Sunday 24th June 2018

Buhari: We'll Deal withVarsities that Condone Cases of Sexual Harassment Directs NEC to convene special session on education challenges

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos President Mohammadu Buhari has declared that his government “will henceforth deal decisively with any university council in the country that fails to deal with reported cases of sexual harassment on their campus.”

He has also said in order to demonstrate the federal government’s commitment to the development of the nation’s human capital, he has directed the National Economic Council (NEC) to convene a special session on Thursday, the 28th of June to interact with the Minister of Education and his team on

the principal challenges facing education sector. He said the council is expected to receive briefings on issues such as out of school children, basic and secondary education, tertiary education, skill development and entrepreneurship as well as the thorny issue of funding

and the judicious utilisation of the funds. The President, who was represented at the 29th and 30th combined convocation ceremony of the University of Jos, by the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdulrashid Adamu Abubakar, also said the

meeting would also review and harmonise the mechanisms for partnership between the federal and state governments for more effective formulation and implementation of educational policies and programmes to ensure success of the reform agenda of the government. He explained that the overall

21 Killed in Adamawa By Herdsmen

objective of the proposed meeting on education is to underscore his administration’s determination to transform the country’s vast human resources into assets and agents of sound economic growth and development, adding that Nigerian Cosntinued on page 8

... Page 12 Sunday 24 June, 2018 Vol 23. No 8466

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N400

N

2019: Obasanjo under Pressure to Back Atiku As former president meets S’west leaders again, reconciles with George

Olawale Olaleye, Shola Oyeyipo and Segun James Former President Olusegun Obasano is under pressure from

close friends and political allies to support his erstwhile deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in his presidential bid, THISDAY has learnt. Those urging Obasanjo

to back Atiku believe the former president has genuine intentions for Nigeria. But they are desirous of seeing the end of what they consider President

Bakare: meeting would put Nigeria on right path

Muhammadu Buhari’s inane government in 2019. To achieve Buhari’s ouster, Obasanjo’s allies believe there is need for him to reconsider his opposition to

Atiku’s ambition. According to them, Atiku remains one of the most qualified and ready candidates for the office of president ahead of 2019, and

one who can give Buhari a run for his money. THISDAY learnt last night Cosntinued on page 8

Adams Oshiomhole is APC's New National Chairman Buhari: party’s success responsible for its crisis Oyegun in emotional farewell speech, says ruling party now strong, vibrant Three wounded in fracas among Delta delegates Conflicting Unity lists fly around nPDP vows to continue agitation after convention PDP mocks APC, calls convention a charade Nseobong Okon-Ekong, Omololu Ogunmade and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole was yesterday in Abuja elected national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the second elective national convention of the party. Oshiomhole's election came through affirmation following the withdrawal of other chairmanship aspirants a few days before the convention. In his address at the opening of the convention, which took place amid internal dissensions, President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to aggrieved members to be patient, saying the party will soon resolve the disagreements. Buhari assured that the party will emerge from its present challenges stronger and more vibrant. Outgoing National Chairman of APC, Chief John OdigieOyegun, gave an emotional farewell speech in which he Continued on page 8

FRENEMIES?… R-L: Former APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie–Oyegun; President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; the Senate President, Dr. Bukola GODWIN OMOIGUI Saraki and the Speaker, House of Represetatives, Yakubu Dogara, at the APC National Convention in Abuja…yesterday

Abaribe Arrested for Allegedly Aiding IPOB, Says Lawyer ... Page 12

2

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

3

4

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

5

6

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

7

8

ÍşÍźËœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

PAGE EIGHT OSHIOMHOLE IS APC'S NEW JUNNATIONAL CHAIRMAN admitted that his tenure was turbulent. But Odigie-Oyegun said the party had become stronger on his watch. That was as three people were wounded in a fight among delegates from Delta State, and lists bearing names purporting to be consensus candidates, called Unity list, were bandied about at the venue of the convention. In Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday, the leader of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) bloc within APC, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, said his group will continue with its agitation for better treatment even after the party's national convention. Baraje stated this in a statement by his media office. However, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) dismissed the ruling party’s convention as a farce, alleging that open intimidation and physical assault on aspirants and delegates confirm Buhari’s desperation to grab the APC presidential ticket by all means. PDP made the allegations in a statement by its nnational publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan. The chairman of the APC national convention committee and Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar, who moderated the election process, asked the delegates to affirm Oshiomhole's election through a voice vote and they did. Oshiomhole’s affirmation came shortly after Buhari delivered his speech in which he pleaded with delegates to support the party's consensus arrangement. The president said, “I want to assure everyone here that despite a few lingering issues with the congresses in some states, our great party will

emerge stronger after this convention. The unresolved cases we have are the price we have to pay for success, as everyone wants to be associated with a winning team. I am imploring all those with grievances to keep faith with the party until we put things right. "The adoption of consensus as a first option is commendable and the process has led to a lot of healing and cohesion across the states and the zones, and where elections are inevitable, I have been assured that the process adopted will result in clear and undisputed results. Again I am appealing to all contestants to keep faith with the party. "May I, therefore, appeal to all to put our great party ahead of personal considerations and to accept the outcome of the exercise in good faith. You are all important to our party’s progress and all must come together to ensure success in the forthcoming polls so as to enable us to continue the good work we have been doing for our fellow Nigerians.� In his parting address, OdigieOyegun acknowledged rifts within his executive, saying, “We provided the kind of leadership that has brought this party to this point today, a strong party, a united party. There were divergent views here and there. The essence is that the APC is, at the end of the day, a strong party, a passionate party, a party that believes in its vision and the vision of the president for this country." He said, "The reality today is that of a party that is stronger in its committed resolve to make greater gains for the good of the country. This is very colourful.� He said he enjoyed a close

working relationship with Buhari. The outgoing chairman praised the vision of the APC founding fathers, including Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Prince Tony Momoh, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, and leaders of factions of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the new Peoples Democratic Party. He said his exit from the leadership of the party marked the end of an era which was best left to history. “Phase one of this party is over and phase two is about to begin and it is my hope that at the end of today, we would have elected a worthy successor to carry on the battle and the leadership struggle of the party. "I wish my successor a very best of luck and wish him fare weather and for the rest, we leave to history," said Odigie-Oyegun, who lost his bid to get a one-year extension of his tenure before dropping his interest in seeking another term. “I will end by saying that Shakespeare told us generations ago that the world is a stage and that all of us are actors in this stage. We make our entrances and in due time, our exit. Today, I am making my exit from the honour that you have bestowed on me to lead you for four years,� he stated. Following Oshiomhole’s emergence through affirmation, many other offices, such as national welfare officer, financial secretary, zonal woman leader (North-central), ex-offio members for North-central and North-west, the zonal woman leader (South-south), were declared unopposed, as aspirants withdrew from the contest.

Another aspirant for National Vice Chairman (South-west), Akin Akinlerure, withdrew from the race thereby making the coast clear for the lone contestant, Bankole Olajorin, who was returned by affirmation. Two other aspirants for national secretary, Kassim Imam and Waziri Bulama had earlier withdrawn, thereby making way for the incumbent, Mai-Mala Buni to emerge through affirmation. Also the lone challenger for National Legal Adviser stepped down for Babatunde Ogala from Lagos State. Duro Meserko, who was vying for the office of the National Publicity Secretary, withdrew from the race, thus leaving two other contestants, the incumbent, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi and Lanre Onilu. As voting for the remaining offices of the party commenced, Buhari was the first to cast his vote, followed by governors who were called up in turns. After the governors, came the turn of delegates from the various states. However, just as the delegates were about filing out to vote, there was fracas at the Delta State pavilion, which left three persons badly wounded. The injured persons were promptly helped to a waiting ambulance belonging to the Federal Road Safety Commission and taken to a hospital for treatment. THISDAY gathered that trouble broke out when two factions of APC in Delta State loyal to Senator Ovie OmoAgege and Olorogun Otega tried to assert themselves. Similarly, just as the voting process got underway, there emerged two versions of consensus lists titled "Unity List". The lists were said to be sponsored by members of the

National Working Committee (NWC) seeking re-election. The intense lobby from agents of the two sides was about blowing up into an open confrontation before the organisers asked security agents to arrest the situation. Chairman of the subcommittee on security and governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, went on to the podium and directed all delegates to go back to their various stands. He warned that the security agents will arrest anyone who had not been accredited to be at the convention venue. nPDP to Continue Agitation Meanwhile, Baraje has vowed that nPDP would continue its agitation for justice for its members in APC. A statement by his media office said, “We want to appreciate the entire Nigerians and our supporters and we want to let them know that our struggle is still on course and until the party addresses some of the major areas of concerns that will make life easy for Nigerians, we remain undaunted.� Baraje said nPDP members decided to attend the APC convention because, “They want to demonstrate to the world and entire Nigerians and, particularly, to their supporters, that they are loyal to the party." He, however, said their attendance of the convention "does not mean that all the group's grievances stated in their letter had been addressed. We still believe that our loyalty should be demonstrated, that was why we attended the convention.� The statement further said, "The fact that we were able to attend the APC convention and the convention is going

on well is not an interpretation that the suffering of the masses had been alleviated and is not an answer that the security in the country, which has been seriously jeopardised is being addressed. It is not a pointer to the fact that youth unemployment and human capital development are being addressed." PDP Mocks APC, Calls Convention a Charade PDP described the APC convention as a charade and an assault on the sensibility of Nigerians. A statement yesterday by Ologbondiyan said, “Nigerians are invited to note that some of the officials preferred, particularly, the national chairman, are individuals overburdened by heavy corruption allegations, and whose expected investigation and prosecution have been traded for a presidential ticket for President Buhari. “The world observed with shock how aspirants and delegates who dared to raise questions were manhandled by thugs and intimidated by security operatives. "It is instructive to state that the APC convention directly reflects the confusion, intimidations, violations and descent to fascism, that have characterised governance in our nation in the last three years," PDP further stated, “While we urge Nigerians and the international community to mark the desperation in Mr. President’s camp, for which they are bent at destroying our democracy, it is clear that with the character, personality and outlook of the incoming national executive of the APC, the party has been finally sunk by President Buhari and his power hungry cabal."

it possible in the case of Atiku and that is where we stand. “Don’t get it wrong, we are not saying Atiku is already our choice for the presidency in 2019. We have many capable hands already in our midst and we are going to have more by the time the alliance with other groups of similar dispositions is sealed. But it would be unfair to close the door on someone as important as Atiku in a presidential contest. Let it be a fair run. That’s all we crave and he seems to see the sense in our position. “The truth is that at the stage we are now, even President Obasanjo has realised we must not make the mistake of not putting our best foot forward in the race to realising the Nigerian project. I’m not saying he (Atiku) is our best foot, but if he turns out to be our best foot, we must not hesitate to put him forward for as long as Nigeria wins.� Obasanjo Meets Southwest Leaders On the meeting with Southwest leaders, Obasanjo, who arrived at the Lekki Phase I residence of Adebanjo at 10: 40am to iron out some of the pending issues with the Yoruba

leadership, was accompanied by Chief Abraham Akanle, Mr. Joju Fadairo, Dr. Femi Majekodunmi, Dr. Gbolade Oshinowo, Kenny Martins, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, and his media aide, Mr. Kehinde Akinyemi. The former president immediately entered into a closed-door meeting with Mrs. Awolowo Dosumu, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Dr. Amos Akingba, Mr. Supo Shonibare, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Professor Akin Mabogunje, Professor Banji Akintoye, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, former governor of Ogun State governor and Director-General, Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, and former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, among others. Although Obasanjo declined comments on the purpose of the meeting, his host, Adebanjo hinted that it was aimed at fostering peace and unity among the Yoruba leaders. According to him, the meeting is "nothing more than the fact that Nigeria must move forward. All attempts to establish dictatorial tendencies in the country must be opposed. There must be unity to destroy mediocrity and dictatorship." The Afenifere leader also said, "What is important is that we have our common goal. We don't have a candidate yet. Not yet. We must agree first. Any differences among us must be settled. If you are not united, you can't fight the battle. The Yoruba man must put on their thinking cap.� Asked why he opted to hold the meeting with Obasanjo whose critic he had consistently been, Bakare said, "Being a critic is not an enemy of the state or the nation. The thinker is the enemy of the mob. If you say I have been a critic of Chief Obasanjo, look at him now being a critic of Muhammadu Buhari

too, yet he facilitated his coming in. Critic is not the same thing as criticism - it is let us reason together, things are not going the right way. That is all." According to Bakare, the hope and prayer of the concerned leaders is that the meeting would eventually put Nigeria on the right path. There were, however, indications that the meeting had a fruitful outcome. One of the participants told THISDAY, "It was positive." This was as Mabogunje sang in the Yoruba dialect: "Why shouldn't we be happy? It has gone exactly the way we want it to go." Meanwhile, at the Ikoyi residence of George, the meeting with Obasanjo was described as an end to their long standing political rift. Obasanjo, who also led top aides and loyalists to George's residence, urged him to take solace in God over the demise of his son. "We cannot query God, but to only take solace in what He has done to you. If this did not happen, who knows what next that will happen? I have not been around but it was in my mind to come over and commiserate with you and the family. May God grant the reposed eternal rest," Obasanjo told the family. Expectedly, the visit elicited emotions, when George's sister, Alhaja Majolagbe, in her vote of thanks, declared that the rift between the two was over with the visit. "We were all shocked when this started. But, today, the devil has been put to shame. The evil this morning has been condemned outside this house. It will never come to these two great Nigerians anymore. Time has come back again, when my brother will find Ota his home. It is over, Allah takes all thanks," Majolagbe said.

2019: OBASANJO UNDER PRESSURE TO BACK ATIKU that the high level consultations that started at various platforms since the formation of Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), otherwise known as the “third force�, and which has already metamorphosed into African Democratic Congress (ADC), had been intensified. In this regard, Obasanjo met with some leaders of his native South-west yesterday, in discussions that even involved some of his known political enemies. CNM and ADC, both of which have prominent Nigerians as members, are also said to have gone into more serious talks with equally critical sociopolitical and cultural groups in the country. Majority of them are believed to have bought into the idea of “changing the change� in 2019. One of such organisations said to be ready to work with Obasanjo on the understanding that it is purely a Nigerian project is Afenifere, which has never hidden its reservation about Buhari. Afenifere is said to be discussing with Obasanjo the imperative of not closing the space on anyone on account of personal animosity, citing specifically the case of Atiku. The reason Afenifere is

believed to be making a case for Atiku, not as an automatic candidate of the alliance but one of the many aspirants to come together in collective interest, inside sources say, is his position on the issue of restructuring, which a majority of Afenifere members consider crucial to the future of a united Nigeria. Some Afenifere sources that confided in THISDAY at the weekend maintained that although they were sure Atiku would implement full restructuring, as this has since formed the core of his campaign, they were certain he would implement it in a manner that would be fair to all parts the country. Obasanjo met with some South-west leaders yesterday, at a parley chaired by one of Afenifere’s leaders, Chief Ayo Adebanjo to further explore the possibility of collaboration. The former president also seized the opportunity to visit his estranged ally, Chief Olabode George, first to commiserate with him on the passing of his son, Dipo, and to also reconcile with him by drafting him into the battle to take back the country. But sources said while Obasanjo had yet to give

any positive response to the request to give Atiku a chance, he did not however maintain his familiar hard stance on the former vice president, a situation many interpreted to mean he might have begun to soft-pedal. This is against the backdrop of the speculations that Obasanjo had sworn at different fora that never would Atiku rule Nigeria in his lifetime. Such dispositions clearly establish where Obasanjo is believed to stand on Atiku’s long-nursed presidential project. The former president is believed to be the one de-marketing his former deputy on the allegations that he was a corrupt politician, who should not be found anywhere close to power again. But recent developments are set to give fillip to the saying that in politics anything is possible. A source that had been in the know about the moves said, “After all, the same Obasanjo once described a former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi’s ambition as one with a K-leg, but later went to commission projects in Rivers, where he poured accolades on the former governor. Whatever made that happen can make

BUHARI: WE'LL DEAL WITH VARSITIES THAT CONDONE CASES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT universities in particular must be prepared to play a major role in the nation’s desire to create a safer and more prosperous country. He said, “To play any major role in the Nigeria’s social, economic, political and cultural transformation, however, all universities in the country must demonstrate commitment to the core values of honesty, integrity, transparency, accountability and rule of law. “They must promote the culture of tolerance, accommodation and respect for other people’s cultures, religions and

ways of life. They must stamp out all forms of academic and financial corruption, social vices including the worrying spate of sexual harassment which has continued to tarnish the cherished reputation of our nation’s citadels of learning.� He noted that Nigeria is living in an age of knowledge where education or human capital holds the key to successes as a people and as a nation. Buhari stressed that only education, particularly the type of quality education produced in good universities, can instigate rapid social, economic,

scientific and technological changes needed to guarantee the country’s march to the future with pride and confidence. He expressed belief that education remains the most potent weapon for injecting hope in the youth and the government’s ability to negotiate a better quality of life for the people. “We need to change the way we do things in Nigeria. We need to change our attitude towards education if we desire genuine change and progress in our country. We need to change before it is too late. Nigeria’s

challenges are multiplying by the day. Tackling these challenges would require different but fresh perspectives anchored on innovative approaches to education delivery throughout the country. “It is imperative, therefore for universities in this country to take the lead in opening our minds to the emerging scenarios and equipping ourselves to meet the challenges posed by these challenges. We cannot afford to be strangers in the new world being shaped by education and technological advancement,� he added.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

9

SUNDAY COMMENT

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

AGENDA FOR THE NEW APC LEADERSHIP For the Oshiomhole-led new national executive to earn respect, it must promote the common good

O

rdinarily, as the party in power at the national level and in majority of the 36 states, the All Progressives Congress (APC) should be a beacon of democratic tidiness. That, sadly, is far from the reality, going by the mayhem and utter disorder that characterised the ward, local government and state congresses that eventually culminated in the national convention held yesterday in Abuja. It is, however, a credit to the party that the process by which about 6,800 delegates elected their leaders last night was transparent and devoid of the usual acrimony, despite the mild drama between factional delegates from Imo, Delta and a few other states. We congratulate members of the newly elected National Working Committee of the party, especially Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who succeeds Chief John OdigieOyegun as the APC national chairman even as we urge him to walk his talk. “We will subject everyone to the dictates of our constitution and remain faithful to the manifesto of the party on the basis of which we were elected by the Nigerian people. To my recollection, we haven’t had any serious platform as a party where the agenda was to debate policy options and choices attached to each policy we fought for. To me, this is what a political party should represent”, said Oshiomhole last week. We agree with Oshiomhole that political parties should be more an avenue for the contestation of ideas about how society should develop and thrive than a vehicle for seeking political offices. The challenge is that the APC, like the Peoples

Byaggregating andrepresenting theinterestsof theirmembers, fieldingcredible peopleforpublic officesandholding governmentto accountwhenin opposition,political partieshavea hugeroletoplay inanyemerging democracy

Letters to the Editor

E

Democratic Party (PDP) it dislodged, has hardly articulated what it stands for in terms of ideas let alone canvass its platform to ordinary Nigerians. Meanwhile, to the extent that political parties remain the framework for democracies to recruit and organise the populace for power contests, when they exhibit incoherence in policy formulation and disorder at local levels, it is democracy that is endangered.

U

S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS OLAWALE OLALEYE, TOBI SONIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI , PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS ERIC OJEH, PATRICK EIMIUHI ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

nfortunately, for the past three years, impunity and arrogance have found expression within the APC where unmanaged factions have in recent months emerged as the ambitions of rival political war lords clashed openly and in some instances, violently. Besides, its mechanisms for internal democracy such as periodic congresses, conventions, National Working Committee (NWC) meetings, etc., were hardly convened while its membership and leadership at ward, local government and state levels were left to conjecture. Those of its members who found themselves in government have carried on more or less like an exclusive club of the ‘chosen’. Yet a party without a definable ideology, structure or institutional memory ought to have spent more time in internal engineering than in seasonal electioneering contingency. It is indeed noteworthy, as we highlighted only recently, that the democratic credentials of the principal promoters of the APC are thin but what is even more worrisome is that after three years in power as the ruling party at the centre, they have yet to show Nigerians that their party is a serious political platform driven by the core value of promoting the common good. By aggregating and representing the interests of their members, fielding credible people for public offices and holding government to account when in opposition, political parties have a huge role to play in any emerging democracy. But with prohibitive costs of expression of interest and nomination forms, for instance, many otherwise good candidates are usually denied the opportunity to stand for elections in Nigeria. And with that, we have a preponderance of incompetent politicians in strategic public offices. For that situation to change, the APC must lead the efforts since political parties are important in the recruitment of credible leaders at all levels of government. It is against this background that the Oshiomhole-led new national executive has its job cut out for them. We wish them the best of luck in their new assignments.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be

Edo-Azura: Blueprint For Power Model

do-Azura power project represents a blueprint for power plants model in Nigeria. Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said with the 450MW Azura- Edo power project now on stream, the state is looking at attracting more investors for the Benin Industrial Park and technology innovation hubs, which would benefit from the conducive business environment and guaranteed power in the state. The governor said this during the visit of 10 World Bank executive directors to the Edo-Azura Power Plant, near Benin City. The governor said: “Power is the key to industrialisation and development. We need to extend the benefits of this investment. Now that we have power, what are we going to do with it? "The next projects are those that

have to rely on this key infrastructure we have just created. So, we would be looking at the Benin Industrial Park, building infrastructure to encourage and support manufacturers to come in. We are looking at innovation hubs; we want to use the factor and advantage of 24/7 electricity to encourage technology groups and companies to be located in Edo State.” The World Bank executive director, Angola, Nigeria and South Africa sub-group, Ms. Bongi Kunene, said the institution was ready to partner with the state as long as projects were in line with the bank’s focus, noting that the Edo- Azura power project is an example of a solution to a key problem in the country. “The project is transformational. It gives us a scope of what we can do together. We are delighted to

see solutions. We would want to commit ourselves to projects that make sense and are in line with our focus,” she said The electricity sector in Edo State is undergoing an unprecedented transition. Today, Azura power is providing affordable, secure and reliable electricity by attracting investors with low risk, stable returns. A month ahead of the planned official launching of its 450 megawatts (MW) capacity power generation plant, Azura Power has announced the completion of its whole plant run, indicating that all of its three turbines with a collective output of 450MW have been deployed in Nigeria’s national grid. The $900 million power plant was originally supposed to be completed around December this year, but it achieved a construction timeline cutback record of about

seven months. The coming on grid of its three units could, however, improve the total amount of electricity available to the national grid by 450MW. Currently, Nigeria distributes an average of 4000MW to electricity consumers across its length and breadth. However, Azura has disclosed through its official twitter handle that all its three turbines had been synchronised to the grid with their generation output approaching 450MW. With the successful synchronisation of all three turbines to the grid, Azura and federal government agencies have shown confidence that the early completion and evacuation of the plant will be met. Edo-Azura Power sector provides enormous potential for investors. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has started the process of solving Nigeria’s problem, by first solving Nigeria’s electricity problem. Manufacturing companies from Nigeria in Ghana are set to relocate to Benin City, Edo State and take advan-

tage of the liberal investment incentives here and improved power supply from Azura. Edo-Azura will provide electricity for industrial customers, typically facilities and equipment which use electricity for processing, producing, or assembling goods including diverse industries such as manufacturing, mining, agriculture. The success of the project is also a reflection of the close cooperation and strong and consistent support that it has received from the three local communities of Ihovbor, Orior-Osemwende; and Idunmwowina and from the palace of His Royal Majesty, the Oba of Benin. Whilst there is still some way to go and challenges to overcome, the project’s management team is confident that all parties will continue to work together to enable the power plant to reach full commercial operations well ahead of schedule. –– Jesutega Onokpasa, Warri

10

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍşÍźËœ ͺ͸͚΀

SUNDAYNEWS

News Editor Abimbola Akosile E-mail: Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă—ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă‹Ë›Ă‹Ă•Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă?̜ÞÒÓĂ?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ͸΀͸ͺ͚͚͝Ϳ͞͝Π̙Ă?Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁĚš

Airlines to Deploy N50bn VAT Waiver to Lower Air Fares, Maintenance, Employment Chinedu Eze

Domestic airlines has said the recent Value Added Tax (VAT) waiver given to them by the federal government estimated to be about N50 billion annu-

ally would give them relief financially, provide them with fund for lower air fares, aircraft maintenance, and to create more employment in the sector. The airlines said increased passenger movement in the

domestic routes would boost the financial contribution of the sector to the GDP, increase revenue for the aviation agencies and enhance aircraft acquisition. Recently, the federal gov-

ernment issued an Executive Order for the removal of VAT from all forms of transportation, but before now it is only domestic airlines among different modes of transportation that paid VAT.

VAT is the deduction of 5 per cent from the passenger’s airfare remitted to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), while the airlines also pay 5 per cent charge to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (to be shared by four other agencies in the aviation industry). The CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi said the waiver would bring down air fares and make more people

to travel by air and increase airlines’ profit margin. Sanusi said one of the major reasons why airlines fail in Nigeria was lack of financial liquidity, noting that the charges and taxes squeeze airlines to the extent that they generate revenue without profits, so with the waiver, Nigerian airlines would save the 5 per cent fund, which is huge amount of money when put together.

Kwankwaso Pays Surprise Visit to Atiku Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

ALL FOR PROGRESS L-R: Former All Progressives Congress National Interim Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode;

APC Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and APC chieftain, Chief Pius Akinyelure, during the National Convention of the APC at Eagle Square, Abuja‌yesterday

Former Governor of Kano State, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso yesterday night paid a courtesy visit to former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar at his residence in Asokoro, Abuja. In what looked like an exploratory political meeting, Kwankwaso was said to have arrived Atiku’s residence at about 8.30pm and went straight into a closed door meeting with the former Vice President. The details of their meeting were however not made public but for the Senator to visit a lead-

ing member of the opposition party on a day his party, the All Progressives Congress had its national convention brings up a lot of political meaning. A reliable who was privy to the meeting told THISDAY that it lasted about 45 minutes. It was learnt that the visit of Kwankwaso was ostensibly said to be Sallah homage to Atiku who was not in the country during the Eid El Fitr celebrations. The source said both leaders also used the occasion of the visit to discuss the state of the nation.

Lai Mohammed: No Journalist in Detention in Nigeria Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has poured water on the report by the press freedom organisation, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), accusing the Nigerian government of detaining a journalist for the past two years. The rebuttal was issued at the Gala/Award Night of the International Press Institute (IPI) in Abuja on Friday. Mohammed insisted that Clement Abiri, purportedly being referred to by the CPJ, was not a journalist but an oil

pipe vandal. “Let me state here, without equivocation, that contrary to the report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), no journalist is in detention in Nigeria. Clement Abiri, who is being referred to as a journalist, is not one. He does not belong to any chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists. He was arrested for pipeline vandalism and crude theft, including militant activities in the Niger Delta,� Mohammed said. The minister restated federal government support for press freedom, insisting the

media has nothing to fear under the present dispensation. He described the Nigerian media as one of the most vibrant in the world, saying the media played a crucial role in the country’s long march to democratic governance. The minister said government would continue to provide the enabling environment for journalists to function unmolested, “In my opening comments at the 2016 IPI Congress in Doha, I said we as a government view the media as a partner. That remains true. I also said the media in

Nigeria has nothing to fear from this administration, and that - if anything - we as a government are the ones who have to fear the media. Also, that has not changed. “We are proud that the Nigerian media is one of the most vibrant in the world. We are proud of the role that the Nigerian media has played in our long march to democratic governance,� he said. He underscored the indispensable role of the media to society while speaking on the theme of the 67th IPI World Congress: ‘Why Good Journalism Matters’.

According to the minister, apart from being a watchdog, the media role is to serve all citizens in a democratic society and to tell the truth. “If we all agree about this obligation, then it behoves the media to tell the truth, not just to power, but to the people, making it easier for them to get the facts in the right context, thus facilitating their decision-making process. “But in an era of growing cases of fake news and disinformation, can we still say the media - whether traditional or new - is living true to this

dictum? If the answer is no, what does this portend for the profession in particular and the society in general? I am sure this congress is examining the issue critically in the course of its deliberations,� he said. He appealed to the media to always report the government in the right context in order to give the people the opportunity to make informed decisions. He said the present administration had kept its promise to fight corruption, tackle insecurity and revamp the economy.

Zimbabwe President Mnangagwa Buhari Reinstates 3 Suspended Escapes Assassination, VP, Others Injured Permanent Secretaries Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa survived a blast at a ruling ZANU-PF party rally yesterday in Bulawayo, his spokesman said, adding that he had been taken to safety after the incident. But one of two Vice Presidents, Kembo Mohadi was injured, according to The Zimbabwe Herald. Mohadi suffered leg injuries in the bomb blast. The Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri was also injured, Herald said. There were two other senior Government officials that were also affected, who have been admitted to the hospital.

But the newspaper did not give their names. According to the Herald, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga was also reported to be safe. Presidential spokesman Mr. George Charamba said: “President Mnangagwa has not been injured and is at Bulawayo State House. Investigations are underway and more details will be given to the public. There have been multiple attempts on the President’s life over the past five years.� The Sunday Mail said several security personnel attached to VIPs were also injured Images broadcast on Zimbabwean TV showed

scenes of chaos and medics fighting to save those wounded by the blast at the White City stadium in the country’s second city Bulawayo. “The president was evacuated successfully. He is at state house in Bulawayo,� said Charamba. “We suspect it’s an explosion, certainly it was close to the VVIP stage.� Mnangagwa had been in the city to campaign for votes ahead of nationwide elections due on July 30. They are the first polls since veteran leader Robert Mugabe was ousted following a brief military takeover in November last year, after 37 years in power.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the reinstatement of three permanent secretaries, who had been under suspension since 2015. Director Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Lawrence Ojabo, said this weekend in Abuja. The reinstated permanent secretaries are Mrs. Ibukun A. Odusote, Mrs. Nkechi Ejele and Mrs. Fatima B. Bamidele. Bamidele was in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs; Ejele in the Ministry of

Culture and National Orientation, and Odusote in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The officials were suspended in November, 2015 and investigated for alleged misconduct. However, Bamidele recently retired from the service upon the attainment of the mandatory age of 60 years. Ojabo said the President gave this directive while considering the recommendations of the Federal Service Management Committee and that of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation

(SGF). He said the president directed that the appointments of the permanent secretaries, who have been without posting since November 2015, should not be terminated in view of the fact that allegations against them could not be proven. “The Presidential clean bill for the top civil servants is a further demonstration of the federal government’s determination to ensure that no government employee is unduly victimised on account of frivolous allegations and petitions,� he said.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

11

12

JUNE 24, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

NEWS Abaribe Arrested for Allegedly Aiding and Abetting IPOB, Says Lawyer t As IPOB, HURIWA kick Deji Elumoye and Senator Iroegbu in Abuja and DavidChyddy Eleke in Awka

The Counsel of detained member of the National Assembly, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, has said his client was picked up by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) for allegedly aiding

and abetting the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Addressing a news conference yesterday in Abuja, Ume claimed he got to know about Abaribe’s offence when the DSS operatives stormed his client’s residence on Friday evening. He said, “When the security operativesshortly after arresting Abaribe at forenoon on Friday

stormed his Apo residence to conduct some search, I specifically requested to know if they have a search warrant and they answered in the affirmative. “At that point, they showed me a search warrant signed by one Magistrate Kutigi and on the warrant it was written that my client was arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the proscribed Independent People of Biafra, IPOB.” According to him, the op-

eratives refused to give him a copy of the search warrant but only went ahead to do a thorough house search from 5pm to 11.30pm during which everything in the house was turned upside down. “They claimed to be searching for arms and ammunition at my client’s house with him in attendance,butattheendoftheir searchnoarmorammunitionor Ghana-Must-Go bag was found there. “What they succeeded in

WINNING TEAM L-R: Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; New National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; his deputy, Hon. Philip Shaibu, at the APC National Convention in Abuja...yesterday

finding in the House were only 23 items including three laptops andphoneswhichwerealldocumented and signed for by the leader of the operatives. They refused to release the laptops one of which contained question paper for an examination to be taken on Monday and the phones; one of which belongs to an American citizen.” He said the security operatives had denied him and his client’s doctor access to him up till Saturday morning, adding that “we made efforts for us to see my client because he needs to have access to his drugs but we were turned back. So, as we speak, he remains incommunicado.” Ume emphasised that he would approach the court “if by Mondaymyclientisnotreleased to press for the enforcement of his fundamental rights.” He also said his client who stood surety for Nnamdi Kali, leader of outlawed IPOB at an Abuja High Court is expected to be in court at the next hearing of the case on Tuesday, June 26, adding, “but with this arrest I will have to inform the court about his arrest.” Umewarnedgovernmentnot to stifle opposition “because I believemyclientisbeinghunted because of his opposing views like other Senators like Dino Melaye, Shehu Sani who have been critical of the policies of the present administration.”

