Saturday 21st October 2017 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

Buhari Offers to Host D8 Ministers in Abuja Next Month Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Istanbul, Turkey pledged Nigeria's preparedness to host the meeting of D8 Ministers of Industry between November 14 and 17, this year in Abuja. The President's spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in a

statement, said Buhari also reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to international trade and development and urged D-8 leaders to prioritise incentives and measures aimed at increasing trade and investments among member countries. Shehu said Buhari who made the appeal at the ninth summit of the D-8, observed that the private

sector and business communities in the economic organisation must be assisted with incentives to widen economic cooperation among member-states. ‘‘As the D-8, we need to intensify our activities with a view to enhancing various measures and incentives introduced to promote trade and assist the business communities from

Member States to invest in our countries and widen our cooperation. ‘‘We need to work hard to establish integrated manufacturing structures and markets. I will like to reiterate the importance of increasing trade and investment among our Member States,’’ Buhari was quoted as saying. Highlighting the attractive

business and investment opportunities in the country, the statement added that the President stressed the need for prospective investors to take advantage of the federal government’s new policies on trade facilitation. ‘‘Nigeria is committed to, and is actively pursuing a policy of trade and investment facilitation

for growth. The gains from trade are reflected in greater competitiveness, improved productivity, job creation, consumer welfare and prosperity. ‘‘Economies that grow fastest and at more sustainable rates are those that actively promote trade and attract investment. We are Continued on page 8

World Bank Tackles Nnewi Erosion with N6.9bn ...Page 14

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Wike: FG Weakening Nigeria's Justice System with Systematic Intimidation Fight against corruption in the judiciary dubious, discredited

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused the federal government of weakening the

Judges lack courage to defend our collective rights to an impartial judicial system

justice system in the country by clamping down on judges “to lay the grounds for the wholesale politicisation of the justice sector in the country.”

The governor said the "systematic intimidation of the judiciary by the federal government" had nothing to do with "its dubious and

Jonathan Media Office. The statement said Nigerians had not so soon forgotten how Malam Nasir El-Rufai led other chieftains of the opposition to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos, where they attracted crowds by inviting top musicians to perform and by giving out free food and drinks. It continued: “On December 15, 2015, the Nigerian Army, under President Muhammadu Buhari's command, killed 347 unarmed Shiite men, women, children and infants and buried them in a mass grave as revealed by the panel of inquiry instituted by the Kaduna State government. “The excuse given by the military for this massacre was that the Shiites had blocked a road during one of their procession and this allegedly affected a trip by the chief of army staff. After killing his followers and destroying their place of worship, Sheikh Ibrahim Zak Zaky, the spiritual leader of the Nigerian Shiite community, was illegally and unconstitutionally detained and has not been seen or heard of in public since December 15, 2015. “So when the Buhari administration increased the pump price of petrol, Nigerians

NEW CJ FOR LAGOS…

much discredited fight against corruption in the judiciary". Speaking during the Special Court Session to mark the opening of the 2017/2018 Legal

Year, Wike said the federal government was guilty of impunity, and threat to rule of law and impartial delivery of Justice.

According to Wike: "The danger in the incremental Continued on page 8

Nigerians Fear Buhari, They Don’t Trust Him, Says Jonathan Eromosele Abiodun The Media Office of former President Goodluck Jonathan has accused the federal government and the Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media, Femi Adesina of peddling falsehood over claims that Nigerians did not protest the hike in fuel price by the Buhari government because they trusted the government. In his response to Adesina and the Nigerian government, over the claims, Jonathan’s Media Office said fear, not trust was why Nigerians did not protest en masse against fuel price hike under Buhari. “When Femi Adesina says that it is because of trust that Nigerians did not rise up against the Buhari administration when it increased the pump price of petrol from N87 to N145, he betrays a deep ignorance and arrogance. “First of all, it was not Nigerians that rose up again the Jonathan administration when that government increased the price of petrol on January 1, 2012. It was actually members of the All Progressive Congress who sponsored the protests,” said the statement signed by Reno Omokri on behalf of the

Continued on page 8

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (right), congratulating the new Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke (left) shortly after her swearing-in at Lagos House, Ikeja …yesterday

Shell: 90 Percent of Degradation in N'Delta Caused by Oil Theft, Sabotage ... Page 8

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D8 IN FOCUS …

President Muhammadu Buhari during the 9th D-8 Summit at the International Convention and Summit Centre, Istanbul, Turkey…yesterday

Shell: 90 % of Degradation in N'Delta Caused by Oil Theft, Sabotage Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) says the degradation of the environment in the Niger is mainly due to spillages from the activities of crude oil thieves, sabotage of facilities, illegal refining and other third party interferences, rather than negligence by the company. Representatives of the oil multinational firm who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during the 2017 West Hub Integrated Stakeholders Engagement Forum for Tarakiri/Egbemo/ Oporomor communities, urged

all stakeholders to rethink the destruction being done to the environment with a view to effecting the needed change. Some of those who made presentations during the event attended by monarchs, youth groups, leaders of local communities, industry experts, government reps as well as security agencies included the company's Asset Manager, Swamp West Hub, Mesh Maichibi; Alaiye Dokubo, Government Relations Manager for Edo/Delta and Jerry Udjo, Community lnterface Coordinator, and the Special Adviser on Security to Bayelsa Governor, Boma Spero-Jack.

The company noted that though security remains a major issue in the region, through the assistance of stakeholders, including the activities of security agencies operating in the region, it was able to halve sabotage-related cases in 2016 compared to the previous year. While taking responsibility for just 10 per cent of the spills in the region, Shell maintained that irrespective of the cause, the SPDC would continue to clean and remediate areas affected by spills originating from its facilities. It also attributed the reduction in spillages partly to the company's continuous

improvement in air and ground surveillance. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Maichibi decried the despoliation of the environment caused by the acts of sabotage and the effect it is likely to have on future generations and urged oil thieves and illegal refiners to look beyond the temporary gains. "We need to understand what is happening to us in the Niger Delta. If we don't protect this land, we do not have a future and our children's children will ask us what we did when it happened. How do we protect this land? We don't need to engage in illegal bunkering, don't break

pipelines etc. "We all need to come together and talk to our boys in those areas. If we don't, they will continue and we will have an environment that is dilapidated," he said. Maichibi said whereas in the past, the company initiated projects for the host communities, the new Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) policy entails that the oil-producing communities initiate and take ownership of the projects throughout the region. The Special Adviser on Security in Bayelsa, Spero-Jack, in his remarks, told the stakeholders

that investments could only come to the state when there is peace. He narrated stories of killings and mindless waste of lives before his principal, Governor Seriake Dickson took over government in 2012, adding that relative peace had returned to the Niger Delta region. The government representative said it was as a result of the insecurity that made construction giants, Julius Berger and RCC leave the region, but said kidnapping and pitch had reduced by 70 per cent due to the new approach to security in Bayelsa and the Niger Delta by extension.

Vice President that he never approved any contracts. How can they trust a government that has still not released or acted on the SGF's grass cutter contract probe after six months? “In the five years that he governed Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan spent N16 trillion. The economy grew. The Naira was stable. We had the greatest expansion of infrastructure since the Gowon years and inflation was in single

figures. In the two years that President Muhammadu Buhari has ruled Nigeria, he has spent N15 trillion. We have had recession. Naira collapsed. “Inflation has gone back to double digits and the only infrastructure that he has started and completed is the Daura helipad. So Femi should spare us his propaganda and accept the truth that he is the mouthpiece of a murderous regime sustained

by propaganda and surviving on corruption,” the statement from the Jonathan Media Office said. Governors of the 19 northern states have greeted residents across the north for being nonviolent in the face of clashes between members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Soldiers in Abia State which endangered some northerners called on residents

NIGERIANS FEAR BUHARI, THEY DON’T TRUST HIM, SAYS JONATHAN wisely reasoned that if the Buhari administration can kill 347 unarmed Shiite men, women, children and infants for blocking a road, it would be suicidal to give them an opportunity to do the same thing to them on a wider scale,” said the statement from the Jonathan Media Office. Under the Buhari administration, it said human life had become so cheap that the military and security services routinely kill innocent

Nigerians be it Shiites, peaceful demonstrators or IDPs at the Rann IDP Camp. “To say Nigerians trust an administration that publicly boasted that it would not tell Nigerians how much of their own money the President spent in treating himself in London when the State House Clinic cannot boast of ordinary Panadol (by his own wife's testimony) is to speak a lie. Nigerians can judge the nature of the man whose

number one campaign promise was that "no Nigerian Public official should receive medical treatment overseas at public expense". For him lies are cheap even if they are expensive for the Nigerian public who has to pay the price. “Nor have Nigerians forgotten the promise to end corruption when the $25 billion Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation scam is ringing in their ears along with the denials by the

WIKE: FG WEAKENING NIGERIA'S JUSTICE SYSTEM WITH SYSTEMATIC INTIMIDATION

BUHARI OFFERS TO HOST D8 MINISTERS IN ABUJA NEXT MONTH

politicisation of the judiciary has started manifesting in the poor quality of justice from the election tribunals where judges are appointed and directed to execute pre-determined results, and also in the quality of the Court of Appeal, where seniority, proven competence and integrity are blatantly passed over for partisan affiliations in the appointment or elevation of judges to that court. "When all is said and done, let us not forget that Nigeria is still a nation of laws and not of strong men. While the federal government is guilty of impunity, the greatest threats to the rule of law and the independence of our judiciary are the judges who lack the courage to defend our collective rights to an impartial judicial system or compromise their oaths in order to remain in office." The governor noted that the

committed to creating an enabling environment and making Nigeria an attractive place for business and investment,’’ the President said. Shehu said the President also urged D-8 member countries to support the efforts of the African Union (AU) to establish the first ever single market for trade in goods and services on the continent and described the AU-backed Continental Free Trade Area for Africa as a ‘’win-win for all, including member countries of the D-8.’’ Buhari added: "I am pleased to inform you of positive market developments currently in Africa, that will support our efforts as members of the D-8 to enlarge our markets, facilitate our trade and investments, and develop our economies. ‘‘In Africa, we are on the threshold of finalising negotiations to establish the first ever Single Market for Trade in Goods and Services on our Continent, in the

present federal government operates in denial of the fact that the judiciary is a separate arm of government, which must be unreservedly respected, protected and preserved for the sustainable development of the country. He alleged that since 2015, the nation had not seen any single initiative from the federal government to either reform or correct real or perceived inefficiencies in the nation’s judicial system. He said: "We continue to witness an insidious erosion of the Rule of Law and the independence of the judiciary through a combination of vile threats, unwarranted interferences and opportunistic pressures on judges in a manner and scale never seen before in the political history of this country. "Indeed, judges appear to have been intimidated to the

point where some now find it very uncomfortable even to attend official State functions with governors for fear of being blacklisted thereafter and eventually punished," he stated. On the achievements of his administration in the Justice sector, the governor said his administration had built new courts and renovated existing courts. Wike said: "Just two months ago, we flagged off the residential housing scheme for judicial officers, including those serving at the Federal level so that our judges can have the peace of mind to do their work in their own comfortable homes for life. "Today, I am happy to announce that we have equally designed a similar housing scheme for magistrates, which construction we shall flag off in a couple of weeks". In her address, the Chief

Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Iyaye-Laminkara, stated that the Rivers State Judiciary would continue to uphold justice in the state. She lauded the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for his regular release of funds for the administration of Justice. Also speaking, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Emmanuel Aguma (SAN) urged the Police and other security agencies to respect the tenets of the law. Goodwill messages were delivered by the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch, Victor Frank Briggs and the Spokesman of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Onueze Okocha ( SAN). Wike later inaugurated the New Ultra-Modern Block E Building and Newly Renovated Electronic Library at the State High Court Complex.

Continental Free Trade Area for Africa. This will be a win-win for all, including member countries of the D-8. ‘‘As partners, I urge that we work together to support this effort of the African Union that will have a positive effect on global economic development and integration.’’ Earlier, Buhari had congratulated the outgoing Chairman of D8, Pakistani government, and Dr. Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, the outgoing Secretary-General, on their commitment and strong resolve to forge the organization ahead even in the face of serious challenges. He also congratulated Turkey on assuming the new leadership of the economic organization. He assured D-8 leaders that Nigeria would continue to support the secretariat in its assignments to achieve the visions and objectives of the organization.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY OCTOBER 21 2017

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NEWS

News Editor ÒË×ÏÐßÖË ÑÌß ͸΀͹͹;Ϳͽ΁΀͹͸ ̙sms only) Email ËÒË×ÏÐßÖË˛ÙÑÌß̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙ×

ENTRENCHING EXCELLENCE... L-R; Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, Prof. Shalom Chinedu ; Guest Lecturer / Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara ; Chancellor, Covenant University and Founder, Living Faith Church, Dr. David Oyedepo and Vice- Chancellor of Covenant University, Prof. Anthony Aderemi Atayero (right) and at the 16th Matriculation Ceremony of Covenant University in Ota,Ogun State yesterday

219 Retired Biafra Police Officers get Pensions in Enugu 155 others to be paid soon says PTAD Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu Forty-seven years after they were dismissed from service as a result of the Nigeria/Biafra Civil war, 219 retired war affected police officers from the South-east and South-south zone on Friday received their retirement benefits. Of the number, next of kin of 57 officers who had also not been paid their death benefits were equally paid. Speaking at the occasion of payment of pension benefits to retired war affected police officers held in

Enugu, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Sharon Ikeazor said another 155 who were on payroll but were being short paid would be paid in the next batch as soon as their pension benefit computation was concluded. She said the event marked another milestone in reintegrating the hitherto neglected officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force who had suffered untold hardship over the years catering for their needs and that of their dependents.

"This represents another decision by the current Federal Government to bring closure to the painful legacies of the civil war and indeed a clear demonstration that President Muhammadu Buhari is indeed a father to all Nigerians and that his administration's reforms under PTAD will ensure that Nigerians who spent their productive years serving their nation will not experience difficulties in getting their pensions," she said. While applauding the president for approving that the officers be paid without further delay, the

Clear Air on $25bn NNPC Contract, ADP Tells Buhari Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja One of the newly registered political parties in the country, Action Democratic Party (ADP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to clear his name over the controversies surrounding $25 billion contract award scandal at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The party also urged him to immediately release the investigative report of the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo on the alleged corruption scandal against the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) . Babachir David Lawal. ADP said it took the position based on the fact that President Buhari at the moment occupied the substantive Minister of Petroleum position. Addressing journalists during the National Executive (NEC) meeting of the party held in Abuja, the National

Chairman, Yabagi Sani said the Federal government should also thread with caution over its quest to get more foreign loan. Speaking on the controversy trailing the lingering corruption case against the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sani said: "President Buhari should immediately release the report of the Osinbajo led investigation panel on the N40 billion cash fund in Lagos and the indictment of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. Babachir David Lawal." On the accusation leveled against Maikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, the ADP chairman said that his party felt that there was need for the president to personally clarify issues about the contract so as to

remove any doubt in the minds of Nigerians over his commitment to an unbiased fight against corruption. "The $25 billion contract award scandal and other unsolved cases of corruption involving the functionaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government bring to question the commitment of President Buhari to the fight against corruption," he said. Sani said that it is unfortunate that this government is paying lip service to fight against corruption inspite of its vow to deal with it head-on. He said that NEC meeting reechoed support for the party's manifesto which clearly indicate its intention to execute economic development plans that would encompass restructuring, fiscal federalism, devolution of power and to fast track effort towards poverty alleviation.

Executive Secretary also commended the leadership of the umbrella body of the retired officers for working closely with PTAD during the period of the verification exercise. Going down memory lane, Ikeazor said the dismissed officers had been pardoned and honourably retired from the Police Force through a Presidential Amnesty granted on May 29, 2000 by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. To implement the government's decision, she said a full blown verification of the pardoned officers

was carried out by the defunct Police Pension Office and recently PTAD on one hand and the Police Service Commission on the other hand. "The verification exercise conducted in late 2014 and early 2015 resulted in identifying about 460 of the police officers who were caught up in the civil war. "Despite the presidential pardon and the verification of these officers, many of them remained unpaid for years. However the present administration under the president eventually approved the payment

of entitlements," she noted. Also speaking, the President of Association of Retired War-Affected Police Officers (ARWAPO), South East/South-South, Matthew Udeh expressed appreciation to President Buhari for the gesture. He said the association had suffered terribly even after their members were granted amnesty since 2000, noting that the appointment of Ikeazor had gone a long way in solving their problems within a short time she's being on the saddle.

Nigeria, Business Destination for International Community, NCC Tells US Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Dambata, has said that Nigeria was a business destination for the international community with government policies put in place to attract investors and guarantee quick returns on investments. He stated this while welcoming a delegation from the American Embassy led by Rachel Atwood Mendiola, on what the NCC does as a regulator of the telecom industry. According to the NCC boss, "In the area of investment we have been trying to convince the international community about the attractions in the market and this is a going time to invest. The government has come out with policies that

are attractive to the investor which include the policy on the ease of doing business, which was recently signed by government. “If there is one sector that investors can put their money and get quick returns, it is the telecom sector. This is as a result of the statistics available. We keep improving on our regulations in order to attain our goal of 30% penetration by 2018. We have achieved 22% and are now left with 8% to go. “We are about to license infrastructure service companies, those who will be licensed to provide infrastructure in the seven zones of the country. Two zones have been licensed already (Lagos and Abuja)." Rachel Atwood while briefing the NCC Executive Vice Chairman, disclosed that the mission of the delegation was to specifically know

the NCC’s mandate in the telecom industry and brief the US Consular who was new in Nigeria and would want to know its workings in relation to the culture of Nigerians. "We came here specifically to know what your organisation does and how it relates to the Nigerian society," she stated. Prof. Dambata briefed them on how the NCC had been able to properly regulate the telecom sector by providing a level playing field for all investors and also provide a healthy competition amongst all players. He added, "We regulate the telecom sector through a regulatory framework to ensure that the sector is properly regulated and ensure a level playing field for all investors to invest. This is done with the aid of the Telecom Act 2003, which is 14 years now.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY OCTOBER 21 2017

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COMMENTARY

POLICE AND N540B N540B DEVELOPMENT PMENT FUND PMENT

The he proposed police development fund is a step in the right direction, writes Tony Anenih

he recent proposal by the Senate, through the Chair Chair-man of the Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, for the establishment of a N540 billion annual development fund for the training and retraining of personnel of the Nigeria Police is a right step in the right direction. According to Senator Abu Ibrahim in his lead debate on the bill proposing the fund, 0.5 per cent of the total revenue accruing to the federation account annually, totaling N370 billion; 5 per cent of company tax, totaling N50 billion per annum; and, 30 per cent of cyber security fund, totaling N120 billion per annum would go into the development fund. Much as I am in support of more funding for training and retraining of police personnel, it is my sincere hope that the National Assembly will include in the act appropriate checks and balances for proper oversight of the fund; otherwise, it runs the risk of being mismanaged. Our nation’s history is replete with cases of institutions that have been run aground by irresponsible leadership. This has militated against our social and economic development as a nation. It is painful that successive governments have not done much, until now, to ensure public accountability at all levels of governance. Therefore, to ensure that the proposed Police Development Fund, if it eventually comes on stream, does not suffer the same fate, there must be complementarities of accountability by the leadership of the Nigeria Police and political will by the federal government to enforce fidelity by successive police leaderships to proper utilisation of the fund. I state emphatically that the provision of the fund is one thing. The prudent management of the fund is another. Successive leaderships of the police should ensure that they do not turn the proposed Police Development Fund into a slush fund but rather expend it on training and retraining purposes in order to raise the standards of operations of our police to the level that is comparable to those of the best police institutions globally.

TIME HAS COME FOR OUR POLICE OFFICERS TO STOP THE INDULGENCE OF BEING POT-BELLIED. THIS SHOULD BE DELIBERATELY BERATEL DISCOURAGED IN A BID BERATELY TO BUILD A NEW PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND IMAGE OF SMART, CLEAN AND DISCIPLINED NIGERIA POLICE PERSONNEL

The training and retraining of our police personnel, which the fund aims to develop, would certainly sharpen them in the professional handling of arms in the hope it will put an end to accidental discharges. Besides, I recommend that our police personnel will be trained on how to maintain a decent relationship with the civilian population. Overall, I expect that the proposed revolutionary funding of the police lead to more foreign training and retraining of personnel in order to grind their intelligence, raise the level of discipline and commitment to the ideals of the Nigeria Police. When I was in the police, I benefited from a number of foreign training programmes. For examples, in 1963, I attended the Metropolitan Police Detective Training School in the United Kingdom and, in 1971 I attended the International Police Academy for police investigative techniques, among several others. Such training and much more should be explored for the benefit of our police personnel. In addition, police personnel should now be rigorously drilled to make them look fit in their dresses. Time has come for our police of officers to stop the indulgence of being pot-bellied. This should be deliberately discouraged in a bid to build a new public perception and image of smart, clean and disciplined Nigeria Police personnel. It is my candid view that the Nigeria Police should benefit, henceforth, from quality leadership at all times and not be bogged down any more by sheer politicisation of the administration of the service by successive leaderships. Promotions should be based on merit and not nepotism or such other primordial considerations. I make this intervention in the hope that it will help to guide the federal government and successive police leaderships in prudent expenditure of the proposed police development fund and proper running of the service in order to boost the morale of personnel. Finally, I pray and hope that the Nigeria Police is now headed for the ultimate transformation in the national interest. Chief Anenih, CFR is Iyasele of Esanland

CHANGE HANGE IS POSSIB OSSIBLE BLE Tony Olutomiwa pays tribute to Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Kano State governor, at age 61

thics scholars on leadership have since concluded that the most important attribute of leadership is not power, after all, but character. According to this school of thought, every leader is only as safe and secure as his character. Indeed, character matters essentially because it preserves a leader’s cause and legacy. Adjunct to the above perspectives is also the view that the currency of true leader leadership is trust. In other words, trust is the product of character. As noted by Theodore Rooselvelt, character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. Thus as Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso turns 61, this background is a fundamental basis for looking at his life and essence especially as regards his leadership. One is particularly interested in this interrogation of Kwankwaso’s celebrated life at this point in time in relationship with the concept of ubuntu, thereby factoring in his contributions (ideas and actions) to society and development as we can also possibly learn from his leadership ethos. Ubuntu as explained by Nelson Mandela in his preface to the acclaimed intimate work on him by his autobiographer and former editor of Time Magazine, Richard Stengel, is the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others. Yes, this is crucial in understanding Kwankwaso’s leadership principles. From a humble beginning in 1956 to his ascendancy as a top bureaucrat in the civil service of Kano State to his foray into politics where he has made a distinct mark and legacy, there is a subsisting evolvement of clear correlation between Kwankwaso’s

enigma and substantive leadership. A correlation encompassing in the main, the critical values of character, vision, humanity and a general sense of what and how a better society should be. A scion of the Mallam Aminu Kano School of politics, Senator Kwankwaso has so far carried on with impressive record of achievements, building on that remarkable footprint of Aminu Kano as a spirited public servant devoted to the Talakawa, making it very important to tailor public policies to properly address pro-poor agenda for development. In achieving this altruistic goal, we come face-to-face with his modern day political philosophy otherwise known as Kwank Kwankwasiyya, a model which emphasises the core of human development as a function of government’s sincerity to the people and in the process making trust the fulcrum of leadership. In a widely circulated article published in 2014, I had advocated that Kwankwasiyya should be made a national ideology on account of my first hand experience of vast development initiatives during a visit to Kano in company with Mr. Ladipo Johnson towards the end of Senator Kwankwaso’s second term as Governor of Kano State. I joined senior editors who were taken round several projects across the state for two days and at the end, it was too clear to all that Kano had actually witnessed a major renewal: from sterling education to infrastructure, roads, bridges and under underpasses, modern housing, power, integrative agriculture, creative empowerment and a general sense of societal regeneration. What we also saw and assessed was the methodical way the then governor carried out his duties, anchored on the true spirit of Kwankwasiyya that ensures prudence, transparency and accountability. Yet the

results were everywhere and we saw how Kwankwaso’s noble deeds had elevated his accomplishments in the minds of the people, casting him in the mould of a messiah and hence his huge popularity and followership. Thus beyond the ubiquitous symbolic red caps, Kwankwasiyya was and remains a workable model the nation could borrow to rejig our national development paradigm with the main focus on two basic parameters: leadership trust and true development. Grippingly, the leadership question subsists as a national albatross. But the situation is not insurmountable if we as a people are ready to confront the dilemma squarely and conquer our collective fear. Of course, we must necessarily break from our past by reckoning with and taking decisive steps towards practicable and effective leadership which also transcends the enlightened selfinterest of the elite formation in the society. But certainly this mentality cannot take us far, not even in the least towards making a meaning of what really should constitute the basics in our search for a new direction. The crux of my thoughts in the foregoing were reflective in Senator Kwankwaso’s manifesto of revival tagged “Change is Possible” which also formed the kernel of his address during his declaration for president in October 2014. And until we are ready to tackle the inherent issues in our leadership odyssey as encapsulated in that major address, the jarring cries of national rot may yet remain a constant. The situation is really sad. A nation so endowed is now practically run aground with mind boggling revelations of scandalous graft in high places. Tell me what an individual needs 56 houses for, moreso when we realise these houses were built from our common patrimony by virtue of being in

public of office! Obviously we are very sick as a nation. Thus a reordering of our values is basic to a new sense of direction in our national life—the beginning of the healing process. This is why the concept of ubuntu needs a closer look so that we can share a sense of sanity, brotherhood and together togetherness as no one is an island. We must begin to believe that we exist for others as others also strive to serve a noble cause in our shared humanity. In this kind of consciousness, the resort to such brazen kleptomania in high places will probably be reduced to a tolerable level in our national life. This is the higher purpose we can also pick from Kwankwasiyya as a leadership model. Admittedly the leader of this movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso continues to inspire, matching noble character with realism and grace. Succinctly, we need to inculcate a new ethic of responsibility and selflessness in public service and go beyond platitudes and tokenism in our resolve to tackle the scourge of corruption and underdevelopment. We owe ourselves a duty to enthrone men and women of integrity who can actually commit themselves to a new set of social contract--binding and altruistic. We have so far seen in our national history that power itself does not guarantee good governance; hence we need to place emphasis on the character of the of office holder, men or women of distinguished character who will do us proud as patriots, who see public of office as a TRUST. These are solemn thoughts for national rectitude as we celebrate with Senator Kwankwaso on the occasion of his 61 birthday. Change is possible! Olutomiwa is the CEO, Mixot Media Limited, Lagos

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INSIGHT

Will there ever be an end?

Isseke Community and the Ofala Festival

very 10 years Isseke ancient Kingdom, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State celebrates her Ofala Festival. Ofala is a cultural festival and predominantly celebrated by many communities to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the people. The celebration of Ofala varies from community to community. In some communities it is a yearly event, while in some other communities Ofala is celebrated once in a while. But whether yearly or periodically Ofala is always an exciting period when the people roll out the drums to celebrate their rich cultural heritage. Apart from the display of colourful attires and masquerades, Ofala celebration is a period when the community bond together. It equally provides opportunity for the people to appraise the progress in the community and chart the way forward for development. This explains why Ofala festival has become a melting pot for social interaction and community development. It equally provides opportunity for the traditional ruler of the community to shower blessings on his subjects. For this reason people always look forward to the festival with great expectation, unlike some communities where Ofala festival is celebrated once every year. The people of Isseke ancient Kingdom would have to wait for every 10 years to celebrate their Ofala. This makes it very interesting and unique. Within the 10 years period a lot must have happened, whether for good or for bad. But whatever may be the case, the community has every reason to celebrate. It is for this reason that the Igwe-in-Council has outlined an elaborate programme to celebrate this year’s Ofala. Isseke Community is celebrating her second Ofala festival under the present traditional ruler, His Majesty, Igwe Emmanuel Nnabuife (Ezeoha Isseke), who was crowned on October26, 2003, but received the staff of Office from the then Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige on December 21, 2005. When the Igwe celebrated his first Ofala festival, some prominent Nigerians were honoured, including Olauda Equiano (posthumous), the then Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Ngige, former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, Senator Osita Izunaso, General Jerry Useni, etc. Within the last 10 years, the community has experienced relative peace, tranquillity and massive infrastructural development. An astute administrator and outstanding community leader, Igwe Emmanuel Nnabuife, has since his ascendency on the throne provided his people with remarkable and quality leadership. The community has witnessed an unprecedented development and peaceful atmosphere. He has done a lot to raise the

profile of the community and brings it to national and international recognition. This explains why this year’s Ofala celebration is going to be unique and spectacular. There is a historical angle of the celebrations that has given it an international colouration. This is because one of the two personalities to be honoured in this year celebration is Olauda Equiano, a prominent 18th century anti-slavery crusader. Olauda Equiano, otherwise known as Gustarus Vassa, was an indigene of Isseke Kindgom. He was kidnapped and enslaved at about the age of 11, and transported to the Caribbean and then to Virginia (North America). A resilience and desperately determined youngman, Equiano was able to liberate himself from the stranglehold of slavery and became an embodiment of anti-slavery campaign. Olauda Equiano is today no doubt one of the most historical and influential personalities all over the world. For such a global personality to come out from a relatively small community is worthy of celebration. It is therefore very fit and proper that the community would be celebrating this remarkable personality in this year’s Ofala festival. Chief Henry Udutchay, hochay2000@yahoo.com

Torn Between Hypocrisy and Double Standard

read with utter disappointment an editorial by a national newspaper dated October 18, 2017, titled: “Watchdogs or Cheerleaders”, wherein a desperate attempt was made to drag the name of the Senate Press Corps in the mud amidst an analogy that hypocritically evoked double standard at every turn. Much as the Senate Press Corps would like to turn a blind eye to criticisms over the recent award given to lawmakers, the weighty nature of misleading information contained in the publication unfortunately makes same difficult to be ignored. Also, given concerns raised over the legality of the body, we are of the strong opinion that its existence is one which ought not to be proven on the pages of newspapers but contested in a court of law should the need ever arise for that in future. Presently, the membership of the Senate Press Corps boasts of the very best hands in the media industry, and we find it insulting and denigrating for anyone to insinuate that the award selection process was fraught with inconsistencies, manipulated to favour a certain awardees.

T H E S AT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R

EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

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 GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

Contrary to insinuations contained in the publication, awardees were selected based on strictly outlined criteria by the awards committee, and which were met by selected lawmakers going by their respective performance in the year under review. Furthermore, to say that reporters have no business giving awards to those on the beat they cover is an argument which we consider a blackmail of sort advanced by sponsored agents to steal the spotlight from those whose sheer hard work and commitment on the beat has continued to sustain credibility and professionalism for journalism in Nigeria. At this point I ask: who would make better judges of the lawmakers if not reporters on the beat? If it counts for anything, to finger one of the awardees, Senator Dino Melaye, might again confirm suspicions that perhaps the vocal and outspoken lawmaker is a marked target in a complex political vendetta, else, why did the publication not critise the award given to Senator Oluremi Tinubu? Could this possibly not be the highest form of hypocrisy and double standard on display? Before beating the drums to town about how proactive the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists was in attempting to stop the Senate Press Corps Awards 2017, I suggest that a check be done to obtain needed update on the union’s recent activity in Abuja. As we speak, the NUJ FCT council is in the middle of plans to give awards to some governors, and of course senators who were recipients of the SPC Awards, and for which our body was criticised. At least we now know why they desperately wanted the SPC awards botched, and which by the way turned out a huge success. Even more shocking is the fact that chairing the NUJ’s Press week, is the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, whose infamy against journalists is on record. It was the same El-Rufai who as minister sacked the NUJ from their secretariat at Area 11 and Zone 5 without alternative provisions, not leaving out the number of times he dragged journalists to court over published stories. He was also responsible for the imprisonment of Luka Binniyat of Vanguard newspaper for 96 days. And yet, some think the way to go is casting aspersions at the Senate Press Corps? If this isn’t hypocrisy in its raw form? Ezrel Tabiowo, Abuja

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

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In Brief

Parent, Student Hawkers to be Arrested

Henceforth,parentsorguardiansofanyuniform-wearingstudentfoundloitering orhawkingduringschoolhoursinBayelsawillbeapprehendedalongwiththeir children or wards.The new Commissioner in the Ministry of Education, Mr. JonathanObuebite,saidthatfrom9amto2pm,sucherrantstudentswouldbe penalisedalongsidetheirparents. Headdedthatprincipalsandheadmasters would also be answerable to the ministry of education if the new rule was flouted, stressing that an attendance book would now be mandatory in all publicprimaryandsecondaryschoolsinthestate. Obuebitealsoannounced thedecisionofthestategovernmenttoorganiseanEducationRoundTable “towardsthesustenanceoftheseriesofachievementsandsuccessesrecorded in the sector” He said the state would also utilise the opportunity to create collaborationsandpartnershipswithrelevantinstitutionswithinandoutside the country, including the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Nigeria(HBSAAN).

Crisis Looms in JUTH CMD over Sacks

WINNING LAURELS... L-R: Kingsley Inyang Dana Air Abuja Sales Executive, Oluremi Jibodu Dana Air Abuja Sales Manager, and the Managing Director of Nigerian Customer Service Awards Limited Dr Aliyu Ilias during the presentation of the 4th Best Customer Service Airline to Dana Air recently in Abuja

Special Courts to Try Over 6,000 Bayelsa Suspected Payroll Fraudsters Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

At least 6,280 suspected payroll fraudsters and employment racketeers in the civil service in Bayelsa are to face special courts currently being set up by the Bayelsa State Government, THISDAY has learnt. In addition, the government's prosecution team is said to be targeting those working with computer-generated certificates, beneficiaries of ‘indefensible’ astronomical promotions in violation of civil service rules and those receiving salaries from multiple agencies in the proposed action plan. Already, Governor Seriake Dickson, told members of the Committee on Public Service Reforms that he had alerted

the Commissioner of Police and had constituted a committee on prosecution on the ‘massive’ fraud in the state. Dickson said that those indicted would be given the opportunity to appear before the nine-man judicial commission led by Hon. Justice Doris Adokeme. "We have contacted the Commissioner of Police on the need for prosecution. I can assure you that no innocent person would be affected. That is why the Judicial Commission of Inquiry is there. Anybody who has a case, anybody who feels he is not fairly treated has the chance to go there. "The prosecution team is waiting and the courts are waiting to commence action soon," Dickson said. It was gathered that the com-

mission has discovered 3, 243 unauthorised employees in the Rural Development Authorities and 3,037 in the eight constitutionally recognised Local Government Areas of the state, making 6,280 so far. Dickson was said to be alarmed that many ghost workers were still in the civil service system, despite the fact that he had been able to cut down the wage bill from about N6 billion when he came in five years ago, to roughly N3.6 billion currently. Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said that full action on the committee's report would commence soon, adding that the prosecution of those who committed crimes against the state, was expected.

