Sunday 7th October 2018

UN Earmarks $2.1bn as Humanitarian Aid for Lake Chad Basin Reiterates commitment to peace in North-east

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri and Udora Orizu in Abuja The United Nations has announced a decision to donate $2.1 billion in humanitarian relief for crisis response in the Northeast. The United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) Administrator, Achim Steiner, said this on Friday in Abuja during a press conference at the UN National Human Development 2018 Report Launch dinner.

Similarly, yesterday in Maiduguri, Steiner and the UN

Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, restated the commitment of the world body to the return of peace to the insurgency-plagued North-east and the entire Lake Chad Basin. Addressing a press conference after their

visit to places of intervention of UN agencies, both Steiner and Lowcock called on national and international partners to reinforce joint efforts to address the dire humanitarian needs of people in the north-east states of

Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

At the Abuja event, Steiner explained that $1 billion was to be allocated for humanitarian aid while $1.1 billion would be set aside for development recovery oriented projects for the Lake Chad region.

US Senate Confirms Kavanaugh to Supreme Court... Page 6

“There is a challenge at the moment in the security dimension of the North-east region and that is a challenge that the government of Nigeria is trying to confront and the international community is also providing assistance for,” he stated.

Continued on page 9

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14.8m Members Have Affirmed Buhari, Says APC Oshiomhole: We're ready for 2019 battle Tinubu, Ambode, Sanwo-Olu all smiles Omololu Ogunmade, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) last night at the Eagle

Square, Abuja, affirmed President Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate for the February 16, 2019 presidential election with 14, 842, 72 votes from the direct

primaries held on September 29 across the country. Buhari’s affirmation was done through a voice vote at a session led by the governor-elect of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Kano and Lagos states had the highest number of votes at the election with over 2.9 million and 2.2 million votes, respectively.

In his acceptance speech,

Buhari highlighted some of his achievements since he came to power in May 2015 to include improvements in security and the economy, saying, “We are very proud

of our record.”

APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole declared at the meeting that the party Continued on page 6

Whoever Emerges PDP Candidate Will be Next President, Says Jonathan Secondus: It’s time for Buhari to retire

Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt As the race to elect the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate got underway yesterday in Port Harcourt, with 12 candidates vying for the ticket, former President Goodluck Jonathan predicted that whoever emerged as the party’s standard-bearer would eventually become the next president of Nigeria. Jonathan declared this in his remarks at the National Convention of PDP, where delegates voted to pick a candidate who would square up with President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s general election.

"I have worked with all the aspirants at one time or the other. They are all

eminently qualified to be president of this country. I am also certain that among them is the next president of this federal republic," the former president stated.

As at 6.15am today, all 36 states had voted. Sorting and counting had just commenced.

Akwa Ibom with 151 had the largest contigent delegates, while Ogun had the smallest number with 51. Some of the number were small because of ongoing litigations in various states.

The PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, had earlier echoed a similar sentiment at the convention, when he spoke on the theme, “Nigerians Take Back Your Country,” issuing a quit notice to Buhari and telling him, it is time to go home.

Continued on page 6

See THISDAY Weekly Guide to 2019… Pages 16-18

JOSTLING FOR THE TICKET...

L-R: Three of the frontline contenders for the PDP Presidential ticket, Senate President Bukola Saraki; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, chatting after a meeting of all the aspirants during PDP National Convention, in Port Harcourt... yesterday

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Ϳ˜ ͺ͸͹΀ ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

PAGE SIX

US Senate Confirms Kavanaugh to Supreme Court Vincent Obia with agency reports A deeply divided United States Senate confirmed Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Saturday after a tense vote that ended in victory for President Donald Trump.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation also ended a rancorous Washington battle that began as a debate over ideology and jurisprudence and concluded with questions of sexual misconduct.

Shortly after the 50-48

confirmation vote on his Supreme Court nominee, Trump tweeted that Kavanaugh would be quickly sworn in. “I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!”

The Senate voted almost entirely along

party lines. It did not go smoothly — protesters repeatedly interrupted the proceedings, with the Capitol Police dragging screaming demonstrators out of the gallery as the senators sat somberly at their wooden desks in the chamber below.

“This is a stain on American history!” one woman cried, as the vote wrapped up. “Do you understand?”

The final result was expected, as all senators had announced their intentions

by Friday. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — the

lone Republican to break with her party — was recorded as “present” instead of “no” as a gesture to a colleague, Senator Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter’s wedding and would have voted “yes.” By voting present, she maintained the two-vote margin that had pushed the nomination past a crucial procedural hurdle on Friday. Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia was the lone Democrat to support Judge Kavanaugh.

As the senators entered

their final hours of debate on Saturday, hundreds of Kavanaugh opponents were massed on the steps of the Supreme Court. They later rushed the barricades around the Capitol and sat on its steps, chanting “No means no!” as Capitol Police officers began arresting them. Women and sexual assault survivors around the country were furious, feeling as though their voices had not been heard.

Inside the chamber, protests erupted as Senator John Cornyn, Republican of

Texas, delivered a speech deploring “mob rule” — a reference to the activists and sexual assault survivors who have roamed the Capitol in recent weeks, confronting Republican senators. “I stand with survivors!” one shouted.

“This process is corrupt!”

The appointment of Kavanaugh, 58, is for life and he will strengthen conservative control of the nine-judge court. He will be sworn in later on Saturday at the Supreme Court. Protesters have gathered there too to continue the demonstrations.

fought for democracy. Having served also as a senator and also governor for eight years, I have the experience to lead this country.

Many left the PDP when it had challenges and when their new party failed, they returned.

I am not discriminating but this opportunity should be given to those of us who remained to build and keep the party.

I will push for restructuring.

I will build good foundation for the youth. As a Middle Belter who is committed to the unity of this nation, please give me the chance.

Ahmed Markarfi

WHOEVER EMERGES PDP CANDIDATE WILL BE NEXT PRESIDENT, SAYS JONATHAN Jonathan said the overriding criteria for the choice of the candidate should be the ability to reunite the country following the worsening divisions. He expressed satisfaction that the glorious days of the party were being reborn.

"One thing that makes me happy is that today, I can see the good old days of PDP,” he stated. “Today, we have the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and many more governors. This shows that the PDP is coming back.”

Jonathan added, "I am also happy with the commitment of all the aspirants to support whoever emerges candidate and work with him. This is healthy for our party and for our country."

Secondus said his party, which had controlled power at the centre for 16 years since 1999, was poised to regain power in the 2019 general election, encouraged by the yearnings of Nigerians who were disappointed by the failure of the Buhari administration.

Opening the elective national convention of the PDP in Port Harcourt, Secondus said it was time for Nigerians to take back their country from the misrule of APC. He said the APC had failed in its three key promises to Nigerians, namely security, fight against corruption, and economic restoration.

He emphasised that the security situation in the country was at its lowest while the fight against corruption was only targeted at the opposition and perceived enemies of the government.

According to the national chairman, "Unfortunately, the anti-graft agencies, like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), set up by the PDP to fight graft are now a willing tool in the hands of the APC.”

He added, "They said they want to fight corruption but under the APC, corruption is now monumental. Our nation has never been so divided."

He said having learned from its past mistakes, the PDP had improved and was prepared to move from opposition to the ruling party in waiting.

The party was on its way to transforming from an electoral vehicle to an agenda setting institution fit for the challenges of the 21st century, he stated.

Secondus said PDP was not only a Special Purpose Vehicle for grabbing power, but also one with institutional memory owned by Nigerians. He said that assumption was on the verge of being realised. The pointer to this, in his estimation, was the return of the leadership of the National Assembly to the PDP. Secondus was confident that his party was poised to uphold the honour and glory of the nation. "We will stop the bloodletting and instill law and order,” Secondus stated, referring to the worsening security situation in the country.

While stating that the PDP was ready for the 2019 election, he expressed fears that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies were not working to enhance democracy in the country.

His words: "What happened in Ekiti and Osun states merely corroborated our assertion that INEC and the security agencies are working to scuttle democracy in Nigeria.

"Our fear is that the disposition of Buhari and his party is that free and fair election is not in their agenda for 2019.

"But we should work together to ensure that democracy survives in Nigeria. PDP is not a violent party and we will use legal means to recover our stolen mandates in Ekiti and Osun states."

Explaining why the convention started behind

time, the chairman of the convention planning committee and governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, said, "You are aware that our party had congresses at different strata all over the country. Many of our delegates travelled by road from all over the country and arrived Port Harcourt this evening." He, however, said his committee had put in place an effective process they were very proud of, “despite obvious challenges."

A member of the party's Board of Trustees and former President of the Senate, Chief Adolphus Wabara, appealed to aspirants who will not get the ticket to join hands with the winner.

In his own remarks, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, said the problem of Nigeria was leadership. Dogara said, "We live in a country of decayed infrastructure. With right leadership, Nigeria will be a pride to the black man and the whole world."

I served as governor for eight years and did not collect salaries and did not live in government house.

I want to be a Nigerian president and not a sectional or religion president. I went round the country by road just to see things for myself. We cannot develop the economy without good roads.

Ibrahim Dankwambo

The Aspirants and Their Agenda

Going round the country, I see that Nigerians are looking for security, whether we should belong to one country or not, and food on their table.

The solution lies in the people PDP has trained since 1999 who can take up the challenge. I am one of those. I am offering myself for service and I have the qualifications, having read to Ph.D and worked with one of the best accounting firms, Central Bank and also become the Accountant General of the Federation, now governor and remained in the PDP when others ran away.

At the age of 56, I'm not too young to run, and not too old to retire.

Atiku Abubakar

Datti Ahmed

This election is one of the most important in the history of this nation since the return of democracy in 1999.

Four years ago, Nigerians voted for change. But today they are not happy with the kind of change they see. The economy is in recession; there is hunger, farmers are struggling, businesses are closing and there are job losses. We need jobs.

I will work with you to restructure all infrastructure needed to grow our economy.

With your support, we can fully get Nigeria working again.

Attahiru Bafarawa

I am willing to serve, not to be served. I started politics since 1976 and have served this country in different capacities.

This convention is about our great party doing the right thing.

It is about PDP proving to the world that it is reformed and positioned to lead the country.

In real politics, if you stand for something there are things you cannot stand for. I stand for security and sanctity of life and that is why I cannot stand for wanton killings....

The choice you make today will make the difference between war and peace; between progress and retrogression. I invite you to realise that 2019 election is ours for the taking if we make the right choice.

Rabiu Kwakwanso

We thought we had seen the worst government before but now we are seeing the worst government in Nigeria. To PDP National Chairman, please anytime you want to give an award, give it to Buhari for ensuring the success of PDP because of his bad governance.

All those who left the PDP are now back to the fold.

I have experience, having served in several levels and arms of government. Vote for a candidate who will not only ensure the success of the party but who can also run the government. We have seen the situation where people who cannot run a government.

The result is bad economy, division between Christians and Moslems, and so on.

I'm in the race to bring a government that will unite our people. We will do appropriate restructuring, work on the economy, reform institutions like the police etc.

When we took over the leadership of PDP, nobody gave us a chance. But today, we are happy that we have brought back the party to be not just an effective opposition but a government in waiting.

We (aspirants) are all talking about restructuring. It is not a programme of any aspirant. It is an official stand of PDP. It is the policy of PDP that Nigeria should be restructured for the benefit of all.

I was governor of a very difficult state: multi-ethnic, multi-religious. We governed well until the APC took over and crisis came.

David Mark

I'm the only aspirant that has a female as Director General of his campaign organisation.

That is because I am gender friendly. I will unite this country across ethnic and religious lines.

Once there is unity, there will be peace: peace based on equity and justice. This country has never been so divided.

I will reorganise and reappraise the security architecture of the nation so that it will be in line with modern trends. Having come from a security background, I have the experience and courage to tackle the security challenge facing the country.

We have a blueprint that will turn around the economy in 730 days. It is do-able.

Bukola Saraki

As a military officer, I fought in the Civil War. I was also a member of NADECO and

I have been with PDP through thick and thin. We have been able to build and rebrand the party and today it has become a beautiful damsel. Delegates should follow their conscience and do the right thing. I am the candidate.

Today, this country is not only more divided, there is poverty everywhere and we must put an end to it. We must move away from the past. We must vote for who is capable to move the country forward.

If you are looking for a 21st Century leader, a leader who will unite this country, I am the one. Let us vote for today and tomorrow. I will give a youth-driven government.

bordering on reconsideration of the party manifesto with a view to bringing out what had been done in the last three years by the federal and state governments controlled

by APC. He said the party had a lot of achievements to sell to Nigerians, stressing that APC would look into the record of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If the person had served before as a state governor, he would be attacked on the basis of his failure, Oshiomhole said.

Oshiomhole added that when the electioneering begins, APC would not be celebrated as the largest party but as the smartest and most progressive party.

After announcing the total votes cast during the direct primaries, some delegates murmured that the total number of votes cast was

small. But Fayemi disagreed, saying the 14.8 million votes were cast only by card carrying members of the APC. According to him, there are several other Nigerians who do not belong to any political party that would freely cast their votes for the president at the forthcoming presidential election.

The convention, which took off at 10pm following the arrival of the president and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was attended by notable members of the party, including governors, National Assembly members, members of the National Working Committee (NWC), and leaders of the party.

Earlier at the convention, Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee and governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, in his welcome

address, recalled that about this time in Lagos in 2014, Buhari was elected as the party's candidate for the March 2015 presidential poll. The governor said since Buhari became president in 2015, the country had become a better, just and more purposeful.

He added that APC, as the largest party in Nigeria, had opened a new chapter in the annals of the country's political system by opting to elect its presidential candidate through direct primaries.

Advising delegates not to be distracted by what he described as the ranting of the opposition, Ajimobi pointed out that they all had a tasking job to do and hence must join hands with the presidential candidate in the forthcoming general election.

The convention ended about 1.25am.

David Jonah Jang

Sule Lamido

14.8M MEMBERS HAVE AFFIRMED BUHARI, SAYS APC was ready for next year’s general election.

And in contrast to the confrontational mood of the last few days following the APC governorship primary election in Lagos, the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, national leader and former governor of the state, Bola Tinubu, and the governorship candidate of the APC, who defeated Ambode at the primary, Babajide Sanwo-olu, sat together, looking very cheerful and pleased. Ambode and Sanwo-olu were the cynosure of all eyes as they, contrary to expectations, walked into the convention ground together.

They sat together along with the Ambode's predecessor and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

Buhari said, “We have arrested and checked the slide to anarchy on the security and

economic fronts.

“Boko Haram is reduced to dastardly attacks on soft targets.

Normalcy has returned to much of North-east and neighbouring North-west states.

“Our currency has stabilised.

Our reserves are now $44 billion, a lot higher than we had in 2015.

“Power generation capacity has reached 8,000 megawatts against less than 4,600 when we came into office. As we invest in new power generation infrastructure we are strenuously working to address the legacy deficiencies and challenges of transmission and distribution networks across the country.”

Also speaking, Oshimhole said the purpose of the convention was to affirm the candidacy of Buhari for next year's presidential election. He said through the

encouragement of the president, the party leadership chose the option of direct presidential primaries even when the president wasn't sure of the number of presidential aspirants that would emerge.

Oshiomhole said, "We are feeling a sense of pride. In 2015, the opposition party had only one form given only to the sitting president. Somebody went to court to contest it.

He was told that it was only one form that was available... ordinary Nigerians voted to decide if you should seek a second term.

"Today, we want to share with you the number of APC members who came to vote to nominate you. We thank you all who voted for him," he said.

Oshiomhole said the convention would be used to resolve some policy issues

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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OCTOBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

SUNDAY COMMENT

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

THE PDP PROTEST AND A PARTISAN POLICE The right to a peaceful protest is guaranteed by the constitution

T

he right to peaceful protest against injustices or other grievances remains fundamental and is guaranteed in the constitution for every citizen. Unfortunately, for too long, the police authorities in Nigeria have continued to frighten our people from holding protests, processions and rallies, especially when perceived to be against the government of the day.

Under the current Inspector- General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, the situation has degenerated to an abysmal level.

Following a public demonstration in Abuja last Friday by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of the Osun State gubernatorial election, the President of Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki and two other senators, Dino Melaye and Ben Murray-Bruce, have been invited by the police for questioning.

This is despite the fact that many PDP leaders, including three governors, a former governor, presidential aspirants and members of the national working committees participated in what the police now criminalise as “the disturbance of public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari Way.” We consider the selective invitation by the police not only provocative but an affront on the rule of law and public decency. It is very clear that Idris finds it difficult to understand the elementary fact that the role of the police is to manage the delicate balance between protecting citizens exercising their lawful rights and the responsibility of ensuring an orderly environment. Besides, a mindset

that is trained always to see protesting citizens as potential criminals to be dispersed with tear gas as was done last Friday is a disgrace to any society that aspires to be termed democratic.

It is worse that Idris has become so partisan that even senior officials of government who themselves should ordinarily be protected by the police are being cynically harassed and criminalised just because they are in opposition to the government in power.

I

Nigerian courts have, at different times, ruled that peaceful strikes, lock-outs, non-violent positive actions are legitimate weapons of expression in a democracy

Letters to the Editor

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t is no longer news that the screening of aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, with some of its interesting outcomes, has come and gone. One of the interesting fallout was the audacious disqualification of two serving ministers from seeking the governorship tickets of the party in their respective states.

Minister of women affairs, Senator Aisha Alhassan, aka Mama Taraba, as well as her counterpart in the communications ministry, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, was sensationally screened out by the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led national working committee, NWC, in what has turned out to be novel in the nation’s fourth republic politics.

The development, indeed, represents a turning point in the administration of political parties especially that of the governing party.

Ordinarily, the governing party

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

n case Idris is not aware, Nigerian courts have, at different times, ruled that peaceful strikes, lockouts, non-violent positive actions and others are legitimate weapons of expression in a democracy. And, as we have also argued on this page, protests only become matters of public safety when they degenerate into riots. The PDP protest in Abuja, done in a carnival manner, was not in any way violent and no public peace was disturbed as claimed by the police in their pathetic statement. If anything, it was the conduct of the police that was very disgraceful.

In his public statement which countered the police narrative as to what transpired, Saraki highlighted the level to which things have degenerated in the past three years under the watch of the current IGP and it should worry members of this administration and critical stakeholders. “In 2014, the protesters then led by the Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), the candidate of the opposition party, were not attacked.

They were tolerated and their grievances listened to by the police leadership. In 2014, it was the same Nigeria Police as we have today. The difference is the temperament and democratic credentials of the then administration, in general, and that of the Police leadership, in particular", said the Senate President.

It is difficult to fault the sentiment expressed by Saraki that the men and officers of the Idris-led police are intent on "destroying members of the opposition at all cost” and this bodes ill for the future of our democracy. That is why we implore President Buhari to call Idris to order in the interest of peace in the country, especially as we move to the crucial election season.

While it is the responsibility of the police to protect the lawful and arrest those who infringe on the law for prosecution where and when necessary, citing dubious reports to blackmail opposition figures is clearly unacceptable.

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 longer than (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

Shittu, Alhassan And The APC would have pampered those in the corridors of power as a mark of reward for political correctness and other considerations, particularly now that the APC has had its fair share of defections ahead of the 2019 general election.

That the fear of more defections did not put the NWC under pressure to waver and compromise the higher ideals for the selfish political interests of the affected ministers was courageous and the Oshiomhole leadership must be commended for blazing the trail in the entrenchment of propriety in party administration.

When, the other time, Oshiomhole spoke passionately about instilling discipline in the entire membership of the party and ensuring that the party is supreme, not a few watchers of the nation’s politics derided him.

To them, the former Edo State governor and one-time national president of the NLC, was trying to

overreach himself.

I am sure they have begun to see the seriousness in the notice recently served by the comrade chairman to return the party to the path of discipline and party supremacy.

The disqualification of Adebayo and Alhassan is an extremely important development that points in the direction of keeping fidelity with that notice.

This kind of action would have been unthinkable in the more recent past. It certainly shows the strengthening of the party, its leadership and structure in the reinforcement of democratic practices, especially within the APC. To be clear, Shittu and Alhassan were not arbitrarily barred from seeking the party’s nomination, but they were excluded for reasons firmly anchored in APC’s constitution and rules.

As Oshiomhole would later explain to the press, Shittu

was disqualified from running for Oyo governorship ticket because it was discovered that he avoided the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)programme after graduation. And, as for Alhassan, she was disqualified from running for Taraba governor because of concerns regarding her loyalty to the party.

Now, considering that soon after her disqualification, she resigned her ministerial appointment and also defected from the APC to United Democratic Party (UDP) for the purpose of contesting the governorship election, it is patently obvious that Oshiomhole and the APC NWC were completely right in their summative perception and the decision they reached.

Indeed, one cannot help but admire their collective prudence on Alhassan.

Alhassan had been impolitic by expressing her preference, as a serving minister, for the presidential aspiration of her political godfather, Atiku Abubakar, over Buhari’s in 2019.

Read how Oshiomhole explicated the

issue: “She has issues that have to do with party loyalty. Our constitution is clear and it dictates that to contest elections or even hold office in the APC, you must be loyal to the party in every material concern.

From all she had said in the past and even her comments and general attitude during the screening, the NWC reviewed everything taken together and we arrived at the conclusion that she does not possess the level of loyalty that the APC requires for her to contest elections on our platform."

The extent of her perceived disloyalty was illuminated by Oshiomhole when he said that Alhassan lacked the attitudes and characteristics of an ideal member of the governing APC. Read him: “The Electoral Act and the APC constitution forbid anyone from being a member of more than one political party at a time.

You cannot be a member of APC and be a card-carrying member of another party.”

–Sufuyan Ojeifo Abuja

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

NEWS After Osun, Ekiti Polls, US Senators Raise Concerns about Political Interference in Nigeria Vincent Obia Two United States senators, Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), both members of

the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have raised concerns about the credibility of elections in Nigeria following allegations of political

interference in the latest governorship polls. Coons and Booker said in a joint statement that though the Independent National Electoral Commission

(INEC) had been commended by observers for its conduct of the recent polls, concerns remained about the prospects of free and fair elections in

STANDING FOR CADETS

L-R: Vice President, Yemi Osinabjo, Commandant, the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Maj. Gen A Oyebade and Min. of Defence, Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali at the passing out parade in honour of cadets of 65 and 66 regular courses in Kaduna... yesterday

the country.

The statement read, “As members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we are troubled by reports of incidents of political interference and intimidation of voters, journalists, and civil society observers in Nigeria by some security agencies and political party supporters. Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and a key U.S. partner on the continent.

“While domestic and international election observers have credited electoral authorities for their administration of elections thus far, we are concerned about the prospects for a free, fair and credible democratic process in Nigeria in light of recent interference by government security forces on peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, as well as ongoing security threats and communal tensions in several regions of the country.

“General elections in February 2019 will be an important step for Nigeria to consolidate democratic gains achieved in the last two decades since the transition from military to civil-

ian democratic rule. We are watching the parties’ primaries with interest, and we call on party leaders, electoral authorities, security officials, and all Nigerians to respect the political process and safeguard free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections that reflect the will of the people.”

Governorship elections were held on September 22 in Osun State and won by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after initially being declared inconclusive by INEC. After the voting on September 22, the candidate of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, had won the majority of votes. He was followed by the APC candidate, Gboyega Oyetola. But INEC declared the election inconclusive and conducted a rerun on September 27. After adding up the votes, Oyetola was declared winner by INEC. APC had also won an earlier governorship poll in Ekiti State on July14. In both elections, PDP and other opposition elements alleged foul play and interference by the ruling APC.

Uzodinma, Madumere, Others Boycott Imo Governorship Primary Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Members of the Imo State All Progressives Congress (APC) Coalition have boycotted the fresh governorship primary election in the state ordered by the party’s national leadership. The party had fixed a rerun of the governorship primary in Imo State after cancelling an earlier one supervised by the Ahmed Gulak committee over alleged flaws.

Addressing at a press conference yesterday at the APC headquarters in

Abuja, six aspirants in the race, led by Senator Hope Uzodinma and Imo State Deputy Governor Eze Madumere, said they had boycotted the fresh governorship primary.

Uzodinma said all the six aspirants had accepted the outcome of the last primaries conducted by the Gulak committee. Uzodinma stressed that out of the nine governorship aspirants, six were in Abuja while only three aspirants, including Governor Rochas Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, took part

in the fresh governorship primary in the state.

Madumere said he decided to boycott the primary because the process had been compromised.

He said, “Yesterday, we officially addressed the media, to make our positions known to our party and to the whole world for obvious reasons that the election has been compromised and for that reason that we all came together and said the critical stakeholders, majorly the aspirants, said that the primaries have already been conducted and the result

ought to be released, which was conducted by Alhaji Ahmed Gulak and which declared Senator Hope Uzodimma winner ‘As I speak to you, some of you may be aware and may have watched on your TV stations that elections are going on. I can tell you that there is nothing going on in Imo State.

“The result, as I speak, has already been written and waiting for submission today and we have totally rejected it and have already gone to court and the processes have already been

UN EARMARKS $2.1BN AS HUMANITARIAN AID FOR LAKE CHAD BASIN According to the UN National Human Development 2018 Report, the status of human development in Nigeria has not shown remarkable improvement, in spite of the changes in the social and economic conditions in recent years. The report stressed that there had been gains in the proportion of the population with access to improved water sources, in addition to gains in the health sector for some antenatal care provisions, and declining HIV/ AIDS prevalence.

“On human security index, the report findings showed that the security index for the country is low, therefore this is a dictation that Nigerians are not humanly secured. The evolving posture here is that there is the likelihood that the low Human Development Index for Nigeria may be due to the low Human Security

Index.”

Steiner added that the funds amounted to a strong endorsement of the organisation’s work to address both urgent humanitarian needs and the root causes of crisis, which is also an investment in a future where crises are less likely and nations are more resilient.

Also speaking on the report, Lowcock said the main message was that the international community wanted to get behind the leadership provided by Nigeria to tackle the problems, in collaboration with the federal, state, and local government authorities, civil societies, and the private sector.

“We are here because we understandthatinordertotackletheproblems, especially in the North-east, there needs to be both immediate, lifesaving assistance and also work to tackle the underlying the root

causes, and that means recovery, resilience, and development and providing the people of the northeast with a better future,” Lowcock said. He added, “Most of the resources available in this country to tackle the problems of this country are Nigerian, and one of the issues the country faces is how to raise more domestic resources to finance public services and finance the governance of the country and keep the country safe.

“Compared to other countries, the resource mobilisation in this country is less strong and the proportion of the country’s national income collective in tax is unusually low.”

He added that Nigeria’s greatest challenge was inability to generate and allocate revenue to fund public services, which are necessary for the growth and development of the country.

Speaking in Maiduguri, Lowcock said, “We are committed to

Nigeria and to the people of Nigeria. We are here to support the government’s leadership towards solutions in the North-east.

“Humanitarian aid can only be a temporary solution. I am pleased to be here with the UNDP Administrator to help join up humanitarian and development efforts to save lives, help stabilise the situation, rebuild lives and communities for the future.

“We must do everything we can to prevent this crisis from continuing for years.”

On his part, Steiner said, “We have a unique opportunity to make a real difference to communities across the North-east of Nigeria.” He added, “Helping people affected by the crisis requires us to work together – humanitarian and development organisations alike – to tackle immediate humanitarian needs and the root causes of the crisis.”

served on the national chairman and all the relevant critical stakeholders of the party that we have rejected that and we will stand firm on that.”

Another party chieftain, Senator Ben Uwajimogu, said no primary election took place yesterday in Imo State. Uwajimogu said what happened in the state was a charade. He also said the issue of the governorship primary in Imo State was already in court and the holding of another primary in the state was sub judice.

Meanwhile, the National Working Committee (NWC)

of APC has approved eight aspirants to participate in today’s governorship primary in Kwara State. A statement

by APC’s acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, listed the aspirants to include, Yakubu Gobir, Hakeem Lawal, Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, Lukman Mustapha, and Prof. Oba Abdul Raheem.

Others are Alhaji Tajudeen, Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman, and Abdulraheem Abdul Razak.

It said two aspirants, Abdulfatai Yahaya and Mohammed Dele Belgore, voluntarily withdrew from the race.

Ugwuanyi Congratulates NUJ President Enugu State Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has congratulated the new National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Chris Isiguzo and the union’s National Vice President (South East), Mr. Petrus Somtoochukwu Obi. Isiguzo emerged the president of the president in a peaceful and transparent election, which took place at the 6th Delegates’ Conference of the union, held in Abeokuta from Wednesday to Friday.

In a statement yesterday, Ugwuanyi describing the emergence of Isiguzo and Obi as well

deserved and an eloquent testimony to their diligence and merit in the journalism profession.

He noted that the two new national officials of the NUJ have spent a better part of their journalism career in Enugu State, saying they had distinguished themselves creditably and contributed immensely to the development of the state and the country at large.

He therefore, wished them God’s guidance and success in their new assignment, urging them to remain committed to the ethics of the profession to help build a better society.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

NEWSXTRA Court Directs PDP, INEC to Accept Kashamu’s List of Candidates Femi Ogbonnikan inAbeokuta A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta at the weekend directed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept the list of candidates the State Executive Committee (SEC) led by Mr. Adebayo Dayo submitted in respect of the 2019 general election.

The court, equally, directed the PDP and INEC to accept the list of candidates, which the executive committee submitted in respect of the 2018 National Convention it conducted in PortHarcourt, the Rivers State capital yesterday.

The presiding judge, Justice Abubakar Shittu gave the order in a ruling he delivered on Friday after considering an application filed by the Dayo executive committee, seeking to set aside an early order the court gave on October 2.

Ogun PDP had produced two State Executive Committees.

While Dayo executive committee enjoys the backing of the lawmaker representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Senator Buruji Kashamu, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus recognises a faction led by Mr. Sikirulai Ogundele.

As a result of the rift in the party chapter, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) in a letter last April directed the INEC to recognise the Ogundele executive committee, a development that compelled the Day faction to file a court action.

In its ruling on Friday, the court ordered the PDP and INEC to accept and process only the list of delegates and candidates submitted by the Dayo faction in respect of the 2018 National Convention and ahead of the 2019 general election.

Rather than setting aside an or-

der it gave on September 28, the court dismissed an application by the Ogundele faction, thereby recognising the Dayo executive committee.

The court stated that it did not give any order stopping the National Convention of the PDP, but only directed the party to accord recognition to the list of delegates attached as Schedule A to the motion for interlocutory injunction.

The court, also, ordered all the defendants to accord recognition to the list of delegates and candidates submitted by the Dayo executive committee.

The court said the PDP and the INEC “are duty-bound to accept and process the list of delegates and candidates submitted by the Dayo-led Executives and doing otherwise, wound render nugatory the outcome of the convention.

At the hearing, counsel o the Ogun State PDP Executive, Mr. Ricky Tarfa (SAN) argued that that the court had on September 28 ordered that the PDP and INEC should be put on notice to recognise the Dayo executive committee.

The counsel told the court that he was ready to move the motion because all the parties had been served and the court was bound by its records.

The judge went through the court’s file, thereby noting that the court was satisfied from the proof of service and affidavit in support that all the PDP and INEC had been duly served, though but for reasons best known to them failed to file any document in opposition to the claims of the Dayo executive committee.

He said they did not send in any legal representation despite standing down the case for hours. After standing down the matter for hours, the court

Owners of Mr. Taxi App Disown Nollywood Actor, Jim Iyke David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Owners of Mr Taxi App, an internet enabled transport scheme, have disowned a popular Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke, dismissing his claim of ownership of the company.

The firm’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Austin Nnaemeka disowned the actor in a news conference to mark the inauguration of the company in Awka, Anambra State on Friday night.

At the conference, Nnaemeka described the controversial actor as an impostor, noted that he had no contribution whatsoever in the setting up of the company.

Contrary to the claims of ownership of the company by the Nollywood star, Nnaemeka said Iyke was contracted as a brand ambassador of the company, though was relieved of his job after he started claiming ownership of the company.

He said, “Jim Iyke is my friend. I brought him in as a brand ambassador of the company, just like Rachael Okoli and other celebrities here. But he started asking questions that were out of his scope.

“He later started looking for

a way to sway us into making him a shareholder, and then started parading himself as the owner of the company. He was warned once, and again, making it two times before we relieved him of his job.

“I am using the opportunity of this conference to state emphatically that Iyke is not the owner of Mr. Taxi. He has no contribution in the company.

That is what I want to tell you today.”

Nnaemeka, who was accompanied by staff members of the company’s legal adviser and Chief Executive Officer, said the company was founded because of the need for swift mobility, which according to him, had been crippled by the ban on commercial motorcyclists in major towns of the south east.

He said the app can be downloaded for free into any smart phone and used to book taxis around the south east for ease of movement.

He also unveiled special features that makes Mr. Taxi different from other transport apps, including the SOS bottom, which he said could be used by a passenger to alert the company if he feels threatened by the driver of a taxi.

resumed sitting. In a brief ruling delivered afterwards, the court held that the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, having not been controverted, are granted as prayed.

In its application for interlocutory injunction, the Dayo faction sought an interim order directing the INEC to accept or process only the list of candidates of the PDP for the 2019 general election in Ogun State as having emerged from primaries conducted by

them for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senatorial and Governorship elections.

It also sought an order of interim injunction restraining the INEC by itself, servants, officials, agents or privies from accepting, processing or publishing the names of any person/s purporting to be a nominated candidate/s of the PDP from Ogun State for the House of

Assembly, House of Representatives, senatorial or governorship election.

It sought an order of interim injunction restraining the PDP from convening, conducting or organizing a National Convention of the PDP for the nomination of the Presidential candidate of the party without the authentic delegates from Ogun State listed in Schedule A attached to this originating summons in attendance

and voting pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

It sought an order of interim injunction restraining the INEC by itself, its members, employees, servants, agents or privies from accepting, processing and or publishing the name of any person purporting to be the nominated presidential candidate of the PDP for the purpose of the 2019 general elections.

HARVEST TIME

L-R: Chairperson, 2018 Bazaar Sales Planning Committee of the United African Methodist Evangelical Church, Abule-Ijesha, Yaba, Lagos, Lady Evangelist Fadekemi Diya, Bazaar Main Unveiler, Tola Noibi and Chief Unveiler, Mrs. Anuoluwapo Ogbara at the bazaar sales held at the church auditorium in Yaba, Lagos...recently

PDP Condemns Police Attack on Saraki, Others HammedShittuinIlorin The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kwara State, has condemned the Nigeria Police for attacking the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and other PDP leaders in Abuja during a protest against the alleged electoral fraud in the just concluded governorship election in Osun State.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Tunde Ashaolu yesterday, the chapter described the attack as barbaric, unconstitutional and a threat to democracy.

With Saraki, Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal,

PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, Senator Dino Melaye and former Jigawa Governor, Mallam Sule Lamido had protested at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against the outcome of the Osun election.

After leaving the INEC headquarters, the PDP leaders approached the Force Headquarters on a peaceful protest where they were met with police barricades and live ammunition.

In a statement he signed yesterday, Ashaolu stressed that the protest was a peaceful one and that it was not right for the police

GOFAMINT Asks Nigerians to Pray to Avert War TobiSoniyi The Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT) has urged all Nigerians irrespective of religious leanings to pray against any outbreak of war in the country.

The call was contained in a statement by the church’s Public Relations Officer, Pastor Taiwo Holo, asking Nigerians to earnestly seek God in order to avert major national crisis The statement quoted GOFAMINT’s General Overseer, Pastor Elijah Abina, pointing the need for sustained prayers for Nigeria during a prayer rally organised to mark Nigeria’s 58th Independence DayAnniversary.

Abina said the signs at the moment in the polity were ominous but with fervent prayers, evil he said couldbeaverted.

He said further that, for Nigeria as a country, the coming together of more than 250 ethnic groups and nationalities in one geographical

spacewasnotamincemeat.

According to him, it requires great wisdom to manage a country such asours.

Noting that Nigeria has been together under the name Nigeria for more than a century now, the general overseer said it was too late to break up the country.

“What we need is good leadership not break up. Nigeria needs leaders whowillrulewiththefearof Godatheart”,hesaid.

Quoting from the Holy Bible, the book of I Timothy 2: 1 Abina said all believers must rise and pray for people in authority to manage the affairsof the country well.

He said Nigeria leaders have tried theirbestbutsaidthereseemed tobenothingtoshowfortheirbest.

According to him, it was high time Nigeria too became a destination for all who sought good living condition where people are happy to live in rather than seeking greener pastures in other countries.

“to brutalise the protesters the way they did.

“In 2014, key members of the then opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) including President Muhammadu Buhari and former APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun staged similar protest to the INEC and Police Headquaters and were never assaulted by the police.”

Ashaolu explained that the attack on the opposition leaders was an indication of what to expect from the ruling APC government in the 2019 general elections.

He added that the present

administration’s intolerance for the opposition “remains unparalleled. Democracy can only thrive if the state government respects the rights of all Nigerians irrespective of their political affiliations.”

The PDP spokesperson, however, maintained that no amount of intimidation or oppression would stop the PDP from reclaiming power in 2019.

He, therefore, appealed to all PDP members and supporters “to remain calm and be law abiding. The PDP will not be subdued by intimidation from the APC government.”

Ex-Lawmaker Urges Constituents to Embrace Peace Former Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Treaties & Agreements, Hon. Ekundayo Bush-Alebiosu yesterday urged his constituents remain calm and stay focused in the face of growing provocation.

Suspected thugs had on Wednesday attacked party faithfuls in voting centres in Kosofe Local Government Area (LGA) and Ikosi-Isheri Local CouncilDevelopmentArea(LCDA).

In Kosofe, Chairman of the Bush-Alebiosu Campaign Council, Hon. Ibrahim Mustapha and few otherpersonsnarrowlyescapeddeath when the suspected thugs invaded a pollingcentreinAnthonyVillageand attacked those exercising their civic rights.

On this account yesterday, Alebiosu appealed to people of the constituency to continue to toe the line of peace, remain calm and stay focused evenwhenprovoked.

He commended his constituents, who trooped out in their large numbers to vote for his candidature at the

HouseofRepresentativeprimaryelection of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He praised their resilience and perseverancethrough-outtheperiod.

Alebiosu commended the effort of the people of Kosofe constituency for trooping out to cast their ballot for him despite the intimidation and harassment they suffered on the day he described the turn out as massive andunprecedented.

He said, “I am humbled by the unprecedented numbers of party members who turned out en-masse in support of my candidature, seeing them defying intimidation and harassment is something I cannot explain, the support I see from Kosofe thatdaytellsmethispeoplearenotjust oursupporters,butloyalists.

“Loyalistswhoarereadytogoallthe way for you; anytime any day, those who believes inthe‘DayoBushProject’.

Ishallbeeternallygrateful to them and I promise never to disappoint them.

It’s a collective job that we shall be doing it together, because it is all for thefutureandforourchildren.”

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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͵˜ ͰͮͯͶ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL Nigeria @ 58: Stopping Societal Indiscipline, Selfdestruction and Dictatorial Democracy as a Desideratum

O

n October 1, 2018 Nigeria attained fifty-eight years of national sovereignty, but without fully understanding what should be meant by remembering, marking or celebrating an independence day at 58. First, what did October 1, 1960, which was a Saturday, mean in terms of obligations from the Independence Day Speech of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa? What are the implications for the people of Nigeria?

Every October 1 is supposed to be treated as a ‘great day,’ because Nigeria became an ‘independent sovereign nation’ on October 1, 1960. It was on this day that the constitutional instruments of independence were transferred by Queen Elisabeth II and delivered by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Alexandra of Kent, to Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria.

October 1, 1960 therefore marked a new foundation for a new Nigeria in the making and to which Tafawa Balewa pledged to dedicate his life.

It was this same day that it was made clear, consciously or otherwise, that Nigeria’s attitudinal disposition in the conduct and management of foreign relations would be guided by four parameters: mastership, leadership, partnership, and friendship, These were the four main features of relationships between Nigerian leaders and the British. In explaining these four factors, Tafawa Balewa advised the British in the following words: ‘do not mistake our pride for arrogance. It is tempered by feelings of sincere gratitude to all who have shared in the task of developing Nigeria politically, socially and economically. We are grateful to the British officers whom we have known, first as masters, and then as leaders, and finally as partners, but always as friends.’

Tafawa Balewa further put it differently thus: ‘it is a unique privilege which I shall remember forever, and it gives me strength and courage as I dedicate my life to the service of our country. This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly reached our goal. But now, we have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations.’

Above all, October 1, 1960 was the very day that Tafawa Balewa said he opened a new chapter in the history of Nigeria, the Commonwealth, and, indeed, of the world, with the words, ‘God Save Our Queen.’ Even though Queen Elisabeth ceased to be ‘Our Queen’ as from October 1, 1963 when Nigeria became a republican state, there was no disputing the fact that the cordiality of relationship with Britain on the basis of the existing features was still maintained. The independent status of Nigeria still had its many dependent dimensions.

From this first independence day speech by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, two quick points are noteworthy: slowness in action by Nigerians and solid foundation laying of independent Nigeria. For more than fifteen years of struggle and negotiations with the colonial masters to have independence, other countries were able to acquire their own sovereign statehood before that of Nigeria. In other words, why was Nigeria overtaken by others?

Tafawa Balewa indirectly complained about it, while admitting at the same time indirectly that lateness may still be better than never.

The implication of this is that it can be argued that political attitudes in Nigeria have a character of slowness, if not remissness of action. Nigeria’s development has also been slow. Can we not also explain this phenomenon by the same slowness in action in the attitudinal disposition of the political leaders? In other words

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and terms of obligation, if the quest for national sovereignty during the pre-independence struggle was slow and this factor was so recognised on October 1, 1960, why has this virus of slowness not been addressed since 58 years ago?

More important, Tafawa Balewa showed happiness about the firm foundation of the newly independent Nigeria, especially bearing in mind that, as Tafawa Balewa put it, ‘each step of our constitutional advance has been purposefully and peacefully planned with full and open consultation, not only between representatives of all the various interests in Nigeria but in harmonious cooperation with the administering power which has today relinquished its authority.’ However, what really is the import of any constitutional advancement, harmonious cooperation, and peaceful planning of the past as at today? These are some of the questions every patriotic Nigerian should be addressing now that Nigeria is celebrating 58 years of sovereign existence? In fact, we should be asking what really is being celebrated when we cannot truly talked about development in terms of high national or human development index?

Human Development Index (HDI), which is about the extent of goodness of one’s health, education acquired, amount of income, extent of security, especially in terms of stomach infrastructure, livelihood and survival, is essentially of two types: income and non-income. The non-income HDI deals with life expectancy at birth and educational indicators and Gross National Income per capita. Others fall under income HDI. In this regard, what is the per capita income of the Nigerian in 2018 when compared with countries which also got their independence in 1960? Why is Nigeria lagging behind and not developed?