In a related development, IPOB has called on the British government, which it referred to as the creator of Nigeria, to call the Nigerian government, headed by President Muhammadu Buhari to order. IPOB said the call was necessitated by the recent arrest of Abaribe, insisting that the action was capable of causing disaffection in Nigeria. A press release signed and circulated by the media and publicity secretary of the group, Mr. Emma Powerful, stated that the arrest of Abaribe was unacceptable, and capable of igniting ethnic sentiment. “As the uncontested and rightful owners of Nigeria, which they single handedly created, Britain must as a conscientious democracy and matter of urgency ask the Islamic Republic of Nigeria to release Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe without further delay.” IPOB however said Abaribe might have been arrested because he was alleged to be harbouring the IPOB leader, Kanu. It also added that another possible reason the DSS came forAbaribewashisrecentalarm over the smuggling of N30 billion into the 2018 budget, for the power sector. The group lamented that instead of making clarifications on the issue, the government resorted to intimidating and shutting him up.

MacArthur Awards Nearly $6.5m to Advance Accountability, Transparency and Reduce Corruption in Nigeria Abimbola Akosile

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced nearly $6.5 million in funding to advance anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria. ThegrantsarepartoftheFoundation’sOnNigeriagrantmaking, whichseekstoreducecorruption bybuildinganatmosphereofac-

countability, transparency, and good governance in the country, according to a release issued by the organisation. Thegrantssupportnonprofits workingtoinformandempower communities in the fight against corruption and to promote anticorruption as a national priority inadvanceofthe2019Presidential and Assembly elections.

21 Killed in Adamawa by Suspected Herdsmen Daji Sani in Yola

About 21 people have been killed, with several others injured and houses burnt down in Dowayan village, Demsa local government of Adamawa state by suspected herdsmen Reports from the affected area revealed that the attackers stormed the communities around 9pm on Friday, resulting in the burning down of the village and destruction of properties worth millions of naira. A source told THISDAY that the suspected herdsmen came in large numbers while carrying sophisticated weapons, which scared the security manning the area away, but the latter called for reinforcement immediately. He said the herdsmen operated for several hours and as a result

killed over 21 people, injured several others and burnt down houses before the arrival of the security reinforcements, who later overpowered the herdsmen in a fierce battle. According to him, as a result of the counter attack lunched by security forces, the herdsmen escaped into the bush and also carted away some valuables from locals of the affected village. But a resident of Dowayan village who simply identified himself as Cawtout Ali said the attacks were becoming unbearable, and complained that the government was always complacent concerning the spate of killings by the herdsmen. He said “despite several committees set up by the state and federal government to curb the crisis yet it seems the committees were set to fuel the crisis.”

Theyincludesupportforefforts to strengthen systems and study whatworkstoreducecorruption. These awards, according to the release, build on decades of the foundation:ssupportforprojects to enhance credibility, integrity, monitoring,andsecurityaround past elections. *They continue MacArthur’s recent support for organisations

working to capitalise on the nationalmomentumandincreased politicalwilltotacklecorruption, withprojectsrangingfrommonitoringandtransparencymeasures around the political process to public education about the costs ofcorruption,*thestatementadded. Speakingonthegrants,Director ofMacArthur’sNigeriaOffice,Dr. KoleShettima,said“Thecountry

Caritas Chairman Loses Mother-in-law

The chairman of Caritas Communications Limited, a leading integrated marketing communications company in Nigeria, Mr. John Ehi Addeh has lost his mother-in-law, Madame Magdalene Obiageli Okolo (Nee Esedebe). According to a statement signed by Mrs. Irene Ifeanyi Oyewo for the family, their late mother aged 87 and popularly called Auntie Yaba, was a successful merchant at the Balogun market in Lagos; a prominent community development leader, a mentor to many and founder/president of Ibusa Women’sLeagueInternational,matronofIbusaLadiesAssociation (the Angels). She was decorated in 2012 with the coveted honor of Golden Mother at St. Thomas Catholic Church, Ibusa.

Boko Haram Kills Four in Attack on Borno Village Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

Suspected Boko Haram members yesterday attacked a village in Borno state, killing four persons. The village, Tunkushe is few kilometres away from Maiduguri, the capital of the troubled State. Confirming the attack, the spokesman of Police in Borno State, Edet Okon, in a press release said: “Today being

23/06/18 at about 0100hrs, gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists attacked Tunkushe village in Konduga local government area of Borno State.” Okon said four persons were killed in the attack. He further revealed that the police authority has deployed more personnel to strengthen security within the area.

has begun an important process ofaddressingthecorruptionthat plagues it on so many levels.” “Itismoreimportantnowthan evertokeepanti-corruptionwork front and centre on the national agenda, and to empower people andcommunitieswiththeinformation and platforms they need to advocate for themselves and fight for the issues that impact their daily lives.” The foundation’s grants were made to several organisations, including:AccountabilityResearch

Center(Washington,D.C.),which is expected to partner the Centre forDemocracyandDevelopment (CDD)inNigeriatoassessthesuccessofapproachesandstrategiesto strengthenaccountabilityaround the world and in Nigeria. Also, the Centre for InformationTechnology&Development (Kano)istosupporteffortsbycivil society organisations to provide platforms and forums for social discoursearoundaccountability andanti-corruptioninadvanceof the 2019 elections.

Kwankwaso Pays Surprise Visit to Atiku Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Former Governor of Kano State, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso yesterday night paid a courtesy visit to former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar at his residence in Asokoro, Abuja. In what looked like an exploratory political meeting, Kwankwaso was said to have arrived Atiku’s residence at about 8.30pm and went straight into a closed door meeting with the former Vice President. The details of their meeting were however not made public but for the Senator

to visit a leading member of the opposition party on a day his party, the All Progressives Congress had its national convention brings up a lot of political meaning. A reliable who was privy to the meeting told THISDAY that it lasted about 45 minutes. It was learnt that the visit of Kwankwaso was ostensibly said to be Sallah homage to Atiku who was not in the country during the Eid El Fitr celebrations. The source said both leaders also used the occasion of the visit to discuss the state of the nation.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

13

14

Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION Time To Name And Tame Boris Johnson stresses the need to strengthen the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons

L

ike architecture and art, the value of some international agreements lies in the eye of the beholder. But no-one would seriously question the worth of the global ban on chemical weapons. Today 192 countries have put aside their other differences and chosen to be parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which prohibits the production, use and stockpiling of these horrifying instruments of death. We may find it impossible to abolish war, but we can at least agree to spare humanity from the unspeakable effects of these munitions. This universal consensus on the moral abhorrence of chemical weapons reflects the tragic experience of many countries. Chemical weapons were used in France and Belgium during the First World War; they inflicted appalling suffering in Morocco in the 1920s, Ethiopia in the 1930s, China in the 1940s and Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. This litany – by no means complete – was supposed to come to an end, once and for all, when the CWC entered into force in 1997. Yet since then, chemical weapons have been employed all over again in Syria and Iraq. A nerve agent was used to carry out an assassination at Kuala Lumpur international airport in Malaysia in 2017. Another category of nerve agent was employed in the British cathedral city of Salisbury in March. It would be idle to pretend that these outrages make no difference to the integrity of the CWC. They all represent breaches of the global prohibition on chemical weapons that every country wishes to preserve. Hence the need for a special session of the Conference of State Parties to the CWC that will take place in

The Hague on 26 and 27 June. The aim is to reinforce the international ban and strengthen the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which serves as the implementing arm of the Convention. At the moment, the OPCW does not have a mandate to say who carried out chemical weapon attacks in Syria. Its experts can report what happened when and where, but they do not identify the perpetrator. The international community lost that ability last November when the Security Council failed to renew the mandate of a Joint Investigative Mechanism comprised of the OPCW and the United Nations. This body had previously attributed four chemical weapon attacks to the Asad regime in Syria and two to Daesh. Since then, the OPCW has found that chemical weapons were employed in Syria in Lataminah (March 2017) and

If we allow the use of chemical weapons to be normalised, they will not be conďŹ ned to distant battleďŹ elds. What happened in Salisbury or Kuala Lumpur international airport could have happened anywhere

Saraqib (February 2018). But the crucial question of who was responsible has been left unanswered. How are we to preserve what we all believed was a universal taboo on the use of chemical weapons if the OPCW does not identify the offenders? The present situation indulges a fiction that chemical weapons descend from the sky of their own volition, without any agent or perpetrator. If this anomaly is allowed to persist then any state or terrorist might use chemical weapons, safe in the knowledge that the OPCW will not identify them. The danger is that the taboo will transfer from employing these munitions to naming those responsible. The best response would be to make full use of the provisions already in the CWC, which allow the OPCW to say not just whether chemical weapons were used but by whom. I hope that the special session will give the OPCW a mandate to develop new proposals on how to identify any breaches of the Convention. This is not a question of taking sides in some global confrontation; rather this is a simple choice over whether to uphold the prohibition on a terrible category of weapon or allow this ban to fade into irrelevance, posing a grave and growing risk to every country. If we allow the use of chemical weapons to be normalised, they will not be confined to distant battlefields. What happened in Salisbury or Kuala Lumpur international airport could have happened anywhere. We all share an interest in preserving and enforcing a prohibition on which our safety depends. And we cannot do that unless the OPCW is allowed to name an offender. --Johnson is the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary

Between A Bribe And An Honour June 12 declaration is political, contends Emenena Bright

G

rowing up in a rural community in Bendel State now in today’s Edo state, I remember fervently how candidates and parties used to bring bags of salt, rice and boxes of sugar as “gifts� for the women folks in the community. The men got cartons of Aromatic Schnapps, packets of cigarettes and maybe cash all in a bid to corner their votes. I am not sure how the residents usually responded at the polls, but this only happened during election season. The only road to the community was barely passable and of course despite the community’s closeness to Benin City, Iguo-Oshodi was still cut out of electricity. It is unfortunate that despite successive governments’ cry of wanting to stop corruption, no one has thought that this tradition of giving gifts to electorate during elections have put in our DNA the tendency to be corrupt. This tradition has survived for a long time and had been passed on to our today’s Nigeria. This tradition rationalises bribery. Even in a government led by a self-acclaimed anticorruption hero, obviously this is still the case. While a bribe means to dishonestly persuade (someone) to act in one’s favour by a gift of money or other inducement, honour has many meanings. In this context, we shall adopt Cambridge dictionary s definition of honour as “great respect; high esteem�. Let me make it abundantly clear that I have no qualms with honouring the late MKO Abiola as long as it is done within the law as the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is only in the respect for laws. Let me also congratulate all Nigerians who have remained glued to June 12, for to them, it is a dream come true. I celebrate especially with the families of the late icon for the honour of now being the descendants of a former president. I encourage them to go further to ask that Nigeria pay to them all that is due their father as a former president. Yes, a former president, for in my opinion, that is exactly what the conferment of the GCFR on MKO is. The conferment of GCON on his then running mate Babagana Kingibe is proof that this honour goes beyond a gratification for Abiola’s contribution to our democracy. Considering that Kingibe had quickly abandoned the fight for recognition of the election to join forces with those who tormented the acclaimed winner is proof of the declaration as President and Vice President for MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe respectively. Another proof is the fact that even those who like Abiola had died in the struggle like Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua have also been

left out for any honour. On the honour and declaration being done within the law, unfortunately, the first part has already run into hitches. Is either the proponents of this idea lack the patience and skill for research or they deliberately ignored the fact that the May 29th democracy day is an act of law. Obviously, our past leaders were not as dumb. As long as we continue to practice democracy, this will mean that the June 12th democracy day proclamation will only be possible if the National Assembly decides or agrees to repeal the first law and enact this proclamation. That doesn’t look like something happening soon. I understand the Attorney General of the Federation has come out to say that the proclamation is only an expression of wish. That again will bring all the jubilation to nothing and further lends credence to the thought that this was political and a bribe. While it is popularly agreed that to give and to accept a bribe are both criminal, it is clear that while the intention of a gift may be to corner favour therefore qualifying it for a bribe, he/she who accepts such gift may have done no wrong especially if he/she has not asked for it or reached any pre-agreement. God sometimes uses even the devil to achieve our needs. It is even worse when such gesture is coming from the echelon of the government, the presidency headed by President Muhammadu Buhari. It’s been three years since this administration came into existence and has had several opportunities to make such proclamation like they did on 10th June. There was even an address by the president in a national broadcast barely 12 days before this proclamation. But this has to be done only as an afterthought. As it gets more obvious that the president’s polling numbers were tanking, an evil genius as Yinka Odumakin referred to the proponent of this idea, came up with this idea of giving especially to the South West this humongous gift (bribe). While those praising the president for the proclamation are quick to show it is proof of the president’s democratic credentials, it is important to remind them that action speaks louder than voice. Buhari’s democratic credentials are more audible by his actions than by how loud he screams “June 12 Democracy Day.� To this end he has continuously proven the opposite as he has persistently shown blatant disregard for court rulings and by extension the rule of law. It is in public knowledge that Buhari has tremendous respect for Abacha his erstwhile boss and has continu-

ously praised him at every opportunity he gets. In addition to being part of the regime that incarcerated the late MKO Abiola, there is no record anywhere in history where the General now president spoke against Abiola’s incarceration or even his demise. It is on record that the likes of Atiku Abubakar had to go on exile and suffered great losses in the hands of the Abacha regime, for their fight against dictatorship, a regime President Buhari was part of. The question will now be at what point in PMB’s democratic transformation, did he develop all these love for MKO and June 12? Maybe IBB should be applauded for agreeing today that MKO actually won the 1993 elections and should be sworn in as president posthumously. As that is exactly what PMB has done. Like the renowned Professor Wole Soyinka said at the awards, PMB can help our confusion by coming out clear, as he cannot honour Abiola in one breath and then continue to praise his tormentor in another. The president’s antecedents, his continuous disregard for the rule of law, his generally poor performance and the timing of the proclamation fade and wipe out completely the thin line between a bribe and an honour. Like it was in the days of old and in times not too far off, whether the votes of the region will be influenced by the elites who are direct beneficiaries of such gesture, some of whom have now been accused of taking bribes and abandoning the late icon is yet to be seen and only time will tell. What is clear however, is that as it was in history, the oppressor’s tactics of divide and rule is still widely in use even now as evident by the way even the members of the late MKO’s family heap praises on the president with one of the daughters even apologising to him on his father’s behalf for what we do not know. Lastly, God willing, the 2019 elections shall come and go and the president must know that the one thing that will determine how the people vote will be performance and not some smoke screen honour and proclamation. The people can see through the smoke screen and shall clearly make their judgment loud on Election Day. However, we urge the President Buhari-led government to contribute to deepening Nigeria’s democracy by ensuring that he takes his thumb of the scale during the election as that will be the best way to show how democratic he truly is. ––Dr. Bright, a medical practitioner, wrote from Warri, Delta State

15

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

LETTERS

ANAMBRA STATE AND ILLEGAL STRUCTURES

Q

uite often development is not appreciated by all, especially where it appears not to affect everybody the same way. Appreciation varies as there are interests, and often provokes a whole gamut of human emotion. But ultimately it commends itself to the greater good. It is well to remember this fact - no development, however disruptive it may seem, is adapted to the general good. It may appear severe at the outset, but in the end its salutary effect is assured. Few examples where development was spurned as punitive, resisted with vehemence but eventually accepted with thankfulness may suffice. What is known today as Lekki phase one and two in the Lagos Island area of Lagos State - where the rich now retire in a pleasant feeling of tiredness - was a reclaimed slum - a skid row. It was formerly Maroko, the rundown part of the state and a byword for bedlam and decay. But today the story has changed for good. Those who carried out the demolition as well as the resisters of the exercise

N

Obiano

can now look back with a feeling of smugness over a good effort. It took decisive effort from the government at the time to accomplish the task without which the state’s dream of a mega city would have come in vain and a good idea lost forever. Maroko was almost a detritus of environmental waste frequented by all manner of people, including those not bred to any manner of

trade. Its reclamation was therefore very important to the state and she spared no effort to see it through. There was also Oshodi, another sprawling habitation in the state. Whether as a market or a habitation, Oshodi did not conjure a good image. Before it was reclaimed from its decided slant towards irredeemable slum the place evoked an eerie feeling in commuters and passers-by. Very few

positive stories were told of it. Like Maroko its demolition was frowned at and resisted with vehemence. But today Oshodi is a tourist attraction. Visitors to the state are completely lost on its aesthetic transformation. Hardly does it bear any imprint of the old status. It can be argued that the decision to transform both places (Maroko and Oshodi) was not easy. It was seen as unpopular and resisted accordingly. But because the government was unwavering the idea was pursued with uncommon determination until the objective was achieved. What happens in Anambra - the removal of illegal structures from the streets - is in no way different. The only difference perhaps is in scope. Whereas Lagos dealt with more expansive areas of habitation and market, Anambra is just slicing off stalls and compartments, obstructing existing structural plan of major streets in the state. She is yet to demolish squalid habitations littered in the cities of Onitsha, Awka and even Nnewi. But even as moderate as the exercise the task has not been easy. It has been met with subtle resistance. As was wont, the presumed

Why Buhari May Win Again

otwithstanding rampant outpourings of “inspired” prophetic utterances of men of “God” who often claim to have heard from Jehovah our God, it cannot be taken hook, line and sinker that God obeys man or acts on the unctuous utterances of mortal flesh He created. Who and who were there when God spoke to that “Man of God”, and what manner of spirit gave such a Nigerian prophet utterance? The spirit of truth based on truthful and factual assessment of Buhari’s three years in office and the gallimaufry of perplexing tasks he came to embrace? The much-talked about insecurity of Boko Haram and herdsmen are definitely not the only nagging problems gnawing at Nigeria when Buhari came in 2015. Therefore, any prediction about the outcome of 2019 elections as it concerns Buhari—which did not reckon with the man’s humble efforts—even if he may not have performed superbly according to most Nigerians—and the degree of tasks he met vis-a-avis the state of Nigeria’s treasury, could not have been inspired

by the holy spirit of Jehovah, the true God. Here in Nigeria, we have had a surfeit of predictions and prophesies that bounced off the happenings in the social space within the period these predictions were timed. Were we not told that former President Goodluck Jonathan would be overthrown in a military coup? Were we not told that Buhari would very likely hand over to Professor Yemi Osinbajo before 2019? Have we not been told that “a nobody”, an unknown face will rule Nigeria in 2019? But all the presidential aspirants on parade today, are they not the same familiar faces that have been strutting the political landscape since 1999, except just one or two among them? The scripture made it clear that “prophesies may fail, visions may fail, but the word of God stands for ever”. And one of the words of God that stands for ever is this: “When a man’s ways pleases the Lord, He makes even his enemies become his friends”. God is truth. He confirms His truth, and that spoken by we flesh. That is why truth is like cricket ball. No matter how hard you try to press it into water, it

bounces up. God is more disposed to pardon the error of somebody who speaks truth all the time, than the holy angel that knows so much how to manipulate, trick, hypnotise and cover-up. Innocence of hearts and thoughts are a delight to our Lord and He searches the intent of the heart of men, knowing all their steps, before they make any move. Dubious intelligence of professorial acumen does not produce positive results, and that is one of the fundamental causes of our present level of underdevelopment. Have we not had PhDs and professors in the legislature in the 1950s, 60s, 80s, and even up till now? Why was there no difference? Because, beyond the veneer of intellectualism and technocracy, the major plane in the subconscious which produces noble thoughts and decisions: moral integrity, uprightness, a godly sense of sound judgment, and the quiet spirit of discernment were not in them. And that is why a whole crop of PhD-wielding state managers would not feel any qualms dashing a princely N15 billion to parliamentarians, just to pass the budget bill, their statutory respon-

sibility in the first place. Why is she just blowing the whistle now that most of those who collected out of the bribe are no longer in the chambers? That is also why a princely $2 billion would just fly away like that, as if $2 billion would not make any difference in the second Niger Bridge project. Truth is this: as 2019 builds up, it is becoming clear day by day that the opposition elements have not shown any atom of seriousness capable of putting the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress government into fear. Forget about the fact that the APC is also suffering the same internal crisis of trust. But it is most likely to overcome its squabbles than the opposition elements—both the new and old PDP, the yet invisible members of your SDP, the seemingly secretive colony being assembled by ex-President Obasanjo called NIM or whatever and all the rest. Eight months to election, non of the opposition aspirants has come up with anything like campaign issue or clearly-spelt out programme on how to bring down Buhari at the polls. The more they gather, the more they scatter. ––Sam Nwokoro, Lagos.

victims do not take the exercise kindly. It is seen as punitive but that perhaps is a poor reading of the acts of government, particularly its development plan. But the exercise has doubtless come due, especially with the disruption going on everywhere in the state. Sadly, an allegation of insensitivity is being slapped on the government over the exercise. But that is not tenable for the simple reason that the same government has consistently protected the underclass. Previous efforts bear this out. At the height of economic recession in the country the government had intervened to cushion the effect of taxation on residents in the state. It also employed workers when states were sacking theirs and pays salaries accordingly. It has offered employment opportunities to many, including people with disabilities and has encouraged them to aspire to positions hitherto denied them. More importantly, it has provided dosshouse for waifs and tramps and built sanatorium for the terminally ill. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the removal of illegal structures in the state to hang a tag of insensitivity on the government. The latter is not expected to sit on its hands and watch the state continue in the awkward direction. Rather than condemnation, the government should be encouraged in its onerous task of dealing with the disorderliness that has long pervaded the state. Similar effort by the same government had helped to shore up the positive image of the state. The sanity at Upper Iweka/Bridgehead was not achieved in a snap. It came at a cost. Like Oshodi, it was once a confused bedlam. But it took concerted effort by the government to make it a worthy gateway to the state. It may be hard for those

who bear the brunt of the exercise to appreciate the intentions of the government – its effort to bequeath the state a progressive, healthy and environmental-friendly state. But the responsibility ought to be a collective one and should elicit sacrifice accordingly. Unarguably, the exercise was conceived with the people in mind and caused from the outset of the Willie Obiano administration to follow a decided pattern. Against the rash of comments bandied in quarters, it was conceived for the general good of the state. Recall that early in the life of the administration, a development board, Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) was set up to cater for the structural needs of the capital city. It was charged among other responsibilities to draw up a capital city that would favourably compete with Dubai, the economic capital of the United Arab Emirate. Without question, it was an enormous task that involved a lot of adjustment on existing structures and application of restraints on emerging new ones. It is interesting to note that some of the affected structures – those opposed to the board’s run of duty would have been spared the bulldozers had wisdom prevailed. At least there was ample time to have them relocated to select areas. But that did not happen for obvious reasons. There were those who assumed the board will suffer a sting in the tail. There were also others who would never anticipate a storm when the sea is calm. Notwithstanding, it is believed that the desire to make Anambra a better state has a greater attraction for the people and will encourage them to sacrifice for the state. ––Ejike Anyaduba, Abatete

Why I’m Against APC Govt

I

am against the continuance of All Progressives Congress (APC) government under Muhamadu Buhari for a second term because I opposed the ongoing killing across Nigeria as excused, overlooked or rationalised by the Buhari government. Genocide is a crime against humanity. Anyone who supports it is triable and liable to 25 years imprisonment under revised codes of international law. To think is to exist and it is therefore irresponsible of anyone who claims to be educated to do uneducated things in violation of protocols

of humanity, regardless of how much one may hope to wangle from the treasury by illicit access to Muhammadu Buhari or Yemi Osinbajo. The divine curse is you will not drink from your vineyard with the blood money of genocide. Anything simultaneously done by a government aiding or abetting genocide is nullity; not an extenuating circumstance. A promise to fight corruption is no good reason for continuance of genocide. A genocidal government is a contradiction of terms. ––Seyi Olu Awofeso,seyioluawofeso@ gmail.com

@

16

Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL

The Rise and Fall of Apartheid and Future of Nigeria-South Africa Relations

’T

he Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Nigeria as a Factor’ is the title of a book authored by Dr. L.T. Bade-Afuye, a member of the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria, published by Bildev Nigeria and presented to the public on Thursday, 21st of June, 2018 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. In terms of analysis of the format of the book, it has a pagination of 536 pages which is chapterised into eight. It is standard in terms of dimensions: 8�x5�. The lettrine is calibri, 12 points size. It is printed on about 80 gm of off-white paper, with one and a half spacing. The lettrines are bold and quite legible. The language of discourse, which is English, is also simple and easy to understand. There are no textual and footnotes but endnotes in each chapter. The notes and references, and the indexing, meet international standard in some chapters while they do not in some others. In terms of content, it is a narration of the political ideology of apartheid, the cruel oppression of the blacks in their homes, on their own land, and Nigeria’s roles in the dismantlement of the most obnoxious and uncivilised policy by white settlers and colonialists in Africa. From the title of the book, impression is given that Nigeria played a role in both the rise and fall of apartheid but this impression is not substantiated. True, Nigeria played a very befitting role in the defense of the black man, in general, and black Southern Africans, in particular. But it is not true that Nigeria ever played any role directly or indirectly in the rise of apartheid. True enough, Nigeria only acceded into national sovereignty on October 1, 1960 after which it resolved to fight the dehumanisation of the black man in all its ramifications. But good and fair enough, the book does not contain any information or analyses on Nigeria’s role in the rise of apartheid. It does on ‘Nigeria as a factor’, especially as an internationally recognised frontline state. What is noteworthy at the book launch was that it not only turned into another mini symposium, in which Nigeria’s foreign policy and relations with South Africa were raised, but also during which a new debate on whether or not it is appropriate for Nigeria to seek nuclearisation. At the level of relations with South Africa, concerns were raised on Nigerians being the targeted victims of recidivist xenophobic attacks in South Africa? Regarding nuclearisation, opinion on it was sharply divided. One school of thought has it that Nigeria has been championing the making of Africa completely free from nuclearisation. Therefore, cannot at the same time be also engaging in what it is fighting. Besides, it was argued that Nigeria did not have the capacity to manage nuclear radioactivity. This was a good logic. However, the other school of thought has it that, it is precisely because Nigeria is yet to have the capability that there is the need to acquire the capability, at least, for purposes of deterrence. Indeed, there is nothing wrong for Nigeria to engage in constructive and scientific nuclear research, because it is not fair and just for some countries to be allowed possession of nuclear arms to the detriment of others. What came to the fore on this matter is that the nuclear weapons states simply do not want, in particular, newly independent states of Africa, to have access to nuclear arms, for fear of irrational behaviour. Whatever is the case, Chapter One of the book deals with the troubled political history of South Africa, especially the origins of the white settlers. In Chapter Two, the author explained the theories of ‘inequality and conflict,’ and their application to the situation of apartheid (separateness) in South Africa, which the UNDP Reports of 2003 described as playing host to the largest earning inequalities in the world. As the author explains it, ‘the land-holdings and other assets that are available to households and the opportunities to generate a sustainable livelihood are unequally distributed between and within race groups.’ In this regard, the African National Congress started its anti-Apartheid struggle on the basis of non-violence principle. However, the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre of unarmed blacks led to the founding by Nelson Mandela of an underground movement, the Mkhonto we Sizwe (The Spear of the Nation,) in order to confront ‘the wild beast that could no longer be fought with only bare hands.’ Additionally, the author explicated the struggle for sway among the Africans in Section 2 of the Chapter, the Caucasian civil war

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

President Ramaphosa

in Section 3, with emphasis on the 50th Ordinance by which the Hottentots and some other black groups are prevented ‘from being targets of the prevailing “re-invented� pattern of slavery which afforded the ... white owners of slaves to hold them as free domestic servants.’ He also provided an analysis of the ascendancy of the Boers in Section 4 of the Chapter with particular emphasis on the passing of the Land Act (1913), which forbade blacks either to own land except in the native reserves which made up only 7 per cent of the country or to practice share-cropping, a crucial way of subsistence for many blacks. The author noted that a new Land Act of 1936 increased the area of the reserves from 7 per cent to 13.5 per cent. Analysis of Nigeria’s foreign policy is the focus of Chapter Three of the book. What constitutes foreign policy, as variously defined by many scholars, are explained. For example, while Professor F.S. Northedge considers foreign policy as ‘an interplay between the outside and inside,’ Gyngell and Michael Wesley define it as ‘that dimension of public policy that deals with the outside world,’ but which must still be differentiated from foreign relations and diplomacy. As noted by the author, Gyngell and Wesley have it that foreign policy is not the same as foreign relations, which is the outcome of the foreign policy process, the objective relationship at any given line between sovereign states. And it is different from diplomacy, which is the tool used to implement the policy, the means to an end. Two basic approaches to foreign policy analysis are identified by Kenneth W. Thompson and Roy C. Macridis: ideological and analytical. Other approaches identified by other scholars include the traditional approach, which focuses on the decision-maker; the behavioural approach; the bureaucratic structure and processes;

The main trouble-shooting irritant in Nigeria’s relationship is the misrepresentation of Nigeria’s roles in the dismantlement of apartheid by the South African government and elite. Former military Governor of Lagos State and Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, BrigadierGeneral Buba Marwa,once recalled a radio/television programme in South Africa during which it was posited that Nigeria’s involvement in the antiapartheid struggle was largely because of economic motivations.Apparently, this might largely explain the recidivist xenophobic attacks on Nigerians. This cannot but be most unfortunate, especially in light of the revelations on Nigeria’s empirical roles by Ambassador Bade-Afuye’s book

psychological approach; and the multilevel and multidimensional approach. More important, elements of and perspectives on Nigeria’s foreign policy, as well as Nigeria’s foreign relations, especially from a theoretical perspective, are also explicated in the third chapter. In concluding the chapter, the author suggested that Nigeria should ‘expand the scope of its foreign policy beyond the confines of ‘centre-piece’ and ‘regional concentric circles.’ The author recalled the arguments of the polyphyletic school which has it that the Blacks came from gorillas, the Whites came from the chimpanzees, while the Orientals came from the orangutans, and that ‘it is for this reason that some races are superior.’ More explanations are contained in Chapter Four of the book. This chapter is an exegesis of the origins of apartheid, expansion of exclusive policy, resistance to apartheid, especially to the 1949 Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, the Population Registration Act of 1950, the Group areas Act of 1950, the Native Laws Amendment Act of 1952, the Abolition of Passes Act of 1952, the Separate Amenities Act of 1953, the Bantu Education Act of 1953, and to the Separate Representation of Voters Act of 1956. Chapter Five, entitled, ‘Insurrection and the Quest for Freedom,’ is a theoretical investigation of operational concepts, such as insurrection and freedom, on the one hand, and some youth organisations and institutional actors in the struggle, such as the United Democratic Front and the Labour Unions, on the other. In this regard, the author examined the extent to which insurrection enabled the attainment of freedom. As noted by the author, ‘there can be no doubt as to the centrality of the events of Sharpeville and Langa as the catalyst that stirred up the global community to demand an end to apartheid policy,’ and the eventual change from peaceful approach to a forceful approach to the struggle for freedom. Freedom is explained to mean either freedom of decision or freedom of action. In this case, freedom of decision is a situation in experience which is prior to freedom of action. On the contrary, freedom of action is the absence of obstructions to the execution of decisions, such as freedom of thought. Additionally, Ambassador Bade-Afuye not only noted that ‘to many observers, the 16 June 1976 uprising in Soweto, spearheaded by the youths, marks the beginning of the crucial phase of the struggle against apartheid,’ but also gave two reasons why South Africa was able to defy the world between 1961 and the early 1980s: strong economy with a growth rate of between 5 and 7 per cent and possession of ‘more precious minerals than any other country apart from the Soviet Union.’ ‘Ebbing of the Apartheid Tide’ attracted the attention of Chapter Six, the longest of all the chapters, covering pages 271 to 452. The chapter is in two main parts. It dealt essentially with the factor of Nigeria in the first part and the various dynamics of the dismantlement of apartheid policy in the second part. In the first part, the author explicated Nigeria as one of the Frontline States, with emphasis on Nigeria’s policy stand: ‘We in Nigeria will never compromise.’ He explained what we should mean by a Frontline State: ‘Frontline States refer to the group of independent Southern African countries whose borders are contiguous with South Africa’s: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.’ It also includes the neigbours of apartheid: Tanzania. Ambassador Bade-Afuye explains Frontline State as connoting the totality of support to the victims of not only apartheid in the Republic of South Africa and Namibia, but also colonialism in the Portuguese-held countries of Mozambique and Angola, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The author traced the genesis of Nigeria as a Frontline State to January 1976 OAU Summit when Nigeria was able to break the deadlock of Angolan political succession, and provided a near-comprehensive analysis of the roles played by Nigeria in the war against apartheid South Africa. The efforts include the establishment of the National Committee Against Apartheid (NACAP); award of educational scholarships to South African students and youths; organisation of symposia, workshops, radio and television programmes, for the purposes of public enlightenment on the ills of apartheid; establishment of a Southern African Relief Fund; mobilisation of the Nigerian people to support the anti-apartheid struggle; governmental directive to the External Service of the National Radio, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, to inform the world about the negative development in the racist enclaves; playing host to the 1977 UN Conference for Action Against Apartheid, held in Lagos from 13th to 16th August; enforcement of the ‘prohibited immigrant policy on all nationals of countries considered friendly with apartheid South Africa; active financial support to the liberation movements, as well as to countries fighting apartheid; non-participation in sporting activities in which South Africa was to be involved; and nationalisation of the Barclays Bank and British Petroleum in order to sanction Britain for exporting Nigerian oil to South Africa. In the second part of Chapter Six, the author explained the origins of South Africa’s military technological capability which was traced to the US President Kennedy’s Peace Corps and even the Kennedy Round. In this regard, US-South Africa cooperation programme covered space research, nuclear energy research and development, and amendments to the 1954 Atomic Energy Act to permit additional transfers of plutonium to South Africa. (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

17

18

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ E 24, 2018

INFOGRAPH

19

ADVERTISEMENT

20

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

21

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

BUSINESS

Editor Vincent Obia 08054681757 Email vincent. obia @thisdaylive.com

LAST WEEK Budget

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law on Wednesday inAbuja. The total budget is N9.1 trillion, up from the N8.6 trillion Buhari submitted to the NationalAssembly on November 7 last year. The two chambers of the National Assembly had passed the budget on May 16 after raising the figure by N500 million. They also increased the oil benchmark proposed by the executive from $45 to $51 per barrel.

