SATURDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2018

At Vice-presidential Candidates’ Debate, Osinbajo, Obi Disagree on Economy VP: Petrol price could go as high as N220 if subsidy is removed Obi: What we are subsiding today is inefficiency Deji Elumoye, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday squared up with four other Vice Presidential

candidates in a two and half hour debate where he openly disagreed with the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Peter Obi on the issue of fuel subsidy. While Osinbajo justified the

necessity for retention of fuel subsidy or the pump price will peak at N220, Obi criticised government's retention of oil subsidy to the detriment of other sectors like health. Obi also faulted the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led

federal government approach to anti-graft war, saying while the government was busy fighting corruption, Nigerian Stock Market lost N2 trillion in one year. Obi made this disclosure in Abuja at the 2018 vice

presidential candidates election debate organised by Nigeria Election Debate Group, NEDB and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) for candidates of APC (Osinbajo), PDP (Obi), Young Progressive Party (Umar

Getso), Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (Ganiyu Galadima) and Alliance for New Niigeria (Kadijah Abdullahi- Iya). According to him “Fighting corruption is not an economic Continued on page 6

Cowardice Caused Death of Soldiers in Metele, Says New Theatre Commander … Page 14 Saturday 15 December, 2018 Vol 23. No 8641

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2019 Elections: US Worries about Intimidation, Partisanship of Security Agents We are already seeing increased tension, polarisation as poll approaches Chineme Okafor in Abuja The United States has expressed concerns about intimidation and partisanship by security forces as Nigeria’s general election draws near.

A statement obtained by THISDAY in Abuja, yesterday, said the Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. Department of States, Tibor P. Nagy, Jr., stated this, among others, while testifying

on Thursday before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organisations. According to the statement, Nagy, Jr., whose testimony

before the committee was titled, “Nigeria at a Crossroads: The Upcoming Elections,” noted that heightened insecurity, terrorist attacks on elections institutions, or violence towards voters, observers, or electoral officials;

and inability of large numbers of internally displaced persons or persons with disabilities to vote were also sources of concern to the U.S. Additionally, it listed voter suppression, the use of armed

gangs for voter intimidation, and other drivers of electoral violence, including a lack of official condemnation of hate speech and disinformation; and Continued on page 6

Economy in Bad Shape, Let’s Rethink Way Forward, Buhari Tells Governors Balance of payments down to $4.5bn deficit in 2018 Q3 Higher food prices push inflation to 11.28%

Obinna Chima in Lagos, Shola Oyeyipo, Adedayo Akinwale and James Emejo in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja told the 36 state governors that the Nigerian economy was in bad shape and that Nigerians would need to tighten their belts. Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) cum Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the governors met with President Buhari in the Council Chambers of the presidential villa. The President’s alarm on the economy came on the day it emerged that the provisional estimates for Nigeria’s Balance of Payments (BOP) in the third

quarter of 2018, showed the overall BOP swinging into a deficit of US$4.542 billion, compared to surpluses of $503.97 million and $2.787 billion recorded in the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively. Also, report released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased to 11.28 per cent (year-on-year) in November compared to 11.26 percent in the preceding month. Governor Yari said: “President Buhari told us that the economy is in bad shape and that we have to come together, think and rethink Continued on page 6

CHRISTOPHER OGUNBANJO@ 95… Army Recalls UNICEF Shortly After L-R: Chief Christopher Ogunbanjo, lawyer, businessman and philanthropist with the retired Provost, Cathedral Christ Church, Lagos, The Very Reverend 'Yinka Omololu, during a thanksgiving service/holy communion held at Ogunbanjo 's Suspension for Alleged Espionage… page 8 Marina, residence to mark his 95th birthday…in Lagos, yesterday SUNMI SMART-COLE

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PAGE SIX ECONOMY IN BAD SHAPE, LET’S RETHINK WAY FORWARD, BUHARI TELLS GOVERNORS on the way forward.� The meeting of the governors with the President was to find a lasting solution to the unresolved issue of new minimum wage for Nigerian workers after they had met Thursday night to take a position on the matter. Although Yari did not disclose government’s decision on the new minimum wage, he noted that the President, “talked to us in a manner that we have task ahead of us. We should tighten our belts and see how we can put the Nigerian economy in the right direction�. According to him, Buhari blamed the previous administrations led by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) for Nigeria’s infrastructure decay despite huge petrol revenue. “He (Buhari) wondered what happened in the past; that for the 16 years of the now opposition party, the PDP in power and with oil at 2.1 million barrels per day at an average of $100, many infrastructure are in bad shape,� Yari said. The governor said contrary to the president’s initial resolution not to make reference to the decadence that characterised the PDP leadership, “Buhari is compelled to bring those issues before Nigerians so that they can decide if it is best to bring the former ruling party back to power�. “He is going to open a vigorous campaign and these are key issues that he is going to raise with Nigerians so that they can weigh their choices,� Yari added. Speaking on behalf of other governors at a special extended National Economic Council Meeting and the

launch of Human Capital Development Programme with the theme: 'Healthy, Educated and Productive Nigerians for a Globally Competitive Nation by 2030,' held at the old banquet hall, presidential villa, Abuja, Yari made a case for more funding for all levels of governments. He told the gathering that there was need for political decisions that would expand the Nigerian economy to generate funding for every arm of government to develop human capital and address other sundry issues. In his remark at the event, Osinbajo urged the governors and other stakeholders to desist from blame game and resist playing politics with issues of human capital development. Noting that the issue of human capital development was perhaps the most important in Nigeria today, Osinbajo asked: “What can be more important than the well-being of the people you serve? We are aware of this and this is so with the state governments and we are committed to ensuring that we positively transform from the Nigerian experience as it relates to the quality of life and well-being of our people.�

Nigeria’s Balance of Payments Down to $4.5bn DeďŹ cit in Q3

Meanwhile, the provisional estimates for Nigeria’s Balance of Payments (BOP) in the third quarter (Q3) 2018, showed the overall BOP swinging into a deficit of US$4.542 billion, compared to surpluses of $503.97 million and $2.787 billion recorded in the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively. This meant that the country’s

imports of goods and services in the period under review outweighed its exports. The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its ‘Third Quarter Brief on Balance of Payments Statistics’ report posted on its website yesterday. According to the report, the current account balance (CAB) also worsened from a surplus of $4.453 billion in Q2 2018, to a deficit of $3.105 billion in the review period. The financial account balance indicated an increased net incurrence of financial liabilities of $10.724 billion in the review period as against $2.576 billion recorded in the preceding period. Furthermore, the report showed that the current account indicated a negative outcome during the review period as it recorded a deficit of $3.105 billion as against surpluses of $4.453 billion and $1.974 billion in the previous quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively. This development was largely attributable to the increased payments for imports. According to the report, the surplus in the Goods Account decreased significantly to $2.126 billion in Q3 2018, from surpluses of US$7.510 billion in the preceding quarter and $3.416 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017. “Export earnings rose by 2.8 per cent to $16,211 billion in Q3 2018 when compared with Q2 2018. It also indicated an increase of about 35.3 per cent when compared to corresponding period of 2017. “Earnings from crude oil and gas, which accounted for 94.4 per cent of total export earnings during the review period, increased by 9.5 per cent to $15.302 billion in Q3 2018 when compared with the preceding quarter. “Earnings

from non-oil and electricity exports decreased by 49.3 per cent to $909.04 million in Q3 2018 when compared with the preceding quarter. “Available data showed that payments for import of goods (FOB) to the economy in the review period increased by 70.5 per cent to $14.085 Billion above the level recorded in the preceding quarter. “This was largely as a result of 79.7 per cent increase in the imports of non-oil products,� it explained. In addition, the report showed that net out-payments for services during the review period increased significantly by 35.4 per cent to a deficit of $7.024 billion, when compared with the level recorded in Q2 2018. When compared with the corresponding period of 2017, it indicated a much higher increase of about 65 per cent. Similarly, the deficit in the income account (net) increased by 6.7 per cent to $4.161 billion in the review period, from a deficit of $3.899 billion recorded in the preceding quarter. When compared with the level in the corresponding period of 2017 it indicated an increase of about 39.5 per cent. “The surplus in the current transfers (net) decreased by 1.2 per cent to $5.955 billion in Q3 2018 when compared with the preceding quarter. “However, the level of surplus was 2.7 per cent higher than the level recorded in the corresponding period of 2017. “Provisional Q3 2018 BOP estimates for the Financial Account showed an increase in net incurrence of financial liabilities from $2.576 billion recorded in Q2 2018 to $10.724 billion in the review period. “This is also significantly different from the net

acquisition of financial assets of $3.740 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017,� it stated. According to the central bank report, direct Investments inflow increased by 0.7 per cent to $438.84 million when compared with the preceding quarter of 2018. It however, indicated a decline of 45 per cent when compared to the corresponding period of 2017. Nevertheless, portfolio investments inflow to the economy decreased significantly to $1.790 billion in the review period, from $4.233 billion and $3.321 billion in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2017, respectively. However, other investment liabilities increased slightly to $4.281 billion when compared with $3.226 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.

Higher Food Prices Push Ination to 11.28%

In a related development, the consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation increased to 11.28 percent (year-on-year) in November compared to 11.26 percent in the preceding month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).The 0.02 per cent points increase resulted from price increases in all the divisions that constitute the Headline index. Food inflation stood at 13.30 per cent compared to 13.28 per cent in October while Core Inflation was recorded at 9.80 per cent from 9.90 per cent in the preceding month. According to the CPI report for November, which was released yesterday by the statistical agency, urban inflation rate increased by 11.61 percent (year-on-year)

in November from 11.64 percent recorded in October while the rural inflation rate increased by 10.99 percent in November 2018 from 10.93 percent in October 2018. According to the NBS, the rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread, cereals, milk, cheese and egg, fish, vegetables, fruits, oil and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers. Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural products, was down by 0.1 per cent from the 9.9 per cent recorded in October.

PDP to Buhari: Your Admission of Failure Means It’s Time to Go

Also yesterday, the PDP said Buhari had validated his rejection by Nigerians by admitting, before state governors, that he had failed to fix the economy of the nation, in negation of his 2015 campaign promises. The party in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, asked Nigerians to tighten their belts, as Buhari has admitted that the country’s economy has terribly worsened under his incompetent watch and that he has no solution to our economic realities. According to him, “Nigerians must hold President Buhari directly responsible for the official flops, harsh economic policies and humongous corruption in his regime, which led to the collapse of our once robust economy, turned our nation to the poverty capital of the world with the worse form of hunger and starvation to the extent compatriots now consider suicide mission and slavery as options.�

2019 ELECTIONS: US WORRIES ABOUT INTIMIDATION, PARTISANSHIP OF SECURITY AGENTS wide-spread vote buying that challenges the integrity of the electoral process as its other concerns for the elections. The U.S, which vowed to maintain a neutral stance in the elections, however, said it would observe the entire preparations to identify potential attacks that could undermine the legitimacy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the electoral processes. Nagy Jr., said the U.S was not anticipating large-scale nation-wide conflict, but rather localised violence during the elections, adding that Borno and Rivers were top hotspots for such electoral violence. “The Department of State agrees with the view that Nigeria’s February 2019 national

elections are a critical test. The conduct of the elections could have significant consequences for the democratic trajectory of Nigeria, West Africa, and the entire continent. “The conduct of the 2015 Nigerian elections, although by no means perfect, was a step forward for Nigeria’s democracy. That contest resulted in Nigeria’s first-ever democratic transfer of power to a non-incumbent party, thereby increasing capacity and improving conduct of Nigerian democratic institutions and election bodies,� he said. According to him, the U.S had in advance of the 2019 elections, continued to support Nigeria to achieve free, fair, transparent, and peaceful elections that reflect the will

of its people. He said through diplomacy, robust public engagement including with Nigeria’s youth and civil society, and democracy and governance programs, the US has helped to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic institutions and processes, but does not support any single candidate. “We support a democratic process that is free, fair, transparent, peaceful, and reflects the will of the Nigerian people,� he explained. He added: “I know many of you are watching the election closely. We share many of the areas of concern that you have voiced. We are monitoring and messaging – both publicly and privately – to mitigate a few key areas of risk that could jeopardise a free and fair

process. “For example: potential attacks on the legitimacy of INEC and the electoral process for political gain; intimidation and partisanship by security forces; heightened insecurity, terrorist attacks on elections institutions, or violence towards voters, observers, or electoral officials; an inability of large numbers of internally displaced persons or persons with disabilities to vote; voter suppression, the use of armed gangs for voter intimidation, and other drivers of electoral violence, including a lack of official condemnation of hate speech and disinformation; wide-spread vote buying that challenges the integrity of the electoral process. “Many of you have

expressed particular concern about violence around these elections. I can tell you from my impressions during my travels and my previous service in Nigeria that I fear there will be some violence around these elections, as has been the case with previous elections. “I do not anticipate largescale nation-wide conflict, but rather localised violence. We are already seeing increased tensions and polarisation as the election approaches. We assess that politicians are turning to narratives of identity politics in an attempt to improve their popularity, with potentially serious consequences for national unity. However, Nigeria’s political system and society have weathered such tensions before.�

In assessing potential hot spots for violence, he noted: “We look at places that are historically volatile around elections such as Rivers and Borno states. We look at states that are currently tense, especially if state-level politics are contentious like those in Benue, Plateau, as well as those in high-stakes locations with large populations such as Kano. “2019 will be a significant year for Nigerian democracy – it has been 20 years since the country returned to democratic rule and this election’s youngest voters have never known a Nigeria without democracy. The upcoming elections provide Nigerians an opportunity to shape their country and solidify its place as a democratic leader in Africa.�

Osibanjo said that his party strongly believes that investment in infrastructure is very critical to the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment. He said it was due to the prudent nature of the administration that its able invest infrastructure five times more what was done by the previous administration even with earnings as low as 60%. The Vice President said at the moment the Federal Goverment has raised transmission assets to 2000 Megawatts, adding that while it inherited 5,000 Megawatts of transmission assets, the country is now able to deliver 7,000 Megawatts of power. In the area of infrastructure, he said the present administration has done a lot on infrastructure development, especially in the building of

rail transport facilities and construction of roads. On her part, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Umar Getso said her party would pursue the restructuring of the economy and improvement critical sectors like healthcare, education, job creation and security. On her part, the vice presidential candidate of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Khadija Abdulahi-Iya said, “We are going to do devolution of power, we are going to do resource control and constitutional amendment, because those are the structures that affect the endemic poverty that we have in Nigeria.�

AT VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES’ DEBATE, OSINBAJO, OBI DISAGREE ON ECONOMY policy. It is not that you can’t fight corruption; you can fight it more aggressively while addressing economic issues. “For example, in 2015, unemployment and underemployment was 24% , today is 40%. In 2015, we attracted $21 billion in Foreign Direct Investment, we attracted only $12 billion last year. Our GDP was $520 billion in 2015 and per capital was $2,500, today it is under $1,900. “If you look at our stock market, it has lost over N2 trillion in one year. So, that is no policy, you are not creating jobs, and you are just fighting corruption. You can’t shut down your shop and be chasing criminals. Speaking further, he said while South Africa capital market stands at $900 billion, as the second largest economy

in Africa, Nigeria’s capital market today is only $30 billion, stressing that it shows the shallowness of the economy, because the government in power is not doing what it is not supposed to do. Commenting on continued subsidy of oil by government, Obi advised government to do away with subsidy saying fuel prices will come down if subsidy was done away with. He added that " what we are subsidising today is inefficiency and if you get it right the prices will come down" "There is no way a country can have a budget of N340 billion for health which translates to N5 a day for each of its citizens and then pay a Trillion Naira for subsidy". On his part, Osinbajo said the country at this time cannot afford to remove subsidy from

petroleum products. He said any attempt to remove the subsidy will have a telling effect on the citizenry "who may now have to pay as much as N220 on a litre of fuel". Osibanjo explained why the administration suddenly embraced the subsidy policy it opposed vehemently during its 2015 election campaign, stating that it wasn't a bad idea to operate subsidy since it will help reduce fuel price for the masses. Osibanjo however took a swipe on the PDP, faulting the argument made by Obi in the area of economy and poor performance of the banking sector saying that while Nigeria fell 64 spaces in the World bank index during the PDP administration, we have climbed back 24 spaces

in the last 18 months in ease of doing business. On what he intends to differently if re-elected, Osibanjo said the present administration intends to improve on what is being done presently. "Certainly we intend to build on what we are doing that is why we are talking about the next level. At the moment we have moved 24 places up in the ease of doing business. It means that internationally we have been accepted as the top 10 reforming economies in the world according to World report. "One other issue is about the Foreign Direct Investment and of course we have been creating environment, we need to improve on power supply which is one of the critical issues we are addressing, improving transmission assets and distribution assets," he said.

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Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™Ăœ Ahamefula Ogbu 08116759810 (Ă?Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁĚš Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– ahamefula.ogbu@thisdaylive.com

HAND OF FELLOWSHIP... L-R: Executive Director, Development Education Centre (DEC), Enugu, Dr. Cecilia Asogwa; Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, Hon. Charles Ogbo Asogwa; Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and wife of former Governor of old Enugu State, Dr. Mrs. Dorothy Nwodo the during its 35th Annual Convention and 18th Annual Bursary Award of Sir Fidelis Chukwuma Asogwa Education Foundation in Enugu...yesterday

Army Recalls UNICEF Shortly after Suspension for Alleged Espionage 19 soldiers killed in Metele attack buried in Maiduguri Michael Olugbode Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă“ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“

The Nigerian military, last night, lifted its three months suspension of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) from the troubled North-east for alleged involvement in espionage activities. Also yesterday, the military buried 19 soldiers out of the 23, they confirmed were killed in the Boko Haram attack on a military base in Metele, Borno State. Giving reason for UNICEF’s suspension, the military, in a statement issued by Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director Public Relations in charge of the military counter-insurgency operation in the North-east (Operation Lafiya Dole), alleged that the United Nations agency was involved in

activities that jeopardised the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the North-east. However, few hours after it announced UNICEF’s suspension, the Nigeria Military did an about face and squashed the suspension after it said some “well-meaning individuals� persuaded them. In a positive twist of fate, within a few hours after the United Nations Children’s Fund was suspended, Col. Nwachukwu, issued a statement, saying the ban was lifted due to intervention of well-meaning individuals. The statement read: “Theatre Command Sequel to intervention by well-meaning and concerned Nigerians over the recent suspension of UNICEF operations in the Northeast theatre of operations, the Theatre

Command Operation Lafiya Dole convened and held an emergency meeting with representatives of UNICEF this evening. “During the meeting, the Theatre Command admonished the representatives of the organisation to desist from activities inimical to Nigeria’s national security and capable of undermining ongoing fight against terrorism and insurgency. “The Command also urged UNICEF representatives to ensure they share information with relevant authorities whenever induction or training of new staff is being conducted in the theatre. “Consequently, after extensive deliberations on the need to seek modalities to work harmoniously with the security agencies in the theatre of operation, the Theatre

Command has henceforth lifted the three months suspension earlier imposed on UNICEF activities in North Eastern Nigeria. The Army’s earlier statement read: “The Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole has observed with dismay that some of the activities of international humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations operating in the North-east have left so much to be desired. “There is credible information that some of them are indulging in unwholesome practices that could further jeopardise the fight against terrorism and insurgency, as they train and deploy spies who support the insurgents and their sympathisers.� “It is baffling to note that some of these organisations have been

Clear Trucks from Apapa or We Block All Port Entrances, Residents Threaten FG

Ex-FHC Judge, OďŹ li-Ajumogobia Collapses in Court, Rushed to Hospital

Kunle Adewale

A former Federal High Court judge, Justice Rita Ngozi OfiliAjumogobia, who is standing trial for an alleged corruption before an Ikeja High Court yesterday, slumped while awaiting for the commencement of proceedings. Ofili-Ajumogobia is standing trial alongside Obono Obla (SAN) on a 31-count charge bordering on an alleged perversion of the course of justice, unlawful enrichment and forgery proffered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The National Judicial Council (NJC) had on its 87th meeting, which was held on October 3, under the Chairmanship of Justice Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria recommended the dismissal of Ofili-Ajumogobia as a judge. The recommendation for dismissal was as on the strength of petitions filed to the NJC containing allegations of corruption against her by Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the

Residents and business owners in Apapa area of Lagos have issued a 21-day ultimatum to government to clear the area of all articulated vehicles or incur the wrath of the residents. The aggrieved residents at a news briefing yesterday in Apapa vowed to shut down indefinitely all business activities within Apapa and environs if government failed to comply with their demand. Speaking on behalf of the residents and business owners, retired Brigadier General Shola Ayo-Vaughan said they were prepared to block all entry both in and out of Apapa since the traffic gridlock had already wrecked their businesses and robbed them of good lives. Ayo-Vaughan said government and its agencies in connivance with the shipping

companies deliberately refused to implement policies meant to keep the trucks and containers off the road so as to force landlords, residents and business owners out of Apapa. According to him the long plan of government and its allies was to turn Apapa into a Port Area. He alleged that the situation had been made worse because shipping companies feed fat on demurrage charged unearned containers. Another resident Dr. Akinkunge regretted that they now live in perpetual fear due to recurring armed robbery attacks by hoodlums who now use Apapa as hiding place. She also lamented that some families during emergencies had lost loved ones in need of medical care to total blockade of access roads by the articulated vehicles.

Akinwale Akintunde

Acting Chairman of the EFCC.. The judge, who was in court for the hearing of the no-case submissions she had with her co-defendants, was rushed to a local hospital in an ambulance forcing the trial judge, Justice Hakeem Oshodi to adjourn the matter till January 26, following a request by her lead counsel, Mr. Robert Clarke (SAN). Justice Oshodi had fixed December 14, 2018 to hear the no-case submissions filed by the defendants. While adjourning, the judge had noted that counsel should by the adjourned date, “tidy up� all applications to ensure that the court attends to them simultaneously, saving precious judicial time. The EFCC had closed its case against Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia during the previous court proceedings held on September 14, 2018. In proving its case of corruption against Ofili-Ajumogobia, the EFCC had presented 12 witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence by the court.

playing the terrorists’ script with the aim to continue demoralising the troops who are doing so much to protect the lives of victims of Boko Haram terrorism and safe guard them from wanton destruction of property and means of livelihood. “The Theatre Command considers the actions of these organisations as a direct assault and insult on the sensibilities of Nigerians, as they tend to benefit more from expanding the reign of terror on our people.� The release added: “Consequently, the Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole is suspending the operations of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the North East theatre untill further notice. This has become inevitable since the organisation has abdicated its primary duty of catering for the wellbeing of children and the vulnerable through humanitarian activities and now engaged in training selected persons for clandestine activities to continue sabotaging the counter terrorism and counter insurgency efforts of troops through spurious and unconfirmed allegations bothering on alleged violations of human rights by the military.� The military explained that: “Information within the reach of this Command specifically indicates that the organisation commenced the said training on Wednesday 12 December 2018 at the Ministry of Finance Conference Hall, Musa Usman Secretariat, Maiduguri and ended on 13 Thursday December 2018.� It warned that: “The Theatre command will not tolerate this kind of sabotage from any individual, group of persons or organisation,� and called on “all NGOs and members of humanitarian agencies to keep to their legitimate norms in the discharge of their acclaimed humanitarian duties.� Meanwhile, efforts to get UNICEF to respond to the statement via an e-mail to its Chief of Communication in Nigeria, Eliana Drakopoulus, have not yielded result as at press time.

On the burial, in Maiduguri, of the 19 soldiers out of the 23 that were killed in the Metele attack on November 18, the Nigerian Army explained that the remaining four soldiers were not buried yesterday because their next of kin were unavailable at the time of the funeral at the Maimalari Barrack military cemetery. Though media had reported that over 100 soldiers were lost in the attack, the military insisted that 23 people, including Lt. Col. Ibrahim Sakaba and 22 soldiers, were killed while 31 others were injured during the attack on 157 Task Force Battalion, Metele on November 18. In a speech presented at the graveside of the deceased by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, who was represented by Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, the Chief, Army Training and Operations, said the fallen soldiers remained heroes. He disclosed that the four dead soldiers left unburied would be laid to rest immediately their relatives arrived in Maiduguri. Buratai lamented that the Army in the last few days lost some troops and equipment due to upsurge of insurgents’ activities. He, however, said that the setback recorded would not deter the troops from their commitments to defeat the Boko Haram insurgents. The Army Chief reiterated the commitments of the Nigerian Army to end insurgency; protect lives and property, as well as restore peace to the North-east. He said the military authorities would take care of the families of the fallen heroes in line with its welfare scheme, and prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased and for fortitude for the bereaved families to bear their loss. Buratai said: “President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is committed to the improvement of soldiers’ welfare and provision of equipment to ensure successful campaign against the Boko Haram insurgents.�

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The Abdullahi Ganduje $5m Soap Opera

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he twists and turns in the Abdullahi Ganduje $5 million soap opera are unending. The soap is running daily. The video is also selling like hot cake on the streets of Kano. It’s looking like the biggest selling video in the history of this city. The Ganduje soap opera may end up being one of the longest soaps in Nigeria’s history if this Kano State Governor gets a second term. The latest turn in this soap opera is the historic suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, over “the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN, and/or appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate allegations of bribery against Governor Ganduje of Kano State, as contained in the widely circulated video clips allegedly showing Ganduje receiving bribe.� SERAP had in November asked the president to direct the investigation of Ganduje, “If there is a relevant and sufficient admissible evidence for him to face prosecution at the expiration of his tenure as governor.� This was never looked into for obvious reasons. SERAP is now asking a court of law to compel Buhari to do the needful. In the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, the human rights body is seeking “an order for leave to apply for judicial review and an order of mandamus directing and/ or compelling Buhari to immediately direct the investigation of allegations of bribery against Ganduje.� SERAP said: “The Applicant’s requests are not onerous but simply based on issues of public interest, good governance, transparency and accountability. It is in the interest of justice to grant this application, as the Respondent has nothing to lose if the application is granted.�

Ganduje

This suit by SERAP is inspiring. The arguments put forward to back their demands are also compelling. It is an undisputable fact that investigating allegations of bribery against Ganduje would be entirely consistent with the provisions of section 15; sub-section 5 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires the government to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power, regardless of the state where such practices are taking place. It is also a fact that the Attorney-General of the Federation has power conferred on him by section 174(1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and that anti-corruption agencies have the powers to act on the allegations of bribery against Ganduje for the sake of discharging their mandates, ensuring transparency and accountability, promoting the common

good, peace, order and good government of the federation, which includes Kano State. SERAP states further: “It is important to reiterate that a sitting governor can be investigated under Nigerian laws. Any criminal allegation against a sitting governor can and should be investigated pending the time the governor leaves office and loses immunity. The Respondent has failed, neglected and refused to instruct the Attorney General of the Federation and/ or anti-corruption agencies to investigate Ganduje over the alleged bribery. Given his anticorruption commitments, the Respondent ought to have acted on SERAP’s requests to improve transparency and accountability among state governors.� The EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies have clearly been playing politics with the Ganduje issue. We have seen cases of sitting governors like Ayo Fayose being investigated and arraigned at the end of their tenure, after a strong case was established. Ganduje can’t be an exception. Nigerians genuinely interested in the war against corruption are hoping that SERAP will get the desired reprieves sought from the court. The earlier curious twist to the Ganduje soap was the injunction granted by a Kano State High Court, stopping the Kano State House of Assembly from continuing with the investigation into the $5 million bribery allegation. These lawmakers have been stopped from performing one of their statutory responsibilities by a court of law. What a country! I always burst into laughter whenever pro-Buhari activists regale us with how well the President has been fighting corruption. The Ganduja case is a classic example of the so-called total war against corruption. No wonder the Kano governor promised Buhari five million votes in 2019.

The Killings in Dogon Maje For those who have not been following the story, Dogon Maje is a village in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Bandits struck in this agrarian settlement few days back, operated for hours, killing scores of innocent people. Homes were destroyed and animals stolen from the hapless villagers. Rayyahi Abubakar, a son of one of the victims, Mallam Ibrahim Kuryan-Madaro said his father was killed by the bandits who severed his head. He said one of the bandits called him on his father’s phone to tell him “we have just killed your father, come to Dogon Maje tomorrow and take his corpse�. A combined team of mobile police and

Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) arrived hours after the bandits left the village. What a country! As at press time, not even one of the bandits had been arrested by security agents. This is why killings are unending in Nigeria. Perpetrators are hardly brought to book. Killers go unpunished. The killings in Zamfara in the last two years are frightening. Hundreds of innocent people have been sent to early graves by these terrorists. The bandits have apparently overpowered security agents. Few weeks back, 18 policemen, who were part of a police anti-rustling team deployed in the troubled state, were killed in an ambush

by the bandits. The police even struggled to recover bodies of the dead patriots. According to a police source, “the bandits have taken positions around the communities, and police intelligence suggested there may be another ambush if they attempted to recover the bodies.� Zamfara State is in a big mess. Governor Abdul-Azziz Yari resigned as the Chief Security Officer of the state out of frustration with the failure of the federal government to curb the killings. Security agents in the state have been overwhelmed by the bandits. Who will save Zamfara State? This is the big question begging for answer.