Perhaps most importantly and interestingly, Tafawa Balewa had it that Nigeria, ‘this great country, which has now emerged without bitterness or bloodshed, finds that she must at once be ready to deal with grave international issues... It seemed that we were destined to move with quiet dignity to a place on the world stage... We are called upon immediately to show that our claims to responsible government are well-funded, and having been accepted as an independent state we must at once play an active part in maintaining the peace of the world and in preserving civilisation, I (Tafawa Balewa) promise you, we shall not fail for want of determination.’

This want of determination is Nigeria’s current ‘essential commodity.’ It is, indeed, a rarity. The old wish and determination to play active role in the maintenance of world peace does not exist anymore, especially in light of the fact that there cannot be global peace that does not begin with the national domestic setting. Peace, sustainable peace must first begin in Nigeria and with Nigerians before the country can export its culture of peace to anywhere. This is why there is the need to interrogate Nigeria at 58, particularly from the perspective of national development and foreign policy. Put differently, in which way is Nigeria at 58

President Buhari at the 58th Independent anniversary Abuja...recently

any way better than Nigeria on October 1, 1960? What really are the dividends of independence? In which way has independence and self-governance since 1960 promoted national unity, selfreliance, self-integrity, and national unity?

In responding to these questions, it is submitted here that the past 58 years of post-independence existence have witnessed more of societal indiscipline, particularly under the Fourth Republic. Most unfortunately, the societal indiscipline is taken with kid gloves, and, therefore, has not only engendered selfdestruction and national disunity, but also led to general retrogression and more of growth than development at the economic level.

The societal indiscipline has led to loss of moral values in terms of lifestyle. The self-destruction is a direct resultant of political selfishness and the neglect of the social consequences.

Besides, the societal indiscipline has not only prompted the civilianisation of the military and the militarisation of civilians, as a result of the long period of military rule, but also to dictatorial democracy by imposition of the Government and acquiescence of the people. Thus, there is a deficit of clairvoyance in the political governance of Nigeria. This is the main rationale for the calls for national restructuring.

The calls for restructuring are on the increase. The future of Nigeria may not be bright, contrary to the pretensions of the Government. The issues mainly involved include Nigeria’s constitution, revamping the economy, corruption fighting, restoring national security, and, in addition, foreign policy on which Tafawa Balewa placed great emphasis in 1960.

The Issues and Struggle for Restructuring The first and most critical issue is the Constitution of the country. Alhaji Femi Okunnu, who took active part in the London Constitutional Conference that led to Nigeria’s Constitution in 1960, in the Constitution Drafting Committee that led to the 1979 Constitution, in the 2005 Abuja Conference convened by President Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as in the 2014 National Conference organised by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, has traced the genesis of the constitutional problem to the removal of the provision of fiscal federalism from the 1979 Constitution, from which the 1999 Constitution was largely drawn.

In an interview with Raymond Mordi (The Nation, Monday, October 1, 2018, p.10), Alhaji Lateef Okunnu, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the ‘Federal Republic of Nigeria has a stroke, a master stroke, in 1979. The 1979 Constitution, which is more or less the same thing as the 1999 Constitution in many respects, was where the nation derailed... [F]iscal federalism died with the promulgation of the 1979 Constitution.’

More important, the recommendation by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) to the Constituent Assembly and the Obasanjo regime was that the CDC should ‘follow the revenue allocation set down in the 1960 Constitution, which was repeated in the Republican Constitution of 1963 and which General Yakubu Gowon adopted during his regime from 1966 to 1975... But the 1979 Constitution handed over by General Obasanjo removed the revenue sharing formula.’ This was one of the main dynamics of Nigeria’s political instability as at today, and especially the agitation for resource control, self-determination and political restructuring.

The revenue sharing formula, before the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, allowed for the allocation of 50% to the regions producing the minerals; 20% to the Federal Government; while the outstanding 30% is put in the pool for further sharing as follows: 40% for the Northern Region, 30% to the Eastern Region, and 24% to the Western Region. The remaining 6% was earmarked for ecology and other related matters. When the Mid-West was carved out of the Western Region in 1963, 6% of the 24% was allocated to the new region, according to the 85-year old Femi Okunnu.

Another related question on the issue of the Constitution is the extent of constitutionality and acceptability of the 1999 Constitution. Professor Ben Nwabueze, a constitutional lawyer and leader of the Patriots group, has argued that the 1999 Constitution is very fraudulent because, in its preamble, it is stated that, ‘we the people of Nigeria...,’ whereas there was never any group of Nigerians meeting to deliberate on the basis of democratic freedom in any place to make the Constitution. In other words, the Constitution is not seen to be a reflection of the wishes of the people, but that of the military institutions. This means that the totality of the provisions of the alleged fraudulent Constitution is not tenable, even though it had entered into force.

At the level of the revamping of the economy, all efforts made have not removed the abject poverty with which the polity has been generally characterised. The Buhari administration may claim to be doing its best to make the economy vibrant.

However, the popular opinion does not admit of the claims by the incumbent government. Development indices have also not been helpful.

For instance, the naira witnessed a depreciation of the exchange rate from 60k (sixty kobo) in 1980 to N360 (three hundred and sixty naira) in 2018. Life expectancy in Nigeria is only 53 years compared to 85 years in Singapore, 76 years in Malaysia, two countries which were both on the same footing with Nigeria as at the time of independence in 1960.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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͵˜ ͰͮͯͶ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION Route To Peaceful Elections in Nigeria Free, fair, credible and peaceful elections are the bedrock of democracy, writes Ayo Oyoze Baje

"N

igeria politicians have over the years become more desperate and daring in taking and retaining power; more reckless and greedy in their use and abuse of power; and more intolerant of opposition, criticism and efforts at replacing them” (Electoral Reform Committee Report, 2008, Vol. 1: 19).

The groundswell of public opprobrium and outrage that has trailed the recent so-called rerun governorship election in Osun State points to the dangers inherent in a pseudo-democratic governance skewed in favour of the powerful few, as against the wishes of the electorate. As one who was fortunate to be an independent observer, indeed the Senior Research Fellow of the INEC-approved Dr. Joe Odumakin-led WomenArise for Change Initiative group, the sudden reversal of fortunes for INEC and security personnel within a week calls for serious concern.

One was delighted at the massive turn-out of registered voters, pointing to an effective mass enlightenment. So was the promptitude with which INEC and the police discharged their duties. In fact, voting materials arrived on time at most of the polling units.

Accreditation commenced as at when due. The voters conducted themselves in a peaceful manner. There was few, if any report of undue harassment by the police.

One was therefore going to applaud them for this, until the rude shock of INEC declaring the election as inconclusive because of the difference of votes between the two leading candidates - PDP’s Ademola Adeleke and APC’s Gboyega Oyetola. It reminds one of the 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by Chief M.K.O. Abiola (of blessed memory) and the sudden abortion of that democratic dream.

Allegations of the brazen use of fully armed thugs to keep some PDP voters at bay, the use of cutlasses and guns, the brutal killing of an opposition party youth leader, the maiming of some others, as well as the use of more sophisticated vote-buying gimmicks all leave a sour taste on the tongue of patriots!

We are aware that free, fair, credible and peaceful elections remain the foundation and bedrock on which to build the house of democracy. According to Anthony Egobueze and Callistus Ojirika, writing on “Electoral Violence in Nigeria’s

Fourth Republic: Implications for Political Stability,” ‘elections are key pillars of democracy and have become the commonly accepted means of legitimising government. Once elections are flawed, it is an invitation to violence in the state which may snowball into political instability’. That this has taken place in the once-peaceful Osun State portends dangers for the growth and survival of our fledgling democracy.

It is not as if electoral violence in Nigeria began in recent time.

No!We recall that Justice Sowemimo in his judgment in the treasonable felony against Obafemi Awolowo and his ‘accomplices’ observed that: “On the evidence before me, it would appear that politics generally in Nigeria has been conducted with a certain amount of bitterness... Political parties are equivalent to warring camps - elections are conducted with party thugs”. That was decades ago.

Is it not a crying shame therefore that the nagging issues of prebendal politics, in which political office is sought primarily for the aggrandisement of self, family members, associates and cronies as rightly observed by Professor Billy Dudley still persists in the 21st Century Nigeria?

To move against the insidious and self-decimating culture of violent politicking we have to employ the Root Cause Analytical Approach (RCAA). There are some fundamental issues bedevilling the polity which we must resolve. For instance, our concept of political leadership is that of serving the self instead of the state.

There is little or no sense of allegiance to nationhood or a patriotic fervor to propel our vision for the larger picture of the ‘we’ and

The high cost of accessing political power, with the greatly attractive perquisites of office, including jumbo pay for politicians, is at the heart of our do-or-die politics

‘us’. Instead, it is the ‘me’ and ‘I’. It is imperative therefore, that leadership issues and our rich history be taught and imbibed as a way of life; right from our homes, through our schools, religious institutions, to our places of work.

Another factor militating against credible polls is mass ignorance on the part of the largely illiterate electorate on their rights and responsibilities. Many of them do not know that power belongs to the people in a democracy. They see their elected or selected leaders as the favoured ones to be feared and worshipped instead of servant-leaders, as former president Umar Yar’Adua (of blessed memory) once canvassed and indeed, admonished. This odious trend has enthroned the culture of king-slave mentality.

We must demonetise the polity! The high cost of accessing political power, with the greatly attractive perquisites of office, including jumbo pay for politicians is at the heart of our do-ordie politics. In a situation whereby a candidate pays between N10 million and N45 million for his nomination form, has that system not been compromised by corruption?

If such candidates got their money from some rotten-rich political godfather their allegiance will first go to that person rather than the state or country he is angling to serve, if he eventually wins.

In our prevailing circumstance where politics is arguably the most lucrative business, people would be tempted to steal, cheat or pander to political perverts just to see their dreams to the dawn of fruition. We must reduce the pay package of politicians to be in tune with civil service salary structure and law making as part time.

In fact one of the most annoying aspects of our political dysfunction is the type of federalism we practice. In which other country that goes by the dictates of the presidential system do we have an all-powerful centre controlling 52 per cent of the so-called federal allocation? Which country practices the odious and anomalous economic structure that has the state governors going cap-in-hand to the federal capital every month-end to get the crumbs from the master’s table? Simply put, we must restructure the current polity to diffuse and devolve power to the federating units and weaken the centre.

––– Baje wrote from Lagos

Politics of Defections, Slapping And Biting Sam Akpe underlines some of the reasons why politicians are quitting one party for the other

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hose old enough to vote in the 1993 presidential election—or at least had distant interest in the politics of that time—would hardly forget a certain jingle that swept through the airwaves in the mould and effect of a tsunami; except that it left behind some sweet memories. Several years after, both the lyrics and the music cannot be easily forgotten. It was commonplace to see children and adults dancing publicly anytime the jingle was played; either on radio or on television.

The jingle was a product of the media arm of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola Presidential Campaign Organisation commanded by the smooth-talking political scientist, Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina. Part of the lyrics read, “Nigeria on the march again; looking for Mr. President; MKO ooh is our man oh....” Even with the bitter outcome of that election, when you listen to the complete version of the jingle on the airwaves, you would want to play it again and again.

That jingle is as relevant today as it was in 1993. Nigeria is surely on the march again. Although we have a sitting president, as 2019—the constitutional year of another presidential election—gets quite close, never in the history of Nigeria have we ever had this number of political parties and presidential aspirants in one election year. Of course, we know that some are mere noise makers; already, the serious contenders are not difficult to identify.

At the various state levels, governorship aspirants—in each of the over 90 political parties—are counted in dozens. At the last count, a certain state in the northern part of Nigeria had almost two dozen aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) only.

On daily basis, defections and counter defections are happening. Sitting governors, who are about completing their second terms, have turned themselves into tin-gods. They keep anointing several aspirants and funding confusion in their states. Godfathers, from Lagos to Borno, and from Nasarawa to Akwa Ibom States, are becoming godlier than ever before.

The confusion and desperation have driven some otherwise decent people into self-destructive acts and comments. At the time of writing this report, a-yet-to-be-determined number of people had been reportedly murdered in Akwa Ibom State during the just concluded APC governorship primaries. It is unthinkable that a hitherto peaceful state has joined the ranks of violent-propelled communities because of politics.

Besides the death, another unbelievable aspect of the primaries is the report that one of the governorship aspirants—who is also a former senator, and has served as minister in the past—violently slapped one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior aides who is equally a former senator. Although this could not be personally confirmed, media

reports stated that the victim had to give the former minister a deep bite before taking to his heels to escape further assaults.

The bloody atmosphere brings to mind the comments attributed to the former governor of that state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, that on his watch, APC will invade Akwa Ibom State in the exact manner the dreaded Adolf Hitler invaded Poland 75 years ago leaving in his trail bloody landmarks. Akpabio was even quoted as saying that not even God Almighty could stop the party since the 2019 elections would not be won in church but in the battle field with smoking guns.

It is possible that people are riding on the back of that bloodsoaked statement to cause bloodshed in Akwa Ibom APC so that the blame will go to the former governor. The greater worry however is that Akpabio—who seems to boast of a comparatively efficient media machine in the state—has neither denied the Hitler ranting nor amended what was reported. The unanswered question is: if Akpabio is not in the race for governorship of the state, and is not facing any serious threat against his return to the Senate, why would he propose war on the state he helped built in an “uncommon” manner for the sake of others? Or, as we say in Nigeria, why would he take overdose of analgesic for his neighbour’s headache?

This brings us to the oil rich Bayelsa State presided over by Seriake Dickson who is about completing his second term as governor. The political atmosphere there has suddenly turned abnormal for one reason. In the past three months, there have been series of unconfirmed reports that Timi Alaibe—who had earlier decamped to the APC—has completed plans for a return journey to the PDP. In this season of genuine and blackmailed defections, that should naturally not make news; but not when Alaibe is involved.

By way of refreshing our minds, Alaibe is a banker by training and practice. Sources close to former President Olusegun Obasanjo has confirmed repeatedly that Alaibe would have been the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service during the Goodluck Jonathan’s era if dirty politics did not overshadow sound reasoning.

Truth is that if there is anything as Obasanjo boys, Alaibe would be one of them. It was when Obasanjo appointed him to head the finance and administration department of the newly created Niger Delta Development Commission in 2000 that his political profile started growing and gaining rapid prominence.

From that position, he became the managing director of the NDDC before he was kicked out for becoming too politically relevant. He was to re-surface again as the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme after serving the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in a non-salaried capacity as Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs. From the Presidential Amnesty Office, Alaibe joined the

Labour Party under circumstances that are yet to be made public.

He almost got the governorship position until the Supreme Court ruled that the tenure of the then sitting governor was not yet over.

The race ended abruptly. The full story of his political adventure is for another day.

Bayelsa is geographically a small state; but economically well loaded. Besides the fact that it was here that oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in 1956, one other thing that marks Bayelsa out is that it is one of the most politically sensitive states in Nigeria today. The state is predominantly Ijaw, a minority ethnic group that has seen and suffered huge injustice in the Nigerian nation. There is so much political awareness that you can hardly fool the people and get away with it.

So, whenever a political pebble is thrown into one of the lakes (and there are many of such lakes), the ripples are better imagined.

As party politics assume different shapes across the country, Bayelsa is having a share of its own. A few days ago, a certain online newspaper based in the United States of America reported that the Bayelsa Chapter of the APC was in celebration mood following the speculated defection of Alaibe to the PDP. Nothing could be far from the truth.

The unanswered question is: why would they celebrate? The newspaper even stated authoritatively, quoting identified sources that the defection ceremony would hold on Wednesday September 26. That turned out to be fake news.

Alaibe actually dumped the APC for the PDP on Friday with his retinue of supporters. This is a great relief to his supporters and political associates because Bayelsa State is predominantly PDP. Most of the people there believe they stopped feeling the impact of federal presence since Alaibe’s forced exit from the NDDC. During the last appointment to federal boards of departments and agencies, he was named to head the board of the Oil and Gas Free Zone. After waiting for many months without formal inauguration, one day, Alaibe and his friends watched on television helplessly as a new chairman took the oath of office for the same job he was appointed to do.

The new appointee, who has since started work, is the former state governor, Timipre Sylva. Several months and more than a year later, Alaibe is still waiting to be informed by those who appointed him about the change of baton. He has been left in the dark; a clear indication that his presence in the APC is most unwelcome. This ugly and unusual development may have raised more questions than answers.

–––Akpe is a former assistant editor of the Punch

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

LETTERS

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Addressing Teenage Prostitution

othing can be more illustrative of our society revulsion than the state of despondency characterized by the epidemic of commercial sexual exploitation of our young girls. This viscous decadence brings into reflection Amma Darko’s didactic piece, faceless, where she descants a devastating tale of an afflicted society that seems to have lost its grip on the lives of its children. It is a galling story of a society that has developed a tragic ability of guiding its young ones, especially the girl child, into a life dedicated to prostituting every conceivable virtue for the sake of flimsy material possessions.

We will be living in delusion not to admit that this vicious life as portrayed by Amma Darko is not indicting our societal digestion of immorality and humane debility that has nurtured a congenial ambience for the alienation, abuse and dehumanization of young women. Night after night on major streets, we see teeming army of girls, some of whom are teenagers in the gleaming lights of the night posing for lustful men to procure them into the coven of abashment.

Inciting this absurdity is the

Dalung, Ministry of Youth and Sports

proliferation of brothels on our major cities where dope-headed young girls dance half-naked every night to the pleasure of men of ages and classes. Sadly, a sight that should disturb every responsible parent has become the source of wealth and delight for debauchees as many of these innocent girls in the process are coaxed to all forms of risky and heinous

crimes, from drug peddling, weapon smuggling to being informant to criminals. Such is the evil of life floating on our street unchallenged.

Besides the cherished concept of upholding societal values through good upbringing and sense of solidarity to humankind, which many African societies are built upon, the mystique of children portrays

them as the greatest treasure any society can possess as they are to be offered unconditional affection. It is, thus, unfortunate that this sacred value is swiftly becoming the misery pelting the probity of our legacy.

The Nigeria society at present is bereft of an organised system that could curtail the pellucid of this ugly trend. Barely a year ago, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), recounted that a huge number of Nigerian transient young women conveyed to Italy were in incredible threat of being constrained into prostitution in Europe. IOM categorically stated that each of them were "potential casualties" of trafficking as sex labourers as they are often brought to Italy and Europe for sexual exploitation.

What we are seeing now in terms of the numbers and scale of the criminal trade in Nigerian women is unprecedented. Before, the women were exploited but there was a chance that they could pay off their debts and be free. But now, they really are slaves who are subjected to terrible violence.

Such is the vice pervading our society. The very society we are purporting to the world is one whose dignity and societal

Oshiomhole And Automatic Senate Tickets

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t is of course globally accepted that the legislature is an essential arm of the presidential system of government. In fact, to many scholars, of all the arms of government in a democracy, the legislature is considered the most critical for effective governance. The reasons for this assumption may not be unconnected with the fact that of the three arms of government, the legislature is the most democratic in its process of decision making.

Yes, unlike the executive for instance, a good legislature always takes its stance after an exhaustive deliberative process by hearing the opinions of all interested members on the issue. Second, the legislature is also considered the most democratic of all the arms of government because each of its members represents one constituency in the country.

Agreed, as critical as the federal legislature or the National Assembly is to our democracy especially in the area of lawmaking and over sighting, for such an institution to be useful to the people in the day-to-day governance and long-term national development, it must develop the capacity for carrying out its constitutional assignments.

Unfortunately because of our chequered experience with democracy - no thanks to the military - our country as much as we cherish democratic rule has not really developed its legislative institution.

If you recall, of all the arms of government, the legislature was always the first casualty of every military intervention in the nation's political life.

Whereas the executive subsisted and the judiciary

was tolerated in military regimes, there was not even a disdainful consideration for the legislature. The consequence is that we have less and less of a political class imbued with the nuances of legislative behaviour. While we have developed politicians who can bark out instructions, we have less of those with contemplative dispositions required for lawmaking!

To bring the facts home, from 1999 till date, David Mark, is the only senator who can boast of 19 years of cumulative legislative experience. This fact runs clearly against the intendments of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which did not impose term limitations on the legislature. The framers of the constitution understood that the nature of lawmaking is so tedious and painstaking and requires experience, maturity, higher intelligence quotient, clarity of thought, fair-mindedness and of course trustworthiness.

While it is difficult for one individual to come completely imbued with this skill-set, it is, however, possible to acquire them over time, by experience, capacity building, showing passion for the job and of course by encouragement.

Sadly, the primordial nature of our politics, the unfortunate influence of godfathers and godmothers, non-ideological nature of our politics and, of course, partisan miscalculations have combined to cause high turnover of our lawmakers every four years - after the general election.

You may wish to ask: where is Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, SAN, that highly-gifted and

intellectual lawmaker who marshaled his points on the floor of the Senate with such a passionate fervour to the admiration of friends and foes? Where is Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, whose strict and meticulous oversight eyes the ministries and government agencies dreaded?

Besides, where is Senator Ayo Arise with all his knowledge and eloquence? Where is Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, the great teacher in the Senate? Where is Joy Emordi, "the joy of the Senate", according to Senator David Mark? What of the penetrating voice of Chris Anyanwu and her concise presentations on national issues? Where is Senator Abdul Ningi today?

What about the flamboyant Patrick Obiahagbon, who made a lot of sense in spite of his obsessions with grandiloquence?

On the contrary, in United States, Senator Robert C. Byrd served for 51 years, five months and 26 days from January 3, 1959 to June 28, 2010; Senator Daniel K. Inouye was in the American Senate for 49 years, 11 months and 15 days from January 3, 1963 to December 17, 2012; Senator Strom Thurmond was a senator for 47 years, five months and eight days; while Senator Edward Kennedy was in the Senate for 46 years, nine months and 19 days, from November 7, 1962, to August 25, 2009, just to mention a few.

Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah (January 3, 1977 to present) is the longest serving senator still in office.

So, when you are glued to your television sets with mouths open marvelling at the competency exhibited

by American lawmakers in their congressional hearings, remember that was not achieved overnight by one simple flight. It took years of learning and experience to hone those admirable capabilities. And that is what Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the APC wants to replicate in the National Assembly.

Oshiomhole is on a patriotic journey to bequeath to Nigerians a legislature that is worth its name both in competency and love for country.

He dreams of a legislature that will truly represent the wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian people by weeding out all manner of stragglers and mercenaries masquerading as lawmakers while building an institutional memory by retaining the lot who have demonstrated high capacity, competency, patriotism, a great passion for lawmaking and oversight functions and, also, importantly, loyalty to the party.

In the real sense of the word, Oshiomhole is not giving out automatic ticket to anybody. He is simply encouraging the APC and the National Assembly to retain their best for the greater good of the country.

Therefore, when APC gives senatorial tickets to the likes of Senators Robert Boroffice, Tayo Alasoadura and Yele Omogunwa from Ondo State, and Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central, the party is not waging any war against anybody at all. It is all in the national interest, which is consistent with the party interests.

––Johnson Momodu, Kaduna

value are being enervated while leaving its future unconscious.

The magnitude of this fiend and its consequences are fast depleting our whole essence as we continue to be delinquent in our common sense of responsibility. We must stop pretending to the reality that a large number of adolescents are making a living on the streets daily, and these vulnerable children are being brandished to the devouring jaws of the street and the lurking danger of men with devilish intentions.

Meanwhile, the problem of teenage prostitution has grown beyond any individual or organization; it requires the sort of collaboration and partnership that connect global efforts with multilateral policies of national government because the damage is both psychological and psychosocial. At this point, the country must appraise its social structure where all reforming initiatives must spring from and incubate a comprehensive strategy anchored on the right to dignity and decent life of citizens.

At first, government needs to be aware of the factors that influence routes into this societal devastation such as childhood abuse, poverty, lack of access to education,rising inequality, population growth and breakdowns in family relationships, if they are to provide relevant and appropriate interventions. Exploring these socio-cultural, economical and political bankruptcies would help in highlighting cognitive initiatives that are consistent and practical.

Glaringly, moribund policy and narrow concept have been the peculiarity of many government intervention programmes in recent years.

This inconsistency has always downplayed the sincerity of government strive and breeds contempt among its citizens.

Criminalising child prostitution and trafficking might not really be the answer as lapses in our justice system often frustrate legal process. Hence, we need a more dynamic approach, aside

enforcing law to effectively curtail this atrocious enterprise.

Thus, we need to employ more pragmatic and multi dimensional measures.

To free this society from the burden of this accumulated guilt, direct community engagement, advocacy and strategic partnerships are sacrosanct. A desirous way to go about this is for the government to initiate a policy that will strengthen agencies that have wide rural and urban presence and develop an outreach programme that focuses on reducing the effect of social stratification.

Our society is reprehensively disconnected along religion, ethnic and socio-economic status as we care less of others misfortune. This social ailment is inadvertently leveraging on this communal infraction because it offers a breeding space for it to wreck the society of its essence.

Before it looks like there is nothing dignified and decent left for this society to offer its spring of hope, religious community should swiftly offer refuge to the society. The fact remains that this pestilent climate is the aftermath of our collapsed family value and it therefore behoves on our spiritual comrades to liberate the society from this scourge and other destructive tendencies. By virtue of its pristine, the religious community is expected to be at the vanguard of extricating the society from this flagitious adventure.

On a final note, there is need for strategic public enlightenment campaigns exclusively planned to discourage teenage prostitution. This must involve critical stakeholders such as faith-based organizations, traditional institution, government agencies, child right advocates, the media and NGOs. For us to really reclaim our sanity as a people, this is the time to resolutely tackle this ugly phenomenon.

––Kehinde Akinfenwa, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

Mexico 2018: A Case For Special Eagles

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n few days from now, the 15th edition of the Amputee Football World Cup will commence in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico. Some 24 teams from across the world will aim for pride and glory in the tourney. Nigeria’s national male amputee football team- the Special Eagles- will seek to make a debut appearance and display their skills when the tournament kicks off on October 25. But the team’s appearance is threatened by financial constraints, one issue that made the team miss the last three editions of the tourney- 2010, 2012 and 2014. This is their fourth attempt at taking their craft to the global stage.

Unfortunately, they risk missing out on this one too.

To ensure participation at the tourney, the team launched a crowd funding campaign

on October 1 with the support of Nigerian-born, English amputee footballer, Michael Ishiguzo to raise £52,000.

With the funds, the team will take care of upkeep, flights and other logistics. Ishiguzo was particularly moved by the troubles of the team in the last eight years. He rightly observed: 'They contribute their own funds to keep the sport, the team and their dream alive while also working hard to fend for themselves and their families. Going to the World Cup is a big deal for them because it will bring them to the global place where there are opportunities like I have.'

Four days after the campaign’s launch, the team has received £130 donations from public spirited people.

–– Afeez Odunoye, Lagos

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

THISDAY WEEKLY GUIDE TO 2019

Ahmed Umar Fintiri

Ikpeazu

Udom

Ortom

The Road to 2019: Flashpoints to Watch (IV) Steeped in grim crises of interests, supremacy, survival and power play, this week’s edition of the THISDAY guide to the 2019 elections focuses on the intrigues and theatrics that dogged the primary elections of the two major political parties – the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, write Olawale Olaleye and Shola Oyeyipo

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or the two major political parties, last week was an anti-climax of sorts in the journey to 2019.

Apparently running against the October 7 deadline for the submission of names of successful aspirants for the different offices up for election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the two parties held their primaries almost about the same time as though other fringe political parties.

With different modes of election approved for different states as deemed fit by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC), it caught no one by surprise that the exercise ended in fiasco in many of the states. Although the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had always gone through the delegate route, the outcome of the elections in many parts of the states was equally a letdown.

Indeed, in a majority of the states where decisions had been taken, what they currently savour is peace of the graveyard. The outcome did not reflect the expectations of major stakeholders and this was across both parties.

It was either that the candidates were imposed right from the top or the governors connived with the election committees to undermine the whole process.

As you read this, both parties are still writhing in the pains and disappointment of their indiscretion and it is fair that they are allowed to stew in their own juice. While it is true that the APC leadership had reportedly cleared 24 out of the 36 states of their governorship and other elective offices, it is still not well with some of the cleared states let alone those waiting to be cleared as a result of the postponement or outright nullification of their elections.

However, while the PDP, which held its presidential convention yesterday, has vowed to reclaim the national spot it lost to the APC during the 2015 elections; it is trite to note that such a feat would depend largely on the calibre of candidates it field to run against that of the APC in the election.

Thus, while the two parties are still struggling to resolve some of the contradictions that arose from the exercise, candidates have already emerged, even amidst inexplicable flaws, clearly presenting major crises to leadership of both parties. So, what is the state of play in the states?

ABIA

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is to fly the flag of the PDP in Abia State. That is not unexpected, because apart from being the incumbent governor, he emerged the sole candidate of the party, evidently a product of

the gains of the many endorsements he had since enjoyed. No other aspirant picked forms to challenge him. So, the primary was merely a formality for affirmation. At the end, the Chairman of the PDP Governorship Primary Committee for the state, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, announced that Ikpeazu polled 1,991 votes out of 2,207 total votes cast by the delegates accredited for the exercise. It is expected that Ikpeazu would constitute a very formidable opposition to the APC or any other party in contention.

But that permutation is not absolute.

Followers of Abia politics, particularly those loyal to Governor Ikpeazu are now of the opinion that the PDP leadership should look forward to a formidable opponent in the APC candidate in the person of Uchechukwu Ogah, an oil magnate, who eventually emerged winner of the party primary in the state.

Recall that Ogah, was issued a Certificate of Return by INEC, when an Abuja High Court declared him the rightful PDP candidate before same judgment was upturned by the Supreme Court in favour of Ikpeazu. He is therefore an opponent the PDP and Ikpeazu cannot afford to take for granted.

In yet another interesting slant, Chief Chikwe Udensi has defeated Dr. Alex Otti to clinch the APGA ticket. It is worthy of mention that APGA is a South-east party and so, both Ikpeazu and Ogah must pay attention to a possible underdog emerging from that party.

ADAMAWA

Former acting Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmed Umar Fintiri, is the PDP candidate in Adamawa State. He polled 1,625 votes to clinch the party ticket. His acceptability is reflected in the fact that his closest rival, Jameel Zubairu, polled 465 votes. Former Governor, Bala James Ngilari, scored 76 votes, Aliyu Ahmed only got eight votes and Umar Ardo got just a vote because he voted for himself.

Fintiri came to prominence in the state after the impeachment of former governor of the state, Murtala Nyako, when he became the acting governor. He is fondly remembered for paying the backlog of salary arrears owed civil servants in the state but his record was equally stained by the fact that he was charged to court for alleged N2.9billion fraud after his tenure.

He is a political figure with his support base cutting across the state and his party, the PDP is hoping to take advantage of that against the ruling APC, which has created the biggest upset after Lagos as Mahmoud Halilu Ahmed, the younger brother of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, reportedly defeated the governor, Mohammed Bindow.

This has made the race to the government house somewhat unpredictable. The race is going to be a rather tough one for both the APC and the PDP.

AKWA IBOM

Akwa Ikom is certainly a state to watch in 2019, because of the intrigues that are expected to shape the outcome of the governorship election. Long before the party primaries, incumbent Governor Emmanuel Udom and his predecessor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, had fallen out.

And for reasons of political exigencies, the latter crossed to the opposition APC, even as the Minority Leader in the upper chamber of the National Assembly. However, daring his former boss and depending on his relationship with the people of the state, Udom has picked the PDP ticket and has told whoever cares to listen that he would win his second term.

Interestingly, Udom is not only contesting against Akpabio’s political sagacity, he equally has the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ekere Nsima, who won the governorship ticket of the APC to contend with, not minding that Akpabio ha the mandate to deliver him.

Though Udom has incumbency factor going for him, Nsima is not a pushover either in Akwa-Ibom State politics, the more reason the APC considered him its best option against the PDP and with Akpabio’s support, Ekere definitely stands a good chance in 2019.

ANAMBRA

Naturally disposed to leadership crisis, Anambra State has not distinguished itself from all that is happening across the country in the countdown to 2019 and this is across both parties.

In the APC, stakeholders and aspirants recently rejected the purported primary elections, which threw up the trio of Senators Andy Uba, Uche Ekwunife and Margery Okadigbo as candidates for Anambra South, Central and Northern Senatorial zones of the state respectively.

The stakeholders in a joint press briefing with Senatorial and House of Representatives aspirants said the names touted as winners of the primary elections were false and that no primary election held in the state. The party has yet to address their concerns, regardless.

In the PDP, the protracted leadership crisis rocking the party resurfaced recently with two different factions contesting the party leadership. While the Chief Ndubisi Nwobu-led PDP executive claimed to be the recognised executive council by National Headquarters, another group championed by the Legal Adviser of the elected executive, Dr Nwadozie Ndubisis, the State Vice Chairman Anambra South and Marcel Jackeline Anyiam also laid claim to the leadership.

Although this is the way of the PDP in the state, the development is however expected to have unsavoury impact on the party, in the

state and National Assembly elections.

BAUCHI

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed is the governorship candidate of the PDP in Bauchi State. He won the keenly contested primary with two other former senators in persons of Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, Senator Adamu Gumba and an aspirant for the ticket in 2015, Auwal Jatau.

Bala, a minister during former president Goodluck Jonathan enjoys the support of the Bauchi people, because he is rated as the best lawmaker ever in the state. It is however not clear how much his popularity would sway against the incumbent Governor Mohammed Abubakar.

Abubakar has picked the APC gubernatorial ticket. Though the governor emerged the party’s candidate amidst protests from other aspirants, who cried foul over alleged irregularities, he is however counting on his achievements and perhaps, the incumbency weight.

BENUE

Benue is another state where the governorship election will be dicey. Ordinarily, Governor Samuel Ortom would have had an easy ride back to power for the fact he won the admiration of the citizens by his enactment of the Anti-open Grazing Prohibition Law. That simply is his biggest advantage, because the sentiment of anti-APC-led government is rife.

There is a general belief that the federal government has deliberately looked away from the herdsmen, who killed in hundreds and destroyed properties worth millions. So, the people see Ortom as a leader, who stands with them despite the insensitivity of the federal government. In fact, no one is talking about his seemingly poor report card.

There is also the issue of zoning. Benue has three zones: A, B and C. Unfortunately, zone C, which comprises Idoma, Igede and Agatus are in the minority, so they are not reckoned with as regards power rotation. As a result, each zone between A and B had completed eight years at different times. Now that Ortom, who is from Zone B, has had four years, the calculation is that he should be allowed to complete the second term rather than vote candidate of the APC, Emmanuel Jime, who is also from the Zone and would want to have two terms.

Jime however has his advantages too. First, there is a general feeling that Ortom has not performed well and there is hunger everywhere in the state. Second, politicians in the state are of the view that Jime should be compensated, because in 2015 he was on the cusp of winning the APC ticket when Ortom crossed over to the party and Akume gave him the ticket.

Another thing is that the only functional

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OCTOBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

THISDAY WEEKLY GUIDE TO 2019

Umara Zulum

Umahi

Ugwuanyi

Abubakar

The Road to 2019: Flashpoints to Watch (IV) state-owned institution is the state university, with which he worked with former governor, Moses Adasu to establish. Jime was the Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly then. He signed the bill that created the institution into law. There is also a widespread belief he is the most vibrant lawmaker in the state.

Again, he is married to an Idoma woman and no Idoma woman has ever been a First Lady in the state hence it is winning him support from Zone C. He is from Iharev, the largest ethnic bloc of Makurdi, which places him at advantage, and being with Akume, who like Tinubu in Lagos, has the mastery of Benue politics, Jime cannot be underrated in the Benue race.

BORNO

Former Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RRR), Professor Babagana Umara Zulum won the APC governorship ticket in Borno State. He may likely ride easy to become the next governor and that is basically, because he has been around most of the Boko Haram ravaged citizens of the state, who consider him as a source of succour.

But one thing the party must quickly address is the grievances of other aspirants, who maintained that the primary process was skewed to favour Zulum.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to People’s Republic of China, who was PDP governorship standard bearer in 1999; former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda; Alhaji Mohammed Attom Maigira and the current Federal Director of Finance, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Idris Mamman Durkwa are unhappy with the outcome of the election and must be pacified.

In fact, 10 of the 21 aspirants had already petitioned the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, advancing cancellation for allegedly “falling short of the party’s guidelines.”

Zulum would also need to contend with the agitation of the people of Southern senatorial district, who have been agitating for power rotation. There had been a parley between elders of the North and South to support Mamman, who is a Southern candidate, but Zulum’s emergence has changed all that.

But APC has Alhaji Mohammed Alkali to deal with as he is the candidate of the PDP.

CROSS RIVERS

In Cross Rivers State, the sitting governor, Professor Ben Ayade of the PDP will square up against the Senator representing Cross River Central senatorial district, John Owan Enoh. Enoh was a member of the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2015. He is a political force in the state known not to have any godfather. Yet, he defeated Senator Victor Ndoma Egba in the 2015 general election.

What may however be his undoing is the lingering hardship being blamed on the APC leadership at the national level and the continued killings by herdsmen, who are seen as being protected by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Presently, Ayade holds Cross River State strongly and like Owan, he was also in the Senate before becoming governor. The governor enjoys support across most of the local government areas. This is coupled with his achievements and the fact that his state is predominantly a PDP state, which gives him an edge.

Delta The APC candidate in Delta State, Mr. Ogboru Ovedje stands a good chance in the governornorship election for as long as his kinsmen of the Central senatorial district, which has the numerical strength, are ready to throw their weight behind him. He is a veteran governorship candidate.

While some bookmakers believe that he stands a better chance following the defection of former governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to the APC, contending with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is not a child’s play. He is very much in charge.

Apart from having firm grip on Delta South and North, where he hails from, the factor of former governor, Mr. James Ibori, who is still a member of the PDP and whose support is still very important. It would take more than the god factor to unseat Okowa.

EBONYI

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has picked the PDP ticket to return to office and from all indications he is set to return to the Government House with ease. The reason is because he is well bonded with his people. He has a widespread support among the Ebonyi people due to his knack for development and people-oriented amenities.

Added to that is his cleverness to maintain a rather cordial relationship with the APCled federal government, thereby attracting benefits to his people, particularly in the area of agriculture.

His main challenger, the Senator representing Ebonyi South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Sonni Ogbuoji, who recently defected to the APC, is faced with a strong opponent, who does not only have the people with him but is equally prepared to give it all it takes to ensure that he accomplishes his development aspirations for the state.

EDO

Even in Edo State, homestead of the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, there was crisis over the choice of candidates for the National Assembly. The state had voted for National Assembly candidates days earlier, only for the national leadership of the party to cancel it, saying it was unauthorised.

Describing the exercise null and void, the party, which immediately appointed Hajia Farida Odangi Suleiman to conduct the primaries, assured members of the party that the Odangi-led committee would make available the list of aspirants screened for the exercise and conduct a transparent primary election in accordance with the guidelines and constitution of the APC. The annulment was said to have followed a protest by some aspirants of the party, who kicked against the conduct of the primaries held across the 192 wards in the state. They urged Oshiomhole to cancel the primaries and conduct a fresh one and which the NWC did.

As at the time of filing this report, a new election had not held and observers had begun to interpret the development as the beginning of the crisis between the governor, Godwin Obaseki and Oshiomhole.

EKITI

It is no longer news that there would not be a governorship election in Ekiti State next year. In fact, its governorship election held since July 14, 2018. But there was intense high wire intrigues in the primary election for the other offices up for election. A choice between direct and indirect primaries was the undoing of the APC in the state. The party had made a U-turn over indirect primary, a development that sparked protest and forced the police at some point to take over the APC secretariat.

Some aggrieved senatorial and House of Representatives aspirants of the APC had accused the party leaders of plotting to impose their preferred candidates on the party. They said the alteration of the direct option earlier announced to indirect mode was allegedly perpetrated to manipulate the process. But at the end of the day, the direct option was embraced and the matter has since been laid to rest.

In the PDP, Senate Minority Leader, Senator

Biodun Olujimi, secured her return ticket to the senate next year. Olujimi is presently representing Ekiti South Senatorial District at the Upper Chambers of the National Assembly.

Olujimi will now square up with the candidate of the APC and former Minister of Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who was unanimously adopted by the party leaders to fly the party’s flag. In Ekiti Central, Opeyemi Bamidele emerged victorious and in the midst of the confusion, former Senator Ayo Arise withdrew from the race.

ENUGU

Here, it is a straight and predictable fight between incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the PDP and Senator Ayogu Eze of the APC. Although supporters of the APC do not like the sound of the reality oozing out of Enugu State, the truth is that the party has been identified not to stand any chance in the state.

Apart from the fact that Ugwuanyi is said to have posted a mesmerizing performance in the last three and a half years, he also shocked a majority of the party leaders in the lead up to next year’s election, when for the first time in the history of the state, he enforced the emergence of candidates through the adoption of internal democracy.

Only recently, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who was in the state, lauded his entrepreneurial spirit in the development of the state and his people. Whilst this does not forbid the APC and its candidate from trying, at least, the reality is that Enugu is one of the many states of the federation, where the APC may not stand any chance whatsoever.

GOMBE

Senator Bayero Nafada and Inuwa Yahaya emerged standard bearers of the PDP and the APC respectively ahead of the Gombe governorship bout for next year.

But while some say Gombe is free for any of the two parties to take, the fact is that as Nafada may benefit from the assumption that the state is PDP and the incumbency factor of Governor Ibrahim Dankwabo, Yahaya too stands to benefit from President Buhari’s influence in the North.

But Dankwambo must also not forget that a former governor of the state, Abdulahi Goje has vowed to chase his purported stooge out of the race next year. Whichever way, it is going to be an interesting election in the state.

IMO

Though no APC candidate has been officially announced in Imo State, the state is certainly one to watch in the sense that despite swirling protests, outgoing governor, Rochas Okorocha has maintained that his endorsement of his son-in-law and former Chief of Staff, Chief Uche Nwosu as the next governor of the state was irreversible.

Nwosu has been in Okorocha’s cabinet as the Deputy Chief of Staff between 2011 and 2013. He later became Commissioner for Lands between 2013 and 2015 and was Chief of Staff from 2015 till he contested the APC primary. He is a notable politician, but his greatest problem is that party members, opposition parties and the citizenry consider him a product of rude imposition. This will surely count against him if he eventually emerges as APC candidate.

