at the University of Lagos for the Lagos leg of the event, Public Relations and Events Manager of the company, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju, stated that the brand would continue to explore avenues to

engage the youth towards positive adventures that would foster national unity and development. “As a brand passionate about youth development, we join the rest of the world to give attention to issues that affect our tomorrow’s leaders. “We will at all times champion the cause of the youth in ways that will bring advancement and development to the country, and by so doing, encourage and empower them to be productive to the society at large,” Asiwaju said. He also said that the company had been able to provide ample opportunities to young people in tertiary schools by offering them an effective and constructive participatory platform through its ‘Indomie Campus Ambassador Scheme’. He added that the “Peace Meet Up”, was staged as a platform for young minds to further showcase themselves and their skills. The Product Manager of the company, Mr. Onome Asagbra, who gave the assurance of Indomie’s continuous support towards youth progress also encouraged them to always pursue smart aims by setting goals that were specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-based.

Social Media Manager, Fero Mobile, Dandy Ikharia; Brand Ambassador, Fero Mobile, Ruth Olaniran; Team Leader, Lagos Region, Anthony Ajala and Sales Consultant, Wunmi Ayilara at the Laﬀup Comedy show in Musan centre Onikan recently.

Musa reiterated that one of the agency’s focus is to make the economy thrive which was why its men work round the clock to ensure continuous smooth flow of traffic, thus creating an atmosphere for a sustainable socio-economic growth. The OLX Group operates a network of online trading platforms in over 40 countries. It builds market leading classifieds, marketplaces that empower millions of people to buy, sell and stir development in local communities.

Zinox Launches 14-inch Notebook Foremost indigenous information and communication technology firm, Zinox Technologies Limited, has stormed the technology market with its newest 14-inch notebook. The product, branded GTX, was designed with the combined effort of other technology firms including Microsoft Inc., Intel Corp., Ashour Corporation and Tecsync Technology Co Ltd. The latest technology addition which has been rated world’s slimmest notebook would address the computing needs of a dynamic audience. The device runs on Intel Cherry Trail OS with 1.9GHz computing power and a durable 10,000mAh battery which offers users up to 10 hours’ average use. Boasting a 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage expandable to 120GB, the 14-inch GTX is sleek at 18.2mm in dimension and weighs a paltry 1.5kg, thus making it a light-weight companion for work, travel and leisure. Among other features, GTX also comes loaded with MS Windows 10 and Office 2016 with colour flexibility ranging from black, premium grey and classic gold colour. The product is presently on sale in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa and at an introductory price with a 12 months’ nationwide warranty.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPA P PER Ëž ÍşÍžËœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍľ

Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă˜ Ă–Ă?Ă‘Ă‘

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MOSES BABATOPE

Nigerians are Getting Used to Cinema Culture Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ‹ĂžĂ™ĂšĂ? Ă“Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš Ă˘Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă Ă? Ă“ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœËš Ëœ Ă“Ă–Ă— Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ě‹ Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ăœ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă–Ă—Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ë› Ăš Ăš

Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ăž ÍšÍ˝ ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă’Ă? Ă’Ă‹ĂŽ Ă‹ ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă?Ă• ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽ Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ Ę¨Ă–Ă— ĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă?Ăž Ă“Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂŁ Ă‘ Ë› Ë›Ëœ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‘ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ë› Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă”Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ‘Ă? Ă‹Ăž ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă‹ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă?Ăœ Ă™Ă? ËŤ Ă’Ă?Ă˜ Ă‘ Ă” Ă‘ Ăš Ă™Ă Ă? Ă‹ĂšĂšĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ë›ËŹ Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?ĂĄ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ T Tosin CleggËœ Ă’Ă? ĂžĂ‹Ă–Ă•Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă—Ă‹ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă–Ă™Ăž Ă—Ă™ĂœĂ? for sector and absence of trade or lobby body to protect the interest of distributor and influence legislation.

My y formative years y was born in Ibadan in the early y â€˜80s. I am the first of six children, three males and three females. I g grew up p in Lagos g before moving g to the UK to complete p my y University y education. I started working g in 2000 at Sainsburys y Supermarkets p in the UK and later moved into cinema exhibition in 2002. I g graduated from Middlesex Universityâ€™s y Business School, United Kingdom, g with a B.A in Money y Banking g and Finance. I also hold a Mastersâ€™ degree g in International Finance, and Chartered Financial Analyst, Kaplan, London.

About Filmhouse and FilmOne We were a bunch of Nigerians that had worked together for several years with the biggest cinema chain in Europe called Odeon UCI Cinemas. We always had a passion for Nigeria, and sometime in 2006, some of us started discussing the idea of setting up cinemas in Nigeria. This was against the backdrop of the popularity of Nigerian films in the UK at the time, mainly on VCDs and DVDs. We had succeeded in showing some of these films in our cinemas by creating events around the screenings, inviting the key cast and having a red carpet for guests to feel special and take pictures. My partners Kene Mkparu and Kene Okwuosa took the bold step to move to Nigeria in 2008 to set up Genesis Deluxe Cinemas (now Genesis Cinemas). They left in 2010 and 2011 respectively to set up Filmhouse and we opened the first two locations in December 2012. I joined the team in 2013, having held the growing international front for Nollywood films while my partners were developing the structure for cinema exhibition in Nigeria. We set up FilmOne Distribution in 2014 and the Production arm followed in January 2015. We had the Challenge of the Cinema Culture Even though the country had a history of cinemas in the â€˜60s to the â€˜80s, military rule, the deteriorating economy and lack of transparency in the sector at the time, meant that a lot of the locations had to close because they could not access content and the country was not conducive for such a business. This led to an almost 20-year gap before a modern cinema- Silverbird Cinema- was built in Victoria Island, Lagos. Slowly but surely, Nigerians are getting used to having cinema-going as a viable and enjoyable entertainment option. There was also the problem of Finance. We faced challenges of sourcing fi finance, even though we were experienced. The fact that we were new meant that we represented huge risk to fund managers. Through prudent management of meager resources and maximising opportunities, we were able to secure private equity financing fi in 2014, which ultimately led to our expann sion as a business, thereby attaining market leading status as the number one cinema chain in West Africa.

The Nigerian Film Contents There is a better appreciation for Nigerian content by Nigerians and non-Nigerians now than ever before. The quality of production has improved dramatically and this has impacted positively on patronage and, consequently, on the amount made at the box offi f ce. Also, there is more participation by corporate Nigerians in the sector in the form of sponsorships, product placements and activations. This never happened before. The social media has contributed immeasurably in terms of creating awareness of films being made and released. Film stars are engaging their fans more directly through cinema visits and in the process, increasing their followership as a result of their quality work. We are also at a stage where state of the art equipment are now being used for Nigerian film production, and more collaborations are happening, meaning that people are playing to their strength in the production process. Nigerian Films Good for Foreign Distribution Yes, itâ€™s already happening. We are releasing films in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, UK, France and the US already. The Wedding Party 2 is aiming to be released in fi fifteen territories later this year. AYâ€™s 10 Days in Sun City will be released in about 10 territories at the end of its cinema run. Our films are on Netflix, and very soon you will see them on I-tunes, Amazon and Google Play. Our films are being screened on at least 15 international airlines.

Babatope B b t

We have recorded successes in a variety of ways We have increased the number of cinemas and locations. We have nine cinemas in six cities in Nigeria; the best geographical spread of any of the cinema chains in Nigeria. Filmhouse also enjoys a large market share. Due to our strategic positioning and operations, we have held the number one position for cinema attendance and box offi f ce for two consecutive years, and this trend looks to stay for the considerable future. In terms of pricing, we have managed to be the most affordable cinema company in the country, delivering unparalleled guest service and memorable cinema experience. Part of the successes of Filmhouse is the establishment of West African first and only IMAX cinema. In August 2016, we unveiled the first IMAX cinema in Lagos, Nigeria, and West Africa. Our IMAX screen in Lagos is described as one of the best in the world. We boast of the most experienced management team in the sector. Of all the cinema companies in the industry, Filmhouse is blessed to have over 100 years of Management experience in cinema business, gained in mature markets like the UK, US, Spain, France and Italy.

FilmOne as the Biggest Distributor Nollywood films including Half of a Yellow Sun, October 1, FIFTY, Wives on Strike, A Trip to Jamaica, The Wedding Party, Alakada, Okaforâ€™s Law, 10 Days in Sun City, and The Wedding Party 2. We have the highest grossing Nigerian film of all time, and producer of the highest grossing film, which is The Wedding Party. Also, filmone is a licensee of Hollywood Studio, Twentieth Century Fox. We own aggregation work for the worldâ€™s biggest global internet TV platform, Netflix. We also stand as the number one theatrical distributor in West Africa, 2016. As Chief Operating Offi f cer of FilmOne Distribution, I have spearheaded the strategic direction of the company, and executed landmark projects with successful outcomes. Challenges of Film Distribution in Nigeria It ranges from low skill-base in cinema exhibition and film distribution to cost of marketing and advertising, access to data, cinema-going culture, limited screens and locations, piracy, censorship, lack of enough quality content, lack of government support

The Future of Cinemas in Nigeria I think the future of cinemas in Nigeria will be the development and proliferation of community cinemas for the low-end mass-market crowd who are huge consumers of local content. This is what will get the cinema industry in Nigeria to fulfill its promising potential. The multiplex and luxury cinemas will also grow but at a slower pace than the community cinemas. As the economy improves, cinema will become a lifestyle product and culture for Nigerians to adopt. At Filmhouse, we want to remain number one in West Africa and to also move to other parts of Africa, especially Central Africa, expanding in cinemas particularly community cinemas, opening at least two more IMAX locations in Nigeria, playing an active role in the development of the film industry in Nigeria. Also, at FilmOne, we want to remain the number one and best distributor in the region, taking up one or two more studios in addition to Fox, producing and distributing the best films in the territory, expanding international distribution base beyond diaspora to other mature markets like Europe and Asia.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍžËœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍľ

MY STORY FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA, OTHERS UNVEIL AFRICA CINEMATOGRAPHY FESTIVAL Efforts towards achieving a global status for the Nigerian film industry have been given a huge boost with the recent unveiling in Lagos of the Africa Cinematography Festival of Training Workshops, Conference and Film Technology Expo. The festival is a platform which focuses primarily on capacity-building for budding and professional players. Nigerian entrepreneur and founding Grand Matron, Africa Cinematography Festival, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, was at the unveiling with other notable personalities, including Frank Adekunle Edwards, CEO of FMA Productions; Henry Emenike, CEO of Germanybased Legacy Empire Management (LEM); Mrs. Judith Alakija, founding ambassador and Director General, Event Coordination, Africa Cinematography Festival and Sunnie Odafe, Co-founder, Africa Cinematography Festival (ACF). The maiden Africa Cinematography Training Workshop, Conference and Technology Expo Festival is a beneficial training conference and marketing platform for exceptional professional development in film-

making, film entrepreneurship and networking. It is designed to be an annual rallying point for all stakeholders in the film economy of Nigeria in particular and Africa at large. The Festival is expected to provide a platform for the convergence of relevant stakeholders in the filmmaking industry for the optimisation of the inherent potentials and prospects of technological advancement

in audiovisual and still productions. It will feature contemporary issues in filmmaking, networking and business opportunities and the general film economy, which have impacted on the works of industry professionals such as film makers, marketers and investors, cinema/studio owners and managers, the organised private sector, government agencies and councils and technical partners.