The Mess Called Lagos State Water Corporation In Lagos State, the so-called Centre of Excellence, public water supply remains a luxury. Conservatively, 98 per cent of homes and offices lack access to public water supply. We run a borehole economy here in Lagos. The frightening trend in the last 19 years is that communities that hitherto had access to public water supply no longer enjoy this “luxury�. It is a shame that residents of highbrow communities like Surulere and Yaba are now digging boreholes in their compounds due to the failure of public water supply. I read one phony apology letter written by the Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus, on Tuesday, pleading Legosians over the erratic water supply in the state. According to Badmus, the disruption was due to the epileptic power supply which affected water production at its major waterworks. “The corporation is working relentlessly on alternative power supply to strengthen its operations. The general public should conserve water, save, store, and use water wisely, especially during this period,� he

said. The statement said that residents should continue to have trust in the corporation towards improved service delivery. It reiterated that the corporation was committed to the provision of uninterrupted potable water supply for all throughout the state. Certainly, this LSWC MD called Badmus has no business remaining a day longer in office. Public water supply has been epileptic in Lagos State for over 19 years. So, is Badmus unaware? This man who has been MD sinceOctober 2015 has just recovered from his slumber and he is now “working relentlessly on alternative power supply to strengthen its operations.� What has he been doing all the while in office? Was he expecting the APC to deliver on its bogus uninterrupted electricity supply? This same Badmus worked for a water firm in the United States that supplied water to even the White House. I am sure that the US firm he worked for never provided slipshod services to Americans. Badmus should just step aside.

Badmus

El-Kanemi

Shehu of Borno and the Boko Haram Scourge Only very few public figures in the North have been courageous enough to tell President Muhammadu Buhari straight to his face that he is not making progress in the war against Boko Haram. I am very happy to see the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Garbai El-Kanemi, standing up openly to be counted. The Shehu bluntly told Buhari, who visited him in his palace in Shehuri, two weeks back, that the people of the state “are still under Boko Haram seige.� The monarch dismissed claims by security operatives that the ongoing military operations in the state and the Lake Chad region were yielding positive result. “On behalf of the traditional institution in Borno, I want to commend your Excellency for the commitment you have given towards ending the lingering crisis of Boko Haram. It is unfortunate that despite all efforts put in place to restore peace in our land and the north-east, we, the people of Borno State, are still under Boko Haram siege. “Nobody can dare move out of Maiduguri by 10 kilometres without being confronted, attacked by Boko Haram. Quite a number of farmers are being killed and kidnapped on a daily basis around Molai General Area, which is just 10 kilometres away from the metropolis, along Maiduguri -Damboa -Biu road. “Most of the surrounding villages and communities in Konduga, Damboa, Mafa and other local government areas have been razed down in the last two weeks. We plead that the federal government and the security agencies review the strategies in nipping this lingering crisis in the bud.� The President clearly got an informed briefing different from the lies of his war commanders. Unfortunately, I am not sorry to say that our President lacks the capacity to tame Boko Haram.

Udom Emmanuel’s Record Legal Fees Udom Emmanuel’s Record Legal Fees I am hoping that our governors will not send some of us that worry a lot about this country to an early grave. One of such actions that left me bemused was the record N1.4 billion paid to a law firm as professional fees by the Akwa Ibom State Government. We were told that the payments were for “several dispute resolution matters handled for the state’s government.� There are speculations that it also covered job done on Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Election Petition Appeal that was decided by the Supreme Court early in 2016. The payments moved straight from the account of Akwa Ibom State Government to that of the law firm. Udom Emmanuel has paid so much as legal fees in a state where there is abject poverty. He has paid so much in a state where education, health and road infrastructure are in tatters. This is a state where majority lack access to public water supply, yet, N1.4 billion went for the payment of ludicrous legal fees. On this issue, Udom Emmanuel is a big disappointment.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ DECEMBER 15, 2018

SUPER SATURDAY

Love Made in Lagos Music stars Adekunle Kosoko (Adekunle Gold) and Simisola Ogunleye (Simi) seem to have confirmed their relationship status as they shared a kiss on stage, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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inger Adekunle Kosoko (Adekunle Gold) and songstress Simisola Ogunleye’s (Simi) relationship has been an item of intense interest to their teeming fans and music lovers soon after both young artistes’ careers commenced. The nature of the relationship they both share has been on the front burner. Aside their music relationship, not a few believe there is no more than that but a romance between the two. Despite all what has been seen, said, suggested, and guessed about them, there has never been a confirmation from the pair, and not even a straight denial. During a listening session of his recent album, Adekunle Gold said Simi was just his partner in music, particularly in the area of songwriting. It however seems event of last Sunday December 8 has confirmed their status as Simi told Adekunle Gold that ‘Your love is overwhelming’ after they shared a kiss on stage. Simi celebrated her man, Adekunle Gold, with beautiful words after he joined her on stage at Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island during her annual concert tagged ”Simi Live in Lagos”. The Joromi singer soon took to Instagram to share the photos from the concert, one of which revealed where she and Adekunle were kissing, and wrote: “God knew what He was doing when our paths crossed. Ur support is immense; ur love is overwhelming in the best way. Thank you Champ @adekunlegold. However, she immediately deleted the photo and replaced with a second one which shows them embracing. One observer remarked: “Sure there is still a chance that they’re really just playing with us, but really, it looks more like they aren’t. The possibility that they could actually have been together all this while, yet leaving us with nothing but conjectures and guesses concerning their relationship and what possibly goes on in it is really impressive, and absolutely worthy of emulation, especially for lovers who like to keep things on the low. “Apart from the chemistry and all the affectionate, almost sexual embraces we see from them during their many joint performances, not much can be said to be known about their relationship. And we must add that what we see on stage is actually what they want us to see - no more.” The best alternative song award winner, Adekunle had said about his relationship with Simi. “I don’t have to tell you if I am dating Simi or not. I cannot reveal my girlfriend’s identity because it could be that she does not want to be known. It could be that I want that aspect of my life to be a secret. People know and love me because of my music. “I cannot be married for 10 years and people would not eventually find out. When the time is right, everyone would know who my love interest is. Let’s assume that I am dating Simi, what if it does not work out? I’d love to keep that part of my life secret.” The urban high life music revolutionist recently released his sophomore album titled “About 30.” The lead single of the album ‘Ire’ has had so much airplay that it has been dubbed “the Nigerian prayer anthem of 2018.” As expected, Simi had a hand in the album preparation process. She mixed majority of the songs on the record and also played a role in the area of songwriting. The two singers are known to share a strong chemistry that has produced powerful emotion-filled music but it was unsure whether their chemistry also exists in the form of romance and they both have not helped matters by keeping fans guessing and leaving speculations to swell on the topic. Simi and Adekunle Gold have kept their romance low-key for quite a while, only flaunting their music aspects. Reports have it that both singers have been together for a very long time even before their career flight. The affection shared by the pair on-stage and off it seem to attest to this. At the beginning of their career, the two kept their brands separate and were hardly photographed together. Given the heavy spotlight on celebrity couples, this decision paid well for Simi and her boo as they were able to build their careers outside the spotlight. Although they tried their best to keep their love life private, their fans waited impatiently for them to go public as a couple. Well the fans that have waited so long for this confirmation can now rest knowing that their favourites are truly in love and in a flourishing relationship.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ DECEMBER 15, 2018

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SUPERSATURDAY

Mikel Glowing with Olga Diyachenko Mikel and Family

Nigeria’s international football star Mikel Obi is having a swell-time with the Russian mother of his twin daughters, Olga Diyachenko as the family goes on holiday, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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fter surviving relegation with his Tianjin Teda Football Club of China, following a grueling season which saw the former Chelsea star participate at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the home country of his beautiful partner, Mikel Obi is having a swell time with the mother of his twin daughters Ava and Mia as the family continues their holiday. Mikel, his Russian partner Olga Diyachenko, and their kids, were photographed enjoying family time while vacationing on an Island. The couple and their kids looked carefree as they rode on two bicycles in the serene environment. Mikel and his family were in the Maldives on vacation after their brief visit to Nigeria. The Russian mother of two was seen dancing to a traditional song while she surprisingly suffered the “money-spraying” culture shock in Nigeria. Mikel was in Nigeria as part of his holiday with his family for the first time where they met his parents. They visited relatives, friends and family members before he made other arrangements including setting up a programme for developing footballers. The family it seems is enjoying every bit of his off season break as the Chinese Super League (CSL) was concluded last month. Both couple took to their respective official Instagram accounts to post pictures of their vacation along with their children. The 31-year-old Super Eagles captain posted a

picture of him and his wife on bicycles both with one twin daughter at their backs. Along with the picture, Mikel wrote, “Poohdom cycling.” His wife Olga who often calls him ‘Pooh1’, also posted the same picture along with a message, “Love all around... Island life.” While in the country, his Russian beauty wooed Nigeria women, describing them as beautiful, graceful, and charismatic and not a shred of insecurity;adding that she hopes her children grow up to be just like that. Mikel who started his break by taking his daughters on a lunch date while they were in London is expected to continue his vacation until next year when the league resumes in China. Mikel’s relationship with his partner has come of age. It most times turn out befuddling with which term to describe her, maybe wife, girlfriend, or baby mama, partner or pair as the football star is yet to make it official. There had been a report by the UK Sun which has yet remained underground that Mikel is also a father to two children with two different women he briefly dated. According to the report, he has a seven-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter. His reps did not deny the report but had preferred that the matter remain private as the midfielder is taking care of the kids. In all however, Mikel is glowing with Olga Diyachenko as she is seen often supporting him off and on the pitch. The Olympic bronze medalist has been with Olga

since 2013 and they welcomed their twin girls in September 2015. Mikel used to live in the same compound with her parents. According to Olga, it all started when she went to drop off their flat keys with Mikel. “Mikel used to be my parents neighbour. We lived there for five years. As my parents were leaving the flat, I dropped off the keys at his flat and that was how we met and started off as friends and then grew into lovers. “It was never a magical love story because we were neighbours for five years but we never met until I went to drop off the keys when my parents were about to leave the apartment.” She further explained that their kids don’t have any Igbo or Russian names because they are citizens of the world. Olga said they would decide which tradition to follow, Russian, British where they were born or Nigerian. She said she liked Nigerian music but doesn’t watch Nollywood movies. Olga said “I don’t watch Nollywood movies. Mikel watches a lot of Nigerian movies. I don’t watch them. I love listening to Nigerian music. They have nice beats.” The couple recently celebrated their anniversary where Olga also wrote a short story of how they met and fell in love. “Five years ago today you walked into my parent’s house and into my life. A year later on that exact day we went on our first date, you are persistent.” Mikel also wrote. “I am so lucky to share my life with you and our precious little peanuts. Love you.”

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ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

A MANIFESTO I NEVER WROTE Willy Eleje Abili dreams big for Ebonyi State

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n 2017, I wrote up two articles titled ‘My Dream for Ebonyi State’, which was published in two parts in THISDAY Newspaper of 14th and 21st April. The article was invariably an imaginative ight of my fancy of a preferred future for the state, thought out within a principled framework of my ‘Scriptural Paraphrases and Illustrations in Ehugbo Dialect’ (SPIED). For it would appear that, the half education of Nigerian Pentecostalism opened the eye of my heart to spew out the secrets of God. ‘My Dream for Ebonyi State’, was a synopsis of the statesmanship, under Pharaoh, of Joseph, who was a society man, though, the secret one, whose name he knew not, unknown to his world, which regarded him as a recluse in incarceration. A discerning reader of the articles must have perceived a trajectory of development strategy and policy in an extravaganza of onomatopoeia, idioms and metaphors. But it must have equally left a retinue of questions in the mind of a secular reader. This article attempts to situate the answers within the context of a manifesto I never wrote. To those that might wish to dub my ideas, it is okay for someone to interpret your dream, but the vision has got to be yours. A manifesto would appear to be a statement of principles, motives and intentions, a spurn of yarn to sell an aspirant to a party and market him/her to the electorate. I believe that the work of an incumbent is for a certain time distance defined by law but accustomed to one and a half years of governance and two and a half of politicking, totalling four at the minimum and eight at the maximum. It is therefore advisable to do one or two key things than to try doing all at once and do nothing at all in the end. To begin with, I do not believe that a state that has capital in addition to labour and land can go into receivership, receiving allocation from the federal government. I believe that fiscal federalism is conceived in states of differentiation, specialization, competition and complementarity, under one national state of free democratic enterprise, social justice and inclusion. The status of the state therefore, as an imperial proxy, is the full business action of a sovereign federation. In line with the extant narrative, I began to ask myself, what indeed are Ebonyi State strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The state as found, of all the South East states, is most endowed with land, a pristine factor of production. This would appear to represent opportunity for self-expression and fulfilment of own best-self. The territory is however a remote cul-de-sac. Moreover, like the rest of the federation, the state is in precarious position of territorial compromise by insurgents. As a fourth generation state, Ebonyi is one of the least endowed with infrastructure and internal capacity having suffered arrears of deprivation from federal resource allocation and representation. Implicit in this is a threat of fiscal morass and a need for good governance and sustainable development. We must then have to look for unique reasons why people would have to come to

ABAKILIKI’ ARGUABLY SOUNDS MORE EXOTIC THAN THE REST OF STATE CAPITALS OF SOUTH EAST GEO-POLITICAL ZONE OF THE FEDERATION, BUT THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT REMAIN THAT OF A SUBURBAN TOWNSHIP

Ebonyi and how to give the state a utilitarian exposure. In line with my principle of inclusion, this should be done with key stakeholders, such as civil society organisations, leaders of thought, religion and tradition, non–governmental organisations and so on. Together we shall explore how to bring the state governance more into social space, bringing down cost of living, elevating the real income of workers and re-inventing a middle class of active citizens who can invigilate political process and make enlightened demands on government. My following suggestions on how to go about the foregoing are therefore hypothetical but are also intended to fascinate the reader: we’d consider that Joseph dwelt in the bush and King Solomon built a house in the forest. A government-house for-rest, modelled after ‘Camp David’ shall be built, in order to appropriate strategic retreat in wisdom of the ancients, such that heads of state and government can conveniently obtain, putting the state on the world map. ‘Abakiliki’ arguably sounds more exotic than the rest of state capitals of south east geo-political zone of the federation, but the physical environment remain that of a sub-urban township. There shall be massive transformation of the physical space to inspire our people. We intend to do a mini Champ Elyse with a tract of grassland dotted with trees flowers and shrubs, buntings of flag and full and uninterruptible street lighting with solar-power, heralding visitors into the city. All the streets shall be paved with inter-locking stones and named after iconic figures such as: Mmilicar Cabral boulevard, Kamuzu Banda Crescent, Osei Tutu Drive, Ordorbro Close, Starehe Boys Scout Lane, Babarosa Avenue, Mansa Musa Horse Race Course, Moshe Dayan Freedom Park, Dan Fodio High-Street, Donald Trump Count Down City Clock, Netanyahu Polo Park, Gbazue Agu gbazue agu Roundabout‌We shall build a monastery to be known as ‘Aladin Hall’, for clerics, philosophers and poets. In partnership with the private sector and foreign investors, we shall put in place a world class rice industry, grain silos, cattle ranch, fish farms, cement factory, quarry industry, table salt plant and independent power plants‌We shall explore in collaboration with neighbouring Cross River State and the federal government, superlative macadamized thoroughfare and mono-rail to marginalize the dead-end efficiency of the state’s geographical location. Vocational training for artisans and full-bright scholarship for citizens will be explored with City and Guilds U.K and foreign ivy -league academic institutions respectively. We shall also inter-alia, look into social intervention in partnership with business service providers as well as install CCTV, put up un-manned aerial vehicles and trained, mobilizable and well equipped militia. We shall do regular state of the state broadcast in order not to leave our motives and intentions open to interpretation. My dear ladies and fellow grand-Ebo-knights, as things begin to unfold; I see the name, Grand Ebonyi Metropolitan State, taking on our state‌

ICPC/DSO: INTERROGATING THE INVESTIGATOR The ICPC should get its facts right, argues Hamid Hendrix

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ctions are governed by intentions. This is a very profound principle of divine justice in Islam which reects the exalted insight into the essence of determining the true nature of the overt action of human beings from the inner impulses of the mind, known only to the Omniscient, rather than the “obviousâ€? outward perceptions of the action itself. This underscores the sanctity of divine judgment. However, at our level as mere mortals, it often does not require divine wisdom to decipher the link between human action and the intended purpose of the action because of our imperfection. The same applies to the actions of our corporate entities which are, after all, imprinted with our inherent weaknesses. A very revealing episode that captures this element of transparent treachery in the activities of human institutions ostensibly established to uphold rectitude and dispense justice has manifested in the recent outrageous outing of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) through an update on an investigation into an alleged “misapplicationâ€? of N2.5 billion by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in respect of payment to Pinnacle Communications Limited under the Digital Switch Over (DSO) from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasts. The statement dished out by the ICPC’s spokesperson, Mrs Rasheedat Okoduwa, turned out to be the most disastrous display

of the damning disparity between outward action and ulterior motive by a government agency that was established purposely to be “independent� of undue influences in combating corrupt practices in public institutions. Barely 24 hours after its self-indicting statement went public, the ICPC plunged from the heights of institutional probity to the valleys of villainous vendors of “corrupt practices and other related offences�! The ensuing barrage of bricks and bats buried the ICPC/Okoduwa howler under a scandalous summation of terminological inexactitudes and unpardonable errors. An embarrassed NBC (renamed“Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation� by ICPC), and an array of commentators, turning the ICPC into an absurd caricature of a corrective commission. Outside its quarantined quarters, there were deafening denunciations of the apparent hijacking of its investigative independence by a subterranean “Disgruntled Saboteurs’ Organization� viciously determined to destroy and pull-down the high-definition successes of Pinnacle Communications Limited and the NBC in turning the jinxed serially-postponed Digital Switch Over (DSO) from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasts into progressively unfolding impressive reality. This disturbing attempt by unscrupulous private interests to misuse a government agency such as the ICPC to sabotage a strategic national project like the DSO is yet another diabolical

dimension to the vulnerability of important public institutions and their top officials to the deeply embedded cankerworm of corruption and a veritable vindication of President Buhari’s unyielding focus and determination to fight it on all fronts. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no way for the ICPC to be so pathetically uninformed, and misguided on an issue as straight forward and well-publicized as the DSO Nigeria project as the Okoduwa statement exposed it, if it had genuinely and independently carried out investigations into the project in general and the payment of N2.5 billion in particular which was so obviously the bone of contention. How could it not have known the correct meaning of NBC, for example, and be referring to the defunct Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, long-forgotten precursor of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria? How could ICPC advertise its stark ignorance of the basic technical subject of the DSO being migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television signal broadcasting and not telephone as its Okoduwa “fake news� declared? How could the ICPC which is supposedly so far gone in its investigations into DSO, NBC and Pinnacle Communications Limited, issue a public statement whose references are replete with fiction, distortion and misrepresentation and other barely concealed prejudicial parodies of the well-documented pivotal and progressive role of Pinnacle Communications Limited in most eventful last four years of

the chequered history of the DSO project? Arguably, the most despicable aspect of the ICPC’s statement on so-called investigations into “misapplication� of N2.5 billion by the NBC is the manipulation of the narrative from update on investigation to speculative indictment by references to selected portions of “findings�? Apart from the ICPC’s uncharacteristic recourse to EFCC-style trialby-media which must be linked to the loss of “independence�, this again raises questions about the sources of the litany of lies and other misleading contents of the Okoduwa statement since neither NBC nor Pinnacle Communications Limited could have been the source. In the corrective context of the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption crusade, the mind-boggling matters arising from the ICPC/Okoduwa statement constitute a rude awakening to the infiltration and hijacking of a major “fixer� in its arsenal by the “disgruntled saboteurs organization�, targeting the Digital Switch Over, one of its high definition corrective achievements. The loud silence of the ICPC over this scandalous case of collective culpability in out-sourcing its strategic core mandate to unpatriotic enemies of progress demands a drastic and decisive dose of action, not just to save the DSO Nigeria project but also to salvage the ICPC, now the weakest link in the war against corrupt practices, in action as well as intention. Hamid wrote from Abuja

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ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

INSIGHT

In pursuit of peace...

Re: Sokoto PDP Flag Off: Gainers, Losers

Buhari and the Promise of Security

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n 2015, history was made. An incumbent president being defeated in an election (and leaving ofďŹ ce!) in our part of the world is rare to say the least. We were excited, things looked like they were going to be different. Big promises were being made. The question was, could the new President Buhari now keep those promises? As someone who has worked and travelled extensively across our lands, I was particularly sceptical about the situation in the north. This is what Buhari told us then: “I will urgently secure the territorial integrity of the nation. I will never leave the defence of the nation in the hands of hunters, children, and Civilian JTF through the following: one, urgently address capacity building mechanisms of law enforcement agents in terms of quantity and quality as this is critical in safeguarding the sanctity of lives and property; two, establish a well-trained, adequately equipped and goals driven serious crime squad to combat insurgencies, kidnapping, armed robbery, ethno-religious and communal clashes, nationwide.â€? It sounded good. In fact, it sounded great. Furthermore, candidate Buhari told us that, “I will; one, establish a Conflict Resolution Commission to help prevent, mitigate, and resolve civil conflicts within the polity; two, bring permanent peace and solution to the insurgency issues in the North-East; the Niger Delta; and other conflict-prone states and areas such as Plateau, Benue, Bauchi, Borno, Abia, Taraba, Yobe, and Kaduna in order to engender national unity and social harmony.â€? These claims were wild and misleading. To bring “permanent peaceâ€? to war-torn, unruly lands without resources is one thing, but to do them without a strategy is another. His ad hoc approach simply did not work. Despite international support and a nation united behind the president’s vision, not only is the North-East far from peaceful, it is worse than ever. And it’s not just Islamist terrorism. According to the Coalition on Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Nigeria, over 2000 lives have been lost to violent activities and clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the country in the last few years. Anyone who lives in Nigeria, watches the news, and reads the newspapers can’t miss it. Sadly, those who live in the states of Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa, Kogi and Nasarawa states have felt the brunt of the violence. The residents of these areas live in permanent fear. So while the Middle Belt and parts of the North tore itself apart, Boko Haram, now a household name all around the world, has dramatically increased its violent activities all across the North East and Lake Chad region. Since July 2018, we have seen

at least 18 attacks on military bases, almost all of them in the region around Lake Chad. In addition, its successes have spawned new, ideologically similar groups. The Islamic State (IS), which was originally a Middle Eastern phenomenon has killed well over 100 people in a collection of operations in Nigeria in the last two years. The attacks are spreading. On November 18th, jihadists murdered scores of soldiers (survivors claim the figure is over one hundred) in an attack on a base in Metele along the border with Niger. Meanwhile Boko Haram continues to take control of villages in the area, in places where our military is weaker than ever. This failure on the security front is especially noticeable following the incredible declaration by the president that Boko Haram had been ‘technically defeated’ already, back in 2015. Unbelievably, at the beginning of this year, the president shocked onlookers when he doubled down and stuck by that claim. As we move into 2019, not only has the organisation not been defeated, but all expert analysis suggests it has actually strengthened. How does “a virtually defeated terrorist organization� cause absolute mayhem, death and destruction on an almost daily basis? Lawrence Gemade, Abuja

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read with an article with the above caption written by one Abu Shekara, the Director General, Media and Public Affairs to Sokoto State Governor, on the recent PDP ag off campaign launched in Sokoto recently. In the said piece, Abu Shekara opined that the campaign rally left an impression that portends a number of implications for the political landscape of the Northwestern region and the nation as a whole. According to him gainers and losers emerged in the aftermath. Mr. Shekara attributed the major gain to the PDP, basking in the euphoria that a mammoth crowd stood at Kangiwa Square venue of the event for over six hours, wanting to catch a glimpse of the event. This in all ramifications is more or less a blatant lie. I was in Sokoto when the flag off campaign was held and didn’t notice any of such crowd. In fact, I didn’t even know there was an event of sort going on in the state until a friend of mine informed me that Atiku Abubakar was holding a campaign rally at Kangiwa Square. I quickly rushed to the said venue to see things for myself and to my dismay, all I saw were thugs carrying all sorts of weapons and destroying people’s vehicles who they perceived to be opposition members while others were busy

T H E SAT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE DEPUTY EDITOR CHIKA AMANZE-NWACHUKU 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 DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: ďŹ rst name.surname@thisdaylive.com

selling hard drugs at the main entrance of the square. I had to park my car at a nearby building belonging to FOMWAN for fear of being attacked and trekked several metres to the venue. And alas, I saw an empty field with half-filled canopies and some jobless youths roaming about while others were busy playing football. If what I saw was what Abu Shekara meant by “an unprecedented crowd�, then I am sorry. Mr. Shekara always cited Governor Tambuwal as an individual who stood to gain more from the gathering but unknown to him, Tambuwal only succeeded in blowing away his last remaining political goodwill by hosting Atiku Abubakar in a state that’s yet to heal from the scores of perpetual corruption inflicted upon it in the last three to four years due to gross maladministration. The event also highlighted Tambuwal’s imminent political demise as he failed to galvanise support for his “commodity.� Over the last three years since Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal became governor, not much can be said about his achievements as governor of the state. For the most part, until people began to complain, the governor was always out of the state. The local governments today has been made moribund, and we haven’t seen or heard anything interesting going on in Sokoto State. Another personality who Abu Shekara claimed to have gained more from the jamboree was Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, the former state governor who currently cannot deliver even his own local government. One would be left in doubt if Bafarawa received a rousing welcome at the occasion. This is someone with little or no electoral value, a man who in 2007 was overwhelmingly defeated despite the power of incumbency and a man whose greed made him to field his son as the PDP standard bearer for Isa/ Sabon-Birni federal constituency in 2015 but was unable to secure the seat for him. If not for Abu Shekara’s lack of imagination, how do you expect an expired politician who failed to impose his son on only two local governments to deliver 23 LGAs for the PDP? To Abu Shekara, APC is the main loser considering the fact that the Sokoto flag off was an exhibition of the kind of support and popularity the PDP is currently enjoying in the state which according to him can be measured with the mammoth crowd that greeted the occasion. I still wonder if Mr. Shekara really understands the meaning of ‘mammoth crowd’.

Usama Dandare, Sokoto

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝ËœÍşÍ¸ÍšÎ€

NEWS

In Brief AU Studies Youths Contribution to Peace

African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) has commissioned continent-wide to ascertain the contribution of youth in security and peace-building in Africa. The Peace and Security Department (PSD) of the African Union Commission (AUC) on Friday, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, convened a methodological workshop for the conduct of the AU-PSC’s mandated ‘study on the role and contributions of youth to peace and security in Africa’. The Early Warning OďŹƒcer, Peace and Security Department, AUC, Ms. Mfrekeobong Ukpanah, in a statement made available after the workshop, noted that the mandated study was an outcome of the PSC dedication of its 807th meeting on November 8, 2018, to an open session ‘Youth, Peace and Security’ in commemoration of the Africa Youth Day. Ukpanah said the forum provided an opportunity for youth groups to update the Council on their contributions to peace and security.

Air Peace Apologises to Passengers

LITERARY ICON... L-R: Kayode Dosunmu ; Femi Omoniyi, centre, United States based Nigerian project development expert, and Taiwo Shonde, at the presentation of the book, Procrastination: Silent Killer of Dreams, written by Omoniyi, at Four Points by Sheraton, Houston,Texas...recently

Boko Haram: Cowardice Caused Death of Soldiers in Metele, Says New Theatre Commander Army releases another batch of postings, appointments Kingsley Nwezeh Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

The new Theatre Commander of the Nigerian Army overseeing war efforts in the North-east tagged “Operation Lafiya Dole�, Major General Benson Akinruloye, declared yesterday that the army lost gallant soldiers and equipment to terrorists because of “unseriousness and cowardice� on the part of some soldiers. The army said 39 soldiers fell when terrorists overran 157 Task Force Battalion, Metele, Borno State, last month but other sources within the theatre of war said over 100 soldiers were killed by the insurgents. This is coming as Army Headquarters released another batch of postings and appointment of senior officers, including General Officers

Commanding (GOCs) and brigade commanders. Speaking while declaring open an orientation and induction cadre for commanders and staff officers at the Maimalari Cantonment Officers’ Mess, Maiduguri, Akinruloye expressed grief over the “cases of negligence, lackadaisical and cowardly attitudes of some personnel during Boko Haram terrorists offensive actions in the north-east,� adding that such “unprofessional and disgraceful habits led to the death of gallant colleagues while weapons and equipment were carted away by the adversary.� General Akinroluyo, who said such “unwholesome attitudes must not be allowed to continue,� recalled the days when the Armed Forces of Nigeria received global accolade

for combat efficiency outside the shores of Nigeria and urged the newly inducted officers to repeat those glorious battlefield successes in Nigeria. The theatre commander reminded the incoming officers that their selection, posting and appointment into the operational theatre was premised on the confidence reposed in them by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai and therefore urged them to work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them. He further noted that the cadre was the first of its kind in the theatre and that it was aimed to equip the officers with vital information that they would require in planning for effective command and administration in their respective posts. While urging the officers to take

the cadre course very seriously, the commander pointed out that the course for the newly inducted officers was designed to actualise the army chief’s vision to enhance professionalism in the Nigerian Army through training, seminars, management retreats and exercises. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army yesterday released another batch of posting and appointments of some of its senior officers. Those affected by the exercise include Major General AA Nani, who is to remain in Army Headquarters Department of Policy and Plans (AHQ DAPP) and appointed Chief of Policy and Plans (Army); Major General MM Mshelia, from Warrant Officers Academy (WOA), Jaji, to Nigerian Army Training Centre (NATRAC) and appointed Commander.

Air Peace has apologised to its customers over the disruption of their ights on dierent routes on Friday. A statement issued by the airline’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said some of the airline’s scheduled ights were disrupted due to a depressurisation challenge on its Lagos-Enugu ight. Spokesman of Air Peace, Chris Iwarah explained that the airline was compelled to declare the aircraft unserviceable in line with its uncompromising stance on matters of safety. This aected the routes scheduled for the aircraft, as passengers experienced delays in their ight time caused by replacement time because another aircraft had to take over the routes The airline said it regretted the resultant delay of ights on several routes the aircraft was scheduled to service, assuring that it had made arrangements for other aircraft in its eet to salvage the situation. “On Friday, December 14, 2018, our Lagos-Enugu ight had a depressurisation challenge, compelling us to declare it unserviceable upon safely landing at destination in line with our strict safety standards.