Former deputy Speaker, Chukwuemeka Ihedioha, who was elected PDP candidate, stands an opportunity to reap from the acrimony in the APC as a result of Okorocha’s grandstanding. As a prominent politician, he is not a pushover and can leverage people’s resentment to clinch the governorship. He won the PDP governorship primaries in Imo State in December 2014, but lost to Rochas Okorocha in the April 11, 2015 general election.

JIGAWA

Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State won the APC governorship primaries and is coming into the race on the strength of his record, which includes among other things that he met only N16 million with liability of road contracts worth 90 billion naira. Yet, he was able to manage the meagre resources to continue and complete uncompleted projects he inherited while he initiated new ones.

Alhaji Aminu Ibrahim Ringim, who will fly the PDP flag, has been in politics since 1983. He contested and won a seat in the federal House of Representatives. In 1991, during General Ibrahim Badamsi Babangida’s transition to civil rule, he pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and remained consistent on the political turf till 2003, when he was redeployed to the Government House, Jigawa as Chief of Staff of former Governor Saminu Turaki.

Former governor and erstwhile Foreign Affairs Minister, Alhaji Sule Lamido reappointed him as Chief of Staff, the position he retained till his ambition to contest for the governor of Jigawa State.

KADUNA

Former APC member and former member of the House of Representatives, Isa Ashiru Kudan, is the PDP governorship candidate in Kaduna State. He will face Governor Nasir el Rufai of the APC in what some people expect to be a keen contest.

The PDP considered Ashiru, a one-time APC aspirant, who was the first runner-up in the 2015 primaries that produced Governor elRufai, as a force capable of giving the governor a run for his money and even dust him in terms of popularity.

Ashiru defeated notables like a former Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mohammed Sani Sidi; Senator representing Kaduna North Senatorial District, Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, immediate past governor of the state, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and Kaduna business mogul, Shuaibi Idris Miqati to pick the party ticket and yet, the party seems ready to unite to fight their common enemy: Governor el-Rufai.

However, as one who reckons that he has done enough to get massive support from his people, el-Rufai seems rather unperturbed. He is going into next year’s election convinced that his vision, governance, developmental programmes, clout, and commitment to serve and move the state forward as well as focus on the job would speak for him.

But he would contend again with other contradictions that are his own doing like the nearly bungled election of Senator Sheu Sani.

And now that he has lost the consideration to Sani, he is going into the election a bitter man and that could affect his performance in the election. His candidate, Ubah Sani lost badly.

KANO

Kano State is another state where the stakes are very high. It is a state that boasts several million of votes and so, the APC and the PDP are working to keep it in their kitty. Aside that, the election would also ensure that the cold war between former governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his successor, Abdulahi Ganduje is settled once and for all.

So, when the opposition party announced former Commissioner for Works, Transport and Housing in Kano, Abba Kabiru Yusuf, as the winner of the PDP governorship primaries in Kano, there was a consensus that he is a politician of note, capable of pulling a surprise against Ganduje.

News however got to town that Yusuf is a son-in-law to Kwankwaso, but the former governor quickly debunked it. Even at that, nearly everyone knows that having dumped

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THISDAY WEEKLY GUIDE TO 2019

The Road to 2019: Flashpoints to Watch (IV) already involved in the matter and would take a stand after their affirmation convention on Saturday.

the APC for PDP to pursue his presidential ambition, the former governor and his Kwankasiyya movement would not only back Yusuf but also work rigorously to oust Ganduje.

But while Ganduje is banking largely on the Buhari factor, he must go the extra mile to retain his seat next year.

ONDO

KATSINA

The battle in Katsina State is suspect.

Governor Aminu Bello Masari is banking on the fanatical support that President Buhari enjoys in his home state. But this is against the backdrop of the fact that the governor is believed not to have done well in critical sectors of the economy.

Although the PDP candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado Danmarke representing Funtua senatorial district, who was councilor in his Kankara hometown and held sway in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), is not considered a threat to Masari, it is however not going to be a walkover for the governor either.

Known to have a strong financial war chest, widespread support and politically savvy, it would still be difficult for him to dismantle the Buhari factor in Katsina State.

Masari

Akeredolu

KEBBI

Here in Kebbi, it is going to be a two-horse race between Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who emerged unopposed as the APC candidate for a second term and Senator Isah Galaudu, a former Chief of Staff to the Senate President, the PDP candidate.

Away from the assessments of certain individuals, who believe the governor has done little or nothing to address development challenges of the state, especially Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, the narrative is that the governor is not favoured by the zoning factor.

There are four Emirates in the state: Gwandu (Central senatorial district where the governor comes from), Arugungu, Yauri and Zuru and Gwandu emirate had produced majority of the governors in the state. From January 1992 to December 1993, Yauri emirate produced a civilian governor under the leadership of Abubakar Musa of the National Republican Convention (NRC) while Gwandu emirate had the governors from 1999 to date. So, the call for power shift is likely to work against the governor.

Senator Galaudu hails from the Argungu emirate and despite the governor’s remarkable achievements, the possibility that the lawmaker may oust the incumbent governor, is high and the reason is because of the zoning factor. It was the more reason the governor emphasised in his 58th independence anniversary that the people should de-emphasise the issue of zoning.

KWARA

Kwara State is another state where nationwide and international attentions will be focused, not just because a former THISDAY staff and former Majority Leader in the state House of Assembly, Kayode AbdulWahab picked the APC ticket or because a member of the House of Representatives and former Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Razak Atunwa, emerged the PDP standard bearer, but because the state will present the national leadership of the APC and Senate President, Bukola Saraki an opportunity to settle their scores.

Considering the fact that the two candidates who are from Kwara Central are coming in fresh, the success and failure or either of them depend totally on those behind them.

While Saraki is backing Atunwa, the Minister of Information (backed by anti-Saraki forces and the federal government) are supporting AbdulWahab.

However, there is no doubting the fact that Saraki still holds the ace in the state. Thus, the fact that he is contending with federal forces or that some forces are working to end his reign in Kwara may not change anything but rather make the exercise more interesting even in the days to come.

LAGOS

Of all the states of the federation, Lagos promises to offer the most intriguing and interesting election, following what it first churned out during the primary elections of the two major political parties in the state – the APC and the PDP. The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode was the first governor to lose his re-election battle, before finding an ally in the Adamawa State Governor, Mohammed Bindow. His party, the APC said he was no longer worthy of another term, because he has not been a good party man in the last three and a half years that he assumed office. In his place, the party elected a former Commissioner for Establishment and immediate past Managing Director of LSDPC, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Although Ambode tried to fight it, the battle

Although Ondo State is not holding a governorship election next year, there is however crisis in the state as the APC leadership in Ondo recently kicked against the decision of the NWC of the party, which gave automatic tickets to the three sitting senators in the state, who are obviously in a different camp from Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

Thus, granting automatic tickets to the sitting senators followed the disqualification of other aspirants that obtained forms to contest the primary of the party. The Senators given automatic tickets were Yele Omogunwa, Tayo Alasoadura and Ajayi Boroffice representing Ondo South, Central and North Senatorial Districts respectively.

But Chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, said the NWC was not fair with the decision and described the development as undemocratic. As at the time of filing this report, Akeredolu was at the Villa to meet with the president for a possible resolution of the matter.

OSUN

Not much is happening in Osun since the September 22, governorship election, which also indicates that the party would not be partaking in the 2019 governorship race. What had been prevalent here are the brickbats between the two parties – APC and PDP. However, the state has not also been exempted from the crisis of selection that has been rocking other states for other elective positions. But the fact is that such crises are still subsumed under the dust so far raised by the September 22, governorship election.

OYO

Abdullahi Sule

appeared way ahead of him and at the end of the day he gave in, declaring support for the party’s choice candidate.

In a surprise mode too, the PDP in the state re-elected its candidate in the 2015 election, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who many think would give the ruling APC an even tougher fight in this election. Thus, Lagos, which has consistently been a ‘progressive state’, is on the verge of making history in 2019, either through a pass or fail.

NASARAWA

Unlike what obtained in many other states, in Nasarawa, however, not only did a former Managing Director of Dangote Sugar, Abdullahi Sule emerge the APC candidate, ten governorship aspirants, had pledged to rally round him to ensure victory for the party in 2019.

His main challenger is a serving member of the House of Representatives, David Ombugadu, who emerged the governorship candidate of the PDP. In comparison, 59-year-old Sule has not been a very active politician over the years, but 40-year old Ombugadu has been active in Nasarawa State politics for some time. While Sule counts on the support of the outgoing governor, Tanko Al-Makura, Ombugadu hopes to capitalise on the unresolved feud between the outgoing governor and a former governor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to claim victory at the general election.

Indeed, that is also possible because Adamu has promised to prove to Al-Makura, whom he helped to become governor what he is worth in the state. On the other hand, Al-Makura and his team had since gone on the offensive against Adamu. Thus, how Ombugadu would leverage on the feud between the two without putting Adamu in a position of anti-party is yet to be seen. But Nasarawa promises to give a good show in next year’s election.

NIGER

The scenario in Niger State is what some have tagged ‘Battle of the Generals’ sons. The PDP candidate, Alhaji Umar Nasko, is the son of the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maj-Gen. Mohammadu Gado Nasko (rtd). Also in the APC, its candidate, Governor Abubakar Bello, is the son of a former military administrator of Kano State, Col. Sani Bello (rtd).

While the two men are believed to be eminently qualified to govern the state, the outcome of the election will be largely influenced by the leaning of the duo of former military heads state, Generals Ibrahim

Dapo Abiodun

Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar.

From indications, the former leaders seemed to have been on different pages on the matter since 2015 and may also go their different ways in influencing the winner this time around. So, it could aptly be described a rematch between the two. However, pundits believe that of all the North Central States, Niger appears the safest for the APC.

OGUN

Currently, Ogun State is a battleground.

Two different primary elections held at two different places and the National Working Committee of the party chose to affirm the result of the one that other active players in the state described as phantom. Indeed, two members of the election panel, who elected not to be part of the alleged sham that the Adams Oshiomhole leadership embraced, had been consequently expelled from the panel, because they raised the alarm on the fraud that was allegedly perpetrated.

In addition, other contestants had petitioned the national chairman that no election held in the state and what happened was a mere case of writing results.

But at the end of the day, the NWC declared Mr. Dapo Abiodun winner of the governorship ticket at the expense of Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, candidate of the Governor Ibikunle Amosun led APC as non-existent. This development has since heightened pressure and tension in the state, such that the affirmed candidate could not even celebrate his victory.

Although it appears that Amosun had lost out, THISDAY gathered that the defeat was temporary as President Muhammadu Buhari is

In Oyo State, the two leading political parties – APC and PDP – have presented the duo of Adebayo Adelabu (APC) and Seyi Makinde (PDP) respectively.

Determined to go into the election undivided, leaders in the ruling party in the state prevailed on the likes of a former governor of the state, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, Dr AbdulAzeez Adeduntan, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, Sola Ayandele, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) and Dr Owolabi Babalola to withdraw from the race for Adelabu, who is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the grandson of a notable Ibadan politician, Adegoke Adelabu, popularly known as “Penkelemesi”.

Adelabu (48), who resigned his office at the CBN to contest the election, is a 1992 graduate of Accounting from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. He became a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1994 and was an Executive Director in First Bank of Nigeria before he was appointed into the CBN. On his part, Oluwaseyi Abiodun Makinde (51) is a Nigerian businessman, politician and philanthropist. Also, an Engineer and expert on fluid and gas metering, he is the Group Managing Director of Makon Group Limited – an indigenous oil and gas company in Nigeria. He established his first oil and gas private business called Makon Engineering and Technical Services, (METS) at the age of 29 in 1997. Makinde contested the Oyo State 2015 gubernatorial seat on the platform Social Democratic Party (SDP).

There is no doubting the fact that the two parties have put forward their best and impressive feet for this election – both of them are vibrant, young, smart, cerebral, and well connected. Whoever emerges is a plus for the state and a clear demarcation from the impossible past. Oyo is likely to witness a rather fierce battle give the stakes at hand.

Situating the Presidential Run

T

he 2019 presidential run peaked at the weekend as the two major political parties unveiled their candidates. Whilst the APC merely held its convention to affirm its choice of Buhari, the PDP went into an election to choose the most favoured from its many aspirants. The PDP convention was still on while this report went to bed.

Also, five presidential aspirants of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) participated in the party’s presidential primary which held in Abuja, also at

the weekend. The aspirants include a former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke; former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana; Mr John Dara; Prof. Hagher Iyouwese and Ambassador Felix Osakwe.

Other fringe political parties too held their own convention and results have begun to trickle in. By this morning or later today, all parties must have settled their presidential nominations and so, the next destination would be 2019.

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BUSINESS

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Total’s Egina FPSO

LADOL-Samsung Feud as Threat to FDI The ongoing war of attrition between Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL) and Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, if not well managed will erode investors’ confidence in Nigeria and dash any hope of further investment in FPSOs, writes Eromosele Abiodun

O

ver the years, all the floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) operating in Nigeria’soilandgasindustrywere built and integrated in foreign yards, denying Nigeria the huge benefits of growing her gross domestic product (GDP) through in-country domiciliation of the huge expenditure, and local capacity development, as well as job creation.

However, with the signing into law of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act on April 22, 2010 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, the law mandated the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to deepen the participation of Nigerians and Nigerian facilities in the oil and gas industry, by facilitating local capacity development and ensuring that the execution of large components of any project is domiciled in-country.

The law empowers NCDMB to maximise local participation in the oil and gas industry as part of the efforts to build local manpower and facilities, curb capital flight and create job opportunities for Nigerians in the industry. NCDMB, not only insisted that any future integration of FPSOs must be carried out locally; the agency also directed that a large fabrication scope of FPSO project must be performed in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Content Act had led to increased indigenous asset ownership, particularly marine vessels, in-country fabrication and manufacturing capabilities, as well as local human capital development. The country had lacked facilities for integration of FPSOs before Total awarded the Egina FPSO contract to SHI MCI. In order to carry out the local fabrication and integration of the Egina FPSO as required by Total and the NCDMB, Samsung Heavy industries surveyed local facilities, but eventually decided to build a new fabrication and integration yard with $300 million of investment to keep the international standards level of quality and safety, within the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL) Free Zone, which was then a virgin land mass. The investment led to the creation of an independent entity, Samsung Yard (SHI-MCI FZE) in LADOL Free Zone, Tarkwa Bay.

The Egina FPSO is not the first FPSO to be deployed in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as the country currently has 14 FPSOs, all built in foreign yards.

Out of these 14 FPSOs, five were built for giant deep offshore oil fields – Shell’s Bonga, ExxonMobil’s Erha, Chevron’s Agbami and Total’s Akpo and Usan fields, all located several kilometres offshore, in water depths ranging from 200 metres to 1.2 kilometres.

The uniqueness of the Egina FPSO lies in the fact that apart from being the largest FPSO in Nigeria, it will also be the first FPSO to be fabricated and integrated locally in Nigeria, and across the African continent.

In line with the federal government’s directive, the local fabrication and integration of the Egina FPSO has boosted technology transfer and the development of indigenous manpower and facilities, as evidenced in the construction of the Samsung yard and the training of Nigerian technicians, engineers and other professionals by SHI. The yard has already provided 1,200 employment opportunities in the areas of welding, fitting and other support services, while the cascade effect outside the yard will generate huge jobs over the coming years.

The local fabrication and Integration of the Egina FPSO in Samsung yard has helped Nigerians to build more local capacity in increasingly challenging skills. By executing these jobs locally, the funds that could have left the shores of Nigeria for financing the fabrication in foreign yards are retained in the Nigerian economy.

Apart from Nigerians acquiring new skills set in the oil and gas sector, the execution of the project locally also contributed to Nigeria’s GDP. Being the first fabrication and integration facility in Africa, the Samsung Yard (SHI-MCI FZE) has positioned Nigeria to become the hub of oil and gas business and shipbuilding in the continent as all future FPSOs in the Gulf of Guinea will be fabricated and integrated in Nigeria.

Things Fall Apart Following the stellar work done by SHI, the FPSO arrived in Nigeria early this year and sailed off late August this year. However, the partnership between LADOL and Samsung has since soured following claims by Samsung that LADOL, its local content

partner demand 1 per cent free on board (FOB) of the $3.3 billion project value, which amounts to $33 million. Meanwhile, LADOL denies this claim stressing that trouble began when its joint bid with Samsung was successful and it was awarded the Egina FPSO EPC contract in the sum of over $3.1 billion. LADOL claims that unknown to it, the contract included a sum of $214 million for the construction of the upgrade of the fabrication and integration facilities at LADOL. “As soon as the Egina FPSO contract was awarded, Samsung took every step and opportunity to exclude LADOL from the local content elements of the contract so as to appropriate to itself the upgrade and ownership of the fabrication and integration facility at LADOL,”LADOL claimed.

They added, “In particular, Samsung unilaterally fixed the EPC costs of upgrading the fabrication and integration facility at LADOL at US$300 million, refused to have the upgrade project financed as was typical of such facilities, insisted on providing corporate finance on its own terms and asked LADOL to provide $240million as debt and equity to pay for its 80 per cent ownership of SHI MCI FZE and the facility.”

Samsung, however, denounced LADOL’s claims, arguing that LADIOL was not excluded from participation adding, “They had their opportunity, but failed to meet with their financial contractual obligations. Moreover, LADOL is one of the main beneficiaries of Egina FPSO project. SHIN/SHI-MCI have paid huge amount of money in the name of land lease fee and various service charges. In addition, SHI Korea, which is the parent company of SHIN provided full guaranty for the debt financing including MCI’s portion, which ultimately gave significant relief in financial burden of LADOL. Samsung didn’t push LADOL to take unreasonable financial burden for 80 per cent of share; it was LADOL itself, which insisted to take 80 per cent of share beyond its financial capacity.”

The Shutdown Following the bitter disagreement, Global Resources Management Limited (GRML), a subsidiary of LADOL, on September 5th this year, terminated SHI MCI FZE’s sublease. The development deepened the

disagreement between the parties, raising concerns around breach of contracts. Samsung was as a result, denied access to the fabrication yard, putting the FPSO in Danger.

Reacting to the development, the Managing Director of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) Limited, the parent company of SHI MCI FZE, Mr. Yong-ho Jo, stated that the denial of SHIN workers access to the company’s $300 million fabrication and integration yard in LADOL Free Zone by the management of the free zone might delay the December 2018 first oil for the 200,000 barrels per day Egina deepwater field.

Jo, who disclosed this in a chat with THISDAY, said if not for the speed with which his company fabricated some modules weeks ahead of schedule, the Egina deepwater project would have been stalled.

He, however, assured that Samsung would do everything humanly possible to ensure that Total achieves its December target for first crude oil from the field.

According to him, “The delay did not allow us move some materials offshore because it had an impact on our schedule. We had a time frame within which we were to install mooring chains.

What saved us was that we were ahead of our schedule by six days without that we would not be sitting here talking about the project.

This shutdown of our yard has impacted our effort of moving some needed materials to the vessel earlier than we should. Definitely, it will have an impact on the December date,” he explained.

He added that the delay will also increase cost as his company would have to employ more hands and equipment to enable it get back some of the time the two weeks shutdown has set it back.

He also stated that even if it is able to drill the first crude oil from the vessel, a lot of work still needed to be done hence the need for the yard manager to exercise restraint in its actions.

He called on the relevant authorities to ensure that his company’s dispute with LADOL was resolved in the best interest of Nigeria as investors all over the world were aware of the matter and are watching.

LADOL had also claimed that the fabrication yard did not belong to SHI because Total brought the money used in building the yard.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ϳ˜ ͺ͸͹΀

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

With Belated Capital Releases, Emphasis Shifts to Accelerated Budget Implementation Notwithstanding the delay in the passage of the 2018 Budget effective implementation and transparency remain crucial to achieving better economic performance, James Emejo writes

Barrel of oil

I

n yet another unsavoury report on the state of the Nigerian economy in recent times, the World Bank had cut the country’s growth forecast for the year to 1.9 per cent from the 2.1 per cent it had projected earlier in April.

Of particular concern to the bank, was the contraction in the agricultural sector as the farmers and herders’ crisis across the country took toll on farm produce for most of the year.

Agriculture, a key sector for government’s diversification programme contributed a disappointing 1.19 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of the year.

The GDP growth had slowed to 1.50 percent in Q2 from 1.95 per cent in the preceding quarter.

According to the World Bank’s pronouncement on the economy, in Nigeria, declining oil production and contraction in the agriculture sector partially offset a rebound in the services sector and dampened non-oil growth, all of which affected economic recovery.

“Nigeria’s recovery faltered in the first half of the year. Oil production fell, partly due to pipeline closures.

“The agriculture sector contracted, as conflict over land between farmers and herders disrupted crop production, partially offsetting a rebound in the services sector and dampening non-oil growth,” the Bretton Woods institution added.

Only recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had raised a red flag over the state of the economy, warning that the country’s much-celebrated exit from recession was being threatened after the GDP contracted in Q2.

All along, the argument had been that the dismal performance of the economy was as a result of delays in the passage of the appropriation bill, which had generated heated debate between the executive and legislature.

Though the budget was eventually signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 19, it was only recently that capital releases were made to some agencies.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, had while explaining the poor performance of the sector in Q2, expressed disappoint-

ment that no capital releases had been made as at early September.

In fact, findings suggested that no meaningful activities were carried out in most agencies of government, which are critical to economic stimulation, while capital releases were delayed.

The CBN had, during its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, harped on the implementation of the 2018 budget among other things to stimulate the economy.

It specifically called on the government to fast track the implementation of the 2018 budget to help jumpstart the process of sustainable economic recovery.

However, following reports of gradual releases of capital expenditure, attention has now moved to the need to ensure transparency and effectively monitoring of budget implementation, if the economy must move forward.

Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo, warned that the slow implementation of the budget would slow growth and invariably development.

He also said there was need for better public information on the implementation.

In an interview with THISDAY, Ekpo said:”Yes, the budget was passed quite late for no sound reason. However, I do not think any aspect has been implemented. What we need to request is for government to inform the public on the performance of the budget.

“It is almost six months since the budget was signed.

The slow implementation would slow growth and invariably development. The sluggish recovery needs push by government through the implementation of the capital component of the budget.”

He added:”The social programmes are also crucial for poverty reduction. There have been releases for capital projects.

“Hence monitoring and evaluation remain vital for measuring performance. The 2018 budget is being implemented. Our concern should be the speed of implementation.”

Also, economist and former Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, Dr. Mohammed Rislanudeen,

said the success of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of government would depend on the implementation of the budget.

According to him:”Implementation of the budget particularly the capital aspect of the budget has over the years been challenged by lack of timely passage of the annual budgets as well as limited or lack of matching funds while recurrent as well as statutory obligations like loan repayments always get fully implemented.”

He said:”The situation is further accentuated in 2018 as politics seem to have taken more precedence over the economy with the unfortunate impasse between the National Assembly and the Executive arms of government.

“It need no emphasis that timely budget implementation will go a long way towards reflating the economy, improve GDP growth via improved economic activities with multiplier effect across all sectors, thereby reducing unemployment rate that been heading northwards peaking at 18.8 percent.”

Rislanudeen added:”Kindly note that both quarterly GDP and monthly inflation rates have recently surged and reversed the recovery trend to 1.5 per cent and 11.23 respectively.

“Indeed timely implementation of annual budgets is an integral critical success factor of the government’s economic recovery and growth plan before and after mild exit from recession in 2016 to 2017.”

Also, speaking with THISDAY on the issue, Professor of Finance and Capital Market at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, said poor budget implementation remained a major constraint to growth of the economy.

He also called for reforms in the budgeting process to address current obstacles.

Uwaleke said:”Poor budget implementation especially with respect to the capital component has become a major drag on the country’s economic growth. A number of factors are responsible for this, including undue delays in the passage of the budget, the lengthy procurement process, which takes several months to conclude, non-release of funds in time as well as corrupt practices by officials of government.

“All these manifest in shoddily executed projects, abandoned projects that litter the country, costly projects as a result of frequent variations in contract price.

“The government’s fiscal year as enshrined in the constitution which is from January to December took into consideration seasonal factors. The delay in getting out the budget document especially since the return to democratic rule in 1999 hampers the execution of infrastructure projects, which are sensitive to weather conditions as contractors suspend work whenever the rains become heavy.

“Also, when money is not released in time or government officials take a large chunk of the contract fee as kickbacks, the contractor is hamstrung in delivering standard jobs.”

According to the university don, for a country like ours yearning for enabling infrastructure and human capital development, the importance of budget implementation cannot be over emphasised. Against this backdrop, the government should recognise the urgency to fast track the implementation of the 2018 capital budget in view of the fact that it was late on arrival.

“The National Assembly should cooperate with the executive in respect of any government borrowing programmes for capital projects provided for in the 2018 budget. Over the years, the level of capital budget implementation has been nothing to write home about.

“To break this jinx, a comprehensive budget reform is required entailing the entire process of formulation, legislative approval and Presidential assent, execution and control. This should be codified in a budget law that clearly spells out the time lines for various budget activities including sanctions for any breach.

“The procurement Act can also be amended to shorten the process as well as plug loopholes for abuses. The government should sustain the ongoing fight against corruption and public financial reforms.

“The finance ministry should ensure that funds are released on time and together with the ministry of Budget and National Planning put in place appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation. Funding shortages are best addressed through ramping up non-oil revenue and reducing the country’s vulnerability to oil shocks.”

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Ëš

The Race to Eliminate Hunger, Malnutrition in Nigeria At the just-concluded United Nations General Assembly, the imagery of hunger and malnutrition of Nigerian children was painted as the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) led by Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani) and other experts provide panacea to the elusive actualisation of the SDGs, Bayo Akinloye reports

From Left: Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani) Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Head of Transparency International-Nigeria, Mr. Muyiwa Onifade, representative of Prof. Tijjani Muhammed-Bande (Nigeria Permanent Representative to United Nations); and Senator Olanrewaju Tejuoso, Senate Commitee Chair on Health discussing in New York the ‘Multistakeholder Approach in Promoting Accountability and Investments in the SDGs’ at an event organised by CISLAC during the United Nations General Assembly

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he statistics are often startling: nearly 1,000 Nigerian children die of malnutrition-related causes every day – a total of 361,000 annually. With an approximate 2.1 million Nigerian under five children affected by malnutrition, Nigeria is said to account for one tenth of the global total. The prevalence of chronic malnutrition among women of childbearing age in Nigeria was put at 11.6 per cent, with 14.2 per cent and 5.7 per cent overweight and obese, respectively.

At 4 West 43rd Street, New York, during a side event at the just-concluded 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the imagery of hunger and malnutrition of Nigerian children was painted, however, there was a positive mood about the group seated in the room as important discussions went on about the plight of Nigerian children regarding hunger and malnutrition.

The faces in the room were familiar: the Chairman Senate Committee on Health, Olanrewaju Tejuoso; Programme Specialist and Coordinator Africa and Middle East UN SDG Action Campaign, Hilary Ogbonna; the Nigeria Permanent Representative to United Nations, Prof. Tijjani MuhammadBande (represented by Muyiwa Onifade); and the Representative of UNICEF, Mrs. Chizoba Steve-Edemba. Others were civil society groups, development partners, the

international community, players in the private sector, Nigerians in the Diaspora and the media.

To the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani), who led the discussion, the startling statistics is an indication of the emerging double burden of malnutrition in the country. It was apparent to all in the room that there is no other time than now to “interrogate the issue of poor nutrition and inadequate political will� to arrest severe cases of malnutrition among children under the age of 5 – especially as 45 per cent of all under-five deaths are attributable to under-nutrition.

According to Rafsanjani, there are surmountable situations stalling the fight against malnutrition.

He said, “While adequate and optimal health care delivery constitutes components of governance and national development, in Nigeria, adequate access to Health care services is hindered by quite a number of factors including inadequate financing for health, dearth of healthcare personnel, poor maintenance culture, and unethical attitude of health providers, ill-equipped and poor infrastructural services. “All these lead to high maternal mortality and infant mortality rates, low life expectancy, lack of productivity and deepening of underdevelopment. As the health condition worsens we witness poor financial and political commitments and in cases where there have been pronounce-

ments, they have been partially or entirely not implemented.�

Known for its legislative advocacy in achieving developmental goals, CISLAC has often engaged national and state lawmakers especially on prioritising funding for health. Its conviction and that of Rafsanjani is that it is only through serious engagements with policy and legislations can this gory situation be overturned, hence the need to continuously engage all relevant stakeholders to draw political will necessary for prioritizing funding for health and specifically nutrition which impacts women and children.

The CISLAC boss further lamented the slow implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the high level of corruption stalling the implementation of the SDGs. He noted that while the country’s SDGs implementing body – Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the SDGs is bothered about paucity of funds in executing the SDGs, the country on the other hand is bleeding from corruption, illicit financial flows and lack of transparency and accountability.

In this regard, Rafsanjani called on all relevant financial institutions and governmental bodies to exhibit high level of seriousness in the fight against corruption and steer the ship of sustainable development in the right direction Similarly, Prof. Muhammad-Bande observed that promoting government’s

anti-corruption efforts is the panacea towards solving Nigeria’s developmental issues including health, arguing that health is vital to the SDGs. To shore up funding, Muhammad-Bande noted that asset recovery and repatriation of funds to Nigeria would help in implementing the SDGs. According to him, the President Muhammadu Buhari is making great efforts in that direction particularly in revitalising the over 10,000 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) across the country.

The Nigerian envoy stated that what CISLAC is doing “is paramount to Nigeria as well as Africa�, adding that Nigeria’s permanent mission counts on CISLAC “as champions against corruption�. He, therefore, called for more stringent measures to tackle illicit financial and arms flows in the country and urged civil society groups to the crusade which he said will lead to achieving universal health coverage and sustainable development.

Tejuoso in his presentation, “The Role of Parliament in Improving Domestic Investment in Nutrition�, said malnutrition is responsible for impaired brain development and lower intelligence quotient (IQ), low productivity, increased health care cost, weakened immune system, high risk of diabetes, cancer, and stroke.

The lawmaker claimed that Nigeria has many nutrition policies but lacks the will to implement them. According to him, for every dollar spent on nutrition, there is $16 dividend. He, however, lamented the poor budgetary allocation to nutrition which he tied to the ‘Nutrition Global Report 2017’ that recommended four per cent of the national budget to nutrition – with Nigeria investing just 0.02 per cent.

Senator Tejuoso added that it was for the purpose of active involvement of legislators that the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage and Nutrition was adopted. Since its adoption the network has made some achievements among which are increased budget for nutrition in 2018, inclusion of nutrition services in the Basic Health Care Provision Funds, development of legislative monitoring frameworks to oversight healthcare facilities, among others.

For Ogbonna, achieving the SDG agenda is transformative and people-driven, noting that the SDGs is about transparency and accountability. If the SDGs are properly implemented, he argued, the results will lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

Speaking on the challenges of implementing the SDGs, CISLAC’s Programme Manager on Democratic Governance, Okeke Anya, there is a strong correlation between financial wastes by the government and the failure to effectively meet the SDG target. He, however, noted that money laundry is a major setback.

Recommendations were made following the conclusion of the panel, which include among other things that advocacy from the perspective of political and investment case for nutrition needs to be intensified; more coordinated and deliberate efforts are needed to mobilise and apply technical and financial resources; partnership with the legislature and executives to institute transparency and accountability; and that all arms of government, CSOs and media must work together to ensure implementation and proper coordination of the SDGs, among others.

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BUSINESS/LABOUR

Nigerian workers protesting over minimum wage

When Nigerian Workers Downed Tools over Minimum Wage In this piece, Onyebuchi Ezigbo reports on how the Nigeria Labour Congress is working to press home its demands and challenge the apathetic appetite of the All Progressives Congress-led federal government

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embers of the organised labour recently embarked on a nationwide warning strike to press home their demands for a deal on the new national minimum wage.

On its first day, the workers’ strike recorded partial compliance by workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and in most of the states. The strike action also failed to bring activities to a halt in the cities as some of its affiliate unions especially in the private sector defied the strike order to open their businesses.

The workers’ industrial action did not come without a warning because the labour leaders gave a two-week ultimatum to government to address their demands. The 14-day ultimatum was first issued at a joint press conference in Lagos by labour leaders.

According to labour leaders, the current minimum wage was due for review since 2016 but the Federal Government pleaded with workers to show understanding over the prevailing economic difficulties. However, the organised labour and government got into negotiations on the new minimum wage after waiting for almost one year.

President Muhammadu Buhari set up the tripartite committee involving other stakeholders like the state governments and private organisations. The inauguration and eventual take off the committee came in March this year.

Notwithstanding the delay that dogged its take-off, the committee went into business and was about reach a consensus before the meeting was suspended indefinitely.

The National Minimum Wage Committee

was set up in November 2017, but commenced work in March, this year. Explaining the genesis of the present deadlock, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said that there were initial assurances by the federal government that negotiations will follow a timeline, which is to terminate with an agreement on new minimum wage latest in August or September, 2018.

Explaining further, the NLC president said the tripartite committee in course of its work, received several memoranda and inputs from 21 state governments, organised labour, agencies of the federal government and organised private sector.

According labour’s account of the negotiations, the committee has almost concluded deliberations on the need for an increase in minimum wage, and except that a few states are still dragging their feet on the matter.

Figures between N65,000, N45,000 and as low as N25,000 were being canvassed by NLC, FG, states and the Organised Private Sector negotiating teams. The governors had complained of lean finances to carry additional wage burden.

They had set up a study committee to try to assess individual state capacity to absorb new wage bill. But Wabba frowned on the statement attributed to the governors that they should not be compelled to pay a national minimum wage.

He said: “We do believe that the reasons why governors find it difficult to pay the national minimum wage are lack of political will, high level of corruption, excessive cost of governance and indulgence in obscene lifestyle and white elephants.

However, the federal government explained how the negotiations were moving before the

strike began.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the presidential committee charged with task of working out details of the new wage package has almost completed its assignment except that agreement on figures for new minimum wage were yet to be reached.

Ngige also went to brief Buhari on the progress made so far on the negotiations for a new minimum wage.

During a meeting with the labour leaders, Ngige assured them that the talks with the organised Labour will resume next Thursday.

The minister also explained the National Economic Council was currently deliberating on the issue.

According to the Minister, after agreement on the new minimum wage may have been reached, the Federal Executive Council will consider and review it and subsequently forward same to the National Assembly.

Also last week, the chairman of the tripartite committee negotiating the minimum wage, Mrs. Ama Pepple, promised that the government will restart negotiations with the Labour.

The labour had first issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal and state governments to reconvene the tripartite negotiating committee on new minimum wage. However, both the federal government and the governors were unable to conclude their consultations over the issue.

In expressing support, General Secretary of the Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Peter Adeyemi, lamented the dismal state of workers’ welfare particularly the non-payment of salaries to workers in state-owned tertiary institutions.

According to Adeyemi, it amounts to great insensitivity on the part of the president to

inaugurate a tripartite committee on new minimum wage only to allow it to be toyed with.

Adeyemi asked workers in states, where there are backlog of salaries to mobilise and vote the governors out at the next election.

He accused most of the governors owning workers their salaries of neglecting their core mandate.

Similarly health workers under the auspices of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) yesterday rallied support for industrial action which entered the second day today last Friday.

The President of MHWUN, Biobelemoye said: “We at the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria wish to register our unalloyed support to the Nigeria Labour Congress under the leadership of Comrade Ayuba Wabba. We have watched with keen interest recorded partial compliance by workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”

The strike action also failed to bring activities to a halt in the city as some of its affiliate unions, especially in the private sector defied the strike order to open their businesses.

With events leading to this unfortunate situation not a few Nigerians are convinced that the organised labour has exhibited the highest level of civility, patience and respect for due process in the quest for the legitimate aspirations of the working class.

From what the labour unions have said, it is apparent that reconvening the meeting of the tripartite committee and fast-tracking negotiations for a new wage is what is needed to halt the industrial action.

NLC has, however, suspended its strike on the promise by the federal government to reconvene the tripartite committee.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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Ëš

Redefining Insurance Industry Growth Pattern through Tier-based Solvency Capital The tier-based minimum solvency capital increase recently introduced by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is deemed on ideal regulatory instrument to improve poor performance and low level of growth and development of insurance industry, writes Ebere Nwoji

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he tier base minimum solvency capital for insurance industry in Nigeria announced by the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM) on July 25, 2018, has at the initial stage of its pronouncement set the industry on edge as operators reacted differently to it, especially the sudden change in its implementation deadline.

But the latest information and explanations from the regulator seems to have proved that the much ado about the initiative is borne out of misconception and urge to resist change which both the regulator and economy analysts said is inevitable if the industry must surpass its current level of growth and development.

NAICOM had in July 25 announced the upgrading of minimum solvency capital of insurance companies from minimum of N2billion, N3billion for life and non-life companies respectively to a new levels according to the weight of risk each operating firm has decided to bear.

The commission had said in line with the tier base capital system, life underwriting firms that want to be on tier one should upgrade their capital to N6 billion from the current level of N2billion while those that want to be in tier two should upgrade to N3 billion, those on tier three should remain at N2 billion.

For non life firms, those on tier one should provide N9 billion while those on tier two should provide N4.5 billion and those on tier three should provide N3 billion.

For composite firms, those on tier one should provide N15 billion, tier two N7.5 billion while tier three should remain at N5 billion.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari,in his explanations on the tier base capital initiative at both recent media retreat organised in Abuja by NAICOM and insurance professionals’ forum organised in Abeokuta by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria had succeeded in making the operators see the need for the exercise.

Before the above two fora, though NAICOM had since over a year ago been preparing the operators’ minds on the capital increase, which it has time without number told them that it will be part of the globally accepted Risk Base supervision model of regulation it introduced against the compliance based model, the operators have since the announcement, been in a very big state of dilemma due to fear of being unable to meet the minimum capital.

Their fears mainly centered on the classification of their firms according to available capital especially tier three firms who presumed that the exercise would see their end as no one would want to do business with them any more.

But just recently, NAICOM has come up with a clear explanation on its latest minimum operating capital policy, which currently leaves no body in doubt on the fact that the initiative is for the good of both the operators, the insuring public and Nigeria as a country.

Amidst agitation for extension of the deadline for the implementation and perhaps change of the tier-based system by some operators,Kari at the media retreat took time to explain the fact that increase in capital base of insurance industry in Nigeria is overdue, if the industry must scale up from its current position as poor cousin of bank to a more productive industry.

At the professionals’ forum, he also took the operators down memory lane on the history of insurance industry and recapitalisation exercises.

He reminded them that in the early 80s, insurance companies owned about three banks in Nigeria, but while the insurers were busy parading the corridors of various courts in protest of capital base increases effected by the regulator at that time, the banking industry quietly and peacefully carried out a major increase in capital base that today saw even the weakest bank in Nigeria having minimum of N25 billion whereas insurance operators still maintained N2 billion and N3billion minimum capital base for life and nonlife operators respectively.

He recalled that when the industry’s capital, base was increased to the present level in 2005 from the hitherto N200million and N300 million levels for life and non life respectively, operators instituted legal action that held the industry to a stagnant position for two years precisely from 2005 to 2007.

Insisting that the global financial system and the world itself is running faster, Kari insisted that the industry needed to move forward to be able to meet others globally.

He said part of this forward movement required that there must be change in the old ways of doing things.

He said the effort to ensure that such change was not meant to see death of operators,the regulator had come up with the tier base minimum capital increase so that instead of going out of business or defrauding the public by carrying risks they are not strong enough to carry,operators should restrict themselves to only the risks they have the financial capacity to carry and leave the big ones to big and financially viable operators that have the capacity to do them.

The end result is for the operators to be in better position to pay genuine claims when they arise.

Kari

Smart

Kari said the tier-based minimum solvency capital had been structured in such a way that it will engender even distribution of insurance services to Nigerians at all levels.

He said the tier-based system will decentralise the activities of insurance operators, which has 90 percent concentration on cities and absence in other parts of the country.

He said with the tier-based system, the regulators will ensure that every insurance company has branches in various states of the country.

He said it will be structured in such a way that for an insurance company to get business from any state, it must have a branch in that state.

This, he said, was to promote retail insurance which is the engine of growth of every sector, make Nigerians patronise the industry,put more money in operators’ pockets and ensure that the sector contributes significantly to the GDP of the economy.

Currently, insurance contributions to the GDP is less than one percent, the gross premium of the industry as at last year is less than N400 billion against the N1trillion target set by the regulator five years back.

Indeed, Nigeria is one of the few African countries, whose insurance sector suffer law patronage by its citizens.

From observers’ point of view, insurance sector in Nigeria has not been doing well due mainly to a number of factors among which obviously is low financial capacity to handle big ticket businesses.

THISDAY, recently, reported that as a result of the operators’ low financial capacity, foreign insurers are cornering big ticket businesses to themselves especially in hi-tech and capital intensive businesses like oil and gas and aviation insurances.

This therefore positioned insurance sector as a major source of outflow for foreign exchange.

The CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, recently told THISDAY in an interview that one of the reasons Nigerian airlines prefer to insure their aircraft with foreign companies was because of capacity.

He explained that the local insurance companies did not have the capacity and that was why it took a bit longer time to pay claims when they come.

According to Sanusi, the local market is not ripe to wholly and fully insure aircraft, saying there is no reason for indigenous insurance operators to attempt carrying risks they cannot handle.

According to him, this explains why the local insurance companies re-insure risks with international companies so that the foreign companies that have the capacity could support them in carrying the risks. “You cannot insure your aircraft locally when you know that the local market does not have the capacity to carry the risk. “For example, if you buy your aircraft for $100 million and you have three aircraft acquired at that price, which is $300 million, and you want to insure them locally, can the market carry the risk? “This is why airlines insure with international companies, not because we don’t want to insure with local insurers. If you insure outside, you are exposed to the Asian market, the

European market and the US market and the risk is shared with re-insurers and when there is compensation, it would be easy to pay claims.

This is a shared risk,� Sanusi said.

Those in the oil and gas business sound the same tune raising the question on how long will the industry continue to meddle with this low capital syndrome .

Worried by this, the new Chairman, Nigeria Insurers Association(NIA), Mr Tope Smart, recently lamented the backwardness of insurance industry among other sub-sectors of Nigerian Finance services sector.

Therefore, he vowed to raise the banner of the industry during his tenure as NIA Chairman. “The Nigerian Insurance Industry is a key component and an important member of the Nigerian financial services sector.

Insurance as we all know is the bedrock of any economy. In Nigeria, it is rather sad to note that not all have embraced this concept. This is why the penetration rate still remains about 0.5 per cent as against some other African Countries such as Kenya and South Africa with penetration levels of 2.9 per cent and 14 per cent respectively,� he stated.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Mr. Oye Hassan-Odukale, said the tier-based capital increase was good for the industry.

