SUNDAY 5TH MAY 2019

MTN Board Appointments Cause a Stir Obinna Chima While welcoming last week’s appointments of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II and another Nigerian, Dr Aisha Abdullahi to the Board of the MTN Group as a good

development, certain segments of the country have argued that it does not reflect the federal character principle.

Specifically, they stressed that that appointments did not reflect the geographic diversity and balancing of

merit principle in the country.

A top official in MTN Nigeria, who pleaded to remain anonymous, disclosed the sentiment shared by some Nigerians in a chat with THISDAY. However, he welcomed the appointments,

assuring that more eminent Nigerians could be appointed by the telecom giant, to reflect Nigeria’s market dominance.

Ahead of its planned listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), MTN Nigeria recently completed

its conversion from a private company to a public company and became a public liability company (Plc). The conversion to a Plc is a legal requirement to on the NSE. It was also gathered at the weekend that MTN had

applied with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list its shares on the NSE. “What they applied for is registration for listing, that is just to convert to a publicly Continued on page 8

Falana: APC Government Has Reduced Nigeria to a Banana Republic… Page 10 Sunday 5 May, 2019 Vol 24. No 8791

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N400

N

Again, EFCC Moves against Bukola Saraki Writes Kwara govt, requests entitlement details Olawale Olaleye A few days after the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) announced the appointment

of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as its “Ambassador-at-Large”, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has initiated a fresh

investigation, which seeks to probe all salaries, allowances, estacodes, and payments he received as governor from 2003 to 20011. The probe coming eight years after Saraki left

office as governor of Kwara State, was contained in a letter to the state government, through the Permanent Secretary, Government House, dated April 26, and titled,

“Investigation Activities: Dr. Bukola Saraki.”

EFCC claimed in the letter that it was investigating an alleged case of conspiracy, abuse of office,

misappropriation of public funds, theft, and money laundering involving Saraki.

According to the letter Continued on page 8

Army: Unpatriotic Individuals Funding Terrorists to Derail May 29 Foreign interests involved, alleges plot to divide MNJTF Warns of dire consequences Boko Haram, ISWA growing in Nigeria – Campbell Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja and Bayo Akinloye in Lagos As Nigerians await another civilian-to-civilian political transition on May 29, the fifth since the return to democracy in 1999, the Army has alleged that some citizens are funding the Boko Haram terrorist group on purpose to disrupt the handover. The Army said this on Saturday in a statement by Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sagir Musa.

It stated that there was also a plot to cause disaffection within the sub-regional military coalition, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), to give

room for the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) and its local franchise, Boko Haram terrorists group, to bud.

This was as former United States Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell said the Abubakar Shekau and Abu Musab al-Barnawi factions of Boko Haram had continued to grow in Nigeria. Campbell, a Ralph Bunche fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said this in a recent post on the CFR website. He stated that Borno State was being characterised as the largest Continued on page 8

See Four Year Report Card of Team Buhari (2015-2019) – Part 1... Page 16-19

UNITED WE STAND...

President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo (right), welcoming Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa Plc and Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu, to the presidential palace in Kinshasa, where Elumelu restated the commitment of UBA to finance infrastructural projects in DRC... recently

2

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY MAY 5, 2019

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

3

4

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY MAY 5, 2019

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

5

6

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY MAY 5, 2019

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

7

8

Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Π˞ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

PAGE EIGHT

2ND NIGER BRIDGE TAKING SHAPE...

L-R: Project Director, 2nd Niger Bridge, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited,Engr. Friedrich Josef Wieser; Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN); Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN);and Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, during an inspection of work on the bridge in Anambra and Delta States... Friday

ARMY: UNPATRIOTIC INDIVIDUALS FUNDING TERRORISTS TO DERAIL MAY 29 remaining caliphate of the Islamic State (IS) after the collapse of IS in Iraq and Syria.

The Nigerian Army statement said after failing to ruin the general election in February and March, some influential Nigerians were now bent on scuttling the handover process. “The Nigerian Army has noted with great concern efforts by some unpatriotic individuals, groups and foreign interests determined to cause mischief and exacerbate the security situation in this country, in particular, and West African sub-region. These persons and groups are making concerted efforts to further induce ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists and bandits with funds and other logistic supports,� the Nigerian Army said.

It added, “Their body language and unguarded utterances seem to be in tandem with above and imply tacit support for the criminals. For example, credible source has shown that some individuals are hobnobbing with Boko Haram terrorists, while others are deliberately churning falsehood against the security agencies with a view to set the military against the people and the government. “They are also demoralising troops and security agencies through false accusations and fake news. Therefore, it has become necessary to inform the public and warn such persons and groups to desist as the consequences of their actions would be calamitous to themselves and our great country.�

According to the Army, “Some of these mischievous elements thought that we would not have a safe and successful general elections but were proved wrong, hence they

want to derail the scheduled handing over later this month and to scuttle the democratic process in the country.�

The Nigerian Army stated, “We also noted that foreign interests are also working assiduously to cause disaffection and divide the coalition Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to give room for the so-called Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) and its defeated local franchise, Boko Haram terrorists group to resurrect. “While we have confidence on the Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts at sustaining and reinvigorating the MNJTF to continue its good work, we would not relent in clearing the visages and remnants of Boko Haram terrorists and their sympathisers. “The Nigerian Army is a stakeholder in our national security and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.

Additionally, we are making this statement because the military, particularly the Nigerian Army, has always been called upon to intervene in conflict situations in order to resolve crises in most cases when they get worse, while the public expect miracles. “We would like to reiterate our unalloyed loyalty to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are determined, more than ever before, to continue to uphold the constitution and defend the territorial integrity of this nation from both external and internal aggression. Nigeria is a sovereign country with clearly established judicial system, therefore, all aggrieved persons and groups should take advantage of that and resolve differences amicably.�

Meanwhile, Campbell

warned about the expanding influence of Boko Haram and IS in Nigeria, stating, “With the collapse of the IS in Iraq and Syria, some observers are characterising Borno as the ‘largest remaining Caliphate’, though how and to what extent it is a direct successor to IS remains unclear.�

He, however, pointed out that the “command and control� among the Boko Haram factions operating in Borno State and adjoining territories “remains obscure�.