"I think that should be expected. If you go out of your way to commit acts against the law, you will face prosecution. "We are talking about a fraud perpetrated over the years that has made the state to lose billions of naira. So if the governor, who demonstrated the courage to take on this evil, is making moves to prosecute them, then it should not be a surprise," he said. Meanwhile, the governor yesterday inaugurated a whistleblower programme code-named "Operation Flush out Payroll Fraud." Dickson said the policy was designed to give the citizens the opportunity to communicate directly with him on security, fraud and related issues in the state.

Kogi CJ Frees 19 Awaiting Trial Inmates from Prisons Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja

No fewer than 19 inmates awaiting trial at Koton-Karfi and Okene Medium federal prisons have been released by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasidi Ajanah. The exercise was part of the effort of his office to decongest all the prisons in the state Ajanah gave the order of unconditional release to the inmates awaiting trial after reviewing their cases. Of the number, six were released from Okene facility while

the rest were from the Koton-Karfi prisons. At Koton-Karfi, it was discovered that there were 228 inmates consisting of 173 awaiting trial, 51 convicts and four life sentences out of which 13 were set free. Those granted unconditional release were Mohammed Hassan, Yahaya Musa, Yusuf Sanni, Ibrahim Haliru, Mohammed Sani, Abdul Mudi, Nuhu Usman, Alhaji Shanga, Nura Suleiman, Gabriel Atoge and Hawal Tijani. Bala Ibrahim was granted bail for N10,000 with a surety resident in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

Ajanah said the number of awaiting trial far exceeded the number those convicted. He commended both the personnel of the Nigeria Prisons and the magistrate in the Koton Karfe/Lokoja jurisdiction for a job well done The chief judge said 160 awaiting trials not released or granted bail were facing serious offences and due to the security situation. The chief judge directed the magistrate court to dispense accelerated judgement to Nicholas Ojochegbe, who is a final year student of the Kogi state University, Ayingba

department of mathematics. In Okene Medium Prison, six inmates awaiting trial were released. The facility has 126 inmates and out that 41 were convicted the court, while 82 are awaiting trial. He noted that he was not happy with the Police prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice the way they handled cases. He charged them to be proactive and not to be delaying cases. The Chief Judge, Justice Nasiru Ajanah is expected to visit Idah, Ankpa and Kabba Prisons for the continuation of Prisons tour in the state.

World Bank Tackles Nnewi Erosion with N6.9bn The World Bank has approved N6.9 billion for the control of erosion sites at Nnewi Ichi, Nnewi Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State. The World Bank intervention would be in partnership with Anambra Government to ensure speedy and effective delivery in line with specification. Gov. Willie Obiano who said this at Anaedo Square, Nnewi noted that

it was regrettable that erosion had become a threat to lives of the people, as many had relocated from their ancestral homes. “My administration paid N1 billion as counterpart contribution to avoid delay. I am currently working on 37 roads in the LGAs, some of which have been completed. “The communities in Nnewi North and South will from this weekend enjoy 16 hours power supply daily

because of the expansion of the Obosi injection power substation embarked on by my administration. “This is in addition to commencement of work at erosion sites immediately after the rain, to give the people reasons to live," Obiano said. He however called on the people to continue supporting his second term bid to enable him to consolidate on the existing works he had started. A former Nigerian Ambassador

to Spain, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu commended the people for massive support to APGA as a commitment handed to them by late Dim Chukwuemeka. Also speaking, the former Governor of Anambra State, Dame Virgy Etiaba said that Anambra was presently taking the lead in many positive areas because of the vision of Obiano and Ndi Nnewi were strongly behind him.

Plateau State government on Friday reported two cases of hemorrhagic feveralsocalledyellowfeverinthestate.CommissionerofHealthinthestate Dr. Kuden Kamshak Deyin disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Jos yesterday. He said on the 3rd of October 2017, there were two suspected casesofHemorrhagicfeveratBinghamUniversityTeachingHospital(BhUTH) Jos.“Ofthesetwocases,oneprovedpositivetobothYellowfeverandLassa fever after laboratory tests, while the other tested positive to only Yellow fever;thechildrenarefromthesamefamilyinTudunWadawardofJosNorth localgovernmentarea.They’vebothbeentreatedanddischargedfromthe hospital. Yellow fever is caused by Flavi virus, and it is transmitted through thebiteofaninfectedmosquitocalledAedesagypti.

Fresh Yellow, Lassa Fever in Plateau

287 Illegal Medicine Stores Sealed

Nofewerthan287illegalmedicinestoresoperatinginKogiStatehavebeen sealedbythePharmacistsCouncilofNigeria(PCN).Thepharmaceuticaland patentmedicinestoresweresealedupforvariousprofessionalinfractions. ThiswasdisclosedonFridayduringapressconferenceinLokojabyDeputy DirectorofEnforcement,PharmacistStephenEsumobiwhonotedthatthe councilwaschargedwiththeresponsibilityofensuringrationaldistributionand dispensingofmedicineacrossthecountry,averredthatmanypharmaceutical premisesinKogiStatecommencedoperationswithoutfulfillingtheminimum requirementsforoperation.Hefurtherlamentedthatwhileothersfailedto renewtheiroperationallicenses,manypatentmedicinestoreownersdidnot havetherequisiteknowledgetohandletheproductsintheirshops.

NACCIMA President Lecture

ThePresidentofNigerianAssociationofChambersofCommerce,Industry, MinesandAgriculture,NACCIMA,Mrs.AlabaLawsonistodeliveralectureat theUS-NigeriaAgribusiness(Non-Oil)InvestmentSummitandExpoinUnited States of America. She is to present papers alongside with former United StatesofAmerica(USA),ambassadortoNigeria,Dr.RobinSandersThiswas madeknowninastatementissuedbyDirector,MarketingandCommunication oftheUS-NigeriaTradeCouncil,SennamiGoziem whoexplainedthatthe summitwasdedicatedtostrengtheningandenrichingthevehicleofinvestment andtradebetweenthetwocountries.Thereleaseaddedthatthesummitwas scheduledtoholdbetweenNovember16-18attheprestigiousHiltonAtlanta AirportHotel,AtlantaGeorgia,United StatesofAmerica.

Baha’I Faith Celebrate 200Years

One of the youngest world major religions, the Baha’I Faith is celebrating its 200yearsanniversary.Describedasanindependentreligionandfoundedby Baha’u’llahinIraninthe19thcentury,thereligiousorganisationsaiditsmission washingedonteachingofitsfounderwhowasbornin 1817 inTehran,Iran. AccordingtoastatementissuedinLagosbyitsPublicRelationsOfficer(PRO), Mr.McDonaldAzuju,Baha’u’llahdevotedhimselftotheupliftmentandeducation ofthepeople.“Heproclaimedtheonenessoftheworldofhumanityandtaught that all were created and nourished by the one loving and merciful God.The kings of the East and the priesthood of Persia arose against Baha’u’llah for they did not find their personal interest advanced by his teachings. He was persecuted,mocked,andputinchains.Hispropertiesandpossessionswere taken away. First, he was banished from Persia to Bagdad, Constatinople, Adrianople,andfinallytotheprisonfortressofAkka.

Waziri of Sokoto Junaidu Dies at 85

The 12th Waziri of Sokoto and a senior counsellor in the Sultanate Council, AlhajiUsmanJunaiduisdead.He diedonFridayattheageof85afterabrief illness.Astatementissuedtonewsmenfromthedeceasedfamilysaidlate Junaidu died in the early hours of Friday. He was survived by two wives, 12 childrenandmanygrandchildren.AmongthechildrenwereProf.Abdulkadir Junaidu,Director, UniversityDevelopmentofUsmanuDanfodioUniversity Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Junaidu and Junaidu Junaidu Directors at Sokoto Media Corporation and Ministry of Finance respectively. Late Junaidu attendedAl'azharUniversityCairo,EgyptandservedasPrincipalofMahmud GumiMemorialCollegeandDirectorinthestateministryofeducation.The funeral rites was attended by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, Emir of Gwandu,MuhammaduBashar,BusinessMogul,AlhajiUmarunKaboandAll Progressive Party (APC) Chieftain, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir among others. Meanwhile, thousands of mourners have continued to troop to the Sultan Palace forcondolence.

OCTOBER 21, 2͸͹Ϳ ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

RingTrue ing

Yemi

Adebowale

07013940521 yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

Cabal Tightens the Noose on Ibe Kachikwu

he Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, is truly under pressure. This junior minister has spent the last nine days recanting after raising the alarm about the $25 billion contract awarded by Maikanti Baru’s NNPC in controversial circumstances. Suddenly, this fraidy-cat is now telling Nigerians that his war against Baru is not about corruption in the NNPC but about non-adherence to due process and governance issues. Haba Kachikwu! Are you not aware that awarding contract without following due process is corruption? Failure by the NNPC to abide by corporate governance tenets is also corruption. The cabal running Nigeria has obviously been mounting pressure on Kachikwu to recant. Clearly, he can no longer handle the pressure. I guess he is also scared of being sacked. This is why this junior minister and Chairman of NNPC Board, has of recent, been speaking from both sides of his mouth. The cabal is still not impressed. For them, Kachikwu has done an irreparable damage to the already

Kachikwu

tattered image of the Buhari administration by unmasking the irregularities in the contracts awarded by the NNPC. I won’t be surprised if Kachikwu is sacked any

moment from now. Our dear Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo is also under pressure to clear the expensive mess created by groping Kachikwu. Osinbajo has suddenly commenced hangdog and thoughtless activities to defend Baru’s reckless and reprehensible actions. I am shocked that he wants to help cover up this monumental infraction instead of raising the alarm about the imperviousness and weak governance structures in our oil and gas sector. Osinbajo seems unperturbed by the weighty breach of procurement law by Baru. Our dear vice president now wants Nigerians to believe that NNPC did not award $25billion contracts. He is now trying to delude Nigerians to believe that approval to obtain a loan from a financial institution is not a contract. What a country. A statement issued by fumbling Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s senior media assistant on Monday explained that “claims on social and traditional media that $25 billion worth of oil contracts were awarded by the NNPC were false.” How come Kachikwu’s petition

What Happened to Ibrahim Lamordeí s Arrest Warrant? Ibrahim Lamorde, the immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission declared wanted by the Senate last year, is back in the country and frolicking too. Lamorde ran abroad to avoid appearing before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to respond to frightening allegations of corruption against him. I am surprised that nobody is talking about the case against him again. A confi fident Lamorde recently organised a wedding for his daughter in Abuja, with top Nigerians in attendance. Faces at the wedding party revealed that a large number of active politicians during Lamorde’s phony anticorruption war years are indeed his friends. Many of them were on ground to clink glasses with the former anti-corruption agency boss. The list included former governor of Kogi State, Ibrahim Idris; former deputy President of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu; Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State; former Speaker of the House of Representa Representatives, Ghali Na’aba; Senator Andy Ubah and Senator Godswill Akpabio. Well, it seems the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions is still unaware that Lamorde is back in the country. Perhaps, the pictures from the wedding will wake the committee from its slumber.

Last year, it issued the warrant of arrest on Lamorde for refusing to appear before it. The 11-man committee investigated allegations of financial crimes and corruption brought against the former EFCC boss by Dr. George Uboh, a human rights activist. Chairman of the investigative Committee, Samuel Anyanwu admitted that the petition against Lamorde was weighty. Senator Anyanwu reeled out Uboh’s allegations against Lamorde to include: That EFCC operates accounts in banks to warehouse recovered funds which do not reflect in EFCC’s audited account; that the EFCC doctors and manipulates bank accounts to conceal diversion of funds; that the EFCC releases recovered funds to unidentified ed persons and EFCC of officials; that EFCC moves fund from its recovery accounts to EFCC operations account from where it diverts same; that over 95 per cent of EFCC recoveries in foreign currencies, other than those from multi-national companies, had been diverted; that EFCC trades with recovered funds through bank deposits and placements; that EFCC colludes with real estate companies in order to grossly under value seized assets before they are sold to their cronies; that EFCC has not accounted for offshore recoveries and that over half of the assets seized from suspects were not reflected

Remarks by World Bank Group’s President, Jim Yong Kim, that President Buhari specifically requested the bank to shift its focus to northern Nigeria has unfortunately diverted attention from more pertinent issues raised about Nigeria’s development challenges by Kim. The World Bank President, who spoke during a press conference at the 2017 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C., raised the alarm that failure by successive government in Nigeria to invest in human capital was largely responsible for its current membership of the inglorious club of underdeveloped countries. Kim also challenged the Nigerian government to encourage small and medium enterprise in order to jig the economy. This is the wakeup call lost to the political issue of “focusing on the North.” Kim remarked: “The conversation we need to have with Nigeria, I think, is in many ways, related to the theme that I brought to the table just this past week, which is to investment in human capital. The percentage of GDP that Nigeria spends on healthcare is less than one per cent. Nigeria has to think ahead by investing in its people; investing in the things that will allow Nigeria to be a thriving, rapidly growing economy in the future. This is what the country has to

focus on right now. It has to think about the sources of growth in the future in what will surely be a more digitalized economy. “And this is true for most of Africa. If you look at the numbers in terms of how successfully African countries had invested in their human beings versus other regions, there is a real issue. So, over this next year, not only in Nigeria but in all of Africa, we’re going to focus on accelerating investments in human capital i.e. investments in health, education, social protection, so that Africa can prepare itself for the next phase in economic development. “One of the real questions that we all have is our traditional notions of economic growth which are agriculture, to light industry to heavy industry. How many countries in Africa will actually experience that, and we need to really think about another kind of path to economic growth that’s very focused on a small to medium enterprise as an entrepreneurship as they have in other parts of the world. I think we still don’t know that. But the one thing we know is that better health outcomes, better education outcomes will be critical no matter what the global economy looks like. “We’re hoping that this project can show heads of state and finance ministers how long-term investments in their people can help

Lamorde

in EFCC exhibit records. These are indeed hefty allegations. Now that Lamorde is back in the country, he must account for his EFCC years. I hope the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions will take urgent steps to apprehend him.

suddenly became “claims on the social media? I guess Kachikwu’s petition was no longer legible to Akande and his boss. Series of steps are shamelessly being taken to cover up the NNPC mess. Unfortunately for this administration, many Nigerians have refused to be hoodwinked. Former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili, was apt when she remarked that Kachikwu’s allegations “are not one that a serious government glosses over, as this will deal a big blow on the anti-corruption war.” The ex-minister, therefore, asked Buhari to hasten the probe of the NNPC. Buhari seems unaware that the international community is no longer fooled by his skewed war against corruption. Our President and his legion of sycophants need to listen to Matthew Page, former United States intelligence expert on Nigeria, who remarked that “Buhari came with the promise to fight corruption and appoint incorruptible people into his government but that the anti-graft war “has been significant but selective”. Page, who was reacting to Baru’s scandal, said the honeymoon between Buhari and the international community had ended. The American said: “The honeymoon for Buhari with the international community is over; I’d argue it is over with many Nigerians as well. That honeymoon period lapsed for Obasanjo and believe it or not, there was quite a lot of honeymoon period for Jonathan in the international community that again ended at some point. “People are not ignorant or blind to things they see going on, despite excuses that are being made. Buhari’s approach when he came into government was to say the system was poorly led by corrupt people. But the problem is not a matter of leadership; the problem is that the system is flawed and needs reform. I am not saying revolutionary reforms that can happen at a breakneck speed but definite reforms and the NNPC is a fantastic example. “There are people in the ruling party, in government, sitting governors, there are plenty of people in the previous dispensation who reinvented themselves and are now in government and feel like by joining the government, the winning team, they have inoculated themselves against that type of scrutiny.” The submission of this American is food for thought for all Nigerians this morning.

All is Not Well in My Takeaway from Jim Yong Kimí s Remarks on Nigeria Gwoza Town grow economies and it can help create the political space for leaders to make these critical investments.” In the real sense of it, Kim did not tell us anything new. The World Bank President was simply trying to direct successive clueless Nigerian government to the path of development. The truth that must be told is that consecutive governments at all levels in Nigeria have failed to adequately invest in human capital, particularly health, education, infrastructure and social protection. Health and education institutions across the nation are in shambles. Public schools have now been abandoned to the extremely poor in our society. In fact, in some states, classes are conducted under trees. Even in supposedly rich states like Lagos, pupils in some public schools sit on bare floor. Our inner roads are also in a mess across the nation. We must learn from China that has been able to lift over 800 million out of poverty in the last 27 years, with massive investment in health, education, infrastructure and SMEs. As stated by Kim, most of the progress made in going from 40 per cent of the world living in extreme poverty to less than 10 per cent happened in China. These are the real issues Nigerians should be discussing.

Boko Haram’s attempt to take over Gwoza town in Borno State on October 10 is another clear example that the terrorists are still very much around and potent. They came in their hundreds and almost captured the town but for our gallant soldiers. The military needs to explain how a force they claimed had been degraded would stage such a daring attack with hundreds of fight ght-ers. Casualty figure is still a closely guided secret. Aid workers are no longer comfortable, and at a point last week, threatened to leave Gwoza. If the NGOs leave, there will be problem in terms of food, social and medical needs to the thousands of refugees struggling to pick up the pieces of their lives in Gwoza. The truth that must be told is that Gwoza is still surrounded by the terrorists and the town is largely unsafe. Refugees are living in fear in this ruined town. It is so dif diffi ficult to comprehend why the military is not taking proactive steps to end the siege on Gwoza. We must continue to put pressure on the military to do the needful in Gwoza and other towns and villages still being troubled by Boko Haram in Borno State. May Allah continue to protect our gallant soldiers.

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

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Dakingari Jailed 70 years for N1.6bn Fraud An Appeal Court in Kebbi, Kebbi State yesterday found the Accountant General of the state, Mohammed Dakingari guilty of N1.6 billion fraud and sentenced him to 70 years imprisonment for the offence. Dakingari and one other was earlier discharged and acquitted by the State High Court on charges of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC before the appellate court overruled the lower court and jailed him. He allegedly used his office as the Accountant-General, Kebbi State for personal enrichment to the tune of N1.6billion. Dakingari was charged alongside Musa Yusuf, Managing Director, Beal Construction Nigeria Limited; a company owned by him (Dakingari) and used in award various contracts to himself contrary to civil service regulation which forbids serving officers from owning businesses. Findings by the EFCC at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, showed that Mohammed Bashir Mohammed, Anwal Sadat and Nasir Mohammed, all sons of the Accountant-General, were directors of the company (Beal Construction), while two of his brothers, Abduallahi Mohammed and Habibu Mohammed were the other two directors. The construction company operates two accounts at EcoBank and Unity Bank with Dakingari and Yusuf as signatories to the accounts. However, Dakingari was discovered to operate with two signatures, one in his official capacity as Accountant-General of the state and the other as owner of Beal Construction Company Limited.

GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY... L-R: Vice Chancellor, UNIOSUN, Prof. Labo Popoola; Pro-Chancellor UNIOSUN, Mallam Yusuf Alli; Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Chancellor, UNIOSUN and Mrs Folorunso Alakija at the formal opening of the access road to the University of Osun... recently

Analysis of the accounts revealed a total credit of N1.3billion between May 2012 and September 2013, with most of the receipts coming from the Office of the Accountant-General and the Kebbi State Ministry of Finance. Some of the contracts executed for the state for which Beal

Construction Company received huge payments included the supply of furniture to 66 secondary schools in Kebbi State valued at N987million; the connection of water and drainage system at Kebbi Central Mosque valued at N110million and the building

and partitioning of Mohammed Maira Secondary School valued at N247million. Upon the conclusion of investigation, the EFCC filed a 20-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence and abuse of office against Dakingari and Yusuf. The trial court in its

determination of the case convicted and sentenced Yusuf to six months imprisonment while it discharged and acquitted Dakingari. Dissatisfied, the EFCC approached the Court of Appeal asking it to set aside the judgment of the lower court and convict

Dakingari as charged. The appellate court in its judgment, allowed the appeal by the EFCC, convicted and sentenced Dakingari to 70 years imprisonment each on 10 of the counts preferred against him by the anti-graft agency. The sentence is, however, to run concurrently.

Nwoye Kicks Off Campaign Ambode Seeks Partnership Osinbajo: Afe Babalola Teaching Hospital Will Stop Medical Tourism for Anambra Governorship for Hospitality Devt David-Chyddy Eleke inAwka

President Muhammadu Buhari represented by Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo yesterday led the flag-off of the campaigns of the All Progressives Congress(APC) governorship candidate, Dr. Tony Nwoye in Onitsha. Osinbajo told a huge crowd that gathered at the All Saints Cathedral field that President Buhari has so much love for the state and he enjoined the people of the state to ensure the party’s candidate, Nwoye who he described as the best was elected on November 18th. The vice president led a huge number of bigwig politicians from the party, including 12 governors, 10 senators, 17 ministers, five deputy governors, the national chairman of the party, Chief John OdigieOyegun and former governor

of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo during the rally. Osinbajo said, “Buhari loves Anambra State. This is one state that is dear to him. When he ran for president the first time, he chose one of your sons, Chuba Okadigbo as his running mate, when he ran the second time, he chose your son too; Edwin Umezuoke as his running mate. It is because of this love that the president himself went to negotiate for the second Niger Bridge, and that is why that bridge is in the budget today. “Anambra was among the first state to benefit from our home grown school feeding programme. We will not make any promise that we will not fulfill. If you make the right choice, you get the right result. That is why we are giving you Tony Nwoye,” Osinbajo said.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has invited the business community to partner with government in the tourism, hospitality, recreation, transportation and agrobased sectors to harness the abundant potentials across the State. The Governor stated this while speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the 2017 ‘Exemplary Leadership in Business’ awards ceremony organised by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10 in collaboration with Business Executives Forum (BEF) at the NTA station, Ahmadu Bello way, Victoria Island, Lagos. Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Fola Adeyemi, the Governor said that the doors of the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment (Lagos Global) were open to provide necessary support to

Tuface, Timaya, Flavour, Di'Ja, Others for Ikorodu Mega Music Tour Ikorodu, Lagos State, will today play host to the Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour, the 27-city flagship show of Globacom. The show which kicked off in Awka, Anambra State, on April 15, 2017, had berthed in 26 different cities and locations such as Aba, Calabar, Asaba, Benin, Victoria Island, Ajah, Ikeja, Benin, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ekpoma, Enugu, Kubwa, Abuja, Suleija, Makurdi, Lokoja, Ayingba, twice in

Port Harcourt and Ibadan, Akure, Abeokuta and Ijebu Ode. In a press statement issued on the Ikorodu edition of the popular show in Lagos, Globacom said that the event would be held at Ikorodu Musical Village at 4.00 p.m. According to the statement, artistes billed to perform at the show include the new hi-hop sensation, Axterix, Marvin records queen, Di'Ja, the nation's great vocalist, Kiss Daniel, the Nabania

crooner, Flavour, the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa, Timaya, and the Idoma-born music master, Tuface. The company added that in addition to the A-List artistes billed to perform at the concert, "the show would be anchored by Nollywood divas, Juliet Ibrahim Uche Jombo, while Nollywood legends, Patience Ozokwor, a.k.a. Mama G, Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK) and Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) would make guest celebrity appearances.

both existing and potential investors. While using the opportunity to appreciate the business community for the improvement in tax compliance, he urged them to continue on this path, saying the State government was relying more than ever before, on revenue generated from taxes to meet its obligations to the citizens. Commenting on the recession that earlier plagued the Country, Ambode affirmed that the challenge posed by the global economic recession was not confined to Nigeria, noting that in spite of the fact that the ripple effects were harsh on developing economies of the world, the State still managed to survive and grow her economy as well as explore new frontiers. He said, “Our administration was able to counteract the effects of the recession by implementing programmes and projects that reflated the economy.

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday inaugurated the 400-bed Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital(ABUTH), Ado Ekiti, saying it would help in stopping Nigerians from seeking medical treatments abroad. Osinbajo, who was represented at the occasion by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, said Nigerians spent multibillion naira on overseas medical trips annually, revealing that the hospital, which he described a masterpiece would fill the gap and enhance healthcare delivery system in the country. This was as the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose and former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission(NUC), Prof Peter Okebukola, solicited special fund-

ing from the federal government to drive private universities in the country for better efficiency . Okebukola, who delivered a lecture entitled: ‘The Place and Continued Relevance of Private Universities Globally’, stated that there was need for private universities to be given grant-in-aid and have unfettered access to Tertiary Education Trust Fund(TETFUND) . Osinbajo while performing the commissioning praised the founder, Chief Afe Babalola(SAN) for his vision and love for humanity, saying the step taken was a watershed in the history of the nation. “This hospital will go a long way in conserving funds being spent by Nigerians on medical trips abroad. With this, Nigerians can now be treated by Nigerians." he said.

A’ Ibom, C’River Houses of Assembly Set Up Committee on Boundary Crisis OkonBasseyinUyo Akwa Ibom and Cross River State Houses of Assembly have jointly set up a six-man ad-hoc committee to resolve the over 100 years boundary skirmishes between Itu local government area of Akwa Ibom State and Odukpani local government area of Cross River State. Both Houses of Assembly took the decision to set up the committee at a Joint Sitting held Thursday in Uyo,

Akwa Ibom State capital to mark the silver jubilee of the inception of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly At the plenary, a member representing Odukpani state constituency of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Mr. Bassey Akiba moved a motion for the need of a joint committee to be set up to look into the crisis, and the motion was seconded by Mr. Ime Okon, Ibiono Ibom state constituency of the Akwa Ibom State House of

Assembly. In his motion, Akiba posited that before the creation of Akwa Ibom in 1987 from Cross River, the two communities were living in peace and harmony as one. He decried the senseless killing of people and loss of properties worth billions of naira due to the boundary conflict between the people of Ikot Offiong in Cross River and Oku Iboku in Akwa Ibom.

Plus

LOUD WHISPERS pg. 20 SUPER SATURDAY pg. 22 AUTO pg. 26 GLOBAL SOCCER pg. 29 FAIRGROUND pg. 36 FASHION FILE pg. 41

Fela Durotoye

I Am Willing to Serve Nigeria If Power Brokers Are Transparent and Honest

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 21, 2017

PLUS

Nigeria’s Problem Is Rulership System Not Poor Leadership He is a household name in the country and abroad. Mention motivational talk and leadership training, and the name Adetokunbo Olufela Durotoye comes to mind. In his circles, he is simply known as Fela Durotoye or FD as his inner circle guys call him. Successful by all standards, Fela makes the job of helping businesses to overcome adversities look like reciting the ABC. He is the Chief Executive Oﬃcer of the Gemstone Group, a leadership development institution with a distinct mandate to raise a generation of leaders. In this interview with Samuel Ajayi, Fela talks about politics and life in general

o you think the country is suffering from poor leadership? The apparent failure in leadership of our country comes from a rulership system that has over the years produced rulers for us rather than leaders. I believe that leaders are role models of excellence and integrity whose lives are worthy of emulation. True leaders have the ability to create and deliver desired results, desired outcomes and the desired future for all. In other words, Leaders make people, places and things better while rulers make people, places and things worse over time. Rather than royal fathers, the system produced traditional rulers and afterward, colonial masters who never came to serve the people, and thereafter, military rulers who came as overlords to oppress the people. And from military rule, we’ve experienced political rulers in a democratic framework. As long as we do not replace the system of rulers, we

will continue to experience the so-called failure of leadership. The system is the problem. Does that send any negative message to the outside world? All across the world, Nigerians are doing great things and excelling in leadership positions. So the world cannot understand how a nation like Nigeria that is blessed with such brilliant, talented, hardworking and excellent people can have such quality of people in the positions of power. The world cannot understand why our brightest and best who have the privilege of education and exposure are not actively engaged in the service of their own people and most importantly, the world cannot understand how we have consistently filled our leadership positions with rulers. Let me give you an example. On the 5th of May 2010, the day that former President Umaru Yar’Adua died, it coincided with when the British elections were holding

and there was this contest between David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg as the leading contenders from the main political parties. I was watching Sky News and all their hosts and contributors were talking about who was going to be the next leader of Britain. All of a sudden, there was breaking news that the ‘ruler’ of Nigeria had died and that the then Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, would become the next ‘ruler’ of Nigeria. They look at us in Nigeria (and indeed all across Africa) and laugh at us because, election after election, our democratic process mostly seems to produce rulers instead of leaders. This is why the world has such a negative perception of us. I believe that the only way to eradicate corruption in governance is to ensure that our political parties have truly free and fair democratic processes where the candidates are chosen by the members of the party and not just a selected cabal of powerful party chieftain and their delegates. If I may take on that, if out of 10,000 delegates, 7,000 voted for a particular candidate, is that not the simple majority and democratic

enough? Though there might be allegations of monetary inducements do we call it monetary democracy? I call that monetary ‘selectocracy’, not democracy. In a democracy, all members of the party vote for their preferred aspirants and the will of the people is carried by their delegates to the party convention. That is why out of 96million eligible voters in 2015, only 68million people registered to vote, but only 28million people actually cast their votes. What the 40 million people who refused to vote were saying is that ‘I don’t want any of these candidates and would rather sit at home than fulfill my civic responsibility of choosing any candidate that I do not like.’ If I go with your analysis, about 40 million registered voters did not vote last time. As a leader and teacher of men, how do we galvanise these 40m Nigerians to get involved? If they get involved, the status quo will naturally change. The only way to get the 40 million people who refuse to vote in 2015 to be involved in the next elections is to present to them credible and inspiring candidates at all levels who must be elected by all

My dream is for my generation to actualise our potential and build Nigeria into the most desirable nation to live in by December 31, 2025. The dream has inspired and influenced every decision and action since 2004 when I was a management consultant and leadership coach helping companies achieve excellent service delivery and leadership culture. I then realised that no matter how well we build our businesses, if we don’t build a successful nation, those businesses cannot survive

OCTOBER 21, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

PLUS

Durotoye family

My Wife is the Only ‘Girl’ among Four ‘Boys’. So We Pamper Her Always members of their party and not just a few power brokers and delegates. In 2019, Nigerians must see a new class of people who truly are out to serve and have the heart to lead. We must offer these 40 million voters candidates who are inspiring and have the right values and the credibility; who do not make empty promise via manifesto alone but have shown over the years a love for their country. Show them that they have options between those who want to rule over them and those who want to lead them and you will see a change of heart on their part. Remember, their non-participation is a protest vote and mind you, they have been voting, only that they have been voting for nobody. When you see a credible candidate from a credible party, you will see that dormant voting bloc will come alive. You said something concerning that someone cannot pay so that he or she can serve you. Can you elaborate on this? In every sphere of our society, whoever pays is given the right to be served by the one who collects the money. We see this in the market, petrol station, and mall and so on, anytime you pay, you deserve the right to be served. Only in politics do we ever hear that a politician pays you to serve you and our experience has shown, that in reality, politicians pay for us to serve them throughout the tenure of their mandate. So I want to be very clear, anyone who offers you money to vote for them is paying you to serve them and have the right to rule over you throughout their tenure in office. As an individual, tell me what has inspired you to date? My dream is for my generation to actualise our potential and build Nigeria into the most desirable nation to live in by December 31, 2025. The dream

has inspired and influenced every decision and action since 2004 when I was a management consultant and leadership coach helping companies achieve excellent service delivery and leadership culture. I then realised that no matter how well we build our businesses, if we don’t build a successful nation, those businesses cannot survive. Therefore, in 2007, I transited from a pure management consulting firm into a social enterprise and we started to focus on solving social problems such as the deteriorating standard of our education, we embarked on social projects revive academic excellence in our schools and other educational centres where 75 volunteer teachers trained over 800 students in leadership, Mathematics, and English every day after school for free, among other things. Today, over 30,000 people are committed to infusing our core values into primary, secondary, tertiary institutions and corporate organisations. These values are: make a positive impact on everyone we meet and everywhere we go; be a solution provider and not a part of the problem to be solved; be a role model worthy of emulation; be our best in all we do particularly the things we are naturally good at; do the right thing at all times regardless of who is doing the wrong thing; value time and make the best use of it; care and show respect to all through our words and actions; consciously build a great legacy starting now, today and everyday; live a life of integrity and honour and the last one, make your family, your nation and your god proud. If the nation beckons you to serve it, will you be willing? For many years, people have asked me to lead by example in the service of our nation and my response has always been if I can encourage a critical mass of credible and competent

Nigerians to offer themselves for service across various tiers of government, why not? If it will galvalise over 40 million Nigerian voters to come out and vote; if it will inspire other professionals who have brilliant ideas to come up with policy that will fix our national problems and if we find a platform with credible, transparent and honest democratic culture, where all the members of the party get to elect their preferred candidates and not just by a few power brokers, then it will be an honour to serve my nation in whatever capacity that I can beyond that which I am currently doing. Tell us about your childhood? I was born to the family of late Professors Layiwola and Adeline Durotoye both popularly known as Bros Toks and Sissy Addy. They were both lecturers at the University of Ibadan. I was born in the city of Ibadan in 1971 and my parents moved to Ife in 1972. Therefore, all of my childhood memories were from the University of Ife Senior Staff Quarters in Ile-Ife. I remember my father as my best friend growing up and because he never treated me like a child, I also believed that I was his best friend. One particular memory that I would never forget was my 9th birthday when my father took me to the Dodan Barracks to have breakfast with the then Head of State. So you can imagine how devastating it must have been when my father died when I was just 11 years old. But I am grateful for the grace and strength that God gave my mother and for the love and support that I received from my uncles and aunties throughout my adolescent life. Who is your favourite author? Next, to the Bible, my current favorite author is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai, who has written two of the best leadership

books I have ever read, My Vision (Challenges in the Race for Excellence) and Flashes of Thought. Both books give you a background story of how the Dubai transformation took place. Growing up, like most boys, I read Enid Blyton series such as the Secret Seven and the Famous Five. As I became older, my literary taste evolved into the Pacesetters series and later on to more action books from fiction authors like Ian Fleming, Sidney Sheldon, Robert Ludlum and John Grisham. Who inspired you to be a leadership coach? I guess my inspiration to become a leadership coach was borne out of my natural instinct and desire to help other people succeed and actualise their dreams. All my life, I have always helped others to discover their purpose, passion, vision and goals and the strategy and plan to help them accomplish their goals. So it was natural for me to become a management consultant and a leadership coach. You have three boys. How does having no girl make you feel? As the saying goes, ‘You can never miss what you’ve never had.’ I am really grateful for the quality of the relationship I have with my sons; Mobolurin, Demilade, and Morolaoluwa. They are my best friends and I have always believed that by the time they get married, I would have three daughters added to my family. Since my daughters-in-law will carry my name forever, all I have to do is to be patient and wait for my three daughters to arrive when my sons get married. Having waited so long, you can understand when I say I will be the best father-in-law ever. My wife feels so special being the only girl in our home. All four of us pamper her so much and give her all our love.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2017 with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