FX Market

Trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

CBN’s I&E Boosts Foreign Investment in Equities Market by 116% Turnover grows 22% year-on-year Bamidele Famoofo

One year after the introduction of the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) Window by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) in the Nigerian equities market recorded a 116 per cent growth year-on-year (YoY) as at end of April, 2018. Total foreign portfolio investment between January and April this year, rose to N504.35billion compared to N233.51billion recorded in the same period in 2017, representing an increase of 116 per cent. Investments by foreign investors in the market witnessed a sharp decline in the same base period in 2016 when the figure dropped to N148.87billion as against N439.57billion recorded in April 2015 Year-to-Date (YTD). FPI in Africa’s largest economy returned to the path of growth in 2017, rising to N233.51billion in April YTD compared to N148.87billion YTD in April 2016, representing 56.9 per cent increase. FPI in 2018 (April YTD) compared to the same period in 2017 recorded 116 per cent growth from N233.51billion in 2017 to N504.35billion in April (YTD). Data supplied by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that transactions at the nation’s bourse decreased by 22.11 per cent from N272.48 billion recorded in March 2018 to N212.23 billion (about $0.70 billion) in April 2018. The cumulative transactions from January to April increased by 114.22 per cent from N509.38 billion recorded in 2017 to N1.091 trillion in 2018.

Foreign investors outperformed domestic investors by 15.48 per cent in April 2018. Total domestic transactions reduced by 36.0 per cent from N140.27 billion in March to N89.70 billion in April 2018. Foreign transactions also reduced by 7.32 per cent from N132.21 billion to N122.53 billion within the same period. There was a 7.79 per cent decrease in foreign inflows from N69.71 billion in March 2018 to N64.28 billion in April 2018. Besides, foreign outflows reduced by 6.8 percent from N62.50 billion to N58.25 billion within the same period. Meanwhile, financial experts have attributed the renewed interest of foreign investors in the Nigerian equities market to the smooth operations of the I&E window introduced by CBN in April 2017. According to the apex bank, “The purpose of I&E Window was to boost liquidity in the FX Market and ensure timely settlement of eligible transactions.” Afrinvest Research noted that weak sentiment in the Nigerian capital market was upturned in April 2017, following the launch of the I&E FX. “Market returned 42.3 per cent in 2017 following a 3-year losing streak. The performance was due largely to renewed interest by foreign and domestic investors because of stability in macroeconomic fundamentals”. Specifically, analysts at Afrinvest Research confirmed that the I&E FX window operations has had a material effect on the attraction of FPI into the Nigerian economy through the equities market since its introduction

about a year ago. According to them, “Foreign Portfolio Inflow (FPI) into Nigeria through the NSE, more than doubled from N256.5billion in 2016 to N596.8 billion in November 2017. Average monthly inflow of FPI into the equities market in the review period rose 153.8 percent to N54.3billion from N21.4billion.” Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in his review of the performance of the nation’s economy in January 2018, said the Foreign investors outperformed domestic investors by 15.48 per cent in April 2018. Total domestic transactions reduced by 36.0 per cent from N140.27 billion in March to N89.70 billion in April 2018. Foreign transactions also reduced by 7.32 per cent from N132.21 billion to N122.53 billion within the same period

introduction of the I & E FX window has boosted the confidence of investors in the Nigerian economy. Emefiele, in a signed statement, had said the condition of the economy in January reflects strong investor confidence in Nigeria. “We have recorded inflows of almost US$13billion since our introduction of the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) Window about nine months ago.” According to the apex bank, the inflows from foreign investors into the economy of Nigeria, have boosted FX supply and helped stabilise the exchange rate.

His words: “We have also seen the market capitalisation of our Stock Exchange improve by 22.3 per cent from N13.21trillion on 30 November 2017 to N16.15trillion as of 19 January 2018”. Furthermore, Emefiele disclosed that the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian bourse, which was rated second best performing exchange in Africa and 11th best performing stock exchange globally in 2017, had recorded a favourable growth in the very first month of the year 2018 at 18.8 percent as the Index moved from 37,944.60 points in November 2017 to 45,092.83 points on January 19, 2018. Other areas, where Nigeria has enjoyed gains from the I&E window, according to analysts at Afrinvest Research, are favourable movement on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking for 2018, where Nigeria ranked among the 10 most improved countries of the world. According a statement attributed to the office of the Vice President of Nigeria, “Nigeria moved up 24 places (relative to a target of 20) to 145th in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking and ranked in the top most improved countries”. Emefiele has assured that the CBN will do everything at its disposal to ascertain that the gains from I &E FX window on the economy is sustained. “The management of the CBN is determined to sustain these gains and will continue our vigilance and pro-activity to ensure macroeconomic stability through 2018,” he said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria boosted the foreign exchange market with $210 million to meet customers’ requests in various segments, Isaac Okorafor, Acting Director, Corporate Communications, said in Abuja. According to him, the bank, in its desire to meet customers’ needs, offered $100 million to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises segment got $55 million. Okorafor also said customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles, such as tuition fees, medical payments, and Basic Travel Allowance, among others, were allocated $55 million. He added that the naira continued its stability in the foreign exchange market, exchanging at an average of N360 per dollar in the Bureau De Change segment of the market last Wednesday.

Oil Spill

Oil giant, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, is liable to a $3.6 billion fine levied on it by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency over a 2011 crude oil spill offshore on Nigeria’s coastline, a federal court has ruled. Justice Mojisola Olatoregun held that NOSDRA’spowertoimposepenalties did not violate the provisions of the Nigerian constitution.

Border Closure

The federal government closed the land border with an unnamed neighbouring country to avoid smuggling of foreign rice into Nigeria. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh disclosed this in Abuja while speaking at a youth leadership clinic under the auspices of Guardians of the Nation International. Ogbeh said shutting the borders had become necessary to encourage local production and sustain the economy of the country. Nigeria shares borders with Niger, Chad, Benin and Cameroon. The pronouncement came weeks after media reports indicated that importation of Thai and Vietnamese rice was flourishing in the south-western borders of Nigeria with Benin Republic.

Foreign Investment

No fewer than 20 German firms were in Nigeria to explore investment opportunities. The chief executives of the visiting firms, led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, paid a courtesy visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to obtain first-hand information on the various investment opportunities. According to Enelamah, the delegation came from Bavaria, the region of Germany covering Munich and other industrial areas of the country. He said, “This is a very robust delegation; one of the important insights I gained from the meeting is that they really think that Nigerian economy is picking up.

22

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

BUSINESS/ENERGY

Oil Theft, Nigeria’s Familiar Foe, Back in the Saddle Chineme Okafor reports that large-scale theft of crude oil from Nigeria’s heavily militarised Niger Delta waters has resurfaced, leading to recent communities’ protests and blame games by stakeholders

Oil thieves in the creeks making a way with drums of stolen crude

N

igeria is perhaps the only country in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) notorious for large-scale theft of oil from its oil-bearing Niger Delta region. Despite existing military measures complemented with several unconventional security measures, the country disgracefully suffers from theft of crude oil produced from her field and sent to export terminals through a web of pipelines that go across the tough terrains of the Delta. Usually perpetrated by pirates and other third parties looking to make quick money by tapping from lines in the creeks, the practice of stealing oil from the Delta has persisted for many years such that data on what the country actually loses from theft are puzzling. In 2016, for example, a US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nation, Michele Sison, who reportedly quoted a Chatham House document, stated that Nigeria lost approximately $1.5 billion monthly to oil thieves, who stole about 400,000 barrels per day (bd) of oil from the country to other regions of the world. While illegal refineries within the areas have continued to fuel oil theft, the allure of shipping stolen crude through the Gulf of Guinea for refining and sale to other destination markets as legal oil have equally kept the business booming, even with promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari, when he assumed office in 2015, to put an end to it. Old Habits Before Buhari, took over in 2015, his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, had a very difficult task putting out the practice of oil theft in the region. Despite the deployment of a joint military taskforce (JTF) to secure and put out the illegal practice, Jonathan could not stop the practice, and even went as far as asking the international community to recognise and label stolen crude from Nigeria as what they are. Through his oil minister then, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke, the Jonathan government equally initiated efforts to place some sort of identification markers on oil produced from Nigeria’s fields so that when they are stolen, international buyers could recognise and perhaps act against the sellers. That plan, however,

didn’t come through before Jonathan left government. Now, in 2018, the ugly practice has reared up its ugly head again, following claims some weeks back by communities, who live along the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) that oil thieves were now stealing through the river channels of the region to ship away large cache of oil. After staging a protest in Abuja in which they called for the immediate withdrawal of the commander in charge of the JTF Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral, Suleiman Apochi, the community members told the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, when he visited them recently, that they suspected the JTF was aiding the renewed oil theft in the region. “I discovered a lot of illegal refineries, bunkering points, loading points all over the area of my jurisdiction. I see some vessel come in to load and go back and there is security everywhere,” said Chief Noman Atonkere, who described himself as the chairman of oil and gas Nembe kingdom, as well as the coordinator of the community security team employed by Spyer Nigeria, which has an existing security and maintenance contract on NCTL with Aiteo Group. Expressing the communities’ frustration with the situation especially with regards to his claims against the military taskforce, Atonkere explained the military never responded to their alerts whenever oil thieves got in to work. “We, who are civilian security cannot do anything because we don’t have arms and when we call there is no response. That is why we called on the federal government to assist us to fight this. “That is why we are asking the government to assist us because the job of the JTF is to protect the assets and people. Not all JTF are bad. Some are good and some are bad,” he noted. During their Abuja protest, the communities through a coalition of civil society groups, noted that 24 new illegal bunkering points were discovered along the creeks of Bonny, Nembe, Kula and Bille communities in Bayelsa and Rivers states. They also stated that coordinates from a global positioning system (GPS) of the illegal bunkering in the region were generated and sent to the JTF in support of their security works, but the JTF allegedly

ignored the coordinates. Action To again arrest the situation, Kachikwu stated during his visit to the creek that he will submit a report on his findings on renewed large-scale oil theft and haulage going on in the region despite the presence of the military taskforce to Buhari. The minister who decried the practice despite the region’s waterways been heavily militarised, stated it was troubling. Apparently gobsmacked that large crude carrying vessels could easily pass through existing security corridors in the region’s waterways untroubled, he said he will take back to Buhari what he found out for a quick proactive action to be taken. The minister didn’t state the kind of action that would be taken by the government, but said the country’s security chiefs and National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, would be briefed on this with an intention to find a good solution to it. According to him, the development was unhealthy for the economy of Nigeria and environment of the Niger Delta. He said it also signified the JTF may have been infiltrated with bad eggs who could be working with the oil thieves. “I am here to see what is going on and how we can stop it. We will continue the tour, you can see we’ve been flying around with helicopters, trying to see where these points are. “We are going to take words back to the headquarters to see how we can meet with the defence chiefs, and National Security Adviser. I will take words back to the president in terms of what the experience has been here,” said Kachikwu. Kachikwu further stated: “For the fact that vessels can actually come through the security corridors and pick up oil is even much more troubling. It may not have been oil, it may have been arms. Something needs to be done in terms of security and environment as well as the economy of the country.” Indicating the government’s discomfort with the situation, the minister said: “The president is very worried about this, he has put in a taskforce. One of the first things he did in early 2016 was that we moved out all the previous JTF personnel and moved them more towards the north and brought

in new people who hadn’t been experienced in this to come here. “And, for the large measures, I’m sure a lot of good works had been done but obviously some bad eggs are beginning to mess up the whole process. Reports that vessels actually pass through the security corridors and do this with a lot of license is very troubling and that is the report I have to take back. We will react to this very robustly.” When asked if the government would continue to rely on just human efforts to overcome repeated theft of oil in the region, Kachikwu said: “That solution is there, it is happening. The fact that you have oil production go up shows that some of those blockages have been addressed. “It is a mixture of security efficiency and technology infusion and obviously a very consistent engagement. At the end of the day, these individuals who do this are members of the communities, they are not falling out from the sky, and so, it is consistently engaging the traditional rulers, the youths who are involved in all these to be vigilant like what they do now because it is easier to just join the practice, benefit from it and keep quite. “When the communities gather this way, we must recognise their resilience and courage and do something to ensure that they don’t become victims.” Greatest Loser On the potential impact of the development on Nigeria’s economy, Kachikwu, indicated the economy could be the greatest loser. He said: “Whenever you have bunkering rising at this sort of pace, it means loss of income – oil is being stolen and not accounted for, the state is not getting its share. “But more importantly is also loss to the oil companies that are investing monies to do the work, then third and more importantly is the environmental degradation because a lot of these are very crude and poorly engineered. As we flew in, you could see the levels of pollution, the waters are not clean at all, and you could see the side bars and the sort of pollution that exists.” He added that the government would be decisive in its response to the development, saying: “I can assure that within a very short time, something will be done about this and we can police this place better.”

23

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

BUSINESS/CAPITAL MARKET

Between Fiscal Incentives for Quoted Companies and Outright Loss Afraid that companies may not be motivated to list their shares on the Nigerian bourse if they are not offered by government, the Securities and Exchange Commission is advocating fiscal spurs for firms in the country. Bamidele Famoofo examines at the desired incentives, precedents, and what obtains in other climes

I

n recent times, the Nigerian Stock Exchange has witnessed an exodus of companies whose shares were listed on it. In a space of 16 years, the number of companies listed on the NSE dropped by 93. This comes to an average of about six per year as at April 2018.

Obviously worried by the rate of exit, Nigeria’s chief capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, believes something urgent must be done to stop the worrisome trend. Acting Director General of SEC, Mary Uduk, a few months ago, transferred the responsibility of seeking solution to the problem to the Capital Market Committee of SEC. The committee is to seek out the real reasons why quoted companies are delisting from the NSE. Uduk has now made a call to government to intervene by offering incentives good enough to keep the companies at the Exchange. Incentive The SEC boss argued that the creation of some form of fiscal incentives for listed entities would add mileage to on-going efforts to improve corporate governance in the country. Uduk spoke through the Director, Zonal Offices Coordinating Department of the commission, Mr. Edward Okolo, at a recent event in Lagos. She said the incentives could equally position the quoted companies to contribute more to national development through improved capacities and job creation potentials. SEC warned that if companies failed to list their stocks on the stock exchange, it might be out of business with no one to regulate, adding that apart from the reduction of costs, the incentives could translate to huge investment benefits to shareholders. Besides considering the possibility of further reducing the existing tax incentives for companies to be listed on the capital market, SEC is calling on government at all levels to create a level playing field for both local and foreign companies operating in the country. It said the local firms had always complained about preferential treatment of their foreign counterparts. “We have had experiences with some investors in the manufacturing sector who claimed that despite fulfilling their fiscal obligations, Nigeria’s public procurement and contractual processes had continued to favour foreign companies to their disadvantage,” the SEC boss alleged. “Our case for fiscal incentives for listed companies on the NSE is actually based on experience. What we are saying is that Nigerian companies doing the same business these foreign companies are doing, if they are listed, should be encouraged in terms of public procurement or whatever government is doing.” She added, “We don’t want to keep taking from them because they incur a lot of costs and you cannot reduce the costs more than a limited amount of percentage. The best is to begin to give them some incentives and with that you have more companies coming to the market, you have more jobs and then people will have dividends of investing. You must have companies to regulate and if people are not coming to the market, then who are you going to regulate?” Other Climes A number of countries have created actual tax incentives for listed companies. Vietnam applied in 2004- 2006 a 50 per cent reduction on the normal Corporate Income Tax rate (at that time 28 per cent). The effective tax rate of a listed company was, thus, 14 per cent. The tax incentive scheme was introduced when the stock exchange was setup, but it was not continued. In case a listed company also had a reduced tax rate or tax holiday because of its investment project, the 50 per cent reduction would only apply after the other tax holiday. Thailand applies lower CIT rates for companies that are listed on Thailand’s SET (25 per cent) or the MAI (20 per cent). The normal Thai CIT rate is 30 per cent, but lower rates exist for profits below a certain threshold. The reduced rate for the listed

NIgeria Stock Exchnage building, Lagos

companies applies only for a period of three years. In addition, Thailand provides in an investment tax credit up to 25 per cent of the total qualifying cost of new projects of listed companies (machinery, vehicles, equipment and software). In Tanzania, withholding tax on interest earned on long term debt securities listed in the Dar-es-Salaam stock exchange during the 2002/2003 fiscal years was abolished. In Kenya, newly listed companies have been given an incentive to be taxed at a lower rate of 27 per cent, as compared to the standard rate of 30 per cent, for a period of three years following the date of listing. This is also dependent on such companies offering at least 20 per cent of the share capital to the public according to Capital Markets Authority (CMA, 2001). Companies that were to apply and get listed got a tax amnesty on their past omitted income, provided they made a full disclosure of their assets and liabilities and undertook to pay all their future due taxes (CMA, 2001). Foreign investors in Kenya have been enabled to acquire shares freely in the stock market, subject to a minimum reserved ratio of 25 per cent for domestic investors in each listed company (CMA, 2002). Effective 1 January 2003, newly listed companies were given incentives to pay a lower corporation tax of 25 per cent (i.e. five per cent lower than the standard corporation tax of 30 per cent) for a period of five years following their listing. The new legislation applies to companies that float at least 30 per cent of their issued share capital to the public (CMA, 2002). Nigeria’s Situation “The underlying basis for tax incentive to companies

Mary Uduk

operating in Nigeria is to ensure overall growth of the Nigerian economy and even development of all sectors,” Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service explained. It added, “Tax incentives are special arrangements in the tax laws to attract, retain or increase investment in a particular sector. It stimulates growth in specific areas, assists companies or individuals carrying on identified activities.” Meanwhile, under the Industrial Development Act, Pioneer Status is granted to qualifying companies

In recent times, the Nigerian Stock Exchange has witnessed an exodus of companies whose shares were listed on it. In a space of 16 years, the number of companies listed on the NSE dropped by 93. This comes to an average of about six per year as at April 2018

and/or products and services resulting in 3-5 year tax holidays. FIRS said, “Under the Companies Income Tax Act, loans granted to Nigerian companies may be exempt from tax, where they meet prescribed criteria. Dividends received from Nigeria are exempt from tax, other than withholding tax deducted at source. Profits of shipping and airline companies subject to tax in Nigeria is restricted to activity carried out in Nigeria, dividends interest, rent or royalty earned by companies outside Nigeria and brought in through specified channels are exempt from tax too.” FIRS added that interest earned by a foreign company on its bank deposits in Nigeria were exempt from tax, while Nigerian companies with a minimum of 25 per cent foreign equity and within their first four years of operation are exempt from payment of minimum tax. In Nigeria, the president has broad powers to grant tax incentives to any company or individual. Industries that qualify to enjoy incentives include those engaged in mining, manufacture of cement, glass and glassware, lime from limestone, ceramic products, rubber, leather, and textile. Sectors of industry that are of economic benefit to the country are given priority. Incentives are sector-based and not granted arbitrarily and Incentives are reviewed regularly as a way of confirming if they are serving the expected purpose. Research A research conducted on the effects of tax incentives on the performance of listed firms in Kenya by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, revealed that tax reductions and exemptions influenced stock market performance but did not necessarily influence listing. According to the research result, “A total of 58 per cent of the respondents argued that tax incentives did not motivate their firms to list at NSE. Many respondents disagreed with this illusion that their firms enjoyed tax incentives before listing at NSE. 54.2 per cent of respondents argued that predictable, clear tax laws and transparent tax administration are also important than low tax rates when making listing in NSE.”

24

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

BUSINESS/ECONOMY ailing infrastructure, and limited access to finance for production purposes, a good number of manufacturing outfits in the country have closed down their operations, and the consequence is the growing unemployment rate. The latest unemployment statistics made available by the National Bureau of Statistics put unemployment in the most populous nation in Africa at 16 million in third quarter of 2017, almost double the figure in the last quarter of 2015. According to NBS, 21.2 per cent of women within the labour force (aged 15-64 and willing, able, and actively seeking work) are unemployed, compared to 16.5 per cent of men within the same period. Underemployment was predominant in the rural areas, as 26.9 per cent of rural residents within the labour force were underemployed, compared to nine per cent of urban residents within the same period. The government agency blamed the increasing unemployment and underemployment rates on Nigeria’s fragile economy, adding that growths recorded in recent times are not strong enough to provide employment in Nigeria’s domestic labour market.

Immigration test

Nigeria Prepares as China’s 85 Million Jobs Export Beckons As African countries position, through deliberate creation of investorfriendly environments, to take advantage of the expected export of 85 million jobs through China by 2025, Bamidele Famoofo examines Nigeria’s preparedness

B

y 2025, China, the second largest economy in the world, would join the league of “high-income economies”. It is projected that China’s Gross Domestic Product would double by then, and by virtue of the exponential growth, about 85 million jobs are expected to flow out of the country to growing economies, especially in Africa, that are ready to attract them. According to the World Bank, high-income economies are those that have a Gross National Income per capita of $12,236 or more. Only 78 countries (including territories) are classified as “high-income economies” as of 2018. Opportunity Chief Executive Officer, Made in Africa Initiative, African Development Bank, Helen Hai, in her opening remarks at the maiden edition of CyFy Africa Conference held in Tangier, Morocco, said African nations must be quick to create the environment that will attract would-be investors, if they must benefit from the huge job opportunity, which China would soon create. Hai is also a Goodwill Ambassador for Industrialisation in Africa at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. She disclosed at the conference, which focused on technology, innovation and society, that the ability of countries in Africa to create jobs for the continent’s 1.2 billion people (majority of which are youths) was the panacea for poverty on the continent. “Job creation was the tool for poverty reduction in Asia. About 680 million people moved away from the threshold of poverty in China only in the last few years, and now is the golden opportunity for Africa to grow through innovative job creation,” Hai said. President, Regional Council of Tanger-Tetouan, IIyas EL Omari, spoke in a similar vein. Omari observed that CyFy Africa 2018 took place at a time when available data confirmed that technology

had become a key driver for growth and job creation in Africa. Trailblazers While many countries in Africa are still unable to figure out the next step to take towards moving their economies forward, a few are already grabbing the opportunities available for growth by deploying cutting edge technologies driven by innovation. According to Hai, African nations, like Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Senegal, have already latched onto the opportunities available in the world markets by creating the necessary conditions for job creation. “They are already attracting the right investors and jobs are being created to reduce poverty in their countries,” the UNIDO Ambassador stated. Hai said Ethiopia started by creating the industries that were capturing the jobs. “We started with the government of Ethiopia by creating a shoe factory and since then, about eight other industries have emerged in the country, creating jobs for the people,” she said. In the case of Rwanda, she disclosed that the job creation revolution started a few years ago with the establishment of a garment factory whose products were now sold in the United States. “Indeed, the industrialisation movement has started in Africa. Enough jobs must be created to avoid potential global security mishaps that could arise due to joblessness on the continent.

Africa must take the opportunities available in the next 10 years to create jobs and development it needs.” Morocco is not left out in the industrialisation movement sweeping across the continent of Africa. The Moroccan Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, said Morocco was positioning itself to become a regional digital hub in Africa. According to Elalamy, “The goals it sets for itself are essential, compulsory requirements on our journey towards development: the digital transformation of the national economy entails the digital transformation of the administration, the widespread use of IT, access for all citizens and businesses, the stronger positioning of Morocco as a regional digital hub, an improved digital ecosystem, IT infrastructures compliant with international standards, and, last but in no way least, highly qualified human resources. These are the decisive criteria, which make the Moroccan market competitive and which provide investors in the sector with an attractive business environment.” Nigeria Nigeria’s population reached 180 million this year, with more than half its people under 30 years of age. This puts severe strain on the country, which derives about 95 per cent of its revenue from oil. Due to epileptic power supply,

Due to epileptic power supply, ailing infrastructure, and limited access to finance for production purposes, a good number of manufacturing outfits in the country have closed down their operations, and the consequence is the growing unemployment rate

Growth Plan Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo said the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which is the economic blueprint of the current administration, was the way to Nigeria’s economic prosperity. According to him, the ERGP, a Medium Term Plan for 2017 – 2020, was developed for the purpose of restoring economic growth, while leveraging the ingenuity and resilience of the Nigerian people – the nation’s most priceless asset. Osinbajo stated, “It is also articulated with the understanding that the role of government in the 21st century must evolve from that of being an omnibus provider of citizens’ needs into a force for eliminating the bottlenecks that impede innovation and market based solutions. The plan also recognises the need to leverage science, technology and innovation and build a knowledge-based economy.” The federal government has hired some consultants from Malaysia to help the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning set up three focused labs in the country in an attempt to achieve the ERGP. To drive the ERGP, government, with the aid of Malaysian consultants hired with $1.5 million or N458 million, has set up Focus Labs in the country for its implementation. Minister of Budget and Planning, Udoma Udoma, said the first phase of the focus labs had identified over $22.5 billion investment potentials across the country. Udoma said about $10.9 billion worth of private sector investments were categorised under the “most ready to go” group. He said, “About $4.73 billion worth of investments was identified in the agriculture and transport lab with a potential to create about 129,000 jobs. In the manufacturing and processing sector, about $9.25 billion worth of investments were identified, with about 378,000 new jobs expected to be created. Investment opportunities identified in the power and gas sectors were valued at about $8.57 billion, with the potential to create about 7,200 jobs.” In addition, Udoma said the multi-phased ERGP focus labs had the potential to generate cumulative investments/projects and jobs valued about $39.4 billion and over 716,079 jobs by 2025. Digital Ranking Experts say digital penetration is critical in the efforts of African countries to generate investment and jobs. At conference in Morocco, Elalamy stressed the need for digital transformation, saying it will have positive impact on African consumers. He said relevant platforms should be established to help Africa meet the digital market demand, which is evolving exponentially in the continent. The minister unveiled a list of the 10 most developed African countries in technology. Morocco ranks first because of its control of about 45 per cent of technological exports in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as its achievement of more than 10 per cent annual growth in the information and communication technology sectors over the last five years. Egypt is in second place, thanks to the rapid growth of the technology sector, an average of over $3.5 billion in exports, and an annual growth rate of nine per cent. Kenya, which benefits from the Silicon Savannah initiative, is in third position. Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Madagascar, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda complete the list. Nigeria, obviously, needs to do more to benefit from the investment and job opportunities expected from China.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

25

THE EXECUTIVE

Abudu u

SUNDAY ADIGUN

MO ABUDU

Digital Switchover is a Turning Point in Nigeria’s Entertainment and Media

After more than a decade of digital disruption, Nigeria’s entertainment and media industry has begun to flourish. In April 2012, the United States’ hedge fund, Tiger Global Management, reportedly invested $8 million on iROKOtv, the world’s largest online distributor of licensed Nollywood films. Each year, on the average, the film industry produces 1,500 films, making it the largest film business in Africa and globally, second only to Bollywood. The potential of nation’s entertainment and film industry is underscored by the PwC’s Entertainment and Media outlook 2017-2021, projecting the industry’s growth to $6.4 billion by 2019. One of the beneficiaries of digital TV and the Internet is the founder of EbonyLife Media, Mosunmola Abudu. In this interview with Bayo Akinloye, she talks about how Nigeria’s digital switchover has changed the face of entertainment and media enterprise in Nigeria and on the African continent

26

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

THE EXECUTIVE

Digital Switchover Will Fuel Creativity, Content and Employment.

C

Cont’d from Pg. 25

ongratulations on the threeyear deal your company signed with Sony Pictures Television. What does this deal involve and how much is it worth?

We turn five years old on July 1 – I said it then and I say it now, ‘everything you think you know about Africa is about to change forever.’ We have a treasure trove full of stories and it’s our passion, vision and purpose to take these stories to a global audience in the highest quality possible with the most entertainment value. This is why I am so excited about our partnership with Sony Pictures Television. This is the first time that a Nigerian production company is partnering a Hollywood studio on the production of this nature. We are thrilled with this unique opportunity to co-develop three exciting new scripted TV projects and bring fascinating entertainment, such as the story of the Dahomey Warriors, to audiences around the world.