Writing further in his post, the expert at CFR, a New York-based nonprofit think tank specialising in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, stated, “One faction appears to be led by Abubakar Shekau, well-known for his taunting, bloody videos, and his kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. Another, the Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), apparently backed by the Islamic State (IS), was once led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi,

though Mamman Nur was understood to hold real power.�

Campbell, who is an expert on international diplomacy and extremism in Nigeria, added that in 2018, Nur appeared to have been assassinated because he was very “soft�.

He explained, “In March 2019, Abu Musab al-Barnawi was replaced by Abu Abdullah Ibn Umar al-Barnawi. (Al-Barnawi denotes that the person is ‘from Borno’, so the current and former ISWA leaders do not necessarily have any blood relationship).�

He noted that the report of a leadership change within the terrorist network was based on IS audio recordings, though the extent of IS control over the leadership struggle with ISWA was unclear. “If, indeed, Abu Musab and Mamman Nur were ‘soft’, it is likely that Abu Abdullan Ibn Umar will be ‘hard’,� Campbell reasoned, saying, “However, what ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ actually means is obscure, as is the

relationship between the Boko Haram factions and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. North-east Nigeria and adjacent regions continue to be the centre of Islamist jihadist extremism. Scores of civilians were targeted and killed in south-east Niger by Boko Haram in early April, forcing thousands to flee to Diffa, a Nigerien border city.�

Campbell said, though, the Nigerian Army, in conjunction with MNJTF, continued to claim military success against Boko Haram, the number of Boko Haram incidents had not declined.

He said, “In neighbouring Chad, officials are claiming that Chadian forces killed 63 ‘terrorists’ in a mid-April attack on a military facility.... But In early April, the Islamic State West Africa released a video showing its execution of five Nigerian soldiers; subsequently, it was determined that three of the soldiers were members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, an informal militia that assists the

regular army. In the past, such videos have had a deleterious effect on military morale.�

The Nigeria Security Tracker (on the CFR website), nonetheless, indicated that military casualties had increased significantly since July 2018.

Campbell said the Boko Haram factions, for now, appeared relatively distinct, stressing that the original split in 2016 had to do with, among other things, Shekau’s leadership style, his understanding of Islam, and his targeting of Muslim civilians. “ISWA, according to experts, has been more focused on winning hearts and minds, and has even developed a tax base. Especially since leadership changes over the past year, ISWA has attacked a number of military targets with success, overrunning military bases and stealing equipment,� the former US ambassador stated.

investment opportunities for Nigerians, in addition to providing everyday services to them. We look forward to continuing our engagement with the SEC and NSE to take forward the listing process.�

According to Moolman, save for the disagreement MTN Nigeria had with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last year, the company would have gone ahead with its listing plan.

He had explained: “There was a lot of work that we did on the listing and our target was to list in 2018.

We are a private company at the moment and we need to change to a public company before we can list.

“We need to send our directors for training to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange requirements to be able to list and a lot of work went on at the backend on the listing. Then, the CBN issue happened. “The truth be told, if we had listed while the CBN issue was on, we would have been negligent. That is because we would have gone to offer our shares to the public when we had an issue at hand with the CBN that was substantial. If I remind you, they (CBN) were talking about $8 billion. “So, I can’t go and list and offer

my shares to the public if I have this thing hanging over my neck. We thank God we were able to resolve this on 24th of December. “So, we are working towards the listing and we plan to do the listing before the end of first half 2019 or probably before the end of quarter three. “So, there is a clear drive in doing the listing. It is something we have always wanted to do.�

MTN Nigeria had put the total value of its investment since its entrance into the Nigerian market at N2.5 trillion, adding that N184 billion was invested on network expansion in 2018 alone.

be condemned by all,� said a stakeholder, who believed the anti-graft body had derailed.

The stakeholder, who preferred anonymity, said further, “Isn’t it curious that the EFCC wants to look at legitimate earnings like salaries, including condescending to the level of probing the esacodes and other emoluments as governor? Is the anti-graft body not a political tool already?�

The Supreme Court had in June 2018 cleared Saraki of all allegations of false asset

declaration, after the federal government filed 18 counts of false and anticipatory asset declaration charges against him in 2015. Although all the counts collapsed at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2017, the government appealed the ruling, culminating in a judgement by the Supreme Court.

But the Court of Appeal had earlier upheld all but three of the charges and returned them to the tribunal for retrial. Saraki’s legal team contested the verdict of the Abuja Division of the Court

of Appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting he had no case to answer.

In its verdict, the Supreme Court said the Court of Appeal panel engaged in “forensic somersault� when it held that Saraki should answer three of the charges.

But while all the allegations of false asset declaration had been cleared at the highest court in the land, the EFCC has taken a different route, a move that has exacerbated suspicion that it is more of a political persecution than a prosecution.

MTN BOARD APPOINTMENTS CAUSE A STIR quoted company where, for now, private shareholders can dispose of their shares at the exchange,� a source at SEC Reuters.

Another person with direct knowledge of the matter also said MTN had asked the stock exchange for permission to proceed with a listing of its share Commenting on the move to list its shares on the NSE, the CEO, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman recently explained: “Our conversion to a Plc is a major step towards listing by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the first half of 2019. It is a reaffirmation of our long-term commitment to expanding

AGAIN, EFCC MOVES AGAINST SENATE PRESIDENT SARAKI signed by its Zonal Head, Isyaku Sharu, EFCC stated, “In view of the above, you are kindly requested to furnish us with the full details of all his entitlements to include but not limited to emoluments, allowances, estacodes, other fringe benefits and severance package while he held sway as the Executive Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011. “This request is made pursuant to Section 38 (1) & (2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and

Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.�

However, because this is coming only a few days after Saraki landed an international appointment, many in the state believe the move is a mere smear campaign intended to rubbish the senate president before the international community. This is more so as he is the one singled out for such a probe among those that held office as governor in that period.

Besides, many see the latest investigation as curious because Saraki had

been through a tedious prosecution by the Code of Conduct Tribunal and was subsequently cleared by the tribunal and the Supreme Court. “To think he is the only one who has been singled out for this kind of investigation, more so that we have probed further to check if that kind of letter was sent to anyone else and our checks revealed that he was the only one sent the letter except, of course, they just issued another one today. This, obviously, is a needless persecution and must

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

9

SUNDAY COMMENT

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

THE ASSAULT ON WOMEN IN ABUJA The Abuja Environmental Protection Board Task Force should be called to order

A

t a period the federal capital territory (FCT) and its satellite towns and villages are being overtaken by refuse, with people defecating in the open and streets littered with garbage, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board Task Force is preoccupied with violating the rights of women and girls. Not only are dozens of women languishing in prison for the unproven charge of prostitution, they are also being molested by policemen.