LOUD WHISPERS

Umaru Kwairanga

Umaru Kwairanga of Gombe Umaru Kwairanga is my friend o and I hear he wants to become the next governor of Gombe, his state using the APC platform. You know you have achieved something in life when your contemporaries are beginning to aspire to actually achieve some of these things. This is what we in Shomolu call indirect achievement. It gives you one more story to tell at the beer parlour. Umaru and I have history from our early heady days as young stockbrokers under the tutelage of the very brilliant Dr. Chukwujama. Umaru although did not work in our firm was a client and he used to come in almost on a daily basis. At that time as poor young upstarts, we used to indulge in Agege bread and akara and Umaru used to work in and scream Edgar and I would scream Kwairangaaaaaaaa and we would hug and laugh and scream again. All these happened when Dr. Chukwujama was not in his office o. When he was around you would not dare breathe talk less of screaming. Doctor, as we used to call him, was very fond of Umaru. Each time he left, he would come to the outer office where we all sat in our little chairs shaking with fear and say in his American accent, ‘’ that Umaru chap is going places, he is brilliant’. We could not envy Umaru for he was very humble and likeable as each time he came to the office, he would come with roasted plantain and groundnut and that was why I particularly liked him. Today, Umaru is not only a board room titan but a budding governor of his state. I met up with him at his Intercontinental Hotel suite with my longsuffering partner, Lami, who was just staring with mouth wide open when he for the first time, witnessed our unusual greeting. Umaru was praying when we walked into the suite and immediately he finished, he jumped up in our usual way and screamed in the loudest voice possible, Edgar and I reciprocated. You know me na, while hopping like a monkey and hugged him. He is a great guy and I feel he will make a great governor of Gombe State. I am sure some of you will say it is the years of boli and groundnut that is making me endorse him like this but I tell you, I know him very well. He is a very honest, deeply religious and respectful person. Ask those who have shared board rooms with him and they too will tell you. His understanding of both economic and political issues are quite impressive, completely detribalised and a symbol of a new Nigeria; a Nigeria where we are all one striving for the socio-economic development of the country from one state to the other. He also represents a generational change and hope for the youth. Well, Umaru, I don talk my own and would continue to support your candidacy for I know you very well and I believe that you will be headlining a fresh wave of developmental ideas not only in Gombe but nationally. Umaru has inspired me, Governor Udom, make I try you? Akwa Ibom: The Land of Witches I write today with a heavy heart. I have just finished screening a documentary shot by a foreign TV station where the issue of child witches in Akwa Ibom was the subject. If you watch this video, you will be sad for my people. Ohhh Akwa Ibom, the land of afang soup and beautiful robust and curvy women is now a desolate den of primitive savages who have nothing to do daily but to label their own children witches and wizards and then immediately start to torture and even kill them. This documentary hit home with

Gov. Udom

Aisha Ahmad

Command Fela Lives: School Was HeAlumni a Fraud? My people, I tasted the venom of social media this week. I don’t know who or what even pushed me. You know once in a while I will be doing like a Nobel prize-winning academician trying to postulate theories and writing seminal articles and be posting on social media. That is how at the heat of Felabration, which is a celebration of the life of the musical genius and maverick, I attempted a very deep and incisive look at his legacy in an attempt to measure his contributions to society holistically. Feeling like a Harvard scholar, I began to posit that Fela had hoodwinked society with his claim of social activism being a smokescreen to cover and justify a limitless hedonistic lifestyle which damaged society especially the youth. I continued by saying that although through his music, he created a new and globally accepted genre; that for me, was no justification for his socially negative vices which corrupted our youths, pushed the boundaries of polygamy, poked a finger on other such delicate societal issues like torture in domestic settings, drug addiction, prostitution amongst others which characterised the Kalakuta Republic. I ended the treatise by saying that he had set out to challenge the system by campaigning against corruption, riling against poor governance and military dictatorship thereby giving a voice against the tyranny that was military government which was characterised by arbitrariness and a lack of respect for human rights, society still had to pay a heavy price socially with his endorsement and open practice of all these vices. I based my assertion on the fact that he was rejected in the polls with the flop at his attempt at party politics. Finally his denial of the dreaded AIDS which eventually led to his unfortunate demise also led to a reluctance of the

me because I have personally witnessed the practise even in my family. My father despite his exposure as a banker did not really believe his diabetes and high blood pressure was a lifestyle illness. He believed like most of our people would that his problem was ‘’Anefiok’’ Anefiok was his estranged stepbrother who was the source of all my father’s problems in life. Anefiok made me fail in school repeating Form 4 three times; Anefiok was the one that gave me cerebro spinal meningitis in my first year in secondary school at the Command School in Ipaja where conditions at that time were dismal. I remember my mother

general populace to accept a scourge that almost ravaged the population if not for the timely announcement by his elder brother, Professor Olikoye Ransome Kuti of the cause of his death, his refusal to accept the diagnosis would have done systematic damage to government’s efforts at curbing the crippling disease. My people, as soon as I posted the article, come and see the avalanche of abuses that befell your brother o. The insults came in torrents and the editor of the website had to call me to see if I could do another article as a damage control. I told him I was in hiding that fear no let me go near my laptop. Come and see the names they called me o, even my wife who has never seen ‘’ígbo’’ in her life joined o. These people did not connect with the fact that I hailed the man o, na the other side, they all connected with. Kai, if you have faced trolls on social media, you will understand what I am talking about. Threats, abuses of all sorts were thrown my way. The thing got to me o especially the ones who called me ‘short and ugly’’. One person even wished leprosy on me. All this for an attempt at trying to look at the other side? Well, I have retired as a researcher o. My people let me state here categorically that Fela was great in everything. He was God’s gift to Nigeria and if he were alive, I would have gone to his shrine with a live chicken, cut off its head like the Abami eda used to do and drink its blood in trembling apology. Kai, the abuse was too much o. I am still shaking. Please I am off social media till next year. I no do again. ‘’ ’ as they say in Warri. Meanwhile you can kindly go to www. ripplesnigeria.com and read the article for yourself and see if I even abuse the Abami Eda. I was hailing him o, see as him people come scatter me. See life.

who was then a soldier with the Nigerian Army dragging the hapless Anefiok to the Military Hospital in Ikoyi where I was hospitalised and asking him to make sure I recovered or he would be skinned alive. My people, it is safe to say that every Akwa Ibom family has a witch and that is why we are all afraid to go back home. The way the churches full the area na so witches full the place. But you, see if we limit our quest to destroy all witches both those who can fly and the ones who cannot fly to adults, I would not be writing this article, but the search has come down to little children. Come and see the carnage unleashed on

Professor Ayade

these children simply because an adult has labelled them witches. Are we going to wake up Mary Slessor again to come and save these children? I am today ashamed of my people even as I bow in tears as I watch this shame of a people on screen. Shame on you Akwa Ibom people and may shame continue to be your lot until this barbaric acts cease to be our lot. Aisha Ahmad – You Have My Vote I have really tried to ignore this issue since her appointment was announced. But this morning as I have no other story to write to complete the six stories I owe my editor, my very strict editor, I say make I use this one complete the story abeg. You see, I have realised that those opposed to this very brilliant appointment can be divided into two: the faux anticorruption agitators who quickly point to her automatic promotion on the eve of her appointment and also her pedigree as a business development person not being a core ‘’banker’’ whatever that means as reasons for their opposition. The second one are the religious zealots who see her mode of dressing not being a symbol of the pious Muslim woman. Well, for me, she has all the requirements of not being only the deputy governor but the substantive governor and if need be sef the Minister of Finance. Did you see the woman’s looks? Kai, she is beautiful o. Her skin is something else. I have been studying her pictures and I am yet to see any flaw in her looks. She is very beautiful and I would really be upset if she dares to cover her head. What purpose would that achieve? Would it stabilise the exchange rate or bring down the inflationary rate to the single digit Jonathan kept it? Please, Madam, you have my support and I am sure you will be a success in this your new appointment. Please, are you on Instagram so that I can be following you? If not, kindly send me your WhatsApp number, the idea is that I need your pictures on a daily basis. Abeg, we are not a serious people, we have asked for a generational change, more positions for women and now Buhari has given us the best candidate, go and see her eyes abeg. They are almond-shaped and she is tall. Yet we are screaming. You can never win with Nigerians and that is why Femi Adeshina, the presidential spokesman, once said that he wouldn’t respond to wailers. Me too. Professor Ayade and the Bakassi Play I am hoping to make history by having for the very first time a sitting executive governor come on stage to perform. Someone has already put our former great President OBJ in a skit, but this would be an hour stage extravaganza that already has Senator Ita-Gwa playing a major role. So my plan is to have the good Prof play the role of ‘’abasi ette’’ who will be guiding the young Ita-Giwa through her travails in life as she meanders through hardship, seeking love and her eventual triumph. Now my problem is the fact that I would not be able to pay the governor his fees as I would be hoping he would be doing this as his further contribution to the arts and also the selling of the Efik culture to the rest of the world. Remember that not all of us can afford to make the annual pilgrimage to the carnival which is world acclaimed. So, next week, I will pack my bags and head for Calabar with a bag of salt, kolanut and bottles of Schnapps to go beg for his involvement. Fingers crossed. I hear he is a great guy and should not give me a problem. So make we dey see.

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

SPY GLASS

ABU ALI JIBIA

ABU ALI JIBIA’S COMPUNCTION

In his halcyon days as a top player in the nation’s oil and gas sector, Abu Jibia commanded a lot of respect. While he was envied by many in the industry, others who saw him as god-sent in their lives, loved him beyond description. He had so many things at his beck and call. But for some inexplicable reason, he literally poked the law in the eyes in 2013. That was when he, in connivance with his cohorts, allegedly stored and distributed two barges and two petrol tankers filled with adulterated diesel. As a result of this shameful deed, his vessel, MT Swordfish, which was said to be worth several millions of dollars, was seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Jibia was subsequently arraigned by the anti-graft agency before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, unlawful dealing in Automated Gas Oil, AGO and unlawful distribution of adulterated petroleum products, among others. At the onset of the trial, he had wrongfully thought that he could escape justice owing to his influence in the society. Indeed, he was said to have boasted that he was untouchable. But four years after, the Delta State-born businessman is now ruing the day he ventured into the illicit business. Today, he is said to be seriously broke, no thanks to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Spy Glass gathered that Ali has been abandoned by those who used to sing his praise. Worse still, the so-called godfathers who had reportedly assured him that he would be left off the hook are nowhere to be found, as they themselves have all run for cover since Buhari took over the reins of power in 2015.

ADAMA INDIMI’S ACHILLES’ HEEL

Without a doubt, Adama, one of the daughters of billionaire businessman and Chairman of Oriental Petroleum Oil, Mohammed Indimi, is strikingly beautiful. She is one of the few ladies whose beauty would make any full-blooded man drool. So many features, including her curvature, come-hither-looks, and infectious smile can make any man weak at his knees. No one sees her without taking a pause to appreciate her God-given endowment. Besides, she has a good sense of fashion. However, what Adama, a graduate of the Lynn University, Florida, US, gains in

ADAMA INDIMI

with .... 08054680651 physical attributes, she allegedl five y lack in character. This, it was gathered, is the only reason she is not hooked to date. Interestingly, Adama, who runs a travel agency, Kauna Solutions, is not in short supply of men who want her as a partner. But most of the dashing and successful men whose paths had crossed hers had reportedly parted ways with her on account of her alleged haughtiness. It will be recalled that her wedding introduction with a son of a Niger State top politician was reportedly cancelled at the last minute when the young man could no longer cope with her. Though she was distraught over the development, she soon came over it and moved on. When the beautiful model was jilted last year by sensational singer, D’ Banj, many had attributed the break-up to her “bad attitude”, which made the Koko Master to seek love in another woman , Didi Kilgrow. Before then, the duo were an item. In fact, it was revealed that both families were aware of their affair, as Indimi was always visiting D’banj’s mother in Lagos, while he was also a regular guest at her family’s house in Abuja.

EX-LAGOS DEP GOV, FEMI PEDRO’S BURDENS

For many years, he has quietly been minding his business, so to say, as a banker and economist. He had a meteoric rise in his banking career. As the then Managing Director of First Atlantic Bank, now defunct, dark and handsome Femi Pedro was the toast of many in the private and public sectors. Suddenly, his name began to reverberate across the political circle in Lagos State, courtesy of the then Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. By fate or design, he later became the deputy governor of the state. The romance between him and his former boss had set tongues wagging in some quarters. However, Lagosians were alarmed to the news of a crack in the much-envied relationship, a development that was received with mixed feelings. The former banker was alleged to have disagreed with his boss over his choice of a successor, as his administration was winding down. While Tinubu, now a national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was scheming for young but brilliant Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, who was then his Chief of Staff, Pedro was nursing a personal agenda. He had allegedly allowed his personal ambition to bring him in conflict with the powerful Tinubu. Many say he was under some illusion over the dummy sold to him by some sycophants or political hangers-on. And he paid dearly for it. Frustrated, he resigned his appointment and pitched his tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Critics maintained that he took the decision, believing that his bread would be buttered in the party. But sadly, the party machinery refused to grant him the much-expected ticket to contest the governorship. A few years after, with some introspection, he retraced his way back to the Asiwaju camp, following consultation with some party heavy weights who have the APC’s chieftain ears. This was shortly before the 2015 general elections. However, his political career has never been the same again. One can only wait

FEMI PEDRO

to see how he walks his way back to relevance in the political circle.

TOYIN KOLADE REMEMBERS LATE MUM

Top socialite, Toyin Kolade, on October 16, organised a befitting memorial service for her late mum, Madam Adejuyigbe, who passed on exactly a year ago at the age of 92. As they say ’sweet is the memory of the righteous. ‘ The late nonagenarian is described as a righteous and prayerful woman who dedicated her life to the worship of the Almighty God till she breathed her last. In life, the late Madam Adejuyigbe did her best to raise her children in the way of the Lord. Mercifully, the children today are a source of pride to the family. For instance, Kolade is a successful businesswoman and a socialite of note. She has her hands in many pies, including oil and gas, interior decor, real estate, maritime and hospitality, among others. With so much confidence, hope and clear vision, Kolade, Managing Director, Fisolak Global Resources, Fisolak Royal Furniture and Arikay Oil and Gas, laid the foundation of her business empire some years back. A woman of means, Kolade commands deep respect from young and old, especially in the political, social and business circles. More important, she is also in tune with the modern trends in the fashion world. Call her a show-stopper and you will only be stating the obvious. Today, Iyalaje, as she is famously called, is an inspiration to several others. No doubt, it takes a woman of guts as Kolade to thrive in the ever-unpredictable business climate of Nigeria.

EFCC NOT AFTER OLU OKEOWO

Sir Olu Okeowo, Chairman of Gibraltar Property, has been around for some time doing what he knows how to do best. By all standards, his is a success story. With numerous estates and golf courses scattered around the world there is no gainsaying the fact that he is a big player in the property and real estate sector. The shrewd businessman is unarguably one of the best property merchants of his time. He is known for a number of imposing properties scattered around the globe . Very determined, the dark-skinned businessman has been globe-trotting lately to network with high-profile personalities, while making efforts to expand his business empire. He has hosted two African presidents privately in his palace in the last two months. While he continues to dazzle his competitors and delight his admirers, he works so hard and little wonder he also takes time to spoil himself with the good things of life. But just like any successful man, people would like to bring you down, some traducers have been peddling rumours about the businessman over his acquisitions. It was alleged that the

TOYIN KOLADE Economic and Financial Crimes Commision, EFCC, seized his numerous cars over some government contracts, but a source revealed that the story is nothing but a lie. The man does not do government contracts. It was gathered that this was the handiwork of his detractors that would want to bring him down. The doyen of philanthropy has been a renowned international property merchant for over three decades and has not secured a contract from any branch of government. ”How people can go to any length to destroy others baffles one. I don’t think the billionaire needs contracts from government or their agencies to live or survive. “That one builds the best of home and have in the garage the best of cars that money can afford, does not translate that such a person, who enjoys the best of life is a thief nor a government contractor,’’ a source said. Speaking further the source said, “A lie was also conjured by some undesirable elements that he owed a bank N5 billion loan, all these were just lies to bring the man down as he does not even have any overdraft services from any bank, let alone, a loan offer. But he stands unshaken like the rock of Gibraltar. So naysayers and haters please go to bed and sleep.’’ Over the last few years, Sir Olu Okeowo, has donated a lot to churches and hospitals and humanity in general. Weeks back, we stumbled on some philanthropic gestures by this humble and easy going businessman who plays big in global real estate and hospitality business. Though Okeowo, does not like to talk about his philanthropic activities or make a noise about it, it was gathered that Sir Olu Okeowo Physiotherapy Centre, inside Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, is about to be completed. The building is 100 per cent completed, Fittings are being fixed, and replicas are being designed. We discovered that the Centre is the largest private donation to LUTH to date. It is a multi-complex made up of lecture rooms, theatres for operations, equipment rooms and offices for medical doctors and nurses. As far as Okeowo is concerned, it’s all about philanthropy and giving. And he takes pleasure in doing that.

OLU OKEOWO

THISDAY, THE SAT A URDAY NEWSPA AT P PER ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2017 PA

SUPER SATURDAY

LEKE AKINROWO

My Journey from Chevron to Nollywood Calm, queer and fatalistic, occupation to him was viewed through the prism of a crispy soldier’ s uniform and smart looks - he wanted to be a soldier. This desire kept changing with increased contact with other professions. Historical fi gures such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolph Hitler captivated him. Hunger and inability to pay his bills made him abandon his love for the arts for a job at Chevron Nigeria Limited where he worked for 21 years before retiring to the chagrin of his wife. But when he left the theatre world in 1995, he never took his eyes oﬀ Nollywood. Leke Akinrowo tells Adedayo Adejobi about his early retirement and new life

s a child, what did you want to be in life? As a kid, fi first rst I wanted to be a soldier, I guess that was because my mum worked as a caterer at a military barracks and I fell for the crispy soldier look. After that, I wanted to be several other things including engineer, lawyer, and lecturer. By the time I was going to enter the university, at my fi first rst Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam attempt, I chose the University of Jos, mainly because one of my elder twin brothers was schooling there. While processing the admission, I travelled to Jos for the fi first rst time, and my brother took me to see a play at the open-air theatre where the UNIJOS Theatre Arts students were having a performance. I wasn’t admitted at UNIJOS that year, but after that experience, there was nothing else I wanted to study but Theatre Arts. That was how I ended up studying Dramatic Arts at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, where my other elder brother was schooling.

Akinrowo

tell you a story. When I joined Chevron, I was 28. I used to watch the older employees who were in their 40s and 50s then, keep vitamins and all manner of medication in their drawers, and they would pull out these medications and throw them into their mouths morning and afternoon with the tea rounds. And I used to think to myself if these people are so tired, why didn’t they just retire and go home in peace. Guess what, just like overnight, I found myself also keeping vitamins in my drawer, which I threw in my mouth morning or afternoon with the tea rounds. That was a serious awakening for me. But more important, when I left the the the-atre world in 1995, I never took my eyes off the goings-on there. I saw Nollywood start from its very early days when everyone scoffed at it until it grew to the point of attracting foreign interest and even respect. All through that period, I grew in other areas myself. Chevron is a global company with world-class systems and processes. While there, I learnt a thing or two about the concept of world class, and I can relate it to practically everything I see around me. Now, if I wait until my mandatory retire retire-Who or what shaped your outlook on life ment age of 60, I would have no more strength while growing up? to bring that ‘world class’ into anything. I’d be I’ll say my fi first rst world view was shaped by the exhausted and busted. So, that was why I left many tortoise stories I heard as a kid. Growing last year when I did. Recession or not. up, like so many similar homes in the 70s, we had many aunties, uncles, house helps, and so Did you make the adequate exit plan for on living with us, who came from our village the life of an entrepreneur before leaving with many of these stories. I always fancied the paid job and how are you settling into myself an ijapa (tortoise) outsmarting everyone the life of an entrepreneur? around. Then I started learning history in school I don’t think you can ever plan enough for and fell in love with the war aspects of history. retirement. In the end, you just have to take I loved historical figures such as Alexander the plunge or wait till you are pushed out. the Great, Hannibal, Joan of Arc, Napoleon Where I worked, if you decide to wait until age Bonaparte, Adolph Hitler, etc. When I started 60 before retirement, three months before the studying Dramatic Arts at Ife, I took interest in due date, you’ll receive a nice letter from HR the philosophical movements which developed saying sir, ma’am, here’s to let you know that in Europe in the aftermath of the two world you’re three months to your 60th birthday... wars. Some of those philosophical movements In fact, before receiving that HR letter, your were quirky, but I took them all in. Finally, when co-workers would have started reminding you I met Christ in my third year at the university, I like two years before the time in many ways. fell in love with King Solomon’s slant to life and Some will adopt you as their of offi fice fi ce daddy or godliness, and that’s how I arrived where I am mummy. It’s all jovial and nice, but you won’t today. ever forget that your time is almost up. But for the life of retirement or entrepreneurship, you’ll Having studied Dramatic Arts at the never be ready. I’m still learning stuff every University of Ife, why didn’t you work in day. I’ll give you an example. To prepare for my the art sector? entertainment business, I decided to learn from Well, I followed it for a while. Right after the best as much as I could afford. I attended youth service in October 1990, I joined Chuck several courses at the London Film School and Mike’s Collective Artists, fi first rst as an ad hoc staff, the New York Film Academy, to learn what the then later as a substantive staff. I was with Col Colfilm fi lm production business is at the highest level. lective Artists until the end of 1991, after which I learnt the bolt and spanner as well as some I joined some of the staff to pull out and form strategic stuff about fi film lm production. But, even Tempo Productions, led by Felix Okolo, where though I have a very good product in the shape we had a fairly good run for a while. But truth of a movie script, which people at the London is, as good as it was, we all still had to deal with Film School and the New York Film Academy the ever-present hunger. So, one after the other, attested to as a potential world class movie, we bailed out, until it was only Felix Okolo left I’m learning now that, as a producer, you’re holding the Tempo Productions touch. When I largely on your own in this industry. There are left, I found my way, fi first rst into an oil marketing a million and one brilliant movie ideas which firm, fi rm, Westin Oaks Petroleum sometime in have all died because there’s no one to fund 1993, then an engineering fi firm, rm, Oshea Projects them. That has driven some reality and sense Limited late 1994, and then back with Chuck into me. If I learnt anything while working with Mike’s Performance Studio Workshop between Chevron, using the company’s money, it was February and June 1995. It was at this time that I that everything was world class or nothing. met my wife, and one thing led to another until Now out in the business world on my own, it’s I found myself in Chevron Nigeria Limited, now world class, yes, but who’s paying for it? where I eventually worked for 21 years. Knowing women to be averse to risks, With 21 years’ work experience in especially when it comes to what is conChevron, why did you take the plunge to sidered as ‘job security’, how did your wife retire early at a time the economy is in a take your decision to resign? recession? Ah, I’m still trying to convince her that I took I always knew I would retire early, but let me the right decision to leave. I’m actually under

THISDAY, THE SAT A URDAY NEWSPA AT P PER ˾ CTOBER 21, 2017 PA

SATURDAY I LEFT THE ARTS BECAUSE OF HUNGER

To prepare for my entertainment business, I decided to learn from the best as much as I could afford. I attended several courses at the London Film School and the New York Film ilm Academy, to learn what the film production business is at the highest level. I learnt the bolt and spanner as well as some strategic stuff about film production. But, even though I have a very good product in the shape of a movie script, which people at the London Film School and the New York Film ilm Academy attested to as a potential world class movie, Ií m learning now that, as a producer, youí re largely on your own in this industry. There are a million and one brilliant movie ideas which have all died because thereí s no one to fund them veteran in respect of my fi first feature fi film. lm. It’s an action story with a lot of gun battle scenes and explosions. You’ll agree with me that we don’t have many high-quality action movies coming out of Nigeria. I mean, we don’t even have the infrastructure to achieve a credible fighting sequence. Sometimes, to make a battle scene credible, you may need body doubles for some of your actors. We don’t have any such thing here. You need fight choreographers. We don’t have them. When you need to carry out an explosion, you need fire firefighters on the scene in case something goes out of hands. All these things require expertise, which we don’t have. So, if you’re going to make a good quality action movie in Nigeria, you need the services of people who have the expertise. So, I’m working with people from Hol Hol-lywood in that regard.

Leke, wife and children some pressure right now trying to prove that the decision I took was the right one. With your early retirement from Chevron, has there been any form of rude awakening? Yes! I attended the recent Toronto International Film Festival, where I hoped to network and meet all the right people with the right money to write a cheque and ask me to go shoot my world-class movie. I got my rude awakening when I realised there were thousands of people from all over the world, I mean from America, Europe, Asia and everywhere else also hoping to meet the right people with the right money to write a cheque for their world-class projects. I had the chance to pitch my movie to a few people there and they all liked it. But no one said can we meet over lunch tomorrow to discuss your idea further? Vision is what’s keeping me going now. I believe I’d still make the movie at some point, but I’m learning to take things slowly. If you dropped everything to pursue your dreams, what would you be risking? In my own case, I dropped a secure source of income to pur pur-sue my love for the entertainment business. What I’m risking is the middle-class comforts which come with regular salaries and emoluments, ability to maintain my family’s standard of living, and meeting my commitments at home, church, in the extended family, and so on. Describe the next five years of your life and plans in a single sentence In the next fi five ve years, I will no longer be worried where to start looking for partnership in any of my projects, I will know where to go, and they will be happy to welcome me and my ideas. Do you consider yourself the hero or the villain in your story? I’ve once been described as being queer by a friend because I seem enamoured by characters like Saddam Hussein, Muam Muam-mar Gaddafi fi,, Mobutu Sese Seko, Adolf Hitler, Judas, etc. So, I like villainous characters, but in my own story, I think I’ll be the hero rather than the villain. Which are your favourite books? Even though I enjoyed history books while I was in school, I now prefer fi fiction. ction. There’s too much reality in the news. If I want to read, I love the escape that works of fi fiction ction offer me. You didn’t ask me, but the books I hate the most are management and motivational books. I’d rather be lashed on my bare back or go for a root canal surgery than read those books. What is your philosophy of life? I love the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. It’s my favourite book. I’ll quote from it: Ecclesiastes 1 vs. 1 says, ‘Vanity of vani vani-ties, all is vanity.” In v. 7 it says: “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.” And there’s no new thing under the sun.

If you have enough money without needing to work again, what will you spend your time doing? Reading fi fiction ction and watching TV. If today was the last day of your life, what will you do? I’ll put a call through to all the people I have on my contact list, and tell them to watch out for something important coming up tonight. What will you change about your life if you know you will never die? I’ll make all our current crop of political leaders to sleep off. I’ll sleep for 50 years, by the time I wake up, Lagos will be Dubai, Akure will be Abu Dhabi. If your entire life is a movie, what title will best fit? ‘Na So I See Am’, parts 1, 2 and 3. These basic attitudes form the underlying principles of my life.

How will you describe yourself? Easy, calm, keen, and easy.

Now that you are ready to pursue your dream, what is the single most remarkable thing that you are bringing to the table? Like I mentioned earlier, I hope to bring my concept of ‘world class’ to the entertainment products I produce. Whether it’s a movie, a song, a theatre production or an event, I hope to produce shows which in content and form, can rank with the best anywhere in the world. Maybe not in terms of ostentation or money spent, but certainly in the form and depth of the subject.

What are the chances you’ve passed up that you now regret? Truthfully, I don’t recall any right now. The reason is that I’m fatalistic in my attitude to life. So, if it happened, it’s meant to be, so I forget it as quickly as possible. When I pass up that chance, I usually end up seeing it as a blessing in disguise.

What’s your plan for the Nigerian entertainment industry? What I hope to bring to the table is the quality of form and subject. For example, most of our movies deal with mundane subjects like a man marries a woman, then runs into an old flame, and complications start, and it ends happily or tragically. What about all of our historical figures? Who is going to make movies about Awolowo, Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa? What of colourful characters such as Jesu Oyingbo, Moshood Olabisi Ajala, of the Ajala travel all over the world fame? What of people like Dan Maraya Jos, Ebenezer Obey, Osita Osadebe, Sunny Ade? Who is going to preserve these stories for the upcoming generations? And not just some shoddy nonsense, but proper movies like those we see on Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, etc.

What drives you to do something better? When I love and enjoy it, I give it all I’ve got. If I lose sleep or money, no worries, as long as I love and enjoy it. If I don’t love or enjoy it, even the promise of reward is not enough to make me do it to the best of my ability.

Any particular collaboration with industry stakeholders in and outside Nigeria? Yes, I’m currently working with a Nigerian Hollywood

What are you looking forward to? Success in this new phase of my career, and then retirement at age 60.

What makes you smile? My kids - just seeing how much they remind me of myself when I was their age, despite different circumstances of life.

What terrifies you the most? Truthfully, I don’t know. I’ve heard people say they’re terri terrifi fied fied of failure. I really don’t care that much about failure as long as it’s something truly beyond my power and ability. And death? Beyond the anthropological avoidance of danger and death, I don’t think I’m scared of death. I feel secure in Christ. Poverty? No, because I know both how to abound and I know how to be abased, according to Philippians 4 vs. 12. So, I really don’t know.

Iím a Fatalist, not Scared of Death

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ CTOBER 21, 2017

POLSCOPE

with Eddy Odivwri eddy.odivwri@thisdaylive.com 08053069356

Okorocha: Always on the Misfiring Range

lmost all the time when there is a national news trend from Imo State, it is bad and unedifying news. Its governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, does not seem to care a hoot about the public’s perception of his style of governance. That should explain why he keeps bumping from one controversy into another, and he keeps going. It is either those whose business it is to manage his image are professional nitwits or Okorocha himself is just an impossible principal. In no chronological order, once, the bad news from Imo State was that pensioners who were owed as many as 22 months of unpaid pension were compelled by the state government to sign away (forfeiture of) ten months leaving the state with the obligation to pay only 12 months. This was after the pensioners in the state had been subjected to five verification exercises. The distressed pensioners grudgingly assented to the plan just so they can eke out a living from their labours of yesteryears. But Okorocha was not done. He went further to demand that the pensioners should sign to accept only 40 per cent (of the 12 months) as the total pension due them as “full and final payment”. This attracted an uproar both from the pensioners, their union, Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). It was a heartless and thoughtless demand from a government. Not long ago, Imo State featured in the news again for the sad reason of the demolition of the Ekueku market, the oldest in Owerri town, in late August. A young lad was allegedly shot dead by the soldiers who carried out the demolition exercise, just as thousands of traders were thrown into hapless confusion over the demolition of the market, as they alleged that the alternative site provided by the state government was anything but ready. That the exercise has intensified the hardship of the people is to say the obvious. Not long ago also, it was the story about the 27-cake saga. It was the governor’s birthday and he had demanded each of the 27 Local Government Areas to present a cake to him. And they obeyed! Result was that there was a wide array of 27 cakes at the lavish birthday bash by a governor who is yet owing workers and pensioners their wages and entitlements. What was a governor going to do with 27 birthday cakes, if not on a plundering, wasteful vagrant mission, while the mumu state lawmakers look away in pusillanimous smiles? And as President Buhari asked them, how do governors sleep and revel knowing they are owing the poor workers? If the above was an example of vanity fair, the mounting of Billboards showing Okorocha in a handshake with former President

Okorocha

Barrack Obama (in 2015) was clearly a case of downright puerility. Okorocha was not the only state governor that accompanied President Buhari on that visit. But he returned and caused Billboards to be erected across the state, showing him shaking the hands of then-President Obama. If the likes of Okorocha were to see God, the picture of the encounter would replace the national emblem. Perhaps, the most ludicrous of them all is the recent unveiling, in Owerri, of the statue of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa who was in Imo State on a two-day working visit, principally to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Zuma Foundation and Okorocha Foundation, both private endeavours. But the MoU is being funded with the resources of state. The N520 million life-size bronze statue is, in a way, Okorocha using government funds to further his personal business. Isn’t that a variant of corruption? How does the state benefit from Okorocha Foundation? Spending that huge sum in eulogy of a controversial African leader, when civil servants, teachers and pensioners in Imo State are languishing in unpaid salaries bespeaks of a governor with poor sense of priority. Okorocha’s penchant for over-arched actions is legendary. Would the title of Ochiagha (warlord) given to Zuma (even when he fought no war whatsoever) and the naming of a street after him, not be enough mark of gratitude to a visiting president? Surely, the N520million statue can pay several teachers and pensioners in the state. But Okorocha knows little about Scale of Preference. Sad! Perhaps, the sharpest irony is that Zuma’s statue was unveiled on a day the South African Supreme Court ruled that he (Zuma) can face trial in the nearly 800 cases of fraud and money laundering hanging over his head over the arms deal of the 1990s. He was accused of taking kickbacks from the $5bilion purchase of fighter jets, arms and ammunition from five European countries. Zuma is one African leader with very poor internal and external reputations. His nation’s lawmakers have openly called him “a thief and a criminal”. His governance credentials are severally dirtied with corruption scandals and allegations. That is the man Okorocha, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, said to be fighting corruption; chose to honour in Nigerian soil. An honour Zuma could not even get in his native South Africa! Worse still, this is the same man who has presided over an anti-Nigeria South Africa with the reckless killing of Nigerians, many of whom are Okorocha’s kinsmen, in a rabid rave of xenophobic attacks across South Africa. Under the presidency of the late Nelson Mandela and that of Thabo Mbeki, South Africa was a safe place for Nigerians. But under Zuma, Nigerians are daily killed like chickens on South African streets by envious South Africans and even the South African police. Which South African has gone to jail because of the killing of a Nigerian? That is why the Zuma statue in Owerri is like a medal for murder. Was it not this same Zuma-led South Africa that seized the money meant for purchase of arms to fight Boko Haram, during former President Jonathan’s regime? How and why does a Zuma merit a statue in Imo State, whereas the father of modern Imo, Sam Mbakwe has none? Is Okorocha on the same page with Nigerians? This same Rochas Anayo Okorocha had twice wanted to be Nigeria’s president; in 2003 under the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and in 2007 under the defunct Action Alliance (AA). If he had his way, perhaps the Nunc Dimitis of Nigeria would have long been sung by the comity of nations. With his domestication policy of governance in Imo State, it is said that he is presently preparing his son-in-law, who is a member of his cabinet to succeed him. If that happens, the statue of Saddam Hussein would probably appear on Douglas House. Watch out for the next misfiring.

Canticles... Willie Obiano’s Broken Moral Bridge

n less than a month, the Anambra governorship election will take place. Who will you be supporting among the frontline contestants? How did you come about “frontline contestants”? Don’t they all have equal chance?

