SUNDAY 25TH NOVEMBER 2018

NAICOM Cancels Controversial Insurance Industry Recapitalisation Ebere Nwoji The controversial recapitalisation exercise in insurance industry, tagged Tier Based Solvency Capital increase, initiated by the insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission

(NAICOM), has been cancelled.

The commission officially announced the cancellation at the weekend through a circular dated Novermber23, 2018 circulated to all insurance companies.

In the circular, titled

"Withdrawal of circular on Tier Based Solvency Capital policy for Insurance Companies in Nigeria,” the commission stated, "Pursuant to the powers conferred by the enabling laws, the commission hereby withdraws and cancels the

circular dated August 27, 2018 with reference number NAICOM/DAPCIR/14/2018 and titled Tier Based Solvency Capital Policy for Insurance Companies in Nigeria. This withdrawal and cancellation takes immediate effect."

The circular was signed by the Director (Policy and Regulation) of the commission on behalf of the Commissioner for Insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari.

The cancellation is sequel to the controversy that has trailed

the Tier Based Capital increase announced by NAICOM in August. The controversy ensued when the commission shifted backwards the deadline for compliance with the capital Continued on page 8

Nine Persons Test Positive to Yellow Fever in Edo ... Page 10 Sunday 25 November, 2018 Vol 23. No 8621

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A Rash of Judgements Blights Party Nomination Process Tobi Soniyi The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appears to have contradicted itself and also jettisoned the position of the Supreme

Court that only the national chairmen of political parties can submit candidates’ names for elections. And this has fuelled legal disagreements and upset the nomination process for candidates.

Currently, the party nomination process is under threat from a rash of ex-parte orders, interlocutory injunctions, and court judgements. Across all the political parties, but particularly the ruling All

Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), aggrieved aspirants have inundated the judiciary with all sorts of complaints.

With the courts ever so willing

to entertain every political case and grant frivolous orders, judges seem to have become the greatest threat to the democratic process.

On September 8, at a meeting he held with national chairmen of political parties in Abuja,

INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, warned the 91 political parties that the commission would not receive communication from Continued on page 8

In Borno, Boko Haram Crisis Mounts, Buhari in Shock, Assures a Weary Nation As death toll rises, many still missing in aftermath of Melete attack Analysts warn of Boko Haram, ISIS new strategy of attacking military bases Tobi Soniyi, Bayo Akinloye in Lagos , Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja and Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri There are fears that the recent spate of attacks on military barracks and formations in the North-east may be a precursor of much bigger assaults by a resurgent Boko Haram, THISDAY has learnt.

The decimation of military formations in communities in the zone is been viewed as a clear pattern for an audacious takeover of the territories that these units were established to protect.

The attack on Metele community in Borno State about one week ago, which led to the death of over 118 soldiers, caused

outrage and massive criticism of the federal government's handling of the war against the terror group. Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), which has claimed responsibility for the attack, had pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS in Syria. Members of ISWA had travelled to Syria to partake in the fight to oust President Assad of Syria.

Having been defeated in Syria, most of the fighters came back to form ISWA and have been fighting alongside Boko Haram in the West African sub-region.

Yesterday, there were further reports of sustained attacks by Boko Haram on troops sent to Metele to recover corpses of Continued on page 8

See THISDAY Weekly Guide to 2019… Pages 16-17

TRUCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD...

L R: Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, at the dedication of Glory Dome, Dunamis International Gospel Centre in Abuja...yesterday

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

PAGE EIGHT IN BORNO, BOKO HARAM CRISIS MOUNTS, BUHARI IN SHOCK, ASSURES A WEARY NATION the slain soldiers. The attacks prevented the soldiers from evacuating the reportedly decomposing bodies of their fallen colleagues.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday issued a statement expressing shock over the killings and assuring Nigerians of his government’s commitment to their security. “Members of the armed forces are one family who are commonly committed to the security and safety of all Nigerians,� the statement said.

The statement came nearly one week after the fact and heavy criticism of the president for keeping quiet over the killing of the soldiers by terrorists believed to be members of the Islamic State in West Africa.

The president had last week summoned the country’s security chiefs to meet with the President of Chad, Idris Deby, and thereafter invited them for a meeting at the Presidential Villa.

Impeccable sources told THISDAY that fears that the extremist group might launch more lethal attacks led Buhari to summon the meeting with the service chiefs.

Buhari on Saturday night said he was engaging the military and intelligence chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps to take, despite having claimed that the insurgents had been defeated.

The president was quoted as saying in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, “No responsible Commander-in-Chief would rest on his oars or fold his hands to allow terrorists to

endanger the lives of its military personnel and other citizens. Our loyal forces have proved their strength over the terrorists and we are ready to give them all the needed support in terms of equipment and manpower to succeed in ending the renewed threat. In the coming days, I am engaging the Military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be taking.� However, a senior military officer who spoke with THISDAY on condition of anonymity revealed that there was a growing discontent in the military bordering on distrust and poor weaponry to execute the war against the insurgents.

According to another senior officer in Maiduguri, who also preferred anonymity, Metele is one of the deepest frontline created in the military campaign against Boko Haram and its offshoot, ISWA. It was meant to push back the insurgents. “For some time now, there has been some kind of resurgence and most of these small brigades that were created along the frontlines are not fully equipped to the standard of a proper brigade.

Some don’t have armoured tanks, the ones that have are not functional,� the military source explained.

The officer further disclosed, “They just parked them there.

Some don’t have diesel – the trucks don’t have diesel also.

Even the pickups don’t have fuel. And Boko Haram gets all the intelligence that these tanks are not working. So, once they strike, the first thing they do is to set the tanks on fire. So the tanks

don’t change the game against them. Ordinarily, it should be the game changer. So the brigades don’t have what it takes to run the tanks and trucks because of the usual Nigerian way. “What Boko Haram does is to make the troops’ call for assistance to the air force useless because before the air force gets to the scene of attacks they have wreaked havoc and melted into the night. Their (insurgents’) operation is usually around 6pm to 6.30pm. Before an air force rescue mission will come from Makurdi, it will take a minimum of one hour and by that time it is already dark and none of the aircraft is equipped with night vision. So the air force is useless in such a situation.�

He was dismayed that the extremists often had all the information and intelligence to counteract the federal troops and “they choose their time to strike correctly, particularly when soldiers are relaxed�.

More disturbing, perhaps, is what the source described as a distrust existing among the military high command.

He said, “The distrust arises from the fact that no one knows who among them is giving Boko Haram information because they all know that the terror group has infiltrated the Nigerian Army.

Everyone is edgy and suspicious of one another. The situation is really bad. Everybody present in that barracks in Melete was wiped out. Another important point to note here is the massive corruption in the hierarchy. A lot of people are feeding fat from this war.�

Last week, a faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State in West Africa, that pledged allegiance to ISIS, attacked some troops of the Nigerian Army, killing at least 113 soldiers at Metele – a remote village bordering Nigeria and Chad. About 153 people were allegedly yet to be accounted for or missing.

In the last three and a half years, Boko Haram has attacked 22 military bases and barracks in the North-east – including Metele, Gajiram, Mainok, Rann, Geidam, Sasawa, Magumeri, Malam Fatori, Gashigha, Kanama, Gamboru-Ngala, Mafa and Kunduga, Kareto, Jilli, Arge and Zari – killing hundreds of soldiers.

Buhari Summons Service Chiefs President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an emergency security meeting over the killing of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents. “The president has called an urgent meeting with the service chiefs and the families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,� a source said on Saturday.

An online newspaper, PREMIUM TIMES, had reported that at least 113 soldiers were killed in the Metele attack, “a pre-dusk attack on 157 Task Force Battalion in Borno State on November 18�. It said

“153 soldiers are still missing in action as of November 24, nearly a week after the attack.� the newspaper said the dead included a commander, second-incommand to the commander, the intelligence officer of the battalion attacked and two other officers.

On Thursday, Agence France Presse said it saw a video in which Boko Haram claimed killing 118 soldiers in attacks some days ago.

Terrorists Prevent Evacuations of Corpses With the latest attacks on Saturday by the insurgents, THISDAY gathered that the troops sent to evacuate the corpses of the slain soldiers had to make a tactical withdrawal.

A source said, “As of yesterday around 10am, troops from 7 Brigade Baga went to Kangarwa 119 Task Force Battalion Defence Company location to recover three armoured tanks. They were ambushed and the insurgents took away the tanks.�

He added, “The corpses of those killed in Metele are still not evacuated and the soldiers that went for the evacuation were 147. They were attacked at the entrance of Metele.

A captain was captured alive by the insurgents. The insurgents killed six soldiers from the company with seven soldiers still missing. The soldiers that went for the evacuation lost a battle tank and a gun truck to the insurgents.� However, it was learnt that the soldiers were able to evacuate six corpses, despite the ambush.

Meanwhile, a video has been released on the social media, which appears to be showing the level of dissatisfaction among soldiers on the frontlines in the war against terrorism. Some protesting soldiers in the video describe the weapons given to them to fight the insurgents as obsolete and making their military campaign “mission impossible�.

They said, “The T72 tank was made in 1983 by Slovakia. You can’t fire more than two rounds before it will hang. We are all graduates and millennial soldiers.

So, we know what is going on; all the arms given to us are outdated. They (Boko Haram) call us Zombies – that we do not know our right.�

However, the Nigerian Army has dismissed the video clips showing alleged discontent among soldiers. A message on its official Facebook page said on Saturday, “It is indeed shocking to see how these well doctored propaganda materials from enemies of the state have succeeded in creating fear and unrest in the polity.

These doctored materials are obviously serving the purposes intended by the terrorists to misinform the populace, spread panic, hatred, religious intolerance, and above all, to undermine national security. “The army wants to categorically state that the videos and images making rounds as the purported attack on Metele base are false and do not in any way portray the reality of the situation on the ground.�

A RASH OF JUDGEMENTS BLIGHTS PARTY NOMINATION PROCESS any organ of a party, except the chairman and the National Executive Committee of the party. He noted then that in the past, state chapters and the national bodies of parties had sent different names of candidates for the same offices.

Yakubu, however, said the Supreme Court had ruled that the national body of a political party was the one charged with the duty of communicating with INEC. He said, “The supremacy of the National Executive Council to inform the commission of dates, venues and membership of committees to handle the conduct of primaries is key.

The Supreme Court has ruled that only NEC can submit the list of candidates to INEC. “We will not accept nomination or even invitation for the conduct of primaries from the branches. It is only the national executive of political parties that can contact us. It has happened before and it led to serious litigation. “The chairmen should stand firm. Only you can submit the names of candidates for election and only you can advise the commission on when you will conduct primaries. Otherwise, we will end up with conflicting information.�

Yakubu urged the party chairmen to ensure that primaries were free and fair, adding that the number of electoral cases in court were too many.

But on October 31, less than two months after the meeting with the national chairmen of political parties, the INEC chairman overruled himself and jettisoned the precedent already established by the Supreme Court citing decisions

of some high courts. On that day, INEC wrote a letter to the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, recognising the list of candidates for the 2019 general elections submitted to it by the Mr Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee of the party in Ogun State.

In the letter, the commission also stated that it had received the list of candidates for the governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections from the committee.

The Dayo-led committee is loyal to the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Buruji Kashamu.

In the letter to Secondus dated October 25, 2018, signed by the acting secretary to the commission, Mr Okechukwu Ndeche, the commission stated that the decision was based on the various Federal High Court cases on the true position of the State Executive Committee of the party. He said the commission would abide by them until they were set aside by higher courts.

The letter read, “Consequently, the commission hereby notes the decisions of the Federal High Court in the above-referred cases and will publish the lists of candidates submitted by the Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee of Ogun State pursuant to the Orders of the Federal High Court until they are set aside.�

INEC said its decision was based on three cases, all high court decisions.

The letter added, “The Federal High Court in the matters ordered the commission to recognise Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee of

the PDP in Ogun State and receive a list of candidates for the 2019 governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections from the said committee. “Recall that the commission vide a letter dated 12th April, 2018, informed your party of the commission’s compliance with the judgements of the Federal High Court in Suit Nos. FHC/L/CFS/636/2016 -Engr. Adebayo Dayo & Anor vs INEC & 5 Ors. and FHC/L/ CS/1856/2017Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju, (Member, PDP National Working committee) and 6 Ors. vs INEC and 30 Ors. , which affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court in Suit Nos. FHC/L/CFS/636/2016, which is subsisting until it is set aside. “Further to the above decision, the Federal High Court, Abeokuta Division, on 2nd October, 2018, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CFS/636/2016 Engr.

Adebayo Dayo (State Chairman) and 8 Ors. vs INEC & 3 Ors., also ordered the commission to recognise Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee of the PDP in Ogun State and receive a list of candidates for the 2019 governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections from the said committee. “Consequently, the commission hereby notes the decisions of the Federal High Court in the above-referred cases and will publish the lists of candidates submitted by the Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee of Ogun State pursuant to the orders of the Federal High Court until they are set aside.�

Another state where the

court has been dragged into the political arena is Imo. Two governorship primaries were conducted in the state by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The first was won by Hope Uzodinma while the second was won by Uche Nwosu. However, the party’s national executive chose to submit the name of Uzodinma to INEC as the party governorship candidate for the state. Nwosu kicked and filed a suit at the federal high court.

On November 7, Justice M.T. Salihu of the Federal High Court, Owerri, in the Imo State capital, issued an order restraining both the electoral body and the APC from publishing the name of any candidate until the hearing of the substantive matter on November 12.

Perhaps, to ensure that APC has a candidate, INEC published Uzodinma’s name as the APC candidate. Had INEC complied with the order, APC, perhaps would not have a governorship candidate in Imo. This is because, no one knows when the court will give final judgement. When it does, it may become too late to comply with the order.

Not INEC’s Fault INEC has always complained about conflicting judgements from the courts, especially the high courts and the different divisions of the Court of Appeal.

No doubt, the courts have continued to make the work of INEC very difficult. At a point the commission sought the help of the Chief Justice of Nigeria to get out of the quagmire.

At the meeting with national chairmen of political parties, Yakubu raised the issue of undue interference by the courts.

Observers believe that it is wrong to blame INEC for accepting the list of candidates sent to it by one of the factions in Ogun State. A judge issued the order and in the absence of an order from a higher court, the commission is duty bound to comply.

According to him, some court cases which emanated from the conduct of 2014 primaries were still in court. He stated that cases in court had drained the resources of the commission.

He said, “Litigation arising from party primaries are of a

pre-election nature and are thus not time bound, unlike postelection cases which are time bound- 180 days at the tribunal, 60 days at the Appeal Court and 60 days at the Supreme Court. “Today, we are still grappling with litigation cases that arose from primaries that held in December 2014. Only two months ago, the commission issued a certificate of return to a candidate that was declared winner of a party primary of 2014.�

Continued on page 14

NAICOM CANCELS CONTROVERSIAL INSURANCE INDUSTRY increase by insurance firms from January 1, 2019 to October1, 2018.

Following the backward shift of the deadline and other issues, which did not go down well with the operators, the exercise met series of opposition from insurance firms.

The policy had cateqorised insurance firms into tier one, tier two and tier three levels of capitalisation based on their risk bearing capacity. Opposition to the policy was mainly from those who fall within tier three level and who have the least capital, as they were afraid of losing most of their customers to tier one and tier two firms with bigger capital.

Their opposition instigated the industry's shareholders to seek for legal redress after which the commission was compelled to put the exercise on hold until the final judgement was delivered.

At the first hearing on the matter, the Lagos High Court ordered NAICOM to stop the implementation of the proposed minimum solvency capital policy

scheduled to take effect from September 14, pending the expiration of a 30-day pre-action notice.

Justice Muslim Hassan, gave the order in a class action brought by some shareholders of insurance companies in Nigeria, challenging the new minimum solvency capital policy proposed by the NAICOM. Following the order, NAICOM refrained from the October 1 deadline for implementation of the exercise, until last weekend when it officially announced the cancellation.

NAICOM had in July 25 announced the upgrading of minimum solvency capital of insurance companies from a minimum of N2 billion, N3 billion for life and non-life companies, respectively, to new levels, according to the weight of risk each operating firm has decided to bear.

NOTE: This piece is concluded in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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SUNDAY COMMENT

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

THE BRAZEN METELE ATTACK : A CALL TO ARMS

W

Boko Haram and ISWA may have won this battle, we must win the war!

hile the actual number of soldiers and locals killed in last week's surprise attack on the 157 Task Force Battalion at Metele, Borno State is still being tallied, what is not in doubt is that the Boko Haram insurgents backed by the war-hardened fighters of the Islamic State West Africa ( ISWA) bloodied our armed forces and inflicted serious damage on our country. While the Battalion commander, his deputy and some senior officers fell on their swords along with scores of soldiers, it is confounding that the military would still be talking about Boko Haram being 'highly degraded'. The attack has not only exposed our vulnerability as a nation, it has underscored the fact that we are dealing with a far bigger security threat than the authorities can comprehend.

We mourn with the families of the victims as any attack on them is an attack on us all. And we urge the Federal Government not to abandon them at this most difficult period as it is often the case. Given the audacity of the attack and the damage inflicted on our army, it is very telling of the capacity and the boldness that Boko Haram, ISWA and their terror affiliates have mustered, especially in recent weeks.

Indeed, this particular attack was clearly carefully planned with the intention of sending some sinister message about the capacity of the insurgents whose operatives have been posting videos and all manner of stories in the social media.

Meanwhile, in reporting the tragedy, we agree with the military that there is need for the media to be more circumspect so as not to feed the propaganda machine of the insurgents and further dampen the morale of our troops and create panic and fear in the populace. As we have also repeatedly pointed out, it is important for all the critical stakeholders in the country to look beyond politics at a time like this and render whatever assistance they can in the bid to put an end to the current carnage, which clearly puts our country at risk. But we should also not live in denial about certain facts: as things stand today, the intelligence gathering machinery of the terrorists seems to be good; their men also appear to be motivated and there are clear indications that they boast of good firepower.

Instead of moaning, lamentations and blame games, this is the

The attack has not only exposed our vulnerability as a nation, it has underscored the fact that we are dealing with a far bigger security threat than the authorities can comprehend

Letters to the Editor

I

n 2015 Buhari was a wrong choice; in 2019 he is still a wrong choice. I knew this then, I know this now.

But many Nigerians – 15 million of them that could vote, put their trust in him. He wasted no time in betraying that trust, right from the very first day in office.

It was in the fascinating story of Macbeth where William Shakespeare wrote, “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it”.

This president fooled many Nigerians with his faux integrity. To be fair to the people of this country, I am of the opinion that they were subliminally manipulated with the most powerful tool there is, the media. Their media campaign painted a picture of doom and gloom about a Nigeria whose economy was the third fastest growing in the world at the time.

They told false tales of corruption, Nigerians believed. They said it was

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

time to stand with the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: this is the time to put our house in order. One of the major challenges facing the military is the lack of public trust. This has led to a situation in which Nigerians who live in the affected communities refuse to volunteer information, thereby denying vital intelligence needed to effectively carry out their mandate of ridding our society of these violent criminals. The military must take every step to rebuild trust and confidence in the theatre of conflict and end the policy of appeasement and negotiation with the terrorists which has now become counter-productive. In the past one year, there have been reports of hush money paid to the terrorists for the release of captives. The flip side to such arrangement is that once terrorists and their sponsors know they can easily arm-twist a government, then they have a ready source of money with which to reinvest in new arms supplies lines for their ruinous escapades. In societies where governments negotiate and pay ransom to criminal cartels, especially those hiding under religion, criminality and terrorism become self-perpetuating.

If we must win the war against the insurgency, President Muhammadu Buhari has a decision to make because all is still not well with the military. While the rank and file complains about the lack of weapons with which to prosecute the war, many of the senior military officers are also complaining about lack of progression because those who ought to have retired from service are being needlessly kept on their jobs leading to low morale within the leadership. This is the time to revamp and replace the command, control and war strategy of the armed forces.

A new war strategy must begin with the executive, legislature and judicial branches of the Federal Government. The Judiciary must bring, and be seen to bring, justice to convicted insurgents as there is confusion as to the status of arrested and convicted terrorists. The Legislative Branch of the National Assembly must urgently meet to appropriate new funds for the armed forces and oversight the procurement process from what ever sources - given that many countries who sell us arms come with strings attached.

If the terrorists can access lethal weapons we should do better. The President and Commander -in-Chief must now lead a bi-partisan renewed effort to design and implement new war strategies. First, street fights with the Islamic Movement of Nigeria ( IMN) must stop, beginning with freedom for their leader Ibrahim el-Zazaky so as to concentrate the armed forces on the fight against Boko Haram and ISWA. Then we must fiercely arm the Armed Forces - Army, Air force and Navy for the war ahead. An amphibious Naval Base must be stationed in Lake Chad and a solid Air Force must be given wings and latest technologies to own the skies over the North East. Then the Army can hold the ground. All of these will not be complete without a new Police Force led by what is called the Civilian JTF in a new community policing model. All said, we have been bloodied and bruised, by the battle of Metele, but this is the call to arms and to fight back in a war most brutal to restore our dignity, our integrity and our fatherland.

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.

THE BETRAYAL OF A NATION anti people to remove subsidy in 2012, Nigerians believed. They said the government sponsored Boko Haram, Nigerians believed. They believed all they were told and turned against perhaps the most policy-driven government in the history of Nigeria.

Such is the power of the media.

It was the media the Republicans used to convince Americans that Iraq had to be invaded in 2003 even though it was obvious that the Saudis carried out the 2001 attack of the World Trade Centre. Billions of dollars and thousands of human lives later, Americans saw through the forest of sleaze.

It was the media in 1994 that convinced the Hutus that the Tutsis with whom they had lived together for centuries and share common culture were cockroaches that needed to be wiped out of Rwanda.

Nigerians believed Buhari and APC’s change agenda, voted them to

power, but they have so far disappointed on all fronts.

This is a president that keeps political opponents locked up against court orders. This is a president that was on national television (the only time he had a media chat) to justify the killings of Shiites and IPOB members while making excuses for herdsmen killing farmers.

This is a government which according to the House of Representatives, has just looted N5.8bn from NEMA, money meant for the feeding of IDPs. This is a government that looted N49bn through a fraudulent school feeding that has neither improved enrolment nor quality of education in Nigeria. The corruption by this government is simply endless and heart-wrenching. How can this people be so heartless? This is by far the worst Federal Executive Council since the amalgamation, they inspire nothing. This is a government that

has borrowed more money in three years than PDP did in 16 years, yet nothing to show. No infrastructure, no power, nothing!

This is a government that has looted over $300m returned Abacha loot in the name of doing social intervention programme.

This is a government led by a man that continues to divide Nigerians along ethnic and religious lines. Buhari has betrayed Nigerians.

There are several remarkable stories of political betrayal throughout history. There is the betrayal of Julius Caesar by his friend Brutus in 44BC. Before this time in 509BC, an ancestor of Brutus had been responsible for overthrowing the Roman monarchy and helped bring the Senate to play. The senate used this to their advantage by convincing Brutus that he was destined to betray his friend Caesar and ultimately save Rome.

Julius Caesar was known for wielding his political power like a dictator. It was only a matter of time before he would get rid of the senate to become the paramount ruler of Rome. He was assassinated right in the

Senate building in 44BC. Before his betrayal, it was Captain Boukari who advised Thomas Sankara to order the arrest of Blaise Compaore his friend who was known at the time to be planning the assassination of Sankara.

His reply was, “there is no friendship that cannot be betrayed”. It was on October 15, 1987 when Sankara was shattered with bullets in an act of ruthless betrayal by his close friend and ally. He is still considered by many as the best president Africa ever had.

None of these compare to the betrayal of Nigeria by Buhari. This government has continuously and unapologetically shown to be ruthless against voices of opposition.

What is the value of a Nigerian life under this government? How did we get here?

What were we thinking?

But we have another opportunity to make amends in 2019. God has given us another chance, we must change the change. __ Tony Agbo, 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 ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

NEWS After Acknowledging Payment, NTA Refuses to Broadcast Atiku’s AUN Founder’s Day Denies sabotage, cites technical hitches Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja In what appears to be part of political intrigues ahead of the 2019 general election, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) yesterday declined to broadcast the 13th anniversary of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola live despite receiving millions of

naira, THISDAY has learnt.

In a swift reaction, however, NTA Executive Director of News, Mr. Muhammad Labbo denied political sabotage, though claimed that NTA could not broadcast the confirmed that the Atiku media paid for live broadcast the programme live due to what he ascribed to technical

hitches.

THISDAY checks revealed that NTA was duly paid and the payment was acknowledged and confirmed for the live broadcast of the programme between 4pm to 6pm on Saturday.

The anniversary, also known as Founder’s Day, is a day set aside to celebrate the

founder of the university and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The source revealed that the NTA sent its Outside Broadcast (OB) deployed from Jos and they were on ground before the programme started, thinking they were about to go live.

INDUSTRY LEADERS...

(L-R) Group Managing Director, Aiteo Group, Chike Onyejekwe (FNAPE); President, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Denise Cox; Outgoing President, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Andrew Ejayeriese (FNAPE); and President-Elect, NAPE, Ajibola Oyebamiji (FNAPE), at the Aiteo sponsored luncheon at the 36th Annual Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists Conference and Exhibition in Lagos...recently

He said, “When I entered into the hall, about half way or thereabout, we started receiving calls from all over the country, people who knew that we normally run live coverage of it said they could not watch it. They did not start the live coverage at all.”

He said he tried “to contact NTA headquarters in Abuja, but its management cannot give any tangible reason for not broadcasting the programme live. I contacted their people on ground, the production people at their OB van and they look sorrowful.

“It was clear that there are some conspiracy at work from NTA headquarters in Abuja, working the script of the federal government and a president Muhammadu Buhari “If not for the last minute decision to accommodate Sliverbird Television as the second network for live coverage, the 13 edition of the programme would have been like lighting a candle and covering it, nobody would have known about it.”

However, the source did not disclose the exact amount paid for the 2 hours live coverage.

According to a staff of NTA, two-hour life broadcast often costs for N7 million. There is no one-hour live broadcast.

We only have two-hour live broadcast, which costs N7 million.

When contacted, Atiku’s media adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe confirmed that indeed there was a contract between NTA

and Atiku media office.

“We have received a call from across the country and even outside the country from concerned people who were expecting to be availed the opportunity to follow the proceedings of the programme on NTA. We are accessing the situation to determine the next line of action.”

In his response, Labbo explained the technical problem that prevented NTA from broadcasting the programme live, which according to him, had to do with the international satellite transmission.

He said, “When they called me and drew my attention to it, I made contact with the operational head, he told me that they were having serious technical challenge in Yola.

They gave me the technical explanation, it has to do with our international satellite transmission.

“When I got the information, I called Paul Ibe back because he was the one that called me and made that complaint. I explained to him that they were recording it.

Then they will be able to make it after they finish recording or at any time when they resolve the technical issue.

“The programme was transmitted, although not live.

But it was transmitted in full when our technical people resolved the matter. I want to make an appeal. NTA is a public broadcaster. NTA is for everybody. NTA should not be dragged into politics.”

Nine Persons Test Positive to Yellow Fever in Edo Martins Ifijeh

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday disclosed that nine persons had tested positive to yellow fever in four local government areas (LGAs) in Edo State following its recent outbreak.

The centre, also, disclosed that samples from the nine cases have been sent to the World Health Organisation Regional Reference Laboratory for reconfirmation.

The NCDC Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu disclosed this in a statement yesterday, noting that it was making efforts to address the outbreak and prevent more cases in the state.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes.

Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting

Bamidele Urges APC, PDP to Shun Hate Speech Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Former National Publicity Secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD), Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele yesterday asked All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to set Nigeria on fire their comments and speeches.

Bamidele, an APC senatorial candidate in Ekiti Central, equally called political actors across the divides to pray for the success of the 2019 general election. He made the remark in Iyin Ekiti during a news conference he addressed yesterday to mark the funeral of his father, Pa Stephen Ogunyigbe Bamidele.

Pa Bamidele, who died on

April 19, was interred on Friday at a funeral attended by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his Ondo counterpart, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, among others At the conference, Bamideleurged the Independent NationalElectoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the general election in a way thatwould impress Nigerians and not the ones that would massage the egos of few politicians.

He advised politicians across party lines, particularly of APC and PDP extractions to avoid thosethings that could truncate the country’s democracy in the polls.

and fatigue.

In the statement he issued yesterday, Ihekweazu said the state public health team has commenced investigation following the report of an outbreak of fever of unknown origin in Edo State.

He said the Edo State Epidemiology Team “is working with NCDC, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and WHO to carry out a detailed investigation and response to the already

confirmed cases.”

He said the NCDC “has deployed a rapid response team to support the state with contact tracing, risk communications and management of cases, adding that there were ongoing plans to begin a vaccination campaign in the state in response to the cluster of cases.

“Yellow fever virus is spread through bites by infected mosquitoes. It is a completely vaccine preventable disease and a single shot provides immunity for a

lifetime. The vaccine is freely available in all primary healthcare centres in Nigeria.

“In addition to the vaccine, the public are advised to keep their environments clean and free of stagnant water to discourage the breeding of mosquitoes and use insecticide treated mosquito nets, screens on windows and doors to prevent mosquito bites,” he added.

Since September 2017, Nigeria has recorded suspected cases of yellow fever in all states in the

country, with140 cases already confirmed in Nigeria.

The CEO said a multi-agency yellow fever Emergency Operations Centre has been established at NCDC to coordinate the response.

“The symptoms of yellow fever include yellowness of the eyes, sudden fever, headache and body pain. If you have these symptoms or notice someone in your community displaying them, please contact your nearest health centre.

Maharaj Ji Canvasses N150, 000 Minimum Wage for

Security Operatives Arrest 20 Criminals in Kogi

Kayode Fasua

Yekini Jimoh

The Leader of One Love Family, Satguru Maharaj Ji, has described the new N30, 000 minimum wage for civil servants as grossly inadequate, saying the least paid public worker should go home with N150, 000.

Maharaj Ji made the proposal at a press briefing at the weekend, to round off the Golden Age Festival of the One Love Family held at Maharaj Ji Village in Ibadan, Oyo State.

At the briefing, Maharaj Ji said it was sad that the Nigerian workers had had to suffer untold hardship.

“In fact, that N30, 000 is grossly inadequate for the Nigerian work-

ers who deserve to live well in their own country. If you ask me, I will suggest that the minimum wage for every public worker should be increased to N150, 000.

“Government should make the welfare of public servants and indeed that of all Nigerians as top priority. They deserve a better package, to live well and have access to public utilities, take care of their families and give their children sound education,” he said.

On how to curb corruption in the country, Maharaj Ji said corruption would continue to afflict the country “unless we do away with foreign religions and embrace our native traditional religions.”

A team of military and other security agencies under the aegis of Clearance Operation 777 has arrested 20 criminals including one Mr. Eleme Salihu a kingpin at Itobe, Kogi State.

The Acting Director Defence Information Headquarters, Brigadier General John Agim disclosed this yesterday at a news conferenceat the Headquarters Command Army Records, Lokoja in Kogi State.

Prior to the launch of Operation 777, Agim said there was a large-scale security threat in Kogi State including armed robbery, insurgent activities, boundary

disputes, castle rusting, cultism and kidnapping.

He added that the troops of Clearance Operation provided security to Key points and vulnerable points such as Geregu Power Plant, Dangote Cement Factory, Obajana and 2 strategic bridges at Jamata and Itobe.

He explained thatOperation 777 was launched on October 8“to re-jig their existing operations all over the country in order to close gaps between them and avoid criminals and bandits escaping from one operation theatre to other.”

He noted that the intensity of offensive operation across the state led to the recovering

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NEWSXTRA Otedola: Despite Blowing Exposing Subsidy Scam, Lawan Demanded Bribe Akinwale Akintunde The Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola said he informed ex-President Goodluck Jonathan about a subsidy scam that was being perpetrated during his presidency while explaining how he blew the whistle on those ripping off Nigeria in the oil sector.

According to the oil magnate, there were some Nigerian companies who had claimed money for subsidy on petroleum products they did not import leading him to discuss the situation with the former president.

Otedola said, “I realised that companies in Nigeria were claiming money for subsidy on petroleum products they never imported.

When I saw how much was being stolen, I went to the then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.”

However, the oil magnate disclosed that Jonathan did not believe his claims, noting that he explained how much was being stolen as money for subsidy on the product they never imported.

He said, “Jonathan told me later that he had consulted with the then Minister of Petroleum and that there is nothing of such. I then reached out to Senator Bukola Saraki who raised the issue on the floor of the Senate and thereafter, the House of Representatives set up a panel to investigate the allegation.”

The oil mogul stated this

while standing as a prosecution witness at high court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory as he recounted how Farouk Lawan, thenlawmaker in the House of Representatives and the Chairman of Ad hoc Committee inaugurated by the lower chamber to investigate oil subsidy scam had threatened to indict his oil company (African Petroleum Plc now Forte Oil) and demanded $3 million to exonerate Zenon from a subsidy scam allegation.

“The defendant (Lawan) reached out to me and I gave him the background information as to how the monies were being stolen. I gave relevant information to the ad hoc committee. I had two companies, which are in the oil and gas industry, which were AP and Zenon oil.

“The two companies had something to do with the defendant’s panel. AP submitted to the committee documents regarding all the importations of the company.

Mr. Otaru, General Manager AP, had direct contact with the defendant’s committee,” he told the court.

As Otedola narrated, Lawan had other ideas, saying: “On April 18, 2012, the defendant came to see me at my house in Abuja after the report of the committee had been laid before the House of Representatives in plenary.

“He told me that pursuant to what we discussed on the phone while I was in the

Police Invite 16 Ondo Lawmakers over Forgery James Sowole in Akure The Ondo State Police Command has invited 16 lawmakers involved in the impeachment of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and his Deputy, Hon. Bamidele Oloyeloogun and Hon Igundeji Iroju fortnight ago.

The invitation was revealed in a statement by the factional Speaker, Hon. Olamide George; his Deputy, Hon Abimbola Fajolu and the Majority Leader, Hon Olugbenga Araoyinbo issued yesterday.

The lawmakers said they were being hunted due to an allegation by two lawmakers, who actually signed the impeachment notice but later claimed that their signatures were forged.

They said that after the impeachment of the speaker and his deputy, George and Fajolu were sworn in as speaker and deputy respectively.

The lawmakers said the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gbenga Adeyanju felt unconcerned when hoodlums suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) invaded the House and desecrated the Legislative chamber.

“These thugs unleashed violence and mayhem on the members and staff alike, wounding many and destroying many properties under the

watchful eyes and direct supervision of the Commissioner of Police and his men.”

Curiously, the lawmaker said the police commissioner did not lift a finger to help and made no efforts to stop the thugs or to arrest the situation or anyone. The lawmakers lamented that the thugs roamed free from that day till now and in spite of a comprehensive petition written to the Office of the Inspector General of Police and copied to the President, the NASS, etc.

They said the NURTW men “have not been apprehended and no efforts have been made to address and redress this wanton desecration of the hallowed democratic institution of the Legislature and the infliction of grievous injuries on some members, staff and even Journalists who were merely going about their duties of news coverage.”

They lamented that in a twist of fate, the police left notice in their houses inviting them for questioning or risked being declared wanted.

“In a curious twist of an already macabre story, the police have taken to hounding, witchhunting and intimidating the members who participated in the impeachment based on a frivolous allegation of forgery made against them by their turncoat allies, Hon. Olajide Sunday and Hon Sola Oluyede.

UK, he was going to indict Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd. He demanded the sum of $3m to exonerate Zenon oil. I asked him why he would indict a company that did not import petrol but diesel. He said most of the companies

indicted had paid a bribe. I told him this was extortion.”

Subsequently, the Forte Oil boss petitioned the Department of State Services regarding the issue and a plan for a sting operation was hatched.

“After my petition to the

DG DSS, I received a call from the DSS official – from Caleb – who told me that they were going to carry out a sting operation. He told me that I will be provided with serialised dollars to give to the defendant and they were going to

install video-recording gadgets in my living and dining rooms. About six operatives of the DSS did the installation, I was given $620,000 serialised dollars. I took the instruction of the DSS and I agreed to play along.

YOU ARE WELCOME...

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi (right) with the General Superintendent, Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor W.F Kumuyi, when the Governor paid a courtesy visit to the Pastor in Lagos…yesterday

Tension Rises in N’Delta over $18.5m Oil Pipeline Surveillance Contract Sylvester Idowu in Warri Tension has started building up in Delta State due to the decision of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to award oil infrastructure surveillance contract to Ocean Marine Solution Limited contrary to extant rules.

Multiple sources told THISDAY at the weekend that the NNPC approved a contract for the surveillance of the 87-kilometre Trans-Forcados Pipeline (TFP) to Ocean Marine Solution Limited at a whopping $18.48 million on September 26.

Consequently, thousands of youths and ex-militants from 111 host communities to OML 30

assets described NNPC’s decision an impending chaos in the Niger Delta, thereby demanding reversal of the contract.

The youths alleged that the NNPC alliance with Ocean Marine was about to deprive them of their livelihood; render thousand of them jobless and in effect fuel a new round of unrest in the host communities.

According to the terms of reference of the contract, it is meant to last for five renewable months, coming with some other conditions spelling out penalties that may attend loss of products or breaches to parts of the length of the pipeline.

Contrary to the terms of reference, one of the sources said

Adegbenro: Nigeria Yet to Fully Exit Recession Gboyega Akinsanmi The Chief Executive Officer of Balmoral International Ltd, Otunba Adejare Adegbenro has said Nigeria has not fully exited recession because some traces of causes of the monster are still very much visible around.

Adegbenro, grandson of former Premier of Western Region, Alhaji Dauda Adegbenro and a hero of Nigerian democracy, Pa Alfred Rewane, made the observation at a session with journalists at the weekend in Lagos.

According to him, until the roots causes of economic recession are completely tackled, Nigeria can still be said to be in recession.

He observed that the cause of

the recession in the first place was an imported inflation characterised by devaluation of the Naira with a resultant multiplier effect of increase in the prices of goods and services.

He said, “Until the pressure placed on dollar by the country’s over reliance on imported goods are tackled, the value of the Naira will continue to depreciate and the country will always relapse into another rounds of recession.

“The government should focus on things that can generate forex and ensure production of most of the things we consume like food, petroleum products and export things that we have that the world needs like Bitumen, solid minerals among other things,” Adegbenro said.

the contract has started raising eyebrows amongst stakeholders because due process was followed.

Already, the source said those concerned with due diligence in governance, especially as in the oil and gas sector, faulted arbitrary and unexplained inflation of the contract sum and NNPC’s decision to beat the standing rule that no ministry, department and agency could award a contract that is up to $20million in value.

Speaking on the allegation, Spokesman of Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Mr. Daniel Dasimaka highlighted the inherent security threat associated with the new contract approved by the NNPC to Ocean Marine.

In a statement he issued yesterday, Dasimaka said the NNPC might not have paid attention “to threat the new contract poses to the peace and security of the communities and Delta state as a whole.

“There is a running contract, approved by the operators of the assets to a contactor that has been doing an awesome job on the assets; no reports of negative incidences and the communities are happy.

“Imagine the sort of tension that has attended this new approval in just a few days, the silent and cold wars. This is a latent crisis situation on our hands, I will not buy the narrative that they never envisaged a war from this.

Abiodun Pledges to Improve on Amosun’s Template Femi Ogbonnikan The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun has promised to build on the performance template of the incumbent governor if elected into the office.

He made the commitment at the 33rd Akesan Day held at Kesington Adebutu Civic Centre, Iperu-Remo, in Ikenne Local Government Area of the state yesterday.

Abiodun, an oil magnate, said he “is ready to bring his private sector experience to bear in improving the performance bar which the state has recorded through the rare feat of Amosun.

“It is based on Amosun’s performance template that I am going to

work on and take Ogun State to a greater height in terms of easeof-doing business, a development that will translate to improved internal revenue generation.”

Besides, Abiodun said the APC “has come to rescue Ogun State and the entire country as a whole, in view of the bad governance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when it ruled the country for 16 years.

Among others, the event was graced by a business mogul, Sir Kesington Adebutu, Sen. Gbenga Obadara, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, Chief Bode Mustapha, Chief of Staff to Ogun State Government, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Oshinowo, his Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs counterpart, Chief Jide Ojuko.

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NEWSXTRA NAICOM Cancels Insurance Industry Recapitalisation Ebere Nwoji The controversial recapitalisation exercise in insurance industry tagged Tier Based Solvency Capital increase, initiated by the insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM) has been canceled.

The commission officially announced the cancelation at the weekend through a circular dated Novermber23 circulated to all insurance companies.

The circular was titled “Withdrawal of circular on Tier Based Solvency Capital policy for Insurance Companies in Nigeria” and signed by NAICOM’s Director (Policy and Regulation) of the commission on behalf of the Commissioner for Insurance Alhaji Mohammed Kari.

The circular said, “Pursuant to the powers conferred by the enabling laws, the commission

SKILL CHAMPIONS...

L-R: Managing Director, Trace West Africa, Sam Onyemelukwe; Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Dapo Martins; Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman; Chief Executive Officer, iCreate Africa, Bright Jaja; and Director, Sponsorship Partnership, iCreate Africa, Anne Dirkling, during the presentation of iCreate Skill Champions to the media in Lagos…recently

Ositelu: I’ll Scrap EFCC, ICPC If Elected President Gboyega Akinsanmi The Presidential candidate of Accord Party, Mr. Babatunde Ositelu yesterday disclosed that he would scrap the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) if elected in the presidential election scheduled to February 16.

Ositelu, also, said he would radically restructure the country’s internal security apparatus, which according to him, would give birth to an efficient and effective police service that would be technology driven and people oriented.

He canvassed these positions in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Olubayo Abiodun, re-

vealing that the operations of the EFCC and the ICPC would be collapsed into a reformed police service “to be established under the watch of the presidential candidate of the Accord Party.”

He said that the reformed police service would be made accountable, decent, responsive and responsible “to the Nigerian nation and not to the few elites who seemed to undermine the discipline required in the police as an institution of the state.

“When he is voted into office as the next President and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the federal Republic of Nigeria, his government would embark on effective and efficient management of the nation’s resources.”

He said the cost of governance

would be significantly reduced under his watch, saying the executive arm of government “will lead by example. The cost cutting initiative will include the streamlining of the security agencies involved in the management of corruption and fraud.”

Specifically, the presidential candidate said his government would scrap the EFCC and ICPC and strengthen the Nigeria Police “to perform its constitutional responsibilities of curbing crimes and criminalities.”

He justified the need for the harmonisation of the work of the EFCC and ICPC with that of the Police, noting that the creation of the agencies had led “to needless envy, corruption and

even insubordination among the rank and file deployed from the Police to EFCC and ICPC.” Rather than create room for animosity among the security operatives, Ositelu said that a well incentivised police would live up to its responsibility of curbing criminalities across the country.