In collaboration with a so-called NGO, the Society Against Prostitution and Child Labour in Nigeria (SAP-CLN), raids are carried out almost on a regular basis at nightclubs and any woman who is unfortunate to be walking around is immediately tagged a ‘prostitute’. With nightlife practically criminalised within the FCT, especially for women and girls who are now targets of humiliation, assault and sexual harassment by law enforcement agents, several civil society groups, including Amnesty International Nigeria, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, and Girl Child Africa, yesterday rightly staged a public demonstration to protest the disturbing trend.

That all this can be happening in a city intended to be Nigeria’s convergence point for commerce, business, innovation, ingenuity, creativity and social development beggar belief. As we have argued several times on this page, Abuja was conceived not for some Talibans, but as a city where the human rights of all residents would be safeguarded. Unfortunately, the rights of women and girls are frequently violated by the tyrannical activities of a misguided police force being used for dubious purposes.

Indeed, for several years now, women in the FCT have been assaulted, intimidated and incarcerated by this all-powerful task force on the pretext that that they have a mandate to ‘eradicate commercial sex workers in Abuja’. These so-called enforcers of the law are most often unidentifiable (wearing neither uniforms

nor badges) and they lurk around the street corners in Abuja. A woman needs only be out in the evening, no matter the reason, for her to be arrested, humiliated and detained.

I

The real criminals are the people hiding under the authority of law enforcement to abuse, rape and dehumanise innocent women and girls in the name of morality which they themselves lack

Letters to the Editor

I

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

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI , PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS ERIC OJEH, PATRICK EIMIUHI ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

n April 2011, Dorothy Njemanze, a popular actress, reported that she had just parked her car and was walking towards her brother’s house one evening when she was roughly shoved towards a parked van by someone in a ‘Man-o-War’ uniform. She was then rudely assaulted and beaten by some men.

No matter how hard she tried to identify herself as an actress, they would not let her go. Branded as a prostitute, Njemanze was eventually thrown inside a van just because she happened to be taking an evening walk in the city of Abuja. Even when she and her colleagues won their case at ECOWAS Court and were awarded damages, the federal government ignored the judgment.

Similar real-life but incredible stories have been narrated by women standing in front of their residences or offices: law school students, bankers, employees of a telecom company attending a colleague’s birthday party, etc.

According to many survivors of this ordeal, after being harassed, the women are then ‘arrested’, molested, and subsequently detained in a choked-up cell in Area 11. No phone calls to family and friends are permitted, and no lawyers can be alerted. Prolonged humiliation and torture then follow, and finally, a ‘confession’ is forcibly obtained, along with a public statement denouncing prostitution. This option is reserved for the lucky few, those who ‘cooperate’ and are therefore allowed to ‘financially negotiate’ an exit. Otherwise, they are hauled before a compromised mobile court where punishment is swift and without mercy.

There is no known justification in Nigerian law for these despicable acts of violence and intimidation against ordinary law-abiding citizens. Indeed, there are clear and definite constitutional provisions that entrench the rights of women to their dignity, liberty, privacy, freedom of movement and expression and against gender-based discrimination. Strident attempts have been made to draw attention to these atrocities, being outrageous violations of the constitutional rights of women in Nigeria. Unfortunately, reminding these ‘lawenforcement’ personnel of the fundamental guarantees to all Nigerian women, without exception, is futile. As far as they know, women have no business being outside any structure or building during the evening or at night.

In this case, the real criminals are the people hiding under the authority of law enforcement to abuse, rape and dehumanise innocent women and girls in the name of morality which they themselves lack. In the process, they do incalculable damage to Nigeria's image and the efforts of government to attract investment in these hard times. We need concerted efforts to bring them to account.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

Nigeria And The Population Question

nformation contained in THISDAY of Tuesday, 28th April 2019, drew our attention to an interesting topic, population. As stated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Nigerian’s population has experienced a massive rise to its current state of 201 million. Nigeria might face hard times in the nearest future.

This number has created some level of concern in the hearts of well-meaning Nigerians as a response to important issues that must be tackled. To encourage change, the attention of the government must be drawn to the state of the nation in the area of joblessness, poverty,

insecurity, inadequate power supply, high crime rate, sufferings, and most recently, overpopulation, which has become a subject of utmost importance since it is rather challenging for Nigeria as a whole to create an enabling environment for its people.

Recall a similar issue happened centuries ago in Britain, among the Irish people and Jonathan Swift wrote his satiric pamphlet, “A Modest Proposal” in 1729, with which the president rose to the clarion call and evoked preventive measures to control their growing population for the good of the country.

Similarly, when popula-

tion crises struck China, their government was forced to adopt the onechild policy to control birth rate although it could not be sustained due to its negative effects on the nation. India for decades has been battling population explosion, the root cause of which is the high rate of births recorded in the country, with 21 million births per year.

With deaths relatively in check in India, the population hit the one billion mark in 1998. In all of these, the government of India still manages to create a stable economy in the area of agriculture and industries. Worthy of mention here is the newly

passed Population Control Bill in India.

Subsequently, the government of Nigeria and its citizens must work hand-in-hand to reduce the fast rising population. It goes beyond showing concern and raising eyebrows.

We need to understand that if adequate measures are not put in place to curb this persistent rise, our nation will soon suffer absolute poverty and penury that will surpass all hard times we have ever experienced in the history of this country. We must come up with a workable solution that will be beneficial to Nigeria.

Essentially, rapid growth in population must be treated as an economic and social problem in Nigeria so as to easily prevent population outburst. The following should

be considered: family planning must be encouraged, there should be a specified minimum age for marriage, women empowerment should be treated as a necessity, education should be widespread, and the government must create more employment opportunities.

Also, it is imperative for the government to invest more on agriculture and industries.

And finally, the standard of living has to improve so that, for families to sustain their already adjusted and comfortable lifestyle, they will prefer to breed smaller families. It is a good thing that the minimum wage for Nigerians is about to witness some improvement.