They are many in the race. But the serious ones are not many. Don’t forget some merely want to lengthen their CV as one of the“also–rans’. So I can tell you that it is going to be a straight and tight battle between the incumbent governor who is in APGA and his major challenger, Dr Nwoye of the PDP, who has been endorsed by the immediate-past governor of the state, Mr Peter Obi. Not many have given a passing chance to the APC. What about that bearded former FRSC chief, Mr Osita Chidoka, of United Progressive party (UPP) who recently is fond of dressing like a Kwazulu warlord? He is merely a part of the guber crowd. I don’t see him going far. But why is former Governor Obi not supporting the man he foisted on Anambra people? I am talking about the incumbent governor, Willie Obiano? Have you forgotten how Obi took him round everyone that matters in Anambra State seemingly standing surety for a continued good governance? I did not forget. Have you not heard the axiom that in politics there are neither permanent friends nor permanent foes? It all depends on which side one’s bread is better buttered. But what could have strained the once cordial relationship between a political father and his son? Don’t ask too many questions.That is the way of politics. It is possible that tomorrow the duo will become best of friends again and life goes on. I don’t see the two of them working together again, it looks like the bridge of reconciliation is irredeemably broken. If you notice the running bitterness in their campaign against each other you will know they have crossed the red line Just be patient.You will one day come to confirm what I said. Or didn’t you hear when Peter Obi said there is nothing personal in their quarrel? So what is this feud all about? Obi believes that Obiano broke the governance template he inherited. I am sure he (Obi) wanted to still be remote controlling the governor from outside Government House. But Obiano thinks he is man enough to take his own decisions without the tele-guiding of Obi. I think there is also the issue of money. I hear that Obi is angry that Obiano squandered the over Obiano N75 billion he left in the coffers of the state government. That Obiano is not as frugal as he was. That Obiano is living a profligate lifestyle, sleeping and camping in exotic hotels, going about with large retinue of needless aides, quaffing champagne, etc. Obi is angry that Obiano has operated like the prodigal boy: crushing everything within his reach and having no thoughts about tomorrow, just like the typical Nigerian politician. Awarding contracts at hugely exaggerated values. How can a man who inherited a rich treasury run the same state into a huge debt profile hitting over N60 billion in less than four years? But why does Obi think everybody will be as stingy as he was with government resources? It is not stinginess. It is efficient management of public resources. That is the point. Did you not also hear that Obiano said the quarrel between him and Obi is because the latter demanded the sum of N7 billion from him as the cost of the campaign for installing him as governor? Not many people believe that accusation. How can a man who left N25 billion in local investment, another N25 billion as cash in banks and then $156 million in the state coffers go back to ask for N7billion? If Obi wanted such money, he could have helped himself with it before leaving office. Don’t be too sure.You never can tell what these politicians can do. Look, let me tell you. Obiano is searching for excuses to explain his disloyalty to Obi. Did you not hear him on Channels Television last August when he said that Obi did not make him a governor? How ungrateful can one be? Can you imagine Obiano declaring that “I don’t believe in godfatherism and you can see how I played it out. I am a very straightforward no-nonsense, very focused, very visionary leader and I don’t need to climb the back of anybody. My performance this past three and a half years is stellar”. This was a man literally on the back of Obi who took him everywhere. I can tell you that he got elected on the account of Obi’s endorsement. Obi had assured ndi Anambra that Obiano will continue from where he stopped. But he soon abandoned all inherited projects from Obi including the Agulu lake Hotel, the Malls in Onitsha and Nnewi, while completing 35 roads in his Aguleri community to the detriment of other parts of the state. What kind of leader is that? And now he claims he does not believe in godfatherism. Can’t you see Obiano has broken his moral bridge and that is why he is struggling to get re-elected? To cross over to the other side will be an uphill task, It will be a lesson to others on how not to be ungrateful. He has bitten the finger that fed him. He was too soon made glad. It therefore means that Obi himself was not perceptive enough not to have truly known the character of the person he endorsed in 2014 and so how can ndi Anambra again trust his choice of Tony Nwoye as the new bride? By the way why did Obi not complete the Agulu lake project in his community before leaving office? Does he not know that charity should indeed begin from home? In any case, other Anambra gadflies like Alex Ekwueme and Cosmas Maduka have also endorsed Obiano for a second term. If you have been watching the way the campaigns have been going, you would realise that it would be easier to find a virgin in maternity ward than to get Obiano re-elected in Anambra State. Bet me!

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2017

EXPRESSION

MEDIAGAFFES BY

EBERE WABARA

Back to Basics

“T

HE figures from ARCON say Nigeria spends a whooping (whopping) N1trn on importation of rice, wheat, sugar and fish, annually.” (DAILY Sun Editorial, October 4) “You can achieve your potentials (potential)…” (South West News, October 4) ‘Potential’ is uncountable, but ‘potentiality’ is countable (potentialities). “Shake up (Shake-up) as army reshuffles Generals” “…in a warm handshake after making presentations at the ongoing 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, yesterday.” (BUSINESS Page Caption, October 11) Does the reader need to know whether the handshake was warm or cold? In any case, how did the sub-editor know the degree of handshake? This is like the work of a kindergartner! VOCABULARY: This is the foundational point—every other thing rests on it. What is the capacity of your vocabulary? Do you have a rich store of words? Is your pool of phrases and expressions deep? How is your mastery of communication principles? Can you read at least one book in a month? Can you write a clinical 1,000-word analysis or editorial on any given topic within 60 minutes? When and where can colleagues of yours bank on your professional capabilities and skills? The only way to measure your competency in information gathering, management and dissemination is to score at least 50 in each of the foregoing posers. Anything short of that margin is sub-standard and demands improvement. There are six categories of readers: (A): Those who read at least a book in a month;

(B): Those who read at least a book in three months; (C): Those who read at least a book in six months; (D): Those who read at least a book in nine months; (E): Those who read at least a book in a year; and (F): Those who do not read at all! Where do you belong? This is at the heart of vocabulary build-up. If you need to be a referential fellow in communication, you must read—it is not optional. Otherwise, you are confined to communicative artisanship! Writing is not mechanistic. It is architectural in nature: it must be planned, organized and systematically presented. You must have a mini-library at home and in the office indispensably containing at least a current dictionary, thesaurus, Bible/Quran (for spiritual regeneration), and a modern book of quotations. These are companionable materials. You must study (peruse)—not just read—them daily, morning and night. Meditate on them. Learn at least a new word (and its synonyms) or phrase or idiomatic expression each day. Familiarize yourself with each addition: as much as possible scarcely employ those you have internalized over time. Let your writings/speeches exude novelties and freshness (the difference should be that between crisp and worn-out notes). Write and speak with confidence—no man is infallible! Not even Shakespeare. Only God has exclusive infallibility. Listen to good speakers on radio and TV. Attend colloquia, conferences, symposia, seminars, workshops, short-term courses and any other cerebral meeting. Participation in these sessions adds immeasurable value to your overall scope and knowledge base. Do not wait for your employers to send you or depend on external intervention (sponsorship). No, invest in yourself, periodically, even if sacrificially! Finally, read voraciously. Be conversant with

ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948

general and professional developments locally and internationally. Network reasonably and leverage all its concomitants. Good writing skill is a function of self-development and commitment to cerebral matters. Nobody can do it for you. For inexplicable reasons, some expressions have become institutionalized in this part of the world and rabidly known as Nigerian English. This is unacceptable in any formal/standard writing. Somewhat, these informal collocations creep into the print and electronic media. In fact, it is so bad that at times purists begin to doubt themselves because of the ubiquity of these informal creations! Newspaper language is elevated, formal and standard. Any other entry outside this is colloquialism and should not be allowed in standard and respectable publications. The audiences of major print and electronic media comprise the elite in business, governance, politics and the academia. You cannot afford to be like the floundering, ragtag media outlets on the fringes and provincial government mouthpieces that thrive on junk and vainglorious yellow journalism. You must develop yourself in such way that you become critical of any written work, no matter the author or the apparent perfection. Once you attain this level, it becomes easier to spot blunders and improve on even wellwritten materials. To reach this height will require compliance with the foregoing and other germane issues that are not captured here which are available in any standard and pertinent textbook. We must be conversant with new media technologies and their usages: Google, Yahoo!, facebook, twitter, in, YouTube, Dictionary.com, Answers.com, other social network sites and multifarious online portals too numerous to be mentioned here. Conventional communica-

tion methodology is giving way to this latest technological onslaught. Your choice of words, their organization and your style determine your sentence and paragraphs and ultimately what are cumulatively known as syntax, lexis and structure in grammar. Once these foundational collaterals (parts of speech, word formation/usage, sentence construction, paragraph harmonization, spelling, punctuation and sequence) are faulty at any point in the lexical equity chain, communicative dysfunction sets in. So, instead of ‘big words,’ use simple ones. Clarity is critical to writing—don’t write to impress anyone with verbosity that ends up inevitable in cloudy thinking and meaningless output. Needless or worthless verbiage is antithetical to good writing. Always remember that simplicity is the soul of writing. Any of the above sub-heads is the greatest enemy of classical writing and fine prose that flourishes. They diminish the flow of reading and quality of literary work. Avoid them as much as you can—in fact, as the bible says, flee from them lest they lead you into poor craftsmanship and ruin you irredeemably! You will not be there with the various audiences to explain the inevitability of the blunder. Overall, cultivate tight writing—it forecloses errors. If you do not understand the foregoing basic principles, rules and grammar of the English language, you may not go far professionally in the business of public communication. Even if you circumstantially (or, as they say, accidentally!) do, the quality of your work will inevitably underscore people’s perception of you and your reputational reckoning—including, by extrapolation, that of your medium or whatever channel of information dissemination you use.

FEATURES

A Promise Kept As part of activities to improve the conditions of the less privileged in the society, the Good Shepherd Society, a pious group in ArchbishopVining Memorial Anglican Church, GRA Ikeja, recently completed the construction of a two-storey building which will serve as a centre for the deaf and dumb in Shomolu, Lagos, write Ugo Aliogo, Omotayo Ajayi and Augusta Akumka

he building was lacking in beauty and style. It was small and was in an ugly state. The air in the building was polluted with offensive smell. Its surrounding was littered with rubbish. Inside it was a group of people, who had hearing impairment . They were shabbily dressed and unkempt. But despite their conditions, they worshipped and praised God. They paid less attention to whatever was going on around them. They saw every moment as an opportunity to be thankful and joyous. In 2015, the late President of the Good Shepherd Society, a pious society in Archbishop Vining Memorial Anglican Church GRA Ikeja, Sir Ikechukwu Ezeonyido, visited this building located at No 106, Apata Street, Shomolu Local Government Area, Lagos State. He was shocked to see people living comfortable in a very deplorable condition. He was unhappy with what he saw. He felt eager to do something to transform the condition of the place. He knew quite well that the task before him was herculean in nature, therefore required concerted effort. When Ezeonyido returned, he discussed with members of the society on the need to change the living conditions of the people. The members keyed into the project having received the approval of the church, but the President died before the project started. Undaunted by his demise, the society began the project. They demolished the old structure to erect a two-storey building. The building which was recently completed is known as the Christian Mission for the Deaf Centre (CMDC). The building will house a worship centre, an apartment with rooms for resident pastors, seminar rooms, and other rooms where the young ones will be educated. Speaking at the dedication ceremony of

President of the Good Shepherd Society, Pharm, Gabriel Okolie,

The New Building of the Deaf and Dumb Centre

the centre recently, the Bishop of Lagos West Diocese Anglican Communion, Rev. James Odedeji, applauded the society for building such a centre for the deaf and dumb, adding that with this gesture they have fulfilled one of the core objectives why the society was formed. He noted that the chapel would be a place mainly for worship and not for societal use, stressing that the society has positioned itself to be a blessing to the people especially by ensuring that the physically challenged are treated the same way with other worshippers. “Whatever God has given to us is not meant only for our benefit, but also for the good of others. I want to assure every member that has

sowed into this project that God will reward them. I promise to assign pastors here to carry out baptism, Holy Communion, and other church activities. The Church loves you and will be interested in your welfare,” he noted. In his remarks, the President of the society, Gabriel Okolie, said the event plays an important role in the society’s mission of evangelising souls for Christ. He also noted that a lot of money has been invested in the project, while adding that the centre would serve basically for the spread of the gospel. Okolie added that despite the large sum of money invested into the project, the work was made easy with the support of members and the church, but added that they succeeded through from the help of God. He said, “The major pillar of Good Shepherd Society is evangelism. Through this process we aim to touch the lives of those who don’t know Christ or they may know Christ but have one need which when addressed they would feel

better. Our late president knew about this centre and felt there was a need to help them. We tried as a society to find what was most prominent for the people living in the centre and we realised that it was a worship centre. Then we moved to erect the building for them. “This centre is an interdenominational worship place. It is not under Archbishop Vining Memorial Anglican Church and the Anglican Communion. It is not about denomination now; it is about who needs help. There are other Anglican denomination centres that need help too. The focus is about the people not denomination. When the late president conceived the idea, we had not moved to site. When he died, the Vice-President, Mr. Ossie Nwankwo, took up the dream because he bought into idea. “We are committed to training a few of them who have one skill or the other. We have also realised that they would require money from time to time to organise trainings, skills acquisition programmes for themselves. We have also ensured that the ground floor becomes an event centre that would be rented out on a weekly basis in order to raise money for the skills acquisition programme. We have also provided seminar rooms where they would organise these training programmes. “At the inauguration ceremony what was important to me was the ability to impact the needy. Some of the major challenges we had were the constant disturbance of the Area Boys in the community when we were building. Also we didn’t have enough funds, and people were not fully on ground to supervise the pace of the work because their tight schedules. “We have the evangelism unit that goes out from time to time to reach out to those in the hospital, prisons and so on. We also have plans to consider those churches that their worship centers are not befitting in the direction and see what we can do.

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

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

Manoeuvre – Reversing into a Parking Bay

The new Range Rover Velar

Rover Velar’s Showcases Elegances, Technology Stories by Bennett Oghifo

legant simplicity, a visually reductive approach and pioneering consumer technology are the hallmarks of the new Range Rover Velar. Created from a clean sheet using Jaguar Land Rover’s Lightweight Aluminium Architecture, Velar uses the very latest advanced technologies to combine meticulous attention to precision in every detail with usability. Velar’s instantly iconic design has already featured as a headline attraction in art museums and exhibitions in the UK, graced fashion runways in Italy, and formed part of the Parisian skyline. It brings a new dimension of presence, modernity and minimalist designtotheRangeRoverfamily.Incredibletobehold and highly desirable, Velar is a new type of Range Rover for a new type of customer. Its clean lines, taut surfaces and a stunning silhouette are enabled by technologies such as super slim, full-LED headlights. These are the most-slender

headlights to appear on a production Land Rover vehicle, offering supreme night-time visibility in an attractive,compactdesign.LandRoveralsodeveloped new technology for Velar’s flush deployable handles, which emphasis its sculptured form and contribute to a low drag co-efficient.At only 0.32, this is the most aerodynamicallyefficientLandRovereverproduced. The use of design-enabling technology continues inside, where an unwavering belief in minimalism drives Velar’s elegant simplicity, sophistication and refinement. Switches have been kept to an absolute minimum to create a calm sanctuary for drivers and passengers. At the centre of this is Land Rover’s latest infotainment system: Touch Pro Duo. Known as ‘Blade’ by development engineers, because of its slender profile and clean surfaces, it makes the in-car technology experience clearer, quicker and more enjoyable – enhancing every journey. Its two 10-inch high-definition touchscreens precisely follow the subtle curvature of the instrument panel for seamless, perfectly flush surface integration. Conventional dials and buttons are eliminated,

creating extra space in the centre console. These slim, intuitive displays work in harmony with the cabin architecture while adding an overall sense of modernity congruent with the vehicle’s exterior design. For drivers, a 12.3-inch high-definition virtual instrument cluster delivers a rich, high-technology experience and allows prioritisation of key information: a two-dial layout with an information panel in the centre, a one-dial layout flanked by dual information displays, or a full-map view. InVelar,themaininterfacebetweenmanandmachine – the steering wheel – also uses the latest technologies for enhanced functionality. The steering wheel controls are backlit, and use capacitive technology to sense intuitive touch gestures. Drivers can also programme certain functions to the controls on the steering wheel. The New Range Rover Velar will be available at Land Rover dealers in October 2017. Pricing is available on request, in sub-Sahara Africa markets. Customers can build their own Velar using the Land Rover Configurator on the www.landrover.com.

Bus Owners Bemoan Huge Loss toTerminal Closure, Appeal to Ambode

nter-state bus owners and operators have appealed to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode to order the release of vehicles impounded last month by the agents of the Lagos State Government following the ban on the location of terminals on the popular Ikrorodu Road/ Jibowu corridor by transporters. At a crucial general meeting of a coalition of bus transport associations in Lagos recently, participants bemoaned the heavy toll the closure of private terminals in Jibowu, and subsequent seizure of more than 16 buses, have taken on their businesses. Consisting of Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria {ALBON}, Association of Mass Transit Operators of Nigeria {AMTO} and Association Benin Transport owners {ABTO}, the coalition at the meeting held at King Celia Hotels & Suite, Jibowu, lamented that many efforts made to get the authorities in Lagos to release the vehicles, had so far failed. The forum also chastised inter-state commercial transporters whose vehicles operate recklessly in Jibowu by admitting and discharging passengers in a manner that impedes the free flow of traffic, thereby giving their law-abiding colleagues a bad name. In a communiqué, the associations resolved to seek further dialogue during which the transporters said they would in addition to appealing for a reversal of the restriction order placed at all private bus stations, assure the government of their willingness to take measures that would engender sanity and unhindered vehicular movement in the area.

L-R: Chisco Transport Chairman, Dr. Chidi Anyaegbu; Transportation consultant, Dr. Tajudeen Bawa-Allah; and ALBON National President/the coalition steering committee Chairman, Prince Emeka Mamah, during the bus owners/operators associations’ meeting in Jibowu, Lagos… recently

Signed by theALBON President and coalition steering committee Chairman, Prince Chukwuemeka Mamah;AMTO Chairman, Chief Greg Inyaba; and Isaac Uhunmwagho, an engineer, for ABTO, the communiqué said: “Bus operators at Jibowu neither subscribe to, nor support member-companies loading their buses and discharging their passengers along the major highway. Therefore, we promise

to organise and maintain free-flow of traffic in our respective areas of operation.” It also read, “The business of the associations’ members are collapsing as they can no longer meet up their financial obligations to their banks as the loans they took from the financial institutions were based on projected daily revenue returns from the closed bus stations.”

This manoeuvring exercise involves reversing into a parking bay in a car park.As discussed in reverse or parallel parking, it is easier to manoeuvre your vehicle when reversing into a parking space. In car parks it is usually easier and safer to reverse into a parking bay than to drive forwards into a bay (see part A of the diagram). The benefits of reversing in, as opposed to driving in, include the fact that it is usually easier, and it’s much safer to drive out forwards rather than reverse out. There is also the added security benefit that in the unlikely event of being threatened by someone with malicious intent in a car park, driving out forwards will offer a quicker and safer exit. The reversing into a parking bay is an essential skill to learn if you want to be able to effectively park your vehicle within parking bays in marked car parks. Depending on the layout of the car park and available space you may employ one of two methods to park. You can choose to reverse from a 90 degree angle into the parking space (see parts B and D of diagram) or alternatively drive into a position where you can reverse into the bay from an ‘almost straight line’ or diagonally (see part C of diagram). There are easy steps to follow when carrying out this manoeuvre. Firstly, on approach to your starting position, drive past the parking bay on either right or left you intend to reverse into (see blue car in part B and green car in part D of the diagram), check that the parking bay is clear of obstructions and that it is wide enough for your vehicle. A badly parked vehicle in the next bay might make it difficult for you to park or open your vehicle door. Select reverse gear promptly when positioned for the manoeuvre so that drivers following can anticipate your move. Secondly, use the prepare, observe, and move (P.O.M.) routine to reverse and use clutch control to maintain a very slow speed. Carry out all round observation and be particularly mindful of pedestrians who might step out behind your vehicle. Be prepared to stop when pedestrians are around and continue only when it is safe. You should continually look over your right and left hand shoulders and behind whilst reversing. Thirdly, when you reach your point of turn (approximately when your wing (side) mirror is lined up halfway in the second or third bay from the bay you intend to reverse into), apply full lock to your right when reversing into a bay on your right (see diagram B) or apply full lock to the left if the bay is on your left (see diagram D). Keep your vehicle moving very slowly, and check out of your door window as your car swings out as you steer. Finally, when your car is parallel to the parking bay lines, straighten up by steering briskly to the left when reversing into a parking bay on your right (diagram B) or briskly to the right when reversing into a parking bay on your left (diagram D). If you misjudge the parking bay, pull forward and reverse back. You may open your door after parking to check you are within the bay lines. If not, then you should pull out forward and correct it maintaining good observation including looking out of the back window when reversing back in. Make sure that you are park centrally in the available bay, leaving yourself and the drivers and passengers of the vehicles on either side, sufficient room to open the doors and get in and out easily; doing this will also help to protect your paintwork if other drivers open their doors carelessly. When stopped, apply the parking or hand brake. In next week’s article we shall be discussing how to carry out an emergency stop. For further explanations or clarifications on the articles in the Essential Skills of Driving column, consult the author. Stephen K. Dieseruvwe

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

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

Toyota Expands Rav4 Safety, Other

The New Rolls-Royce Phantom

New Rolls-Royce Phantom Debut Stories by Bennett Oghifo

he New Rolls-Royce Phantom, the eighth generation of the legendary nameplate, this week made its China debut at the Beijing Time Museum, an exquisitely constructed courtyard close to the capital’s ancient landmark time reference point DrumTower. The automaker said in a statement that “The New Phantom has marvelled the world and redefined the pinnacle of luxury, receiving overwhelming positive from both patrons and the media worldwide.”

Leon Li, Director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars China, commented, “In the thick atmosphere of anticipation, the New Phantom finally arrives in China, bringing with it the world’s foremost luxury item to honour our distinguished Chinese patrons. With this new marque, we also want to reaffirm our full commitments to the Chinese market.” Rolls-Royce’s dedicated Architecture of Luxury The New Phantom is the first of a new generation of Rolls-Royces to benefit from the creation of the Architecture of Luxury. The Architecture of Luxury has been designed and engineered from the ground up in such a way as to be scalable to the size and weight requirements of future Rolls-Royce models, thus underpinning the long-term future

product roadmap. The new architecture is at the heart the Rolls-Royce experience. Accompanying the increased stiffness of the spaceframe is a best-in-class high-comfort chassis with air suspension and state-of-the-art chassis control systems, delivering a whole new level of comfort known as Rolls-Royce’s ‘Magic Carpet Ride’. The most silent motor car in the world Incalculable effort was expended to create ‘the most silent motor car in the world’ including coating 6mm two-layer glazing all around the car, the largest ever cast aluminium joints in a body-in-white for better sound insulation, and use of high absorption materials.

oyota has improved the value of key RAV4 models by thousands of dollars with the expansion across the range of in-demand safety and convenience features. Asuite of safety technologies1 Toyota says can reduce rear-end accidents, previously fitted exclusively to the top-grade Cruiser, is now standard on the GX all-rounder and sporty GXL. The RAV4 safety technologies1, which help prevent or mitigate a collision in different traffic situations, include a pre-collision system, autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure alert, active cruise control and automatic high beam. The GX also gains satellite navigation, Toyota Link connected mobility, digital radio, dusksensing headlights, fog lamps and a high-grade instrument cluster that incorporates a 4.2-inch multi-information display. All these features, including the advanced safety - previously available on automatic GX variants as an extra-cost option - are now standard on all GX (including manual) with revised pricing reflecting substantially enhanced value for buyers2. The price of the petrol all-wheel-drive (AWD) GX rises just $840 - representing a saving of $2,960 compared with the previous option price of $3,800. The improved value is $2,900 on petrol two-wheel-drive (2WD) GX and $1,450 on diesel AWD GX. Similar value gains of between $925 and $2,460 apply for the revised GXL with the safety features now standard. Prices have risen just $40 on petrol AWD, $100 on petrol 2WD and $1,575 on diesel AWD compared with the previous option price of $2,500. Front and rear parking sensors are newly standard on GX and GXL. Anew option for 2WD GXLincorporates a 10-way power-operated driver’s seat with two-position memory, heaters for the two front seats and upmarket leather accents throughout - all for $2,500.

Ford Motor Company, Coscharis Sponsor Next Titan

ord Motor Company, in collaboration with its local distributor, Coscharis Motors, has announced its participation as a supporting sponsor of the Next Titan, an entrepreneurial reality show. A brand-new Ford Ranger will be presented as a prize to the overall winner of the competition to start their new business or to support their existing business. “We are delighted to be part of the show once again. In 2016, Coscharis Motors sponsored the show for the first time and gave away a brand-new Ford Escape to the winner. The company is proud to support young talented Nigerians by improving mobility and enabling them to run their business more efficiently,” said Abiona Babarinde, General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Coscharis

Motors, in a statement, this week. The Next Titan is a global standard television platform and is designed to educate young Nigerians about entrepreneurship, encouraging them to consider this as a career goal and reduce the high rate of unemployment. Sixteen participants, between the ages of 21 and 39, will battle one another in various business tasks, such as strategy, sales, marketing, promotions and others, for ten weeks. During the competition, participants and viewers will get exposure to real life entrepreneurial challenges through informal training and learn from top business leaders. These learnings will be of great use to those who wish to start their own business or grow current businesses. The Next Titan premiered on 08 October 2017 and the winner will be announced on 10 December 2017.

Ford Ranger

WHY YOU MUST USE A CHILD RESTRAINT-CONCLUSION

s I conclude my focus on child restraint this week, I must remind you that in about six to seven weeks, the highways would get busier, while vehicular and human traffic would naturally increase.Meanwhile,children would of course be traveling with their parents and their safety which has been my focus for the past two weeks will form a major concern for safety practitioners as most parents who default in the use of seat belt for their safety also care less about how they carry their children in vehicles even while traveling long distance. For emphasis, I must emphasize again that the safest way to carry a child and to protect that child is to use a child seat that is suitable for their weight and size? This is because even in a minor crash, an unrestrained child would be thrown from the car through one of the windows while in a crash at just 30mph, an unrestrained child would be thrown forward with a force 30 to 60 times, their body weight. Such a child (children) wouldbethrownaboutinsidethevehicle,injuring themselves and quite seriously injuring (or even killing) other people inside the vehicle. They are also likely to be ejected from the car through one of the window. As a parent you should know also that it is not safe to hold a child on your lap because that child

SAFE DRIVING with

JONAS AGWU

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

could be crushed between your body and part of the car’s interior in the event of a crash; even if you were using a seat belt, the child would be torn from your arms, and that you would not be able to hold onto them, no matter how hard you try. Do you know that it is also dangerous to put a seatbelt around yourself and a child or around two children? Or to carry that child or children in the front passenger seat or on your tommy as most of us do especially during school runs or rush hours?Always remember that the safest way for children to travel in cars no matter the distance is in a child seat, that is suitable for their weight or size. An approximate child restraint is one, which conforms to the United Nations standard ece regulations 44-03. Child restraints are divided into categories, according to the weight of children for whom they are suitable. These correspond broadly to different age group, but it is the weight

of the child that is most important when deciding what type of child restraint to use. Some child restraints are capable of being converted as the child grows and therefore fit into more than one group or stage. For example, the rearward-facing baby seats is for babies up to 10kgs (22ibs) roughly from birth to 6-9 months or for babies up to 13kg (29ibs) roughly from birth to 12-15 months. These two can be used in the front or rear of the car. It is safer to put them in the rear. Do not put them in the front passenger seat if there is a passenger airbag. Rearward-facing seats provide great protection for the baby’s head, legs and spine than forward facing seats. So it is best to keep your baby in the rearward-facing seats for as long as possible. Only move them to a forward –facing seat once they have exceeded the maximum weight for the baby seat or the top of their head is higher than the top of the seat. Theforward-facingchildseatisforchildrenweighing 9-18kgs (20-40ibs) roughly from 9months – 4 years. Once children have outgrown a rearward –facingseat,thebestoptionistouseagiving(babies from birth to 15 months) seat with an integral harness – the large area of the harness helps to reduce the risk of injury if there is a crash – the bottom attachment between the legs will also prevent the child from sliding under and out of the harness. They can be used in the front or rear of the car, but it is safer to put them in the rear, especially if there is a passenger airbag in the front.

Once again it is safer to keep children in this type of system until they have outgrown it. Only move your child to a booster seat once they have exceeded the maximum weight for the child seat or the top of their head is higher than the top of the seat. Booster seats and booster cushions are used for children. Modern booster seats are designed for children between 15kg and 36kg (33-72ibs) i.e. 4-11 years. The law requires children traveling in cars to use the correct restraint until they are either 135cm in height or the age of 12 (whichever they reach first). After this, they must use an adult seatbelt. It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that the children under the age of 14years are restrained correctly in accordance with the law. However, it is the responsibility of the individual passenger to ensure that they are wearing the seatbelt at the age 14years and above. The safest option is to carry the same number of passengers, as there are seat belts. If must carry a passenger for whom there is no seatbelt, it is better for the heaviest passenger to wear a seat belt because they would cause more severe injuries to other people in the car, if they are thrown out in a crash. Ideally,likeintheUnitedKingdom,thepassenger should face the penalty for defaulting. This is in addition to its effect on claims by the driver against motor insurance cover.. We must however, note that the most serious penalty for non-compliance with seatbelt or child restraint could be the loss of that precious child or even your own life or of the passengers in the vehicle.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ë¾ ÍºÍ¹Ëœ ÍºÍ¸Í¹Í¿

FAMILY HEALTH with

BOBO BODE -KAYODE

Arthritis in Man

lifeissuesfromwithin@yahoo.com, .Cel,

Í¸Î€Í¸Í½Í»Í»Í¿ÍºÍ»Í½Í¾

Inflammation and arthritis Some, but not all types of arthritis, are the result PG NJTEJSFDUFE JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO "SUISJUJT JT B HFOFSBM UFSN UIBU EFTDSJCFT JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO JO KPJOUT 4PNF UZQFT PG BSUISJUJT BTTPDJBUFE XJUI JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO include: r 3IFVNBUPJE BSUISJUJT r 1TPSJBUJD BSUISJUJT r (PVUZ BSUISJUJT r 4ZTUFNJD MVQVT FSZUIFNBUPTVT The most common form of arthritis called osteoBSUISJUJT BMTP LOPXO BT EFHFOFSBUJWF BSUISJUJT JT B CJU PG B NJTOPNFS *U JT OPU CFMJFWFE UIBU JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO QMBZT B NBKPS SPMF JO PTUFPBSUISJUJT 0UIFS painful conditions of the joints and musculoskeletal TZTUFN UIBU BSF OPU BTTPDJBUFE XJUI JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO include fibromyalgia, muscular low back pain, and muscular neck pain.

he human bones undergo changes that can occur spontaneously and at times induced by certain external factors causing an immunological reaction, that would affect the bones and joints. The bones and joint together with the spaces in between become affected , usually with pain, swelling and much

discomfort. Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. ... There are several types of arthritis, but we shall focus on most common forms which are r PTUFPBSUISJUJT 0" EFHFOFSBUJWF KPJOU EJTFBTF 0TUFPBSUISJUJT VTVBMMZ PDDVST XJUI BHF BOE BGGFDUT the fingers, knees, and hips. and r SIFVNBUPJE BSUISJUJT 3" 3IFVNBUPJE BSUISJUJT is an autoimmune disorder that often affects the hands and feet. An infection or injury to the joints can exacerbate this natural breakdown of cartilage tissue. Your SJTL PG EFWFMPQJOH 0" NBZ CF IJHIFS JG ZPV IBWF a family history of the disease. Another common GPSN PG BSUISJUJT 3" JT BO BVUPJNNVOF EJTPSEFS *U occurs when your bodyâ€™s immune system attacks UIF UJTTVFT PG UIF CPEZ 0TUFPBSUISJUJT BGGFDUT NPSF than 3.8% of people while rheumatoid arthritis affects about 0.24% of people . Signs and symptoms Pain, which can vary in severity, is a common TZNQUPN JO WJSUVBMMZ BMM UZQFT PG BSUISJUJT 0UIFS symptoms include swelling, joint stiffness and BDIJOH BSPVOE UIF KPJOU T "SUISJUJD EJTPSEFST like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis can affect other organs in the body, leading to a variety of symptoms. Symptoms may include: r *OBCJMJUZ UP VTF UIF IBOE PS XBML r 4UJGGOFTT XIJDI NBZ CF XPSTF JO UIF NPSOJOH or after use r .BMBJTF BOE GBUJHVF r 8FJHIU MPTT r 1PPS TMFFQ r .VTDMF BDIFT BOE QBJOT r 5FOEFSOFTT r %JGÃ DVMUZ NPWJOH UIF KPJOU r *U JT DPNNPO JO BEWBODFE BSUISJUJT GPS TJHOJÃ DBOU secondary changes to occur. For example, arthritic symptoms might make it difficult for a person to move around and/or exercise, which can lead to secondary effects, such as: r .VTDMF XFBLOFTT r -PTT PG Ã¡FYJCJMJUZ %FDSFBTFE BFSPCJD Ã UOFTT These changes, in addition to the primary symptoms, can have a huge impact on quality of life. %FDSFBTFE NPCJMJUZ JO DPNCJOBUJPO XJUI UIF above symptoms, can make it difficult for an individual to remain physically active, contributing to an increased risk of obesity, high cholesterol or vulnerability to heart disease. People with arthritis are also at increased risk of depression, which may be a response to numerous factors, including fear of worsening symptoms. %JBHOPTJT JT NBEF CZ DMJOJDBM FYBNJOBUJPO GSPN an appropriate health professional, and may be supported by other tests such as radiology and blood tests, depending on the type of suspected arthritis. All arthritis potentially features pain. Pain patterns may differ depending on the arthritis and UIF MPDBUJPO 3IFVNBUPJE BSUISJUJT JT HFOFSBMMZ XPSTF in the morning and associated with stiffness; in the early stages, patients often have no symptoms BGUFS B NPSOJOH TIPXFS 0TUFPBSUISJUJT PO UIF PUIFS IBOE UFOET UP CF XPSTF BGUFS FYFSDJTF *O UIF BHFE and children, pain might not be the main presenting feature; the aged patient simply moves less, the infantile patient refuses to use the affected limb. Elements of the history of the disorder guide EJBHOPTJT *NQPSUBOU GFBUVSFT BSF TQFFE BOE UJNF of onset, pattern of joint involvement, symmetry of symptoms, early morning stiffness, and tenderness, gelling or locking with inactivity, aggravating and relieving factors, and other systemic symptoms. Physical examination may confirm the diagnosis, PS NBZ JOEJDBUF TZTUFNJD EJTFBTF 3BEJPHSBQIT BSF often used to follow progression or help assess severity. Blood tests and X-rays of the affected joints often are performed to make the diagnosis. Screening blood tests are indicated if certain arthritis are suspected. These might include: rheumatoid fac-

Hand aï¬€ected by Rheumatoid arthritis

Diagnosis is made by clinical examination from an appropriate health professional, and may be supported by other tests such as radiology and blood tests, depending on the type of suspected arthritis. All arthritis potentially features pain. Pain patterns may diï¬€er depending on the arthritis and the location

UPS BOUJOVDMFBS GBDUPS "/' FYUSBDUBCMF OVDMFBS antigen, and specific antibodies. Treatment There is no known cure for either rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. Treatment options vary depending on the type of arthritis and include physical therapy, MJGFTUZMF DIBOHFT JODMVEJOH FYFSDJTF BOE XFJHIU DPOUSPM PSUIPQFEJD CSBDJOH BOE NFEJDBUJPOT +PJOU replacement surgery may be required in eroding GPSNT PG BSUISJUJT .FEJDBUJPOT DBO IFMQ SFEVDF JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO JO UIF KPJOU XIJDI EFDSFBTFT QBJO .PSFPWFS CZ EFDSFBTJOH JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO UIF KPJOU damage may be slowed. 1. Physical therapy *O HFOFSBM TUVEJFT IBWF TIPXO UIBU QIZTJDBM exercise of the affected joint can noticeably improve long-term pain relief. Furthermore, exercise of the arthritic joint is encouraged to maintain the health of the particular joint and the overall body of the person. *OEJWJEVBMT XJUI BSUISJUJT DBO CFOFÃ U GSPN CPUI QIZTJDBM BOE PDDVQBUJPOBM UIFSBQZ *O BSUISJUJT UIF joints become stiff and the range of movement can be limited. Physical therapy has been shown to significantly improve function, decrease pain, and delay need for surgical intervention in advanced cases. Exercise prescribed by a physical therapist has been shown to be more effective than medications in treating osteoarthritis of the knee. Exercise often focuses on improving muscle strength, endurance BOE Ã¡FYJCJMJUZ *O TPNF DBTFT FYFSDJTFT NBZ CF EFTJHOFE UP USBJO CBMBODF 0DDVQBUJPOBM UIFSBQZ can provide assistance with activities as well as equipment. .FEJDBUJPOT There are several types of medications that are used for the treatment of arthritis. Treatment typically begins with medications that have the fewest side effects with further medications being added if insufficiently effective. %FQFOEJOH PO UIF UZQF PG BSUISJUJT UIF NFEJDBUJPOT that are given may be different. For example, the firstline treatment for osteoarthritis is acetaminophen QBSBDFUBNPM XIJMF GPS JOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ BSUISJUJT JU JOWPMWFT OPO TUFSPJEBM BOUJ JOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ ESVHT /4"*%T MJLF JCVQSPGFO 0QJPJET BOE /4"*%T are less well tolerated. 3IFVNBUPJE BSUISJUJT 3" JT BVUPJNNVOF TP in addition to using pain medications and antiJOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ ESVHT UIJT UZQF VTFT BOPUIFS DBUFHPSZ of drug called disease-modifying anti-rheumatic ESVHT %."3%T "O FYBNQMF PG UIJT UZQF PG ESVH JT .FUIPUSFYBUF 5IFTF UZQFT PG ESVHT BDU PO UIF immune system and slow down the progression PG 3" 3. Surgery A number of rheumasurgical interventions have been incorporated in the treatment of arthritis . Arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy.