He pondered if the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police could not effectively and efficiently carry out its legal mandates if properly mobilised.

He said thepolice “will be given all the needed supports in its human capital development to enable it come out sharper and materially ready to tackle the menace of crimes and criminality in the public and private institutions across the country.

Don Launches Book on Biafra

‘Lim’s Re-election Means Stability for World Maritime Industry’

A new book, The General’s Orderly, a personal account of the Nigeria- Biafran civil war from the perspective of the author’s personal experiences as a Private and later as an Orderly to the Second in Command of the Biafran Army, has been scheduled for launch on November 30. The book, which throws fresh light on long held accounts of the Biafran war, is written by a university don, Professor Arua Okereke.

The book, which catalogues the experiences of the construction engineer and Professor of Construction Technology and Management from the time he was a child soldier, would be launched at 10am at the Imo State University Auditorium, Owerri.

The author uses the autobiography to explain what the war did to the psych of everyday men and women that participated or were victims of the war. It captures the remote and immediate causes of the war and its long term consequences on the people of Eastern Nigeria. It also gives exciting accounts of the experi-

The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said the re-election of Ki-tack Lim as SecretaryGeneral of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a promise of stability in the execution of the organisation’s development initiatives.

Peterside stated this in his congratulatory message to Lim, who was on Thursday re-elected for another fouryear tenure by a unanimous vote of IMO’s 40 memberstates.

The voting took place during the 121st IMO Council at the headquarters of the specialised United Nations body in London.

Peterside, who is also the Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA), said regarding Lim, “What his second term means is stability in execution of the significant growth path of the maritime industry globally and more space for and attention to

ence: the fight, the internal intrigues, the escapes, and the eventual surrender of the Biafran army to the Nigerian Army.

The 436-page autobiography with 17 chapters covers the historic trajectory of the author from being an innocent boy fighting in a civil war he least understood, to his academic pursuits outside the country, his fantasy and childish romance with beautiful ladies in Cameroun and eventual inter racial marriage in Bulgaria.

Among special guests and royal fathers expected to grace the occasion are Lady (Mrs.) Josephine Philip Effiong, Professor (Mrs.) Uche Azikiwe, and His Royal Majesty Samuel Agunwa Ohiri. It would be reviewed by Professor Aja Akpuru Aja while Professor B.E.B Nwoke would be the presenter. The ceremony is also expected to be attended by leaders of thought from different socio-economic and political groups in the South-south and South-east, in p[articular, and Nigeria, in general.

Demola Ojo

developing nations.”

He said the re-election of the 62-year-old South Korean by a unanimous vote was an affirmation of the member-states’ confidence in him.

“I congratulate and wish you well in the second phase of your work as SecretaryGeneral of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for the next four years.

“Your emergence by a unanimous vote of the 40 member-states on the IMO ruling council is a significant confirmation of the huge confidence reposed in your work, strength, and character.

“I trust that this vote is symptomatic of the massive reservoir of support behind you as you steer the ship of the global maritime body towards successful implementation of the six-year strategic plan (2018-2023) produced on your watch.

“The plan, focusing on smart and eco-friendly shipping, as well as strategy for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, will make for safer use of the world’s maritime resources.”

hereby withdraws and cancels the Circular dated August 27, 2018 with reference number NAICOM/DAPCIR/14/2018 and titled Tier Based Solvency Capital Policy for Insurance Companies in Nigeria. This withdrawal and cancellation takes immediate effect.” It noted that the cancelation became imperative due to protracted controversies that trailed the tier-based capital increase announced by NAICOM in August.

The controversy ensued when the commission shifted backwards the deadline for compliance to the capital increase by insurance firms to October 1 from January 1, 2019.

Following the downward shifting of the deadline and other issues that stoke disapproval in the ranks of the operators,the exercise met series of opposition from insurance firms, especially those who fall within tier three and who have the least capital.

A Rash of Judgements Blights Party Nomination Process In one of the cases involving the PDP in Ogun State, a judge of a high court ignored the precedents already set by the Supreme Court that only the national executives of political parties could nominate candidates and submit same to INEC. Refusal to follow precedent established by the Supreme Court is a violation of the code of conduct for judicial officers.

However, the National Judicial Council will not act unless a petition is sent to it against an erring judge.

That has to change. The NJC’s rules of procedure should be amended to confer power on the council to deal with any judge that brings the judiciary to ridicule without waiting for a petition.

Is It Really the Fault of the Courts?

It is the inability of political parties to manage their internal affairs that is at the root of the problem. Many of the disputes the parties take to the courts border on issues they can resolve within themselves. The APC’s case in Zamfara State is instructive.

Due to internal wrangling, the party was unable to present a governorship candidate within the time frame allowed by INEC. Now the party is in court asking the Federal High Court, Abuja, to grant an order of perpetual injunction against INEC. The order being sought was to restrain INEC from giving effect to the contents of its letter with reference number lNEC/SEC/654/1/330, dated October 9 and issued in respect of the 2019 general elections.

The said letter contained an administrative decision taken by INEC, barring Zamfara APC from fielding any candidate in the 2019 general elections for failing to conduct party primaries within the stipulated time.

Whatever order the court gives, the judiciary is likely to take the blame.

Before the party went to court. A Zamfara State High Court had issued an interim order restraining the party and INEC from disqualifying the party’s candidates from the state for the 2019 elections.

Justice Mukhtar Yushau gave the order following a suit filed by three executive members of the party in the state – the Chairman of the party in Gusau Local Government Area, Babangida Abdullahi, his counterpart in Tsafe Local Government Area, Kabiru Chafe, and Sanusi DanAlhahi. In the suit, they challenged the powers of the national leadership of the APC and INEC to disqualify the candidates from contesting for various elective positions in the 2019 elections.

The plaintiffs filed the application on behalf of 24 other candidates on October 8, 2018, through their coun-

sel, Muhammad Sani Katu.

In his ruling on the suit, Justice Yushau, issued an order of interim injunction ordering the APC, the party’s North-west zonal chairman and INEC to maintain the status quo as at the time the plaintiffs filed the suit on October 8, 2018.

In Rivers State, despite the intervention of the Supreme Court, the warring APC factions have chosen to adopt their own interpretation of a ruling by the apex court.

The Supreme Court had on October 22 set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, which permitted the conduct of congresses by the APC. The order of the Appeal Court issued on June 21, 2018 against the ruling of a Rivers State High Court was voided by the apex court on the grounds that the appellate court acted in bad faith.

Since the warring factions would not agree, the situation in Rivers APC will have to await a final ruling by the Supreme Court whenever the court is presented with the opportunity to determine the issues between the parties. The crisis rocking the APC has not eluded the Delta State chapter of the party.

Already a Federal High Court sitting in Asaba had issued a contempt notice on the national chairman of the party , Adams Oshiomhole, for disobeying its order not to submit list of Delta APC candidates to INEC and on the chairman of INEC for disobeying its order not to receive and publish such candidates’ names from Delta State for the 2019 general elections until the resolution of the case.

The court noted that despite its order dated October 17, 2018, Oshiomhole still went ahead to submit names of purported NASS candidates from Delta APC to INEC and that INEC also went ahead to receive and publish such names even when the order directed both parties in the case not to do so but to maintain “status quo.”

Politicians rushing to courts whenever they disagree with their political parties is not new. Indeed, it has become a recurrent issue. It is also their rights to go to courts.

However, judges must be vigilant and thread cautiously so that politicians do not use them to frustrate the democratic process.

Judges should not allow themselves to be used by unscrupulous politicians who want the rule bent to aid their cause.

In order to save the judiciary from further embarrassment, there is a need for the leadership of the judiciary to be proactive. It can develop and adopt new rules for handling political cases.

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OPINION NCDC AND THE LEGAL MANDATE Chikwe Ihekweazu writes that the NCDC Act will boost the job of protecting the health of Nigerians

W

hen I accepted the responsibility to lead Nigeria’s national public health institute (NPHI) just over two years ago, I was acutely aware of our public health challenges. In countries that have NPHIs, they serve as focal points to protect and improve health. Having worked in similar institutes in other countries for most of my career, I felt I was well prepared technically for this role and accompanying leadership responsibilities. However, the one aspect that challenged me was that the agency I had been appointed to lead was yet to get a full legal mandate for its operations.

Without a legal mandate, we were limited in terms of access to the human and financial resources required to protect a country of over 180 million people from public health threats.

For my team and I, we immediately set out some clear goals to work towards, one of which was getting a legal mandate for the agency. About 27 months after, one of our major goals was met. On the 12th of November 2018, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided final assent for the Bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

I attended a meeting with African Health Ministers convened by the African Field Epidemiology Network during its biennial conference in Maputo, representing the Nigerian Minister of Health. I shared with the ministers present a vision of what strong NPHIs with legal mandates mean for the African continent. I took examples from Ethiopia that has a long established NPHI, Liberia whose NPHI was built out of the urgency created by the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and the National Institute for Health in Mozambique, our host country. My reflection was that while we are building a strong NPHI in Nigeria, a strong legal mandate would provide us the clarity of mission to improve the roles we had performed over the last seven years.

It was great joy to step out of that meeting to the excellent news. Mr. President had just announced that the bill had been signed. From Nigeria and the global community, there was a lot of joy and excitement. For my team at NCDC, their messages were filled with pride and confidence- this bill is a boost to the

excellent work they have been doing for the last seven years; the job of protecting the health of Nigerians from public health threats.

A lot of the questions that I have received since the signing of the bill centre around what it means to NCDC. The work that we do at NCDC requires dedicated financial, human, and technological resources. The signing of the bill provides an opportunity for improved access to these resources including the recruitment of more members of staff with specialised skills in line with our mandate. Since the establishment of the agency, we have led the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) functions in Nigeria. The NCDC Act gives us the full legal mandate to continue this function, contributing effectively to global health security. Among other things, the NCDC Act also spells out our responsibility in surveillance, outbreak response, developing a network of public health laboratories and coordinating the training of field epidemiologists.

The journey to the passing of the NCDC Bill has taught my team and I valuable lessons. Notably, we cannot afford to protect the health of Nigerians without understanding the art of political engagement, advocacy and diplomacy. The political commitment from President Muhammadu Buhari in forwarding the bill as an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, gave it the much needed priority attention. The Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases led by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa also

With the increased political commitment, funding and partnerships, NCDC will work relentlessly to prevent and prepare for outbreaks of infectious diseases, as well as manage surveillance and the reference laboratory architecture for Nigeria

ensured that the bill received expedited hearing, on the floor of the Senate. This journey which began with my predecessor Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, also received great support from Professor Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health.

The value of NCDC to Nigeria has become more obvious, given the many public health threats that we have faced and the ones that are yet to be discovered. We have an improved relationship with other national parastatals, as well as local and global partners. We recognise that we cannot change the world on our own and must build strong collaborations and coalitions with all those working to improve the health of Nigerians.

These relationships are crucial, as the determinants of health are often not in the health sector. The next outbreak will not be detected in Abuja. It will be detected by the frontline health worker or community member who recognises that there is an unusual occurrence of disease and can ensure that sick patients are tested and treated. NCDC will play an important role in providing technical resources, building capacities, and coordinating communities, states, parastatals, and the private sector. However, the parent at home, neighbours, hospitals, and state governments all have to work to improve health.

With the increased political commitment, funding and partnerships, NCDC will work relentlessly to prevent and prepare for outbreaks of infectious diseases, as well as manage surveillance and the reference laboratory architecture for Nigeria. We will continue working with other government agencies and sub-national levels of government, to provide science-based leadership and public health services.

We are all excited about the opportunity the new NCDC Act presents to us but recognise our increased responsibility to Nigerians. Our promise remains to continue protecting the health of all Nigerians, from the threat and occurrence of infectious diseases, 24/7. We cannot do this on our own, and need the support of every Nigerian, as we chart this new path together.

––Dr. Ihekweazu is the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria’s national public health institute.

BEYOND ‘GETTING NIGERIA WORKING’ TO ‘NEXT LEVEL’ Getting Nigeria working involves voting for the candidate that can remake the system, writes Oludayo Tade

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ike sprinters awaiting the sound of the gun to start the race, the two leading contenders for the coveted Aso throne, President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, have rolled out their policy documents. They are unlike Dr Oby Ezekwesili who had shared her agenda ahead of time. They will now deploy the ‘policy’ documents to confuse or convince Nigerians. In the name of agenda setting and sloganeering, the leading contenders from the Broom and Umbrella parties are at it again. Enabled by money, power and structure, the deceitful struggle for the minds and votes is underway. Nevertheless, we know that, historically, sloganeering of governance through agenda documents has been a tool used by politicians to hoodwink the electorate and citizens. In 2015, the APC candidate, Muhammadu Buhari harped on “change” while Goodluck Jonathan employed “transformation”. After three years of mouthing ‘change’ for Nigeria and Nigerians, APC has now ‘changed’ to ‘next level’. To the PDP candidate, Atiku, who believes that Nigeria is not working at the moment, it is time to get Nigeria working.

With the race now set in motion, let me welcome you formally to the season of dishing and serving of lies from the tongues of politicians. In the next 90 days, Nigerians will be entertained with another round of lies—across the states. Candidates, hitherto apathetic will suddenly become sympathetic and begin emergency face-saving activities such as patching up bad roads and lighting up the streets. They will give widows food and embark on giving tradermoni.

Many will become associated with the masses by street acting and ‘tasting’ everyday encounters which the masses experience. These serial lying characters only want to profit on the vulnerability of the people to be ruled for another four years.

The best way to characterise this season of lies is to seek the intervention of Nigerian musician Salem Shorunke also known as ‘The Talking Drum’. In his single, Awon Oselu, Salem unpacked the Nigerian politicians as self-seeking and selfish cohorts whose interest is to fulfil the Biblical characterisation of the thief: to steal, kill and destroy. Salem worried why Nigerians in the land of plenty and freedom, would still live like slaves. To him, despite suffering, Nigerians are still struggling to survive. Just like the promises either denied or undelivered or under-delivered by Buhari, Salem observed that Kí won ó tó joyè won a máa sèlérí o, àmó jékán goríoyè, won a ma wúsuláìkobè, ó mà se ò, o ma se...(before they come to power, they make promises but on getting to office,

they begin to reap where they did not sow. It is a pity).

Fellow Nigerian, we are in a familiar terrain. When Buhari promised change in 2015, people did not ask the direction the change will take. While many people would agree that the released agenda, like the one before, is beautifully written on paper, translating them to action is in doubt. We can say this much given how Nigerians and the Nigerian economy has fared under the ‘change’ regime. For some, the change has been positive while to majority of the masses– the unemployed, the kidnapped, the raped, and the working ‘slave servants’ – the change has been negative. To the beneficiaries of free public monies, protection from prosecution and other benefits, the chorus is AMEN to ‘Next Level’. But for the several millions of Nigerians, to set an agenda of ‘Next Level’ will mean that you intend to aggravate their suffering. In short, the ‘Next Level’ pushers perhaps plan to usher us to another level of killings, health tourism by the Prince of Daura (and some medical-doctor ministers who go abroad for treatment), shielding of friends from prosecution and indictment, and poor allocation to health and education. Will it mean that the bluff of the judiciary would be called some more and the rule of law and judgments of the court would be disobeyed with increased panache? Note, that there is no statement that previous government shall be blamed when we win in the APC’s ‘Next Level policy. Of course, the ‘2014 Change Agenda’ did not have such statement but for every failure to deliver on their promises, blaming PDP has now become a scratch disk under the Buhari-led government.

On the ‘Getting Nigeria Working,’ mission, how will Nigeria work again when Atiku fails to ‘Artikulate’ the percentage he plans to put into education and health?

What is the plan for engendering ‘unity’ in a country that has enthroned injustice? Or is it just about tossing the restructuring kite before a gullible electorate like change was used by APC in 2015? We have a rise in the number of uncommitted, unpatriotic, narrow-minded Nigerians and the elevation of “I Pass My neighbour ideology” where people look for opportunity to eat out of the local, state and national cakes and if possible, deny others. The cumulative effect of this ideology is the rise of different forms of insurgent citizenship.

Salem was right when he noted that Nigerians are suffering because they have enthroned gluttons who utilise the commonwealth to train their families abroad and personalise what belongs to the majority. Like Buhari and

Atiku are bombarding us with promises, Salem expresses scepticism of their ability to live up to their promises.

Soon, they will wear the attire of other ethnic groups to campaign venues. But we all know how quickly PMB consigned those clothes to the dustbin once the campaign was over. This is not a surprise, since, in the view of Salem, once they grab power, they do as they like: ‘bímbá ti dádé oyè, ìyà ò je yín mó....hmmm àmó jékán goríoyè, won a ma wúsuláìkobè, ó mà se ò The difference between the two men running is almost between half a dozen and six. Noting that confusion will set in for Nigerians in deciding who the crown fits, Salem ‘the Talking Drum ’ christened contenders as ranging from those who want to return to former office (Adébòsípò), those who believe they are the most suitable for the position (Adéyemí), those set to upstage incumbent (Adérópò) and those who believe ruling is their birthright (Adédìran). The persons we should elect should be those we believe can drive positive progress. If we elect òbàlújé (destroyer of country) or the òbàyéjé (destroyer of destiny) in 2019, we shall bear the brunt of our (in)discretion and suffer for it for another four or eight years.

The season of lies is upon us! Be vigilant Nigerians! Do not be deceived! Like the street language, Jí Másùn (wake up) Nigerians. In this season of lies, sleeping is dangerous.

To the discerning Nigerian, vigilance is needed in this season. As Salem notes, sleeping during war time is unethical. If we lose the 2019 battle while sleeping, we are consigned to another term(s) of enslavement. Must Nigerians choose between ‘Next Level’ and “Getting Nigeria Working Again”? Why not look beyond these two to those who have stakes-in-conformity and have so much to prove than endorsing those who are only after setting records of being both military and democratic head or defying all odds to articulate their presidential life-goal?

For me, the electorate needs to explore other options beyond Buhari and Atiku as they are obviously not the best of all the candidates. Unfortunately, I doubt this possibility in 2019. Getting Nigeria working again involves voting for the candidate that can drive progress, solve unemployment problems, and commit sufficient funds to education and health. If we achieve this in 2019; that is when we can reasonably be on the path to greatness.

––Dr Tade, a sociologist sent this piece via dotad2003@yahoo.com.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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LETTERS

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BETWEEN THE HOUSE, NEMA AND THE VP

n emergency is any unplanned event that can cause deaths or significant injuries to the public such as floods, earthquakes, civil disturbances, terrorism, war, and so on. In view of the frequency of these events in our planet and the widespread nature of their effect, emergency management has developed into a professional discipline. People who work in the emergency agencies of developed countries, from bottom up, are seasoned professionals who know and appreciate the demand of disaster management.

Reading through the House of Representatives Committee’s report on the investigation of NEMA, I was left to wonder whether the legislators are Nigerians or aliens and whether they truly believe in the indictments they so generously handed out to the NEMA Director General, Mustapha Maihaja and VicePresident Yemi Osinbajo.

First let us examine the terms of reference of the committee and the findings and weigh them against the evidence and principles of disaster management. The committee said it had the following issues to probe: One, the release of N5,865,671,389.26 and N3,153,000,000.00 as emergency intervention of food security

NEMA Director General, Mustapha Maihaja

to support the population affected by insurgency in the North East in June 2017 and other releases for the North East intervention; Two, the 6,779 metric tonnes of rice donated by Chinese government to the internally displaced persons in the North East. Three, payment of about N800 million demurrage on the donated rice

by the Chinese government.

Four, over N10 billion being statutory 20% Ecological Funds released between January 2017 to February 2018 to NEMA; Five, the federal government flood Intervention in the sum of N1,6b to 16 states in July 2017; and six, the over N1.6 billion released to NEMA for evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Libya in 2017.

The committee gave its findings on each one of these but the one that has been hyped more is the alleged refusal of NEMA to distribute the 6,779 metric tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government, and the issue of payment of N800 million demurrage which the members said was unnecessary if the rice had been cleared as and when due. The committee found: that more than one year after the goods were donated, there is no evidence that the six states of the North East, which are the beneficiaries have received the items; the federal government paid about N800 million as demurrage to APM terminal and Maersk Line for the consignment due to delay arising from inability and negligence on part of NEMA, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Budget and National Planning to secure the items as at when due.

I’m aware that NEMA has debunked the allegation that it did not distribute the rice to the affected states. But let us for the sake of argument accept that NEMA had not distributed the rice as at the time the committee was doing its investigations. Does it then mean that the rice had been sold by NEMA, or that it never meant to distribute them? The committee itself did not say NEMA or any other govern-

ment agency had sold the rice.

It only said it saw no evidence from all the invoices presented to it, because I presume, none of the invoices indicated Chinese rice!

Now it’s important to know that there are four stages in emergency managementmitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Any emergency agency has to be painstaking at each of the four stages to achieve success. The committee did not tell us in its report at what stage the rice was delivered at the Nigeria port. But let us again assume that since it was just a gift to Nigeria, it was delivered not as an immediate response to a disaster. This assumption is reasonable since the rice was meant for states ravaged by insurgency.

That could mean that distributing the rice to the states mentioned was not such an emergency that required the consignment to be swiftly cleared and distributed to save lives. This could be the case if you consider the fact that there were others who made generous donations of rice and other foodstuffs to those states including our own Aliko Dangote.

So, the issue is not that NEMA allowed citizens to die by failing to supply them necessary foodstuffs. The quarrel of the committee is that the rice shipped from China was not distributed to those they were meant for. Again, on this score one can say that efficient disaster management is a planned series of activities, not Now, a politician’s vying for some ad hoc crisis managepolitical office on the platform of ment as the committee will APGA is a guarantee of success in an election. That’s why it is the have us believe.

If NEMA already had an political party to beat in the state.

And Governor Willie Obiano’s appropriate response of its own in place before the China brand of politics and laudable rice was delivered, it makes achievements in the areas of security and agriculture has made sense that it doesn’t have to immediately distribute them. the citizens of the state become If NEMA is a serious agency, enamoured of APGA, too. one expects it to have its own Sadly, the party started its response plan in place and not descent to chaos and infamy wait for donors, except where when it is trying to break out of the cocoon of ethnicity and extend its dominance of political space outside Anambra State.

APGA is more than a political party. Like Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, it is a symbol of the Igbo people’s oneness and unity. And it is a tool o lie and continue with which we can negotiate our to keep adminplace in Nigeria’s scheme of things. istrative power Chekwas Okorie, the late Chief looks attractive, Emeka Ojukwu , and others who but our collective formed the party never envisaged conscience should tell that it would face rupture owing to us it is wrong to do this. personality clashes, selfish interests, Indeed, it is this collective and lack of internal democracy conscience thing that is the existing in the political party. moral compass of a people.

But, things came to a head with If this moral compass is the attempted impeachment of tweaked for good, the speaker Rita Maduagwu. The people are fulfilled but if state legislative assembly, which it is tweaked the wrong has two speakers now, became a way folks are abject in their theatre of war last week owing to misery everywhere. Which the impeachment problem. Why is why I am bothered and should Anambra State regress to really worried to read the dark era of its politics? that Nigeria’s “anti-graft The things that predisposed agency” (presumably, the APGA to experience internal Economic and Financial rumbling are existing in other Crimes Commission, political parties in Nigeria .But what EFCC) has a round-figure is happening in the APGA bodes net of N400 billion in its ill for Anambra and Nigeria. kitty against the “paltry” ––Chiedu Uche Okoye, N2 billion inherited from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra the Goodluck Jonathan State. government. Well, now,

APGA’S CRISIS AND VILE POLITICAL CULTURE

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political party is a vehicle by which politicians access political power. And, globally, we have different types of political party systems, such as one party system, two-party system, multi-party system, and others. A political party may be founded on socialist and welfarist ideologies. For example, in the first republic, the Action Group executed policies for the betterment of the people, which were in consonance with the party’s socialist manifesto.

But since the formation of NNDP in 1922, which is Nigeria’s first political party, our political culture as well as party system has been evolving for the worse.

In the first republic, the political parties jostling for power at the center were not truly nationalistic in outlook.

Action Group was to the Yoruba what the Northern People’s Congress was to the north.

And the NCNC was believed to be an Igbo people’s political party. It is an indisputable fact that forming political parties based on ethnic and religious considerations can undermine national cohesion and unity.

The Nigeria-Biafra war, which hindered our national development, was partly caused by the existence of regional cum ethnic-based political parties in the country, then.

In the second republic, the dominant political party, NPN, was truly nationalistic in outlook and orientation, although it was dominated by members of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy. And UPN, which was a reincarnation of the Action Group, was led by

Chief Obafemi Awolowo. More so, the Zik of Africa, Nnamdi Azikiwe , contested the 1979 presidential election on the platform of NPP, an Igbo political party. And, we had PRP with its socialist leanings. But the second republic came to an end when the beret-wearing Jackboots and Brass hats sacked Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s civilian government via a military coup. Consequently, Muhammadu Buhari became our military head of state Some two years later, he was overthrown in a palace coup

by General Ibrahim Babangida.

It’s Ibrahim Babangida, who introduced two-party system in Nigeria with the creation of SDP and NRC in the third republic, which was still-born.

The SDP was leaning to the left; and the NRC to the right.

However, Babangida’s unjustified cancellation of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election put paid to MKO Abiola’s dream of becoming the President of Nigeria, caused the end of the third republic, and threw Nigeria into a political cauldron.

Thankfully, Nigeria was pulled back from the brink by divine intervention.

Happily, today, Nigeria has been enjoying unbroken democratic governance for 19 years with the PDP chalking up 16 years of our current political experiment. Until APC became the ruling party in Nigeria in 2015, PDP was an exemplification of an egregious variant and manner of politicking. The culture of imposition of leaders on the people, bastardization and commercialization of democratic processes, absence of internal

democracy, rigging of election, and others characterized the political party. Then, in Anambra State, it was characteristic of the PDP to have two political candidates contesting for the same elective post in an election.

But today its members are working assiduously and tirelessly to shorn and rid it of those excesses and negative attributes.

PDP had been voted out of power. However, the ruling APC has not fared any better. Although, it has been making pretensions to being a progressive party, its conduct of primary elections ahead of the 2019 general election at different levels nationwide has proved otherwise. The fact is that APC is afflicted with the same malaise troubling other political parties in Nigeria. It claims that it is an agent of positive change and governance has been punctured and repudiated by President Buhari’s political maladministration of Nigeria. So, as Nigerians have become disenchanted with it, top members of the party have defected to PDP. So, is APC’s implosion not imminent?

But, now, sadly, APGA, a regional political party, is in the same boat and circumstances as APC. Save for the brief period PDP ruled Anambra State, APGA has been dominating the politics and governance of the state for a long time. It’s the platform from which Mr. Peter Obi ascended to the political throne. And he ruled Anambra for eight years with resounding success and legacies. Based on his exemplary and productive governance of the state, many politicians defected to APGA.

there are no other alternatives.

The committee did not claim that the refusal to distribute the Chinese led to deaths or serious issues of starvation in the affected states, thus confirming NEMA’s claim that it did indeed distribute rice to those states.

Moreover, since it was not an emergency, there was nothing wrong in NEMA keeping the Chinese rice in a warehouse while planning for further deliveries.

While the alleged payment of N800million demurrage was regrettable, the House committee should not have made it look as if NEMA delayed clearing of the rice so it could pay demurrage.

Not only does it not make sense, but it shows a deliberate refusal of the legislators to acknowledge issues with our ports’ administration.

Moreover, as the committee also acknowledged in its report, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed

by Nigeria and the Chinese shows that the clearing of the rice was supposed to be a multi-agency task and not that of NEMA alone.

Yet the committee recommended the sack of NEMA DG because of this? And why has the Speaker of the House of Reps Yakubu Dogara picked on NEMA alone with such venom? So much was Dogara in a hurry to indict the DG that his media aide issued a press statement about the discovery of the Chinese rice in NEMA wherehouse, accompanying it with photographs. Shortly after, his media aide issued another statement alleging that NEMA was moving the rice from its warehouse to an undisclosed location. In the three years he has been speaker, this is the first time Dogara has shown strong interest in any House report. Does it have anything to do with 2019?

––Amarachi Iwuala, Owerri.

THE STAYING POWER OF LIES

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was the Jonathan-era EFCC into scaring off opposition figures and carting away their wherewithal? I think not. If this Buhari-era EFCC would declare only N400 billion as its net, then it ought not to have declared anything at all! Now, too, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s apologists of the Kano State APC stock have mentioned that the wads of dollar bills were actually campaigndonor funds meant to “energise” the electorate for the 2019 polls. Just imagine how low Nigerians can descend. Now, also, the “Next Level” policy document of the Buhari/Osinbajo’s team was a naked concept plagiarism from the net. The litany of lies is cascading everywhere and it is troubling that the APC wants to continue in 2019.

––Sunday Adole Jonah,

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

THISDAY WEEKLY GUIDE TO 2019

Michael Adikwu

Akeredolu

Emmanuel

Ortom

The Road to 2019: Flashpoints to Watch (XI) With engaging campaign kick-offs, the road to 2019 is definitely a rough one, writes Olawale Olaleye

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he two leading political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), last week, opened the floor for the 2019 campaigns with the launch of their respective presidential campaigns.

The APC tagged its policy document ‘Next Level’, a choice campaign theme that is already generating controversy over alleged intellectual theft, whilst the PDP said its compendium of ideas was designed to get the country working again. He was quick to also add that he spent 18 months with experts, putting the ideas together.

To that extent, both the official and unofficial foot soldiers of the two parties had immediately gone to work. Mostly, President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers had taken to town to charge the people to re-elect the president, citing different reasons. In the same breath, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s people had warned of the implication of re-electing a government it glibly dismissed as incompetent.

With such disagreeable campaign tones, which had rather aggravated the otherwise unsavory rivalry before the electioneering was officially declared open by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – it goes without saying that the road to 2019 is definitely an undulating one.

It was therefore understandable when INEC warned as quickly as possible against any contravention of the Electoral Act and its election regulations, vowing to strictly monitor campaigns by political parties. INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

However, two things exacerbated the tenor of campaigns that began in the week under review. First was the statement by a former United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development and member of the UK Parliament, Priti Patel, that the penchant of the APC-led federal government to disobey court orders was responsible for the country’s economic woes Although Buhari didn’t like the tone of that statement and had immediately dismissed it as wicked, the PDP immediately latched on to it, claiming the statement vindicated its position on the Buhari administration.

The other issue is the recent killing of nearly 120 soldiers by Boko Haram in Melete, Borno State, a development that is already generating intense ill-feeling about the government of the day especially, when the situation seemed to confirm insinuation that the government might have been lying about the situation report on the fight against insurgency.

Indeed, the Senate, as a result of this unwholesome situation, adjourned plenary,

describing the situation as unacceptable. In the same spirit, the US government also cautioned against a crisis-ridden election and enjoined actors to eschew hate speeches as they walk deeper into the campaign depth.

Nevertheless, the president met with some South-east governors and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu in the week, about the development of their zone, the meeting however added nothing to the state of campaigns and so the fever had since begun to spread across the different states of the federation.

KWARA Offa Robbery on the Dial

Whist the dust raised by last week’s byeelection into a federal constituency was yet to settle in the state, the pending Offa robbery case reared its ugly head again in Kwara, however, on a different scale.

The police leadership had come out to announce the passing on of the principal suspect in the April bank heist, Michael Adikwu, which claimed over 30 people, months after Senate President Bukola Saraki had raised the alarm that the chap had been killed.

Interestingly, the police had come out to dismiss the possibility of the demise of the chap affecting the prosecution of the case, shamefully so. But the truth is that while the opposition may want to make the Offa robbery an issue in the election, the police cannot say with such confidence that the passing of the prime suspect would be of no consequence.

The assumption that he was killed is more grounded than the story being dished out.

Whatever it is, all eyes are on Kwara in next year’s election and it is because of the place of Saraki in the scheme of things.

ONDO It’s Getting Hot in Here

In Ondo, the crisis plaguing the APC is far from being over and it is the bitter fallout of the primary elections in the state. Last week, a group, Concerned APC leaders called on the national leadership of the party to dissolve the state executive led by Mr. Ade Adetimehin, over alleged anti-party.

Alleging that the state executive of the party was undermining the APC national leadership, the group said the Adetimehin-led state executive had been indirectly encouraging aspirants to approach the court over the outcome of the party primaries in the state. The group was led by a former deputy governor in the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi.

It was no wonder that Hon. Olemija Stephen, representing Akoko North-East/West of Ondo State, reportedly dumped the ruling party in the week.

In another breath, aggrieved lawmakers of the state House of Assembly, who effected the

removal of Speaker Bamidele Oloyeloogun, and his Deputy, Hon Ogundeji Iroju, recently rejected the lifting of their purported suspension by the Assembly. This followed their insistence that Oloyeloogun and his deputy remained sacked and do not have the right to preside over the functions of the assembly.

Interestingly, the decision to lift the suspension was sequel to the intervention of the stakeholders and notable leaders within and outside the state in resolving the crisis.

Ondo definitely has a lot on its hand in next year’s election, even though it won’t be holding a governorship election.

AKWA IBOM A Foretaste of 2019

Week in, week out, Akwa Ibom is proving to be one of the states to really watch out for in 2019. With the alleged plot to take over the state by the APC, recent developments may be playing to vindicate the PDP. The police, which sealed off the state House of Assembly penultimate week, lifted their siege last week.

This has not however deterred the PDP from crying out that there were alleged attempts by the APC in collusion with security agencies to make the state ungovernable ahead of the 2019 general election. The party said the strategy was to make it possible for the APC-led federal government to declare a state of emergency and pave the way for easy manipulations of election results in 2019.

But while the PDP was struggling to assert itself in its domain, some of the other dynamics do not show a party comfortable in power. That some of the governor’s aides have continued to resign are clear indications that the office of the governor might be under huge threat. But the jury is still out as far as Akwa Ibom politics is concerned.

ENUGU A Needless Billboard Battle

In what is best described as a declining electoral culture, the two main parties in Enugu State resorted to billboard battle in the week, such that signaled avoidable violence in the lead up to next year’s election. First, the APC had accused the PDP of intolerance by not letting it erect billboard, an allegation that the ruling PDP in the state denied.

However, PDP Chairman in the state, Hon. Augustine Nnamani, took the issue a notch higher , when he addressed newsmen over alleged destruction of the PDP-led government’s billboards at the entrance of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, welcoming the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to the state. But the APC had immediately denied this, saying it was all lies.

Yet, the PDP scored another big one at the weekend, when Steve Oruruo, spokesperson for the APC governorship candidate, Senator Ayogu Eze, defected to the party. This has further swelled the ranks of the party and reaffirmed the imposing stature of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the state.

LAGOS A Peculiar Presidential Campaign

In Lagos, while the APC governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is practically running a one-man show at the expense of PDP’s lazy campaign approach, the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, last week injected fresh breath into the mix, when he inaugurated 5,000 participants into a dedicated campaign team in the state to champion Buhari’s re-election.

The event, which took place yesterday in Ikeja, had in attendance participants drawn from the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas across 347 wards in the state with a mandate to build formidable political support base in their respective areas of control.

Fashola’s initiative has been commended largely as a product of good thinking especially, when it appears that the current structure in the state is neck deep in the governorship electioneering, thus, assuming the Buhari election would naturally assume its place in the scheme might be delusional hence the initiative to contain possible tacky loose ends.

BENUE The Logic in Ortom’s Advocacy

After months of dueling with the Benue State Government over the enactment of anti-open grazing law, which had cost the state many deaths, the federal government, recently, set up a presidential committee on farmersherders crisis, a move Governor Samuel Ortom has described as a step in the right direction.

Ortom, who spoke while receiving members of the committee led by General Musa Ibrahim of the Nigerian Army Defence headquarters, Abuja, at Benue Peoples’ House, Makurdi, said the committee was a better initiative than the earlier utterances by the Minister of Defence on the Benue State killings, which to a large extent, injured the sensibilities of people of the state.

Now that common sense has finally prevailed in the state, it is important that going forward, both the federal and the state governments appreciate the fact that their roles are complementary. It is therefore the view in some quarters that with this development, Benue may not only experience a peaceful election, but may savour an atmosphere of peace for a while.

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NOVEMBER 25, 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

The Road to 2019: Flashpoints to Watch (XI) OSUN Adeleke Still Gasping for Survival

It appears the thrills and frills of the September 22 governorship election in Osun State are yet to completely subside. This is evident in the PDP. Last week, the PDP put three of its members under investigations for possible sanction on account of their suing the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the Osun election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, over alleged fake certificate.

The members are Olalekan Awosiyan, Thomas Ojetade and Sina Awodire. They will be recommended for sanctions in accordance with the party’s constitution. Adeleke was recently granted bail on personal recognition on account of his certificate scandal.

But despite fighting internal squabbles, the party seized the occasion to throw shades at the outgoing Governor Rauf Aregbesola and described his government as a disaster.

Although Adeleke is still in court, it is yet to be seen how further up he could push his resolve to reclaim his allegedly stolen mandate and if the PDP can approach the election as a united house.

has successfully substituted his name as the governorship candidate of the party, fighting the attendant constitutional lacuna attached to the manner of his emergence is another challenge that awaits him and which the PDP national leadership of the party is waiting to exploit.

In both parties, therefore, it is not yet uhuru as the last is yet to be heard of the intrigues unsettling their fate.

KADUNA

Adeleke

Tambuwal

SOKOTO Embracing a New Chapter

The resignation, last week, of former Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto had immediately closed a chapter in the life of the state and her politics. Sokoto, who is of the APC, did not defect with his principal, when Governor Aminu Tambuwal left the APC. And to make his resignation a matter of moral compulsion, he too emerged the governorship candidate of his party. But he did not resign his position until he learnt of the moves to impeach him.

Apart from that, the news that the name of Governor Tambuwal was missing on INEC list was another development that unsettled the state in the midst of other challenges.

However, last Thursday, the state House of Assembly, confirmed the appointment of Alhaji Manir Dan-Iya as the new deputy governor of the state. This followed the adoption of a motion by the Deputy Majority Leader, Alhaji Ibrahim Sarki (PDP-Sokoto North II) at plenary.

In the same breath, INEC has also confirmed the name of Tambuwal as the candidate of the PDP in Sokoto State, thus closing the governorship ticket of the party as a deal. For the duo, it is a different and new chapter that just availed itself.

NIGER Dangling a Curious Carrot

Niger State government, last week, dangled a curious carrot before a critical constituency in the state, when it said it would settle outstanding pension gratuities, and death benefits owed relations of retirees, adding that he had directed the immediate release of N3billion for that purpose.

But he is believed to be doing this because the crisis that trailed the party primary elections is yet to simmer. Already, the Niger east chapter of the party has vowed to “fight to the last” over the substitution of its candidate. The national leadership of the party had given automatic ticket to incumbent Senator David Umaru as against Alhaji Sani Musa, who won the primary election. But Musa has decided to press on, regardless.

Besides, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Abu, representing Lavun/Mokwa/Idati federal constituency of the state, left the party in the week. Abu defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). When all these are put together, it is understandable why he might be seeking some soft-landing in certain areas hence his attempt at bringing the pensioners close.

BAUCHI A Different Phase at Election Eve

While many states of the federation are battling real time political challenges in the run up to 2019, Bauchi has something different to contend with. There were some killings recently in Yelwa, Lushi, Kagadama and Kusu

Between Religion and Performance More crises appear to be lurking in the corner for Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State since he picked a fellow Muslim, Hadiza Balarabe as his running mate. The Southern Kaduna Political Group (SKPG) told him recently that the governorship election in the state would largely be determined by performance and not by religious sentiments.

The group however said the governor had failed if his intention of embracing a MuslimMuslim ticket for the 2019 governorship election was aimed at creating religious dissension and infusing division among the people.

The governor had tried to defend his choice of a Muslim as running mate when he said last week that the Government House was not a place of worship but a place of work.

He also claimed to have consulted President Muhammadu Buhari before making his choice.

But the group is now challenging him on performance. Kaduna is not only crucial in next election; it would play up a lot of intrigues and surprises.

EKITI Fayose, Olujimi’s Tango Continues

Rita Maduagwu

Amosun

areas of the state during some night parties.

This development has forced the state Police Command to place a ban on all forms of social gatherings without approval from the command.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Kamal Datti Abubakar, explained that the decision was in line with Public Order Act and their statutory responsibility of prevention of crime and therefore warned that anybody found violating this order would be arrested and dealt with according to the law.

There is the fear that this untoward development might affect political activities in the state; to what extent is what many cannot say. But certainly, Bauchi is in a different phase on the eve of a major election.

RIVERS Abe Bares It All!

ANAMBRA At War with the Peacemaker

For about two weeks running, Anambra has not been at peace with itself, following a shakeup in the state House of Assembly, which saw to the removal of Speaker Rita Maduagwu and the emergence of Ikem Uzoezie as the new speaker.

But the police had sealed off the assembly in the heat of the crisis, ostensibly to forestall thug invasion. Members of the state assembly had however condemned the sealing off of the assembly by the police, saying they might take legal action against the police if they failed to vacate the legislative complex on or before Tuesday, 27 November, 2018.

The fight in the state assembly is simply about the return ticket of members, which they claimed was paid for but not delivered to them by the party leadership. But should the angry lawmakers take over the assembly, it could spell doom for the governor, who they reckon is one of the conspirators of their ill-fate. The Anambra scenario is a developing event and would definitely assume full swing in due time especially, given insinuations that the assembly shake-up might have been instigated externally.

Currently, there is no let-up in the battle for the soul of Rivers APC as the senator representing Rivers South East constituency, Magnus Abe, last week came out to explain why he was at loggerheads with his leader and benefactor, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi. According to him, Amaechi humiliated him in the presence of his wife.

He also claimed Amaechi’s dictatorship might hurt the APC badly in the forthcoming elections, saying the minister was running a one-man show and stoking a personal cult. In a recent interview with a Magazine, Abe narrated how the feud between him and Amaechi spilled into his family circle, when the minister visited him at home.

Although unlike Amaechi, he was yet to respond to the attack by Abe, THISDAY however learnt that a reply is certainly coming the way of Abe this new week but from someone at his level. The Rivers’ crisis does not look like what would be over soon. Rivers is always a state to watch out for.

OGUN Indicators Still Hazy

A pall of uncertainty is still hovering on both the PDP and APC in Ogun State as far as next elections are concerned. While the alleged ‘Plan B’ of the loyalists of Governor Ibikunle Amosun is yet to start manifesting, the defection of one of Amosun’s staunch loyalists, Hon. Mukaila Kazzim, representing Abeokuta North/Obafemi-Owode/Odeda Federal Constituency is a pointer that cannot be brushed aside. He defected to Allied People’s Movement (APM).