––Faith Ifueko Egiebor, faithegiebor@gmail.com

10

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

NEWS

Acting News Editor Gboyega Akinsanmi E-mail: gboyega.akinsanmi@thisdaylive.com, 08081986590

Falana: APC Govt Has Turned Nigeria to Banana Republic tSays ruling govt worse than Buhari’s junta tAsks masses to fight for their rights Gboyega Akinsanmi and Bayo Akinloye A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana at the weekend said President Muhammadu Buhari had turned Nigeria into a banana republic, citing prevailing cases of banditry,

insurgency and violence that beclouded the country.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), added that Buhari’s civilian administration was apparently worse than the military rule he presided over between December 31, 1983 and August 27, 1985.

He expressed grave concern about the APC government in a paper he delivered at a roundtable discussion the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism and the British Council organised to the 2019 World Press Freedom Day in Abuja on Friday.

At the public forum attended by a wide range of political leaders, diplomats and professionals, Falana lamented that the country’s senior public officers had substituted the rule of law for “the rule of the rulers,” thereby asking the Nigerian masses “to take their

WELCOME HOME...

L-R: Commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Anambra State, Mr. Sule Momodu in a handshake with the VicePresident, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the state governor, Mr. Willie Obaino during the VP visit to Awka ... Friday

destiny in their own hands.”

Specifically, the human rights lawyer cited Buhari’s records of respecting the rule of law, which according to him, had worsened since his heydays as a military dictator.

In a comprehensive analysis of the two administration, Falana said the irony of such official impunity “is that whereas the Buhari military junta released detainees from custody on the orders of the courts.”

He decried worsening cases of violence, banditry and insurgency, which he said, had become prevalent since the president returned to power in 2015.

He, therefore, concluded that under the the Buhari administration, Nigeria had become a banana republic, saying the president’s human rights record “is worse than when Buhari was a military dictator.”

He, equally, lamented Buhari’s poor record of obeying the rule of law, wondering that president claimed to be a converted democrat, though the claim had been disputed by the refusal of his administration to comply with the orders made by several courts for the release of a number of citizens from unlawful custody.

Apart from treating the orders of the courts with contempt, Falana said Bu-

hari, currently the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had ignored the orders of the Community Court of Justice with respect to the restoration of the civil liberties of Nigerian citizens.

He faulted Buhari and his Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, saying the contemptuous act of the administration “has been defended by the president who has insisted that national security should take precedence over the rule of law.

As if that is not enough, the human rights lawyer faulted the decision of the justice minister “to publicly defended the contemptuous acts of the federal government.”

However, the senior advocate said the civilian regime headed by the converted democrat “has refused to release or grant bail to several detained persons in complete defiance of court orders.

“Since the federal government claims to operate under the rule of law, it should be compelled to comply with section 287 of the Constitution which has imposed a duty on all authorities and persons to enforce the decisions of all courts of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria.

Supreme Court Judgment on Agidingbi Unsettles Lagos Residents Gboyega Akinsanmi A decision of the Supreme Court, which ceded a vast portion Agidingbi and its environs to Akinole-Oshiun family, has unsettled residents of the communities.

The judgment, which the apex court delivered recently, awarded ownership of the 398 acres of land and about 2,000 buildings to the Akinole-Oshiun family.

According to the apex court, the order covered a large part of Lateef Jakande Road (housing Coca-Cola, Daily Times newspaper and Cadbury Plc), Acme Road (where Daily Trust and Telegraph

newspapers, as well as the APC secretariat, are located), Fagba Close, among others.

Consequently, dozens of community leaders, landlords, and residents of the Agidingbi Thursday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly, protesting the judgment that gave them seven days to vacate their properties.

They displayed placards with such inscriptions as “There is no ancestral connection between Akinole-Oshiun and Agidingbi; LASG save our community; Red card to land grabbers; O to ge fun Awon omo onile (Enough is enough for land grabbers).”

The protesters claimed they woke last week to see a court notice on their buildings, dated April 26, giving them seven days to evacuate the premises.

They, also, claimed that the notice indicated that the first judgment, which affirmed the ownership of the land to the Akinole-Oshiun family, was first delivered in 1983.

In a statement yesterday, however, another family of late Chief Emmanuel Oyedele Ashamu, called for clarification of the affected properties in the areas the apex court awarded the Akinole-Oshiun family.

The statement, which was signed by the representative of Ashamu family, Messrs DHTL Capital Management Limited, was to avoid confusion, because many properties belong to Ashamu family among the ones purportedly belonging to Akinole-Oshiun family.

Relying on substantive documents to validate Ashamu’s position, the Vice Chairman, DHTL Capital Management, Mr. Tunde Adeyemi, said while congratulating Akinole-Oshiun family, the public should know that the Ashamu family “has interest within the same claimed areas, especially, in Alausa,

Agidingbi and Magodo, where the said family has properties.

“We are aware that some unscrupulous persons are trying to, (or may try to) use the supposed judgment to illegally encroach into the land and properties belonging to Ashamu’s family and also to extort money from innocent, but desperate and unsuspecting individuals or corporate bodies within these areas. So, the public should be wary,” the statement said.

At a news conference he addressed at his Marina office, Adeyemi said when there was a dispute between the original owner of the land, the Ashade

family, who sold the land to late Chief Emmanuel Ashamu, and Akinole-Oshiun family, the late Ashamu persuaded the Ashade family not to go to court, thus, arrangement was struck amongs the trios on the matter.

Consequently, he said it was agreed that an arrangement, whereby power of attorney may be employed, “should be facilitated. This was done by the AkinoleOshiun family where lawful attorneys under and by virtue of a Power of Attorney dated June 30 1973, and registered as No.32, page 32, in volume 1425 of the Land Registry in the office in Lagos.

Ogun Seeks $350m Loan 24 Days to Amosun’s Tenure

Onaiyekan: Regressive Forces Have No Business in Politics

Senate President Aspirant Woos PDP Senators-Elect With Constituency Projects

Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta

Segun James

Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja

The Ogun State Government has concluded plans to obtain $350m loan from the World Bank.

The state governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun disclosed this when he received a delegation of the bank in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Amosun said the facility would help create a system-driven environment for business, needed for better welfare of citizens and good governance.

He said his administration would do everything possible to secure the loan, saying the incoming administration

already had the support needed to enhance good governance.

He urged the bank’s team to fast-track the process for its final approval.