Hassan-Odukale, who is also the Chairman of the SubCommittee on Publicity and Communication of the insurance industry’s Insurers’ Committee, said he believed the introduction of the risk-based capital in Nigeria will help to restructure the market He said with the regime, insurers could choose which part of the consumer segment (retail, commercial or industrial) is best served based on the capital fund that is available to it.

He stated that with the new development,insurers did not have to be compelled to increase capital to underwrite risks adding that the restructuring will foster the emergence of players with capacity to become retail specialists or become specialist underwriters of big-ticket risks in critical sectors of the economy, such as the aviation and oil & gas, whilst accelerating the growth of the industry and its contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

The Leadway Assurance boss also expressed his confidence in the initiative stating; “The news of NAICOM’s introduction of TBMSR is a positive one. I am confident that it is an initiative with potential upside for the industry to grow and take its rightful position as a formidable contributor to our national economic activities, growth and development as it is in developed economies. “It is high time we move beyond the 0.3 per cent contribution to GDP and improve our ranking within the comity of African insurers (heavily dominated by South Africa) as measured by the African Insurance Barometer.

Overall, we should expect an improvement in the capacity and reputation of the industry on the back of unwavering market discipline, improved claims settlement, stronger local retention, increased prudence and promotion of appropriate pricing,� he added.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ϳ˜ ͺ͸͹΀

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BUSINESS/MONEY

Before 2018 Nigerian Corporate Governance Code is Passed Olaseni Durojaiye writes on the observations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) on the 2018 Draft Exposure of Nigerian Corporate Governance Code

L-R: An ICAN member; CEO Proshare, Femi Awoyemi and ICAN President, Rasaq Jaiyeola during an ICAN event

A

ll may not be well with the 2018 Exposure Draft of the 2018 Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance as it were, as some critical sectors of the economy appear to have noticed certain shortfalls in the document, which they insisted negate its core objectives.

Numerous experts had contributed to the Exposure Draft of the 2018 Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG), addressing germane issues required to achieve the national desire for an enabling business environment on account that it was important for both for boosting investor confidence, growth and the development of the economy.

The Exposed Draft of the 2018 Nigerian Corporate Governance Code was conceptualised because of the need to ensure robust and inclusive business environment in the country. This informed the decision of the federal government to set up a committee to review the suspended National Code of Corporate Governance 2016 (NCCG).

Specifically, the 2016 Code was considered too strong and prescriptive. In addition, the implementation of the code with respect to non-for-profit organisations had generated a lot of controversies especially among religious organisations.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has, however, picked holes in the Exposure Draft of the 2018 Corporate Governance Code, insisting that the code was not strong enough to engender investor confidence and could discourage Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs) into the nation’s economy even.

It stated that as an institute committed to supporting the federal government to grow and the develop the local economy, it was important that it made its observations known to all stakeholders.

The Institute said it decided to create the awareness as part of its collaborative support to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) in its widely acknowledged efforts at carrying stakeholders along on the Exposure Draft of the 2018 Nigerian Corporate Governance Code as exemplified in the road shows conducted by FRCN across the federation.

ICAN President, Rasaq Jaiyola, which made the institute’s position known in Lagos recently, stated that the institute’s objective was to educate the public on what corporate governance was all about and to encourage the investing public to read the code as it has serious implications on governance of their investment . He stressed the importance of a robust corporate governance code in achieving sustainable and inclusive growth and development in an economy.

Jaiyeola reiterated the institute’s commitment to the growth and development of the nation’s economy pointing out that the institute was “poised at supporting government’s efforts in building investor confidence to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. We should know as a country that we do not have a divine right to FDI, hence we must create the environment to attract such investments.”

Stressing the importance of the corporate governance code, Jaiyeola stated that Corporate Governance Code was a national advertorial to the whole world that indicates how companies are to be managed and governed in a country or an

economic entity. According to him, it is not a document that should be weak as to easily enable the compromise of investors’ capital and erode their confidence.

He further stressed that the stronger a corporate governance code is, the greater the protection of investors’ capital and is also able to guard against the expropriation of the interest of minorities and non-equity shareholders.

The ICAN President lamented that until now, the Nigerian corporate governance environment was replete with concentrated equity ownership, with majority shareholders working in absolute concert with executive management adding that in law, majority can exclusively appoint directors using equity control.

According to him, this is why in concentrated equity environments, like Nigeria, the dominant conflicts are usually between the majority shareholders and minorities, with the latter not even treated as part-owners, while the non-equity, but financial stakeholders are merely tolerated.

He argued that, “This is the undesirable outcome of a very extreme ‘shareholder focus’ which all previous sectoral governance codes appear to have adopted in the country.”

“As implied in the 2018 Code, a principles-based Code does not mean a voluntary code, but rather voluntary application of the provisions of the code.

We are of the opinion that the expression “voluntary” on page xiii of the 2018 Code should be removed from the Code. The Institute recommends that INED should be added to Para. 4.1 in the 2018 Code to read, “The Board should ensure that Directors, especially Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDs) and Non-Executive Directors (NEDs), have

access to independent professional advice as Directors.”

INEDs occupy a pre-eminent position in corporate governance oversight, hence they chair oversight committees and form a majority. Their purpose is to sustain board independence, give protection to widely dispersed minorities and non-equity stakeholders, and protect the independence and objectivity of the audit process,” he stated.

Continuing he stressed that, “The Institute is concerned by the provision that each Board Committee is to be composed of at least three members, with a majority of INEDs, where possible. There is need to clarify that, at least, for listed companies, under no circumstance should companies have a majority of NEDs on audit, remuneration and nomination committees, these three being oversight committees.

ICAN recommends that the 2018 Code should explicitly indicate the processes with which minority shareholders may be adequately protected from abusive actions by controlling shareholders, which is the principal remit of any corporate governance code in a concentrated ownership environment.

The Institute recommends that there should be specific reference to the use of integrated report by the board, which incorporate sustainability in financial reporting. The board should apply the principles of integrated thinking in managing the company. Integrated thinking is achieved by making use of integrated report,” he stated.

Jaiyeola commended the FRCN for its sustained efforts at improving the business environment in Nigeria with a view to attracting the much-needed FDI into the country.

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ÎÓÞÏÎ Ìã Demola Ojo ×ËÓÖ demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Legend Hotel Brings Airport VIP Lifestyle to Lagos Demola Ojo

wo days ago, the Legend Hotel Lagos Airport officially opened its doors to guests at a launch event attended by some of Nigeria’s most powerful men.

Situated next to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport’s private jet terminal, the hotel which features a private jet hangar and an exclusive immigrations and customs desk for private jet customers, joins the exclusive Curio Collection by Hilton, a collection of more than 60 one-of-a-kind hotels and resorts celebrated for their individuality and appeal to travellers seeking local and authentic experiences.

It is also Hilton’s 500th hotel to open across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

VIPs including Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Nigeria’s Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Chief Executive of Oando, Wale Tinubu; CEO, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe; Chairman, BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu among others came to celebrate with Chris Nassetta (Chief Executive Officer of Hilton) and Sam Iwuajoku (Director of Quits Hospitality Limited, the owners of the property).

“It is my first time in Lagos and also the first time I’m having an experience like this,” said Nassetta. “We never had a hotel at the airport like this and I would like to congratulate Mr Sam.” According to Sirika, “As minister, my purpose is to create an environment to support businesses. It’s no doubt that this is unique because there’s nothing like this in the continent of Africa. t’s like crossing the Rubicon. Sam has done us proud and you can rest assured of the support of the government in this enterprise.

“Within the first quarter of next year, we’ll be welcoming an A380 to Nigeria.

I believe you’re in the right business and the right location,” he affirmed.

First of its kind in Nigeria, the hotel features a flight support lounge that delivers the ultimate VIP welcome experience for the arrival of passengers and hotel guests. The lounge provides quick grab and go style catering, clean and fresh changing facilities and is perfect for high profile meetings.

All of this combines to revolutionize travelling from the often stressful experience it is, to a stress-free, upscale experience for the hotel’s patrons: picture stepping out of a jet and a few steps later you’re in the restaurant or straight to your room.

The Legend Hotel offers guests spacious guest rooms with Art Deco style and plenty of natural light.

The hotel’s interior is decorated with avant-garde art, paintings and sculptures that are truly breathtaking.

Taking into account the needs of business people, the desires of jetsetters and the individuality of Lagos, the Legend has merged world standards with local creativity; providing an authentic, intimate and unforgettable experience.

Featuring several hallmarks of the Hilton brand, the hotel features an indoor pool and state-of-the art fitness centre, contemporary and sophisticated guest rooms with plush bedding, restaurant and bar, executive board room with video conferencing facility and on-site leisure facilities.

Facilities include 54 rooms with free wifi, 40-inch TVs, separate bathtub and shower, as well as indoor swimming pool, steam room, fitness centre, and De Bull restaurant and bar.

The rooms include attractive views (airfield or city views) and access to an exclusive Executive Lounge. Espresso machines, fitted multi-plugs for the convenience of international business travellers are some of the other amenities available for guests.

The Legend has six suites; two Business Suites, and four Deluxe Suites which further incorporate spacious living rooms.

The hotel’s premium suites include

Legend Hotel Lagos Airport

AIrfield view from room

two Presidential Suites which include kitchenettes, private outdoor terraces that provide a breath-taking view of the tarmac and runway, Jacuzzis, and complimentary access to the gym, pool and steam room.

The Presidential Suites are ideal for both long-stay and temporary residence.

The Legend Hotel’s signature restaurant and bar, De Bull, is sure to make waves as not only a premier steak house but also an efficient grab and go buffet focused on health.

Meanwhile, Hilton says it is on track to double its presence in Africa in the next five years, with 41 open hotels and 53 in its development pipeline. Eight properties are set to open across the continent this year, three of which will be under the Hilton Garden Inn brand.

Speaking earlier Nassetta said: “We continue to innovate in Africa with new brands and products, and we are pleased to introduce our Curio Collection brand here with the opening of Legend Hotel Lagos Airport.

“As the continent continues to undergo rapid urbanization, with the UN forecasting that the world’s ten fastest-growing cities will all be in Africa by 2035, this hotel is a part of our strategy to connect guests to key cities and airport locations across the region.”

NCAC Set for NAFEST 2018

he National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) has promised to showcase Nigeria’s Cultural DNA at the forthcoming National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) set to hold in Port-Harcourt later this month.

The best of Nigeria’s culture, arts, crafts and fashion will be on show as the Rivers State government hosts the yearly rotated festival of unity in the Garden City with the NCAC promising to re-launch the unity festival into global acceptance and inclusiveness.

According to Director General of the NCAC, Otunba Segun Runsewe, the Port Harcourt edition will build on the success of last year’s edition held in Kaduna and will herald a massive repositioning of the entire gamut of Nigeria’s culture value chain.

NAFEST in Port Harcourt will create a strategic learning curve on how to alleviate poverty and enthrone a new rural sustainable cultural economy through skill acquisition and exposure to other multi beneficial contents related to Nigerian culture, he said.

Runsewe said, “The unity festival is coming at a time Nigeria has become the destination to

Runsewe

watch as President Buhari’s diplomatic shuttling across the globe has attracted massive interest in Nigeria beyond the traditional business frontiers, hence the repositioning of culture as the central bank of our creative wealth.”

The NCAC expects that Rivers State will take advantage of the Festival to redirect cultural tourism traffic to the oil city and the south-south region of Nigeria in general.

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Government Revenues S ll Under Performing Projec ons Government Revenues Performing Projec ons

S ll

Under

The CBN recently released its monthly economic report for August – the only one so far in 2018. The report provides provisional data on government's scal performance – up ll August 2018 – which allows us to assess the progress made towards scal targets. Overall, there was a robust performance in revenue, although s ll underwhelming compared to projec ons for the year.

Broad Based Recovery in Federa on Revenues Gross revenues signi cantly improved by 35.8% to N6.0tn for the rst eight months of the year, from N4.4tn in the previous year. However, when compared with budget expecta on of N8. tn, this represents a shor all of 31.2%. Also, there was a broad based recovery in the revenue segments, but oil surged the most at 53.2% to N3.6tn and its share of total revenues moved up 5. ppts to 5 .1%. The strong recovery in oil revenues can be a ributed to higher oil prices, which averaged US$71.50/b, 38.4% over the previous year, as well as the c.7.5% improvement in oil produc on.

Interes ngly, non oil revenues also recorded a double digit growth, although slower at 18.7% to N2.5tn. Corporate taxes was the standout performer, with a growth of 31.1% to N 70.7bn, while AT and customs & excise du es also improved at 12.6% and 11.2% to N706.3bn and N445.4bn respecvely.

The Funding Ga for FG͛s Budget Widens The FG plans to spend N .1tn in 2018 41.1% higher than the actual expenditure in 2017. Even more op mis c is the projected revenue of N7.3tn – 2.7x the actual revenues for 2017 – which brings projected scal de cit to N2.0tn. hile we expect improvements in revenues, we are perturbed by the aggressive nature of FG͛s projec ons. Hence, in an earlier report, we described the FG͛s plan for 2018 as op mis c considering some issues around revenues which remain unresolved. For oil revenues, outstanding cash call obliga ons, leakages in form of unbudgeted subsidies and non market re ec ve exchange rate at N305/US$1.00 reduce gross retained revenue for all governments. In addi on, poor tax collec on and historical underperformance in select non oil revenue segments such as independent revenues and asset recoveries & sales – from which the FG plans to raise 40. % of its budget – make projec ons unrealisable.

Considering the above, we note that the revenue performance so far in 2018 reects our expecta ons and concerns. There was a buoyant improvement in retained revenues by 3 .8% o to N2.4tn, but disappoin ngly, this represents just 51.3% of projected revenues for the same period.

Although there was no detailed breakdown of the sources of FG͛s revenue, we believe this will closely mirror trends in gross earnings for the federa on. As we an cipated, independent revenues con nued to trail projec ons, recording a 7 .6% underperformance at N115.4bn as at August 2018.

In view of these numbers, we adjusted our es mates for F 2018 budget performance. At the current pace, we expect revenues to reach N3.7tn in F 2018, 38.3% above revenue in the prior year.

Also, we es mate expenditure at N7.3tn, an implementa on rate of 7 .7% which is the average between 2016 and 2017. Accordingly, scal de cit would reach N3.6tn while de cit to G would se le at 2. % an improvement over 3.5% in F 2017 and just below the 3.0% threshold set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. However, this is s ll elevated considering the average of 1.4% between 2012 and 2016.

For a more sustainable scal condi on, we believe the FG has to align its projec ons with revenue reali es by cu ng down running costs. Also, blocking revenue leakages in the form of unbudgeted subsidies and adop ng a market re ec ve exchange rate for the conversion of oil export earnings are easier ways to improve revenues – at least un l there͛s more trac on in boos ng tax collec on.

Global Equi es Market: Rising Yields in the US Ri le Across Global MarketsÍ™ Equi es Tank The yield on US benchmark 10 year treasuries hit its highest level in seven years, breaching 3.2% as investors bet on a stronger economy and higher in a on.

The latest sell o s in US bonds was triggered by improving U.S economic data which signalled a more likely chance that the Feds would raise rates later in the year. The rise in treasury yields is expected to further pressure emerging markets and other developed markets on the back of a strengthening dollar. Earlier in the week, Canada and the United States nally agreed to a new trade deal, supplemen ng the ini al US Mexico agreement, as both sides made concessions and opened access to markets. This new deal is called the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) and will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In the commodi es market, Brent crude reached a four year high, peaking at US$86.2 /b on ednesday while the TI also touched a high of US$76.41/b the same day. The rally in oil prices was due to supply uncertainty brought by US sanc ons on Iranian oil, and the reluctance of O EC to boost current produc on levels. However, Brent closed the week at US$84.58/b while TI closed at US$74.43/b a er indica ons of a possible supply increase by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

In the developed markets, equi es were down this week. In the United States markets, the S& 500 closed lower by 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite was down by 3.8% due to rising treasury yields and plunging technology stocks – which dragged the broader market down. Similarly, the FTSE All Share Index was down 2.4% due to pressure emana ng from rising yields in the U.S. The Japan Nikkei 225 was at a er rebounding from a round of intraday sell o s as investors took pro t on the back of a rally to a 27 year high earlier in the week.

In Europe and Asia, equi es were down as rising treasury yields took a toll on global markets. Similarly, global sell o s sent the Korea͛s KOS I ( 3.1%), France͛s CAC 40 ( 2.5%), Germany͛s XETRA AX ( 1.1%) and Hang Seng ( 2.0%) down although Thailand͛s SET Index (1.4%) and Turkey͛s BIST 100 Index (6.1%) were up.

Across markets in BRICS, we saw increased pro t taking in 3 of 5 indices. Russia͛s RTSI closed in the red as it lost 2.7% o , following sell o s on some index cons tuents despite a rally in oil prices although this later tapered based on prospect of increased oil produc on. India͛s BSE Sens con nued its decline, shedding 5.1% o largely due to the con nuous nega ve impact of high oil prices on index heavyweights (oil & gas and metals). South Africa͛s JSE lost more ground as it closed lower by 2.3% o following nega ve global sen ment on emerging markets (following higher US yields) coupled with the exis ng bearish sen ment in the domes c market owing to poor economic

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performance. China͛s Shanghai Composite remained unchanged o as markets remain closed for a week long holiday. However, leading investors such as J. . Morgan lowered its ra ng for Chinese equi es to neutral from overweight based on the premise that escala ng trade war with the US will further hurt China's economy next year.

Brazil͛s Ibovespa con nued its impressive run despite some pro t taking during the week as it posted a gain of 3.6% o owing to increased investors͛ appe te across the real estate, public u li es and nancial sectors.

In Africa, there was a bearish performance as 4 of the 6 markets under our coverage underperformed o owing to nega ve sen ments on emerging markets. Egypt͛s EGX30 was the worst hit as it posted a loss of 3.6% o , followed by Nigeria͛s NSE ASI which declined 1.2% o while Morocco͛s Casablanca MASI and Kenya͛s NSE 20 indices further slipped 1.1% o and 0.4% o respec vely. On the ip side, Ghana͛s GSE Composite and Mauri us SEM EX appreciated by 1.6% o and 0.2% o respecvely, largely due to sustained buying interest in the indices.

Domes c Equi es Market: Equi es O en : in the RedÍ™ ASI do n .

W o W Following two consecu ve weeks of gains, the rout which has largely characterised market performance since February con nued in the week as sustained pro t taking on market bellwethers dragged the index. hilst the losses in the market have been closely ed to developments in the domes c polity, we reiterate our view that the overall nega ve sen ment on emerging and fron er markets assets is also taking a toll on the Nigerian market. Nonetheless, we envisage an upsurge in performance once the ongoing poli cal ji ers se le as current pricing ( /E) of the domes c bourse ( .3x), rela ve to peers – South Africa (17.1x), Kenya (12.4x) and Egypt (12.0x) – suggests an undervaluaon vis à vis earnings performance of listed companies. ith no poten al driver in the short term, we believe trading ac vi es will remain largely shaped by specula ve trading ac vi es.

The NSE All Share Index began the rst week of 4 2018 on a nega ve note as sell o s on all trading days of the week dragged the index 1.2% o to 32,383.15 points, while T loss worsened to â€“Ď­ĎąÍ˜ĎŻĐšÍ˜ Similarly, market capitalisa on contracted by N13 . bn to se le at N11.8tn. The major drags to performance in the week were DANGCEM ( 2.3%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES ( 2.0%) and UBA ( 2.4%). In the same vein, ac vity level weakened as average volume and value traded slid 13.6% and 30. % to 15 .8m units and N2.0bn respec vely. The top traded stocks by volume were FCMB (142.5m units), FIDELITY (64.2m units) and GUARANTY (60.8m units) while GUARANTY (N2.2bn), ENITH (N854.1m) and NESTLE (N80 . m) were the top traded stocks by value.

Sector performance in the week was largely bearish as 4 of the 5 indices under our coverage declined o . The Oil & Gas index was the lone gainer, improving 1.1% o on the back of gains in FORTE ( 10.2%) and JAPAUL ( .1%). On the ipside, the Insur-

29

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ ͺ͸͚΀

ance index depreciated the most, losing 1.0% o , following sell o s in NIGERINSURE ( 18. %) and NEM ( 1.7%). ikewise, the Banking index fell 0.7% o , against the backdrop of price deprecia ons in STANBIC ( 7.6%) and UBA ( 2.4%), while the Industrial and Consumer Goods indices were dragged 0.4% and 0.3% southwards by losses in DANGCEM ( 2.3%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES ( 2.0%) respec vely.

Investor sen ment improved this week, albeit s ll so , as market breadth increased to 0. x from 0.7x in the previous week following 27 stocks that advanced rela ve to 31 stocks that declined. The best performing stocks in the week were CUTIX ( 15.4%), FORTE ( 10.2%), and JAPAUL ( .1%), while NIGERINSURE ( 18. %), LAWUNION ( 15.4%) and NEIMETH ( 10.6%) were the worst performing in the week. Even as market sen ment remains weak, we envisage poten al opportuni es for which investors may take advantage, especially in market bellwethers. However, we recommend a minimum 1 year investment horizon. The stocks currently on our watch list for October are GUARANTY, UBA, CUSTODIAN, OKOMU and GUINNESS.

Money Market: Heightened Polity Risks Con nue to Drive Rates Higher Money market rates in the week responded to the dynamics in system liquidity as well as the successful MA and OMO aucons conducted on ednesday and Thursday to replace maturing equivalents. Consequently, average T bills rates trended lower to se le at 12.7%, down bps o .

On ednesday, the CBN at the primary market auc on ( MA) issued 1 day, 182 day and 364 day instruments at discount rates of 10. %, 12.1%, and 13.3% respec-

vely, with the 182 day and 364 day instruments recording oversubscrip ons of 1.8x and 3.7x. e expect rates to con nue to trend higher over the next few months as poli cal risks remain elevated given the impending general elec ons in February 2018.

US$84.00/b in the prior week. Given that concerns around the impact of sanc ons on Iran have heightened as commencement nears in November, we expect oil prices to remain supported around these levels over the near term, even as we believe that reduced oil supplies will be partly o set by increasing exports from Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Also, the CBN on Thursday issued OMO instruments worth N553.0bn which mopped up system liquidity, o se ng the OMO maturies of N278.3bn on the same day. As observed with the MA auc on, we note signi cant subscrip on levels on the longer tenor OMO instruments, with oversubscrip on recorded at 1.6x on the 364 day OMO instrument, compared with an undersubscrip on (0.8x) on the 182 day instrument.

ocally, the naira remained stable across all segments of the foreign exchange market, trading within the N361.00 – N363.85/ US$1.00 band in both the parallel market and I & E window. The naira closed the week at at N361.00/US$1.00 at the parallel market but depreciated marginally by 6kobo to N363.82/US$1.00 at the I & E window. Furthermore, ac vity level in the I & E window improved as total turnover inched 18.4% higher to US$1.2bn from US$1.1bn recorded in the prior week while at the FM OTC futures market, total subscrip ons rose 2. % o to US$4.4bn from US$4.3bn last week. The highest increases were recorded in the MAR 201 , JAN 201 and NO 2018 instruments.

Consequent on the above, system liquidity became ghtened at close of the week. Thus, the Open Buy Back (OBB) and Overnight (O N) rates trended higher. OBB and O N rates opened the week at 4.8% and 5.6% lower than the previous Friday͛s close of 6.0% and 7.2% increasing further to 11.7% and 12.6% respec vely by Thursday. By Friday, the OBB and O N further increased to 20. % and 22.5% up 14. % and 15.3% o respec vely.

In the coming week, we expect money market rates to trend lower based on our expecta on of a boost in system liquidity following the maturi es of OMO instruments worth N277.1bn. However, this may be impacted by the CBN͛s liquidity mop up opera ons.

e expect the naira to remain stable across all segments of the market next week and in the near term, as the level of reserves can sustain Nigeria͛s import bill for 20 months.

Consequently, we believe the CBN will maintain a defensive stance for the naira even as the polity heats up and capital reversals intensify.

Foreign Exchange Market: Naira Maintains Stability Across All Segments

Bond Market: Liquidity Drives Market Acvi es

Global oil prices con nued an upward trend on fears of oil supply shortages due to reduced US inventories and Iran sanc ons, with the commodity reaching a 3 year high of US$86.30/b on ednesday, 3rd October 2018, a er hovering between US$81.00/b

The ac vi es in the Nigerian bond market were seemingly bullish, as yields pared across instruments, declining by bps to 14.82%. The buying ac vi es were concentrated at the short and long tenor bonds, with yields on mid tenor bonds advancing by

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In the Sub Saharan Africa Sovereign Eurobond space, ac vi es were bearish, as yields increased across instruments by 2bps. Similarly, the yields on Nigerian Sovereign bonds increased, breaking recent trend witnessed a er the pressure resul ng from weariness of emerging and fron er market contagion.

Consequently, the average yield on Nigeria Sovereign bonds increased by 22bps to se le to average bond yield at 6. %across instruments. e maintain the posi on that yields will pare further into the quarter, given expecta ons that demand should increase due to a combina on of rela ve a rac veness compared to SSA peers and Íš ight to safetyÍ› drive.

The direc on of ac vi es in the trading for corporate Eurobonds mirrored the Sovereign, as the average yield declined by 10bps, with the largest decline witnessed on the Guaranty Trust Bank 2018 Eurobond which was down 62bps. e expect this trend to con nue and be in uenced by domes c ows, as investors seek stability prior to the general elec ons in 201 .

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4bps. e a ribute the increased ac vi es in the market to the level of liquidity, exacerbated by OMO repayments amoun ng to N53 .2bn over the past 2 weeks among other repayments. This has only started modera ng given recent ac vi es – CBN held primary market auc on and an open market opera on during the week, selling instruments worth N133.5bn (03/10/18) and N553.0bn (04/10/18) respec vely.

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Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Investment Research Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Jolomi Odonghanro | jodonghanro@afrinvest.com

30

T H I S D AY ˾ ͵˜ ͰͮͯͶ

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

07.10.2018

Femi Kuti

I Didn’t Want to Be Fela or Live Fela’s Life ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

SUNDAY, NDAY, OC OCTOBER CTO T BER 7, 2018 U

OE P I D A L

A N A L A F

C I S U D N M O Y M E B A E R T S N I A M BRYMO

G N I V EVOL

G N I T A E R C AND

S E N A L W E N

E KALIN

FUNBI

...NOT IN THISDAY STYLE? THEN YOU’RE NOT IN STYLE

CONTENT

Society

SEINYE LULU-BRIGGS @ 60!

PG 4-5

Fashion 3 WAYS TO ROCK A PLEATED SKIRT PG 6

ALL BANDAGED UP!

PG 8

CUT-OUTS

GO EDGY WITH LEATHER

PG 12-13

BE AS SMOOTH AS VELVET

PG 6

CASUAL CHIC IN A DENIM & A BLAZER

PG 8-9

PG 12-13

HOW TO STYLE A LEATHER SKIRT

10 TYPES OF DRESS THAT EVERY WOMAN SHOULD OWN PG 14-15

CULOTTES

PG 16-17

Beauty

WHATS IN THIS MONTH

PG 20-21

PREP YOUR SKIN

Yes the Wizkids and Davidos are seeking world domination and exporting Afrobeats to the world but there is also a place for this set of highly skilled, often more socially conscious, cerebral musicians. Through their compositions, they are bending the curve, creating new lanes, expanding our palate of music and quite frankly what good music can and should sound like. Style Contributor AYODEJI ROTINWA reports

THISDAY STYLE FASHION DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE EDITOR RUTH OSIME

08111847085

EDITOR PRINT OLUFUNKE BABS-KUFEJI 08111847086

EDITOR DIGITAL KONYE NWABOGOR 08111847087

STYLE CORRESPONDENT MOJISOLA ALLEN 08116759745

STYLE CORRESPONDENT SAFINA MOHAMMED SENIOR DESIGNER MATHIAS ARCHIBONG 07054965500

CONTRIBUTORS RUKY SALAKO JULIET ALU AYODEJI ROTINWA PHOTOGRAPHER TY BELLO DIRECTOR, PRINT PRODUCTION. CHUKS ONWUDINJO 08077092196

PG 18

POUT AND ABOUT

PG 22

When l was much younger, my friends used to ask me to help them write love letters to their boyfriends. They felt I had a way with words...gift of the pen so to speak. This was way before social media and emojis took the thrill away from letter writing. Oh how l loved to play with words! In fact at some point l nursed the idea of being a poet who could penetrate into the deepest thoughts of man and evoke buried emotions. Till date, l admire people who can touch a cord either through their written word or the lyrics of their songs. Nowadays, the rhythm and beat of a song is what sells rather than the content. It’s more about commercial success as opposed to the message behind it. Be that as it may, there are artistes who are changing the narrative by embracing the unconventional route and singing songs that resonate and are mentally stimulating. They make you travel on their lane at their own pace.

Sometimes their words hit you as you appreciate their impact. Their genre of music requires raw talent because they rely on the strength of their message to sell their music. They are usually eclectic in their approach and are sometimes not appreciated enough in the musical space.

Watching them perform is like watching something unravel in the most fascinating manner before your very eyes. You are carried along and held afloat till the end of their performance. Not everyone appreciates or understands alternative music but those that love it are die-hard fans that tend to prefer something outside the norm. Since this genre of music does not have as broad an appeal, some are not as successful as their commercial counterparts as it takes a certain level of exposure to enjoy such music. In a few more years though, the market will get wider as alternative music garners more momentum. This should encourage upcoming artistes in this genre to harness their God given talent and not be deterred because there is huge potential for its future.

FASHION DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

PG 10-11

HILDA DOKUBO

MR & MRS OKEY WALI

ABIOLA OGUNDOKUN

MARK JACKS FABIA JEMINA

BISHOP JONAH KATUNG

APOSTLE & MRS DAVID ZILLY AGGREY

RITA KISOB RACHEL SOMIARE MAGNUS ABE HIS HIGHNESS EZE & MRS AKAROLO ( THE AMANGADA OF REBISI KINGDOM)

MR & MRS FRANCIS BRUCE

SIR & LADY WILLIAM PARK IBIERE AKPANA

SOKONTE DAVIES

TORU OFILLI

MR & MRS FENIBO JACKS

O.C.J OKOCHA

SEINYE LULU-BRIGGS @ 60!

B Y K O N Y E C H E L S E A N WA B O G O R

It was indeed a wonderful extravaganza of praise and humanitarian gesture, as the Chairman Board of Trustees of the O.B Lulu-Briggs Foundation (NGO), Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs hosted a weeklong celebration, to mark her 60th birthday and the 17th Anniversary of the O.B Lulu-Briggs Foundation in Port Harcourt.

The very colourful celebrations started with a lecture given by Consultant Endocrinologist, Dr. Ibiteokoemi Faye Korubo on a theme ‘The Care You Need’ which took place at La Sien Pavilion Royale on Old GRA street, Port Harcourt.

There were free screenings for diabetes and follow up with over 500 hundred people benefitting. The week long activity also featured an enlightenment programme for the youths tagged“Conversations with Seinye” aimed to provide solutions for the lack of development in the Niger Delta. There were over 600 youths from around the Niger Delta and the result of the event led to the trending #Be the Impact.

The event came to a climax as drums were rolled out to celebrate God in the celebrant’s life on September 21, 2018 at the Alfred Dietie Spiff Civic Center with the theme “Endless Halleluyah’’. She celebrated with family, friends, revered clergy, government functionaries, and captains of industries in attendance. There were also guests artistes like Frank Edwards, Buchi, Lara George and Freke Umoh who ministered in music and worship.

The celebrations rounded off with a special dinner at Asia Town Restaurant where guests were treated with so much fun fare. The high point of the event was the surprise appearance of musical maestro Onyeka Onwenu who thrilled the celebrant and her guests to no end.

MAGARETH

CHIEF O.B LULUBRIGGS & DR MRS SEINYE LULUBRIGGS

MR & MRS OVUNDAH AKAROLO

SON DATEIM BRIGGS

RACHAEL LULU BRIGGS

AIMA OJEHOMON

ONYEKA ONWENU

JANE MIEBAKA-NABIEBU

3 WAYS T O RO C K A P LEAT E D S K I RT

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

STYLE & DESIGN

There is something so effortless about a pleated skirt. And by pleated, we are not talking pleated schooluniform skirts, but something a lot cooler. A pleated midi skirt can be a lifesaver in an outfit crisis. The better news is, no matter what you identify your personal style with, you can always add a pleated skirt to your wardrobe. It instantly elevates your look and gives it a luxurious feel, even when you’re teaming it with a tee and sneakers. Not sure how to rock this trend, here’s our guide on how to put a new spin on pleats!

BY KONYE CHELSEA NWABOGOR

A chic shirt top can instantly transport a look from day to night, especially teamed with fancy footwear. It adds elegance, and makes your outfit edgier yet more feminine. Whether it’s your best friend’s engagement party, or the office party, this style is a true showstopper.

6

VERONICA ODEKA

CHIOMA IKOKWU JENNIFER OSEH

You can toughen up your girly pleated skirt with a blazer.

Try a bright coloured one.

They are not only timeless, but complement any shade. This combo will help you achieve an effortless chic look, and make you the envy of other fashion forward girls.

White shirts may seem like a yawn-fest, but you can give them a twist with a pleated skirt. Not only will you be able to wear it time and time again, it also gives a more feminine, and flattering vibe to the skirt. This dressed up yet approachable look will make you the style queen in the office - tried and tested. This look mixes timelessness and modernity while making your style statement.

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

STYLE & DESIGN

All

BY FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI & ISIOMA USIADE

Bandaged Up!

The bandage dress was a gift to the fashion world from the 1990s, a collection of form-fitting dresses that showed off every inch of the feminine profile. Over the years, bandage dresses have become an indispensable part of every woman’s wardrobe, and remain as hot as ever. These dresses are closet staples for many of us because you do not need to have a perfect figure to pull them off! No matter your body shape, the dresses mold your curves a little like shapewear, hiding blemishes and smoothing where required.

BELT UP FOR GRACIOUS STYLE

Solid coloured dresses run the risk of looking monotonous.

Adding a belt is a great way to break the monotony. It helps you flaunt a slim waistline, hide those extra pounds in the tummy area, and creates the illusion of curves on a straight waist.

Pair your dress with a narrow or wide belt that accentuates your waist. Make sure that you do not overdo this styling accessory.

8

ADD TEXTURE TO YOUR DRESS WITH LAYERS

One of the easiest ways to style your dress is to pair it with a matching duster, a shrug, or blazer. Adding these items will give your dress texture and a polished look.

HAIR STYLES IMPACT OVERALL LOOK

Varying your hairstyle is one of the most affordable and simple ways to change the look of your dress. If you find that you usually wear your hair up, consider letting it flow freely. However always ensure that the hairstyle you choose in the end will match your dress, in particular, its neckline.

How to rock the bandage dress like...

CHICHI

MAKE COMFORT YOUR PRIORITY

A properly constructed bandage dress pulls you in and smooths you out while also being comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

They are uniquely designed to emphasize your silhouette, providing curves that are seamless and flattering. Whether you want to wear one for a night out on the town, during a shopping spree with friends, or on a hot first date; is a one-size-fits-all solution for your fashionista needs

MATCH YOUR DRESS TO YOUR SHOES A bandage dress is the ultimate totem of complete body confidence but does require footwear that compliments either in form or colour. Usually, these will be heels or full-blown stilettos. Try giving your dress the little oomph it needs by matching your shoes to your dress.

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

COVER

G N I C A R B EM C I S U M E V I T A N R E T AL

KALINE

Singer, songwriter, film composer who plays a mean note on the piano, Kaline is a musician’s musician. It is clear in her work the care given to the sound and melodies, the effort to provide an experience to the listener instead of a mere three to five minutes of a good sounding audio file. Similar to Falana, she came to public conciousness while behind the piano and perfoming at different venues live rather than on the radio or being handpicked by an industry mentor. Admittedly, her training at the Berklee College of Music gives an edge that she has finetuned, crafted to develop a sound and an ear that soothes. With a vague semblance to soul singer Somi, Kaline’s most memorable song - to this writer at least - is a collaboration with South African DJ Da Capo, titled ‘Ki Lo Fe’. On the song Kaline asks if a certain someone wants love. We might answer and say yes and then some. More songs like that one.

That this cover profile can exist, that Nigeria now has a thriving alternative music scene is a testament to the strength of an evolving industry. Yes the Wizkids and Davidos are seeking world domination and exporting Afrobeats to the world but there is also a place for this set of highly skilled, often more socially conscious, cerebral musicians. Through their compositions, they are bending the curve, creating new lanes, expanding our palate of music and quite frankly what good music can and should sound like. One cannot mention this school without mentioning a recent ‘pioneer’ Asa, who proved that there is room for emotionheavy, narrative driven ballads, folk and soul songs in the collective discography of Nigerian music. These days, this set of artists do not need to convince anyone. As Style Contributor AYODEJI ROTINWA documents here, you, dear reader are the one that should be paying more attention, seeking them out. You’re welcome!

BRYMO

Brymo is the conscience of a Nigerian music industry that has forgotten how to sing. How to sing about things that matter.

How to tell or recall stories that have nothing to do with brandy bottles, barely dressed women or misogny. The stories he wants to tell instead are about - shockingly for a Nigerian artist - taking precautions with one’s sexual proclivities, paying homage to a God-designed monument, Olumo and the people who make its home city, Abeokuta tick. The diminuitive rapper often defies easy categorization. Judging by his last album, you would not be wrong to say he makes folk music. Look further in the past you might call him an R&B or soul artist. While he may experiment and shape shift with genres, a recurring factor is a sound that is crisp and an artist who constantly seeks to provoke engagement (with his work) on his own terms. Earlier this year, he released a video for his song ‘Hey Ya’ wearing nothing but a thong, playing a grand piano under Third Mainland Bridge with the structure in the distance. No, it was not controversy for the sake of it. It was the calling card of an artist who has something to say and knows how to make us gather round

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

COVER

FALANA If you’re active on the corporate sponsor enabled social calendar, you might have come across Falana performing a set.

Always, beautifully: LIVE. It is - sadly - an unusual and difficult way to break into the Nigerian music industry but Falana did it with grace and deceptively easily. Often by herself, sat on her percussive instrument, mic lowered almost to the floor, is how the country came to be introduced to this clear voiced artist. Drawing musical influences from a time spent in Havana, Cuba, she brings Southern American sensibilities to her sound, mixed with that je ne sais quoi African flavour. At once, this makes Falana a bit of anomaly, an artist that can belong anywhere and nowhere, fusing two sounds that are likely connected via histories of transatlantic slave trade. Of Falana’s songs, a crowd favourite is an update on Fela’s Lady which Falana - who I’ve seen perform it about three times - does it with heart and conviction each time. And yes, what a lady.

LADIPOE

FUNBI Although soul artist, Funbi, only has one criticial hit, “Hallelujah” which was been described as a quasi-religious song that thanks an unnamed higher power for their efforts and praying, “more bottles to your bubble” to the listener, there is no doubt that Funbi is a very talented singer. He sounds endlessly at the cusp of a falsetto, a Maxwell or Miguel about to break out when his mouth is close to the mic. You hear it in the many background vocals where he has lent his chords to the verses of the likes of Ladipoe, Show Dem Camp, M.I. In his Twitter bio, he acknowledges this pigeon hole, when he says he sings, “the whole verse and not just the hook” but if a voice in the background can be so memorable, we can only imagine when he is front and centelre of more soul ballads of his own.

10

On a cover of Olamide’s monster hit “Who You Epp”, Mavin Records rapper Ladipoe said, “I think we have over 180 million people so whatever music we do there’s going to be some people out there that love it.” It was an introduction to what would be a masterful flip to Olamide’s original but it was perhaps also a reminder to himself. Rap is not an alternative genre but Ladipoe’s brand of it is alternative to what is mainstream in Nigeria.

Sonically his music doesn’t speak to a niche but his lyrics might even though they shouldn’t. He bucks the admittedly appreciable trend of singing entirely in local languages. He fills in instead with sharp turns of pidgin and the occasional sprinkle of Yoruba. This is what he means by ‘whatever music we do’ or perhaps the music that we do that is not the trend. But his talent is hard to deny. When he says he makes ‘chardonnay’ and / or ‘palmwine music’, smooth, intoxicating, it is not at all an exaggeration. Active in the music scene since 2012, it might be taking forever to become an overnight mega mainstream success (and you can suspect he wants it) but Poe is the man already... that we all should be listening to.

11

THISDAY THIS IS SD DA AY Style AY Sty St Sty ylle Vol. 22,, No. 8564 SSunda Sunday, ay, Oct October tobe to ber 7 7,, 2 2018 01 0 18 18

STYLE & DESIGN

GO EDGY WITH LEATHER

TRENDY WAYS TO WEAR LEATHER SKIRTS

MELISSA HOLDBROOKAKPOSOE

JOY EJIRO NIOVO AMA GODSON

BY FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI

STEPHANIE COKER CYNTHIA NWADIORA

If you want to look effortlessly stylish and sassy, a leather skirt is your best option. They can be worn all year round as long as you pair it up the right way. how you wear it.

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

STYLE & DESIGN

Age gives more class to women.

A midi-flared skirt can be worn with your favourite top or blouse for a modest look.

A Black and White combo never goes wrong.

Compliment your look with nice makeup, hair, and some statement jewelry.

A black leather mini skirt teamed with a crop top can add some flair to your party look. A pair of black thigh-high suede boots will balance the look out. You can also throw on a pair of fishnet tights to look classy.

A leather pencil skirt in brown looks very sexy when paired with a long sleeved top. Add a few inches to your height with heels, while a stunning necklace and cuff bracelet can add flair to your look.

This outfit can also pass for work.

It is one of the perfect wardrobe pieces that is actually super flattering for all shapes and sizes.

Black, Maroon, and Brown are usually the common colors.

• While buying the skirts never forget that Black and Brown never fail you.

• With either shiny or matte finish, you can pair them with a top of any style.

• For a flattering look, add dazzle and shimmer in your blouse.

• For a modest and decent look, keep the skirt length and hemline to midi and wear solid colour tops.

• For a fun or cheeky outfit, some street style look can be experimented with as well.

Show off your sassy casual side by wearing a bright red shinny faux leather skirt with a matching beret just like STEPHANIE COKER has done here. Pair with white sneakers for a casual look or heels to get the out-on-the-town look.

BE AS

SMOOTH VELVET AS

BY FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI

Have you always thought velvet is too glitzy for you? Too Liber Liberace-esque race-esque and sso best left in the closet? Think again because e this suave a and swanky fabric is too good to keep under lock and key. But good fabri ut to look goo od in velvet me per sharp in this th his most means wearing it right. Here’s how to look super luxurious of fabrics.