Although expectations are high that other loyalists of the governor might follow suit in the days ahead, the development is believed not to forebode well for the APC in the state.

In the PDP, while Senator Buruju Kashamu

The struggle for leadership in the PDP in Ekiti State between former Governor Ayodele Fayose and Senator Biodun Olujimi does not seem like what is primed to end soon. With the latest development, colossal damage is believed to await the party ahead of the 2019 elections as many PDP members are said to be prepared to dump the party in the state.

A faction of the party was recently said to have endorsed Olujimi as the leader, being the most senior political office holder in the state, but some others were insisting that Fayose’s leadership was incontestable and unchallenged in the state.

Inside sources had revealed that thousands of PDP members might have concluded arrangements to go with the senatorial candidate of the APC in Ekiti South district, Dayo Adeyeye, to his new party. If the deal is closed successfully, Fayose’s leadership of the PDP in the state might be threatened for real and Olujimi might actually stand a good chance.

BORNO Interesting Checks and Balances

The PDP and the APC in Borno State are at each other’s trail – bumper to bumper. This is on account of the fact that the PDP thinks it stands a good chance in the election since the incumbent is not returning, having served out his two terms of eight years. But the APC feels comfortable as the owner of its territory.

Little wonder the PDP in the state recently told the APC-led administration in the state to face its responsibilities of bringing succour to the people and stop meddling in the politics of the opposition parties.

A statement by one of its factional leaders, Alhaji Zannah Gaddama, the PDP said the APC was reckless in the statement it put out recently in reaction to a sincere call that the owed pensioners’ salaries should be paid. But by the time the APC would respond, it dismissed the PDP candidate in the state, Alhaji Muhammad Imam as a factional governorship candidate, a statement that the PDP said smacked of political immaturity.

Election in Borno is also going to be very interesting being the hotbed of insurgency and coupled with the fact that the governor, Ibrahim Shettima is believed to have not done badly. It is a contradiction the PDP is trying to play on and how that would yield in favour of both parties is yet to be seen.

Situating the Presidential Run T

lhe presidential election is fast inching into another phase of its campaigns as the Nigerian Election Debate Group has fixed January 19 for its debate. While the PDP and SDP candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Donald Duke had confirmed participation, APC’s Muhamamdu Buhari is yet to.

Although there had been speculations that

the APC might have scheduled Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to stand in for Buhari, it does not appear such a replacement would work as the running mates too have been scheduled for December 14. Therefore, all eyes are already on the APC and its candidate, who many fear might be unable to sell his own programmes, either for fear of not

understanding them or not knowing them at all.

Meanwhile, for purposes of efficiency, the PDP has said it would decentralise its campaigns and that move, it has set in motion. There is no doubting the fact that the presidential run is fast getting interesting and can only get better with time.

Duke

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BUSINESS

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A view of Marina, Lagos

Fixed Income & Currency Turnover Drops 19.81% in October Market records N1.17trillion year-on-year increase Bamidele Famoofo

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nvestment in the Fixed Income and Currency (FIC) market recorded a downturn to the tune of 19.81 per cent in October as turnover dropped by N3.30 trillion to N13.35 trillion from N16.65 trillion of the previous month.

However, year-on-year (YoY), turnover increased by 9.60 per cent in the review month as investors, who trade on short- term interest yielding instruments in the market increased their commitment in the market by N1.17trillion in one year. “Turnover in the Fixed Income and Currency (FIC) market for the month ended October 31, 2018 was N13.35trillion, representing a 19.81 percent (N3.30) month on month decrease on the turnover of N16.65trillion recorded in September, and a 9.60 percent (N1.17trillion) YoY increase�, a statement from FMDQ OTC disclosed.

Treasury bills (T. bills) and Foreign Exchange (FX) remained the major drivers of turnover in the FIC market, jointly accounting for 73.98 percent of turnover in October, despite being lower by 5.02 percentage points (ppts) from their level of contribution in September (79.00 per cent).

Total foreign exchange market turnover in October was N4.55trillion ($12.52billion), representing 34.08 per cent of FIC market turnover and a 31.62 per

cent ($5.79billion) month-on-month decline from the turnover recorded in September ($18.31billion).

Turnover at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) FX Window recorded a 37.94 per cent ($2.9billion) MoM decrease to close at $3.91billion from the $6.30billion recorded in September. Year to Date (YTD) turnover at the I&E FX Window closed at $49.39billion as at October 31, 2018.

The decrease in FX turnover in October was largely attributed to the decline in member-clients and member- CBN trades (32.82 per cent and 40.71 per cent respectively) against the marginal increase in Inter- member trades (0.22 per cent).

Analysis of foreign exchange (FX) turnover by product type showed that FX Spot was the main driver of the MoM decline with a drop of 34.67 per cent ($4.62billion). However, FX Derivatives also recorded a MoM decline of 23.45 percent ($1.17billion), driven mainly by a 49.14 percent decline in FX Futures turnover. “In October, the 28th Naira-settled OTC FX Futures contract (NGUS OCT 31 , 2018) with total open contract of $371.49 mm, matured and was settled on FMDQ, whilst a new 12-month Futures contract (NGUS OCT 30, 2019) with a notional principal of $1.00 billion and price of $/N365.74 was listed on the OTC Exchange�, disclosed.

In October, the $/N rate at the I&E FX Window appreciated by 38 kobo to close the month at $/N363.54 (from $/

N363.92 recorded in September), while the CBN official spot rate depreciated by $/N0.25 to close at $/N306.60 (from $/N306.35 recorded in September).

The $/N rate at the parallel market rate also depreciated between September and October by N1.00 to close at $/ N362.00, closing lower than the rate at the I&E FX Window for the fourth consecutive month Fixed Income Market (T.bills and FGN Bonds).

Total T.bills and FGN Bonds outstanding recorded MoM increases of N0.21trillion and N0.10 trillion to close at N12.87trillion and N8.21trillion respectively as at October 31, 2018 mainly due to net issuances. Also, the domestic debt mix by tenor as at October was 39:61 (long vs. short term) as against the planned ratio of 75:25 outlined in the Debt Management Strategy (2016 -2019).

Monthly Trading Intensity in the T.bills and FGN Bonds markets decreased from 0.52 and 0.17 in September to 0.40 and 0.90 in October respectively. YTD trading intensity in both markets stood at 4.39 and 1.29 respectively compared to 5.70 and 1.17 as at the same period in 2017. T.bills within the 6-12 months maturity bracket remained the most actively traded, accounting for 24.82 per cent of the total FI market turnover in October Weighted average yields on short and medium -term maturities on the sovereign yield curve rose by 0.64 ppts and 0.15ppts respectively in October, whilst the weighted average

yields for long-term maturities decreased by 0.27ppts.

Yield spread between the 3-month treasury bills and the 10-year FGN Bond decreased by 171 basis points (bps) to close at a 0.57 per cent in October (2.28 per cent in September) Money Market (Repos/Buy-Backs and Unsecured Placements/Takings). Turnover recorded in the Repos/Buy-Backs segment of the Money Market was N2.64trillion in October, representing a 24.70 per cent (N0.52trillion) MoM increase from N2.12 trillion recorded in September, and a 22.85 per cent (N0.49trillion) YoY increase from the turnover recorded in October 2017 Similarly, Unsecured Placements/ Takings closed the month with a turnover of N66.90billion, representing an 81.02 per cent (N 29.94billion) MoM increase from N36.96 billion recorded in September, and a YoY decline of 66.21 percent (N0.13trillion).

Average O/N NIBOR increased by 669ppts to close at 15.30 percent in October from 8.61 per cent reported for September, indicative of the tight liquidity experienced in the inter-bank market surveillance.

Total number of executed trades reported on the E-Bond Trading System in October was 10,715 representing a 41.56 per cent (7,619) MoM decline in the number of trades executed, driven by a MoM decrease in T. bills and FGN Bonds trades by 6,640 (41.12 per cent) and 979 (44.74 per cent) respectively.

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Why MPC Holds Policy Rates Again After considering the three options available before it to determine the direction of the economy, the 11 members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously decided to maintain its policy stance for the 18th time. MPC’s decision underscores the fact that it has confidence in the various policies and administrative measures deployed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Bamidele Famoofo writes The Verdict

A

fter having given considerations to many factors which include economic developments in both the local and global markets, the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), the benchmark interest rate, at 14 per cent, while commercial banks are still required to keep aside 22.5 per cent of their total funds with the CBN and liquidity ratio for the banks stays at 30 per cent. It was the sixth time the MPC will continue to hold rates at this level.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in a communiquĂŠ issued at the end of the two-day meeting that ended on November 22 in Abuja, said the justification given by the 11 persons, who attended the MPC meeting in November to hold policy rates and other parameters was the need to continue to sustain gradual improvements in both output growth and price stability in the economy. “The MPC recognises the fact that it had held the policy rate and other policy parameters constant over the last several meetings. The committee underscores that by holding its policy position constant, it has confidence in the various policies and administrative measures deployed by the bank, which have resulted in the moderation in domestic price levels and stability in the foreign exchange rate. Thus, a hold position is an expression of confidence in the policy regime, given the gradual improvements in both output growth and price stability. On this premise, the downside risks to growth and upside risks to inflation appear contained,â€? said Emefiele.

Alternatives to Holding Apart from the ‘hold’ option, MPC had the options to either loosen or tighten policy rates.

The MPC considered that ‘loosening’ would encourage the flow of credit to the real sector, help in reduction of the aggregate cost of credit and spur business spending and investment, thereby reinforcing the CBN’s support for output growth and economic recovery, but on the contrary it believed that doing so will reverse more rapidly, the gains of price and exchange rate stability achieved so far given the liquidity impact that would entail. “The ensuing liquidity will exert pressure on the exchange rate in the light of increased capital flow reversal arising from monetary policy normalisation by the US Fed. This would further depress the capital market,� MPC argued. “As for tightening, The MPC hold the view that, while tightening will strengthen the stability of the foreign exchange market because of its dampening effect on the demand for foreign exchange, it was however convinced that this would simultaneously dampen investment growth, widen the output gap, depress aggregate demand and weaken output growth�, Emefiele also revealed.

Other Considerations The committee assessed the macroeconomic environment in 2018 and noted the modest stability thus far achieved in domestic prices, output growth and the financial system. The committee noted that the economy was on the right path, but some key sectors continued to experience significant challenges. The MPC, however, expressed concern about the tepid growth expectations and growing uncertainty in the global financial markets arising from the poor reception of the Brexit deal by British politicians, continuing trade war between the US and her major trading partners, as well as the commencement of US sanctions on Iran.

The committee believed that although the domestic economy was recovering modestly from recession, however, the recovery was tepid and efforts should be stepped up to strengthen aggregate output and demand. In this regard, the committee urged the CBN to deepen and

CBN headquarters Abuja

broaden access to finance to high employment elastic sectors with particular emphasis on small and medium scale enterprises. The committee called on the CBN to extend the success recorded under the Anchor Borrowers Programme to other items including fish and palm oil, etc. by introducing more stringent measures to curb access to foreign exchange for products that can be produced within Nigeria.

The MPC welcomed the moderation in inflation in October, reflecting declining food prices. The committee believed that given the negative output gap, the proposed increase in the national minimum wage would stimulate output growth due to prolonged weak aggregate demand arising from salary arrears and contractor debt. Consequently, its impact on the aggregate price level would be largely muted, given that the monetary aggregates have largely underperformed in fiscal 2018. In addition, the prevailing stability in the foreign exchange market would continue to moderate pressures on the domestic price level.

The MPC noted the improvements in the financial stability indicators, including nonperforming loans, capital adequacy and liquidity ratios of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

It urged the bank to sustain its surveillance over the banking industry by taking prompt corrective measures to further improve stability in the system. The committee also called on the fiscal authorities to build significant buffers to strengthen the efficacy of monetary policy.

Outlook and Risks According to MPC, forecasts of key macroeconomic variables indicate a positive outlook for Nigeria’s economy in fourth quarter of 2018.

The committee expected that the effective implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the 2018 budget,

improvements in the security challenges, enhanced flow of credit to the real sector and stability in the foreign exchange market will redirect the economy on a path of inclusive and sustainable growth. Increased production in the oil and the non-oil sectors are also expected to drive output growth in the medium term. The committee, however, acknowledged the downside risks to this outlook to include: reduced portfolio inflows, weak of fiscal buffers, low domestic credit, and sluggish aggregate demand.

The inflation outlook suggests continued, but moderate inflationary pressure to the end of 2018, based largely on increased consumer spending for the Christmas festivities, electionrelated expenditure and increased pace of implementation of the 2018 federal government budget. Improvements in the security, increased harvests as well as a stable exchange rate are expected to moderate the rise in inflation.

Overall, the outlook for the economy remains positive with a growth projection of 1.75 per cent in 2018.

Global Review The committee noted the contraction in global output, underpinned largely by escalating trade tensions resulting in widespread uncertainty and waning investor confidence. Consequently, global growth in 2018 has been downgraded to 3.7 per cent from the earlier projection of 3.9 per cent. Growth softened in major advanced economies in the third quarter of 2018. In the Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs), growth remained divergent, reflecting a combination of country-specific factors.

Thus, growth in the advanced economies is expected to remain at 2.4 per cent in 2018, supported by strong output growth in the US projected at 2.9 per cent. The U.S. expansionary fiscal stance, strong wage growth and continued

inflow of capital into U.S. dollar denominated assets, are expected to provide the impetus for growth. In the United Kingdom, growth remained weak, hampered by uncertainties around Brexit negotiations. Growth in the Euro Area, projected at 2.0 per cent, appears to be subdued by low domestic aggregate demand amidst relatively high unemployment and reduced global trade. In the emerging markets and developing economies, growth was revised downwards to 4.7 per cent from the earlier projection of 4.9 per cent, largely in anticipation of a slowdown in China as the country is confronted with an adverse external trade environment.

Overall, the downside risks to global economic activity remained: elevated financial fragilities and policy uncertainties, the gradual erosion of rule-based multilateral trading system, tighter financial conditions with latent disruptive portfolio adjustments, increased capital flow reversals with potentials for heightened exchange rate depreciation and some volatility, fiscal fragilities and increased debt burden, geo-political tensions and increasingly depressed aggregate demand in some countries. These factors will continue to shape developments for the rest of 2018 and into 2019.

The MPC also noted that monetary policy in most advanced economies, particularly the US, continued on a path of normalisation in view of strong wage growth and declining unemployment. The Bank of England hiked its policy rate in August 2018, while the European Central Bank (ECB) has given guidance to terminate its asset purchase programme in December 2018.

The committee was concerned that these developments will in the medium term, accentuate capital flow reversals from emerging and developing economies, including Nigeria.

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Shinning the Light on West Africa’s Oil and Gas Shipping Prospects The 2018 Oil Trading and Logistics Expo in Lagos shines a light on opportunities in the West African oil and gas shipping clusters, highlighting how they can be harnessed, Kunle Aderinokun writes

T

here are friendly young men and ladies at the entrance of the Lagos Oriental Hotel welcoming guests to the 12th Oil Trading and LogisticsAfrica (Downstream) Week. The quality of attendees and competence ondisplaydemonstratethehuge potential in the African downstream petroleum value-chain.

The expo, from October 28 to October 31, beamed the light on market insights, opportunities, products, and talents, in the downstream oil and gas value chain, including refining, trading, shipping, marketing, storage, retail, infrastructure, professional services, and equipment supply.

In three days of deliberations segmented into 10 sessions, industry stakeholders reflect on 10 different topics all aimed at promoting business, policy and stakeholder relationships in downstream petroleum markets across the continent.

Opportunities in West Africa’s oil and gas sector shipping sector is a subject that is important to governments and businesses around the world.

It is certainly of great importance to many stakeholders and investors at the Pan-African business forum.

To do justice to the subject was Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, represented by the Head, Ship Registry at NIMASA, Mrs. Nnneka Obianyor. “Shipping has always been of strategic importance to the oil and gas industry,� Dakuku said in his paper titled, “Harnessing Opportunities in the West African Oil and Gas Shipping Clusters.� He added, “Not only is over 70 per cent of all crude oil production transported by ships, more and more oil production activities are now being carried out offshore. This shows that the oil industry relies heavily on the maritime/shipping industry for its smooth operations. Whatever happens in the oil and gas industry is likely to affect the shipping industry and vice versa.�

Though Africa is a relatively small producer of hydrocarbon for the world market, Dakuku sees a positive outlook for the sector, especially in West Africa. This, according to him, is because gas production has been significantly boosted by rising demand for power following completion of several gas-fired power plants in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cameroon. Offshore activities have also been boosted in Senegal and Guinea, and leading oil majors are taking stakes offshore and investing in exploration activities, Dakuku noted.

Moreover, new fields have come on-stream and production has been ramped up on existing fields in the oil and gas sector, adding that intensified production activities mean a great future for business in the downstream sector. “However, infrastructural constraints will continue to hamper significant output in West Africa’s oil and gas sector, unless we harness the opportunities in West African Oil and Gas Shipping Clusters.�

The NIMASA DG defined the West African Oil and Gas Shipping Clusters as “‘Shipping Business providers’ within the West African Oil and Gas Zones working to meet the needs of the sector,� stressing that the maritime world is getting more complicated, throwing up new and exciting opportunities.

Investment opportunities in the oil and gas shipping clusters in the region, according to Dakuku, abound in the areas of offshore oil and gas services and supply industries; shipbuilding and repair yards; shipping finance; ship broking firms, which act as intermediary between the supply and demand sides of ship chartering, ship building and sales, and dismantling markets; and marine insurance service providers.

Others are port activities and services; maritime logistics - haulage and storage services; marine renewable energy, storage and services; computing and electronic services; classification societies,

An oil vessel

which work to ensure that ships are built and operated according to satisfactory safety standards; maritime safety and security industries; manpower and human capacity development services; and maritime research and development.

According to him, there are also enormous opportunities for maritime law and law of the sea experts as well as advisory firms.

The director-general’s grounds for optimism are many. “The offshore oil and gas services and supply industries are arguably the largest exporter of offshore extraction support services. This sector alone accounts for more than a quarter of the value of production in the maritime economy,� he stated concerning investment opportunities in the offshore oil and gas services and supply industries. “In coming years, developments in deep and ultra-deep offshore are likely to be the main source of growth in offshore oil and gas production.�

With about 3,500 vessels operating in Nigerian waters, and the few shipyards operating in the country, Dakuku asserted that there are plenty opportunities in the areas of construction and repair of merchant ships, service vessels, fishing boats, in-service support, and marine product and equipment supplies.

To him, increased oil and gas sector activities and resurgence of shipbuilding and infrastructure projects come with investment potentials waiting to be explored.

Dakuku pointed out that the emergence of hub ports in West Africa is a key value proposition that could deepen the attraction of complementary investments and activities to drive future growth. But to fully realise this, the region’s ports must be able to accommodate larger vessels and LNG carriers and boast high quality infrastructure, including berths and terminals; modern efficient equipment; new LNG terminals; storage and distribution logistics operations; and efficient road and bulk transport services, particularly, rail and navigable waterways.

But there are also factors that can hamper effective utilisation of the opportunities in the West African oil and gas shipping sector.

They include maritime insecurity, lack of requisite infrastructure, absence of West African ships or ocean going vessels, cross-border regulations and protocols, and low investment in research and

development.

To overcome the challenges, Dakuku calls for regional integration; development of West Africa’s regional cabotage and strengthening of its local content capabilities; long-term strategic planning; concerted and coordinated policy planning approach; harnessing of technology for productivity; and a vibrant and interconnected maritime ecosystem comprising port, logistics and maritime services.

Dakuku highlighted NIMASA’s contributions to Nigeria’s economic development efforts to include driving ship-owners quest for single digit special interest rate loan facilities, seeking dedicated intervention fund for vessel acquisition and ancillary transactions, seeking approval for special forex window, spearheading the review of fiscal policies militating against favourable trade competition and growth of the sector, review of trade terms from FOB to CIF, and sea time training for Nigerian cadets.

NIMASA is also in the vanguard of the drive for investment incentives and the Deep Blue Scale Up Initiative to ensure a safe and secure maritime domain up to the Gulf of Guinea. And it is addressing major concerns militating against optimisation of the cabotage regime, and driving the full automation, upgrade and modernisation of the Nigerian Ship Registry.

The agency’s boss noted that the Modular Floating Dockyard newly acquired by NIMASA, which is the fifth largest in Africa, when operational, will help to solve dredging challenges and prepare Nigeria to create a blue economy that can serve the people much better in the future.

Other topics discussed at the OTL conference included: Unlocking Value through Industry Synergy; Optimising Efficiency and Returns in Petroleum Retail- (With focus on automation, branding, pricing and forecourt innovation); Current Outlooks for Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Flows to African Markets; Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Petroleum Infrastructure Projects; Takeovers and Markets: The Changing Roles of independents and Majors in Downstream Petroleum; and Promoting Efficiency and Clean Fuels in African Refining and Petrochemicals Markets. Others are Gas and the Future of Energy: Market Outlook and the Role of LPG, Lubricant and Renewables; Energy 2030 – Technology, Capacity and the Skills of the Future;

and Downstream Regulatory Compliance: Legal Issues and Role of In-House Counsel.

At the end of the three-day deliberations, there was agreement among the stakeholders on key issues reporting the West African petroleum downstream sector. They include that to achieve optimum efficiency from market potentials across the downstream value chain, industry stakeholders should embrace synergy within and beyond national boundaries. Stakeholders urge full privatisation of the refineries as a way to return them to profitability and stop recurring losses resulting from sub-optimal refining operations.

The communique also urged the Nigerian government to fully deregulate the market from price caps to catalyse development of the downstream petroleum sector. It further advised West African countries to enforce policies on desulphurisation of imported fuels and direct that only petroleum products with 50PPM or less can be imported into their countries. “Desirous of establishing a virile shipping cluster in the West African region, participants call on governments of member countries to consider the modalities of making the entire Gulf of Guinea (GoG) a Safe Anchorage Area (SAA), with a framework that allows cross border patrol and surveillance in the region. “Realising the value of regional trade cooperation, industry notes a need to review the ECOWAS Treaty in light of prevailing realities to ensure ease of cross-boundary cooperation in the development of petroleum infrastructure. “Focused on achieving regional hub status, industry encourages regulators of the Nigerian maritime industry to benchmark their rates, tariffs and levies against those obtainable in other countries in the sub-region in order to improve the country’s competitiveness and attraction for maritime services,� the statement added.

Hope seems to signify the overall message of this year’s OTL Africa Downstream Week – that West Africa, indeed, Africa, can look to the future with optimism.

As Dakuku put it, “West Africa’s economic outlook today is bright. With large reserves of untapped resources and significant export potential, the region will undoubtedly play a significant role in the global trade and commodity value chain.�

24

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

Edozie

FRANK EDOZIE

Nigeria is Actually a Gas Province with Lots of Oil The presence of government has not been much felt by the people of the oil-bearing communities.InthisinterviewwithSegun James,theChiefExecutiveOfficerofNeconde Energy Limited, a member of the Obijackson Group, Frank Edozie, bares his mind on happenings in the petroleum industry and why the people of the oil-rich communities should be made major partakers in the activities that impact their lives directly. Excerpts:

N

econde is a major player in the nation’s oil and gas sector, can you give us an overview of your participation in the industry?

Neconde is an exploration and production (E&P) company that is a subsidiary of the Obijackson group. As an E&P company, it is an equity holder in Oil Mining Lease (OML 42) in a joint partnership with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the NNPC. OML 42 is an asset that is in the swamp area of the Niger Delta. Neconde equity share was acquired when Shell, Elf and

Agip divested their interest and by virtue of that, came into joint partnership with the NPDC. The facilities as at the time Shell divested had been vandalised as a result of the Niger Delta crises, and so, one of the early challenges that Neconde had to wade through was to bring the facilities back to life.

In terms of numbers, in 2012 when the OML was acquired, it was producing just 8,000 barrels per day, but before then, it was doing about 60,000 barrels. So from 2012 until now, it has been a journey for the company in partnership with the NPDC to restore the OML 42 to normal production. So, as at today, we are doing between 55,000 and 60,000 barrels per day. At the beginning of the year, we were doing almost 80,000 barrels per day. We had to deal with some issues this year.

It is surprising that you are still investing so much in this industry given the fact that the world is moving out of the fossil fuel market. Why are you investing so much in this market?

The truth is that the world is actually not moving out of the oil and gas industry. In fact, I think oil and gas will be with us for a long time. The truth, however, is that the price of oil and gas will vary every now and then, but as a source of energy, I am of the firm belief, and this is backed by the way we are developing alternative source of energy, that we will be with oil and gas for a long time.

Let me give you a very simple example: you can spend a lot of money installing a solar power in your house - may be you

25

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

The Biggest Policy Challenge We Have Today is the Government’s Stance on PIB have an inverter - but to charge your inverter, you will still need oil and gas!

The federal government’s policies on the oil and gas have in recent years been erratic and somewhat confusing, even to players in the industry, most especially now that the president is the Minister of Petroleum Resources. How has that affected or impacted the industry?

I think the biggest policy challenge we have today is the stance of government on the petroleum industry bill. You of course know that this bill has been in the making in the last 10 years; and the way the industry has responded to this long time making of the bill has been “wait and see.� What that means is that there has been little investment in the long time survival of the oil and gas industry.

Oil and gas is a depleting commodity. That is to say, if you have a 100,000 barrels and you produce 10; that means, tomorrow, you have 100,000 less the 10; and to replace it, you need to put in more money to find additional oil to get back to 100,000. So, what has not been happening is, people putting additional money to find a replacement for what has been taken out. In the industry parlance, it is called the reserve replacement ratio. It should at least be one to one. If you take out one, you put one back; now that is the problem. We have not been doing anything about replacing what has been taken out! So, our reserve replacement ratio has been declining. That has been the most direct impact of the absence of a clear law that governs what goes on in the industry.

Over the long term, this will cause severe injury to Nigeria’s ability to maintain its place as an oil and gas producing country. And it might also affect the viability of the local oil and gas industry.

Let’s talk about gas. Nigeria is said to be one of the gas-bearing countries in the world, but we hardly use gas. I happen to know that your company is investing heavily on natural gas. Can you tell me why your company is investing so much on a product that Nigeria does not even use at all?

Okay, the gas story is a long one. Let me make a general statement. Nigeria is producing a lot of oil today; my belief is that Nigeria is actually a gas province with a lot of oil. Most of the gas that we have discovered in the country today, we have found incidental to while looking for oil. We haven’t actually gone out looking for gas.

Then, you ask yourself, why are we where we are? There are a number of reasons. First one is, the government’s involvement in the determination of the domestic price of gas is impairing development. For example, the government restricts the cost of gas to power at $2.50 for million standard cubic feet. For many of the producers, this is sub-economic and therefore, people will only strive to meet what their minimum domestic obligations are and do more. That is, meet the domestic supply need.

We understand government wants to keep the price of domestic gas supply down, but we have to take a bigger and long-term view of this by making the price more realistic. Then we will free up the constraints that are there, and the result would be that a lot more people would invest money to produce gas for the domestic market.

There is a lot of money that is being wasted today in people buying diesel or petrol to run their generators to supply power. You have many factories that closed down because they don’t have power, or are producing at very high cost because they have to provide their own power. On the other hand, if you run a generator, many people do. You know what it cost to have one bulb lit. Now compare that to what you pay the old NEPA for power. What it simply means is, what we are paying for the public supply of power far less than the true price.

Politicians make wrong assumptions about the ability of the man on the street to pay for power. We have a lot more that people can do in terms of paying for power. The challenge is guaranteeing people that the power will be available.

There are estates here in Lagos, along the Lekki axis where people generate their own power supply. People pay as much as N55.00 per kilowatt of power, but when they get their bills from the DISCOS, it is N21.00. A huge

Edozie

difference! So, there is a lot of opportunities if we remove the bottlenecks in the production of gas to drive local industry if only government will get away from attempting to control the price of gas to power.

So, Neconde as an oil and gas company sitting on gas reserves, what we have done working with our joint venture partners is that, we have just completed one half of a train that will bring in 40 million standard cubic feet (mscf) of gas to the domestic market by the end of this month.

We will inaugurate the second part that brings in a total 80 mscf to the domestic market! This is gas associated with the production of oil.

We also have it in the pipeline to bring in 200 mscf by exploiting non-associated gas that will come in into full development in the next two to three years. So, that is what we are doing to demonstrate our belief and commitment that there is money to be made from gas. If there wasn’t, we won’t do it.

Where is this your gas plant located?

We have four fields, three of which are producing - Odidi, Jones Creek and Batan.

We also have Egwa, which is our fourth field that was trashed, we are still in the process of bringing it back to operation.

As a player in the oil industry, one policy that has been of interest is the local content.

What is your view about this?

Local content! Neconde is a full Nigerian company, 99.9% of our staff are Nigerians; we use as much as possible, local industry and local services and so on, to deliver our services.

Having said that, a lot of the methods we use are hi-tech. Therefore, we are working with partners, who have international affiliates and so on. We are working with partners, who are at close consult with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

We have their full support in the activities that are going on.

Along the same line, within the Obijackson Group, we have a lot of services in support of the oil and gas industry, all of which are indigenous. And many of the services in which we carry out our day-to-day job, we have the support of all the subsidiaries of the Obijackson Group. We are also working very closely with the local communities from whom we take the services in our operations.

Talking about the communities, I was at the last conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), where one of the founding fathers of the association, Bishop Precious Omuku, a former director with Shell and one of the nation’s leading advocate of local content, suggested that for rapid development

to take place in the oil-bearing communities, and also to stop restiveness in the Niger Delta region, the communities must be made to have a sense of ownership. He suggested that they should be given at least 10 per cent equity ownership of the companies operating on their land. What is your view on this?

Well, there are two parts to what Bishop Omuku said: One, do we need the local communities to be an integral part of the operation of the companies operating in the different areas? Definitely! Yet, we need that sense of belonging and a sense of ownership from the communities, otherwise, we will be in the same vicious circle, where the people complain that, they taking their resources without them getting anything in return. So, they need to be part of what goes on. But how we make them part of what goes on is where I defer on the views expressed by the Bishop.

10 per cent? Look at how the joint ventures are funded. For the sake of argument, you say $50 million budget. If you own 10 per cent of the equity, how much do you pay? $5 million and if you own 90 per cent, the same. So if you introduce ownership by the community at equity level, you need to understand what this means in terms of funding the activities that go on in the joint venture.

The oil and gas industry is a capital intensive business, so I do not think, giving where we are, ownership at this level is what we should strive for.

Instead I would ask that we should strive for active participation and a sense of ownership by communities. I will say yes, but not by equity.

On the development of the oil-bearing communities, the federal government always give the impression that it could do the job better; that is why they set up the OMPADEC and now the NDDC. But from what we have seen so far, they can’t handle it. What is your position on the development of the communities where the oil is gotten?

The NDDC as a policy direction is flawless.

It is the way to go. But the challenge we’ve had is that the NDDC and other such intervention agencies set up by government have not been executed properly.

If you go to many of the areas, where we operate like the Jones Creek, Odidi, there is a total absence of government in spite of all of the money that goes into the NDDC. So, what we need to do is take government and governance to the people. Has government embarked on infrastructure development that would change the perception of those

communities about who government is to them?

In many of the areas where we produce, people look to us as government! If there is no water and electricity, it is the oil company.

If there is no road, it is the oil company.

But the oil company pays tax, pays royalty and pays the NDDC fees! So, where is all the money going? Why is it not taken back to the communities?

We have to tell ourselves the truth. Many of the communities leaders have seen restiveness as a means to personal wealth. So, they get up to make noise, hold the companies to ransom, collect money from them which unfortunately, does not go back to the communities; rather, it ends up in Port Harcourt, Warri, Abuja and Lagos! How do you solve that?

So, it is a dilemma that we can only address by being truthful to ourselves about what the causative factors are, and then have a honest commitment by government to do something in those communities, that’s it.

The areas where you operate today were the places restiveness in the western Niger Delta started. What has been you relationship with the people?

Well, we’ve had a good relationship. What has made it possible for us to be successful in our relationship with the people is that we introduced ourselves and got the confidence of the people, so we were able to have access to those facilities that were trashed. Second is that, we recognise the institutions that exist in those places. So we know the traditional rulers and they know us as their tenants; and we are present in their lives.

We also use elements from these communities in our daily operations. If you go now to Odidi or Jones Creek, I have workers from the communities in our day-to-day operations. If you go to Odidi, we just commissioned electricity supply to the community. A similar project is now going on in Jones Creek.

In some area, some community people have been able to develop expertise in some services that we use. That way, we are integrating the communities into our operation and integrating ourselves into the communities. This is one of the ways that we have been able to surmount all of the misconceptions and mistrust that existed in the past in our day-to-day operations.

We are not where we could be, we are not where, ideally, we should be, but we are making progress. The next big step will be getting government to be more present in the areas.

That will be how to make the NDDC count in these communities. That way, they will be able to complement the efforts we are making.

26

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

Ëš

Ease of Doing Business: Nigeria’s Outlook Bright with Reforms Though Nigeria dropped one place to 146th position on the Ease of Doing Business ranking for 2019, it retained a positive outlook with reforms in three vital areas which are starting a business, getting electricity and trading across borders, Bamidele Famoofo reports Past

I

n 2018, Nigeria recorded an unprecedented progress in the ranking of the World Bank as one of the 10 nations that made the most daring reforms to attract investors to come and do business in their domains. According to the World Bank, Nigeria moved up 24 places on the Ease of Doing Business ranking to 145th position from 169th position in 2017. Analysts have said it was the best outing the country had had in two decades.

According to the World Bank’s Doing Business in Nigeria 2018 Report, the country implemented five reforms, making it easier to do business in the economy. The reforms resulted in Nigeria moving 24 points to 145th position from the 169th position recorded in 2017.

The improvements were in the areas of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, and paying taxes.

According to the World Bank report in 2018, Nigeria made starting a business faster by allowing electronic stamping of registration documents. This reform applies to both Kano and Lagos.

Dealing with Construction Permits: Nigeria (Kano) increased transparency by publishing all relevant regulations, fee schedules and pre-application requirements online.

Nigeria (Lagos) made it easier to obtain construction permits by streamlining the process to obtain construction permits and increased transparency by publishing all relevant regulations, fee schedules and pre-application requirements online.

Registering Property: Lagos made transferring property easier and more transparent by removing the sworn affidavit for certified copies of the land ownership records, introducing a specific and independent complaint mechanism, and by publishing statistics on land transfers. Kano made transferring property more transparent by publishing the list documents, fee schedule and service standards for property transactions.

Getting Credit: Nigeria improved access to credit information by guaranteeing borrowers the legal right to inspect their credit data from the credit bureau and by starting to provide credit scores to banks, financial institutions and borrowers. Nigeria also strengthened access to credit by adopting a new law on secured transactions and establishing a modern collateral registry. These changes apply to both Kano and Lagos.

Paying Taxes: Nigeria made paying taxes easier by introducing new channels for payment of taxes and mandating taxpayers to file tax returns at the nearest Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) office. This reform applies to both Kano and Lagos.

Similarly, on the Dealing with Construction permit ranking, the country moved from the 174th position in 2017 ranking to 147th in the 2018 ranking. The World Bank also stated that Nigeria made the greatest stride in improving access to getting credit. It moved from 32nd position in 2017 to 6th position in 2018. On Enforcing Contracts ranking, the country moved from the 139th position in 2017 to 96th in 2018 and on starting a business, it moved from 138th to 130th position in 2018.5 Present The World Bank report on Ease of Doing Business in 2019 showed that governments around the world set a new record in bureaucracy busting efforts for the domestic private sector, implementing 314 business reforms over the past year. “The reforms, carried out in 128 economies, benefit small and medium enterprises as well as entrepreneurs, enabling job creation and stimulating private investment.

This year’s reforms surpass the previous all-time high of 290 reforms two years ago,� the report said.

The report noted that reforms were taking place where they are most needed, with low-income and lower middleincome economies carrying out 172 reforms. In sub-Saharan Africa, a record number of 40 economies implemented 107 reforms, a new best in number of reforms for a third consecutive year for the region. The Middle East and North Africa region scaled a new high with 43 reforms.

In this year’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken, are Afghanistan, Djibouti, China, Azerbaijan,

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah

India, Togo, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Turkey and Rwanda.

With six reforms each, Djibouti and India are in the top 10 for a second consecutive year. Afghanistan and Turkey, top improvers for the first time, implemented record single-year reforms, with five and seven, respectively. “The diversity among the top improvers shows that economies of all sizes and income levels, and even those in conflict can advance the business climate for domestic small and medium enterprises. Doing Business provides a road map that different governments can use to increase business confidence, innovation, and growth and reduce corruption,� said the World Bank’s Senior Director for Development Economics and Acting Chief Economist, Shanta Devarajan. “This year’s results clearly demonstrate government commitment in many economies, large and small, to nurture entrepreneurship and private enterprise. If the reform agendas are complemented with training programmes for public officials, the impact of reforms will be further enhanced, new data show,� said Rita Ramalho, Senior Manager of the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group, which produces the report.

Since its inception in 2003, more than 3,500 business reforms have been carried out in 186 of the 190 economies Doing Business monitors.

Sub-Saharan Africa set a new milestone for a third consecutive year, implementing 107 reforms in the past year, up from 83 the previous year. In addition, this year also saw the highest number of economies carrying out reforms, with 40 of the region’s 48 economies implementing at least one reform, compared to the previous high of 37 economies two years ago. The region is home to four of this year’s top 10 improvers – Togo, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda. While reforms in the region were wide-ranging, many improvements focused on easing property registration and resolving insolvency.

According to the 2019 report, Nigeria made starting a business easier by reducing the time needed to register a company at the corporate affairs commission and introducing an online platform to pay stamp duty. This reform applies to both Kano and Lagos. Also, Nigeria made getting electricity easier by requiring that the distribution companies obtain the right of way on behalf of the customers and by turning on the electricity once the meter is installed. This reform applies to both Kano and Lagos.

Meanwhile, the World Bank revealed in the report that in Kano, Nigeria made property registration less transparent by no longer publishing online the fee schedule and the list of documents necessary to register a property.

But the report also showed that biggest economy in Africa was able to reduce the time needed to export and import by implementing joint inspections, the NICIS2 electronic system and around-the-clock.

The report showed that Nigeria with a population hovering around 191million and gross national income per capital of US$2,080, besides ranking 146 out of 190 countries, recorded an ease of doing business score of 52.89. It ranked 120 in starting a business and 12th in getting credit and 182 in trading across borders. Also, score for starting a business (0–100) 82.97, score for getting credit (0–100) 85.00 and score for trading across borders (0–100) 23.08. Others include Procedures (number) 8.5 ; Strength of legal rights index (0–12) 9; Time to export (days) 10.9; Depth of credit information index (0–8) 8; Documentary compliance (hours) 119; Cost (% of income per capita) 27.6; Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 11.0; Border compliance (hours) 135.4;Minimum capital (% of income per capita) 0.0; Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 0.8; Cost to export Documentary compliance (US$) 250; Dealing with construction permits (rank) 149; Protecting minority investors (rank) 38; Border compliance (US$) 785.7; Score for dealing with construction permits (0–100) 57.84 and Score for protecting minority investors (0–100) 66.67 among others.

Whither Nigeria?

Unlike in 2018, Nigeria’s aggressive push to make a difference, which made her to rank among top 10 most improved economies in ease of doing business dropped in 2019, leaving Mali to displace it from the position it occupied in 2018. This is because Nigeria was only able to make impactful reforms in three areas, which made it to drop from 145 to 146 positions in 2019.

The reforms are in the areas of starting a business, getting electricity and trading across the borders. The country did not do well as regards registering properties in the review period.

The Secret “The private sector is key to creating sustainable economic growth and ending poverty around the world,� said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “Fair, efficient, and transparent rules, which Doing Business promotes, are the bedrock of a vibrant economy and entrepreneurship environment. It’s critical for governments to accelerate efforts to create the conditions for private enterprise to thrive and communities to prosper.�

27

˜ ˞ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

MARKET NEWS

Bargain Hunting Boosts PZ Cussons’ Share Price by 18% Goddy Egene Activities of bargain hunters boosted the share price of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc by 18.3 per cent at the close of the week. The shares of the company rose by N1.65 from N9.00 to N10.65 per share following increased demand by investors who saw value in the stock.

In line with the bearish state of the equities market, the shares of PZ Cussons have lost over half of its value since the beginning of the year. However, some investors ,

who see long-term potential in the company, are taking advantage of the low price to increase their stake in the company.

Shareholders of the company recently shared a dividend of N595 million for the year ended May 30, 2018, which translated to 15 kobo per share. Addressing the shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM) in Abuja last month, Chairman of the PZ Cussons , Chief Kola Jamodu said the company’s consolidated revenue grew by three per cent to N80.6 billion from N78.2

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

billion in 2017.

According to Jamodu, the performance largely reflected the performance of the economy at large which grew at two percent in the review period.

He noted that improvement in foreign exchange earnings, stability and access, however, boosted the importation of critical raw materials for its operation.

Jamodu said the weaker revenue growth, increased operating expenses due to inflation resulted in a reduction in the group’s

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 2211-2018, unless otherwise stated.

bottom-line.

He decried the cost of borrowing at about 20 per cent, which he said impacted on its performance, therefore, increasing cost of goods.

He said:�The depressed disposable income conditions in the economy necessitated that demand for durable goods continue to be weak as consumers prioritise food and other basics.�

However, he said a number of measure were being taken to further guarantee better performance in

the next financial year. “We look into the future with great excitement and confidence,� the chairman said.

According to him, there have been no structural changes in the landscape of the segments in which the company operate and the market share of its brands remain strong.