Apparently, that is one of your many feats as a media entrepreneur. You have also won several international awards. What’s the secret? It has been hard work getting to where we are today. But that’s what we are known for at EbonyLife. Our commitment to bringing our stories to life is built on never taking no for an answer. As a team, we focus and work together on finding creative ways and solutions to producing the most incredible stories of our time. As I always say, ‘If you can think it, you can do it.’ For me the secret is all about what I call the G factor—the God factor. I give God all the glory.

How does it feel to be described by Forbes as ‘Africa’s Most Successful Woman’? My vision has always been to change the narrative about Africa and to tell our stories from our perspective – so, I’m truly humbled and honoured to be recognized by Forbes for the success I’ve helped cultivate.

You’re said to be the first African woman to own a Pan-Africa TV channel, and you were listed as one of the ‘25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV’ by The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. Is there anything else you want to prove?

business? I have been labelled a serial entrepreneur – so the first thing I do is to question the next project – of course, I questioned my decision many times. It’s been a 10-year journey even getting to this point. Approximately four years on conceptualizing and consolidating the idea, approaching MultiChoice, our partnership with Cross River State Government under the leadership of His Excellency Liyel Imoke, whom I will forever remain grateful to – our move to Calabar – so yes, I question, but then that still gets me back to knowing that despite it all it is still one of the most rewarding journeys that I have ever taken.

The Hollywood Reporter is one of the most respected platforms globally focused on the Hollywood film industry, television, and entertainment industries. I was listed as one of the ‘25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV’ by The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 and again in 2017. It’s truly an honour to continue to fly the flag for Nigeria and the continent. I continue to give God all the glory. Representation matters, now more than ever, and people of African descent want to see content of all genres featuring people who look like them, think like them, and behave like them—even with the boundaries of language and culture. I’m driven by what is possible. My goal is to portray the multidimensional realities of African women and the lives of Africans all over the world.

For successive years you’ve remained persistent and consistent. Were you driven by the fear of failure or by the desire to prove some people wrong? What drives your imagination and creativity and business decisions?

To your credit, you make running a media enterprise look easy. How challenging has the media industry been for you?

Abudu

Most people see challenge, but I see opportunity. Every time someone tries to kill the dream – I see this as an opportunity for growth and finding a better way of working. I have a great life coach, Lanre Olusola, who helped and continues to help me put things into perspective – also an executive director at EbonyLife and Uzo Nwochekwa whom I met as I was about to set up EbonyLife TV – also an executive director, carries a great weight off my shoulders. I truly appreciate their support. And, of course, now we have the most incredible pool of talent behind and in front of the cameras making EbonyLife TV tick whom I say ‘thank you, thank you and thank you’ to. I know I can be a ‘slave driver’ and be really difficult at times. So, I appreciate and love them all. We could not be where we

are today without their support, hard work, and commitment. We’ll be celebrating five years at EbonyLife TV on July 1. During that time, we have created and broadcast 5,000 hours of original drama, talk, entertainment and factual content. At EbonyLife Films, we have created blockbuster films such as Fifty, The Wedding Party franchise, and The Royal Hibiscus Hotel. None of this would have been possible without the support of our staff, partners, sponsors, production teams, and viewers. The media industry is constantly changing in terms of how we create, consume, and deliver content. For EbonyLife Media – as a group – the next five years will be even more exciting for us. Starting on July 1, we

will launch our online video-on-demand (VoD) service, EbonyLife ON (including EbonyLife ON Mobile) in Africa, with selected movies and other shows available on MTN Shortz, Cloud 9 CINEMA, and Nuvu. Our broadcast reach will include an additional 11 million homes across Africa on the StarTimes satellite network. We’re launching Africa’s first legal drama, Castle & Castle, and The Dating Game–Nigeria, a format that has been a hit for 53 years around the world—not to mention our Christmas blockbuster, Chief Daddy, with a host of Nollywood’s brightest stars.

Was there a time you questioned your decision to venture into TV and film

No matter what I do, consistency and persistency drive me. Anyone who wants to achieve any level of success better be ready and armed with these two key traits. I have learnt over the years not to become distracted or driven by the wrong things. I am driven by a passion to succeed; a passion to do the right thing and most important my dedication to whatever projects I am engaged in at that point in time. I believe being a creative is a special gift – you either have it or you don’t. I’m blessed to have it and I have it in abundance – for that I really do give God all the glory. If not for a lack of budget and funding – I could be creating shows in all genres nonstop. I do not lack imagination. On making business decisions, I keep it real. That is why it’s called show business. It’s a business. Sentiment plays no role in that regard. It’s all about the bottom line. Over the last five years, we ran and will continue to run our business with all

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

27

THE EXECUTIVE

There comes a time in our lives when we decide to just bite the bullet and do it anyway. I did that when I resigned from ExxonMobil and I had to do it again when I decided to take this walk into the world of media the necessary structures in place and team to ensure we meet our objectives and vision.

My vision has always been to change the narrative about Africa and to tell our stories from our perspective – so, I’m truly humbled and honoured to be recognized by Forbes for the success I’ve helped cultivate

Some people consider you as the Oprah Winfrey of Africa. What do you think? I admire and respect Oprah Winfrey. The phrase ‘The Oprah of Africa’ was coined by CNN – I guess the western world always needs to make comparisons to help them know where to place you. But I would rather be the Mosunmola of Africa any day.

You didn’t start out as a journalist and you were not a TV presenter. Your field of endeavour was completely different initially. Did you just wake one day to branch into the media industry with your soar-away TV show Moments with Mo? No, I did not just wake up one day. It was a struggle for a few years. I started my journey with Moments with Mo as I turned 40. Back then, I was very concerned with what people would think: some people thought I was crazy. No doubt some probably think I still am. But there comes a time in our lives when we decide to just bite the bullet and do it anyway. I did that when I resigned from ExxonMobil and I had to do it again when I decided to take this walk into the world of media. The first thing I did was a ton of research – of course, training. I attended several short courses and I did quite a bit of training that I designed with a couple of facilitators in Lagos. I spent a lot of time practising my interview technique. We would video my interviews and play back – my goodness that was a lot of fun. Soon thereafter, there came the need for a platform where the show would sit – I wanted a pan-African platform – so I paid a cold call visit to the Mnet office in Lagos. I met Joe Hundah, MD of Mnet at that time. After many meetings, he offered me the platform. But I had to find a sponsor. The search for a sponsor began. I thank my friend Mac Ataise who took me to see Mr Akinfemiwa. I would like to thank Mr Sola Akinfemiwa, MD of Skye Bank at the time for believing in me. Skye Bank came on board as an equity partner in Inspire Africa. I have to say a big thank you to Mr Bola Akingbade the former CMO of MTN. In those days, MTN was my first major sponsor and remained a sponsor for many years. Then we needed to hunt for a studio which was nonexistent in those days. So, we created our own studio in City Mall.

Do you think you have succeeded beyond your own expectations? Tell us some of those difficult moments that have shaped EbonyLife and affected you personally. I think I’m just getting started. To mark our first five years of success in July, we will be launching our new corporate identity, EBONYLIFE Media – our major sub-brands are EbonyLife TV, EbonyLife Films, EbonyLife ON (our Global VoD service) and EbonyLife Studios – this reflects the bold new future we look forward to. As I think about the moments that have shaped EbonyLife and affected me personally—from setting up the company in Calabar to moving the company to Lagos, to setting up EbonyLife Films to moving to the digital and mobile sectors—to our partnership with Sony. It truly makes me happy to see how far we’ve come. The company’s milestones and initiatives we’ve achieved are not easy in any environment. I’ve dedicated my life’s work over the last ten years to building the EbonyLife brand and putting the structures in place to ensure that we grow to even greater heights. It’s been tough and I have been hard on our team – at times pushing them to the extreme to achieve results. But that is sometimes the price you have to pay to get the vision realized.

Nigeria’s media industry has been very tough. What have you done differently to turn your enterprise around? It lifts my heart to be able to rely on a wonderful team dedicated to EbonyLife’s success. We work incredibly hard to ensure that we meet our mission and objectives to grow and expand while staying true to who we are and what we represent. We’ve

firm in the world, reported that Nigeria would be the world’s fastest-growing entertainment and media market over the coming five years. Our business models have had to adapt to the changing consumer patterns.

Considering your travails and triumphs, did you aim to break the glass ceiling? I aim to be the best I can be and encourage others along the way. I set out to create quality content made in Nigeria for the world. Keeping this singular focus has helped raise the standard in which we make our series and movies, and it also extends out to the way we produce our events and work in general.

You once had an interview with Hillary Clinton on your show Moments with Mo. What is your relationship with her? Abudu

The digital switchover is quite significant for the Nigerian media industry, as it will mark a turning point for the economy while boosting the media industry. There will be a strong demand for quality content, and for the first time in history, millions of Nigerians will have access to a variety of channels and content options. The benefits of this include increased employment for media professionals like producers and content creators hunkered down to be creative in the stories we produce from both a content and financial perspective. The future looks bright for us, and we are looking forward to continuing our trajectory in the media industry.

Could you please tell us five things people don’t know about you and your rise to fame and fortune? One, I’m a people person. I’ve worked in the human resources industry for 20 years. I enjoy working and collaborating with people from all walks of life. The relationships that I’ve built over the years have helped me tremendously throughout my life and in business. Two, I strive for perfection. This trait is particularly important when it comes to business and content creation. I set high standards for my organization and focus on producing premium series and movies. Three, I exercise. I feel my best after I’ve worked out—whether its cardio or lifting weights

or training. It gives me great joy to burn off those unwanted calories or try a new exercise routine. Having a healthy lifestyle and keeping fit help me think clearly and focus on my objectives. Four, I work hard. I spend a great deal of time and effort making sure my projects and ideas come to life. Success is about doing the work required, planning, and executing. Five, I live by the G-Factor. I always keep God first in my life. My faith in God and my passion for my work have helped me grow professionally and spiritually.

As a media mogul, how would you describe Nigeria’s media business? Is it saturated? It’s an exciting time to be in the media business in Nigeria. We’re experiencing rapid growth in how people consume entertainment. It’s no surprise PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the largest professional services

The former US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, was a special guest on my show, Moments with Mo. Interviewing her was one of the most important moments in my life. I recall her saying, ‘....So there’s a constant give-and-take that has to go on. And I think it’s important that more voices like yours be speaking on behalf of Africa ....’ Those words were a major motivating factor for me in the creation of what became EbonyLife TV and then EbonyLife Films.

In a recent Instagram post, you said: “We’ll continue to change the narrative and tell our stories,” regarding the acquisition of the rights to produce a feature-length film of Wole Soyinka’s Death and The King’s Horsemen. How much did that cost you? With the gradual shift in film toward more culturally diverse storytelling and greater inclusion, we think the time is right to tell such a story. Prof. Wole Soyinka has been incredibly supportive throughout the process. I’m so thankful for this opportunity to develop Death and the King’s Horsemen into a feature-length film. This incredible work will be made for global distribution.

Last December, the federal government launched the digital switchover. What’s its significance for the Nigerian media industry? The digital switchover is quite significant for the Nigerian media industry, as it will mark a turning point for the economy while boosting the media industry. There will be a strong demand for quality content, and for the first time in history, millions of Nigerians will have access to a variety of channels and content options. The benefits of this include increased employment for media professionals like producers and content creators. Original content will be a key differentiator to attract new viewers, with local content being a key focus area in which we plan to invest to solidify our position as the nation’s preferred content provider.

28

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍşÍźËœ ͺ͸͚΀

MARKET NEWS

Coronation Merchant Bank N10bn Bond Records 180% Subscription Goddy Egene Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, an investment bank in Nigeria, has recorded a very strong demand for its inaugural Commercial Paper(CP) issuance with 80 per cent oversubscription. The bank set out to raise the sum of N15 billion on the first tranche under its N100 billion CP Programme but received commitments of over N 28 billion from both institutional and

high networth investors, representing 180 per cent subscription level. The CP issuance comprised two series of 180 and 270days. The 180-day paper was issued at a discount rate of 12.6 per cent and a yield of 13.43 per cent while the 270-day paper was issued at 12.69 per cent discount rate and a yield of 14.00 per cent. Commenting on the result of the offer, Group Managing Director/CEO of Coronation

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager. Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return. An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

Merchant Bank Limited, Abu Jimoh, said:“We are pleased at the outcome of this exercise. The CP issuance, which represents our very first in the market, has enabled us to achieve our objective of effective balance sheet management that is geared towards providing capital to various sectors of the economy. The positive results recorded by our commercial paper is a testament to the strength of the Bank’s credit in the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg. Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 21-June-2018, unless otherwise stated.

capital markets. It is both gratifying and humbling to note this level of investor confidence in the Bank�. Also speaking, Group Head of Investment Banking at Coronation Merchant Bank, Abiodun Sanusi, said: “We started our investment banking business in 2016 and in less than three years, we have contributed immensely to the development of the capital market - both on the equity side and the debt capital side. Today, we

have differentiated ourselves as a formidable player in the capital market having raised in excess of N300 billion for various companies in multiple sectors of the economy. The success of this issuance further demonstrates the market’s confidence in the Coronation Merchant Bank story.� The bank said it was was established to fill the gap in a long-underserved market segment, seeking to address the need for

long term capital across key sectors of the economy. It offers investment and corporate banking, private banking/wealth management and global markets/treasury services to its diverse clients. It also offers securities trading/brokerage, asset management and trustees services via its subsidiaries; Coronation Securities Limited, Coronation Asset Management Limited respectively.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors. Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return. NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 185.07 186.72 4.39% Nigeria International Debt Fund 245.66 247.35 6.54% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.84 0.85 1.57% ACAP Income Funds 0.65 0.65 7.10% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.13% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 19.32 19.90 5.74% ARM Discovery Fund 408.91 421.24 5.10% ARM Ethical Fund 29.29 30.17 7.20% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.12% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.38% CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.77% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.14 1.17 8.75% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.13 1.16 8.88% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,165.22 1,165.91 7.79% FBN Heritage Fund 147.79 149.06 6.10% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.87% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $111.78 $112.29 1.45% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $111.64 $112.14 1.43% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 177.14 179.84 10.17% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Equity Fund 1.37 1.40 5.24% Legacy Debt Fund 3.06 3.06 6.21% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,177.89 3,209.43 6.42% Coral Income Fund 2,639.16 2,639.16 7.84% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.09% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 103.25 104.31 3.32% INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.87% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.19 2.85% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.54% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 120.41 120.77 4.69%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD ďŹ ncon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.19 1.21 4.09% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,073.18 1,073.18 6.42% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 13.68 13.78 4.04% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.13% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.35 1.37 12.92% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.78 11.85 6.74% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.12% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 131.27 133.42 1.87% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.59 1.59 7.24% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,387.77 2,407.14 6.44% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 186.38 186.38 5.63% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.05 1.06 4.46% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 237.61 237.67 7.90% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 184.80 186.78 3.16% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.27% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,879.03 10,013.55 2.16% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.10 1.10 3.47% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.32 1.33 -1.59% United Capital Bond Fund 1.66 1.66 5.74% United Capital Equity Fund 0.96 0.98 4.43% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.51% United Capital Eurobond Fund 106.42 106.42 3.42% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.14 1.15 5.05% ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD info@zenith-funds.com Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 13.13 13.32 4.94% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.82 13.97 5.19% Zenith Income Fund 20.38 20.38 7.68% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.48%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 136.09 103.70 51.30

1.01% 2.74%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

12.35 152.34 112.25

12.45 155.51 114.29

1.88% 6.63% 2.72%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund Union Homes REIT

0.92%

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva GrifďŹ n 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

Indimi Sisters on War Path Pg. 57

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

24.06.2018

Mohammed Yar’Adua and Hauwa Indimi

SIR SHINA PETERS I RELEASED ACE ALBUM OUT OF FRUSTRATION

ASSISTANTEDITOROLUFUNKEOLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

54

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˞ ͰͲ, Ͱ͎ͯ͜

COVER

SIR SHINA PETERS

AT 12, I BECAME A SUPERSTAR IN ENGLAND “Shina Peters is about to play music‌all you got to do – dig it right, dig it left‌. Omoge loke-loke, lokeloke. Omoge di-e di-e, di-e di-e. I say Shina Peters’ about to play music‌all you got to do – dig it right, dig it left‌. Omoge loke-loke, loke-loke. Omoge di-e di-e, di-e di-e. Omoge loke-loke, loke-loke‌Omoge di-e, di-e, di-e di-e‌ Omoge loke-loke, loke-loke, lokeloke,â€? his mellifluous voice bellowed as his supersonic guitar twanged in unison. The enraptured throng of fans gyrated in ecstasy. The enthralling artiste – the king of Afro Juju – in his psychedelic dark glasses and magnificent stage dress, looking larger-than-life on the centre stage sang again with a higher pitch: “Afro Juju, Shina Peters, igba ti wa lode, tele-teleri a ti gbo orisirisi‌â€? and the ecstatic crowd screamed into the empty riotous cloudless night. It was the dawn of a mania. He would later be known as Sir Shina Peters – an artise who at the age of 12 was addressed as ‘Sir’ in faraway England. An enduring character, he found fame, fortune and freedom as he explained in an interview with THISDAY. FUNKE OLAODE captures the moments

G

ifted but unknown, the young boy that would later become Sir Shina Peters played musical instruments and sang to his heart’s delight in the church. His face could be lost in the crowd; he could pass as nobody but his voice, one of a kind, when it wafted through the air, was unmistakable. He had all the attributes of a megastar – at ten, he was already leading the choir in a Cherubim and Seraphim church. He was not yet a teenager when his star showed up on the horizon. Thereafter, he caught the eye of General Prince Adekunle. Playing along the veteran, he became an instant prodigy. It was little wonder when he was exported to the United Kingdom to titillate an audience that had never seen the like of him before. It was a trip based on a cultural exchange programme between the British government and its Nigerian counterpart. Sixty years old on May 30, the unassuming superstar summed up that experience in England: “Going to England with my leader, Prince Adekunle was a sign of greatness for me. We were about five artistes from Nigeria and other African countries. I was given an award at the event because it was very rare to see a young lad playing a guitar with the leg. The crowd was blown away and at the end I was given an award by UNICO – the United Nigeria Cultural Organisation. That was when the appellation ‘Sir’ stuck.â€? With fame came fortune and class but for Shina Peters remains deeply rooted to his origin – to a place that has always been home to him. “I am a man of the people. Shina Peters on stage is different from Shina Peters off the stage. I bought this land (referring to the property his house sits on) in 1970 when we came back from that London trip at ÂŁ1 and 10 shilling (N21). It was about an acre and half. My parents just advised me to do something with the money. I obliged and bought the land. I am a man of the people. I always attend to their problems. If I leave them I won’t be the same because this people made me and I would love to pay them back,â€? he admitted. The grass-to-grace story of many singers often starts from the church –from the spiritual to the secular: Shina Peters’ is no exception. “I was the leader of the choir where I learnt how to play organ (keyboard). You know there is no way you would have Cherubim and Seraphim background and you won’t have music flowing like blood in your veins. That was where I got the talent to go into music,â€? he recalled with nostalgia. Prior to his hit songs, he had released

a few albums with little-known success. Though his star had appeared on the horizon since he was a kid it did not shine until he dropped an album that changed the face of music in Nigeria. From that point going forward, his music gained nationwide acceptance –wafting through the airwaves of the South up to the North; serenading the West and waking up the East. It was ‘Shinamaniac’. But nothing good came easy for him as he said: “When I went to the studio to release ACE in 1989 it was out of frustration. Because when I parted ways with my former partner, Segun Adewale, I went to the studio and released an album titled, ‘Way to Freedom’. At that time I was having cases here and there over breach of agreement. My record label insisted that the contract that we signed was 10 years. Again, there was individual differences between me and my partner, who still wanted us to be under the ‘Established Orders’ shadow.� However, Shina Peters had other ideas. He knew the kind of music he wanted to play. He knew the audience who were waiting for him to accept his new flow. He continued: “I wanted to play something that would be very unique; that Nigerian youths would be carried along no matter their ethnic backgrounds.� It did not take him long for find a winning formula – one as he would later disclose that the weird one, Fela, had successfully deployed – that changed the face of Juju music in Nigeria and would be the forerunner of hip-hop music as some have claimed. “In those days, Yoruba music was referred to as ‘ngbati music’. So I wanted the kind of music that would carry everyone along no matter their ethnic backgrounds. My partner couldn’t agree with that and we went our separate ways. Prior to that, we have had other issues. Similarly, before the hit album I have had some acceptance. My previous albums – first, second and third record: ‘Way to freedom’, ‘Freedom at Last’, ‘Build Mine for Me’ – were accepted by the people. That was an era when landlords and tenants were having altercations here and there. After that ‘Shewele’, Showers of Blessings’ was also released. I later went back to the drawing board because Fuji took over from Juju and that genre of music (Juju) was fading away,� he reminisced. With a calm mien, good looks and dazzling cloths, Shina Peters was always the rave of the moment. He shimmered and towered above his league. His dress and grooming was second to none. And he explained why he went to great lengths to dazzle with his dress sense. His dance steps

Shina Peters and wife, Sammie

were similarly unforgettable. He said: “There is nothing spectacular. Dancing and dazzling dress sense were my concepts. You know exposure is very important because your first appearance counts as an entertainer. You have to give it all that it takes. It is like attention-grabbing that anywhere you go people must notice you.â€? The showman also said about his dancing prowess: “I didn’t go to a dance school. I believe music and dance are art and art is life – so I am dead the day I stop playing music. I have never been ill that I wouldn’t be able to play. Music is everything. For instance, take music out of life, what would remain?â€? It has been 29 years since he released the album that changed the face of Juju music in Nigeria. How much did he make from the ACE album – which was produced by Laolu Akins? â€?Surprisingly, Shinamania sold more (copies) than ACE. When we do the current survey to know where our music is selling most, we realised it is from the former midwestern state Benin City and the East where we had 65 per cent rate of acceptance while the Hausa and Yoruba share the remaining 35 per cent. I am still accepted by other ethnic groups – and I don’t speak Ibo. You will rarely see me in Lagos performing. It is either I am in Owerri, Port Harcourt, Ughelli and so on,â€? he added. What has been his winning secret and who inspired him? “I see Fela as my godfather. I started my career with Commander Ebenezer Obey; Prince Adekunle, then Segun Adewale. But I remember when I went to Fela that I wanted to start my own music. He said: ‘Go jo! Yeye boy! See his head like coconut. If you want to start your own music, no problem. You can start now. Sebi, you are a multiinstrumentalist.’ He said: ‘Shina let me tell you, everybody can sing but you become a star the day you discover music that suits your voice.’ That is lesson number one. And he said I should make my lyrics 50 per cent pidgin or English and the rest can be Yoruba. He pointed out that when I would be outside my domain, I would be able to carry my audience along with me. That is how the lyrics, ‘We are ready to play music we are ready oh. I want to play you want to dance‌. and ‘Make una dance o, make una dance oh’ evolved. You also have: ‘Omoge you fine yeyeye baby oh!’ That was how I mixed both languages together and it became a wow!â€? Shina Peters stated as his face lit with pride. If there is any regret he has, what will it be? His response was instructive: “Today’s young artistes are lucky that they are living in the social media era where things are readily

available. How I wished the social media had been in existence in our time as it would have eased the tension of artistes. Back in the days, we saw journalists as policemen. For us as artistes to be able to refute or disclaim a bad press back then usually took a long time to do. Today, if you write anything negative about me I will go to the Instagram and put out the facts because of my followers.� Now in the league of yesterday’s superstars, the evergreen Sir Shina Peters has some words for rave-of-the-moment artistes and upcoming ones. “I am happy for the young artistes who are making waves and even collaborating with superstars on the global stage. We tried the same thing in our time with big ones nationally though we didn’t take it across the oceans. Again, everything about this age is digital. It took me four years before I came out with Afro Juju. I didn’t do anything; I just wanted to make it and put Juju back to where it belongs. Today, an artiste can just put down a portable mixer and in less than 24 hours they are out with an album. “My take is that they should be careful so that their music can be an evergreen. I started the hip-hop genre in 1990 with the song ‘Omoge loke-loke�. And the rap in Yoruba was started by me in 1992. They just have to build on what we have started,� he asserted. The superstar no doubt relishes the thought of some collaboration with the young artistes: “It is a welcome idea but the collaborator must be ready to maintain originality. Again, there is time for everything and when the time I will like to do justice to my intellectual property. There are plans,� he said. At 60, he is expected to slow down, take things easy – the glint in his eyes suggested otherwise and he translated that body language into words when he said: “I still have a long way to go. You know some people when they turn 60 they are winding down. At 60, it is like another chapter of my life has just been opened. I feel I should continue to do more because Nigeria has not seen the best of me.� A ladies’ man to boot, it is rather intriguing that Shina Peters is married to one wife. But the sombre-looking star would not want to explore that course saying, “I wouldn’t want to talk about my family. I have reached a stage in my life where private matters should be kept private. So let’s leave the family aspect out of it.� he said. His infamous grammatical error would also not be revisited, he insisted politely. In spite of his foibles, he will like to be remembered as what he described as an artiste who uses his music to put smile on people’s faces, down-to-earth, generous and humble.

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

55

PERSONALITY

FEMI ODUGBEMI

Grooming the Next Generation of Filmmakers Vanessa Obioha writes that prominent filmmaker Femi Odugbemi whose TV series ‘Tinsel’ and ‘Battleground’ redifined TV culture is taking on a bigger task with the launch of MultiChoice Talent Factory

O

ver two decades ago, leading video and entertainment company, MultiChoice Africa, introduced a film initiative, New Directions, to empower a crop of budding filmmakers on the continent. The platform was open to directors and scriptwriters with the sole objective to stimulate the growth of emerging African filmmakers. Nollywood at the time was at its teething stage. Prolific filmmakers like Tunde Kelani, the late quintessential Amaka Igwe, and Mahmood Ali Balogun, were part of filmmakers who enrolled in the training. The knowledge and skills garnered established these individuals as masters in the field of storytelling. Through their eyes, other filmmakers were able to understand the craft and business of filmmaking. Prominent filmmaker, Femi Odugbemi, was also a beneficiary of that programme. Though he studied film and television in Montana University, USA, it is not unlikely to find the Ondo State born gentleman on a quest to find new ways and meaning to storytelling through film and TV. His love for the camera is unrivalled. Whether he is catching still or motion pictures, or leading a discourse about the creative industry, one thing is certain, Odugbemi’s life revolves around the camera. His lasting relationship with MultiChoice since ‘New Directions’ has and is still yielding good fruits in the industry. A good pointer to this is the intriguing way he reshaped the TV culture with his successful TV series, ‘Tinsel’ and more recently, ‘Battleground� which already has a cult following. Both programmes are shown on Africa Magic

Odugbemi on set

Odugbemi

channels on DStv. His latest endeavour with the company, however, is in talent development through Multichoice

Talent Factory, a pan-African social investment initiative aimed at igniting and growing Africa’s creative industries into vibrant, economic centres. “Multichoice Talent factory for me is the most exciting intervention the African creative industry will witness. It is an intervention that I think covers almost everything about our present and our future. It sustains what I will consider the Multichoice family values of promoting excellence in the industry. They have a legacy for doing that and I’m one of the products of that legacy. The initiative attempts to institutionalize, put in place touch points to engage the industry in excellence and to engage excellence as something that is not random but something that we actually do as a habit. It is really an exciting journey that I’m looking forward to,� Odugbemi said. Launched in May, the programme is open to young and talented persons whose passion lie in filmmaking. It was founded

on the reality that Africa needs more technically and operationally skilled professionals in the film and television industry. As such, MTF is spread across three regions in Africa: Southern Africa, West Africa and East Africa. Each of these regions will have a learning hub known as MTF Academy which is the first touch point of the initiative. Nigeria is the hub for West Africa, Kenya for East Africa and Zambia for Southern Africa. The Academy which is a 12-month intensive training will focus on the youth market and a curriculum will be developed in partnership with relevant local and international industry experts. In West Africa, Odugbemi is the academy director. According to the filmmaker, the academy is meant only for persons who are committed and passionate about film and TV. It is more than a film school which overall impact goes beyond skill acquisition. He added: “It is a film school, a business school, a passion school wrapped into one. It has the potential not only to empower

56

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

GROOMING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FILMMAKERS the participants to become great professionals in whatever their chosen skill focus is; whether they be writer or director, it really empowers them in a powerful way with up-to-date information the likes of which you can only get from the best film schools across the world. It empowers them with technology to achieve whatever it is their skill level, but more importantly from a creative entrepreneurship perspective. MTF will empower these talented young ones to build institutions, to become employers of labour. They become people who have enough empowerment in understanding the business of film and TV, such that each one of them has the capacity to employ tens more of their colleagues.� In essence, Odugbemi said the intensive training will make creative people to begin to get the benefit of their creative skills. “They have to understand entrepreneurship. You cannot work in distribution, be it TV cinema or film if you do not have the key understanding of how distribution works, of how selling a creative idea to a television channel works. If you don’t have the understanding of the business end, you will limit what your creativity and your talent can do for you. The difference between the Academy and other film schools is that we want to ensure that your creative talent empowers you. We are connecting creativity to commerce, connecting professionals to industry,� he noted. For this project, the academy is working with the School of Media and Communications, Pan Atlantic University, to develop a curriculum that will accomplish its mission. Only 60 slots are available in the academy which closes its call for entry on July 5. Twenty participants will be selected from each region across 13 countries that Multichoice operates in. The academy will probably spread its tentacles wider to North Africa and other African Francophone countries in the subsequent sessions. So far, the response has been great. Scientific methods as well as psychometrics will be deployed in the selection process, though Odugbemi pointed out that what they are really looking out for are motivated and passionate persons. “We don’t want to award this opportunity to wrong persons. That’s why we askedm them on the application page to write a short piece on what motivates them,� he said as he sips his coffee. We were at the MultiChoice office in Victoria Island, Lagos. You can tell from the excitement in his voice that he is eager to kick the ball in motion. The training will fully commence in October. Every financial responsibility involved in the initiative will be borne by MultiChoice,� he stated. The film industry in Nigeria has achieved great milestones right from inception. But many stakeholders like Odugbemi are concerned about how the industry can soar higher and meet up with the demands of the everchanging film landacape. He lauded Nollywood’s abilityto soar on the wings of entrepreneurship over the years without a functional power system, while pointing out some of the gaps in the industry. One of such loopholes is technology which

Odugbemi on set

Odugbemi said is the only way that the African continent can meet up with its contemporaries in the new world. “Africa got an incredible opportunity to empower new economy, take its youth off the streets, off crime, listlessness; they got the unique opportunities because somehow the youths of Africa find storytelling as part of their heritage. They are able to express themselves through storytelling. Everything about Africa is a story. Politics of Africa, economics of Africa are all stories. I think at this moment, technology is asking a lot of questions of Africa communities as in how you are going to take the opportunity technology offers. How are you going to connect it to development? The fastest way to do it is through storytelling. If we are really going to match the kind of demand that the quality and content the new world demands, the kind of content that technology asking of us, we are going to have to up the game,� he said. Issues like these will be addressed at the masterclasses, the second touch point of the initiative. It will involve a series of classes that are specifically designed for industry practitioners who cannot attend the Academy and will focus on single skill sets. Established professionals from across the world will facilitate this phase. The last phase of the initiative is the Portal which Odugbemi is especially enthusiastic about. “It is an online platform that connects all African creative industries. It means you are connected in such a way that people can contact you, view your work. It’s like an African IMDB, Facebook meets LinkedIn. Filmmakers from different parts of the continent can actually work together through the portal,� he said. Perhaps, Odugbemi’s greatest fulfillment so far is that he is still

Femi

actively involved in imparting knowledge on younger persons whom he described their energy as the greatest asset of Africa. “I think this generation has the best tool for everything and anything they want to do. This is

the joy of my journey; that my career has not ended before these beautiful things like technology so I can engage in this adventure. I don’t want them to be me; I want them to be much better than me,� Odugbemi stated.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

High Life

57 ͎͎͜;ʹ͜͜ͳ;ͳͰ

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

Indimi Sisters on War Path as Hauwa Weds Sister’s Ex-boyfriend

L

ike gypsy moth eternally attracted to a flare, the Indimi sisters court controversy with their lifestyles. But their father, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, the billionaire oil magnate currently enjoys the best of a charmed life. Besides being rich, he recently became an in-law to the most powerful person in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari. Indimi certainly has a knack for pitching his tent with Nigeria’s ruling class. It would be recalled that he became ex-military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB)’s in-law, soon after the latter made him a billionaire. And while he struggled to accept the sad fate of his daughter’s broken marriage to IBB’s son, Mohammed Babangida, his son, providentially made him an-law to President Buhari by marrying the latter’s daughter. Indimi founded Oriental Energy in 1990 and has since expanded the company’s assets across international boundaries. He is blessed with attractive children, especially his girls who would give beauty pageants from any part of the world a run for their money. In fact, judging by the way the closeknit sisters bond and overtly show love and solidarity to one another and their ventures, they have been labelled in some circles as the Nigerian version of the famous Kardashian sisters. That unity seems doomed as one of his girls, Hauwa, is about to be handed in marriage to a son of the late NNPC Managing Director, Abubakar Yar’Adua, Mohammed, who was once reported

KAREN’S CROSS‌ KAREN KOSHONI REVERTS TO FATHER’S NAME, IDOWU

˞ ˪ Bliss deserted Karen Koshoni’s marriage in unexpected hours, like the disenchanted bride fleeing the bounds of a loveless marriage. It is an open secret

Karen Koshoni

to have dated another Indimi sister, the famed Fatima whose explicit images went viral few years ago. It is also a known fact that Mohammed went on to date Zahra Buhari, now Ahmed Indimi’s wife, when after he broke up with Fatima. Ostensibly, this has created some bad blood among the sisters, as they have been polarised in support for and opposition to the planned wedding which is to take place next week. Adama, who just returned from Hajj with Hauwa, has been everywhere to make sure things go right. She was the first to release alluring pre-wedding images of the couple on the social media, while others have ignored and continued to mind their respective businesses which was quite unlike them. Indications of an imminent hostility among these siblings emerged in March this year when Hauwa got engaged with Mohammed. Her engagement did not appear to have gone down well with few of her sisters and the messy affair was taken to Instagram where they threw shades at one another. Rahmayi, who is former wife to Mohammed Babangida, was the first to fire a shot when she registered her displeasure at the impending marriage with foul language on Instagram. In her words, â€œâ€ŚThis is f—k, he’s an ex for a reason and now you will go and bring the f—k back to my life. Nahhhh. I won’t support it. There’s a code for this. Friends and family ex’s should be off the table.â€? Rahmayi’s sentiment was echoed by her sister and owner of Tulip Bistro in Abuja, Zahra Yakaka, that Karen’s marriage to Patrick Koshoni failed. And as a final rite of passage for her failed marriage, Karen has allegedly reverted to her father ’s name, Idowu. Since their marriage hit the rocks, Karen has tried few relationships which didn’t work out. Having suffered the action and counteraction that project the reciprocal struggle of discordant feelings in wedlock, she was devastated to see her marriage crash to the disharmony that resulted from her protracted marital blues. She is clearly one of those brides who, having got married, could not settle down to enjoy wedlock. Her marriage was ravaged and broken by upheavals. Despite hopes that she and her husband would survive the rigours and intrigues of celebrity marriage, they lost that loving feeling and the magic that imbues marriage with bliss. Although the sordid details of their relationship is currently an open secret in high society circles, Patrick has moved on with his life but shouldering his responsibility as a father to the childrenproduced by the troubled marriage. To Karen, love was the thorn that pricked her strides in the valley of marriage. She hurt and bled from sting,

Mohammed Yar’Adua and Hauwa Indimi who wrote, “If my sister is marrying my ex, she was never my sister in the first place.� Miffed at their public outburst, a handle named

she never misses an opportunity to impress it on her friends that marriage isn’t anywhere near top of the list of her priorities, at least for now.