Buhari Congratulates Ogunbanjo at 95

President Muhammadu Buhari has joined other Nigerians to congratulate one of the country’s foremost corporate lawyers and businessman, Papa Christopher Oladipo Ogunbanjo, as he turns 95 years. A press statement signed by the President Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina noted that “President Muhammadu Buhari joins family and friends in celebrating one of Nigeria’s foremost corporate lawyers and businessman, Papa Christopher Oladipo Ogunbanjo, as he turns 95 years.� The President congratulates the nonagenarian for his contributions to the development of law practice in the country, particularly his interest in advocating domiciliary accounts in the banking system, which had since become one of the major drivers of the economy. President Buhari commends Papa Ogunbanjo’s foresight and resourcefulness in always taking bold steps for knowledge and also encouraging younger people to pursue wisdom, knowledge and hard work as gateways to success, while also helping the less privileged with his resources.

‘Looking for Love Naija’ Kicks O

Court Orders ICPC to Unfreeze Pinnacle’s OAU Produces Best Clinical Science Account over Alleged N2.5bn Fraud Graduand as 182 Bag First Class

The search is over for those looking for love as a new dating show hits African Magic Urban Single Nigerians who desire to build companionship or are in dire need of an opportunity to meet their soulmate and better half. ‘Looking for Love Naija’ which has started airing is ďŹ rst of its kind, highly packed, reality TV show ďŹ lled with suspense, romance, comedy, and lots of drama is set to hit African Magic Urban Channel 153 on DSTV at 9:30p.m. The programme is an Afro reality-TV show produced by BusuMelo Media. Each episode features two total strangers (one male, one female) called Love Hopefuls who go on a series of dates to test their compatibility for a chance at ďŹ nding real love. The episodes runs for 30 minutes allowing viewers to enjoy the very genuine struggles of real people trying to make truthful and engaging connections in the buzzing city of Lagos, Nigeria.

Alex Enumah Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

Sowore, Ize-Iyamu Kick over Presidential Debate

The Abuja division of the Federal High Court on Friday ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to unfreeze the account of Pinnacle Communications Ltd domiciled with the Zenith bank. The order which was made by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba during a ruling he delivered in a suit filed by the communication firm, was predicated on the grounds that the anti-graft agency failed to show cause why the accounts of the firm should remain frozen. The plaintiff had dragged the ICPC to court challenging the freezing of its account vide a post-no-debit restriction on its account in Zenith Bank Plc. The ICPC had claimed that Pinnacle was fraudulently recommended to the Minister of Information and Culture for the release of N2.5 billion against the guidelines contained in the White Paper.

The commission further alleged that the fund was diverted into private hands, which informed its investigation of the company and subsequent placing of a postno-debit restriction on the Zenith bank’s account of Pinnacle. In his ruling yesterday, Justice Dimgba acknowledged that the suit was filed based on the post-nodebit order placed on the account of the plaintiff (Pinnacle). He also noted that the ICPC had statutory power to temporarily freeze a suspicious account in accordance with the provisions of sections 44(2)(k) and 43(1) of ICPC Act. The court further noted that the essence of temporarily freezing an account was to avail an antigraft agency the needed time to launch investigations and possibly file charges against an account owner. “It is not for the ICPC (1st defendant) to freeze an account when it has not concluded investigation on any suspicious account or act,� Justice Dimgba said.

Yinka Kolawole Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă‘ĂŒĂ™

No fewer than 182 students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife have graduated with first class degrees out of the 13,402 graduands in the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 convocations. A record was however created as one Arinola Olaiya, became the first student, in 28 years, to graduate with Distinction (with Honours) from the Faculty of Clinical Sciences. She had 12 distinctions in the courses. This was disclosed by the Vice -Chancellor of the University Professor Eyitayo Ogunbodede, who said that the graduands were drawn from all the faculties in the university. He said that 2,925 students made second class upper, while 4,146 students graduated with second class lower division. According to him, 1,088 passed out with third class and 60 graduates with ordinary pass degrees just as 790 were unclassified. The Vice-Chancellor explained

that 326 graduands were conferred with postgraduate diplomas, 1,701 with professional Masters, 1,629 with Master by Research, 145 with Masters of Philosophy, while 410 would be conferred with Doctors of Philosophy degrees. The convocation lectures was delivered by a pioneer staff, a retired Professor of History and Second Republic Senator, Professor Banjo Akintoye on the topic ‘University Education in Nigeria: Revisiting the Ife Dream’. Highlight of the occasion was the conferment of an Honoary Doctorate degree on a Professor Emeritus in the English Department at Cornell University, Ithaca , USA and, currently, a Professor of Comparative Literature/African and American Studies at Harvard University, Boston, USA, Professor Biodun Jeyifo. He received Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) Honoris causa for his outstanding intellectual and academic achievements yesterday from the Chancellor and Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional

Outrage has continued to trail the exclusion of presidential candidate of The African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore and that of the Better Nigeria Progressive Party, BNPP, Rev. David Esosa Ize-Iyamu from the 2019 presidential debate, organised by Nigerian Elections Debate Group, NEDG, and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, BON. But Sowore has dismissed the move to sidelined him, saying he was not afraid of all the antics to stop him because he was the candidate to beat in the election. Also Ize-Iyamu, who is the current national leader of the 17 million member Youth wing of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), and founder of the Youth Revolution Movement (YRM), while Sowore, is publisher of online newspaper, Sahara Reporters.

Gourmet Guide Unveils Cook Book

Gourmet Guide on Unilag 103.1 Fm has celebrated its food challenge and innovative entrepreneurial skills in food, drinks, health and agriculture products at the University of Lagos Sta School Hall. The event which was the ďŹ fth edition was also an avenue to launch the Gourmet Guide Cook Book which features contents as various recipes to eating a healthy meal, food quiz and entrepreneurial discussion. Themed ‘Raising Youths To Take Over The Food, Drinks and Agriculture Sectors of Nigeria’, which is aimed at training and encouraging the youths in the entrepreneurial drive in the area of food, drinks, and agricultural sectors in Nigeria, the occasion witnessed an atmosphere of youthful display of artistic talents and skills by students of the University of Lagos Sta School in a proudly Nigerian culture, innovation, abilities and values.

T H I S D AY ˾ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2018

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝ËœÍşÍ¸ÍšÎ€

NEWS

APC, PDP Trade Accusations on Plots to Rig 2019 Polls APC: you want to import Russian hackers; PDP: You directed INEC to create phony polling centres INEC: Allegations preposterous Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Two frontline parties in the Nigerian political space, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have accused each other of plots variously to rig the 2019 elections. While APC is accusing the PDP of recruiting some Russian hackers to manipulate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s data base if the bill allowing electronic transfer of result was signed into law, the PDP is alleging that the APC and Presidency had directed the INEC to open phony voting centres on the fringes of the desert where results would be padded in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari. But in swift reaction, the electoral body has described the allegations as distasteful, regretting that the parties could deliberately embark on peddling complete falsehood about the commission, with the sole intent of discrediting all the good efforts being put in place to ensure a credible 2019 general eslections. The ruling party alleged it was the plot to use hackers that informed the PDP presidential

candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, his National Chairman, Uche Secondus, Senate President Bukola Saraki and other leaders of the party insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari must assent to the new Electoral Bill. Speaking at an interactive session with Correspondents on Friday in Abuja, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, alleged that PDP had enlisted the services of some internet hackers from Russia with a view to compromising the servers of the election management body. Responding, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, contended that it was Buhari and the APC that had been caught in a frenzied desperation to rig the 2019 Presidential during a press conference in Abuja. Nabena said, “They planned to bring some Russians to help them hack the system. That is their joker. Once the President sign the bill, they will just bring in the Russians to help them hack into the system. Saraki and others went to Russia and they have their plan to hack the system, input their figures after results have been transmitted electronically

HONOUR WELL DESERVED... L-R. Pro-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi; and Harvard Professor of Comparative Literature, Biodun Jeyifo at the convocation of OAU in which Jefyifo was awarded an honourary degree of Doctor of Letters (D. Litt)...yesterday

which will now be announced. “The electoral Act we are using now was created by the PDP. You created a bill and now, you are afraid to use the bill that you created. Does that sound right? “What the PDP is plotting is playing out, what they designed in Dubai. They started with inciting a strike from the Labour on the

Again, Wike Tasks INEC, Police on Credible Polls Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has once again called on the Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commit themselves to credible polls in the interest of the nation. Wike said it was the negative actions of the police and INEC who manipulate the electoral process that made it difficult for politicians to be held accountable by the electorate. Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of

Zone 6 Calabar to Government House, Port Harcourt yesterday, Wike said politicians took advantage of the illegal electoral system to deny the people good governance. His words: “Don’t allow yourselves to be used negatively to influence the electoral process. “Please, save Nigeria so that we can continue to remain united beyond 2019. The greater interest of the nation is paramount. You people make politicians not to be accountable. “If votes count, every politician will sit up. Here, our votes don’t count. People rely on police and

INEC to get into office.� The governor noted that the illegal actions of the police and INEC generate violence in the political space. “Violence is caused when security agencies lay the scene for the rigging of elections. INEC manipulates the process and it leads to violence. “Our major problem in the country is the Police and INEC. It is the duty of the police to stop the crime of rigging.� He assured the Police that the State Government would always support them with the logistics and funding to fight crime.

World Bank’s $495m Irrigation Funds Will Improve Nigeria’s Economy, Says FG Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has revealed the economic values of the $495 million credit facility the World Bank gave in support of the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria Project (TRIMING). A document obtained by THISDAY from the ministry showed that the funds would help in the ongoing National Irritation Development Programme initiated to aid diversification of the economy, guarantee food security and Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, stated that the project involved rehabilitation/ expansion of about 42,000 hectares of irrigation land under the first phase, to be completed by 2022. “The World Bank is supporting the implementation of the Transform-

ing Irrigation Management in Nigeria Project (TRIMING) with a credit facility of US$495m. The first phase to be completed by 2022, are as follows: Bokolori Irrigation Project 13,500Ha, Kano River Irrigation Project 14,200, Hadejia Valley Irrigation Project 6,000 Ha, Dadiwa Kowa Irrigation Project 3,000Ha and Middle Rima Irrigation Project 5,000 Ha.� He added that an additional 100,000Ha of irrigated farmland would be established by 2020, another 500,000Ha by 2030. “We also plan for additional 1,000,000Ha of irrigable land to be developed by the private sector and state governments within the same period. Our recent efforts will enable us to deliver 42,000Ha in 2018 and 41,000Ha in 2019.� Adamu noted that the utilisation of the fund would help his ministry in rehabilitating and expanding

irrigation projects. He stressed that the challenges farmers had to tackle during the dry season farming period would have been addressed with the creation of more irrigable lands, adding that the TRIMING project also addresses rural poverty reduction through progressive management transfer to users regulated bodies in the form of water user associations (WUAs). While enumerating his achievements in office, The minister said that in pursuant of the roadmap, the National Water Resources Bill which is still receiving attention in the National Assembly, when passed into law will provide for effective catchment management, greater participation of farmers in irrigation management and regulatory framework for private sector participation in water supply delivery in the country.

minimum wage to cause problem in the country, it didn’t work. They brought ASUU strike which also did not work and they now tried to create fuel scarcity.� Nabena also alleged that the PDP’s plot were all part of the plots they planned in Dubai. “The next plan is on the Electoral Act amendment bill. Their plan is that

if the president refuse to sign the bill, they will go and demonstrate and we are waiting for them. How can you put in the bill that once the votes are cast, you just transmit instead of counting first. That is part of their Dubai plot. “We all know what they are trying to do. They also trying to bring in money into the system.

All these vote buying won’t work this time around because they have failed this time around. Look at Obasanjo who is talking. PDP set up all these electoral bills. Was it the APC that introduced incident form? So, why are they afraid of their own shadow? Let us just pray that God will see us through this election,� he stated.

APC Peace Moves Fail in Ogun as Amosun’s Allies Insist They were Cheated Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Femi Ogbonnikan

The fence mending efforts of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) through its National Peace and Reconciliatory Committee (NPRC), constituted to bring back aggrieved members, following a disputed primaries may have failed in its task in Ogun State. The APC’s peace move in the South-west zone is championed by Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, as appointed chairman. Other members of the committee, include Mallam Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna State Governor), Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State Governor), Senator Ken

Nnamani, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, Dr. Dakuku Peterside and Senator Sieda Bugaje. Having failed in their bid to have their preferred candidate as the standard bearer of the APC in their respective states, Governor Amosun and his Imo State counterpart, Governor Rochas Okorocha have openly challenged the decision of the party’s NWC to stand-down their candidates. Both men have instructed their followers to move out of the APC. In the case of Amosun, his supporters led by Hon. Adekunle Akinlade have embraced the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). Contacted on phone, Ogun State Commissioner for Informa-

tion and Strategy, Mr. Dayo Adeneye who is one of the aggrieved supporters of Amosun against the leadership of the APC while pleading that he was in Kaduna and was not privy to what happened at the meeting said, however, the APC leadership could not sit in Abuja and determine what would happen in Ogun State. “I was one of those affected. After I won the primary, Oshiomhole gave the ticket to people who did not even contest. And you expect us to keep quiet.? Where is that done? Let us go to the people of Ogun State on another platform. Let the people be the ones to reject us. Not Oshiomhole, “ he said.

PDP Hails Peter Obi’s Performance at Presidential Debate Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed the performance of its Vice Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, at the Vice Presidential debate on Friday. The party said Obi amply displayed an unprecedented understanding of the dynamics of the critical sectors of our economy with practical solutions to the myriad of problems as against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who dwelt on false performance claims and displayed scanty understanding of economic issues. The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement yesterday said that Obi’s spontaneous presentation of

solutions on critical sectors including education, health, energy, power and security among others, showed PDP’s unparalleled preparedness to take over the reign of government, in line with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians. The main opposition party however berated Vice President Osinbajo for not being able to articulate any solution or show what the Buhari administration intends to do differently, if re-elected but rather dwelt on lame excuses, blame games and playing to the gallery. Ologbondiyan said, “This debate has further exposed the humongous corruption in the Buhari Presidency, as Vice President Osinbajo could not provide answers to the exposed

N8 trillion sleazes in the fuel subsidy regime under the Buhari administration.� The party further faulted Prof. Osinbajo’s attempt to brand the PDP as corrupt, saying all records and statistics show that corruption escalated under President Buhari and that his administration ranks as the most corrupt in the history of our nation. The PDP stated that Osinbajo and the Buhari administration lack every moral standing to speak on social welfare when the Vice President is yet to explain the whereabouts of the N33 billion meant for the provision of food and other items for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) suffering in the North-east.

Plus

Yaw: My Parents Thought I Would End Up Useless

GLOBAL SOCCER FAIRGROUND FASHION FILE SHOWBIZFLAIR

pg. 29 pg. 36 pg. 42 pg. 46

Abiodun Koya I Don’t Talk, Scream, Yell or Smoke Days to Major Performances

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PLUS

I Don’t Talk, Scream, Yell or Smoke Days to Major Performances Classical opera singer, Abiodun Koya raised her ante with a new brand tagged “Vienna in Lagos” in a two-in-one concert - Frankincense Concert and Future Symphony Concert series - in Lagos. Koya who has performed for two Presidents at the White House, the US Congress, the Nigerian audience at the Kennedy Center and the Nigerian US Embassy, at the Democratic National Convention, and for Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, continues to attract a global audience of world leaders. The founder of the Abiodun Koya Foundation, which provides music literacy programmes and scholarships to orphans and public school students across Africa told Nduka Nwosu why her various brands such as her Sunday radio Hymnsical programme have become outlets for spreading the gospel of opera music

W

hy Vienna in Lagos? The Frankincense Concert, ‘Vienna in Lagos’ was the 2018 and second edition of my annual classical music performance in Lagos. It featured both Western and traditional folk tunes with orchestra music embedded with a touch of class and elegance. I longed for a unique show that would be a memorable concert dinner event served locally hence I created a remarkable concept with Frankincense Concert. The idea is to create a theatrical environment that represents the European atmosphere and culture here in Lagos. This is so that Lagosians don’t necessarily have to travel outside Nigeria to experience a foreign musical culture. We can recreate everything with all the fine details brought to the doorstep of the audience. This time around, I took it a notch higher like it had never happened before, bringing to Lagos a violin virtuoso from Canada as the international guest artiste. Frankincense Concert is designed to give classical music enthusiasts in

Nigeria an opportunity to enjoy world class performance in an ambience that exudes class and elegance without having to travel to Paris, Milan or Washington. If you like, it is an exclusive premium lifestyle concert designed to showcase musical art performances and an interpretation of the beautiful Nigerian culture with a classical expression this yuletide season. At the heart of every celebration is the art of music. Classical music doesn’t just set the mood; it creates an ambience that opens expressions of love, warmth and a divine connection in the most remarkable way possible. It acts the same way a good fragrance does to the emotion. It is medicinal and healing with a massaging effect. This is what happens when a good fragrance and a well-orchestrated music find a common platform of expression. You usually have two shows in Abuja and Lagos. Can you talk about the concept and public response? The surprising truth is that my genre cuts across all classes of people, as it maybe uneasy to believe. I have

DECEMBER 15 , 2018 ˾ THISDAY, THIS THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

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PLUS I Aim to Ensure N Nigeria Remains a Viable Brand in the Global Village of Creativity with Emphasis on Mus Music my audiences in Abuja and Lagos as part of my global outreach outrea and so I get invitations to share my gift crème de la and artistry where the crèm crème of society resides as well w as and the grassroots. In Nigeria, Abuja A setting and it Lagos offer such ideal settin has been impressive. Lagos, We brought Austria to La technically speaking, with an a international reputed violinist, who shared orchestra. the stage with me and the o intersection Frankincense is an interse between the West and Africa Afric because is even though the genre of music m essentially foreign, I will be rendering Nigerian tunes, a number of timeless Niger Oluwa et including Elu Agogo, Ise O desire to al. It has always been my d have a world class orchestra orchestr concert Frankincense concert in Nigeria and Frankincens that dream is the platform that made th on the a reality. Since I embarked o journey of bringing orchestra orchestr home to Nigeria, there has been a deluge of from positive response and feedbacks feedb Nigerians.

soft while they are in the womb. They also hang on to the culture in heaven a little longer after they are born. They love classical music so much that they naturally respond to it though they may not often show these reactions outwardly. But within them, they are at home with the harmonising tunes of classical music. It has also been proven that classical music makes babies develop a higher sense of intelligence and smartness. I have no doubt in my mind that classical music was the music of Sango and Zeus while they were here on earth. How do you maintain your voice, for how long and why? I do vocal warm-ups for about 20 minutes daily. This is so because the voice is an instrument on its own and as a professional singer, I have to exercise my voice daily, at least 20-30 minutes every day to keep the voice intact. Failure to do this will affect the quality of my performing voice as I will not be in top shape vocally. I also do not scream, yell or smoke. Whenever I am in a cold region, I like to cover up my neck area with a scarf. Once or twice a week depending on my schedules, I meet with my Chinese voice teacher for voice lessons and training. If we cannot physically meet, we have the voice lessons virtually.

What’s the response so far to programme? your Hymnsical radio pro It is a relatively new radio programme that comes up Sunday evenings. It is an eclectic mix m of music. I all sub genres of classical m designed it to get listeners relaxed, r rejuvenated and all prepped for the a busy work week ahead. I play p pot pourri of classical mix ranging r organ to from Broadway to Disney, o the classical and jazz and sometimes some Enya and mix includes songs from En and Yanni. I love movie soundtracks soundtr songs from the so I play movie theme song Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Impossible and Gladiator 007, Mission Imp goes on and Sound of Music; the list goe on. Independence What about your Indep Christ Church Day performance at Chri Cathedral Lagos? month It was an Independence m recital. I thought of creating something that will bring people together prepared as in the community. It was pr a free concert in honour of our day of Independence Day independence, an Independ to concert. It was one of my efforts e include everybody and pray to God about our dearest country through t caressing music. The response was ca against a background of a beautiful b and lovely environment, a llively evening. Foundation all What is your Found about? The Abiodun Koya Foundascholarships to tion gives scholarsh underprivileged children in Africa, visits orphanages and supports sup widows. So far, we quietly given have quie scholarships to out schol over 20 200 children and have helped help almost 100 widows across Africa ac aand still forging ahead. My next

Koya

big dream project is to build fairly reasonable clinics in rural areas where there is no ready access to health care. These clinics will provide an affordable healthcare for low income citizens of a particular community at a given point time.

using rudiments of classical music to teach Music literacy 90% of the time, music to the young Nigerian mind is practically all about vulgar lyrics, swaying of the hips and dancing to a rhythm-less percussion that promotes nudism and the out rightly banal. There is an urgent need to rescue and When do you intend to sensitise preserve the true Art of music culture interest and start the training of and this can be done majorly through opera singers of tomorrow? this noble idea. The Foundation has Whenever I hold my concerts, they therefore thought it necessary that are always a benefit Concert for The while this brand has gripped the better Abiodun Koya Foundation. The part of the psyche of the Nigerian organisation is dedicated to raising child, there is need to redeem the finer Education and Music literacy for and deeper emotions of the mind, youths within the rural communities in using the model and legacy of the Nigeria. Through donations and hostlikes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and ing of fund-raising events, we are able George Frederic Handel to name a to provide scholarships to these youths. few. Music literacy Programme (MLP) is my noble idea of Why do pregnant women find educating youths on Basic Music listening to classical music so Education across the Country in the comforting? Nigerian public schools and orphanThey do because classical music is ages. This is our bid to ensure that the music of angels. Basically, pregour country remains a viable brand in nancy is not an ordinary experience every respect in the global village of because at that point the pregnant creativity with emphasis in music. This woman is carrying a new life and so is also to restore the beauty of music is sandwiched between two worlds. through the upcoming generation Babies love anything divine and

How correct is it to speculate that when you have an upcoming show you don’t talk? Yes, it is true. Whenever I have a major performance and I’m talking of a huge concert production not a feature or cameo appearance type, I go on a vocal rest two or more weeks before the performance. It goes like this: no speaking, no form of verbal communication except for rehearsals and vocal warm ups. During this period, I communicate via minimal text messages and emails as I can’t pick calls. Furthermore, my team does most of the verbal communication to people on the outside for me and when I happen to be in the same room with someone, if I have a message to pass across, I just scribble it on paper. With these measures, I am able to maintain the best quality of voice for any upcoming performance. Going forward, what milestones are you hoping to leave behind? I am hoping to venture into filmmaking so as to tell beautiful and brave stories of heroes and heroines. Remarkable stories about my culture and African heritage. I have therefore started taking acting classes in Hollywood. I am so excited about this, very, very excited. I have also started my fashion line called Eko Avenue. I am now on the side making clothes for icons and celebrities in the US. I started this quietly and gradually so being a singer, Songwriter, philanthropist and now an up and coming fashion entrepreneur and actress is really all amazing! It is super terrific, it can only be God, I mean God only.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

PLUS

Yaw

My Parents Thought I Would End Up Useless Steve Onu, popularly called Yaw, is one of Nigeria’s ďŹ nest entertainers. He is a comedian, MC, radio presenter and actor. If you describe him as a jack of all trade and master of all, you won’t be wrong. You may wonder how he combines all these and remain relevant. He shares his struggles to fame with Chinedu Ibeabuchi

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ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

PLUS I Found Out that If You Place More Priority on Money in Any Job, You Won’t Excel in It

Y

ou produced ‘Smash.’ Tell us about it? Smash is about five young men with five different career paths, five different lifestyles and five different excuses not to get married now. They all have one thing in common - flimsy and funny excuses. The movie features Yaw as one of the lead characters. It also features Iyabo Ojo, Gideon Okeke, Ufuoma McDermott, Uzor Arukwe, Enyinna Nwaigwe, Stanley Chibuna ‘FunnyBone’, Bolanle Ninalowo, Kiki Omeli, Ebele Okaro and Comedian Senator. Directed by John Njamah and edited by Raphael Aruwa, ‘SmĂ sh’ follows the hilarious adventures of five best friends- Somachi, Madu, Anayo, Somto and Hector, as they evade marriage, despite their individual success and the unyielding pressure that comes with being unmarried at their ages. The movie’s title is an acronym representing the first letter in the name of each lead character; Somachi, Madu, Anayo, Somto and Hector.

like giving up your dreams? No, I never felt like giving up because I wanted to prove my mother wrong because she felt that I wasn’t going to achieve what I want to achieve. I have not achieved it yet though; I am still working towards it. But at some point, they make you feel as if you were just a useless person for wanting to do art. I was stubborn to my dreams and I told myself that I must achieve this dream. In life, the only thing I see is opportunity to make things right and not to give up. Christmas is approaching with loads of fond memories. Can you recall some Christmas fond memories from your childhood? Growing up, we used to travel to the east. We used to be seven traveling for Christmas. I remember that each time we were travelling, my mother would get stools and arrange them in the aisle (passageway) of the bus for some of us to seat. If you are familiar with The Young Shall Grow Bus Transit then, you will know what I mean. Christmas in the east was fun then. There was no kidnapping but things have changed. Back in the days, you would be happy to go and eat in your neighbour’s house and your neighbour’s kids would do the same.

Is it an Igbo version of Yoruba demon? It is not purely an Igbo movie. It is a mixture of different languages – Yoruba, Hausa, Pidgin, English and Igbo – but just that the five major characters are Igbo guys. It’s not another version of Yoruba demons.

People wonder if OAPs don’t run out of ideas. Where do you draw your daily inspiration from? My ideas are street based. Basically what I discuss on radio are government issues. And there is always one thing or the other from the government. If they don’t come out with a funny policy, they are trying to protect some people, while some face punishment and all that. So, there are often lots to talk about and I always try to see humour in everything I talk about on radio.

Is that the ďŹ rst movie you produced? Yes, this is my first major cinema movie as a producer. But I have done stuffs for TV. I have my sitcom TV programme and I have other programmes like Red Carpet Vibes and other entertaining programmes. If you check my YouTube channel, Yaw Naija Entertainment, you will see loads of my produced content. What should fans expect in cinemas? It’s laughter all the way. By the time you check the reviews that people have written, they mostly say that it’s humorous. So fans should expect to be thrilled after seeing the movie. How do you juggle between your OAP work, MC, voiceover artiste and acting? Everything I do is time bound. In the morning, I am in the radio station from 6am to 10am. Then I go on set to film. As I am answering this question now, I am actually on set. Later in the evening, I do something else. And if I don’t have something else, I go home to rest. Compère jobs are majorly weekends. For voice over jobs, I can be here now and drop the voice or go into my personal studio at Surulere to do that. I work with time a lot. What do you think has changed or improved from when you ventured into entertainment and today? I started entertainment around 1995. Between then and now, a lot have changed. Then, there was no mobile phone and no social media like Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. Now, the world is becoming a smaller village where you can reach anybody at any point in time and do stuffs that you have to do. I am not physically with you right now for this interview but we are practically doing this. It is just like comparing music between then and now. Then when Shina Peters reigned, there was no Twitter and other social media platforms, but he reigned everywhere. If there was Twitter and the likes that time, imagine what he would have done. A lot have changed and we are seeing a lot of improvement in the quality of our shows that we do like live shows, radio shows and movies; our scripts are also better; and we

Yaw

are already getting to that international standard of high quality entertainment. One major challenge we still face is that government is not helping us regarding piracy. I think government still has a lot to do for us. When you ponder over the entertainment industry, what worries you most? I think it is piracy. You put in an effort to produce a content and before you know it, it’s been pirated. As per training, there are those that are trained and those without training. The untrained ones that are there will definitely make you see the good qualities in those that are trained. But majorly, it’s piracy that is killing the entertainment industry. How did you come about the name Yaw? Over 13years ago when we started Flatmate series, I used to say ‘Uwa wu pawpaw mehn! Yaw!’ People started calling me Yaw everywhere I went to. When I did a song with Nigga Raw tittled ‘Abia Anthem’, in 2005, the name became more popularised. So, when I got to the radio and they told me that I have to pick a name, I said to myself, ‘why not use Yaw and save myself the stress of looking for stage name?’ How would you describe the persona of Steve and Yaw? Steve Onu is more of a quiet, shy and reserved person. If you leave Steve Onu alone, he doesn’t wanna interact with anybody, he just wants to be all by himself and minds his business. But Yaw must be everywhere. Yaw must attend events, Yaw must talk and Yaw is an

entertainer. You have played several roles as a stammerer. Were you once a stammerer? As a thespian, you must be able to do anything. They teach you in school that as an actor, you must be able to do a little of everything. So, having to act the role of a stammerer is no big deal. I do it effortlessly but I am not a stammerer. Having come from a large family of 10, was it a jolly ride or you struggled till you achieve stardom? I grew up like every other kid born in the late seventies. My childhood experience started at Lawanson, Lagos. It was not an easy one for us. We used to stay in face me and slap you house. Growing up, I had discouragement from my parents over my career choice. I wanted to do art but they discouraged me thinking I would end up a useless person. Here I am today and I’m happy over what I turned out to be. I am not a star because stars are in the sky (chuckles). I just want to be me, do my job and make people happy which is the most important thing. So, growing up wasn’t easy. Those days when mothers talked to you with their eyes, you know what that means? I grew up having that kind of mother who talks to you with her eyes. And you know what? dem no born you well, make you say you no understand. It was a tough one and, her believing I was the black sheep of the family and nothing good would come out of me, so I decided to work extra hard. Was there any moment you felt

What drove you to radio? Passion, money or both? It wasn’t money. Like I said earlier, I said as a thespian, you have the ability to do a lot of stuff. Before Wazobia, I was doing this radio project with BBC called Story Story. Then Wazobia’s opportunity came. I was just doing it to while away time, not because of money. It’s more like something I was passionate about because I found out that if you place more priority on money in any job you are looking for, you won’t excel in it. For me, I wasn’t driven by money, I just want to entertain people and be happy. Now in your forties, looking back from where you were coming from, would you say it’s been a successful career? Yes, to a large extent. Before Wazobia came on, there used to be Radio Nigeria 3 in Lagos. However, a lot of people meet me today and say that I have helped to turn the face of pidgin on radio. I am not where I wanna be yet but to a large extent, I think I have been able to do something. I just thank God for where I am today, at least, I am not where I used to be even though I am not where I want to be yet. Among your various works (OAP, MC, acting, etc), which would you say is your biggest career breaking point? The biggest career breaking point for me was radio. I was doing MC and acting even why I was in the university, but on-air-personality (OAP) career was the breaking point. How do you relax? I watch Channels news. I am not a movie and football person. Basically, it’s all about news and watching comedy movies/shows.