However, he said to buttress and sustain the position of the company in the market, improve efficiency and improve performance of the business into the future, a number of initiatives are being

implemented. “They include: a further streamlining and optimisation of product portfolio to bring more focus on key brands and categories and restore margins; optimisation of the operating model to reduce overheads as well as improve the speed at which new products are brought to the market and a review of product costs across all categories with a focus on areas such as packaging reduction and a drive to reduce plastic consumption,�

Jamodu said.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 162.07 163.32 -8.63% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 11.00% Nigeria International Debt Fund 273.52 274.97 18.32% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.83 0.84 1.15% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 6.66% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.45% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.21 2.22 -3.99% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 16.39 16.88 -10.29% ARM Discovery Fund 353.83 364.50 -9.06% ARM Ethical Fund 28.21 29.06 3.25% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.27% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 132.43 133.36 -12.70% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.18% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 0.00% Paramount Equity Fund 11.58 11.88 4.45% Women's Investment Fund 101.56 104.16 0.92% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.14% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 99.21 99.31 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 97.59 97.92 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.21% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.85 0.86 Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.11 1.11 10.95% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 11.72% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 12.48% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,166.38 1,167.13 11.19% FBN Heritage Fund 142.81 144.04 2.41% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.56% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 112.64 113.10 3.46% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 112.39 112.86 3.34% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 146.14 148.20 -7.99% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Equity Fund 1.22 1.25 -5.24% Legacy Debt Fund 3.21 3.21 10.94% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.02 1.02 1.92% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 2,954.10 2,983.13 -1.05% Coral Income Fund 2,728.18 2,728.18 11.44% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.36% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 105.68 105.96 5.15% INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.12%

Vantage Balanced Fund 2.15 2.17 1.92% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 14.88% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 122.97 123.18 6.85% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.20 1.22 4.47% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,084.35 1,084.35 12.32% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.20 11.29 -13.52% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.42% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.33 1.35 11.61% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.04 12.09 9.02% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.14% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 126.71 127.11 -2.32% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.68 1.68 13.19% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,319.25 2,334.43 5.53% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 187.64 187.64 7.76% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.96 0.97 -4.46% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 244.74 244.78 13.40% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 161.22 163.05 -9.98% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.57% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,637.35 8,743.30 -9.20% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.10 1.10 6.63% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.16 1.17 -2.17% United Capital Bond Fund 1.57 1.57 9.93% United Capital Equity Fund 0.70 0.71 -7.86% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 0.00% United Capital Eurobond Fund 106.31 106.31 6.23% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.08 1.09 4.01% ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD info@zenith-funds.com Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 11.22 11.37 -7.28% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.10 12.20 -6.59% Zenith Income Fund 20.53 20.53 11.29% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.83%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

9.00 139.21 51.55

-20.11% 5.10% 1.42%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.46 117.47 90.95

10.56 119.96 92.65

-11.66% -17.76% -16.75%

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

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

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

SPECIALIST FUNDS*

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.08 7.35 14.97 13.15 143.74

4.12 7.43 15.07 13.35 145.74

-13.95% -23.11% -14.24% -33.00% 6.80%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.13

17.03%

FOR HNI & PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY

Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

Thevalueofinvestmentsandtheincomefromthemmayfallaswellasrise.Pastperformanceisaguideandnotanindicationoffuturereturns.Fundpricespublishedinthiseditionarealsoavailableon each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

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

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

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THISDAYt SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2018

THISDAYt SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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THISDAYt SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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THISDAYt 46/%": /07&.#&3 ċĎ ċĉĊđ

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

25.11.2018

Ema Edosio-Deelen Charting a New Path in Nollywood

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER Ͱͳ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

COVER

Ema Edosio-Deelen

A Filmmaker and the Making of Kasala Nothing could stop young talented filmmaker and cinematographer, Ema Edosio-Deelen, from making a film that she believes depicts the true Nigerian story, even if it means sacrificing all, writes Vanessa Obioha

E

ma Edosio-Deelen was not expecting the loud applause that greeted her movie, ‘Kasala’, at the Lights Camera Africa Film Festival. It felt surreal to her. She kept muttering, “Oh my God!” when called to the stage for a questions-andanswers session with the audience. If she expected the ovation to quiet down due to her apparent surprise, she was mistaken. The screams and claps kept increasing until the audience had their fill.

When she finally composed herself, she regaled the audience on how she made the delightful gritty movie about four young boys in the ghetto who went on a jolly ride and ended up in a series of trouble after their car had a crash. From how she found the characters to how she shot the movie with one camera for 13 days in a ghetto area in Surulere.

The accolades were the same the following week at the Netherlands Embassy in Lagos where she hosted a few journalists. Sitting behind her guests at the living room stacked with furniture and shelves of books, Ema as she is fondly called will often time chuckle at whatever the character was saying on the screen. ”It brings back memories,” she tells THISDAY. Ema’s overwhelming disposition is

no acting. Indeed she never imagined that the Nigerian audience will accept the movie the way they did after being told by cinemas that the movie was too arty for Nigerians. By arty, they meant that it has no commercial value.

Undeterred by their shortsightedness, she took the film to film festivals within and outside the continent where the applause began.

“The reception was amazing. They have never seen Africa this way before.

The narrative in the West is that children have big bellies with flies surrounding them. But here, they saw young and tenacious boys. There is something that happened in Paris when this movie was screened,” she enthuses. “An elderly lady waited for me after the screening to thank me for bringing this world to her.

They were very curious about Nigeria, the streets, the strength, the fight; it was something that was foreign to them.”

By the time the local cinemas saw the good reviews about her film from the international scenes, they opened their doors to her. Kasala finally had its theatrical release on October 12.

The recently married Ema knew she wanted to make a film that was fresh and unconventional from Nollywood’s mostly glamorous offerings. The inspiration first hit her after watching Abba Makama’s ‘Green, White, Green’ film.

Ema adds: “I watched Green White

Behind the scenes of Kasala

Green and I was blown away. I left the hall saying I want to make something different. Abba’s film sort of gave me a validation and the ability to leave the ego-chamber of what Nollywood is to make something different.” Her passion was stirred more by her days in British Broadcasting Corporation where she worked as a video journalist.

“I worked as a video journalist for BBC and we went into communities and see people with pride. It is very different from the narrative people pushed out there that people in slums suffer. But I found out that they are people with pride and that they have built a coping mechanism and they are truly happy. I remember a man at Makoko who said to me that this is their VGC. They were born here and will die here. I wanted to bring the lives of these people on the screen.”

But the kind of film Ema wanted to make usually does not attract sponsors or funds. She knocked on many doors and was constantly shown the way out.

Frustrated, she decided to empty her pockets and bank accounts to make the film.

“I said to myself I was going to use everything available and the skills that I have built over the years to make the movie. I couldn’t afford to pay cinematographers, editors; I literally shot, produced, edited and directed this film to make it happen. The film is self-

funded with support from my friends,” Ema reveals to THISDAY. ‘Kasala’ which means trouble in local slang depicts the word in different shades throughout the movie. The story revolves around TJ, a young lad who fancies himself a music star and detests the meat selling business of his uncle Taju whom he lives with. Eager to live up to his nickname Starboy, he stole his uncle’s car and went on a rendezvous with his friends Effiong also known as the Hustler; Chikodi aka Effiko and Abraham who is nicknamed ‘Ode’ for his apparent lack of talent.

Their afternoon romp ended in an accident that saw the boys deploying all manner of schemes to fix the car before dusk.

These characters are her trump card. Fresh and charming, the boys bring to life the youthful exuberance of teenage boys which are often dotted by mischief and a peculiar bond of friendship.

“I think the amazing actors brought the swag. We got on set and they were living their lives. Some people would ask me if there was a script but I think the boys were living their experiences and they put in their all in the script,” Ema explains. “Yes they improvised but I ensured that they didn’t go overboard. I felt like the actors should breathe, the camera should be able to live as well. I didn’t want to use known

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NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

COVER

A Filmmaker and Her Lagos Kasala actors. I wanted to work with young and new actors. There is something about the youths which Nollywood is yet to get; they can be very passionate, flexible and unafraid. These are the kind of people I wanted to work with and they came to me.”

Another highlight of the movie was the use of pidgin language throughout the film as Ema says, “I couldn’t imagine them speaking English language. Pidgin is one of the unifying tools we have in Nigeria.”

The pidgin spoken in the film was absolutely authentic. At the core of Kasala is a celebration of friendship which to Ema is part of the Nigerian identity. She said it was her own way of paying tribute to Lagos.

“I think the movie really depicts how Lagos is. There is one kasala and everybody moves on. It is a tribute to Lagos. In order to survive in Nigeria, you have to struggle. It is a constant struggle. Everything goes against you from electricity to many things.

And again it shows the tenacity of Nigerians. It goes against the lazy young Nigerians narrative when you see young boys fighting to survive, to make an ends meet, even if society has in some ways failed them,” says Ema. “It is showing the inner lives of

I am very happy that people get to watch this film and they loved and I’m able to get the real Nigerian reaction to the film. I feel much fulfilled that I proved that if you have a dream you go for it. I have seen that there are many Nollywood directors who are afraid to step out. If you dream it and fight for it, you will be fulfilled Lagos and people from the slums. Lagos is a diverse state but despite the tribal differences, we always find a common ground. In Ojo where I grew up, the Isoko were surrounded by the Igbo. Of course, there is the daily squabble but we always come back together to share

a drink and chat and we move on like a family. That to me is the story of Lagos and Nigeria. With our diverse heritage, we still find a common ground.”

Shooting the film in the ghetto also came with its challenges. She admits: “When we got there, the ‘area boys’ will see us and me with the small camera and make comments like ‘who are these small children?’ They didn’t expect money from us so they let us be. One person opens up his home and the others followed. They took us in like children and they opened up their streets and neighbourhoods to us. I actually went back there and did a small premiere for them after production. It was beautiful seeing their reactions. I could see they haven’t seen themselves on the screen before. You will hear them say to one another ‘Ah! see Iya Bisi’. It was an amazing experience.”

To fully put her stamp on this project, Ema who stumbled on filmmaking after graduating from the university with a Computer Science degree had one of the popular music artiste IBK Spaceshipboi produce eight Afrobeat soundtracks for the movie.

“One of my fears was that the film wasn’t going to be shown to Nigerians even if it has been travelling round the world,” Ema admits, adding, “I am

very happy that people get to watch this film and they loved and I’m able to get the real Nigerian reaction to the film. I feel much fulfilled that I proved that if you have a dream you go for it. I have seen that there are many Nollywood directors who are afraid to step out. If you dream it and fight for it, you will be fulfilled.”

However, like Kunle Afolayan who came out with the idea of New Nollywood, Ema and some of her colleagues are also pushing for a new narrative in the industry.

Pointing out her conviction, she states: “I strongly believe that there is a shift happening in Nollywood because there are filmmakers like us who are deciding to go against the norms to make stories that matter and affect Nigerians. The reception in Nigeria shows the hunger for this kind of stories and I am determined to make these kinds of stories. I am more connected to this people than the bourgeois and the fatty houses. I think one of the things that is missing in most Nollywood films today is that sense of pride, friendship and tenacity. Yes, we live in Lekki but most of the middle class people came from humble backgrounds and they want to reminisce. This is why I believe there is a shift coming to Nollywood.”

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

GLITZ ENCOUNTER

Funmi Oyetunji

On Living a Life of Purpose From the financial sector to becoming an estate developer public speaker and author, Funmi Oyetunji, founder of the first indigenous shopping centre, Canaan Mall in Lekki, Lagos shares with Funke Olaode how one can live a purposeful life

S

mart-looking in a mini striped gown with a touch of black, a one-million braid hairdo and a six-inch pair of ashen shoes, she can pass for debonair lady in her twenties. She exudes confidence, poise and style.

All eyes were on her at the Convention Centre inside the expansive hall of the Eko Hotel and Suites where she was one of the guest speakers at the just concluded 18th National Women’s Conference organised by the wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode.

But beyond her looks and panache lies an intellectual soul who once bestrode Nigeria’s financial sector like a colossus – she is now her own boss. As she spoke on “Living a Life of Purpose”, a spontaneous, endless round of applauses reverberated in the hall when she revealed her age.

“Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Funmi Oyetunji. Living a life of purpose as an individual you need to take time off and imagine your life as you navigate through life. It helps. I discovered my purpose in life at the age 58 to give scholarship to indigent but brilliant students. Today, I am 61 and I am just fulfilling that purpose,” she said.

Getting to the pinnacle of her career did not happen overnight – Oyetunji toiled and sweated for years. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1977 at age 20 and Association of Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA) qualification in the United Kingdom in 1981. Her career, which spans 35 years, started with the firms of Coopers & Lybrand, Z. O. Ososanya & Co and the London office of KPMG. She joined Fountain Trust Merchant Bank in 1993 and moved to First Bank of Nigeria where she became the bank’s Treasurer in February 2001, a position she held until May 2002. In 2002, she was appointed the chief executive of AbiTos Financial Services Limited, a real estate development and investment company, a position she holds to date.

Her quest to be the best has seen her attend Leadership and Board Effectiveness programmes at Harvard Business School, INSEAD in France and IMD in Switzerland.

She has also taught Finance on the executive programmes of the Lagos Business School.

Mrs. Oyetunji serves on a number of boards including Ecobank Nigeria where she chairs the Risk Committee, Prestige Insurance, and American Tower Corporation, Nigeria where she chairs the audit committee. She is a member of the global body, Women Corporate Directors Foundation and she is associated with the Lagos Angel Investor Network.

A self-assured woman with milk of kindness, Oyetunji is the Chairperson of the LASAL Foundation that grants scholarship to indigent students at tertiary level and a fellow of the Institute of Directors. She published her book ‘A Conscious Life’, an acclaimed help for successfully navigating critical stages and aspects of life in 2016.

What does it take to know one’s purpose in life? How does one navigate a life of purpose when you don’t even know who you are?

She answered: “It helps if you can take time off and imagine your life as you

navigate through life. Some of the problems I observe are that some people don’t know that they have responsibility for their own life. They always come up with an excuse that they have failed to fulfilled life purpose because they were not born rich, that their career is not making them to be the best, that they didn’t marry a man who treat them well. Or their children are not doing well.

So they have resorted to fate that everything that pertaining to life is out of their control.

And this is problematic. It is not that we don’t face problem in life both everything that happens to us but what matters is how you handle such situation. When people complain about their husbands – forgetting that in life everything is about the choices that we make.

“A lot of what happens in our lives is about choices. The choices are made by you. Life is going to throw up challenges at every stage but how do you handle them?

Have you ever sat down and say this is the direction you want yourself to go in marriage and career. For instance, Coca Cola is a brand that has stood the test of time.

What is your own brand? Are you reliable, dependable, can you be relied on? Your self is your brand. What is your brand as a wife? What is your brand as professionals?

What have you told the world that you are?

And that is how the world will perceive you? If you are a party person, it becomes your brand. If you are a dependable ally it becomes your brand. So you don’t have problem in becoming successful in life but the question is how you handle the problem of life.”

Speaking further, Oyetunji asserted: “Everything that happens is not by your making. A conscious Life written by me in 2016 is out there. How do you measure yourself? I talk about ‘brand’ that the only way we can measure ourselves is our brand and outcome of lifestyle we can be proud of. Don’t always follow bandwagons that because somebody read accountancy you too must read accountancy. Or that some people’s children attend one particular school, your children too must attend the same school. Note if you have the means well you can stand by your decision and choice. You must measure your own success and create your own confidence by standing by that decision.”

She also explained why systematic planning and ability to set the right values can help through life. “I am an accountant who knows the value of money. Sometimes people will say I don’t know how to say no when they bring aso-ebi. I tell people that it is easy to say no if you have your own plan. I have an eye in that land that I want to buy so I am not thinking about aso-ebi but the outcome of the landed property that I am looking for. And because of that I am not envious of those buying gold or aso-ebi because I have my own target and goals,” she added.

Experience has shown that branding oneself attracts a lot of envy. How can one manage it? “You need to be confidence enough to live your own standard and stand by it. Yes. Society standards shouldn’t be in your way. If you keep looking at the stigma you will not achieve your purpose in life.

Life threw itself at me when I was working

Oyetunji

A lot of what happens in our lives is about choices.

The choices are made by you. Life is going to throw up challenges at every stage but how do you handle them? Have you ever sat down and say this is the direction you want yourself to go in marriage and career. For instance, Coca Cola is a brand that has stood the test of time. What is your own brand? Are you reliable, dependable, can you be relied on? Your self is your brand as a banker. It ended in 2002 and it took me six months to think about the next direction of my life. Today, I am who I am and some of our friends who stayed back have not gone as far as some of us have gone. Therefore, stamp out your sigma and be consistent,” Oyetunji stated.

The successful woman also shares an invaluable insight on how one can live a life of purpose even when such a person does not know who he is. “There are two issues here with a lot of young people who are always saying that ‘I am waiting for my purpose. I am waiting to find out my purpose.’ I tell everyone that there are certain things that need to be done at a particular stage and life joins the dots. When I graduated 41 years ago I wanted to be a chartered accountant because my father wanted me to be a chartered accountant. And a few years later, I wanted to be a wife and I achieved that. And as my life progresses, I wanted to be a supportive wife.

“So at different point things happen and meeting those responsibilities or responding positively to those things at that moment mean that we are meeting our purpose. I am 61 years today. Beyond being a chartered accountant, a mother of professionals, and a supportive wife to my husband, I learnt a lesson that having listened to my father to be an accountant put me on my toes to always plunge myself into a task and come out with a result. When you are raising your children always be a role model. My main purpose in life which I found out after 50 years is to chair a foundation that touches life. It is sad that the story of my family has been turbulent. My father is gone, my brother is gone and if care is not taken the family name is going to go. Two years ago, I endowed a foundation in my father’s name, Salami. So, if I had looked for that purpose at 21 may be I wouldn’t have achieved it.

So when we are looking for purpose, let’s work with what the environment presents and the rest will fall into places,” Oyetunji philosophised.

NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

High Life

63 with LANRE ALFRED 08076885752

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

The Universe Never forgets…

Dazzle and Valour of Louis Ekere ˾ ØÏÜÑã ×ËÑØËÞÏ ÜÏÍÏÓàÏÝ ÒÙØÙßÜ ËÍÜÙÝÝ ÞÒÏ ÝÏËÝ Gonathan

Otedola

Lawan

Femi Otedola vs Farouk Lawan…

Taking the true measure of Forte Oil boss

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rue words are not defined by the volume of a man’s voice, but by the consequence of his choices. Ask Femi Otedola. The billionaire magnate would never use gilded words to masque deceit neither does he brandish fickle principles and statistics to conclude with a false truth.

Unlike many a rabble-rouser, who flashes documents to lock down evidence but never real facts to back their proof, Otedola has revealed the depth of decadence and negligence that aided and abetted corruption in the oil sector during ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan’s regime.

But he to achieve his aim, he did not spin tales out of thin air, neither did he attempt to cut through decency like a butcher’s knife; amid the clamour for better management of the nation’s oil sector, Otedola recently testified before an Abuja High Court Judge, laying the facts bare, about the massive corruption that afflicted the oil sector in the immediate past administration.

He revealed, among other things, how he painstakingly rebuffed overtures by the elements that be to bully and extort him. The Forte Oil boss alleged that he was the one that alerted former president Goodluck Jonathan to the fuel subsidy scam in 2010, even though he was later blackmailed by the house of reps committee that probed the fraud, he was saying the gospel truth, according to esteemed sources privy to the incident.

Otedola, while testifying at the Abuja High Court on Wednesday, as a prosecution witness in the criminal case against Farouk Lawan, who chaired the house probe committee, by the federal government stated that: “In 2010,

being the chairman of African Petroleum Ltd and also the CEO of Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd, I realised that companies in Nigeria were claiming money for subsidy on petroleum products they never imported. When I saw how much was being stolen, I went to the then President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. I told him my observations. He told me later that he had consulted with the Minister of Petroleum and that there was nothing of such.

“I then reached out to Senator Bukola Saraki who raised the issue on the floor of the senate and thereafter, the house of reps set up the panel to investigate the allegation.

The defendant reached out to me and I gave him the background information as to how the monies were being stolen. I gave relevant information to the ad hoc committee. I have two companies which are in the oil and gas industry which are AP and Zenon oil.”

Otedola, who owns Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd and Forte Oil (formerly called AP), told the court that when he informed Jonathan that many companies were collecting subsidy payments without importing any product, the president did not believe him.

The billionaire magnate alleged that the two companies had something to do with the defendant’s panel. “AP submitted to the committee documents regarding all the importations of the company. Mr Otaru, general manager AP, had direct contact with the defendant’s committee…On 18th of April, 2012, the defendant came to see me at my house in Abuja after the report of the committee had been laid before the house of reps in plenary.

“He told me that pursuant to what we

discussed on phone while I was in the UK, he told me that he was going to indict Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd. He demanded for the sum of $3m USD to exonerate Zenon Oil. I said to him that why will he indict a company that does not import petrol but diesel. He said most of the companies indicted have paid bribe. I told him this is extortion.

“I was in Nigeria when the report was laid before the house of reps. I saw it on the television, NTA on the 18th of April 2012 and I saw that my company was listed as one of the companies involved in subsidy scam. I wrote a petition to the DG DSS to complain. When the report was laid, I was shocked and I had several calls from my international partners and my bankers.”

Otedola disclosed, that, it was after his petition to the DSS that a sting operation was set up against Lawan.

“After my petition to the DG DSS, I received a call from the DSS official, one Mr Caleb ,who told me that they were going to carry out a sting operation. He told me that I would be provided with serialised USD to give to the defendant and they were going to install video recording gadgets in my living and dining rooms. About six operatives of the DSS did the installation.

“I was given 620,000 USD serialised dollars. After the report was laid on the floor of the House of Reps, the defendant called me that if I made $3million USD available, he would exonerate my company. I said to him that this is unfair to a country that has lost about the sum of N1trn to subsidy scam. I took the instruction of the DSS and I agreed to play along,” he said.

Remembering Remi Lagos… Foot Prints of a Fashion Icon Ë×ÓÖã ËØÎ ÐÜÓÏØÎÝ ÌÏ×ÙËØ ÒÏÜ ÖÙÝÝ ÝÓâ ãÏËÜÝ ËʰÏÜ

Lagos

As family and friends of Remi Osholake aka Remi Lagos, commemorate her sixth year of demise, the life they shared and memories they made together, unroll like a winding road stretched out for miles to a small cafe at the end of the isle, the proverbial rendezvous with untimely death. The meadows sigh coolly with the wind to assert her place above the earth although she lies six-feet underground, where sharp sand mingle with bones and rotted flesh of the interred. It’s the sixth year since Remi Lagos died but her beloved friends and family will never forget her.

They remember the evenings they spent sharing war stories and fun memes. Secrets spilled and memories cradled together as they sought new worlds. All these are a thing of the past now; this month, November, marks the sixth anniversary of the celebrated fashion designer’s demise.

Thus to celebrate her short, eventful life, the family of the late award-winning designer gathered few days ago, to hold a special prayers in honour of her soul. At the event,

Remi Lagos was also celebrated by her fans and loved ones who poured encomium on her even in death.

The deceased ebony imaginative designer was known as one of Nigeria’s biggest fashion icons. Her fashion outlet located on Bode Thomas Road, Surulere, Lagos, became a Mecca of sorts for socialites who jostled to adorn their frames with their exquisite designs.

Remi Lagos died in November 2012, at Harley Clinic, London, United Kingdom, where she was buried, after an unsuccessful battle with uterine cancer. The 51-year-old had no children but she is survived by a sibling, Adetomi Osholake.

Remi’s death served as a devastating blow on her family and friends, who couldn’t get enough of her while she was alive. If distance truly, makes the heart grow fonder then melancholy is the mislaid piece that makes the pangs in the bereaved heart grow stronger. Ask family and friends of the deceased. They know this!

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hrough every epoch and every hour, his exploits persist, like a true vine ascending the sky on the bark of a sturdy pine. Thus for being a true man of valour and peerless feats, the universe celebrates billionaire businessman, Louis Ekere, Chief Executive Officer, Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Limited, an indigenous oil and gas company. For Ekere, this year, as all others, is a good one.

Here is another good news: At a colourful ceremony last Tuesday, November 20th, preeminent Nigerian businessman, Dr Louis Ekere, was conferred with the much-talked-about Doctorate Degree

by Trinity International University of Ambassadors, Atlanta Georgia. The award is conferred on individuals deemed worthy, and who have great experience, knowledge and impact, doing great work at home and abroad. Incidentally, the conferment of the award is coming on the heels of his recent graduation from the prestigious Harvard Business School. Driven by a passion for humanity, Dr Ekere is not new to awards and honours from all over the globe. An alumnus of the prestigious IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain and the Lagos Business School, he was recently awarded the Certificate of Merit by the US Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, United States of America (USA).

In his resolve to ensure Nigerians across every spectrum enjoy quality healthcare services, Dr Ekere recently opened the multibillion naira WellMed Healthcare Ltd, an indigenous healthcare company in Lagos that offers one-stop diagnostic solution services with state-of-the-art medical equipment including 1.5 Tesla MRI, 64-slice CT Scan, 4D Ultrasonography, fully digital X-ray, 3D Echocardiography, Resting and Exercise ECG and fully automated pathology laboratory with a menu of over 3,000 tests.

Apart from this, Dr Ekere is also involved in several philanthropic activities, the recent being the free medical testing on world Hepatitis Day, free medical outreach at Ajah, Lagos, and environs where residents were screened for chronic lifestyle diseases including diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

He has offered free high-end radiologic and pathology investigations including MRI and CT scan, hitherto unaffordable, to indigent patients of public hospitals including Massey Street Children’s Hospital, General Hospital, Lagos and Epe General Hospital. He has employed and sponsored indigenes of host communities where Homeland IOS Ltd operates amongst several other activities.

Ekere

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HIGHLIFE

In Their Genes: Obasanjo, Okupe, Mark Lose Children to Opposition Parties How they became vanity’s puppets In pursuit of affluence, even the children of the rich become vanity’s puppets.

Little wonder, heirs and heiresses of Nigeria’s filthy rich are deserting their parents’ fading lights, leaving them in darkness, like forgotten foundries with their own black wreath.

Recently, sons and daughters of Nigeria’s hitherto powerful politicians and statesmen have developed a knack for ditching their often humbled and irrelevant parents, to pitch their tents with perceived meal tickets and deep pockets.

This new-found vanity of the affected wards has become embarrassing to their parents.

First, it was former president, Olusegun Obasanjo’s son, Olujonwo, that called his bluff to join incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the

ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC). From Gbenga to Iyabo, and now, Olujonwo, the former President’s wards seem to have turned betrayal to an art form, they exhibit no qualms disgracing their father in public. Olujonwo Obasanjo’s resolve to pitch his tent with President Muhammadu Buhari, a candidate whose second term bid, his father, Obasanjo, is working publicly and spiritedly against, astonishes both friends and foes of the Obasanjo family.

For a fact, Olujonwo has blatantly displayed that his political choice is at variance with his father’s; coming from a culture that equates one’s father with one’s hero, Olujonwo has also shown that he lacks discretion in great proportions and should not be associated with native intelligence, according to pundits. Then, ex-presidential adviser, Doyin Okupe’s

son, Diran, also expressed his support for Buhari. Diran, whose father was the former spokesperson to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has asked Nigerians to call him a bastard if Nigeria does not experience economic boom after President Buhari is re-elected in 2019.

Subsequently, Blessing Onuh, daughter of the former Senate President, David Mark, officially dumped her father’s platform, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to pitch tent with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), after securing the ticket to run for Otukpo/Ohimini federal constituency of Benue State. Onuh, who moved from the PDP with over 15,000 members, was received by a large crowd of supporters at the brick-wall and later drove to the Ochi’ Idoma’s palace to seek the blessings of the traditional ruler.

Obasanjo

Okupe

Blessing, Mark’s daughter

Parable of the Billionaire And the Politician‌Intrigues as Otedola Gives Wings to Sanwo-Olu’s Dream How Forte Oil boss dispelled rumours of gubernatorial ambition As the genius’ words flow like honey onto the page with a nod of approval from a linguistic sage, so did Babajide SanwoOlu’s governorship bid earn the support of billionaire mogul, Femi Otedola.

Otedola recently threw his weight behind Sanwo-Olu’s gubernatorial dream thus improving the latter’s socio-economic and political capital; pundits are of the opinion that, as the moon sings the languid flower, to bloom at midnight hour, so will the billionaire’s weight serve as remarkable fillip to politician/civil servant’s governorship campaign.

Otedola, who is the Chairman of Forte Oil PLC, recently endorsed the Lagos State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Sanwo-Olu’s

governorship bid few weeks after he was rumoured to be vying for the same position on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a report which he neither denied nor confirmed.

Media entrepreneur, Dele Momodu had said in September that Otedola had personally confirmed to him that he would be contesting the governorship seat. However, in a post on his official Instagram handle on Saturday, Otedola described Sanwo-Olu as his childhood friend and the incoming governor of Lagos State. A caption which was placed beneath a photo he took with SanwoOlu read in part, “Dinner at my residence yesterday evening with my childhood friend, APC governorship candidate, Jide SanwoOlu; the governor in waiting.�

Otedola endorsing Sanwo-Olu

A Billionaire’s Monument: Glamour Meets Class at Hosa Okunbor’s Multimillionnaira Hotel Ă‹Ă Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă• Ă—Ă‹Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ™ĂĄĂ? ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË åÓÞÒ Ă?Ă–Ă–Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ–ĂžĂ™Ă˜ ÙÞĂ?Ă– Ęś ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ?

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he sweetness of success and the thirst of attainment glide shiningly through the being of Capt. Hosa Okunbor. Thus the dazzling lustre of his exploits; as you read, the billionaire magnate has birthed yet another wondrous monument of stone. Like his earlier accomplishments, his latest venture, Wells Carlton Hotel & Apartments, a ďŹ ve-star multibillion naira hotel in Asokoro, Abuja, looms promisingly as an expandable enterprise.

Capt. Hosa is discontented with failure; like the proverbial ďŹ sherman, restlessly inclined to cast his net into the PaciďŹ c, he hauls it back in until his palms bleed with ďŹ shes and pearls and he exhales with the contentment of a skilled worker.

Hosa recalibrates what would amount to shards of broken dreams, regrets and utter despair, in the lives of others, into monumental feats and success. Little wonder his beautiful ediďŹ ce in Abuja has been attracting applause from far and near. The hospitality outďŹ t would be oďŹƒcially opened in few days’ time. A visit to the place is quite an experience.

It’s exquisite inside-out. Wells Carlton not only emerged as the ďŹ rst in its class in Abuja and beyond, the owners truly went o the beaten track to give patrons a memorable time. The hospitality complex is beautiful with a great view, good food and excellent facilities for connoisseurs of luxury and elegance. The hotel indeed lives up to its legendary name; moving about its picturesque expanse, you just might get lost in its dazzle of decor and tasteful ornamentation.

An enticing warmth extends from its lovely exterior, luring you into its beautiful interior. The feel is more like a private mansion than a hotel, and strenuous eorts are made to ensure that you never have cause to regret your stay there.

Hosa Okunbor

NOVEMBER 25, 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

Love Actually…How Toyin Olusanya Ended Up As Bola Koko’s Second Wife After treading a path laden with scorn, sleepless, tear-filled nights and harrowing days, Toyin Olusanya eventually arrived her fairy-tale promised land with the legitimisation of her union with Bola Onadele, the dashing Managing Director of FMDQ OTC PLC, a foremost financial services company. Notwithstanding her position as wife number two, she proudly parades herself as Mrs Oluwatoyin Olusanya-Onadele to underscore the legitimisation of her whirlwind relationship with Onadele, popularly known as Koko in corporate Nigeria. Pray, who wouldn’t?

In her late 40s, Toyin is the younger sister of Boye Olusanya, former chief executive officer of 9mobile and now Managing Director of Alheri Mobile Services Limited, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group. She was equally a force in the banking industry, rising from the lower rungs of Union Bank Plc to become

Head, Investment and Private Banking. She had previously served as Head, Treasury and Investment Banking at Broad Bank Nigeria Plc between 2002 and 2006. The Economics graduate of the University of Lagos who also holds an MBA from Cardiff Business School, University of Wales, left banking in 2009 to embark on an entrepreneurial journey that saw her set up Aeida, an Events and Health Consulting firm. The company has managed several corporate and individual events and is actively involved (using the Cambridge Weight Loss Program) with assisting people attain a healthier lifestyle. Despite all her achievements and comfort, Toyin however was unlucky with men until she met the financial services whizz, Koko.

As with such a successful man, Bola, expectedly, was married but it was not enough to deter Toyin from falling

helplessly in love with him and letting go all inhibitions. Before long, she became pregnant and the original Mrs Onadele got wind of it and all hell broke loose. She pressured and pacified Toyin to abort the pregnancy without any result. Koko raved and ranted as his marriage tottered on the brink of collapse. But reason eventually prevailed as Toyin put to bed a baby girl that shares a striking resemblance with the father. It took Mrs. Onadele a very long time and a great deal of maturity and equanimity to accept the bitter truth that her husband, whom she thought was the quintessential poster child for an ideal husband, had not just brazenly cheated on her, he also sired a love child in the process. Indeed, time heals all wounds and it is healing Koko’s first wife’s too. Toyin and Bola are officially now married, making her wife number two. And proudly so too!

Olusanya

And She Got Served! Lagos Big Girl Slips from Queen Bee to Drab Queen The wild storm starts with a raindrop as dark clouds gather from one wisp. So did Mohammed Asebelua’s love erupt for Marifa Whyte. It sprouted like a random shoot irrupting at the base of an oak-tree. Thus did his affection bloom and flower for ravishing Miss Whyte. Predictably, she reciprocated his heartfelt gesture and blossomed and prospered in love.

But, in time, even stale beef declines like worn bickering, and the clamour of upbeat love soon peters to an inaudible clatter. Ask Marifa. The high-society damsel experienced the transience of love in undisguised hours, as she watched Mohammed’s love for her extinguish in random hours.

After Marifa Whyte parted ways with her beau, she realized that sometimes, an end is just an end, and not a new beginning.

As their love extinguished, so did Marifa fall in the estimation of her beau; even their friendship began to unravel. Their impassioned fairy tale dissembled like a pack

of ill-managed cards.

The duo’s much-celebrated love, while it lasted, caused major heartache for Mohammed’s legal wife, Fatima. The latter practically lost her nerve and all hope seemed lost for her immediately Marifa put to bed for her husband, bearing him a son. Fatima was devastated thinking she had totally lost her husband, whom she had been unable to bear a child.

Marifa, predictably, cashed in on her good fortune and wrapped Mohammed around her finger. From the moment she got pregnant for Mohammed, the latter began to spoil her silly with cash and material gifts. No sooner did she put to bed for the well-heeled dude than he showered her with even more goodies.

He practically erected a dam of goodness for her sake, drenching her in a massive rain of blessings.

At the birth of his son, Mohammed endowed her garage with the most expensive gifts: from the Range Rover to G Swag and Porsche Panamera, Marifa boasted an array of

choice automobiles.

Mohammed went as far as securing for her, a lavishly furnished apartment in old Ikoyi, very close to two-time Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu’s abode.

Marifa seemed set to live happily ever after with another woman’s husband, until the twist in the tale. As heavenly grace would have it, Fatima, Mohammed’s beleaguered wife, enjoyed a rare grace from God and she eventually took in for her husband. Nine months after, she birthed not just one, but beautiful twins, a boy and a girl.

Though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning, so it is said. The joy of both husband (Mohammed) and wife (Fatima) knew no limits.

And they renewed their love and affection to Marifa’s chagrin. As soon as the new dose of happiness returned to the household of Mohammed, his relationship with Marifa began to unravel rapidly.

It was Marifa’s turn to get a dose of her poison. Her hitherto doting man, who could

see no wrong in her, suddenly found her irritating at first sight.

She tried everything humanly possible to win him back, but her efforts were futile.

It was like his heart had returned back to the rightful owner again and there was no turning back.

To rub insult into injury, Mohammed sent Marifa packing from her Ikoyi abode.

Sadly, she realised that the house that she had thought was hers was never really hers for keeps. It was actually a house given to Mohammed as part of the perks of being a director of a company.

Mohammed threw Marifa out in the most disgraceful way. Shamefacedly, Marifa moved from Ikoyi, to a less posh apartment in Victoria Island.

From high up there, it seems humptydumpty has had a great fall! Not that she’s totally broken though. Once a hit girl, always a hit girl. At the moment, she has cast her web expansively, in desperation to capture whoever falls in.

Telecoms Giant Lights Up Mainland… All Hail the New Globacom’s Wondrous Edifice Lagosians make ceaseless pilgrimage to the place

Adenuga

The beautiful edifice with its commanding presence would occasion a lot of double takes while a cursory stroll into its bowels would leave so much to see and salivate about especially in the main hall with the ceiling fresco. It has become a quasi tourist site.

Yes, nobody forgets the new Globacom’s wondrous edifice in a hurry. Behind the gates of the impressive building, luxury saunters in a colourful garb. You could be forgiven for mistaking it for the fabled Atlantis. The panes of quaint decor, embroidered fabric and devices,

ornaments the insides like the damasked wings of the pyramid.

Little wonder, recurrent callers at the new place have been heard to marvel and keel over in humility, in deference to its lavish treats.

Outside, the building is garlanded with arcs and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass. Both nocturnal and diurnal, the edifice attracts an excited throng of customers who regularly use it as a backdrop for photographs. Those who have been there say its size and splendour would leave anyone breathless and bewildered.

Curiously, however, they might have watched the sun pull its ocean covers over itself a hundred times and heard the stars read countless bedtime stories to the moon but nothing will ever be as beautiful to the Nigerian public, as witnessing telecoms giant, Globacom’s unveiling of its new office on Allen Avenue, Ikeja.

On that day, the Nigerian telecommunication giant, brought its star power to the fore, by parading top Nigerian celebrities at the opening of its new Gloworld branch, penultimate Saturday.

The new edifice is arguably the most beautiful structure to house a corporate organization in Mainland Lagos. The interior and the exterior designs is what everybody is talking right now.

The various innovative ideas introduced into the telecommunications sector by Nigeria’s fully integrated telecommunications provider, Globacom, have earned it the leadership of the country’s information and communications industry.

This was stated on Saturday by the

Commissioner for Science and Technology in Lagos State, Mr. Hakeem Fahm, when he formally commissioned a state-of-theart customer service and sales outlet called GloWorld, on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

Mr. Fahm, a United States-trained Information and Communication Technology expert, said Globacom’s leadership is highly recognised not only in Nigeria, but across the African continent and indeed the entire world.

The Lagos State commissioner said innovative ideas were necessary as the world increasingly evolved into an internet-driven economy, stressing that telecom operators particularly needed to take the front seat as the facilitator of the process.

He said the latest Gloworld on Allen Avenue was another bold idea that would literally enhance the value of the high-brow neighbourhood because of its architectural novelty and the solutions it affords the residents of the area.

“It is a world-class facility, equipped with cutting-edge technology to give excellent customer experience. I just registered a SIM. It was so seamless and fast. Everything took only a couple of minutes,” he said. The Globacom top management team was led by the company’s Group Executive Director, Mrs. Bella Disu, who took the guests on a tour of the exquisitely designed sales outlet that promises customers telecommunications lifestyle experiences.

Welcoming guests to the occasion, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mr. Michael Toluhi, stated that the Allen Gloworld shop is the

first in a new generation of exquisitely designed contact centres, tailor-made for Glo’s customers whom the company hold in very high esteem.

He described the new shop as an archetypal customer service and sales shop designed to offer Globacom’s products and services to subscribers in a well-equipped and highly conducive ambience, adding that “this will soon be replicated in major markets, including Abuja, Ibadan, Benin, Victoria Island among others across the country.”

Mr. Toluhi said that “Our desire to always avail our customers the best services is why we were the first to deploy the 4G LTE service nationwide to facilitate business, personal and social life through fast and reliable internet.”

The event was also attended by other stakeholders, such as high profile corporate customers and dealers, including Chief Ademola Adenuga and the Publisher of Ovation International, Otunba Dele Momodu.

The launch also attracted officials of multinational companies, the crème-de-la-crème of Nigeria’s entertainment industry, including Tu Face Idibia, Odunlade Adekola and Juliet Ibrahim.

The event excited residents of the neighbourhood as a massive crowd gathered within the premises to have a feel of the sales outlet and catch a glimpse of the dignitaries and celebrities at the ceremony.

Globacom said the Gloworld outlet is the first in a series of avant-garde sales and customer care outlets the company plans to roll out in strategic locations across the country.

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Í°ÍłËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL Security Implications of International Migration and the Challenge of Management and Regional Integration Prolegomena: Understanding the Topic and Thrusts of Paper igration has become a problematic in both international law and relations because it not only raises questions on the conflict of laws, but particularly also on the conduct and management of international peace and security. Migration is a security issue. It is a means of economic survival, a means of political struggle, as well as a major threat to national and international security.

Consequently, it is increasingly being investigated and discussed by scholars because of its multidimensional character. From Tuesday 23rd, to Thursday, 25th July, 2013, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, in collaboration with the Delphi Consulting, held a special brainstorming session on Migration and Terrorism in West Africa, at the main auditorium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja. One major rationale for the brainstorming session was the recognition of the very insecure environment of the West Africa region by then.

One other rationale for the brainstorming session was the identification of migration as a dynamic of regional insecurity. Since then, migration has not ceased to be an issue. It has increasingly taken the centre stage of international politics to the extent that there are not only proponents and opponents of international migration, but also observers who showed more concern about the security dimensions and implications.

The security implications of international migration may not be well appreciated without first putting the understanding of international migration in its appropriate context. In other words, what do we mean by migration? What makes migration international? What sense of ‘international’ do we mean here: bilateral, trilateral, plurilateral, multilateral or global? More important, from the perspective of legality, which type of migration are we also talking about because migration can be legal or illegal? Both legal and illegal migration have their implications, and particularly for security in all ramifications.

In fact, there are several types of migration from the perspectives of direction and dynamic. For instance, we can distinguish, on the one hand, between in-migration and out-migration, and, on the other, between human migration, economic migration, and environmental migration, which can be prompted by human activities or by natural disasters, and therefore, difficult to delimit in terms of scope.

Put differently, one current international challenge, in this regard, is the issue of climate change which is intertwined with the environment and which is quite different from migration induced by habitat fragmentation, water and air pollution and rapid human population growth with which specialists are more conversant. The general expectation as of now is that sooner or later, earth warming has the potential to compel migration of people.

Consequently, the notion of international migration can be quite ambiguous.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) defines migration as ‘the movement of a person or a group of persons, either across an international border, or within a State. It is a population movement, encompassing any kind of movement of people, whatever its length, composition and causes; it includes migration of refugees, displaced persons, economic migrants, and persons moving for other purposes, including family reunification’. The key words in this definition are movement across borders, migration of persons, and purposes of the movement or migration. This is why the understanding of the security implications of international migration should begin with an objective interpretation of the topic. In other words, what is the required analytical challenge? For our purposes in this conference, we use ‘international migration’ to refer to both legal and illegal human migration in all its ramifications.

In the same vein, there is the need to put the understanding of security in context: what is security? Do we mean security in terms of human security as defined by Third World scholars or state security?

Should the analysis be limited to security of the stomach? In fact, the topic can be examined from the angle of securitisation of migration, both in terms of how security policies affect migration and how migration shape security policy making. In whichever way security and migration are conceived and understood, they are currently very significant questions in the quest for global peace and security as at today.