SOUTH-EAST ENTERTAINMENT

â€˜Our Shared Music Interest Has Kept Us Goingâ€™ Ă™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ’Ě‹ Ă‹Ă?Ăž Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂŒĂ“Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂžĂĄĂ™ ĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ?ĂĄ Ă—Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂ? ĂŒĂ?Ă–Ă™Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂ™Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă’ĂŁĂ¤Ă¤Ă“Ëœ ĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ’Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă? Ă“Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ě‹ Ă‹Ă‘Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂžĂ’Ă?Ă“Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?ĂœËœ Ă™Ă¤Ă“Ă?Ëœ ĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜ ĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ë›

Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ Tosin CleggËœ ĂžĂ’Ă?ĂŁ ĂžĂ‹Ă–Ă• Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂžĂ’Ă?Ă“Ăœ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă?

WAPTV ACQUIRES NIGERIAN BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES The Family Entertainment Channel, wapTV, has acquired a brand new set of popular Nigerian movies, by renowned production companies across the country, to keep its viewers fully entertained. These movies, which began on 15th August 2017, comprise of latest and classic English, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa and titles, starring your favourite stars; including Mercy Johnson, Odunlade Adekola, Genevieve Nnaji, Ali Nuhu, Mercy Aigbe, Aki and Pawpaw, Rahama Sadau, Femi Adebayo, Patience Ozokwor, Jide Kosoko, Rita Dominic, Nkem Owoh, Iyabo Ojo, Sanni Danja, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde,

Pete Edochie, Tonto Dikeh, Yakubu Mohd, Toyin Aimakhu, John Okafor (Mr Ibu) and many others. The Managing Director of wapTV, Wole Adenuga said: â€œWe value our viewers of every age, ethnic background, gender and socio-economic class; they all deserve the very best and we have gone great lengths to procure a wide range of muchloved Nigerian movies to add to the channelâ€™s diverse content of TV Dramas and Comedies, Music Videos, Childrenâ€™s Programmes, Sports, Cooking Shows, Telenovelas, Reality Shows, Comedy Skits, Talk Shows and lots more.â€?

ell us about your group?

STANLEY WILLIAMS LAUNCHES â€˜ROYALTY RECORDSâ€™ IN NIGERIA Stanley Williams, the CEO and Founder of Royalty Records is an established entrepreneur and philanthropist with a passion for timeless music who has just unveiled Royalty Records; a subsidiary of Monarch Empire - an international entertainment company. Prince Williams, as he is fondly called, was born in Hammersmith, one of Londonâ€™s most prestigious boroughs into a family of musically-influenced people. This dedicated, ambitious and hardworking Titan is now expanding his already established empire, by venturing into the entertainment sector. Music is not only a passion but also an Art

which he has a natural talent and flare for, and promises to bring a fresh breadth of air in the industry. At the moment, Royaly Records is home to super talented acts like C-Prince, B-tone and Hi life singer, Sunny Bobo. Away from music and entertainment, Prince Stanley Williams also doubles as the chairman of Monarch Group and Philwils Development Corp. He was a co-founder of Settled Peace charity international which has been conducting charity outreach since 2003. His company, Monarch Promotions is also heavily involved in sports management and promotion.

My name is Harrison Chimzi Anokwuru known as Chizzi. My label mateâ€™s name is Ede Chikezie Victor, stage name is Mista Rage from Enugu state, but was born and raised in Lagos.

How did you start the record label? The three of us, I mean, Chyzzi, my manager and I have been friends for a while before Chyzzi and I discovered our shared interest for music. We decided to come together and work as a team. With this the three of us decided to start the label. Our main goal is to get our music heard in every corner of the world and to also widen the horizon which the Nigerian music has laid already in the international market.

What kind of music do you do and whatâ€™s new out there from your stable? Mista Rage is a rapper with a bit more of hip hop orientation and heâ€™s learning to mix it also with a blend of Afro. Chyzziâ€™s sound is a fusion of afro beats and urban trap genre of music.

What should we expect from you guys in a few weeks? We are going to be dropping individual singles before the summer is over. Everyone should just stay glued as we are sure to thrill everyone with our next materials.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í°Í´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

INTERVIEW Dr. Sani Aliyu

Aliyu

Anti-Retroviral Treatment Can Wipe Out HIV/AIDS Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ ĂŽĂ™Ă˜Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă Ă?Ăœ Î Í¸ ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ËŞĂ? Ëš ĂšĂœĂ™Ă‘ĂœĂ‹Ă—Ă—Ă?Ë› Ă™ĂĄĂ?Ă Ă?ĂœËœ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă–Ă™Ă™Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ĂŽĂœĂ‹ĂĄĂ‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ëœ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă“ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ™Ăœ Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ‹Ă– Ă™Ă? Ëœ ĂœË› Ă‹Ă˜Ă“ Ă–Ă“ĂŁĂ&#x;Ëœ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?ĂĄ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ Senator IroegbuËœ ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂ˜Ă?ĂŽ ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă™Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜Ă? ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă•Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ’ ĂŒĂŁ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă Ă“ĂœĂ&#x;Ă?

s the present head of NACA what have been your successes, challenges and prospects? I think we have made substantive progress over the last seven months of my being in NACA. For instance, one of my main priorities is to establish the true burden of HIV, a more precise estimate of the people living with HIV in the country. This is essential for proper planning and budgeting purposes. I am pleased to tell you that we have now partnered with the US government and Global Fund to mobilise the resources required in giving us this answer. We have agreed to a population-based HIV survey which would be the largest ever carried out in the world. This will give us the true picture of the HIV epidemic in Nigeria. It will however, cost the US Government about $85 million; this is no

mean achievement. Secondly, I have always been worried about the issue of sustainable HIV funding. As you know, more than 70 per cent of the entire HIV national response is being driven by external donor funds. In fact in 2016, 99 per cent of the HIV commodities brought into the country were courtesy of our donor friends. Definitely, that is not a healthy situation for the country to be in and in the long term, is a major threat to the overall sustainability of the programme. Since the start of the HIV national programme in Nigeria, the US Government alone has spent more than $4.3 billion and Global Fund more than $1.3 billion, a colossal sum by any imagination. You might want to ask that as expensive as it is, can our governments really afford it. The answer is yes. I can tell you itâ€™s all about political will and commitment. We have on record that some of the state governments are not significantly contributing to the HIV/AIDS programme. It costs about N50, 000

Is the N50,000 per head cost that you talk about subsidised or full cost? Of course, it is the standard cost. We have a HIV treatment programme in Taraba and Abia states, with close to 60,000 patients on our books. Thatâ€™s how much itâ€™s costing us for a year of management per patient. Sustainability is a major issue that need to be looked into, because we have just over a million people living with HIV nationwide on treatment with only about 60,000 being catered for by the public sector, predominantly the Federal Government. We have the 60,000 in Taraba and Abia states.

Courtesy of our dear friends, the external partners, particularly the United States PEPFAR programme, this has been running for some years now and the Global Fund (GF) Programme on AIDS, TB and malaria. The US Government looks after about 800,000 patients, while the GF takes care of the rest. So, having sustainable funding for the national HIV response is one of my top priorities. Let us go on to the issue of where do we get the money? We can get the money from the states. I proposed to the National Economic Council last month that 0.5 to 1.0 per cent of the Federal Government monthly allocation to states be dedicated to the HIV programme. We are not saying they should give us the money, no; give the money to the State Agencies for the Control of AIDS (SACAs).

What then happens to about 940,000 that remain?

Is this in addition to the one million patients on treatment?

for a patient to go on treatment for a year, which is cheaper than standard treatment for ailments like complicated diabetes, or if you have difficultto-treat hypertensive or cardiac disease.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ A Ͱʹ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

INTERVIEW NIGERIA RISKS DEATH OF OVER ONE MILLION PERSONS OVER DWINDLING FUNDING FOR HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME..

Aliyu That’s right. We already have one million that will continue to be on treatment. So it would be an additional half a million people to be catered for. The US Government has already committed to adding another 260,000 people on treatment in the coming year, so we should be more than half way through to get everybody on treatment. Is the N20 billion for a whole year or monthly? The N20 billion is for a whole year. To be precise, it is actually N23 billion that we calculated because if you look at the entire federal allocation to the states in 2016, it was about N2.3trillion, so we only need a per cent of that. That was my second priority. My third priority mainly was to try and mobilise the HIV public health community including our donor partners to bring the issue of prevention of mother-to-child transmission to the front burner of the national response. Nigeria at the moment is at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to preventing motherto-child HIV transmission. We have thousands of babies being born in Nigeria with HIV every year. In fact one of the issue we are trying to address is the problem of HIV infected pregnant women being charged antenatal clinic user fees ranging from anywhere between N3, 000 to N4, 000 before they are seen. All over the world donor agencies are scaling down aid programmes and assistance. How do you think this will affect NACA? The solution is not to sit down and wait and then start running for a way out when the inevitable happens. The solution is what we are doing now. We are raising awareness; we are meeting with the states. I jointly presented our recommendations with the Minister of Health to the state governors at the June National Economic Council meeting and they accepted it. What is missing are the commodities and we are partnering with the private sector to make sure that they contribute towards getting a functional HIV Trust Fund that would be responsible for buying HIV commodities and delivering them to where they are needed for the benefit of our patients. You have already warned about one million Nigerians at risk of death. Don’t you think this figure is exaggerated? Let me clarify what I said. If you have HIV and your immune system is down, your likelihood of death within a year is high, your likelihood of dying within five years is very high, and you are certainly unlikely to achieve your life expectancy. Let’s look at a scenario where we have about a million people on treatment, there is a strong possibility that among those one million, the majority of them will develop an opportunistic infection within five years and therefore likely to die, and if they don’t die, they will end up in a debilitating situation with a poor quality of life, repeated hospitalisation and general poor health. What I am saying is that the likelihood of those one million people developing AIDS and therefore at risk of death is high within a few years of stopping anti-retroviral therapy. Some states are known to be prone to the HIV/AIDs pandemic. What do you think are the causative factors and

risk behaviour? How do you get HIV? Everybody knows how you get HIV. It is not hidden. It is predominantly through sexual transmission. And at the same time, like any other epidemic, it is more likely to be successful if there is lot of ignorance or denial in the community. If they don’t know what is going on, it can spread silently because it is a disease that can take up to 10 years or more before it manifests. So, if you have a lot of people living with HIV that are not aware of their diagnosis, and a lot of transmission is going on, of course there is going to be a very high prevalence. Yes, some states have high prevalence, while some have low prevalence due to cultural factors, etc. There is also the issue of health-seeking behaviour. This is particularly relevant to the issue of pregnant women living with HIV. And if you look at the health-seeking behaviour in some parts of our country you will find out that in some areas of the country, pregnant women do not go for ante-natal care, and therefore may never have the opportunity of knowing their HIV status and the risk of transmission to their unborn child. There are other factors such as unprotected sex with multiple partners, blood transfusion, contaminated needles and others. You don’t get HIV by talking to people or shaking people’s hands. In fact it is one of the least infectious diseases that you can come across.