Symptoms of Inflammation 3FEOFTT +PJOU TXFMMJOH +PJOU QBJO +PJOU TUJGGOFTT -PTT PG KPJOU GVODUJPO 0GUFO POMZ B GFX PG UIFTF TZNQUPNT BSF QSFTFOU *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO NBZ BMTP CF BTTPDJBUFE XJUI HFOFSBM iÃ¡Vu MJLF TZNQUPNT JODMVEJOH Fever Chills Fatigue/loss of energy Headaches -PTT PG BQQFUJUF .VTDMF TUJGGOFTT 8IFO JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO PDDVST DIFNJDBMT GSPN UIF body are released into the blood or affected tissues. 5IJT SFMFBTF PG DIFNJDBMT JODSFBTFT UIF CMPPE Ã¡PX to the area of injury or infection and may result in redness and warmth. Some of the chemicals cause B MFBL PG Ã¡VJE JOUP UIF UJTTVFT SFTVMUJOH JO TXFMMJOH This process may stimulate nerves and cause pain. 3FTVMUT PG +PJOU *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO *ODSFBTFE CMPPE Ã¡PX BOE SFMFBTF PG UIFTF chemicals attract white blood cells to the sites of JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO 5IF JODSFBTFE OVNCFS PG DFMMT BOE JOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ TVCTUBODFT XJUIJO UIF KPJOU DBO DBVTF JSSJUBUJPO XFBSJOH EPXO PG DBSUJMBHF DVTIJPOT BU UIF FOE PG CPOFT BOE TXFMMJOH PG UIF KPJOU MJOJOH Inflammation Aï¬€ect Internal Organs *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO DBO BGGFDU PSHBOT BT QBSU PG BO autoimmune disorder. The type of symptoms depends on which organs are affected. For example: r *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO PG UIF IFBSU NBZ DBVTF WBHVF DIFTU QBJO PS Ã¡VJE SFUFOUJPO r *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO PG UIF TNBMM UVCFT UIBU USBOTQPSU air to the lungs may cause shortness of breath. r *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO PG UIF LJEOFZT NBZ DBVTF IJHI blood pressure or kidney failure. r *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO PG UIF FZF NBZ DBVTF QBJO PS decreased vision. r *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO PG UIF NVTDMFT NBZ DBVTF BDIJness or weakness. r *OÃ¡BNNBUJPO PG UIF CMPPE WFTTFMT NBZ DBVTF rash, headaches, or internal organ damage. Pain may not be a main symptom since many organs do not have pain-sensitive nerves. Treatment There are a number of treatment options for JOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ KPJOU EJTFBTFT JODMVEJOH NFEJDBtions, rest, exercise, and surgery to correct joint damage. The type of treatment prescribed will depend on several factors including the type of disease, the personâ€™s age, type of medications he or she is taking, overall health, medical history, and severity of symptoms. Treatment is aimed to 5SFBU UIF VOEFSMZJOH JOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ EJTFBTF BOE EFDSFBTF JOÃ¡BNNBUJPO 3FMJFWF QBJO CZ NFEJDBUJPO BDUJWJUZ NPEJÃ DBtion .BJOUBJO KPJOU NPWFNFOU NVTDMF TUSFOHUI and overall function through physical therapy and exercise %FDSFBTF TUSFTT PO UIF KPJOUT CZ VTJOH CSBDFT splints, or canes as needed. 5IF NBJO GPDVT JO BOZ JOÃ¡BNNBUPSZ CPOF EJTFBTF , is to seek help as quickly as possible, to be able to arrest the breakdown of the tissues within the affected areas.

GLOBAL SOCCER

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ë¾ JUNE 16, 2011

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

TAKING MADRID ACADEMY HOME PAGE. 29

21.10.2017

Vincent Enyeama Return to Super Eagles Beckons

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í°ÍŻËœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍż

Vincent Enyeama

Return to Super Eagles Beckons Ă’Ă? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă?Ă&#x;ĂžĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă&#x;Ă•Ă‹Ă?Ă—Ă“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă&#x;ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă‹Ă‘Ă–Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă“ĂœĂ?Ăž Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‘Ă™Ă‹Ă–Ă•Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ?ĂœËœ Ă‹ĂœĂ– Ă•Ă?Ă—Ă?Ëœ Ă”Ă™Ă–ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂœĂ?ĂĄ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹ĂšĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‘Ă™Ă‹Ă–Ă•Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ëœ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă˜ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ă‹Ëœ Ă’Ă‹ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă“ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂžĂ™ ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜ ĂžĂ™ ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă— Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă‹Ă–ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ëœ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁ Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă’Ë› Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’

Ă•Ă?Ă?Ă’Ă&#x;Ă•ĂĄĂ&#x; Ă¤Ă?Ă˜ĂĄĂ‹ Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŽĂ™Ă˜Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ ĂŒĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŽĂœĂ‹Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă™ĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă’Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ— Ă™Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂŒĂ“Ă‘Ă‘Ă?Ă?Ăž Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă‘Ă?Ë› Ă˜ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ă‹ Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂžĂ™ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ăœ ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂ™ ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă— Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ě‹Ă–Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă?Ă’ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ ĂžĂœĂ™Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’ Ă’Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă’ Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŒËœ Ă“Ă–Ă–Ă?Ëœ Kunle Adewale ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?

n 2015, Enyeama announced his retirement from international football after a clash with the then Coach Sunday Oliseh of the Super Eagles, ending his 13-year association with the national team. "I have fought a good fight for more than 13years. I have finished my course; I have kept the faith and sang the anthem with passion. Henceforth, there is laid for me a crown which only God can reward me for my 13 years of national services. God bless Nigeria. "From Henceforth, I am no more the captain of the Nigerian senior football team; I am no more the goalie of the team, I am out of the team. I am no more available for international duties. I want to say thank you to every Nigerian fan and supporter worldwide. Itâ€™s been the most trying period of my life but I know that Nigerians are there for me and God is with me. God bless Nigeria," he had said on Instagram then. However, according to Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, the former goalkeeper and captain of the team had so far given him positive signals during discussions about a possible return to the team. Rohr is keen on having the former Lille of France shot stopper back in the team due to his experience and abilities. â€? Itâ€™s been positive so far, we are yet to get to a point where he will say yes or no. I need him (Enyeama) in the team. We need his experience alongside Ikeme, then we can have a young talented goalkeeper as understudy. We will meet again in the coming days to talk further, I canâ€™t put a time frame to when talks will take place but itâ€™s very soon. Hopefully it will be positive,â€? Rohr had told Owngoalnigeria.com. Former Super Eagles captain, Kanu Nwankwo, said he was willing to talk to Enyeama, to come out of retirement. In spite of Ikechukwu Ezenwa doing well, Rohr seems not to trust the home-based keeper. Kanu said Nigeria needed â€œworld classâ€? Enyeama â€œbadlyâ€?. â€œAs it is now, we need Vincent badly. In my opinion, Enyeama should come back immediately. Whoever is close enough to reach him should tell him to start coming back. Enyeama is very good. He is one of the best players

in Africa, and one of the best in the world. Let the federation look into it and do everything they can to bring him back. If Enyeama says he doesnâ€™t want to come, people like us can talk to him; the federation too can talk to him. If a lot of people talk to him, Iâ€™m sure that definitely he will change his mind,â€? the two-time African Player of the Year told KwesĂŠESPN. â€œAnd not just Enyeama, let us look at some of the other active goalkeepers too. If we have like four goalkeepers there training, there will be competition and the coach can have more options to make his decision,â€? he said. In a chat with former Nigeria international, Tajudeen Disu, he said in as much as he believed the best players should represent the country at the World Cup, he would not subscribe to Enyeama manning the post for the Super Eagles. â€œAt this stage, our focus should be on how to have our best legs in Russia, not players that want to use the World Cup to bounce back to reckoning. Itâ€™s surprising that some people could be thinking of bringing back a player who is more or less without a club to the World Cup. Moreover, the circumstances that led to Enyeamaâ€™s quitting the national team are not even ideal for his recall,â€? Disu said. For Waidi Akani, another former Nigeria international, recalling Enyeama to the national team now would be one of the most retrogressive moves by those at the helms of our football. â€œTrying to bring him back will call for a lot of questions. Is Vincent Enyeama in good shape for the mundial? What positivity will his presence bring to the dressing room? How will the other goalkeepers feel with his presence? Are there no other goalkeepers in the country that could take his place? These are just some of the questions that may arise with the recall of Enyeama,â€? Akani said. Akani warned that at this stage, sentiments should not be allowed to take over reasoning. It would be recalled that at the beginning of the season Enyeama was told to leave his club by the new manager, Marcelo Biesla.

â€œI want to establish myself at Lille. Itâ€™s the club that wants me to leave. Weâ€™ll see if they find a solution between now and the end of the transfer window. Iâ€™m calm. Itâ€™s a bit bizarre, but Iâ€™m handling it OK. I was informed like the others, by text. Weâ€™re under contract; the club does what it wants. We would have liked to have had a discussion. But itâ€™s a business choice made by the bosses,â€? Enyeama had said. Enyeama was eventually allowed to stay by Biesla. On Monday, he resumed training with the club after a long injury lay off and revealed that he was nearing full fitness after a long injury-enforced lay-off. He received a knock while in action for Lille in April and hasnâ€™t featured for the French side since then. A surgery on his injured knee followed suit in May and after that, itâ€™s been intensive rehabilitation for the ex-Enyimba goalie. Enyeama took to Twitter on Tuesday to give the latest update from the treatment room. He said, â€œAnd after six months, first group training; thanks be to God and everyone who worked tirelessly for me to get here.â€? It remains to be seen whether Enyeama will be welcome back into Lille first team by Coach Bielsa. The Argentine tactician on arriving in the summer deemed the Nigerian and several other senior players surplus to requirements. While most of the lads have since moved on in search of greener pastures, Enyeama remained at the club to gain full fitness. The ex-Super Eagles skipper is still heralded as the one of the finest of his generation. The question on the lips of many observers is that, should a goalkeeper who has not been active since the beginning of the season be the person Nigeria should rely on in a competition as big as the World Cup? Born on August 29, 1982, Enyeama had a spell with Enyimba FC of Aba and won the CAF Champions League back-to-back. After three seasons with Enyimba and one with Iwuanyanwu Nationale, he moved to a minor club in Israel, Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. In 2007, he moved to another Israeli side, Hapoel Tel Aviv, which he helped reach the state cup final.

OCTOBER 21, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

Madrid, Barcelona Re-enact Rivalry with Football Academy No rivalry in world football has matched that between Real Madrid and Barcelona–from political and ideological differences to signing the biggest players in the world and most recently, siting football academies in Nigeria

fter Barcelona’s experience with FCBESCOLA in Lagos last February, Spanish giants, Real Madrid, and the government of Rivers State recently signed an agreement to set up an academy in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. On Monday, Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Rivers State Commissioner for Sports, Boma Iyaye, former Super Eagles player, Adokiye Amiesimaka and the Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly Chief Evans Bipi took a trip to Spain to sign the terms and conditions of the proposed Real Madrid Academy that would nurture talents in Rivers State. Wike toured training facilities of Real Madrid Football Club and met with officials of the club, football megastar, Cristano Ronaldo and Real Madrid Captain, Sergio Ramos, where further modalities were discussed. Vice President of Interact Sports, Mr. Kazma and officials of Real Madrid led Wike and his entourage on a guided tour of Real Madrid Training Facility. In a meeting with Real Madrid stars, Ronaldo and Ramos, Wike said that the objective of setting up the Real Madrid Academy in Rivers State was to develop stars that would rule the world in the nearest future "We are using football as one of the key empowerment programmes for the next generation. We want to grow international football stars from a tender age. We will tap from the experience and exposure of Real Madrid and their stars. This is a project that will revolutionise football in Rivers State and Nigeria," Governor Wike noted. He assured that the academy to be established in the state will be of international standards and will take into consideration the education of the children. Ronaldo and Ramos lauded Wike's commitment to the development of the game. According to Iyaye, “this will offer players of the state the opportunity to be spotted by Real Madrid and also to train and understand the ideologies and philosophies of Real Madrid." Wike on Tuesday met with the leadership of the Real Madrid Foundation as part of the requirements to establish a Real Madrid Affiliated Football Academy in the state. Officials of the Real Madrid Foundation were led by Managing Director, Julio Gonzalez and International Area ManG 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

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike watching Real Madrid in training ager, Rosa Roncal Gimenez. The meeting which held behind closed doors at the Real Madrid Foundation Office at the Santiago Bernabéu witnessed both parties concluding discussions on the areas of partnership. In an interview after the meeting, Wike said the deliberation went on satisfactorily, noting that the partnership has reached its highpoint. The governor said the academy would help the state to harness the opportunities inherent in football as it would empower the upcoming generation. He said, "This is the concluding part of the process of establishing a Real Madrid Academy in Rivers State. It is our dream to empower our youths through football. Today, you know that football is big business and one of the ways to improve the economy. "This meeting is the height of our deliberation to get the Academy Started. We are happy that this has gone on satisfactorily. Rivers youths will reap the benefits of the Academy. " The highpoint of the meeting was the presentation of a special Real Madrid Jersey for Wike by Gonzalez. International Area Manager of Real Madrid Foundation , Rosa Roncal Gimenez, lauded the Governor for the initiative to set up a Real Madrid Academy in Rivers State. No Nigerian player has ever played for Real Madrid senior team. The closest player to doing so was Mutiu Adepoju, who joined Real Madrid in 1988 but never made it to the senior team. Adepoju scored 26 goals in 67 apperance for Real Madrid team B between 1989-1992. Real Madrid are the current La Liga and Champions League champions.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and Real Madrid President, Florentino Pérez at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night to finalise the setting up of a Real Madrid Aﬃliated Football Academy in Rivers State

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (m), Real Madrid Star, Cristano Ronaldo(l) and Former Nigerian International, Chief Adokiye Amiesimaka at the Real Madrid Training Ground on Monday as part of the process to set up a Real Madrid Aﬃliated Football Academy in Rivers State.

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Amaju Pinnick

The Architect of Revitalised Super Eagles Ă’Ă?Ă˜ Ă—Ă‹Ă”Ă&#x; Ă?Ă–Ă Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă• Ă?Ă—Ă?ĂœĂ‘Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă™Ă™ĂžĂŒĂ‹Ă–Ă– Ă?ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜ Ă?ĂšĂžĂ?Ă—ĂŒĂ?Ăœ ÍťÍ¸Ëœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍźËœ Ă–Ă“ĘľĂ–Ă? ĂŽĂ“ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă™ĂžĂŒĂ‹Ă–Ă– Ă–Ă™Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜Ă? Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă‹ Ă—Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă’ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂœĂ?Ă Ă™Ă–Ă&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă‘Ă‹Ă—Ă? Ă’Ă‹ĂŽ Ă’Ă“Ăž ĂžĂ’Ă? Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă”Ă‹

NFF Boss, Amaju Pinnick

Super Eagles players celebrating their qualification to the 2018 World Cup in Russia

orking with clear focus, Amaju Pinnick triumphed over initial distractions including litigation and instantly began consultations with football stakeholders across the country with a single minded objective of forming a united and focused football body that would work assiduously towards uplifting Nigerian football. Next was the strategic plan. Working side by side with the NFF executives, particularly the Chairman of the League Management Committee, a tested football administrator, Mallam Shehu Dikko and Mr.Seyi Akinwunmi, another experienced football bureaucrat, who are both Vice Presidents in the Nigeria Football Federation Board, the Pinnick-led Board came up with series of innovations and modern techniques in managing the national teams. One of this is the periodic visits to different clubs across the world where our national team players ply their trade. This has improved the hitherto frosty relationship between the country and the clubs, especially on timely release of players for national teamsâ€™ assignments. Having successfully put the house in order, Pinnick whose chairmanship of Delta Football Federation and tenure as director general of Delta Sports Commission recorded 288 medals including 114 gold, 99 silver and 75 bronze medals for the state, beamed his searchlight on coaches and gradually, the national teams were all allocated new coaches, giving preference to ex-internationals alongside other contenders. Ex â€“International, Sunday Oliseh was subsequently appointed to coach the Super Eagles and he had a short stint with the team before he was replaced by a German Coach, Gernot Rohr, an experienced tactician who has coached the national teams of Burkina Faso and

Gabon. Pinnick then undertook the tour of Europe and other top leagues in the world where he met and discussed with several Nigerian players. The result was the influx of new faces into the national teams, with a resurgence of interest by different players in playing for the Super Eagles. A new era gradually emerged and competition for places in the team became tough, thereby raising the standard of the team. Within two years, a new Super Eagles gradually evolved and from different friendlies to competitive matches, the team began to win the confidence of the nation, with the coaches putting them through different tactical regimen towards achieving the best formation. Before long, the best eleven, backed by a formidable bench that can support the team at all times emerged. Within a year, the countryâ€™s ratings on FIFA ranking improved tremendously. Though Nigeria missed out of the African Cup of Nations, it was an important learning curve and with 100 per cent support from the Pinnick-led NFF, the national team forged ahead undeterred. Among the new faces that have now become household names in the national team are Leon Balogun, a fast improving central defender with Mainz FC in Germany; Troost Ekong of Bursador in Turkey, who partners Leon in the defence, Odion Ighalo, Moses Simon, Abdullahi Shehu, Ola Aina, Kelechi Ihenacho, Alex Iwobi, Wilifed Ndidi ,Tyron Ebuechi and others. They have joined the likes of Ogenyi Onazi, Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Oghenekaro Etebo and Elderson Echiejile in forming a rock solid national team. The 2018 World Cup qualifiers commenced in earnest and the Eagles were drawn in Group D alongside Algeria, Cameroun and Zambia. The team started the qualifiers with a victory in Ndola, Zambia where the Zambian National team, Chipolopolo were defeated by

two goals to one with goals coming from Leicester cityâ€™s Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi of Arsenal. Next was the top African side, Algeria who were rated as the best African side in the last World Cup and occupied the top spot in African football ranking. The Eagles thrashed the desert foxes by three goals to one at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo to move up to the commanding position in the Group with six points. After a long break, the qualifiers resumed in August, but before then the Eagles comprising mostly upcoming players lost by 2 goals to nil to the well prepared Bafana Bafana in the 2018 African Cup of Nations qualifiers. This was a strong lesson for the Eagles and a wake-up call, especially in the World Cup qualifiers. Immediately, the Pinnick-led NFF board sprang to action and the technical team was given a marching order. The team bounced back from the setback with victories in different friendlies. It was also reinforced with regular players that missed the Bafana Bafana match. The result of the action of the NFF was more than what Nigerians bargained for. The rampaging Super Eagles thrashed the defending champion of African Cup of Nation, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun, picking four out of six maximum points. The Lions lost by four un-replied goals in Uyo and forced the Eagles to1-1 draw in Yaounde in the return leg of the roundrobin encounter. The Eagles then extended their lead at the top of Group D, posting a total of 10 points. Meanwhile, the Pinnick-led NFF started as early as September to put all plans in place to ensure that the Chipolopolos crash in Uyo on October 7 in order to facilitate easy passage to the 2018 World Cup for the Eagles and making the final qualifying match against Algeria a mere formality by end of the year. This came to pass when the Zambians came calling in Uyo and were beaten by a

lone goal scored by Arsenalâ€™s Iwobi. Thus, the Super Eagles became the first African country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. What a feat! Our Football is gradually taking shape and the sky is the limit. The Pinnick touch has paid off and the Eagles are not looking back. Next is the resumption of 2018 Nations Cup qualifiers and the Eagles are set to make Nigeria proud again. Perhaps it is pertinent at this juncture to ask who is Amaju Pinnick? Amaju was born as the 15th of 19 children to the family of Chief Oritsetimeyin Japhet Pinnick. He graduated from the University of Benin, with a second class upper in Political Science and Public Administration in 1994. From Primary School through Secondary to University level and afterwards, Pinnick has always been involved in football and Nigeria has started to benefit from his experience and expertise. In March 2017, Pinnick won a seat into the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football. He defeated incumbent Moucharafou Anjorin of Benin Republic by 32 to 17 votes at the CAF elective Congress in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nigeria thus made a return to the highest organ in CAF since the exit of Dr. Amos Adamu. As the Super Eagles march forward to the 2018 World Cup, setting good examples for other national teams including the Flying Eagles, U-23, U-20, U-17 and Super Falcons, one could only hope that the new found aura of victory around the senior national team would stimulate an enduring rebirth for Nigerian football. A new era beckons in Nigeria Football. The Pinnick magic is paying off. â€“Mohammed ibn Mohammed is the Sports Communications Manager @First World Communications @Consulting Limited, Lagos.

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

GLOBAL SOCCER\\OTHER SPORTS

MultiChoice Celebrates Premier League Trophy Tour with Okocha With the Premier League trophy expected to berth in Nigeria on October 26, courtesy of MultiChoice, many would have expected a winner of the trophy to be its face during the tour, but MultiChoice chose Nigeria's football legend, Austine 'Jay Jay' Okocha. Kunle Adewale reports

s is tradition with MultiChoice, a Premier League legend is usually invited to heighten the excitement of the football season. One would have thought the company would bring in a legend that had won the Premier League but the company had a different agenda and Felix Awogu explained the reason. “First of all let’s look at Lionel Messi. He has never won the World Cup, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo but I believe they are some of the greatest ambassadors of what football is all about today. If we were to bring the World Cup to Nigeria, these are the two players I am sure most people would have loved to see. If you look at Austin Okocha’s contributions to the Premier League before he left for Turkey, he brought a different dimension to football in England. His dribbling skills are today still revered in England and they still talk about Jay Jay Okocha’s artistry on the football field. I think he is somebody who epitomises what football should be. He didn’t go for money, he went for entertainment and the fans till today still see him as one of the greatest footballers that ever played for Bolton. “To us he is not just a Nigerian; he was also the captain of the Nigerian national team and a man that has given a lot to football in this country. If there was any one, he is the man that we should look for to celebrate the Premier League,” Awogu said. Awogu hailed MultiChoice’s retention of broadcast rights to the Premier League till 2022, saying it was not just about the fact that the company was trying to make everyone, irrespective of your financial prowess, have the opportunity to see some of these matches, which is why a lot of times, DStv cascaded it to the lower bouquets. “If you look at it, it is the biggest brand and the major driver in the business in the country. A lot of Nigerians probably know more about the

Felix Awogu

Premier League than the English themselves. If I go on the streets of England and chat with the regular folks, I realise that more of our taxi drivers have better view of what the Premier League is all about. We are excited and it is indeed an honour to have such great property at MultiChoice till 2022,” he said. Asked how the rising adoption of the OTT offerings had impacted business at MultiChoice, Awogu said, “The beautiful thing about the Premier League is that it is well structured. We have the total rights and we deliver the entire matches, about 380 Live games to everybody. We also have our Catch Up services which is unique to DStv and I do not believe any other provider offers such services. We are always ready and set to provide the best viewing experience to our viewing populace. The

online aspect is a growing phenomenon and DStv Now is going to be positioned for that. It is a well thought out service, we are working on it daily and we are getting clean and clear signals. Most Nigerians have mobile phones, about 90 million mobile phone users and it is a great opportunity for people who want entertainment on the go and want to catch up on their programmes. DStv Now to me will be the greatest innovation in the television industry in Nigeria and Africa.” On what informed the decision of MultiChoice to extend the La Liga matches to the lower bouquets as well as GOtv and whether the company had plans to do same for the Champions league and FA Cup, the SuperSport MD opined, “We pride ourselves as people who decide to go for the best and La Liga league is great. After the Premier League, La Liga is probably one of the biggest in terms of marketing and the way it is deployed. It is something we do all the time, which is, reviewing our content offering because we have principle of basically looking at our customers and their desires. The business has a principle called ‘The customer first approach’ and once we have all that sorted, we decide. There is also something we call ‘open week’ where we decide to run our premium channels across board and people sit at home and enjoy it.” For those who are of the opinion that bringing the La Liga matches to the lower bouquets as well as GOtv may make some DStv premium customers to come down to the lower bouquets, Awogu has a different opinion of that, “It all depends. If you look at our premium bouquet, it is a different world on its own not just because of the Premier League. It has some of the best programming in the world. I make bold to say that DStv and GOtv are probably the best platforms in the world. I have travelled wide and I have not seen another platform which offers the pot pourri of what we have at varying

affordable costs to Nigerians. When we talk about ‘open week’, it is a once in a while thing. We have a special package always for the premium subscribers and of course we keep improving,” he said.

BattleforNigeriaBankers GamesSemi-finalsHotup Action continues this weekend as other financial institutions will battle for remaining tickets for the semis of the football event at the on-going Nigeria Bankers Games at the Yabatech Sports Complex, Yaba, Lagos, after the United Bank of Africa has picked up the first semi-finals ticket UBA defeated Ecobank by 2-0 to seal their place as the first team to pick the last four ticket in the championship. In other games decided, First Bank pipped Union Bank by a lone goal, Sterling Bank also lost by a lone goal to Fidelity Bank. First City Monumental Bank will square up with Ecobank, Union Bank will duel with Sterling Bank in football, just as all the participating teams will also do battle in chess, scrabble and table tennis at the YabaTech indoor hall (Alumni Building) this weekend. Speaking on the Games, the Chief Operating Officer, MediaVision Limited – organisers of the event, Mr Jimmy Sogbesan informed that the games had been competitive as athletes had resolved to outwit each other in order to win laurels for their various organisations. The competition which is in its 17th season is unarguably the biggest corporate sporting event in the banking industry. It is designed to bring staffs, family and friends of the banking industry together in a fun and relaxing atmosphere.

HEALTH

3-Yr-Old Girl Appeals for N5m to Restore Sight Godwin Ifijeh

or Mr and Mrs. Israel E. Amariku, nothing could be as saddening as suddenly having a most beautiful and fast growing child become deformed and incapacitated. Baby Ekeka Rejoice Amariku was born hale and hearty and grew rapidly, turning into a beautiful baby girl to behold. She was the admiration of neighbours and beyond, who loved and cherished carrying and caressing her each time they came across her and mum. The little baby radiated love and sweetness and the young parents regaled in joy, resplendent in confidence that she would grow up a pride and a meaning in their lives. But all of that vanished in one fell swoop in 2015 when the little baby accidentally hut herself. She had innocently crawled while the mum was busy in the kitchen into a bottle of chemical kept by her dad at a corner of their one-room self-contain apartment in Oviore, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, spilled and fell over it. The chemical, which the father, who was then away to work, later identified as sodium hydroxide widely used for industrial production for its renown for such constituents as alkali, went into her eyes. The little girl reeled in pain and anguish, her life instantly taking a turn for bad. Those promises and requiem that cascaded all over her quickly vanished and pain, sorrow and anger took over. Multi-talented Israel Amariku, a young man in his mid-thirties from Obodoeti in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State is a sewing machine technician, drummer and industrial chemistry techni-

Baby Ekeka Rejoice Amariku cian of vast experience. His wife, a petty trader also from Delta State is an indigene of Otor-Igho in Isoko North Local Government Area of the State. Israel Amaiku was in a paid employment then in the production unit of a blue chip company and had vast knowledge of chemicals and their uses. To complement his monthly salary, Amariku set up a small production unit in a mini-room constructed close to the

entrance of his apartment. In-between his work schedule, at weekend and mid night he produced such chemical products as sewing machine oil, liquid soap, after shave, petroleum jelly and hair creams, among others, which his wife and brothers sold in the neighbourhood and beyond. He replicated in the make-shift factory all safety measures known to him in his company factory and he produced and regaled in joy as extra money began to role in to ease life’s harshness on him. It went on smoothly for over two years until that sad day of May 29, 2015, when the little Rejoice, who has just started crawling, strayed away and encountered a bottle of one of the chemicals he uses for production, spilled it all over the floor and fell over it to upturn not only the joy in the house into sadness but to set the couple against themselves in a blame game that almost separated them. Busy in the kitchen, Mrs. Amariku left the little baby in the sitting room. Intuitively she peeped from the kitchen after a while to ascertain her position, she was stunned, she saw the baby drenched and lying flat and still on her tommy, her two hands clutched to her face. She raced out to her to find out what had gone wrong. She saw the empty plastic bottle of the acidic chemical, lying beside her and the liquid all over the ground. It dawned on her that she had moved and spilled the chemical on herself. “I was scared stiff, I grabbed her, clutched her to my body to feel if there was still any life in her, she kept her hands across her eyes, I tried to take them away from the eyes, I noticed for the first time that the right eye was firmly closed, I tried to get it opened and to wash it, she didn’t allow that, she

held tightly to it, then I raised alarm, but just then, her father came in and I tried to explain to him, we were thrown into anguish,” Mrs. Amariku told the story of the little girl’s excruciating accident and the journey to this day into the struggle to have her restored to her glorious past. The frayed nerves the accident caused between the husband and wife remains but they have managed to patch on for the love of the little Rejoice and the battle to salvage her situation. The eyes have continued to go from bad to worse, the two eyelids are burnt and the corneal damaged. From the Delta State University Teaching, Oghara, where the 15-month old girl was initially hospitalized for about three months, they moved on referral as one of the eyes was going glued to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. She was operated upon but that did not bring much relief. After over a month of stay at UCH, “we were told that she would need a corneal transplant and separation of the lids abroad. We had just N.7million savings before the incident and we have exhausted it all, how do we raise the money to travel out for such operations on her?” Israel Amariku, father of the beleaguered little girl wondered, stating that they have opened an Account No. 2959196019 with the FCMB in his name, Amariku Israel, to which members of the public could reach them with their donations and contributions while appealing to good spirited Nigerians, governments, politicians, religious houses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to come to their rescue and help raise the funds to restore the glory and once beautiful life of the little girl.

Ëœ Ëž OCTOBER 21, 2017

WRITERSâ€™ WORLD

Peter Abel and the Death at Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

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

In the novel, The False Truth, Peter Abel is the US secret agent out to stop a plot to make the president of an African country do a Third Term or be assassinated. The masterminds of the plot include close aides and relations of the president, as well as foreigners masquerading as lobbyists for the country. It is in the process of spying on Songa, an aide to the president, for clues that Abel is arrested by the FBI over the death of an aide at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York

bel raced up the staircase and reduced his pace to a casual stroll once he proceeded down the hall of the twenty-third floor. He needed people to believe he had a room on the floor.Although there were no other people walking about at that moment, he still made a conscious effort to appear as natural as possible while he searched for Room 2317. When he came upon the door, he nonchalantly reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card. This was not the Waldorf Astoria key card for Room 2317. It was the skeleton key card Abel had acquired through a back alley deal in New York City a few years prior. A so-called businessman had sold it to him for two hundred dollars in American cash. The card proved useless on the first try. He examined the key card, his heart in his mouth. Abel removed the card from the slot, carefully wiped it clean of any dirt or dust, and then reinserted it. After a skillful jiggle, the card made the connection and the top light flashed green. Abel pulled down the handle and the door easily pushed open. Once inside, Abel immediately noticed how neat the room was. At first, he assumed the housekeeping staff had just completed their work. But when he saw the used towels piled on the bathroom floor, he concluded that was not the case. Abel walked around the room quietly, opening dresser drawers and rummaging through some papers that were neatly stacked on the side table. When he opened the closet door, he was surprised by how heavily Songa had packed for this particular trip. Abel ran his hands through as many pockets as he could, searching for somethingâ€”anythingâ€”that might provide even the smallest clue. Unfortunately, Songaâ€™s clothes yielded no such evidence. After ensuring that each suit dangled from its hanger just as he had found it, Abel pulled the extra pillow down from the shelf. A small smile appeared. There on the shelf in front of him was something usefulâ€”a computer carrying case. Abel gleefully reached for it. He was disappointed to find it lightweight and empty. He searched through the compartments in the case, but found nothing of importance. At first, he thought Songa must have taken his laptop with him to the seminar, but that didnâ€™t make sense. The meeting was held at the United Nations, not at the hotel. If he was going to walk a few blocks in Manhattan, clutching a laptop, he would have surely taken the carrying case for convenience and protection. Perhaps the reason he didnâ€™t take the carrying case was because he didnâ€™t take the computer. Abel continued to rummage through the closet, glancing at his watch intermittently. He found the hotel safety deposit box in the far corner, but the door was unlocked; nothing appeared to be stored inside. He sat on the bed for a moment to think, checking his watch to ensure that time was not on the verge of running out. He tried to get inside of Songaâ€™s mad mind and connect with his way of thinking. His eyes darted all over the room and landed on the small pile of used towels visible through the doorway to the bathroom. When he looked back at the bed, something occurred to him. The bed was made, and the bedspread was tucked around the pillows, very neat and clean. If the housekeeping staff had been in the room to make the bed, they would have taken the used towels and replaced them with fresh ones. If they hadnâ€™t been in the room, the bed would not have been madeâ€”unless, of course, Songa had spent the night elsewhere. But if he had spent the night elsewhere, why

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NY did he use so many bath towels? The wheels inside of Abelâ€™s brain were spinning at full speed. The scene just wasnâ€™t adding up. It was unlikely that the housekeeping staff had made the bedâ€Śso who did? Abelâ€™s mouth curled into a smile when the answer popped into his head. The only person who would make his own bed in an upscale, full-service hotel would be a person who didnâ€™t want anyone touching the bed for some important reason. Abel decided he would start â€œtouchingâ€? the bed. He patted down the bedspread from top to bottom, but nothing seemed out of place. He then pulled back the pillows and shook them to see if anything was hidden inside the pillow cases. Again, he found nothing. Finally, he got down on his knees and snaked his long arm between the mattress and the bedsprings. He waved his arm back and forth in a long sweeping motion until his hand smacked up against a hard object. When he finally yanked his arm out from under the mattress, his hand was clutching Songaâ€™s small, lightweight, high-tech laptop. What a fool! Abel thought. Did he really think I wouldnâ€™t look under the mattress? Oh, yeah. He doesnâ€™t expect me to look anywhere. Iâ€™m supposed to be dead (Abel had feigned his death to be able to travel out). I keep forgetting that. Abel booted up the machine, hoping it would expose some pertinent information. The laptop had to contain something of value; otherwise Songa wouldnâ€™t have bothered to carry it halfway around the planet in the first place. Abelâ€™s dream came crashing down when the laptop asked him for a password. His shoulders sagged. He put down the laptop gingerly as he racked his brain for possible combinations. After a few minutes, he came up with possible passwords and started to enter them: Songaâ€™s initials, his hidden middle name, the names of his two daughters, his wifeâ€™s name, and even the Presidentâ€™s. None of them worked. He looked at his watch again and concluded he had run out of time. As he stood up to put the laptop back, he remembered a trick he had learned at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC during his last visit: some people use their new environment as a password.