This cannot but be so because the Global Commission on International migration (GCIM) has it that there are about 200 million migrants the world over, 60% of whom reside in the developed world while the other 40% live in the developing countries. In this regard, the GCIM also has it that one of every ten people living in the developed world is a migrant. If this is admittedly so, it should therefore be borne in mind that migrants are human beings who have their mania of living before migrating to another country, who have to adapt to another cultural way of living on arriving at their new host state, and who following arrival, can infringe on local laws on the basis of psychology of human differences or even contribute to societal development in their host countries.

From the foregoing therefore, international migration cannot but be a critical issue in international law and relations, impinging on inter-personal relationships and on global peace and security in many ways. The importance of international migration can be gleaned from the perspective that it is one of the major issues that also explains in part the controversial Brexit policy in the United Kingdom as at today.

In the same vein, one major headache with which the incumbent President of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump, is also faced is

VIE INTERNATIONALE

M

with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Trump international migration.

And perhaps more notably, the cardinal objective of migration is not only security but also means of security. It is an anti-terrorism measure. Most unfortunately, however, the environment of migration is globally insecure. Its operational modalities are also insecurity-engendered, hence the growing anti-migration sentiments in many countries of the world. Explicated differently, it is not the act of migration that is the problem but the mania of going about it before, during, and after migration. This necessarily raises the challenge of management, implications for national unity and security, as well as the need to discuss migration and integration in the context of an environment of renewed and increasing nationalism that is increasingly very hostile to migration, and particularly to illegal migration.

This should be of a major concern to African leaders, especially the ECOWAS leaders because of insecurity in West Africa, and also because, of the 200 million migrants in the world, not less than 7 million of them reside in West Africa. Besides, one third of the people of West Africa not only live outside their district or village but also 42% of the total of international migrants residing in Africa are located in West Africa alone. In light of this, the discussion of the security implications of international migration has to reckon with the environmental conditionings of the ECOWAS region. And in doing so, this paper makes the following preliminary observations: a)migration is first an intention before it is an act. As an act, it necessarily raises the problem of integration or admissibility in an intended host state. Consequently, migration and integration are not only important concepts and issues in contemporary international relations, but also constitute two sides of the same coin; b)managing migration in any part of Africa cannot but go with complex challenges because, as a concept, migration is essentially about human life and its entire environment. Seeking to manage what is not well understood in its proper context cannot but also be futile in outcome; c)the ECOWAS environment is currently fraught with many threats to national and regional security, and therefore to regional migration: the political imbroglio in Guinea Bissau, the political unrest in Guinea Conakry, the growing conflict between sanctity of colonial frontiers and the quest for self-determination, especially with the boko haramists in Nigeria, the Al Qaeda in the Sahel Maghreb sub-region, etc, are pointers; d)while it may be possible to prevent or undo integration efforts, prevent insecurity, and particularly, terrorism, by dealing with the causal factors, as well as prevent or contain migration, it is important to also note that there is no way the intention to migrate can be out-rightly prevented. At best, it can only be controlled and managed. Consequently, in an elongated period of insecurity being witnessed in the world of today, migration can either be made difficult or facilitated, implying that the management of migration problems should be looked into in both ways (sending and receiving countries; e)if integration at the national level is good and effective enough, and does not constitute a push factor for migration, the likelihood of

migration will be at its lowest ebb, unless there is an environmental disaster or other force majeure. In the same vein, at the regional or international level, the hostility towards the enjoyment of the right of residence or establishment cannot but be reduced; f)Insecurity and security is an important dynamic of migration because crises and conflicts constitute a push factor compelling the need to seek safety and security elsewhere. The boko haram-induced terrorism in the north eastern part of Nigeria has compelled many people to emigrate for reasons of force majeure. Consequently, the management of migration cannot but also be largely a function of how well a crisis or conflict is managed. In the absence of insecurity or threats of insecurity, migration cannot but be easier to manage; g)The current era of national and regional insecurity is partly associated with Islamic fundamentalism. The world is currently faced with a high technology-driven terrorism, emerging new Cold War between the United States and China, arrogant display of politics of double standard such as evidenced in the mĂŠsentente between the African Union (AU) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as in the international cultural politics of gay rights. All these issues have implications for migration; h)Development methodologies tend to place greater emphasis in contemporary international relations on integration as a possible catalyst for economic growth and development. It is partly for this consideration that ‘regionalism’ became an important subject in the study of international politics and relations. It is also for this reason that the United Nations has been pursuing global peace and security from a regional approach. At the level of Africa, for instance, for the purposes of enhanced economic development and fast-tracked integration in Africa, the African leaders decided to divide the continent of Africa into five regions (West, North, Central, East, and Southern) and then defined a sub-region as any two or more countries coming together within any of the regions of Africa. Thus, the expectation is that, if integration can be attained at the regional level, then it cannot but be easier to attain continental integration through increased migration and harmonization of the efforts of the five regions. In this regard, within the context of this integration needs, migration is supposed to be an issue to be addressed. In fact, this explains why the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of People and that of Right of Establishment were done. Consequently, management of migration and ECOWAS integration is largely a function of how well the protocols are adhered to and particularly how well the challenges of implementation are articulated, objectively and honestly addressed within the context of a supranational commitment by ECOWAS countries; i)migration constitutes a desideratum in contemporary international relations, and therefore, no country, and particularly Africa’s former colonial masters, can totally close its doors to migration.

Since it is admitted that the colonial masters seriously undermined and underdeveloped Africa, the under-development of the African environment cannot but push Africans to seek greener pastures in Europe. If Europe wants to contain the inflow of African and non-African migrants, the European Union must redefine its policy of ‘Solidarity and the Management of Migration Flows,’ to reckon with the geo-political and the current situational realities in Africa as a whole; j) in light of the foregoing, any objective of management of migration, as well as ECOWAS integration in an era of national and regional security, ought to first reckon with the causal factors of migration in the ECOWAS region and with the dynamics of national and regional insecurity. In this regard, the reckoning should be done at three different, but complementary, levels: reasons for migration; the act or form of migration, with emphasis on its manifestations; and the challenges of settlement or establishment in the receiving community or state; k)in general, the management of migration is best done on a collaborative basis: if a government has the right or prerogative to manage migrants in its country, the moment the migrant goes beyond the international frontiers of his/her country, the law of the new host country naturally applies. Since a migrant can be a terrorist or a threat to regional peace and security, it is only a collaborative effort and management that can help nip in the bud unwanted migration. Since the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement is not only a multilateral agreement, but also a major source of migration problems and insecurity, management efforts should begin with the review and re-conceptualisation of the protocol; l)And perhaps most significantly, ECOWAS Member States are to take a second look at their border security policies in light of the porous nature of their international frontiers. Nigeria, for instance, does not have border patrol guards. Nigeria does not even have a monitoring mechanism for foreigners living in local communities. It is useful to state here that, under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, instruction was given to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to establish presence in all the 774 Local Government Areas. While the NIS is apparently seen to be responding, the NSCDC is not. There is the need to monitor the activities of foreigners in Nigeria and particularly the effects of migration into the country. Consequently, seeking management of migration should not be by wishing. It must go with commitment and provision of whatever is required for the management. We all are currently in a world of globalisation in which, not only ICT is predominating, but also in which migration and integration have become major issues of concern.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Dayo Adeneye’s Dashed Hope

I

t seems that the ambition of Dayo Adeneye, Commissioner for Information in Ogun State, of becoming a member of the State Assembly may take a long time to come true.

It was gathered that while he was busy struggling to raise funds towards the actualisation of his agelong dream, his name was yanked off the list of All Progressives Congress standard-bearers for the 2019 general election.

A source disclosed that the news came as a rude shock to him and it has been giving him sleepless nights.

He was said to have suffered this loss as a result of his loyalty to his boss, Ibikunle Amosun who is at loggerhead with the National Working Committee of the party over what they termed as imposition of candidates for the election.

Insiders revealed that the former radio and television presenter had wanted to contest election into the House of Representatives, but was asked to step down by his boss.

The former Primetime Entertainment has joined the list of causalities with the loss of his Ogun State House of Assembly party ticket.

It will be recallled that when Adeneye, famously called D1, declared his political ambition in 2014, many were simply astounded.

In their thinking, the co-owner of Primetime Africa is too polished for the murky waters of Nigerian politics. But the U.S.-trained broadcaster was resolute and therefore pursued his new dream with zeal and vigour.

It didn’t take him long before he wormed himself into the hearts of his constituents in Odogbolu, Ogun State. He had wanted to represent the constituency at the state House of Assembly in 2015 on the platform of All Progressive Congress, APC. However, to his chagrin, he was given a baptism of fire, so to say.

But he remained unruffled.

Even while many encouraged him to dump the party, he never yielded.

Following his appointment as a Commissioner, he had thought that he has fully stabilized his feet in the state political setting. He was confident that his loyalty to the number one of the state would definitely lift his political aspiration to the sky.

But alas! He made a mistake; his ambition of being a lawmaker has been given a kiss of death.

Adeyeye

Segun Aganga Plans Big For Daughter’s Wedding In a couple of weeks, beautiful Toyosi, daughter of Segun Aganga, a former Minister of industry, Trade and Investment, will be bidding bye to spinsterhood, amidst fanfare.

It is evident that the Aganga family is desirous of ending the year on a lasting memory, as it is set to give out the hand of one of its darling daughters in marriage to her lover of two years, Adekanmi Lawson, on December 20, at the Balmoral Event Centre in Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos. The white wedding, it was gathered, will take place in London in January 2019.

The groom’s father is Kolapo Lawson, who runs one of Nigeria’s biggest indigenous business

conglomerates with interests in banking, real estate, manufacturing, food and beverages sector and with turnover in several billions.

He was the Chairman, Board of Ecobank Transnational, Nigeria ; Chairman, Agbara Estates Limited, arguably Nigeria’s biggest industrial and residential estate; Chairman of Vitamalt Plc; CEO, Lawson Corporation, a trading and investment company (which was founded by his late father). He also sits on the Boards of several business concerns.

A number of political top shots, businessmen, captains of industries as well as CEOs of blue chips companies are expected to grace the event.

Aganga

Billionaire businessman, Kola Daisi, Eulogises Late Wife Last Sunday, the ancient city of Ibadan was literally locked down , as dignitaries from every part of the globe converged on the city for an event that was special in all ways.

Virtually all the big names you can mention in Nigeria were in the city for the 40 days Fidau prayers for the late Chief (Mrs.) Sherifat Agbeke KolaDaisi, wife of foremost industrialist and Ibadan High Chief, Kola Daisi.

The late amazon of the Kola Daisi family passed on, on October 6, 2018 and the event on Sunday (held at the Ibadan Civic Centre owned by the family) also marked her 80th (posthumous) birthday.

Every big name in the events industry was contracted for the party that had over 5000 guests.

However, the highlight of the event was when the foremost industrialist showcased his poetic prowess, as he showered encomium on his wife of 58 years.

According a source, the billionaire went down memory with a tribute, saying , “Our union was pre-ordained and was sealed in Heaven. It was delivered and consummated on earth in the UK, in London at the Registry, Russel Square, WC1, on 23rd July 1960.

It blossomed beyond belief and defied all odds. It spurned FOUR generations -from ours to Ayomide’s.

“It was characterised by pure love, charity, empathy and especially on your own, piety. It was the envy of everyone touched by it. Its Golden jubilee was celebrated by its three generations, again in the UK, in Bournemouth, and witnessed by at least three of the most eminent witnesses at its birth; namely -Otunba Subomi Balogun (of Ijebu Ode), Mr. Demola Fashola (of Lagos) now late, and Chief Kareem Oladele Latunji (of Ibadan).

“It was designed to last forever. Its Diamond Jubilee would have been celebrated by four generations, but for those infirmities! Even then, Sheri, you wanted the melody to continue non-stop beyond October 6, insisting that your earthly mission of Love and Righteousness was just beginning.

Daisis

“But you were both Right and Wrong!

“Right because your legacy continues to live in those beloved, proud girls with whom we are blessed; but wrong because, any music, no matter the melody must stop -at least for the interlude as I believe in our own case. But the melody (like the Blossom) lives forever, nonetheless.

“What of Kola Daisy University with its heart in the Sherifat Agbeke Lecture Theatre? And what of the many legends before it including, The Sherifat Agbeke Mercy Medical Center in Alaadorin in Ibadan. I affirm, God

willing, that these, Insha Allah, like the many other works of your hands and their ultimate recognition by the Federal Government of Nigeria -the MFR -shall not perish from the surface of the earth. The world shall never forget for an example, that you became the mother of a king in this lifetime, and that you achieved the status of a great-grand mother whilst still on this side of the great Didide “Continue to rest in perfect peace my irreplaceable Agbeke until we certainly meet again to continue our joint mission of Love and Peace in the continuum of CREATION.

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NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

SOCIETY WATCH

Seagle Homes Boss, Yemi Lawal Honoured “Seest thou a man who is diligent in his works, he shall stand before kings and not stutter.

“When a man is steadfast in what he has been called and ordained through providence and destiny to do, then the sky will be his starting point and not even his limit.”

These time-tested words aptly describe the essential Oyinba Yemi Lawal, boss of Seagle Homes, who was last Saturday honoured by the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, CITN, at the Institute’s 2018 Annual Dinner that held at the Event Centre Limited Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

Yemi, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, has over 18 years commercial banking experience in Audit, Treasury, Branch Management, Regional

Management and Corporate banking, majoring in Corporate & Project Finance.

Prior to floating Seagle Property Development Company Limited in 2007, he had left the banking industry in 2005 as a Regional Manager to set up Eagleways Investment Group, which is now the umbrella body of all his subsidiary companies.

This new addition is an indication that Otunba Lawal is not one to rest on his oars, even when there are indications that he has broken enough grounds in his many concerns.

The CITN Fellowship is an attestation to his resilience and uncommon approach to issues that have to do with business, commerce and enterprise.

More importantly, is his knack for philanthropy, community development and rare generosity.

Ifeoma

Lawal

Honour For Bola Tinubu

Tinubu

When a woman marries a loving and successful husband, she can go touch the moon and come back, so says an adage.

The Group Chief Executive of Oando, Wale Tinubu, has been a good and encouraging husband to his wife.

Little wonder , his beautiful wife, Bola, has continued to record success in everything she ventures into.

The Founder of Cece Yara Foundation, who has been involved in the struggle for the prevention of sexual abuse of minors in our society , was named among the BBC 100 Women 2018 last week.

Barely two years after the launch of the Foundation, it is fast becoming one of the most recognised in the continent of Africa; hence, the recognition by the BBC. It was also disclosed that she has been earlier recognised by the popular search

engine, Google, who recently donated the sum of $150,000 for her effort.

Ceece Yara is a child-centred non-profit organisation established in 2016 to prevent child sexual abuse and to provide access to care, information, protection and emergency intervention for children who have been sexually abused.

Over the last 30 years, Tinubu has been deeply struck by the general tacit acceptance of the incidence of child sexual abuse in Nigeria brought about by cultural, religious and socio-economic circumstances, and the lack of recourse and support for child victims.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economic and Social Studies from the University of Manchester, U.K., and a Law degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. She was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1993.

Olakunle Churchill’s Headache For a long time, Olakunle Oladunni Churchill CEO, Big Churchill Haven Limited, had been minding his business and doing his things without any noise or unnecessary attention.

But the story changed immediately his relationship with star actress, Tonto Dikeh, became public knowledge.

Indeed, all eyes were on him the moment the duo agreed to take their love story to the next level. The wedding gained media attention, particularly because he is a nephew to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

However, many began to see him differently, when his estranged wife accused him of infidelity.

At the outset of their marital palaver, Tonto gained the sympathy of many, while Churchill was able to win some people to his side.

Well, that is not the story.

Just when the businessman thought the whole story had ended, the Nollywood actress has opened another chapter of accusations. But this time round, it is messier.

Society Watch gathered the River State- born star has taken the fight to the social media, throwing tantrums on her Instagram and calling her former beloved many unprintable names.

The actress was quoted to have described her former husband “as lazy, jobless and a ‘one minute man.”

Though many are said to have advised her to stop throwing vitriols at her estranged hubby, she seems to be unperturbed.

This, it was gathered, is giving the Abeokuta-born businessman a serious headache.

Churchill

Ogun Commissioner, Ronke Sofekun’s Rise

Sofekun

Think of a lucky woman and her name will pop up.

For some time now, beautiful Ronke Sokefun has been having a pleasant ride on the nation’s political terrain.

It all started when she was appointed Special Adviser on Land Matters to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State.

While she held that position, Sofunke, a lawyer, performed beyond expectations.

Her diligence and commitment paid off, as she was later rewarded with the

position of Commissioner for Urban and Physical Planning But as the Ibikunle Amosun-led administration is winding up, the very brilliant woman has landed a bigger offer.

She has been appointed as Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Her name was submitted a few weeks ago to the Senate for confirmation.

Ifeoma Okonji’ Passion Ifeoma Okonji, by all standards, is one of the few youths in Nigeria who are impacting their society and their generation .

Those who have come in contact with the delectable smooth talker attest to the fact that she is one person who truly believes in the core values of humanity.

A vibrant youth and women advocate par excellence, she has always shown her sterling leadership qualities since her tender age, a fact that led to her election as the pioneer Student Union Vice President of Anambra State University.

The Graduate of English from the Anambra State University has never ceased to show her enthusiasm for the downtrodden in the society.

Three years ago, she launched her pet project tagged ‘WELTI’ (Women Economic and Leadership Transformation Initiative), a nonprofit organisation with the sole aim of empowering young women between the ages of 14 and 30, to inculcate in them the pillars of leadership technology, education and health.

The former employee of Celtel used WELTI as a bait to empower young women to become healthy and competent leaders, who will leverage on technology for sustainable economic development.

Her vision is to keep empowering young women to be CORE (Competent, Organizationally skilled, Responsible and Ethical).

A close source said that Under Ifoma’s watch, WELTI has implemented several programmes and impacted 3,070 young women in four states of the country with the intention of reaching 7000 young women by 2020 and expanding to other states of the federation.

It was further gatherered that she partnered with Microsoft and AlwaysNG to implement BMT , reaching out to over 150 young female business owners in Lagos and Abuja.

This year, she has supervised the empowerment of 300 young female businesses in Lagos, Jos, and Kaduna.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Buhari vs Atiku – The Duke’s Position I have received a lot of interests from wellmeaning Nigerians on my position concerning these two gladiators. People have been calling, sending text messages wanting to know where my interest lies. You see, as a major moulder of public opinion who trended the whole of last week on social media – just Google me, I am a man of tremendous influence o. I have to be very careful how I position myself in public on these matters because any position I take simply will lead to disastrous consequences on the other side. Much as I have been advised to take a statesmanlike position on these things, it is really very difficult to do that. Especially when you see how the country is going. Things are tough o. Unemployment is rising, I hear eight million people have lost their jobs and I dey among, infrastructural decay, heath in a shambles and a total sense of hopelessness envelop everywhere. So how would a hotblooded Nigerian male like myself now rise above reality and not take a position? It is very hard o. When I look at both sides what do I see Nothing o. On the Buhari side, he comes at you with a lack of commitment, a vacuous lack of understanding of the issues and capacity to even tackle them. He now

MUHAMMADU BUHARI – YOU MUST COME FOR DEBATE

If nobody will tell you, let me tell you categorically that if no debate, no vote from Shomolu. That is the decision we have reached after our last nocturnal meeting and if you think you can win this battle without the Shomolu vote, then you have to really believe that Afang is a British soup. You see all these things send so many wrong signals and inspire others to follow the bad example. No wonder during my last attempt at the presidency of my former secondary school, Command Secondary School Ipaja, the transition committee headed by a general also cancelled debate. I was gobsmacked. Coincidentally, you sir are a founding father of the school. How could we not have had a debate for an election that threw up a leader of over 11,000 people?

You see where they got that sense from - your mortal fear for debate. Democracy is nothing without debates and sharing of ideas. My lord, there is nothing to be afraid of. Is it not Atiku?

Did he even have the kind of training you had?

He is just a common Customs officer whose training was in and around how to catch smugglers. You got the very best of training the nation could afford. You went every where o. India, UK, US so what is the issue? Let us see you, let us feel you, let us know where you are coming from, let us know where you want to take us to. Take our questions, feel our pain, grow with us. This aloofness is killing us, it’s killing me. At times it’s not even material things my Lord, just hold our hands, soothe us, cry with us, that is leadership. Allowing Ciceros like Lai, Femi and Garba do all the talking for you is not helping your case. They are talking down on us, they are behaving like little emperors, they are asking us to go to hell.

We will resist o. Now that we are begging, you will not listen now o. There is only so much that a people can take. I like you personally and truth, if things were different, I think you are a better personality to deal with than that Atiku who is slippery and oily dealy but then again when you are not talking what do we do? Is Aisha on the ballot? Is Oshiomole on the ballot, is El- Rufai on the ballot? It is you that is on the ballot so why are they all talking and confusing and annoying us. Oga talk! We will listen.

Oshiomhole

worsens it by surrounding himself with selfcentered oligarchs who move around with a wonderful sense of entitlement. I just tire. Will things be better in another Buhari second term?

I doubt. For Atiku, it is just the same sense of hopelessness leading to the question how did we get here as a nation? How did we drive ourselves into this cul-de-sac where out of over 180 million people we are left with these two as choices? Atiku represents a rightist arm of the devilish cabal that has held us ransom since independence while Buhari represents the leftist and conservative arm of the same cabal. We are effectively between the devil and the deep blue sea and like the biblical children of Israel we are dividing ourselves between these two, shouting ourselves hoarse in support of either of the two divides not knowing that any which way we go, na the same result – Golgotha. So will I vote? Which side will I choose? The answer my friends, is floating in the sky. I will let you guys know my decision in no time but for now, allow me the luxury of pain. Let me wallow in tears and sadness for failed opportunities, for inept leadership, for mumu followership, for a dearth in vision and for a lost country. This is Nigeria.

Thank you.

Buhari

Goodluck Jonathan – I Beg to Disagree I just read one of ex-President Jonathan’s commentaries at his recent book launch.

He said the fact that the country went into recession just after he left was self-inflicted.

He said rather than building consensus and pushing positively, those that took over from him went on a persecution spree; attacking his legacy and family and this scared away economic support leading to the recession we saw. Well, my lord, much as I like that level of thinking, let me kindly remind you that the signs were already there almost 12 months before you left. The recession was inevitable and it was not the pursuit of your wife by the EFCC that brought everything crashing. You had laid a firm framework for the collapse of the economy with your weak leadership, inability to rein in spending and the massive looting that occurred under your watch.

What your successors did was just to cap it by getting overwhelmed by the situation they found themselves. They did not know the magnitude of the wahala you were leaving for them so when they got in and saw the true situation, they panicked and went into the blame game mode. So as you go around with your bower hat, trying to redefine recent history, kindly note that we are talking of just four years ago. Look, let me tell you very clearly that Nigeria is on auto pilot. All these things, recession, inflation, GDP and other economic indices come and go according to the vagaries of oil prices with which nobody has control over except market forces. You

APC – NEXT LEVEL TO WHERE?

Jonathan

see why some of us are not interested in who rules as long as they don’t go about killing and maiming and disfranchising people.

No matter who is there Buhari o, Atiku o, Jonathan o or Charly boy, our economy is on self-drive seriously tied to oil price. So let’s stop gloating and concentrate on our retirement. Mbok, go back to bed.

They have called it next level. I have not had the time to go through the document but the immediate question is next level to where?

You see, if I were part of the strategy team, I think we would have looked a little bit much deeper at the issues, where we failed which is plenty and push out a document that would take just one position that we have performed creditably well and dig deeper. But as it is, it would be difficult to identify that one issue. Is it in deepening of democracy, with the selective obedience to court cases, is it economy with

double digit inflation, high unemployment, poor capacity utilization and a host of others, is it in sports, infrastructure, health or war against corruption? So when you say next level, the question I repeat, next level to where?

This election is his to win because PDP is not offering anything better so it will be a case of ‘if you are not going to better my case, let me be where I am’. Buhari should come out as Buhari and talk to us about his plans for his legacy four years. Pushing Osinbajo with his trader moni is not working, it is looking like an advanced and reworked Fayose Stomach infrastructure

Rewane

Sanwo-Olu and Hamza

Atiku

strategy. Let’s see a next level Buhari, let’s hear a next level Buhari, let’s feel a next level Buhari. Let Buhari come out and stand like the true general he is. Take all the hits, let’s pelt him with tomatoes, let’s shout at him, let’s heal by abusing the living daylight out of him and then, let him hold us and say, ‘I am sorry, we can do this working together’. I am very sure we will look at him once again and work with him. He needs to be a leader NOW. ATIKU – MBOK SELL NNPC I can’t even wait. Sell the damn thing.

Of what use is it if it is running losses and providing financial armory for a few to the detriment of the people? What are we as Nigerians gaining from NNPC being our collective asset? NOTHING! So I am in very strong support of the sale of the thing even though I will agree with Bismark Rewane the jerry-curled economic guru who has pleaded for caution in such a policy. He would not want the corporation sold to a cabal or any of Atiku’s people as the fear is right now. He would want it done like the India style where everybody has a voucher so that a few will now not carry the thing and run away like it is our usual style. For me, let’s go to the stock exchange and limit the number of shares per individual and agree on Board representation on the basis of internationally accepted corporate governance principles. If that is the only thing an Atiku Presidency can achieve, then that just might get my vote. We need less government, it will immediately bring down tension in the political process, demystify public position and truly attract sound minds instead of financial and political mercenaries whose only purpose in government is to control the source of resources and dictate who gets it, when they get it, and how they get it.

Na wa.

SERIAKI DICKSON – THE ARTFUL DODGER This one must think that ‘na him get sense pass’ in this country. So he carried his big bowler hat to Abuja to announce N100m grant to the Jonathan foundation, another N5m monthly support and a huge parcel of land when he never know how he go meet NLC minimum salary and people dey suffer

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LOUD WHISPERS

Mudi

for Yenogoa. My lord, I know you very well, this is a rehabilitation scheme for your oga. You go don siddon think am, how do we support our oga? Since he has been out of government, things don bad o and EFCC is not helping matters with all these accounts they have been freezing o. How do we make sure oga does not go back to those no-shoe wearing days and one person would have come out with a brilliant idea? Oga, write a book and at the launching I will donate this money and give you a N5m monthly pension. Eureka, the solution has come. So you see, meanwhile the people of Bayelsa are there languishing and dying of malaria. If President Jonathan is that popular, let him try himself. Let him come out and let people support his so-called Foundation.

Using taxpayer’s money to fund it cannot be acceptable and should be resisted by the State House of Assembly. I know they cannot do anything but should resist this kind thing.

Dickson don’t you have your personal money, can’t you give him and leave Bayelsa money for the development of Bayelsa State. If you don’t know what to do with N100m, please stand on the highway in Yenogoa and distribute it like Trader Moni so that the poor widows of Bayelsa will find solace. Mschewwww. It’s only a matter of time.

IS OBAFEMI HAMZA AMERICAN?

Mbok it is just a question o. The last time I wrote something about this campaign, I was threatened with castration. It was not easy that night and I swore never to write or comment on this campaign until they record their landslide ‘victory’ and we will all go and rest. But you know me na as I no dey hear word, I have come again. I am seeing a report that oga is American and might have pledged allegiance to the United States of America in securing this citizenship. For me, it is a good thing because I am sure as an American if this is true, he can now come and teach us the true tenets of democracy. The sanctity of one man one vote, the importance of freedom of choice instead of the nose leading democracy we are seeing today especially in Lagos. Furthermore, he will better understand political economy and how to use it for the betterment of the people irrespective of vested interest which is looking like the bridge that is throwing him up. As a failed American (they have revoked my visa - I am just looking at them) to a real American, I challenge him to lead a revolution that would finally free Lagos from the stranglehold of vested interest, use your position when you get there to fight for the enthronement of true democracy and the superiority of people’s power. Basically, I am asking you to turn around to bite the hand that may have fed you and if you are truly an American you will stand on the side of democracy and prove your true worth. Do it and stand on the right side of history. What kuku concern me, if you like you do it, if you like don’t do it. You kuku ma know what happens when you ride the back of a tiger. This is a very vicious tiger you are riding.

Meanwhile, my friend I won’t mention his name – last time I mentioned a friend’s name, I almost got my head broken; has promised to get me to sit with you. He says you are exceptionally brilliant and that I should listen to you. I have heard and I am sure you must truly be brilliant as an American, I look forward to the meeting but the most important thing is what I have just said to you, no be meeting.

Leave meeting. Come watch Oba Eshugbayi.

MUDI TAKES ACCRA

Mbok let me digress a bit. Last week my friend and brother MUDI opened a new outlet and he carried the Duke of Shomolu with some other friends to the city. My brother, when Dele Momodu posted a picture of the new international airport in Accra on his Instagram

Ajimobi

DJ Cuppy

Tonye Cole, Please be Careful You see, this is not a laughing matter so I will not even attempt a light-hearted treatment of the issue. An attempt on anybody’s life talk less of the life of an aspirant must not be taken lightly. I had wanted to yab my brother after I heard the news especially how the aje butter would have fared jumping into the wild jungle. But after I saw the video I had a change of mind and took pity not only on him but on us as a country. Tonye not used to these kinds of things kept talking as the gunshots rang out. The man not even recognizing the sound of gunshots kept standing and had to be literally shouted at to get on the floor. You see the pitiable state we find ourselves in this country, where bullets and violence are veritable and accredited weapons of discussions. You see where we have found ourselves, you see why there is so much despondency in the land. So an intellectual and sophisticated personality like Tonye would rather be shot at in a hail of bullets and then one thug would now be elected in his stead and we expect a glorious return?

My people, this week I am in a state of despondency, depressed and massive hatred for the generation that has led us

to this point. The people – they know themselves, they gathered at Jonathan’s book launch- yes that generation they have destroyed the last vestige of honour and respect that we have as a nation. Yet, they refuse to back down.

They continue in their pitiable and selfish struggle for continued control of a skeletal and ghostly nation or why would they throw up these Godzillas as presidential candidates for us to choose from if not to continue in the tyranny that has been our lot since 1960?

Tonye my brother, you know I like you. We have shared a glass of champagne at Bolanle Austen Peter’s show. We have shared a high table discussing youth empowerment at Jeniffer Olize’s forum and we have mutual friends and I would really hate to lose you. Even though you do not really like me, I know o just be careful my lord. Continue with the struggle, do not give up, keep pushing and you never can tell your story can just be the beginning of the renaissance we so badly need in this country. You have my support and don’t worry, God will protect you as you carry on. Kai.

Cole

page, I marveled but not up to what I saw when I landed. My people, this no be African country again o, it is now a first-world country.

Nobody disturb you, everything is automated, the level of efficiency can be imagined. I no talk anything o, I no compare o, I am just saying what I saw o. Nigerians were taking selfie like they were in Switzerland. I just quiet waka go the shop. The drive into town was pleasant, beautiful roads, sane people and the apartment we stayed was something else. Well, we had fun. The Nigerian High Commissioner came to open the shop and spoke very eloquently about the brand Mudi and how it was revolutionizing Fashion across the continent. The senior pastor at COZA also was there showing the tremendous respect he has for Mudi despite the very short notice. He flew in with his team from Abuja for the Event. Mbok, the man fine. Come and see what he wore and the way he spoke like butter cannot melt in his mouth. You could scoop the charisma and sell, I tell you. Me I am going to join his church. Ghanaian elites flocked the opening led by the very influential KKD wearing his perfect MUDI piece. The evening ended with a sumptuous dinner thrown by the matronly matriarch of Ghanaian High society,

Joyce Wasama in her palatial enclave nestled within the highbrow Cantonment of Accra where I hear Jerry Rawlings lives. They even had afang on the menu cos according to them The Duke was coming. Well done Mudi. God bless your work.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IBADAN – HIJAB?

You know I have a lot of friends who attended this school and I almost sent my son to the school and this is because of the high standards that the school was known for. I attended the University of Ibadan and my room in the great Independence Hall faced the school so I used to marvel at the discipline and comportment of the students so this wahala about hijab or not hijab is really riling me.

Why are we taking this wahala into this level, poisoning the youth so that they can now grow up in our shallow-minded bigotry? What is in wearing or not wearing hijab? What is the matter na. If I wear hijab how does that affect the next guy and if I don’t wear will it reduce the price of garri in the market? The school says it has a dress code since 1963 and if this is true

Otedola

I think it should be respected and this Muslim Association of Parents who must have known this beforehand should kindly respect the rules.

The school has a right to maintain its rules and the best that can be done will be to push for a change or a relaxation of the rules through dialogue and debate. You see why Buhari must debate because if he does, it will cascade down and we will now be a nation of dialogue. I tell you. So insisting and protesting leading to the closure of this wonderful citadel of knowledge is a shame on us all. Mbok open the school forthwith and let the stakeholders convene a session for dialogue and while having the discussions, they should also take the interest of other religions like Ogboni, Guru maharaji and Ekpe society in consideration. After all, no be only Christianity and Islam we dey all practise.

Rubbish! Taking our adult shallowness to our children.

DJ CUPPY – VERY INFLUENTIAL LADY!

I wrote a sarcastic piece last week in this column seeking her hand in marriage as a light-hearted banter on her birthday. She saw the piece and commented on it on her Twitter handle and before you knew it, I had become the most talked about personality on social media. The Duke of Shomolu was everywhere on the net o, from Nairaland, to Stella Dimoko, all of them. These millennials abused me, praised me, laughed at me. In fact if you think I am joking, just Google Duke of Shomolu you will see what will come out. My teenage daughter, Chantal, sef came out at me to leave DJ Cuppy alone that she is too beautiful for me.

My son called all the way, sharing the same sentiment. One blog even described me as ‘a man of importance…. Being the 115th to the throne of England, that one no get sense, he no understand sarcasm. My people I enjoyed my five minutes in the limelight. People were stopping me on the road and asking, is it you Duke of Shomolu and I would smile and say it is me o. I am the one o. Come and see fight on another blog. Some people said I was being rude to Cuppy, others said that If I was bold enough to propose to Cuppy then I was a man’s man. In all these Duchess was very quiet and when she is like that, na wahala.

So I carefully got home like midnight hoping she would have finished watching her Yoruba films and fast asleep. Na lie o. Immediately I walked in, na Cuppy picture I see. Enlarged. So you want to marry Otedola pikin, because of diesel money, all the one you have done is not enough, it is this small girl you want to bring to this house. I try explain that it was sarcasm, she refused to listen. She said that, that is how it starts from sarcasm to kiss. The girl is yellow, the girl is fine and her papa get money, what sarcasm? I explained that this girl is a little bit older than our daughter Chantal na. She said didn’t Ojukwu marry Bianca after attending her naming ceremony, that I should say something else. Well, my people na car I sleep that day and will be sleeping there until I call Cuppy and put her on speaker and tell her that I don’t want to marry her. Mbok, where will I see Cuppy number as mosquito is killing me here o. See where sarcasm has landed me. Meanwhile, mbok don’t show Duchess this piece. Cuppy, I think you are a very beautifully talented, well brought up girl and God will continue to bless you. I really would like for my son to marry you but he is just 17 and only interested in his paintings and not girls - need to do a DNA on him. Belatedly, I would say, happy birthday. Let me invite you to my play, OBA ESHUGBAYI, coming up this December at the Muson Center you can come on any of the three days. It’s playing 23, 24 and 25. I have four VIP tickets for you, come with your boyfriend so that I can introduce both of you to Duchess if malaria no go don kill me by then.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

PERSONALITY PROFILE

GRI Appointment: A Well-Deserved Global Recognition for Bekeme Olowola Bayo Akinloye

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frica is indeed blessed with so many vibrant, dynamic, outstanding, successful and passionate change-makers.

These change-makers do not necessarily control the economy, nor do they need to be political office holders. They are just dedicated individuals who envision a better continent, and in their own little ways, are working towards creating a community, country or continent that is good for all.

Globally, the call for sustainable practices has taken a more critical dimension. It became more articulated with the United Nations setting up an ambitious and universal 2030 agenda known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In most parts of the world, these goals are pursued imperatively, however, for some factors typical of most underdeveloped climes, pace of implementation in Africa has been really slow.

Steering a wave of change in Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, through sustainability advocacy, is Bekeme Olowola, a Harvard-trained, business savvy social entrepreneur and sustainability expert with a focussed drive. A woman in a league of her own, who has risen to become one of the few crucial figures pushing for sustainable development in Africa and spurring companies and communities to do better by rethinking all activities, with the future in mind.

Bekeme Olowola founded and runs CSR-in-Action – which in addition to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development consulting and training services – drives pro bono social impact interventions geared towards entrenching sustainability at the very core of institutions and their activities. In Olowola the past eight years, CSR-in-Action has grown to “become the one-stop partner and consultancy firm of choice for collective social responsibility and corporate governance in Africa”, as its mission planned to do. It runs with a mission to localise the SDGs in African institutions. Olowola has used this platform to promote several initiatives geared towards entrenching sustainability at the very core of businesses and their activities.

Very recently, Olowola became the first and only West African to join the board of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the world’s most recognised sustainability impact measurement and reporting standards body based in Amsterdam. Alongside two other counterparts, Jack Ehnes, Chief Executive Officer, The California State Teachers Employees’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), USA and Dr. Jianzhong Lu, China President of Weir Group, China, she will be commencing her 3-year appointment on 1 January, 2019, bringing on board her wealth of experience on issues relating to sustainable development in Africa and helping GRI tap into the gains of regional and background diversity. The board is replete with big names in the corporate sustainability and governance milieu with former Deloitte Global Partner, Eric Hespenheide, as Chairman, and some other board members being Dr. Jianzhong Lu, China President of Weir Group, Girish Ramachandran, President, Tata Consultancy Services Asia Pacific, Singapore, Mr. Peter H. Y. Wong, Chairman of General Fiduciary Company Limited, Hong Kong SAR, Dr. Roberto F. de Ocampo, OBE, Founding Partner of Centennial Group International, Philippines and Sandra Guerra, Managing Director, Better Governance, Brazil.

This feat is in recognition of her ingenuity, consistency and grit. She has blazed the trail in Nigeria and built a track-record of success in just a short time. Her firm, CSR-in-Action, is a corporate household name and has catalysed the adoption of sustainability practices through advocacy, business support, oftentimes through corporations’ production of annual reports, and training. Today, the group comprises three sustainability-focused arms namely: CSR-in-Action Consulting, CSR-in-Action College of Sustainable Citizenship & CSR-in-Action Advocacy. CSR-in-Action currently works with big multinationals and famous brands to not only foster increased value on the economic, environmental, and social levels, but to also measure progress.

Over the years, Olowola has garnered over 15 years work experience spanning new business development, auditing, corporate sustainability and responsibility, business ethics, corporate culture, strategic planning and management, non-profit and rural development, project design and implementation, public-private partnerships and enterprise development. She honed her skills for development work during her stint at the Royal Borough of Kingston and Surrey County Council, both in the United King-

dom, and from there moved on to work with several local and international organisations. Her last employment before venturing to carve a niche in sustainability, was at the former Bank PHB, now Keystone Bank, where she led its ISO Implementation plan.

As a renowned policy maker and private sector leader, Bekeme was nominated to represent Nigeria, alongside other African nationals, to understudy the German green economy - Energiewiende - with a view to localising the principles and sustainability for economic diversification in Nigeria.

During her undergraduate days at the University of Lagos, Olowola has said she made her first million before she attained the age of 21, exploring her passion for entrepreneurship with her first company, MINCA. In 2008, she was one of the 18 young professionals selected from Africa and the Diaspora to participate in the premier edition of The Apprentice Africa. It was not hard to notice that she was exceptional and resourceful. She was one of the top contenders for the winning prize until a debilitating bout of typhoid removed her chances of progressing further.

“I am a natural entrepreneur who sees opportunities everywhere. My mother always saw that and joked that I wanted to do everything. But what really makes me tick is that I love to find solutions for issues around me, which led me to founding and currently managing CSR-in-Action, a business dedicated to promoting ethical and sustainable governance, women and youth empowerment, and sustainable development in Nigeria, through analytical strategies, established partnerships, impactful programmes and other strategic consultancy for businesses and governments,” Olowola says.

According to her, when CSR-in-Action was founded in 2010, the goal was for it to become the one-stop partner for driving collective social action in Nigeria first, and then in West Africa.

Today, her presence on the board of GRI as the only West African shows that CSR-in-Action’s leaps have not only been recognised in West Africa, but globally.

For years, CSR-in-Action has been campaigning for change in the culture of organisations in Nigeria. Based on the harsh terrain where businesses operate and realities that demand desperate measures, this mandate has been had to drive, but nonetheless, worthwhile.

“I started this first-of-its-kind enterprise in 2010 because there was a challenge that wasn’t being addressed. What I started is a movement for good corporate and private citizenry and collective action. I remember that all those years ago, people told me the country wasn’t ready for this, but I was persistent. I’m nothing if not persistent”, she shared recently in an interview.

“I was met with a lot of pushback. Many businesses just did

not see what the ‘fuss’ was about, in a country where a number of ‘businesses’ are willing to throw a few hundreds of thousands of naira at a project and max it out using millions on PR, and a larger number simply not caring… not knowing the value of well-thought out systems and follow through. I mean what doesn’t get sorted comes back and bites you in the behind. Through consistency and focus, this narrative is changing and there has been a lot of remarkable improvement.”

As she will later explain, “I am an aspirational person, and to be honest, we have always looked to impact beyond local boundaries. From the onset, we signed up to global bodies like the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), United Nations Framework on Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Global Reporting Initiative’s Gold Community, and engaged international reputable organisations whose association we thought would buttress our strengths”.

CSR-in-Action successfully produces the first ever social investment report in Nigeria, The Collective Social Report: Nigeria. The compendium, which includes a rating of business sustainability performance known as the 3-C Index, is now known as The Corporate Sustainable Investor Report.

Furthermore, through the annual Sustainability in The Extractive Industries (SITEI) conference organised by CSR-in-Action, Olowola has further distinguished herself, and is pushing stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to rethink the short-term and long-term effect of their activities. This conference, which is in its 8th year, has been very effective in creating awareness for sustainable practices and has successfully brought relevant stakeholders together yearly to address social and environmental problems affecting the sector. Olowola has been known to say that she delegates contact with male government contacts, in pursuance of the conference planning logistics, to her male subordinates as they would often derisively refer to her as “small girl” and have often been more amenable to discussing ‘business ‘with her male colleagues. The conference has since serving and past Ministers in attendance, including Dr Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Kayode Fayemi, then Minister for Mines and Steel Development, and Dr Oby Ezekwesili, now a 2019 Presidential Aspirant.

In May 2014, Olowola helped establish the Business Coalition for Sustainable Development Nigeria (BCSDN), an indigenous affiliate of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, made up of a coalition of leading businesses across all sectors to drive collective development, floated by the then Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mutiu Sunmonu, and chaired by co-founder of Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. She continues to engage stakeholders throughout the economic value chain – government, business, civil society organisations and communities – which in 2018, led to the design and development of a Community Engagement Standards for Extractive Communities in Nigeria funded by Facility for Oil Sector Reform (FOSTER), where she and her team of consultants traversed the 9 oil-producing communities to fastidiously engage host communities, local, state and federal government and business leaders.