Kofi Nouve, leader of the delegation, said the loan would help the state government put in place necessary reforms and critical social investments that would help uplift the welfare of the populace.

“The team has got the final approval to proceed with the final design mission,” Nouve said.

It should be noted that the governor had appointed over 1,000 workers into the state’s civil service and promoted 5,000 government workers barely a month to the end of his tenure.

Former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan yesterday noted any elected public official, who cannot develop Nigeria, had no business becoming a politician.

Onaiyekan made the remarks at a migration conference tagged “Action against Irregular Migration of Nigerians” in Abuja, decrying the spate of attacks in various parts of the country, saying citizens are now at the mercy of criminals.

At the conference, the cleric condemned the recurrent cases of attacks and banditry in various parts of the country particularly in Zamfara and

Kaduna states. Major roads in the two states, especially the Abuja-Kaduna highway, have been abandoned by many as a result of high cases of abduction.

Onaiyekan said there “is great need for government to step up measures to address the insecurity in the country.” He decried cases where citizens are forced to pay ransoms to secure their release or that of their loved ones.

He said: “If you have no idea of how to develop Nigeria through education, security, amongst others then, do not go into politics. This same kidnapping issue happened along Lokoja /Kabba road some years back; I could not travel then.

An aspirant to the office of the President of the Senate in the 9th Assembly has promised each of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators-elect N100 million worth constituency projects to be sited his constituency, Sources close to some newly elected legislators disclosed the plan yesterday, noting that theconstituency projects “are among some of the mouth watering inducements offered to the affected Senators-elect ahead of the inauguration of the 9 th Assembly.”

A PDP senator-elect confided in a ranking senator that he was invited to submit his own constituency project worth

N200 million in spite ofthe fact that he was yet to be sworn-in.

However, findings showed that not all the senatorselect benefitted from the gesture as one All Progressive Congress(APC) senator disclosed that he was not approached to submit any constituency project.

According to the source, I am aware that some of my colleagues have been accorded this gesture but so far none of us in the APC has been approached.

Asked why, he said it may not unconnected with their decision to solidly support Ahmed Lawan , the APC endorsed candidate to the office of President of the Senate.

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

11

12

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY MAY 5, 2019

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

13

14

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

OPINION

ROLE OF LAWMAKERS IN SDG MONITORING Parliamentarians are valuable partners in ensuring the accountable, inclusive and participatory governance necessary for sustainable development, writes Emeka Ihedioha

A

s a former presiding officer of parliament and now an elected Governor in the Executive branch, at the sub-national level, I participated actively in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), built on the successes of the otherwise known as the Agenda 2030, represents the most practical and universal call to action to end global poverty, guarantee environmental sustainability, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. These goals, including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities are all interconnected as success in one affects the others.

The SDGs are unique in that they cover issues that affect us all. They reaffirm the global commitment to end poverty permanently everywhere. They are ambitious in making sure no one is left behind. More importantly, they require us all to build a more sustainable, safer, more prosperous planet for all humanity. It was Nelson Mandela, in his famous “Make Poverty History” speech who said, “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the action of human beings.”

In Nigeria, at the level of the executive branch, an office is specifically dedicated to monitoring and executing the mandate of the SDG’s. It is domiciled in the Office of the President, and headed by a Senior Special Assistant to the President. This office monitors the implementation of the SDG goals in the country. At the Parliamentary level, there is a special Standing Committee in Nigeria’s House of Representatives that is specifically charged with responsibility for SDG matters.

Parliament has a huge role to play in resource allocation and budgeting. It has a responsibility to re-align budgetary funds to meet the SDG goals. In Nigeria, education, health, poverty eradication and infrastructure are critical sectors crying for more funding. It is my considered view that it is not just enough to have a global agreement to end poverty and achieve the lofty goals and ideals enshrined in the SDG framework. It is also very important that better resourced countries and institutions should step up their assistance and intervention to less developed and

poorer countries of the world.

The number of out of school children in some African countries must attract the attention of the more financially endowed countries and financial institutions. That women and girls still die in their thousands during child birth is totally unacceptable and should shock the conscience of the world. That Malaria still kills millions of people in some countries of the world is a crying shame to humanity. I can continue. Whereas these less resourced countries have primary responsibility to lift themselves out of these problems, they need more help. More urgent help, if the SDG’s would be attained by 2030 by a majority of the countries of the world.

Parliamentarians have a major role in liquidating poverty, hunger, illiteracy, decease and other social problems. In Nigeria, the parliament enacted the Universal Basic Education Act, to ensure that no child is left behind by compulsorily making access to education possible, at the primary and secondary school level. A recent legislation, National Healthcare Act, also tries to guarantee basic healthcare to the poorest Nigerians. The parliament in Nigeria, has enacted so many other pro-poor legislations, and uses its appropriation power to tilt funding towards the needs of the poorest. But a lot of support is still required from the international community to make these initiatives successful.

As elected representatives of the people, parliamentarians have critical roles to play in driving forward people-oriented development that is reflective of and responsive to the needs of their constituents. In recent decades, there has been increasing recognition of the importance of engaging parliamentarians in efforts to advance environmentally sensitive, inclusive growth and sustainable development. Through their constitutional mandate, for example, in enacting legislation and overseeing government policies

Parliamentarians have a major role in liquidating poverty, hunger, illiteracy, decease and other social problems

and programmes - including scrutinizing and approving the government budget and representing the views of their constituents-parliamentarians are valuable partners in ensuring the accountable, inclusive, participatory and transparent governance that is necessary to achieve sustainable development for all. Recognizing the valuable contribution that parliamentarians can make to sustainable development is particularly critical as the world implements the Agenda 2030.

The pragmatic vision of the 2030 Agenda requires comprehensive political will, from the local through national to international levels. A parliamentary agenda for the monitoring of the SDGs should involve various strategies. Following the adoption of the 17 goals, 169 targets and 232 indicators by the UN World body, each country parliament has a duty to domesticate the convention ratifying the adoption of this Agenda 2030 to suit its own local needs for implementation and effective monitoring.

Furthermore, they must play an essential role in integrating SDGs into corresponding laws or legal frameworks and ensuring the legislative implementation of SDGs. Parliamentarians have a special interest in SDG 16, which is to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. Two targets from this goal are important to parliaments all over the world.

Target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels. Target 16.7: Ensure responsive inclusive, participatory and representative decision making at all levels.