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VINTAGE Linda Ikeji The Father of My Child is a Single Man... Unfortunately, He and I Are a Completely Closed Chapter

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ DECEMBER 15, 2018

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ DECEMBER 15, 2018

VINTAGE Celebrity blogger, Linda Ikeji, finally addressed the issues generated by her pregnancy outside of wedlock three months after putting to bed, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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he identity of her baby’s daddy, stance against premarital sex, and her supposedly fake engagement were the major issues that trailed her post-delivery. But in what has been termed “an epistle” released yesterday by the famous blogger, alongside pictures of her carrying the baby boy, the controversial blogger would not clarify whether she was truly engaged as she had announced then. She however apologized for having a child out of wedlock, a thing she attributed to love. She wrote, “Now to the reason why you are reading this. I argued with myself for a long time whether to put this out or not… and finally decided it was a story I wanted to share. I’ve always been open about my life but I’m sharing details about my personal life mostly because of the girls who look up to me. The girls I have mentored, mentoring right now and plan to mentor in the future. I’m very particular about our young girls and I have personally tried over the years to be an example in some way; tried to teach these girls how to fight for their dreams, how to live right and do right and then I go and have a child out of wedlock and that must be a little confusing to some of them and especially with so many untruthful stuff out there about me.

“The most hilarious is that I had a child for a married man. Lol. Here’s my answer to that! The married man that I will sleep with has not yet been born. If he’s been born, he will die, be buried, rise and die again before he will lay with me. I don’t do married men. The father of my child is a single man and his name is Sholaye Jeremi. To be honest, at some point I thought he was my final bus stop but you know how life happens...lol. Unfortunately he and I are a completely closed chapter. Sadly for our son Jayce, it’s the kind of chapter that can’t ever be opened again. “It was a whirlwind romance. He was the funniest and most romantic guy I’d met up until that point, so it was easy to fall in love and I truly believed the feeling was mutual. A few weeks after we met, it seemed like we were planning a future together. This man was already calling me Linda Ikeji Jeremi and making all these plans but then just like that, it was over between us. I went from waking up every morning to love text messages from him to no more calls. I was just thanking God for finally sending me my own man when all of a sudden we were no longer talking to each other. Later he would tell me what scared him off. “By mid-2017, we were both still single and we started seeing each other again quietly. There were times it was very intense and we

talked about a future together, and there were times that I couldn’t figure out what exactly I was doing with this guy. We were not suited for each other. Totally different lifestyles. And there was the problem of my fame. I walked away from this man a million times and he came after me a million and one times. “Then I fell pregnant. It wasn’t planned, it just happened; though we talked about having a child together just two months before I fell pregnant. He said something about putting a billionaire baby inside me and I remember jokingly telling him that I’m also a billionaire so our child was going to be a billionaire on both side...and we laughed. But after I fell pregnant, things became extremely weird between us. If I tried to explain what happened, I wouldn’t be able to because it was confusing to me. . . “Around when I was about three months pregnant, he did come to see my parents and actually became very cool with my dad. They were literally exchanging Whatsapp messages every day. He later agreed to a traditional wedding which he didn’t follow through and then he switched. He began to treat me with so much hate and aggression that I and my family had to cut him off completely. To be honest if anybody had told me when we met three years ago, considering how deeply we cared for each other that I would fall pregnant

two years later and he would completely turn his back on me for most part of my pregnancy, I never would have believed it but that’s what happened. “One of the things I have learnt in my life’s journey is that your idea of how life should go might be different from the way life actually goes. It’s called Life Happening. Sometimes it unfolds into something we never dreamed of but because we don’t recognize the route we find ourselves on our journey through life, doesn’t mean God won’t get us to our destination. Remember, an uncertain chapter doesn’t ruin the whole book. Life will happen whether we are ready or not. All we can do is keep our heads up and keep moving. “I’d also like to address a few other issues. Number one is this celibacy issue. So many people have trolled me over it and I’d like to correct the misunderstanding. I have never ever in my life said people shouldn’t have sex before marriage. Never ever have I said that; I have even argued with quite a few people that it is not feasible in this day and age. What I have always said and I maintain till today is; do not ever sleep with men for money because any woman with a brain and determination can get her own money herself. And there’s nothing sweeter than your own money.”

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˜ ˞ DECEMBER 15, 2018

VINTAGE

Beachmore Homecare: Giving The Elderly Hope Aforumfortheelderlypeople,organisedbyBeachmoreHomecareandsupportedbySistersofHopeorganisation, brought some relief and reminded them of good life at old age, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

“O

ne obvious challenge is awareness. It’s even a general thing in Nigeria. Awareness that it’s a foreign idea in Nigeria that Africans we don’t dump our parents. Like its alien there’s a kind of myth that when you entertain homecare then it means you are neglecting your loved ones. And through interpersonal and programmes like this, we are able to now begin to educate people that it’s not a myth; it does not abandon, it extends life which you can see from the look of thingsâ€?, Folakemi Olofinjana passionately relates to this reporter the challenges faced running a homecare for aging parents penultimate Saturday at the 2018 Annual Elders Day Forum organised by Beachmore Homecare For The Elderly. The centre she runs caters for the elderly. Olofinjana, a UK trained health and social care assistant on this occasion of her elders’ day event, continued, “From the look of things I have two people on that seat that have been in coma and they have recovered because of care; attention that’s what is all about and love. Love does all things. Total love and care does all things in the area of health and longevity of life. Another challenge is obviously finance. Because to give the elderly the best, you really need to power it and then some of them are on some diets and some of them are on special needs drugs. Some of them need aids, like wheel chair they need adaptive instruments to help them maneuver. “So those things are expensive given the nature of our country so we obviously would need sponsors or we would need people who are motivated with this kind of mind to collaborate with us so that we can bless the elderly as most of these elderlies have actually spent the better part of their lives to serve society.â€? The atmosphere at the occasion entraps the unstinting aura President of the Sisters of Hope, Dr. Dora Ofobruweta (third left) presenting a wheelchair to Beachmore Homecare... expected of such gathering as a verse in her for an interview and asked her if she could work with them the bible was taken to drive home the essence and fundamental as a manager, she did picked up the job with the organisation. thoughts in line with living attributed to God. The verse from However for some personal reasons after about eight months Psalm 71:9 reads, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do in the job she resigned. Two weeks after she resigned in January not forsake me when my strength fails,â€? reminding one that the 2012, she got a call from somebody in Alausa, saying she should Lord does not forget the weak. come and care for her mother. While she was busy receiving She narrates the case of an elderly woman found faced down various calls like that, she had planned to refer them to well-care on the floor in a pool of blood in her bathroom. she survived it. when one of her children then said ‘mum that is the way you That incident attracted the highpoint of the day as the survivor, can start your own’, and that was the beginning of it all in 2012 Mrs. Ogunyemi, 85, was recognised and presented with Client in a property space donated by an elder in her church called of Honour as a model of sort. “We treated her. some think she captain and Mrs. Adekoge a retired pilot. And then she started might not be able to walk. And then mummy Ogunyemi still the domiciliary care. walked. All about four five series of attacks she survived all. “I started as an agency. I would recruit minimum standard She survived diabetes, high blood pressure, she even survived of maybe auxiliary nurses or people with school certificates or coma. science oriented youth. Then I would orientate them; train them “So we have gathered here to honour our mothers and our how to provide domiciliary care for the elderly. Then I get them fathers who have scaled through odds of life. I call it odds of screened; police report, affidavit of good conduct and then I will life; illnesses, troubles, sometimes even it may also be as a result ask them to bring their guarantor then I screened them health OloďŹ njana of certain occupation that we have engaged in when we are wise with the help of my husband who is a medical doctor. I get younger. It could also be their present state may not really be as because my husband had to take a course so I had to join him them screened to make sure that they have no hepatitis B, HIV or a result of old age; it could be as a result of certain circumstances with my son. Though I had studied Agric-Economics in Nigeria, any transmittable disease. So this is how I get my workers ready. of life that one could not unprecedentedly avoid. But the beauty I had to get into some sort of vocation to make ends meet as And then also, I ensure that the first prerequisite is that they of it all is that we are here to honour God; we are here to love foreigners in that land. So in the course of arriving in England have the passion and the compassion because working as a care one another; we are here to encourage one another and we are in 2004, I joined an organisation called Connection, it’s an assistant for the elderly, you are now to be trusted in all ways. here to say that we are always in God’s plan, irrespective of the agency and I was trained and redeployed to work in Middlesex “So trust is the first prerequisite, compassion is the next one circumstances.â€? Hospital in Central London as what you can maybe called a and then we envisioning into taking care of this vulnerable The occasion was in conjunction with Sisters of Hope, a group chamber maid. people. So it all happened like that. So what we have today is of six like-minded women who believe in giving back to the “I worked there for about five months and I was training at the second phase of the vision; the vision is to eventually have a society through human support programmes of various kinds the same time. So in the course of the training, and then I got nursing home where they can live we will have to all standard to the needy and hopeless, hence the theme of the programme, enrolled, one of my managers identified that I had the quality where they can still pick up their bits and pieces and live a ‘Bringing Hope and Care to Our Elders’, which synergies to care for people. So she, a white lady then advised me to try normal life till the end of life. I had to break it into three facets with what they do. In the words of the president of the Sisters and enroll with this training for the care of the elderly. So in five because of finance. The finance made me to start as a domiciliary of Hope, Dr. Dora Ofobruweta, “we started this organisation months after I arrived in England, I think I arrived in June, and care, giving them the care in their homes, meaning that most about seven years back. It was a vision that we got. In our kind then by December I was already having a preliminary training people we are caring for are people who can actually own their of world and kind of society, there are a lot of problems; there are in health and social care of the elderly. So I enrolled with London own homes or who live with their own children that can give a lot of challenges. Progressive College, and I privately had to fund myself in that them a home. Then all I do is to provide a homecare assistant “Whether they are physical challenges, whether they are training then. So shortly after I enrolled, I got trained within that and then I supervised them and provide all other professional spiritual challenges, whether they are economic challenges or five months then I got a certificate level one to work as a care assistance and people give me whatever they can give me in a whether they are social challenges or even medical challenges, assistant. way of donation. they are always there. And that is why we are human beings “So the agency now got me posted to an organisation called “Then the second stage is I now saw that they were living as it were. So we thought that why don’t we come together. Beachmore Homecare for The Elderly in Bromley London. I too sedentarily, they needed activity to go on because some of Although we don’t have much money, but six of us decided to arrived at this organisation in 2004 December as a Young Health them started to recover fully; some recovered fully, some are come together to float the organisation as it were and we call and Social Care Assistant. Upon my arrival in the organisation, recovering to a state of maintenance. So now with this space, I ourselves Sisters of Hope. So six of us started this organisation within three months I was identified again and recommended thought of we could make the best use of this little space because and so far we have reached people in different sectors in our to further my vocational studies so I was recommended and I it’s also in a lucrative area in Adelabu Street Surulere and then own little way.â€? She however lamented and appealled for the began my level two training, level three and level four in health we can have it opened for the elderly. They will come here and need for a legislation to address the issue of caretaking for the and social care of the elderly.â€? reminiscence, they will go into all this little things they have been elderly in Nigeria. A year after she returned to Nigeria following the end of doing before for relaxation, games, sometimes we can even have For Olofinjana who described herself as a child of old age, the her spouse’s prorgamme in UK in 2010, arrival in April 2010, fellowship, sometimes I could have motivational speakers in journey caring for the elderly started thus; she was born when she discovered that this kind of area of her occupation is not area of health and social workers to come and motivate them her father was in his 50s and her mum too. So and as the last rampant in Nigeria. So along the line, within about four months and keep their lives going. So it’s all about living life gracefully child of her mum, she had taken care of them with her younger after she stumbled into an organisation that runs domiciliary in old age until the end of life. So the third stage to be envisioned ones. So “it had been in me but it became identifiable when care for the elderly here in Nigeria and then she put in applicaas God prospers us is where I will be able to accommodate them six years after I got married in 2004, we relocated to England tion which they turned down but two months after, they called and then they can finish off gracefully there.â€?

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ DECEMBER 15, 2018

POLITY

N9.8bn Tax Debt: FIRS Shuts NDPHC HQ Abolaji Fijabi

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he Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), yesterday, sealed of the headquarters of the Niger Delta Power Holding (NDPHC) over tax liabilities totaling N9, 831,368, 259.90. Led by Mrs. Anita Erinne, the FIRS enforcement team went to the NDPHC headquarters at the Central

Business District in Abuja with a warrant of distraint signed by the FIRS Chairman, Mr. Tunde Fowler. According to the warrant, the liabilities, comprising of Corporate Income Tax, Education Tax, Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax, were incurred between 2007 and 2017. The FIRS had, on Thursday, also sealed the premises of defaulting companies in Lagos. Among these was Pormat Peters located at 1-5, Pormat Drive, Abule Egba, over a

tax debt of N504 million. A similar fate befell Niger Insurance Plc, which owes N190.9 million. Managing Director of the insurance firm, Mr.Lawal Mijinyawa, told FIRS team that he and the finance manager were unaware of the tax debt because they had just resumed at the firm, a plea that was ignored. The team also sealed ANSA Systems Limited, located at 133A, Eti-Osa Street, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi. The company has tax liabilities totaling N17 million.

An employee of the company admitted the debt profile and pleaded that the premises should not be shut, as it has paid N2 million out of the amount owed. But the Leader of the FIRS team, Mrs. Aisha Duze, rejected the plea on the ground that the company could not provide evidence of payment. “Since you cannot show us evidence, we have to seal your company. That is the mandate given to us,” she said.

Adedoyin, Kwara Accord Party Guber Candidate to Unveil Plan

A

ccord Party Governorship Candidate in Kwara State, Mr. Ayorinde Adedoyin is set to unveil a policy document that will guide him to transform the political economy of the state if elected. Adedoyin, who said the time had come for the state to be rebuilt after many years of stunted growth, noted that about 20 years of democratic governance in Nigeria, and in the state in particular, has not brought much needed socioeconomic transformation to the people of Kwara. The Accord Party candidate decried the level of poverty among the people of Kwara State whom he said have been victims of maladministration and bad leadership. He revealed that his policy document had been designed to respond to critical sectors of the state’s economy for government’s intervention.

The critical focus of the Accord Party policy interventions, which will be unveiled to the public ahead of the formal inauguration of the statewide campaign of the party, will be on Human Capital, Industrialisation, Agriculture and Energising Small Businesses. Under the human capital, the Accord Party government, when elected in Kwara State, will focus on revamping the educational sector with more emphasis on the revitalisation of public schools from primary education to tertiary level. Infrastructure, especially school buildings that have become dilapidated will be fixed with a target of at least a hundred public schools in a year. “We have moved round Kwara and what we saw will make anyone cry for the future of this state and our country. The condition under which our children learn, especially the children of the poor who can’t afford private schools, is very horrible. More than 60 per cent of public primary and second-

ary schools in Kwara have very sick buildings; some with blown off roof, some without furniture, compelling the students and pupils to sit on bare floor. “Teachers are not motivated to give quality teaching because of poor welfare, especially delay in salaries and allowances. The schools in rural areas are worse hit as many of them are without teachers. Our programme on education is designed to address this situation. The children of the poor must have opportunities to excel in life.” On healthcare, Adeoyin pointed out that primary healthcare in Kwara is very abysmal, adding that outside the urban centres of Ilorin, Offa and Omu-Aran, the people in remote parts of the state struggle to access basic health services. “Our people are dying of ailments that should not kill them. Our plan on health is focused primarily on how to make healthcare accessible to kwarans regardless of social and economic status. Lack of access to clean drinking water has increased

rate of sickness among our people. Our primary health care centres at community levels will be activated to attend to healthcare need of the people. We will improve on maternal healthcare to reduce pregnant women dying in the state.” On industrilisation, Adedoyin said agriculture would drive his agenda to establish industries that would employ thousands of Kwara young people who need good paying job after higher education. “We have already identified foreign partners that will invest in agricultural sector in Kwara State. We will focus on animal husbandry, poultry and few cash crops such as cashew, maize where Kwara has comparative advantage. Part of the plan on industrialisation is how to work with former owners and families that had some moribund industries in Kwara State. Some of the factories are still there. We will see how government can partner with the owners and families to revive some of them.”

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L-R: CEO,FashionOne, MrKayceekennedy;GeneralManager,ZenithBankPlc,MrsAdobiNwapa; GeneralManager,Zenith Bank Plc, Mrs Nonye Ayeni; and, Deputy General Manager, Zenith Bank Plc, Mrs Olatilewa Babalogbon, during the unveilingof ‘StylebyZenithattheBank’sHeadOfficeinLagos...recently

L-R: Director General, Nigerian German Business Association, Mr. Gbenga Adebija; Head of Delegation, German Industry and Commerce, Dr. Marc Lucassen; Managing Director, Giessen Friedberg Chambers of Commerce, Dr. Matthias Leder; and Project Co-ordinator, German Dual Vocational Partnership with Nigeria , Engr. Stephen Kehinde Awoyele, at a press conference on vocational training in Nigeria, held in Lagos, yesterday SUNDAYADIGUN

L-R: Members, Ambode Mandate Group (AMG), Mr. Sulaiman Omoyele: Deputy Governorship candidate, All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kadir Obafemi Hamzat: Governorship candidate, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu: L-R: Victoria Okorie; Dr. Nnamdi Anyim; Mr. Omotayo Oyeyemi, all of Flying Doctors Nigeria, on board with a Director General, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Independent Campaign Group (BOSICG), patient lying on a medical stretcher through Emergency Transport Unit (ETU) with their multiparametre moni- Mr. Tayo Ayinde; and a member of Ambode Mandate Group, Alhaji Bushari Bashorun, during a reconciliation tor, mobile ventilator held at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos...yesterday meeting between the AMG and BOSICGTeam, in Ikeja Lagos... recently KOLA OLASUPO

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

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with BAYO ADEOYE .... 08054680651 email: bayoolunla@gmail.com

Pastor Adeboye’s Charitable Heart Pastors are known for winning souls into the vineyard of God and mentoring Christians not to exit the gate of Christendom. For this, the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, is rated highly among Christian faithful. But he does so much more, as he is known to also give the needy and the indigents in the Redeemed Christian Church of God. At a press briefing recently, he unveiled His Love Foundation, which is aimed at meeting the needs of the needy in the areas of health, hunger, education, social enterprises and rehabilitation. To celebrate the forthcoming Christmas on December 25, the RCCG has announced

feeding and sharing of food items to over 50 million across 197 countries, where RCCG provinces exist. The church says it is not a Corporate Social Responsibilities, but Christian Social Responsibilities. With active participation from 42,796 operating centres or parishes in Nigeria alone and in 197 countries worldwide, RCCG has successfully implemented in Nigeria from March 2018 to date over 30,626 projects nationwide, with hundreds of thousands of projects being done in the nations of the world where the church is operating The church has fed from March 2018 to date 6,925,589 people and distributed foodstuff from RCCG food bank to thousands of beneficiaries nationwide.

PASTOR ADEBOYE

Omosode Igbinedion’s Ambition On Tenterhooks

OMOSODE

For Omosode Igbinedion, daughter of the popular billionaire and the Esama of Benin, Kingdom, it will take the grace of God for her to realise her re -election bid into the House of Representatives. This is because some residents of Okada in Ovia North East Local Government have reportedly given reasons why they would not re-elect her. As proof of their disaffection for her, they were said to have endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Dennis Idahosa. The spokesperson for the Okada residents, David

Iyamu, was quoted as saying that their support for the APC was to free Okada from the grip of the Igbinedions. Iyamu lamented that the Okada community lacked basic amenities despite the fact some Igbinedion family members had served at various times as Governor, council chairman and member of the National Assembly. He said 2019 would be the end of the Igbinedion reign in Okada, adding that “It is a thing of shame for us in Okada to say we do not have water, road and electricity. “This election is about our children’s future. What will

we tell them? We have to make Ovia great again.” Speaking on his ambition, Idahosa said he grew up as a poor child and knew what it means to empower people. Idahosa also stated that Ovia students would get bursaries and that he would work with relevant agencies to attract projects to all communities. Omosode is the Deputy Chairman, House Services in the House of Representatives and a member of the following committees: Local Content, Aviation, Downstream Petroleum, FCT, Judiciary, Rural Development, Women in Parliament.

Honour For Yakubu Gobir It was another eventful day in the life of Yakubu Gobir, a pharmacist and founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kwara State, when he was turbaned as the first Waziri Hausa in the history of the Hausa Kingdom at the palace of the Emir of Daura in Kastina State recently. But what could have earned Gobir, a social entrepreneur, the title, which is said to be synonymous with the position of a Prime Minister? The business mogul, who chairs SmartMark Limited, is a family

man to the core and a die-hard fan of the number one citizen of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari. Besides, his devotion to humanity, kind gestures and abiding love for the development of the north are said to be another reason he was so honoured by the Hausa Kingdom. His turbanning as Waziri Hausa, it is said, will open a new chapter of positive transformation in the northern areas and bridge the gap between the northern and the southern regions of Nigeria.

As the first Waziri Hausa, he has promised to see to the harmonious relationship among the people of the region where ever they may be. Gobir will also be interested in bringing about positive health interventions to boost the northern communities, while also launching educational programmes for swift development. Gobir studied Pharmacy at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and is prized graduate of INSEAD, France and Harvard Business School, USA.

GOBIR

Chidinma Aaron’s Victory

AARON

In the words of former Arsenal Football Club manager, Arsene Wenger, “At a young age, winning is not the most important thing. The important thing is to develop creative skills, with good confidence.” Interestingly, Chidinma Aaron’s life seems to epitomise this, following her emergence as the 42nd Miss Nigeria. Young and beautiful Aaron emerged Miss Nigeria among the 12 finalists to win the coveted diadem at the 2018 Miss Nigeria Beauty Pageant.

She is an entrepreneur, business administrator and a chef. She is currently undergoing her National Youth Service at Blenc Solutions Limited as a Customer Relationship Manager and a chef. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with Honours from the Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State. Aaron, who also holds a certificate in Project Management and Customer Relationship Management, COMPTIA, has worked

with big brands in Nigeria’s television, fashion, hospitality and food sectors as a presenter, model, actress and management staff. Very brainy, she was the overall best graduating student in Human Resources Management amongst her set of enterprise graduates. She also served as the pioneer female President of the National Association of Business and Management Students, Lead City Chapter.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

MARKET PLACE with Omolabake Fasogbon... 08155131874

L-R: Marketing Manager, Tecno Nigeria, Abel Huo; Marketing Director, Tecno West Africa, Eric Wang; Deputy Business Director, Tecno W.A, Chidi Okonkwo; Business Director, Tecno W.A, Eason Duan, and another staff, Emmanuel Ekwe , at the launch of Tecno Camon 11, in Lagos… recently

Member, Board of Trustee, Live Abundantly Empowerment Initiative, Mr Peter Armand Boyo ; Founder and Executive Director, Live Abundantly , Dr. Ama Onyerinma and Chairman,Board of Trustee,Live Abundantly, Prince Gbenga Oguntayo at the organisation’s Kaleidoscope 2018 award held at Muson Center,Lagos... recently

Firm Announces NGO Honours Humanitarian Actors Travel Expansion Move

In the spirit of appreciation and to further motivate selfless services in the society, a non- governmental organisation (NGO), Live Abundantly Empowerment Initiative, has rewarded organisations and individuals who have through their endeavours, enhanced the goals of the organisation, to improve the society. The organisation which berthed in Lagos, has as its mission, ‘awareness creation, advocacy and education on violence against women and children to secure their future, especially the less privileged, financially incapacitated, victimised and marginalised in the society. Since inception, the NGO has proven to live up to expectations and this has got well meaning Nigerians and government agencies identified with its cause. Speaking at the award ceremony that held amid pomp and pageantry at Muson Centre,

in Lagos, Founder and Executive Director of the NGO, Dr. Ama Onyerinma reiterated the commitment of the organisation to transform the society and promote effective social change through women and children. “There are a lot of issues affecting women and children but we decided to focus on violence against women and children, empowering women as change makers and to support the education of those marginalised by poverty.” Some of the actors honoured included: Execute Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, whose effort was acknowledged in driving change that has positively impacted on the lives of the state’s residents; Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and his counterpart in Oyo State,Governor, Abiola Ajimobi . Also on the recognition list was the former Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Late Wale

Aboderin. He was conferred a posthumous humanitarian award for his selfless endeavours. On the late icon, Onyerinma remarked, “The late Mr. Wale Aboderin was an inspiration to all as a result of his genuine interest in the welfare of others. His generosity is legendary so also is his desires to empower the girl child whom the society had lost hope in”. The Safety and Security Award was presented to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, while the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was honoured with the Humanitarian Award of the year. In his address, Chairman,Board of Trustee,Live Abundantly, Prince Gbenga Oguntayo, urged all to have the interest of others at heart,as this was relevant to make the world a better place to live in.

Broll Nigeria Distributes Safe Delivery Kits to Expecting Mothers To reinforce its commitment to reduce infant mortality rate and enhance safe delivery among pregnant women, Broll Property Group, a leading commercial property services company has donated safe delivery kits at various maternity centers in Lagos. The effort is meant to promote maternal health and reduce child mortality rate in Nigeria. The ‘Broll Mama Kit’ was distributed to expecting mothers by a team of Broll Nigeria officials at public health centers in various zones including Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Onigbongbo Healthcare Center, Sura Primary Health Center, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Memorial Health Center and Agarawu Health Center. Speaking on this initiative by the company, Bolaji Edu Chief Executive Officer of Broll Nigeria stated that “the period of birth is a special time for both mother and child.Here in Nigeria, it

can also be a time of challenges when some of the utilities needed by the expecting mothers are not available. Our aim is to provide these needs to improve safe delivery and to reduce maternal mortality. We believe that this will go a long way to support families through the joy of safe delivery. This support will ensure that we contribute to the sustainable development goals of the government and we hope to continue doing more” Health experts believe that although global maternal mortality rate has reduced by 43%, Nigeria is still ranked as one of the countries with high maternal mortality rate in Sub Saharan Africa ahead of Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Chad. Edu further reiterated that this effort by Broll will do more to consolidate government’s effort at various levels to reduce

maternal mortality in the country. In appreciation of the kits that were distributed, Mrs Adebukola Cole - Apex Nurse/ADNS of Lagos Island Maternity Center, said “This is a laudable programme. The gift is handy and will be of benefit to the pregnant women. At the time of delivery, all you need can be found in the ‘Broll Mama Kit’. We are very grateful.” According to a joint report by WHO, UNICEF, World Bank and United Nations Population Fund on Trends in mortality 1990 -2015, it estimates that Nigeria has an approximate of 58, 000 maternal deaths which represent 19 percent of global maternal mortality rate. With this effort, Broll has shown its willingness to work with stakeholders to reduce maternal mortality rate through the provision of the safety kits for pregnant women at public health centers.

Travel Management Company, American Express Global Business Travel , Nigeria ,has expanded its footprint in the travel business space with the acquisition of Hogg Robinson Group. The company disclosed this at the company’s 2018 edition of its client forum. According to the firm‘s Director in Nigeria, Claude Vankiersbilck, the latest move would further serve the company and global partners effectively in vendor relationship, competitive hotel programmes,travel technology advantage others. “Specifically for Nigeria, it is expected that the acquisition would bring home an array of corporate travel programmes for its numerous clients”, he stated. Speaking further, Vankiersbilck explained that it was a platform to further familiarise clients with latest trends in the industry. “Today’s corporate travel management is evolving to higher level, with respect to deployment of modern technology and service delivery, which includes online booking tool ,OBT. “The deployment of OBT is an end-to-end mechanism that has emerged in recent times, as a paradigm shift for many corporate travellers for ease, comfort and convenience of travel process.” He added that OBT would help organisations reduce the transaction costs from their travel management partners, improve policy compliance and empower users to make better buying decisions. The forum also featured a ‘mini-travel fair’ whereby a broad spectrum of aviation sector suppliers ranging from airlines, hotels, travel insurance vendors , holiday organisers as well as protocol vendors participated by showcasing there offerings and network with industry stakeholders.