Olowola is on the ‘faculty’ of Patito’s Gang, a TV nationbuilding initiative by Pat Utomi which has been on for decades, and where eggheads dissect national issues with a view to proffering solutions. She is the producer of The Good Citizen Radio Show on Inspiration FM 92.3. The Good Citizen Radio Show is an offshoot of her Good Citizen initiative, which seeks to encourage a unified and collective approach for solving national issues. Through the radio show, which started in May, Olowola has stimulated dialogues on critical national issues ranging from political to social, environmental and economical in order to drive active citizen leadership.

She has received leadership awards, is a Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing Nigeria and a Member of the Nigerian Institute for Public Relations, amongst other professional institutions, and is a certified trainer of the Centre for Management Development and the globally renowned Global Reporting Initiative’s GRI Standards framework, while CSR-in-Action is a member of the GRI Gold Community. She has been on the board of several non-profit and for-profit organisations ,including Sustainable Waste Recycling Community of Nigeria, United Nations Global Compact Local Network, Africa Clean Up Initiative, Buzz Digital and Zenera Consulting.

Olowola has proven in her packed and dynamic professional career that with focus, perseverance, hard work and self-belief, women, no matter their age or creed, can shatter glass ceilings.

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

25.11.2018

The artist in his studio

BOB-NOSA UWAGBOE’S OBITUARY AND THE SOBERING REALITIES OF THE TIMES EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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ARTS & REVIEW\\EXHIBITIONS

BOB-NOSA UWAGBOE’S OBITUARY AND THE SOBERING REALITIES OF THE TIMES Bob-Nosa Uwagboe’s second solo exhibition in Lagos once more dredges up his familiar ghoulish images and challenges the viewers to reflect on the realities of their environment, writes Okechukwu Uwaezuoke

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bituary? Now, here is one word most people would rather avoid. For not even the certainty that death is imminent makes any difference to them. Indeed, an indefinable trepidation overwhelms many on hearing about the passage of an acquaintance or a relative. Yet, Bob-Nosa Uwagboe chose this word as the title for his second solo exhibition, which opened yesterday at Signature Beyond Gallery along Awolowo Road in South-west Ikoyi, Lagos.

“I couldn't find a better title than Obituary for the exhibition to adequately express my thoughts,” the dreadlocks-sporting artist explains. Inwardly grieving the demise of his parents and a fellow artist was one reason to be obsessed about the word. But then, he just couldn't ignore the constant daily reminders of man’s inevitable mortality.

No, the 2004 Auchi Polytechnic graduate’s intention is not to offend with the exhibition’s title. Nor is it to shock anyone. He’d rather the title makes his viewers reflect.And talking about reflection, myriads of sorrowful experiences constantly give Nigerians things to mull over.

Besides, the Edo-born artist doesn’t need shocking exhibition titles to sustain his acrylic and mixed-media paintings in the spotlight.

After all, his patented haunting ghoulish forms, rather than the nebulous memories of his debut solo exhibition held seven years ago at the African Artists’ Foundation’s former premises in South-west Ikoyi, already distinguish him from the pack in the talent-glutted local art scene.

Then, the fact that the 44-year-old positions himself as a proponent of “Protest Art” explains a lot about him. Perhaps, the title of his debut solo, Homme Libre (French for “Free Man”) – and his nightmare-inducing figures – ought to have forewarned aficionados about his predilection for iconoclasm. For it is obvious: he does not seek to play to the gallery through the depiction of delightfully charming or attractive forms.

And, really, what do viewers expect? Aren’t the hideous conditions of their physical environment the obvious reflections or manifestations of their inner propensities and realities? Of what use would it be if the artist lulls them into lassitude with flattering images of beauty? Uwagboe, as a modern-day Jeremiah, rails against the downward-hurtling values of most African countries in general and Nigeria in particular.

Perhaps, that is why he constantly rattles the collective consciousness with grotesque forms.

In a manner of speaking, he is mourning this morally-bankrupt humanity in his current exhibition, which ends on Sunday, December 2. So evident is the constantly blurring concept of morality in the society that it changes with each new generation. Indeed, it changes so much that what would have previously aroused contempt and disgust soon gets accepted as the norm.

About the exhibition, the transience of man’s earthly pursuits is one theme that runs through its three segments – the Obituary series, which reminds the viewers about their imminent mortality; Yeye Man series, which ridicules the bottomless pit of human stupidity, and the Immigration series, which beams the spotlight on the current issues of migrants crisis and human-trafficking.

As a committed artist, Uwagboe has reestablished his relevance through the burning issues addressed through his works. If more and more people were to be constantly reminded that the grim reaper lurks around the corner, evil would probably disappear, he reasons.

But the obvious naivety inherent in this line of reasoning is evident in the fact that things are fast deteriorating. Besides, the artist’s realisation that even the “mourners too will be mourned” numbs his intended audience to the passive acceptance of the inevitable. Ignorance about life beyond the physical curiously fuels

Walking Away by Bob-Nosa Uwagboe

The Mourners by Bob-Nosa Uwagboe

the passion for fleeting earth-bound pleasures.

Perhaps, there are no better depictions of this mindset than the works, “Legless Leader” and “Dying in Power”. Taking a swipe at sit-tight leaders, both paintings at the same time lift a corner of the veil on their blinkered world-view.

Moving on to other works, the painting “The Mourners” grips the viewer’s attention with its depiction of three ghoulish figures clutching their heads with their hands in obvious despair. The artist calls this work a tribute to the victims of the rampaging herdsmen in Benue State and other similarly afflicted states in Nigeria. The mourners, who not only allude to those directly affected by the mayhem, also metaphorically represent the mood of the whole nation.

Uwagboe’s obsession with the human condition stands him in good stead to run a dispassionate commentary on current events. He sees the

connection between the “disturbing images” of sub-Saharan Africans trapped in crisis-ridden Libya, which he saw online, and the rudderless leadership in most African countries. In his opinion, it is this rudderless leadership that should be blamed for these conditions, which necessitate the emigration in droves of desperate youths from their countries, as he depicts in “Walking Away” and “Tortured Youth”. “Those who lost their lives in Libya were victims of poor leadership in their home countries,” he argues. “I am trying to mourn these poor people through my art.”

Obviously, these “poor people” were first made destitute by the activities of their so-called leaders before being forced out by the consequent infernal conditions. These conditions in turn breed a dysfunctional system, which favour a corrupt police force. Hence, the miniature works running uncomplimentary commentaries about

the activities of the Nigeria police. In these works, the artist draws the viewer’s attention to the fact that the Police only reflects the larger society.

But, Uwagboe is not necessarily rooting for the fleeing youths. Indeed, he decries what he calls their “quick-fix mentality” as regards the problems of the society and urges them to fight for what rightly belongs to them. This, he captures metaphorically in his series of paintings depicting pugilists.

With the latter, he urges his viewers not to give in so easily to challenges.

Married with a seven-year-old son, the artist has come a long way, defying all odds to assert his unique identity amidst the babel of expressions in the art scene. Along the line, it has become evident that his kind of figurative expressions are not exactly collectors’ favourites. Nonetheless, he happily soldiers on....

PHOTOGRAPHY

For Bolaji Alonge, Beauty is in the Lens of the Beholder Olufunke Adepuji

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n the evening, the real me comes alive,” Bolaji Alonge muses. “I can feel it, something happens that I cannot describe… And it helps me to survive.” With these words, the dreadlocks-sporting photographer, whose solo exhibition, Urban Culture: Historical Continuity, opened on November 11 at One Draw Gallery along Norman Williams Street in Ikoyi, Lagos, savours a typical nightlife scene in Berkely Street in the Obalende area of the city.

The exhibition, which was curated by Segun Adejumo, ended today Sunday, November 25 and features photographs, which not only romanticised nature and its wonders – as could be discerned in his snapshot of a tiny green frog in the work “Opolo – but also explored the beauty of

urban culture and human interaction.

Indeed, the photographer, who also moonlights as both an actor and a journalist, told a coterie of journalists in a recent media briefing that he sought to portray beauty in unexpected places. For in the course of his travels to locations across the country, he has captured rare images of people and places just for the fun of it. He owes his impressive portfolio of works more to his passion than for pecuniary reasons.

Besides his underwater snapshots of aquatic life taken in Lagos and in Wikki Warm Springs, at the Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State – testimonials of his scuba diving pastime – he also has engaging images of a street scene in the Osun State capital Osogbo, remote areas in Epe, Lagos and the Asaba end of Niger Bridge leading into Onitsha, among others.

Alonge’s photographic offerings wrench the viewers from their comfort zones and offer them alternative visions to the chaotically urbanised Lagos. Besides the nearby rustic settlements of Lagos State, there are also far-flung rural settings in the hinterland.

Beyond the engaging still images lurks the artist’s optimistic take on a better future for Nigeria.

In the resilience of the people, he sees the promise of a future society free from corruption and strife.

The first-born of five siblings, the University of Lagos graduate of mass communication owes his passion to photography first to his dad, who was in the Nigerian Air Force. Of course, there were also the influences of his many travels around the world during the past decade.

– Adepuji writes from Lagos

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CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

Between APC’s Next Level and PDP’s Making Nigeria Work Again The choice between PDP and APC in next year’s election is a tricky one, writes Olawale Olaleye

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n many ways than one, next year’s election shares a lot of similarities with the 2015 electoral experience. Whilst the choice between former President Goodluck Jonathan and President Buhari was then described as one between two devils, thus compelled to choose the lesser devil, the 2019 choice between Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is no less a difficult choice.

But having tried Buhari for almost four years and his alleged inadequacies already out there, the gradual gravitation towards Atiku is understandable, not just because he has shown to be hands-on but more because of the belief that he has the capacity to turn the economy around as he already did his own personal going concern and get the country working again.

With the embargo officially lifted off political campaigns by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last Sunday, the two leading parties immediately hopped on the turf, first by unveiling their policy documents and immediately resorting to attacks as it is typical of the political campaigns every election year.

Curiously, whilst Buhari’s APC tags its policy document ‘next level’, an idea that is already a subject of controversy over its originality, Atiku’s PDP chose to christen its document ‘making Nigeria work again’, a name recognition that seems to suit the current discontent against the APC government and a situation the PDP appears determined to exploit to the fullest.

Already, questions are being raised about what APC and Buhari mean by taking the country and her people to the next level. But the answers are in the document. While ignoring such concerns like corruption and insecurity, the document carefully focuses this time on job creation, which it spreads across the different sectors like agriculture, technology and creative sector, industrialisation and the school feeding policy.

The document also gives attention to infrastructure, majoring in roads and bridges, rail and broadband infrastructure. It goes on to power, being a major economic concern of the people and stresses such areas as generation, distribution, off and on grid power. It talks about establishing a people moni bank and the entrepreneur bank as well as commensurate policies like the ease of doing business.

It is inclined to look at the health sector very well now, capped by what it calls inclusion in government. The issue of inclusion, unfortunately, has been described as its major undoing as the Buhari government has been accused of clannishness time and time again. Next level has been embraced by APC and its supporters, whilst being torn apart by critics of the government.

Atiku, on the other hand, has a rather complex and comprehensive document, which if it were in a bidding competition, would have won the bid in question, quite easily. Starting with key messages, which address what some of the immediate problems are – the document goes on to address the candidate’s covenant with the people, its mission and then, gives a general overview of the document.

The key messages are three: under-performance by the state; structural fault-lines and

Buhari and Atiku...the battle this time unity under threat. This breakdown helps it to situate the problems in their respective context and the proposed solutions after exhausting what the issues are in each of the different headers.

With an uncanny concentration on the economy, it breaks down what the problems of the economy are and they include that ‘growth is slow and uninspiring; that economy remains undiversified; that economy is uncompetitive; that foreign investments are in decline; that the fiscal position is precarious; that the financial system is fragile; that the exchange rate management is poor and that there is regional disparity in terms of GDP. It then goes on to do comparative analysis of the nation’s economy from 2010 till the third quarter of last year, 2017, which leads to its own agenda. This includes human capital development, promoting economic diversification, reducing infrastructure deficit, reforming public institutions and ensuring competitive and open economic system.

It states that its growth drivers would be to enable business environment, PPP for infrastructure and stable micro-economic environment.

Once these are assured and done, the document envisages the features of the Nigerian economy of Atiku’s dream, which are increasing flow of FDI into the non-oil sector, strengthening linkages between oil and non-oil sectors, promoting the new economy, expanded export base and strengthening public-private partnerships.

Against this backdrop, the Atiku document states that its priorities would include job creation and entrepreneurship development, poverty alleviation and economic empowerment, infrastructure development (power, transportation, technology housing, refinery and petrochemical, human capital development, Education, Health, Youth and women empowerment, sports, culture and tourism, arts, entertainment and creative industries, environment, management of economic resources, and governance.

In addition, its priorities are not limited to restructuring, anti-graft and rule of law, national security, international relations and domestic financial services sector. It also listed, for the record, sources of long-term funds for its priorities.

Certainly, if 2019 was based on documents, then, this election would have long been over.

But it is more. It is about providing leadership.

It is about honest leaders in power. It is about accountable and transparent leadership – the leaders the people can trust.

As it already seems, the options in next year’s election are between going to the next level and making the country work again. In that sense, next level here means an approval of the current state of the nation while embracing the second option means the electorate is consenting to the narrative that the present Buhari government has failed and therefore, must embrace a new one that would lead them to the Eldorado.

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

Can Kashamu Pull Off This Game?

O

Kashamu

One person, whose politics and grip on his base deserve some careful study, is the senator representing Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu. Whatever he is doing to remain relevant, he is certainly doing well.

His sudden emergence as the candidate of the PDP in the state, after fighting hard that the list of candidates from his faction of the party be accepted by INEC, is such high wire manipulation that many are waiting to see manifest full in throttle.

But how he intends to finally pull this off in the face of pending legal obstacles especially some noteworthy precedents, is what many cannot wait to see happen.

And given the position of the Supreme Court on who can forward the names of candidates as well as the insistence of the national PDP leadership to fight it through, pulling this off like many others might be a tall order for Kashamu. But with Nigeria’s typical environment, nothing is impossible.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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BRIEFINGNOTES

APC, Buhari and the Plethora of Carelessness Hours after it launched its 2019 presidential campaign amidst pomp and circumstance, words came out that the ‘NextLevel’campaignlogomighthavebeenplagiarisedfromaBritisheducationalinstitute.SamuelAjayiexamines PresidentMuhammaduBuharisgovernment’sperceivednotorietyforplagiarismandwhythelatestdevelopment doesnotbodewellforhissecondtermambition.Andforhisowncampaign,thePDPcandidate,AtikuAbubakar,has gone abroad to hire an advertising agency even when he promised to make Nigeria work again After the Pomp Comes the Bomb hatwaslaunchedwithpomp and circumstance may soon become a subject of litigation going by accusations of plagiarism as some have claimedthatthe‘Next Level’ campaign logo of the 2019 Buhari Campaign Organisation may have been copied from an academic institute in the United Kingdom.

While many brand experts have been picking holes in the campaign and even the concept of next level, perhaps, the handlers of the presidents second term project have a bigger issue on their hands: accusation of plagiarism. Observers have indicated that the Next Level logo of the Buhari campaign is strikingly similar to that of the Rex Institute of the Winthrop University in the United Kingdom.

The similarities of the two logos were so glaring that even those who developed the APC/ Buhari concept and those who commissioned them would be wondering if they did any check on the net before going to town with the slogan and logo.

For instance, the V and X letters in the two words, NEXT LEVEL, are connected by extending the right hand of the single V chevron to form the rightward crosser of the X in the NEXT word.

W

Rex Institute Re-affirms Logo Ownership…

Dr. Kelly M. Costner, Associate Professor and NEXT LEVEL Project Coordinator at the Winthrop University, which runs the Rex Institute, said next LEVEL (including the brand signature, colour schemes and creative concept) is the intellectual property of Winthrop University. According to Winthrop, it stands for NExT LEVEL: NETwork for Leading Education that Values English Learner.

The institution explained that NExT LEVEL provides professional learning opportunities for educators from pre-service to in-service to the district and higher education faculty aimed at meeting the unique needs of English Learners and their families.

Perhaps to affirm its ownership of this intellectual property, the university further stressed that “NEXT LEVEL is a project of the Winthrop University-School Partnership Network in collaboration with Fort Mill School District (York 4), Lancaster County School District, and Rock Hill School District (York 3). NExT LEVEL is a professional development programme grant funded by the US Department of Education and administered through the Office of English Learner Acquisition.”

And Now, Threat of Legal Action Acting through its lawyer, Sue Lavache, the Rex Institute has called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency to stop the use of the logo forthwith. The lawyer wrote: Without prejudice, it has come to our attention that the All Progressives Congress Party of Nigeria has stolen the intellectual property right of our client, The Rex Institute. As you can see from the attached visuals, the logo your Party has just unveiled and which is being promoted by the Leader of the Party and the President of Nigeria on his Twitter feed is a direct copy of that of our client, with just a small colour change in the arrow.

However, every other element from the name, font and design is identical. In fact, in my entire legal career, I have never seen such a blatant piece of plagiarism. We, therefore, demand that you immediately cease and desist in any use of the logo and make every effort to recall and destroy all materials, which have already been disseminated, failure to do so within seven days will leave our client with no other option but to seek full legal redress via the Nigerian courts.

Buhari Not New to Plagiarism Perhaps, it seems plagiarism is not new to the Buhari government. It is as old as the government itself. On September 8, 2016, while launching the new campaign on anti-corruption, Change Begins with Me, President Buhari deliv-

ered a speech that touched on the need to build a new Nigeria that would do away with pettiness and partisanship of the past. Here are his words: We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long. Let and summon a new spirit of responsibility, spirit of service, of patriotism and sacrifice; let us all resolve to pitch in and work hard and look after, not only ourselves but one another. What the current problem has taught us is that we cannot have a thriving army of rent seekers and vested interests, while the majority suffers.

It was later found out that virtually every word of this excerpt of Buharis speech was not authored by him at all.

Writing on the speech, Adeola Akinremi, a columnist with THISDAY Newspaper wrote that Buhari and his handlers might have picked their words from a speech delivered by Barack Obama, former president of the United States of America when he was first elected in 2008.

On November 4, 2008, Obama had addressed a crowd of his supporters after the election and below was what he had to say to the ecstatic crowd on that fateful day.

Lets resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that had poisoned our politics for so long.

So, let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, its that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

Buhari later promised to punish the presidential aide, who was responsible for the plagiarism. But it remains to be seen if anything was heard again after the initial furore had died down.

No Plagiarism, but Atiku Has gone Offshore…

While the APC and its presidential candidate, Mohammadu Buhari, are battling allegations of plagiarism, his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, is facing backlash from Nigerian creative agencies who are accusing him of going abroad to hire an agency to handle his presidential campaign.

THISDAY checks revealed that two agencies, one advertising and the other public relations, had pitched for the job and they had submitted creatives which they had spent millions from.

But to everyones shock, a foreign agency, London Advertising, was hired to handle the campaign.

A top marketing communications practitioner told THISDAY that if Atiku really wanted to make Nigeria work again, then he should have trusted Nigerians agencies to handle his presidential campaign.

He cannot be claiming to be trying to make Nigeria work again, yet he would not trust Nigerian agencies to handle his presidential campaign. It does not send the right message about his commitment to make Nigeria work again. There is no way a foreign agency will understand the local nuances needed to produce attention-catching campaign materials, he stated.

Ironically, perhaps the best presidential campaign every run in the country till today was the MKO Abilola Hope 93 campaign and it was handled by local agencies. And these were Rosabel Advertising Limited and Eminent Communications Limited. They produced very strong campaign materials that made even the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket thrown up become irrelevant.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Segun Sowunmi, did not yield any positive result as his phones, which were initially busy, could not be reached before going to press. However, sources close to the Organisation said he would have personally preferred a local agency was hired to run the campaign. Sources also told THISDAY that London Advertising is said to be looking for local agencies that could help it run the campaign.

Plagiarism as National Embarrassment…

A top public relations professional, who did not want his name in print but whose agency has handled so many successful campaigns said the issue was a national embarrassment.

He, however, said before the ruling APC and the Buhari Campaign Organisation were taken to the cleaners, a question must be asked about the professional capabilities of the agency that produced the concept. He also added that questions must be raised on how the agency if at all it was a Nigerian agency, came about the job.

Professionally, it is a very serious offence and morally it was unacceptable. Let me also say that it is a national embarrassment to us. I dont even know which came first. I don’t want to believe that a Nigerian agency actually did the creative and this calls to question, issues about our homegrown talents.

Was that created by a Nigerian agency? If it was, do we know the agency? Before I criticise the client, which happens to be the APC now,

I will, first of all, kill the agency that did such a job. And the reason is that in this situation, the client is even a victim. That is the point. If it was a Nigerian agency that did the job, how did it get the job? Was there a pitch?

He said the client, APC, is a victim, because of its lack of appreciation of talent. He added that even if you look at PDP, there was no creativity in the campaign. He lamented that the two leading parties always prefer foreign agencies that do not understand the nuances of the nations political environment.

If a president that wants to govern Nigerians and speak to the nation prefers to go and hire a foreign agency to handle its communications, what do we say to that? he asked.

Ganiyu Ajagbe, a creative artist based in Lagos, said the similarities were too striking to be ignored. The concepts were of same brand ideas, same brand typeface, same brand icon (i.e. letter v with an arrow pointing up) but different brand colours. While the university used black and magenta, Buharis campaign team adopted green and red colours. The similarities are just too many to be ignored.

Is Plagiarism Now a Way of Life in Nigeria?

After the uproar that greeted the latest intellectual faux pas on the part of the ruling APC and the Presidency, facts have emerged that plagiarism might have actually become an intellectual way of life amongst Nigerians, especially those in the academic sector.

Earlier in the week, a national newspaper (not THISDAY) had quoted a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola, as saying that over 60 per cent of project reports of Nigerian undergraduates are plagiarised. He added that the rate of plagiarism as a form of academic corruption at master’s level was between 15 and 20 per cent and eight per cent at the PhD level.

Aliyu Maaji, a public affairs commentator said the rate of plagiarism in the country is alarming.

It is not about partisanship. It is a national embarrassment. Apparently, the quality of a country’s graduates determines the quality of its intellectual output. And this also raises a question about the capacity of our leaders at the highest levels to source and exploit the right talents to help them run this country.

As is now, it is only a matter of time before Winthrop University learns of this theft and sues. Then Nigeria will be on CNN for all the wrong reasons once again.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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CICERO/REPORT

Offa Robbery: The More You Look, the Less You See, the More Confused As in a circus where magic shows are performed, the latest revelation concerning the death in police custody of the principal suspect in the Offa bank robbery appears to be moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, Shola Oyeyipo reports

F

rom all indications, the official investigator of the Offa bank robbery, the Nigeria Police Force, may be a subject of investigation themselves as members of the House of Representatives, last Thursday, agreed to begin an investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of the principal suspect, 30-year-old Michael Adikwu.

There had been allegations and counterallegation regarding the Kwara State Government and Senate President Bukola Saraki’s involvement fatal heist.

Describing the disclosure by the police of Adikwu’s death as shocking, House of Representatives’ resolution followed a motion under matters of urgent public importance by Zakari Mohammed (Kwara, PDP), who represents Baruten/Kaiama federal constituency of Kwara State at the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

Whereas Saraki had previously raised the alarm that Adikwu, a dismissed police constable, who was said to have confessed to being the mastermind of the bloody robbery that left scores of people dead, had been murdered in police custody, the police initially refuted the allegation, saying he was alive and helping with further investigation at a different level.

Then, when the police eventually came out recently to announce that he was dead, they first said he died while resisting arrest and the latest, according to police was that the late constable slumped and died. From the contradiction, it was clear the police are inadvertently complicating an already complex robbery case.

Nobody can say for sure what circumstance led to Adikwu’s death, but there had been suspicion on whether he was deliberately killed? If yes why? If not, did he die a natural death or did the suspect lose his life under torture? Was he sick or was there a ploy to cover up something by the police? At this point, these issues must be unravelled to preserve the sanctity of the police, whose roles had been suspect in the manner they had handled the matter especially what appeared like a desperate move to implicate the Senate president, Kwara State governor and others whose names had come up in the matter.

Concerned that the police initially confirmed to the Attorney General of Kwara State through the Police Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, that the principal suspect was alive in their custody and helping with investigations of the robbery and yet took them so long to make the disclosure about the death of the principal suspect after denying its veracity as was reported in the media and that there had been inconsistencies in the various statements by the police as well as the possible cover-up of what is being termed extra-judicial killing with the aim of tarnishing the image of some innocent individuals for political purposes, the lawmakers were set to look deeper into the matter.

Though the lawmakers were not oblivious of the fact that it was the fundamental duty of the police to protect lives and property of all citizens irrespective of political affiliation, they equally underscored the fact that it was their constitutional duty to “take action wherever such level of irresponsibility and recklessness of an important law enforcement agency such as the police have arisen in the course of investigations into a vicious crime.”

Thus, when Speaker Dogara put the motion to a voice vote, the lawmakers unanimously adopted it and agreed to verify the truth in the matter.

As a result, the House Committees on Police Affairs, Human Rights and Justice was mandated to carry out an investigative hearing into the facts surrounding the time and circumstances of the death of the suspect and the committees were charged to unravel when the suspect died, how he died, why the police denied the facts of his death, at what point did the police leadership discover the death of the suspect and why the police are covering up the facts.

Not a few Nigerian will forget Friday, April 5, 2018 in a hurry. It was a sad day for residents of Offa in Kwara State and Nigerians, who are already inundated with endless tales of mindless killings of innocent people, when a gang of daredevil robbers, numbering about 30 struck in the sleepy town, murdered policemen, residents and bank customers. In all, 33 innocent persons died.

Not only did people die, the robbers carted away millions of naira and arms and ammunitions belonging to the Nigerian Police after the operation that lasted about an hour at the Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank,

Idris First Bank, Union Bank and Ecobank.

Outraged by the killings, many Nigerians had hoped that the police would bring the perpetrators to book. It was also consoling when the investigation team deployed in Kwara State by the Inspector-General of Police, started arresting the suspects, to at least bring them to justice and make it serve as deterrent to others.

But strangely, the Kwara State Governor, Mr. Ahmed Abdulfatah and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and some of their aides were named as allies of the robbers, albeit as political thugs. The police said five leaders of the gang of robbers confessed that they were political thugs of Saraki and Ahmed.

The suspects arrested in connection with the robbery are Ayoade Akinnibosun (37), Ibikunle Ogunleye (36), Adeola Abraham (35), Salawudeen Azeez (49), Niyi Ogundiran (37), the late Adikwu (30), identified as the gang leader, who single-handedly killed 22 persons, Kabiru Afolabi (26), Omoseni Kassim (28), Kayode Opadokun (35), Kazeem Abdulrasheed (36), Azeez Abdullahi (27), Adewale Popoola (22) and Adetoyese Muftau (23).

Others are Alexander Reuben (39), Richard Buba Terry (23), Peter Jasper Kuunfa (23), Ikechukwu Ebuka Nnaji (29), Moses Godwin (28), Adeola Omiyale (38), Femi Idowu (34); Personal Assistant on Political Affairs to Governor of Kwara State, Alabi Olalekan (49); and the Chief of Staff to Governor of Kwara State, Yusuf Abdulwahab (58).

The allegation was that the robbery gang leaders confessed that Ahmed and Saraki sponsored the purchase of arms used for the Offa banks. This obviously introduced a new twist to the development. Would Saraki deploy gang of robbers to attack Offa and kill innocent people? What would he stand to gain from such? Would it be right to conclude that as Senate President, Saraki indulges armed robbers? All these questions were still begging for answers. But since their names were dragged into the matter, Saraki had maintained that it was a ploy to call a dog a bad name so as to hang it.

In the wake of the development, the spokesman for Saraki, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the allegation as a baseless and a ploy by the police to implicate Saraki by all means possible. Similarly, Ahmed dismissed the allegations and contended that the state could not be held responsible for the behaviour of youths, who preferred to deploy their empowerment wrongly.

“Let it be known that there is no way I could have been associated with armed robbery against my people.

When the Offa robbery incident happened, I was the first

top public official to pay a visit to the place and right there in the palace of the traditional ruler, I put a call through to this same Mr. Ibrahim Idris, the IGP, requesting him to make certain specific security arrangements as demanded by the people.

“Members of the public will remember that on May 16, 2018, I alerted the Senate about the information passed on to me by my state governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, over a plot by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to frame me up by getting some suspected cultists arrested in Ilorin to implicate me. It is believed that the timely leakage of the plot in that case aborted the use of the suspected cultists to implicate me. Now, it is the Offa bank robbery suspects that are about to be used,” Saraki explained and this opened the window of benefit of the doubt to him among discerning members of the public, who felt the need for detailed investigation.

Already, Saraki has said the disclosure by the police has vindicated his earlier claim that the suspect had been murdered in police custody and that the investigation was politically motivated to implicate him, Governor Ahmed and some others.

Nigeria’s number three citizen is therefore optimistic that an inquiry into the matter would help interrogate and reveal how the investigation into the robbery incident was conducted by the police and whether the investigation followed due process and complied with global best practices.

According to Saraki, the police should explain why it took them sometime to make the disclosure about the death of the principal suspect after they categorically denied it at the time he (Saraki) made it public.

“It should be recalled that when we mentioned it that the principal suspect had been murdered and that investigation into the Offa robbery attack was politically motivated and targeted at implicating me and other individuals, the Police Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, said: ‘Michael Adikwu is in police custody. You know that he is the one that led the killing of 22 people. The firearms that were carted away, he is helping the police in the investigation to recover them. There is a state in the South-west where they kept him. I can’t mention the state. It is in one of the South-west states’,” Saraki was quoted Moshood as saying.

Continuing, he said, “It is obvious that the police have orchestrated the information they give to the public on the Offa robbery only to tarnish the image of the Kwara State Governor and myself. We are calling for a public inquiry to probe the issues of extra-judicial killing, the cover-up of this killing with the aim of framing up some individuals for political purpose and politicising of criminal investigations. The facts need to be laid bare.

“The inquiry may help to further document and define the terms of handling of suspects in police custody and how to prevent extra-judicial killing of suspects, for whatever purpose. There is a need for transparency in investigations into all cases and our methods should comply with global standards. We should discourage situations where police politicise investigations and deliberately set out to frame some individuals.”

The police too had fired back at Saraki, saying the death of Adikwu could not vindicate him. Moshood said the evidence from the five suspects now in court is enough to prosecute the Senate president.

“The Death of Michael Adikwu – a dismissed policeman and an ex-convict – a sectional gang leader, who confessed to have killed 22 persons including pregnant women and nine police personnel during the Offa bank robbery, cannot vindicate the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki. It is also important for the public to know that the deceased was not among the five gang leaders that indicted and implicated the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki. Therefore, his death cannot in anyway vindicate Senator Bukola Saraki,” the police spokesman stated.

At this level, Nigerians want to know when exactly the suspect died. How did he die? Why was the police denying the facts of his death when they knew he had died? At what point did the police leadership know of his death and why are the police covering up the facts?

“We believe the answer to these questions will help the country to address the issue of human rights abuse, extra-judicial killing, manipulation of criminal investigation to achieve political end, deliberate attempt to cover up some facts and how skewed investigation of crime can impact on successful prosecution of suspects,” Saraki said.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

CICERO/REPORT

Fashola on Campaign Trail for Buhari’s Reelection Deploying his typically creative mind, the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, is introducing an entirely different campaign strategy for President Muhammadu Buhari’s election in Lagos, writes Olaseni Durojaiye

F

ollowing the kick-off of political campaigns ahead of the 2019 general election, notable politicians from the different political parties, particularly the major ones have started strategising on how to win votes and as such, reactivating their political structures across the different states in the country.

This explains why the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola returned to Lagos State, where he was a two-term governor last week to launch a 5000-member ‘PMB 2019 Ward Action Committee’.

The committee is a body of grassroots votes canvassers dedicated to the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the presidential election slated for next February. Members of the committee were drawn from all the local governments and local council development areas in the state.

The committee, observers pointed out, is akin to the grassroots-based voters’ mobilisation and votes canvassing strategy adopted by former US President Barack Obama during his first shot at the US presidential elections, which he eventually won by defeating the late Senator John McCain.

Observers are therefore of the view that the new approach adopted by Fashola through the committee just broke new grounds in voter mobilisation and vote to canvass in the polity. In fact, the conclusion is that the strategy is a game changer.

The minister, commendably stuck to issues, as many commentator and political watchers have enjoined the political gladiators to do as they go about the campaigns. Even when he attempted a comparison between his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he refrained from directly calling out the PDP and presented “verifiable proofs” to marshal his arguments.

During the launch, Fashola reeled off the achievements of the Buhari administration in the three and a half years that he’s been in office and argued that the administration has surpassed the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan to justify why Nigerians, particularly the South-west and Lagos should ensure his re-election for a second term in office.

Fashola, who spoke in English and Yoruba languages inter-changeably stated that the APC government of Buhari did not promise to fix all the challenges facing the country in four years and added that comparatively, the current administration has achieved more than the immediate past administration in the areas of infrastructure, power and housing.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria stressed that the Buhari administration has demonstrated a commitment to bridging the infrastructure gap in the country despite the fact that the budget for works was reduced by the National Assembly. He said despite the budget cuts, the administration showed a commitment to fund infrastructure projects creatively by creating the Presidential Infrastructure Fund (PIF) to ensure that ongoing projects are not starved of funds and also comply with project completion timelines.

He said the next general election present Nigerians with the choice of taking the country to the next level or return it to the era when projects were abandoned at will, which he said was the hallmark of PDP’s 16 years in power.

Fashola, who expressed displeasure at the turnout of voters during the last presidential election charged members of the committee to go all out in a peaceful manner to mobilise voters in the different local communities to turn out massively and vote for the president and all other candidates of the party, arguing that it was the appropriate payback for President Buhari, who has favoured the state and the South-west in his appointments and project execution.

He said in three and a half years, the current administration has constructed more roads and improved power generation and transmission in the country than the PDP government did in 16 years.

He further stated that the current administration was constructing at least one road in all the states in the country, adding that the federal government is currently constructing housing estates in 34 states of the federation.

Dignitaries at the event included a former deputy governor of Lagos State and an aide of President Buhari, Adejoke Adefulire; Chairman of the Senate committee on land transportation, Senator Gbenga Ashafa; deputy governorship candidate of APC in Lagos, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; former commissioners for Culture and Home Affairs; and Transportation in the state, Oyinlomo Danmole and Kayode Opeifa, among others.

In an apparent reference to the PDP, he insinuated that the party was a spendthrift and therefore could not be entrusted with the nation’s resources any longer. He added that there were verifiable records to show that the current administration has done more for the nation even with lesser earnings from oil sales than the previous administrations.

Fashola and Obafemi Hamzat at a recent political outing

“There are verifiable proofs that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has done more for the country in the areas of roads construction, power generation and distribution and construction of housing estates than the previous administration.

“Yesterday (last Monday) we released N15 billion to the two contractors handling the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Even though the road is not completed yet, those who have been using the road know that their travel time spent on the road has been greatly reduced. We all know the state of the road during the 16 years of the other party. We have also mobilised contractor handling the Ikorodu-Sagamu road which has been lying fallow for many years. You have Senator Ashafa to thank for that as he made a strong and convincing case for the road to be constructed.

“Out of the 365 roads currently being built across the country, 244 were started in 2001. There is no state in Nigeria that the administration of President Buhari is not constructing at least one road each including Adamawa, the home state of their presidential candidate. As of 2018, we have constructed 497 kilometres of roads. President Buhari is not slow, his results are faster, quicker, verifiable and of superior quality,” the minister stated.

Speaking further, he said “They have shown that they are a profligate party that cannot be entrusted with the nation’s resources. Even with less revenue from oil, the APC government has achieved more than them.

That is why the next election is a choice between taking Nigeria to the next level and returning to an era of abandoned projects.”

On the achievements of the current administration in the power sector, he said, “I wrote the new power policy, which lays emphasis on mini-grid. It is now working.

Through the mini-grid initiative, electricity is coming to some major markets across the nation, including Ariaria Market in Abia State and Dugbe Market in Ibadan, Oyo State, among many other popular markets.

“Power generation has improved from 4000 megawatts that we met to 7000 megawatts. That is an increase of 3000 megawatts, an average of 1000 megawatts per year. We are constructing 90 sub and injector stations across the country. We have accelerated the distribution of metres by outsourcing it to distributors. We have also slated 9 federal universities for Independent Power Project.

“The previous government left 800 containers containing power transmission equipment in the port for years. We have cleared it and some of it is currently being deployed across the country.

The University of Lagos is one and that is because the University of Ibadan was pencilled for internal road construction. When we came in, the previous government abandoned,” he stated.

Justifying why the South-west zone should vote for

the APC in the next presidential elections, the three-inone minister explained that, “As a South-west indigene, I will vote for the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket, because my people stand to gain more from it. The south-west is presently occupying the position of the vice-president.

“We have three sitting ministers and many different federal appointments from the present administration, which we cannot afford to lose. You cannot compare all that with the promise of Secretary to the Federal Government, which the other party promises our region,” adding that “President Buhari is taking Nigeria to the next level. We are going to the next level.”

In a brief remark, the Senator Ashafa thanked members of the Ward Action Committee for turning out in great numbers and the organisers for putting together the event.

While noting the aptness of the new APC slogan “Next level,” he said the party was taking the country to the next level adding that the current government’s interventions in the area of road transportation, especially the railways was unprecedented.

Ashafa, who recalled the good days of the country’s rail transportation, stressed that it’s long been abandoned by the previous governments and that the government was building more in areas that it felt would positively impact the lives of Nigeria.

“The APC government led by President Buhari is determined to take the country to the next level. As the chairman of the Senate committee on land transportation, I know all of this. I have seen these projects during oversight function visits to the projects sites.

“While on oversight functions, I visited Itakpe – Warri rail project and I was impressed. This is a project that has been abandoned for many years and the Buhari administration has revived it, because of its economic and social benefits to our nation and our people. The Abuja light rail project was left uncompleted, but this government has completed it and Nigerians are now enjoying it. The Buhari administration did not turn its back on it as other administration would have done.

“You are all aware of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project.

Work is ongoing on the project and it will be completed in the first quarter of next year. In addition, the KadunaKano rail project is also ongoing, likewise a handful of other rail projects. So, you could see that in addition to what our honourable Minister of Works, Power and Housing has stated here, there are still more than the current administration has achieved, which we cannot allow the PDP to come and reverse,” Senator Ashafa said.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Danmole who is the Director General of PMB 2019, the parent body of the committee, thanked the members for the huge turnout and tasked them to return to their respective wards with renewed vigour to mobilise votes for the president’s reelection.

THISDAYt SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2018

79

80

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ͚΀˜ ͺ͸͚΀

MOBOLAJI LAWAL

Devaluation of Naira is Killing the Economy

â€?râ€şĂœâ€šĂ’ĂšĂ˜nĂ&#x;â€şĂ›Ă¸â€šĂ˛Ă˜Ă›Ă›Ă˜Ă¸Ăœs‚øn¸‚Ô›‚âhere‚he‚qĂ Ă¸Ă›Ă˜ÂşĂ˜e¸‚øs‚ø‚úhørĂ&#x;ere¸‚øúú›à nĂ&#x;ønĂ&#x;â€šĂ˜n‚Ă&#x;heâ€šĂ‘ĂŠĂˆ0s‚Ă&#x;›‚ hĂ˜s‚º›rø¥‚øs‚ø‚enerĂ¸Ă›â€šĂœĂ¸nøerâ€šĂ˘Ă˜Ă&#x;h‚•à ørønĂ&#x;¥‚ rĂ sĂ&#x;‚ÓønĂšâ€šĂ˜n‚Ă&#x;he‚ÑÊÊ0s‰‚Mâ€şĂšâ€şĂ›Ă¸Ă™Ă˜â€šĂ’ĂšÂ¸Ă Ă›ÂşĂ¸Ă&#x;Ă¸Ă˜â€š ßøâøÛ‰‚ø‚ÚønĂšerĂ?Ă&#x;Ă rne¸Ă?e¸à úøĂ&#x;Ă˜â€şnĂ˜sĂ&#x;‚à n¸ersĂ&#x;øn¸s‚hâ€şĂ˘â€šĂ˜nĂ&#x;eÂťrĂ˜Ă&#x;¥‚øn¸‚ú›rœ›røĂ&#x;e‚›åernønĂşe‚ úøn‚sĂ&#x;renÂťĂ&#x;hen‚Ă&#x;he‚nøĂ&#x;Ă˜â€şn sâ€šÂşĂ˜nønĂşĂ˜Ă¸Ă›â€šsÂĄsĂ&#x;eĂœĂŽâ€šĂ’s‚he‚Ă&#x;Ă rnsâ€šĂˆ0‚reĂşenĂ&#x;Û¥‰‚Ă&#x;he‚erĂ Â¸Ă˜Ă&#x;e‚ÚønĂšer‰‚ sĹ“eøÚsâ€šĂ˘Ă˜Ă&#x;h Funke Olaode‚øÚ›à Ă&#x;â€šÂşĂ˜nønĂşeâ€°â€šĹ“â€şĂ›Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă˜Ăşs‚øn¸‚eú›nâ€şĂœÂĄ

H

ow do you feel turning 70?

shares and move back to your country. So there are still viable businesses. In fact, Nigeria is still a good destination for foreign investment because telecom is growing, oil and gas etc.

I feel happy. I feel great that I am following in the footstep of my father and grandfather. My grandfather lived for 97 years while my father died at the age of 85 years and I hope I will surpass them. In a way, longevity runs in the family. And the secret is simple living, simple lifestyle, doing things in moderation.

Don’t you think the regulatory authorities have failed in carrying out their responsibilities?

Before you can wield a big stick as a regulatory body, you need to go to the bank and call for CBN examiners reports. Nigerian Deposits Insurance Corporation (NIDC) also does oversight functions on banks. It is just a buildup and not that they are keeping quiet. The way it works, you won’t go to CBN or NDIC before giving out a loan. It is only when the loan is not performing that it comes to the notice of the CBN or NDIC. That is why internal management is put in place.

You have the board of directors and management executive teams that are supposed to be running the business.

A chartered accountant turned banker and now an educationist. How did it begin?