There are also other important targets, which are critical to the functioning of a democracy, particularly in developing counties. These include the rule of law, access to information, fundamental freedom and justice. Parliaments still remain a very vigilant watchdog for the implementation and achievement of these goals and targets. Its role as a check on the executive branch is of primary importance in sustaining democracy in most of our countries.

––Ihedioha, Imo State Governor-elect and former House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, spoke at the recent 2019 Global Festival of action for sustainable development in Bonn, Germany (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

Between Estimated Billing And Estimated Vote Counting Evaristus Bassey urges President Buhari to sign the electoral amendment bill

N

igeria has largely experienced one system of doing things: estimation, and this is based on the fact that as an African society it is mostly a traditional rather than a scientific culture. One major property of scientific cultures is exactitude, which is parallel to a major ingredient of traditional societies, approximation, according to Odera Oruka. Exactitude runs through scientific cultures in many ways. For example while a Nigerian may guess where you are going even if you mispronounce it, it is quite difficult for an Englishman or an American to do the same.

Also a Nigerian mechanic generally works by approximation whereas most technicians in scientific cultures work with precision tools.

Approximation may have its value in the sense that it gets things done anyway even if not exactly; as G.K. Chesterton would say, “what is worth doing is worth doing badly.” The danger however is the imposition of human sentiment and will. We witness this a lot through the estimated electricity billing system. I once had a strong argument with a National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) official when he visited our offices in Calabar and the next month our bill was tripled! On the other hand friends could get their bills slashed. We all remember what it was with Nigerian Telecommunications and their billing system !

The success of the GSM telecommunication in Nigeria has mainly been due to the fact of the exactitude of its billing system.

When carriers began with per minute billing which was a form of approximation, it was an indigenous company, GLO that caused a turn around with per second billing which was more precise.

Since then all the providers have turned to per second billing and the prepaid model has worked for the ordinary Nigerian.

The success of the GSM system shows that industrial peace and harmony could be achieved between users and operators because of the neutrality of technology. We know that technology could be manipulated but generally the introduction of technology apart from facilitating processes helps African cultures which are more prone to gratification and prebendalism to downplay the human factor. See what technology has done in the banking system with the introduction of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and the introduction of automation in personnel pay systems, saving millions for government, millions which were being routed to private pockets of civil servants. Technology has been a friend of the ordinary Nigerian, saving him from official corruption, as the average Nigerian has a tendency to apply undue discretion as

the rule rather than the exception. Undue discretion led to the collapse of Nigeria Airways and many industries. Technology has been a principal means of restoring confidence in public and private business systems which were rather seen as dysfunctional or corrupt.

Before the 2019 presidential election, INEC- the electoral umpire, of the President Obasanjo days was the most corrupt.

The level of collusion between officials of state and officials of INEC was unprecedented. Rigging in the form of massive finger printing and stuffing of ballot papers, ballot box snatching, polling unit violence, were the order of the day. Nigerians came to accept rigging as part of the electoral process especially knowing that parties could only rig where they were the strongest.

Goodluck Jonathan’s first election in 2011 was seen as credible even though parties still rigged largely because the umpire was seen as neutral and also because there seemed to be a distance between the president and the principal electoral umpire Attahiru Jega. The fresh air mantra, the ordinariness and humility of Jonathan thus won him the election. By 2015 Nigerians’ faith in the electoral system was heightened because of the hope of technology. Jonathan’s apparent ineptitude was not going to be carried forward. What with the smart card reader! The idea that every adult would have a permanent voter’s card which would be recognized by a smart card reader for accreditation meant that a major headache of electoral fraud would be overcome and number of votes would match number of accredited voters. But it did appear that in the 2015 elections those in the north had intel earlier than their counterparts in the south that the smart card readers might not count if there were any challenges associated with accreditation. This seemed to be responsible for early round up of elections in many southern states with the result that by the time INEC announced that smart card readers could be put aside, it was already too late for many Southern states to reap the kind of humongous figures their northern counterparts had safe for a few states.

The victory at the Supreme Court of Peoples’ Democratic Party controlled states of Rivers and Akwa Ibom on the basis of electronic systems not recognized in the electoral act spurred INEC to seek the revision of the Electoral Act to include electronic facilities. The assurance by INEC that all accreditation would be through the card reader galvanized the civil society to have confidence in the electoral system especially since voters for the

first time had been able to push out an incumbent in 2015.

Again it was quite disillusioning to realize that despite the assurances some states especially in the north voted without use of card readers for accreditation in the 2019 elections.

Again the ruling party apparently intended to cash in on the judgment of the Supreme Court which validated Wike and Udom’s elections in 2015 and benefited the opposition so President Buhari downplayed the role of electronic facilities in the electoral process by not signing the revised electoral bill into law! It seemed then that one could do anything and get away with it despite technological evidences so long as the electoral act did not capture electronic facilitation. Whereas the Obasanjo government, the Y’Ardua, and especially Jonathan’s did not impede the advancements in the electoral act as could enhance a free and fair poll, the APC government under Buhari has not done anything tangible to improve electoral credibility and has rather given the impression that it took advance steps to secure controversial electoral wins.

The current issue concerning INEC server is really a question of legality versus morality. While the electoral law did not provide for electronic transmission, INEC’s actual operations did factor in such technological provisions, although on a pilot basis.

Indeed immediately after the elections a politician friend of mine confessed that he didn’t know that the role of the Assistant Polling Officer (APO) was crucial. Apparently he had ignored the APO even when he was advised to extend courtesies by the PO. It wasn’t until later in the day that he came to understand that the APO was the electronic collation officer and the one that would transmit the result to the INEC server after the parties had signed off. I dare say that not many politicians knew that this aspect was part of INEC processes otherwise they would have been more careful to ‘work’ on the APOs. What the APOs did therefore may have been the equivalent of entries in a bank account’s profile which are extremely difficult to go back and manipulate. Even if INEC did not intend it for the purpose of announcing results, there is an INEC server and it is public knowledge that results were transmitted electronically from every ward directly into the server and such a result would have suffered less manual manipulation.

––Rev. Fr. Bassey, a Catholic priest, wrote from the United Kingdom (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

15

LETTERS

T

Fayemi, Afenifere And Restructuring

he vexed issue of restructuring was on the front burner at the just concluded national retreat held by Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) in Ekiti State.