Union Bank Organises Capacity Building Programme for SMEs

Coca-Cola Bags Award at SERAs 2018

In a move that will strengthen the nation’s SME sector, Union Bank has engaged operators in the sector in a capacity development programme. At a seminar, themed, ‘Managing a Successful Small Business’,organised for operators across the country, the bank’s Head of Retail Segments, Paul Aseme reminded the participants of their role in boosting the nation’s economy. “The bank has been known for its contribution to the growth of Nigerian businesses, as we recognise the role of SMEs in driving Nigeria’s economic growth, we put up this seminars to equip business owners with the knowledge and skills they require to establish a strong foundation for their business, widen exposure and expand business connections.” Aseme explained further that the seminar which had participants

Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd has emerged the best company in the Good Health and Well-being category at the 12th edition of the Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility Awards (SERAs). The Company was adjudged the best in the health category as a result of the impact of its ‘Safe Birth Initiative’ (SBI) that aims to tackle the high rate of maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria. SBI is carried out in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals and an NGO, Medshare International Inc. It is focused on supporting doctors and nurses to achieve successful birth outcomes, by strengthening the capacity of selected public hospitals in three critical areas. These areas included: procurement of maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies to enable safe deliveries and post-delivery emergency care; training biomedical engineering technicians to improve equipment maintenance

from Aba, Lagos, Anambra, Kano, Kaduna, Abuja and Oyo, amongst others, was designed to provide practical information and guidance on how to address typical challenges small businesses face in Nigeria. “The workshops included modules on sales and marketing, governance, succession planning and capacity building. In addition, attendees were equipped with relevant digital marketing and accounting skills to enable them compete favourably in the Nigerian marketplace,” he said. Participants at the training also expressed appreciation to the bank for bringing the opportunity to their doorstep at no cost , adding that the session was a business eye opener to them. Union Bank continues to operate various SME funding schemes to assist operators in financing, expanding markets and enhancing competitiveness in the marketplace.

and uptime; as well as reactivation of abandoned medical equipment wasting away in public hospitals. Receiving the award, the firm’s Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, said: “Awards like this encourage us to do more and strengthen our efforts to provide solutions to the various challenges facing the communities in which we serve. “We thank our project partners and dedicate this award to the brave medical professionals in hospitals across Nigeria who work tirelessly to ensure that mothers and their babies go back home alive.” The first phase of the programme is currently under implementation and will provide 15 major public hospitals recommended by the Federal Ministry of Health with hospital equipment, kits and supplies with a total conservative value of about $10.8 million. The initiative is expected to ultimately improve the affordability and accessibility of maternity health care services in the beneficiary hospitals.

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˜ ˞ DECEMBER 15, 2018

PERSPECTIVE A Vote of ConďŹ dence for Dozie Nwankwo

Chike Okeke

T

he most popular definition of Democracy is that it is Government of the people, for the people and by the people. When a group of people, through popular votes expresses its trust and confidence in their leader, at regular intervals, Democracy is said to be very much at work. The recent primaries of various political parties aimed at electing candidates for the 2019 General Election was a platform to test the popularity of aspirants for various political offices. Those of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) the party in power in Anambra State were very keenly contested. Various aspirants campaigned vigorously especially in the social media, convincing delegates to the primary elections about their abilities to represent the people better than the incumbents. One such seat where aspirants came out and sought to dethrone Hon Dozie Nwankwo the incumbent was the Dunukofia, Njikoka and Anaocha Federal Constituency in Central Senatorial District of Anambra State. Regardless of the fact that the incumbent Dozie Nwankwo was a very popular politician and philanthropist who had endeared himself to the people through his empowerment programmes and especially his Medical Outreach which had saved many lives and considerably reduced the number of otherwise blind men and women in the state and further reduced the cost of medicare for hundreds of thousands of people in the state, a few money bags and politicians who felt that black mail, conspiracies and intrigues would do the magic of unseating, Nwankwo tried their best to defeat him at the party primaries held on 5th October, 2018. In the end, Nwankwo alias Onyendozi, not only defeated all the other contestants but did so with a very wide margin. The delegates gave popular vent to Prof Soludo’s wellreasoned advice during the Anambra State Governorship Campaign in 2017 – if it’s not broken, why mend it? They decided that since their representative in the Federal House, Onyendozi, was doing very well the only way to encourage him to continue his good works in the House was to re-elect him and make him a ranking member in 2019. With their

Okeke massive votes, the delegates gave him a very clean Bill of health in preparation for the electoral contest with candidates of other political parties in 2019. In terms of his score card in the House of Representatives so far, Nwankwo also displays an outstanding performance. He has proposed the following bills for legislative action: Bill for an Act to amend the Sherriff and Civil Process Act, and Bill for an Act to Repeal Nigerian Development Bank Guarantee Act which will enable business men develop the economy without too many obstacles. Similarly the motions he proposed in the House include: Need to investigate accruals, management and disbursement of Nigeria Content Development Fund, motion on the need to ensure that all local and International markets in the Federal Capital are fortified with the prevention and firefighting gadgets, motion to repeal the provisions of Export Prohibition Act CAP E22 Laws of the Federation 2004 and Related Mat-

ters, motion on urgent public importance over the ban on exportation of dried beans to European countries from Nigeria by the European Union, motion calling attention to the poor state of infrastructure and abandonment of Federal Health Centers in Dunukofia, Njikoka and Anaocha Local Government Areas, his constituency in the Federal House and finally motion to tackle the devastating gully erosion in the same local government areas. In response to this motion, members of the House Committee on Environment led by Obinna Chidoka visited the Federal Constituency a week ago and personally assessed the extensive damage done by gully erosion in the area. Nwankwo has undertaken numerous constituency projects in all the 51 wards and 22 communities that comprise the Federal Constituency. The projects are in the form of donation of motorcycles, tricycles, grinding and sewing machines to various beneficiaries, construction and renovation of town halls, installation of motorized boreholes, construction of primary health centers and Doctors Quarters and in some instances donations of cars and as economic empowerment projects to some deserving indigenes of the constituency. A legislator who performed these feats within less than 3 years in the House of Representatives will definitely take his constituency to a new level in the next legislative year and since such public spirited philanthropists and patriots are not easily available the people of Dunukofia, Njikoka and Anaocha Federal Constituency should consider themselves lucky and privileged to have Dozie Nwankwo as their Representative in the National Assembly. Nwankwo, a native of Enugwu Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State holds a B.Sc degree in Accounting of the University of Port Harcourt and a Post graduate M.B.A degree from the University of Liverpool, England. Such high quality legislators are indeed what the electorate in Nigeria need as we prepare for the 2019 general election. One can only wish Nwankwo every luck and success he deserves in his legislative duties and urge him to add more grease to his elbows. –––Chike Okeke is a media consultant based in Abuja.

Firm Introduces Block Chain Marketing of Sanitary Kit, Sisibox Bennett Oghifo

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eepMAGNET International Group, an indigenous firm with global outreach, has introduced a unique Block Chain marketing strategy that offers women a combination of sanitary kit and financial reward. The Chief Executive Officer of BeepMAGNET International Group, Gilead Onyedika Okolonkwo said the whole mission was to provide quality information and processes of financial empowerment ideas that would bring together individuals from various walks of life to participate in the vision. He described BeepMAGNET International Group as a conglomerate of different business entities, all focused on eCommerce and Blockchain Technology; BeepPay System and Technologies Limited, BeepEstates Limited, BeepMarket, Beep- Travel and Tours Ltd, BeepHealthCare Limited, BeepXchange Limited, Beep eLearning Academy, MobGames, Sisibox, FastCredit Africa and Simple Merchant. Speaking about two products/projects, he said are very important, and challenged everyone, saying the vision was achievable. “For as many that are interested in this vision, we are willing to work together to make it a reality.� Gilead said at the last Africa Union conference that held in Morocco, national leaders talked about the ease to pursue what is termed the African Development Goal Initiative. “The reason is that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Africa Union is focused on 2063. But if we fold our arms and add to our age what we have now, many of us will be very old. The question is how we are going to count every day that passes by to achieve the SDG for an African Initiative. To this end some key points were highlighted, and among these is integration of inter-trade. “Secondly, it was emphasised that Africans must look inwards to see what they can do for Africa. The time has come for us to look inwards because here we have a lot of challenges; the truth still remains that here in Africa we are a young continent, with average population that range between 17 years and 34 years, which shows that we are a young continent.� He said the intra-trade opportunities available among African countries are very low and that it was the reason many western continents were interested in Africa. Okolonkwo said his company has developed a product called Sisibox, stating that “the truth is that quantum technology is what will take to leapfrog Africa from where it is to the next. We missed out on industrial age, but now Quantum Technology is the new thing, but how prepared

are we? Many of us have been carried away with one product or programme and the next without looking in-depth. Sometimes too, because of our enthusiasm, we always come in at the late hour. All of these are going to be corrected.� Introducing the product, he said as an organisation, BeepMAGNET International Group is focused on making blockchain technology a household name to solve Africa’s problem. This was part of what they proposed in the Declaration which was done in the African Development Goals Initiative. It includes mapping of natural resources in Africa, which was endorsed, adding that he was “the chairman of the committee to make this possible because of the impact we have created and because of the cases our organisation has put in place to prove that this is possible.� He emphasised the important role women can play in the family, adding that if they succeeded in attracting women to the block chain space, then the younger generation would automatically embrace the Block Chain technology. For it to succeed, he said they designed a unique and simple masterpiece which comes from the perspective of that need that is connected to every woman, irrespective of their tribe, race or nationality and has to be what is peculiar to every woman, every month, which is their monthly flow. “So, SisiBox has designed an all in one ladies’ sanitary care that is premium in the sense that it is all inclusive, an ion which means it helps fight infection and bacteria. Secondly, it has wonderful panty-liners and then it has an ovulation strip that is connected to it; one combo pack has all of these and there is no product in the market that has these three combinations. To make it more interesting, his organisation added a loyalty voucher to it, which means that wherever you see Sisi sanitary kit, there is something inside of it. The product, he said would be on the streets in Nigeria in January next year and after that they intend to scale up to other parts of Africa, and thus welcomed individuals and organisations that are interested to be part of it. He said his company pioneered Block Chain merchant and consumer tokens, a unique system that will tokenise every loyalty that exists in the world, which means that “if I buy any product from any merchant and they give me BMC token, I can use the BMC token in any place anywhere in the world. That is quite unique. So, what we want to achieve is to see a million people enrolled in SisiBox between now and January.� The financial impact, he said was clear, considering that they had two business plans, one of which connects with individuals who have the means to become their authorised

distributors, while the other has to do with individuals who will become their affiliate partners. He said authorised distributors are in two categories, the retailers and the mega distributors, who are expected to make payment to get issue rights; they are the only one authorised to distribute SisiBox products. “With the price we are going to give to you, you are going to make marginal markup, whether they are people you registered or not. Also, anybody that walks into a distributor’s shop and buys SisiBox will make a marginal profit right from the point of purchase. “If you’re the one that registered that individual and the person goes home and scanned the QR Code through our application, you also make commission. No company has designed this. We created a use kit that makes it easy for every woman to make an average of about N8.4 million every four months just by recommending people to use SisiBox.� Gilead said they have created an online market place, a portal that manages all of these like a store/shop and “all you need is to subscribe and invite all your friends to subscribe and buying Sisi Box activates this market place and it is also complementary.� He said it takes N6,000 to activate Sisi Box, stating that the amount gives access to “a premium business, a premium automated platform and that at the same time there is a free premium automated pack that you can pick from any of the accredited locations.� The way it works, he said is that “once you sign up, you invite 30 of your friends and teach them to also share the news that there is a new sanitary product that is set to hit the market and that now is the time for them to activate their market space by registering with you.� He said when the beginning of the product’s sale is announced; they should go to any of the accredited locations and buy. “When they buy the products, it activates the market place where they can start making money. Every other individual who registers with your link and buys the product activates his market place and you make money. In addition to that, every activation and every purchase of SisiBox you also get the BMCT reward token. This token will revolutionalise the world; nothing, as we speak is equitable to this token.� He said they want to build leaders across the country and then scale up internationally, advising people to sign up and invite their friends. “By January, walk up to the accredited stores, buy SisiBox product, open it and scan the code and that is the gateway for you to become financially empowered.�

GLOBAL SOCCER A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

15.12.2018

Victor Moses Heading Back Home

Liverpool Keen on Keeping Unbeaten Run Intact against United PAGE. 32

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

Victor Moses

Heading Back Home

With Mauricio Sarri having stated clearly that Victor Moses has no place in his team and Chelsea having placed a ÂŁ12m price tag on him, the Nigerian may be heading to where he started-Blackburn, writes KUNLE ADEWALE

V

ictor Moses dream of playing a key role at Chelsea under Italian Manager, Mauricio Sarri, may have hit the rock after the Blues have made it clear to the Nigerian that he has no place in the team and have placed a 12 million pounds tag on him. The Italian Manager has admitted that the Nigerian star has no place in his squad. Sarri insists he does not know where the 27-yearold winger will fit in his current Blues squad. Moses has only made two Premier League appearances and played just six times this season in all competitions under Sarri and hopeful of ending his Chelsea nightmare in January with former club Crystal Palace interested in signing him. Chelsea have told Moses he can leave the club in January as long as they get a ÂŁ12million fee for their forgotten man. The former title winner has struggled to establish himself in Sarri's plans and is now on the lookout for an escape route when the transfer window opens in January. Before the start of the season Moses had said he was looking forward to a successful season under Sarri, despite the cloud of uncertainty in securing a starting shirt under the new Chelsea manager. Speaking in an interview with Chelsea FC’s website, Moses insisted he was not looking to leave the club, but embrace the Italian’s methods. “We’re looking forward to it. Obviously, we have a new manager now, he’s got a new philosophy and we’re looking good in training. We just want to work hard together as a team and make sure we understand what he wants from us and do the best we can this season. Chelsea is a big club. It’s a club with a great history, we’ve won loads of big trophies, and we always want to do that. With the players we’ve got and ability that we’ve got, we just want to keep on working hard together to make the club great and keep doing well,â€? he said. As part of measures to establish himself in Stamford Bridge the 27-year-old quitted international football to concentrate on his club career but the objective seems to be defeated as he is finding regular playing time difficult under Chelsea Sarri. “I feel that now is the right time to step away in order to be able to focus fully on club career,â€? Moses had said while announcing his retirement from the national team. Under former manager, Antonio Conte, Moses was a key player – fitting in at right wingback in his threeat-the-back system. However, Sarri has switched the formation to 4-3-3 with Eden Hazard and Willian as his first-choice wingers. The former Crystal Palace star has indicated that he was looking to leave in January because of the lack of game-time. And he recently admitted he was thinking of departing the club where he came up through the academy. He said: “Right now, it’s not a good season for me, but I have to find some way to get back on.How? I do not know, but it’s up to me to figure that out. But right now it looks hard. We have good results and we play super football, which only makes it harder.â€? UK’s Daily Star, however, reported that Moses may end up on loan at Old Trafford with Manchester United in the January transfer window.

The newspaper hinted that Moses, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Croatia star Ante Rebic and AS Roma’s Cengiz Under were on the radar of Jose Mourinho as possible players to lift Manchester United’s game from its poor state. Mourinho who was Moses’ coach at Chelsea is believed to be in the hunt for a new striker, as both Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford have not been convincing this season with only five goals between the pair in 24 competitive games. Moses is believed could fit into United’s game with his pacey play. Before Conte’s arrival, Moses had not played a league game for Chelsea for more than three years but he became a key role in the former Juventus Manager’s 3-4-3 system, which was a huge turnaround for a player who, partly because of injury, started only 38 league games in the past three seasons, completing 90 minutes just 12 times. “I played as a wing-back a lot during my career, particularly when I was younger in the mid-to-late 1990s when that system was least popular in the Premier League. I used to enjoy it because, like Moses, it suited my game. Like him, I was more of an attacker than a defender and wing-backs have the freedom to get forward when they want. “You have to be disciplined defensively and decide when to join the attack or hold back, but you have the freedom of the touchline and the ability to impose yourself on the game far more than you can as a normal winger. By timing your runs, you can come from deep with a head of steam and burst into great positions – the sort of thing that Moses was doing when he used his power and pace to great effect,� Conte had said. Moses admitted that he always hoped to play regularly for a big club like the Blues, but struggled to make an impact on the first team at Stamford Bridge until Conte arrived and his 3-4-3 formation has brought the best out of the 27-year-old. “I’ve always wanted to play for this big club, it’s one of the best clubs in the world at the moment and I’m enjoying every single minute. I just want to keep on working hard and helping my teammates out,� he told Chelsea’s official website.� The arrival of another Italian at Chelsea in the summer had to change the narratives and Moses has now fallen behind in the pecking order. With his future hanging in the balance, Moses may have to renege on his decision to quit international football as he would be needing the national team as a launch-pad in his search for a new high profile club in the mold of Chelsea. Moses shocked soccer loving Nigerians in early August as he announced his retirement from international football after playing 37 matches and scoring 12 goals for Nigeria. He made it known on his social media account that he will play no part wearing the green and white colours of Nigeria after he joined the national team in 2012 since switching allegiance from England to Nigeria. “I would like to announce that after much thought I have made the decision to retire from playing international football. I have experienced some of the best moments of my life wearing the Super Eagles shirt and have memories with me that will last a lifetime. Nothing will ever compete to what it felt like to represent Nigeria on behalf of our country. “I feel that now is the right time to step away in order to be able to focus fully on club career,� Moses had said while announcing his retirement from the national team. “However, I feel that now is the right time to step away in order to be able to focus fully on club career and my young family as well as to allow the next generation of Super Eagles stars the opportunity to step up and to flourish,� he said. Though many clubs have been touted to be ready to sign-on Moses, a return to Blackburn-where he started seems most obvious.

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DECEMBER 15, 2018 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

GLOBAL SOCCER

Butt against Valencia to round off their UEFA Youth League group stage undefeated and Shola Shoretire made a little bit of history as well. The Red Devils went into the game against Group H's bottom side at Estadio Antonio Puchade with four wins and a draw behind them. It was the hosts, however, who came flying out of the blocks and enjoyed the lion's share of both possession and chances in the opening exchanges.

History Maker

Shola Shoretire Blazing the Trail

England-born Nigeria’s Shola Shoretire came off the bench on Wednesday afternoon as Nicky Butt’s side beat Valencia to become youngest-ever UEFA Youth League player Nicky Butt’s United came from behind in Spain to top their group and continue their unbeaten run in the competition with goals from Nishan Burkart and Aidan Barlow cancelling out Jordi Escobar’s opener for the hosts. Shoretire was sprung from the bench in the 74th minute, making history as both the UEFA Youth League and United’s youngest-ever player at this level, aged just 14 years and 314 days. A diminutive winger, Shoretire is eligible to play for Nigeria and has already been invited to train with England’s youth sides after impressing above his age over the past two years. He is highly regarded at Old Trafford, and was part of this summer’s U18 and U23 pre-season training camp in Austria. The winger, just 14 years, 10 months and 10 days old, made his debut in the 2-1 win over Valencia - and is also

believed to be the youngest player the Reds have fielded in an official youth team league or cup match. He beat the previous UEFA Youth League mark of Benfica goalkeeper Mile Svilar, who in turn succeeded Real Madrid Iker Casillas as the youngest to appear in the Champions League. The youngster, who is eligible to play for Nigeria but has caught the eye of England youth team selectors, got a pat on the back from team-mate Angel Gomes, who has already made his senior United debut. The forward tweeted: "2-1 win to finish the group unbeaten. Great result! Also a massive shout out to all the debutants and 14 yr old Shola making his debut." The prodigious Shoretire travelled with Manchester United youngsters to their training camp in Austria. Shoretire is only 14 but United coaches

have recognised his outstanding potential by including him in a squad mostly made up of Under-18 and Under-23 players in Obertraun. Academy head Nicky Butt is in Austria with the youngsters as the club considers possible replacements for U18 coach Kieran McKenna along with U23 coach Ricky Sbragia. Shoretire, who featured at the Milk Cup two years above his age group last year, will likely play for the U15s in the upcoming season but his latest recognition could convince United coaches to hand him an early academy debut. The diminutive Shoretire can play on the wing or up front and is described as an 'exceptional' talent. The teenager is eligible to represent Nigeria but Shoretire has already been invited to train with England's juniors. Manchester United Under 19s completed a convincing comeback

That pressure led to the opening goal after United failed to clear a cross into the box and were punished by Jordi Escobar, who slotted home to put the hosts one up. Nicky Butt's side then survived a few close shaves including a goal-line clearance from Dio McGhee as Valencia piled the pressure on. But the visitors found their feet and began to look more assured as the half wore on. Then, Tahith Chong — last year's winner of the Jimmy Murphy Award burst clear before his attempt on goal was saved, the deflection, however, fell kindly to Nishan Burkart, who chested down and finished well to restore parity. Almost immediately after United found themselves in front. Aidan Barlow collected Largie Ramazani's cross before ghosting past the Valencia defender and converting his one-on-one chance. Phil Neville's son, Harvey, was brought on in the second half to try to see out the game Butt then called on his former teammate's son as he introduced Harvey Neville, son of United legend Phil who used to be on the books at Valencia when his father and uncle Gary were coaches there, in the second half. Shoretire was then introduced in the 74th minute and, in doing so, made history as the UEFA Youth League's youngest ever player at just 14 years and 314 days and also United's youngest ever player at this age level. The diminutive midfielder helped United see out the rest of the game as they finished eventual 2-1 victors in Spain to top the group. G LO B A L S O C C E R ASSISTANT EDITOR KUNLE ADEWALE THISDAY ON SATURDAY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE DEPUTY EDITOR CHIKA AMANZE-NWACHUKWU THISDAY NEWSPAPERS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO

DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

Mourinho and Klopp

Liverpool Keen on Keeping Unbeaten Run Intact against United Ă’Ă? ÞåÙ Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă˜Ă‘Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă?Ă™Ă™ĂžĂŒĂ‹Ă–Ă– ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ùʼ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĚłĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă? ʨâÞĂ&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ăž Ă˜Ę¨Ă?Ă–ĂŽ Ă™Ă˜ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁ Ă‹Ę°Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă™Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă? ÚËĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă?ĘľĂ?ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂšĂ™Ă™Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă?Ëœ Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă’Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă™ĂœĂžĂ’Ě‹ Ă?Ă?Ăž ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂŒĂŁ

T

he Reds remain unbeaten in the top flight after 16 matches and head into this high-profile match sitting top of the division, whereas 20-time champions United are down in sixth place. Not since March 1990 have Liverpool had a bigger points margin heading into a top-flight match against their arch-rivals, with the gap currently standing at 16 points as a result of the sides' contrasting starts to the season. Liverpool have dropped points in just three games this term and are now the last unbeaten side standing following defeats for past two champions Chelsea and Manchester City over the past three weeks. With Man City falling to a 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last weekend, the Reds stand a point clear at the summit. The task for Jurgen Klopp’s men is to now live with the pressure that comes with being the best in the country, with another five months to

see out. This is not exactly new territory for the Merseyside outfit, having mounted a few notable title challenges in the recent past, but the group of players put together by Klopp certainly seems to be made of far sterner stuff - from summer signing Alisson Becker in goal through to arguably the division's most talented player in Mohammed Salah up top. Strengthening at the back with the addition of Alisson during the off-season, six months after bringing in club-record signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton has more than paid off for Liverpool. Just six Premier League goals have been shipped all season, leaving them on course to break the record set by Chelsea in 2004-05. In fact, the Reds have not conceded more than one goal in a game in any of their last 19 league outings - their best run of defensive form since the late 1970s and they continue to score goals at an impressive rate at the other end of the pitch. Salah has made a mockery of those who suggested that his 2017-18 goalscoring return would be a one-off, racking up 10 goals already this time around to joint-lead

the scoring charts. The Egyptian has opened the scoring in seven matches, meanwhile, and scored the winner six times - both league-high tallies. However, Liverpool's famed front three of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane - which has been broken apart at times this season with Klopp using a 4-2-3-1, depending on the opponents have failed to score or assist a goal in a Premier League game against United in nearly 1,000 combined minutes on the field. All three men played in a part in last weekend’s 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth, which was arguably the first time that Klopp's men have truly swept aside a team since cruising to a 3-0 win over Southampton at the end of September. That was followed up by a tense 1-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League in midweek, keeping the Reds on course for silverware on multiple fronts as they embark on a tough run of games that sees them face United, Arsenal and Man City in the next three weeks.

Come through that run unscathed and supporters really can begin to believe that this will finally be their year. While Liverpool fans have plenty to be excited about, it is a different matter entirely for those of a Manchester United persuasion. One win from their last five league matches shows just how far the mighty have fallen. The Red Devils did at least manage to end their four-game winless run last weekend with a 4-1 triumph over Fulham, though it was a case of one step forward and two steps back due to their performance against Valencia in midweek. A 2-1 loss at the Mestalla would prove costly for United as it denied them top spot in their group, meaning a difficult last-16 tie in the Champions League when European action resumes two months from now. Even accounting for the win against Fulham, Jose Mourinho’s underperforming side have taken only six points from the last 15 on offer. A defeat to neighbours Man City was followed up by successive draws with Crystal Palace,

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ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

GLOBAL SOCCER Premiership Table

Liverpool Man City Tottenham Chelsea Arsenal Man Utd Everton Bournemouth Leicester Wolves West Ham Watford Brighton Cardi Newcastle Crystal Palace Burnley HuddersďŹ eld Southampton Fulham

16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

28 36 14 20 15 2 4 -1 1 -2 -2 -3 -3 -15 -9 -10 -17 -17 -17 -24

42 41 36 34 34 26 24 23 22 22 21 21 21 14 13 12 12 10 9 9

Premiership TODAY

Man City Palace HuddersďŹ eld Tottenham Watford Wolves Fulham

v v v v v v v

Everton 12:30 Leicester 15:00 Newcastle 15:00 Burnley 15:00 Cardi 15:00 Bournemouth 15:00 West Ham 17:30

SUNDAY

Brighton v Southampton v Liverpool v

Chelsea Arsenal Man Utd

13:30 13:30 16:00

Spanish La Liga Fixtures TODAY

Getafe Valladolid Madrid Eibar

v v v v

Sociedad AtlĂŠtico Vallecano Valencia

12:00 15:15 17:30 19:45

v v v v

Girona Real Betis Villarreal Barcelona

11:00 15:15 17:30 19:45

v

Bilbao

20:00

v v

Udinese Juventus

17:00 19:30

v v v v v v

Chievo Empoli Sassuolo Parma Napoli Genoa

11:30 14:00 14:00 14:00 17:00 19:30

v

Lazio

19:30

SUNDAY

Sevilla Espanyol Huesca Levante MONDAY

AlavĂŠs

Serie A TODAY

Inter Torino SUNDAY

Southampton and then Arsenal. Momentum just seems impossible to come by at the moment for the country's most successful side, last winning back-to-back matches at the beginning of November. United's scoring stats are down on last season, their defensive stats are down on last season and, as a result, their points tally is substantially down on last season. This time 12 months ago, the Red Devils had nine points more and were only kept off the top spot by the blistering form of runaway champions Man City. Mourinho may have repeatedly claimed that his side overperformed in finishing second last time out, but there can be no excuses about their constant below-par showings this term, most recently in the defeat to Valencia when simply failing to turn up. Their 26 goals against in the Premier League is just two fewer than the total they conceded throughout the whole of 2017-18, with just two clean sheets being kept - incredibly, only

five other sides have a worse defensive record. Mourinho can at least fall back on a decent record at Anfield, winning on half of his eight visits there in the Premier League to give him the best win percentage among managers with 5 plus such games in the competition. It was 1990 the last time United were this far behind Liverpool at Christmas. Victory on Sunday will close the margin slightly, but even then there will be lingering doubts over whether Mourinho is the man to bring the glory days back to Old Trafford. United's last two trips to Anfield have resulted in goalless draws after Mourinho adopted an ultra-cautious approach, yet the Portuguese said his side are capable of fighting for victory despite their injuries. "We know that we are going to play against the leaders, against a team on a high, but we have our qualities, we have our potential," he said. "Even with the problems we have and the doubts in terms of team choice, of tactics, approach, philosophy, we have doubts about everything. We are going to arrive with the players we have available and

going to have a team capable of going there and fight for the victory." Liverpool are looking to pick up a sixth successive victory in the league. However, Klopp has yet to get the better of Mourinho's United having not beaten them since the Portuguese took charge in 2016, drawing three and losing once. The fixture is never short of drama and Mourinho usually enjoys the big occasion as an underdog, as he showed in last month's impressive 2-1 victory over Juventus in Turin. Meanwhile, Manchester City will try to get back to their winnings ways after their first loss of the season last weekend to Chelsea as they host Everton in today’s early kick-off at the Etihad Stadium. The Citizens were seemingly in cruise control and flying at the top of the table until last week's defeat to Chelsea. Seven back to back victories since their goalless draw with Liverpool back in October demonstrates City's dominance in the league.