Abel typed in Astoria in reverse order and hit the Enter key. Suddenly he found himself in Songaâ€™s hidden world. He wanted to shout with joy. The first thing Abel checked was Songaâ€™s stored e-mail. There were hundreds of messages in his inbox, most of which had already been read. Abel wondered if he would have time to rummage through so many notes to find some worth reading. He scrolled down and arbitrarily opened a few messages. One was from the Mubondian governmentâ€™s Travel Department, confirming his flight to JFK airport. Another was from an event organizer, thanking Songa for agreeing to participate in his agencyâ€™s seminar. Abel noticed a message with the subject Buy Viagra Online. He smirked. No matter how much he worked to block those stupid spam messages on his own computer, they always managed to get through. Then he became serious. Spam messages like this were sent to millions of computers on a daily basis. Most people deleted them immediately. Unless Songa actually suffered from erectile dysfunction, there was no reason for him to read such a message and leave it in his in-boxâ€Śor was there? Abel clicked on the message until it appeared on the screen. He caught himself holding his breath as he read. I have no doubt that the man will sit tight. I have given him every reason why he should. I told him that he owes it to his country, and if he betrays the country, I will not stand by his side. He does not know it, but divorce is the least of his worries. Plan B is still an option, if necessary. Mrs. Tommy has been doing her research and she says itâ€™s coming along nicely â€“ FS. Abel moved out of Songaâ€™s e-mail programme and into his personal documents. The computer was crammed with all kinds of word processing and spreadsheet documents. He didnâ€™t have time to open very many of them, so he simply ran a global hard drive search for the phrase â€œPlan B.â€? Seven files turned up in the list box. Abel set the laptop aside and reached into one of the hidden pockets of his trousers for a blank memory stick he had brought. He quickly saved the Plan B files to the device. Just as he dropped the memory stick in his jacket

pocket, he heard a noise outside the door. Without bothering to turn the device off, Abel closed the laptop and shoved it back between the mattress and the bedsprings. He was about to hide in the closet, but never got the chance. The door flew open. Abel was expecting to come face-to-face with Songa. Instead, he found himself looking at another man he had seen only in passing back at Victoria Villa. The man didnâ€™t recognize him. Well, if he did, he didnâ€™t seem shocked to see a dead man standing in front of him. He lunged at Abel, grabbing him by the sleeve. Abel tried to pull free, tearing his jacket in the process, but the manâ€™s grip was too intense. He pulled Abel backward and wrestled him to the ground. In an effort to scramble free, Abel slid across the floor until both of them landed in the bathroom doorway. Songaâ€™s man banged his head on the door, causing him to wince in pain. The man loosened his grip just enough for Abel to wrench his right arm free. Abel jammed his thumb into the manâ€™s eye, which forced him to let go completely. Abel jumped to his feet. He was still cornered in the bathroom. The man managed to regain his composure, even with his left eye completely swollen shut. He got up on his knees and grabbed Abel by the ankle. Abel lost his balance and staggered back next to the toilet. The man tried to stand, but before he got the chance, Abel grabbed hold of the one thing within his reachâ€”the lid to the toilet tank. At first, he intended to hold it up and use it as a shield, but when the man crawled in front of him, he slammed the heavy piece of porcelain down on his head. The assailant lay motionless on the bathroom floor. Blood gushed out of his mouth and bubbled across the floor. Abel reached down and placed his fingers against the manâ€™s neck. He couldnâ€™t find a pulse. Quietly, Abel grabbed one of the used towels and wiped the blood off his shoes. He stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He immediately felt sorry for the housekeeper who would discover the mess, but he couldnâ€™t waste any time worrying about that. He walked out into the hallway, closed the door, and made an effort to leave the twenty-third floor in the same manner he arrived.

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

TRAVEL&LEISURE

by OMOLOLA ITAYEMI omolola.itayemi@thisdaylive.com 08054699602

Google and the City

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echnology company, Google, is using the growing need for informationonthegotoshowcasesome of its applications and how they come in handy during travel. An interestingcropofmediapersonnel including journalists from all over Africa, bloggers and influencers explored Lagos, the city of aquatic splendour using the apps on Google; Stephen Musyoka and Lyra Aoko from Kenya, Karabo Mokgoko and Anje Rautenbach from South Africa and Chuks Nwane of the Guardian. The trip is to engage major media personalities to share their experience using these tools available on Google and where better to do this than Lagos, the only city in the world that has a personal residence turned museum dedicated to the late Fela Anikulapokuti -Kalakuta Museum. Arriving Got to the George hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos (our abode for the next three days) late on Wednesday, October 4th and met the most exciting welcome gift in my room. I could not meet up with the rest of the team for dinner at 6.00 pm at the Backyard, Lagos, a bar and grill restaurant located in Victoria Island but from the cool photos that emerged, Google could not have started on a better vibe especially with those Google customised menus and dining accessories. The George Lagos opened its doors to the public in October 2015 with a legacy that is now the benchmark for luxury hospitality in Nigeria. It is a Nigerian-owned, Luxury Business Hotel located in the heart of Ikoyi, Lagos, known for its opulent suites, indulgent hotel facilities, bespoke features, personalized business and hotel services offering an unsurpassed luxury business experience. Day 1 – Explore Lagos Island Following a quick briefing on various Google apps we will be exploring throughout the trip at the hotel restaurant whilst having breakfast, we started on a very early note. Most of us are not strangers to Google apps but how much of it do we apply in our everyday lives and also on trips. Google Maps is every tourist’s essential guide. You can check out the distance to wherever you’re going, the traffic situation and how long it will take for you to get there. Dorothy Oko, Communications and Public Affairs manager, East and FrancophileAfrica, gave a background to the brand, took us through the apps with illustrations before we hit the road. You know how people say Google is your best friend? Google is actually your best friend! For travelling, you convert currencies, learn more about the history of the country and more. Personally, Google Voice Search is the star attraction for me with its new accent-friendly edge, you don’t even have to type anything. I must have said ‘ok google’ more than a thousand times. Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google Communications & PublicAffairs Manager, West Africa, spoke about GoogleMaps being every tourist’s essential guide. You can check out the distance to wherever you’re going, the traffic situation and how long it will take for you to get there. One cool thing is that you can create lists and share with friends. As a frequent traveller, beyond giving direction, I have found this feature very useful. It is for travellers who want to know what to expect from a destination, or want to see if the 5-star Hotel you are booked into is indeed that and not a rundown motel purporting to have star rating. It also allows you to see some famous tourist sites that you may want to visit in various countries, oh yes I can attest to that. Interestingly, my Google feed gets automatically curated to my interests and previous searches, creating lists I can share with friends and directions to such places. Capturing special moments and interesting locations are easy with Google Photos. You can create your own GIFs and movie clips (with your selected song in the background). No extra app or struggle involved. Just a few clicks on the Google Photos app and it is done. More so, there’s a sharing feature on the app that sends to loved ones

A crosss-section of participants at the event and friends. Just create a new sharing link, add everybody’s email addresses and you can all upload pictures and have access to them automatically. Out and about we headed to the serene yet rich in fauna Lekki Conservation Centre, Lekki Lagos where we explored the nature trail walk for about 300 metres before climbing the tree house, the view from the top of the tree house was awesome. Next stop was Chef Eros Studio 1 at Lekki where we learnt the art of home-made-party-jollof rice. Thanks to the famous conversation between Richard Quest of CNN and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism on the origins of jollof rice, it has become our holy grail, so gidiwithgoogle cannot happen without Naija jollof rice. Chef Eros left no one in doubt about the amazing delicacy Naija jollof rice which left our fellowAfrican influencers asking for more and the recipe too. We finished with a crash course on table etiquette and food party with a twist on traditional Nigeria food. Nobody looked forward to the Lekki Arts and Crafts Market more than the visiting influencers and were slightly disappointed when we found

out the market was shut down for the day. We opted for the boat ride from BayLounge, navigating Lagos waterways with Naija music, food and good company. DAY 2 - Mainland Fun After breakfast, we went to the Quintessence Store, Ikoyi, the arts and crafts on sale there were a collectors’ item and I picked a few with amazing books. Next door is Polly Alakija, (the artist that painted under Falomo Bridge, Ikoyi) art studio where I saw the best murals in Lagos and took pictures with the iconic hand painted volkswagen bug in front of her studio Next stop was Freedom Park, formerly a colonial prison called Her Majesty’s Broad Street Prison. Although most of the former structures have been demolished, they have built new ones ones with pictures and relics of the old prison. We met, Theo Lawson, the architect that designed Freedom Park and Kalakuta Museum. We moved on to Kalakuta Museum. What can I say it’s a whole three-floors dedicated to the memory

of Fela, the music legend. With a tour guide/former student of Fela, we practically went through his lifetime in two hours. No information or keepsake was spared from pictures, rooms, clothes, musical instruments and even the wrapper of the last chocolate candy he had before passing away. AfterasumptuousmealatJevenikrestaurant,GRA, Ikeja, we were prepped up for a glamorous night. Face beat by Priye, one of Nigeria’s top make-up artist, off we went to Bogobiri for another amazing party, Google style. Alovely evening with excellent food, wine and Naija music and dance. What a top ending to a brilliant day. Usual Google style, each person forms a group with tasks at the beginning and the winning group gets gifts. I’mproudtosaymygroupwononeofthecompetitions. With Google photos, I know my unlimited amazing pictures I took will be stored and organized, however, much more than the pictures were the daily gifts I got on return to my hotel room each night. Not just any other gifts but gifts that resonate with me. Thanks, Google!

Air France, KLM Partner Jumia Determined to give customers additional value for their money, Air France KLM and Jumia Nigeria have announced a unique partnership to reward Nigerian-based flyers registered with the airline’s Flying Blue loyalty programme. The Flying Blue initiative which is tailored to give additional benefits to customers will also expose them to over 1,000,000 product assortment on Africa’s largest online store, Jumia. Usually when Air France KLM Flying Blue members earn miles, accumulated miles can be used to pay for tickets, upgrades, hotel stays, and excess baggage allowance. However, with this new partnership, miles can now be used to purchase items on Jumia Nigeria website. This seamless process requires Air France KLM Flying Blue members to visit www.flyingblue.com then – spend miles – blue store – leisure – shopping voucher to retrieve their vouchers. The vouchers are of 3 values, each indicating the cash value and miles value. Members can buy the voucher of their choice and have the miles deducted from their Flying Blue account. An email will be sent to them with an online shopping code for jumia.com.

L-R: Juliet Anammah, CEO Jumia Nigeria, Arthur Dieﬀenthaler, Commercial Director, Air France KLM Nigeria and Ghana

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FAIRGROUND

Harvest Lunch, Dance of the Catholic Church of Assumption Falomo

he Catholic Church of Assumption Falomo, Lagos, headed by the Parish Priest Reverend Father Pius Omofuma will celebrate its annual Harvest Lunch and Dance at the Harbour Point on Sunday. This year’s harvest is themed “Harvest of Divine Restoration”. This year’s fundraising event is geared towards the ongoing second phase of the church’s school project, Mater Ecclesiae College, Igbodu, Epe, a co educational boarding secondary school in Epe. The event is channelled to raise money to support educational enrichment programs of the church school project. The objective of the church is to establish a qualitative, co-educational, boarding secondary school for the Nigerian child. The school was founded as the Church’s contribution to bridging the gap and raising the standard of education in our country by providing high quality education of international standard. In order to ensure that international standards are instituted and maintained, foreign religious affiliation is being sought with the assistance of His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lagos. His Grace also recently appointed an administrator- Father John Nteojah who is assisted by the Sisters of Saint Michael the Archangel. Admission will be on merit by competitive entrance examinations. There is an ongoing plan for a scholarship fund, which will accommodate children who succeed at the entrance examinations, but cannot afford the fees. Although founded and promoted by the church, admission to the school is open to bright students of all religious persuasions and even the irreligious. The school is situated on 15 acres of land in Epe, a fast-growing area that is serene.

The School opened two years ago and the pioneer students of the school began classes in September 2015. The money raised from this year’s fundraiser will be used to provide additional facilities like hall, chapel, football field, basket ball court, etc. The Chairman of the Day for the Harvest Lunch and Dance fundraising event is Mr Ike Chioke. He is the Group Managing Director, Afrinvest (West Africa Limited). Mr Ike has over 25years of investment banking experience. The chairman of the Harvest Planning Committee, Mr Yemi Aluko, the Managing Director of Mystrose Limited, a multifaceted solutions providing company to the maritime, power, defence and security sectors of the Nigerian economy. They are the local representatives to many OEM’s to these sectors in Nigeria. The chairperson for this year’s Harvest Lunch and Dance is renowned fashion designer Mrs Lanre Da Silva Ajayi. She is expected to put up a fashion show alongside other colleague in the Fashion world, Designer Extraordinaire Mai Atafo. The two vice chairpersons for this year’s Harvest Lunch and Dance are Mrs Ngover Ihyembe Nwankwo and Mrs Ehi Akingbade. Mrs Ngover Ihyembe- Nwankwo is an Executive Principal and Relationship Manager within the International Corporate Segment in Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria’s Global Banking Business. Whilst, Mrs Ehi Akingbade is a seasoned Lawyer and fashion entrepreneur. Mai Atafo and Idia Aisien are the comperes of the day. Saxophonist Beejay Sax will be on ground to serenade the audience with good music. The legendary King Sunny Ade and Flavour N’abania will entertain guests. This year’s lunch event promises to be exciting.

Rev. Father Pius Omofuma

Lanre Da Silva Ajayi

Mr Ike Chioke

Mrs Ehi Akingbade

Mr Yemi Aluko

Mrs Ngover Ihyembe -Nwankwo

The Glenfiddich Mavericks Felabration Night Head for Abuja As the “World’s #1 Most Awarded Single Malt Whisky” Glenfiddich endeavours to bring together the Maverick spirit of purpose, ingenuity, charisma and mastery. Recently, Glenfiddich in collaboration with the annual Felabration celebrations shut down Lagos to host a music night to honour the lateAfro beat legend at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. A day before the event, Glenfiddich welcomed the Global BrandAmbassador, Struan Grant Ralph, to Nigeria at a private networking and whiskey experience event which held at Radisson Blu Hotel. Struan spoke on the collaboration with Felabration and noted that “it is an honor to work with those who pay tribute to the legend, Fela Kuti”. Struan also taught all in attendance the Glenfiddich signature toast and assured all that the performances on Friday Night will be one to remember. As a brand, Glenfiddich has never followed where the path leads, but instead where there is no path

and has left a trail for others to follow. This was the backbone for choosing Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti, Bez and Nneka, four great mavericks to perform at the event who all delivered breath-taking and thrilling performances that kept the crowd moving all night. The Glenfiddich Felabration Night was filled with excitement as lovers of afrobeat from all over the world, fun seekers, friends, families gathered to pay homage to Fela’s legacy. And for the first time, Abuja residents will have the opportunity to experience this great line up of maverick’s courtesy of Glenfiddich on the 29th of October 2017 at the Nicon Luxury Hotel. Four-time Grammy award nominee, Femi Kuti, is a maverick as he has forged his own path proving to be a true afro beat legend by establishing himself as an artist independent of his father’s legacy. He wowed the audience with his masterful use of the saxophone, holding a single note on the instrument for over five minutes. This was a major highlight of

the evening in Lagos. With his strong musical drive, Seun Kuti stands out from his contemporaries. Just like his father, he uses his music to speak out on topical, political and social issues not holding back on giving his views and opinions undeterred. His style which pays tribute to his father also had its own distinct flavor which electrified the crowd. Bez’s style of music which is unique in the Nigerian music industry has won him fans all over the continent. His rock-star performance and masterful use of the guitar set the crowd up for what was to be a truly unforgettable night and Nneka’s soulful performance was a tribute to what Fela stood for and fought against. A guitarist as well, her melodies were thought provoking and inspired the audience to always fight and never give up in the face of adversity. With an amazing experience in Lagos last weekend, the Glenfiddich Felabration night in Abuja is set to

even be bigger as this is the first time Felabration will be taking place in Abuja. AfrobeatKing,FelaAnikulapo-Kuti,whoembodies thekeyGlenfiddichvalues.Felaprovedtobeatimeless voice for all, a leader, political activist, ambassador of culture and heritage, all in all, a true maverick. Many times he was persecuted but he was never silenced.

Gbenga and Aisha Oyebode Partners with Murtala Muhammed Foundation Gbenga and Aisha Oyebode in partnership with the Murtala Muhammed Foundation and Harbor Point Limited have brought the Hidden Figures initiative to Nigeria. The critically acclaimed movie Hidden Figures, tells the true life story of three brilliantAfrican-American women who were mathematicians at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, a spectacular achievement that became one of the historical moments the world remembers.

Pioneered by Infor CEO, Charles Philips alongside other business leaders in the United States, this initiative plans to offer free admission to the movie, to thousands of middle school students globally. Over 25,000 middle school students in New York alone were beneficiaries of this program, successfully executed with the partnership of organizations such as 20th Century Fox, Google, Facebook, Infor and AT&T. On October 6, the initiative kicked off in Nigeria with 120 students from four selected public schools going to the Genesis Cinema, Palms Lekki to watch the movie.

Thirty students each were selected from the four schools, Kuramo Junior Secondary School, Victoria Island, Kuramo Senior Secondary School, Victoria Island, Maroko Junior Secondary school, Ikoyi and Maroko Senior Secondary School, Ikoyi respectively. Thisinitiativewilleducatestudentsaboutthemany contributions to science, technology, engineering, and math and seek to inspire more students to enter those fields. Beyond that, the movie portrays the value of perseverance, diligence and hard work in a time when these qualities were subsumed by race and colour.

Cross-section of student at the event

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Ambode Swears-in Oke as 16th Lagos Chief Judge Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday unveiled plans by the State Government to establish a designated Commercial Courthouse with the objective of ensuring speedy resolution of disputes as well as drive commerce and enhance the ease of doing business in the State. Speaking at the State Executive Chambers in Alausa while swearingin Justice Opeyemi Oke as the 16th Chief Judge of the State, Ambode also called for more reforms aimed at fast-tracking justice delivery without necessarily compromising the fundamental principle of fair hearing and the rule of law. He said: â€œThere is no gainsaying that Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of the country and it deserves

a modern state-of-the-art first class Commercial Courthouse to speedily address commercial disputes in the State. â€œWe plan to establish a designated Commercial Courthouse with the objective of ensuring speedy consideration of commercial matters. It is hoped that this courthouse will accommodate all commercial related organs of the judiciary in order to drive commerce and improve the ease of doing business.â€? The Governor, who described the swearing-in ceremony as an affirmation of the belief of the present administration in the rule of law and the importance of the judiciary to the democratic system, said it was gratifying that the State judiciary, since the emergence of

Justice Idowu Conrad-Taylor as the first Chief Judge of the State in 1967, had been the only democratic arm of government that had experienced a seamless transition in its leadership. He said the 50 years of seamless transition aptly qualified the judiciary as one of the most resilient institutions in the State, and congratulated judiciary workers and all the past and present Chief Judges of the State for maintaining the integrity of the institution. While congratulating Justice Oke, Governor Ambode said the development was a confirmation of her competence, experience and character to preside over the sacred temple of justice, just as he expressed absolute confidence in her intellectual capacity to steer

the ship of the State Judiciary on a smooth sail. The Governor, who alongside the Chief Judge are fellows of the Fulbright Scholarship of the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship from the United States of America, said it was important for Justice Oke to see her appointment as a platform to sustain and improve on the enviable reputation which the State Judiciary had built for itself over the years. Speaking on areas requiring improvement, Governor Ambode said: â€œOne area of our Judicial System which I consider as work in progress is the speed of justice delivery in the State. We have made significant progress in this regard with the various reforms that have been initiated and implemented.

Lagos Inaugurates Ebeano MotherChild Unit at General Hospital The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, has inaugurated an ultra- modern Mother-Child unit of the Ibeju-Lekki General Hospital and enjoined the staff and management to ensure that the healthcare facility was put to good and effective use. The hospital was built, equipped and donated to the Ibeju-Lekki General Hospital, Akodo, Lagos, by the owners of Ebeano Supermarket, Mr. Sunday Egede and David Ojei, as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Speaking at the inauguration, Idris described the hospital complex as modern and the equipment of international standard, adding that it aligned modern day design for healthcare facility, which the Lagos State Government had also adopted going forward. While commending the donors, the commissioner who noted that inequality in healthcare service delivery was a reality, stated that the gesture would help to address inequality in the healthcare service, access to quality healthcare and cost of care, which are some of the objectives of the proposed

Lagos Health Insurance Scheme. â€œBefore today, I had quietly visited the facility to see for myself what it looks like, what I saw then and what I have seen today is very commendable. The edifice is simple but very functional; it is in line with modern design for healthcare facility. Any new health facility that the Lagos State Government will be build will follow the same model. â€œI thank the donors, Mr. Sunday Egede and Mr. Jude Ojei. The facility that you have donated is of international standard. It will help to address inequality in healthcare service delivery in the state, address access to healthcare and cost of care, which are all at the core of the Lagos State Insurance Scheme which we will commence before the end of the year,â€? Idris stated. Earlier in a keynote address read by Mr. Chidi Koosi, on behalf of the donors, the duo explained that the gesture was a demonstration of their efforts to give back to the society and added that if more well-meaning Nigerians toed the same line the country can end medical tourism.

Kano Spends N1.9bn on Local, International Scholarships Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

SAVING LIVES ... StaďŹ€ of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Unit; with Rotn Sandeep Sood, Group CEO, Chellarams Plc; Rotn Sarsdeev Tarsdon, president, Rotary Mega Club of Lagos Island; Rotn Kishobe Bendre, Coordinator of the Rotary Mega Club of Lagos Island; Rotn Sunit Debroy, Vice president Rotary Club of Lagos Island and a staďŹ€ of Chellarams Limited at the 2017 Blood Donation Camp, sponsored by the Rotary Mega Club of Lagos Island and Chellarams Limited at their premises along Apapa Oshodi Expressway, Lagos

Army Council Promotes 123 PaulObiinAbuja The Nigerian Army Council yesterday approved promotion of 123 officers from the ranks of major to lieutenant colonels and above. Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman said: "Pursuant to the powers conferred on the Army Council by virtue of sections 10 (1) and 11(b) of the Armed Forces Act CAP A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the Army Council has appoved the promotion of 123 officers from the ranks of Majors to Lieutenant Colonels and from Lieutenant Colonels to Colonels with varying effective dates of seniority. "A breakdown from the Office of the Military Secretary (Army), indicates that 66 Officers were promoted to the rank of Colonels from Lieutenant Colonels and 57 to the rank of

Lieutenant Colonels from the rank of Majors. "The promotions were sequel to the recommendation of the Army Promotions Board 3 and 4 and it cut across all eligible officers within the rank brackets as reflected in the 2017 Nigerian Army Forecast of Events. "Among those promoted to the rank of Colonels are the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations 7 Division, Lieutenant Colonel KM Samuel and Lieutenant Colonel OO Diya of 707 Special Forces Brigade. Others are Lieutenant Colonel AM Tukur, Commanding Officer of 119 Task Force Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel MB Shehu, Commanding Officer 158 Battalion and Lieutenant Colonel KC Uwa, Commanding Officer 146 Battalion, while one other officer, late Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Suleman was promoted post humously."

'Trust Differentiates Our Administration from Jonathan's' Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The presidency yesterday reacted to the allegation by former President Goodluck Jonathan that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had done nothing since its advent over two years ago. Chief presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina in a tweet on his twitter handle@ FemAdesina, said Nigerians trusted the administration of Buhari when compared to that of former president. The former president who said the current administration was only good at lies and propaganda, said whereas the current Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola had boasted that any serious government would fix power in six months, the government has been unable to do so

almost two and half years thereafter. He also said fuel price had remained as high as N145 per litre despite the drastic fall of oil price in the global market. But Adesina in his tweet, said when the federal government increased the pump price of fuel to as high as N145, Nigerians accepted it in good faith. According to him, this was antithetical to the situation when the country was shut down in 2012 after Jonathan's administration did the same thing. He said trust was the underlying factor between the reactions of Nigerians to the two situations. "When petrol went to N145 under PMB, Nigerians held their peace unlike when they shut the country in 2012."

Buhari Felicitates with Ekwueme at 85 Omololu Ogunmade inAbuja President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated former Vice President and elder statesman, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, on today's occasion of his 85th birthday. The president's chief spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari joined all former leaders of Nigeria, profes-

sional colleagues and friends of the Ekwueme family in celebrating the octogenarian, whose lifeâ€™s journey, he said had undoubtedly, been a narrative of immeasurable grace, courage and candour. The statement said the president extolled Ekwuemeâ€™s love for knowledge and search for wisdom from an early age, which it said prompted him to

obtain many degrees in various fields of study, including a doctorate in Architecture, and becoming one of the first Nigerians to gain the Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States. It also said Buhari commended the former vice presidentâ€™s entrepreneurial spirit by setting up the first indigenous architectural firm in Nigeria and

spreading its tentacles to more than 16 cities, until he accepted the national call to serve his father land in 1979 after a long commitment in building his community. "As one of the founders of Nigeriaâ€™s democracy, the President affirms that Ekwueme played a major role in mobilising the group of 34 eminent Nigerians in the 1990s."

Kano State Government has so far spent the sum of N1,874,261,573.80 as Special intervention for tuition and upkeep allowances for 61,989 students of the state in local and international tertiary institutions.. Speaking to reporters on Friday in Kano to dismiss the claims by the Opposition, the State Commissioner for Information, Malam Mohammed Garba, insisted that no Kano student under Ganduje-led administration had been sent home due to nonpayment of their tuition and upkeep allowances. According to him, currently, the Kano State Government was sponsoring over 61,989 students both locally and internationally, adding that the State Government's special intervention was for 10 months. The current administration inherited the scholarship scheme from the immediate- past Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso administration, which was characterised by huge debt profile and alleged discrepancies in the award of the scholarship scheme, which involved the use of Consultants. On accreditation, Garba explained that when the current administration came on board, only two out of 57 courses were accredited, a situation that compelled the state Government to pay the National Universities Commission (NUC) N213 million for proper accreditation of the courses at Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Yusuf Maitama Yusuf University and Kano State Polytechnic.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as DANIEL ONJEFU OKOPI, now wish to be known and addressed as DANIEL OKOPI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. I, formerly known and addressed as OLO MORINS now wish to be known and addressed as OMOREGHA MOSES. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed PATIENCE as ISIWELE ISEHIME, now wish to be known and addressed as MOGINI PATIENCE ISIWELE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. I, formerly known and addressed as ERIVBIETA EJIROGHENE EVA, now wish to be known and addressed as ADENIYI EJIROGHENE EVA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. I formerly known and addressed as PAUL CHUKWU UCHE, now wish to be known and addressed as CHUKWU SUNDAY THEOPHILUS and my correct date of birth is 6/6/1990. All former documents remain valid the general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as EDIMO BASSEY now wish to be known and addressed as ETUKUDO EDIMO BASSEY. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as MISS EZEDINIRU OBIANUJU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS CHIDOZIE IHEDIOHA OBIANUJU.. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ULOMA SYLVER OKEZIE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ULOMA NWOGU. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

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

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2017

INSIGHT

Hadiza, NPA Director

Volpi, INTELS Director

HouseofReps,INTELSandNationalInterest

Abang Asuquo

watched with bemusement on Wednesday night as members of the House of Representatives, once again, put themselves on the line for the assessment of Nigerians. It is no secret that possibly since 1999 when the country retuned to civil rule, no set of legislators has courted public opprobrium like Class 2015. And the question has mostly been about whether these people truly hold national interest above personal or class interests. Most often than not, they have shown their hands as men and women after nothing but the feathering of other interests than that which promotes public good. Unfortunately to make things worse, in this pursuit, they very often act ultra vires. An example of such situations is Wednesday’s motion which ordered the Attorney General of the Federation and the Nigerian Ports Authority to reverse the termination of its contract with INTELS. In discussing this motion, as shown on

It is in the same way that one cannot fathom the company’s threat that the termination of this contract will jeopardize its plan to invest in Badagry. Again, this is blackmail. If INTELS runs away from this investment, it does not take the opportunity away and some other investors would soon get exploit the opportunity, ultimately the losers would be no one but INTELS

Channels Television News at 10, the House was divided along party lines but at the end of the day, those who wanted a situation the termination “reinstated” pending the conclusion of investigations of an ad hoc committee set up to look into the matter carried the day. What is curious about discussions in the House is that they sounded so much like they were in the court of law. While some of the members actually suggested that INTELS should go to court to protect its interest if it feels shortchanged, one or two members, whose names I did not get, were actually talking about the need to protect the “res”. And I found myself wondering of these people actually imagine that they had the powers of the courts, the powers to protect the res! But even the courts do not exercise the power to issue what would amount to an ex-parte order without discretion. While one cannot fault the House of Representatives for its decision to investigate the circumstances surrounding the termination of the boat pilotage contract, one finds it preposterous that it would order a reversal of a decision that is said to have been taken as a result of infractions on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended. I cannot vouch for the process that the AGF and NPA employed in the termination of this contract, not being a party to it, but it is trite that even if the terms of the initial agreement between the parties had been infringe, it is only a court of law that can adjudicate such infringement. Expect of course in the case of Arbitration Clauses that may have been part of the contract. For the House of Representatives to suggest that it has the power to “maintain the res” is to say the least, laughable. But we can even take this argument further. The member of the House who raised this issue of national importance during Plenary on Wednesday, Hon Duoye Diri, from Bayelsa State, and some of the other contributors identified the need to protect about 7000 jobs as one of the reasons for their intervention. And one is the forced to ask what this has got to do with conforming to the laws of the land? The argument that the lawmakers seem to be making here is that even if infractions have truly been established against INTELS, Nigeria must condone them because they employ a huge number of our people. I honestly cannot think of a more incredible proposition. I agree that Nigeria needs all the job opportunities that it can muster at this time, but nothing is more important that the sanctity of our laws as they are the only things they make us a civilized society. The moment investors are unable to vouch for the ability of Nigeria to protect them through the instrumentality of the law, the country would have sacrificed its qualification as a civilized country. We cannot scare investors away with the lack of assurance for a level playing field that the restoration of a contract that is patently illegal

would convey. But are we even losing 7000 jobs with the termination of the boat pilotage contract? Does INTELS have that number of employees for this single contract or it has summed up its staff strength to include its operation as a terminal operator in three port locations, some of which have the best facilities to receive oil and gas cargoes in the country? These terminals are still receiving virtually all of Nigeria’s oil and gas cargoes at the moment since other operators do not immediately offer the infrastructure to compete with INTELS. This is another area in which members of the House of Representatives did not demonstrate adequate knowledge. One of the members was speculating that INTELS concession deal has been terminated, but there is nothing more untrue. As we speak, INTELS still operate terminals for the NPA in Onne, Calabar and Port Harcourt. We need to get informed about these things before we speak about them, please! As someone who has practiced in the maritime sector for well over one decade, I think the noise about the loss of 7000 jobs is cheap blackmail. I am aware that INTELS employs thousands of Nigerians but that cannot be related to this contract only. That the company also makes it sound like it has lost out completely in its business with the NPA is also a dishonest strategy that Nigerians must see through. Even as we speak, INTELS receives the greater number of oil and gas cargoes in Nigeria because of the capacity and infrastructure that it has built in the years that it had monopoly in that sector. So playing the cheated victim in the public space is deceptive. In any case, even if INTELS had 7000 people employed for its boat pilotage service, wouldn’t the expertise of these people be needed by whoever is taking over the agency? It is in the same way that one cannot fathom the company’s threat that the termination of this contract will jeopardize its plan to invest in Badagry. Again, this is blackmail. If INTELS runs away from this investment, it does not take the opportunity away and some other investors would soon get exploit the opportunity, ultimately the losers would be no one but INTELS. Having said all, I will INTELS that rather than run helter skelter blackmailing government and playing on the emotions of Nigeria, it should look for opportunities to settle this amicably with the NPA and if that does not work, it should review its business process and ensure that it conforms to all Nigerian laws. The company cannot continue to give the impression that only Nigeria has benefitted from its investments in the country. The truth is INTELS has become an enormously big entity on the bill of Nigeria. It has been a mutually beneficial relationship and the company will lose too much by making it sound otherwise. ––Asuquo, a marine engineer, wrote in from Port Harcourt, Rivers State

OCTOBER 21, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

FASHION FILE

‘Misfits in Colors’ Collection by P.O.C

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2017

FASHION FILE ‘ Misfi ts in Colours’ Collection by P.O.C

ollowing their latest street style editorial, Lagos-based menswear brand, P.O.C Lagos, has released a new collection of ready to wear pieces tagged, ‘Misfits In Colours’ The brand reiterated its stance to ensuite men with more clothing options as evi evident in the use of bold colors and patterns to design kaftans, tunics, shirts and pants. The pieces were rolled out at a shopping party at their Uurbandice designed retail space at Meidei on the 7th of October and was sponsored by Jameson. The brand is stocked at Meidei - New 3/ Old 6, Ogbunike street, Lekki Phase 1. Credits Design: @P.o.c_Lagos Direction and Styling: @zerodays.off x @wack.of cial @wack.offi Misfit models: @theqgram @ambrose_ tjark @erezi.erezi @manlike_maz

Byy Azuka Ogujiuba azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺ͹˜ 2017

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L:R: Executive Director, Service and Technology ,Union Bank, Nath Ude; Head, Customer Service ,Union Bank, Agatha Mbanefo; Group Chief Financial Oﬃcer Africa, Tolaram Group , Dinesh Rathi and Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Union Bank, Emeka Okonkwo during the bank’s visit to Tolaram Group as part of its activities to mark the 2017 Customer Service Week.