I began early education at AnsaruDeen Primary School in Iseyin in Oyo State and later proceeded to Oranyan Grammar School in Oyo Town; from there to Federal School of Science in Lagos. I had a brief stint at Yaba College of Technology. From Yaba Tech, I embarked on Certification of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the UK. After certification, I came back to Nigeria and joined Akintola Williams and Co. after my National Youth Service on August 1st, 1977. After the firm was affiliated to an international organization, I was sent for an 18 months international exchange programme in New York, America where I was exposed to industry practices in petroleum, oil and gas as well as finance. I came back to become a manager. I spent five years with the firm and in 1993, I joined Guaranty Trust Bank as General Manager. From there, I moved to the oil and gas sector, a privately owned firm where I spent a few years before joining a firm of consultancy where I am still relevant till today.

But the duty of the Credit Bureau is to there to give reports or assessment of individual or corporate organisations before you can give out loans?

At what stage did you develop a passion for accounting?

Lawal

Ironically, I set out to be a medical doctor.

In fact, when I was considering going to the College of Medicine, I had a vacation letter of employment to College of Medicine in Lagos and was in Pathology department but it didn’t work out due to various factors. It was during the military era of Gen. Yakubu Gowon. Gen. Gowon had issues with the resident doctors and gave the order to vacate within 24 hours.

That experience put me off medicine. Again, some of the friends I made at the Federal College of Science and their brothers were into accountancy and architecture. Fortunately for me, the opportunity to do accountancy came and I embraced it. Again, I wanted to go to Michigan State University in the United States to study medicine and when I got the paper, it stated that I was going to spend up to 12 years. I looked at it and was like I had numerous siblings to look after and decided to go for accountancy. In those days, if you opened newspapers, especially daily times, they always advertised for the position of Financial Controller with N12, 000 and architect N10, 000 per annum. It was an era when professors were earning N5, 000 per annum. That was how I switched to accountancy. And I never regretted the crossover.

banking system where loan defaulters are gradually killing the banks?

You were in accounting before you crossed over to banking. What is your view of the

Well, to be realistic banking industry today is far better than when banks were owned by state governments. And political intervention was so much that most of the banks failed to deliver.

The fact that those banks are now owned by the public makes things better. Again, the kind of business we are talking about in the past is not the mega business we are doing today. Indeed, the case of Skye Bank being taken over by AMCON, when you look at the causes you can’t divorce politics from the problems as many of the people who borrow money from bank these days work directly on government contracts, and when government fail to pay at the right time the banks will not stop accumulation of interests on the principal. Mind you, the government will not pay interest on the outstanding claims. Another problem is the continuous depreciation of Naira in the last 20 years. For instance, if you borrow money at N150 to a dollar and overnight there is a depreciation of Naira in the exchange rate with the dollar being exchanged at the open market at N360 to a dollar, that means overnight the liability to the bank has increased, meanwhile, you have done your contract on a fixed sum.

Invariably, you are not only losing your gain in that contract but also your investment. At the end of the day, the banks will be at the receiving end. And if you look at the case of Skye Bank,

most of the people who borrowed money from the bank actually invested in some key sectors of the economy such as oil and gas, telecom and energy. Now, AMCON will run after those borrowers, capture those assets. And that is how AMCON will recover the money that CBN has used to bail out the banks.

Looking at the scenario you just painted, for a country striving for economic growth; don’t you think instability can drive away Foreign Direct Investment?

You see some banks have problems based on their practices and the competence of their management. The Skye bank has a new management now, who didn’t create the problem. We have what we call corporate governance where you must have checks and balances in an organization but where there is a weak governance structure, you are likely to have a problem. You know a situation whereby the key officers of the bank could directly borrow beyond the limit. Again, you have to look at roles of CBN examiners before things go wrong. Nevertheless, there are still good banks that are still running efficiently for their owners and shareholders. FDI means you are part and parcel of this economy and you have invested for good, unlike Portfolio investment where you can put your money in the secondary market and at the slightest provocation in the economy, you dispose your

Yes. There is credit bureau that will analyze and give reports on whether a certain individual or organization is credit-worthy or not. But mind you, business is a risk. The individuals that are forming these companies that are borrowing at mega volume from those banks are men of notes in the society. So, when they present their proposals they look credible. As said earlier, unstable of exchange rates and government who is a big spender in this economy must be a good partner in economic progress. When they give out a contract or contracts, they must fulfill their obligations. Again, corruption has its impact on this. If a person takes a contract, for instance, N100 million and a group of persons say ‘come before you execute this projects you must give us N40million as kickback, meaning you only have N60 million for the job. Now the money you have is not enough to carry out the job. And if there is a change in management that doesn’t buy into your project ideas, then there is a problem. You have borrowed money from the bank and the interest has started escalating.

The 2018 budget was passed mid-year and government is now talking about acceleration move. What impact do you think this will have on the nation?

Well, you have to recognize that the current government had to contend with internal strife within the party right from day one. And that is why it took President Buhari almost eight months to announce the cabinet. And again, when the National Assembly converged for this dispensation there was a strife where people scheduled for a particular position jettisoned it and new alliances were formed to move into those positions like the position of Senate President that has been a trauma for the APC administration. Otherwise, if the APC is in tune with itself, that budget could have been passed. Again, if you delay the passage of the budget that means there is a limit to which the government can go in terms of accomplishing its capital projects which require time to execute such as roads, bridges, etc.

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NOVEMBER 25, 2018 Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

THE ALTERNATIVE

with RenoOmokri

The Sad Case of Metele

A

most disturbing thing happened in Nigeria.

Over a period of 3 days last week, the allegedly ‘technically defeated’ Boko Haram managed to overrun multiple military bases and reportedly killed close to a hundred Nigerian troops and carried away heavy military hardware.

But that is not the disturbing thing that occurred. The killings were shocking, but something much more disturbing happened.

The Nigerian President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the military and who is supposed to be the most pained over these avoidable deaths had time to:

corrupt than she ever was under the PDP. "OE * UIPVHIU UP NZTFMG UIBU (BSCT Shehu does not know that r 5IF (4. IF VTFT UP JOTVMU 1%1 r 5IF &'$$ #VIBSJ VTFT UP IBSBTT PDP r 54" #VIBSJ CPBTUT BCPVU r #7/ UIBU JT FMJNJOBUJOH DPSSVQUJPO r $BTIMFTT QPMJDZ UIBU IFMQT TUPQ money laundering r 5IF POMZ BJSQPSU JO #VIBSJ T IPNF state of Katsina r 5IF FDPOPNZ UIBU IJT CPTT SVJOFE Are all PDP achievements Even Garba is a PDP achievement!

Reno’s Nuggets People are mostly attracted to you because of your beauty or your personality but they only stay with you because of your character. So if you have been having relationship issues, don’t make your face more beautiful.

Make your character more virtuous #RenosNuggets

r "UUBDL GPSNFS 1SFTJEFOU +POBUIBO for agreeing with Transparency International that corruption had increased in Nigeria r "UUBDL 1SJUJ 1BUFM GPS TBZJOH UIBU Mr. Buhari’s anti-corruption war is a sham But the President could not find time to speak on the killing of over USPPQT CZ #PLP )BSBN "T * XSJUF these words, almost a week after these gruesome killings, Mr. Buhari has yet to say a thing.

But he has plenty to say about other things, except the most pressing issue.

I took time to read the comments of one of the survivors of the Metele assault at which over 70 soldiers died at the hands of Boko Haram. The sad fact is that the man testified that Boko Haram was so confident of defeating our troops at the 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, that they wrote them a letter intimating them of their plans to send the soldiers to the world CFZPOE "OE OPUIJOH XBT EPOF Yet, on his Democracy Day speech of May 29, 2018, President Buhari claimed that “Today, the capacity of UIF JOTVSHFOUT IBT CFFO %&(3"%&%u What a hyperbolic LIE! "OE UIF TVSWJWPS T UBMF PG XPF JT not over yet. He testified that our troops were overwhelmed by the more heavily armed Boko Haram.

I know that finances are tight, but if President Buhari has 3.5 million to feed the detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, then he should consider releasing Zakzaky and use that money to fund the troops in Borno.

If the 3.5 million Buhari is using to feed Zakzaky every month is not enough to fund our troops fighting Boko Haram, then he should borrow some money from the Kano State Governor’s babanriga Bank to Fund our troops. They should not keep dying at the hands of a better armed Boko Haram For 2 years I have raised my voice against President Buhari’s practice of releasing ‘repentant’ Boko Haram NFNCFST BOE UIF "1$ BUUBDLFE NF Now in just 3 days, Boko Haram has killed almost 100 Nigerian soldiers.

"SF UIFTF SFQFOUBOU UFSSPSJTUT OPU involved?

"OE UIF TBE GBDU JT UIBU XF BSF carrying on as if nothing has happened. No flags flying at half-mast. No national mourning. It is as if those 100 or so soldiers killed recently by Boko

Reno’s Darts Last week we watched a video of Muhammadu Buhari praising Kano 4UBUF (PWFSOPS 6NBS (BOEVKF "," #Gandollar) in Paris. It was not the first time Buhari praised a person facing allegations of corruption. He also QSBJTFE "CBDIB :PV BSF UIF EFà OJUJPO of foolishness if you believe Buhari’s anti corruption war is genuine.

Shehu

Haram died for nothing. One French police officer was killed by terrorists, Macron attended his funeral and flags were flown at half-mast in France on March 24, 2018.

No national awards for these soldiers, no national day of mourning, no appreciation. It is worse than slavery to be a Nigerian soldier under Buhari’s thoughtlessly cruel government. This is a man who can run to London at public expense over his own health but can’t run to the barracks over his soldiers deaths.

Buhari appears to be more concerned about securing his #NextLevel Second Term (second fraud?) than he is in securing the lives of Nigerian soldiers he sends to battle the Boko Haram that he lied were technically defeated.

The sad fact is that of the over 12 Presidential candidates for Nigeria’s February 16, 2019 Presidential elecUJPO POMZ POF "UJLV "CVCBLBS IBT addressed the incident at Metele and suggested solutions while doing

something tangible to help the soldiers and their families.

By endowing a scholarship scheme for the children of those soldiers who fell at Metele and urging those who want to celebrate his birthday to instead donate to the survivors PG UIPTF TPMEJFST "UJLV "CVCBLBS has shown that he is shoulder above Muhammadu Buhari, a man who cares for nobody but himself and his immediate family.

"OE UIBU JT UIF SFBTPO XIZ * BN personally very disappointed with Garba Shehu, a man I personally LOPX " NBO XIP * UIPVHIU IBE B DPOTDJFODF " NBO XIP IBT USBOTformed from a proper gentleman to a QSPQFS QSPQBHBOEJTU " TBE TIBEPX PG what he used to be.

I was reading the statement he put out after the Metele incident.

No mention of these gallant men and the deaths they suffered under #PLP )BSBN +VTU B WJUSJPMJD BUUBDL PO GPSNFS 1SFTJEFOU +POBUIBO GPS TBZJOH the obvious-that Nigeria is now more

President Goodluck Jonathan Happy Birthday 61st to my leader and boss for life, the greatest President that ever governed Nigeria, a true humanitarian and a natural democrat, a leader of men and a builder of NFO %FBS %S (PPEMVDL +POBUIBO my bromance with you which started on earth will last till eternity and heaven! I have never met anyone as selfless as you. You are the prophet that saw the future and warned us about it. Thank God today, the whole world can see that you were right and those who once denigrated you now celebrate you. Even blindfolded, I am still prepared to follow you into the political field. I am proud of you and will forever associate and celebrate with the one and only true Face of %FNPDSBDZ JO "GSJDB 3FOP 0NPLSJ Nuhu Ribadu Happy 58th birthday to one of the best friends I have ever had, my destiny helper, one of the greatest Nigerians that ever lived and a man who will play an ever increasing role in the future greatness of Nigeria, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu the great nation builder! #RenosNuggets Reno Omokri #FTUTFMMJOH BVUIPS PG 'BDUT 7FSTVT 'JDUJPO 5IF 5SVF 4UPSZ PG UIF +POBUIBO :FBST BOE PUIFS CPPLT "WJE USBWFMMFS Tormentor of Muhammadu Buhari BOE UIF "1$ Reno You have the power to summon a stronger positive thought into your mind whenever a negative thought attempts to break into your mind.

82

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í°ÍłËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

THE COVER

Insurgency:Time to ChangeTactics Government’s current approach to the ďŹ ght against insurgency is Ă?Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĘŠĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă˜ĂžË› Ăž Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă“Ă—Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă–ĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă Ă“Ă?ĂĄ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă? Ă“ĂžĂ? ÞËĂ?ÞÓĂ?Ă?Ëœ writes Samuel Ajayi

T

he killings, last week, of about 118 Nigerian soldiers by insurgents, who invaded the 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State, has again reinforced the thinking in security quarters that government must as a matter if urgent national importance, review and change its tactics in the battle against insurgency.

The latest killings, which was announced by the insurgents themselves through a graphic video uploaded online, has exposed the staggering inadequacies of the Nigerian soldiers in terms of ammunition, as the insurgents literally walked through their base and practically shot each and everyone of their victims at close range, without as much any resistance from the soldiers.

This well-coordinated attack left scores of officers and soldiers dead in the wake of it.

And following the ugly news, families and the nation at large have continued to mourn the gruesome deaths of the gallant men, who laid down their lives for the country. Importantly, however, questions are being asked about the sincerity of the government to end a war it long claimed to have technically won.

Tuesday morning. But sources close to the centre of the attack said efforts to evacuate the bodies of the dead soldiers were also thwarted by the insurgents.

The fight did not last for more than 45 minutes, but it was bloody, because the Boko Haram fighters had more armament advantage than the soldiers. “When we realised the fight would be against us, we decided to retreat from the camp, but it was rather too late. The camp was surrounded with barbed wire, and the enemy fire was coming from the direction of the entrance.�

Even more disturbing was that the insurgents carted away arms and ammunition belonging to the Nigerian Army after the attacks. Though army authorities, in a statement on Friday, neither denied nor confirmed this development, it also did not say anything on the number of casualties. In fact, the statement was more eloquent about what it did not say than what it said. “The attention of the NA has been drawn to several social media, print, electronic and online publications about the recent attack on 157 Task Force Battalion at Metele. Whilst it is true that there was an attack on the location on 18 November 2018, it has however, become necessary to correct several misinformation being circulated with regards to this unfortuIs Insurgency Technically Defeated? nate event.

The attack on the 157 Task Force Battalion “It is important for the public to note that in Metele, Guzamala Local Government Area the NA has laid down procedures for reportof Borno State, perhaps, came to many as a ing incidents that involve its personnel, who surprise. And if it did, maybe they had every fall casualty in action. Out of respect for the reason to see it so. Not on few occasions had families of our gallant troops, the NoKs (next officials of the ruling All Progressives Conof kin) are first notified before any form of gress (APC), boasted about how Boko Haram public information so as to avoid exacerbating had been greatly weakened and its capacthe grief family members would bear, were ity to launch attacks reduced to pockets of they to discover such from unofficial sources. weaving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) “Furthermore, it suffices to observe that around the waists of young girls targeting several social media, print and online publicasoft spots. In fact, the Minister of Information tions have been brandishing false casualty and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, famously figures as well as circulating various footages claimed Boko Haram had been “technically of old and inaccurate BHT propaganda videos defeated.� Maybe they celebrated too early. and alluding same to be the attack on 157 Task While soldiers who survived the deadly Force Battalion. attack of Tuesday said to even evacuate their “Whilst it is understandable how such slain colleagues was as difficult as escaping misinformation can spread in this era of social the attack, an online news medium, had media frenzy, the spurious circulation of some reported that efforts were being made to of these videos only contribute to further evacuate corpses of the fallen soldiers on propagate the propaganda intent of the terror-

ists: to misinform the populace and portray themselves as what they are not. So far, the situation is that the location is under control as reinforcing units had been able to repel the terrorists and stabilise the situation.�

It then added: “The (Nigerian Army) sincerely wishes to thank the various arms of government, MDAs and sister security agencies that have stood with her in these trying times by commiserating with the families of the fallen heroes, who have paid the supreme price for the defence of our dearly beloved country. The necessary support being given the NA by the federal government and the goodwill of the Nigerian populace will undoubtedly continue to spur the NA towards the ultimate defeat of the highly degraded BHTs.�

and therefore called for increased funding for the military, adding that increased funding would ensure that the military was well equipped and their morale boosted enough to contain and defeat insecurity in Nigeria. “This is an emergency and if we do not take care of an emergency, it becomes a crisis, which can lead to a total breakdown of law and order – anarchy in essence. It is unacceptable that terrorists and criminals are frequently better equipped than members of our armed forces. It is the duty of the political elite to put aside any political differences and take a united stand to put an end to this.�

Tunde Bamgboye, a Lagos based fashion designer and social media enthusiast, said it would be wrong to rule out the possibility of these former insurgents giving sensitive information to their so-called former colleagues.

Moles in the Military “I cannot rule it out. We are talking of Government’s policy of integrating former religious emotions here and these do not wear insurgents into the army appears to be gradu- off easily. To me, there was no need recruiting ally boomeranging, according to Nigerians, these guys into mainstream army. Deradicalise who spoke to THISDAY during the week. them and let them go rather than bringing The belief is that these former insurgents, them in.� who are believed to have been deradicalised Another issue was payment of ransom to might still have sympathies for their ‘former’ Boko Haram to free those they kidnapped colleagues. or even pay some of them off to drop their Hence, these former insurgents who have weapons. While the government will never been integrated into the Nigerian Army might admit, it is believed that ransom was paid actually be the one supplying Boko Haram for the Dapchi girls kidnapped in February with information about location, strength of this year. Many believe that monies paid are arms and ammunition and how to go about actually used to buy weapons and sustain the attacking the soldiers. life supply of the insurgents.

Presidential candidate of the PDP in next year’s election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, days ago urged the federal government to review its policy of releasing so-called repentant terrorists. He said for federal government to think that it could de-radicalise these individuals in so short a time was wishful thinking, noting that many people, including himself were of the opinion that the upsurge in terror activities are coming after the release of such detainees.

Atiku, in a statement personally signed, said the increasing deaths of the country’s servicemen at the hand of terrorists and criminals, especially in the Northeast and Middle Belt, was a clear sign that the troops need to be better funded and better equipped

Anti-terror Fight as a Bazaar‌ Sometime in 2012, a top government official had told THISDAY that unknown to many Nigerians, the war against Boko Haram might actually be in the interest of top government and military officials, who were using the war to make a lot of money via defence contracts, slush funds and even management of internally displaced person camps. He said since most of these monies were not subjected to budgetary inquisitions and were often not investigated, the chances of the funds being mismanaged could not be ruled out.

While President Buhari and his government have always created the impression of sainthood, many are of the opinion that top officials Continued on Pg.84-85

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NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

SUNDAYCOVER

SLAIN SOLDIERS: AS THE NATION MOURNS, YET AGAIN, QUESTIONS REMAIN of this government, both civil and military, have picked up where the PDP left off. And that is the fact that the war against Boko Haram insurgency is being sustained to ‘keep the boys happy’ and also ‘provide food for military contractors’.

A Nigerian social media user wrote that Nigeria might have borrowed from the American Military Industrial Complex.

“I am now convinced that the menace of Boko Haram, almost a decade long is simply a manifestation of Nigeria’s own Military Industrial Complex. Call it our Boko Haram Complex. To be sure, there are nuances (e.g. we don’t have weapons producing industries for instance). The bottom-line though is that there seems to be an unholy alliance between key actors (military, civil servants, contractors of and for all sorts etc) to keep this “war” going. Think of it – arms must be bought, troops have to be catered for, IDPs have to be maintained and cared for etc. All these require enormous financial resources, most expensed under nebulous “Security budgets” that can hardly be queried openly. In the process, persons (humans and corporates) benefit massively. Why will they want it to end?”

Changing the Approach Many are of the opinion that it may be time to change the military top brass who appear to have completely run out ideas on how to defeat the insurgents who besting the army in nearly every department of warfare.

Nigerians are genuinely frightened by the frequency of the attacks on military formation with such high casualty rate. In the last few months, the army has lost over 500 soldiers to ambushes and targeted attacks launched against military barracks and brigades.

From all indications, if government genuinely desires to bring the menace of insurgency under control, then, the time has come for it to change approach. One thing that is missing in the recent reports of the killings of the Nigerian soldiers is that the Nigerian army is now in battle with ISIS West Africa. The name, Boko Haram, is just a nomenclature. The hardened members of ISIS, who melted away from Syria after they were decimated by the Syrian government returned to their respective bases.

Those belonging to West Africa have found the Nigerian soil very suitable, hence the concentration of attacks with a view to not just taking back territories reclaimed from them by the military but also establishing a solid base in the country, with gradual seizing of more territories.

These are well-trained ISIS men with loads of armament at their disposal and that is why they focus more on the military, being the

strength of the country. Therefore, these are not the familiar Boko Haram men, but better trained ISIS members, whom the US had long warned were being sneaked into the country to sustain the insurgency battle in the North East zone of the country.

This is why the federal government must review its strategy and embrace a different approach, perhaps, borrowing leaf from the approach embraced by the former President Goodluck Jonathan government before it was voted out of power.

The Jonathan administration, in the twilight of the administration, had bought into many unconventional tactics in the determination to contain the Boko Haram menace. Apart from procuring ammunition from an informal market, it also hired mercenaries since these insurgents are also mercenaries. In fact, the story is that the leader of a neighbouring country, who assisted with armament collected cash for his supplies, a deal that the Jonathan government went into, because it wanted to save lives.

But the Buhari government, on assumption of office, stopped this practice in the name of fighting corruption and projecting integrity.

Yet, on the other hand, it was alleged to be re-integrating within a very short time, insurgents, who had sworn allegiance to their colleagues into the Nigerian army. Such contradictions, it is believed, boosted the confidence of the insurgents, who now have access to information and the modus operandi of the army through their colleagues, who had been re-integrated.

The indiscretion of throwing away the baby with the bath water, because it was from an allegedly corrupt government is one of the prices the Army is paying today in the fight against insurgency. Unfortunately, what the government currently has on its hands is bigger than the Boko Haram idea and except it changes its tactics and pushes harder, the attacks are not stopping anytime soon and there may be more body counts soon (God forbid).

Col. Sakaba’s Sunset at Dawn The attack on 157 Battalion though left an enduring scar in the hearts of all Nigerians; the one particular scar that would always give a painful reminder is the killing of Lieutenant Ibrahim Sakaba, who so loved his fatherland that he died in active duty. It was his love for Nigeria that made him to enlist in the Army and he had risen through the ranks to become a Lieutenant Colonel. But that dream ended on Monday, November 19, 2018, when his earthly journey was terminated finally. He, alongside his troops, was mowed down.

Different accounts have emerged how the

last moments of these soldiers panned out.

But one thing was clear: they didn’t expect the kind of fire power that came from the enemy end nor did they expect that the insurgents would dress like them: army camouflage. The soldiers were relaxing even though they were at alert in case of any untoward development.

But if they had expected what came upon them as dusk beckoned that Wednesday evening, it was debatable. The insurgents came and launched an attack – a deadly attack. And by the time the dust settled, scores of Nigerian soldiers lay dead. Those who were lucky escaped with various degrees of wounds. It was indeed a sad day for the Nigerian military as body bags piled up with the unenviable task for the army authority to contact the next of kin of these gallant soldiers.

One soldier, who was lucky enough to escape the deadly attack, said all seemed well when the insurgents came as friendly soldiers and made to the office of the commander and mowed him down alongside five other soldiers, who were with him then. There was confusion – confusion in the sense that the worried soldiers could not make anything of gun shots coming from the office of their commander. But they were soon to find out what was amiss. And by the time they did, it was perhaps too late for many of them as their bodies became receptors of fatal shots from the deadly insurgents.

“We saw some people dressed in full military uniform, who came into our camp, but we thought they were friendly forces,” the soldier who did not want his name told an online medium.

“They went straight to the office of our commander and shortly after, there were gunshots in the office. We became confused, waiting for orders but it was too late. Boko Haram had already surrounded us. They killed the commander with five other soldiers that were with him in the office. Before we knew it, there was heavy fire from Boko Haram from all sides of the camp with more fire at the entrance.

One of our anti-bomb vehicles tried to charge through the barbwire but got hooked. It was a terrible fight. We couldn’t do much because their number and fire power were more than our own.”

Fighting Insurgency as Collective Duty The latest development in the fight against insurgency has also thrust on the Nigerian leaders, the collective responsibility of coming together to confront the menace that the insurgents constitute. Regardless of political differences and responsibilities, the task at hand transcends petty political rivalry. At stake here are the lives of almost 200 million people.

It was therefore commendable when the

Senate on Thursday agreed to send a delegation to visit the troops fighting insurgents in North-East. Bala Na’Allah, Deputy Senate Leader, moved the motion after the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had drawn the attention of his colleagues to the death of the soldiers.

“We are all aware that a few days ago, we lost about 44 brave soldiers of the Nigerian army in northern Borno,” Saraki had said, adding, “We must pay our respects to these brave men that have sacrificed and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our own safety and peace in our country.”

Moving the motion, Na’Allah said: “About five days ago, a camp in Maiduguri was attacked by Boko-Haram and we were reported to have lost about 44 soldiers. I want to bring it to the notice of the Senate that Lieutenant Colonel Sakaba was my cousin and he was head of that team that was attacked and he lost his life.

“Unfortunately, he was one of the most dedicated soldiers I have ever met, not because he was my relation but because I knew from his commitment on what he has gone through and his contribution to the Nigerian army.”

However, as the nation mourns, questions must still be asked about the commitment of the authorities to end the war or at least get the military better equipped to face the insurgents and stop being at the receiving end of superior fire power.

A video trending on the social media by some aggrieved soldiers claimed that some of the tanks being used to fight the insurgents were actually purchased in 1983, during the regime of former President Shehu Shagari. The soldier, whose face was not shown in the video, claimed that some of the tanks could not fire more than twice before they stopped.

As the family of Colonel Sakaba and other families mourn their slain relatives in their homes, Nigerians would still want to know how rag-tag army of insurgents always has upper hand over the army of a nation as big as Nigeria.

LOCATIONS OF ATTACKED MILITARY BASES r Matele r Gajiram r Mainok r Rann r Geidam r Sasawa r Magumeri r Malam Fatori r Gashigha

r Kanama r Gamboru-Ngala r Mafa r Kunduga r Kareto r Jilli r Arge r Zari

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As Senate Tackles Boko Haram, House of Representatives Harass Osinbajo The Senate appears concerned with the plight of soldiers fighting insurgency in the North East while the issue of June 12 resonated in the House of Representatives, Deji Elumoye and Shola Oyeyipo report

The Senate in session

M

embers of the National Assembly last week deliberated on a number of bills and motions including requests by President Muhammadu Buhari for Senate to approve nominations of two women – Ronke Sokefun and Abike Dabiri-Erewa – as chairs of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC and Nigeria Diaspora Commission, NDC, respectively.

But the high point of legislative work at the Senate was last Monday’s attack

by Boko Haram insurgents on a military camp in Borno State which claimed the lives of over 40 soldiers. Senators who spoke were concerned about the killing of 44 soldiers in one fell swoop.

The lawmakers, therefore, resolved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Monday’s killing of the soldiers.

It also in adjourned plenary on Thursday in honour of the soldiers including the commandant killed by the insurgents

at the 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele village, Abadam Local Government Area of the state while ordering its committees on Army and Defence to investigate the killings as well as welfare of the troops fighting the insurgents.

In the coming days, the Senate going by its resolution will visit officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces fighting Boko Haram insurgents at the battle field in the North East. The senators’ decision was sequel to a motion moved by the Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, (Kebbi South) at the instance of the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki via Orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules. Na’Allah in moving the motion decried the plight of military personnel fighting insurgency in the North East and lamented that the murdered commandant was his cousin.

He, therefore, urged the Senate to observe a minute’s silence in honour of the slain soldiers and their commandant, pay condolence visit to the Chief of Army Staff and families of the murdered soldiers and conduct a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the

killings.

Contributing, Senator Andrew Uchendu, (Rivers East) added that the Senate should “shut down’’ for one whole day, rather than observing a mere one-minute silence to which the Senate concurred to.

He said: “Mr President and dear colleagues, I have no reason to doubt the figure (of the 44 killed soldiers). But if that figure is correct, then this Senate must come out and show massive concern, not just one-minute silence. We must shut down for one whole day in honour of those fallen heroes.�

Other contributors including the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, bemoaned the hazardous tasks of officers and men of the Armed Forces in fighting Boko Haram insurgency. The Senate after observing a minute silence in remembrance of the fallen gallant soldiers passed a resolution urging the federal government and military authorities to adequately equip Army formations nationwide and take proper care of the soldiers’ welfare.

Also last week, the Presidency ex-

plained the delay in the presentation of the 2019 budget estimate to the National Assembly saying it was due to some outstanding budget-related bills before the Assembly.

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper which are to form the basis for presenting the budget which were presented by the Executive to the National Assembly are yet to be approved by the legislature.

Enang stated: “The president has transmitted to the National Assembly, the request for the approval of the MTEF and the approval of the Fiscal Strategy Paper.

It is the MTEF that set out the budget parameters for the benchmark of oil, the exchange rate, the money projected to realise from solid minerals, internal revenue from oil, and borrowings. It is this that enables you to deal with budget projections. That document is pending before the legislature.�

He added that ordinarily the budget should have been presented but the

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As Senate Tackles Boko Haram, House of Representatives Harass Osinbajo presidency felt that the legislature should first pass the MTEF/FSP so that the government can use it as a benchmark. But since the legislature is still working on the document, Enang stated that the government decided to “use the parameters that were used in what we submitted as the budget benchmark of oil, exchange rate and other sources of revenue as submitted to prepare the budget�.

Enang expressed optimism that the Executive will work with the Legislature when they eventually pass the MTEF/ FSP saying “that is where we are on the budget but every necessary step has been taken by the executive for the presentation of the document.�

Shedding more light on the 2019 budget, the presidential aide said: “In presenting the 2019 budget, we would have to take account of the level of the implementation of the 2018 budget so that we would know what we are going to project for next year’s budget. If the money you seek to realise to fund this year’s budget came a little bit behind the time you expected, you are expected to take care a few of these things so that you know what to project for next year. “When President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the 2018 budget, he had reservations but after having understanding with the legislature, he sent in amendments and asked for virement. That is still being awaited, it has not been done. He has also sent in request for certain other funds for other agencies from virement which is still pending. He sent in requests for loan for approval of external finances through euro bond and other windows.

That has just been approved few weeks ago. They are in the process of raising money to fund the budget.�

At the House of Representatives, the June 12 issue resonated at plenary last week with the House moving to make the date a national holiday. To this end, a bill to make June 12 a national holiday in Nigeria passed the second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives.

When passed into law, the bill, tagged: “A bill for an act to amend the Public Holidays Act, Cap. P40 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, would make the Act to recognise June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria. Edward Pwajok moved the motion for the second reading of the bill and it was seconded by Hon. Aminu Suleiman.

In leading the debate, Pwajok stated that parliamentary endorsement was needed for the schedule of the official public holiday document. According to him, the amendment bill is, therefore, aimed at ratifying the change of date of from May 29 to June 12 as the recognised national public holiday for Democracy Day. Adding his voice to the debate, the Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, said the salient factor of disparity of the electoral results announced at the polling unit and the one later declared has still not been dealt with.

He decried the time lapse between these two events within which a lot of harm to the democratic process can be done, this he said can be corrected by the bill.

Also last week, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Mustapha Maihaja, took a collective position that the House of Representatives probe of the Fund for Internally Displaced Persons in the North East has political undertone.

From every indication, the last appears not to have been heard about of the altercations between members of the House of Representatives, Vice President Osinbajo and Maihaja, over allegations bothering

Saraki and Dogara at a joint session of the National Assembly

on illegal approval, mismanagement of funds and wastage of materials meant for Internally Displaced Persons in some states across the country.

While the lawmakers have sustained their calls for the sack of Maihaja, for alleged mismanagement and embezzlement of N33 billion, Osinbajo has been told repeatedly that he has a case to answer for the approval given for N5.8bn released for procurement of food security in the North-east.

The duo began to fight back last week.

First, Osinbajo attributed the attack on his person as a calculated political strategy of the opposition. The presidential aide on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, said what he tagged deliberate attempt to smear the hard-earned reputation of the vice president will yield no fruitful result.

Ojudu said there were plots hatched at a meeting of a major political party abroad targeted at attacking Osinbajo ahead of the 2019 presidential election, saying it is a “desperate attempt to distract the administration.�

According to Ojudu, the recent NEMA probe report which social media account say may have been outlined at that meeting in a foreign country, was one of such efforts plotted to attack the Buhari administration by tarnishing the image of Osinbajo. “We have read reports in the media that the meeting in a foreign country of the major opposition party was centred on trying to attack the Buhari administration by targeting the vice president using different tactics. It is now evident through the NEMA report, that the opposition is indeed making frantic efforts to tarnish the image of the vice president,� Ojudu said.

He explained that even after Ali Isa, the Chairman of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, had publicly admitted that Osinbajo was not mentioned in the report, the opposition still found it expedient to continue, baselessly, to attack the reputation of the vice president by claiming without proof that fraud was committed in the N5.8 billion Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East.

Ojudu further asserted that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, there were

no violations in approval of N5.8 billion Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East and the then Acting President did no wrong in approving fund for the emergency intervention. He insisted that the presidential approvals were within the clear constitutional authority of the then acting president. “First of all, the action was in response to the threat of hunger and starvation based on strong warning received from the United Nation World Food Programme in April, 2017. The organization had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85 percent, due to the corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas. “Secondly, it is also important to note that the procurement process was not ignored in the release of funds, as alleged.

Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.

Also, the BPP issued a ‘certificate of no objection’ to NEMA on the emergency procurement, and this addresses all issues relating to the alleged breach of due process,� Ojudu pointed out.

The presidential aide said the action of the opposition in the ensuing political drama indicates that the NEMA probe report is being politicized and only a lame attempt at ruining the good works of the Buhari administration.

He said the vice president will, however, not be distracted by the naysayers’ actions to discourage the Buhari administration from providing for the common man or to abandon the Social Investment Programme which it has budgeted half a trillion for in the past two years.

Maihaja too has denied allegations by the House committee that he mismanaged N33 billion which should have gone into catering for IDPs and other emergency issues.

According to him, the House of Rep-

resentatives shot itself in the foot by alleging the misappropriation of such fund when NEMA had never had such huge budgetary provision since he assumed office at the agency. He also denied receiving N5.8 billion from the federal government, rather, he said NEMA only got about N800 million, while some other funds were paid to the contractors.

He further explained that the agency expended N518 million on shipping and storage charges for the 271 containers donated by the Peoples’ Republic of China, as a gesture of its brotherly relations with Nigeria.

Maihaja stated: “China donated 6,779 metric tonnes of rice to Nigeria as part of its support to the North-east humanitarian efforts and this is equivalent to 135,550 units of 50kg bags of rice. In total, 271 containers arrived at Apapa Port from China in five shipments between June and October 2017. “The original shipping documents and Customs Exemption Certificates were handed over to NEMA by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in December 2017 and January 2018. Thereafter, NEMA commenced the immediate clearing and subsequent haulage of the donated rice to Maiduguri, Damaturu, Yola, Jalingo, Gombe and Bauchi. “Being a donated consignment, it required duty exemption and other waivers before clearing. The government had restricted the importation of rice; hence the process of getting the proper documentation also took extra time. “The total cost of shipping and storage charges for the 271 containers was N518 million. We have all the receipts to prove this. The actual cost of the donated rice is N2.24 billion (50.05 million Chinese Yuan). The invoices, by convention, bear the consignee’s name. However, NEMA, being the agency that cleared the goods, made the payments on behalf of the federal government.�

Head Media and Public Relations of NEMA, Sani Datti, accused the House of witch-hunt, saying the agency came under fire as a result of policy change in distribution of relief materials. He pointedly accused the lawmakers of “politicising the investigation,� adding that the committee ignored the testimonies and presentations made by NEMA.

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GAVEL TO GAVEL

We Don’t Compromise on Our Requirements

Omoigui

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Okunbo: With Functional Green Houses, Nigeria Can Conveniently Produce its Staples MønĂ¸ÂťĂ˜nÂťâ€šĂ•Ă˜reĂşĂ&#x;›r‚›º‚òeÛÛs‚–›sø‚•reen‚–›à se‚â€?ørĂœsâ€šĂźĂ˜ĂœĂ˜Ă&#x;e¸‰‚ÓrĂ˜ÂťhĂ&#x;‚ÿÚà nÚ›‰‚sĹ“eøÚs‚ Ă˘Ă˜Ă&#x;h‚Jonathan Eze‚›n‚Ă&#x;heâ€šĂ˜nĂ&#x;enĂ&#x;Ă˜â€şn‚›º‚Ă&#x;heâ€šĂşâ€şĂœĹ“Ă¸n¥‚Û›úøĂ&#x;eÂ¸â€šĂ˜n‚Ö¸›‚|Ă&#x;øĂ&#x;e‚Ă&#x;›‚reĹ“Ă›Ă˜ĂşĂ¸Ă&#x;eâ€šĂœâ€şre‚ Âťreenh݈ se⼿rĂœsâ€šĂ˜n‚›Ă&#x;her‚sĂ&#x;øĂ&#x;esâ€šĂ˘Ă˜Ă&#x;hâ€šĂ¸â€šĂĄĂ˜eâ‚Ă&#x;›‚ø¸¸ressĂ˜n‚œerennĂ˜Ă¸Ă›â€šĂşrĂ˜sĂ˜s‚›º‚Ă&#x;â€şĂœĂ¸Ă&#x;›es‚ øn¸‚›Ă&#x;her‚åeÂťeĂ&#x;øÚÛesâ€šĂ˜n‚NĂ˜ÂťerĂ˜Ă¸

W

ells Hosa officially harvested its first fruits last week. Can you tell us about the turnover?

created over 500 direct and 4000 indirect employments. In the near future, the company’s vision is to partner with both government and private sectors to replicate this model across Nigeria. However, we are not just going to build greenhouses and abandon them with the investors, but run both the production and marketing with our team of experts to guarantee success. So yes, we have created a lot of jobs directly and we already have association of market men and women from Edo, Sapele, Warri and Port Harcourt coming to us for distribution of our products, so indirectly, people are already getting the benefits from the proceeds from Wells Hosa Green House farms and this is just in a span of two weeks of production.

The quantity that was harvested today was about 2.5 tonnes as verified by the production department, however from the first Harvest on August 21 till today, we have harvested over 10 tonnes of tomatoes from only four Greenhouses and this is just the beginning because the production is staggered and also it’s not the peak of production, so only the first four greenhouses are producing now and the next four will start producing in about 6 weeks and the fruits will be ready for harvest.

What level of support have you gotten from the government so far?

Are these tomatoes meant for local distribution or are you considering export or do you intend processing them into ďŹ nished products?

We want to satisfy the Nigerian market first before thinking of export, because like you know, the issue of scarcity of tomatoes is not a thing of surprise and we all know the challenges and most especially down South here in Nigeria, because most of the tomatoes usually comes from the North. We are trying to inject a new trend into the market, our target markets is establishing key accounts with hotels, cafeterias, major retail outlets and also the open market.

This is because we will be producing the best variety of tomatoes with a shelf life of a minimum of 10-14 days without refrigeration in three grades of sizes with the premium grades weighing over 150g per tomato fruit. So, to answer your question, it will be for local consumption, but not for processing. Right now, we already have our products in the open market in Benin, Warri, Sapele and Port Harcourt. We have tested the Habanero Pepper with a few lines in our greenhouse and they have proven successful. When full production of Habanero peppers starts, it will be mainly for exports.

The tomatoes will be sold locally and the Habanero peppers will mainly be for export with about 10-15 per cent of its production for the local markets.

Are there things you are sourcing locally for the Green House Farms?

Itisamix,somematerialsweresourcedlocallyandthereweresome that could not be sourced locally. I will give examples, the greenhouse structures that you see comprise of about 70 percent galvanised steel and 30 per cent plastics, mesh, substrates, circulatory fans and so on, all these components were all imported. All the materials we used for the construction of these green houses were imported from various countries like Israel, Mexico, Spain, Sri Lanka just to make sure we are getting the best quality of materials. In the long run, to be sustainable and reduce cost, we as a company are already looking ahead on how we can get most of these things essential greenhouse material produced in Nigeria and most especially the galvanised steel, where we can get the right gauge and percentage of the galvansed steel. This is one of the major challenges we have in Nigeria because the local steel are not 90 per cent galvanised, so we need the right type of steel and the right type of material to use. However, everything else used in the land preparation, road and drainage construction, buildings and structures were all done locally with our local companies and the labour we used has been local, so we have involved local content in both human and material resources.

Tell us about some challenges you have passed through and the ones you are anticipating since you commenced this farm?

LandpreparationstartedinOctober2015inthedryseason,however in April 2016, when the rain season started, we discovered that the 10 hectares greenhouses already erected where flooded as a result of sub-standard greenhouse materials used for the gutters, which led to flooding, hence we had to redesign the drainage at a much higher cost to accommodate the existing greenhouses. Areport by groups of consultants from both Mexico and Israel after extensive studies on the quality and durability of the greenhouses advised that the greenhouses were of sub-standard and were not suitable for the tropics therefore should be removed. With this information of sub-standard quality from our initial partners I had to go in search for new partners to rescue us from this failing greenhouse situation and at the back of my head it kept resounding that I did not leave everything behind in the US to come back to Nigeria to fail and

Okunbo

with a tenacious Chairman like Capt. Idahosa Okunbo, I had no other choice but to succeed so with this in mind I had to travel to Israel, Mexico and the United States of America in search of new partners. This was one of the most challenging parts of this project because we had to dissolve the Joint Venture (J.V) entered into with our previous partners while searching for new technical partners.

In addition to that we had to uninstall all existing 10 hectares green houses already in place, this cost the company a lot of money in labour, tools, machineries, manpower, revenue losses and so on.

To uninstall those 10 hectares of green houses we had to pay for extra labour, so that was another challenge we had to deal with and also on top of that, I had to travel abroad looking for better partners and the first conference I went for was the PMAconference on fresh produce and marketing in Orlando in 2016, in search of partners that could rescue us from the problems that we have found ourselves in. After Orlando it was Israel and then Mexico visiting different greenhouse manufacturers and we finally narrowed down our new partners brought them to Nigeria and after extensive study of the weather conditions in Edo State and the southern parts of Nigeria, they designed and patented a new greenhouse model specifically for the tropical region to help combat the challenges the tropical weather poses to greenhouses. So, that is how we had to start afresh with construction again in October 2017; that is two years after we first started land preparations. The first set of containers of the newly-designed green houses started arriving in October 2017 and between October 2017 till date; we have 10 greenhouses installed, eight greenhouses in production while construction is ongoing for the remaining greenhouses.