The solution is not to sit down and wait and then start running for a way out when the inevitable happens. The solution is what we are doing now. We are raising awareness; we are meeting with the states. I jointly presented our recommendations with the Minister of Health to the state governors at the June National Economic Council meeting and they accepted it. What is missing are the commodities and we are partnering with the private sector to make sure that they contribute towards getting a functional HIV Trust Fund that would be responsible for buying HIV commodities and delivering them to where they are needed for the beneﬁt of our patients

Recently, scientists claimed to have cured a baby born with HIV in South Africa. Are there indigenous efforts to get vaccine that can cure HIV in Nigeria? There is a vaccine trial starting in South Africa but not in Nigeria. However, we do have scientists in Nigeria engaged in basic science research on vaccines. Generally, with clinical trials you need to go through several phases before registering a product for human use or consumption. Although the vaccine trials being done globally have shown some promise, we are still far off from having an effective vaccine. Research is expensive and HIV vaccine research is no different. You once said that there were certain new drugs for HIV now in Nigeria. Can you explain that? There is no vaccine at the moment. There are new drugs that are coming that are still going through clinical and laboratory analysis but are showing great promise and one of the good things about the drugs is that they are injectables. They have injectable depot preparations of anti-retroviral whereby you have the injection and then a repeated at intervals of maybe two or three months. That is a great difference to what we have now. They are showing great promise and I think moving forward especially in the developed world, and we are pretty confident that in the coming years, we will have injectable drugs coming in. Why is that important? It frees you from the hassle of having to remember to take your drugs every day and over time with improved depot formulations, it may be possible to have them even less frequently than three-monthly. It will also solve the problem of mother-to-child transmission. We are also now talking about treatment as prevention. If you take anti-retroviral, you are less likely to transmit the virus and you are also less likely to contract the virus. Therefore, taking anti-retroviral drugs gives an element of protection or what we call “prophylaxis.” People have raised issues about corruption in the health sector. How transparent and accountable is the funding going to the HIV/AIDS programme? The majority of funding comes from our external donors but it is worth pointing out that this is now directly managed by them; it does not come to NACA. We are no longer the fund managers and we don’t implement the programmes anymore. We have moved away from that role, we get our partners to deliver the programmes and those programmes can be delivered in a transparent and accountable manner. I am running a very tight budget and money doesn’t come freely anymore. It puts me in a much better position to provide effective oversight of the entire programme, as I would be able to tell our partners for instance to account for every dollar received. The US government has put in about $400 million this year in Nigeria, but not a single dollar will come to us, it will go to our partners that will deliver the programmes. But we are able as NACA to go to these partners and say show us the 10,000 patients you claim to put on treatment in Sokoto and we want to know how well they are doing. And that is a much better way of ensuring transparency and accountability in the HIV sector.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY AUGUST 26, 2017

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ 2017

MARITIME BITS with John Iwori.... ͸΀͸ͽͿͿ;ͻ͹;ͼ

L-R: Associate, Sidley Austin LLP, Eno Usoro; member, International Bar Association (IBA), Ben Greer; member, IBA, Jonathan Goldsmith; Secretary General, Abuja MoU on Port State Control for West and Central Africa, Mrs. Mfon Ekong Usoro; Yusuf Ali, SAN; and George Etomi who were speakers on Emerging Trends in Global Legal Practice at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Lagos…recently

L-R: Pioneer Chairman, Governing Council, Council for Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (CRFFN) and member Board of Trustees (BOT), Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Hon. Tony Iju Nwabunike; Chief host, ANLCA National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting and Zonal Co-ordinator, East, Chief Dennis Ejikeme Okwu and BOT member, Chief Peter Obih at the 2017 ANLCA NEC meeting in Port Harcourt…recently

The Untold Story of a Customs Oﬃcer’s Death in the Hands of Soldiers Friday August 11, 2017 was like any other day but it was a day the family and loved ones of an officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Baba Nwaguyawo will prefer he was not on duty. Until his death, Nwaguyawo with service number 53225 was an anti-smuggling operative of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos. He was on duty alongside his colleagues to execute one of the key functions of the service, anti-smuggling when trouble started. It was a tragedy as he lost his life in active service in attempt to stop smugglers of contraband into the country led by soldiers. The convoy was being piloted by a team of military men led by one Captain A.M Murnai with Force number 45EB/15FER with Army operation vehicle number NA2021B05 Apparently buoyed by the fact that the Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Ibrahim Hameed Ali (retired) is one of their own, the soldiers who

NCS Intercepts N100m Scrap Metals Scrap metals worth N100 million have been intercepted by men and officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The scrap metals were carefully packed into eight containers. Similarly, a container laden with unprocessed wood was also intercepted following a tip off. The two items are top on the export prohibition list (EPL). Besides the EPL, the Customs High Command also maintains the import prohibition list (IPL). The EPL and the IPL are compiled by the Federal Ministry of Finance in line with the fiscal policies of the Federal Government. However, it is the NCS that maintains and enforces the EPL and the IPL. Prior to the renewed onslaught on the violators of the EPL and IPL, the export of scraps and unprocessed wood was rampart, especially in Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos. The two products are often exported to Italy and China for processing after which they are brought back into the country as finished products. Scrap metals when processed abroad find their ways into Nigeria as vehicle doors and fenders used by automobile manufacturers at a very high cost. The seizure of the items was carried out by officers and men in the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) Compliance team was put in place by the Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Ibrahim Hameed Ali (retired). The CGC Compliance team led by its leader, Hassan Bello, a Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) was said to have been trailing those behind the export until luck ran out of the suspects. The prohibited items were said to have been intercepted while they were heading to Nigeria’s busiest port, Apapa for onward loading into a waiting vessel. The nine containerized scraps and unprocessed wood as well as their means of conveyance are in Government Warehouse, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos.

led the convoy of the smuggled vehicles through Nigeria’s busiest border, Seme did not stop for any checking and when Nwaguyawo tried to stop them in line with the anti-smuggling campaign of the Customs High Command, he was swiftly crushed to death at Agbara, a boundary town between Ogun and Lagos States. It was a sorry sight to behold as Nwaguyawo’s colleagues who were on duty with him tried to pull his badly maimed body out of the road. It was a futile exercise. Nwaguyawo eventually kicked the bucket as he could not make it. That was how a promising life was truncated by those who were given a responsibility to protect lives and property. For Nwaguyawo not to die in vain, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) must do everything possible to ensure that the unfortunate and untimely death of one of their own do not end up like that of an ordinary chicken. Ali must not allow Nwaguyawo to die in vain. No effort should be spared to wipe

away the tears of the family the slain officer left behind. He must not die in vain. His family deserve justice. Those who killed Nwaguyawo must not be allowed to go scot free in the name of spirit de corps by Ali former colleagues in the Nigerian Army. The death of Nwaguyawo in active service must not be allowed to join the growing list of Nigerians who have lost their lives in similar circumstances over the years without justice. The blood of Nwaguyawo is crying for justice. As Nwaguyawo loved ones, especially his wife and children continue to mourn the untimely death of their bread winner, the soldiers who perpetrated the dastardly act should not only be punished but be seen to be punished. That is the only way the soul of Nwaguyawo can rest in peace. The death of Nwaguyawo has brought to the fore once more the appointment of Ali who was in his he days was the military administrator of

Kaduna as the CGC. Not a few have argued that the death of Nwaguyawo would have been treated differently if the CGC was a serving or retired Customs Officer. This is not unconnected with the fact that Ali is said to be torn between satisfying his former colleagues in the Nigerian Army and the NCS. There is no doubt that Ali is in a dilemma. The explanation of the NCS on the matter did not help matters. According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO), NCS Headquarters, Abuja, Mr. Joseph Attah, investigation is being carried out in conjunction with the Nigerian Army. Attah, who described the incident as unfortunate however assured that those found culpable will be brought to justice. He did not mention how long this will take. It is over two weeks he made the statement, yet he is yet to give the public update on the incident. All hands must be on deck to ensure that Nwaguyawo did not die in vain.

Apapa Gridlock: Beyond MWUN, APMT War of Words

Charkin Maritime Academy Shops for Experts, Cadets

The war of attrition between maritime workers and one of Nigeria’s foremost terminal operators and a subsidiary of Danish logistics giant, APM Terminals Apapa Limited (APMT) seem endless as they continue to trade words on the cause of the gridlock in Nigeria’s premier port, Apapa, Lagos. The workers under the auspices of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) have not ceased to use every avenue to say that APMT was the main cause of the traffic gridlock in the port city as it has no space to accommodate empty containers in its facility thereby making the various articulated vehicles to use the port access roads as a parking lot. Already, the MWUN which remains the umbrella body for maritime workers in the country reason had issued APMT a 14-deadline to evacuate all empty containers belonging to it, many of which have been abandoned on various port access roads in Apapa, thus worsening the traffic situation in the area. It stated that the concessionaire of Africa’s largest container terminal which handles more than 50 per cent of the container traffic into the country is a key contributor to the recurrent traffic in the port city. Giving an insight into its action, MWUN Deputy Secretary General, Comrade Edwin Sambo, in a statement said that the ultimatum has become necessary to compel APMT to urgently remove all empty containers belonging to it that have been abandoned on the roads, thereby contributing significantly to the gridlock in the area. It warned that it will take a drastic action against the company if the empty containers were not removed by the expiration of the 14 days ultimatum. The MWUN stated that the decision of the company to abandon these empty containers, which litter every part of the port city constitute a major hindrance to movement in and out of the ports, as these empty containers inhibit truck and other vehicular traffic around the ports.

In a bid to ensure that its standards are in line with the guidelines and conventions of the global maritime watchdog, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Charkin Maritime Academy (CMA), Port Harcourt, Rivers State has started shopping for professionals in the maritime industry. Though many professionals are required, the academy is presently shopping for marine engineers, lecturers, librarian, Cadets Regimental Unit (RUC) Commander, laboratory technologist and registrar. Similarly, the academy has extended the date for cadets to get placements in the school regarded as a gateway into the marine world. The move of the institution is also aimed at meeting the requirements of local regulatory agencies such as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Acting Provost of the CMA, Dr. Egben Okore who dropped the hint in a chat with THISDAY at the weekend said the plan to recruit more professionals into the CMA was informed by the need to beef up the present workforce of the institution as well as prepare ahead for some of its courses and programmes. Okore stated that interested applicants and students are free to take advantage of the openings in the school for a future career in maritime, oil and gas industries and beyond. THISDAY had reported that as part of its expansion programmes, Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike had in early February 2017 formally unveiled Nigeria’s first ever land ship, MV Rivers Pride built by the CMA. The land ship houses some of the equipment and facilities required by the CMA. These comprise full mission navigational bridge simulator; ECDIS Simulation Room; GMDSS (Navigation) Simulation Room which conforms to the 2010 Manila Amendments by the 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.