LOLU AROKODARE BANKY W J PHANTOM

12

MAI ATAFO

CHOOSE REAL VELVET

JACKETS

TROUSERS

ACCESSORIES

Velvet only looks classy if it’s good quality.

Avoid velvet made from synthetic fabrics, such as those produced in polyester and nylon. They not only look cheap, they don’t wear well either. Real velvet, woven from silk or cotton, is the only choice for gents with style. It oozes quality and authenticity and as long as you look after it, it will keep you looking great for years.

MAI ATAFO

Velvet looks best when you choose one smart, tailored piece worn with contrasting fabrics. For a dressed down look, pair your jacket with a plain t-shirt, simple silk scarf, dark trousers and a pair of Chelsea boots.

J PHANTOM

The golden rule for wearing velvet trousers is to go for a slim, straight-leg cut. Colour-wise, black velvet will always be the classic choice, but it’s worth considering other colours too. The best bet is to keep them dark and plain.

NOBLE IGWE

If you’re not ready to go for a velvet jacket or pants, consider some well chosen velvet accessories instead. A stylish velvet bow tie, pocket square or waist coat or a gray pair of shoes is a great way to liven up an outfit.

BANKY W & LOLU AROKODARE

NOBLE IGWE

13

DODOS UVIEGHARA

VERSATILE WEDDING DRESS:

In a similar vein to the black-tie conundrum, a wedding invitation can send even the most together woman into a frenzy. Obviously the dream is to buy a dress that can see you through any kind of wedding with ease.

This means choosing something classic and versatile that can be accessorized in many different ways.

10 THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

STYLE & DESIGN

Types Of Dresses That Every Woman Should Own

IBIERE MARINHO

“What should I wear?” is the infamous question we ask ourselves standing before our closets full of clothes. The truth is that while we have lots of clothes, they’re often not versatile enough for numerous occasions. If you’ve found yourself in this position (who hasn’t?), take a moment to mentally go through your closet. If the following 10 dresses aren’t in your inventory, you might be one step closer to discovering what’s really missing from your wardrobe.

Incorporate these dresses into your life, and you’ll never have ‘nothing-to-wear worry again.

BY FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI & ISIOMA USIADE

STYLE & DESIGN

SHIRT DRESS

A shirt dress is the kind of item you get and wonder how you ever lived without it. It is the perfect blend of polished and casual, allowing you to be comfortable and pulled together. Whether for work or the weekend, the humble shirt dress is a classic piece that is unlikely to ever go out of style. Dress it up with strappy sandals or mules and wear with crisp white trainers for an offduty outing.

TRACY NWAKPA

TANK DRESS

VERONCA ODEKA

LAYERED DRESSING

Be it a pinafore, dungaree or shift dress, invest in a frock that is perfect for layering up. With the ability to pair with T-shirts, shirts, polo necks and more, it can make one dress feel like 10 pairs.

VEEKEE JAMES

VERONICA ODEKA

STRAPPY DRESS Every

LAYERED DRESSING

TOSIN ADEGBITE

RITA DOMINIC

A LINE MAXI DRESS

woman should have a frock in their closet that is easy enough to wear during the day and at night and a spaghetti strap dress is just the one.

ABISOLA KOLA DAISI

FOLAKE HUNTOON

LITTLE BLACK/ WHITE DRESS

Every woman needs a little black/white dress in her wardrobe because it can get you through pretty much any occasion.

From dinner dates to impromptu events, you’ll fall back on it time and time again.

14

When it’s hot outside summer and you want to look cute without constricting fabrics or fits, look no further than the tank dress. It’s light and breathable but still appropriate for all but the most formal occasion. Throw on a pair of heels or sandals for your day to day while you look incredibly chic.

FLIRTY FLORAL DRESS For warm summer days and steamy summer nights, there’s nothing sweeter than a flirty floral dress. Dress it down with cute flats, sandals or heels with sparkly jewels.

Take a tip from and go for a classic cut and colour. This is a dress you’ll wear for years to come.

While we love the maxi dress, not all are created equal. Finding a flattering fit can be difficult especially if you’re pear shaped.

An A-line maxi dress that flares out at the waist fits better than ones that hug the hips and flares at the knees.

This former allows for a more comfortable and flattering silhouette free to move in. The long length makes this dress ideal for casual to semiformal events.

NKECHI EZE

DATE NIGHT DRESS

A dress that can truly transform your confidence is a musthave for every woman.

Whether it’s a revealing or something more demure, have one in your arsenal that makes you feel your most desirable and slip it on for those important romantic outings.

Be it a pinafore, dungaree or shift dress, invest in a frock that is perfect for layering up.

With the ability to pair with T-shirts, shirts, polo necks and more, it can make one dress feel like 10 pairs.

15

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

STYLE & DESIGN

Culottes

...Just That Little Bit Shorter Than Pants!

BY KONYE CHELSEA NWABOGOR

THISDAY Style S Vol. Vo V ol.l. 2 22, 2, N No. o. 8 o.

8564 564 Su 56 SSunday, un nd day, October 7, 2018

STYLE & DESIGN Culottes are having a serious fashion moment right now. These voluminous short pants may not be your favorite style of pants, but rest assured, when you get a hang of it, it’s a must have. Wearing culottes can be tricky, given its swingy volume and unpredictable length.

Whether you are petite or tall, plus-sized or stick-thin, here are some tips that can help you pull off a cute look in culottes.

Culottes can be great fashion staple for a night time look. Instead of some basic colours, you can opt for a block colour or some interesting pattern.

DOLCE AND GABBANA

For a flattering look, find a pair that hits a few inches above the ankle and that are streamlined on the sides, no bunching or pockets, which can add bulk. Add length with pumps or sandals, or go low-key with slides, sneakers, or loafers for a more casual look.

TIWA SAVAGE J W ANDERSON

MONSE

MONICA AWE ETUK

STELLA UZO

UJU OFFIAH

The culotte style is also ideal for office wear. Pair your culottes with a white shirt and head to the office with a professional and stylish look.

16

GUCCI

Culottes come in a variety of lengths, so you should make sure to choose the best length for your legs so as to achieve a stunning look

MONSE

STELLA MCCARTNEY

17

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

BEAUTY

PREPYOUR

SKIN

Wedding season is upon us and there’s nothing that stresses a he bride out more than making sure her day is the perfect way she dreamed it to be. Stress can do a lot of damage to the skin and d ie es.. that’s why we think your skin should be the least of your worries. ry y With the right products you can stress without having to worry about your skin. With every eye on you for your big day, a healthy-looking and glowing skin is a must.

BY FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI

START EARLY Finding products that work is as important as starting early. You can start using your organic product a year to your big day but make sure to stick to a brand that isn’t e so it doesn expensive doesn’tt add to your wedding expense. Try the YVES ROCHERSS brand of products.

They are very reasonably priced aree in and eak the won’t break bank.

melanin, stimulate cell renewal and the skin’s he sk k n’ss kin protection against the sun.

GET A FACIAL BEFORE ‘THE’ FACIAL To get a mini facial treatment, we recommend om mmen m nd PREP DAILY FOR REAL RESULTS Since you’ll be moving around nd a lot, the LEMON BASIL SHOWER WER GEL is vital in giving you the much needed sense of reinvigoration as it is enriched with soothing Aloe Vera gel from Organic Farming. A daily use of this gel will help cleanse the skin and leave it delicately scented with refreshing notes.

Next apply WHITE BOTANICAL EXCEPTIONAL YOUTH TONER to lift left over dirt and take care of skin impurities.

Finish up with SOLAIRE REPAIRBEAUTIFYING ANTI AGINGMOISTURIZING FACE CREAM to face protect the skin from the sun and radicals to get a bright tone and the SOLAIRE REPAIR BODY LOTION to boost

18

the Exfoliating Bar Soap (to be used twice wicce a week); it delivers gentle exfoliation and d hydrates the skin with an infusion of effe effective ectivve ingredients to give a healthy glow. Finish nish h off again with your WHITE BOTANICAL AL EXCEPTIONAL YOUTH TONER These tips will give you the best possible ible glow on your special day using the goodness ood dnes n ss of nature - Yves Rocher. The most amazing azin ng bit is that the brand is 100% organic and nd d the t e reviews have been nothing short of amazing. maazing i g.

STYLE & DESIGN

Whats IN THIS Month

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

We are always looking to update our wardrobes with the fast moving trends and we know you are too. Here are some staples to update your wardrobe this month of September.

MICRO SUNGLASSES This is quite the contrast to the oversized, cover-your-whole-face kinda of sunglasses that have been in the spotlight for a while. Basically, the smaller and weirder, the cooler it is. But if you’re not ready to go quite Matrix-level yet, find a pair that are not too small, and are more cat-eye retro than bug eye circles.

TRIXIE SCULPTURAL RIBBON TWIST STATEMENT EARRINGS

SCULPTURAL EARRINGS

GNARLY 1990’S RETRO COLOR TONE METAL OVAL SUNGLASSES

Bold statement earrings are back! However, the look is much more minimalistic and modern.

Think geometric patterns in gold and silver.

BONANG MATHEBA INIDIMA OKOJIE

BY FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI & ISIOMA USIADE

TAN-COLOURED SANDALS Instead of your usual white, black, or metallic sandals, try a pair that matches your skin tone because it extremely lengthens the legs, but also looks more chic and puttogether without any effort at all.

GUCCI GG MARMONT MATELASSÉ LEATHER BELT BAG

CHIOMA IKOKWU

They are effortlessly comfortable, incredibly chic, and can be worn with absolutely everything. From the fanciest occasions o to the most casual. The lowheeled h mule is going to be sticking around your y closet for a long, long time.

BELT BAGS STEPHAINE COKER

What do you do when you want to wear a clutch, but want the freedom of having free hands, simply opt for the belt bag. To stay away from the fanny pack vibe, opt for a black, structured purse with a chain or thin strap.

This stunning new accessory is going to be your best friend through everything from barbecues r to rooftop dinners and han hanging at the beach. This ma material in its structured sha is so of-the-moment, shape and is perfect for weather.

Let your fashionable straw purse pu take you from the po to the farmers market pool to a barbecue.

AMA GODSON

AKUNNA AKANO

DODOS UVIEGHARA

JACQUEMUS LES ROND CARRÉ SANDALS

20

LOW-HEELED MULES

STRAW BAGS

GAP WOMENS BLOCK HEEL MULES

BEVERLY FLORAL EMBROIDERED STRAW TOTE BAG

21

THISDAY Style Vol. 22, No. 8564 Sunday, October 7, 2018

BEAUTY

POUT AND ABOUT model for david martins photography

...Finding the perfect red lipstick There’s no denying that red lipstick is basically the little black dress of your makeup wardrobe. But one of the most common complaints is feeling that it doesn’t look quite right on you. We promise you this: there’s a red lipstick out there just waiting to become your signature shade. And in fact, just like the LBD, there can be more than one that looks amazing on you. Just follow our tips and you’d be on your way to owning the perfect red lipstick.

BY KONYE CHELSEA NWABOGOR

KNOW YOUR UNDERTONES. The key to picking the perfect red is understanding the undertones of your skin as well as the undertones of the lipstick—and how they work together.

To identify your skin’s undertones, simply check your wrist. If your veins appear more purple-ish, you have cool undertones. If your veins look more green, you’re considered warm.

Now you have two choices. If you want a red lip that really pops, choose a lipstick with undertones that are the opposite of your skin’s. Want a red lip that looks understatedly chic? Then go with a red lipstick that has the same undertones as your skin. After all, a girl’s gotta have options, right?

LIP TEST IT. Most of us wouldn’t buy that LBD

without first trying on a few. It’s the same for your lipstick. You need to actually try it on instead of just looking at it or swatching it on your hand. The only way to really tell is to wear it and see how it looks. A word to the wise: If you’re trying on lipsticks in a store, first wipe off the lipstick bullet with a tissue, then use a cotton bud to apply it to your lips to avoid catching anyone else’s germs.

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The right red lipstick isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just about the colour; you need to find the formula and finish that works for you, too. Based on your preferences and what makes you feel most confident, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always have to opt for that classic, Hollywood satin red.The red that works is the one you put on and feel most confident in.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beauty to me is about being comfortable in your own skin.

That, or a kickass red lipstickâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gwyneth Paltrow

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22

32

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ͵, ͰͮͯͶ

COVER

Femi Kuti and his dancers

Why I Chose to Live in Alagbole and Not New York Femi Kuti, a world record holder with the sax and four-time Grammy awards nominee, delivered an electric performance to an exclusive audience in Lagos recently. Before wowing the appreciative audience the world-renowned Afrobeat exponent and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s first son chatted with THISDAY. Demola Ojo writes

F

resh from tours to Belgrade and Paris, Femi Kuti was in Lagos last week to headline a concert at the Sheraton Hotel.

The event was put together by his management company, Chocolate City in collaboration with Marriot International to achieve two objectives: promote Kuti’s latest album, One People, One World, while also rewarding loyalty programme members (Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest) with exclusive access to the event.

The nature of the event meant there was a pre-concert meet-and-greet over cocktails, which allowed unfettered access to the ace musician. Kuti was cheerful and open,

chatty and ready to engage in conversation.

The mood was no different minutes later when he agreed to grant an interview.

This was slightly surprising, considering he hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with some sections of the media in the past. He must be in a good place; his enthusiastic demeanour, athletic physique and glowing skin are almost at variance with his greying hair, the only indication that he is 56 years old.

“I feel over the course of my career, the press at certain times did not do justice to me,” he says. “They either used my father or another artiste to undermine my credibility as an artiste. And the social media wasn’t in place at this time so a journalist could brainwash a million people.

“A lot of people have fallen for this stereotype journalism but now, because of

social media, it’s opening up for me, slowly but surely. I can put my own stories out and many people can voice their support directly.”

He has made sure not to let negativity from any side hinder him. “I don’t let this disturb my progress because when you look at these things, you feel heartbroken or discouraged and give up. But in the beginning, I used this kind of stories to propel me to be stronger and this is what got me more determined to be where I am today.”

Sax World Record Among many other achievements, Femi Kuti holds the Guinness World Record for a single note held on a sax in a method called circular breathing. A little over a year ago (May 2017), he blew a note uninterrupted for 51 minutes and 35 seconds, eclipsing the 45

minutes and six seconds set by Kenny G in 1997.

“When I started, I was just showing my dexterity and improvisation and how good I wanted to become on the sax. But everybody kept mentioning Kenny G. I wasn’t doing it because I was in competition with Kenny G. “Nobody saw the beauty of my improvisation. But the more they said it (Kenny G), the more I thought of going after the record. And I broke it. But it wasn’t my intention. Now that I’ve done it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just want to show that beauty of improvisation and my dexterity on the saxophone,” Kuti says.

Positive Force You can argue that the name Kuti brings up images of rebellion and you may be right. Being Fela’s first son and a one-time

57

OCTOBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

COVER

Femi and his son, Made

My Son’s Hundred Times Better Than Me but I didn’t see myself; I didn’t want to live his life. I love my father, I appreciate my father, and I respect my father. But where is Femi Anikulapo-Kuti? So, immediately I had to find myself. Even if I lose, let me lose because I struggled on my own. And If I am victorious, let me have a bit of pride that ‘Wow! What I set out to do, I’m quite happy’,” he confesses.

leader of his Egypt 80 band, Femi Kuti went against expectations and decided to set out on his own, by forming his own band called Positive Force. He explains why.

“I knew a long time ago that I didn’t want to be my father or live my father’s life for him. Then a puzzle came to me: the child that is waiting to inherit his father’s legacy or inheritance, what if he dies before his father?

“So the sooner you start your own journey in your life, the better for you. If your father passes before you, no wahala – and if you pass before your father, no wahala too. But people will realise you set out to live your life.”

After a long break and so much water under the bridge, Femi Kuti has in recent times performed with the Egypt 80 band now led by his younger brother, Seun.

“I played with Seun in Denmark; he played with me in New York. We’ve played at The Shrine; we have played about three Felabrations together...

“When my father died, Seun was about 15 or so, and I’m 20 years older than him. And people just started bringing controversy that Seun is the next Fela. Seun is better than Femi. And I didn’t know why the press went in that direction.

“It was as if some people in journalism just wanted to keep bastardizing anything I did. It was as if they were just throwing bad vibes at me to make feel bad.

“If I wanted to inherit my father’s legacy, I wouldn’t have left. If I wanted to be like him and play his music, I would have stayed and done all that.

“I used to perform his music on stage

Grammy Nominations Femi Kuti has been nominated for a Grammy award four times in the world music category in 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2013 but has never won.

“When I got the first nomination, they said, ‘So what? Somebody else has two.’

Then I got two. But when I got the first, why couldn’t this set of people just be happy that another Nigerian has got a nomination, let’s celebrate him? They gave an excuse why not to celebrate it, and then I got two, then three.

Then four!

“But again, I didn’t set out to win the Grammy, It was never about awards. And even my father, if you do your research, he never went to any nominations for an award.

And if you took the award to meet him, he sent it back to you. He never believed in awards. So this was my training.

“Grammy was never in my reasoning.

So when I got my first nomination, I wasn’t excited.” When he didn’t win, he wasn’t disappointed either.

“If I win one day, we will drink and celebrate but my songs haven’t been in that direction. My songs have been about poverty, bad education, bad roads, no electricity, and how Africa can be at the forefront of world affairs. Why can’t Africa be the envy of the world?” he asks.

“So, will the Grammy make this happen for my people? No. Where I stay is Alagbole; if you come to my area and see poverty, you will understand why.

“I’m in Sheraton today and it looks very beautiful but I’m going back to Alagbole. So I’m not going to trip and feel arrogant that I’m in Sheraton. So what? Because I’m going back to Alagbole,” Kuti says animatedly.

Staying where he does now is by choice.

“I’ve had every opportunity to move to Los Angeles or New York, but my training was to be with your people, live with your people, die with your people.”

International Recognition You can’t help but notice that he feels misunderstood and underappreciated. His tone and body language (he intermittently smacks the back of one palm into the face of

the other, and there’s a shrug of the shoulders too) are like a representation of one of his hit tracks, ‘do your best and leave the rest’.

At the moment, he notices more appreciation and recognition outside the shores of his native country. For example, he recently performed with the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra in Belgrade.

“This orchestra director came about four years ago to the previous management that he wants to work with me and they kind of dismissed him. He met me on Facebook in February and luckily I was promoting this album so we worked together.

“This man has studied my music and put all in orchestra form. It’s a big deal.

And my management at that time kind of undermined it. If I was my manager, I would have seized the opportunity. Like when I met Mos Def, I quickly seized the opportunity, when I met Common, I seized the opportunity.

“When these things come, I seize the opportunity because I think ahead that these things will be documented and when I pass on, these things will always be there. So you don’t miss these opportunities.

“He said ‘I’m a conductor, I’ve written your music out fully.’ He has written about 15 songs of mine, in the orchestra with strings, French horn and so on. Ahn-ahn! If you see the amount of work this man put into my life. That is tremendous respect.

“If you are from the music school, it’s a very big deal. The music he did, I think they will always stand the test of time,” Kuti says with so much belief.

He puts forward another example of his relevance. “My eldest son studied music.

In his college (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London), my albums are theses in the library. I didn’t put them there. Somebody must have seen that the albums need to be in the library for future generations.

“They’re studying Fela’s music in the most important universities. I know my music too is being studied. So when you’re looking at me like, ‘what has he done?’

Underground...” he trails off.

Like Father, Like Son Recently, Seal a British musician with Nigerian roots (of the Kiss from a Rose fame) was pictured with Femi Kuti at The Shrine, shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron also visited. This prompted the question: is any collaboration in the offing?

“Seal is like my brother now. He brought out a lot of emotions in me. You never know.

But I think the first priority is to bring him

for Felabration as soon as possible or to come and perform at The Shrine. But I’m keeping an open mind on working together.”

It’s the same with his younger brother, Seun. “I keep an open mind. If it happens good, if it doesn’t... but nothing is my priority. I will not even tell you I’m thinking of collaborating with my eldest son, Made.”

Femi Kuti’s eyes light up when he talks about his son, who joined his band as a bassist, replacing the previous one who absconded minutes before a concert in the US. “The way I see him playing these days, I would love him to have his life. I don’t want him to move under my roof. If I can set him up and see him even become greater than me in my lifetime, what more does a father want? And already, I can tell you that at this age, he’s much better than I was.

“My father didn’t send me to school.

My father didn’t train me as a musician.

Everything I know, 95 per cent of what I am today, I learnt on my own. My father went to the best university in his time. He didn’t teach me music. I can’t read or write music.

But my son? He reads the most complicated pieces. He has passed out from one of the best, if not the best university in England and I’m happy I could afford to give him that kind of education.

“My son? Professionally, he plays four instruments; trumpet, sax, piano, bass.

Drums... he can play anything. He learnt 81 pieces of my music in two weeks. My band leader, Ope, was shocked. He told me, ‘do you know what your son has done? He has put pressure on all of us.’ Now all of them have to buckle up.

“I will be very happy for my son to lead the way one day while we just lean back and be thankful. That I’m even seeing what he’s doing already, I cannot be more thankful.

And I’m telling you, at 22 years, he’s a hundred times better than I was. The way he improvises, I couldn’t improvise like that at 22,” he enthuses.

It’s almost time for the concert to commence. Femi Kuti literally jumps from his seat and darts out of the lounge with the speed of a teenager. So fast, a prospective fan misses him. “I hear you’re a famous musician,” a bespectacled Caucasian says to this writer. “No sir, he just left the room.”

Luckily, he would get to see Femi Kuti perform energetically for the next two hours, with a medley of old hits and songs from his new album, his son Made not too far behind, both of them playing different instruments in turn, to the delight of an appreciative audience.

58

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾OCTOBER 7, 2018

GLITZ PERSONALITY

Chika Ikenga Women Are at the Heart of My Business Chika Ikenga, the Managing Director of Re Care – makers of Nature’s Gentle Touch hair products – is a man of foresight and depth. His company has a growing list of influential women who have represented its brands including former Miss Universe, Leila Lopes, former Miss World, Agbani Darego, and super model Oluchi Onweagba. In this interview with Funke Olaode, Ikenga talks about his desire to see African f women glow g and be the best theyy can ever be

W

hat did y you go into the business of beauty ca care?

Before venturing into any business, busine one has to be prepared. Being B prepared entails the ability to identify a need that must be met.

The challe challenges experienced

by African women (mostly Nigerian N women) in maintaining a healthy natu natural hair prepared me for this business. I discovered discove that it was difficult for Nigerian women to effectively manage their natural hair and I devoted my time to study research on thes these challenges and come up with solutions.

How did the journey into the hair care business begin?

It all began in 1997 when I discovered that many Nigerian women were complaining about hair damage, breakage, dryness, slow growth and scalp itch. Going to the salon for relaxer application was an unpleasant experience for them. The truth is that African women, living in Africa, requ require specific hair care products because of the their unique hair condition, which is affecte affected by African weather, diet and hair text texture. And so, with my interest in natural pro products chemistry, I began to investigate ho how I could help women overcome these problems. I also rrecognized ecognized the fact that p people sought for a more natural approach appro to their hair and scalp treatments, ex expressing a desire for healthier, natural and an authentic ingredients in their hai hair and beauty ttreatments tr eatments that would enhance their personal p rsonal style. pe Many yp people p p presume this type off business is for f women. Do you sometimes feel like the odd man out?

I’ve always had problemsolving skills and I am always eager to prof proffer solution to every cha challenge I come aacross. ac ross. Rather Rat than feeling odd in th this business, I feel honoured and blessed honour that I am able to provide ssolutions so lutio to different hair h ir an ha and scalp challenges experienced by African expe women. The journey wom to ssuccess is never easy. All that matters eas is your personal determination and d drive. When you d have a goal, you h push forward p towards achieving to tthat th h goal and you do not rest until that do goal g o is actualized.

How did you H overcome any negativity overco

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OCTOBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

GLITZ G LITZ P PERSONALITY ERSONALITY

Thinking Local, Solving African Women’s Global lobal Issues you might have faced?

In life, not everybody would appreciate you and what you do. To overcome negativity, I listen to the good, the bad and the ugly. I distinguish the good from the bad and strive towards attaining the best.

Have you achieved your aim of going into this business?

The aim of starting this business was to solve a challenge – develop natural products that help maintain a healthy hair and scalp as well as solve hair and scalp related problems experienced by Nigerian women. So far so good, this aim has been achieved because our products have been tested and proven to maintain healthy hair, solve hair and scalp challenges and make our customers look and feel great.

Many people believe Nature’s Gentle Touch products are luxury products in terms of price. What’s your take on that?

Re Care is about more than beauty products, educating and empowering consumers is a cornerstone of our organization. We help you reveal your inner style, your way, on your terms. We focus on solving identifying challenges and providing solutions to those challenges. Our products are made with extracts from plants and natural ingredients and as we know, these natural ingredients don’t come cheap. We are focused on delivery and on ensuring we consistently deliver our brand promise to our consumers over and over again. And some of products attest to the fact that they are available and affordable.

What’s your assessment of the beauty industry in Nigeria, especially the hair care sector?

The Nigerian beauty industry is evolving and in particular the hair care industry. Women have started to embrace their natural afro-hair which is a campaign we started a number of years ago when the brand began. The industry is majorly dominated by foreign brands with products that were not scientifically configured for the African woman living in Africa. Our weather and diet is a major contributor to our hair texture, look and feel. Majority of our population have hair challenges and are in search for solution unfortunately, most of the hair care brands on the shelf are not able to provide these solutions that is why our Nigerian women run after foreign products in search for these solutions which do not put into consideration our diet, environment and weather. We have a lot of work to do, we will get there.

Nature Gentle Touch products are made-in-Nigeria. How and where do you source your materials?

The natural ingredient market in Nigeria is very large and this is one of the ways we as a brand give back to these communities. We buy from these rural communities at the standard market price with the hope that this would enable cover their expenses and then some. Our local raw material sourcing has allowed us to work with communities and improve the local economy.

What impact has the company made in terms of corporate social responsibility?

Empowerment and relationships are values we care about. We empower through knowledge sharing and education. Our belief in the personal style industry encourages us to empower the professionals, equipping them with knowledge and skills to improve themselves and serve their clients better.

Today, we have become the largest trainers of hairstylists in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Our free skills development programme with women has provided them with a pathway to economic empowerment. Having skills fosters hope.

Many people with skills feel confident and empowered. They gain more respect

in their communities and feel more secure about their future.

Why does your company have a hair care institute and what has been achieved through it?

The motive behind our hair institute is to bridge the knowledge gap in professional services rendered in salons in Africa and to elevate the quality of hair care services rendered to salon customers by offering basic, intermediate, advanced and specialist courses. So far, it has been achieved but we believe we can do more.

Our institutes educate Salon owners and re-train stylists. We have been opening training centres in Nigerian cities that offer basic and advanced beauty training.

We are providing free training to young people who otherwise would not have had opportunities to have skills to improve their economic situations. Through our beauty institutes we are giving them professional training to become world-class hairstylists and beauty professionals.

What are the challenges of doing business in the Nigeria?

The Nigerian economy today is really demanding. There are a lot of challenges faced ranging from infrastructural to social amenities such as light, water, motorable roads and other factors that support production generally. So challenges generally are the usual economic, regulatory and physical challenges, whether it’s power supply, whether it’s purchasing power, whether it’s the way government agencies do harass manufacturers. We generally run on alternate source of power all day and the exchange rate, crude prices going up, and diesel coming in at a higher price. We also have many different agencies harassing us- some legal and some illegal, whether it’s in the factory, whether it’s in terms of product registration. These are some of the challenges that we’ve been having.

us all. We like to go to our village.

Which local football team do you support?

Eunisell, my company is the shirt sponsor of Rivers United Football Club of Port Harcourt.

What motivates you?

It is the urge to achieve things, to make a success of whatever I do and restore dignity to humanity. I like to impact people and solve problems that I may encounter.

What’s your advice to young ones who may want to go into hair-care business?

It is simple: be prepared to work hard.

So far is the company is where you want it to be?

We are not where we want to be. But we thank God that we are not where we used to be. We are working on expanding, we are getting there.

In the next 10 years, where do you want the company to be?

Presently, we are among the top brands not only in Nigeria but also, in some parts of Africa. In the next 10 years, we would want this company to be known beyond the outskirts of Africa.

How will you describe your life growing up?

Growing up was interesting. I grew up in Enugu. I attended Government Secondary School, Owerri and University of Nigeria Nsukka, where I studied Industrial Chemistry. We played games and read novels since there was no Internet then.

What influenced your choice to study industrial chemistry?

My choice of course of study was influenced by my discovery that Chemistry was life and that many products where created from Chemistry.

You are a very busy man. When you’re not thinking about how to improve your products, what do you do?

If I am not working, I am spending time with my family. I socialize and do sports including lawn tennis. I exercise a lot too.

Where is your best holiday destination?

My best holiday destination is my village, Ohafia in Abia State.

Why your village?

The same reason I support local football. I like to grow and support our own. Besides, if you come to my village, you will understand why. It’s a fun spot for

Empowerment and relationships are values we care about.

We empower through knowledge sharing and education.

Our belief in the personal style industry encourages us to empower the professionals, equipping them with knowledge and skills to improve themselves and serve their clients better

60

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

GLITZ FOCUS I started painting, working with acrylic on canvass, playing with oil on canvass and some pieces turned out well.

I used to take them to Nike Art gallery, they are very good friends of mine and even though nobody was going to buy them, we would put red stickers on them and hang them on the wall so they tell everyone who walks in that the paintings were sold. I was just experimenting and that went very well

Olubukola Bolarinde

Bridging the Gaps in Creative Industry An architect finally finds a way to bridge seeming gaps in the creative industry, writes Vanessa Obioha

R

ight from childhood, Olubukola Bolarinde knew she had a proclivity towards the arts. She loved singing and fancied herself a musician each time she sang in the choir back in school. Nowadays, all she can do is sing in the confines of her bathroom.

She was also good at fine arts and found herself studying Architecture at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff University Wales where she obtained a graduate degree.

She proceeded to obtain her Masters in Environmental Design and Engineering in the School of Architecture called the Bartlett School of Architecture in University College, London, UCL. With her educational qualifications, Bolarinde imagined a world where she would work for one of the top companies in America and tour the world. But things didn’t go as planned. When her plans failed, she boarded the next plane to Nigeria and landed a job with James Kubit Architects.

While forging a career in her field with the company, she veered into project management and was seconded to the banking industry.

“I was at Standard Chartered Bank for about two years, working as a project manager and handling all the projects end

to end. They were rolling out new branches across the country. We had several projects in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos and I handled it all as the project manager. This started my foray into project management and I thought this was quite interesting and it made me a very good project manager because I had a background in architecture,” she said.

From there, she went into oil and gas where she worked with Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited for about seven years as project manager and head of FO Properties. She later joined the telecom industry.

Throughout her career transition, Bolarinde never gave up on her artistic passion. She taught herself how to paint and at a time dared to display the paintings at the Nike Art Gallery.

“I started painting, working with acrylic on canvass, playing with oil on canvass and some pieces turned out well. I used to take them to Nike Art gallery, they are very good friends of mine and even though nobody was going to buy them, we would put red stickers on them and hang them on the wall so they tell everyone who walks in that the paintings were sold. I was just experimenting and that went very well,” she discloses.

Perhaps, to improve her painting skills, the architect developed an insatiable appetite for art pieces. She collected art works from

Ghana, UK, USA, Nigeria and anywhere else her feet touched.

Bolarinde enthuses: “I love contemporary African art, I am immersed in it. I go to Nike Art gallery and I can spend four hours walking through every floor just going through the art. I also began collecting art pieces from this young man, who is not so young anymore (laughs) Nelson Ukoh.

I bought quite a few like over 30 pieces because I really loved his style and the pieces spoke to me. I noticed that this artist had a gap and was not cutting across to an audience I believe would have taken up a lot of his works, so I bridged some of those gaps.

I was able to make some introductions and it worked out quite well and this sort of started my foray into informally representing talents as it was never a formal thing. I leveraged on my network, friends, relationships and people that I knew who like me were art collectors and that worked out quite well. I later met another self-taught artist who was also a colleague of mine and he had never been commercial, but he is so gifted and talented. He said I knew people and had a network then I should help him broker some of the pieces. I started doing it to help him.

I was not paid any fee or commission, but I did that to help and he was very happy.

Some of the pieces sold much more that they ordinarily would have sold if they were

trying to pitch them independently.”

Early this year, Bolarinde received a call from a friend who wanted talents for a new TV series. It took Bolarinde few days to get the job done. It was during this process of scouting for new talents in the creative industry that it dawned on the self-taught artist that there is a missing link in the industry which she can adequately fill. Her curiosity led her to start a company that not only manages talent but create a pool of creative talent. Called Yellow Dot Limited, the company according to Bolarinde is focused on the creation of original African content, production for TV and film.

“I have come to see how we have so many undiscovered talents in Nigeria. It is unbelievable how really gifted these kids are and I am talking about the up and coming ones. There are so many of them that can do stuff but have not garnered the trust nor the experience to put out their good work, but it doesn’t change the fact that they can. They also are not enabled in the sense that they probably do not have the tools to put out the best quality of work because these things are expensive to acquire, even to rent. If you want to make a movie, to rent a high-quality equipment is very expensive for a young filmmaker to get the money but he does have the artistic direction to deliver. In the broader spectrum talking about Nigeria and how it fits into the film industry globally, we are already doing a lot of work, there is a lot of excellent work being put out there, I believe that Nigerians have become more aware of what we can do in the film industry and are becoming very proud of it as well. Platforms such as the AMVCA are a huge platform that keeps putting us out there and puts us on the global map and every year, there is improved output in the quality of work, the storyline and content that we are putting so definitely I think that Nigeria is on the right part,” she explained.

So far, 15 talents who cut across the arts and entertainment industry are managed by the company and in the coming months, the company will be releasing is first production, a movie titled ‘Oni diri’ (hairdresser). “‘Oni diri’ is in summary a discovery.

It is about a woman looking back on her childhood and telling you the truly peculiar African experience because ‘Oni diri’ will only ever, I daresay, would have been experienced by an African girl. For us it is a pure story that we wanted to put out there not only to Nigerians but to the world. In Nigeria it is easy to relate but outside here, people in the UK, America will never ever have thought that a movie about a hair dresser will be expressed in that way, which is why I say it’s a discovery. It is an adventure from a child’s eye or a child’s point of view,” she adds.

Working in this space is a sort of fulfillment to Bolarinde and she hopes that her company will be recognized as that company that puts out excellent material when it comes to original African content, solely produced, written, directed, shot, packaged and put out by Yellow Dot.

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High Life T

61 with LANRE ALFRED 08076885752

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

Gov. Ambode’s Ouster; is this the End for Niyi Makanjuola’s Visionscape?

he jury is still out on the fate that would befall the controversial multimillion dollar, Visionscape deal with Lagos State now that its lead proponent, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, will not be returning for a second term. Conceived as the brightest, revolutionary idea to reform the established waste management processes for a megalopolis like Lagos, there was the need for the issue of waste to be properly addressed because waste needs storage (bins), aggregation (transfer loading stations), processing (material recovery/ recycling) and proper disposal (engineered sanitary landfill). Then, the best brains in the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, identified that private sector financing would be needed to bridge the gap between what government had been able to provide and what was necessary for the future. Consequently, the state government in 2017 awarded contracts to the Dubai-based Visionscape Sanitations Solutions limited and its strategic partners

for deployment of waste management infrastructure but at what insiders allege was a huge cost. According to the terms of agreement, the Accountant General’s office was mandated to implement the monthly remittance of the gross sum of NGN713,700,000 as a first line charge from the revenue account of the Lagos State Government which commenced in June 2017 and terminates in June 2027.

This Irrevocable Standing Payment Order translates to N8.56 billion as guarantees for the bond and about N85 billion over the 10-year timeline. That is the basic, official charge.

Lagosians cried blue murder. Ambode’s political leaders, some of who were adversely affected by the cancellation of the contracts with the more effective Private Sector Participants (PSP) waste managers, sought Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s intervention.

When the heat of the Visionscape deal became too hot for Tinubu considering that many assumed he was in cahoots with the state government on the deal, he promised

to speak with the governor and quipped philosophically, “If it is not broken, don’t fix it.” Alas, Visionscape, despite all its fanciful mini waste disposal trucks, the colourful aprons of its staff, and multimillion dollar investments, could not deal with the mammoth wastes in Lagos. Soon, Lagos became a euphemism for dirt. Everywhere you turned in the state, heaps of dirt with the concomitant reproduction of vermin, became a common sight. Lagos was back to its pre-1999 days. And Ambode’s political fate was sealed therefrom. But Ambode is not the only one to rue the fate that may befall this deal. For Niyi Makanjuola, the young brains behind Visionscape, reality must have started biting real hard now. He is, however, consoled by the fact that there is a caveat, a fine of sort that Lagos State stands to pay Visionscape a horrifying, gaspinducing N50billion if it defaults. Would the presumptive new governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, continue with the deal or risk the consequences and terminate the deal for the greater benefit of Lagosians?

Slow Your Roll, Ene Lawani and John Obayuwana will Marry Someday George Bernard Shaw, the late Irish playwright, probably got it wrong. For if “marriage”, as he said, is truly “popular because it combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity,” then John Obayuwana and Ene Lawani, should be married by now.

But they aren’t. However, the proverbial chime of the weddings bells, pomp and glitter of a blissful ceremony, among other things, probably constitute the worst of the lovers’ fears. If there is one wedding the cream of the high society has been waiting impatiently for in the past few years, it is their wedding. Their romance assumed a whole new dimension in the wake of rumours about the likelihood of the couple getting married. But even as the media and general public waited with bated breath for news about the D-day, the couple never made any conscious attempt to actualize the gossip. Insider sources, however, said they are taking their time and pretty soon, they would make their move.

However, in terms of flamboyance

and penchant for expensive clothing, even an accustomed American rock star has nothing on Lagos lifestyle king, John Obayuwana. Curiously, in the deepest recesses of former Miss Nigeria, Ene Maya Lawani’s mind lies a secret pain.

It is not the enduring pain nay anger that she is infamously Nigeria’s longest reigning queen – Ene was crowned Miss Nigeria in 2004 and until 2010, there was no other queen due to intractable issues encountered by the organisers. It is also not the pain that comes with the fact that newer and younger queens have emerged on the scene, inadvertently shoving her from the limelight and attention of those that matter. Ene’s secret pain lies in the fact John has not put the ring in her finger.

It is no longer a front-burner gossip that Ene and multimillionaire chairman of Polo Limited, John Obayuwana, are familiar with each other’s sanctums.

They have been bucking and clawing and reveling in each other’s warmth for a long time. Ene, lovelorn, in her 30s, wants to get married before time passes her by.

Shagaya

Nigerian housewives bemoan rich husbands’ fascination with exotic ladies from abroad

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John Obauwana and Ene Lawani

Bola Shagaya is 59...Shelves Birthday Plans From banking to oil and gas and politics, Hajia Bola Muinat Shagaya has become the high watermark by which her contemporaries are measured. She is ruler of her world who is not bound by a time clock, yet she does not abuse the privilege. Her journey to entrepreneurial success and acclaim started very early in life. As young adult, she aspired to greatness and self-actualization, driven by the belief that a man’s reach should always exceed his grasp. She reached for the moon, knowing that if her grasp missed its cusp, her hands may land on the stars. And her hands indeed landed on the stars. Very early in life, she attained entrepreneurial acclaim for her inspiring exploits in the business world—you could be forgiven for imagining that she was shepherded by an unrelenting innate alter ego that persistently counselled her that where strength fails, boldness at least will deserve praise. Hence her inexorable dash for the summit of achievement in her business endeavours.

Folks who are familiar with her beginnings and ascent in the business

Move Over Matharoos! the Americans are in Town

world earnestly attest to her industry.

She worked hard to attain her current status and she is far removed from the contemporary alpha female stereotype that glorifies flamboyance, selfaggrandizement and narcissism above substance. However, Hajia Shagaya, would clock 59, Wednesday, October 10th. However, unlike the past couple of years, there would be no elaborate celebrations to mark the day. She has reportedly instructed her inner circle that there would be no party. Another source said she is planning big for her 60th birthday next year. Though, it was good year for Hajia Shagaya as her two sons, Seun and Kabir got married. However, Hajia Shagaya is the founder and CEO of Bolmus Group International, a diversified Nigerian conglomerate with interests in oil, real estate, banking, communications and photography while the real estate development arm of the group builds and owns dozens of luxury residential properties in some of Nigeria’s priciest neighbourhoods. She is an Economics and Accountancy graduate of Armstrong College in California.

asha, Yuri, Jessica and Naomi are well acquainted with the fantasies of Nigeria’s filthy rich. The American quartet does not loiter the busy boulevards and deserted street corners. Unlike the random ladies of easy virtue, they can’t be found in the lounges of swanky hotels and high priced resorts.

They are not defined by random imagery of discounted baseness neither are they relatable to fast fading photographs of squalid pleasure. Their personalities are never framed dirtily in the minds of their teeming clients and even cut-throat rivals. They are hardly perfect symbols of the proverbial Polaroid prostitute. Their reputation precedes them. Like the Indian Matharoo sisters, Jyoti and Kiran, their notoriety becomes the object of passion and lust of Nigeria’s rich, dandy husbands.

Captains of industry and political bigwigs are falling over themselves to have a taste of the American ladies’ pleasure trove.

The quartet is always willing to stretch boundaries and explore the extreme with their male clients as long as the latter are willing to pay exorbitantly. The pleasure they offer comes at a very steep price. Local billionaires cough outrageous sums of money, calculable in hundreds of thousands of dollars to enjoy the company and sexual skills of any of the quartet or a team from the group.

Thus like the Matharoo siblings, they are flown on private jets and transported in first-class cabin in commercial flights to the various venues of their sexual escapades with Nigeria’s filthy rich magnates and husbands. Virtually all the rich guys in the country are dying to spend time with them.

Little wonder their names strike fear into the hearts of many rich, married women and socialites in Nigeria’s high society.

Despite their established modus operandi and unsavory reputations, Nigerian men are willing to pay any amount to have these ladies. Many have been known to visit their Instagram pages to glance at their halfnaked pictures and all. Unknowingly, they have destroyed so many homes. A visit to the Southern Sun, Wheatbaker, Eko Signature, George Hotel and the Intercontinental will convince you. These are some of the places their rich clients lodge them prior to expensive bouts of guilty pleasure.

Despite the depressing economic situation in the country, they spoil the ladies silly with dollars and material gifts acquired at prohibitive costs. The girls in turn flaunt their exploits and acquisitions on Instagram and other social media. They call their clients ‘Sponsors.’ These are indeed the best of times for international sex workers.