In an address to the group, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State called on the proponents of restructuring in the Southwest zone of Nigeria to be more tactical in their approach in order to actualize the dream of an economically and a politically restructured region.

In his words, “there are those who entertain fear on this issue of restructuring.

Whether this is legitimate or not, we must reach out to them, because we are not an island onto ourselves.”

The governor also advised ARG and others to work closely with governments in the zone to address the trappings of voter apathy which is now threatening democracy in Nigeria, and the Southwest zone in particular.

Without doubt, Fayemi’s speech spoke to the equally troubling issues of resource control, devolution of powers and state policing, not in the realm of politics alone, but the reality of the Nigerian situation. In truth, the governor strikes me as a man who understands

O

Fayemi Nigeria well enough to have his comments on Nigeria’s socio-political engagements taken seriously any day.

Vastly experienced in governance issues, the astute administrator is a smart guy who is not only fiercely loyal to the Nigerian dream, his can-do character also has a knack for achieving results. He is one decent Yoruba leader who doesn’t play politics above public good. Interestingly, the state he currently

leads is blessed with highly cerebral minds who, given the opportunity, can turn around any economy.

In addition to its comparative advantage in agriculture and manpower development, the geographical location of Ekiti dovetails into economic possibilities and Fayemi’s projections for integration places the state in good stand to serve other states that are deficient in those areas in which it has already excelled. As

fate would have it, cultural traits have again enabled the governor to face the issue of integration. How I wish other governors in the zone would listen to him and take a cue, especially, now that doing so is honourable?

Legitimacy comes to any social movement to the extent that what it is fighting for conforms to the expectations of the people. Basically, the underlying principle of restructuring deals largely with cooperation! Essentially therefore, if the legal aspects of restructuring are not feasible, people can restructure, based on a pragmatic, workable understanding among governments.

In any case, those who hold the view that restructuring is all about devolution of powers, or federalism, or gladiatorial sloganeering to fill the whims of some Pharisees, are only scratching the surface. If by ‘restructuring’ we mean the flow of more resources from Abuja to other federating states of the federation, then we have missed the point. Further still, if, by restructuring, we are suggesting a re-balkanization of the present geographical, deeply divided entity called Nigeria into specific geopolitical zones, we are still scratching the plutonic side of the real issue. Without being

Laying of Nazi-Wreath

ne just has to draw the line on the down reach of a script of SPIED, not to lose those that are following. God is usually a term of reference, for all manner of religion, which leaves itself open to interpretation, for while Jesus is his right-hand, Satan is his left and the Bible is not a fable of heroes and villains, but is speaking of things in disguise.

A Nazarene or Nazirite, is one of the 12 stars, the sons of god, sun-god, Ra, of stars, Rasta, a consecrated person among ancient Hebrews, forbidden to drink wine, cut the hair or touch a corpse.

Inheritance of their fathers’ will is a birth-right of Nazis, Nazi-rite of funeral “akwam ozu nna”, of which is a feast of pott-age at Mess. Mess-age ‘ozi’ of the first-born ‘okparaeka-rib’, Ribeka, the mother, messaged on farm-bed ‘ugbo’, co-terminous with the grave ‘ili-farm’, family-bed of Isaac, the father, on which he sits-up to command Isau his very-son, veni-son, a deer, dear wife, and his mothers’ wish.

Witch of endors’-meant to call up the voice ‘olu’ of Isaus’ incarnate saul, soul on return as ‘olu uwa ’ for a so-john, as in-come of Jacob, the ‘Uluh ozi-ugbo nje’, born again in this cycle, in disciple of repeated message as the second, in adoption of the minutes, an un-biblical record, umbilical cord of his

hour of birth and time of life eaten hastily as uwa-ndu aluru na oriri-pottage, of which is a sobriquet for sexual inter-course of Abia Lk1:5 1sam28:15.

And so it was in Gen27, from verse 1 to 36, that, on his death-bed, the orii in Ehugbo, centigenerian-Isaac, sits up to message his first born Isau, his very-son, venison, a wild game to prepare as sod pott-age to clock, saying ‘go hunt deer, oh dear hunter’. In that wise, Isau sneaked out to chase ‘bush-meat’, a slang for the wife and mother, as counter-feit of pros, pro-fiting of birth-right, echoed by the wall, for Eves’-dropping of stool ‘Nsibid’ by Ribeka, midwifed of Jacob in movemeant of second motion picture, animated as a goat-hide of his skin in Isaus’ rain, meant as sign donkey, done as key-board to typeright, the left-afa, alpha, bet at pool of baptism, a barb yisim as the first-half-otele-cast, ration by Delila, Delicacy of Berbers, Baba, the father-A bra-aham of the cons, telling nation of re-incarnating soul of Jacob voice call-up for con-firmation as very son in a touch of the corpse of wine, wine cups touched in a feel-me, film of the hand of Isau in a slide of the fathers’ hand. Fathers hand slide projector o-tele- devised as fore-cast-ration of the 2nd as afa-better-half, from goatherd, heard of his cousins,

cow-sins, the cow-word in horses’ mouth, heard in-stead of 1st as afa-beast and best-half of venison, in a birthright pro-fit and loss of name re-numbered in a count of stars in constellation.

Cons telling nation of his mother, the sister of his aunty clock-wise-hand of midwives, remote controlling birth, birth-control tower a-watch for signs mere-made and done as key of upper-roomlodge, the apart, meant for ifa-occultics, departmental faculties of mono-polytechnic building as uni-verse-city of man-heart, manhat, an sky-scrapers of heavenly bed-sheet of all manner of four-footed beasts and creeping things as chambers slain in spirit of satan-light, satellite dish to savour as odour, the aroma of Hors d’oeuvre, by devourer whores, the horse-bandry for telling his-story of the building as layers-uza-Nna-zii rite to favour.

Favour-rite Nazi lay of wreath, by the Jahmbuh-rabu and Hymn Abuh abuhru, Jesus, the secret name, Amu that I, the one that is and was, in a thousand name of God, the saviour and better flavour of scents, saints that watch by night, in the presence of the Father that will return soon and not the late incarnate, as income of Jacob, saying ina kwa nna, my soul is come in to mourn father, I’m the one sent, cent of coin-dey-break

of tie-wo, the wreath layman, obum bu mbuh, okpara-eka, izizi-ozigis, I’m number one, thy foremost and very son of rib-eka, the widow of anata-ni-El-farthings of two mites, mights as perhaps of a hitherto-fell-coin, tossed in first-half-telecast of this soccer, ozi agbara uluh-si-far, mourning son rise, sit up-right on mother-knee for thy left-kid, oh king-domino effect of causes, for pros and cons-table is prepared.