Its words: “In view of all these hiccups caused by the abandoned empty containers, the management of APM Terminals is hereby given a 14-day notice from the date of the letter to put all necessary arrangements in motion to ensure that the blockage caused by the empty containers is totally cleared for business and other port-related activities to go on at the ports unhindered. “The security of lives and property in and around the environment has deteriorated so much that rape and brigandage have become the order of the day because of this and the union cannot continue to sit and watch while the situation goes out of hand. You can agree with me that workers, port users and the general public are at the receiving end, as many of them trek very long distances for hours before accessing the ports and other workplaces. Please be informed that the union will not be held liable for whatever action we might deem fit to take in the event of your refusal to get your empty containers off the road”. MWUN maintained that the blockage was against the objectives of the Executive Order introduced by the federal government at the ports. Apparently not pleased with the ultimatum, APMT said it was not responsible for the gridlock in the port city and could not be held liable for the traffic snarl in Apapa. Its General Manager Communications, Mr. Augustine Fischer stated that like other stakeholders, it is a victim of the menace of the Apapa gridlock and not in any way the cause. Beyond the war of words between MWUN and APMT however is a culture of lies, deceit and dearth of the political will to do the right thing that will maximise the huge potentials in the maritime industry. That has been the lot of the maritime industry over the years and until there is a shift in the present narratives, Nigeria, nay Nigerians will continue to hold the short end of the stick in the global shipping world.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ;˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

PERSPECTIVE

Flooding: The Time to Act is Now Roland Nwakanma

he perennial problem of flooding is once again here. Recently, we witnessed its damaging effects in different parts of the country with the worst hit being Lagos, Rivers and Niger states. We have seen floods of very frightening dimensions affecting homes, offices, farmlands, businesses and sweeping away valuables and obstructing human traffic by rendering roads and streets impassable. It has indeed had devastating social and economic impacts. Urban flooding caused by intense, prolonged rainfall is one of the hazards in modern cities and towns. Such flooding often happens with little warning and in areas not prone to flooding hence, the difficulty in its management and predictability. Whilst intense and/or prolonged rainfall also takes place in rural areas, urban (pluvial) flooding is a predominantly urban problem. Its effects are most pronounced and damaging in urban areas. Generally flooding could be viewed as the disturbance of the environmental health and sanitation of an area. This is so because when we talk of environmental sanitation of an area, we are talking of adequate sewage and refuse collection; a well-planned housing system, provision of drinking water, control of pests like cockroaches, rats and the likes as well as protection of edibles. These are the very plans and services that flooding disrupts. Urban flooding is usually due to the high proportion of tarmacked and paved surface which limit water infiltration and increase the amount of water running off the ground surface as well as its speed. This is exacerbated by the fact that natural drainage routes are often altered or blocked in cities which obstructs water flow. Besides that, the growing urban population and degree of urbanisation puts great pressure on existing drainage systems thereby increasing the likelihood of them being overwhelmed. Experts have predicted a significant increase in urban flood in future as a result of climate change and demographic shifts. The primary effects of flooding includes loss of life, damage of buildings and other structures including bridges, sewage systems, roads, transport infrastructure, power stations, destruction of water treatment plants

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu etc. The hazardous nature of flood water can best be explained by an examination of its contents. Flood sweeps through the homes of snakes and other reptiles flushing them and their eggs as well as other poisonous substances hitherto buried underground into the flooding water. Floods also wash away pools of stagnant water containing algae and loads of micro-organisms. Others include industrial waste which probably has not been properly and thoroughly disposed. When such flood water sweeps into people’s living rooms and open playing spaces; they carry these micro-organism along destroying the physical and biological properties of good housing. Architects and other experts have pointed out that continuous flooding wrecks the foundation of buildings and when such buildings collapse, they usually lead to loss of lives. Again flood water contains millions of dangerous micro-organisms that can penetrate the skin and infect humans when people wade through such contaminated water. Infact, there have been reported cases

of people having some blood sucking worms or leeches stuck in their legs while wading through flooded neighborhoods. Again, flood water contamination through mixtures of harmful materials from sewages, filled up latrines, effluent from leaches in nearby refuse dumps and poisons industrial wastes, etc have often increased risks of disease outbreaks like dysentery, typhoid and cholera. Flooding can also cause food shortages as floods destroy plants, farmlands as well as disrupt day to day activities leading to low productivity of the labour force. Generally floods retard general productivity and development. It also increases the risk of road accidents and quite a number of people die from drowning. In our part of the country Abia, Aba has for years been a major flashpoint of flooding. Infact the second republic Governor of Old Imo State Chief Sam Mbakwe between 1979 and 1983 became famous as a weeping Governor on account of his relentless campaign to draw federal attention to Ndiegoro flood disaster. The Ndiegoro flood is on record as being one of the earliest flood disaster points in the country. While there has not been much federal assistance to mitigate it, other flash points have since joined. They include the Uratta/Omuma axis, the Ogbor-Hill area, the Owerri-Aba road axis and the Ohanku Obohia axis. Infact, the entire Enyimba city could have been in the news as the number one flood disaster area and not Port Harcourt, Lagos, Yenegoa or Suleija if not for the experience, hard work, commitment of the present crop of the leadership of Abia State Environmental protection Agency Aba zone. Such team of course acquired their experience and tutelage under the present Governor of Abia State who was their boss before he left to run for the governorship elections in 2014. We are highlighting this experience because we believe that other states in Nigeria who are in similar situation like us can learn some useful lessons on how we have managed to cope and mitigate the problem. I will also mention the fact that before this present crop of leaders came on board under the leadership of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, apart from the flood problem, the city of Aba acquired notoriety for the garbage heaps that dotted its landscape. Dr. Ikpeazu infact acquired his initial popularity

from his leadership of our agency as the deputy general manager Aba zone. It was under him that Aba became clean again. We are sustaining and expanding that vision. How did we manage to achieve the feat of mitigating the flood problem and running a relatively clean city? The answer is simple. A clear commitment, hard work and resourcefulness in the application of resources and of course, the support we have been receiving from the state government. Put in concrete terms, the achievements have been based on a 24-hour refuse disposal system, the massive disilting of all blocked drainage pipes in the city, an aggressive citizen education on appropriate ways of disposing wastes and lastly, an aggressive sanitation law enforcement through the establishment of sanitation courts. We also have to mention the provision of road infrastructure by the state government in areas that matter most and a general disposition by our Governor under whose watch the architecture of what we are doing was drawn to see his baby succeed. The Journey has not been easy. The floods are still with us, but we are coping with it as much as our resources can manage. Aba is not yet an Eldorado but people don’t talk about its garbage heaps again. Checkmating flooding and managing waste requires a lot of effort and eternal vigilance. The job has no room for laxity. From our practical experience, it is a problem that requires the injection of enormous resources that is clearly beyond the means of most state governments. It is this that calls for the intervention of the Federal government if most of our cities will be saved from the problem of flooding that has the potential of reversing most of our development initiatives. Above all, the solution to the problem also requires synergy of efforts amongst Environmental protection managers, city planners, law makers and other relevant policy makers. Since it has been predicted that intense flood is one of the fall out of climate change and demographic shifts, the time to act to mitigate it is now. Tomorrow might be late. – Hon. Roland Nwakanma is Deputy General Manager, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency

I Wish I Were North Korea’s Spokesman and Speech Writer Okey Nwachukwu

While the war of words continues, it is hard to determine whether either Trump or Kim would play the endgame as both men seem to ith two bullies at the helm in the enjoy posturing. At 33, with just a child and no US and the Democratic People’s known outside investment, Kim may be ready Republic of Korea (DPRK), as to risk everything, including the lives of over North Korea is officially known, 25 million North Koreans. His only introspecthe threat of nuclear war has tion may be why a family dynasty of almost 70 never seemed so imminent. years could crumble under his watch. Trump, DPRK leader, Kim Jong Un, needs to further at 71 and with wealth touted in billions, may tighten his hold on the nation of 25 million not be willing to quit mother earth just yet. His people by ratcheting up the age-long propaflamboyant lifestyle, cushioned by proceeds ganda about America’s quest to annihilate the from investments in real estate, is such country. Donald Trump, contending with the intimidating accomplishment that, in Trump’s lowest approval ratings of any American Presireckoning, cannot be jettisoned now. So, he dent at the 200-day mark, desperately seeks a needs to stay alive to protect America from the game changer that would upend the endless Russians, Chinese, Europeans, Arabs, Iranians, controversies around his administration. Even ISIS, Mexicans, Al-Shabab, and Hezbollah. if he is ultimately removed from office, as some And his opponents believe he lacks the steel to believe he would, starting a needless nuclear frighten a determined foe, moreso a nuclearwar would definitely distinguish his place in armed Kim. American history. But the choices are grim. I have been imagining the work of commuIn the wake of a fresh dose of sanctions nications managers on both sides. Trump has, levied against the reclusive state by the United Kim Jong Un via Twitter, emerged the indisputable commuNations, Pyongyang vowed to teach America nicator-in-chief of his administration. His aides a “severe lesson,” and undertake “strong armed military bases. Medium-to-long-range follow-up measures.” America’s crime was strategic ballistic missiles, the Koreans declared, only need to find and offer justifications for his that it crafted the offending sanctions package, would be deployed, “to send a serious warning impulsive pronouncements, even when they say nothing or mean different things. which was surprisingly supported by all five signal to the US.” Trump retorted that that the The North presents a different ball game. permanent members of the Security Council. US military is “locked and loaded” just in case Most information from the country emanate Pyongyang did not assail its traditional allies, North Korea should “act unwisely.” from the state-run Korean Central News Russia and China, but singled out America The amplification of strongly worded statefor rebuke. To further stoke the tension, the ments is a well-documented propaganda tactic Agency (KCNA). That is expected; it is a communist state where every aspect of society is Washington Post reported that Pyongyang routinely used by DPRK to ward off perceived strictly controlled and citizens exist just for the had miniaturized a nuclear warhead that US hostility. The country had enjoyed unchalpurpose of eulogizing the leadership. Expectcould be delivered by missiles. lenged deployment of bellicose rhetoric until edly, most news are nimbly choreographed to In response, Trump warned that continuing Trump arrived with his ‘America First’ policy, project DPRK’s image and military advancethreat by Pyongyang would be met with which seemingly required some nationalism ments. “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” undergirded by tough talk and ‘alternative Given the fixation with existential threat, The world was startled. Never lacking in truth.’ America would be comfortable looking notably from America and its ‘puppets,’ an bombastic invectives, North Korea shot back, after itself, as envisioned by Trump, but the announcing that its military was “examining incessant firing of missiles, both long and short outline of the work of a North Korea spokesthe operational plan” to strike Guam, a US ter- by North Korea, disturbs the quiet Trump needs man or speech writer can be easily figured out. Even without prompting from the high ritory in the Pacific that harbours two nuclear- to reset America.

command, all that is required is the creation of scenarios that would be subsequently plugged when a real situation arises. For instance, tomorrow, Trump tweets that “a new defence system goes up in South Korea and Japan shortly.” North Korea’s response, “this is an extremely unacceptable provocation that will be met with severe punishment with the full strength of our sovereignty.” Then Pyongyang fires a medium range missile that lands in Japan’s territorial waters. America calls for a meeting of the UN Security Council. Trump blasts, “China has failed the world, unfit for a seat on UN Security Council.” The Chinese sue for maturity and de-escalation but Pyongyang responds “the great aggressor is threatening global peace and the good people of DPRK; our gallant revolutionary army stands ready to extinguish this fire with the fiercest arsenal.” Such diatribes are not exclusive to Trump and Kim. Prolonged military rule in Nigeria came with such frightening rhetoric. Sadly, the restoration of democratic governance has barely toned down belligerent language and action in the country. And as Nigerians increasingly call out government on responsibility and accountability, the North Korean tonality will expectedly grow louder. However, if the increasing awareness among Nigerians about their rights and expectations from government precipitates class wars that could unravel a great nation, let it be. In any case, as Nigeria’s democracy is steadily militarised, the Federal Government would undoubtedly find in people like me the capacity to craft appropriate terse rhetoric, whether directed at Charly Boy, IPOB, Boko Haram, Badoo, BBOG, kidnappers, PDP, restructurists, and indeed anyone that threatens Nigeria’s ‘nonnegotiable’ ‘unity’ and ‘indivisibility.’ –Nwachukwu is a Lagos-based communications consultant.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍžËœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍż

POLITY

Lagos: Excellence in the Face of Challenges AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef

agos is a great State. It is great not because there are no challenges on the path to its dream. The network of lagoons, beautiful coastlines, alluring beaches and the skyscrapers that shade the setting sun to tint the skyline with gold lining at dusk are magnificent, but those are the least that make Lagos beautiful. One major reason that Lagos is regarded as the Centre of Excellence is the peaceful coexistence of over twenty million vibrant and forward-looking people of diverse culture, race, nationality, religion and social status, who know that though they have to compete to achieve personal goals, only in unity would they realise their collective dream of building one of the greatest cities in the world. Any other yardstick devised to assess Lagos would therefore yield a result unacceptable to Lagosians. No doubt, in these past five decades of its existence, Lagos has gone through different challenges peculiar to most cosmopolitan cities, but it has always come out stronger, more united and ever determined to build one of the best cities anyone, from anywhere in the globe, would be proud and delighted to live in. Every city in the world, including those in first world countries once in a while record ugly incidences that might persist for sometime, but this do not determine how great they are; rather it is the way the systems respond that describes what they represent. Sophisticated cities in the western world with high security sysyems still record terrorist attacks. World economic powers still exhibit to the world a perfect example of paradox by having destitute in street corners of their beautiful cities. Lagos has not finally arrived at its destination, but it is certainly on the path of its destiny. A city of intense dynamic mix of humanity in a race for successes and opportunities would definitely have its downsides. It is therefore unfair for any sincere assessor to neglect the strengths of Lagos, its many successes and huge prospects, only to focus on its challenges. To set the records straight, it is important to make it clear that Lagos is not infested by Boko Haram as claimed. To Lagosians in particular and Nigerians in general, this assertion is laughable. It only shows that the source was embarrassingly ignorant of happenings in Nigeria, and not in touch with the true situation in Lagos. The report was certainly not worth the paper on which it

Governor Ambode was printed. In this information age, where a dropped pin in Lagos literally makes a distinct sound in Los Angeles, it is an embarrassment to the intelligence of readers for anyone to publish such blatant lie. Lagos State is not treating criminality with kid gloves and Governor Akinwumi Ambode has always assured Lagosians of his readiness to sacrifice his sleep for their safety. A few months ago, when kidnapping was imported into the State, at the height of its escalation in some parts of Nigeria, particularly in the North Eastern and Niger Delta States with which it shares a coastline, the Lagos State Government swung into action and arrested the situation. In the few recorded cases in Lagos, all victims were successfully rescued, most of the kidnappers were arrested and lots of kidnapping attempts were indeed nipped in the bud. Lagos State also shares the belief that human minds are the fundamental resources of any nation that wants to be great. Lago-

sians are enlightened, exposed and highly educated people who place premium on education and would sacrifice even their comfort to see their children through school. To fuel this drive, the State Government has invested heavily in education with its free Primary and Secondary Education Schemes, among others. However, we cannot deny the fact that there are several young people who migrate to Lagos from other States and neigbouring African countries in search of greener pastures. We are aware that most of them barely finished secondary school. We know it well that they could mount pressure on the system, but Lagos choose to show them care and make them believe that despite their limitations, their own Lagos success stories are possible too. The report that Lagos has high rate of school dropouts by merely advancing national average figures to represent Lagos is not only wrong and misleading, but can be quite disparaging. However, we are not going to be discourage, as our caring hearts and accommodating spirit is as strong as a steel. Lagos has Primary Health Care centres in all the Wards of the State and a General Hospital in every Local Government Area. Health care is affordable, accessible and of high standard. Infant and maternal mortality has gone down drastically. Free medical care is available to the elderly and the very young. Health care delivery is improving, contrary to the report hinged on assumptions and hasty generalizations. Lagos, as all its residents can confirm, has continued to witness huge infrastructural transformation. New inner roads are simultaneously being built and many of the old ones have been rehabilitated in all the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas, to the delight of the residents who now have easy and better access to their homes and whose properties have appreciated in value. Through the construction of major road networks in most parts of the State, many communities have been linked and opened up for accelerated socio-economic development. Lagos-Badagry expressway is witnessing a transformation that has never been seen anywhere in the sub-Saharan Africa. Lagos is the hub of African entertainment. The enabling environment and unflinching support for art and creativity qualify it to host Nollywood, one of the three renown names in the World Film and Entertainment industry. Greater percentage of new busi-

nesses and multinational organizations siting their operational bases in Lagos attests to the fact that the State is fast-emerging as one of the worldâ€™s biggest commercial centres. Lagos rewards hard work, creativity and excellence - the reason why young Nigerian graduates are trooping to the State knowing that their own Lagos Success stories are quite possible. Every system, no matter how efficient, is subject to criticism, and Lagos could not have been an exception. But irrespective of how and why critics arrive at their findings, Lagos city is striving and the future can only get better. Whether they could not access facts and correct information or they choose to ignore them to hurriedly arrive at their pre-determined judgement, Lagos is rapidly growing and Lagosians have no reason to believe otherwise. Although, the so-called findings of these armchair analysts do not truly represent Lagos, their faults are pardonable. It could be an honest mistake borne out of incompetence or lack of resources to analyze large data and process the pool of information required in elaborate research of this nature. But if the study was to intentionally distort the facts for dubious motives, it calls for absolute condemnation from all well-meaning Lagosians. Expressing opinions in the public domain is neither the exclusive preserve of privileged individuals and prestigious institutions nor that of journalists or communication specialists of multifarious disciplines. It is the absolute right of everyone. We are all protected by our fundamental right to express views in public arena unfettered, but what distinguishes professional opinion moulders is the expertise they ought to apply through their knowledge, skills and access to mass media channels. Therefore, if they must truly provide moral leadership, professionals are duty-bound to constantly enhance their knowledge, sharpen inquisitive skills and jealously guide the trust that people repose in them by operating with all sense of responsibility. The various achievements of the Akinwumi Ambode-led Lagos State Government are clear testimonies that Lagos is flourishing and no concocted opinion can constitute a destructive clog in the wheel of our progress. â€“ AbdulLateef is the Commissioner, Lagos Min of Home Affairs.

Bennett Oghifo

he Senate Committee on Lands, Housing and Urban Development is collaborating with Housing Circuit Magazine to host a two-day Conference on the theme, â€˜Addressing Housing Stock Deficit in Nigeria- Structured Mortgage Finance in the Public Sector: A Holistic Viewâ€™. This brainstorming event is scheduled to hold at the Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Tower from Tuesday 26th â€“Wednesday 27th September, 2017. The Conference, according to the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Housing, Mrs. Rosemary Igwe, â€œIs aimed at enhancing synergy between the legislative arm of government, the Executive and professionals in the built industry with the primary objective of boosting housing delivery in the country.â€? Mrs. Igwe said all Commissioners for Lands, Housing and Urban Development from the 36 states of the federation; Real Estate Developers; Housing/Mortgage Parastatals; and Professionals in the built Industry would attend the Summit. The lead paper will be presented by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola, will deliver the Keynote Address, while Alhaji Aliko Dangote would be the Chairman of the event.

Adeosun

There will be discussions on â€˜Real Estate Investment and Mortgage Financing in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects. This session would be chaired by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun. Another session, â€˜National Building Code and Recurring Building CollapseWho is to Blame?â€™, would be chaired by

Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. Also on hand, is Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, who will chair the session on â€˜Flooding and Climate Change: Nature or Man-made. The discussants are, Director General, Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Professor Sani Abdullahi Mashi; President, Nigeria Institution of Surveyors, Surv Akin Oyegbola; Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja; President, Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria, Professor T. O. Egunjobi; and the Speaker, Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. John Gaul Lebo. Zamfara State Governor, Alh. Dr. Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari will chair the 4th session on â€˜Coordinating and Regulating Real Estate Sector in Nigeria- The Way Forwardâ€™. Speakers and discussants at this session are: the President, REDAN, Surv. Ugochukwu Chime; Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, Engr. Umar Gambo Jibrin; Managing Director, Digital Horizon Ltd., Surv. Akhigbe Klein Irene; Managing Director, Brains and Hammers Ltd., Alhaji Abdullahi Runai; and the Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, Kaduna State, Engr. Hassan Usman Mahmud. Other speakers expected at the Conference include, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank plc., Distinguished Senator Gbenga

Ashafa, Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Professor Sani Abdullahi, Director General (NIMET), Surv. Rev. Ugochukwu Chime, President, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Professor Charles Iyangete, Managing Director, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, Engr. Kamila Maliki, Registrar Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Hon. Ahmad Usman, Chairman, House Committee on Housing, Mr. Banjo Obaleye, Managing Director, Infinity Mortgage Bank, Dr. Mrs. Hanatu Fika, Executive Secretary, Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, among other notable professionals and technocrats. The Conference will be declared open by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, he said. Publisher of Housing Circuit Magazine and Co-host of the Conference, Mr. Seun Jegede said, â€œThe Conference will expose real estate investment opportunities in Nigeria, find lasting solution to the recurring issue of building collapse across the country and address all the bottlenecks for a better and effective housing industry.â€? â€œThe Conference, meant to also deliberate extensively on the raging issue of National Building Code is broken into four Sessions and it will climax on the second day with a Dinner/Gala nite and presentation of Awards to deserving Professionals.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍž, 2017