SPOILT BRAT‌HOW OSUN SSG’S SON, ADEOTI, TURNED LAUTECH INTO THEATRE OF WAR Few spoilt brats squander their

Olatunbosun Adeoti

‘hauwaindimis_lovers’ responded and berated Rahmayi, advising her to respect her age, show love and be happy for Hauwa. family’s fortune quicker than it took their forbears to amass it. From birth, they are bonded to fortune; growing up, they become hostages to it - particularly if their folks fail to instil in them the values required to improve their fortune and sustain it. Whenever the leaders of a family begin to amass tidy sums of wealth, concerns often arise concerning the dangers of producing detestable flawed children according to highly paid comedian, Louis C.K. Indeed, contemporary research has revealed that there’s no way someone who was raised rich is not going to be a burden of a human being in his or her society thus parents raising children born to privilege, run the risk of creating self-satisfied little cretins. This terrible reality of silver spoon kids are recognizable in the lives of rich and famous Nigerian kids perpetually caught in a haze of promiscuous and extravagant living. The culprits are children of top politicians and billionaire businessmen and are seen flaunting their lifestyle on different social media platforms. However, if the unfortunate event allegedly spearheaded by Olatunbosun Adeoti, a son of the

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

58

HIGHLIFE

Party Across the Seas...as Wife Clocks 40, Forte Oil MD, Akin Akinfemiwa, Host Classy Shindig in London

O

ther passions only speak but true love shrieks out pleasurably; and often times, at a deafening pitch. Little wonder many a man dote upon the objects of their affection. Some do it with an affectionate look, some with a flattering word or poetic verse but the perfect soulmate does it with a timeless gift hence Akin Akinfemiwa’s inestimable gift of love and celebration to his beautiful wife, Toyosi, when she clocked 40. London will not forget in a hurry, the day Akin Akinfemiwa, the MD of Forte Oil, feted friends and family in his wife’s honour. England’s metropolitan capital became the masque of high festivity and the pleasant place for rare merriment as Akin celebrated his wife, Toyosi’s 40th anniversary in a classy shindig. Akin held a dinner in Watford to celebrate the occasion and his closest family and friends thronged the venue like a flock of sheep responding to the shepherd’s summons. The Chairman of Forte Group, Femi Otedola and wife, Nana were at the event to honour the young man he called ‘Our God-sent, Honest GCEO of Forte� The elaborate event saw the guests shuffle and nod to the liveliest and most delightful musical tunes. As the guests Secretary to the State Government of Osun State, Moshood Adeoti, is anything to go by, something must have gone wrong somewhere with the upbringing of the reportedly petulant boy. Olatunbosun was said to have wreaked havoc on various targets at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, where he is a 500-levl student of Civil Engineering. According to a media report, the younger Adeoti led a group of hired thugs wielding guns and machetes and laid siege to the office of the Acting Dean of Student Affairs, Sunday Adewale, with the intent to harm him, after an initial failed attempt to unlesh mayhem on him and his family. The spokesperson for the school narrated how Adeoti has continued to be a nuisance, constantly fouling the peaceful atmosphere of the school. The spokesperson revealed there were images showing gunshots fired at the school’s gate. Few students, upon whom various degrees of injuries were inflicted, are receiving treatment in hospitals at the moment. Adeoti was arrested alongside some members of his group but sources confirmed he had since been released from police custody. Adeoti’s actions were predicated on the results of LAUTECH students’ union election which did not go down well with him and his group. He, who was the immediate-past Speaker of the Students’ Representative Council, wanted the candidate of his group to be declared as the union president even though a different candidate won the election. When this was not to be, he resorted

Akin Akinfemiwa with wife , Toyosi, Nana and Femi Otedola thrilled to delightful music, their hair stood on end and they tipped over in merriment - their joy spilling from their souls into the air and sky high into the blue firmament.

Enthralled, the guests moved in gaiety, tap dancing and swaying to the beat as if they meant to enact a beach rave or simulate an indoor Ibiza. The melody reverberated

through the halls and passageways of the posh venue and spilled into the atmosphere, drawing excited and muted sighs of pleasure from their invited guests and neighbours.

to self-help and breached the school’s peace. Adeoti, who many students tagged a cultist of ferocious dimension, was said to have led thugs to foment trouble at Bowen University sometime ago, wielding deadly weapons and charms. It took the pleas of his father, Moshood Adeoti, to douse the tension raised by his son’s reported belligerence and impunity.

many Nigerians hate to covet glorious exit from public life rather than subjecting themselves to ignoble departure. There is no gainsaying the fact that he has been an astute administrator and a seasoned technocrat in his professional calling but he needs to be admonished that politics in Nigeria, particularly as played in his home state goes beyond financial policy formulation and boardroom conventions. Adebayo, without a doubt, is one of the high-flying dudes calling the shots at the nation’s topmost banking institution but it appears he has overrated his influence by carrying his gospel of becoming the next Oyo State governor too far with his taking a plunge into the murky waters of Nigerian politics in a state highly

charged for 2019 and a contest already characterized by infighting and backstabbing in his preferred party, the All Progressives Congress. Leading to his eventual resignation, the 47-year-old Adebayo has been engaging in some clandestine moves burnishing his credentials as the best thing that would happen to Oyo State after the expiration of the incumbent, Abiola Ajimobi’s tenure. He has also been going about brandishing his ancestral links with the late Adegoke Adelabu, a foremost Ibadan politician (in)famously known for the ‘penkelemesi’ (“peculiar mess�) tales. Adebayo may have had a brilliant scholastic career earning him accelerated promotions just like his forefather whose meteoric rise in career was equally notable, his critics are of the opinion that he lacks enigmatic trait of grandfather ’s ability to forensically analyse issues from sociological, political and historical perspectives. They believe that Adebayo’s rise to the enviable position of the CBN deputy governor was a result of skewed boardroom politics that favoured him. His stint at the apex bank has not been without its tainted moments. He has had to be interrogated and admitted to administrative bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for abuse of office and his role in the alleged siphoning of shareholders’ funds via phoney loans at First Bank Plc, where he previously served as the executive director and chief financial officer. The anti-graft body also once subjected the first-class chartered accountant to hours ofgrilling,

FLIPSIDES OF A DULL COIN... BAPTISM OF FIRE FOR CBN DEPUTY, ADEBAYO ADELABU Ambition, it is said, is a great man’s madness, but Adebayo Adelabu, the Deputy Governor, CBN, begs to differ. The fun-loving man seeks to affect no madness; he only seeks to serve his people in Oyo State in more appreciable capacity. The story is all over town that that he is set to join the state’s gubernatorial race. By now, it must have occurred to Adelabu that it would be easier for him to retrieve an object from the Bermuda Triangle than for him to be the next governor of Oyo State. Not because he is incompetent, far from it. But because he would be a victim of the nation’s political system in which merit is sacrificed on the altar of godfatherism, ethnic, political, and religious affiliations. Trust Nigerian politicians, they do not bother to dissuade him from venturing into the muchtroubled and malignant space of Oyo politics. Rather they have promised heaven and earth to deliver the state to him on a platter of silver. It still remains knotty why

Adebayo Adelabu

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

59

HIGHLIFE

The Flipside of Tony Elumelu Ëž ËÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ’Ă™Ă™ĂŽ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙ Ă‹ ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ? ĂŽĂ‹ĂŽ

L

ike most billionaires of his ilk, Tony Elumelu, Chairman of UBA, has got the money habit. But, unlike most billionaires of his ilk, he caught the fatherhood bug sometime between his ascension to fatherhood and entrepreneurial acclaim. Elumelu adorns the cloak of fatherhood with unprecedented pride hence he never shies from performing his fatherly roles to his wards. Tony cuts a contradictory picture to the random portrait of the billionaire as a bad father because of his obsession with money and acclaim. He effortlessly proves that affluence and child-rearing often go hand in hand, under the watchful and compassionate guardianship of a model father. Elumelu creates quality time to be with his daughters. The billionaire has successfully

raised his daughters to be his source of joy and abiding peace. And to guarantee their evolution into full-fledged adults and total women, he creates time to celebrate every aspect of his daughters’ lives; he is part of their progress every step of the way thus he spends vacations with them in exotic locations across the world, and he is there to celebrate their graduations, birthdays and other success stories. Thus it is hardly surprising these days as the happy father poses for pictures with his daughters. In a recent picture posted by Tony on his instagram page, “ A quick tour #UBALondon, and CNN with my girls‌She calls me her wonderful daddy! Breakfast with my Gogo Lee after a great evening watching @ beyonce at the #QueenElizab ethOlympicPark.â€?#QueenEliza bethOlympicPark.â€?

August last year over the role he played in the financial allegations against the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. Adebayo is said to have amassed a huge war chest in preparation for his governorship ambition under the platform of the ruling APC in 2019. Months ahead would reveal if he can match his reported amassed wealth with the political sagacity to make his dream come true, even though he has been deploying it surreptitiously to ensure some Oyo APC leaders buy into his gubernatorial dream.

CALM DOWN, DONALD DUKE WILL NOT CONTEST Many have questioned his electability: to some, the only thing that the former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, would be bringing to the 2019 presidential election is ‘slayage’ and swag. To others, Duke has only jumped on the 2019 political train for pecuniary gains. To these two schools of thought, Duke’s chances of even snapping the ticket of any of the serious parties are as tiny as one strand of his hair. Donald Duke

Donald Duke

has started living true to the words of people who see him as a ‘slay’ candidate rather than a serious contender. His pedestrian approach to national politics is being depicted by playing to the gallery. Penultimate week, he posted a stage-managed image showing him in grocery store shopping, claiming his wife sent him on such an errand, making people wonder if he had fired his domestic staff and turned himself to an errand boy. Trust Nigerians, no sooner had he posted the image than a barrage of condemnations followed. Duke, whose eight-year tenure as Cross River governor plunged the state into about N80 billion debt that has continued to skyrocket and kept the state on its knees, is said to be wallowing in humongous crippling personal debts also. It is believed in some circles that the only reason he has thrown his hat into the ring is to be able to raise money from some moneybags so as to loosen the grip of asphyxiating debts tightening their noose around his neck. Duke keeps friendships that cut across political divides and different economic strata; a feature likely to be exploited to his huge advantage if he can rev up his aspiration. Duke laid all speculations to rest when he, during an interview with an international news agency, AFP, said that he would be standing in next year ’s presidential election, but held off declaring which political party he would represent. Though he is still a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party which has zoned the presidential ticket the party to the North, words are flying high Duke would be testing his popularity in the newly-formed African Democratic Congress, (ADC), which is the political party that has been adopted by the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) of which he is a founding member. Since he missed out in 2007 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo bypassed him for the late Umaru Yar ’Adua as his successor, and

Tony Elumelu with daughters and a friend

Goodluck Jonathan as the former ’s deputy, Duke’s political fate has continued to hang in the balance. It is on record that he has made a couple of attempts to manipulate his ways into the seat of power to no avail. Recent revelations have shown how his sabotage against Jonathan failed.

OLD WINE TASTES BETTER‌ FEMI OTEDOLA’S 86-YEAR-OLD MUM FOR AMBODE When an 86-year-old woman defies all geriatric frailties to go on re-election endorsement crusade for a sitting governor, that governor must be doing something beyond right and normal. And when the endorser is no other person than the Otedola matriarch, Lady Doja Otedola, then election only becomes a formality as victory seems assured if the governor is able to become his party’s standardbearer. The widow of former Lagos State Governor, Sir Michael Otedola, went on endorsement crusade to urge indigenes of Epe to back Akinwunmi Ambode for a second term. In a gathering that drew professionals, artisans and market women from the four corners of Epe, Lady Doja called for unflinching support

Femi Otedola and Mum

for the indefatigable governor on the strength of what she termed “excellent delivery of democratic dividends�. Her expression of confidence comes with the fact that a second term for Ambode would guarantee continuity of meritorious service to all Lagosians. She depicted her versed knowledge of Ambode’s strides by mentioning projects after projects initiated and completed by the governor. She ascribed the massive projects seen all over Lagos and Epe as evidence that Governor Ambode is a hard-working man of vision. She therefore called on all Epe people to shake off any lethargy, go out to get their permanent voter card (PVC), vote massively for Ambode and make him “record unprecedented votes in Epe Division at the election.� Those who know Lady Doja Otedola very well speak of how she is not the type given to flippancy; neither does she engage in political activities devoid of substance. She is not your run-ofthe-mill senior citizen who only root for public office holders for the pecuniary benefits. Anyway, what can one give a woman who mothers an exceptionally successful business mogul and billionaire in Femi Otedola?

60

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2018

61

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž UNE 24, 2018

62

PERSPECTIVE

Abia Judiciary Crisis and Duplicity of NJC Chinedu Ezeobi

I

t is no longer news that the National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended the compulsory retirement of the Chief Judge of Abia State, Hon. Justice Theresa Uzokwe, allegedly for misconduct. What the public probably does not know are the intrigues, conspiracy, connivance, and sheer miscarriage of justice in the entire episode. For institutions whose reason for existence is dispensation of justice, what has played out in the NJC and the Abia Judiciary is a most embarrassing witch-hunt in which very top respected officials of revered the judicial institutions have either been compromised or are cowards and so cowered that they have adopted a see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing stance to the shame of the judiciary. It may be apt to start with the dramatic events which played out in the Executive Council (Exco) Chambers of Government House Umuahia on January 26, 2018. By 10am on that day, a group of judges led by Hon. Justice Obisike Oji of the Abia State judiciary arrived Government House, Umuahia and were ushered into the Governor’s Exco Chambers to await the “good news�’ expected from the Abia State House of Assembly (ABHA). Some of the judges in that group had left their residences outside Umuahia as early as 7am in order to be present at the well-plotted and coordinated event. Of the latter, Hon. Justices Lilian Abai and Chinwe Onyeabo stood out; they came from Aba. Top staff of the Ministry of Justice were also present having had two days, prior notice. The governor was seated in his office waiting for the expected signal upon which he will appoint and immediately swear in an Acting Chief Judge. The Shocker?: The ABHA expected to debate a petition written to them against the Chief Judge, had not even started sitting in plenary to consider the petition and reach a decision on it as at the time the delegation from the Abia Judiciary arrived Government House, Umuahia. Indeed, whereas the judges had been pre-informed by coconspirators in the Executive branch on Wednesday the 24th day of January 2018 that Justice Uzokwe would be suspended by the ABHA on Friday the 26th day of January 2018, a majority of the ABHA members were blissfully unaware of any petition against the Chief Judge. The coordination and orchestration of the Coup was among the leadership of the Judiciary cabal, the ABHA and the Executive branch. From information available to this writer, it was in the evening of Thursday the 25th day of January 2018, that some members of the ABHA received sms text alerts summoning them to reconvene the next morning. On arrival at the ABHA, the members went into Executive Session in the office of the Speaker where a Petition against the Chief Judge purportedly written by an “NGO� was read out and the accompanying “logistics� disbursed. Around 11am, the Executive Session ended and the members of the ABHA proceeded from the office of their Speaker to the Floor of the House for plenary where the purported petition was read out and a resolution suspending the Chief Judge was promptly “passed�. Around noon, the expected call came from the ABHA to the Governor who quickly proceeded from his office into his Executive Council Chambers where Justice Obisike Oji and others of his group were already seated for the former’s swearing in as Acting Chief Judge. By 12.30pm, the first announcements were already being made in the State Broadcasting media and as the date and timestamps show, news and pictures of the swearing in was awash by 12.45pm on social media. The Chief Judge who was not aware that any petition had been written against her to the ABHA was shocked when she started receiving calls informing her of her suspension

Justice Uzokwe

What has played out in ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ“Ă‹ Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă“Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ‹ĂœĂœĂ‹Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ?Ă’Ě‹ Ă’Ă&#x;Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ ÞÙÚ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă Ă?ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜Ă?ÞÓÞĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă?ÓÞÒĂ?Ăœ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă—Ă“Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ăœ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă™ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™ Ă?ÙåĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă•Ă?Ă–Ă?ĂžĂ™Ă˜Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂŒĂ™Ă‹ĂœĂŽĂ? ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ËÎÙÚÞĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹ ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă•Ě‹ Ă‹Ă Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă’Ă?Ă‹Ăœ Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹ĂŁ Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă“Ă‹ĂœĂŁ from office and swearing in of an Acting Chief Judge. But the drama and judicial abracadabra was only just beginning. The leadership of the NJC very reluctantly condemned the action of the ABHA as unconstitutional, a nullity and suspended Hon. Obisike Oji for accepting to be sworn in as Acting Chief Judge. However the leadership of the NJC having made that tokenism turned a blind eye to the other coterie of Judges who connived with Obisike Oji to descend into crass politics by coordinating and plotting with politicians against their Chief Judge. In a bizarre move, the NJC instead of immediately reinstating Hon. Justice Uzokwe to her office as Chief Judge, shockingly directed her to “step asideâ€? while it looks into the matter and further directed that the next Senior Judge to Justice Obisike Oji be sworn in as Acting Chief Judge. Hon. Justice Uzokwe had been

suspended by the ABHA on the basis of a petition written by a fake NGO sponsored by the executive branch. The basis of the NJC’s decision to nullify the actions of the ABHA was that it did not follow due process as the input of the NJC was not obtained in investigating the allegations. But there was one problem: the Petition to the ABHA on which the entire brouhaha was founded was so ridiculous and without merit that the NJC could not act on it as it was aware that the public were watching its next move. So the NJC leadership quickly resorted to digging up old long forgotten petitions. Thus when the NJC on the March 14, 2018 arrived at the decision compulsorily retiring Hon. Justice Uzokwe, it was not on the basis of the petition to the ABHA which led to her being asked to step aside, but rather it acted on a different petition written by Chief Umeh Kalu, SAN, the attorney general of Abia State and Commissioner in the Executive Branch of Abia Government. The Attorney-General’s petition was dated and received by the NJC on the 31st of March 2017. Meanwhile, the cabal in the Abia State judiciary who had thrown away dignity and respect for the high judicial office they occupy sought to outdo themselves in acts of perfidy for which no precedence exists in the history of the Nigerian judiciary. While, the proceedings at the NJC against Hon. Justice Uzokwe were still ongoing, the leadership of the Abia Judiciary now headed by Hon. Justice Ogwe, as Acting Chief Judge, continued their unrelenting psychological and mental assault against Justice Uzokwe. Thus in the “THE ABIA STATE JUDICIARY 2016/2017 SENIOR STAFF PROMOTION EXAMINATIONS which held on March 14, 2018, question No. 2 was as follows: “Your friend who is a staff of the Lagos State Judiciary has requested to know from the horse’s mouth about the abuses by, and the negative activities of, the Hon. Chief Judge of Abia State that resulted to her eventual suspension from office. Write a letter explaining to him or her all that you know concerning the matter, from the beginning to the time of the said suspension. Tell him or her, the mood of the staff of the Abia State Judiciary at the time the news of the suspension was received by them. Let him or her also know about the atmosphere that now pervades the Abia State Judiciary (High Court) in comparison or contrast with when the same suspended Chief Judge was in charge of the same office.� This was the same day the NJC passed a verdict recommending Justice Uzokwe for compulsory retirement. The public is

invited to be the judge as to whether there were elements of coordination in these unrelenting assaults on Justice Uzokwe. By the evening of that day Uzokwe’s attention was drawn to the verdict of the NJC and her ridicule and disparagement in the said question papers set by the leadership of the Abia judiciary. Her solicitors wrote to the NJC: (1) requesting for a review and setting aside of their verdict which was clearly tainted with procedural irregularities, and (2) bringing to their attention for appropriate disciplinary action, the atrocious, shameful, contemptible and malicious actions against her by the current leadership of the Abia State judiciary as displayed in the said examination question paper. The application for review/setting aside of the said NJC verdict of March 14, 2018 was received by the office of the CJN on April 4, 2018 while that relating to the examination questions was received on April 18, 2018. For three months, the NJC never replied or responded to the Application for review/setting aside of its 14th March 2018 verdict until a letter was received by Justice Uzokwe’s solicitors, on June 12, 2018, after the NJC was served with and received court processes in a suit filed by Justice Uzokwe challenging her Compulsory retirement. The NJC convened and met on May 8 and 9, 2018. At the end of its meetings where all extant petitions and matters before it were considered, it issued a press release where the matters considered by it and their decision on them were made public but no mention was made of the application by Hon. Justice Uzokwe submitted to it for consideration a month before their meeting. Instead, to the utter shock and consternation of Uzokwe, all media outlets in Abia State on May 15, 2018 announced that the ABHA had received communication from the NJC recommending her compulsory retirement. While the NJC quietly swept the application by Hon. Justice Uzokwe for a review/setting aside of its 14th March 2018 verdict under the carpet, it responded to the complaint about the despicable and dishonourable conduct of the leadership of the Abia judiciary in the March 14 examination questions. On May 22, 2018, Hon. Justice Uzokwe’s solicitors received a letter dated the May 16, 2018, signed by the NJC Secretary on behalf of the CJN. The contents were unbelievable and is best appreciated if set out in full: “Reference your petition dated 17th April, 2018 to the Honourable , the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, National Judicial Council, Hon. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON on the above subject matter, I have been directed to inform you that Hon. Justice T.U. Uzokwe, the former Chief Judge of Abia State, is no longer under the jurisdiction of the National Judicial Council and that the Council conducts investigations on allegations of misconduct levelled against only serving Judicial Officers, please�. Any doubts as to the partisan and biased position of the NJC against Justice Uzokwe in this entire matter is thus laid to rest. The allegations of misconduct were not levelled against Justice Uzokwe and so whether she is serving or retired is immaterial. On the contrary, she was the complainant and the allegations were against the demeaning and scandalous actions of the current leadership of the Abia Judiciary who are serving judicial officers. It is a sad day for the Nigerian judicial system. A once highly respected and dignified judiciary has become utterly compromised, crass and made itself the object of ridicule. –Chinedu Ezeobi wrote from Umuahia

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

THE PRICE OF A DREAM PEERS INTO THE PAST PAGE 66

24.06.2018

YOUNG ARTISTS WITH MASTERLY ASPIRATIONS Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, water colour, by Olufemi Oluwole 2018

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

64

JUNE ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\EXHIBITION

Transition, oil on canvas, by Damilola Opedun 2018

YOUNG ARTISTS WITH MASTERLY ASPIRATIONS For Mydrim Gallery’s chosen nine exhibiting artists, the “future masters” tag should only be a spur to greater artistic accomplishments, writes Okechukwu Uwaezuoke

C

ould Mydrim Gallery be consciously courting controversy with its nine “future masters’? Maybe not. Yet, there is something undeniably contentious about cherry-picking artists for the exhibition, titled: Generations – Future Masters Series, which enters its second edition this year. This, in turn, follows closely on the heels of its recent celebration of 12 older generation artists in an exhibition, titled: The Masters, held earlier in the month as part of the gallery’s 25th anniversary celebrations. Indeed, the Lagos-based gallery hinges the premise of this exhibition, which opens June 30 in Ikoyi, on the principle of “reviving sound art practice based on firm foundational principles of observation, creativity, skill and draughtsmanship.” A cursory glance at the artists – Emeka Nwagbara, Chinedu Uzoma, Damilola Opedun, Ezekiel Osifeso, Olajide Salako, Olufemi Oyewole, Oluwafunke Oladimeji, Segun Fagorusi and Raji Mohammed – reveals one thing they share in common: their Universal Studios of Art background. That implies the influences of the leading lights of the studio, which is located in the premises of the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. Among these leading lights is the renowned Nigerian painter Abiodun Olaku, who not only selected the artists but also mentored them. Olaku, a solitary rock of dissent in the surging sea of conceptualism, is renowned for his delightful and evocative landscape paintings. It is indeed not surprising that his works find an echo in the works of one of the exhibiting artists. No doubt, the artists deserve commendation for their heroic adherence to photorealism. And this is at a period when the gropings of Western artists have become accepted as straightforward aesthetic canons. As one of the few dissenting voices in this creative maelstrom, Mydrim Gallery’s director, Sinmidele Adesanya, not only throws her weight behind their cause, but also questions any trend “that does not place any

The MaidenTwist, oil on canvas, by Chinedu Uzoma 2017

particular emphasis on the foundational principles of art”. “These forms of artworks have received publicity through [the] social media and other aggressive promotion platforms,” she observes. “Although this form may gather momentum and become established over time, it will be a disservice to place more value, economic and otherwise, on this than the work of deeply talented artists. The danger in allowing this to happen will be an eventual lowering of standards. We therefore organised the annual exhibition titled Generations – Future Masters Series to celebrate and promote artists who have resolved to maintain these true and well-tested foundational principles of sound art practice against all odds.”

Against all odds aptly describes the creative resilience of these chosen artists. At the risk of being scoffed at by those who would rather have them adhere to current trends, they have remained anachronisms in a fast evolving art scene. Thus, they have done a great job of asserting their relevance in the industry’s consciousness. This, Dr Frank Ugiomoh, the University of Port Harcourt’s Professor of History of art and theory, acknowledges in his article published in the exhibition catalogue. “The nine artists on show in this exposition by preference stand on the side of the art of presence or representation in their career,” Ugiomoh writes. “That they side with representationalism identifies them standing against an alternate possible – the simulacrum. Both options of cultural production stand with humanity in the cultural value of art, which is to create symbols out of what is familiar.” Even so, a few creative interpolations still manage to inveigle their way into a couple of the works by one of the artists, Emeka Nwagbara. In their depiction of silhouetted forms, the works, titled “Lobby Conversation” (Lobby Series II) and “Playing Shadows”, proclaim their uniqueness among his other works like “Rosy”, “Street Market I and II”, “Ideas” “Owambe” (Series I) and “Gele” (Series III). Nwagbara, who previously worked in oil and gas, banking as well as in the information technology sectors, is a self-taught artist. After his graduation with a BSc in Accounting from Ogun State University in 1997, he benefited from the tutelage of such artists as Edosa Oguigo, Abiodun Olaku and Wallace Ejoh, among other Nigerian artists. If there appears to be a blur of sameness in the exhibition’s offerings, it is because the artists draw from the same armoury of inspirations. Thus, whatever their individual shortfalls may be, they are amply compensated for by their faithful adherence to the good old canons of aesthetics. Conforming to the familiar indeed help the artists’ credentials and offer them a podium to make themselves heard in a talent-glutted art scene.

If there is one artist among the nonet, who takes the cake for echoing Olaku’s style, it is Oluwafunke Oladimeji. Oladimeji, the only female artist among the lot, displays an increasingly uncommon proficiency in works like “The Alley”, “Takwa Bay Sunset”, “Consultation” and “Echoes of Time”, which can easily be mistaken for Olaku’s works. The 30-year-old Ekiti State University graduate had, after her graduation in 2013, enrolled for a mentorship programme at Universal Studios of Art, where she is still undergoing training and supervision as an intern with Olaku. Indeed, she nurses an ambitious mission: to master some of the techniques, style and philosophy of her mentor. Also mentored by Olaku, her co-exhibitor Chinedu Uzoma distinguishes himself as one of the most delightful devotees of photorealism with the works, “The Maiden Twist”, “Dusk Ride”, “Game” and “Mentoring”. The 2014 Lagos State Polytechnic graduate was also influenced by another artist Adekusibe Odunfa and has even in his student years asserted his presence in the exhibition circuit. Then, there is Damilola Moses Opedun, who despite acknowledging several influences, goes the extra mile to assert his individuality through his romance with impressionism. Even among his works at the exhibition, two works (“Transition” and “Let There Be Light”) sparkle in their uniqueness. For the Auchi Polytechnic graduate, his works are only outlets for his philosophical musings. The remaining artists – Ezekiel Osifeso, Olajide Salako, Olufemi Oyewole, 'Segun Fagorusi and Raji Mohammed – are no less proficient in photorealistic expressions. They also seem intent on using the platform offered by this Mydrim Gallery exhibition, which ends on Saturday, July 14, to make strong statements and proclaim their aesthetic credo. Whatever their individual dispositions may be, the artists are all united in their quest to document their environment in coherent decipherable forms. While it is not impossible that “future masters” could indeed emerge from their ranks, their participation in the forthcoming exhibition should rather be seen as a spur to greater artistic accomplishments. For it is clear that getting entangled too early into the politics of “masterhood” could hurt their career.