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HIGHLIFE

A Daughter in a Million: The Amazing Exploits of Belinda Disu in Business Genius becomes the gene of the Adenuga clan. It seeps from one generation to the other, like the expensive but subtle fragrance worn by kings and coveted by minions living too close to royalty.

Being the daughter of a billionaire is enough fame already. When you are now the daughter of the richest black man in the world, the entire black race should literally worship the ground that you tread. Men should bow and women should genuflect when you as much as look in their direction. If you were ostentatious, unruly and wild a la Paris Hilton, the world would wave it off as a non-issue; it comes with the terrain, they would say just to cover up for your excesses. But Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr’s daughters are not moulded like other billionaire’s kids. They are decent, almost Spartan and respectful.

Belinda Adenuga-Disu’s got beauty and brains, and a wonderful personality to match. However, she exudes the savvy of the ancients, the type of spunk that spurred medieval Amazons to dare and surpass exploits that were the exclusive preserve of men. She is a hard-working and resilient woman who doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Bella as she is fondly called knows how to hold her ground, tame business rivals and avoid distractions capable of impeding the smooth roll of her exploits in every field of endeavour. Even as a billionaire’s daughter, Bella keeps a lowprofile and avoids any form of scandal that can jeopardize her name and that of her family. She is one young lady who has matured more than her age. You could be forgiven for imagining that she was shepherded by her father who persistently counselled her that where strength fails, boldness at least will deserve praise. Hence her inexorable dash for the summit of achievement in her business endeavours. You could also be forgiven for calling Globacom

Abike Dabiri

Abike Dabiri for Deputy Governor: An Ambition Foreclosed?

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Belinda Disu

boss, Mike Adenuga, a titan among men.

His glorious exploits precede his name but unlike the proverbial titan, whose morbid pride goaded down the ravine of dishonour, Adenuga tows the path of humility with unrivalled grace. Educated at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, with a degree in political science and international relations, she resumed at Globacom owned by her father as a sales executive in 2004. But she learnt

the ropes fast, worked in virtually all the departments and excelled and consequently enjoyed rapid promotion, rising to the position of a group executive director. Blessed with a razorsharp intellect, even as a spinster, she was scandal-free, an attribute many say she imbibed from her very private father. Bella got married to Jameel Disu in April 2010. They are blessed with two kids.

At Last, Curtain Falls on Oriental Energy Vice President, Ameena Indimi Insects sting, not from malice but because they want to live. It is the same with Vice President of Oriental Energy, Ameena Indimi, the daughter of billionaire oil magnate, Alhaji Muhammudu Indimi.

According to mischief-makers, the latter would tirelessly argue that she thrives by her lust for the fear and misery of the company’s staff.

The rabble rousers alleged that the delectable loves to instil fear in the hearts of the employees and watch them squirm in trepidation at her plots.

But that is hardly the true story of the billionaire daughter, according to sources loyal to her. Very close friends and associates of the Oriental Czarina place a counter-argument to that advanced by her detractors. They dismiss rumours about Ameena, describing them as the figment of her detractors’ imagination.

Notwithstanding their claims, staff of Oriental lament Ameena’s alleged malevolence in handling the affairs of the company.

According to African intelligence, ‘She was ousted from her role as executive vice president of the Nigerian junior Oriental Energy Resources (OER). Her father, Muhammadu Indimi, OER founder and main shareholder, took the decision after Ameena fired several senior staff members

without his consent. Ameena allegedly laid off the company’s managing director and former Addax Petroleum executive, Ignatius Ifelayo, as well as several of her father’s personal financial advisers, including Michael Hailu.

The company chairman, with help from his trusted lieutenant, board member Goni Musa Sheikh, has reportedly been in direct contact with Ifelayo to negotiate his return to the company as soon as possible.

OER operates with a very few permanent managers and hands over the management of its finances and technical matters to former executives of the now folded Afren. This is the case of OER’s commercial director, Patrick Cherlet, and of Samiullah Sardar (former financial controller with Afren) and Ricardo Ramirez de Arellano. The latter two work for OER via the consultancy firm Houston Exploration and Production Services OER holds several deposits on OML 67 sold by ExxonMobil in exchange for a royalty. The Nigerian junior shared its output from the deposits with Afren, until the latter went into receivership. This explains why so many former Afren crew have found themselves among OER’s ranks.

One of OER’s strengths is its founder’s extensive network. Indimi’s son Ahmed

Ameena Indimi

Indimi is married to Zahra Buhari, the daughter of Nigerian head of state Muhammadu Buhari. The group stands in good stead to increase its asset portfolio during the next bidding round which should put several marginal fields up for offer after the elections in February 2019”.

ith the shocking vaporization this week, of the second term ambition of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who conceded defeat in the Lagos State governorship primary held Tuesday, October 2nd, to Babajide Sanwoolu; and the consequent change in the political dynamics of the state, a number of dreams and aspirations have become stillborn. And popular broadcaster turned politician, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, comes to mind. For long, her friends had told those within earshot that she is the anointed deputy governor in the next dispensation.

Abike, who spent three consecutive terms in the House of Representatives, had fancied her chances of eventually becoming the first female governor of Lagos State given her closeness to the lord of the Manor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the rotation of power among the five administrative divisions that make up Lagos namely Badagry, Ikorodu, Epe, Lagos Island and Ikeja. Tinubu emerged from Ikeja; Babatunde Raji Fashola represented Lagos Island while Ambode represents Epe. The thinking, among other variables, is that it would be the turn of Ikorodu by 2023. However, as the saying goes, 24hours is a long time in politics. Those close to the Ikorodu-born politician said she thought she would be made deputy governor preparatory to succeeding her boss. But a recent fallout with Tinubu may have foreclosed that ambition. We gathered that though Abike has mended fences with her godfather, and has lobbied and reached out to powerbrokers within the party, it seems she is no longer in contention for the deputy governorship slot which may have been ceded to Dr Obafemi Hamzat who stepped down his ambition for Sanwoolu.

Hamzat, a former Commissioner for Works, is expected to be announced as Sanwoolu’s running mate in the next few days apparently to compensate the Justice Forum which he represents and to add grit and gravitas to the APC governorship ticket. For now, Abike, currently the Special Adviser on Diaspora Affairs to President Muhammadu Buhari, is at a crossroads as to the direction her political career would take from here.

And she does deserve some pity given her sweaty sacrifices especially as the unofficial compeer at the party’s rallies.

OCTOBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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HIGHLIFE

Just Like Yesterday: Billionaire Magnate Dapo Abiodun Remembers Late Son, 7DJ Olu

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xactly one year after his demise, Olugbemiga Abiodun a.k.a DJ Olu’s family and friends remembered and appreciated the kernel and towering humaneness of a young man whose life story resonates like a fairy tale, long after his exit from the mortal world.

The flowers blow calmly with the wind to assert his place above the earth although he lays six-feet underground, where sand granules mingle with bones and rotten flesh of the interred. Until his sad departure, Olu lived to see the dawn and sunset glow richly amid life’s pressing concerns. But Dr. Dapo Abiodun, his father and founder of Heyden Oil, draws solace from the fact that he (Olu) was older than the days he lived and the breaths he drew.

The deceased effortlessly combined the wisdom of old age with exuberance of youth thus manifesting as an inspiring bridge between, young and old, past and present. While alive, the past throbbed through him in a mighty rhythm and the future pounded the drums of eternity to which he swayed as the tides and seasons swayed.

Pity he had to depart the world so soon. But DJ Olu made his mark on the world; the brilliant, adventurous entertainer and entrepreneur left pieces of his soul and rousing nature behind.

For instance, besides his entertainment

exploits, he was in the final stages of completing a state-of-the-art car wash in his neighbourhood, Victoria Garden City (VGC).

The project was among several ventures embarked upon by the deceased in his lifetime. The magnitude of the car wash project left his loved ones in wonder. His father for instance, didn’t know that the project exceeded the middling frame of the random car wash services across the country. It would be recalled that DJ Olu’s demise elicited questions as to how and why such a tragedy should befall him at the prime of life. His unfortunate demise threw his family and friends in a state of despair because the deceased touched so many lives at so many different levels.

Those who knew him described him as a very down to earth, generous, kindhearted, idealist who inspired others even while hope seemed a futile venture. It is however, the family’s ultimate wish to forever elongate and treasure memories of the joyous days and priceless moments they spent with Olugbemiga. How many times shall he be remembered? In how many different ways? With just a glance, a smile or a gesture that spoke so much more than words, he revealed to his loved ones, the depth of his compassion and his humanity. Olu was the people’s prince, and that is how he will stay, in their hearts and in their memories.

UNVEILING DR IBIJOKE SANWO-OLU: FIRST LADY-INWAITING

in her strides, it is being contended that the reason is because real power has not been vested in her husband. Either way she goes, the beam of history would be firmly fixed on her from Day One.

If current permutations are anything to go by, come May 2019, Babajide Sanwo-Olu may be inaugurated as the new governor of Lagos State. He has scaled the first hurdle in this ambition with his emphatic victory at the governorship primaries held on October 2. By his side on inauguration would be his wife, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, a mother of four. A medical doctor at Harvey Road Hospital, Yaba, she is described as an easygoing, committed professional who has no room for vainglorious pursuits or highflying social life. However, being the wife of Nigeria’s most powerful governor may change that like it turned a once-loved First Lady otherwise perceived as a girl-nextdoor with her demure looks into a cavalier, power-drunk and gleefully blasphemous woman. History is not likely to forget her.

This is why there are already posers as to which side of history Mrs Sanwo-Olu would be. Would she allow the trappings of power change her into a bejewelled First Lady with a retinue of aides and hangers-on and fixation with the highlife? Or would she deploy her medical expertise and experience to helping her husband’s administration tackle the health sector challenge in the state? And these posers have basis because sources say she has overnight become the toast of society women who are already falling over themselves to invite her to events and parties, while her phone number is now being activated on Whatsapp. Even though she is taking the gratuitous fawning

FIRST MARINE BOSS, JOSEPH PENAWOU CLEARS THE AIR Except on very rare occasions, it is hard to see Delta high chief, Joesph Penawou, get angry. However, that flipside of billionaires which decades of romance with the valuable lucre has helped to temper may flip over in the easy-going oil mogul if mischief-makers don’t stop saying rubbish about him and his former wife, Nora.

And the outpour, you can guess, would not be too palatable. But we can tell you for free that Joseph and Nora are happily separated. According to Chief Penawou, “I’m a family man with wonderful children, the article written about me was a lie from the pity of hell”. Joseph adorns the cloak of fatherhood with unprecedented pride hence he never shies from performing his fatherly roles to his wards. He cuts a contradictory picture to the random portrait of the billionaire as a bad husband because of his obsession with money and acclaim.

He effortlessly proves that affluence and fathrhood often go hand in hand, under the watchful and compassionate guardianship of a model father. He creates quality time to be with his children. However, like an ancient mariner whose heartbeat dwarfs echoes of his incredible exploits, Penawou commands the awe of many of his peers and admirers in Nigeria’s socio-political and business sector. There is no gainsaying the world of

DJ Olu

business is like a dangerous coast riddled with storms. Despite its turbulent tides, he, like a sea-hardened sailor, navigates through the gales armed with a strong resolve and unyielding spirit. Today, that relentless spirit of Joseph has paid off. It has guided him through the bittersweet, cut-throat world of global commerce till he emerged unscathed and undaunted in spirit and resolve.

Chief Penawou owns First Marine and Engineering Services Limited, Nigel United Oil Company, Tubos International Limited, Pena Oil and Gas Limited and First Drilling Services Limited among other companies.

SHOCK, SURPRISE AS SAMUEL ADEDOYIN’S DAUGHTER, FUNKE ADEDOYIN, DIED OF CANCER Nothing lasts forever; as the seasons turn, so does human life wither to age and disease, everything vanishes like morning dew. Without a doubt, Funke’s death once again emphasizes the fleetingness and fragility of human life.

Few days ago, the Grim Reaper visited the home of Funke Adedoyin, the daughter of Chief Samuel Adedoyin, the chairman of construction Doyin Group, the old man has gone through the numbing gamut of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Funke died penultimate Friday in Abuja after a protracted battle with cancer.

If money were enough, he could have mustered the whole world to save her but death had other tragic plans. Funke, a lawmaker representing Irepodun/Oke-Ero/Isin/Ekiti Federal Constitiency of Kwara State at the House of

Representatives, was an enchanteur; from childhood, she radiated such infectious mirth and loveliness that members of her nuclear and extended family, friends and other loved ones, fell over one another to pamper and please the little girl that grew up to ignite their unsullied affection even as they bore her in a carriage of care towards an enchanted future. In one sense, though, Funke is not gone. She is continually and fondly remembered as a daughter, mother, sister and friend who radiated great bliss, laughter and splendour wherever she graced with her unforgettable presence. Indeed, the true measure of a person is not how long he or she lives, but what was achieved while on earth. She was endowed with the noblest persona epitomizing kindness, selflessness, genuine humaneness and an extraordinary ability to put a smile on people’s faces, even at the most improbable time. Until her death, Funke’s world revolved around her family and friends, whom she loved without inhibition or compromise according to many of her loved ones. She was one of the closest political associates of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Senator Bukola Saraki. Until her death, Adedoyin who served as minister of state for Health under Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration was the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Army. She was said to have been cured of the ailment but suffered a relapse three months ago which led to her travelling to the United States. She had since returned to the country and recuperating in Abuja when the incident occurred.

Comic Relief! Making Sense of Mimiko’s Zenith Labour Party

Mimiko

Former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has caught the funny bug. He cuts the sharp, narrow silhouette of an aggressive jester. Only a jester can be audacious enough to do what he has been doing the last few years. You couldn’t have forgotten so soon that he started as a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999. He joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2003 and left for the Labour Party (LP) in 2007 to run for governor. Towards the end of his eight-year tenure, he moved back to PDP. Recently, he returned to LP. Finally, last week, he left LP for the Zenith Labour Party, allegedly accusing APC’s

National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, of using labour unions to hijack the party. However, in the annals and cut-throat world of Nigerian politics, the successful politicians have always passed off as ‘made-men’ or the Nigerian version of Italian gang-lords; the unsuccessful ones however, always pass off as lesser gangsters - disposable muscles at the bottom of the totem pole of the country’s political class. More often than not, the latter manifest on the political circuit like 50-cent prostitutes, or N50 commercial sex workers, if you like, jumping from one political party to the other, in desperate pursuit of

the next plum political office or deal.

Mimiko emerges as Ondo’s most pitiful politician. Like a starved greyhound, Mimiko, has swallowed his own vomit.

If there was an avatar for instability and inconsistency, Iroko, as he is fondly called, would clearly fit the bill. To avid followers of Mimiko’s chequered trajectory, this recent development did not come as a surprise. Now, his whirlwind soap opera romance with the ZLP has been likened to a moth’s fatal attraction to flame, by political pundits.

He will certainly get burnt, so argued a source within the LP.

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Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Ahmed Musa Ibeto’s Humiliation

Ibrahim Mero

Ex-Customs Boss, Ibrahim Mero’s Song of Lamentation

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sk Prince Ibrahim Mera, a former Deputy ComptrollerGeneral, Nigeria Customs Service, to spell out his most cherished ambition, and he will probably tell you that he wants to be governor of his state, Kebbi.

This is one dream he has always pursued with great determination. But either by design or accident, the most sought position has again eluded him.

Society Watch gathered that he failed to secure the All Progressives Congress’ ticket for the next year governorship election in the state.

It was gathered that the billionaire ex-Customs topshot did not pass the screening organised by the party recently, thereby foreclosing his ambition of wresting power from the incumbent governor, Abubakar Bagudu.

Although a source revealed that he is not taking this without a fight, the general belief is that “his ambition is as good as dead!”

“He may likely go to another party for his governorship aspiration,” a source added.

However, another source said that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for him to become the number one citizen of the state.

“It is difficult for Mera to become a governor anywhere. He does not have the temperament to hold such a political office.

Besides he is too arrogant. He should just stay back and enjoy his retirement,’’ another source hinted.

Though many wonder about the source of his stupendous wealth, those close to him maintained that his wealth could be traceable to the vast Estate bequeathed to him by his late father.

Mera, who is also described as a car freak, has properties in some states across Nigeria, including Argungu in Birnin-Kebbi, Lagos, Kaduna, Abuja as well as in London.

Are you a good scriptwriter? If yes, you may be interested in knitting a story around the political life of former Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, and you can be assured it will make a box office success.

To say that the former deputy governor of Niger State has been humiliated is an understatement. He has been ridiculed and left in the cold, as his age-long dream of governing the state has fizzled out before his very eyes.

Last Saturday, he lost the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket to his former friend and colleague, Umar Nasko.

“It is sad seeing a man who was once considered as one of the topmost political gladiators in the state losing out to a young man like Nasko. Ibeto was a councilor, council’s chairman, House of Representatives member as well as deputy governor and an ambassador. But his loss has confirmed that he was a mere paper

tiger,’’ a source said.

Many would not forget in a hurry how Ibeto betrayed his former boss, Aliyu Babangida in 2014 when he was denied the PDP ticket by the then governor.

Nasko was the ex-governor’s anointed candidate, a development that caused bad blood between the two.

He eventually left the party in annoyance for the APC, which eventually won the state gubernatorial election.

For his effort, he was compensated with an ambassadorial position to South Africa. But he was adamant on becoming the governor.

However, the state governor, Bello, is seeking reelection. When Ibeto realized the danger this posed to his ambition, he returned to his former party, PDP. Now, he has suffered another humiliation as his ambition has been met with a kiss of death.

Ibeto

Hajia Bola Shagaya Warms Up for 59th Birthday

Shagaya

Hajia Bola Shagaya’s name evokes a lot of images in the minds of her fans: success, wealth, ambition, power, philanthropy and fellow-feeling, among others.

Even as she sets to mark her 59th birthday on Wednesday, October 10, her fans agree that her life is worth celebrating.

Though Society Watch gathered that the celebrations will be devoid of fanfare, she will among other things organise a prayer to appreciate the Almighty God for His faithfulness in her life.

A source close to the Kwara Stateborn businesswoman revealed that she had vowed not to throw any elaborate party until she clocks 60.

For some of her close family

members and friends, the event will certainly afford them another rare opportunity to show love to the very stylish fashionable woman who has been recognized at home and abroad as a successful entrepreneur.

She is usually driven by an abiding quest to change the lives of her compatriots for the better. No one would tar her with the brush of a wheeler-dealer in her day-to-day business activities.

While she was growing up, she never allowed her pristine dream to be entombed; she pursued it with gusto.

She is a strong woman who has never been hamstrung by any circumstance.

In fact, to her credit, the history of business in Nigeria cannot be written without her name appearing many times.

Wale Tinubu’s Rare Privilege Those who realize the import of the Biblical saying in Proverbs 22: 29 that “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men”, will surely understand why businessman and Group Chief Executive of Oando, Wale Tinubu, has been the darling of many leaders and top executives across the globe.

Apart from his business acumen, he is one of the most brilliant in the sector. Therefore, his association with those who matter around the world should not be a surprise.

Society Watch gathered that his brilliance, especially in business and economy, is the main reason he has been on the entourage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign trips on many occasions.

Those in the know disclosed that Tinubu, also a lawyer, is cerebral, the reason he is said to be one of the key members of the President’s economic team.

To further affirm this, he was one of the major businessmen who were on the president’s last trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

The Lagos State-born billionaire

Wale Tinubu

started business very early in life. Over the years, he has sown in sweats; so, it is not surprising that he is now reaping bountiful harvests.

He has served as a business adviser and consultant to many

other businessmen and governments in and outside Nigeria.

By virtue of his rare accomplishments, he is one of few Nigerian businessmen who can rub shoulders with other top businessmen around the globe.

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SOCIETY WATCH

Worry About Jennifer Obayunwana’s Status Jennifer Obayunwana, daughter of Polo Luxury boss, John Obayuwana, has a strong personality.

But for some time, whenever her name props up during discussions among some people, the issue about her single status always takes the front burner.

She is extremely fashionable and turns out in clothes and accessories from the stables of some of the most expensive designers in the world.

While she may have every other thing going for her, one thing she has not been able to get right is her love life.

Her single status has got her family members, fans and friends worried, though she has been allegedly

romantically linked with so many men in the past.

It will be recalled that she was swept off her feet four years ago when her boyfriend, Peter Salah, proposed to her at Eko Signature.

The proposal had generated a lot of buzz then. The love birds later took it a step further when they travelled to Paris to spend quality time together.

Consequently, many had anticipated the duo to announce a wedding date. But they never did!

Four years after, the light-skinned lady is yet to walk down the aisle with any man.

Society Watch gathered that her single status is becoming a source of worry for her family.

Funke Adedoyin Jennifer Obayunwana

Magnus Abe’s Unbent Resolve Sen. Magnus Abe comes across as someone who understands politics like the back of his hand.

But his adventure in politics has not been particularly inspiring.

Strangely, almost all his moves to rise in the ladder of politics have been frustrated to the chagrin of his fans.

The Senator, it was also gathered, is now seeking to secure the topmost job of the state in 2019.

The former Commissioner has reportedly fallen out with his former boss, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister For Transportation, over the candidature of All Progressives Congress, APC, for the 2019 governorship election in Rivers State.

A source disclosed that the Senator has dared the Amaechi over his choice of Tonye Cole as the candidate for the APC ticket.

The crisis over the party ticket has made a faction led by Abe to organise a parallel primary election, which produced the trained lawyer as a candidate for the party.

Cole came out victorious in the indirect governorship primary held in Port Harcourt on Sunday, when he polled 3,329 votes, while his closest rival, Dr Dawari George, got 491 votes.

However, in a different election held in the state, Abe won with 144,929 votes; Dumo LuluBriggs had 3,344, Dawari George had 1,606 and Tonye Dele Cole also got 882 votes.

Our source disclosed that Abe had looked the APC chieftain in the eyes and vowed to fight this with anything that it takes.

Magnus Abe

“The former SSG is not taking this lightly.

He has vowed to battle this with the last drop of his blood. He is ready to fight to the finish for his rights,” the source added.

Abe entered politics in 1999 when he was elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly, serving as a Minority Leader.

In 2003, he defected to the PDP; and from 2003 to 2007 he was Commissioner of Information in Rivers State in the administration of Governor Peter Odili.

When Amaechi became governor in May 2007, he was appointed as Secretary to the State Government.

Sports Businessman, Seyi Sowunmi’s Rising Profile

Sowunmi

There’s one Nigerian in the Diaspora who has continued to be a blessing to a class of young Nigerians seeking greener pastures in t football. Call him the light in the darkness and you won’t be wrong.

Having identified his passion for sports, particularly football, the man of honour wasted no time to hone his skills in some of the world’s best institutions where he got equipped for his current assignment. That’s a brief antecedent of Seyi Sowunmi, the ebullient chairman of Titan Sports management and co-owner of Arlington FC Dallas.

The sports businessman of international repute is one of Nigeria’s prides in the sports scene in far way United States. Those who know Seyi Sowunmi are not surprised about his rising profile. He is a diligent man who has a reputation for excellence.

He has moulded his Titan Sports management company into one of the most sought-after sports companies in the US. It was revealed that the company’s

management’s uncompromising commitment to professionalism has won the company a wide range of clients from all walks of life. Unlike other companies, the priority at Titan sports is all about development and progression of players on their roster.

Also, he has created a platform for a lot of talented Nigerian players to escape poverty through his Arlington FC Dallas currently competing in the second division league in the US which he co-founded with another high-flying Nigerian, Ebenezer Fowobaje. As you read, a lot of Nigerian footballers are lighting up the pristine playing grounds across Europe courtesy the mentorship and support of the Titan Sports management. We can also report that Titan Sports management is not all about football. The company is also actively in the promotion of boxing.

Sowunmi’s Titan Sports management is passionately committed to the overall development of sports in Nigeria. They believe sports combined with quality education are one of the greatest tools for poverty eradication.

Late Funke Adedoyin’s Unfulfilled Dreams

“Death takes the body. God takes the soul. Our mind holds the memories. Our heart keeps the love. Our faith let us know we will meet again’’, says a popular quote.

Since the news of the death of Funke Deborah Adedoyin two Fridays ago, there have been sweet memories about her life and times by people who have registered their condolences at her father’s house.

A source close to the late lawmaker representing Ero/Isin/ Ekiti Federal Constituency, who died of breast cancer, revealed her last moment to Society Watch, saying she underwent a successful surgery in of the best hospitals in the world, Mayo Clinics in Washington DC. “But because of the depth of love she had for her constituents, she couldn’t wait for too long in hospital. She rushed down to Nigeria to enable her participate in the ongoing political process towards 2019 elections,” the source added.

The impeccable source further revealed that she was full of life on her return back to country until penultimate Tuesday when she went into a coma.

The late politician, a daughter to billionaire industrialist, Samuel Adedoyin, was said to have had so many unfulfilled dreams, one of which was to build one of the best cancer hospitals in Africa. ‘’She was someone who was ready to give out her eyes, if requested’’, our source revealed.

Adedoyin, a mother of one, Tamilore, was the second daughter of the Kwara State-born foremost industrialist. She was one of the closest political associates of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Senator Bukola Saraki.

The top socialite, who served as Minister of State for Health under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, was the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Army.

According to the source, the sad news was broken to her aged father by his close friend and associate, Chief Razak Akanni Okoya

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ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE AT RELE GALLERY PAGE 69

07.10.2018

A DECADE AFTER, GFA STILL ASSERTS ITS RELEVANCE GFA members with Omooba Yemisi Shyllon

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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ARTS & REVIEW\\VISUAL ARTS

GFA members

GFA members with Omooba Yemisi Shyllon

A DECADE AFTER, GFA STILL ASSERTS ITS RELEVANCE

The passion for excellence united a group of first-rate professional studio artists, who were already at the peak of their careers. Ten years on, they have stringed together a cavalcade of activities to relive the memories of how they came together to further the cause of the contemporary Nigerian art. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

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ack then, it couldn’t have been more than a whim. OK, it was indeed the high-octane idea of a posse of artists, who were thinking out of the box.And for them, not even the existence of the Society of NigerianArtists – which even after decades of its existence continued to grow from strength to strength – could stifle their aspirations. These creative like-minds crystallised the thought of advancing their ideals through forming a guild.

Enter the Guild of Professional FineArtists of Nigeria, whose members are the visual arts community’s leading lights. Indeed, they have earned their stripes in this talent-glutted art scene.

Hence, it is important for them to not only have a say on how the image of their profession is being projected, but also on how the organisation managing its affairs is run.

Perhaps, one of the guild’s greatest achievement so far was the fact that the works of its members were featured in a segment of theBonhams,Africa Now auction in the UK in 2012.

The works of the members – Lekan Onabanjo, Sam Ovraiti, Edosa Ogiugo,Abiodun Olaku, DukeAsidere, Ben Osaghae, Bunmi Babatunde, Reuben Ugbine,Alex Nwokolo, Tola Wewe and Fidelis Odogwu – made up the auction’s were lots 191 to 215.

Now, on its 10th year, the body which is simply known as GFA, is seeking ways to assert its relevance among the art public. First, it has held an art workshop. The event – held from September 11 to 13 at the Ovie Brume Foundation in Victoria Island, Lagos – was open to the public and deemed successful. Its facilitators, who are

among the GFA’s leading lights, were Sam Ovraiti, Edosa Oguigo,Alex Nwokolo and DukeAsidere.

In attendance at the workshop were 45 artists and had as its fringe benefit the preparation of its members for the upcoming exhibition. The programme, which was facilitated by a GFA’s past presidentAbraham Uyovbisere, was so well attended that the attendees spilled over outdoors. “Materials were also provided for participants,” its current president, Sam Ebohon, explained. “The aim was to create a bridge that will endear people to the association as we encourage and mentor other artists using our wealth of experience and clout. Participating artists were encouraged to pursue their artistic curiosities by experimenting on new styles and approach in expressing their ideas by surmounting their fears and inhibitions.”

With the three-day event, the guild had hoped to make itself more accessible to the people. In an art scene that is already cocooned in its exclusivity, the GFA needs such outreach programmes not only to avoid being seen as a cabal but also to assert its relevance in the art scene.

“It is for us to figure out things that concern the artistic space of this country,” Ebohon continued. “Now that we are stable, we are also beginning to impact on art, on the profession generally. It is to elongate and make this impact felt and known. Let the people know; let the society come to terms with our role in the society as professionals; as contemporary artists. This is why the Guild feels that we needed to engage in something that is real and practical.”

The workshop, not unexpectedly, featured mainly painters. Hence, the canvases, easels and paints at the venue. It encouraged the participants to become more adventurous and experimental. That should explain the presence of Sam Ovraiti, Edosa Oguigo, Jerry Nnubia, Emenike Ogwo, Joshua Nmeserionye,

Juliet Ezenwa and DukeAsidere, among others.“Some artists experimented in water colours. They were told come up with something out of the box; something very special and unique, away from their usual signature techniques.”

In the end, each artist was asked to donate one of his works to the foundation, which will be featured in an exhibition that will run concurrently with another programme.

On its choice of Ovie Brume Foundation as the workshop’s venue, Ebohon disclosed that the guild conformed to ideals of the centre, which was purposely built to encourage creative endeavours. It was at the foundation, that the guild’s first president Uyovbisere was elected and inaugurated. The idea of going down the memory lane reminded the GFAmembers of how the guild started. Hence, kicking off its 10th anniversary celebrations at the venue re-enacts the enthusiasm of the first years.

It is not as though the guild doesn’t have enough activities with which to sustain the spotlight.Already, the members, as individuals and role models, practically dominate the art scene with many of their acolytes moving on to become wave-makers in the exhibition circuit.

Then, their works are among the most soughtafter by the local aficionados.

Hence, it should surprise no one that a symposium being organised by the guild on Friday, October 12 at the National WMuseum in Onikan, Lagos, will be graced by such art community’s greats as Omooba Yemisi Shyllon (the revered collector and founder of Omooba YemisiAdedoyin ShyllonArt Foundation), Kolade Oshinowo (one of the most celebrated

masters of the art scene), Efe Dafinone and a leading GFAmember DukeAsidere. The symposium, which is meant to be an interactive talk and discussion on the challenges of fine artists today, will be moderated by the art educationist, Dr Kunle Filani.

Aprogramme like this chimes with the guild’s aims and objectives, which revolves around the “promotion of art appreciation in Nigeria with the additional benefit of projecting a good image of professional artists in the society”.

Of course, the group is also concerned about establishing ethical standards and rules, which should encourage and enhance the proper practice of the profession. Thus, it hopes to make its voice better heard by the art public. Indeed, workshops, symposia and exhibitions, among other art-related activities are very effective ways of fostering interaction between not only the artists and the public, but also between them and their non-Nigerian colleagues.

Still in the mood of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the guild will be featuring the best works by its members at the Omenka Gallery in Ikoyi, Lagos from November 17 to 28. This, Ebohon hopes, will avail collectors and art lovers the opportunity to acquire works by the artists at the “best” prices.

An award and gala night, scheduled to hold at Terra Kulture sometime in December, will bring the anniversary celebrations to a close.According to Ebohon, the guild will be honouring members and players in the industry, who have added value to the profession.

Meanwhile, the guild, whose Board of Trustees include Yinka Fisher, Chairman and Ede Dafinone, Ifeoma Idigbe, Abiodun Olaku and Olu Ajayi, plods on into the future full of optimism..

BRIEFLY GREAT EXPECTATIONS TRAIL LIMCAF ZONAL EXHIBITIONS, AS EL ANATSUI DANGLES MORE GOODIES

N

early 12 years after, Life In My City Art Festival – otherwise known by its acronym LIMCAF – remains unsung for transforming the southeastern city of Enugu into a Mecca for art aficionados.

Little wonder the festival, which unarguably remains the longest-running art festival in Nigeria, still grapples with basic issues like funding and sponsorship.

As part of the build-up for the festival’s week-long Grand Finale Exhibition, which culminates into a gala and awards night on October 27 in Enugu, this year’s series of zonal exhibitions have taken off in earnest.

Already, zonal exhibitions for Auchi-Benin, Uyo-Calabar, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Ibadan zones have held in their designated venues. It was at the Enugu zonal exhibition, held at the Alliance Française on Tuesday, September 11, that the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Bartho Okolo expressed surprise that such an impressive harvest of artistic talents existed at all. Professor Okolo had the honour of declaring open that exhibition.

Meanwhile, the Lagos zone exhibition holds tomorrow at the Thought Pyramid Art Centre in Ikoyi, Lagos and will be declared open by Mrs Yvonne Fashinro at 5pm.

It is from each of these week-long exhibitions that a local jury selected the 100 works that will

feature at the Grand Finale Exhibition in Enugu.

A statement by the festival’s art director, Dr Ayo Adewunmi, disclosed that there were altogether just under 400 entries from around the country, most of which came from Lagos, Ibadan and Enugu zones.

According to the Institute of Management and Technology-based lecturer, the members of the LIMCAF board and Organising Committee as well as the many big wigs, who graced the Enugu event, were greatly excited by the remarkable increase in the quality of entries, which continued to be evident year on year.

Dr Adewunmi was also delighted by the fact that the LIMCAF alumni (consisting

of finalists and winners) have, in various categories, continued to prove that their winning was no fluke. This has especially been attested by the fact that their careers had blossomed in various ways after each annual event.

As aficionados look forward to the LIMCAF’s October 27 gala and awards night, they are regaled by the morale-boosting news to the effect that this year’s LIMCAF’s six top winners will be clinch an all-expenses paid trip to the next edition of Dakar Art Biennale – called Dak’Art – by Professor El Anatsui. Last year, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka-based and Ghanaian-born professor had sponsored the LIMCAF’s 2017 top four winners to a two-week all expenses paid trip to the biennial art event.

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A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE AT RELE GALLERY Yinka Olatunbosun

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N-TER-AC-TIONS, the theme of a recent futuristic spectacle at Rele Gallery, Onikan Lagos, gave voice to three artists who have been quietly influencing the contemporary art scene with conversations on urban and transcontinental migration. Obinna Okerekeocha, May Okafor and Patrick Akpojotor have individually and collectively articulated their thoughts on these subject matters using varying techniques.

With Okerekeocha, it was the business of immersing the viewer into the city life using video art, equipped with audio kit and quite surprisingly, the virtual reality (VR) headset. If you haven’t experienced the VR in your lifetime, it may be strange to watch someone mount a certain headset over his eyes and act like a spacefarer. The eye tracking sensor enables a wearer to focus on a view or pan into any direction in the field of view.

Fortunately, young ones are often more technologically savvy with this tool than older ones so it posed no challenge for them to use it to appreciate video art. With a note of caution, Okerekeocha or the gallery could have warned the audience about panning too fast but then experience turned out to be the best teacher as panning too fast can suddenly bring a distorted surge of the images telling the story. It seemed wise to take a seat.

“The virtual reality element takes viewers

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ne of the challenges within the Christian religion is that the baddie is such an appealing character and through the years writers and artists have had to struggle with how best to portray this dilemma. Even the founder of the Salvation Army was reputed to have first been motivated to organise his religious-inclined brass bands in opposition to the fact that “the devil has the best tunes”.

And so the baddie’s current manifestation in the recently concluded run of “Satan” is no exception. This Satan doesn’t fail to remind us he is the Morning Star. He struts, he swaggers and his often haunting renditions of classical hymns displays his familiarity with the Christian canon. He asks, “Is your life yours? Is the air you breathe yours?” and you sense both his resentment at his lack of power to create and acknowledgement of his loss of status.

Ms. Bewaji’s writing is always a delight and the audience was quick to respond to her witty script. It is also a testament to her deft handling of her material that in a society that sets such store by religious adherence she does not alienate her audience. Instead by skating just within the lines of provocation she allows her audience the freedom to laugh with her characters while recognising their own private acts of complicity.

The play opens with the song “Hallelujah” – a subversive gesture. This is a boldly secular song, which has somehow slipped under the Christian radar and is often heard in religious gatherings and so the stage is set. We first meet our protagonist when he encourages a man to seduce his wife’s best friend, pointing out to the delight of many of the male members of the audience the many failures on the part of the wife that serve to justify the husband’s intentions. Each new suggestion of Satan is met with an echoing reaction by the husband – it is a well rehearsed duet of call and response that eventually persuades.

The rest of the majority of the characters show no surprise to meet Satan and are happy to converse with him as if with an old familiar friend. Perhaps he is? After all, the play seems to allude, it is by incremental and small insidious character failings that we invite greater catastrophes. It is only the young waitress that has the courage to withstand his overtures and it is her rejection of his banality that is the harbinger of the denouement for the other characters.

The direction of the play benefits from a light touch and clever use of minimal staging. The cast are enthusiastic and as an ensemble work together excellently to provide a very enjoyable evening. I look forward though to seeing it in a larger venue than that provided by the intimacy of the temporary stage at Esther’s Revenge at Freedom Park. This Satan deserves a bigger world to roam and devour.

––Gomez writes from Lagos

on an experiential walk around Lagos Island to catch a glimpse of a bustling city,’’ said Okerekeocha in the artist statement for his body of works titled, “Vignettes of A New Reality”. His LAGTROPOLIS series is a mix of split screen images, converging and diverging views. The human movement experiment shows a sea of human movement blended into fabric-like patterns in fast sequence, communicating speed, animation and excitement. The Status Update series reflects the social media obsession in our day where changing profile pictures can indicate the varying emotions in a person.

Patrick Akpojotor’s contribution to the theme are mixed media installations titled, “Developing Cities”. The collection comprises of vertical abstract sculptures and metallic embellishments such as pipes, discarded automobile parts and other electronic waste.

The tree-like structures also speak of migration from rural to urban central, driving development.

“This installation is inspired by the architecture and the landscape of growing cities which are often chaotic in nature. With Developing Cities, I invent these cities and bring to the gallery space the abstract energy of their urban landscape,’’ Akpojotor remarked in the artist’s statement.

Meanwhile, his technique of recycling found materials may also be understood from a broader economic perspective. Many

Okafor's collection titled 'Dwellings' developed nations in the world practice waste management and recycling which reduces environmental pollution, conserve energy, saves money and limits waste.

The only female voice in this show is May Okafor, a 2010 first-class degree holder in fine and applied arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She has a history of experimental techniques in exploring concepts that are at the core of Nigeria’s contemporary realities. Okafor’s collection titled, “Dwellings” are made of little houses, some in elongated black forms. Some of the houses are neatly arranged while some re slightly disorderly. That’s the reality of our world.

“I have used black polystyrene to create several little houses.

The houses appear like passages, suggesting that dwellings are in themselves transient. Like life itself which is transitory, people move from one place to another, to experience existent possibilities or in search of better circumstances,’’ Okafor pointed out.

The exhibition runs till October 14.

The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

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A CONCEPT TOUR BRINGS AWARD-WINNING ARTIST LAOLU SENBANJO TO NIGERIA Stories Yinka Olatunbosun

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Senbanjo

rooklyn-based Nigerianborn performance and visual artist, Laolu Senbanjo, has toured Lagos and Abuja between September 24 to 29. The tour, which was dubbed a “concept tour," featured a series of co-created art experiences and events celebrating the launch of a new Belvedere Vodka bottle among other activities.

The ebony-complexioned artist, whose canvas main artistic is the skin, has recently made waves with his bodypainting featured in Beyoncé's Grammy Award-winning visual album, Lemonade.

Not only has he graced the cover of the Washington Post, he had also featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Vogue, BBC, CNN and NBC. Besides Beyoncé, he has also collaborated with celebrities like Alicia Keys, Swiss Beatz, Seun Kuti, Tony Allen, Alek Wek, and Danielle Brooks.

Senbanjo has designed a stunning limited-edition bottle, which was unveiled during the series of events in Nigeria.

The highly-acclaimed artist applies his mantra, “Everything Is My Canvas”, to mural designs, fashion partnerships, live art events and installations, and now to the new limited-edition Belvedere Vodka bottle.

The first Belvedere bottle with highquality full-wrap sleeve technology features a flowing design with sharp edges that represent the water and rye working together to produce dimension

and taste. Subtle skin-sense texture, which reacts to UV lights, is used to bring another sensory component to the bottle.

The charcoal colouring and distinct shapes create complex, story-rich designs, which draw heavily from his Yoruba heritage.

With an artistic vision to reveal the beauty within each of his subjects, the new limited-edition bottle visually brings to life Laolu's interpretation of the complexity, nuance and character of the Belvedere liquid.

"When Laolu paints a subject, each design is unique to what he believes depicts their inner beauty,” Belvedere Vodka’s President, Rodney Williams, said.

“This phenomenal message is seamlessly in line with our mission to reveal the unexpected beauty in life.

"Also, as a social advocate and former human rights attorney, Laolu's philosophies align with our commitment to community and creating positive action in the world; in this case, the programme supports the (RED) organisation and the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, a cause we've been supporting for eight years.”

Said Sebanjo, “As an artist I get to share my soul with people around me, my environment and the world and I'm able to channel my experiences like my journey as a human rights attorney and as a Nigerian.

“The Belvedere bottle design came from that inspiration as well as doing a lot of research about what Belvedere is at its core, like the rye and the pristine water.

The bottle is an amazing blend of my art and bringing to life what Belvedere stands for – and I get to be a part of giving back to society, which means a lot to me.”

BOOK FESTIVAL

Appetisers for 2018 Lagos Book and Arts Festival

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he organisers of the annual Lagos Book and Arts Festival (LABAF) have whetted the appetite of the literati with the release of the list of “core books” for the week-long festival slated for November 5 to 11. With the venue still Freedom Park, Lagos, this edition of the festival has as theme, “Renewal: A World that Works for All”. This theme is informed by Nigeria’s 20th year of democratic governance and the fast-approaching sixth general elections.

Against the backdrop of unpleasant reports

about Nigeria, the festival will demonstrate the power of literary works in the growth of successful nations and demystifying misconceptions about the nation. The “core books” represent about a third of the publications to be featured in the 20-year old festival. No fewer than 42 publications across the literary genres will be featured while the youth segment of the festival, called the Green Festival, parades 26 books by young authors.

The core books provide the basis for panellists’sessions, readings and conversations at the festival. The books are Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore: From Third World to First; Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad; Julian

Zelizer’s The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress and the Battle for the Great Society; Sarah Manyika’s Like a Mule Bringing Ice-Cream to the Sun; Helen Zille’s Not Without a fight; Obafemi Awolowo’s The Strategy and Tactics of the People’s Republic of Nigeria; Akin Mabogunje’s A Measure of Grace; Titus Okereke’s Our Father’s Land; Chude Jideonwo’s Are We the Turning Point Generation? as well as Kingsley Moghalu’s Build, Innovate and Grow: My Vision for Nigeria and Emerging Africa, How the Global Economy’s Last Frontier Can Prosper and Matter.