Can you tell us about the values you have added as per jobs you have created directly and indirectly?

Oneofourprimaryobjectivesasacompanyistoserveandempower our community-because we are the community. This objective has been an enduring desire of Capt. Idahosa Okunbo, Chairman of Wells Hosa Greenhouse Ltd and though he’s done so in various sectors, now doing in a way that touches on the basic livelihood of Nigerians has given him immense joy. With this in mind, we have employed over 250 construction workers as both permanent and contract staffs and also over 160 production workers for the eight green houses, we have employed a lot of young male and female currently undergoing training on greenhouse crop production, these include young graduates, current NYSC members and unemployed youths out of the streets. By the time we achieve full operating capability with all 28 greenhouses in operation, we would actively have

Well, I will say we have gotten a lot of support from the government.

Firstly, was the import duty waivers, so we were able to secure import duty waivers on all our containers that came in so that also reduced our overhead cost for clearing of the containers, because these green houses that you see today took a total of 42 forty foot containers imported to Nigeria and the government was able to give us that import duty waiver, which was very key and also the Edo State Government has been very supportive as well as making approvals for developing a non painful task. We have had some challenges with some agencies, because it is a little bit difficult to get approvals for things that you need to enhance this type of agriculture. The first challenge we had was with the Office of the National SecurityAdviser, after securing a NAFDAC permit to import the required fertilizers, we tried to secure the End User Certificate from ONSA to import inorganic fertilizers to be used and that permit process took about five months to get as a result of various technically issues which delayed our start of production and almost ruined all efforts that has been put in up until that point, but I am glad we were approved for the EUC because without these inputs, we would have not been able to have a successful production, so what I will like to ask of the federal government and its respective agencies is to give consideration and proper timing to have approval treated on time because agriculture is time sensitive if you miss a planting season or period because of inability to get approval for various permits, that season or period is lost, so my plea is for the process to be a little bit faster especially for sensitive materials and inputs that are needed for production.

As I speak to you now, we are in the process to get Bumble Bees into Nigeria for pollination and the same delays are been experienced as well at these ministries and parastatal. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not against going through the due process, but it can be done more timely and efficiently, but the delays and mistakes that happen along the process cost us time and money, it will improve agriculture a great deal if these processes are improved upon.

Do you think Nigeria as a country can achieve self-sufďŹ ciency in tomato production?

Good question, Nigeria produces about 1.6 to 1.8 million metric tonnes of tomatoes annually and a majority of this is done in the open field, Italy has about 20,000 acres of green house under tomato production, Spain is another huge tomato producer with over 25,000 acres of greenhouse, in Mexico as at 2000, Mexico had only about 700 hectares of green houses and as of today, they have over 25,000 hectares of green houses for vegetables.

They started just the way we are starting now, they failed, they learnt and improved and made process as they learnt and as you know, Wells Hosa is not the only company that has tried green house production in Nigeria, a lot of people have tried but it has not been as successful as what you see here today in terms of yield, quality, management and technology. That is as a result of dedication, having the right partners to run the project, because it is one thing to sell green houses and another to run these green houses effectively. If you have a green house that is not being run properly with the right growers and technology, it will fail, so you have to synchronise and have a good fit, both on the quality and construction of the green house and on the other hand, the best growers and best agronomists that can make it a success, so to answer your question, Nigeria has a long way to go we are just getting started, Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms has proved that this is possible and what we want to do as a company is to replicate this tested and proven model all around Nigeria, where we do not have to depend on seasonal weather conditions to produce most of our staple crops and daily food, we are just starting and with support from the government I know it will be possible to achieve.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

As Senate Tackles Boko Haram, House of Representatives Harass Osinbajo presidency felt that the legislature should first pass the MTEF/FSP so that the government can use it as a benchmark. But since the legislature is still working on the document, Enang stated that the government decided to “use the parameters that were used in what we submitted as the budget benchmark of oil, exchange rate and other sources of revenue as submitted to prepare the budget�.

Enang expressed optimism that the Executive will work with the Legislature when they eventually pass the MTEF/ FSP saying “that is where we are on the budget but every necessary step has been taken by the executive for the presentation of the document.�

Shedding more light on the 2019 budget, the presidential aide said: “In presenting the 2019 budget, we would have to take account of the level of the implementation of the 2018 budget so that we would know what we are going to project for next year’s budget. If the money you seek to realise to fund this year’s budget came a little bit behind the time you expected, you are expected to take care a few of these things so that you know what to project for next year. “When President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the 2018 budget, he had reservations but after having understanding with the legislature, he sent in amendments and asked for virement. That is still being awaited, it has not been done. He has also sent in request for certain other funds for other agencies from virement which is still pending. He sent in requests for loan for approval of external finances through euro bond and other windows.

That has just been approved few weeks ago. They are in the process of raising money to fund the budget.�

At the House of Representatives, the June 12 issue resonated at plenary last week with the House moving to make the date a national holiday. To this end, a bill to make June 12 a national holiday in Nigeria passed the second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives.

When passed into law, the bill, tagged: “A bill for an act to amend the Public Holidays Act, Cap. P40 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, would make the Act to recognise June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria. Edward Pwajok moved the motion for the second reading of the bill and it was seconded by Hon. Aminu Suleiman.

In leading the debate, Pwajok stated that parliamentary endorsement was needed for the schedule of the official public holiday document. According to him, the amendment bill is, therefore, aimed at ratifying the change of date of from May 29 to June 12 as the recognised national public holiday for Democracy Day. Adding his voice to the debate, the Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, said the salient factor of disparity of the electoral results announced at the polling unit and the one later declared has still not been dealt with.

He decried the time lapse between these two events within which a lot of harm to the democratic process can be done, this he said can be corrected by the bill.

Also last week, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Mustapha Maihaja, took a collective position that the House of Representatives probe of the Fund for Internally Displaced Persons in the North East has political undertone.

From every indication, the last appears not to have been heard about of the altercations between members of the House of Representatives, Vice President Osinbajo and Maihaja, over allegations bothering

Saraki and Dogara at a joint session of the National Assembly

on illegal approval, mismanagement of funds and wastage of materials meant for Internally Displaced Persons in some states across the country.

While the lawmakers have sustained their calls for the sack of Maihaja, for alleged mismanagement and embezzlement of N33 billion, Osinbajo has been told repeatedly that he has a case to answer for the approval given for N5.8bn released for procurement of food security in the North-east.

The duo began to fight back last week.

First, Osinbajo attributed the attack on his person as a calculated political strategy of the opposition. The presidential aide on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, said what he tagged deliberate attempt to smear the hard-earned reputation of the vice president will yield no fruitful result.

Ojudu said there were plots hatched at a meeting of a major political party abroad targeted at attacking Osinbajo ahead of the 2019 presidential election, saying it is a “desperate attempt to distract the administration.�

According to Ojudu, the recent NEMA probe report which social media account say may have been outlined at that meeting in a foreign country, was one of such efforts plotted to attack the Buhari administration by tarnishing the image of Osinbajo. “We have read reports in the media that the meeting in a foreign country of the major opposition party was centred on trying to attack the Buhari administration by targeting the vice president using different tactics. It is now evident through the NEMA report, that the opposition is indeed making frantic efforts to tarnish the image of the vice president,� Ojudu said.

He explained that even after Ali Isa, the Chairman of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, had publicly admitted that Osinbajo was not mentioned in the report, the opposition still found it expedient to continue, baselessly, to attack the reputation of the vice president by claiming without proof that fraud was committed in the N5.8 billion Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East.

Ojudu further asserted that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, there were

no violations in approval of N5.8 billion Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East and the then Acting President did no wrong in approving fund for the emergency intervention. He insisted that the presidential approvals were within the clear constitutional authority of the then acting president. “First of all, the action was in response to the threat of hunger and starvation based on strong warning received from the United Nation World Food Programme in April, 2017. The organization had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85 percent, due to the corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas. “Secondly, it is also important to note that the procurement process was not ignored in the release of funds, as alleged.

Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.

Also, the BPP issued a ‘certificate of no objection’ to NEMA on the emergency procurement, and this addresses all issues relating to the alleged breach of due process,� Ojudu pointed out.

The presidential aide said the action of the opposition in the ensuing political drama indicates that the NEMA probe report is being politicized and only a lame attempt at ruining the good works of the Buhari administration.

He said the vice president will, however, not be distracted by the naysayers’ actions to discourage the Buhari administration from providing for the common man or to abandon the Social Investment Programme which it has budgeted half a trillion for in the past two years.

Maihaja too has denied allegations by the House committee that he mismanaged N33 billion which should have gone into catering for IDPs and other emergency issues.

According to him, the House of Rep-

resentatives shot itself in the foot by alleging the misappropriation of such fund when NEMA had never had such huge budgetary provision since he assumed office at the agency. He also denied receiving N5.8 billion from the federal government, rather, he said NEMA only got about N800 million, while some other funds were paid to the contractors.

He further explained that the agency expended N518 million on shipping and storage charges for the 271 containers donated by the Peoples’ Republic of China, as a gesture of its brotherly relations with Nigeria.

Maihaja stated: “China donated 6,779 metric tonnes of rice to Nigeria as part of its support to the North-east humanitarian efforts and this is equivalent to 135,550 units of 50kg bags of rice. In total, 271 containers arrived at Apapa Port from China in five shipments between June and October 2017. “The original shipping documents and Customs Exemption Certificates were handed over to NEMA by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in December 2017 and January 2018. Thereafter, NEMA commenced the immediate clearing and subsequent haulage of the donated rice to Maiduguri, Damaturu, Yola, Jalingo, Gombe and Bauchi. “Being a donated consignment, it required duty exemption and other waivers before clearing. The government had restricted the importation of rice; hence the process of getting the proper documentation also took extra time. “The total cost of shipping and storage charges for the 271 containers was N518 million. We have all the receipts to prove this. The actual cost of the donated rice is N2.24 billion (50.05 million Chinese Yuan). The invoices, by convention, bear the consignee’s name. However, NEMA, being the agency that cleared the goods, made the payments on behalf of the federal government.�

Head Media and Public Relations of NEMA, Sani Datti, accused the House of witch-hunt, saying the agency came under fire as a result of policy change in distribution of relief materials. He pointedly accused the lawmakers of “politicising the investigation,� adding that the committee ignored the testimonies and presentations made by NEMA.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

BOOK REVIEW From Frying Pan to Fire: How African Migrants Risk Everything in their Futile Search for a Better Life in Europe By Segun Adeniyi A Book Review By Dikeogu Chukwumerije

S

egun Adeniyi’s latest book is no shrinking violet. It announces itself from the first glance, leaving the browser in no doubt as to what it is about. The cover is headed by a quotation from Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Ado, in which the hope of the irregular migrant is bluntly referred to as ‘forlorn’. This idea – of futility – is not, thereafter, left to the imagination. It is re-enforced by the pictures on the cover – of a skull half-buried in the sand; of several black men sitting helplessly on a capsized boat; of two young women, one in a black hood with head bowed in anguish, while the other stands with raised chin, as if in defiance, but for the tears we can clearly see streaking down her face.

And in her vacant stare into the distance is a sadness that speaks volumes. ‘How African Migrants risk everything in their futile search for a better life in Europe.’ Even if this were not the explicit sub-text to the book’s title, it would still be very clear – just from the cover design – what this book is about.

And if by any chance it is not, then any confusions still lingering in the mind of a curious browser as to the purpose of this book, must surely be laid to rest by the book’s very title. ‘From Frying Pan To Fire’.

This is, of course, a popular proverb which, in spite of its apparent origins in ancient Greek literature, has been so thoroughly domesticated by the Nigerian tongue that I can confidently claim it as a Naija proverb.

For it is one we use regularly to warn those thoughtlessly trying to escape a current predicament of the danger of running thereby into the clutches of a much greater one. And this is precisely what the book sets out to do, to show how the ‘frying pan’ the illegal migrant so bravely hurls himself or herself out of is often child’s play compared to the ‘fire’ they face on that arduous path to what they imagine must be a better life simply because it is to be had in a foreign country.

Style To accomplish this tall objective, the book adopts a language that is down-to-earth and easy to understand, suggesting a lay audience as its target. The book also adopts an interesting style, employing a refreshing variation of voices and perspectives. By this I mean the book is not written in the voice of its author alone. I find at least four distinct types of voices at work in this book.

First, in the introductory segment, we discover not one but, in effect, two forewords – one by Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Dean of Law University of Nigeria, Nsukka and former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, and the other by Nana Akufo-Ado, the current President of Ghana.

In this way, the writer allows both eminent personalities to bring their unique and very learned perspectives to bear on the reader’s understanding of the subject matter.

Further on, we discover a second voice – interjections by the writer himself in his personal capacity, where his subjective thoughts and opinions on the matter are freely expressed, andyou can feel his passion simmering beneath the typed words. This incarnation of Segun Adeniyi we read mostly in the opening and closing sections of this book.

However, Adeniyi is also present in a more objective capacity in other parts of the book. For in significant sections of it, we find him writing in a different voice, in a distinct third voice, in the detached voice of that professional journalist we are more familiar with, studiously connecting the dots to tell the fact-based and objective story of irregular migration through statistics, interviews, and the faithful reproduction of the findings of academic research, thereby adding an important thread to the overall narrative texture.

Finally, the fourth voice. The very important fourth voice. For this book is also

Segun Adeniyi

written through the eyes and voices of its principal subjects – the irregular migrants themselves – creating a human angle to the narrative, an angle that helps to elevate the work beyond the status of an intellectual exercise, bringing the book home to the human heart. In these personal, humanizing stories the book develops its capacity to provoke empathy in the reader – to draw a deep sigh, or a shocked gasp, to draw laughter, in some places, but more often than not it is tears that these stories provoke.

Leading this symphony of human voices is the voice of the writer’s own brother – Agboola Adeniyi, himself an irregular migrant at one time. In fact, the bulk of the book – its entire second part, comprising of nine chapters – is told in Agboola’s voice. Interestingly, here, the writer permits Agboola to speak for himself. This entails a refreshing switch from the third person perspective, with the writer in the role of the omnipresent narrator, to the more personal and intimate first person perspective, allowing us thereby to see the world as Agboola saw it, and to experience his many attempts to get to the First World, as he experienced it. Here, we share in Agboola’s hopes, in his fears, in his limited knowledge of what the future will be that serves to heighten the terror and exhilaration of every moment on his path.

In this way, by employing this interesting mix of voices and perspectives, this book not only tells the story of irregular migration, in the way a newspaper article would tell a story, but it also shows the story of irregular migration, in the way a fiction writer would tell a story, thereby fusing two writing traditions in one seamless work.

Structure This integration of writing styles is facilitated in no small measure by the way the book is structured. ‘From Frying Pan to Fire’ is in effect a 4-part book. In the first and introductory section of the book, the writer documents important clues as to his personal motivation for writing the book, and the different influences that may have directly and indirectly shaped his thinking on the subject matter. The substantive section of the book is thereafter split in two. Part One warehouses the journalistic style narrative that provides a fact-based and comprehensive overview of the subject matter, while Part Two contains the fiction style narrative that tells the story of irregular migration through the eyes of a migrant. The book then ends with a fourth and concluding segment where the writer summarizes, for the sake of emphasis, the critical factors driving irregular migration from the African continent and possible solutions to this problem.

Theme This, if it still needs to be explicitly stated, is the book’s theme. The sheer scale of the

problem of irregular migration is described in Chapter One, while its prevalence across different African countries is x-rayed in Chapter Three. Chapter Two is devoted to focusing attention on a particular strain of irregular migration for which Edo State in Nigeria has become infamous, namely the trafficking of young girls for prostitution.

In this way, Part One of this book does what a typical work of fiction will not do for the reader, it sets out plainly the book’s thematic pre-occupations before proceeding, in Part Two, to illustrate them through the experiences of a single irregular migrant. In so doing, Segun Adeniyi’s work commits to highlighting – through objective analysis as well as subjective storytelling – the factors driving irregular migration from the African continent.

In his analysis, two critical factors emerge.

Firstly, the state of affairs in the home countries of the irregular migrants. Using a popular story from the Christian Bible about three lepers who, faced with hunger and starvation in their city, decide to risk possible death in the enemy’s camp to search for food, Adeniyi makes the point that, ‘As things stand in Nigeria and most African countries today, irregular migration is more a necessity arising from desperation, than a conscious choice by those who embark on the risky journeys.’ Very closely aligned with this factor, Adeniyi points out, is the lack of concrete measures for repatriating and rehabilitating failed irregular migrants, leading to a situation where the failed irregular migrant, faced with the same socio-economic conditions that provoked the earlier attempt to escape, is forced to try again, and again, and again.

Secondly, Adeniyi argues strongly that irregular migration from the African continent is driven by ignorance on the migrant’s part about the true extent of the dangers to be faced. These dangers include the physical risks of crossing hostile deserts and oceans, the near certainty of de-humanizing exploitation by criminal elements along the way, and the violent and degrading xenophobia that is more often than not waiting for the irregular migrant at every stop. These dangers combine routinely to turn the dreams of many a migrant, of better lives elsewhere, into nightmares. Judging from the time the book devotes to articulating and expounding on these dangers, it is clear that a principal objective of the writer is to fill this information gap, and warn potential irregular migrants of the deadly realities of that choice.

To accomplish this difficult task, of challenging the illusion of an El-Dorado waiting for the irregular migrant beyond the borders of his or her own country, the writer deploys the powerful tool of the personal stories of several migrants, none more powerful than that of his own brother, Agboola. Indeed, there are stories Agboola shares in this book that I, personally, find too sad to repeat, too cruel to re-tell, but which effectively carry out the function of slapping the dreamer awake.

Without a doubt, therefore, in Agboola Adeniyi’s development from a starry eyed 19-year- old dreaming of a better life in America, through the six desperate years he spends trying unsuccessfully to get into America or Europe, to his eventual evolution into a much ‘older and wiser’ person able to draw bitter lessons from the experiences of his younger self, Segun Adeniyi succeeds in de-constructing any fantasies one might have about irregular migration. This success is never more explicit than on page 61 when Princess, another failed irregular migrant, while reflecting on her own painful experiences, remarks, ‘I have never seen anything else like it in my entire life. As a woman in that situation, you want to die.

If I ever see a woman wanting to take this route, I will ask her to kill herself instead.’

This ominous remark by Princess highlights the heightened nature of the risks

faced by women in particular in the course of irregular migration. For it is too often the sad case that the lofty dreams of the young girl for better paying work in a hair salon in America or Europe ends in sex slavery somewhere in Mali or Libya, in Dubai or Italy.

Ultimately, this is what resonates most powerfully throughout this entire work – the sheer inhumanity witnessed and experienced by irregular migrants, the inhumanity of one human being to another, an inhumanity that, in the end, is fuelled by the curious belief that a man or a woman who enters another person’s country without permission is thereby a criminal, and not just a criminal, but the lowest of all criminals undeserving even of the most basic protections to be found in the law of the land. And yet where is the moral or ethical injunction that requires that a border be drawn between two neighbouring communities? And, therefore, what is the moral or ethical injunction that is broken when a man or a woman, in search of better opportunities, crosses an invisible line that politics has arbitrarily drawn in the sand?

These are the questions that are silently posed by the writer’s decision to refer to these migrants as ‘irregular’ and not as ‘illegal’. Because the modern criminalization of migration appears to be rooted, not in morality or any sense of a Natural Law prohibiting it, but rather in a politics of convenience, or what the writer refers to as ‘the ethics of the lifeboat’, whereby ‘rich countries are comfortably seated with enough space to accommodate more while wading off the miserable and desperate multitude...swimming and attempting to enter their boats.’

This sense of unfairness, in modern Immigration policies, is further heightened by the recollection of the historical role played, in the development of many of today’s rich countries, by outward, unrestricted and sometimes violent migration in yester-years to the so-called New World. It is these facts that create the impression of countries who have benefited from outward migration in the past but are now unwilling to allow others to do so today.

Whether outward migration, particularly of the poor and destitute, is in fact a natural and beneficial phenomenon that a developing country should be allowed greater room to exploit is a line of argument that can be further developed, either by this writer in another work, or by other writers seeking to explore ground not exhaustively covered in this work. For this work, ‘From Frying Pan to Fire’, while acknowledging the toxic effect of xenophobic and hypocritical attitudes to migration in the West, is decidedly, and perhaps correctly, inward- looking when it comes to the ultimate question of who is, principally, to blame for the thousands who die every year trying to cross the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean. If, indeed, we are to take our own destinies into our own hands in any future Pan-African utopia then this must begin with us taking responsibility for ourselves today. We are to blame. We Africans – we Nigerians – must build the sorts of societies from which our citizens will not be so desperate to escape.

I quote, ‘Africa must tackle some of the underlying social problems, which facilitate human trafficking and irregular migration, such as poverty, low standards of living and gender inequality.’ These are the words of Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Dean of Law University of Nigeria, Nsukka and former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking. These are the words that Segun Adeniyi himself chooses to end his impressive and well worth reading book, ‘From Frying Pan to Fire’, by concurring with. And following his very fine example, these are the words I choose to end this review of his book by concurring with as well.

Thank you.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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NEWSIMAGE

L:R: Managing Director, American Tower Company Nigeria, Errol Ambler - Smith; CEO/Executive Secretary, American Business Council, Margaret Olele; Senior Partner PWC/ Vice-President, American Business Council, Darrell McGraw; US Consul General, John F. Bray and US Ambassador to the African Union, Ambassador Leonard Mary Beth at a reception for new members in Lagos...recently

L-R: President, Christ Apostolic Chuch Worldwide, Pastor Abraham Akinosun, presents an award to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the church’s centenary celebration held at Babalola International Miracle Camp, Osun State...yesterday

L-R: Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, being decorated by the Leader of the Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC), Gboko, Old Girls delegation, Dr. Ngozi Azodoh, and a Member of Delegation, Mrs. Rose Mokezie, during an advocacy visit by the old girls at the Presidential Villa, Abuja...yesterday PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI

L-R: Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mr. Adekunle Mokuolu; and President of COREN, Mr. Kashim Ali, at the 60th PHOTO: anniversary of the society held weekend in Abuja

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (left) with former Governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, during the airport reception for the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in Enugu...yesterday

L-R: The Awardee, Dr. Siju Iluyomade; Pro-chancellor / Chairman, Governing Council, Adekunle Ajasin University, Dr. Tunji Abayomi; Mr. Idowu Iluyomade and Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof. Amos Ajibefun, at the presentation of Honorary Doctorate Degree of Law certificate to the awardee in Akungba -Akoko, Ondo State recently

New couple, Mr. and Mrs. Paterson Ikumhen, flanked on the left by Mrs Agnes Ikpea and Mrs Violet Egbadon and on the right by Mr. Matthew Egbadon, after their wedding, at St Paul’s Catholic Church, Airport Road, Benin City...yesterdy

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 25, 2018

SOCIALMEDIABITS Last week on social media, presidential contenders made promises, a former president told his story, and two combatants’ paths crossed...

A

s campaigning for next year’s elections officially kicked off last week, the two leading gladiators – President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar – launched their manifestoes.

With many Nigerians not particular about the contents of both plans due to a general distrust of politicians, the President’s action plan became the talking point because of the design of the campaign slogan amid allegations of plagiarism.

According to observers, including many members of the PDP, the logo and mantra were “stolen” from the Rex Institute with little change.

In defence of the document, the President’s aide on new media Bashir

Ahmed, who posted the controversial image on his twitter account, said it’s an adaptation shared widely by supporters of the President but not the official logo.

However in a totally bizarre reaction, the director of communications for the President’s campaign, Festus Keyamo, claimed the said logo was designed by the PDP, despite it being shared on the President’s verified twitter account. This heralded a week in which fake news - and allegations of fake news -held sway.

For example, service chiefs were seen at the Next Level launch. After the Atiku campaign complained about the presence of military chiefs, it was revealed that “they left before the event started when they Cont’d on pg 81

with DEMOLA OJO demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

NOVEMBER 25, 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 realised it was a political event, according to another media aide of the President, Garba Shehu.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan clocked 61 and launched a book titled My Transition Hours which recounted events during his presidency. Expectedly, the autobiography was a trending topic during the week, with reactions pouring in from friends and foes alike. Borno governor, Kashim Shettima described it as “an elementary book of fiction.”

Interestingly, President Jonathan raised the alarm through his twitter handle that a pirated version of the book is being sold online. The pirated PDF document has 254 pages against the original which has 194 pages. This poses the question, what has been added to the former president’s story?

He wasn’t the only one that had to make clarifications to the public. INEC needed to refute reports circulating on social media that it had given opportunities for PVC registration.

A notable occurrence at the launch of My Transition Hours was the meeting between APC chairman, Adams Oshiomole, and Senate president, Bukola Saraki. Both men have been at loggerheads over the past few months and have taken turns in advising each other to resign their respective

positions.

On closer inspection, the Senate president’s vice-like grip on the APC chairman is proof - if any was needed – that they won’t be sheathing swords anytime soon.

Social media reacted to a report that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, promised that the south east region of the country will produce the next president if they support the APC’s candidate, President Buhari.

This should be good news but, the South West zone was also made a similar promise recently by another member of the government in the person of Babatunde Fashola, prompting accusations of duplicity. Politicians! You take everything they say with a pinch of salt.

Former Education minister, Oby Ezekwesili, would have us believe she is different from the current crop of leaders.

She made a case for herself as a guest of Christiane Amanpour on CNN. She was also one of a few that challenged the government on social media to make a statement regarding reports that scores of Nigerian soldiers were killed by terrorists in the North East of the country.

The government has been mute on the issue. But social media has amplified it.

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THISDAYt SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

94

SUNDAYSPORTS

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

AFCON 2019: Rohr Sets S/ďŹ nal Target for Super Eagles Femi Solaja

S

uper Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has said that his target for the 2019 African Nations Cup is at least to reach the semi-final of the tournament.

The Franco-German tactician, who has just qualified Nigeria for the Nations Cup with a match left just as he did for the Russia 2018 World Cup was the special guest at a Sports Editors’ Roundtable, tagged ‘Peak Breakfast with Rohr,’ held in Lagos on Friday.

Organised by HS Media Group, owners of the HotSports brand and sponsored by Friesland Campina, makers of Peak Milk, the official Milk of Super Eagles, the event was an interactive session between Sports Editors of selected national dailies, broadcast and online media organisations on current issues in Nigerian football.

While speaking on the programme streamed live from the HS Media’s Studio to a global audience via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, Rohr avoided making a categorical statement of winning the 2019 AFCON in Cameroon.

The Coach maintained, “...it is the dream of every team at the competition to win the title, but it will not make much a sense to make a promise because other teams are also in the tournament to win. “We have a good chance to get to the semi-final at the 2019 AFCON but we can’t

be sure to win.

It’s a young team, we should be realistic but once we reach the semi-final then winning the title is no longer far from us,� he continued.

When asked the team he would like to avoid in Cameroon 2019, he said he was happy Zambia did not qualify for the tournament because they are one of the strongest team in the continent.

The Franco-German is also praying to avoid Cameroon, the host nation when the draws of the continental tournament holds next year.

Speaking on his team captain, John Mikel Obi who is yet to play for the team after the Russia 2018 World Cup, Rohr said: “Mikel told me after the World Cup that he wants to take a break and after then he also had an injury that was why he was not invited to the squad. “However, he is still the team’s captain and once he is ready to come back, he will still have a place in the team,� he added.

Rohr also seized the opportunity of the interactive session to clear the air on his perceived apathy against players of the Nigerian Professional Football League, saying poor organization of the league and lack of adequate training facilities are reasons home based players find it difficult to break into his team.

The well attended session is a regular feature in the series of the media event which has

Rohr

in the last ten years featured national team coaches such as the late Amodu Shuaibu, who qualified Nigeria for the 2010 World

Cup in South Africa, Samson Siasia and late Stephen Keshi, who won the African Nations Cup in South Africa in 2013.

Super Spurs Thrash Sarri’s Chelsea 3-1 Tottenham inflicted Maurizio Sarri’s first competitive defeat as Chelsea boss to leapfrog their London rivals into third in the Premier League with a 3-1 win at Wembley that barely reflected Spurs’ dominance.

Dele Alli and Harry Kane put the hosts 2-0 in front inside 16 minutes and Son Heung-min’s brilliant individual run and finish early in the second-half hauled Mauricio Pochettino’s side back to within five points of league leaders Manchester City.

Olivier Giroud pulled back a late consolation for Chelsea, who slipped eight points off the leaders with a dreadful display that left Sarri visibly frustrated.

By contrast, Spurs couldn’t have started a huge week in better form with a do-or-die Champions League clash with Inter Milan and the North London derby against Arsenal to come.

Chelsea were unbeaten in their first 18 games in all competitions under Sarri, but were blown away by a combination of Spurs’ flying start and some questionable defending.

The world’s most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga also failed to cover himself in glory for both of Spurs opening goals.

Alli got ahead of his marker to flick home Christian Eriksen’s free-kick despite the £71 million Kepa getting a hand to the English international’s header.

Eight minutes later Kane was given acres of room to stride forward and take aim from outside the area, but again Kepa could have done better as the Spaniard stood motionless while the ball nestled in the net low to his right.

Chelsea felt aggrieved as they could have had a penalty seconds before Kane’s goal when Juan Foyth appeared to trip Eden Hazard inside the area.

Alvaro Morata was then denied at point-blank range by Hugo Lloris as the visitors briefly threatened to get back into the game. But they remained a shambles at the back and were lucky not to be put to the sword more comprehensively after the break.

Spurs’ solitary second-half goal was delivered in style by Son as he accelerated past Jorginho and David Luiz before slotting his 50th goal for the club into the far corner.

Kane then somehow fired over with the goal at his mercy and Alli also skewed a great chance off target as Sarri bellowed at his side to regain some composure.

Ghana 2018: Falcons Pummel E/ Guinea, Face Cameroon in S/Final It would be a repeat of the 2016 Final in Yaounde as Nigeria and Cameroon face off in the first semi final of the 11th Women Africa Cup of Nations in Accra on Tuesday, after the Cup holders lashed Equatorial Guinea 6-0 in Cape Coast yesterday.

RESULTS & FIXTURES Brighton Everton Fulham Man United Watford West Ham Tottenham EIbar Valencia Atl Madrid Udinese Juventus Bournemouth Wolves

1-1 Leicester 1-0 Cardiff 3-2 Southampton 0-0 Crystal Palace 0-3 Liverpool 0-4 Man City 3-1 Chelsea 3-0 Real Madrid 3-0 Rayo Vallecano 1–1 Barcelona 1-0 Roma 2-0 SPAL v Arsenal 2:30pm v HuddersďŹ eld 5pm

All–action forward Francisca Ordega, Player of the Match in the 4-0 defeat of Zambia last Wednesday, shot Nigeria into the lead after 10 minutes with a poacher’s strike from a Rita Chikwelu pass.

Two minutes later, Asisat Oshoala finished well from a Desire Oparanozie pull –out to make it two for the Super Falcons, but this was followed by Ngozi Okobi wasting another glorious opportunity in the 19th minute.

Oshoala netted her second of the day and Nigeria’s third when she coolly angled the ball from Halimat Ayinde’s pass, but then booted another good chance wide on the half hour.

Oshoala completed her hat –trick in the 34th minute, nodding twice from another Oparanozie pull –out to make it four for the champions.

In the second half, the Nzalang Nacional, who lost 1-7 to South Africa’s Banyana Banyana on Wednesday in Cape Coast, looked brighter, but then Oparanozie’s fierce shot that took a deflection on its way into the net from a brilliant Ordega move and pass took the fight out of them.

Son and Kane got a goal each in a dominant Spurs performance

The Italian managed to make a difference with the introduction of Ross Barkley, Pedro Rodriguez and Giroud from the bench. And it

was Giroud who grabbed Chelsea’s consolation five minutes from time when he powered home Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross at the back post.

Hamilton Takes Pole at Abu Dhabi GP Lewis Hamilton has ended the season in which he won a fifth world title with his 11th pole of the year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was 0.162 seconds ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and 0.331secs ahead of erstwhile title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen locked out the second row for Ferrari, ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. “It was emotional because it is the last time in this car,� Hamilton said. “The emotional rollercoaster I have been through with this car, I am probably closer to this car than any other.

It has not been easy, it has been a struggle, but I am so grateful to the team for putting it all together for me. “Today was so much fun, to be able to go out and express yourself was a great feeling.�

Hamilton has taken it as a point of pride this season to keep winning after clinching the championship, the first time he has done that in his career.

He was fortunate to take victory in Brazil two

weeks ago, after leader Verstappen collided with a backmarker, but he wants to end what many believe has been his greatest season on a high.

Beyond the battle at the front, which is about little more than honour and a positive feeling going into the winter, the other focus of the weekend is McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who is bowing out of Formula 1 after this race.

The two-time champion had as good a qualifying session as could be expected in his difficult car, making it into the second knock-out session and 15th on the grid.

In the process, the Spaniard completed a whitewash of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne in qualifying this season, the only driver to achieve it.

Alonso’s engineer Will Joseph described his lap, nearly 0.7secs quicker than Vandoorne’s, as “magic�. But the McLaren did not have the pace to do any more than be last in the second session.

McLaren have painted the car in a special livery reflecting Alonso, and he is wearing a unique helmet design and overalls for the occasion.

THISDAYt SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2018

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Sunday November 25, 2018

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MISSILE

Abdulsalam Abubakar to Security Agencies “They (security agencies) must not be seen to be taking a side as observed in Ekiti State with the result now being contested in court. Heavy policing and militarisation of election as observed in Ekiti was enough to scare voters from coming out to exercise their franchise.” – A former military head of state, General Abdulsalam Abubakar while speaking at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

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

To Oil the Wheel of Progress…

I

have a story to tell. In the 1970s, three governments set up national oil companies to engage in exploration, production and refining. Nigeria created the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Norway set up Statoil, and Malaysia established Petronas. Today, Statoil — now renamed Equinor ASA — and Petronas are among the biggest state-owned oil and gas companies in the world. Equinor ASA and Petronas declare profits in billions of dollars and are among the most valuable companies in the world. Equinor ASA operates in 36 countries while Petronas is doing business in 35 countries. They are doing well home and abroad.

Our own NNPC? Please don’t get me started.

Even though many state-owned companies are doing well in many countries, the moment you insert “Nigeria” into the equation everything goes haywire. There is nothing the NNPC knows how to do well, apart from scams. To produce oil, it relies on retrogressive JVs and ridiculous PSCs. Also, NNPC cannot refine its oil because the refineries never work. (NNPC recently popped champagne to celebrate a petrol supply contract it signed with BP, a British company. We are that shameless.) NNPC cannot even import fuel — it has to do this in the form of importation contracts. NNPC outsources almost everything!

The truth is that even though Nigeria is regarded as an oil giant, we are not yet deriving up to 25% of the benefits that reside in the industry — benefits from exploration, benefits from production, benefits from refining, benefits from petrochemicals, and benefits from marketing.

Our major benefit is the revenue from oil export that we share in Abuja every month before it grows wings and flies mostly into private accounts and waste bins. We pride ourselves as one of the largest oil-producing countries in the world, but in the real sense we are not the ones producing the oil. We are outsiders and scavengers in the industry. In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty.

How can we take maximum advantage before fossil fuels become, as it were, fossilised? Two recent reports inspired my article today. The first is the campaign promise by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, to partially sell NNPC if he is elected president.

Is that the solution? What is the solution? The second is Nigeria’s local content development policy which, after decades of rhetoric, has produced a major result in the building of the Egina vessel. But this has led to a war between Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria Ltd, the contractor, and Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL), the Nigerian local partner. This is no good news.

First, what can we do to turn NNPC into a world beater and derive more benefits from our oil? President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC candidate, believes in state ownership.

He has not been enthusiastic about the reforms meant to free the oil sector from government control. He can argue that if Petronas (Malaysia), Petrobras (Brazil) and Aramco (Saudi Arabia) are doing well under state ownership, why not NNPC? Atiku, seen as more market-oriented, has promised to sell part of NNPC and privatise the refineries. Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, the candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) and a liberal economist of note, has promised full-blast reform and deregulation.

My intention today is not to evaluate the campaign promises of the candidates as they

Dr Amy Jadesimi, LADOL MD

relate to the oil industry. That I will still do at some point. Rather, I am more interested in asking this question: how can we get the NNPC to be productive, innovative and profitable — even if not at the level of the national oil companies that were established around the same time in the 70s? Should we sell or restructure NNPC? What should we do with the now-in-limbo Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) which prescribes that government should sell off 40% of its interest within 10 years? Whatever the case is, something has to happen to NNPC. Life can’t continue like this.

This is a debate worth having as the 2019 elections approach. Nigeria must begin to derive maximum advantage from the industry while stock lasts and while the world is still consuming fossil fuels. Our oil sector must be recalibrated to serve the interest of Nigeria, create real jobs and stimulate the growth of its subsectors as well as the other sectors of the economy. As things are today, our oil industry serves more foreign interests than it serves us. Just take a look at the companies making the most out of the various aspects of the chain and you will see that Nigeria and Nigerians do not figure prominently. In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty.

And that is my second issue today: deriving utmost benefits from the sector through local content development. The world recently celebrated when Egina vessel sailed away to the Total deepwater oilfield, OML 130, which is about 200 kilometres offshore Port Harcourt, Rivers state. The acreage has deposits in excess of 550 million barrels of oil — one of the biggest you will find on the African continent. The deep offshore location means it would need a floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel.

This was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in “local content” partnership with LADOL, led by Dr Amy Jadesimi as MD. The good news is that this is the biggest local content project in our history after decades and decades of planning and talking and strategising about the policy. One significant progress we have made was setting up the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in 2010, which has seen to the involvement of more Nigerian companies in the logistics and engineering of the oil industry. Same year, Total Upstream, the operator of OML 130, awarded a $3.3 billion contract to the partnership of Samsung and LADOL to build the Egina FPSO. On August 25, 2018, the vessel sailed off to the

oilfield. It is expected to add up to 200,000bpd to Nigeria’s oil output.

The bad news, though, is that the “local content” partnership that made this possible has hit the rocks, and this is not what you want to hear at a time we are campaigning for technology transfer to Nigerians so that we can become big players in our own oil industry.

The Samsung and LADO crisis, which has produced a series of litigations, is capable of undermining the local content policy. The flagship project should be a thing of joy, a trophy we should display with pride. It should inspire more Nigerian companies to aim higher and become world beaters. A $3.3 billion procurement, engineering, construction and commissioning contract is not a joke.

What then is the problem? Samsung is demanding $1 billion extra payment from Total Upstream as claims for contract variation. The Korean company said there was “extraordinary increase in the quantities of structure and piping materials of the FPSO” because it had to improve on the initial work done by Nigerian engineers on the vessel. Although Total has already paid $500 million extra, Samsung wants an additional $500 million if not it would proceed with its claims of $1.6 billion at the London arbitration tribunal. The controversy almost marred the sail-off of Egina and would have delayed the December 2018 target for the commencement of production from the field.

Samsung had stopped work in July and headed to the courts but lost two cases and was practically forced by Nigerian authorities to complete work on the vessel and allow it sail or face the termination of the contract and a 10-year ban from working in Nigeria. Thankfully, the vessel sailed away on August 25, but the crisis is still ashore. The benefits of the Samsung/ LADOL partnership, which are supposed to be long-lasting in the Nigerian oil industry, are now under threat. The partnership, named Samsung Heavy Industries Mega Construction and Integration Free-Zone (SHI MCI FZE), was expected to upgrade LADOL’s fabrication and integration facility at the free zone.

At the heart of Samsung’s dispute with LADOL is the claim by the Koreans that they invested $300 million in the fabrication yard — allegedly hiding the fact that Total had actually paid them $214 million for that purpose as part of the $3.3 billion contract. LADOL, reportedly unaware, was forced to cut down its interest in SHI MCI FZE from 80% to 30%. It also paid Samsung $40.5 million for its interest. However, it has since come out that Total Upstream paid Samsung for it. There are now suggestions that Samsung Heavy Industries is desperately seeking the $1.6 billion bonus in order to return to profit, having been suffering heavy financial bashing in recent years.

Somehow, there must be a resolution somewhere. Samsung no longer has access to the fabrication yard — the “landlord” is LADOL’s sister company, Global Resources Management Free Zone Ltd. While Global Resources says the lease has expired, Samsung maintains that it is valid till 2024. I am seeing a serious crisis here that needs to be resolved to keep the local content development policy smelling of roses. As far as I am concerned, this is the most beneficial policy we have had in the oil sector since we hit oil in 1956. We can argue over whether or not to sell NNPC, but we cannot deny that more local companies need to play big in the oil industry. We need to sustain the progress

And Four Other Things…

BOKO SLAUGHTER Anytime the military chiefs boast that they have “technically” conquered Boko Haram, the terrorists strike big — as we saw yet again in the devastating attacks on soldiers in Metele, Borno state, last week. Maybe they should talk less and do more. Maybe President Buhari needs to overhaul the military hierarchy if fatigue has set in. Some of them have been due for retirement ages ago! There is no doubt that we have made tremendous progress against Boko Haram in the last three years, but terrorism is a stubborn thing and we must never take our eyes off the ball. As for those politicising this tragedy, remember we are talking about human lives here. Empathy.

TRANSITION HOURS Former President Goodluck Jonathan appeared to have scored an own goal in his recently released book, ‘My Transition Hours’. He listed Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, Chief Osita Chidoka and Hon. Warpamowei Dudafa as those who recommended “sundry alternatives” to conceding the 2015 election to President Muhammadu Buhari, whereas these were actually the doves who recommended only one alternative — concession — when the hawks were trying to turn him. Jonathan did not mention even one of the hawks, but some of us know them. Jonathan withheld too many vital details and the vague account has now caused a backlash. Blunder.

IRREGULAR MIGRATION Celebrated columnist and prolific author, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi (“chairman” to some of us), released a timely book on irregular immigration (calling a spade a spade, we would say “illegal immigration” but political correctness would not leave us alone). ‘From Frying Pan to Fire: How African migrants risk everything in their futile search for a better life in Europe’ is not the usual “political thriller” that Adeniyi has become master of, but this may be the best work he has done yet in his writing career, coming at a time frustration and desperation are increasingly driving young Africans into their death across the Mediterranean Sea in the search for Godot. Catastrophe.

AND FINALLY… Ogeni Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun state, on Thursday launched a 10-year development plan “to promote sustainable development through pragmatic, transparent, accountable and inclusive governance that mobilises human and material resources toward making the state a socio-economic and cultural hub of Nigeria.” Mr. Olalekan Yinusa, the commissioner for development, said the Osun Development Plan 2019-2028 was hinged on four pillars of economic development, capital development and security, infrastructure development and environmental sustainability. All this coming five days to the end of Aregbesola’s eight-year tenure as governor. Wonderful.

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