SPAL Fiorentina Frosinone Sampdoria Cagliari Roma MONDAY

Atalanta

Head to Head 10/03/18 14/10/17 15/01/17 17/10/16 17/01/16 12/09/15 22/03/15 14/12/14 16/03/14 01/09/13 13/01/13 23/09/12 11/02/12 15/10/11 06/03/11 19/09/10 21/03/10 25/10/09

Man Utd Liverpool Man Utd Liverpool Liverpool Man Utd Liverpool Man Utd Man Utd Liverpool Man Utd Liverpool Man Utd Liverpool Liverpool Man Utd Man Utd Liverpool

2: 1 Liverpool 0: 0 Man Utd 1: 1 Liverpool 0: 0 Man Utd 0: 1 Man Utd 3: 1 Liverpool 1: 2 Man Utd 3: 0 Liverpool 0: 3 Liverpool 1: 0 Man Utd 2: 1 Liverpool 1: 2 Man Utd 2: 1 Liverpool 1: 1 Man Utd 3: 1 Man Utd 3: 2 Liverpool 2: 1 Liverpool 2: 0 Man Utd

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GLOBAL SOCCER\\OTHER SPORTS

Funke Oshonaike

Nimota Aregbeshola

Funke Oshonaike: 7th Olympics Appearances Shaky Funke Oshonaike’s dream is to become the ďŹ rst female athlete to participate in seven Olympic Games and few doubted her ability ÞÙ Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› ÙåĂ?Ă Ă?ĂœËœ åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă?Ăœ lacklustre performance at ongoing National Sports Festival Abuja Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙ Ă‹ Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă?Ă• ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ăž ÞÙ ͚Π̋ãĂ?Ă‹ĂœĚ‹Ă™Ă–ĂŽ Ó×ÙÞË ĂœĂ?Ă‘ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă™Ă–Ă‹Ëœ ĂŽĂ™Ă&#x;ĂŒĂžĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă?ÞÒĂ?Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂžĂ‹ĂŒĂ–Ă?Ě‹ĂžĂ?Ă˜Ă˜Ă“Ă? Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ achieve her dream writes Kunle Adewale

I

f wishes were horses, the very day the 2020 Olympics Games gets underway a record would be set- Nigeria’s Funke Oshinaike, who would then be 45 years old would become the first female athlete to appear in the Olympics. Africa’s queen of table tennis, who started competing for Nigeria since the early 80s and has attended six Olympics beginning from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and still felt she go for a record 7th Olympic Games. “Table tennis is something I have the passion for, so much so that over 40 years I am still playing. Sometimes, the situation of the country tends to weigh me, I think probably it is because of my German lifestyle I am used to, and over there things are quite different. But I realise that this is Nigeria and we have a way of doing things. I am hopeful that one-day things will change,� she told THISDAY. The tennis veteran, however, suffered a shocking defeat to 19-year-old Nimota Aregbesola in the table tennis event of the ongoing National Sports Festival in Abuja. Oshonaike lost to the teenager in the quarter-finals women singles with the scores 4-3. An obviously shocked Aregbesola could not believe the feat she had achieved as she rolled on the floor in excitement, finally said she was aiming for the gold medal. “I couldn’t believe I will beat Funke. I was confident at the beginning but I

lost hope as the game progressed. I just listened to my coach and teammates cheering me on to pull my last point. This is my first participation at the NSF, and I am aiming for the gold medal,� she managed to say as fans hurried to celebrate with her. The loss to Aregbesola has left a big doubt as to whether Oshonaike still has the strength to forge ahead in the game, while many are of the opinion that she should just quit honourably. “Maybe I will retire soon, but, right now, I’m still having fun with what I am doing. It is not giving me stress. As long as I have everything I need, then why should I stop. Many people have told me that age is telling on me but I believe age is nothing but numbers. Age is in the head and heart,� Oshonaike said. For every glorious career, there is always a starting point; Oshonaike’s foray into table tennis began at her teenage years in elementary school in the streets of Shomolu, a bustling town in Lagos State. At that age of her life passion for the sports helped to water the ground for this life expedition. While in Shomolu, Oshonaike started developing this perceived potential which she describes as a ‘talent from God’ using a makeshift table and soak away slabs to play the game with her elder brother. From there, the ship took the sail to her secondary school, where she started representing the school at

competitions, earning her awards and recognition from the school principal who recognised this budding talent and decided to propel her to greatness. This opportunity did not only launch her to the limelight but set her apart as a rare talent with promise and potentials. “I started playing table tennis at the age of 12, during my primary school days in Shomolu and I was driven by the belief that it was a God-free given talent and the fact that my elder brother played was also an inspiration. We had a small makeshift table to play with before somebody in my street bought a table tennis board and from there a coach discovered me. Then I started representing my school, the state and the country. At the state level, I won the several awards and was also recognised by the state,� she recalled. According to her, “the journey has been wonderful for me, and I have no regret whatsoever. Table tennis has taken me everywhere and given me everything I have achieved today. Though there have been some challenges, that is life nothing good comes easy. There have been good and bad times in my career, but I try to move on despite these ups and downs. One of the saddest moments in my career was during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2011 when I was dropped from the team. Despite that, I did not lose faith in the team and the country; today I still represent the country.�

Oyo SWAN Installs Ajimobi as Grand Patron

Sports Writers' Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Oyo State Chapter on Thursday installed Governor Abiola Ajimobi as its grand patron. The governor was decorated by the SWAN Chairman Niyi Alebiosu alongside other executives and members of the association during a well-attended event held at Lekan Salami Sports Complex. Several other events were held at the same venue to commemorate the governor's 69th birthday celebration. Other events include the final match of Oyo State Governor's Cup as well as a novelty match between the State Executive Council and Oyo State House

with KUNLE ADEWALE 08111813082

of Assembly. Mr. Niyi Alebiosu, the state SWAN Chairman said the investiture of the governor was to appreciate his contribution to sports development in the state. He said the governor has been very supportive to Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) and Crown Football Club of Ogbomoso both owned by the state government as well Russia 2018 World Cup viewing centre set up by the governor. The SWAN chairman also appreciated him for supporting the state contingent to the ongoing National Sports Festival in Abuja, where the contingents had secured several medals.

Meanwhile, players and management of 3SC also appreciated and honoured the governor for his unflinching support to the team. Ajimobi in his remarks said the series of activities to commemorate his 69th birthday would foster mutual understanding, love and peace. He promised to continue to support sports development in the state, appreciating all for the honour bestowed on him. Hundreds of residents who had earlier staged a walk around the metropolis in honour of the governor had thronged the stadium to commemorate with the governor.

Dalung, Obanikoro, Tandoh Hail Aregbesola’s Feat against Oshonaike Team Lagos teenager, Nimota Aregbesola, who created a shocking upset by beating veteran Funke Oshonaike in the women table tennis event of the ongoing Abuja 2018 National Sports Festival, has continued to receive commendations for making a feat not expected of her career. Aregbesola, a product of Lagos State grassroots sports development programme, shocked sixth-time Olympian Oshonaike in the women’s singles on Monday, beating the former Commonwealth Games champion 4-3, a feat which has attracted attention in the Nigerian sports circle and the media. Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, described Aregbesola as a brave fighter who was not intimidated by the pedigree of Oshonaike in the ping pong game. “I was so happy when I heard of the news of her exploits. This is a good one for our sports. I must commend her effort,� the minister said on Tuesday when he was around during table tennis medal presentations. Former Minister of State (Defence), Musiliu Obanikoro praised Aregbesola for making Lagos State proud and fought herself into the national limelight. “I’m so much happy that a player from my state could make a great feat like this. This shows that the sports authority in Lagos has done a good job on our athletes. To me, sports festival should not be about recycling athletes, but giving our young athletes the opportunity to make it to the stardom,� said Obanikoro. Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Dr. Kweku Adedayo Tandoh, said he was impressed with the performance of Aregbesola in the table tennis event, adding that the young girl was just coming from her outing at the 50th edition of Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship which was held recently in Lagos. “Nimota just expressed what she had been learning from our sports development and it shows that we are on course on what we are doing in Lagos,� Tandoh said.

Mavericks Kitty Group Golf Tournament Tees-o Today Mavericks Kitty Group End of the Year Golf Tournament will tee-off today with about 80 golfers participating at the event. The tournament slated for Benin Club golf section’s golf course, GRA Benin City, Edo State is organised by the Mavericks kitty group in conjunction with BCGS is for the purpose of mutually enjoying the game of golf, and to promote the aspirations of all members of Benin Club. The group competition secretary, Air Commodore Oscar Iyare, noted that about 80 members within the golf section are participating at the tournament and it will feature men's, ladies, veteran and super veteran category as well as regular men, and Mavericks members respectively. "The Mavericks kitty group under the leadership of AVM Hassan Aliyu with 25 members within the golf section decided to organise the tournament for all members of BCGS, with the purpose of mutually enjoying the game of golf and promotes the aspirations not only for golf section but of Benin Club as a whole. "There are lots of golf related trophies and other prizes to be won by all those who distinguished themselves in various categories at the event. "This edition is a closed tournament for BCGS members only, but there is a plan to make it an open tournament to other golfers across the country next year. The group comprises of people of like mind similar to The Lord's group, Jami-Jami group, and Solid golf group within the club, Iyare said. "

ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

35

GLOBAL SOCCER

Abate tries to stop Ola Aina

Ola Aina

Finding a Home Outside the Bridge After failing to pin a regular shirt at Stamford Bridge, Nigerian international, Ola Aina was last season loaned to Championship side, Hull City. With another loan spell to Torino, the defender seems to have ďŹ nally found a home outside of the Bridge with regular playing time with his new Serie A club

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la Aina was one of the key performers for his club as he was on for full 90 minutes in Torino’s 0-0 away draw against AC Milan in their Serie A clash at the Giuseppe Meaza Stadium, Milan on Sunday and thanked the club’s fans for their unflinching support. “Another point for the team. Thank you to our fans for bringing the energy as usual,� Aina tweeted on his Twitter handle. Aina, who is on loan at Torino from English Premier League club, Chelsea, has made 13 Serie A league appearances for the Turin – based club this season but is yet to find the back of the net. The Torino defender is however delighted with his new environment and the opportunity to hone his skills in Italy after he joined Walter Mazzarri’s men temporarily for the 2018-19 campaign after extending his contract with Chelsea to 2021 last month. After spending the majority of his career in England which included a season-long spell with Hull City last term, the 21-yearold highlighted differences between the two countries. “I really like Turin. It’s not as big as London, but it’s a bit more relaxed and relaxing, a bit like me. In England, we train a lot in the morning, here it’s more the afternoon. I’m getting used to it though. Everyone is adapting to me, and obviously

vice-versa. My teammates have made me feel good from the beginning, I thank them because it made it much easier for me to settle in," Aina was quoted as saying by Football Italia. “Serie A is very different from the Premier League, the football in England is more physical and fast. It’s slower here and there’s more time to think, but you need a very different, more intense, attention to tactics. That’s good for me because that’s exactly what I need to improve. “I chose Torino because of the coach Walter Mazzarri, I talked to him and I got the feeling he wanted me and wanted to help me grow. I also felt he wanted me to work for him, that I could be important for his cause. Then, of course, Torino have a great history and the Italian league is one of the best, so I couldn’t say no." The 21-year-old believes he has started brightly this season and looks to continue to make a good impression on the first team. He said: “I have started very well this season, thanks also to my teammates and to the coach, when there are challenges I always face them openly because I believe in my potential.� He went on to praise Mazzari’s tactics and team set up, emphasising how he likes to be given the freedom to attack as well as defend.

Aina joined Torino on loan from Chelsea and has suddenly become a vital part of the team. Aina while speaking in an interview with Forza Italian Football said he has set a target to learn the language by December. “I’ve been enjoying it so far. I’m enjoying training and the games, and all the challenges as there are some top sides here. I’m settling in just fine. My Italian was good but it’s dipped a little. I’m back on the lessons though and have given myself the target of Christmas to have a full conversation.� “The difference is a lot,� Ola Aina said. “The level is a lot higher, the concentration and tactical side of things are a lot higher than the Championship. For me, that is what is key for me this season. Right now, the squad are just focusing on each other, and to take each match as it comes. We want to play good football and get as many points as possible and win games. So if we can focus on this, then who knows.� Normally placed on the right side, Aina has been operating on the left, though he admitted it makes no difference where he plays. “Both right and left are the same,� Aina continued, “the only difference is you have to use your other foot. Simple really.� He was born in the London and was

raised by two Nigerian parents, he was also one step away from participating in the last World Cup in Russia: he was in fact included in the preliminary list, but was not chosen in the final 23. A few years ago, when Josè Mourinho was still the manager of the Blues, he spoke highly of the player and his efforts. Aina won a number of titles with the youth team at Chelsea which forced the Special One to say "He has great potential and I believe that he will represent the future of the club." After Mourinho left, Aina was mentored by Conte and with the Italian Aina played in the 3-4-3 and on 3-5-2 systems and knowing Mazzarri, a young player that knows how to play in a system with three defenders is ideal. Aina said, "I only arrived in August, but I immediately got along well with my new teammates, I tied up with Meite, Ferigra, Edera, but also with many others. "I feel at home and for this I thank them. I started this season very well thanks to my teammates and to the coach. When there are challenges I always face them openly because I believe a lot in my potential. "Chelsea allowed me to be here because they know that this is an excellent championship and an opportunity to improve even tactically, I chose Torino because I talked to the coach and he immediately made me feel important for this team, and then because this club has an important history."

36

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

FAIRGROUND with

Toyin Abraham, Rita Dominic, Others Praise ‘Heaven On My Mind’

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

I

n the true words of the theme for the night, Heaven on my mind premiere which held on Thursday, Dec 29 was definitely glamorous. From the décor to the celebrities that graced the event to the atmosphere, the night was indeed a GLAM! More importantly, the celebrities were full of praises for the movie just after it premiered. The movie which premiered at the FilmHouse IMAX Cinemas, Lekki Phase 1 paraded several arrays of stars like, the women of the night, Uche Jombo and Ini Edo, Mercy Aigbe, Uti Nwachukwu, Toyin Abraham, Faithia Williams, Lilian Afegbai, Linda Osifo, Tolu Bally, Adunni Ade, Ifuennada, Kemen, Bassey, Tana Adelana, Shaffy Bello, Lisa Omorodion, Alexx Ekuno, ChinneyLove Eze, Rita Dominic, Kate Henshaw, Ufuoma McDermott, Chioma Chukwuka, MizWannneka, Eyinna, Lasisi Elenu, McLively, Moses Iwang, Padita Agu and more. Heaven on my mind follows the story of Ben Peters who believes that marriage is a business transaction and he works really hard at it, his wife is sexy, a goal getter,hardworking and intelligent woman who never denies him sex. This however, would have been an amazing love story if he was talking about just one woman. The combination of Uche Jombo and Ini Edo has resulted into the casting of popular Nollywood faces from English and Yoruba speaking sectors as the movie features talented actors like Uche Jombo, Ini Edo, Mercy Aigbe, Ray Emordi, Andrea Chika Chukwu, Femi Adebayo, Adunni Ade, Eric Ogbonna and Yvonne Nwosu. Heaven on my mind opened across cinemas nationwide on December 7th, 2018 and has gone ahead to be 7th, 2018 and has gone ahead to be one of the highest selling Nollywood movies at the moment. Speaking after the premiere, “this is a very good movie. When I first heard the title, I thought it was a Christian film but after seeing the movie, now I understand the concept behind the title. This is a movie that talks about the social vices around but does it in a thrilling and entertaining manner”, said Faithia William. Former Big Brother Naija contestant, Bassey also spoke highly of the movie, “My favourite character was definitely the guy. How he mastered the three powerful women in that movie is nothing short of outstanding. The movie is really interesting”, Bassey said. Talented actress, Toyin Abraham did not fail to shower praises on the movie as well. “Uche Jombo and Ini Edo have outdone themselves. My initial thought for this movie is totally different from what I have now after seeing it. This is a Nollywood movie worth watching by everyone. I want everyone to come out to see this movie. This is definitely magic from two Nollywood veterans”, Toyin Abraham said. The premiere of Uche Jombo and Ini Edo’s new movie “Heaven on My Mind” was filled with notable actors who didn’t just show up to show off their fashion knowledge but went all out to show up till the very end and this does not happen very often at Nollywood premieres. Heaven on My Mind is still showing across cineams nationwide.

Fathia Williams and Toyin Abraham

L-R: Ini Edo, Rita Dominic, Uche Jombo, Chioma Chukwuka and Ufuoma McDermott

Halima Abubakar and Mercy Aigbe

L-R: Ray Emordi, Mercy Aigbe, Uche Jombo, Ini Edo and Adunni Ade

Lasis Elenu, Toyin Abraham, Faithia Williams, Kehinde Bankole, Kemen and Kola Ajeyemi

Ini Edo and Kate Henshaw

Uti Nwachukwu Lilian Afegbai

Chioma Akpotha, Uche Jumbo and a friend

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

FAIRGROUND

Bam Bam, Teddy A, Charles Inojie, Others in New Movie, ‘No Budget’

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n a world where individuals now prioritise weddings over actual marriages, where weddings are made for the gram, seen as some competition and no deliberate attention placed on the issues that come with the marriage, it’s about time Nollywood took a piece of the puzzle. Nollywood is about to experience yet another classic as the movie, ‘No Budget’, debuts in cinemas nationwide, come December 21st, 2018. No Budget tells the story of Lola Balogun, daughter of the wealthy Mr. & Mrs. Balogun, who has a dream of having a talk of the town, internet breaking wedding ceremony. Unfortunately for Lola, Osagie, the man she plans to marry, does not consent to her idea of having such an elaborate wedding ceremony. Banking on her father’s wealth, things starts to go wrong when her father also says no to her request. Speaking to the producer and director, Mr. Ojie Asuelime, he explained that No Budget was no regular movie as it addressed lots of issues many have had reasons to find disturbing. He said: “No Budget is sharply and comically observed. The film deals with the everyday behind the scene drama that saturates many homes when it comes to planning a societal wedding, and captures the delicate balance between having a happily ever after marriage rather than focusing on what the society dictates a wedding should be while finding the courage to make decisions that will be of help in one’s home at the long run.” On the choice of cast, Ojie explained that this had always been an important factor when making a movie and for him, there were no exceptions in his case. He further added: “Picking a cast is

Kehinde Bankole and a colleague

never easy, aside from looking at the business side, you get to look at the raw emotions and talents behind these individuals and for me I got all these and

more from my cast and crew. They didn’t just hit the bar with their individuality, they also nailed it as a team and that’s the wish of a producer and an actor.

No Budget is a movie nobody wants to miss. These guys delivered and I must say I am proud to have witnessed their passion first hand.”

Thirty Nine Years After, Charly Boy Marries in Church Nseobong Okon-Ekong

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averick Nigerian entertainer and activist, Mr. Charles Oputa, better known as, Charly Boy or Area Fada will walk his long time consort, Lady Diane down the aisle at the chapel of the Sisters of Jesus the Redeemer, Catholic Church , in Gwarimpa, Abuja for formal exchange of marital vows. The ceremony which holds today, Saturday December 15, will be officiated by the outspoken Catholic clergy, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah and will have in attendance family members and close associates of the couple. Mr. Oputa was first married to Stella at a Catholic Church in Onitsha in 1974. The relationship produced one child. The Catholic Church observes a strict marital doctrine which demands that couples who contracted a marriage on the church must petition the Catholic Pontiff for an annulment if they wish to opt out of the union. According to Oputa, "We have been following through with the process of annulment for sometime. My former wife who has since remarried cooperated very well. She had no objection. The reason I put forward for the annulment was that I

was underage. My mother actually got the wife for me at the age of 19 because I a little rascally with women. Getting me married at that age was supposed to curb my sexual excesses. " Incidentally, Mr. Oputa's 101 year-old mother is once again the reason he is contracting a formal marriage to Lady Diane, who has three children for him. He explained, "This is not that kind of marriage with fanfare. I am doing it to please my aged mother. She has been pleading that we do the right thing. This is a woman I have been living with for 40 years. We know each other well. This is about obedience to certain demands of the society. People wonder how I am able to live with one woman all these years. It is not that we do not have misunderstanding. Marriage is successful when you are able to manage your incompatibility. I saw my parents quarrel, reconcile, kiss and hold hands again. These are the values that have guided me my relationship. " Charly Boy who is 62 years has nine children from different women insists that "Lady Diane is now the mother of all my children. We have 16 grandchildren." According to him, he hopes to convince his wife to ride with him in a tricycle to and from the church to underscore the low-key nature of the ceremony.

Charly Boy and wife, Diane

38

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

AUTO Nigeria to Feature in Tyrexpo Asia 2019

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Hyundai Creta

Hyundai Creta is Car of The Year in Nigeria Stories by Bennett Oghifo

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yundai Creta emerged 2018 car of the year in Nigeria at an award ceremony hosted by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos, during the week. The Hyundai Creta moved slightly ahead of Toyota Corolla and GA 3, a Chinese brand. In the luxury category, Mercedes Benz S-class emerged Luxury Car of the ahead of BMW 7-series while the Luxury SUV of the Year award went to Range Rover Autobiography. Toyota Hilux is Pick-up of the Year and Toyota Hiace was voted Mini Bus of the Year. The Hyundai Creta is a Compact car crossover SUV produced by Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai and China’s Beijing Group from 2014 and Hyundai

Motor India Limited from 2015. It was first seen as a thinly veiled “concept” at Auto China (in Beijing) in April 2014. The production model had its premier at Chengdu, in August 2014, and it went on sale in China two months later. In India, the car has three engine variants including the 1.4 and 1.6 liter diesel and a 1.6 liter gasoline engine with five models for the Creta – E, E+, S, SX, SX(O). Each model has a specific set of features which distinguishes it from the others and comes in seven colours. Trinidad & Tobago imports the Indian made Hyundai Creta in three variants, Basic, Advanced and Fully Loaded. They all have 1.6 gasoline engines, with automatic transmissions. The Creta’s engine comes in three variants, each of which are present in different models. The 1.4 CRDi engine is available in E+ and S models. The 1.6 CRDi VGT engine is available in SX and SX(O) models.

The 1.6 gasoline dual VTVT engine is available in the E, E+, SX and SX(O) models. The Chinese and Brazilian market gets two gasoline engines, of 1.6 or 2.0 liters. In India, the car is available with 1.4 and 1.6 liter diesel engines and a 1.6 liter gasoline engine. Also in Brazil, both engines runs with ethanol. In order to improve the Creta lineup further, Hyundai has introduced Creta E+ diesel and SX dual tone variants. The Creta SX, it is now offered with a dual tone red and black or a white and black exterior color options. The SX dual tone variant is powered by a 1.6 liter gasoline or a diesel engine but, with no automatic gearbox option The Creta has safety features, including Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Hillstart Assist Control (HAC), Rear Parking Assist System, and ABS. The Hive body structure signifies structural strength. The six airbag system provides all round protection.

igeria will participate in the 12th edition of Tyrexpo Asia 2019 in Singapore, according to the Managing Director of Stoobs Ltd, Mr. Bennett Simon Ndukwe, who is the officially appointed representative by the organiser of Tyrexpo Asia to engage exhibition participation from Nigerian companies. Ndukwe said part of the Tyrexpo series provides participants the ability to maximise business opportunities, with access to key markets across Asia Pacific, India and South Africa. He said the exhibition was one of the biggest tyre-focussed tradeshow in the world with more than 6,000 industry players congregating on one platform. Bringing Nigerian companies to Tyrexpo Asia will raise the profile of Nigerian companiesin the global tyre scene. Mr Ndukwe said: “Tyrexpo Asia is everything that has to do with Tyres, Automotive Repair Equipment, Tools, Parts and Accessories. We were appointed as Nigerian representatives this year and we have on our own appointed local partners Ogurising International Limited to support us in our marketing drive.” With this development, the Stoobs Ltd boss says that they are looking forward to engaging Nigerian businessmen who will take advantage of the fair to develop their businesses by participating in the fair in Singapore. He added, “Our role is to sensitise people about road safety by highlighting the importance of safety triangle which are transmission, brakes, and tyres. We are hoping that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), organised private sector and industries that have something to do with automobiles, luxury bus owners and other transporters will key into this fair. “The fair has advantages to offer Nigerian businessmen to meet with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for a better pricing matrix which will impact on Nigerian customers. It also offers hands-on opportunities to learn new skills through technical workshops and tyre change competition to be held at the fair.

DataDot, Stallion Motors Deploy Device to Halt Vehicle, AssetTheft

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ataDot Technology South Africa (Pty) Limited, through its authorised distributor Stallion Motors Nigeria, has introduced a hi-tech digital security system uniquely designedtobringvehiclethefttoan end, while also reducing the trade of stolen vehicles and parts in the country. The digital security system known as DataDots uses the microdot DNAsystem that dates back to the 1800s, when they were first used during the FrancoPrussian War as a message system transported by carrier pigeons. AlsousedinWorldWarIandIIasameansofpassing messagesthroughinsecurepostalchannels,Microdot has undergone tremendous modification and is applied in multiple discreet locations on a vehicle to deter vehicle theft, while also making it difficult to trade parts in the car to unsuspicious buyers. Already installed on all vehicles assembled and marketed by Stallion Motors, DataDot Technology ensures that micro-dotted vehicles including their parts are distinctively assigned with an identity that can be linked only to the rightful owner. This coded identity could forestall theft, intruders and serve as deterrent to thieves while also making recovery of a stolen vehicle an easy task. Stallion Motors Nigeria Managing Director Parvir Singh who gave this hint at the launch of the device in Lagos said: “DataDot has pioneered microdot

technology in South Africa since 2001 and today, they are being used extensively to protect vehicles and assets. “We are excited to introduce this new offering across Nigeria to enhance the positive experience of owning Stallion Motors’ marketed brands of automobiles just as we hope to extend the offer to all other brands sold and marketed by other dealerships.” He said: “Microdot is marked, secured and ensures that your entire assets are uniquely marked with polymer particles of 1mm or 0.5mm in diameter called microdots, which are literally the size of a pin head that can only be viewed by a magnifier and traceable to the rightful owner.” Also adding that the company is in talk with the National Automotive Industry Development Council as well as Insurance Companies and the Police, Mr. Singh said: “DataDot is the number one option for your theft prevention needs and it is virtually impossible to locate let alone removing the microdots, which makes it extremely difficult for thieves to sell micro-dotted assets without the fear of being apprehended.” Stallion Motors who are vehicle assemblers and brand custodians of Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Honda and Changan brand of vehicles said: “We are proud to be part of a program which supports the automotive industry with the DataDot security product that gives customers peace-of-mind and enables us to increase trust in our brands.”

Managing Director Stallion Motors Nigeria, Pavir Singh (m), Media and Marketing, Santhosh Kumar (l), Head Media and Marketing Sonu Singh, National After Sales Manager Pankaj Bohra; and Head After Sales, Devashish Jaiswar, at the launch of DataDot Microdot Technology anti-theft digital security system in Lagos… recently

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

39

AUTO

Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver Spices up London’s Brick Lane in New Range Rover Evoque Stories by Bennett Oghifo

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elebrity chef Jamie Oliver became one of the first people to drive the new Range Rover Evoque, visiting some of his favourite London foodie spots for ingredients to create the city’s best veggie burger. As part of the global reveal of the new Range Rover Evoque, Jamie navigated London’s busy streets to pick up everything he needed to make his Indian-inspired bhaji burger, which he then cooked for guests at the Land Rover’s Evoque Experience. In a throwback to his Naked Chef days Jamie visited Brick Lane, stopping at Taj Stores for spices and yoghurt and Beigel Bake to collect bread rolls. Taking a shortcut through Bishopsgate Goods Yard, he put the Range Rover Evoque through its paces, wading through water pools and taking the car across a series of ramps through the tunnels. Parking in London proved easy as Jamie used the ClearSight Rear View feature to turn the rear-view mirror into an HD screen giving an

unrestricted view of what’s behind the vehicle. Jamie Oliver said: “I absolutely love this car, it was so much fun to drive on the busy streets of London and through the water trough in the Bishopsgate tunnels. I’ve always loved Land Rover and I had a brilliant time designing my cooking car last year, so when I was asked to come and test out the new Evoque, I jumped at the chance. “The fact that Land Rover can create something as versatile as the Discovery and as agile as the Evoque is such a testament to this brilliant British brand.” The Range Rover Evoque is designed, engineered and manufactured in Britain and combines unrivalled Range Rover heritage with cuttingedge technology. The vehicle meets the needs of today’s customers with its agile handling, making it ideally suited to tight city lights. The new Range Rover Evoque will be available from respective sub-Sahara retailers early in 2019 with pricing to be announced closer to time of launch.

The new Range Rover Evoque

JAC Pick Up is Accepted in Nigeria, Says Ade-Ojo

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he Managing Director of Elizade Autoland, (distributor of JAC passenger and light truck vehicles in Nigeria), Mr. Demola AdeOjo, has given four reasons why the award winning JAC T6 pick up is fast gaining grounds in Nigeria. Ade-Ojo gave these reasons at a Special gathering of JAC customers, auto journalists and other stakeholders at the Land Mark event centre in Lagos on Friday, December 7, where the T6 pick up was put to test on a sandy terrain. According to Ade-Ojo, the four reasons why buyers now go for the T6 are Value for money, technology, luxury and price. The T6 comes with the latest Hilux chassis and body technology, bird-net structure body with light weight, hightensile steel sheets is above 50%, anticollision intensity bar inside the door, C-NCAP 4-Star collision test, ABS/EBD applied etc. T6 also features7 inch touch screen, four speakers, multi-function steering, Bluetooth, leather seats, electric 4x4.4x2. The vehicle’s turbo charged engine also delivers efficient fuel economy. Eco-friendly and highly efficient power

powertrain of T6 has also been a major boost for the Pick up. The impressive JAC logo and extremely chroming grille, muscular and sportive streamline, body colour front bumper as standard, hawk-eye modelling halogen combined lamps and LED turn light are some other impressive attributes of the Pick up. T6 Pick up comes big as it is same size as the new Toyota Hilux, high bed chassis with greater passing ability and high body size, coming with a minimum ground clearance of 207mm and bigger tyres of 245/65R17. Ade-Ojo stated that the Elizade brand, with its pedigree in the successful distributorship of Toyota vehicles in Nigeria, has the wherewithal to make the JAC brand a household name. According to him, Elizade will not venture into the distributorship of JAC if it was not sure of its quality, comfort and durability, as more and more Nigerians are now patronizing the brand. He recalled that just as the Elizade brand nurtured Toyota in the Nigerian market, Elizade Autoland is steadily spreading the JAC brand, even as he also said his company subjected JAC to

JAC Pickup on off-road test in Lagos

thorough road tests on Nigerian roads for about three years. Other models of the JAC on the Nigerian market are the J4, S2, S3, S5, S7 and

Should Your New Tyres Be Installed in The Front or Back Axle

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SAFE DRIVING with

hen most people buy new tyres,theytendtoinstallthem in the front axle. They give a numberofreasonsfordoing so.Among such reasons are: 1. With the engine in the front, new tyres should be in the front since they are stronger so should be able to effectively support the weight of the engine. 2. New tyres will be less prone to suffer a blowout and since blowout of a front tyre is more dangerous than that of a rear tyre, it is safer to install new tyres in the front. 3. Front tyres suffer the rigors of acceleration, braking, steering and bad road conditions more and so wear out faster than the rear tyres. So new tyres are better installed in the front. Theabovereasonssoundlogicallybutunfortunately followingthatlogicwouldlandyouinserioustrouble. It is downright dangerous to install new tyres in the front axle especially during the rainy season. Why? Becauseofaphenomenoncalledhydroplaning.What is hydroplaning?