L-R: Chief Executive Oﬃcer, Centre for Law and Business, Dapo Oyewumi; Chairman, House Committee on Water Front Infrastructural Development, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu; Deputy President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Babatunde Ruwase and Chairperson, LCCI Women Group, Hon. Agnes Shobajo, during the 3rd Edition of LCCI Women Group Conference in Lagos recently

LG Electronics: Using Technology for Positive Learning Environment With high technology penetration and adoption in virtually all sectors, employing high-tech innovations to enhance and influence a desired learning behaviour might not be a bad idea. Experts believe that a lot of factors, especially a soothing environment could direct and focus students’ attention on effective learning. An educationist, Linda Dusenbury, pointed out that a conducive learning setting was required for students’ motivation, academic achievement, improved attendance and teachers’ retention. Away from the traditional and other intangible elements to foster a conducive educational atmosphere such as wall art, desks arrangement, classroom energy, rules and sound, research has also shown that the

relevance of educational technologies as viable in supporting teaching and learning processes. Technology has succeeded in digitizing classrooms through tools like, computers, tablets, smartphones and smart digital white boards. Ever since the world became more interconnected since 2005, more technology inventions are finding widespread applications in classrooms across the globe and multinational information technology firm, LG Electronics, is not relenting in this area. As part of its corporate social responsibility drive and commitment to educational growth and a fulfilled nation, the firm has been keying into the potential of educational technologies by churning out students-friendly products

and other gestures. For instance, its HVAC system has earned a global recognition in creating suitable climate for education by reducing distractions, increase attention span and boost motivation for teachers and students. Also worthy of note is its portable projectors, an excellent addition to the modern classroom that aids students’ intellectual engagement and retention. For example, the Gram PCs and MiniBeam projectors which come with an in-built battery and wireless connectivity offer convenience that stirs assimilation. It is also in fulfillment of its pledge that it established air conditioning training academy in institutions of higher learning across the world while also offering free classes and

Kudimoney Makes Global Knorr Launches Campaign to Feed 815m Top 50 Digital Banks As a way of marking the 2017 World still go to bed hungry. This number is Online lending platform and fintech company, Kudimoney, has entered the list of 2017 Financial IT Top 50 Digital Banks. This is coming barely one year after the company had its foothold in Nigeria. The list is compiled by Financial IT magazine, a leading voice in global FinTech, AI, Digital Banking and Blockchain. Financial IT recognises the top 50 global pioneers at the intersection of technology and digital banking services by publishing a report highlighting the who is who in the global digital banking industry with a brief introduction of all the companies on the list. Kudimoney is the only Nigerian company, and one of two African companies to make the list. FinTech companies are non-traditional financial institutions that are using technology to disrupt the financial sector. They are actively developing new technologies to push for the transformation of the financial services industry and are proactively exploring and adopting advanced technologies(blockchain, machine learning) to increase efficiency in financial services. The selection criteria included an assessment of the overall impact of the digital bank. In his remark, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the outfit, Babs Ogundeyi said: “We are delighted to be recognised as a leading pioneer in digital banking. As a result-oriented firm, we are committed to developing a digital platform that ultimately makes banking easier and more affordable for Nigerians and Africans. By running a more efficient system, we are able to offer customers more value for their money, via higher interest rates on savings and deposits and lower interest rates on loans, all with an effortless banking experience.” The firm recently launched its online only automatic savings product - a savings account that allows customers to automatically save little (or large) amounts of money on a periodic basis.

Food Day, Unilever, largest food brand, Knorr, in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has initiated a social media action, tagged#SharetheMeal #Knorr campaign to feed over 815 million hungry persons. The initiative encourages food lovers to turn their food posts on social media into a real meal for someone in need. Reacting to a recent survey presented by WFP which revealed that 815 million people or one in nine of the global population still go to bed hungry, the Unilever giant explained that the over 3.5million photos of food that were being posted, liked and shared around the world and 1.2 billion posts on food conversation annually can actually be translated into real food to meet the needy, hence the idea. Speaking on this development, Unilever Ghana-Nigeria Marketing Director, Foods, Nsima Ogedi-Alakwe said, “According to WFP, 815M people

staggering. We are therefore committed to creating a better world where nutritious food is more accessible. “This is why we are encouraging food lovers to post their meals to donate a real meal. Each time #ShareTheMeal #post is shared or retweeted on Facebook and Twitter, Knorr will donate the equivalent of one meal via WFP up to a total of 1.5 million meals.” The firm also used the occasion to spread its message of nutritious meals in line with the Knorr’s three steps of fortifying foods with iron to tackle the scourge of anaemia. These steps include tossing greens into stews, stirring them in and crumbling the Knorr iron-fortified stock cube. This year’s campaign builds upon the success of previous World Food Day activations, which have seen the brand donate over 3 million school meals since 2014 through its partnership with the World Food Programme.

Power Firms Engage Consumers, Assure of Improved Services Global power leaders, Cummins and Power Gas Nigeria, have assured customers and other stakeholders of efficient service delivery as they jointly hosted them in an appreciation event at the U.S. Consul General’s residence in Lagos. The firms also used the occasion to address issues confronting the power sector in the country and resolved on cheap and reliable alternatives. According to the firms, the gathering was to further reconnect with existing customers and other stakeholders especially leaders in the manufacturing sector. Among the issues tabled were power shortage as well as expected increments in electricity cost by Distribution Companies (DISCos).

General Manager of Cummins Power Generation Nigeria, Mr. Daniele Sechi, noted that since power accounted for almost 30-40% of the cost of manufacturing, it was pertinent to consider cheap options that would enable manufacturers to fix their power budget over a long period of time For Cummins Energy Solutions, Sechi explained that it boasted of quality electricity supply which was quite robust and reliable. “With over 200 engineers in Nigeria, our service allows for 24/7 operations to our customers as we provide the operation, maintenance and after-market support for all our branded gas plants in Nigeria,” he said.

vocational training to professionals in the industry. According to the company, its investment in the education sector stems from its belief in the Nigerian child, the tomorrow’s leader, capable of interrupting the world given the necessary resources. Speaking on this initiative, Managing Director of LG Electronics West Africa operations, Mr. Taeick Son said, “The importance of education cannot be overemphasised in the life of every corporate entity, that is why we will go to any length to support it with whatever we have at our disposal; be it products, grants, scholarship and what have you. We are indeed committed to funding educational initiatives around the world.”

Ribena Redeems Promo Pledges In fulfillment of its promise to teeming customers, Suntory Beverage and Food Nigeria, makers of Ribena and Lucozade drinks has rewarded the first set of winners in its Back-to-School Promo which was launched last month. The five winners were rewarded with a scholarship worth N100,000 at an elaborate event held at the company’s office in Ikeja, Lagos. The event, witnessed by regulatory bodies, family and friends of winners as well as staff of the company further established the brand’s fidelity and commitment to children’s development, especially that it is coming at a time when parents settle school bills. Speaking at the occasion, Managing Director of the company, Mr Chinedum Okereke said, “Our investment in the Nigerian child is a direct result of our unwavering commitment to promoting quality child education, and reducing the financial pressures from the rising cost of children’s education, through this cash scholarship. This promo embodies Ribena’s motto of Goodness made fun, as we strive to make the high-pressure, back-to-school period more fun for children and parents. “This is our own little way of thanking our esteemed consumers for their continued loyalty and patronage over the years, and also reinforcing our dedication to helping the Nigerian child achieve his/her dreams. We also want to use this as a platform to reach out and encourage patronage from new consumers, mummies, daddies, uncles and aunties are all enjoined to participate.” Addressing the winners, Senior Brand Manager, Ribena, Mr. Essien Ekemini, reiterated the essence of the 84-year-old brand as offering not just nutritional goodness but goodness in general. He urged the winners to spread the goodness of the brand and encouraged more patronage from existing and new customers so as to ensure that the goodness spreads to all. New and existing consumers can participate by purchasing a promo carton of Ribena or 150ml Lucozade; search the carton for the Berry card, scratch the silver strip behind the card to reveal an entry code and text the code and their first name to 20966 for verification and redemption.

T H I S D AY SATURDAY OCTOBER 21, 2017

T H I S D AY SATURDAY OCTOBER 21 2017

T H I S D AY SATURDAY OCTOBER 21, 2017

T H I S D AY SATURDAY OCTOBER 21 2017

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2017

THE ALTERNATIVE with Reno Omokri Buharism: The Definition of Cluelessness

s you read this, the news has just filtered in that herdsmen just killed another 27 Nigerian citizens in Plateau State. But do not worry, the Nigerian government is dealing with the terrorist Indigenous People of Biafra AKA IPOB! I am sorry if I seem to be trivializing the deaths in Plateau State, but the situation is just ridiculous to say the least. These murderous herdsmen continue to maraud and pillage and the feeble response of President Buhari is to urge the police and security agencies to stop ‘this madness’. Rhetoric. All we get is rhetoric. How many herdsmen have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted as a result of the President’s many directives to the police and the security agencies? The answer is between zero and few. Nigeria is the world’s only nation where herdsmen who kill citizens are left alone while secessionists who do not kill are labeled terrorists! If herdsmen are not terrorists then what are they? Are they a charitable group donating free bullets to Nigerians by shooting it into their bodies? Herdsmen are killing Nigerians in Plateau State while the Nigerian soldiers who should protect them are carrying out unwanted medical outreaches down South! Why can’t President Buhari divert the soldiers he sent to the South, where no one is killing or dying, to Plateau to deal with killer herdsmen? But what am I even saying? If the President’s wife complains that the State House Clinic cannot help her or her family, how can you believe President Muhammadu Buhari can help you or your family in Plateau State or anywhere else in Nigeria? And instead of facing these issues, the President keeps narrowcasting his blame game to a rapidly shrinking audience. Just two days ago, the Presidency released a statement blaming the People’s Democratic Party for the restructuring agitations in the country. Perhaps the President’s memory is fading and he has forgotten that it was precisely him and his party that campaigned on the issue of restructuring. But of course, President Buhari never disappoints. He always knows who to blame for the problem and never knows who will solve the problem. Where real leaders have a solution for every problem, Buhari has someone to blame for every problem. Not everyone with a title is a leader! And the saddest thing is that like all insecure leaders, President Muhammadu Buhari is now using instruments of state power to intimidate rivals who want to compete for space within the leadership plinth with him. Atiku Abubakar showed interest. NPA cancels his contract. Tinubu eyes the Presidential seat. SEC announces audit of Oando. Fayose declares interest in 2019 and within 2 hours the EFCC arrested his finance people to cripple him. Ibe Kachikwu threatened President Buhari’s reelection by exposing the deep corruption in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and within days his house was literally on fire. Will 2019 be an election or war? Sadly, all those who thought Muhammadu Buhari was the messiah now know the difference between a messiah and a messier. Buhari was and is no Messiah. He only

Herdsmen are killing Nigerians in Plateau State while the Nigerian soldiers who should protect them are carrying out unwanted medical outreaches down South! Why can’t President Buhari divert the soldiers he sent to the South, where no one is killing or dying, to Plateau to deal with killer herdsmen? But what am I even saying? If the President’s wife complains that the State House Clinic cannot help her or her family, how can you believe President Muhammadu Buhari can help you or your family in Plateau State or anywhere else in Nigeria?

Buhari

came to make Nigeria Messier! In the five years that he GOVERNED Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan spent N16 trillion. The economy grew. Naira was stable. We had the greatest expansion of infrastructure since the Gowon years and inflation was at single digit. In the two years that President Muhammadu Buhari has RULED Nigeria, he has spent N15 trillion. We have had recession. Naira collapsed. Inflation has gone back to double digits and the only infrastructure that he has started and completed is the Daura helipad. Yet Buhari called Jonathan clueless but Jonathan has not called Buhari clueless. See life? Why should Dr. Goodluck Jonathan even bother calling President Buhari clueless? When even the President’s Wife complains of the State House Clinic under his own nose. Can cluelessness be more domestic than that? And then while we were grappling with this monumental show of incompetence as exposed by his wife, along comes the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, who revealed that the President told him to focus the attention of the bank on Northern Nigeria. This is what Mr. Kim said: “You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and we’ve done that. Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult”. And when the rest of the country was justifiably upset with this nepotistic behaviour, the Presidency, rather than pacify the nation, released a very belligerent statement insulting those who dared to question what the President said. But if the Presidency says the President of the World Bank misinterpreted President Muhammadu Buhari’s request urging the bank to focus on Northern Nigeria, then how come 14 out of 17 leadership positions in the military are held by Northerners? How come 36 out of 55 recent top NNPC appointments went to Northerners? How come the Kano-Daura rail was approved while the rail links in South-east were not funded? How come IPOB are declared terrorists and the army sent after them but Herdsmen are not and grazing reserves planned for them?

According to an investigation carried about The PUNCH Newspaper in their edition of Sunday the 15th of October 2017, no World Bank project has been “specifically designed for” the South South, South East or Middle Belt since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed power. According to Punch, only the core North and the South-west have had specific projects under the Buhari administration. It seems the World Bank abided by President Buhari 97% versus 5% directive for them to ‘focus on the North’. The funniest thing is that these World Bank projects that are ‘focused on the North’ are loans that will be paid back by all of us! And this cluelessness pervades the whole administration. Babatunde Raji Fashola once said a serious government will fix power sector in 6 months. He has been a minister for 2 years, can we conclude that he’s unserious? All Progressives Congress once said that N216 to $1 under Jonathan was unacceptable. Today I ask if N370 to $1 is acceptable? President Muhammadu Buhari went to Chatham House to condemn public officials who go abroad for healthcare. Today he is Africa’s biggest health tourist to London. Nasir El-Rufai mocked Jesus our Lord on Twitter and insulted Goodluck Jonathan while praying. Today he is notorious for jailing his critics! So next time the APC promises you anything, take it with a bucket of salt! The truth, which I have always known, is that Muhammadu Buhari is as clueless as they come. If you doubt me, go to the State House Clinic and ask for ordinary panadol!

Reno’s Nuggets

Don’t assume that a friendly girl is loose and a shy girl is virtuous. Our personality reflects our attitude, not our character. And as a young man about to start life, do note that a wife material doesn’t slay, she prays. Life’s problems don’t bow to slay queens. They bow down however to prayer queens. Finally, if you meet a man or woman that doesn’t need your money or your body but still pursues you, you have met the beginning of love #RenosNuggets

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

EVENT

Bucknor-Obruthe, DaSilva-Ajayi, Tayo-Balogun, Others, Inspire Young Entrepreneurs

Ono Bello- PR Consultant and Media Entrepreneur, Founder OnoBello

igital magazine, OnoBello.com, hosted 60 young entrepreneurs at her newly launched project ‘Get Motivated with Ono Bello’ (#GetMotivatedwithOB), an exclusive event aimed at hosting young entrepreneurs across Nigeria. The event which took place recently at Sappers Waterfront Lounge in Victoria Island, Lagos, featured a day of inspirational talks and business tip on how the young entrepreneurs in attendance can start and grow a business. The event kicked off with a verification process for attendees, where everyone was handed the special “Get Motivated with OB”, a short opening prayer, then Ono Bello, founder of the digital magazine, gave her welcome address. She spoke on her “inspiration” as an entrepreneur, a theme for thes maiden edition. Reading her speech, Ono highlighted some crucial points in her life and career. She said, “For me, my inspiration for going into my business came after I completed my Master’s Degree, I felt I was full of so many ideas and I knew they were being underutilised in my place of work then, I would say I was not totally fulfilled even though the job looked interesting to outsiders, it had become boring to me, I wanted more. I needed a place where my ideas were being put to good use, I wanted start and grow them, I would say I had some BIG ideas but they were not being utilised and most of you working in organisations might be able to relate to that. So, I decided to start something small and put in everything I had to make it grow. “At the time, I was living and working in the UK, so I made a decision to move back to Nigeria, with no money, nowhere to live in Lagos because prior to this I had sold my car, all my belongings and moved out of my small mini flat to go study in the UK and chase my dreams working for a magazine there. My parents don’t live in Lagos, so it was not a question of moving back with my parents, I had graduated from my first degree six years prior to that time and I couldn’t see myself asking

Get Motivated with Ono Bello

Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, Seun Tayo-Balogun, Ono Bello, Tunji Ashiru and Lanre DaSilva-Ajayi

my parents for money because I had been quite independent and taking care of myself all this while. However, before I quit my job, I started putting things in place to kick start my dream, started building my website with the help of a friend that knows how to build websites and doing a lot of researches along the lines of what I wanted to do. “I then moved back to Nigeria and was staying with a friend for a few months who I had asked to give me three months to get my place, yes I was a squatter. I only had money to fend for myself for four months and that meant transport myself, Mary-Jane Ohubu, General Manager for around and buy food. So, as you can tell, Ibikunle Bolorunduro- Fidelity Bank Zaron representing the brand’s CEO the pressure was on… But you know what, I was hopeful I had something to SME business Advisor Oke Maduewesi offer, I worked hard, had sleepless nights, stay consistent, hopeful, surrounded myself with people that inspired me, validated my dreams and make me want to strive for better. Most of all I prayed fervently. I still do all that today, I haven’t HIT it big yet to relax, I haven’t achieved my VISION yet. So, you see I can relate with a lot of the struggles you are going through to start off and grow in your businesses and improve your personal development.” Speakers that also spoke about their inspiration and tips on how to start and grow a business were: Lanre DaSilva Ajayi, Creative Director of fashion brand LDA, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, CEO Zapphire Events, Oke Maduewesi, CEO Zaron Tunji Ashiru, Lanre DaSilva-Ajayi, Ono Bello, Charles Aigbe (Divisional Head, Brand Cosmetics , who was represented by and Communicatios Fidelity Bank) & Mary-Jane Ohubu Mary-Jane Ohubu, the General Manager for the brand, Seun Tayo-Balogun, CEO Brief Essentials & Co-Founder of Techmonks Limited, Tunji Ashiru, Executive of Strategic Policy Engagement, Interswitch Group and Ibikunle Bolorunduro, Fidelity Bank SME Business Advisor. After the talks, attendees were given the opportunity to ask the speakers questions, there was also networking over drinks, plenty of food and fun entertainment. The day ended with Ono Bello giving away N500,000 shared among 10 Entrepreneurs- N50,000.00 each with the hope that the money will help to grow their business in a specific areas highlighted during the registration process. Get Motivated with Ono Bello

Ono Bello with the 10 winners of the N500,000 share giveaway

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 21, 2017

ENCOUNTER Carlos Trejo Sosa

We Have Native Doctors in Cuba Like Nigeria Inside his oﬃce, there is no trace of lavishness. There are no oﬃcial portraits of the country’s president and that of the ambassador. It is a policy that was put in place by former Cuban President, Fidel Castro, that the people come first before any individual. Carlos Trejo Sosa, the Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria tells Stanley Nkwazema about the country’s 2018 elections, the first in several years

We have a good number of doctorate degree holders in sciences, which gave us the raw materials to produce and do very well in research. The money was put to achieve results. For instance, in biotechnology and genetic engineering, Cuba is well advanced. I will say without being immodest, Cuba is well placed in these areas. The things we have produced in Cuba are not only for the Third World countries but also for countries that consider themselves highly developed

Historic Moments of 1974 arlos Trejo Sosa, the Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, was full of praises for THISDAY. He just could not hide it. “Your newspaper has paid a lot of attention to Cuba; we are pleased that information provided by you is balanced. You have portrayed the right Cuba – Nigeria relations. Be that as it may, in 2014 we celebrated our 40th anniversary of establishing formal diplomatic relations with Nigeria. It has been very cordial since the signing of the Lagos document of relationship. Despite the political movements, the relationship has been very cordial; it has been sustained over the years. We have been very frank in our dialogues especially on international affairs, African Affairs in which Cuba has been involved for so many. Cuban presence in Africa has been a long standing relationship even before most of the countries got their independence, more especially in the Southern part of the continent and other areas. Nigeria is not excluded,” he said. Cuba and Nigeria since 1974 Sosa says his country has always considered Nigeria an important friend of Cuba and there are instances to back such up. The ambassador said, “If I can remember, President Olusegun Obasanjo was in Cuba twice during his tenure. Some Nigerian leaders have also visited Cuba. Just last year we received in Cuba the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Godfrey Onyeama. In the 70s and 80s and especially during the 90s, with regards to Nigeria, I will say that over 300 Nigerians studied in Cuba with full scholarship, from Cuba, we had sports trainers and doctors work here to improve the quality of health care and sports development and other areas.” He laments that the economic crises of 2008 ensured Cuba could no longer sustain the effort because it went beyond her capacity and so the scholarship was reduced to the barest minimum. “But we opened Cuba to students from several parts of the world as self-financed students which is a small contribution which cannot be considered as huge. For instance, foreign students attending one of the best medical schools in the world, in Cuba, for seven years including the compulsory one year language study don’t pay so much. It is affordable. Studying in Cuba is affordable and the quality of education is very high. It is nothing when compared to what you have to pay anywhere

Sosa

in the World, the Cuban diplomat noted. Despite Blockade, We Survived With the economic blockade which affected the island country badly, Cuba had to go without many essential things. The country had to think deep, dig deeper especially in the areas of research to overcome the difficulties. Perhaps, that was why the country recorded a lot of successes in the area of medicine; mainly in the healthcare delivery and orthodox medicine. Early enough, the late Fidel Castro understood that Cuba being a very small island, with very little resources, should concentrate her efforts at trying to produce something which they only needed their brains. Government then decided to prepare people in sciences mainly. Speaking on that Sosa stated, “We had to be a country of scientists because we have free education system from nursery to doctorate levels. Not only in Cuba, but outside

the island. More than 10 per cent of the Cuban population holds university degrees. We have a good number of doctorate degree holders in sciences, which gave us the raw materials to produce and do very well in research. The money was put to achieve results. For instance, in biotechnology and genetic engineering, Cuba is well advanced. I will say without being immodest, Cuba is well placed in these areas. The things we have produced in Cuba are not only for the Third World countries but also for countries that consider themselves highly developed. In Cuba, at the moment, we are producing the only vaccine against lung cancer which is now being tested in the United States and studies in many countries have been turning to be very good. We are now engaged in research with our partners in the US and some other countries. We also produce another drug which saves the legs of those who would rather have been amputated when they suffer ulcer provoked by diabe-

tes. We have successfully saved them by more than 85 per cent. They have equally gone back to their normal lives. We are offering the services to Nigeria. A Nigerian company is working with Cuba and they are very near to obtaining the license to import and use the products here.” Life after Fidel Castro Everybody must die, but the death of that man (Fidel Castro) immediately affected the entire Cuban population. It was a big hit on the Cuban people. Cubans were used to being with him, solving all the problems for six decades. “For us, it was like somebody that could not be lost. He died and left a legacy. We are trying to make the best out of his legacy. To use his teachings and apply the teachings because any country or generation looks more like there must be changes. Cuba is undergoing this process of changes quietly. We plan

OCTOBER 21, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

ENCOUNTER Don’t Mind My Skin, I am a Nigerian

We have no pure white in Cuba. Those who claim to be white are not because we all have Nigerian genes and African genes. From the Ashantis, Swahili, Kalabaris, Ibibios, Yorubas and Igbo. We are all mixed. As we have in Africa, we keep most of their traditions particularly Yoruba and Igbo traditions are well kept as in practice. My neighbour in Cuba is a Babalawo and my Deputy Head of Mission can attest to it. We have lots of Babalawos and can even export them from Cuba to Nigeria

for many years in advance,” he added. Cuba Democracy like no Other Next year will be the end of the second tenure of Raul Castro. And no issue of self-perpetuation since he has already declared that he will not run again. He has proposed that Cubans and all elected bodies should not stay longer than two terms. Then there is also the proposal to the National Assembly to legislate on that issue. “Next year he will end his second tenure and according to our democracy,” Sosa said. “The way we have prepared everything, we have not previously elected people to that position. So to be a President in Cuba, they guy has to contest local elections, elected as a Deputy, then elected to the National Assembly and elected there as a member of the council of states and then the Council will nominate him for post of President. There is no possibility whatsoever that previously chosen people can be. If that guy is not elected from the grassroots he cannot contest any post. In Cuban democracy, Sosa says Deputies are not paid any salary. “For instance, if I am a Diplomat and I am working at the Foreign Affairs and my people elect me as a Deputy, I will work as Deputy during my free hours and I receive only the salary as a Minister of Foreign Affairs. I will not touch any resources. You cannot have corruption because nobody touches the money and nobody receives. That is why it is sometimes hard for the people to accept to be elected as Deputy because they know they have to fulfill their duties. Then after that it is not very easy to win the Presidency of Cuba. Of course, the President and the Ministers are paid.” Cuba and US Relations The diplomat says his country worked with the Obama administration and there have been positive results. He adds that Obama could not solve all the problems of the embargo. Things have been done but not enough to empty the embargo as a policy. “Only the Congress of the United States can completely lift the embargo or the prohibitions. Cuba signed 24 agreements with the Obama administration in different areas running from environment to medical collaboration, to many others. We hope that there would be cordial relations on both sides,” Sosa explains. Cuba and Nigeria: Trade is Low To Sosa, Nigeria and Cuba governments are not satisfied with the level of trade between the two countries. The commodities of exchange are not many or big. These include cigars, rum and also a little on the pharmaceuticals. “But we can much more than that. We are prepared and we have been discussing with Nigerian authorities and we are now engaged on how to go beyond the point where we are now. Nigeria is a federation so we have also connections with the state governments that have interest in some areas with Cuba. They need scientific or medical assistance or drug production. I can name more than five states which are interested and we are exploring all the possibilities. You know all these things

Sosa

are not done overnight. It takes some time. Sometimes the governments do not have the capacity and you have to go through a lot of processes.” Our Culture, Our Tourism: Same as Nigeria’s Nigeria and Cuba have several things in common, Sosa declares. He says Nigeria’s fabrics are also worn in Cuba since the Cuban population is mixed with African descents. “We have no pure white in Cuba. Those who claim to be white are not because we all have Nigerian genes and African genes. From the Ashantis, Swahili, Kalabaris, Ibibios, Yorubas and Igbo. We are all mixed. As we have in Africa, we keep most of their traditions particularly Yoruba and Igbo traditions are well kept as in practice. My neighbour in Cuba is a Babalawo and my Deputy Head of Mission can attest to it. We have lots of Babalawos and can even export them from Cuba to Nigeria,” Sosa says amidst laughter. Speaking further, he says: “we have Yoruba and Igbo associations in Cuba which is the Centre for Caribbean Islands and Diaspora except for the United States and Brazil, but goes up to Colombia and others where we have Nigerian descendants. We also have an association of people from Calabar. In Cuba a national poet once said that ‘in this country people who do not have Congo gene, they have Kalabari gene’. That was a poet who passed on 20 years ago. We have Sango, Yemoja, Osun and all of them. We perform and have continued with the traditions same way it is done in Nigeria. The previous Ooni, Late Oba Sijuade Okunade, visited Cuba. The new Ooni, Enitan Ogunwusi, has been invited to come to Cuba.

I had him here in my residence in Abuja for three days where we hosted him and mixed with different people. All the Obas came here. So also the Alaafin of Oyo; we have invited him to Cuba. We are also working with the Igbos and the Kalabaris.” Improving the Relations Sosa says Nigeria and Cuba have a common interest, adding that Nigeria is strongly placed and we need to strengthen cultural and family relationship between the two sides. He discloses that many Cubans have the same roots to Nigeria. “It is not possible not to take that into account. We need to strengthen that relationship beyond the point where we are now. Economic crises affect people not only Cuba but Nigeria too. You know where we are about 7,000 kilometres to Cuba and we don’t have a direct flight from here to Havana. We have to go through Europe or America. The direct link has been proposed for a very long time, years ago, and I am still assured there is still an agreement between the two sides to establish direct flight. There are also economic possibilities and we think that could be done. We have many Cubans who want to come to Nigeria to meet or visit their ancestral homes, to see where the places where their great grandparents were born. I had the opportunity as I went to Ife thrice and I was there knowing that I am a descendant from there. My great grandfathers came from there; I was also given a name, Omowale and my wife also by the Kingmakers from the Ooni’s Palace. Our links are getting stronger and we should take advantage of that. The fore-bearers of Cuba were from

Africa, mostly Nigeria, and my root is likely here. In Love with Nigeria “I love Nigeria,” Ambassador Sosa declares. “I feel at home in this country. I am not a foreigner here. Of course I know I don’t have the right to vote or be voted for. I see myself as a Nigeria. The staffs in the embassy also feel likewise. We have been trying a lot to see that we strengthen the relationship between both countries to a higher level. I am the only so called ‘white’ here, my wife is a mulato; her grandfather was born in Nigeria. My staff are being ‘adopted’ everywhere we go. That is why we want to promote the relationship between both countries so that nobody could be able t break the strong tie.” Medical Tourism: Cuba Oﬀers Better than Others Sosa admits Nigeria is spending billions of dollars on the so-called medical tourism. “In Cuba we provide the highest level in Medicare in any area. Europeans, Arabs and Americans come to Cuba to receive medical treatment because there is a big difference. I received here recently a lady trained in America whose sister had skin cancer. She was treated here and in India, but it was a big failure. She is about going to Cuba. Mind you, I am not trying to look down on the services in the two countries mentioned. The expenses for one year treatment including feeding and accommodation are very small or minimal than anywhere in the world. We are also working with the Nigerian farmers on ideas on how to bring to Nigeria in the future our specialists to provide assistance.”

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍš, 2017

POLITY

Yoruba Patriots Adopts Paseda for 2019 Ogun Governorship Femi Ogbonnika

pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Yoruba Patriots Movement (YPM), has adopted Otunba Rotimi Paseda, the Ogun State candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the 2015 general elections for the coming 2019 gubernatorial race in the state. The YPM, led by its Chairman, Oladosu Oladipo, during a recent courtesy visit to the Ijebu-Omu home of Otunba Paseda, in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State announced his adoption as their candidate. The YPM chairman, described Paseda is an offspring of the Awolowo dynasty. He said the 2015 Ogun state UPN governorship candidate had imbibed all the spirit, intellect and infrastructure of the late sage. â€œPaseda has resuscitated the defunct UPN with his political ambition in Ogun State. He was the flagbearer of the party in Ogun State in 2015 and he is still going to be the governorship candidate of the party in the state in 2019. â€œIf I am to go back to the memory lane, it was this same political party I rode to victory when I contested for the legislative assembly seat in the old Oyo State. â€œThere are delectable processes, either thesis or anti-thesis. The good in APC will come to the UPN, while the good in PDP will also come to the UPN. Everybody should give their

support to the UPN. They are doing that because we can have somebody like Paseda with programmes and roadmap to lead for things to turn around for good. â€œI am from Osun State and what we are doing is a rescue movement. It is what we have been doing. I have no doubt that Paseda has the ability, character, foresight and he is active politically. He has a potent platform to make Ogun State great. Everybody will integrate with you in Ogun State. Thank you for resuscitating the legacies, policies and ideas of the Awolowo-led UPN in Yorubaland. You are very humble and pleasant as a very good choice for the number one seat of Ogun Stateâ€?, said Oladipo. Besides, the YPM leader, noted restructuring could only come to reality unless the country returned to the 1963 constitution which allowed all the regions to develop, according to their own pace. â€œAwolowo started with education, with free primary education throughout the old western region. He was very proactive because his programmes were all-inclusive. He was doing these alongside the establishment of farm settlement, industrial layout and with these laudable projects, Western Region was ahead of other regions. Development doesnâ€™t come overnight but it is a gradual processâ€?, said the YPM Chairman. He admonished Paseda not to be discouraged over his ambition and asked him to hold humility as the only key to get up. In his response, Paseda stated that

L-R Otunba Rotimi Paseda; YPM Chairman, Hon Oladosu Oladipo, Otunba Femi Arowosola and Prof Soji Adejumo

it was a great opportunity to have the leadership of the YPM on a courtesy visit to his Ijebu-Omu home. â€œI am a staunch member of the YPM. I have no doubt that the movement will bring all sons and daughters of Yoruba together for a singular purpose of uniting us. My foray into partisan-politics was by chance. UPN was a chosen party for me. I donâ€™t have manifesto but I have adopted Awolowoâ€™s manifesto. All the policies and programmes therein are what we want to implement. No addition, no minus. The party is for the common interest of the Yoruba sons and daughters. I want to urge us

to let us go back to the old regional government for our development and growth. â€œI will give my maximum support for anything that comes through the YPM which can metamorphose to a political party if we can have a party that is neutral and acceptable to the well-being of the Yoruba nationâ€?, said the 2015 Ogun State UPN governorship candidate. On the entourage of the group include its national secretary, Professor Soji Adejumo, Otunba Femi Arowosola and the National Chairman of the UPN, Professor Bankole Okuwa.