65

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž E 24, 2018

ARTS & REVIEW\\LITERARY CAFÉ

FOR THE LITERATI, DELTA PUBLICATIONS CROWNS ‘QUEEN’ AMINA

Yinka Olatunbosun

F

irst, the Nigerian literati noticed the Minna-born Abubakar Gimba in 1983. Then, he was being launched by his publishers as “the Northern answer to Achebe and Soyinka�. The publishers, Delta Publications (Nigeria) Limited, insist that they were vindicated with this claim in the wake of the record sales that the six Gimba titles under their imprint recorded across two decades, and the household name – both in Nigeria and off-shore – that “embellished the rubric name of Abubakar Gimba�. Despite over 600 titles under the Delta imprint since the company’s inception in 1981, most of which are said to have enjoyed meaningful sales, CEO Dillibe Onyeama admits that besides the celebrated Nigerian novelist Christopher Abani, whose first novel Masters of the Board was published in 1985 when the author was just 16 years old, Delta has not fielded any more bigtime novelists since Abubakar Gimba. But now the publishing house is confident that their luck is about to change when they launch the second novel of Amina Abdulmalik Giwa, Wasted Generation, on Thursday, June 28 at The Nicon Luxury, Abuja. Amina, a Data Analyst with Nigeria’s Central Bank since 1993, is also a native of Minna and made her debut in serious contemporary fiction in 1995 with her novel Painful Surrender. Described as “a taut, moving novel of love and matrimonial heartbreak�, the novel laid bare the author’s rare courage by her challenging the validity of dated chauvinistic Islamic traditions that “continue to repress the dignity of womanhood in a modern enlightened era�. The book was launched with great ceremony at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, and attracted the cream of the military class, from which the author’s husband is a retired General, with the new Emir title Taimakon Nupe. Delta Publications report that the book enjoyed healthy sales, mainly in secondary schools, and has been reprinted as back-up for her new novel Wasted Generation, which describes the harrowing challenges facing a holier-than-thou hero who is bent on wiping out corruption and injustice in his fatherland. Amina laughs off suggestions that this is a veiled reference to the ongoing war against corruption, and that the hero, either by coincidence or otherwise, personifies our own President Muhammadu Buhari. “I had planned the story way back in the nineties, long before the advent of the present administration,� she says breezily, but admits that she had been inspired by the “war against indiscipline� of the khaki days of the BuhariIdiagbon junta. “I hate injustice of any kind, and my writings will always represent a war against the ungodly,� she says. “I hope Wasted Generation will be recognised for the clear ring of truth that it represents. You could, if you want, describe me as a protest writer. I like to see fairness prevail.� That pretty much summarises the mission of the hero Hannafi, who was born into royalty, but denies himself the trappings of luxury of his privileged class in order to live and breathe the harsh realities of the outside world. He is traumatised by the experience, but hardened with the resolve to change the evil system of his wasted generation. He finds himself a lone voice in the wilderness of a ruthless society whose citizens are motivated

only by the rules of the jungle and not yet ready for honest leadership. Amina is praised again by her publishers “as a ‘master’ of serious contemporary fiction as she takes the bull by the horns in this courageous exposition of man at is most savage and depraved�. On-Line Editor of Delta, Manuela Charlotte, discloses that Amina Abdulmalik Giwa was first introduced to the company by the late Abubakar Gimba, and described the theme of her writings as being “in the great tradition of Abubakar Gimba� with her commitment to fighting the cause of the underprivileged. “This new book is a masterpiece of unprecedented proportions,� she says, “and we are leaving no stone unturned in the quest to to push Mrs. Amina Abdulmalik to the top rung of the literary ladder.� A mother and grandmother with three adult children, Amina commits her spare time to reading, fish-farming and jotting down ideas for future works of fiction. She is further secured by a

sound academic background that saw her as an alumnus of the University of Ghana, Legon, and University of Sokoto, Nigeria, in the process securing her BA in English, a diploma in international computer science and management, India, and MA in International Affairs, Ghana. But the intellectual prowess is suppressed by a shy self-effacement, despite the congenial smile. Her arresting beauty, enhanced by a remarkable youthful appearance, evokes awesome reminders of the 15th-century Warrior Queen Amina of ancient Zaria, who chose to hone her military skills from the warriors of the Zazzau military. Many accolades, great wealth, and increased power resulted from her numerous military achievements. While it was Amina Abdulmalik’s husband who took up that gauntlet as a discipline, however, Amina seems possessed of a zeal to snub her warrior namesake with the answer that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword.

The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

66

JUN ͰͲ˜ ͰͮͯͶ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\DOCU-DRAMA

THE PRICE OF A DREAM PEERS INTO THE PAST Stories by Yinka Olatunbosun

Executive Producer "The Price of a Dream" Kevin Itima, Zion Itima and Charles Igbinidu, Managing Director, CFO & Associates Limited, a PR Firm at the unveiling of a special documentary, "The Price of a Dream" Limited (GWVSL), which was formed in suspects formed part of the reasons why 2009. On the tragic day, Captain Itima the movie is necessary for public view. bade his son Adrian farewell and disAt the recent press screening of the couraged him from following him to the movie, Kevin Itima stated the inspiration sea. He was said to have been on a boat, behind the delicate documentary. chasing after a vessel that was suspected “Romeo dared to dream about a better to be sneaking into the Nigeria’s waNigeria and worked towards it even terways. It was a gun boat. Shots were though it cost him his life,” he said. fired. The captain and his crew retreated. “Anybody can dream although the price Suddenly, the captain’s boat was caught of a dream sometimes is greater than in the rocks and with the violent waves, what people are willing to pay. The he was thrown overboard. Moments later, documentary is produced not only to the news of his death spread. eulogise my father but also to encourage There was no coroner’s inquest into people that can dare to dream.’’ the death of the Captain. None of the The one-hour long documentary movie captain’s children or even his wife has a is a delicate material, depositing debris stake in the company. The lack of proper from a murky history on our collective criminal investigation and prosecution of conscience.

EXHIBITION

ConvergingPerspectivesatTheMoorhouse

W

eave & Co Gallery, with support from of the Lagos-based hotel The Moorhouse, has launched a two-week exhibition of paintings and mixed media, titled Engaging Expressions. Featuring two artists who had been friends and colleagues over the years, namely Joe Essien and John Ogbeta, this show is a convergence of taught and experimental techniques. Over a decade ago, these artists graduated at the Auchi Polytechnic, from an art school with reputation for expressionistic style. But in this exhibition, there are some pieces that are impressionistic. John Ogbeta usually works with found objects to make profound statements on socio-economic issues. “I delve into subjects that relax and excite,’’ he said, during the press preview of his works at The Moorhouse in the upmarket Lagos neighbourhood Ikoyi. That was quite evident in his multi-media works titled, “Urban Man’’ and “Rural Dweller”. For instance, in “Urban Man”, Ogbeta explores colours and found objects to communicate the message of urban consumerism. Newspaper print, corks, air freshener containers and other articles that are synonymous with middle-class status were appropriated in this large piece that turns trash to treasure. Commenting on the size of this work, Ogbeta said, “I wanted something imposing to drive home my point.’’ In retrospect, he questioned the existence

TY Workspace Showcases Young Artists Yinka Olatunbosun

A

sad news ravaged the nation’s maritime industry on August 7, 2012. A seasoned seaman, Captain Romeo Itima was reported dead at Escravos, Delta State. The death was quite mysterious as the autopsy report showed that the deceased did not drown as there was no water in his lungs. Six years after, questions are raised to seek justice for the Late Captain. In this new thought-provoking documentary movie titled, The Price of a Dream, his life story is recaptured through a mish-mash of interviews with his colleagues, family and friends. Directed by Alberto Solalinde, the documentary was created to crystallise the details of Itima’s contribution to the maritime industry in Nigeria. The movie opens with a funeral footage of Late Captain Itima, revealing the pall bearers, mourners and his sons as they paid their last respect to a man of integrity. The voice-over narration is executed by Kevin Itima, son of the late captain who, incidentally, is the producer of the movie. He recounts how his father immigrated to the US at 24; taking some courses in maritime to hone his skills while there. He was a seaman, who loved the sea. When Captain Itima arrived at the US, he enrolled and passed the exams that qualified him as a licensed captain at the Gulf of Mexico. The narrator didn’t think his father would pass the exams without a college degree but he did. In episodic editing, the story is told through his children and wife, Helen who is based in US. Helen recalls how her husband decided to return to Nigeria to form a company that can help reform the maritime sector. His son, Adrian who had taken a course in deep diving also joined the maritime security company called Global West Vessel Specialists

EXHIBITION

Rural Dweller 2018 (Mixed Media on canvas)

of the urban man, as an entity that likes to think of himself as self-sufficient because of his economic strength. He often forgets that there is a symbiotic relationship between him and the “Rural Dweller”. The latter piece

is used to depict the agricultural setting of the rural dweller and his importance to the urban man in the economic cycle. Ogbeta is also fascinated by the message of love. He attempts to address the issue of marital discord and societal love deficit in one of his pieces. With Joe Essien, it is ‘expect the unexpected’. He takes a bold swipe at the political climate in Nigeria in this piece titled, “We Send Them to Represent Us.’’ Burrowing through the predominant state of amassing wealth for self in the political system, this artist throws his punchlines -equipped with palette knife and colours. His works include “When We Turn A Blind Eye’’ and “Guardian Angel (Brother’s Keeper)’’ with subject matters of sporadic killings by herdsmen and sycophancy seeping through the lines. From easel-to-muralsized works on plywood and canvas, his themes vary in the sphere of sociopolitical concerns. This show, which opened on Saturday, June 23, is on until Friday, July 6 at The Moorhouse.

InDecember2017,anewworkspacewas openedinYabaLagos.Beyondbeingaworkenvironment,TYWorkspaceintroducedanartexhibition whichfeaturedartistsintheacademics.Following thesuccessofthepilotedition,themanagement ofTYWorkspacerecentlylaunchedasecond exhibition,titledNewGeneration,NewTalent,asa corporatesocialresponsibilityinitiative.Thisshow featureseightyoungartistsdrawnfromthehigher institutionsinYabaenvironsandbeyond. Atmidday,friendsandcolleaguesoftheexhibiting artistsconvergedonthevenuewhereeveryartist showcasedfourworks.Oneoftheeye-catching piecesis“Eve”,thebiggestandthemostexpensive oftheportraits.ExecutedbyAyomideJoshua,the imposingpieceisaproductofacrylicandcharcoal whichattemptstocapturethemodern-day narrativesontherootofhumancivilisation.Hispiece titled,“TheEscape’’isacommentaryonthenatureof theNigerianeconomy,survivalofthefittest. ForAlvinOsuya,thecitytransportisasource ofinspirationinhisseriescalled“Foresight1and 2”.Osuya,whohailsfromDeltastate,described himselfasanemotionalpersonwhoisverysensitive toothers’temperament.Once,hewasridingona commercialmotorcycleandglancedatthereflection oftherider’sfaceonthesidemirrors.Thatdesperate lookinthequestfordailysurvivalwasrelivedin Foresight1whileinForesight2,headdressedthe apprehensionsurroundingtheproposedreplacementforthe“Danfo”busesinAfrica’smostpopulous city.Withhisreferencetolongitudeandlatitude, Osuyademonstrateshisabilitytocross-pollinate knowledgeandideas. AfrocentrismisattheheartofAbogunde Yusuff-Aina’spiecewiththetitle,“Halima”.Made ofcharcoalandpencil,theworkisnamedafter themodelwithface-paintingthatisreminiscent ofthe‘Kalakutaqueens’.Apparently,hesharesthe LegendaryAfrobeatmusician,Fela’sAfrocentric worldviews.AgbeleyeBabarantiAdesola’scultural interventionisseenthroughhisuseofYorubatitles forhisworks,suchas“Asiko”and“KaraKata’.’Heisalso deeplyfascinatedbyotheraspectsofculturesuchas thefishingoccupationamongsttheIlajesinMakoko areaasseeninthework,“EndoftheDay”. LandscapepaintingisKazeemMumin’sfortein thisgroupshowwhereheworkedwithoiloncanvas aswellasgaucheoncard.Heisquietlyadvocating forreforestationinhis“LandscapewithGreens’’ whiletakingthevieweronavisualjourneytoatourist destinationinthepiecetitled,“SomewhereinErin Ijesa”. Sittingatthecentreoftheexhibitionhallare thesculpturalexpressionsbyOgbeyemiOladele. Hisportfolioofmetalworkshingesonhiscollection offoundobjectsorjunksuchascutlery,plugs,flask, exhaustpipefromautomobiles,amongstothers. Accordingtohim,pickingupmetallicobjectsonthe streetshaveseveralenvironmentalbenefits.One ofthemistopreventinjuryinchildrenwhoplayalong thestreets.Anotheristoconvertwastetowealthby usingmalleablemetalstocuratecultureandstrong messages.Hisworksinclude“Atilogwudancer” and“Saxplayer’.’OtherexhibitingartistsareAfolabi OlabodeAfeezandChristianOnyekachi. TheCEO,TYWorkspace,ToyinArowolo commendedtheaspiringartistsfortheirefforts whilereiteratingherorganisation’scommitmentto advancingartsinNigeria.

POETRY PLATFORM

At Initiation My hands are ready for the task. My feet are bare; my ears are open. Your breath washes my body this dawn. Your breath fans your fire in my soul. I still stand where you have planted me With seven cowries at the foot Of the oldest iroko. Many times, I have travelled The iroko to the moon. But my feet always return to my post. Last night I was in the moon. It was so full of beachsand. I almost stayed But your call has brought me here at dawn. My lips are waiting for the task. - Obari Gomba ––Dr Gomba teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Port Harcourt

67

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

CICERO

Editor:Olawale Olaleye Email:wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

Unresolved Murder : A Good Place to Start is with the Kano REC President Muhammadu Buhari will do well in his pursuit of justice by first calling for investigations into the killing of INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, Mikaila Abdulahi and family, during the 2015 elections, writes Tobi Soniyi

E

arlier in the month, President Muhammadu Buhari directed his Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to reopen investigations into the unresolved murder of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Chief Bola Ige, and a former Deputy National Chairman, South-south of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Aminasoari Dikibo, with the sole aim of bringing their killers to justice. Muyiwa Ige, scion of the late Cicero of Esa Oke as Bola Ige was fondly referred to, was reportedly excited at the president’s directive. “I knew right from the advent of the administration of President Buhari that the matter would be resurrected. The President is in the right direction. To God be the glory. It’s a new day; we are happy, we will get justice after 16 years,” he was quoted as saying. While the need for a closure into these high profile killings is understandable especially for the families of Ige and Dikibo, Buhari must stay away from politicizing such issues, not when hundreds, if not more, had had been killed and are still being killed under his watch without any conscious efforts to bring the marauding killers to book. One of such killings that ordinarily should interest the president if he genuinely is interested in unresolved murders is to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Commissioner for Kano State, Mr. Mikaila Abdulahi, who died in a strange fire outbreak alongside his wife, Zulaiha, and their two daughters, Aisha and Asmau, less than a week after the 2015 presidential election. This is particularly important, because it remains one blood stain that the election victory of Buhari carries with it since 2015. Although the fire has remained a mystery, a majority of the people believed it has a lot to do with the result posted in Kano for Buhari’s election, which produced the highest votes despite allegations of staggering malpractices in that part of the country, including underage voting. Another reason the death of this family should interest Buhari is because his current Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, was at the time the Kano State Commissioner of Police, who is believed to have details of the mysterious death, otherwise, his promotion is being considered by many as a compensation for helping to deliver Kano in the 2015 election, and the reason the president has tolerated him in spite of his many alleged excesses. The speed with which Idris ruled out foul play in the deaths was remarkable and has fueled suspicion ever since. And to think that since the unfortunate incident, neither Buhari nor Idris has said

Buhari in a handshake with Idris, when the IG visited the president charged with offences even though he and anything concerning the painful passing of his followers were the victims of brutal this family of four but moved on as if it was attacks by men of the Nigerian Army? a normal occurrence. Even more worrisome How much more the Benue farmers, is the fact that the Kano State government whose lives were cut short by herdsmen? has maintained an indecent silence on the Why is the president not interested in bringdevelopment. ing the people, who killed them to justice? While the police then said they were Could this really be a new day as suggested waiting for the result of an autopsy on the by Mr. Muyiwa Ige? Many Nigerians do not remains of Mr. Abdullahi and his family, think so. the spokesperson for the Kano State office of The president should be worried INEC, Garba Muhammed stated something when recently, the Zamfara State governor, totally different when he said the bodies of Abdulaziz Yari cried out saying he was only the victims were already being conveyed to the state’s chief security officer in name his native Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, for because he lacked the power to stop bandits, burial, in line with Islamic tradition. That, of who regularly invade villages in the state and course, closed the case at the time, with all the kill as many as they can. Don’t the people evidence buried with their remains. of Zamfara deserve justice? If government President Buhari can therefore do more can’t protect lives and properties as they are about a more recent death that has raised concern and also cast a pall of suspicion on his happening afresh; is its capacity to investigate unresolved murders of about 16 years not election alongside seeking to revisit deaths obviously in doubt or tainted with suspicion? of 16 years ago. Whilst the death of Bola Ige If a president lacks the capacity to invesand Dikibo must not go unearthed, it is easier tigate and bring to justice those who commit to exhibit his commitment through a more murder under his watch, there is little or no recent development of less than four years wisdom in his directive to the police to fish like the death of the Kano REC than grandout Ige and Dikibo’s murder of 16 years. In standing with Ige and Dikibo, obviously for fact, such a directive comes with some moral political capital. burden. No one builds a nation by selecting What about hundreds of member of whom to prosecute for one thing or the other the Islamic Movement in Nigeria popularly and those who should work free. known as Shittes, who were killed in Zaria, It is hard to believe that this government Kaduna State, only for their leader, Ibrahim can make Nigeria a great country by picking El-Zakzaky to be incarcerated and later

and choosing whose murder to be investigated while leaving other families to lick their wounds. That is not justice, except in a world defined by Buhari and allies. It is in the light of the above that the president’s directive to the IG should be seen, first as a misplaced priority just like the threat to close land borders to stop the smuggling of rice into Nigeria. This government has publicly admitted that those killing innocent people in Zamfara and Taraba States are people from neighbouring countries. If that is true and the lives of Nigerians mean so much to the president, he should have directed that the land borders be closed to stop the killers from entering Nigeria. That should have been the priority. It is when the Nigerian people are alive that they can buy smuggled rice. Anyone who understands the politics of June 12 and the president’s love for the late military ruler, Sani Abacha should not have problem understanding the motive behind the directive to Idris to reopen the murder cases of Ige and Dikibo. It is simply politics aimed at securing votes and to also get at former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Perhaps, if those decisions had been taken place within the first year of this administration, it would have been difficult to dispute the altruistic reasons behind them. But with election just by the corner, only the naive would get carried away.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

…And the 2019 Telling Signs

T

Governor Ganduje

he Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, last week, advised Governor Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano State to convene as quickly as possible, a security summit that would fashion out an approach to the security challenges that brazenly stare the state in the face ahead of the 2019 elections. It would be shocking, however, if Governor Ganduje was not even considering that possibility before the emir’s intervention. Although

a party to the insecurity plaguing the state as a result of his political choices, the lot, ironically still falls on his laps as the Chief Security Officer of the state to keep his people and their belongings safe. The signs are quite telling as far as Kano is concerned and the governor as well as other stakeholders does not need anyone to prompt him to do the needful. That the state experienced one of the most horrendous killings during the 2015 elections is enough stimulation for a more careful approach to the 2019 polls.

68

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

CICERO/ ONTHEWATCH

For Ekiti Poll, Issue-based Debate Not Optional A debate on all relevant issues in the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti is inevitable, writes Victor Ogunje

T

he July 14 governorship election is fast approaching and all the contending forces have been throwing their arsenals into the ring to get upper hands. Indeed, the campaigns have been more on personal attacks than debates over issues before now. However, as pedestrian as Ekiti electioneering has been, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has been able to redefine the system and raised the stake since June 1, when his party organised a welcome rally for him, signposting the beginning of a full-fledged campaign by his party. Fayemi, after clinching the ticket of the party on May 12, immediately returned to Federal Executive Council (FEC), where he served as a minister superintending over the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and bowed out on May 30 to pursue his governorship ambition. Before his foray into the campaign, Governor Ayodele Fayose was having a field day. He bestrode the political turf and savoured his monolithic reign in the race without any stiff opposition. This gave him unfettered opportunity to market his anointed candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola to all in Ekiti. He made all sorts of allegations and hurled insults at the former minister. The governor gave conflicting figures on the debt profile left behind by Fayemi. However, the rhythm has changed since Fayemi began his campaign. He didn’t only join for the sake of engaging Governor Fayose in the mudslinging that has been the hallmark of Nigeria’s politics. He set a template that would do the populace a great deal of benefit and relieve them of the tension that has overtaken the Ekiti political sphere, if the discourse is issue-based. He began by challenging Fayose to a market square debate on how the finances of Ekiti were managed between 2010 and now. The former governor was explicit that electioneering has gone beyond being localised and that it would be more dignified for Ekiti people, being the most educated in the country to allow contestants to take on each other at the level of ideas and not resorting to propaganda and character assassination that would heat up the polity. Even critical stakeholders like the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Justice Development and Peace Initiative (JDPI), New Initiative for Girls and Women Development (NIGAWD), have urged all parties to elucidate more on their manifestos for people to make the right choice. This makes the campaign on issues to be gaining traction. Even, the NUJ in partnership with JDPI is planning to organise a debate for all the candidates of the contending parties. Fayemi’s challenge came to the fore, following the spit thrown by Fayose’s claim that the former minister squandered over N165 billion Ekiti allocation when he was the governor of the state between 2010 and 2014. Fayose said available documents from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the National Bureau of Statistics among others showed that Fayemi collected a total of N165 billion as allocations, excluding regular funds from Excess Crude Oil Account, grants, internally-generated revenues among others. He said despite getting this humongous amount of money, that Fayemi still took N25 billion bond and N35 billion commercial loans with nothing to show for the funds. “In 2011, Fayemi got N40.5 billion as monthly statutory allocations. In 2012, he got N39.8 billion. In 2013, he got N44.3 billion and in 2014, he got N40.1 billion. Whereas, the Fayose administration got N28.2 billion in 2015, N18.8 billion in 2016 and N25.6 billion in 2017. “Apart from the above monthly allocations, Fayemi

Fayemi in a handshake with Fayose after the 2014 governorship poll

still got regular funds from the Excess Crude Oil Account, IGR among others. Despite what Fayemi got, he still borrowed N25 billion from the Capital Market and took N31 billion commercial loans. The question is, what did he do with the money? Nothing! “The N25 billion bond and commercial loans, through which he mortgaged the finances of our dear state for 20 years, were spent on nothing. He proposed an event centre, it was never completed. He said he would build a new governor’s office, he only scraped a parcel of land near the House of Assembly Complex and did nothing. His new Ojaba Market, for which he erected a billboard at the entrance of the palace of Ewi, never saw the light of the day,” the governor alleged. Fayemi didn’t treat the accusations with disdain. He immediately gave copious answers without throwing a jibe at the governor. He was of the opinion that issue bordering on the finances of a state is not a matter that could be trivialised, because it has direct link with the collective destiny and well-being of a people. Fayemi described his successor’s diatribe as lacking in substance and that the figures quoted by Fayose could not have emanated from the Accountant General of the Federation. Fayemi said: “Ekiti has 133 towns and there is no town you’d get to and you won’t see at least four projects that my government executed. I did renovation of all schools, where over 800 schools were renovated and the result of what we did was what accounted for the good results the state is making in public examinations today.

“This present government has not made any effort geared towards youth employment in three and half years. During my time, I employed people into Ekiti State Traffic Management, Youth in Commercial Agriculture, where 1500 were engaged in farming, 5,000 youth Volunteer Corps, five kilometer road projects in all the towns, urban renewal project in Ado Ekiti, building of palaces, civic centres and town halls in virtually all the towns. “I built the state 12,000 capacity pavilion, the multi-billion naira civil centre, Oke Ayoba Government House, constructed Ado-Ijan-Ikare road, Ijero-Ipoti-Iloro road, Ayetoro-Ewu-Iye road, constructed Iluomoba-Ijesa Isu-Kiole road, built Oba Adejugbe General Hospital, renovated all general hospitals, constructed new Accident and Emergency building, new Theatre and laboratory for Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, among others. “So, if the PDP leaders are not blind or emotional to reality and they are not illiterates, they should try and quantify all these projects and from there, they would know how I spent Ekiti money.” Fayemi advised Fayose to be intellectually inclined by taking time to peruse the 800-page handover note delivered to him to be able to decipher how he spent Ekiti money during his administration. The ex-governor denied the allegation that his government was profligate, saying he did projects in all the 133 towns in the state unlike the present government that had abandoned the populace.

Continued on Page 69

NOTES FOR FILE

That Disturbing Report on ISIS

Babagana Monguno, National Security Adviser

The UK Sun daily reported last Monday that leaders of Islamic State (IS) were sneaking battle-hardened extremists from Syria into Nigeria, noting that some of the fighters had been sent to the Middle East for training in a “chilling exchange programme”. That, without any iota of doubt, is a disturbing security report that cannot be glossed over on any account. However relieving, also, is the news that the federal government had taken up the challenge as soon as the report came in. Reports had it that the federal government through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the

Federation (SGF) had drawn the attention of the relevant security agencies to the report particularly the Nigeria Customs Service, instructing it to commence rigorous searching of all the bags and persons coming into the country, going forward. But as good as that sounds, it is only hoped it would not end up like those instructions from the presidency or the president that were ignored by persons handed them and yet attracted no sanctions. This must be taken with all the seriousness required. Nigeria has had enough of the menace of Boko Haram members, sneaking in more hands by ISIS would be one menace too much.

69

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

CICERO/ ONTHEWATCH t ‘FOR EKITI POLL, ISSUE-BASED DEBATE NOT OPTIONAL’tContinued from Pg. 68 The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti, Prof Abdulganiy Raji, revealed that the commission had published the manifestos of all the political parties in the country, for the electorate to make the right choice at the poll. The INEC boss stated that there was need for the country’s electioneering to deviate from the past and assume a more civilised dimension that would be in the best interest of the populace. Raji said no country could have a paradigm shift in its electoral system or enjoy better democratic dividends, if the electorate was not familiar with the agenda. He therefore charged voters to be alive to their responsibility by putting party candidates to task and make them see issue of elections as very important. Coalition of non-governmental organisations under the auspices of New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD) and Youngsters Development Initiative, has also keyed into the agenda set by Fayemi that there was need for gubernatorial candidates to debate on what they have in stock for the citizens.

The founder and Executive Director of NIGAWD, Mrs. Abimbola Aladejare, while speaking at a town hall meeting tagged: ‘Vote not Fight’, a Voter Education programme held at Ido Ekiti, urged political parties to explain their manifestos to the electorate in the language they would understand and how they intend to meet their projections if elected. The programme was funded by National Democratic Institute (NDI), United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UK aid) and United State Agency for International Development (USAID). “Election is not about killing if truly you want to serve. Let the candidates simplify their manifestos for the electorate. This will make them make the right choice at the poll. Enough of bloodshed during elections! Let elections be based on issues and not abuses”, she advised. Candidates of Independent Democrat (ID), Mr. Tosin Ajibare and that of Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Rev. Tunde Afe, who were present at the voter education programme, said they supported the idea

that candidates should create avenues to explain their agenda to voters to serve as a guide. Tunde Afe said: “It is important to let our people know what we have in stock for them. Today, politicians go to campaign rallies with thugs. When it comes to issue of violence and rigging, everybody is involved. I mean the youths, politicians, security agencies and INEC. That is why we must engage our people on the need to respect the sanctity of the ballots.” Now, the template has been set that Ekiti electioneering campaigns should be majorly anchored on issues. It is expected that all the candidates will key into this paradigm shift for Nigeria to record another breakthrough in its electioneering process for the overall good of the nation. The July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State promises to be interesting and the signs are already evident, one of which is the challenge to a debate by Fayemi on the finances of the state. It is still a developing story…

…And Fayemi Raises Campaign Bar

T

he June 19 mega rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to drum support for its governorship candidate in the July 14, election, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, was a chance and morale-boosting event. Leading the pack was the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, who spoke glowingly of the former minister’s qualities and ability to lead Ekiti out of the doldrums. The mega rally attracted political heavyweights across the North and South of the country to Ekiti. The mammoth crowd of party supporters that thronged the Oluyemi Kayode stadium in Ado Ekiti, the capital city, was a strong indication that Fayemi remains a potent factor in Ekiti politics. Though APC was not oblivious of Fayose’s influence and stranglehold on the turf, Fayemi’s dance steps and reviewed grassroots approach to politics vividly reflected how deep and well tutored he had been after losing the June 21, 2014 governorship election. He had hitherto been accused of being too elitist. Most pundits hinged this on why he lost the reelection very poorly. His change of tactics, however, appears to have shored up the hope of the APC members and sympathizers alike that the Ekiti governorship seat is up for grab. Osinbajo, while addressing the crowd, told the Ekiti electorate in clear and unequivocal manner that Fayemi remained the best man for the plum job, on account of his cerebral nature and good planning and temperament for governance. National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed

Tinubu; APC National Chairman, Chief John OdigieOyegun and former Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, shared Osinbajo’s sentiments about Fayemi’s personality. They appealed to the Ekiti people to reminisce on the past and do holistic appraisal of the present government in Ekiti and draw their conclusion on who is more apt and competent to lead the state. Chairman of the Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari and his counterparts from Edo, Godwin Obaseki; Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Ondo, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu; Kogi, Mr. Yahaya Bello; Oyo, Abiola Ajimobi; Kwara, Abdufatah Ahmed and Jigawa, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru all proved to have taken the exercise very seriously. Also, the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong; Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima; Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun and their Kebbi State counterpart, Senator Atiku Bagudu, were of the views that the best way the state could move forward and expand its economic frontiers was to vote Fayemi on July 14 and join the league of progressive states in the country. Former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; the Ministers of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, and Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bawa Bwari, as well as Senator Olorunnibe Mamora, were equally on hand to show solidarity with Fayemi and underscore how important the Ekiti election was to the party. The highpoint of the kick-off mega rally was the

APC leaders at the kick-off campaign for Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s governorship bid in Ekiti State

reception of PDP bigwigs, led by former Minister of Works, Dayo Adeyeye, a serving lawmaker in Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon Adeniran Alagbada and former Special Adviser in Ekiti State, Mr. Bosun Osaloni to APC. They were all received warmly by Osinbajo and other party stalwarts. Further driving his argument home, Osinbajo described Fayemi as a man sent by God to deliver Ekiti from poverty, saying the July 14 election affords the electorate the opportunity to change their destinies for good. “God has brought a blessed man, who is Dr. Kayode Fayemi. He will do Ekiti a lot of good if elected governor. He will bring development to your doorsteps. On July 14, don’t look back or sideway, just look forward to a good future ahead of you by voting for Fayemi. APC is a party of progress. Let us vote for APC in this election. APC will help Ekiti to develop, because the PDP has outlived its usefulness”, he said. Most exhilarating was the fact that those considered to be threats to Fayemi’s victory within the APC such as the Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and former Director General of the former Minister’s campaign outfit, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, now the impending battle as theirs and have coalesced efforts with other like-minds to ensure they pull the rug off Fayose’s feet in the election. In actual sense, the whole rally was devoid of abuses. It was more of issues and this has redefined the politics in a new model that would propel the country’s electioneering to enviable height.