According to the programme chair of CORA, Jahman Anikulapo, the literary engagement for

this edition hangs on the tripod of education, literacy and empowerment.

“LABAF was born out of a desire to help facilitate the rise of the ‘intellect’over ‘emotion’ in the affairs of peoples of our nation,” he said.

“The LABAF signposted its mission with the dream to help deepen human capital development in the continent through a systematic spread of enlightenment through the written, painted, sculpted, crafted or spoken text that educate, enlighten, empower and develop the mind.”

The keynote address for the festival will be delivered by the poet, Odia Ofeimun on Friday November 10.

FILMS

Film Adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s Ake Released on Amazon

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wo years after venturing into the international limelight at the annual Cannes Film Festival in France, Ake – the film adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s international award-winning childhood memoir Ake, The Years of Childhood – has taken another leap of faith, which sees it now released on Amazon and other global platforms.

The film’s storyline, set during World War II years, story combines a beautiful child-view narrative with resonances from the war as heard and imagined in Soyinka’s hometown in Ake, Abeokuta before climaxing with the Egba women’s riot of 1945, led

by Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, mother of the deceased musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

Shot at various locations in Abeokuta, Ibadan, Lagos and East Grinstead, UK, the film has (besides being screened at the Cannes Film Festival) been screened in Lagos and the United States. For its Cannes Film Festival screening, the French subtitles were done by Alliance Francaise, Lagos.

The film flaunts an impressive nearly

1000-strong cast that featured such Nigeria’s foremost film and theatre titans as Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett (OON), Yinka Davies, Yeni-Anikulapo-Kuti, Jimi Solanke, Lanike OnimisiBennet, Festus Adegboye Onigbinde, Alex Bratt, Gbenga Ajiboye, Hafiz Oyetoro, Yemi Solade, Wale Ramon, Wale Adebayo, Toyin Abiodun, Bose Oladele, Joke Muyiwa, Samsideen Adesiyan and Bayo Bankole.

Its director Dapo Adeniyi has produced for radio and television in Nigeria as well as the BBC. He was also a British Council Fellow at Downing College, University of Cambridge.

Soyinka’s account is such an important historical script because it portrays a world in turmoil – the Second World War and colonial rule in Nigeria which was pressured by agitation for independence.

Echoes from the war were heard distinctly in Abeokuta by its enlightened communities on rediffusion radio, the headmaster of the local mission school inclusive, who was the writer’s father.

Ake is not an overt historical account but one which relays a crucial chapter in Nigerian history from the eye-witness of a

Oluwamayokun Olumoroti as Wole in the Ake film child. The Egba women’s riot, directed by movement.

Mrs Kuti, Soyinka’s aunt, was conceived Ake valiantly overcomes the usual and hatched under his eyes. His mother production challenges in the recreation of Eniola, participated as one of the closest film scenery and props, period automobiles collaborators with Kuti in the women’s and architecture of a bygone era.

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CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

Buhari with former military heads of state Yakubu Gowon and Abdusalami Abubakar at the nation’s 58th independency anniversary

An Unusual Independence Anniversary The relationship gap between the presidency and the leadership of the National Assembly was pronounced at this year’s Independence Day anniversary celebrations, writes Olaseni Durojaiye

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t is trite to reiterate that one of the factors that has bogged down Nigeria as a social unit is lack of patriotic leadership, compounded by poor followership. Indeed the country is in dire need of genuine statesmen and the want of it has continually retarded its growth and development at all levels.

The importance of the role of statesman in the quest for good leadership is not quantifiable. The late South African leader, Dr. Nelson Mandela, demonstrated some of the finest characters of a statesman and patriotic leader, when he guided South Africa from a racially divided apartheid enclave to becoming a rainbow nation.

Rather than seek vengeance and revenge for the apartheid era, which inflicted ills on the black people and some colour nationals, he towed the path of true and holistic reconciliation and healed the nation of its many wounds.

Such a leadership disposition fetched him accolades and respects from within South Africa’s multi-ethnic black people and people of good conscience across the globe. That is the mark of true leadership, which also explains why his legacy continues to endure.

Unfortunately, Nigeria continues to grope in search of same.

Rather, the country appears cursed with political elite that see everything from the prism of personal interest, and sometimes, from parochial and ethno-centric considerations. It has never been anything near altruistic or nationalistic underpinnings.

That is one of the silent takeaways from the 58th Independence celebrations that held on Monday, with the absence of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara at the Eagle Square venue of the event.

Nigeria’s 58th Independence Day anniversary celebration was nostalgic in a way. It returned to how it used to be: open air, elaborate

and colourful. It was the first open air celebration since the 2010 edition, which was marred by bomb blasts allegedly masterminded by members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Until this year’s edition, all other such celebrations had held at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The absence of Saraki and Dogara recalls the defection of the two from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) weeks back. Since the defections, the two leaders of the legislative arm of government and President Muhammadu Buhari have had a cat and mouse relationship due to their political differences.

Before the trio fell out, both Saraki and Dogara, upon assuming their present offices, had attended similar celebrations, leading political observers to conclude that their absence was not unconnected to the political disagreements between them.

One would have expected that the trio would set aside their differences, suspend their political feud, at least in the interest of the nation. It is unthinkable that the President of the United States would host a Fourth July celebrations and president of the United States Senate and the House Speaker would stay away for whatever reasons other than unavoidable indisposition.

Analysts contended that the trio deserves some flak. When will the nation’s political leaders rise above petty politicking and ascend to a level, where their actions and decisions on state matters are founded purely on altruistic and nationalistic reasoning.

How would it have been had the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Walter Onnoghen shunned the anniversary celebration, perhaps, because he was displeased with the Presidency as a result of the onslaught on some high ranking justices?

Although Saraki appeared to have a better understanding of the import of their actions hence to douse any misgivings and conspiracy theorists, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, explained that he had other important political

engagements to attend to.

According to him, “The Senate President and a frontline presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP is currently not in Abuja. He is at the moment in his home state, Kwara. The governorship primary is holding today (on Monday) in Kwara and he must be present and after that, he will be holding a meeting with Kogi State delegates to the PDP National Convention. These are two very important assignments that require his attention,” he reportedly told the media. On the part of Dogara, his spokesman, Turaki Hassan said he was unaware if his boss was invited to the event or why he absented himself. “Actually I am out of Abuja and I don’t know what is happening there,” he had said.

Many analysts and political observers insisted both reasons do not add up and called for a more nationalistic approach to state issues in future from all the parties, including the presidency.

However, President Buhari deserves more of the blame. Some observers reasoned that the president couldn’t have forced the duo to attend the event against their wishes. True. But the flip side is, with the right leadership approach and political will from the president, he could have still got them to attend, and heavens would not fall.

Rather, it would have saved the nation the negative perception the international community drew from their absence and further denting his reputation as lacking the requisite statesman leadership skills that many credited him with going into the 2015 election.

Going forward, President Buhari must act like the father to all. Irrespective of political differences, ethnicity or religious inclinations, the president, as the father and leader of the nation must shun interest peddlers, place national interest and unity above all other considerations. He must show true leadership devoid of party interests in matters of state and the advancement of good governance – the type that makes the world to continue to revere Mandela, even in death.

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

After Gasing Opponent, What Next for Idris?

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IGP Ibrahim Idris

he Federal High Court, Abuja, last week, dismissed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/457/2018 and filed by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, challenging his summons by the Senate. Justice JohnTsoho said IG’s suit constituted an abuse of court process and subjudice.

Idrishadapproachedthecourtforanorderrestraining the Senate and its leadership from insisting he should personallyappearbeforethemtorespondtoquestionsinvolvingpolice arrest of Senator Dino Melaye.

And now that the court has spoken, perhaps, Idris would muster the decency to respect the rule of law and not dismiss this ruling like he is wont to disobey presidential instructions.It goes without saying that the IG has caused more confusion than add value in the current

democraticengagement,thus,disrespectfortheruleoflawisafamiliar practice.He would not have shocked anyone if he brushes this aside.

At a time when national discourse was beginning to interrogate the loyalty of state security apparatus, with a view to entrenching a professionally driven institution only loyal to the state and guided by theconstitution,thepartisanshipoftheIGisbecomingveryworrisome.

A few days back,the police tear-gassed leading opposition politicians includingtheSenatePresident,BukolaSaraki;NationalChairmanofthe PDP,UcheSecondus;SuleLamido; Senators MusaKwankwaso,Dino Melaye,BenMurrayBruceamongothers;andinvitedthemtoappear beforeapoliceinvestigatingteamonchargesofalleageddisturbanceof public peace.This is coming on the heels of an Abuja court judgement which ruled against his refusal to honour an invitation by the Senate.

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BRIEFINGNOTES

APC Primaries and the Shadow of Chaos to Happen in 2019 The controversial outcome of some of the primaries in many states proves a poor showing for the Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC of the APC, writes Onyebuchi Ezigbo

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently immersed in intra-party crisis caused by its various contentious primaries held across the states. Perhaps, this may be the first major baptism of fire for the Adams Oshiomholeled National Working Committee (NWC) to prove their mettle in political party crisis management.

There were warning signs when the issue of the mode of primary to choose candidates for the 2019 general election became hotly contested – some wanted direct primaries, others sought indirect primaries.

At a stage, it almost threatened to dismember the party that had just survived the exit of heavyweights like Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara. But the timely intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and other party leaders, who at a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) resolved to allow some flexibility on the matter.

However, Oshiomhole who is still basking in the euphoria of his unopposed emergence as the man at the helm of affairs of the APC insisted he was pursuing his own version of change in the electoral process and internal operations of the party.

But the man with iron fist melted under the heat of pressure mounted by the governors elected on the party platform. Indeed, the party was forced to officially recognise the use of dual mode of primaries – direct and indirect election.

It thus gave room for state chapters to adopt either direct or indirect subject to the approval of the National Working Committee.

Close watchers of the unfolding event in the ruling party would notice that there were three strong interest groups involved in the tussle over mode of primaries.

These included the cabal at the Presidency, the governors, federal and state lawmakers.

Each of these interest groups was seeking to protect their political stake by supporting either Oshiomhole...is the challenge of a national party is call direct or indirect method of primaries.

For President Buhari, those who pushed for the use of direct Some of the governors also have wider interests to ensure that the primaries did so with the intention of insulating themselves from party’s candidates are their cronies or stooges. any legal issue that might arise in future due to alleged wrongdoIn the case of the third group, the lawmakers, they mostly preings during the state congresses of the party. The move by the ferred the use of direct primary, for the mere fact that the process president is an acceptance that all is not well with the last party’s might be more difficult for the governors to manipulate. APC has congresses held during the John Odigie-Oyegun leadership. also said it adopted direct primaries in order to checkmate cases of Another reason those behind the president’s direct primary the godfather influence and vote-buying. took that decision was to try and save him the trouble of leaving The party said the incidences of vote-buying had become worrihis fate in the hands of the governors, who control virtually all the some and as a party and was striving to rid itself of the scourge. party delegates from their states.

The Acting National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Should the president have been made to go through indirect Nabena, who spoke with THISDAY on Friday, said the ruling primary, the governors would have been the deciding factor on party believed that indirect primaries were responsible for the his ability to clinch the party’s presidential ticket. The governors hijack of the party’s structure by moneybags. were the ones pushing for indirect primaries.

According to him, it is the use of delegate system that is The second group (the governors) in the saga are either seeking responsible for vote-buying during elections. reelection or election into a new office like going to the Senate.

Nabena said: “In APC, we are not even used to vote-buying

in the first place. It is a worrying situation in the country presently and that is why we are trying as much as possible to make sure that we introduce the much talked about direct primary, because if the direct primary is introduced, it will carry along everybody, including those people at the grassroots, from the ward level.

“Delegate system is causing this vote-buying, because when the other people look at it that certain people are given money, because they are delegates – you camp them and paid them – other people will say okay, let’s wait for him till the time for general election. They will know what to do.

“So, when it gets to the general election, they too will say yesterday you paid some people as delegates, so today you must pay us. That is why APC is introducing direct primary so that everybody will be carried along and when everybody is carried along, nobody will say, okay we will wait for you at the general election, because they are all participating.

“One thing that did not happen, at least not in the public domain, was an attempt by the leadership of the party to sit with these powerful blocs in the party to try and harmonise their interests before rolling out plans for the primary elections.”

What the party did not seem to understand, however, was that the governors would not sit down and allow their powers and influence become eroded in the name of ensuring greater participation by the members.

Adopting a direct primary is just one form of challenge but allowing two variants of the primaries to operate in one period of electoral contest was asking for too much trouble.

Added to this is the fact the party was ill-prepared to handle the challenges thereafter.

For instance, when the National Executive Committee of the APC said the decision over which mode of primary must be by a majority of the party stakeholders in any state, it did not provide means of ascertaining what majority meant.

Second, adequate logistics plan was not made to ensure that the exercise would be free, fair and transparent. Worse still, the party seemed challenged by the backlash arising from this avoidable adventure.

In fact, but for the last-minute rally by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, protesters in their fury would have overrun the national secretariat of the APC last week.

The Oshiomhole-led NWC presently has its hands full and it is left for them to prove that they are equal to the task by uniting party members to a morale-boosting national convention which might be unlikely if Oshiomhole did not mellow his fire-and-fury disposition.

NOTES FOR FILE

Reducing Incidences of Tanker Explosions

A fuel tanker on fire

The rate of tanker explosions on Nigerian roads has reached a disturbing peak as it has become a regular anti-social feature. Days ago, a petrol tanker spilled its content along the Lagos-Badagry road between Barracks and Onireke in Ojo Local Government area of Lagos in the early hours of Tuesday, causing a major fire outbreak that claimed many lives and consumed several vehicles.

Sometime in July, a huge tanker explosion on the popular Otedola Bridge, Ibadan expressway, claimed a lot of lives with over fifty vehicles burnt. Indeed, that misfortune went down in Nigeria’s history as one of the worse multi-vehicular accidents in over 18 years.

And barely 24 hour after the Otedola Bridge incidence, another fuel tanker accident occurred on the Abuja Suleja expressway. The

fully loaded oil tanker had a head on collision with another truck, leading to an instant explosion. Early last month, at least 35 people were killed and hundreds injured when a gas tanker exploded in Nasarawa State.

However, the spate of occurrence has shown that this is beyond mere accidents. There is a factor of poor regulation and administration of this road menace. This is why government must take the assignment of keeping the roads safe of such dangers seriously. Concerned agencies and authorities must be challenged to stem the tide. Accidents maybe inevitable, the rate of human errors must be maximally eliminated.

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CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

Jos Crisis: The Military Also Cries A recent Plateau State crisis believed to have consumed an army general, Idris Alkali, who is currently missing, has exposed the underbelly of a once pristine city of Jos, writes Seriki Adinoyi

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t seems the last has not been heard or seen of the perennial attacks and killings on the Plateau, which have failed to abate despite efforts made from various quarters, including governments at various levels, to bring back Plateau State to sanity.

On the trail of the crisis have been several victims including students, farmers, villagers, herders, travellers, federal and state lawmakers, and security personnel, with the most recent being a senior army officer, Major General Idris Alkali, who was in transit through Jos and got missing.

The mystery behind his disappearance is yet to be unravelled.

Alkali, retired from service as the Chief of Administration, Nigerian Army Headquarters, a few weeks before he was declared missing on September 3, this year a day after gunmen swooped on Lopandet and killed 13 persons. He was said to be travelling from Abuja to Bauchi and somewhere around Jos, his family lost contact with him.

Gunmen had swooped on Lopandet community in Dwei of Du district of Jos South Local Government Area and killed at least 13 persons on Sunday evening of September 12, 2018, at a social spot in front of a hotel. The killings generated reactions in the area that eventually degenerated into violence the following day, September 13, the same day the General travelled through Jos and went missing. There were speculations that he might have run into the rioters.

Spokesman for the military Special Task Force (STF) in Jos, Major Adam Umar said the General’s whereabouts was not yet established, and that a search troop had been deployed by the Nigerian Army Headquarters to unravel his disappearance, and that it would not be proper to conclude that he had been killed, since there was no concrete and physical evidence suggesting that he was killed. He added that he could not be said to have died for now until his body is recovered.

Alkali “That is why we are searching for him.”

A search-and-rescue officer in charge of the operation, Brig. General Ibrahim Mohammed, said they had it on credible intelligence that Gen. Alkali got missing around Du area of Jos South local government Area, and that the Army Headquarters had mandated them to carry out the operation.

General Mohammed added, “In the search for the missing Major General Alkali, a lot of things were done. All the hospitals in Jos were toured and checked. Besides, we have checked all the accident vehicles and scenes. And on credible intelligence, we now had to come to this community in the past one week. We are trying to find three things. One is the whereabouts of General Alkali, who is now missing. We are also looking for his vehicle, which is a black Toyota Corolla, and we want to find out if he is still alive or not.”

The troop said it was suspecting a mining pond in the area; and that the General might have been killed and pushed into the deep pond together with his vehicle.

Mohammed said, “Again, we have credible information that some vehicles were actually pushed into this pond. We’ve been here in the past three days trying to see if we can salvage anything from the pond. The pond is a mining site, and it’s very deep. We have a crane, and we have used all kinds of methods and as the last resort, we have decided that we are going to evacuate the water.”

He said soldiers have been stationed there and would try to provide protection for the community and other communities in the state.

Meanwhile, there has been a heavy presence of soldiers in the community where the incident was alleged to have happened, thus creating anxiety and panic.

Narrating the circumstances surrounding the General’s disappearance, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, Director Army Public Relations said, “Major Gen IM Alkali (N/8353) retired from service on 7 August 2018 after 35 years, one month and three days of meritorious service to his fatherland.”

He added: “The General was entitled to keep his driver and orderly, which he still has at the time of his disappearance, and as a retired senior military officer, he has the freedom to travel anywhere without asking for permission from the Army. He is also free to travel with or without his driver and/or his orderly.”

Texas revealed further: “The wife of the missing General, Mrs. Salamatu Alkali had drawn the attention of the Nigerian Army authorities to a suspected case of the missing senior officer on September 5, 2018. According to the wife, the retired senior Nigerian Army officer left his home in Abuja for Bauchi on September 3, 2018.

“He travelled without his driver and orderly but drove himself in a black Toyota Corolla. The wife informed that when she last spoke to him on his GSM number 09056890335, he claimed to have passed Jos and was on his way to Bauchi.

“The Army also contacted the MTN and Glo networks to furnish her with the missing senior officer call records. Appropriate technical intelligence facilities were also put into use and the senior

officer’s phone was tracked to somewhere in Du District, near Jos, Plateau State.

“The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) has tasked Operation SAFE HAVEN as well as GOC, 3 Division to intensify the search for the missing retired senior officer in collaboration with the Fire Service, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies.”

Texas added that in the course of the search for the retired military officer, sources informed that he might have been killed and his body and car dumped into a deep mining pit around Du District of Jos South Local Government Area, and that since receiving the report of his missing, the COAS has directed that no stone be left unturned to locate and rescue the officer. This suspicion was also driven by the presence of engine oil spillage on the surface of the pond water.

Though many believe he might have run into hoodlums that protested the killing of the 13 by gunmen, there are other insinuations surrounding his disappearance.

Some are of the opinion that Alkali, who happened to be a no-nonsense general might have been hunted down by the toes he had stepped on while in service.

He was alleged to have been dissatisfied with the military authorities over issues bordering on siphoning of peace-keeping funds meant for fighting war against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, thereby enriching themselves at the detriment of the gallant service-men and women at the centre or theatre of Operation Lafiya Dole, where officers and men of the Nigeria Army have been sent to face Boko Haram with inferior.

Another school of thought holds the view that the General had repeatedly been fighting for justice and fairness regarding the retention of the service chiefs, who ought to have long been retired but currently retained by the Presidency despite calls from various quarters, a development that has made the officer unhappy before he retired. There are fears too that his disappearance may not be unconnected with this.

With all the competing insinuations, the army became more determined to unravel the cause of his disappearance. So far, a remarkable progress has been made with the soldiers discovering the General’s car in the pond. Two other vehicles have also been found in the pond. Though his body was not found inside the car, his shoes, cloths and umbrella were in the car. The soldiers became more determined to evacuate the pond to the very last to see if his body would be found.

What is, however, curious is that the General reportedly told his wife that he had passed Jos and had already entered Bauchi State and was on his way to his farm. How then did he become a victim in Jos after he had passed? Were his body and car brought and dumped in the pond after he was killed elsewhere?

It is also curious that the General travelled such a long distance without his driver and orderly. Also, it is expected that the General should have heard that there was a crisis in Jos on that day. Why then would he choose to take through the lonely by-pass, where there

was riot rather than passing through the safe city centre? It is however also possible that the General, who was on his way from Abuja may not have heard that there was a crisis in the area.

Also, over 500 women of the community came out half-naked and dressed in black attires protesting against the removal of water from the pond by the army which the military authorities resisted. Thus, the question was, if the women were innocent, why were they kicking against the evacuation of the pond? Could it be that they were aware of the General’s ordeal surrounding the pond?

Though the women said the pond is their source of water during the dry season, and that there is a deity attached to the pond such that if it dries up their husbands and children would be afflicted with the spirit of death, the discovery of the car has proved the Army right, and has further made the community culpable.

The military had allegedly threatened that the women and indeed the community will be severely dealt with should the body of the General be recovered from the community. But while the body is yet to be discovered, the Army has already laid siege to the community and arresting suspected residents.

Community sources said dozens of military personnel stormed the area in the early hours of Wednesday and arrested residents from their sleep. The soldiers allegedly forced their subjects to surrender and board a military truck wherein they were stripped naked and taken to detention, it was learnt.

Confirming the arrests, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 3 Armoured Division, Col. Kayode Ogunsanya said “the army is on a mission to find the missing Major General Idris Alkali (retd.) whose vehicle was discovered in a pond near the community after days of search by the army authorities. The general area of Dura-Du district in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State has been cordoned off. The aim is to search for the missing Major General, dead or alive.”

The arrest has created palpable fear in and around the community, as they fear that the soldiers might massacre or inflict more harm on the residents as once witnessed in Zaki Biam, Benue State and Odi, Bayelsa State.

Though the anger of the army is understandable, they are expected to exercise civility in dealing with the issue. The army authorities had said last week that it was not considering any such actions.

But a non-governmental group, Stefanus Foundation, has raised the alarm that the Dura community has been locked down by the Army.

In a statement by its Media Officer, Rachel Noah, the foundation said, “Information from Dura community of Du, in Jos South LGA says soldiers today found another car with plate number: Bauchi-AG 645 TRR, making it the third car found in the pond, the missing general’s car was found. As a result, the report says the soldiers blocked people around Buken Academy in Doi, telling people to switch off their phones.

“In Latya, residents of the community said their area had been cordoned off and since morning, they have been under lock and key as the military is making street arrests and going from house to house in search of males, taken outside and flogged.

“Another report says Berom men and teenage boys in Lapwongit, in Dura, are also being stripped naked and flogged by the military in the name of trying to find those that killed the late General. Other sources said soldiers have been ordered to level the community due to the death of the retired general. They want to take them by surprise.

“This has become a great concern as the military seems to put so much energy in apprehending a whole community for a crime they might be innocent of, while killings in many communities are still going on with no single arrest.”

Alkali’s ordeal is just one of the many harrowing experiences of victims in the Plateau crisis that has refused to go.

Senator Gyang Dantong and an Assemblyman, Hon Gyang Fulani met similar fate some time ago, when the two met their death where they had gone to mourn with a community that was attacked and hundreds of people killed.

Students at the University of Jos have not been spared too. Many a time, they had run into the crisis and killed. Innocent travellers had many times met their untimely death when they ran into crisis in Jos. Soldiers on a peace-keeping mission had also died in this struggle to bring back peace to Jos. Many of them may not have been as notable as Gen. Alkali, and therefore their deaths not as heralded, they are not lesser Nigerians than Alkali.

As the search for the unfortunate General continues, government, observers say, must caution the military to exercise restraint in their anger, so that they don’t end up causing more atrocities than Jos residents already have in their hands.

Their courage to evacuate water from such a huge mining pond must, however, be saluted. They have had to pay huge prices in the course of their operations in Jos. Above all, governments, individuals, and groups must put efforts together to return Jos and Plateau State in general to the ‘Home of Peace and Tourism’ that it was known for.

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CICERO/INTERVIEW

Let Us Debate Governance, FagbenroByron Challenges Buhari, Others The presidential candidate of KOWA Party, Sina Fagbenro-Byron, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari and others itching to take a shot at the Presidency. He spoke with Tobi Soniyi and Aliogo Ugochukwu

C

an you identify the governance challenges we face as a country?

The governance challenges we have in Nigeria can be identified broadly as three and when I talk about governance, I mean it in the street sense. There is the capability issue of those who are in government; the capability of those who get thrown up as leaders and secondly, the accountability aspect of it. Government is predicted on social contract between the people and their leaders and the currency of social contract between the people and their leaders is accountability. The third leg is responsiveness because nobody goes into government having all the answers. But the ability to respond to things get thrown to you is also lacking in the governance sense. Also, fundamental is the fact that there are two major areas, Nigeria has failed and this is peculiar to the Nigeria context. We have failed in managing our diversity.

Nigeria is predicted on diversity and it is also predicted on multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural settings. So we have failed in managing diversity that is why there are cases of marginalization. Why do people fail in managing marginalization of course government and rulership has not run in a manner that is inclusive.

The reasons why nations fail is that the political, social, and economic structures are not inclusive. Any state or society is made of diversity; the basic one is man, woman, young and old. Assume we are all the same in this country, same tribe, ethnic group, we will still have man, woman, young, and old. That is the basic diversity that a system that wants to govern itself must first manage. Unfortunately for us in Nigeria, we failed in managing that diversity.

Secondly, we failed in managing mass. Now, this second aspect of managing mass has occurred as a result of certain things including Fagbenro-Byron constitutional flaws. For instance, our constitubetween the regional and federal constitution states that revenue allocation, and sharing shall be on the tion. But apparently, the second leg to a true federalism if you basis of population, which implies that there is an incentive to look at the exclusive list of the constitution and the concurrent list, have children. But there is no incentive to be responsinle for it is weighed in favour of the exclusive list and unfortunately for them. So why is anybody wondering why our population us what the federal government is doing to the state, the state is growth rate is rising above our economic growth rate? For doing the same to the local government. instance, during independence, we were slightly the same or Now if a state had its own constitution, you will hold the above in population size with Great Britain. governor more accountable because there is nothing else apart Now we are five or six times more and you expect the from the federal constitution that holds the governor to account, standard of living in Nigeria and Britain to be the same, it is meanwhile the same federal constitution dictates that state shall impossible. Another issue which we should look at when we have the power to manage their own resources themselves. But compare ourselves with Malaysia and other countries is that yes you can say that states have bundle of bye-laws and state they have been able to manage the population. laws but they are not coherent. This is not how a federation is Apart from the broad issues of capability, accountability and run, so we have to restructure. Look at other countries such as responsiveness, we have had failures in managing diversity, Switzerland and the United States of America. and mass and what are wrong between the two are the human elements. The greatest resource a nation has is its human beings, Do you think restructuring is feasible? it is not the gold or oil, it is the human capacity. So everything we It is not only feasible, but what I have discovered is that as have done speaks to our failures in managing human beings. people, we always like to remain in our comfort zone. Ten years ago nobody was talking about restructuring, before the likes of Do you think that Nigeria is governable under the Obasanjos and Babanigida would not talk about restructuring, current structure or will you be calling for restructuring? but because they were feeling the effect. Once you are have Absolutely, I am an advocate of restructuring. The first central power, it is difficult not to want to control, manage and example I gave was a constitutional issue. Where you have approving everything. As soon as we have President who imputed an incentive to grow population? Nigeria is supposed does not come from this centrist mindset, and there are many to be run as a true federation. One of the mechanisms that you people, I am not saying I am only one. If you look at what has use to manage diversity is by having a federal framework. The run through the grain of all those who have been in power, is founders of Nigeria who signed up on our independence knew that they come from a military mindset. That is the way they that we were diverse and that is why they opted for federalism, were trained and they don’t know better and they cannot think (federation) because federation is the direct constitutional outside the box. response to a diverse system. But several years of military has As a matter of fact, restructuring is what you call in developunified the institutions and eroded the federalism from within us. There is no federation where the sub-components don’t have ment parlance, political settlement that is, bringing the country to a point where the political elites understand and agree on a their own constitutions. So the first thing we should do if we method of engagement with one another which gives everyone want to have a true federation is that states should have their a sense of belonging and inclusion. That is what restructuring own constitutions. is all about really and there are two parts to restructuring; the Under the constitution of a state that is when you decide administrative and the constitutional part. things such as how many local government areas you want to The constitutional part is the most tedious and difficult. But have, how many members of your state assembly you want you have to start a journey from somewhere, I mean we had to have, how you want to pay them and what can you afford 16 years of government. If people didn’t know that there was a to pay. Of course, there are protocols between state and federal need for restructuring Obasanjo woulsnnot have had his political constitutions. conference. Jonathan would not have had his constitutional In the first republic, when we had regions and not states, conference. each region had its own constitutions and there was no conflict

Essentially, what both conferences were doing were rather similar, as a matter of fact, if you look at the 2014 national conference organised by Jonathan, the outcomes there addressed some of the problems we faced between 2015 and present, such as herdsmen/farmers’ issue, marginalization of minorities, inclusion, power of states, and power of local government. These are things that will continue to plague us until we restructure.

As a matter of fact, it is either we restructure or we fracture. It is something that is almost inevitable for us.

Those running the government do not seem to be interested, so what you do is to vote them out. Nigerians need to know what they want. Nigerians need to know what they want. When a person claims to offer something in manifesto, and when he getsninto power and denies that claim, then there is problem. It is in the APC manifesto that they would restructure. But they got there, they didn’t and one of the reasons is that their leadership and there are some people in the APC who don’t believe in restructuring. For example the Secretary of the Committee, that APC setup Senator Olu Adetunbi, is a firm believer in restructuring.

But unfortunately the chairman of the committee, El-Rufai doesn’t believe in restructuring. Some of them don’t believe in restructuring because they believe in dependence, patronage system where everything is centralized. But you see the centrality of Nigeria governance structure is actually responsible for our corruption and many people have not alluded to this because they say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

When you over-centralise authority in a space that means you are giving more power than necessary to a central authority. So our centrality and over centralization of governance is part of our problems.

Coming to election, there is a challenge getting voters to do the right thing. How do we educate them?

People who are expected to be leaders need to stand on their principles. A leader is a leader. The electorate looks at the body language, the actions, and speeches of what their body tells them. Obviously, there are leaders who have led Nigeria to where we are. But what they have used to entrap our people is poverty that is why I say that in Nigeria, poverty is deliberate. An example of poverty being deliberate tells you what happens during elections.

The person who gives N5000 to win an election will never pray that recipient will have that money during the next round of election so that when he comes and campaign, that his N5000 will remain efficacious. So he will continue to pray poverty on the masses and that is why whatever they do while in government will not speak to the poverty of the people. So they keep them poor. When you keep people illiterate and poor, the last thing they would listen to is true solutions to their problems. This is the way our masses have been held down by the elites. We have an elite that is predicated on patronage, and want to keep that system going on.

Will You be Challenging Co-Presidential Aspirants to a Debate?

I am looking forward to it absolutely. But I know President Muhammadu Buhari does not have the willingness to debate anybody. But I will be willing to debate anybody on these issues.

You have to be radical. Nigeria has gotten to where you have to be radical. There are two things I want to drive; zero tolerance to illiteracy, and zero tolerance to hunger. The zero tolerance to illiteracy is very necessary. It is a matter of national security. You cannot afford in the 21stcentury to have illiterates.

Nigeria problems manifest in insecurity, largest number of out of school children in the world. If you go into the streets, there are still massive numbers. 8 million children out of school are still a major problem. If you declare a zero tolerance to illiteracy that means a direct confrontation to the problem.

The third issue we face is massive corruption and that was one of the reasons that this particular government gave Nigerians. Everybody knows that corruption has become endemic.

As a matter of fact it has moved from the area of corruption to organised crime. If you look at what is happening in pension board, oil sector, it is organised crime than just mere corruption.

President Buhari built his campaign on tackling corruption. What is your accessment on that?

I think really it is a failure. Buhari is going after corrupt individuals. It is typical of individuals who have very small knowledge on institutional causes. To fight corruption, you need to make the system works better. The father of corruption is impunity.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

76

NEWSXTRA PRIMARY ELECTION....

PRIMARY ELECTION....

PRIMARY ELECTION....

Ribadu, Ahmed Reject Adamawa APC Guber Primary Result Daji Sani in Yola Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Dr. Mahmood Halilu Ahmed yesterday rejected the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Adamawa.

Consequently, the governorship aspirants asked the APC National Working Committee to cancel the outcome of the primary election, which they alleged, was fake and fictions.

They made the allegation in separate statements yesterday, alleging that the governorship primary election was never held anywhere in the state.

In his statement, Ribadu said he was surprised that the state governor, Alhaji Jibrilla Bindow announced fake and fictitious results of primary election that was never held.

He said, “We demand the immediate cancellation of the socalled results being announced currently as they are figures cooked up by shameless persons who have no credibility and popularity to withstand free and fair contest.

“We reiterate that no election has taken place anywhere in Adamawa State and it is therefore impossible to declare any result. The party executives at the wards and local government levels should be immediately disbanded as

they have demonstrated their bias and showcased that they cannot be fair and just to all party members.

On his part, Ahmed noted that no primary election took place in the entire state, saying the process has been hijacked by the state government and its conspirators.

He noted that despite the fact that the exercise was marred by confusion, and non or late arrival of election materials and officials, contrary to the elec-

toral guidelines as espoused by the chairman of the primary election committee.

Ahmed alleged that due to the preponderance to electoral malpractices, the chairman directed that the primary election be suspended on Friday night.

He said, “At about 7 pm Friday night, sensing that the exercise was not going to hold according to the laid down guidelines, the chairman of the primary committee, Maj.Gen. Tijani Jubril ordered

that the exercise should be stopped.

“Despite the detectives, we heard that the primary election was held in the night in primary schools, private houses were there was no light and agents of the contestants.

“The entire exercise was fraudulent, done in the dark, carried out by the officials of the state government and their agents, and we still call this election?”

The aspirant, therefore,

described the entire exercise as null and void in its entirety noting that even in Banana republic, such electoral heist could not be accepted.

He said, “The guidelines were flouted with impunity to the extent that an electoral officer, Mr. Peter Nwadozie who supervised the exercise in Mubi North local government announced the result of the election and declared one of the aspirants as the winner on camera.

After Surviving Gunshot, Bamidele Emerges Senatorial Candidate Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti After surviving gunshots at a political rally three months ago, former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele at the weekend emerged the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State for Ekiti Central Senatorial District.

In another development, however, aspirants that participated in the APC House of Representatives primary held in Ekiti the state called on the APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole to cancel the outcome of the election.

Bamidele, former National Publicity Secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD) and ex-Chairman of the House of Representatives on Legislative Research & Budget and, defeated the incumbent Senator, Mrs. Fatimat RajiRasaki to emerge the APC candidate.

Declaring the result yesterday at the party’s secretariat in Ado Ekiti, the Chairman of the National Working Committee on Senatorial primary in Ekiti, Mr Ibrahim Sule, said Bamidele polled a total of 61,823 votes to defeat his closest rival, who garnered 3,289.

In the election in Ekiti North, Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi clinched the senatorial ticket with a total of 2,763 while former National Publicity Secretary off Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Dayo Adeyeye won in the South with a total vote of 51, 443.

Former Chief of Staff to the Governor-elect, Mr Yemi Adaramodu won the House of Representatives ticket in Ekiti South Federal constituency 1.

After the declaration, Bamidele commended former Governor Niyi Adebayo and the Governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi for standing by him and prevented some powerful individuals from imposing Raji-Rasaki on the party.

He noted that the direct primary conducted in Ekiti had afforded every member the right of participation as entrenched in democratic ideals, noting that the act of imposition would only brew ill-feelings among party members.

He lauded party members for exhibiting so much love for him, urging them to replicate the gesture next year’s February 16, when the presidential and National Assembly elections will be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

THE PAST... THE PRESENT... AND THE FUTURE?

L-R: Former Lagos State Governor and Minister for Works, Power & Housing, Babatunde Fashola; his immediate successor, Governor Akinwumi Ambode and APC governorship candidate in Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the APC National Convention in Abuja... yesterday

Ogun Agog as Bankole Clinches ADP Governorship Ticket Tobi Soniyi The 2019 governorship race in Ogun State has become more competitive with the emergence of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole as the governorship candidate of Action Democratic Party (ADP).

ADP, which has positioned itself as the party of choice following the infighting within

the two major parties in the state, the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party held its primary election to choose its flag bearers in the 2019 general elections.

Members of the party in Ogun State welcomed the announcement of Bankole as the party’s governorship candidate with jubilation.

They also expressed confidence in his ability to lead

APGA Affirms Maku Guber Candidate in Nasarawa

Babayemi Wins Osun West ADP Ticket

Emmanuel Ukumba inLafia

Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta

The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Nasarawa State, yesterday affirmed former Minister for Information, Mr. Labaran Maku as the party’s sole candidate for the 2019 governorship ticket in the state.

Maku’s affirmation by 513 delegates from the 177 wards of the 13 Local Government Area in the state took place in Uke area of Karu council area of the state.

Responding to the affirmation, Maku thanked the delegates and the party for giving him another opportunity to run as governorship candidate of the party in the state.

He, therefore, acknowledged that he was not the best among

all the party members, though described his affirmation as an act of God to bring respite to the ravaged and suffering people of Nasarawa state.

The former minister said, “I grew up in a hamlet from a poor and illiterate family. And by circumstance, I was given a privilege to attend a small village school where I trekked fourteen kilometres without foot wear for seven years.

He noted that the state under the current administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was characterized by insecurity, injustice, poverty and requires a dogged and visionary leader who will rescue the state from its ravaging state.

An Osun West senatorial aspirant on the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Mr. Dotun Babayemi, at the weekend, won the ticket to contest the February 16, 2019 senatorial election.

At the election held across 110 wards that make up the Osun West Senatorial District yesterday, Babayemi was unanimously elected by the party faithfuls and members to enable him participate in the 2019 general elections.

While congratulating him at the party’s senatorial secretariat in Iwo, the governorship flag bearer of the party in the last September 22 governorship

election in the state, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, expressed satisfaction in the conduct of the party’s primary election.

According to Adeoti, who former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) of Osun, described the process that led to the emergence of Babayemi as “purely democratic” and pledged that the ADP would not compromise the democratic tenets of allowing members to vote for their choice of candidates, instead of resorting to imposition.

He, however, imported the good people of Osun State to give their support to the party in the upcoming 2019 general elections to enable them benefit from the dividends of democracy.

the state having successful managed the House of Representatives as a speaker.

At age of 37, Bankole is the youngest Speaker in the history of the House of Representatives.

The election was witnessed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Announcing the results of the election, ADP Returning Officer, High Chief

Chamberlain Amadi urged members of the party to work assiduously to ensure victory for members seeking elective offices.

ADP is the only party that has reserved fifty percent of its nomination forms for women, youths and people with disabilities. The forms are also free for them.

Sources close to Bankole said he would make formal declaration in a week time.

MKO Abiola’s Daughter Emerges Ogun ADP Candidate The Special Assistant to Speaker Yakubu Dogara and daughter of the late icon of democracy, Bashorun MKO Abiola, Ms. Rinsola Abiola has emerged as the candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) for Abeokuta North/Odeda/ Obafemi Owode federal constituency in Ogun state.

She emerged following the withdrawal of other aspirants from the race, in acknowledgement of her popularity in the constituency and among members of the party. Her candidature was affirmed by 24,110 party members across the 38 wards within the constituency, in fulfillment of the party’s constitutional provision which makes direct

primaries compulsory.

Rinsola Abiola will now represent Action Democratic Party in the contest to represent Abeokuta North/Odeda/ Obafemi Owode in the House of Representatives in 2019.

In the official acceptance message uploaded on her social media pages, she thanked members of the party for their support and assured them of a harmonious relationship in the quest to ensure electoral victory and meaningful representation.

Rinsola Abiola, a public relations practitioner and advocate for gender equity and youth inclusion in governance, has promised to prioritize youth and women empowerment.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

77

CICERO/TRIBUTE

Dafinone: Departure of an African Trail Blazer For family and friends and in spite of the outburst of emotions the recent passing of Senator David Dafinone at 91, remains the celebration of a life well spent, writes Omon-Julius Onabu

H

e obviously lived to an appreciably ripe age of 91, but his passing has triggered the kind of emotion suggestive only of a profound sense of loss among the high and mighty as well as those of lowly estate in the society.

Since the announcement of his demise in the morning of Sunday, September 30, 2018, outpouring of eulogies for Nigeria’s Second Republic Senator, David Omueya Dafinone, has come from President Muhammadu Buhari, Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Former governors of Delta State, Chief James Ibori and Dr. Emmmanuel Uduaghan, Professor Pat Utomi, numerous traditional rulers in Delta State, particularly of the Urhobo ethnic extraction as well as professional and socio-cultural organisations, including the socio-cultural organisation, Urobo Progress Union (UPU), have also poured accolades on Dafinone as a man of towering stature.

President Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, described Dafinone as a renowned chartered accountant, who was willing to serve his fatherland in whatever capacity he was called upon to do so.

Okowa, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, lamented that the departure of the great son of the state and Nigeria had robbed the nation of his committed service and wise counsel.

In the same vein, the senate president through his media aide, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the deceased as a highly skilled professional, principled politician and respected community leader, who devoted his entire life towards the uplift of the society.

Ibori described Dafinone as Jack of many trades, who yet became a master of all he ventured into.

“Dafinone achieved this because he lived life to the fullest, embraced challenges and also excelled in everything he did,” adding that Dafinone, who served as a member of the state’s Special Advisory Dafinone...a life to remember Council, was globally reputed as a Chartered Accountant even though he of the then colonial service working at the Northern actually studied Economics.

Secretariat in Kaduna.