L-R: Executive Vice President, Genesis Group, Opeyemi Ajayi; President, Visa Inc. Sub-Saharan Africa, Andrew Torre; and Head, Acquiring and Corporate e-services, Fidelity Bank, Olufunmi Fagbulu, at the unveiling of the Genesis Deluxe Cinema mVisa partnership, for exclusive discounted movie tickets in Lagos ...recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

L-R: Account Director, Upstream Mobile Services Limited; Reuben Agbemenya, Mega Hunt Winner; Anthony Martins and Regional Trade Marketing Manager, MTN Nigeria; Ohwofasa Obazenu at the Mega Hunt prize presentation in Enugu...recently

L-R: Past Secretary General, Interior Designers Association of Nigeria, (IDAN), Omoh Anenih Mordi; Chairman, Board of Trustees, Ekuah Abudu; President, interior Designers Association of Nigeria, Titi Ogufere; Secretary General, Tola Akerele and Head of Communications, Sterling Bank Plc, Tomi Ajakaiye, during the briefing to formally announce the African Culture and Design Festival(ACDF), in Lagos... PHOTO:SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Member, North East Children Trust (NECT), Prof Hauwa Biu; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs/Executive Secretary, North East Children Trust (NECT), Dr. Mariam Masha; Shehu of Borno, His Eminence, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi and NECT Board Member, Hassan Baba Kachalla, during a courtesy call on the Shehuâ€™s Palace, by the management team of the Trust fund, in Maiduguriâ€Śrecently

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

POLITY

In Search of Justice for Army 38 Musa Ibrahim

he Senate Ethics and Privileges Committee on Tuesday, 17th October 2017 held a hearing on a number of petitions against the Nigerian Army. The petitions ranged from allegations of wrongful retirements to allegations of illegal boundary demarcations and land acquisitions. However, one particular petition from a certain retired Colonel Chidi Ukoha stood out. The retired army officer was among a group of 38 officers known as ‘Army 38’, who were summarily retired in June 2016 on allegations of partisanship in the 2015 General Elections and involvement in the Arms Contract scam. The officer described a pitiable tale of woe that left me scratching my head wondering why we are so insincere and unjust as a nation. He informed the committee that he worked at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja throughout the 2015 elections where he was in charge of the military workshop. He stated categorically that he was not assigned any election duties and remained at his duty post in Abuja on election day. He mentioned further that he had neither served in any procurement office nor was ever queried, charged, tried or found guilty of any offence. He also noted that if he had any disciplinary issues he would not have been promoted to the rank of Colonel in December 2015. He said that after serving the Nigerian Army unblemished for 23 years, the least he deserved was to be informed of any misdemeanour he may or may not have committed. He stated in a voice laden with emotion that he was not granted fair hearing and was shocked to hear of his summary retirement through a text message. He informed the committee that despite his appeals and several petitions he was yet to be furnished with details of any offence and there was equally no response for the past 16 months except that the issue was receiving ‘due attention’. He stated that his family had suffered untold hardships due to the sudden retirement and caring for them

Buratai

was becoming a huge burden as he was unemployed. He therefore prayed the committee to reverse his unjust compulsory retirement and cause the Nigerian Army to reinstate him. Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the Committee Chairman invited the Army to respond. The army apparently not wanting to be embarrassed like when its earlier representative, a major, was walked out of the hearing, sent a high powered delegation led by a Major General Rabiu, the Army Secretary. He was accompanied amongst others by one Brigadier General Yusuf Shalangwa, the director army legal services. The Brigadier Shalangwa did most of the responding because he said by appointment he treats petitions of such nature. This earned the utter disgust of a committee member, Senator Jerry Useni, who was at loss as to why he spoke instead of the army secretary. Remarkably, when asked to inform the committee the nature of the ‘serious offence’ committed by Colonel Ukoha, Brigadier Shalanwga fumbled

and wobbled through the files he held and stated that, ‘the army was aware of the officer’s appeal and it had been forwarded to the presidency for consideration’. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of the ‘serious offence’, warranting his sudden retirement in the officers’ file!!! Brigadier Shalangwa must have felt that this information would assuage the committee members, rather it infuriated them. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege remarked with dismay that after over one year the army could not inform the committee the exact reasons for the officers’ retirement. He further said there were several similar petitions regarding these retirements where the petitioners stated they had no involvement in electioneering or arms contracts, neither were they queried, charged, tried or found guilty of any offence. Senator Omo-Agege, also said the Nigerian Army belonged to all Nigerians that, ‘tax payers funds have been used to train young men whose careers have been cut for no just cause and that this was not right for the growth of the nation’. Senator Joseph Ogba corroborated his views and expressed sadness that he observed during the retired officers’ heart wrenching testimony, members of the army delegation giggled and laughed amongst themselves at the misfortune of their former colleague but yet they could not provide any evidence of the alleged offence committed by the officer or any proof the army granted him fair hearing. He noted that this lack of empathy was most disappointing and that from what he had heard the officers were quite competent. For instance, one of the 38, a Colonel MA Sulaiman is a Member of the Federal Republic, an award received for his gallant efforts in facilitating the rescue of 7 French nationals during operations in the North East. The Chairman then asked Brigadier Shalangwa if it was fair, that after discharging his army duties as he was currently doing, he was unexpectedly retired the next morning without being accused of any offence or granted fair hearing. Shalangwa suddenly began struggling with his microphone

and mumbled something which was inaudible to the audience. The Chairman asked him to repeat himself and speak louder before he said, ‘No sir, it is not fair’. The Chairman remarked that Colonel Ukoha would be used as a test case in conjunction with other cases to review the retirements. The army delegation almost buried their heads in shame as it was evident from the responses of the director army legal services the sheer incompetence and impunity associated with the retirements, as after 16 months the army could not justify the illegal retirements nor provide evidence of due process. The unjust nature of the retirements was further revealed by the stunning silence of the Army Secretary. Apparently hindered by his conscience, Major General Rabiu refrained from making any comment of note concerning the retirements, yet he is the custodian of officers’ records and ought to be able to justify the army’s reasons for retiring them. The absurdity of the retirements was not explained by the army’s representatives despite arriving at the hearing with an array of files and a retinue of aides and after having several months to look for a reason to justify the retirements. It is obvious that the officers were innocent and that ‘Command Impunity’ with a total disregard for the extant rules and regulations is the reason for the unjust retirements. What is more shocking, is that this travesty of justice has persisted for so long with the Defence and Army leadership unwilling to correct their wrongdoings. It is heart-warming that the National Assembly is standing on the path of justice by investigating this matter with the desire to reveal the truth, improve justice delivery and professionalism in the Nigerian Army. But the curious question remains: Why will the Nigerian Army under Buratai retire innocent officers for unproven and unsubstantiated offences without granting them fair hearing? Usman Dan Fodio said: “A society can exist without religion but it cannot exist without justice.” When will justice come for the Army 38? – Musa Ibrahim writes from Abuja

Jumbo House Protests Exclusion from Bodo/Bonny Road Flag-Off Accuses Bonny Council of Chiefs, NLNG of sidelining them Sam Ekpe

he Jumbo Major House of Grand Bonny Kingdom in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, Thursday protested what they termed ‘exclusion’ from the recently flagged-off Bodo/Bonny Road Project, jointly funded by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, in Bonny LGA. They accused the Bonny Council of Chiefs and NLNG of surreptitiously master-minding the plot to sideline the Jumbo Major House, which claims the most impacted and the largest cluster community in the said project, Leader of the Group and Head of the Jumbo Major House, Chief Jasper F. Jumbo, who hailed the federal government for “such a gigantic and laudable project which the Bonny people had long desired”, wondered why the Jumbo Major House would be deliberately excluded from the flag-off even after receiving a formal invitation from the Office of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Prof. Jumbo, who regretted the Jumbo Major House exclusion, alleged that the move was a calculated and further attempt to deny them their God-given rights in Bonny LGA. He alleged: “Some members of the titled citizens came and informed me that the Chairman of Bonny Council of Chiefs, Se

Jumbo Alabo Claude Wilcox, gathered the titled citizens and told them that one Ogoni Chief and I went to the federal government regarding the road and they did not receive us, which is a blatant lie. One of the Titled Citizens who knew that I had been pushing for this road since 2000.

“The Ministry said they had forwarded our names to NLNG and the Federal Controller of Works in Port Harcourt, Engr Nebolisa confirmed that they forwarded our names, but we found out that NLNG at the instance of Godson Dienye, just gave people from Ogoni four invitations, and also gave people from Andoni but those of us here who are even the most impacted primary stakeholders did not get, because, perhaps the Jumbo Major House is in court with NLNG over our land they secretly obtained a C of 0 on. “All I did as a core development protagonist and tested leader in Bonny and Niger Delta, a pro-government person, was to mobilize my people in solidarity support for the project. I printed banners in its support with various inscriptions. What is simply happening is that the Bonny Council of Chiefs and the NLNG do not want us — the Jumbos to be a part of this project, which vastly traverses Jumbo land in Bonny.” Jasper Jumbo said the House under his leadership would maintain propriety in support of the project, while exploring all peaceful and lawful means in seeking redress. Speaker of Ijaw Youth council Mobile Parliament and President of Andoni Youths Coalition, Comrade Mkpon Ijonama, while reacting, described the situation as sad, lamenting that it was against natural Justice for an impacted cluster community like the Jumbos to be excluded from a

project that directly affects them. The Ijaw Youths spokesman, who debunked the allegation that they were there to stage a protest against the project or carry placard for modular refinery accused NLNG of applying oil politics of divide and rule in Ijaw land. Also speaking, President of Bonny Indigenous Guide (BIG), Owunabo Brown, expressed shock that while his group had mobilized to receive the federal government to Bonny Island, the Bonny Council of Chiefs colluded with NLNG to shut them and other critical Stakeholders out of the event, noting that such action was not in the interest of Bonny people or peace. On his part the Chairman of Village Heads of Jumbo Major House, Pastor George Sunju Jumbo, condemned their exclusion, insisting that the Jumbos have a right to benefit in what comes on their land, claiming that a large stretch of the road runs through mostly Jumbo communities. President of the Jumbo Major House Youths, Comrade Dagogo A. Jumbo, described their exclusion as an aberration and embarrassment, adding that such move was provocative and unacceptable. He however, enjoined Jumbo youths not to take laws into their hands or breach the peace in the area, disclosing that the Jumbo Major House under the leadership of Professor Jumbo had resolved to peacefully take appropriate steps in addressing the matter through Federal Government Agencies.

THISDAY, THE SAT A URDAY NEWSPA AT P PER ˾ ͺ͹, 2017 PA

PERSPECTIVE

Senate Committee Probe Rakes in N140 140 Billion for FG Senate Committee probe rakes in N140 Billion for Federal Government as interim report identifi es 32 sources of revenue losses in the import- export value Chain writes Durosinmi Mese

he Senate Joint Committee On Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport Wednesday Disclosed that total financial fi recoveries from companies being investigated by the committee amounted to a whopping N140 Billion Naira. The Joint committee was set up by the Senate to carry out a holistic investigation into the activities of the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) with a view to identifying leakages and irregularities in the system and come up with recommendations that will reinvigorate the revenue drive of the Nigeria Customs Service. Presenting its Interim Report on the Floor of the Senate, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Hope Uzodinma disclosed that as a result of the exercise, some collection banks have made remittances to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the tune of N128 Billion, while from the selected 60 companies under investigation, over N12 Billion payments have been made to the federal government. Bukola Saraki “As a result of this exercise, some collection banks have made additional remittances to the Central Bank of Report (PAARS) and Single Goods Nigeria to the tune of N128 Billion and Declarations (SDGS) processing, Preevidence of payment and receipt have Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) used been received by the committee” he for more than one Single Goods Decsaid, adding that “from the selected 60 laration, non-utilization of Pre-Arrival companies, over N12 Billion payments Assessment Report (PAAR) after Single have been made to the government Goods Declaration (SGD) cancellation voluntarily by the companies based and mismatch and discrepancies in on their own internal self-audit after consignees, goods description and Tariff receiving documented evidence of their classification. culpability from our committee”. Other sources of leakage identified by Senator Uzodinma however noted that the committee include falsification of despite all the payments so far made, import documentation such as proforma none of the approved collection banks invoice, final invoice, bills of lading, or the selected companies have fully NAFDAC and SONCAP. There are also cleared the established liabilities against issues like Non-imputation of complete them”. VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) He stated that in the course of its in inspection acts and bills of lading in investigation, the committee identified order to undervalue vehicles, clearance 32 leakage channels as the major sources of new vehicles without form M or of revenue loss in the import-export Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) value chain. processing in clear violation of DestinaHe listed these leakage channels to tion Inspection, abuse of temporary include undervaluation, wrong tariff importation by conversion to home use classification, abuse of waivers and without payment of import duties, falsiconcessions, abuse of diplomatic cargo fication of factory production registers, and personal effects privilege to clear inaccurate Unit Cost Analysis (UCA) consignments to submission of forged and returns leading to significantly low documents for pre-Arrival Assessment excise duty collected as compared to

actual large scale volumes of excisable commodities locally manufactured. Other sources of revenue losses include abuse of Fast Track Blue lane, illegal creation, amendment, and cancellation of Single Goods Declaration (SGDs), PreArrival Assessment Reports (PAARs) and Bills of lading, and importation under pretext of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) privilege reserved for Bona fide manufactures leading to reduction in import duties payable among others. He noted that these infractions within the system have disproportionately distorted the economic profile of the country and placed extensive pressures on the nation’s scarce foreign exchange. “It also negates all Central Bank of Nigeria initiated foreign exchange management plans. This is because a distorted forex requirement does not essentially reflect the actual forex need of individuals and businesses in the country. This situation benefits only the purveyors of capital flight from the country and adds absolutely no value to the nation” he added. Meanwhile, the Senate has commended the efforts of the committee in helping to recover such huge sums into the coffers of the federal government. Speaking on behalf of the Senate, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekeremadu said the committee’s achievement should be emulated by other committees, adding that the upper chamber was proud of their efforts. In Separate reactions Commending the activities of the committee, some Civil Society Organizations said the committee has passed the integrity test. The Executive Director of the Centre for Advocacy and Leadership Development (CALD), Joe Mesele said the recoveries through the Senate Committee investigations have brightened the hope of Nigerians for effective and honest oversight activities in the National Assembly. “Some of us within the Civil Society Community did not give the committee any chance of performance but we have obviously been proved wrong with these huge recoveries’’, he stated. According to him, “what is left now is for Nigerians, especially players in the corporate world to rally round by cooperating with the committee to conclude its assignment with more successes”.

The Committee had requested for memoranda through newspaper publications and also invited key stakeholders to a One-Day Public Hearing held on Thursday, July 20, 2017. Armed with concise data from its data handling process, the committee proceeded to invite the concerned commercial banks and handed them relevant data in soft and hard copies for their responses. After this, the committee went ahead to carefully select a set of companies from diverse sectors of the economy to validate its methods and present a reliable template for its assignment. The companies were then given ample time to study the records and counter the records with their own data or admit culpability. The authenticity of the data presented to them led many of the companies which through independent self-audit commenced the process of paying back to government transactions dating back to 2009 and presenting evidence of such payments before the committee. Senator Uzodinma in his report said a total number of 60 companies were invited in this first phase of investigations and that the widespread nature of the malfeasance had not only stunted the growth of genuine industries in the economy but has continuously weakened the nation’s currency in comparism with other regional and international currencies. “A situation where the Central Bank of Nigeria, who is the administrator of the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) is handicapped by its inability to access empirical records of the country’s actual trade volumes, and have no concrete programme for ensuring the monitoring and compliance of their foreign exchange manual, prevents them from providing a concise forex utilization profile of the companies that source forex from them. This in our view indicates a much deeper problem than what has been uncovered”, he declared. The committee which sought for extension of its mandate to be able to fully complete its job was given eight more weeks by the Senate. –Durosinmi Meseko is the Consultant, Media Services to the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff.

Arresting Tax Avoidance through VAIDS Anthony Chukwuka

he Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance, has the potential halt Nigeria’s near-total dependence on oil revenue and push the country into the ranks of progressive societies. VAIDS was conceived to encourage voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed assets and income as well as the payment of all outstanding tax liabilities. The implementation of the scheme will expand the country’s Nigeria’s tax base by bringing more people into the tax net, thereby addressing the issue of the country’s unimpressive Tax-to-Gross Domestic Product

Williams Babatunde Fowler (GDP) ratio, currently at about six per cent. In addition, it also seeks

to curtail the practice of using tax havens for illicit financial flows, a major problem affecting many developing countries. The scheme covers all taxes collectible by the three tiers of government. A major objective of the scheme is to arrest the rampancy of non-compliance. Official figures show that only 214 individuals in the country pay N20 million or more in tax annually and that out of the 70 million taxable adults in the country, only 14 million pay tax, with 96 per cent of them through the Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) system. What this implies is that only four per cent of the country’s tax-paying population exist outside the PAYE system. With VAIDS offering incentives for voluntary declaration of

income/assets and payment of tax liabilities, the potential for compliance is much greater. Among the incentives are waivers on penalties and interests, tax audits, option of spreading payment of tax liabilities over three years and freedom from prosecution. Failure to comply at the end of the window of opportunity, however, will attract prosecution and full payment of tax due, including penalty and interest. Increased tax payment will, naturally, ensure a huge growth in the capacity of government all at all levels to meet their obligations to Nigerians. To ensure successful implementation, government needs to simplify the payment process and ensure transparency in the use of resources to encourage compliance.

OCTOBER 21, 2017 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

PERSPECTIVE

Adebanjo,Tinubu and the Buhari Administration Ibidapo Balogun

n his interview published on page 12 of the Sunday Punch of 15th October, 2017, elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, not only proclaimed the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari a failure, he blamed the former two-term governor of Lagos State and frontline leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the emergence of Buhari as president in the historic 2015 presidential election. According to Baba Adebanjo, “I warned Tinubu against supporting Buhari ahead of the 2015 presidential election. What is for Tinubu in this government? He has been sidelined. This government is all about Buhari. The greatest mistake made was for Yoruba to vote for Buhari. The South-west is regretting voting for Buhari. Tinubu is regretting now – he and his supporters are now regretting helping Buhari to become president. It is Tinubu and all his supporters you should be asking: Are you regretting you helped to bring Buhari to power or you’re happy with his administration”? Chief Adebanjo is absolutely right that Tinubu played a pivotal role in helping to shape the coalition as well as fashion the strategy that helped an opposition party to dethrone an incumbent government at the centre for the first time in Nigeria’s history. There is no way the history of that epochal event in Nigeria’s political evolution can be told without Tinubu’s name enshrined in gold. But then, what explains the incomparable investment of Tinubu’s resources including time, political relationships, energy, passion, commitment and formidable reservoir of strategic expertise to facilitate the ascendancy of the APC and Buhari to power at the centre? Was it for self-serving interests as implied by Chief Adebanjo’s rhetorical question ‘What is for Tinubu in this government’? A cursory look at Tinubu’s political antecedents would surely suggest otherwise. Even discounting the critical, and often existentially threatening, roles he played in the protracted pro-democracy struggles that helped usher in democratic governance in 1999, Tinubu has always been known to opt for the more arduous, tasking and challenging

Tinubu path in his defence of the rule of law, human rights, federalism and democracy in post – 1999 Nigeria. In 2003, for instance, Tinubu was the only opposition governor standing in the South-west following the debacle that befell the then ruling Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the remaining five states of the region. Nothing would have been easier than for Tinubu to abandon the floundering ship of the AD and join the PDP behemoth that threatened to suffocate Nigeria in its one party grip at the time. It would have been the more convenient and certainly the more attractive choice in a pecuniary sense if material gain had been Tinubu’s primary motivation. For 12 years after the 2003 electoral devastation suffered by his progressive political platform, the AD, in the South-west, Tinubu remained as constant as the northern star in the firmament of political opposition in Nigeria. He remained impervious to the admittedly enticing attraction of being part of the national cake-sharing gravy party at the opulent centre of the country’s politics. This was a temptation that most Nigerian politicians had always been unable to resist. Tinubu

remained a constant factor around which attempts to form viable opposition coalitions capable of wresting power at the centre revolved. He was in the thick of such political formations as the defunct Action Congress (AC), Advance Congress of Democrats (ACD) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that made spirited but unsuccessful bids for power at the centre in 2007 and 2011 until the electoral triumph of 2015 through the APC. This background shows that Tinubu’s thought and praxis in government have always been motivated by considerations larger, more expansive and altruistic than his personal interests, thus rendering Baba Adebanjo’s quip ‘What is for Tinubu in this government?’ redundant. The seismic change of guards at the centre in 2015 that Baba admits was largely the product of Tinubu’s exertions has had profoundly positive and irreversible implications for Nigeria’s political development whatever anyone may think of the performance of the Buhari administration so far. It brought the progressives, no matter how loosely defined, to power at the centre for the first time in the country’s post-independence history. The 2015 political change of guards laid the historic precedent of an opposition party displacing an incumbent government at the federal level, a development which no doubt will have implications for future elections. Surely, Nigerian politics, particularly her elections, will never be the same again thanks to the gains of the 2015 polls. Chief Adebanjo maintains that he advised Tinubu against supporting Buhari in the 2015 election and that could be true. What was the alternative to Buhari and the APC at the time? It was the continuation in office of the PDP government of President Goodluck Jonathan in all its corrupt hideousness and gargantuan incompetence. Unfortunately, progressive stalwarts like Baba Adebanjo seemed to be quite at home with that government. There is no credible reason to doubt that were Jonathan to have continued in office beyond 2015, the country would by now have collapsed under the weight of its sheer ineptness and incomparable graft. Incidentally, the likes of Baba Adebanjo jumped on the deceptive bandwagon of Jonathan’s National Conference in 2014, even when Tinubu had percep-

tively dismissed the exercise as a distraction at the time. Of course, there was nothing like restructuring on Dr. Jonathan’s mind and he simply kept the outcome of the conference under wraps even though he had no less than eight months to take concrete steps towards its actualization before his ouster from office through the polls. It is difficult to understand what Tinubu and his supporters should regret about Buhari’s winning the 2015 elections. Yes, Buhari was a military dictator in the past. But he contested and won election in a democratic dispensation. He has a fixed term in office and must seek a renewal of his mandate by the Nigerian people if he wants to continue in office beyond 2019. Yes, Tinubu’s influence was critical to the support Buhari received particularly in the South-west in 2015. But that influence with the people did not come cheap. It was the product of a consistency in his politics and an often-demonstrated acumen that has enabled him win the trust and confidence of a wide cross section of the populace especially in the South-west. At the end of the day, we run a one-man, one-vote electoral system. Leaders may recommend to the people but it is the voters at the polls that ultimately determine the final outcome. It was so in 2015. It will be no less different in 2019. The electorate is in the final analysis king and there is little cause for alarm. In the words of Baba Adebanjo, “If Tinubu had not gone into an alliance with Buhari, would we be in this position? Tinubu is the cause of Yoruba’s suffering now”. What exactly are the Yoruba suffering now that is worse than what they endured during the 16 years of the PDP in power and particularly the six years of Dr. Jonathan? What did the Jonathan administration do about the chronic infrastructure deficit in the South-west or the pathetic level of poverty and youth unemployment in the region? In spite of whatever may be the perceptions of the Buhari administration’s disposition towards the South-west, at least illustrious sons and daughters of the region are manning critical national offices including the vice presidency as well as the Finance, Solid Minerals and Power, Works and Housing ministries among others. This may not be a guarantee or a sufficient condition for transformation in the region but it is a hopeful step forward.

Kola Lawal: A Bourgeoning Aspirant in Ogun Governorship Race In the count down to the 2019 general elections, Chief Kolawole Lawal (aka KLM), the current Ogun State Commissioner for Forestry, is one of the governorship aspirants of Ogun West extraction that have thrown his hat into the ring. Femi Ogbonnikan takes a look at his strength in the race

asking in the euphoria of the commitment and resolve of Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, to support an Ogun West Senatorial District person for governor in 2019 and the attendant horde of aspirants that have signified interest, permutations on who takes what have heightened in the state. Key actors from the zone are strategising and visiting the entire three senatorial districts in the state, engaging in horse-trading and consultations with political leaders and elders, leaders of thought, traditional rulers, market women and women, religious leaders and other key stakeholders, in order to seek their blessings. The foray of Kolawole Wasiu Lawal into the race for the coveted number one seat has changed the narrative, on account of his endorsements that have been flowing like torrents from key stakeholders, traversing the three senatorial districts in the state. KLM’s track record speaks volumes about his preparedness for the task ahead. Born on September 24, 1962 at Eyo Quarters, Oke-Odan, in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, KLM’s rise to stardom has always been by sheer providence. With a six-year break after his primary education at St’ James Anglican School, Oke-Odan, in 1972, by dint of hardwork and resilience, KLM has succeeded in his endeavours. A tested governorship aspirant on the PDP platform in 2011 and a deft politician that is honed in the art of diplomacy, KLM’s entry into the race is unsettling as his bid is already sending jitters down the spines of his rivals. While others have started granting press

Kola Lawal interviews and flaunting their egos, even before Amosun’s pronouncement, KLM was tactical, and went ahead of his rivals with his grassroots consultations across all spheres. Among the array of governorship aspirants, it is Lawal that Mr Governor has singled out and saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the speedy takeoff and completion of the newly established Ogun State Polytechnic situated in Ipokia Local Government Area. The pendulum is swinging to his direction. Among aspirants that have thrown their hats into the governorship ring, the 55-year-old

politician wields perceptible influence, acceptability, appeal and credibility, and his pedigree is beyond reproach. Thus, no wonder, notable Yewa political leaders and elders, young and old, are throwing their weight behind the Oke-Odan-born politician. Unlike children born with silver spoon that enjoy smooth academic voyage, KLM had a chequered educational career. After his primary education in 1972, his dream to further his secondary education was shattered as no succour came his way and the break was enough to drift him away from pursuing his formal education at such an early age. In between the idle time, he moved over to join his uncle in Owode-Yewa where he became an apprentice in different trades, including bicycle repairing, house and vehicle spray paintings, public letter writing and documentary services. However, providence was kind to him, in line with his burning zeal for western education as he resumed school in 1978, this time, at Area Community High School, Owode-Yewa where he was a pioneer student. Cut out for greatness by destiny, the huge endowment in him began to manifest in diverse ways, beginning from his first year in the newly established school. He was exceptionally brilliant, trustworthy, coolheaded and reliable. All these rare attributes earned him the position of the Senior Prefect of the school. Despite combining academics with the leadership responsibilities, his exceptional brilliant performance never waned. He was not only taking the overall leas first position throughout his five-year sojourn in the school, his West African School

Certificate Examination (WASCE) was the best, both in the school and immediate environs in 1983 when he passed out. But like the Biblical farmer who having set his hand on the plough, refused to look back, KLM maintained his focus and he was determined to acquire quality higher education, no matter the cost. His resilience paid off at the end, by obtaining HND in Accountancy from the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, a BSc in Banking and Finance and MBA from the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt. KLM working careers began at the Associated Breweries and Company Limited, Agbara, Ogun State where he had five years stint before he moved to ExxonMobil Nigeria Unlimited where he spent 20 years. He disengaged from active service in 2010 due to the passion for the people of Ogun State and his will to serve them. In his determination to touch as many lives as possible, he took a giant leap into the philanthropic world by floating the ‘Aseele Labowaba’ Foundation to enable him spread the tentacles across the three senatorial districts in Ogun State. Thus, the foundation has been in the vanguard of various lifesaving and transforming projects. On account of his grassroots connection and relevance at his home town, he was conferred with the prestigious title of the Adele Oba of Oke-Odan land. He is also the Tayese of Ketuland, a title conferred on him by the Alaketu of Ketu Kingdom, in the Republic of Benin. Not left out, recognition has also come for him from Ile-Ife, the source of the Yoruba nation where he is the Asiwaju Osara of Ile-Ife.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

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MISSILE Southern Leaders Forum to Buhari

“Giving instructions to the World Bank to concentrate on a section of the country where the President hails from throws a knife at the heart of our nationhood and challenges the hackneyed expression that the ‘unity of Nigeria is settled. This directive, without mincing words, is sectional, discriminatory, divisive.” – The Southern Leaders Forum criticising President Muhammadu Buhari over his directives to the World Bank to concentrate on the Northern region.

PENDULUM DELE MOMODU

dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com

Why is Everyone Afraid of President Buhari

ellow Nigerians, I often wonder why an average Nigerian politician is so squeamish. They love and crave power but eventually prove too timid to do the needful. The comfort power provides seems to be what matters most to them, but, certainly not the pain it may attract. God bless all those who fought for the democracy we seem to be bastardising today. It is difficult to pick out the Obafemi Awolowos, the Sir Adesoji Aderemis, the Nnamdi Azikiwes, the Anthony Enahoros, the Funmilayo Ransome-Kutis, the Wole Soyinkas, the Aminu Kanos, Abubakar Rimis, the Alfred Rewanes, the Waziri Ibrahims, the Fela AnikulapoKutis, Gani Fawehinmis, the Moshood Abiolas, the Kudirat Abiolas, the Abraham Adesanyas, the Alani Akinrinades, the Bola Tinubus, the Bolaji Akinyemis, and such others in the crowd today. These were men and women who were not afraid of tyrants and tyranny. The reason for the poser on this page this week is simple and straight-forward. I never imagined that a day would come, at this time and age, when supposed democrats would voluntarily throw away their freedom, like many of our leaders seem to be doing at the moment. Less than two years to the next Presidential elections, only three aspirants have demonstrated the guts to come out in the open to express their ambition publicly, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Ekiti State Governor, Dr Peter Ayodele Fayose and former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido. The fourth person who has expressed his intention privately to me is my friend and brother, Mr Alistair Soyode, the Chairman of BEN Television, United Kingdom. I really don’t care if they win or not but I salute their audacity to challenge the status quo. You can never, and will never, win if you don’t try first. There would have been no President Barack Obama or President Donald Trump if they failed to throw their hats in the ring. I know so many over-qualified Nigerians who want to contest but are being bogged down by trepidation or abject fear. They only express their dreams in hushed tones. I call them jelly, lily-livered beings. I feel sad anytime I read in the newspapers about full-grown men abdicating their God-given inalienable power to demi-gods with feet of clay. Let me say categorically that Nigeria will never change unless we change our style of doing things. How can we do the same things repeatedly and expect the same failures to evaporate and vamoose? I’m now convinced that we need our whizz-kids to step out and leap forward to grab power as soon as possible. No one would say we have not been patient enough. Our serial experiments have not yielded the desired results. We had our fair share of coups. We fought a most atrocious civil war. However, despite all this and when given the opportunity, we choose to largely vote for the dregs of society above visibly talented candidates. We have recycled leaders. Former Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo departed in 1979 but resurrected in 1999. Now Major General Muhammadu Buhari who was sacked in 1985 catapulted himself back to power in 2015. Even President Ibrahim Babangida who stepped aside in 1993 attempted to sneak back in 2003 but President Obasanjo bullied him into submission and he perished the thought without as much

Buhari as a whimper. Recall, that the man who took over from President Obasanjo in 2007, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was already the Governor of Katsina State, was the brother of Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, and his emergence was to ostensibly compensate their family for the death of Shehu in prison, under the Abacha regime. In short, it has been a relay race by military Generals and their acolytes and cronies. I’m happy that Buhari has fulfilled his own dream. I voluntarily supported him and owe him my love and prayers till 2019 when that contract would expire. I pray that God will grant him the wisdom to understand and appreciate the treacherous nature of politics and politicians. I see how Governors are falling over themselves to visit him and pay homage to HE who must be obeyed and worshipped. I wish to admonish Baba not to believe this monumental scam of the highest order. If and when tomorrow comes, Baba will be stunned at how these same latter day disciples will turn against him 360 degrees. I can place a bet on that. Everyone is afraid today because of the palpable fear of EFCC. No more. No politician wants to be roughened up for any reason. Their strategy is to pretend like rattlesnakes and pounce on the prey without warning. I foresee Buhari as one such quintessential prey. These guys are not going to extend this regime of fear by another four years. Buhari would have to go on a blistering offensive to come back to power in 2019. I’m sure, he’s going to be cajoled into believing that he’s the Messiah Nigerians have waited for all this while, until they pull the rug from under his feet. I remember one of Chief Moshood Abiola’s favourite wisecracks “aponle ni ‘foreman’, enikan o le se ise eeyan merin” (the appellation of Foreman is a mere exaggeration, no man can do the job of four men). There is a limit to what Buhari can achieve in less than two years to come because time flies at supersonic speed. By this time next year, he must be on the campaign trail

if indeed he wants to return to power in 2019 and his Party has nominated him as candidate. Since politics is a game of numbers, he would have to travel round Nigeria and plead for votes. You can force people to support your tenure in power but you can’t intimidate people to vote for you because you will never see the minds of voters. According to a popular political song in the First Republic, “boo roju mi, o rinu mi, demo ni mo wa…” (You may be able to see my face but you can’t read my mind, I’m a member of Demo (National Democratic Party) …]. Such is life. The truth I want to tell today, as a major supporter of Buhari in 2015, is that his goodwill has weakened and waned drastically and dramatically. Minus the favoured members of the inner caucus of this government, things are no longer at ease within the ruling party. Is there anything Baba can do to redeem himself, his party and floundering government? Of course yes, I believe in miracles. He must listen to the cries of the people. He should concentrate on building institutions instead of pursuing handpicked individuals. He should unleash the talents that abound in every part of Nigeria instead of seeking to please any section. It is always better to be a national hero than a local champion. Nigeria is too divided at the moment and this is not good for national development. I still have faith in Baba’s ability to do the best for this country. It is clear to me that this is the legacy that he wants to leave behind albeit that this has not yet been achieved. The government must be restructured before Nigeria itself can be restructured. The recent mess in NNPC was as a result of excessive and unnecessary officialdom and bureaucracy. The President need not be the Minister of Petroleum. The functions of the Minister of State in relation to the Board of NNPC should be clearly delineated if at all there is any role for him. Such ridiculous overlaps we recently saw should never have happened. We should stop over-concentrating power in one man. It

has been said that “absolute power corrupts absolutely…” Ministers must be allowed to do their constitutional duty, in accordance with the provisions of section 148 of the 1999 Constitution, of meeting regularly with the President and the Vice President to (i) determine the general direction of domestic and foreign policies of the Government (ii) co-ordinate their respective activities in the discharge of their executive responsibilities and (iii) advise the President generally in discharge of his executive functions other than those functions where he must be advised by other persons. The revelations coming from the NNPC debacle where we now know that it is possible for a Minister of State of a crucial ministry such as the Petroleum Resources not to see the President for months on end should never be allowed to happen. Regular meetings with Ministers and the Vice President as envisaged by section 148 is not, cannot and should not be limited to the weekly Federal Executive Council meetings. The regular meetings should also include meetings with groups of Ministers and even individual Ministers. That is surely the intendment of the Constitution. As it is with the Federal Government, so it should be with the State Governments, as similar provision for the States exists in section 193 of the 1999 Constitution. The corollary of this is that both at Federal and State level Ministers and Commissioners must be appointed as early as possible into the administration. The situation where President Buhari did not nominate and appoint Ministers until more than 4 months into his administration and Governor Rauf Aregbesola did even worse by waiting almost 3 years to select his cabinet must never happen again. The Civil and Public Service must become transparent and accountable again. Civil and public servants are there to serve us as their nomenclature indicates. They are not meant to be overlords creating fiefdoms where the general populace become their serfs or even worshippers in some cases. A truly restructured viable and vibrant civil and public service is the lynchpin for a proper democratic, fair and just society. It is insensitive and inappropriate for Government to expect the best of these workers if they are not properly remunerated not to mention, the present scenario, where even the ridiculous wages that they are paid are paid many months in areas. It is the same insensitivity that extends to the illogical policy of no work, no pay! Imagine the chaos and calamity if the workers through the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) also decided that there would be ‘No pay, no work’! A properly structured government would be faced with no such conundrum and the nation can nly be better for it. Courageous Nigerians must step forward and herald the much needed change in governance. They do not have to wait on President Buhari’s decision as to whether he will seek a second term or not before showing their hand. They would be doing the nation a wealth of good if only what they achieve is to provide stiff opposition to the President and an opportunity for the people to truly use their votes. Otherwise, the Nigerian public would simply have been short-changed and disenfranchised as usual by the political class because again they would be limited in their choice of candidates.

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