70

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

SUNDAYINTERVIEW

Makarfi...I have all it takes to be president

Makarfi: APC Is Paving the Way for PDP in 2019 Former Chairman, National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, recently declared his interest in the nation’s top job and spoke on why he threw his hat into the ring and other matters of national concern. John Shiklam presents excerpts from the interview

A

t what point did you decide to run for the office of the president? I have been consulting since I left office as chairman of PDP. I have been consulting across the country and you know what consultation means. Consultation is not endorsement, but it enables you to feel the pulse and it will tell you whether to go forward or not to go forward and it has been quite positive. I have said before now that consultations have been positive and I believe it is fair enough to come to the conclusion that one should join other capable party men and women, who have

shown interest in seeking the party’s nomination for the 2019 presidential election. So, at this stage, I have come to the conclusion that it is ok, based on the consultations that I join the rank of people, who have shown interest and are equally capable. Do you think you have what it takes to be president? We all have our qualities, but for me, I have known governance for some time at the state level. Some of you are aware I served this state for three years as a Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning. I came into government from the private sector – banking

Already, what they have has been adjudged to be illegitimate. So, who is going to conduct their own convention? If they don’t conduct the convention, they will be resting on whatever process they have which is an illegality based on what the court has announced. So, they would have made it easy for us to actually take power, because they would end up without a valid, legitimate candidate nominated

sector. So, I have experience in the private sector, especially the banking industry. I governed the state for eight years, a complex state. So, I know governance at that level as chief executive. I have legislative experience having been their senator for another two terms. I got a bonanza when the party leadership fell into my lap to know about managing political party. If you can’t manage your party, even if you are elected, you have problems governing. If you can’t manage the legislature and build cordial relationship so that the key legislations that can move this country forward are passed, then, governance also becomes complex. Again if you can’t manage conflict in the communities, societies such as Kaduna, which is a mini Nigeria so to say, managing Nigeria, in my opinion becomes problematic. God has so designed that one has passed through all these processes. These are to me, advantages, but of course it doesn’t mean it is a foregone conclusion. As I said earlier, somebody who may not have been a part of governance at all can find himself in a position of governance, but the country can pay a price for that. So, I believe I have these advantages. Others also have their advantages, but at the end of the day, the people decide. What is your understanding of the challenges facing the country? You will look at the responsibilities of the office of the President and you look at the situation we are in now. To me, security challenges, economic challenges, unemployment, the unity of the country is also threatened, because of mutual suspicion of one another and corrosion of what binds us as a nation. All sorts of

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

71

SUNDAY INTERVIEW t ‘MAKARFI: APC IS PAVING THE WAY FOR PDP IN 2019’tContinued from Pg. 70 problems here and there, government at conflict with itself – if you take these issues one after the other, you will see that one has had experiences of managing them and coming out successfully. The security challenges, I faced same in Kaduna as a young new governor. I was able to mobilise the citizens of Kaduna State irrespective of where they come from in Nigeria and earned their confidence. They worked with me and supported me and we were able to restore normalcy that people thought was impossible. So, I am not new to managing conflicts and security issues. I am not new to managing complex people and societies. If you look at it from that perspective, one is prepared. Again, managing a party in crisis, we wouldn’t be talking of PDP by now if the crisis that rocked the party was not managed. Not that we didn’t have little fallout, but the fallout was not significant as to threaten the party. As a matter of fact, the trajectory is, PDP is going up not actually going down. But we can look at what is happening or is about to happen in the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is likely to split into two or three when they hold their convention. We had a few people moved out but not split. To manage and balance the interest of the people was no mean task, but I and my team and the rest of the leaders of the party were able to achieve that. The mutual suspicion, either based on religious or ethnic issues, because of my balanced nature, when I was governor in Kaduna, I was called different names depending on who you are talking to. But I was happy because I was for none. I was for all and as president you have to be for all Nigerians Makarfi and my life history has been that. Of course, I did my secondary school in the east. That impacted on me positively. At a young age, I became exposed to every Nigerian, because my school was a reflection of Nigeria. There was hardly any ethnic group you wouldn’t find in my school. That kind of upbringing is something that sticks in you and something that moulds you. So, nothing would be strange to me in times of governance. I believe we did fairly well in Kaduna State in terms of not just keeping the peace, not just being fair, just and equitable in terms of treating people, but in terms of development and project distribution. No part of the state cried that I was favouring one side and not favouring the other. And of course, the jobs which we did were quality enough, relative to the money spent. People continue to use them up till now. I have been out of office for eleven years now. When I drive on a road we constructed some 16 years ago and I see some without potholes, I marvel. But look at some of the ones that are rehabilitated, two, three months after the rehabilitation, you are back to square one! Look at some we constructed 15 or 16 years ago, they are still in good shape. But again, a tree does not make a forest. It is the ability to build a team and to hold the team accountable. A president must have the ability to build a good team that is reflective of Nigeria and a team capable and that team must work as one not in conflict with each other. Institutions of government must not be working in different directions. You can’t have two institutions of government going different directions over the same policy, same issue. If I find myself in such office and such is to happen, it is either both of them go or one of them goes. It depends on what the issues are. But the question of managing both of them, because of whatever personal relationship can’t be there, because it is the national interest that is the issue. What’s your take on Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade? I think Nigerians and the whole world read the statement by the British High Commission, cautioning EFCC and INEC not to take sides. It was a good call. Some others might make the same call. I still believe that key institutions of state mean well

Whichever way it goes, something must give. When we reap that windfall, we see how strong we are and then we would continue to chart the way forward. We also must thank the APC for working for us because they have been working for us. They refused to govern well. They have been fighting each other. There are many things for which we can thank them

happening? Give me a break, we can do better and we must do better.

for Nigeria. It is the political elements in us that are desperate for power, who are blinded and willing to destroy the institutions in order to cling onto power that are abusing our institutions, degrading them and making them to lose the integrity they should have. I honestly cannot believe that is the overwhelming view of the men and women, who work in these institutions. So, we have to be careful as politicians, because if we destroy these institutions, Nigeria will pay a heavy price. If you politicise the fight against corruption, security and economic development, we are destroying Nigeria. There are things that we can work together. It is not only politicians that are corrupt, you find public servants corrupt, you find people in the armed forces and para-military corrupt, you find people in educational institutions corrupt, but what is the headline? Is the politician rightly or wrongly accused of being corrupt when there is politics around the corner or if such a person has some political interest? It may be a miscalculation by those who are doing it. If you are a governor, you have certain individuals seeking to be governor and you think that the best way to tame them is to use institutions of state, because your party is ruling, to harm them or to scuttle their political chances, you may succeed, but the party must fill somebody, the party may even fill somebody, who may even give you a tougher fight, a tougher run for your money, because you can’t trick God. In any case, each party must fill a candidate, so, if it is not this person, it is another person and it is not you who will determine who that person is. By the time you make all these things up, you can end up with a candidate that you would regret even having as a candidate to contest election and it will be too late for you. For me, we had former President Obasanjo, where did he come out from to be president? We had Mandela, where did he come out from to be president? In Malaysia, there is an old man that became president. Who did he bring out from jail and said he is going to hand over to? Ultimately, it is God, and whatever God defines that people will go through, people will still go through no matter how pious they are or how corrupt they are, they go through those processes, but at the end of the day, nothing can stop them from becoming what God has ordained for them. What is your view on the increasing insecurity in the country? I have to give credit in the area of Boko Haram, not that it has come to an end, but they have recorded some successes. You cannot take that away from them. But the successes would have been much more than what have been recorded if as we hear and have been reading, the component institutions dealing with the fight against this insurgency are working as one. We hear of rivalry, if it is true, it is unfortunate. All arms of security and armed forces must work as one to deal with the issues of insurgency and insecurity wherever they exist. But beyond the issue of insurgency, there is the herdsmen threat. It is no longer herdsmen and farmers, it is herdsmen and communities. It spreads like wild fire. The criminality along Birnin Gwari Zamfara axis has worsened. Cultism in some places has also worsened. Here in Kaduna, I can only call it in Hausa, we hear of “Sarasuka” (street gangs). We are going lower and lower. The insecurity problems are becoming numerous and if we allow this to spread out, the entire country will not be safe. We read the governor of Zamfara saying that he has resigned as the chief security officer of the state. So, who is responsible? Is it out of frustration or out of lack of capacity? I don’t know! I haven’t seen him. There must be a reason! Why should that be

So, how do you think government should tackle security? We should adopt the carrot and stick approach. We must stop using security institutions for political purposes. You would be surprise if a political figure is to be arrested for real or imaginary charges, you will be surprised about the number of deployment that would be made, but when you call to say you are being robbed, you could imagine how long it takes to see a response and what level response. We must free our armed forces, police and other security agencies to serve the people, not to serve political leaders. We must give them all that they need, we must give them target to achieve, if you don’t achieve, out you go. We will not just ask you to go; we will find out whether you took illegal gratuity in going and deal with it appropriately in accordance with the law. If you succeed, you get a promotion. Promotion should not be because you have served for some number of years in one rank. No, it is what you have been able to achieve. We must work with the communities. Working with the communities means making it safe for them to volunteer valuable information. They must not be exposed, because they volunteered valuable information. The bad eggs in the system must be decisively dealt with. If we are able to begin to do this, we will begin to record successes. The herdsmen-communities conflicts, we have to find a way of working with the lawful indigenous Fulani people. I believe it is disturbing them because it is also affecting them. We believe the overwhelming majority of these people crossed over the borders. Even if they are locals, they may not be the majority, but if you work with the majority, as a people that I personally know, as proud people, they can sacrifice their lives in order to protect their identity as Fulani people. But you have to communicate with them and work with them. They will be at the forefront and others would be following and we would bring this to an end. Let security be community-based. When I say community-based, you look at the composition of the community. What is the composition of the community? Bring them together, they bring ideas on how to secure the community, follow it. If each community can secure itself, the entire country would be secured. How does the PDP intend to wrest power from the APC? The APC is made up of different parties. They came together about a year to election. We are going to come together, I am absolutely sure. It may not be a new party, it can be an electoral alliance, it can be anything, I don’t know. There is a committee working on that. We have to wait for the report of the committee and when that is done, then you will see the direction the opposition would be taking to legitimately wrest power. We don’t want power through illegitimate means. Secondly, we are waiting for the windfall and the windfall we hope to be June 23. We heard they are thinking of postponing it, you can postpone but it must happen. After all, even the court says extension is illegal, so if you want to postpone out of illegality, they may end up having no candidate nominated as far as we are concerned. Already, what they have has been adjudged to be illegitimate. So, who is going to conduct their own convention? If they don’t conduct the convention, they will be resting on whatever process they have which is an illegality based on what the court has announced. So, they would have made it easy for us to actually take power, because they would end up without a valid, legitimate candidate nominated. Whichever way it goes, something must give. When we reap that windfall, we see how strong we are and then we would continue to chart the way forward. We also must thank the APC for working for us because they have been working for us. They refused to govern well. They have been fighting each other. There are many things for which we can thank them. There is no way the executive and the legislature can work again as one. There is no way the party can be cohesive again. As I said earlier, there are elements in government fighting themselves and nobody has called them to order. So, we shouldn’t expend our energy where somebody is working for us. We’ll save our energy for where we need it most. What is your interpretation of the recent recognition of June 12 and some of its actors by President Buhari? I am not against honouring Chief Abiola or Chief Gani Fawehinmi for their struggles. People have raised questions on Babagana Kingibe. It is something to be looked at. If the president wanted to honour him for service to the nation, he is free to do so. But if it was linked to June 12 and the people felt that he sold out on June 12, you can’t be honoured on what you allegedly sold out. If he wanted to honour him, he could honour him without linking him with June 12. It is the President’s prerogative. But all these issues would have to follow due process. Let the statement from the president be intent, let the legal processes follow so that the actions are not deemed to be outside the due process of the law. There is absolutely nothing wrong in honouring the late two heroes of democracy.

69

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R JUNE 24, 2018

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

72

BRIEFINGNOTES

Atiku with former president Jonathan whe the former visited the ex-president in furtherance of his consultations

Atiku Returns to the Drawing Board After a lull in his campaigns, former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, last week, resumed consultations in a manner that has rejuvenated the fireworks ahead of his presidential bid, writes Shola Oyeyipo

F

or many pundits and analysts, particularly those looking forward to formidable opponents capable of ousting the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership, the concern is that less than eight months to the presidential election, there are no aspirants strong enough to give the sitting president a good run for his posturing, even though former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar has always been there in his face. As correct as that concern may seem on the surface, truth is that members of the APC can hardly feign ignorance of various underground scheming targeted at removing the Buhari leadership. While some new breed politicians are working tirelessly to make resounding impacts in the elections, some renowned political figures, like Abubakar, are not necessarily docile, they are working behind the curtain to build structures that can adequately contend with the ruling APC. To discerning, however, Atiku took his presidential ambition a notch further when in November 2017, he opted to resign from the APC along with scores of his supporters, alleging draconian clampdown of democracy in the party. He left for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and has continued to pursue his ambition. Though there was some sort of lull in the camp of Atiku’s presidential movement at a point, which could be traced to the ongoing alignments and realignments, the North-east politician seems to have re-oiled his political machinery for the final phase of the election run. Since Monday, June 18, 2018, the former APC stalwart has resumed the pursuit of his presidential ambition by visiting states controlled by the PDP, on his nationwide consultation with leaders and stakeholders of the party, to actualise his presidential ambition. Last Monday, accompanied by the Director General, Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCO), former Ogin State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, he visited Ekiti State, where he met with Governor Ayodele

Fayose and rallied support for the PDP candidate in the state in the July 14 governorship election, Prof Kolapo Olusola. The following day, Tuesday, he visited Bayelsa State. He was guest of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson and former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, whom he ran against in 2011, when he emerged the consensus candidate of the North. He seized the opportunity to seek support for his presidential ambition and vowed to better the lives of Nigerians. Atiku, who said he had followed Dickson’s advocacy on restructuring, told the governor that, “I agree with you and I want to let you know that I have been advocating the issue of restructuring since 2004. I want to invite you to join me to work together with me ahead of 2019 so that we can do it together,” adding that it was because he was an advocate of restructuring that he presented a book written by him on the need for proper restructuring of Nigeria to the governor. Governor Dickson described Atiku as a veteran in politics and noted that the 2019 presidential election would be a referendum through which the Nigerian voters would decide who governs them. Atiku was received by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike at the Government House Port Harcourt on Thursday. He also paid courtesy calls on some PDP stakeholders in the state. Atiku and his team are expected to visit Lagos and Delta States on Sunday, 23 and Tuesday, 26, June respectively, where the PDP presidential aspirant will continue his consultative talks with leaders and chieftains of the party in the states. He had visited Akwa Ibom and Cross River States before taking a break to observe the Ramadan fast during which period he traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser hajj. His message on these visits is very clear. He is urging Nigerians to rise up to the challenge of taking power from the incumbent government of President Buhari. Shortly after the visit, the lawmaker representing Bayelsa East senatorial district, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, commended the former vice president for the visit on his twitter handle. He described the politician as “the choice to get the country working again,” adding that “I am excited

at the passionate welcome of Atiku. My people and I are convinced that he is the choice to get Nigeria working again.” A quick check among important players in the zone reveal something interesting. Bruce may not be alone in his opinion about Atiku. There are other Nigerians, who are deciding to support if only because of his promise to ensure restructuring. Therefore, just as in the case of Jonathan, many of those who openly antagonise President Buhari fear that they will be in for it if he gets a second chance, hence they are prepared to queue behind anyone, who can defeat him at the election and Atiku is becoming more appealing. Though a major setback to Atiku’s ambition has always been the open antagonism by his former boss, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, there are indications that the former president may eventually be left without any choice than to support Atiku, at least, in national interest. A source working closely with Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), which was set up to galvanise Nigerians to vote out Buhari from office told THISDAY that Atiku is the preferred candidate of the South-west, Southeast, South-south and the middle belt and that Obasanjo would be advised to support him at the election. Speaking strictly on the condition of anonymity, the prominent South-west leader said: “We hope to tell Obasanjo to support Atiku. Though some people are considering Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Southerners are apprehensive that he would be another version of Buhari, because of his fundamentalist disposition. “We prefer Atiku, because of his stance on restructuring. Though we are not convinced that he would implement full restructuring, certainty he would carry out restructuring that would begin to move Nigeria forward. So, we can take it up from there,” he said. There is no doubt that the new development has added more vigour to the former vice-president’s ambition. Where Obasanjo submits to pressure to support him and also considering his political pedigree in the North, with his growing acceptability among pro-restructuring groups down south, it would not be out of place to presume that he might soon become the face of opposition ahead of 2019.

73

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

NEWSXTRA OPEC, Non-OPEC Producers Adjust to Boost Oil Output t Kachikwu says despite global uncertainty, Nigeria focused on increasing value Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members led by the Russian

Federation yesterday indicated that they could raise their production levels by adjusting compliance with previously agreed output cuts to 100 per cent as against the 147 per cent

recorded so far. Rising from the 4th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting which held in Vienna, Austria, under the Co-Chairmanship of OPEC President, Suhail

Mohamed Al Mazrouei, who is Minister of Energy and Industry of the United Arab Emirates, and Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak, the groups said they in

RUSSIA, HERE WE COME! L-R: Mr. Mayowa Akinbode from Abeokuta; Mr. Maxwell Igwegbe from Abuja; Regional Marketing Manager, Glo, Mr. Kenechukwu

Okonkwo; Miss Ebube Uzoma from Enugu; Mr. Muyideen Disu from Lagos; and Mr. Popoola Olaide from Ijebu Igbo, at a send-off ceremony for 2nd set of winners in the on-going Glo’s ‘Go Russia’ promo held at the Mike Adenuga Towers, Lagos...yesterday

May 2018 recorded a conformity level of 147 per cent in the 2016 production cut agreement they reached and would now adjust their compliance to 100 per cent. They however did not give out any concrete figures as regard how much of oil they planned to bring back into the market with the adjustment of their compliance rate. OPEC had on Friday announced its members would adjust their compliance levels to the OPEC-only agreement, which it said was 152 per cent as at May to 100 per cent, but also gave no clear output targets. Experts, however, expected that its allies in the non-OPEC group would follow the same direction after the Saturday meeting of both blocs. Following a slide in oil prices, OPEC and its allies in 2016 initiated and followed up with a pact to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd). The measure had helped rebalance the market in the past 18 months and lifted price to around $75 per barrel from as low as $27/b reported in 2016. However, reports indicated that unexpected production outages in Venezuela, Libya and Angola have brought supply cuts to around 2.8mbpd in recent months, with the group stating a communiqué of their meeting that they will adjust

their levels of compliance to the agreement. They stated in the communiqué obtained by THISDAY in Abuja after the meeting that they respected the rights of people and nations to permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources, but reaffirmed their continued commitment to the Declaration of Cooperation (DOC) to a stable market, the mutual interest of producing nations, the efficient, economic, and secure supply to consumers, and a fair return on invested capital. They also noted the overall improvement in market conditions and sentiment, as well as the return of confidence and investment to the global oil industry. “Recalling the 171st OPEC conference resolution reached on 30 November 2016 for a production adjustment of 1.2 million barrels a day (mbd) for OPEC member countries, with the understanding reached with key non-OPEC participating countries, including the Russian Federation, to contribute a production adjustment of 0.6mbd. “Recalling the DOC reached on 10 December 2016; and noting that countries participating in the DOC have exceeded the required level of conformity that had reached 147 per cent in May 2018.

Fayose, Fayemi Bicker over Alleged Proposed Poll Fraud

t Ooni warns against rigging at Ekiti guber Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding to preload card readers to be used for the July 14 governorship election in the state in order to manipulate the poll in favour

of the APC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. The governor also said the criminal act is allegedly being perpetrated in Akure, Ondo State in collaboration with the Ondo State Government. Meanwhile, the Director of Media and Publicity of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Wole Olujobi, said Fayose’s allegation was the

consequence of the ghost of the federal government-backed 2014 poll he allegedly committed against the people of the state. He also said Fayose’s declaration that the shooting of opposition members has just begun is a confirmation of the allegation that the governor has imported gunmen to Ekiti State to kill APC members and menace members of the public.

Fayose stated this on Friday night while answering questions on a radio and television programme in Ado-Ekiti called ‘Governor Explains’. In a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, yesterday, he quoted the governor as saying that over 550 polling units spread across the state were targeted to be preloaded with

between 50 and 200 votes in favour of the APC. “I don’t want to bring this picture out yet, but those who said preloading is not possible are lying. Right now, they are doing manual preloading in Akure as I speak. For polling units with over 1,000 voters, they spread the preloading to between 50 and 200 votes per polling unit.

“In Ikere, 58 of such polling units were targeted and AdoEkiti has 158 of such polling units. They want to get people they will stuff with the ballot papers and dump such papers in the ballot boxes at such polling units. He therefore urged the people of the state to be vigilant during the election and challenge any strange face they see.

Soyinka: Buhari Now Respects Freedom of Expression

Plateau Youths Protest Killings, Hantec Financial Group Rewards Customers Barricade Mangu-Jos Road

Wale Ajimotokan in Abuja

SerikiAdinoyiinJos

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the latter now respects freedom of expression in Nigeria. Soyinka, however, derided former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a hypocrite and the least worthy of former Heads of State to champion the political recovery process of the country. He expressed the view during a special interview at the Gala Night of the International Press Institute’s 2018 World Congress in Abuja. He said Buhari, who declared the IPI congress open on Thursday, was now attempting, mostly

successfully, to respect freedom of expression in Nigeria after he expressed intent to tamper with press freedom “not along ago”. Soyinka congratulated Nigerian journalists for bringing the IPI congress to the country for the first time, saying the timing was remarkable. “The timing is remarkable in the sense that IPI is being hosted by a nation whose current president, Muhammadu Buhari, is somebody I refer to as born-again Democrat. Not so long ago, as a military leader, he came out openly that he will tamper with the press freedom and he matched his words with deeds. He jailed a couple of journalists for sticking to the ethics of their profession.

Plateau youths in Mangu local government Area, yesterday protested the incessant killing of their kinsmen by the Fulani, barricading the highway from Mangu to Jos. There have been reported cases of killings of innocent persons by unknown gunmen in Arangai and Mangu Halle villages, both in Mangu local government, the Fulani and the natives pointing accusing fingers to each other. But the protest yesterday was prompted by the killing of two children of a clergy in the area on Friday night. They alleged the failure of the authorities, particularly the security operatives to protect them. Converging at Mangu Halle

village where they blocked the new Mangu-Mamaraban ForonBusa-Buji road and also ManguBarkin-Ladi road, they disrupted free flow of vehicular movement rendering commuter stranded in the aftermath. As they burnt tires in five different barricades, the youth chanted “Enough-is-enough of killings in our community; we are tired of security excuses.” It took the intervention of the traditional head of Mangu, who pleaded with the youths before the situation was brought under control. Dawash, while recounting the killings said, “Last Sunday a young man was killed by the so-called unknown gunmen at Arangai, and since then, it has been killings upon killings every day.

Bamidele Famoofo Though Hantec Group is a financial service company with specialisation in wealth creation for customers through forex trading and asset management, it has drummed up support for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the World Cup fiesta ongoing in Russia. In this regard, two of its customers which were selected in a promo christened ‘Hantec Global World Cup Prize Draw’ held at its Lagos Office recently took home assorted gifts in the spirit of the world cup. Two customers who emerged winners of the first edition of the Draw went home with 14 inch TV set, 1.5hp air conditioner, 3.5kva generator set, 100 litres deep freezer, and 2 units of the

2018 world cup super eagles jersey respectively. The first lucky winner, Mr. Bernard Eze, a customer of Hantec who is resident in Lagos eulogized the gesture of the company, describing it as a worthy partner in wealth creating wealth for Nigerian. The second winner of the gifts, Mr. Ethelbert Ikwuegbundo from the garden city of Port Harcourt said his relationship with the company in the last few years when he discovered it has been mutually beneficial. According to him, the customer relation of Hantec is second to none. Explaining the rationale behind the reward, the CEO of Hantec Global in Nigeria, Mr. Mike Fowope, said “we wanted to support Nigeria because it is the World Cup season.

74

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

NEWSXTRA Military: Lack of Counter IED Equipment, Actionable Intelligence, Impeding War against Terror t Commits to zero tolerance for human rights violations Senator Iroegbu in Abuja The Nigerian military has listed lack of Counter Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) equipment, insufficiency of accurate actionable intelligence, impropriety in Non-Governmental Organ-

isations (NGOs) activities and lack of community resilience on the part of the locals as major impediments to the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east. The Theatre Commander

Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Rogers Nicholas, gave the charge when the participants of the Course 2, Army War College paid him a courtesy visit in Maiduguri. Nicholas in a statement yesterday by the Deputy Director Public Relations,

Oando Redefines Employee Philanthropy with World Blood Donor Day Initiative Oando PLC recently commemorated World Blood Donor Day via a company led blood donation drive which enabled employees donate blood to save lives. The blood drive was organised in partnership with LifeBank, an e-health company connecting blood banks with hospitals in Nigeria, in a bid to bridge the blood shortage gap in Nigeria. Among Nigerians, voluntary blood donation is a strange concept due to several erroneous beliefs, suspicions and misconcep-

tions. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) postpartum haemorrhaging is the leading cause of maternal mortality, accounting for over 27 per cent of all maternal deaths in Nigeria. Bleeding as a result of traffic accidents is the leading cause of deaths amongst young and middle aged Nigerians and it is estimated that of the 20,000 children that die daily in Nigeria, 30 per cent of these are as a result of anaemia. Typically, blood donation only

occurs on an emergency basis. In the vast majority of cases a patient in need of a blood transfusion must depend on relatives to either donate blood or source from private laboratories or blood banks. They may also enlist the services of commercial blood donors, popularly known as “blood touts”. The Ministry of Health has reported that donation practices in Nigeria are 10 per cent voluntary donors, 60 per cent commercial donors and 30 per cent will only give blood to relatives in need.

Theatre Command operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said there were few challenges despite the fact that the terrorists had been largely degraded. He said on account of the operational strangulation of the insurgents by troops, the ter-

rorists had callously resorted to save face by attacking vulnerable and soft targets with Person Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (PBIED) as well as burying IEDs on roads and tracks. Nicholas identified the “challenges of the ongoing

counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations in the north east theatre to include lack of Counter IED equipment, insufficiency of accurate actionable intelligence, impropriety in NGOs’ activities and lack of community resilience on the part of the locals.”

Sterling Bank Prioritises Employees Well-being, Bags Award Prioritising employee well-being alongside various flexible working options, has earned Sterling Bank PLC the award for Best Quality of Life in the Large Corporates category at the 2017/2018 Great Place to Work Awards held in Lagos recently. The leading commercial bank was able to achieve this feat by building an enabling workplace that optimises its employees’ abilities and potential; a thriving environment where workers love

what they do, a workplace that values and empowers one no matter the job function or background. Presented to the bank by the prestigious Great Place to Work Institute Africa, the award affirms the bank’s commitment to creating a positive workplace that fosters excellence and productivity. Commenting on the award, Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, said, “We are proud to receive this award because

it affirms our commitment to building a workplace that guarantees quality life for all employees. The commitment to give employees the best possible led us to invest in various enablers onsite – a creche for employees’ babies/toddlers, a gym, an on-site clinic, flexible work options, paternity leave and stock options for all employees, among others. These schemes have improved the daily lives of employees significantly and engendered employees’ commitment.”

75

J ÍşÍźËœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

THE COVER

APC leaders at a meeting with Buhari

The nPDP Gambit

2019

Withitsfatesomewhathanginginthebalance,notmanyoptionscanaptlysoothethediscomfortbeingexperienced by members of the new Peoples Democratic Party in the All Progressives Congress.That its members are unhappy with the way they are being treated is stale news. However, what nPDP members do going forward, is the issue now on the card. Not only have these nPDP members officially reported their displeasure to the highest authority in the APC, they have also held series of meetings with certain key stakeholders, both in the party and government, hoping there would be some form of ‘common sense reset’ that would ultimately take into account, the state of things and their larger implications as the nation approaches 2019 elections. Unfortunately, nothing seems like it. A recently refuted report that President Muhammadu Buhari had ruled out the possibility of meeting with the nPDP because it was a party affair had further damaged the hitherto high spirit behind the reconciliatory moves before it was eventually dismissed as emanating from the opposition within. Even at that, the possibility of an auspicious future in the APC by members of the nPDP is sheer sarcasm and their chances of being accorded any recognition commensurate with their much-touted stake in the party appear to be shrinking by the day. Perhaps, the luxury of time is no longer with the nPDP and so, the time for its members to take their chances might just be now especially, with their increasingly attenuating options, writes Olawale Olaleye

L

ast Monday’s reports by some major national dailies (excluding THISDAY) that President Muhammadu Buhari might have ruled out the possibility of meeting with members of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), who had openly and officially expressed their dissatisfaction with the way they are being treated, both in the party and government, was not a palatable piece of news. Although this erstwhile bloc of PDP that later aligned with the APC in the twilight of 2013, to oust the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, had recently pulled out of further discussions with the APC hierarchy, following attempts to link Senate President Bukola Saraki to a recent robbery in Offa, Kwara State, by the police, it was not completely averse to a reopening of talks if the intention would be noble. However, as it appears, the situation is daily becoming impossible for the nPDP members, not because it could not call the bluff of the APC and its government, but because they seem wary of being labelled “desperate� in their mere pursuit of justice and are therefore inclined to exploring all the possibilities of a genuine resolution of their differences before taking a stand. Now, the time to take a stand is nearer than even a majority of their members could ever imagine. With the factors of time, sincerity to respecting understanding and the individual career of their members, the next few weeks remain critical for the nPDP members, within which a lot has been penciled to change.

Flash Back to 2013

Like a dĂŠjĂ vu, the nPDP members might be walking a familiar path. The group, in the countdown to the 2015 polls, had staged a disruptive walkout at the PDP special delegate national convention in August of 2013 and went ahead to christen their group the “new PDPâ€?. In all, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, seven governors of the PDP, lawmakers and their supporters walked out of the convention venue of the PDP, a move that naturally deepened the crisis in the then ruling party. The governors, who walked out of the PDP convention were those of Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Sokoto, Rivers, Adamawa, and Kwara states, even though Jigawa and Niger governors didn’t eventually join the APC. They left the Eagle Square immediately for the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, where they addressed a press conference to detail the reasons for their action. Since that Eagle Square drama, the fortunes of the PDP depleted and the power game heightened, resulting ultimately in the ouster of the party in the 2015 polls. But, what was the problem then with the PDP? First, the governors and other top-notch party members, aggrieved with the PDP wanted then chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, out of the way, because according to them, he was running the party as personal estate. It was a tough decision for the party leadership and Jonathan, but eventually, he gave up the post and a new leader, Adamu Mua’zu, a former Bauchi State governor, stepped in. The other issue they fought was the eligibility of Jonathan to continue in office. They all reckoned

76

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ UNE 24, 2018

SUNDAYCOVER

The nPDP Gambit

Buhari, Oyegun, Osinbajo, Aziz and others in a chat standing his failure in terms of capacity and alleged that corruption had skyrocketed in his time, such that a majority of his cabinet members had become a law unto themselves. They also fought the fact that Jonathan had an understanding with the party leadership to not seek re-election, which was one of the reasons he was believed to have fallen out with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who stood for him in 2011 on the understanding that he would run for just a term. With these, the groundswell of opposition against Jonathan increased and it was clear that except in the event of a miracle, he was going to lose the election and he did. Although the difference in the votes despite Buhari’s alleged popularity, cult following and APC’s acceptability was not impressive as many had expected, the Jonathan era was however rested with a combination of factors.