Born in the seaport town of Sapele on March 12, 1927, Dafinone worked in Records and Registration Departthe conferment of the rare honour of the Guinness World ment and when his immediate superior was promoted, Records was a global acknowledgement of the consistent he was appointed administrative officer in acting capacity commitment of Dafinone to the accountancy profession of the Finance Department. At the finance department, and business management with which he infected his his function was to make treasury estimates of the fundentire family. ing needs of the native authorities within the Northern At a time, England-based Guinness World Records region. rarely looked to Africa and Africans for its selection After satisfactory performance, Dafinone obtained a of record-making achievements, Dafinone became the doyen of Accountancy with great Nigerians like Akintola publicly funded scholarship to study public administration at University of Exeter in 1951. He later earned a Williams but he was extraordinary with a resounding degree in economics. In 1962, he became a member of record. His family has the largest number of chartered the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and accountants in the world!

Wales after articleship with J.A. Miles, a firm of chartered Dafinone was a prophet, who was honoured at home as he was in the larger society and overseas. The Urhobo accountants in London.

In 1966, Dafinone founded D.O. Dafinone & Co, a Historical Society noted thus, “The recognition of our chartered accounting firm. In 1967, he was appointed a own Senator David Dafinone and his children for being member of a committee to probe the assets of Midwest the first family in history to produce the largest number Region public officials. He was an arbitrator for the of chartered accountants is extraordinary.

“This is a profession that is not native to Nigeria. Char- government under the Ports Amendment Decree of 1969, which paved the way for the acquisition and compensatered accountants are peculiarly a British club of talented tion of port facilities owned by United Africa Company men and women. Urhobo Historical Society proudly (UAC) in Warri and Calabar. A year later he was in celebrates the fact that an Urhobo-man has beaten the another committee, a tribunal constituted to probe the odds and is so honoured with his entire family.” affairs of the Apapa Road Project.

He had his early education in Benin-City but finished According to Wikipedia, Dafinone’s other high profile his secondary education at Abeokuta Grammar School in present day Ogun State. He later became an employee public assignment was his remarkable investigation of

corrupt practices at Niger Pools officially known as the Nigerian Pools Company. His report uncovered unethical charges such as forging of winning coupons after results had been announced. The investigation led to the closing of the firm and the imprisonment of some employees.

Dafinone is married to Cynthia Watson, they have five children together. He also has a love child with a lady he courted while he was in Hull.

A senator of the federal republic between 1979 and 1983, Dafinone was also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, National Geography Society; member, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, International Biographical Society (life), National Policy Council and, Urban Land Institute.

He was a disciplinarian and firm believer in quality education, which is evident today in the professional disposition of his offspring.

Acknowledged as a truly eminent Nigerian, accomplished professional and the “Patriarch of the World’s largest family of accountants”, Dafinone would be remembered always as a true family man, committed professional, community leader and statesman whose trail-blazing landmarks are truly legendary.

From the litany of achievements in accountancy, economics, management, agriculture and adherent of a rare breed of politics, Nigeria and Nigerians will sorely miss David Dafinone especially at a time the nation’s economic and political situation has become very dicey.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 7, 2018

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Bola Ahmed Tinubu: What Will Awolowo Say? My lord, that question has remained on my mind ever since this tragic comedy started. I used to really believe in your visionary leadership but I must tell you the truth that in the last 12 months, you don fall my hand as they say on the street.

What would Awolowo say today if he were alive with all these funny things that have been happening? As I read the statement they said you released backing your latest puppet, I just shook my head at the pedantic arguments you were alleged to have thrown up in defence of your position. That Ambode was not following blueprint that you wrote, my God, I almost screamed. Was it written in gold? Even the Bible has come out with many revised

WASIU AYINDE VS OBESERE: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE ONES?

Mbok when serious issues are being discussed, these ones are throwing themselves into the ring. Obesere the king is my man o. I used to go hang out with him in his house somewhere in Okota and Wasiu, I used to see as a young man at the famous amala joint in Shomolu near Onipanu bus stop. So I know both of them relatively well to say that they should just keep their peace and scurry back into whatever dark gallows they have come out from. They and their ilk have played a major role in using illiteracy to perpetuate the kind of ‘blueprint leadership’ we are seeing in this country. So coming out to fight over whatever it is that they are fighting over at this point is almost laughable in its arrant irrelevance. Why am I even talking about them on this page sef?

I’m sorry my readers please forgive me, make I keep quiet.

BEN BRUCE: A WARM SALUTE

I will like to send a warm salute to this great Nigerian senator, Ben Bruce. Although we did not agree on so many positions he took which didn’t really make common sense to me, the mutual respect we have for each other remained very strong. Although he does not know me, I know him very well.

I have seen him at so many fora and even offered him a drink at the Eko Signature one time. I had hoped he would take a beer but he ordered for one exotic drink like that and you know that he is a very sophisticated person, when I saw the bill, I just use style dodge and left him with it. Believe that story you will believe anything. Anyways, we hear the Bayelsan would no longer be in the Senate as a result of policy of rotation in his constituency. I like that and I respect that even though I believe that his presence and role would be missed at the Senate.

Mbok, my brother, do not relent on your campaign because all we really need in this country is a little dose of common sense.

Well done, my brother and when you are ready, send your boy to come collect VIP ticket to my new play, Oba Esugbayi coming up this December at the Muson. But note only one VIP ticket o, you will have to pay for madam, no be you go pay my children

Wasiu Ayinde

editions and why would a mega city like Lagos growing at such a phenomenal rate be relying on a blueprint that was crafted by you 20 years ago? I have also seen videos of you proclaiming Ambode as the next best thing since slice bread, just three months ago. Oga you should just have come out to say, you just don’t like the boy again instead of trying to play with our intelligence. Now you have denied Ambo his second term, mummy is about to start third term at the Senate and I don’t think she even knows the drawer where you have kept this your blueprint. Fashola that you are now proclaiming almost suffered the same fate; if not for the candles we burnt near the Lagoon at Makoko, you

would have ended that one too. You may look at the long line of sycophants shouting and screaming in support of your latest project and feel content that you still have it, well my lord of host, this thing is very transient o. I am sure you know that by now. The end is nigh and my advice is for you to begin to think of legacy and how history will judge you. Mbok before you go to bed this night, kindly seek Awolowo’s face and ask him a pertinent question: am I truly worthy of your great shoes? Don’t worry the answer will not come immediately but rest assured it will come and when it does, you will surely not be sitting pretty. Blueprint? Please don’t make me laugh.

Akinwunmi Ambode –Remain Calm They say you don’t take calls, that one is true sha. Ever since that we your supporters in Shomolu have been trying to reach you, we have not been able but we understand the kind of pressure you are going thru at the moment and have been sending Niyi Saliu and Wale Oluwo to you. I hope they have been delivering our message of support. I am sure that by the time you read this all the wahala would have been over and the blueprint merchants would have had their way. Although this is a sad commentary of our time and the kinds of leaders we parade who cloak themselves with the stained coat of democracy but remain more despotic than the very worst of military dictators. We remain comforted by the fact that history will always have the last say. My lord, you have tried, you have shown enough boldness . You should have faced your godfather, squarely taken him on frontally and dare him to show his face. You should have also taken the opportunity of Dele Momodu’s questions to further hit at the democratic credentials of those who own Lagos. But alas you did not. Anyways, no problem you have fought the good battle and in our books you remain a good soldier. No matter what, school fees.

DR SHINA FAGBENRO BYRON – PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WITH A DIFFERENCE

I got a call from my friend Magaji that he wanted me to meet Dr. Fagbenro then aspirant of Kowa party. I agreed very eagerly and went ahead to invite him to speak at our monthly Afang Summit. He flew in and held us spellbound. For over three hours, Dr. Fagbenro spoke eloquently and sweetly about Nigeria. So it did not surprise some of us when we heard the news that he had emerged as the presidential candidate of the KOWA party after beating his other opponents. I hear the screening was tough and even included writing exams and physical fitness test. Well anyways, this is

Bruce

Ambode

Lagos has been better for it so do not worry yourself. Your legacy is assured.

Even those who ganged up against you agreed that their anger was not about your non-performance. You are the winner in this fight. History will treat you well. Your three and half years in office surpassed their 16 years combined. Come let’s go have a beer – kilo le to ye Egbon mi. the Duke of Shomolu sending you his warm felicitations. Now the next step is to seek my endorsement so that I can issue you with my own blueprint with which you will need to win this election. Please liaise with my people and come and see me with three bags of salt, one virgin goat, three bottles of palm wine and six kolanuts representing the six geo-political zones of the country and fullsized portraits of Buhari and Oshiomhole.

If possible, one strand of Tinubu’s beard.

Just try, na only one I need and leave the rest to me. When are you coming to eat afang again?

TONYE COLE: ARE YOU THERE?

My lord sorry I am sending this late to you. When you emerged I was on forced hibernation with this column and as such I

Fagbenro

Tinubu

could not send my warm regards. Well done and congratulations on your emergence as the candidate representing your faction of the APC in Rivers State. But that said, I know you know that Wike is not a joke o. That baba has defeated your principal in every election since he emerged, he has overpowered and conquered PDP and does not suffer fools. Me, I fear him o, so it is not something that you will be carrying afro and butter looks to jump in o. I think you should be very careful and strategise very powerfully with your mentor. This is a clear case of proxy war as the fight is really between them and not you. Then that Abe side of the matter complicating the whole thing just takes it to another level. My brother, can I ask you what brought you into politics? Please don’t tell me the usual long story of service and the like, what really brought you into politics because if you ask me, you were better off in your oil and gas field o. But whatever the case is, you are here and we have no other option but to support you and we will just shave the afro first. Welcome, my brother.

AYO FAYOSE HOW ARE WE PREPARING? The date is getting close and the EFCC has shown very clearly that they are ready and waiting. I am sure on our own side we too are preparing and waiting. My lord there are some very cardinal rules about entering EFCC if I can share same here with you. Pray Psalm 23 the morning just when you are about to leave the house, make love just in case, go with a crowd, all will not enter but make sure you have a wingman and a runner with you. These ones must enter with you for they are the ones that will be running around to perfect your bail conditions. Prepare your mind to spend some nights because you may not meet the bail requirements on time especially as this your matter is of concern.

Be polite and humble, EFCC has some of the most professional and polite officers, I have met them at one isi ewu joint in Surulere. They are very professional and firm and would not condone being talked down to. Remember at that point you are no longer an excellency but a statesman, so

Fayose

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LOUD WHISPERS

Utomi

you will start every statement in response to their question with, ‘ thank you for this question’. Remain calm, don’t sweat and don’t be boastful. You will be ok, everything we have seen so far is bailable. Carry stomach infrastructure for fellow detainees just in case, carry books including my Loudwhispers. I can send to you also just in case but in all this never forget that you remain Peter the Rock. You are my man.

PAT UTOMI: WHAT IS GOING ON? As of the time of writing, they say you are still looking for the venue of the primaries. Why na, don’t you have Google map? After all the work we have put together including organizing a befitting evening for you in Victoria Island where we assembled over 100 of your friends to listen to you talk. I really hope this story is not true because I would really be sad if you could not find your way to the venue of the primaries. Thankfully, I am also receiving reports that you may have emerged winner of another faction.

Whatever the case may be, if someone of your acclaimed astuteness emerges as the governor of Delta State, then some of us will have to migrate to Asaba to begin to enjoy the full benefits. By the way can I ask you a question, they say you are the one that wrote the blueprint that Tinubu is using to kick people out in Lagos: Is that true because if it is true, you have to go collet your blueprint back o before they use it to carry my wife go o with the way she is shouting Sanwo olu in my house?

Ayuba, NLC President

Adekola

Babajide Sanwo-Olu – Beware of the Ides of the Broom To the new poster boy of Lagos, the uniquely dark-skinned Jide SanwoOlu, I say good morning! It is to your credit that even my wife, the wonderful Duchess of Shomolu has taken sides with you and filled up our living room with your posters, so I say well done and congratulations. But let me tell you a small story, when I was younger, I had this very beautiful girlfriend somewhere in Iwaya.

I loved her so very much and used to trek from Shomolu to Iwaya to see her everyday with gifts for her and her pretty little son. My love for her was so manifest that the young children will be running behind me stark naked and be singing because they knew that if wunmi kissed me they would get konkono. If you grew up in Shomolu, Iwaya or any of the slums, your blueprint will not show you, you will know konkono. But anyways, one day, one

old man called me secretly to the side and told me that I was a nice lad but that I did not know what I was getting myself into and that listen o Jide, ‘the broom that was used to flog the first wife is still the same broom they will use to heat the new wife.’ My brother I learnt the meaning of that proverb the hard way. Na the same advice I am sending to you now. Today everybody is singing your praises and jumping around including my Duchess who will be walking around the house and shaking that her beautiful bottom and daring me to come near without Sanwo-Olu poster as if na you borrow me money to pay her bride price. When that blueprint or should I say broom come for you as it will definitely come, remember I said so. I wish you well my brother but beware of the Ides of the broom. Simple. Thank you

NLC DIDN’T I SAY IT? Didn’t I say it on this page last week that we should not take these gerontocrats seriously? Haven’t they called off their funny strike after how many hours and what did they achieve? Nothing. Did the strike even hold, as people went about their business looking for daily bread?

Mbok, the issue that is doing us now is not minimum wage but a full robust and meaningful self-sustaining living essence for Nigerians. You see why even the government does not take them seriously.

They always come out as self-serving and narrow-minded. So in all the wahala we face in this country, is salary increment these ones can see to fight for and then they will be calling out all Nigerians to go on strike so they can increase their salaries?

Mbok, what is that if not self-importance?

Well we have seen them once again for what they truly are, make I keep quiet before they say I be …

OYELAMI ADEKOLA – GO AHEAD MAKE ME PROUD This is my boy o. He has just won the nomination to via for the House of Representatives on the AD platform in his hometown in Oyo State. Like play as we sat in the office the other day staring at our bank balance as a start-up firm, he just said it that he had been nursing an ambition and I asked what. He just blurted

hear it was a fantastic outing, they did not allow me enter as I am not obviously a woman na. She brought in a wonderful Efik masquerader and dance troupe, with a beautiful fashion show highlighted by emerging designer Elderberry and a slew of female entrepreneurs who displayed their wares and services. I hear it was fun as some very prominent Nigerian females graced the occasion. Well done my sister, keep the flag flying but with that kind of food, you should have at least invited three men, but no problems we will do our own.

IDIAT OLURANTI ADEBULE – A COWARDLY TURN The reports screamed that she had turned her back on her principal and gone ahead to queue behind the opponent. Me I did not believe this report, so I moved on.

But on second thought, I am yet to see a denial from her camp thereby showing that this just may be the betrayal of the century.

How can a deputy who should ordinarily be firm now openly throw such a dagger?

Well, if you begin to understand the strategy employed for the sharing of spoils within the system you will see that depth and capacity are usually the least criteria used in choosing who gets what. This is deliberate as it throws up people like this who will now owe their ascension to a force rather than an ideal hence the eternal servitude as can be seen in what has been reported to have happened in that polling station. Mummy, I bow for you. Well done, you are a very good party woman, now let’s see if you will be rewarded with a Local Government chair with such team spirit with team spirit wil displayed to your boss on election day. O pari.

CHIEF MRS ROSELINE MOWETE – A BEFITTING FAREWELL

Sanwo-Olu

out that he wanted to go to the House of Representatives. I just look the small boy, is this one serious? No wonder when we went on a marketing call on the late sage Olaniwun Ajayi (SAN), an Afenifere chieftain, Lami carry wine and as the baba spoke of his pursuits with Awolowo and the issues that pervaded Yoruba land, Lami listened intently and that day the seed was planted. At the end of the session, the iconic sage, laid his hands on lami’s head and asked him to go with the message to the people of Ogbomoso. Well, today my boy has won the primary and is primed to face whatever it is that APC and PDP will throw at him. I am so proud of him for he has made me a godfather now. I can sit comfortable with them: Tinubu, Amaechi, Saraki in the comity of godfathers. So guys, we are in the battle now and we will not relent until we win.

Idiat Adebule

Mbok, wait where is my blueprint o? Lami just sign an undertaking that you will not deviate or change the blueprint. He must also give me an undated resignation letter and also promise to give me 70 per cent of constituency project money, failure of which it is over. I cannot shout. I am a benevolent godfather.

CHILE’S WOMAN AND A HALF Sometime last month, Chile who works with Zenith Bank brought some very powerful women together in a forum she labelled ‘woman and a half’.

The idea behind this laudable project was to bring professional women together to not only network but to also share experience and push the need to balance hectic roles of being a woman with all that it entails in modern-day Nigeria. I

The matriarch of the Mowete family and my mother-in-law would be put to mother earth this weekend in Ibadan. She was a very devout catholic and mother who instilled in not only her children but all that came through her the strong sense of self. She is being celebrated because at 83, she lived a long life and has left a strong legacy of service, love and faith. Mummy sleep well in the bosom of the Lord even as we pray that the Almighty should give all your children and grandchildren the fortitude to bare this loss. It is me your favourite son-in-law that is writing this one o, not Dan o. Dan has been contesting this title with me, matching everything I am doing. I buy cow, he buys, I buy chickens, he buys, I bring masquerade from Uyo, he brings from Port Harcourt. Please help me warn him to calm down o mummy. It is not fair o. Sleep well, mummy and God bless.

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SOCIALMEDIABITS Last week on social media, the Lagos governor fought dirty, the “spraying” of naira was outlawed, and lawmakers were tear-gassed...

W

ith the information overload that is a hallmark of 21st century existence, it takes an effort to step back and gain perspective on

events.

Take for example, the Lagos State APC Primaries, which was the number one trending topic of last week. By the end of the week, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode congratulated the man who vanquished him, Babajide Sanwoolu.

The victor returned the niceties - easy to do after winning more than 90 per cent of a million plus votes cast - and everyone seemed to move on to the next; Ogun State primaries (keenly contested with two different sets of

results), PDP primaries, PDP national convention...

But not so fast! A few days before and the rhetoric was different. The Governor addressed a ‘World Press Conference’ to cast aspersions on the character of his opponent and question his ability to govern, in front of cameras. Is there any truth in the allegations though? And if not, what does that say of the governor?

In the process, the opposition PDP was given ammunition to discredit the APC, at least the Lagos arm of the party. But alas! It’s the age of information overload and by the time you read this, the trending issue (and names) will be PDP, Atiku, Tambuwal, Saraki...

Cont’d on pg 81

with DEMOLA OJO demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

OCTOBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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SOCIALMEDIABITS It’s easy to get lost in the maze and forget that the generality of Nigerians are filled with anger and a sense of helplessness, lashing out at perceived enemies. It’s all there to see on social media.

For example, ‘Jos Pond’ was trending because an Army General’s car was found at the bottom of a drained mine.

Commenting on it is a minefield; an issue that should be treated as a criminal matter to be well-investigated is taking on an ethnic colouration. Hopefully, we get to the bottom of this. Joe Abah’s tweet should serve as a guide.

Pessimism holds sway in the land, optimism shot down, as DJ Cuppy found out on Independence Day. She received backlash for what is usually deemed a patriotic statement at best, a harmless one at worst. Why make a statement that flies in the face of current realities, was the cynical retort. A few days later, she dropped a brand new single.

For those asking what Nigerians are the greatest at, creativity (especially

music) is one, on the continent at least.

Resilience has to be another, considering the numerous challenges citizens face on a daily basis.

And humour certainly. “When they go low, we go high,” said the man who may be the next governor of Lagos State.

Say the latter part of the sentence in pidgin, and there might just be a hidden message there, according to Nigerian social media.

The message passed to Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara and other members of the PDP who staged a protest to INEC headquarters over the Osun elections was clear.

They were tear-gassed, according to reports amplified on Twitter by one of the victims, ‘commonsense’ Senator, Ben Bruce. Teargas might just be another way of saying, “Seek redress in court.”

Not funny.

Court (and jail possibly) awaits those who “spray” naira at parties, according to the Bankers Committee. But there was no mention of dollars, real or otherwise.

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SUNDAY COVER Tinubu

El-Rufai

Amosun

Yari

APC Primaries

Winners and Losers Samuel Ajayi looks at winners and losers so far in the controversies and political muscle flexing that have dogged the primary elections of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, nationwide

WINNERS

Bola Ahmed Tinubu: All Hail the Godfather!

H

e made it clear that he did not want Akinwunmi Ambode again as continue as the governor of Lagos State beyond May 29, 2019.

Many thought he was joking but he stood his ground.

Despite entreaties from different quarters asking him to “forgive” his estranged son, Tinubu stood his ground and he pushed forward a certain Babajide SanwoOlu. Even when the party was toying with the idea of overruling him, he laughed it off.

Tinubu proved one thing with the emergence of Sanwo-Olu as the APC gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State: he is a serial winner.

The G8: Coalition against Yari!

They are winners in the Zamfara imbroglio. They are the eight contestants that have stood against Yari’s decision to impose his commissioner for finance as the governorship candidate of the party, APC, in the state. In fact, they now refer to them as the G8. One of them, Senator Kabiru Mafara, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum, said Yari wanted to continue to rule the state by proxy and that was why he was insisting on his commissioner for finance succeeding him.

Shehu Sani: The man of the party

If it was left to Governor Nasir el-Rufai alone, Shehu Sani would have been retired politically long ago. In fact, the governor had written a letter to President Buhari detailing Sani’s sins against the party and the president himself and why he must be prevented from returning to the Senate. El-Rufai had said in the letter that they had wanted the Dino Melaye treatment for him but looking at the “loopholes” in that plan and decided to wait and defeat him at the primary election.

But Sani has emerged the winner , he has

been named the sole candidate of the party for Kaduna Central.

Dapo Abiodun: Flooring Amosun

Dapo Abiodun has never hidden his determination to run for the governorship of Ogun State. He has been on this for a long time and it seemed he would have to wait for another four years going by the antics of the state governor, Ibikunle Amosun, who had pencilled down Adekunle Akinlabi to succeed him.

But the national secretariat of the party had overruled Amosun and named Dapo Abiodun as the candidate of the APC for governorship election of 2019.

LOSERS

Abdul’aziz Fari, the ‘protesting’ Zamfara State governor

The Zamfara State governor, Abdul’aziz Fari, by now must be realising that under the leadership of Adams Oshiomhole of APC, governors cannot decide what they want to do in their states. Fari had declared that the state commissioner for finance, Alhaji Mukhtar Idris, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.

This was despite the fact that there were at least eight other strong contenders for the ticket. These include Senator Kabiru Marafa, Mansur Dan-Ali, Minister of Finance, Aminu Sani Jaji, Alhaji Dauda Lawal, Abu Mahaji, Sagir Hamidu and Aliyu Shinkafi, a former governor of the state. Another contestant is the state deputy governor, Ibrahim Wakala.

In fact, the exercise conducted on Wednesday October 6 that produced Idris and which was declared by the primary election team sent by the National Working Committee of the party as not being conclusive had been cancelled by the national secretariat of the party.

Abdul’aziz had called for a protest today against the decision of the national office of the party but that is not likely to change anything as the governor seems to have lost out. It must also be noted that the governor is eyeing the Senate just like his colleagues who

are ending their second term in office.

From all indications, Yari might lose in both fronts.

Nasir el-Rufai: Shehu Sani as Political Nemesis

Many might be forgiven if they think that the feud between Senator Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, and Governor Nasir el-Rufai is more than politics, they might be forgiven. The two do not see eye to eye and el-Rufai seems to have made it a sacred duty that Sani does not return to the Senate in 2019. But from all indications, he might be the loser in the battle for the soul of Kaduna Central.

On Tuesday this week, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party in Abuja had released the list of those cleared to contest for elective positions in the state and for Kaduna Central, only the name of Sani was on the list. In fact, the name of the governor’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Uba Sani, and four other aspirants who had bought forms were not on the list.

Uba Sani had sought court injunction seeking for the stoppage of the primary election while Shehu Sani said it was unnecessary and even unlawful to conduct primary election since he was the only candidate.

But from all indications, Shehu Sani might have got this one over el-Rufai.

Ibikunle Amosun: The ‘Death’ of Consensus

During the week, Ogun State governor, Ibilunle Amosun, has said it would be fight to finish in his state against those who want to “reap where they did not sow”. For over a month now, Amosun has been claiming that what he wanted to do in the state was to have a ‘consensus list’ of candidates for all elective positions in the state. With that arrangement, the thinking among many stakeholders was there would be an agreement over who and who would make the consensus list. But to the chagrin of many

people, Amosun simply wrote a list and sent same to the national secretariat of the party as the list of those that will be contesting in the state. And he did not forget to include his own name as the candidate for Ogun Central Senatorial District. For the governorship ticket, Amosun had pencilled down the name of Adekunle Akinlabi as the candidate for the ruling APC. In a twist, however, the national secretariat of the party had decreed that Dapo Abiodun would be the candidate of the party for the governorship contest in the state. In fact, the team sent by the national secretariat of the party had been having a running battle with Amosun and the Ogun APC state chairman, Derin Adebiyi, who accused the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, of plotting to impose a candidate on the party in the state .

However, that does not seem to deter the former Edo State governor from ensuring that Amosun loses out in the battle to determine who succeeds him.

Akinwunmi Ambode: The Abandoned Godson

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had done everything to convince his political godfather to rescind his decision not to back him for second term. In fact, the national secretariat of the ruling APC had prevailed upon Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to back Ambode but all to no avail. He was asked to step down but he refused preferring to test his popularity within the party by going for the primary election against the anointed candidate of the party in the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. He contested and lost. He cried foul and even the primary election team sent by the national secretariat of the party, led by former Cross River governor, Clement Ebri, distanced itself from the exercise. But Tinubu said the party in the state had taken a decision and must be respected. The national working committee of the party overruled the Ebri group and Sanwo-Olu was affirmed as the winner of the primary election.

And Ambode lost out.

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COVER

Sanwolu-Olu

Agbaje

Agbaje vs Sanwo-Olu: Between an Old ‘Trooper’ and a New Infantry ‘Intake’ Last week, Jimi Agbaje and Babajide Sanwo-Olu both emerged as the governorship candidates of the PDP and and APC respectively in Lagos. Samuel Ajayi looks at factors that may determine their fates and asks if Agbaje can get one over Tinubu’s political hold on Lagos for once The Old Trooper Rolls the Boots Again...

J

imi Agbaje is back again where he stopped four years ago. At the governorship primary election of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Agbaje had polled 1,100 votes to defeat Deji Doherty who polled 742 votes. And the chairman of the primary election panel, Victor Oyofo, did not waste time in announcing him as the party’s flag-bearer for the governorship election slated for next year.

Agbaje would be slugging it out, once again, with Babajide Sanwo-Olu who emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, albeit in controversial circumstances. Sanwo-Olu is the managing director of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, LSDPC, before he was practically foisted on APC in Lagos as the National Leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, declared that Ambode would not be coming back.

In fact, speaking after casting his vote at his Alausa polling centre, the former governor of Lagos State practically sealed Ambode’s fate when he said he was a good administrator but “not a good party man.”

Before then, entreaties upon entreaties had been made to Tinubu to rescind his decision and support Ambode but he stood his ground and Ambode was roundly defeated at the governorship primary election held across the state on Tuesday October 2nd, 2018.

Sources told THISDAY that Agbaje was not really interested in contesting again but when he saw the possible self-implosion apparently coming to the APC over the management of the Ambode saga, he decided to throw his hat into the ring again and his party duly obliged him its ticket.

Not a few believe this is going to be another interesting contest between Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu just as it was between him and Ambode in 2015. Then, Ambode polled 811,884 votes to defeat Agbaje who polled 659,788. The difference between the two was mere 158,206 votes. The differential was

“mere” because of the much assumed belief that the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, was practically dead in Lagos. In fact, many had thought that the fratricidal war in the Lagos State chapter of the party was enough to seriously affect in the election of that 2015. To many, PDP would not only be defeated, it would be disgraced.

2015 Jonathan Factor…

In 2015, the anti-Buhari sentiment among the Igbo residents in Lagos was very high. In fact, it gave the APC establishment in the state a lot of concern. The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, even threw caution into the winds and threatened any Igbo who voted for PDP with a throw into the lagoon.

The Oba was to later recant but the damage had been done. The permutation was simple. Igbos considered (and still consider, though) Jonathan as one of their own. The thinking was that if Lagos was delivered to him, it would help him in retaining the presidency. And due to their love for Jonathan, Agbaje became their adopted political son.

It is no brainer to know that pro-PDP sentiment of the Igbo community in Lagos remains strong just as it was in 2015. The thinking of an average Igbo young person is that the ruling APC seems to be fighting a war against them and this perhaps explains the upsurge in the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, movement led by their mercurial leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

Will Igbos in Lagos do encore for Agbaje again in 2019? It remains to be seen.

The Mighty Tinubu Factor…

Hate or love him, Tinubu has a stranglehold on the politics of Lagos State. He seems to understand the essence of Nigerian politics like the back of his hand. He also understands the meaning of patronage and the fact that practically almost every Nigerian who goes into politics does so for personal reasons. He usually uses that as bait to buy loyalty. With this at the back of his mind, he knows that for you to be relevant, you have to have access to a lot of

cash and be also let such trickle down to the last party member in the lowest rung of the political ladder.

“Tinubu has been able to build loyalty with this mentality in mind,” a politician in Lagos and member of the APC told THISDAY yesterday. The guy, a security consultant who does not want his name in print, said anyone who comes close to the man his followers love to call Ashiwaju (the leader) has never regretted knowing him.

“He brought most of them up and made them somebody and he also makes it mandatory that they do same to those below them. It is a creed that members of his political family understands and use as a manual.”

As it is, Sanwo-Olu does not have any political structure. In fact, ninety per cent of those who were made to cast their votes for him last week did not know him as at three months ago. He was just another ‘Lagosian’ who happened to have gotten political appointment under the present government.

But all that changed the moment Tinubu stepped in. Sanwo-Olu became a household name within weeks. And he went ahead to win the primary election. Even when the Ambode camp cried blue murder, fact remained that were the election to be conducted ten times, Sanwo-Olu would always win.

Lagos for ‘Lagosians’ Alone…

While there have been utmost maturity about it, there is no state where the indigene/settle debate is as pronounced as it is in Lagos. Those whose great grandparents and grandparents were ‘Lagosians’ believe they have been outsmarted in the scheme of things as far as politics of the state is concerned. It is a general saying in political circles in Lagos that Tinubu is from Osun State. And to underline the dynamism and lack of morality in politics, those who defended Ambode when it was said he was from Ondo State three years ago actually used same peculiarity to campaign against him in the build up to the governorship primary election.

In the same vein, words have been going round that even the new APC candidate, Sanwo-Olu, is from Ijebu division of Ogun State. There are those who believe such argument is very pedestrian as these non-indigenes have contributed immensely to the development of Lagos in the last 100 years. But such argument does not hold water with those who hold, and rightly so, that real indigenes of Lagos have not really benefitted from the state politically.

Will Agbaje benefit from this sentiment and get protest votes from those who are even card carrying members of APC? This remains to be seen.

Breaking Tinubu’s Stranglehold…

Even some of his loyalists and admirers believe the former Lagos State governor seems to be overreaching himself with the way he practically behaves as if he is the sole administrator of the state. He decides who gets what and who does not. In fact, one of his admirers told this reporter that no matter how popular an aspirant is, if he does not get Tinubu’s blessing, he is wasting his time. His nomination of Sanwo-Olu and ensuring he seamlessly picked the party was another indication of his enormous political influence.

“Tinubu at times overdoes it. But he may not know. However, it takes the grace of God for someone who has achieved what he has achieved in politics not to play God at times. That is why I don’t blame him at times. And there are those who use his name to do certain things that he does not send them,” a journalist who is very close to the APC leader stated.

Not a few believe this has to be broken one way or the other. But again, this remains to be seen as countdown to the governorship election begins and candidates outdo themselves in trying to woo over voters.

For now, Agbaje is back in familiar turf.

Will Sanwo-Olu lose some sleep? Time till tell.

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T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDA ͵˜ ͰͮͯͶ ADVERTORIAL

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2018

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T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDA ͵˜ ͰͮͯͶ

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ϳ˜ ͺ͸͹΀

SUNDAYSPORTS

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

Liverpool Host Man City in Tasty Top-of-table Clash

L

iverpool and Man City go head to head today as last season’s champions face their nearest challengers. The Reds got the better of Pep Guardiola’s champions in three out of their four meetings last season and the two are already early title favourites, with Man City currently first on goal difference.

But Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes it is too early for title talk and has tipped this weekend’s opponents for another good season.

“I don’t think it makes sense at this moment to think about the title. There are a lot of games to play,” Klopp said. “But, it is a home game against Man City and that is a tough one. Last year they were really special and I expect them to be like this again.

“Teams that play like them can lose focus, but it never happened to City last year so they have all my respect. We have to be on our best to keep them away from our goal and create some chances in front of their goal.”

Man City manager Pep Guardiola wants his side to keep improving when they play Liverpool, but insists no meeting between the sides is the same.

“Every game is completely different,” he said. “In the Champions League, the first game we made a good performance except at the end of the first half. At home we made a very good game as well.

It doesn’t matter that we lost.

“They are a top side in the way they play. Liverpool beat a lot of sides not just City (last season). Liverpool is one of the two greatest teams in England. We try to be close to them. They are a top side and we try to be closer every time.”

Liverpool are waiting on the fitness of midfielder Naby Keita after he was carried off with a back spasm during the Champions League loss to Napoli on Wednesday. Klopp was unsure whether he would be able to train ahead of the match.

If Keita does not make it, Jordan Henderson is likely to start while Adam Lallana is back in full training after a groin problem.

Kevin De Bruyne has a chance of featuring as Man City after returning to training following a

Mohammed Salah scoring the first goal against Man City in a 3-0 win in last seasons Champions League

knee injury.

Benjamin Mendy is also back in contention after recovering from a foot problem but Ilkay Gundogan (hamstring) is doubtful and Fabian Delph is still on the sidelines. Claudio Bravo is a long-term absentee with a ruptured Achilles.

Liverpool are unbeaten in 17 home matches against Man City in all competitions (W12 D5) since losing 2-1 at Anfield in the Premier League in May 2003.

Man City have lost three matches against Liverpool in 2018, losing in the Premier League in January and two Champions League matches in April. They’ve

only lost four matches in one calendar year against an opponent twice before, doing so against Grimsby Town in 1936 and Spurs in 1993.

Both Liverpool and Man City are unbeaten in their opening seven Premier League games this season - this is the latest meeting between two unbeaten sides in the competition since 2011-12 when Man City and Newcastle met in their 12th game of the season.

Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in each of their last eight Premier League home games - only in February 2007 (nine games) have they had a longer

such run in the competition.

Manchester City have lost only one of their last 25 Premier League away matches (W20 D4), though it was in this exact fixture last season (3-4).

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 24 home league games, the longest current run in the Premier League (W16 D8).

City striker Sergio Aguero has played nine matches in all competitions at Anfield in his career (seven with Man City, two with Atletico Madrid), failing to score in any of those games, attempting just 11 shots and three on target.

United Come from Two Goals Down to Beat Newcastle 3-2

Alexis Sanchez scored a dramatic late, late winner as Manchester United yesterday came from two goals behind to complete a thrilling 3-2 victory over Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

Amid speculation that Jose Mourinho is set to be sacked by the board anytime soon, United made a horrific start as goals from Kenedy on seven minutes and Yoshinori Muto three minutes later put the visitors two goals clear.

After witnessing one of the worst first-half performances at Old Trafford in recent history, Mourinho changed to a back-three at the break, with Paul Pogba placed at the heart of defence.

And the response was immediate.

Ronaldo Scores as Juve Extend Unbeaten Run Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant goal as Juventus maintained their 100% winning start by beating Udinese. It comes during a week in which the Portugal forward “firmly” denied rape allegations.

Rodrigo Bentancur had headed in the opener for Serie A champions Juve, while Antonin Barak struck the foot of the post for the home side.

Udinese goalkeeper Simone Scuffet made a series of saves, the best of which was to keep out Joao Cancelo’s effort.

The victory means Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve side have eight wins out of eight in the league this season. Ronaldo returned to the starting line-up after missing the 3-0 Champions League win over Young Boys in midweek through suspension.

He was heavily involved in his side’s attacking play, and had headed one chance over the bar before netting Juventus’ second goal with a crisp finish into the far corner from Mario Mandzukic’s lay off.

In the second half, he had two low strikes kept out by the excellent Scuffet, who also dived sharply low to his right to deny Federico Bernardeschi after the substitute was set up by Ronaldo.

The hosts spurned a couple of great chances before Juan Mata netted a beautiful free-kick on 70 minutes and Anthony Martial levelled matters on 76 minutes after a lovely move involving Pogba.

With the clock ticking down, substitute Sanchez made the winning contribution as he nodded home from Ashley Young’s cross in the final minute of normal time to seal a dramatic three points for United - and perhaps save the job of their manager.

Football journalists everywhere must have been writing their obituary to Mourinho as Manchester United manager at the half-time break. His team was hopeless, the Portuguese looked like a beaten man.

However, he delivered the team-talk of his life and his team delivered. Any argument that the players don’t want to play for the 55-year-old was defeated, as United produced a stirring comeback. The last 20 minutes was almost like a tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson and how his teams used to play at Old Trafford. Various reports suggest Mourinho would be sacked post-match, no matter the result. It would take a very brave person to fire him after this.

Sanchez scored the winning goal for United yesterday

Barca Visit Valencia in Search of Liga Points Barcelona produced an excellent performance to beat Tottenham 4-2 in the Champions League at Wembley and Ernesto Valverde’s side will be hoping for another big showing today in one of the toughest La Liga matches of the season.

The champions travel to Mestalla to face a Valencia side who also had a positive result in Europe on Tuesday evening, and Los Che have consistently made life tough for Barca over the last few seasons.

Barca needed a late Jordi Alba goal to claim a 1-1 draw at Mestalla last season, while the previous season they came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 with an injury time goal from Lionel Messi.

Samuel Umtiti will be missing for Barcelona

after suffering from a knee problem, while Sergi Roberto is also out of the clash with a muscular problem. Valencia have no real injury concerns.

Valencia’s start to the season has been disappointing, with Marcelino’s men only claiming their first La Liga win last weekend on matchday seven.

They have been unlucky in some of the games, however, and on Tuesday night they looked extremely dangerous at times during their 0-0 Champions League draw with Manchester United.

As well, Los Che played some excellent football in the second half of their 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid and will be aiming to make Barca work extremely hard to get anything out of the game.

The Blaugrana have drawn two and won one of

their last three league visits to Mestalla, although both of those wins have come from goals in injury time.

RESULTS & FIXTURES Burnley Crystal Palace Leicester Tottenham Watford Man United Fulham Southampton Liverpool

1-1 0-1 1-2 1-0 0-4 3-2 v v v

Huddersfield Wolves Everton Cardiff City Bournemouth Newcastle Arsenal 12pm Chelsea 2;15pm M’City 4:30pm

Sunday October 7, 2018

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Price: N400

MISSILE

Secondus to Buhari

â&#x20AC;&#x153;PDP will take over the realm of governance in 2019 and restore Nigeria to the path of progress and justice, 2019 is a time for Buhari to go homeâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, speaking at the opening of the special convention of the party to elect the presidential candidate of the party.

MUHAMMADUBUHARI GUEST COLUMNIST

My Affirmation, Mark of Confidence

CORONATION OF THE PRESIDENT...

L-R: Senate Majority Leader Sen. Ahmed Lawan; Deputy Speaker Hon. Yusuf Lasun; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai chatting with the President Buhari while the APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomole looks on with keen interest during the APC National Convention at the Eagle Square... yesterday

I

wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Chairman and members of the Convention Committee for planning and conducting this convention.

The same appreciation goes to the chairmen of National and State Executive Committees of our party. Thank you very much for doing a difficult job well.

I would like to pay tribute to Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande the first chairman of our great Party and to Chief John Oyegun who led the party until this year and all the APC Governors.

The result of the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress this time is different because I am the only candidate. I thank all other eligible candidates who deferred to me in the interest of our party unity and over-all national stability.

Fellow party members, it is with a deep sense of humility that I stand before you today to accept the nomination of our party, the All Progressives Congress to be its candidate and flag-bearer in the 2019 presidential elections.

As I stand today before you, there is no honour greater than the confidence given to me by all of you when you

affirmed my nomination. I thank you for your support. I thank you for your guidance. I thank you for staying committed to the CHANGE agenda.

I accept this honour as a tribute and mark of confidence to carry the responsibility as we all join hands to continue the good work of the APC government to 2023 and beyond.

We are very proud of our record from 2015 to date: We have arrested and checked the slide to anarchy on the security and economic fronts.

Boko Haram is reduced to dastardly attacks on soft targets. Normalcy has returned to much of North East and neighbouring North West states.

Our currency has stabilised. Our reserves are now $44 billion, a lot higher than we had in 2015.

Power generation capacity has reached 8,000 megawatts against less than 4,600 when we came into office. As we invest in new power generation infrastructure we are strenuously working to address the legacy deficiencies and challenges of transmission and distribution networks across the country.

We are executing Independent Power Projects in 9 Federal Universities to deliver uninterrupted power supply and we intend to expand to a total of

37 Universities We have revived most of our capacity to producefertilisers locally.

The Government through its Anchor Borrowers Programme and other incentives has empowered more than 2 million farmers to go back to the land. We now produce 80% of our rice requirements. Many farmers who nearly lost hope are now millionaires.

We have introduced primary school feeding programmes to encourage attendance and enrolment. We also have introduced the conditional cash transfer to help small and medium businesses, the men, the women and young people who drive our economy.

We have repaired and are repairing major arterial roads and starting major railway projects with the aim of linking the 36 states with efficient road and rail transportation systems.

We are attacking corruption headon. With international support we are recovering Nigerian stolen assets and applying them to infrastructural developments.

Today the corrupt are facing the wrath of law and leakages have been generally blocked.

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Members of the APC. We can be proud of our achievements.

CHANGE has come. Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Nigerians, think how much PDP Governments earned between 1999 to 2015. Think what they did with it. r*OGSBTUSVDUVSF EPXO r4FDVSJUZ EPXO MPDBM HPWFSONFOUT of Nigeria under control of a hostile army of insurgents, r3FTFSWFT EFQMFUFE r#BOLSVQUDZ BSPVOE UIF DPSOFS What did they do with your money?

Internationally, Nigeria is now respected. My inter-action with foreign heads of state and government has been very encouraging. The international community is very supportive of our efforts to put our country in order.

Ladies and gentlemen, Members of APC. I thank you deeply for your support and confidence in me. I will not let you or the people of Nigeria down.

-POH MJWF "1$ -POH MJWF UIF 'FEFSBM 3FQVCMJD PG /JHFSJB Thank you and God bless you all. t1SFTJEFOU .VIBNNBEV #VIBSJ BDDFQUBODF TQFFDI BU UIF "1$ $PWFOUJPO BGmSNJOH IJT DBOEJEBDZ GPS UIF FMFDUJPO BU UIF &BHMF 4RVBSF

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