POLITY

NPA Board Approves New Structure Kunle Adewale

he Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has approved a new organisational structure and the commencement of a Business Process Re-engineering initiative that would create synergies to improve efficiency. It has also approved the redistribution of all General Managers in its employ. According to a statement signed by NPAâ€™s Principal Manager, Public Affairs, Ibrahim Nasiru, the far-reaching initiatives aimed at making the NPA a truly professional and performance-driven organisation, were approved at a board meeting which held recently in Lagos. â€œThe management notes that this

review has become important because NPAâ€™s structure has remained the same in spite of the 2006 concession which changed the Authority status from owner/operator to landlord. This change in status brought about the concession of cargo handling operations to the private sector; outsourcing of dredging, towage services and vessel maintenance, use of contractors to build infrastructure,â€? said the statement. Changes approved by the board included the reduction in the number of General Managers from 25 to 22; the upgrade of the Hydrography and Dredging Department into a Division status to be headed by a General Manager in recognition of its strategic importance to the Authority; the upgrade of the Information and Com-

munications Technology Department into a Division to take more responsibilities from Departments like Utilities and the creation of a new Monitoring and Regulations Division. Others include the merger of the Capital Projects and Maintenance Divisions into a single Engineering Division to eliminate redundancies; the scrapping of the Special Duties Division; scrapping of the zonal office structure such that departments in the ports will now report directly to the head office; a change in the nomenclature of nine departments and divisions including Public Affairs, which will now be known as Corporate Communications; Overseas Office (London Office) into International Liaison Office; Capital Projects and Mainte-

nance Divisions now to be known as Engineering Division and Hydrography & Dredging Department now Hydrography Services Division; Monitoring. The Compliance Division is now Monitoring and Regulation Division; Commercial and Port Promotion Services Department now Tariff & Billing Department; Secretary/Legal Services now Legal Services; Insurance & Risk Management Department now Enterprise Risk Management Department and the Business Development and Joint Venture Department into Public Private Partnership Division. The statement added: â€œThe Authority is convinced that this new structure will enhance its capacity to. The business process re-engineering process is the next phase of the re-organisation and it will detail work procedures that will enable the Authority take full advantage of the technology that has already been deployed and terminate the low capacity utilization engendered by manual that apart from capacity, experience and means, Uba was the most determined and processes. â€œThe NPA is mindful of the welfare of prepared for the position among all the its employees and has assured them that aspirants having occupied the post before no job will be affected by this process. and serving meritoriously in many other Staff of departments that have been sensitive and strategic offices. The PFF maintained that with Andy Uba scrapped or merged will be deployed to newly created departments fitting their as the candidate of the APC, the party is competences. The Authority assures sure of victory at the polls and the state that the ultimate goal of this initiative would be better and greater for it. As a group, Oramah disclosed that their is to institute a transparent and efficient interest was primarily to see to the progsystem which will deliver the best ress of the state with total commitment to dividend to Nigeria and its citizens. We the promotion of good governance and solicit the support of all Nigerians to the well-being of the people of Anambra State. achievement of these goals.â€?

Anambra APC Primaries: Give Your Votes to the Best, Group Urges

elegates to todayâ€™s gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State have been advised to give their votes to the most competent and capable aspirant in the race, Senator Andy Uba, for the party to record a resounding success in the November gubernatorial polls and in the overall interest of the state. The Progressives Friends Foundation (PFF), a group committed to good governance in the country said in a statement in Awka that the APC holds it a duty to the

people of Anambra State to give them the right candidate, capable of defeating the incumbent governor with ease. According to the statement signed by the Director General of the group, Pat Ifeanyi Oramah, the PFF said it had done a critical and dispassionate appraisal of all the aspirants cleared for the primaries by the APC and found Uba representing Anambra South In the Senate as the most suitable for the job and the aspirant with the satisfactory might and means to take Anambra State to the mainstream of Nigerian politics. Oramah said the group also discovered

L-R: Trade Marketing Manager, Central Africa, HP Inc, Allison Alassan; Creative Director, The Glam OďŹƒcial Company, Oluwaseun Asaaju; Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, BlackSwitch International, Omobola Ade-Adefemi; and Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, HP Nigeria, Elizabeth Nwajei; at the unveiling of HP DeskJet GT 5820/10 All-in-One series in Lagos ...recently PHOTO: Abiodun Ajala

L-R: Acting Director General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Adamu Sifawa; former governor, Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; and President/CEO, Kamson Holdings Limited, Kayode Amusan, at the launch of Lotto Plus scratch and win promo in Lagos...recently PHOTO: SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Eddie Efekoha; Director, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Oluremi Ayeni; and Executive Director Finance Systems and Investments, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, Babatunde Daramola at the formal unveiling of the ISO 9001:2015 SON Management Systems CertiďŹ cation in Lagos...recently

L-R: Deputy Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Ekiti State, Kemisola Olaleye; APC governorship aspirant, Dr. Oluwole Oluleye; his wife, Patricial and APC State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, during the oďŹƒcial declaration of Olaleye governorship aspiration and commissioning of campaign oďŹƒce, in Ado Ekiti â€Ś recently

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPA P PER ˾ ͺ;, 2017

VINTAGE

Molek Schools Clock 10 We have many things to thank God for. The school that started with only two pupils and six staff now has about 780pupils/students excluding crèche babies and 75 staff. “Within the same period, the school has turned out seven sets of primary schools and second set of secondary school and I am happy by the grace of God, we have been able to make quality education available at affordable cost to so many children

Hammed Shittu ÓØ ÖÙÜÓØ

olek Group of Schools, located at Ofatedo in Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State is 10 years old. The group of schoolsnursery, primary and secondary– was established on September 3, 2007 by Engineer Ademola Adeniyi and Alhaja Dhiliratulah Adeniyi. The career of students of the school has improved considerably because of the availability of qualified teachers, good Information Computer Technology and serene academic environment. This is done in line with the vision of the school to be among the foremost privately-owned educational institutions in the country, operating in line with esteemed expectations of parents, the society, as well as statutory and administrative guidelines of the authorities in order to boost the educational advancement of the pupils, students and the entire society.” The school has become a model for other private institutions. To mark its 10 years of existence and valedictory service for the students of 2016/2017 academic session, the management of the school rolled out some programmes which included walk to live, visiting of the Motherless Babies Home, Osogbo, career talks, anniversary lecture, symposium, football match, inter-house sports and Jumat service. Awards and gifts were presented to the best among the outgoing students and other students from both primary, JSS 1, JSS2, JSS3 and SS2 classes to motivate them in the next academic session slated for September 11, 2017. Speaking at the event, the proprietor of the school, Engineer Adeniyi said, “I decided to take interest in education after my retirement in

Adeniyi

the public service from the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) at Ughelli Power Plant because I and my wife, who retired as a teacher, wanted to be doing business that would be of help to the society. “I also reflected on what I went through to acquire quality education. I was determined to offer opportunity for quality and affordable education to our children. I think teaching had always been in my blood though destiny veered me into engineering. I was always a teacher to my classmates during my days in school, especially from primary to university level. “Education is one industry whose product is always on demand and raw materials are in continuous supply and it keeps growing if it is properly managed. “My major driving factor in estab-

lishing a school is my early travails in my educational journey. I vowed that, if God spares my life and gives me the opportunity, I would establish a school of very good standard that will give opportunity of Islamic and western education to Muslim children.” On the journey so far, Engineer Adeniyi said: “We have many things to thank God for. The school that started with only two pupils and six staff now has about 780 pupils/students excluding crèche babies and 75 staff. “Within the same period, the school has turned out seven sets of primary schools and second set of secondary school and I am happy by the grace of God, we have been able to make quality education available at affordable cost to so many children. “From the staff statistic, we have been able to provide gainful employ-

ment to some members of the society thereby reducing family poverty level. We also have a positive environmental impact on the community and the school now has three separate sites for the Nursery, Primary and Secondary sections with adequate facilities.” On the challenges, the proprietor said: “There is the poor access road to the school on which we have had to spend reasonable amount of money every year to make motorable. We pray to God for sustenance, and guidance, Molek is firmly on ground for Basic education from Nursery to Secondary levels while we keep improving on this, we hope to add the aspects of vocational/ skills education, Quranic /Hifzu education, adult literacy, and tertiary education /preparatory classes in stages, in the nearest future.”

Ace Broadcaster, Segun Adebowale Buries Mother-in-law in Lagos

ast weekend, friends and family of ace broadcaster, Segun Adebowale came from all across the world to Lagos, to register their love and support for him, as his beautiful wife, Deaconess Olayinka’s mother was laid to rest in Lagos. It was always going to be a grand affair given Adebowale’s widereaching influence and popularity among his colleagues in the media circle that turned out in their numbers to show love to their buddy. Adebowale is the Managing Editor of Ovation TV. The two-day event took off with a Christian Wake at Christ Glorious Hope Assembly, Oke Ira, Ogba, Lagos with joyous hymnals and glorious testimonials about the late Madam Esther Ajayi Adebayo Osalaiye, who many family members and acquaintances affirmed was a L-R: Managing Editor, Ovation TV, Segun Adebowale, Tomisin (daughter) Olayinka (wife) and Olusegun Adebayo woman of dignity and incredible impact in her lifetime. to earth at Atan Cemetery in Yaba, one even at an old age does not The same church also hosted the amid emotional scenes that seemed necessarily temper the grief of the funeral service the next day after bereaved. which the deceased was committed to suggest that the death of a loved

The carnival-like atmosphere that unfolded at the beautifully decked-out 7 Stars Events Centre on Akilo Road, Ogba, dispelled every residue of sorrow from the interment as mirth swallowed up grief and the reception played out as the celebration of a fulfilled life that the whole affair was intended to be from the start. Guests had their fill of sumptuous delicacies and fine wines while being serenaded by Juju impresario and Lalale Friday crooner, Wale Thompson. Maami as she was fondly called by her children was born seventy eight years ago into the family of High Chief Agbale Oshona and Madam Maria Agbale of Odo-Eri in Yagba West Local Government area in Kogi State. She was actively involved in Church activities in Evangelical Church for West Africa, ECWA (now Evangelical Church Winning All) where she was the Matron of the Brigade of the Church.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ GUST 26, 2017

THE ALTERNATIVE with Reno Omokri Of Mice and President Buhari and a Little About Oby Ezekwesili’s Soup

he ill-thought-out remarks by Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, to the effect that rodents had damaged the President’s office, forcing him to work from home should not come as a surprise to discerning Nigerians and neither should we blame Mr. Shehu for the infantile lie. You see, once the decision had been reached at the highest levels to be less than transparent about President Muhammadu Buhari’s health situation, there was really nothing much that his media aides could do. If I was Garba Shehu, what I would have said is that the President has a backlog of work and so had to cancel FEC and focus fully on clearing this backlog from home! It would not be a lie being that the President is always on call 24/7. As a Presidential spokesman, lying is the last thing you want to do. Your job is to find creative, but not dishonest, ways to make the bitter truth palatable to the general public. Lack of creativity is a greater liability to a Presidential spokesman than lack of funds. And the remark itself (“Following the three months’ period of disuse, rodents have caused a lot of damage to the furniture and the air conditioning units”) reminds me of the iconic movie, Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men is a 1937 book by John Steinbeck, which got made into a movie. It tells the tale of two California migrants workers who roam from town to town during the Great Depression in search of greener pastures. How fitting that the lie told by Mr. Shehu should dovetail into Steinbeck’s classic. Just like in Of Mice and Men, we have a migrant President who moves from back and forth from London to Abuja. And again like Steinbeck’s classic, he does so in a depression. The only difference is that while George Milton and Lennie Small were the victims of a depression caused by others, President Muhammadu Buhari is not a victim but a perpetrator of the fastest negative turnaround of an economy from the third fastest-growing economy in the world to an economy in recession. There are many other parallels one can draw from the movie and the comedy the Buhari administration is unleashing on the nation, but one has to be careful in drawing attention to them especially in these days that the military is scouring social media for “antigovernment and anti-military information”. But I just wonder how Garba could have said ”Rodents have caused a lot of damage to the President’s office” with a straight face! Really Garba Shehu! There should be limits to propaganda. It is only in Nigeria that “rodents” will chase a lion away from his den! Garba, please you should be too decent for this, leave lies for Lai Mohammed! If President Muhammadu Buhari is not strong enough to go to the office, simply say the truth and shame the devil. I have been in the President of Nigeria’s office. It is cleaned everyday. I also had an office in the villa and I travelled abroad for a long period and nothing happened to my office. The Presidency has projected President Buhari as an anti-corruption crusader with strong integrity and credibility. Such infantile lies as this rat story rubbishes that image! It also portrays the Buhari administration as a government severely deficient in intelligence! Almost every international news agency carried the ridiculous story in a way that belittled Nigeria: BBC, AFP, RFI and even China Xinhua News! Worldwide the Muhammadu Buhari administration has turned Nigeria into an international joke because of an inept President and his inept aides! I mean it is just clear that the President still needs to recover and that he only returned because the pressure from Charly Boy’s #ReturnorResign group had become unbearable, especially when they announced that they had got a permit from the Metropolitan Police in London to protest outside Abuja House. Of all things to use as an excuse, it has to be rats! If you are wondering why the rats in your city have reduced, wonder no more. They have all relocated to seek greener pastures at Aso Rock! But on a serious note though, President Yar’adua left Nigeria on November 23, 2009 and did not return until February 10, 2010. Thereafter he was at the Presidential Villa until he died on May 5, 2010. For a period of 6 months, his office was vacant until Dr. Goodluck Jonathan succeeded him. In all that time, rodents never