Between 2013 and 2018

Five years after some of the events that upstaged the Jonathan presidency were conceived and executed – similar developments appear to be building up in the countdown to 2019, in a sense that underscores the current thinking that history might repeat itself in 2019, if some of the threats staring the APC in the face are not contained. Some of the actors that made it possible for the APC to upstage the PDP are back in the same situation that prompted their choices in 2013. However, while ultimately, the reason for leaving the PDP in 2013 was because they were all against the decision by Jonathan to return to office, which generally united everyone, the situation is not the same now. Today, while they are all still crammed together under the guise of nPDP, their individual challenges in their respective states differ and could make a common ground a little bit difficult. The other difference between then and now is the factor of time. When they pulled out of the PDP in 2013, they had clearly almost a year and a half to plan and prosecute their strategy. But election starts next February, meaning between now and then is less than eight months. That may not be sufficient to unsettle the APC in a sense even though it is not outright impossible since 24 hours is a long time in real-time politics. Again, regardless of the misgivings about the Jonathan administration, he was liberal and tolerant of the opposition to the extent that they could coalesce against his government and even upstage him. Buhari has not shown to be that magnanimous. With the way and manner, he has gone against the opposition, both within and outside the party, Buhari might not tolerate them any close for the kind of freedom they savoured under Jonathan. That is one difference between then and now that cannot be thrown aboard.

Their Grievances

The indication that all was not well with the nPDP as an integral part of the APC followed a four-page petition signed by one of them, Alhaji Kawu Baraje and a former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, dated April 27, 2018. The petition, which was addressed to Odigie-Oyegun stated: “We the members of the All Progressives Congress, who moved

L-R: Saraki and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal at an event over from the Peoples Democratic Party to form the APC before the 2015 general election in Nigeria, are desirous of strengthening our party especially now that new party congresses have commenced and the convention and another round of general election are imminent. “Obviously, this cannot be achieved without addressing fundamental issues, which we wish to raise in this letter. We, therefore, wish, with due respect, to restate our expectation then and now that the APC we all laboured to build would be one united, inclusive, cohesive and progressive party devoid of divisions, factions, cleavages and tendencies.” But he was quick to note that while it was a fact that those, who moved over from the nPDP to form the APC contributed immensely to the electoral victory being enjoyed today, their sacrifices had not been acknowledged or appreciated, given how they have been so far treated by the party leadership and government. “These efforts, contributions and sacrifice were made in spite of the fact that the presidential ticket was taken by the erstwhile Congress for Progressive Change, and the Action Congress of Nigeria blocs of the party. It is a matter for grave concern that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has never publicly acknowledged our efforts. “At this stage, we would chronicle a few grievances, which if addressed will lead to a harmonious APC, where justice, equity, fairness and peace will reign and enable APC avoid rancour, reinvigorate the pace of national development and face the 2019 general election as one united party.”

Listing their grievances, he cited the non-inclusion in the Federal Executive Council, no significant patronage and appointments into executive positions in various government agencies, marginalisation, unkept promises and general lack of consultation, non-recognition and even persecution of former nPDP members and leaders by the party and the government. “There is an inadequate reflection of programme and policy contributions of members of the former New PDP bloc in the running of the government. Our belief is that it does not augur well for our party if a section of it feels that it is being treated as an outcast and meddlesome interlopers in the party they rightly belong with the legitimate expectation to be treated with justice both in the running of the party and the government.” While requesting an urgent meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and the party executive leadership to find lasting solutions to the issues, because according to them, it was necessary “to prepare the party as a fighting force to deliver more pungently on its manifesto and face the 2019 general election with even greater commitment.” Although the meetings so far held did not yield significant results before the group announced a pullout following the linking of Saraki to the Offa robbery, the fact that the situations in the respective states of members differ from person to person makes peace a lot more difficult, because the situations have been subsequently coloured by local politics of supremacy. The situations in Kano and Bauchi States, for instance, suffice. In Kano, for example, where former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his successor, Abdullahi Ganduje have elected

77

J ÍşÍźËœ ͺ͸͚΀ ËžTHISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

SUNDAYCOVER

The nPDP Gambit

Osinbajo meets with nPDP members

Factoring the ‘Other Deal’ There is a trending speculation. It is that some foot soldiers of

Baraje and some nPDP members meet Buhari to go for broke is a bit critical and any genuine resolution might be a hard nut that can hardly be built into consideration within the larger concern. What also obtains in Bauchi, where the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and his governor, Mohammed Abubakar, have become sworn enemies, cannot directly be located within the larger discontent except for where it can be deduced that they are drawing strengths and support from the government at the centre. A gamut of these factors combined has made the plight of the new PDP members more intricate than it currently looks, thus making any reasonable and sincere reconciliation or appeasement of the nPDP members more impossible, coupled with the time factor.

Options Before Them

Without telling, it is increasingly becoming impossible that the options before the nPDP members are many, more so that time is particularly a major dictator. It is not difficult to decipher that the nPDP are merely being tolerated, both by the party leadership and government. It also goes without saying that the president has not and may not actually forgive them with the way Saraki and Dogara emerged leaders of both chambers of the National Assembly, a factor believed to be responsible for how they have been so far treated. If this is true and given the natural disposition of the president, who is said to hardly forgive those who trespass against him, then, this won’t go away. It, therefore, means that the longer they stay in the APC, the more their members would be ill-treated especially, that the president does not think he needs them to

come back, albeit such thinking can only come from sheer illusion. But the fact that Buhari looked away in 2015 and let them have their way with the leadership of the National Assembly and even determined those who became the principal officers to the chagrin of the APC leadership is not going to happen again in 2019. A clear indicator was the way Buhari singlehandedly dictated the choice of a former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, as the national chair of the party, against all known rules and regulations guiding such a process of choice. What this means, in essence, is that he would never allow the duo of Saraki and Dogara emerge again as heads of the legislature, even if he feigned to have stayed away. In addition, he would not allow any of their members come close to his government, thus, depriving them of any sense of belonging in the party and government, worse than what they currently experience. But in embracing what appears the only option before them, they must also be very technical in their analysis of their options. Guiding them would be such questions as: is Buhari still popular? Is he beatable with the right candidate and sincere cooperation of all the opposing forces? How much damage can their exit cause the APC? Is their analysis of current geopolitical standing at par with their choice? Can they pull it off like they did in 2015? The questions are of course endless, but with these few examples, the nPDP members can have an idea of what presently lies before them as they ponder their choices, knowing full well that their career is at stake in the event of any miscalculation.

the president in the APC have been discussing the possibilities of many deals with the opposition, in their desperation to secure another term for the president. One of such deals is that they will allow the PDP governors to maintain their states with the understanding that they will deliver at least 30 per cent for the president. This deal is said to be applicable mostly to the South-South and South-East states. In the heart of this deal, sources hinted, are two prominent characters: a former governor of one of the oil-producing states, who was very popular for having allegedly transformed his states in an uncommon fashion and a sitting governor of another oil-producing state, who is believed to hold the key to the heart of the PDP. There is also another leg to the deal and that is, the government would not tamper at all with the states if the PDP will allow it to have an input in who becomes its presidential candidate. That way, the APC would have influenced the choice of a weak candidate that will merely be a walkover for the incumbent in the election. Arriving at the deal, sources said, became inevitable with the constant harassment of some of the PDP top-notchers, at the state and national level, thus compelling a compromise meeting that it (APC government) would keep the security agencies off their back once an understanding is reached. But another very important source in the PDP said whilst that might be true, it would be foolhardy for anyone to think the PDP governors and others said to be discussing with the APC would not have a Plan B in the countdown to 2019. To be sure, the source added, “Do you think if in their calculation our people are sure we will win the presidency, they will still go ahead with such a plan? No! While I do not doubt the possibility of such a deal, because this is politics and the time has come, our people are not stupid not to have pondered the likelihood of a Plan B, which might be the joker.� In the final analysis, the nPDP gambit is not unexpected. Its members have been pushed to the very limit, with their options daily attenuating, because they do not have the luxury of time anymore. Therefore, while it is a most difficult gambit for them, the election is equally going to turn out the most impossible for the APC, its incumbency weight regardless. If you doubt these by any measure of considerations, then, yesterday's outcome of the party's national convention should allay any such contemplations. Why? This is because the exercise went according to the sole plan of the ’owners of the party without yielding a bit to those who had hitherto alleged alienation in the party. What this means, therefore, is that the option before the nPDP is one. It is, however, up to it to either stay back and lick its wounds or move on by taking its chances. But while none of these is cast in stone, it is not out of place to give the new Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a chance as he has promised to re-order the party and have things done properly. He didn’t forget to allay the fears of the aggrieved members, when he promised to look into their case. Put differently, that sounded like some breath of fresh air. But can it sufficiently address the staggering discontent? Perhaps, it is a question answerable by time.

78

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

WORLD CUP 2018…

JUNE 14 TO JULY 15

St Petersburg Agog for Nigeria-Argentina Blockbuster Demola Ojo in St Petersburg

R

ussia’assecondlargest city is agog and expectant ahead of Nigeria’s crucial game against two-time world champions Argentina on Tuesday. When the fixtures for the World Cup were released, Nigeria vs Argentina was one of the top 10 games to look out for. However, events during the previous two rounds played in Group D have contrived to make this, arguably, the most decisive of the group matches yet to be played. Tuesday’s game is certainly the biggest of the four group games to be hosted in St Petersburg following previous matches between Morocco and Iran, hosts Russia and Egypt as well as Brazil against Costa Rica. Already, fans of both teams are trooping into St Petersburg to add colour to what is generally regarded as Russia’s friendliest and most Westernised city. Fans of both teams have been taking pictures together in a convivial atmosphere. Ironically, Argentina owe their chance of qualification to Nigeria’s Super Eagles defeat of Iceland. In the fans’ estimation, a win over Nigeria will guarantee qualification for the second round. However, the advantage lies

with Nigeria’s Super Eagles who currently sit in second place in Group D ahead of Argentina who, surprisingly, are bottom of the table. It is the first time Argentina will be playing catch up to Nigeria, after four previous editions of the World Cup that has seen both teams placed in the same group. In 1994, Argentina won 2-1 in the second game when they were already top of the group. They beat Greece 4-0 in their opening game while the Super Eagles blasted Bulgaria 3-0 in Nigeria’s World Cup debut. Both teams qualfied from the group alongside Bulgaria. At the 2002 and 2010 World Cups, Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0. Both were group openers. The Argentines also triumphed 3-2 in the last group game of the 2014 World Cup. The story is different this time though, with Nigeria in the ascendancy going into the last game of the group. The Super Eagles will be filled with confidence

after a scintillating second half performance against Iceland to win 2-0. It is also instructive to note that Nigeria won the most recent encounter between the two teams, winning 4-2 last November in a friendly match played in Russia. This is seen as a good omen among Nigerian fans as they look forward to finally trumping Argentina for the first time at a World Cup. Argentina will be wary of Ahmed Musa who scored both of Nigeria’s goals in 3-2 defeat to Argentina in Brazil 2014. Musa also scored twice and rocked the crossbar against Iceland. The three –time African champions must avoid defeat against the desperate South Americans in the giant arena in Krestovsky to make progress to the knockout rounds. Already qualified Croatia top Group D with six points and a plus five goals advantage, with Nigeria second on three points and on an equilibrium on goals

Musa has Argentina in his sights after scoring a brace against Iceland scored and conceded, while Iceland and Argentina lie further back with a point each. Croatia

tackle Iceland at the same time (9pm St Petersburg; 7pm Nigeria) in Rostov-On-Don.

The city of St Petersburg awaits this decisive World Cup match that promises fireworks.

Eagles Unstoppable Says Pinnick, Last Gasp Winner Lifts Germany over Sweden Dedicates Iceland Win to Buhari President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick has dedicated the Super Eagles’ 2-0 win over Iceland at the FIFA World Cup on Friday to President Muhammadu Buhari, while reiterating his well –known position that the Super Eagles will dazzle the world at the 2018 FIFA World Cup “The NFF dedicates this win to President Muhammadu Buhari for his massive support and fatherly role to the NFF and the national teams. Our President has created a conducive environment for football to thrive. “I also want to specially appreciate the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and members of the presidential delegation led by the Minister of Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung and including the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Olusade Adesola and our IOC Member, Engineer Habu Gumel.” The NFF supremo also expressed appreciation to senators and members of the House of Representatives who are in Russia supporting the team, as well as major stakeholders, including former NFF Presi-

Toni Kroos’ injury-time winner against Sweden revived defending champions Germany’s hopes of becoming the first side to retain theWorldCupsinceBrazilin1962. Ola Toivonen’s deft first-half lob had left Joachim Low’s side facing elimination but Marco Reus, starting in place of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, prodded in an equaliser as Germany assumed control after the interval. ThechampionsthenhadJerome Boateng sent off late on for a second yellow card but continued to chase the game knowing a draw left their fate in others’ hands. And they were rewarded in the final minute of five added on when Kroos tapped a free-kick short to Reus before sweeping

Pinnick dents and General Secretaries, Nigeria legends including Chief Olusegun Odegbami who gave a stirring pep –talk to the team before the match, former Super Eagles’ coach Chief Adegboye Onigbinde and other prominent Nigerians who watched the game in Volgograd. “I appreciate the hard work and passion of my colleagues on the NFF Board over the years, the commitment and loyalty of members of the NFF Congress, the dedication of NFF management and staff, and other stakeholders include club owners and our

army of media representatives who are here in Russia. I want to assure everyone that Friday’s win over Iceland only signalled the beginning of great tidings in Russia. “I have always believed this would be a great World Cup campaign for Nigeria. We have the team that can do it and this was proved again on Friday. “It is important that every Nigerian continues to support the team with prayers. This squad is capable of going far in the tournament to make Nigeria and Africa proud.”

the return pass into the top right corner from left of the penalty area. The magnitude of the moment sawtheeuphoricGermanplayers run to rejoice in front of their own fans while the Sweden players slumped to the floor, some close to tears. There were also angry exchanges in the technical area with Sweden’s manager Janne Anderson upset by the exuberance of the celebrations in front of him. The result means all four teams in Group F can still qualify for the next phase, with the outcome to be decided at venues 600 miles apart on Wednesday 27 June (15:00 BST) when Mexico face

Sweden in Ekaterinburg and Germany play South Korea in Kazan. At half-time it looked as though it was to be a black night for Germany in Sochi, the southernmost venue at the tournament, over 1,000 miles from Moscow, on the coast of the Black Sea. It seemed perfectly possible that Germany could lose backto-back games at a finals for the first time since 1958 and become the fourth champions in the past five tournaments to exit at the first-round stage. But with Low urging his side on from the technical area there was a noticeable increase in tempo following the introduction of Mario Gomez at the interval.

Obaseki Hails Super Eagles’Triumph over Iceland The Edo State Governor, Mr. GodwinObaseki,haspraisedthe Super Eagles for their 2-0 victory over Iceland, on Friday evening in the ongoing 2018 FIFAWorld Cup tournament in Russia. Obaseki, who lauded the brilliant performance of the attack led byAhmed Musa, said the team restored the hope of Nigerians in the campaign for a place of pride in the soccer mundial. “The Super Eagles’ exceptional performance against Iceland

shows the true Nigerian spirit, that when we are committed to a task, we would give it our all, to succeed,” the Governor said. He urged members of the team not to rest on their oars as they prepare for the last group game against Argentina on Tuesday, June 26, adding, “All that is required of the players is to keep their eyes on the trophy and approach the game with Argentina with a high sense of commitment to national duty.” Obaseki reiterated that Ni-

gerians have the team in their prayers and hopeful that the team will do the country proud by qualifying for the next round of 16 and go even further to claim the highly prized trophy. “The current Super Eagles team is made up of young and talented players who have distinguished themselves in their various teams, home and abroad. With their performance against Iceland, they have shown determination to excel in Russia,” he added.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JUNE 24, 2018

SUNDAYSPORTS/

At Home in Russia, Musa Targets Messi’s Scalp Aiming for another brace against Argentina on Tuesday Duro Ikhazuagbe in St Petersburg

T

he name on the lip of Nigerian and other Africans here at the World Cup in Russia is Ahmed Musa. The reason is not far fetched. The Leicester City player on loan at Russian army club, CSKA Moscow on Friday afternoon in Volgograd returned Nigeria from the brink of going back home from the global football showpiece when he scored two quality goals against Iceland. With the victory, Nigeria leapfrogged both Iceland and Argentina to the second spot of Group D behind Croatia going into the last fixtures on Tuesday evening in St Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don respectively. Eagles will file out against perennial group stage rival, Argentina, at the St Petersburg Stadium built on an island in the beautiful city while Croatia and Iceland square it out at the Rostov Arena for the group’s second ticket. But before Tuesday comes, Nigerians here are still savouring the magic conjured up by the Jos-born Musa who now is the adored superstar in Gernot Rohr’s squad. The first goal against Iceland was a counter-attack where Musa kept his cool admirably. He collected Victor Moses’ lob from the right mid air and fired a salvo that left Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson stranded. The second was similarly sparkling beautiful solo drive from the left side of the midfield, took out defender Kari Arnason then cut deeper to confront the goalkeeper who stretched in vain to stop him. With Halldorsson sprawling on the floor, Musa volley the ball into the net in between two Iceland defenders to secured the three points for Nigeria. It was not the first time that Musa was going to score at the Volgograd Stadium: He had always done so against the local club, FC Rotor Volgograd that uses the arena in the Russian topflight Instead of the former Kano Pillars top scorer taking full benefits for

the brace, he attributed the glory to the entire playing personnel and the coaches. “It was the result of team work. I am part of a team, of which I am very proud of. So I would really like to thank them for all of their support. If my coach here (pointing at Gernot Rohr) did not give the opportunity to play, I will not be here talking about the goals. Also asked at the post match conference if he was not scared that Nigeria was going to confront Argentina with their talismanic forward, Lionel Messi on the side of the South American nation, Musa smiled his usual, with a half dimple on the left cheek before throwing light on the potentially high-wired clash between Nigeria and the former two-time world champions. He recalled the two goals he scored in Nigeria’s 3-2 loss to Argentina in Porto Alegre during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “You know what? I also remember another time that I scored two, for Leicester City. We were playing Barcelona, and Lionel Messi was in the side that day! Who knows? Another two goals may be on the way since Messi is going to be in the team on Tuesday.” Musa insists that the match is a do-or die one for Super Eagles. “There is no going back on this game. It is our last match of the group and we need all the three points or at worst a draw for us to stand the chance of making it to the Last 16. It is at the end of the 90th minute we will know who caries the day (wins). Interestingly, the now new saviour of the Nigerian senior team for almost six months was surplus to requirements at Leicester City. He was hardly getting playing time. Former Coach Claudio Ranieri who won FA Cup for the Foxes was the one who convinced Musa

to leave Moscow for England but after he was replaced by Craig Shakespare, the pacy forward lost his starting shirt and dropped in the pecking order to Demarai Grey. Musa then began to struggle with form that at point many Nigerian football fans began to doubt if he was not going to lose his place in the Super Eagles. It was not until he returned to CSKAMoscow,theRussiantopdivision team where he transferred to England that Musa began to strut his skill on a weekly basis once more. On this, Musa, who is very popular with Russian fans, remains eternally grateful to the team for giving him the lifeline that has now made him Nigeria’s all-time highest goal scorer in the World. Musa may yet earn another accolade is Africa’s top scorer in the Mundial if he is able to add more goals to his four to surpass the six-goal record held by Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan. “First, I want to say I am very grateful to the CSKAmanagement who gave me the opportunity to play football on a regular basis before the World Cup. If not, I will not have the chance to show what I can do at this stage here in Russia. However, personal glory is not what I am after but the overall success of the Nigerian team. If the opportunity comes, why not? I will grab it with two hands,” joked the player who is not going to be out of contract at Leicester until next two seasons. Speculations are however rife that CSKAwill pay any amount to lure the Nigerian star back to the VEB Arena home of CSKA Moscow. “I know I am loved here in Russia. I still have a contract at Leicester but if the chance comes for me to return to the Russian league with CSKA, I will take it,” he concluded.

Belgium Thump Tunisia 5-2 Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard both scored twice as Belgium strengthened their lead above England at the top of World Cup Group G by crushing Tunisia with a devastating attacking display. While Roberto Martinez’s side are not through to the last 16 yet, a win for England over Panama in Nizhny Novgorod today will see the Red Devils and Three Lions progress. That would leave their meeting in Kaliningrad on Thursday to decide who tops the group and it is Belgium who hold the upper hand there, with their sparkling finishing in the sunshine at the Spartak Stadium leaving their goal

difference significantly better off. Speaking after the game, Martinez said he would make “major changes” for the match against England. “If we could have seven days to prepare for that game and then another seven days before the following game then we would start with the same starting XI,” said the former Everton boss. “The reality is that we have qualified - you are only as good as the 23 players. There will be opportunities for others. We need to check the injury doubts Lukaku (ankle), Hazard (calf) and Mertens (knock to ankle).” Belgium attacked from the off

and needed only five minutes to take the lead, when Hazard was barged over by Syam Ben Youssef just inside the box and got up to send Tunisia keeper Farouk Ben Mustapha the wrong way from the spot. Things quickly got worse for Tunisia when Ali Maaloul’s heavy touch on the halfway line allowed Dries Mertens to nip in and release Lukaku, who found a perfect low finish. The NorthAfrican side, needing a win to reignite their own hopes of progress, gave themselves hope when Dylan Bronn got on the end of Wahbi Khazri’s whipped freekick just 109 seconds later.

79

TR

Sunday June 24, 2018

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Price: N400

MISSILE

Sani to Odigie-Oyegun “In the last three years under Oyegun, APC oscillated between Libya, Syria and Yemen situations. In the last three years, APC’s broom was stained by the faeces of inequalities and glued by the mucus of injustices.” – Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, disses former APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, while expressing support for his successor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Budget as a Tool of Underdevelopment

I

n 2011, a brilliant, fine gentleman from the south-south was elected into the Nigerian senate. He was full of hopes and dreams. At a dinner with journalist friends, he outlined his vision and spoke enthusiastically about pursuing “developmental legislative agenda”. He would make a difference, he promised. Two months after inauguration, the senator came to see his friends in Lagos with his tail between his legs. He said in a defeated voice: “If development is this way (he pointed forward), we are facing this direction (he pointed backward). Since our inauguration, all we have been discussing is money, money, money. It is all about our individual account balances.” I recalled this story as controversy broke out over President Muhammadu Buhari’s protest that the 2018 budget was severely distorted by the lawmakers with the reduction in allocations to priority projects and addition of over 6,000 new projects. The lawmakers also allocated nearly N140 billion to themselves which, God willing, will be disbursed to the last kobo since it is a first-line charge on the federation account. However, the lawmakers have stoutly defended themselves and sought to justify the alterations. They said the changes were meant to reflect “federal balance”. After listening to both parties, I am still inclined to join issues with the national assembly. Let us first settle some arguments. One, the national assembly has the power of appropriation. The executive proposes and implements budgets but the legislature must first approve through appropriation. It is in the spirit of checks and balances. Two, the national assembly is not a rubber stamp. It is not as if the executive will send a budget to the legislature and they will just stamp it. Under military regimes, the executive and legislature were one. They were at various times known as the Supreme Military Council, Armed Forces Ruling Council and Provisional Ruling Council. They did everything at once. We always had the budget approved by January 1 every year. Three, the representation function of the parliament comes into bold relief in the budgeting process. While the president is representing the whole country, legislators represent individual constituencies, and they have a responsibility to factor in the interests of their constituents — and in a way balance the national and the local. Four, the constitution empowers the national assembly to make laws for “peace, order and good government of the federation”. Appropriation offers a powerful opportunity for them to do this. I don’t think we need to be arguing over this. It is therefore logical and legal for the lawmakers to make inputs into the budget in the national interest. In the national interest? Now, this is where the problem begins. Does the national assembly do anything in the national interest? This is where the argument starts. The parliament has three primary responsibilities: one, representation; two, lawmaking (including appropriation); and three, oversight. These powers are so awesome that if they were properly and patriotically exercised by the lawmakers, Nigeria would have been a much better place. Just imagine all the appropriations to infrastructure, education, health and water from 1999 till date; just imagine a proper parliamentary oversight function; and just imagine how Nigeria would have been transformed. Based on my observations since 1999, I can safely conclude that the motive behind most budget alterations is anything but national interest. When Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, two-time

Senate President Bukola Saraki

minister of finance, said in her book, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, that the national assembly was “bribed” with N17 billion to pass the 2015 budget, some lawmakers raised hell. They deliberately interpreted that to mean bribe was shared among lawmakers, but they knew what she was saying: the executive had to allow the legislature to add that amount to its own budget before the bill was passed. That was the deal maker. This year, lawmakers added N14.5 billion to their budget. Nothing new. When the president sends the appropriation bill to the national assembly, committees invite chief executives and accounting officers of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to defend their proposals. This is usually at a high cost. Some sessions are televised live. Refreshments are served. Precious time is spent on budget defence. After the whole show when some form of agreements might have been reached, the budget goes to the appropriations committees which then, in a dictatorial manner, begin to alter the budgets. The figures are usually allocated arbitrarily. So why waste time and resources on useless budget defence sessions? What’s the value? Has anyone ever wondered why the executive will propose a budget of N8.612 trillion with a crude oil benchmark of $45 per barrel and the parliament will raise the benchmark to $51 and increase the budget to N9.12 trillion? Setting a lower benchmark is a wise way of saving in the excess crude account so that when the rain comes falling — as it certainly must do cyclically — we will have something to fall back on. It is common sense to create a fine balance between the need to spend and the need to save so that we do not witness the kind of calamity that befell us between 2014 and 2017 again. A prudent parliament will always consider this fact with a sense of responsibility. Has anyone also ever wondered why despite all the budget defence by the MDAs, the budget still comes out heavily distorted? The idea of budget defence, which usually goes on for months, is for the executive and the legislature to consider the fine details and arrive at some compromise. Budgets are prepared based on the policies and programmes of a government.

The executive has its priorities and goals. So, for all those things lawmakers are unilaterally inserting into the budget, how did they do the costing? They do not execute projects so how did they arrive at those figures? What is the basis for cutting down on priority projects? Truth be told: while the executive is not blameless, our legislators have turned budgeting to an instrument of blackmail to further personal interests. Budgeting is seen as harvest season. I don’t know if this culture still persists, but the MDAs used to be extorted by the lawmakers ahead of their budget defence in order to facilitate “smooth” passage. When Professor Fabian Osuji was minister of education in 2005, his otherwise sterling reputation was destroyed when lawmakers extorted N55 million from him for “smooth” passage of his ministry’s budget. Some of the criminals went on to become governors and some are today party executives. So it goes. It is no secret that if the MDAs can “settle” lawmakers very well, their budgets will be increased beyond their wildest dreams. For example, an agency would propose a budget of N10 billion and the lawmakers would promise to increase it to N20 billion if they can “settle” in advance. The increase will be presented as “national interest”. That is one of the reasons the budgets are always bloated every year. They extort during budget defence, extort during oversight function and extort from contractors. In some instances, they will even insist on bringing the contractors for the projects. I don’t know if these practices have stopped but that used to be the untold story. The lawmakers actually need to examine their consciences. They have turned the concept of separation of powers upside down. They prepare their own budgets and refuse to release the details to the public. How can you perform oversight function on your own budget? Does that make sense, fellow Nigerians? It took a courageous Senator Shehu Sani to reveal to the world that senators legally take home over N13 million a month. Up till today, the house of reps has not told us how much they take home every month. National interest indeed! The lawmakers have over the years successfully arm-twisted us into accepting the so-called constituency projects. The bigger picture we are not seeing, however, is that as it is in Abuja, so it is in the states and local governments. We focus our attention on Aso Rock and national assembly, but these shenanigans are replicated at local level. Budgets are padded and ballooned. Non-existent projects are “funded” and money shared by those who matter. MDA executives and state lawmakers are having fun with public funds and there is nobody to question them. The controllers of public discourse in Nigeria are more interested in “true federalism” as defined by them; they deliberately ignore the bazaar going on under their noses in their states and councils. So it goes. The underdevelopment of this country is not accidental. We cannot continue to do things this way and expect progress. At some point the political elite will have to repent. If half of the budget for education or healthcare or roads actually goes into what it is theoretically meant for, we would have overcome most of our daunting challenges by now. If leadership is driven by competence and patriotism, all the oil windfalls since 1999 would have meant something more than ballooning overhead expenditure and distorting the budget for personal benefit under the pretext of “national interest”. I hope that one day, our leaders at all levels will change their ways.

And Four Other Things… UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITY So many things sadden me about Nigeria, and one of them just manifested in the proposed training of railway engineers in China. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) had said it would provide scholarships for Nigerian students but, as things turned out, it is only on paper. Applicants who do not have godfathers were shocked to realise on the day of interview that only those nominated by powerful Nigerians were allowed inside. This country continues to kill the spirit of its citizens. This is why resentment and frustration set in. How do you expect these young men and women to believe in Nigeria? We run an unfair system. Depressing. GESTAPO STYLE Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe was arrested on Friday. The general belief is that he was picked up by the Department of State Services (DSS). Typically, DSS would neither confirm nor deny. It does not have a spokesperson. We don’t know why he was picked up; we can only speculate. This is very disturbing. If a senator can disappear in this manner, what is the hope for ordinary Nigerians? If DSS continues to operate this way, I hope this will not open the door to unexplained disappearances in Nigeria for which nobody will take responsibility. The DSS needs to modernise its mode of operation. It is one thing that scares me stiff about this Buhari administration. Alarming. SORRY YARI Alhaji Abdulazia Yari, the Abuja-based governor of Zamfara state, has finally told us what we knew all along — that he is not in charge of his state. Zamfara is arguably the state that has witnessed the most bloodshed in Nigeria in the last three years (it is not headline news because, frankly speaking, the politicians and their puppets cannot make a Muslim vs Christian business out of it). Yari says he is giving up his position as the chief security officer of the state. Except he refunds all the security votes he has collected since 2011 and stops collecting more henceforth, we will continue to regard him as the CSO of Zamfara. This has nothing to do with fornication. Incompetence. AND FINALLY… Who said “success has many fathers but failure is an orphan”? The person deserves a Nobel for wise saying, if there is any such category. After Nigeria lost to Croatia at the FIFA World Cup, I saw videos on social media showing angry fans burning the beautiful Nigerian jersey. And then we bounced back and beat Iceland on Friday — and suddenly the Super Eagles are the best thing since pounded yam with egusi and bush meat. Hearty congratulations to Ahmed Musa, the two-goal hero. Within minutes after the match, memes of Musa as the presidential candidate of APGA were already trending! More heroics and we will nominate him to be UN secretarygeneral. Ecstasy.

Printed and Published in Lagos by THISDAY Newspapers Limited. Lagos: 35 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos. Abuja: Plot 1, Sector Centre B, Jabi Business District, Solomon Lar Way, Jabi North East, Abuja . All Correspondence to POBox 54749, Ikoyi, Lagos. EMAIL: editor@thisdaylive.com, info@thisdaylive.com. TELEPHONE Lagos: 0802 2924721-2, 08022924485. Abuja: Tel: 08155555292, 08155555929 24/7 ADVERTISING HOT LINES: 0811 181 3085, 0811 181 3086, 0811 181 3087, 0811 181 3088, 0811 181 3089, 0811 181 3090. ENQUIRIES & BOOKING: adsbooking@thisdaylive.com