Asituationmayarisewherethechannelsarenotable to remove water fast enough or where the channels arenotdeepenoughbecausethetyreshavewornout. In either situation, the tyres will not maintain contact with the road surface and will simply float on the pool of water. This phenomenon of floating on water because of lack of contact with the ground is called hydroplaning. It is dangerous and may lead to loss of control and a crash. When a vehicle is hydroplaning, application of the brakes will make matters worse! Nowletusconsidertheeffectsofhydroplaningwith new tyres in (a) the front axle and (b) the back axle.

HYDROPLANING. You will observe that your tyres, if not worn out, have some grooves and channels on the treaded portion that is in contact with the ground. Those grooves and channels are designed to, among other functions, help to remove water under the tyres on a wet surface so that the tyre will maintain adequate contact with the road surface for proper traction.

NEW TYRES IN THE FRONT AXLE. (Old tyres at back axle) Newtyres,bynature,shouldhavemoretreaddepths thantyresinuse.Sothetyresattheback–becausethey have less tread depths – will hydroplane before the new tyres in front. With the rear tyres hydroplaning first, a situation called OVER STEERING may occur. This is a situation where the rear tyres will lose trac-

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

tion before the front tyres and the rear of the vehicle begins to slide. Oversteering is far more difficult to control, and in addition to the initial distress felt when the rear of the car starts sliding, quickly releasing the gas pedal in an attempt to slow down may actually make it more difficult for the driver to regain control, possibly causingacompletespinout,lossofcontrolandacrash. NEWTYRES ATTHE BACK AXLE (old tyres in front axle) When you have new tyres at the back axle, the old tyresinthefrontwillhydroplanebeforethebacktyres. ThismayleadtoUNDERSTEERING.Thismeansthe vehicle will continue to move in the straight forward direction even when you want to steer it either to the left or to the right. This is easier to control. By easing up on the gas pedal, the vehicle will slow down and make it very easy for the driver to control. TESTING EXPERIENCE Members of The Tire Rack team had the chance to experience hydroplaning at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds. Participants were allowed to drive aroundalargeradius,wetcurveinvehiclesfittedwith tires of different tread depths - one vehicle with new tires on the rear and half-worn tires on the front, and the other with the new tires in the front and half-worn tires on the rear. Theabilitytosenseandcontrolpredictableundersteer with the new tires on the rear, and the helplessness in trying to control the surprisingoversteer with the new tires on the front was emphatically proven. It is

Sunray mini bus. The light trucks are X5, L40 and the N-Series. Major patronage of the JAC comes from individuals, companies and fleet buyers. better to experience this phenomenon in the safe, controlledconditionsofMichelin’sLaurensProving Grounds rather than in traffic in a rainstorm. In case there is any doubt, when tires are replaced in pairs, the new tires should always be installed on the rear axle and the worn tires moved to the front. SAFERTOREPLACEYOURTYRESINPAIRS, IF NOT IN FOURS. When you have problem with any of your tyres and you want to replace it, it is advisable you equally replace the other tyre on the same axle with the bad tyre so that you have tyres that are exactly the same make, same age, same physical conditions, same size – the same everything – on same axle. This will make for vehicle stability, effective control and better handling. Infact, the ideal thing is to change all the four tyres at the same time. THOSEYELLOW/RED LINES AND DOTS ON A NEWTYRE WHAT DOTHEY MEAN? When you buy new tyres, you will observe that mostofthemhaveredoryellowlinesrunningontop and round the entire perimeter of the tyre and red or yellow dots on the tyre’s side walls.Are those marks simplydecorationsoraretheythereforinformation? They are there with fascinating bits of information. Let’s start with the red or yellow dots. The red and yellow spots. When a tyre is made, the weight is not perfectly uniform throughout the entire size of the tyre. There are some areas of deformity where the weight is greater than in other portions of the tyre. That point is always marked with either red or yellow dot and is called the tyre’s high point .

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

EVENTS On the 27th November 2018, the son of the Special Adviser (Media And Publicity) to President of the Senate, Barr. Oladapo Olaniyonu was called to the bar. A call-to-bar dinner was held in his honour at the Dunes Continental Restaurant, Abuja. Here are photographs of some personalities at the occasion. PHOTOS: JULIUS ATOI

L-R: Yusuph Olaniyonu, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN); Barr Oladapo Olaniyonu, Alhaja Odunayo Olaniyonu and Oladepo Olaniyonu

R-L: Barr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, his son, Barr. Oladapo Olaniyonu and Alhaja Odunayo Olaniyonu

President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujinmi

Femi Adesina and Olusegun Adeniyi Senator Lanre Tejuosho (L) and Senator Dino Melaye

Moshood Amuda (R) and Oyedele Adetula

R-L: Aminu Waziri, Eniola Shitta, Rotimi Oke, Bamikole Omishore and Catherine Onyeson

L-R: Olawale Olaleye; Gabriella Idimogu and Jackie Idimogu

R-L: Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN); Prof Wahab Egbewole (SAN) and Adebayo Adelodun (SAN)

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EVENTS

Waziri Adio (L) and Yusuf Ali Mr Paul Ibe and wife, Mrs Awashima Ibe

Turaki Hassan (L) and Adamu Sani

Prof (Barr) Nuhu Jamo (L) and Muhammed Yakubu

From left to right Mrs Astabarka Abba Garba, Mrs Hajara Aminu Jefiya, the celebrant, His mum, Hajia Fatimah Abubakar, and Miss Toyin

Alh Suleiman Saka and Bolakale Ajanaku

Mallam Garuba Shehu and Maryam Muhammed

Alh Mudashiru Mustapha (L) and Mrs Ronke Sokefun

Ibrahim Yakubu (L) and Zainab Nda-Isaiah, wife of publisher of Leadership newspapers

HRH, Dr Tayo Haastrup (L) and Ismaila Karagama

L-R: Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad; Alh. Kawu Baraje and Bolaji Abdullahi

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Fashion File

Lady Biba’s Beautiful Campaign with Powede Awujo titled “Lady In Line�

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

FASHION FILE

Ă‹ĂŽĂŁ Ă“ĂŒĂ‹ËŞĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;ÞÓĂ?Ă&#x;Ă– Ă‹Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ åÓÞÒ ÙåĂ?ĂŽĂ? ĂĄĂ&#x;ÔÙ ÞÓÞÖĂ?ĂŽ ËŤ Ă‹ĂŽĂŁ Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă?ËŹ “A line is a mark made by a moving point and having psychological impact according to its direction, weight, and the variations in its direction and weight. It is an enormously useful and versatile graphic device that is made to function in both visual and verbal ways. It can act as as a symbolic language, or it can communicate emotion through its character and directionâ€? - Charlotte Jirousek (University of Cornell) This Lady Biba collection is inspired by Lines, Curves & Corners. The woman’s body can not be described without appreciating the lines and curves that meet beautifully at her corners. Lady Biba takes an abstract approach into seeing the beauty in the woman’s body. The collection is made up of structured dresses that flatter every woman. The dresses are ideal for the Lady Boss : who is confident and dresses the part. Powede Awujo, ex beauty queen and model, serves as the perfect muse for the campaign - as she is a Lady Boss : navigating her own career path as a trained nurse and aviator, whilst also juggling motherhood. She is able to navigate her life in her line with her dreams, and excels effortlessly . All the looks from this collection will be available at The GTBank Fashion Weekend this weekend and online from next week. Have a look below :

Credits Brand : @Loveladybiba Location: @Theboroughlagos @circalagos Hair : @anneeliserealhair Make Up : @Flawlessfacesbyjane Model : @Powedeawujo Photographer : @ellisoft Shoes : @theluxeshopper Creative Direction : @thestyle.concierge

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SHOWBIZFLAIR

Editi Effiong Takes Banky W, Adesuwa, KOK, Akin Lewis ‘Up North’ YCEE No More Breaks for Me again Till Old Age pg. 48

Chilly B’s Deal with Lesbians pg. 50

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SHOWBIZFLAIR

Editi Effiong Takes Banky W, Adesuwa, KOK, Akin Lewis ‘Up North’ Amust-watch movie this Christmas season, with a sterling cast of seasoned thespians is “Up North”. Ferdinand Ekechukwu reports

T

here’s this feeling of some sorts that permeates the cinematic work of the upcoming movie called Up North, especially from the trailer. This stems from major highlights of the movie from its teasers and buzz that hearten interests and make it a must watch movie to hit the cinemas December 28. One, it is a movie directed by multi-award winning filmmaker, Tope Oshin Ogun who lately has been engaged in both the film and TV circuits. Another being that it is the first Nollywood production starring a sitting governor, Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State, and an emir, making it a big one for Nollywood. The film’s producer, Editi Effiong said: “Not only did Governor Abubakar volunteer to star in the movie, he committed to making it a success from day one. The governor offered his convoy when the crew had difficulties finding cars for a scene, offered Yankari Reserves as the crew could not get a hotel, and got the crew permission to shoot at the Emir’s place.” In addition, the movie is exciting as it partly swaps the over-used, cosmopolitan Third Mainland Bridge, The Lekki-Ikoyi toll bridge and the Lagos landscape for the very unfamiliar views of Bauchi where the film is set. And more so drawn from its sterling cast of seasoned actors befitting of a movie of this nature are veterans of the industry like Rekia Attah, Akin Lewis, Hilda Dokuboh and Kanayo O Kanayo, all with enriching bilingual experience to their credits. Also starring are R&B music star, Bankole Wellington (Banky W) alongside his actress wife, Adesuwa Etomi, the movie also features Nollywood newbies Ibrahim Suleiman, BBN TBoss, Michelle Dede and Kannywood princess, Rahama Sadau. Up North is an epic NorthernNigeria story inspired by Editi Effiong’s journey around the country, listening to people’s stories, and realising we hardly tell Nigerian stories outside Lagos. Editi, who has been writing since he was 12, decided to make movies about the different stories he heard. The movie explores love, friendship and family politics, all of which collide, creating memories to last a lifetime. It tells the story of a young rebellious heir (Banky W) who gets sent to Bauchi for his NYSC assignment as a punishment for defying his father. Up North is a collaboration betwewen Anakle, a digital agency founded by techpreneur Editi Effiong and Inkblot Productions, producers of The Wedding Party, The Arbitration, Out of Luck, Department and New Money. Anakle has a track record of creating

Banky and Adesuwa

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

SHOWBIZFLAIR Editi Effiong Takes Banky W, Adesuwa, KOK, Akin Lewis ‘Up North’

Lewis

unforgettable digital experiences and some of their previous works are the creation of The Bridge Price app that went viral in 2014, and the Wikipedia ad with child comic, Emmanuella. Back in June, during the movie’s production in Bauchi, Anakle boss, Editi Effiong wrote about how he met the Bauchi Governor on a plane while returning home from a research visit to the state in 2017. Effiong said the governor has been supportive since the movie was in pre-production, apparently keen on bringing more production companies to his state. “I’m trying to diversify my state economy, and I’ve been begging Nollywood people to come and make films here. I have to support you guys, so you can go tell others. Also, you’re employing a lot of Bauchi people,” the governor was quoted to have said. The governor’s explanation makes sense. Shooting a movie in Bauchi is more like marketing the state to Nigerians who do not know about the many attractions of the state and exploring its tourism potential. Also, Nollywood can help with the diversification the Nigerian economy needs and for her to really blossom, she needs the Nigerian Government’s support. Suffice is the brief profile of some the movie’s lead cast: Akin Lewis was born in Zaria Kaduna State. He began his acting career in 1973, the same year he joined a drama group led by Professor Bode Sowande, a writer and dramatist. He came into limelight when he played the lead role in Madam Dearest, a 2005 Nigerian film produced and directed by Tade Ogidan. Over the years, he had featured, produced and directed several films. Anayo Modestus Onyekwere

(popularly known as Kanayo O. Kanayo, was born March 1, 1962 in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria). In 2006, he won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Kanayo is one of the active pioneer actors of Nollywood. In 1992, he made his debut film appearance in the film Living in Bondage. Kanayo has starred in over 100 films. He is currently a United Nations ambassador and bears the title of MFR. Rahama Sadau is an actress, dancer and producer. She is the winner of Best Actress (Kannywood) at the City People Entertainment Awards in 2014 and 2015. She won Best African Actress at the 19th African Film Awards in 2015 by African Voice. The Business Administration graduate of Kaduna Polytechnic joined the Hausa film industry, Kannywood in 2013 and is one of the few Hausa on-screen characters who speaks both English and Hindi languages fluently. Olubankole Wellington (born 27 March 1981), known under the stage name Banky W, and credited in film as Banky Wellington, is a singer, rapper and actor. He made his acting debut in 2016 featuring in the block buster movie, The Wedding Party. Most of his music videos depicts movie like scenes, and exploring the best of cinematic appeal. Adesuwa Etomi was born Tolulope Adesuwa Etomi in Owerri, Imo State to a soldier father and an engineer mother. Etomi is the youngest of three siblings. She is a native of Esan in Edo State and her mother is Yoruba. Her film credits include Falling; a performance in Falling earned her the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Best Actress in A Drama Award.

Kanayo

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SHOWBIZFLAIR YCEE

No More Breaks for Me again Till Old Age Oludemilade Martin Alejo, popularly known as Ycee, is a rapperandsongwritercurrentlysignedtoTinnyEntertainment. His monster hit, Jagban, has improved his music and career, leading to awards and more. He tells Tosin Clegg that people just don’t care for Nigerian rap and he doesn’t know why are rapping in as much English and even with a foreign accent. So I understood there and then that it wasn’t about making the music relatable, it wasn’t about Yoruba or Igbo Rap, I feel like it is the fact that people just don’t care for Nigerian rap and I don’t know why.

For Ycee lately

N

ot much really, not a lot has been happening to be honest. I’ve been going through a process of restructuring but I’m back now. No more breaks till old age. At some point, I was a bit low-key on the music scene and that’s because I had a few things to sort out behind the scenes.

The entire music industry needs restructuring And that’s on so many levels and I can’t really begin to speak on ways to contain it because I know there are people who are better equipped to suggest possible solutions. Certain steps must be taken; certain things must be put in place for the industry to take proper shape. We are better off than 10 years ago but we still have a very long way to go.

Music to me is not exactly possible to define It is my definition. I’ve always thought of music as a kind of universal language. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the lyrics, the melody is always able to let you understand what the song is about and feel the emotions. So, for me, music is the purest form of human expression. Music is my saviour, music is everything to me.

What drives my inspiration into songwriting, singing and making a whole body of good music Everything. My environment, the people around me, the music I listen to, the food I eat, the places I visit, humour, life incidents, reflections, basically my everyday life experience. They all contribute to my music one way or another. However, the inspiration for me doesn’t just stop at the act of coming up with a good idea right off the bat - it extends to knowing what to do with that idea when it does come.

My genre and style of music I’d say I’m primarily a hip-hop artiste and this includes the culture of fashion, language/slang, music, movement, visual art and expression, but I’m a musician also so I love to play around with whatever sound I come across, regardless of genre. The beauty of being a rapper, however, is that it helps me even when I’m trying to sing. Automatically, the lyrics come easily once I get the melodies right. So for me, hip-hop is definitely the best way to express myself, it gives me room to talk about a wide range of topics.

Juice was a monster hit when it came out I didn’t expect that much success but I was definitely hopeful of it. Juice was just one of the projects that are covered with the grace of God. Everything just seemed to fall in place, even things we had nothing to do with. The beat was made by Adey and one day my guys and I were in vibing in the studio and then Juice happened.

Ongoing projects and more I just released a single called ‘My Side’ and I’d be putting out more music in the coming months, with collaborations as well. Expect a lot of Ycee music in the coming months. Music journey so far and the earlier challenges I started off recording music with my brother BBK (Beats By Karma) on his laptop, put out a mixtape and got signed and the rest is history. As for challenges, different day different struggle. Especially before my music blew up, getting heard was a big challenge for me. People kind of subconsciously doubt your talents when you’re an upcoming artiste. You just have to keep your focus and continue to work hard. My view about hip-hop and rap in Nigeria There’s room for improvement in

Ycee

pretty much anything concerning Nigeria. Hopefully, in the coming years, hip-hop will grow to match up with other genres. If society can learn to appreciate Nigerian hip-hop the way they appreciate foreign hip hop then I think you’d find a lot more rappers popping up. There is a disconnect between Nigerian hip-hop fans and Nigerian hip-hop artistes

For me, when I put out my first single Condo, featuring Patoranking, I was rapping the way I knew how and some people were saying I was trying to sound too foreign, that my English was too much. But moving forward, you see comparisons with people who rap in English elsewhere like Nasty C, and I am like, I thought the problem was people rapping in too much English, and then you go ahead to compare them to other Africans that

My future projections and goals I have set ahead for myself I’m starting a new chapter in my career and I intend to remain at the top of the game for years to come. I’m definitely looking to emulate the likes of Davido and Wiz, with the level they’ve attained internationally and all. Y’all better grab some popcorn because Ycee is going to be here for a long time. Awards and nominations so far Winning the Headies rookie of the year is probably my favorite award so far, but I appreciate all my awards and nominations because it’s a nice feeling to know that people recognise the work you put in.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER t DECEMBER 15, 2018

Tosin Clegg 07062816737 e-mail: tosinclegg@hotmail.com

SHOWBIZFLAIR

MY STORY

Gists DON SYLVESTER RECORDS HOLDS MAINLAND CARNIVAL IN LAGOS Nweke Sylvester Chinedu, CEO of Don Sylvester Records, recently held everyone to a night of good music, street vibes, food, drinks and a lot more at Maryland in Lagos. The event was well attended by residents of the area and other audience from everywhere around Lagos. Don Sylvester Records was started as a passion for music and to help the youth to take them off the streets and help them become better in life. The label has taken a couple of artistes on board after opening itself to many. The few that have been chosen have been signed and put in the plans for promotions. Some of the artistes from DSR, K west, Adam swag, Maxi young, Izzay Links, Pipersayso were present at the carnival and they gave a blast of a performance to the audience who were all gingered up and in tune with the groove. Opportunities for upcoming acts were given also, rap battles, open talks and a lot more which made the night one of a kind. According to the CEO, “We have concluded several deals with some people and bodies across the globe and very soon you would be seeing Don Sylvester Records everywhere on your screen, billboards and more.”

PSALMS DAVID

I See Music Like Fashion Onukwugha Onyekachi Stanley, better known as Psalms David, is a gospel act who describes his journey into gospel music as a divine call. He talks with Tosin Clegg about going into gospel music, his projects and more

LILIAN AFEGBAI, TOLU BALLY, EFE TOMMY GRACE ‘CHEF PHUMMYNDEPS COOKING EXPERIENCE’ It was an evening of warm music and delicious delicacy from the kitchen of Chef Phummyndeps as she treats her guests to her special recipes in her private home in Lekki. She had several lineups of amazing meals for her guests, who were a wide array of celebrities, family and friends. Starters, Main Courses, Deserts and more were served with variances from Pasta, Prawn, Ofada Rice, Amala, different taste of stew and sauce and a lot more. Funmi Adesoji, head chef at Phummyndeps was born in Lagos and attended primary and secondary school in Lagos before moving to England to study at the University of Luton. According to Funmi, culinary is an art that comes naturally to creative-minded chefs. “I’m a lover

of colours, cuts, excellence and I hate boring; hence my style of plating. I would cook noodles as a child and add my own extra plating skills to make it more appealing. Plating is not something I plan – I just cook and envision how I want

it to look on the plate and I go for it. Cooking is a beautiful thing; food is life and should be treated as such.” Funmi intends to tell the story of Nigerian food throughout Africa and eventually the world, one step at a time.

OBINNA BRINGS FUN, EXCITEMENT TO EVENTS WITH PHOTO BOOTHS The name Obinna Nwokike may not sound popular but one thing that is sure is that this creative photographer is all out to bring a new experience of fun and excitement to the event industry in Nigeria with his brand of openair photo booths. Obinna’s foray into event photography evolved from the United States a few years ago. He had worked in several Fortune 500 companies before following his passion to do photography. With a comeback to his fatherland, Nigeria, he believes there’s nothing like home. He is currently the brain behind Allure photo booths. According to Obinna, who prefers to be called Director of Fun, taking pictures is one of the best ways to capture a moment. Regardless of the occasion, Nigerians and Lagosians in particular love to take pictures to remember

a fun-filled day. This is especially the case if there’s a photo booth at the event. “Photo booths provide events with an experience that is unlike taking pictures with a smartphone or with a regular photographer. They provide events with an experience. With a photo booth and themed props at any event, you can engage your guests, whether it’s a wedding, birthday, company parties, product launch, etc and allow them to keep reliving the event over and over.” On the uniqueness of a photo booth, the Allure boss said unrivalled branded picture quality, photo sharing and unlimited pictures hosted for life in the cloud is what event hosts and their guests stand to enjoy. He explained that there are even some fun props that can be used to really make the photo booth experience come alive.

H

ow did you start your musical journey? I started out as a secular artiste with the name, Zbyte and I was under Premier Records. For me, I see music like fashion just as everybody sees it. But I think my switch to gospel music was a transformation that just occurred as I didn’t really plan it and I think it’s divine.

What genre of music do you do?

I do afro hip hop but my content in gospel music makes what I do now a lot different but the flow is still the same. One thing that’s unique about me is that I am myself and there is no replica. But if you are likening my songs to others, then I could have some look alike, but for me, there is just one of me.

Challenges as a gospel artiste? I think so far a mark has been made that we need to jump into the music genre. What matters most now is meeting up, which I am working towards and as you said it’s a challenge and not a problem. As I see everything that’s a challenge something I can overcome and I guess that’s why I am putting more effort.

Tell us about your ongoing projects? I’m actually going on tour, and I have some Australian tours to do. For songs, I have a song that just dropped and it’s on different platforms titled, Ginikachi and I have a video for it which should be airing soon and we have a lot of other products lined up to come out serially.

What are your projections? Sorry to say this, I think the gospel genre is empty, but with some big names and I think the secular world is big with big names and they are maintaining it a whole lot. Being someone that moved from secular to gospel I’m trying to put some fame in it and give gospel a new look and get the opportunities I’m gearing for.

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Chilly B

Chilly B’s Deal with Lesbians It is somewhat not unusual with Amadi Gift Chinyere (Chilly B), the budding actress who packs flair for singing and dancing, to be seen as vocal as she recently expressed with her lesbian experience, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

A

madi Gift Chinyere a.k.a Chilly B is better on the side of singing than acting. Other than her three singles, which includes ‘Wyne am go’, and a video, in addition to featuring in the cover of ‘WhoYouEpp’astreetanthembyYBNL’sleadman Olamide, the TheatreArts Graduate of University of Calabar is more of an artiste than an actress. Confirming her affection for her kind of music, she once disclosed that rap is the love of her life and it is the big reason she hasn’t been taking offers from Nollywood seriously. Fighting for Love, a 2018 Nollywood movie has it as her major movie appearance yet. The fast rising actress cum rapper, Chilly B was quoted in a recent interview that Lesbians find her attractive and she likes taking their gifts. She disclosed that lesbians find her irresistible and splash her with gifts all the time. “Lesbians won’t let me rest! At a point I had to ask myself

if I really looked like one of them. As we speak, I’m still struggling to understand my sexuality because even on movie sets, lesbians come after me and try to seduce me. On social media and everywhere,they’realwayscomingafterme.They stalk me more than the guys but I must confess, I enjoy their gifts so I collect and enjoy myself.” She added that “The most embarrassing ones are the guys that boldly advertise themselves to me. They are like ‘Hello ma, I’m good in bed! If you need a sugar son, I’m available.’ Some go as far as sending me their nudes, I have seen all kinds of male privates. That’s why I wear big dresses or joggers to conceal my curves especially in public places.’’ Since her discovery after she won Glo Mega Tour, Ajah 2017, the curvaceous entertainer has never relented on causing stir. She is noted for being such a sensation and fond of driving traffic to her Instagram page with sensual pictures, replete with videos of her lascivious dance moves to the delight of her followers.

Though it is somewhat not unusual with the budding actress, who packs flair for singing and dancing, to be seen vocal as she recently expressed with her lesbian experience, she had in some instance generalised that Nigerians pretend when it comes to matters of sex. “Everyone knows about sex and have sex, but when someone is involved in a sexual controversy, Nigerians bring all the anger they have for Buhari government and unleash it on that one person. Nigerians can pretend about sex, even an unborn child can attest to it.” With an undeniable talent and sex appeal, the proud curvy diva had taken advantage of being curvy as a plus to her career and life in general. “Being curvy has been a blessing to my career and my general life. Though sad people always want to drop negative comments, I know deep down they wish they have my kind of body. “At first I use to be very embarrassed and would insult some people but then, I looked at my mentor Nicki Minaj and I see how she carries

herself and appreciates her body. Since then, I love and flaunt my body. I deliberately flaunt my curves on some occasions, especially when I am the only curvy lady in the room. I flaunt it and I don’t send.” One way she flaunts her derriere is dancing which has won for her, many hearts, at least, of those who love rap music, spruced with some electrifying sensual steps. She’s known to have described herself as she declared with a sense of pride that she’s extremely good at dancing, with specialty in ‘twerking. “I’m not trying to flatter myself or anyone but I am extremely good dancer.” “Talk of any kind of dance, belly dance, hip hop or what have you, I am very good”, she adds, goofing by saying she could dance her way to the seat of power. “I would have become the first female president of Nigeria. I have been able to rise to prominence basically because of my dancing and I have been lucky no form of harassment has come my way.”

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NEWSXTRA

PDP Governors Have Endorsed Buhari, Claims Lalong Seriki Adinoyi Ă“Ă˜ Ă™Ă?

REWARDED FOR EXCLLENCE... L-R: Editor of Transport Day newspaper, Mr. Frank Kintum; Marketing Manager of Massilia Motors (exclusive distributor of Mitsubishi in Nigeria), Funmi Abiola; Managing Director of Primero Transport Services, Mr. Fola Tinubu; and Head of Sales, Massilia Motors, Mr. Olatunji Itiola, when Massilia Motors was recognised as Most Innovative Auto Company of the Year, at the 2018 NAJA Awards held at Eko Hotel, Lagos during the week

Afenifere, Ango Abdullahi Back Return of Nigeria to Parliamentary System Shola Oyeyipo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

Notable Nigerians are already throwing their weights behind the resolution of the 71 bi-partisan members of the House of Representatives to push for a constitutional amendment that would return Nigeria to parliamentary system of governance. Led by Hon. Nicholas Osai (Delta, PDP), the lawmakers, who spoke with National Assembly media correspondents on Thursday, said they were already collecting signatures to ensure that they get the number needed to facilitate the constitutional amendment, said their intention was to bring

about better fusion of government and foster harmony between the executive and the legislature. According to them, presidential system of government was costly and not giving Nigerians the best in terms of leadership. Reacting to the development, a chieftain of Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said he supports the initiative of the members of the House of Representatives, saying “it is a welcome development.� According to him, “I am 100 per cent in support, for us to move from a system that we have used for 40 years. In fact, it was not fair to Nigerians in 1976 when

they were not even allowed to discuss the merits and demerits of parliamentary system, which we inherited from the British. They were just told that the Constituent Assembly should just go and search for a presidential model, wherever they find one. “Essentially at that time, it is either the French model or the United States model. It was a no go area for them to discuss the merits or demerits of retaining the parliamentary system which we inherited. It was a very unfair thing and Nigerians, I supposed, eager to get rid of the military at that time were not able to argue against this approach. They should have

insisted that the matter should be debated to see whether it was the parliamentary system that had failed or whether it was the constitution that had failed or whether it was a combination of the two. “So now that we have had presidential system since 1979, we are talking about 40 years now, all you need to do is to look at the argument that they used in 1976, 78, up to 1979 to argue in favour of presidential system of government; the presidential system that we practiced in the last 40 years, to me, it has not worked. It did not, it will not and it has not suited the Nigerian condition.

Kogi SDP Senatorial Candidate Petitions Abia ‘Arm-twisted’ to Pay Ghost IG over Alleged Threat to Life Workers’ in LGs, Says Commissioner Yekini Jimoh Ă“Ă˜ ÙÕÙÔË

The Senatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti has petition the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris over an alleged threat to her life and destruction of her bill board by some political thugs. In the petition, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY, she alleged that on Sunday, December 9, 2018, some hoodlums stormed the venue of their ward meeting at Alhaji Badams Compound, Inorere in Adavi Local Government Area with arms and ammunitions. “They chased our members with their weapons, stoned some of the women, set ablaze the plastic chairs they were seated on and destroyed some properties belonging to our coordinator and host, Mr. Badams Abdulrahaman. “This happened in the presence of four policemen after we have written officially to the Divisional Police Officer to notify him of the meeting in our letter dated December 7, 2018 which was acknowledged

and the same notification was conveyed to the Area Commander in charge of Adavi Local Government,� she said. The SDP Senatorial candidate urged the Inspector General of Police to invite some people for questioning over assassination plot, destruction of campaign posters and billboards. She accused her assailants of instigating series of criminal activities leading to violence, civil unrest, vandalism and threat to life in Kogi State. In the petition she also urged the police chief to arrest and prosecute some political thugs identified to be members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kogi State chapter, saying they were responsible for the destruction of her election materials and beating of her supporters in Kogi State. She also accused her opponents of removing and destroying her campaign materials and chasing her supporters away from the venue of their meetings. She advised that the ruling party in the state should write undertaking on peaceful campaign and elections.