Buhari

Ezekwesili

destroyed his office. Which just makes you wonder the type of rodents that exist in Aso Rock under President Muhammadu Buhari, the man who promised Nigerians change but ended up giving those who voted him as President - chains! As for the Nigerian military that will now monitor social media for “anti-government information”, I can only say what a lovely change! Did I hear you say chains? Can any comment be more “anti-government” than this comment made by Buhari on May 15, 2012 “by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood”? And can any comment be antiNigerian than this comment made by the same man on July 25, 2015: “The constituents, for example, gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%”? So funny when the father of hate speech and the kingpin of anti-government talk now wants to deal with those who have not even come close to doing what he has done! And after His misspeak on why the President had to work from home, Garba Shehu followed up with a statement warning that the Presidency will henceforth not tolerate harsh words being used on President Muhammadu Buhari and said “calling Buhari an enemy of Nigeria was in extremely bad taste”. Is this not the same Buhari that said on May 15, 2012 and I quote, “The biggest Boko Haram is the Federal Government.” Buhari called the government of Goodluck Jonathan a Boko Haram government without providing proof and now complains about being criticised! Mr. President, buy a mirror and arrest the person you see in it as an example of your zero tolerance for “harsh words”! These shenanigans are annoying enough, but to add salt to injury, along comes Yahaya Bello! To show how useless governance has become under the APC, Yahaya Bello, a state governor declares a public holiday to celebrate President Muhammadu Buhari’s return! Now, I sympathise with President Buhari, but aren’t public holidays meant to be for events pertaining to a nation’s history? President Buhari has been a resident of the U.K. for over a hundred days, has he ever known the U.K. to proclaim a public holiday because the Queen returned from hospital? Our army killed at least 347 Shiite men, women, children and infants, our Air Force killed 119 people at the Rann IDP camp in a mistaken bombing. We did not declare any national mourning. Yet we declare a public holiday for Buhari’s return! This is the height of sycophancy! Well, enough about the Presidency’s ineptitude and comedic behaviour; let me change the mood of this piece and enter second base. Someone tell Oby Ezekwesili that it is hypocritical to

complain about a soup you helped cook just because you were not given your share! She was used to bring down a good man and thereafter dumped and now she is bitter and she wants to feign that she is one of us who are genuinely opposing a dictatorial and clueless government for patriotic reasons! Where are her fellow #BringBackOurGirls colleagues? Are they not now holding very, very, very juicy positions in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government? She is a woman scorned because her lover (APC) enjoyed her pleasures but refused to marry her. Now she wants to use Nigerians to get her revenge! We are not that foolish! Imagine Oby Ezekwesili complaining of President Muhammadu Buhari’s “missed opportunity”. She is one of those who helped him get the opportunity to miss an opportunity! It is an insult to our sensibilities for this woman to start wailing like she is doing! Has she forgotten when she was giving keynote speeches at All Progressives Congress events where she demonised former President Jonathan and deified Buhari by calling him a “disciplineinstilling” leader on March 7, 2014? Did it occur to her at that event that she was empowering the very person she is now denouncing? People like Oby are like the bush rat that Chinua Achebe wrote about. They bite you and blow breeze on your wounds so you won’t know the damage they have caused. If Oby wants to know who is responsible for bringing Buhari to power, I can buy her a mirror. I assure her it won’t be a pretty sight! Oby Ezekwesili is a sanctimonious hypocrite who likes to criticise but does not like to be criticised. She once threatened to report me to then President Jonathan when I responded to her criticism, as if Dr. Jonathan “gives a damn” about her opinions! The sad thing is that everybody, but especially her Southeastern kith and kin, knows she was used and dumped by people who know only too well her real nature. I suspect that her bitterness is that she could not attain the heights Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has attained and is still attaining. Now she continues to prance about giving subdued messages to the Buhari administration because she knows that if she unleashes on them like she unleashed on Jonathan she will be taught the difference between a democrat and a dictator!

Reno’s Nuggets

When you make it, women will flock around you. Tantalising as they are, don’t forget the one who was there before you made it - mum! The love of your life can’t divorce you, can’t be separated from you and won’t sue you. After God, your mother is the love of your life. Finally, marrying a girl because of sex is like buying a car because of its sound system. You will enjoy it, but you won’t go anywhere #RenosNuggets.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍž, 2017

PERSPECTIVE

The Eighth Senate and the Rest of Us Femi Olatoye

s a parliamentary enthusiast, I was curious to know about the workings of the National Assembly and this led to my decision to indulge myself by constantly taking a cursory look at the happenings in the hallowed chambers, with particular emphasis on the Senate. No doubt, my interest in the present set of Senators must have been largely influenced by the leadership style at the Senate led by Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki (CON). Despite the circumstances that led to his emergence as the number three citizen of the Federal Republic, he has indeed demonstrated that occupying such an exalted position in a complex political configuration at that material time was no childâ€™s play. And as the dust of his emergence began to settle, he took a firm charge of the Senate to the amazement of many political gladiators and political neophytes like me. How he has succeeded in piloting the affairs of the Nigerian Senate in such a steady manner is another kettle of fish entirely. What is however evident is his abilities at raising the legislative bar in the passage of over 130 bills within the past two years under his leadership. You donâ€™t need a clairvoyant or soothsayer to tell you that the present members of the upper legislative chamber of the most populous black nation in the world are on track for greater achievements in the next two years if the legislative successes recorded in

Saraki

bill passage in the last two years are anything to go by. A fundamental role of the legislative arm of government is to make laws. For a country like ours begging for urgent and holistic development in every sphere of national life,

quality laws that will have a direct impact on all Nigerians is the talking point on the streets of Lagos, Zamfara, Abia, Bayelsa, Kwara, Kano and indeed people from all the nooks and crannies of the country are yearning for qualitative legislations that will help to further dislodge the web of poverty in our society. Over the years from the 4th to the present 8th National Assembly, the perception of many Nigerians about the modus operandi of both the Senate and the House of Representatives has been abysmally low. This, I was able to discover in my interactions with both the enlightened elites and the averagely educated individuals. Sadly, the younger generation to which I gladly belong have not fared any better in getting to study very closely the workings of the National Assembly. Due to the developmental challenges the country has witnessed in times past, legislators have become the whipping boys in our demand for social amenities. This has therefore brought about the missing link between law making and the provision of infrastructural development. While the former can be a catalyst for the latter, the two are however mutually exclusive. In a bid to â€œimpressâ€? the electorate, the legislators have become a pseudo- executive whose primary responsibility is to provide basic necessities to the people in the country that is in dire and urgent need for development. Constituency projects that should at best be seen as a philanthropic gesture is now sadly used by most Nigerians as the yardstick in evaluating legislative performance. There must be a paradigm shift and the pertinent question is where do we go from

here? One recommendation that I will gladly make is that the Senate and indeed members of the Nigerian parliament should engage more in providing timely, adequate and accurate information to Nigerians on legislative matters bothering on all facets of our collective existence. Since the level of knowledge is subject to the available information, it is therefore important that Nigerians are not starved of the tiny but important legislative details about the happenings in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly. Although, the countryâ€™s practitioners in the media are doing a yeomanâ€™s job in the discharge of their professional duties; however, information dissemination should not be left to the journalists alone. The National Assembly should continue to be proactive in disseminating information to the public rather than being reactive to issues. With virtually all the members of the National Assembly having at least one active online media application, such user friendly device(s) should be fully deployed to complement the flow of information that is available to the public. This is the age of wireless information and its advancement should be better utilised in the countryâ€™s legislative engagement with citizens. In my very optimistic assessment of the 8th Senate with Dr. Saraki at the driving seat, it will be safe to say that more pro-people and nationalistic bills will be passed into law in the second half by this upper legislative chamber and posterity will be kind to the highly exalted institution of the National Assembly. â€“ Olatoye writes from Abuja.

House Câ€™ttee Alleges Threat to BoI over N8bn Bad James Emejo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă”Ă‹

he House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts yesterday grilled the Managing Director of Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Olukayode Pitan over N8 billion unrecovered loan advance to customers. He was summoned to account for loans after the Auditor General for the Federal (AuGF) raised queries during its 2014 and 2015 audit of the bankâ€™s activi-

ties. Chairman of the committee, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) said the amount was too huge and threatens the purpose for which the development finance institution (DFI) was established. However, Pitan who appeared before the committee after being threatened with an arrest warrant said efforts had been initiated towards recovering the debt, adding that some debts had actually been recovered. He said while some of the debtors had been taken to court, many others were

handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for defaulting in their obligations with properties in form of collateral were said to be with auctioneers. Chinda, however, demanded proof of the total amount so far recovered and ordered the bank to provide a progress report of efforts towards recovering the debt as well as comprehensive report of litigation on the debt. The AuGF had stated in its a periodic audit report that about N8.4 billion paid to delinquent debtors was yet to be recovered.

He further requested for original copies of publication of the names of the debtors, copies of report to the EFCC and the list of the delinquent debtors and their status. He said:â€?Where N8 billion debt is outstanding, the purpose for which the bank is established is threatened. Our interest is to ensure you survive because if you continue at this rate you may not even have a job. In the banking system, we believe you have some safety measures before the loan is given out. We are concerned about the recovery of the fund and the survival of the bank.â€?

igerian activists yesterday stormed Abuja House in London demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari should return home. The protesters displayed various banners with inscription that read â€œBuhari: Go Back Home.â€? Another inscription readâ€? â€œThey Canâ€™t All of Us.â€? An unidentified male

voice was clearly heard narrating the protestersâ€™ grievances. He warned that protest is just the beginning of their desire to force the president to return home. He lamented that Buhari had spent an unprecedented 105 days in London taking treatment fully paid for by Nigerian taxpayers. â€œThis has never happened in our history. The president

is here taking treatment, when many Nigerians canâ€™t afford one meal a day. Those protesting that the president should resume were attacked in Abuja. This is a secure environment that is we are here. Those who were beating protesters in Abuja canâ€™t do that here. We have come peacefully to ask him to go back home. We still have respect

for president. We cannot have two presidents at the same time. But we are demanding he should go home. They claimed he is ok. why is he here he should resume or resign. We donâ€™t ministers coming to see him and taking pictures with him.â€? Others were shouting â€œBuhari go home,â€? â€œBuhari go homeâ€? in the background.