Emmanuel Ugwu Ă“Ă˜ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă’Ă“Ă‹

Abia State Government has said that the current salary burden of the 17 local governments was no longer sustainable as government was being “arm twisted� to keep paying salaries of the over bloated workforce including ghost workers. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon Christopher Enweremadu raised the alarm yesterday at a press conference, saying that the local government system was in dire need of sanitisation to get it working. “We are compelled to use over 80 percent of local government funds for salaries because of the staffing irregularities,� he said, adding that biometric staff auditing had commenced to determine the genuine workers in of the local government system. According to him, Abia presently has over 40,000 workers in its pay roll and a huge number of the workers don’t even know the name of the council headquarters from where they draw their salaries every month. “It is immoral to use funds meant for genuine workers to pay ghost workers,� he said, adding that those involved in collecting

salaries for non-existing workers were committing criminal offence and would not be spared when caught. To buttress the level of fraud in the local government system of Abia, the commissioner cited Isiala Ngwa North council where it had been discovered that between N55 million and N60 million was expended monthly on salaries of 1,500 workers. He said that government had strived to clear the backlog of salaries in the local government including primary school teachers, adding that by December ending the council workers would only have one month outstanding salary arrears. The former Abia State House of Assembly Speaker, who had been a council boss, acknowledged the issue of ghost workers has become a vicious cycle in the local government system as every measure adopted to exorcise the ghosts has never yielded the desired result. He therefore stated that government needed to summon the political will to break the cycle of ghost worker syndrome which was compounded by the fact that “local government staffing was used as unemployment benefit scheme�.

Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State has disclosed that even the governors serving on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have joined their All Progressives Congress (APC) counterparts to declare support for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election, adding that “We are now just waiting to swear-in Mr. President in 2019 from what I saw today.� Lalong spoke yesterday in Jos after returning from a meeting with the President in Abuja, which according to him was attended by other governors across all political parties including the PDP. He said, “I am just coming back from Abuja. Today, the governors went to greet Mr. President; both the APC and the PDP governors. We were surprised, we thought it’s only the APC governors that like President Buhari, but when we got there every body praised President Muhammadu Buhari. “Both the APC and the PDP governors said Mr. President has done very well for the country. They told the President, you have rescued Nigeria from crisis and poverty. And they concluded that may God help you and may God help us as well.�

The governor, who also commissioned his campaign office for his 2019 re-election bid along Yakubu Gowon road, Jos, said he was overwhelmed by the turn out, adding that it was a testimony that Plateau people wanted him to continue is good works in the state. Also speaking at the event, the state APC chairman, Mr. Latep Dabang warned that the campaign office was not meant for the commissioners to come and hang around, ordering them to go to their various local governments and campaign among the grassroots and deliver their councils to APC in the elections. Dabang also declared that the APC campaign office was the most prominent in the state, noting that other parties can only copy from the APC. Also speaking, Mr. Pam Dung Gyang, the Governors campaign organisation Director General said, “I see the event as the opening of new era in Plateau. “Your leadership style and track record show that you have the capacity to take Plateau to the next level. We are assuring you that we are working hard and doing our best to ensure that there is no vacancy in Government House come 2019.

No Evidence of Reported FG’s Projects in N’Delta, Insists Ijaw Group Emmanuel Addeh Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă‹

Ijaw youths have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the location of some purported projects completed by the federal government in the Niger Delta. Specifically, they called on the President to question his ministers from the Niger Delta region for not executing the awarded projects said to be some of the achievements of the federal government in the region. Coming under the auspices of the Ijaw Unity and Peace Committee (IUPC), the group maintained that some of the projects listed as Buhari’s achievements in Bayelsa State for instance were nowhere to be found in the state. Consequently, they threatened to carry out massive protest against what they called diversion of projects. The leaders particularly said projects awarded to Bayelsa under the Federal ministries of Agriculture

and Niger Delta Affairs were not being implemented. Mr. Bodmas Kemepadei, who leads the Niger Delta group, lamented that there were some persons within the Presidency sabotaging Buhari’s desire to restore sanity in the Niger Delta Kemepadei, who is also the leader of Egbesu Brotherhood, said contrary to claims that there were rural road projects in Bayelsa as part of Buhari’s achievements in the Niger Delta, nothing of such could be found anywhere in the state. In particular, Kemepadei maintained that the claims by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs that the federal government constructed a cassava processing plant in Bayelsa was false and misleading. “We seriously think President Muhammadu Buhari is not aware of what is going on in Bayelsa State because what the presidency listed as part of its achievements in the Niger Delta is just a figment of someone’s imagination.

Ganduje Distributes N2bn Instructional Materials to Schools Ibrahim Shuaibu Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜Ă™

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Friday, distributed text books and other instructional materials to Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, across 44 Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) in the state, valued at N2 billion. The distribution of the materials was part of activities to mark the Kano State Second Basic Education week, during which Ganduje said it was in furtherance of his priority to accord education as its cornerstone of his administration to add value to the lives of the citizens. ‘’Since this government assumed office, we remained consistent in our assertion that education would remain our priority. This position is

strictly borne out of the belief that the development of any nation considerably depends upon the level and quality of the education of its citizens. ‘’Upon this, government considers the provision of quality basic education as a necessary quality assurance precondition of academic excellence for higher levels of education, stressing that our efforts have over the last three and half years, been focused on improving funding and interventional partnership, with the federal government, national and international development partners, local government and communities geared toward improving infrastructure that will provide more learning space for the enrolment of the over four millions pupils of our public basic education schools..’

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚΀

NEWSXTRA

Ekere Promises to Domesticate FG Social Intervention Charles Ajunwa

EPISCOPAL VISIT... L-R: Vicar of St. James Anglican Church Ikota, the Revd Okey Ikeri and the Lord Bishop of Diocese of Lagos (Anglican Communion) The Rt. Revd. Humphrey Olumakaiye during his Lordship’s Episcopal visit to St James Ikota (Orchid Hotels), Lekki, Lagos‌recently

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obong Nsima Ekere, has promised to copy and domesticate in the state all federal government social intervention programmes, if elected governor next year. He made the promise during the flag off of the vocational skills training and empowerment programme for women and youths organised by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in collaboration with the Future Assured Programme, the pet project of the Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, and the office of the representative of Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Godswill Akpabio, at his campaign grounds in Uyo on Friday. Ekere, who decried the lack-luster attitude to the social

intervention programmes by the present state government led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lamented that the state government had failed to tackle the twin problems of poverty and unemployment ravaging the state and to maintain the state assets it inherited from the past government in 2015. “That is why the people of Akwa Ibom State are unanimous that there must be change,� Ekere said. He commended Mrs. Buhari, who was present at the occasion, on the achievements of her pet project, pointing out that “you have shown by your project that you care for the people of Nigeria.� Ekere, who is the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), also lauded Akpabio, the immediate past state governor, for facilitating the NDE empowerment programme.

Court Sacks Donald Duke, Declares Jerry Gana SDP Presidential Candidate

Group Urges FG to Sim Card to Generate over N380bn for Health

Alex Enumah Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

A coalition group, Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health and other professional associations, wants the Federal Government to tax mobile phone sim cards, saying it could generate over N380 billion annually with which it could fund the health sector. A leader of the group and co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in Kano State, Hajiya Halima Ben Umar, stated this at a media briefing in Abuja, yesterday, to mark this year’s World Universal Health Coverage Day. The Coalition noted that for Nigeria to achieve Universal Health Coverage, it was imperative that the Federal Government explored innovative ways to ensure universal contribution by all Nigerians as a sustainable way to fund the health sector. According to Hajiya Umar, “An example of such innovation would be the introduction of mobile phone tax, which will involve a charge of one kobo per second on every outgoing mobile phone call in Nigeria.� She said despite various efforts in several tested health policies, including the first National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP-I) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) aimed at increasing access to healthcare, the country had been unable to achieve the objective of ensuring that every citizen had access to healthcare. According to the group, the country’s National Health Account for 2014, had shown that for every N1,000 spent on health, about N700 was out-of-pocket expenditure. It described the situation as appalling, pointing out that it was driving millions of Nigerians into poverty and denying them basic healthcare. The federal government, she said had not honoured its pledge at the Abuja 2001 declaration to commit at least 15 per cent of its annual budget to improve the health sector, stating that the highest federal budgetary allocation to the sector has been at a paltry seven per cent. “With such under investment in the healthcare system, Nigeria cannot achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC),� the group noted, stressing that the meagre investment in healthcare was further compounded by delay or non-release of funds appropriated for the sector.

Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf of an Abuja High Court, on Friday sacked Donald Duke and declared, Prof. Jerry Gana the rightful winner of the Presidential Primary election of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) conducted on October 6, 2018. Justice Baba-Yusuf consequently ordered the SDP to forward the name of Gana to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to replace that of its erstwhile candidate, Duke in the 2019 presidential election.

The court in addition, ordered that Duke should stop parading himself as the party’s flag bearer for the coming election. The judge who gave the order while delivering ruling in a suit brought by Gana nullified the election that produce Duke on the grounds that it contravened the SDP’s constitution. Duke had emerged winner of the SDP Presidential Primary election having polled 812 votes over Gana’s 611 votes and was accordingly declared flag bearer of the party in the 2019 general elections. Gana dissatisfied with the process and outcome of the

election had approached the court to declare him the winner and not Duke sighting the zoning and rotation formula of the party’s constitution. Delivering ruling on the matter yesterday, Justice Baba- Yusuf, held that the regulations contained in the party constitution was binding on every member of the party and must be obeyed. He held that the zoning and rotation formula as contained in the party constitution stipulates that both the chairman of the party and flag bearer should not come from the same zone. “In this instance, the chairman Chief Olu Falae is from the South

and Duke is from the South too, the law is clear and there is nothing to write in between. “The law has crystallised that political parties should abide by the regulations which they have made by themselves. “The claimant has led sufficient evidence to have the judgment in his favour, it is clear violation of the party’s constitution, and the court cannot wave right over illegality,� he held. He held that the election was an exercise in futility and therefore declared Gana the winner of SDP’s party primaries conducted on October 6.

2019: NIM Flays Political Class over Pay Glo Launches Online Talent Outside RMFAC’s Prescription Competition Kingsley Nwezeh Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, President of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Prof. Olukunle Iyanda, yesterday took a swipe at the political class, saying the remuneration of government officials especially members of the National Assembly outside the prescription of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) depicted “lack of integrity� and the rationale behind desperation for political office. He queried the recent purchase of a car worth N150 million by a federal lawmaker as a birthday gift for his wife as the height of profligacy. Speaking at NIM’s Continuing Learning and Development (CLAD) programme in Abuja, he lamented a situation where lawmakers put themselves over and above service to the nation. He said: “Well, you know that NIM’s code of conduct says that we should put service above self, however those in the political class reverse this. “The Resource Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Committee (RMAC), is mandated to determine the remuneration and packages of all public officers but because these people in the National Assembly (NASS) are the lawmakers, they now make laws that insulate

them from the RMFAC as they award themselves allowances and payments that is totally outside the prescription of the RMAC. This is putting them above the national interest. “And that is why they are desperate to retain their offices as they don’t have any shame nor do they have any atom of integrity to disclose to Nigerians or to the public what actually they are paying themselves and to see the divergence between the national prosperity and what they are paying themselves�, he said. Professor Iyanda noted that “they are one of the most highly paid legislators in the world, earning above countries that are 10 times richer than we are. You don’t live on only your earning as a legislator. “In most countries they still have their professions, but these people, I mean how else can a member of the National Assembly give his wife N150 million 50thbirthday gift. And when they are going they pay themselves several millions that is by far higher than what people who work for 35 years and that is why in this country people are now advocating that legislators should be paid what permanent secretaries take home rather than all these fantastic allowances which they are paying to themselves.�

National telecom operator, Globacom, has added further excitement to the festive season with the unveiling of an online talent competition in which creative subscribers stand to win a total of N4.8 million in cash prizes. The competition is to run via social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Called GLOIN60SECONDS, the challenge, which is widely seen as Nigeria’s biggest online talent competition, requires subscribers to upload a one-minute video of themselves showcasing their talents on their social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and hashtag it on #GLOIN60SECONDS . The video could either be music, dance, comedy, poetry or any other creative ability. Globacom said in a press statement in Lagos that participants were also expected to follow Glo on any of the company’s social media pages @Globacomlimited on Instagram, @Gloworld on Twitter and Gloworld on Facebook record and upload the video and register online. The online campaign will run for eight weeks from December 10, 2018, to February 3, 2019, and will have seven lucky contestants with the highest video likes winning 50,000 each every week, making a total of 56 winners. This will be followed by the grand finale in

which N200,000 consolation prizes will be presented to five runners-up. A grand prize of 1 million naira will be won by the overall winner, Globacom explained. “As part of our celebration of the festive season, we are offering our subscribers the chance to break the internet with excitement in 60 seconds. Just for uploading a video of themselves doing what they enjoy doing, they stand a chance of winning fantastic cash prizes in the competition,� the statement added. “Glo in 60 seconds is, therefore, meant to engage, showcase budding talents and reward young creative people in Nigeria’s social media space. We call on young talented Nigerians to make optimum use of this opportunity, follow Glo on any of the social media pages, upload their video, register and get their friends and family members to like the video and they could win N50,000, N200,000 or even the grand prize of N1m �, Globacom stated. The company also said that participants could upload as many videos as possible per week, but that the videos would only be eligible for weekly prize in the week uploaded. “To be eligible for prizes in other weeks they could upload as many videos every week. However, these videos will be eligible for Grand Finale entry,� the statement concluded.

Bennett Oghifo

“Even when funds are released, there are challenges of utilisation and accountability. Other lingering barriers to UHC in the country include low political will to adequately fund healthcare, poor governance, mismanagement of resources and lack of coordination among Federal, States and Local Governments.�

DECEMBER 15, 2018 ˾ THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

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SPORTS XTRA

Alex Iwobi

Nadal and Federer

Iwobi Battles Salah, Mane for Africa Player of the Year Award

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igerian international and Arsenal of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi will be competing with Liverpool duo of Mohamad Salah and Sadio Mane and Gunners teammate, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Nigerian youngster made the 10-man shortlist for the CAF Africa Player of the Year. Last month, CAF published 34 potential winners

including Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo, but the duo did not make the second cut. Last year’s winner Egypt’s Salah, runners-up Aubameyang and Mane also made the cut. Iwobi enjoyed a brief run with Nigeria in the build-up to the World Cup and found his spark inside two months under new Arsenal Manager Unai Emery. The shortlisted nominees would be decided by votes

from the members of the CAF Technical and Development Committee. The final phase will involve votes from CAF media experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, and Coaches and Captains of the 54 Member Associations. The Awards Gala to honour footballers and officials who distinguished

themselves during the year under review will be held on Tuesday, 8 January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal. Meanwhile, Iwobi’s Super Eagles teammate, Wilfred Ndidi made the final threeman shortlist for the Youth Player of the Year. Super Falcons and the team’s Head Coach Thomas Dennerby made the final three for the Women’s National Team and Women’s Coach of the Year categories.

Senegal Wallops Nigeria 6-1 in CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nation Final Senegal yesterday confirmed superiority over Nigeria’s Beach Soccer National Team as they walloped the Supersand Eagles 6-1 in the final of the CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nations in Egypt. The defeat notwithstanding, Nigeria booked their ticket to the 2019 FIFA Beach

Soccer World Cup finals. Nigeria and Senegal opened the hostilities in Group B of the continental finals in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on Sunday, with both teams locked at 4-4 after regulation and extra time before Senegal, four-time champions and Cup holders, won 2-0 on penalties.

Yesterday, however, the Senegalese were more vicious and despite the second period ending at a respectable 2-1, they went all fangs out in the third and final period to win 6-1. Abu Azeez, the worthy veteran who scored four in the 7-6 defeat of hosts Egypt in the first semi-final

on Wednesday, took his Nigerian tally to 104 by hitting the Supersand Eagles’ only goal of the match. He also finished the tournament with eight goals. Both Senegal and Nigeria will fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup holding in Paraguay towards the end of next year.

Nigeria Liverpool Loanee in Showdown with Gerrard Liverpool loanee Ovie Ejaria is about now holding showdown talks with Rangers coach Steven Gerrard over his future at the Scottish Premiership side. The former Golden Eaglets invitee was not in Rangers' travelling party to the Austrian capital for the Europa League matchday

six fixture against Rapid Vienna fuelling speculation that all is not well with the player. Sky Sports has suggested that Ejaria is not in the good books of Gerrard because he turned up late for training in the build-up to the Group G clash against Villarreal at Ibrox a fortnight ago.

''Ovie is slightly unsettled at the moment, I spoke to him a couple of days ago,'' Gerrard said ahead of Thursday's match against Rapid Vienna. "We decided it was best to leave him at home and the plan is to talk to Ovie on Friday to see where he's at." A product of Arsenal,

Ejaria has made 28 appearances in all competitions for Rangers following his loan move from Liverpool in the summer, scoring two goals. Former Nigerian U-23 international Umar Sadiq has reportedly returned to Italy from his loan spell at Rangers after only five months.

UEFA Gives AC Milan Till 2021 to Break Even or Face Ban AC Milan have been given until June 2021 to comply with UEFA's break-even Financial Fair Play rule or face a oneseason ban from European matches, European soccer's governing body said on Friday. Under UEFA regulations, any club spending more than the revenue it generates faces possible sanctions, including, in certain circumstances, a ban from competitions run by UEFA.

UEFAsaid that Milan would be banned from taking part "in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the two seasons 2022/23 and 2023/24" if the club was not break-even compliant by June 30, 2021. UEFA also said that Milan's squad would, in any case, be restricted to 21 players in European competition for the next two seasons, assuming they qualified and that it would

withhold 12 million Euros (10.71 million pounds) of their revenue from this season's Europa League. The seven-time European champions were originally banned from European football this season by UEFA for failing to comply with the rules but won an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. As a result, they were able to enter the second-tier Europa League where they were eliminated in

the group stage. Milan were barred in June after UEFAruled that it did not comply with the breakeven rules, adding the club had failed to provide sufficient evidence of its financial stability. U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management subsequently took control of the indebted club from Chinese businessman Li Yonghong and promised to inject 50 million Euros to helpstabilise its finances.

GOtv Boxing Night 17 Kemavor Spits Fire, Vows to Demolish Oyeleye Crack Ghanaian boxer, Victus Kemavor, has boasted that he will demolish US-based Nigerian, Oluwafemi "The Eagle" Oyeleye, when they clash in an international middleweight challenge bout at GOtv Boxing Night 17 on December 28. The bout is one of the two international contests scheduled for the event, which holds at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. Kemavor is a replacement for Oyeleye’s initial opponent, Meshack Mwankemwa, who pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. The Ghanaian, in a telephone interview, declared that he is in top shape and ready to demolish his Nigerian opponent right on his home turf. “I am more than ready to leave my comfort zone to further prove that Ghanian boxers are better than Nigerians," boasted Kemavor. GOtv Boxing Night 17 will feature seven other bouts, including the World Boxing Federation (WBF), an intercontinental super featherweight title bout between Segun Wahab of Nigeria and Issa Nampepeche of Tanzania. The winner of the bout will be entitled to take a shot at the WBF world title in the weight division. The event will similarly feature the best boxers on the domestic circuit. These include Olaide Fijabi, and Oto Joseph, West African Boxing Union (WABU) lightweight champion, Rilwan Oladosu, Ridwan Oyekola and Nurudeen Fatai. The event will be beamed live on SuperSport in 47 African countries. It will also feature live musical performances from some of Nigeria’s biggest artistes; Burna Boy, Wande Coal, Teni Da Entertainer and Daddy Showkey. The best boxer at the event will go home with a cash prize of N1.5 million alongside the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy.

Nadal, Federer to Team up at Next Year’s Laver Cup

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have announced that they will team up for the third edition of the Laver Cup in Geneva next year. Federer and Nadal, two of the greatest players of all time, with a combined 37 Grand Slam titles between them, joined forces for the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague in 2017 which Bjorn Borg's European team won. The blue side retained their crown in Chicago earlier this year at the three-day tournament which pits six of the top male tennis players from Europe, captained by Borg, against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world, led by John McEnroe. Tennis legend Borg has said it was a boost to name both Federer and Nadal as he aims to build another strong line-up for the competition in Switzerland from September 20-22. "It doesn't get much better for a captain than naming both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the Laver Cup in Geneva," he told the official Laver Cup website. "Bringing together two of the greatest players, and rivals, the sport has ever seen together on one team is very exciting for our sport - and will give us the best possible chance to win the Laver Cup three years in a row. "When we first played Laver Cup in Prague, with both Roger and Rafa on the team, we knew it would be very special, bringing together two such great champions. But I think we all underestimated how powerful it would be to see them sitting side by side, coaching each other and cheering each other on, along with their team-mates from the player bench. "We saw again the same special moments in Chicago, and how much this event means to the players. I can't wait to see how the Laver Cup unfolds in Geneva as Team Europe regroups to defend our title." Federer also has his eye on a third Laver Cup trophy as he looks forward to the event coming to his home country. He said: "We've all been blown away by the success of the Laver Cup, which in just two years has become so special to all the players who've been involved from both teams. I'm excited captain Bjorn has named both me and Rafa for Team Europe.”

Saturday, December 15, 2018

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MISSILE

Agbaje to Sanwo-Olu “You have paid homage and obeisance not to Lagosians but to whom you refer to as National Leader for the opportunity to be a candidate. In effect, you couldn’t have dared to run if you were not handpicked to be endorsed.” – Lagos State governorship candidate of the PDP, Jimi Agbaje, insisting the candidate of the Lagos APC, Jide Sanwo-Olu, is a stooge.

PENDULUM DELE MOMODU

dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com

Nigerian Politicians and the Latest Craze in Town

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ellow Nigerians, let me say how worried I’m about our dear beloved country Nigeria. Yes. I’m troubled because of how much we have allowed politics and politicking to turn our land into a playground of beasts and vampires. It is sad, very sad. Just yesterday, an old friend woke me up from my deep sleep. He is no other than the former Governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu. I had tried to reach him desperately in the last few weeks after reading all kinds of reports online about him. The one that alarmed me the most was a purported ‘Breaking News” that said Orji has just died after an unsuccessful operation in Germany. I was so rattled that I quickly put a call through to my dear friend and former colleague at Concord Newspapers of Nigeria, Eric Osagie, now the Managing Director of The Sun Newspapers. As soon as he picked his phone, I tried to check if I would hear, or feel, any wailing, or gnashing, of teeth in the background but my friend sounded as boisterous as ever. Ever since I knew Eric, I have never seen or heard him in a dull moment. Eric screamed my moniker as always “Bob Deeeee!” I retaliated, “Ericooo!” and I went straight to the reason I was calling him.” Where is Orji Kalu?” I asked, hurriedly. “Your friend is in his house in Abuja,” Eric responded, matter-of-factly. Somehow, I thought he was just being clever and tactful and didn’t want to break the sad news, just yet. I wasn’t going to allow Eric do that to me. The reporter in me took the upper hand and I thundered, “I just read that Orji is dead!” But Eric, in his characteristic confidence mode, responded authoritatively. “Bob Dee, don’t mind them, “your friend is in his house in Abuja, please call him.” Wow, thank God, I sighed and simmered. I called but got no response from my friend of over 27 years. No matter the situation, my friends are always my friends. Business or politics should never separate friends. Orji was already a successful businessman when I met him around 1990. I used to call him “the Aba Trader” then and he changed my nickname from Bob Dee to Don Dee. He used to pick me up, every now and then to visit his various sites and properties in Lagos and I was quite impressed about his business acumen and vision. I loved to gist with him, as he had incredible information on everything and everyone. One of the most fascinating stories I savoured endlessly from him was that of the coup that almost toppled General Ibrahim Babangida from the seat of power at Dodan Barracks. Orji is an extremely affable man whose wealth of friends, from North to South, and East to West, is remarkable and commendable. I wish every Nigeria was like members of their generation who saw Nigeria as one nation and not a country of fracticidal fractional nationalities. When I was in exile in England, Orji contacted me regularly whenever he breezed into London and he always invited me to his beautiful home in North Finchley.

Orji Uzor Kalu

We had fun visiting the best restaurants and we were so close then and remain so now. I will always recall his visit to our former home, on Romford Road in East London, when my wife and I had the naming ceremony of our second son, Enitanyole, in July 1996. Also present was Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate most of the photographs taken on that special occasion, but we still have that of Tinubu and myself. When Ovation took off full blast, we did an exclusive interview with Orji Kalu at home in London, titled “Aba Trader Eyes the Government House.” It was the first time Orji revealed for the first time that he was nursing the ambition to go into politics and contest the gubernatorial election in his home State of Abia, in South East Nigeria. I was excited by the story which was lavishly garnished with beautiful pictures of his London home. Though I had my doubts about his ability to take on and dislodge the firmly rooted professional politicians in Nigeria, I was nonetheless happy that successful managers of men and resources were getting into politics instead of abandoning governance in the hands of semi-literates, mediocres and never-do-wells. My only worry at the time was the risk of duelling with political sharks and alligators who were ready to tear everyone and everything into shreds if it threatened their entrenched interests. I felt that Orji might end up a veritable victim of their customary shenanigans. Orji soon started his campaign and I monitored him from a distance. His raw courage always marked him out and I assumed his humongous business conglomerate was the source of his confidence and suavity. He contested and won the Governorship race and I was very elated. We met a few times whenever he was in his Lagos home and I relished our breakfast meetings at his home in Victoria Island. He had bright ideas about how to transform Aba from a rural setting to a cosmopolitan society. I noticed in his first term that he embarked on an aggressive modernisation of roads which was hailed in many newspaper reports which, I believe gave him the opportunity

to win a second term, despite his running battle with President Olusegun Obasanjo. The only time I visited I visited Abia State was when I was made a Chief by HRH Eze Dr Ngozi Israel Ibekwe, the traditional Ruler of Etiti Mgboko Umuanunu Ancient Kingdom. Unless I am doing a story, or I am expressly invited for some activity, function or even visit, it is not my style to bother my friends who are in positions of power. I believe that they have enough on their plate and that I should not add to their problems or distract them from their serious work of nation building. I had no means of assessing or ascertaining how well he did as Governor, but he seemed very popular from the way he was handed a second term by his people. At some point, he even nursed Presidential ambition. I will not be surprised if he still does because I know he is passionate about Nigeria and feels that we have so far been short-changed by the quality of leaders that we have had. He remains resolute and firm in the belief that he still has a lot to offer the country. Orji was one of the most vociferous critics of the Obasanjo regime. He must be commended for surviving the blistering Hurricane OBJ that swept away several Governors of that incredible era. Since he left power, his critics have attacked him too endlessly and he’s been dragged before the anti-corruption agency, EFCC, accused of pilfering some of the resources meant for developing his State. The latest controversy has now led to the rumour of his death. Well, Orji woke me up from bed yesterday morning. “Don Deee, how are you?” Then he went into the rumour of his death. He said He’s happy that he survived his operations that lasted many hours. He wondered why some people wanted him dead after serving his State and country meritoriously. He reminded me of how long we’ve known each other and recalled how he had made his billions via his SLOK GROUP, long before he went into politics. He was very excited to chat with me just like old times and as we usually do whenever we have the opportunity to interact. He said he was returning to Germany to recuperate properly and fully and I wished him a safe trip. It is always a delight chatting with a man who has some of the hottest gist about men and women of power. His tentacles and reach also go beyond Nigeria. Orji is not the only butt of jokes and ridiculous rumours in this season of political giddiness. I have had to practically engage in hot verbal exchanges with supposed educated and intelligent Nigerians over the cloning or body double speculation about our President Muhammadu Buhari. I sat recently with a Senator at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja who insisted that Buhari is no longer on this planet and he’s been replaced by a nebulous Jubril from Sudan. My God, what manner of country is this, I soliloquised. The thought that any rational or reasonable person could contemplate that such far-fetched subterfuge

and con could be perpetrated by any group of Nigerians with the collaboration of foreigners, especially the English, just makes the mind boggle. It is for example utterly ridiculous and sheer madness to ascribe to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo - a cerebral, discerning man of God, a Professor of Law and the immediate beneficiary of any unfortunate accident to the President - any role in such a farcical debacle. Indeed, it is such a crying shame that supposedly brilliant, intelligent and wise men and women would even deign to condescend to join the cacophony of noise and excitement about the existence of such a dastardly plot. For me, this is a distraction that we can least afford when there are important matters to engage us as a nation particularly as we draw near elections which may turn out to be the making, breaking or otherwise of our great country. I have met Buhari at close range on at least four occasions since 2011, including engaging him all alone in a room in Aso Rock in 2015. As far as I am concerned, he remaind the same person now as he was then. He may be affected by the aging process and ill-health, but that happens to us all. It does not make us cloned or a body double or doppelganger of a Sudanese man. How can anyone want to brainwash Nigerians like common idiots? The fact people disagree politically is no reason to manufacture such malicious, irresponsible and fallacious tales about anyone least of all the President of our country. All our political gladiators must purge themselves of this poisonous bile. At the same time, I have a generous advice for Buhari and his handlers, in particular. They should resist the temptation to play politics of coercion. While I agree that there is plenty of fake news going around which is a mere part of the internet phenomenon, not many of it is hate speech, but mere irresponsible, spiteful or just jocular people who do not know any better. Only God gives power. To label rational, but dissenting speech as fake news just heats up the polity and clearly degrades us and our democracy. Dissent and criticism are the hallmarks of true freedom and the ability to tolerate such critique is the difference between celebrated statesmen and despised autocrats, dictators and tyrants. Some of the moves of certain government officials and agencies in recent times have been interpreted as a sign of panic and desperation. Blocking and obstructing opposition on all fronts may actually make certain candidates more popular. We have recent history to refer to in this regard. A word is enough for the wise. As we approach 2019, another year of elections in Nigeria, the unification, security and economic well-being of our countrymen and women should be our priority. It is not how long we rule or reign but how well that is important and vital. God bless Nigeria.

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