Meets Media Hosts Don Fodio, Harrysong Ferdinand Ekechukwu

t was an interesting moment with music artists and movie stars as US-based Nigerian movie producer, Usman Ligali popularly known as Don Fodio emerged the lead guest at the August edition of Meets Media, a monthly meeting and networking platform for creatives and personalities in the media and entertainment industry. The event which took place at the Best Western Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos also had Nigerian singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, Harrysong as a guest. Don Fodio, a multitalented entertainer started his career first as a rapper, with a member of the group called Deform Group in 1999. He was

represented by the beautiful Nigerian actress and movie producer, Doris Simeon.

Simeon who recently ventured into movie production, revealed that the US movie producer was her school mate at PEFTI Institute. According to his profile read by the screen diva, Don Fodio had started out a solo career, and having discovered his love for storytelling, decided to attend PEFTI to shape his scriptwriting skill. After graduation in 2004, he wrote his first screen play. Following that feat, he also wrote screen plays for a few other movie producers before relocating to California where heâ€™s currently living and schooling. Aside movie making, his interest in music has seen him direct a couple of videos for upcoming talents at home. With the announcement of Don Fodio on the movie scene, Nollywood is set to record the reemergence of the movie

producer bringing his wealth of experience and international knowledge to impact on the craft of movie making in Nigeria. This edition of the interactive media forum was quite refreshing as it had for the first time introduced a new segment called Candid Chat With Lady Ariyike (Ariyike Akinbobola), the show host. The event presented Harrysong the chance to talk about his upcoming album. He also used the opportunity to address the issue surrounding his sour relationship with his former record label mate KC, and asked that it be put to rest when asked to comment on it. The â€˜Reggae Bluesâ€™ crooner however announced plans to promote and sponsor upcoming music artists through his newly launched record label, Alter Plate.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

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MISSILE Nwabueze to Buhari “We want one Nigeria. We want the constituents to manage themselves in all matters of localities. It is time to leave local matters to the local people. The ethnic nationalities want to govern themselves within one Nigeria.” – Professor Ben Nwabueze urging President Muhammadu Buhari to support the clamour for restructuring

PENDULUM DELE MOMODU

dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com

The Speech President Buhari Failed to Deliver

ellow Nigerians, congratulations on the arrival of our dear President Muhammadu Buhari from a prolonged medical vacation. Let’s all raise our voices and thank God for performing what the President himself described as a miracle. “I’ve never been this sick,” the President had repeatedly told well-wishers. Before his sudden departure from Abuja House, the official residence of Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, events were getting rough and embarrassing as some aggrieved Nigerians had started making a willow cabin at his gate, raking and ranting about the President’s decision to seek medical succour abroad while the state of healthcare back home remains pitiably scandalous. It was a great relief to most Nigerians when news came from the Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, that his boss was finally on his way home. To some, it sounded too good to be true. Such tales had turned into disappointment on several occasions in the past. Something unusual happened on the eve of the President’s departure from England. President Buhari was seen sitting with the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, and had apparently received a gift of some Christian literature. It seemed the General Overseer had come to sanctify the President’s journey and it was good to see this symbolic gesture of religious tolerance. The arrival of President Buhari in Abuja was triumphant! The giddiness on display by family, friends, associates and fans was remarkable. Everybody was excited, joyous and relieved to have him back at home after what seemed an eternity. It had been announced that the President would make a national broadcast two days after his return. This generated a lot of interest and expectation and elicited speculations ranging from the sublime to the mundane. Many expected the President to give an American style, State of the Nation, address while others thought he was going to take a bow by resigning and retiring to his home town of Daura, Katsina State, after handing the baton to his Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. That latter permutation was far from reality and dead on arrival for one major reason. Whilst the President and his Vice President may have formed a perfect synergy and a reasonable bond exists between them, members of the President’s inner cabinet do not subscribe to this unity of purpose and it reflects clearly in their body language. We debated these wild speculations in our editorial meeting at Arise News last Sunday. By the way, please find time to watch us on DSTV 416, every Sunday from 6-7pm. Our team of Reuben Abati, Wale Olaleye, Prisca Ndu, Yemi Adamolekun and yours truly was carefully assembled by the Chairman of Leaders & Company, Nduka Obaigbena. We are always ready to take you through the labyrinth of political and economic affairs globally. Our take was that President Buhari would seize the occasion of that broadcast to make monumental pronouncements about his reform plans for our long-suffering country. We hoped he would lay bare his plans for moving Nigeria forward positively. We slept only after setting our alarms to wake us up just before 7am to monitor the Presidential broadcast. What did we get eventually? The speech was scanty and short on concrete plans. In fact, it

President Buhari and Dele Momodu would be right to call it an anti-climax. Many people were disappointed that they woke up early to watch a badly packaged broadcast. The President’s speech-writers could have done much better with a short but crisp message to Nigerians. Instead, they prepared a mumbo-jumbo. I was not impressed. But, I didn’t know who to blame. Who supplied the content and who manufactured the script that President Buhari read? The content and the art-form should have blended well but this was not the case. I thought the President should have exposed it all. At his age, there is nothing more to fear or hide. He should have told his captive audience everything about his unfortunate ill-health. The main reason most Nigerians were upset or angry was the fact that the President did not think it fit to tell Nigerians what was wrong with him and the treatment he was receiving from UK Doctors which, necessitated his endless sojourn in the Queen’s land. As if this was not bad enough, we were informed by the Villa that the President was going to be operating from home in the meantime. Fair enough. I never expected someone who has been that sick to return to work instantly. It would be tantamount to callousness for anyone to shove the President back to office without proper recuperation. But it seemed some people were desperately anxious to do just that. As early as 9am, a letter was transmitted to the National Assembly announcing the President’s return to Nigeria and his immediate resumption of full Presidential duties. Fine. If the President felt strong enough and ready to take on the herculean task of running one of the largest and most complicated nations in Africa, so be it. But it wasn’t going to be that simple! Before I went to bed that fateful night, news reached me in Ghana of a press release offering a spurious explanation for the President working from home, a totally unnecessary thing to do. At this day and age, anyone has the freedom to work from anywhere, home or abroad. Technology has changed the way we do things. A lot is now done and achieved at the touch of a button. The President did not

need to dignify the busybodies who were prying into his affairs with any response. The bazooka released by a key member of his media team was a total faux pas. Lord have mercy, the statement that rodents sacked the President from his office is the worst public relations nightmarish blunder I have ever witnessed. As a foreign friend told me, “even if it was true that such happened, it was not in the place of any Presidential aide to disclose such so brazenly.” Anyway. It happened, life must move on even though we now have to live with the attendant jokes. I promised some friends I will try to write the speech I thought the President should have read in case of similar future recurrence. It is also our responsibility to teach our leaders about modern ways of governance instead of lamenting without showing the way. We can’t blame them if we think they don’t know, keeping mute, instead of acting and transferring our own experience and exposure to them. I now produce my speech had I been in President Buhari’s shoes. Let me warn that the speech is fictional and only a figment of my imagination. Any similarity or resemblance to any real life situation is merely coincidental: “Fellow Nigerians, good morning. It gives me great pleasure to be alive to address you again. What I went through in the past few months was so terrible that I thought I would die but your kind prayers brought me back alive. I sincerely thank God Almighty for giving me a new lease of life and another chance to serve you better. I unreservedly offer my sincere apologies for my long absences but I’m sure you will agree that it was due to circumstances beyond my control. I must explain my sad predicament once and for all. There is a Yoruba proverb which says, “a man cannot hide his body from those who will bury him.” As your President, I’m your leader and also your servant at the same time. A true leader must see himself as a servant of the people. It is therefore incumbent on me to let you know and appreciate the health challenges I have suffered lately. Trouble started years back when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Although deeply troubled initially, I was soon reassured by my doctors that mine had been detected early and was not malignant. I tried to follow the prescribed medical regime with rigid discipline I am reputed for, and this has kept me going since then. My fellow Nigerians, permit me to say that when it rains, it pours. I did not bargain for what unfolded after I miraculously won the Presidential election of 2015. I was fully ready to work full blast knowing the extent of havoc the previous PDP government had wreaked on our country. However, what I met was far worse than what I ever imagined. Nigeria was in a bigger mess and the job required total strength, physical and psychological. Unfortunately, I soon relapsed into another bout of ill-health which deprived me of my full stamina to tackle the menace and scourge foisted on our country by previous administrations. I was quite alarmed when my doctors said that my sugar level had risen due to my abysmal diabetic history and now needed to be managed and controlled very delicately. I was told there were few experts in the world to deal with my virulent type of diabetes and I had no choice but to bow to the wish of God. As you may recollect, I had problems with my ears after suffering an infection which badly

affected my hearing. This was quickly corrected by specialists but I was constrained to wear hearing aids. However, that turned out to be the simplest of my problems. My battle with hypotension was soon to almost consume me. Unlike most people with hypertension, I had issues with low blood pressure, not high. Combining diabetes with hypotension can be very deadly. Simply put, that was my case. You now know what I was dealing with and why I’ve been away. It was never a fancy trip but a serious war to stay alive. I’m grateful to God that I’m alive to tell the story. Those who specialise in spreading rumours have concocted their own fake stories but this is the whole truth! My dear Brothers and Sisters, it is heartwarming to be back home after crossing the valley of the shadow of death. Whilst away, I followed events at home very closely. I must thank my able Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and our entire team for their sense of dedication and acts of loyalty. I’m gladdened that they kept the country together despite threats from different sections and segments of our society. I was deeply troubled to see how some people tried to cause disaffection and set our nation ablaze when dialogue, meaningful dialogue, can resolve most of our differences. I intend to engage every part of Nigeria in dialogue and will encourage everyone to join hands with me in the process of reconciling every one of our people. We stand to gain more in unity than in strife. Permit me to reveal a secret I had kept for a long time. The former leader of Biafra, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, visited me once in Daura to discuss the unity of Nigeria. He was clearly troubled and remorseful that Nigeria had to go through one of the deadliest internecine wars in Africa at his behest. We both prayed at the end of our meeting that such tragedy will never befall our country again. Some of those beating the drums of war and fanning the embers of disunity may not have been born at that time or they were too young to comprehend the devastation suffered by innocent people, usually the poor of the earth, during wars. My government will do everything possible to appease the aggrieved and make sure we all continue to live in harmony. The clamour for restructuring has reached an all-time high. I agree that the time has come to do something about it. With the co-operation of the National Assembly, I will soon set the machinery in motion to deal with this all-important national issue. We can no longer afford to pretend that our present structures are perfectly in order. No Nigerian should feel like an alien in his own country. It is natural for people to get angry and violent when they feel marginalised. This anomalous situation must be addressed and corrected. I will work closely with my Vice President in the days ahead to fine-tune our economy. Without a strong economy, we cannot get out of the doldrums. We have challenges on several fronts but they are all surmountable. As a retired army General, it is my wish to secure lives and properties by empowering and inspiring our men and women of the security forces. Our robust plans in this regard will be unfolded soon. May God bless Nigeria…” Hmmm, seems my imagination ran riot for a bit!!!

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