And Isaac the father answering on layer iza-Nna, replied, ina gheji yabu venison quick quick-sand bu aja-iku-late-incarnate, inohor ordu-ration, how come, obu ginwa, my very son Isau, obu di uluh oziugbo nje kaobu, come close in feel me that I may feel thee, noketa, wetakene eka-nkaa kam hue ya, the voice appears in satellite, a dish of Jacob but the serving-hand is of Isaus’- mmoo-sad, alia-bet, isaala-bath lo-mew, cat-copyIsau, come be-trays-pass my deer eckissed, feel-lip thou IS-chariot of van-ish, a come aputa, came-mystery John-uwa-nijems. Ape-scarce in-come gone, Isau returns, saying ina kwa nna, Isaac, trembled in orgasm, Oga-zim of Jacobs’ sup-plantation, in gender with diverse kines, sowing his field with mingled seed, upon him be-coming a garment mingled of linen and wool Lev19:19 Lk12:23 ––Abili Willy, Lagos.

immodest, restructuring is a development paradigm that has to do with vision. In other words, restructuring without attitudinal paradigmatic change towards the concept of governance and service delivery profile of public bureaucracy – whatever this implies - will be an exercise in futility!

Beyond national necessity however, attempts to answer some questions on restructuring will end up throwing up more questions. For instance, how did the Obafemi Awolowos run Western Region as one indivisible entity before the military fragmented it into tiny states? Why are Nigerians killing Nigerians for Nigerians to live and why are we as a people progressing in error? How many people have died from banditry, kidnappings, police brutality and related crimes in the last few years and what has been our national government’s reaction to these avoidable deaths? Where lies the fate of the South, should the North again refuse to ‘concede’ presidency to it in 2023?

If we may also ask, what does Afenifere as a social movement group want and how can it mount a delicate balance between the particular interest of the Yoruba race and the general interests of Nigeria? Will it not lose focus? But then, what is the particular interest of the Yoruba people?

Restructuring, of course!

Again, how do we prepare its broth in a way that the aroma will not become inimical to the interests of the generality of the Yoruba race? For example, when the military started with the creation of states as a panacea for rapid development, Awolowo warned that, until Ikenne-Remo became a state, the agitation for the creation of more states would never cease.

Like a monkey that was

‘destined’ to miss its branch, the military looked the other way until we got to 36 states. Regrettably, here we are, still struggling with the ‘dividends’ of states creation!

In conclusion, devolution of power certainly has its merits. Nonetheless, the attendant feeling of loss of power or control over the federating states gives the federal government irritating nausea.

As things stand, the federation is not working due to too much concentration of power at the centre. Thus, what is needed, mostly, is for the governors within the former Western Region to explore the opportunities already provided by the establishment of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission (DAWN Commission) to collectively address the issue of peer review, utilize findings of comparative and competitive advantages in the economic spheres and set acceptable standards and timeframe for development agenda within their zone. This also means that each governor will have to deal with the negative socio-psychological attributes and effects of power and territorial control by dropping the arrogant toga and bankrupt ideas of an emperor – wherever such exist - and strive to work as chief servant of the people!

No doubt about it, those who are afraid of ‘true federalism’ will fight tooth and nail to resist the idea, or the legalism of restructuring. After all, it is a control issue! But we need a bypass; and the time to put our thinking cap on, was yesterday! Again, this is why issues raised

by Fayemi are germane for today, much more so as they will be relevant tomorrow.

––Abiodun Komolafe, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.

Listen to The Words of Science

L

ike many I was saddened to hear that Alan Alda has Parkinson's disease. I was also saddened that he felt it was necessary to discuss an issue that many may keep private because as he said 'I thought, it's probably only a matter of time before somebody does a story about this from a sad point of view, but that's not where I am.' In times of illness and passing we should consider the theme of his message and concentrate on the positives in life Most will know him for his acting in M.A.S.H. as a brilliant, trouble making doctor although his role in West Wing as a brilliant potential

President is well worth watching. His real brilliance is however as a story teller and his contributions to science in this role at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.

There are many that can tell a story well but few tell stories of importance so well. Science is better off because of him as there is a need for clear communication in a world of fake news and fake science - climate change deniers and antivaccination falsehoods.

Keep telling the world about science as I and many others will keep listening.

–– Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

16

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

FOUR YEAR REPORTCARD OFTEAM BUHARI: 2015 - 2019 PART(I)

After FourYears, Where isYour Report?

A

lthough it would take President Muhamadu Buhari some six months to put his cabinet together, four years after the administration took over the reins of power from the Peoples Democratic Party’s Goodluck Jonathan, public opinions on the performance of the cabinet members have varied from person to person, without a consensus on the overall scorecard of the administration.

The truth is that it could not have been all tales of woes, the same way there are no signs that the journey in the last four years has been auspicious. What is however certain is that each of the ministers and other cabinet members would have to shoulder their bur-

Prologue dens respectively, based on the performance recorded against their names.

Thus, as it is the traditional of THISDAY to x-ray the works of the ministers especially, that the current dispensation is fast winding down, preparatory to the new one billed to assume office on May 29, deliberate efforts are being taken to assess each of the ministries and other portfolios and underscore how they have either enhanced and complemented the efforts of the administration at delivering change or on the other hand, stymied the development process.

To arrive at this assessment, some of the Key Performance Indicators employed by the THISDAY Board of Editors included what each cabinet member, many of whom were appointed in November 2015, met on the ground in their respective beats; the targets they set for themselves; the challenges that stood in the way of the change ideology and what they have achieved against their own targets within the time frame.

Suffice it to note that this exercise is without prejudice to any particular ministry or minister, but the assessment that is meant to run all-week, is done with the best of intentions as part of the rights of the people to know and based on raw facts, some of which are already in the public know.

Abba Kyari: The Man With the Red Cap Wale Olaleye writes that in the last four years Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to the President, the enforcer and protector of the office of the president, has navigated through turbulent waters and has remained unscarred

M

any refer to him as The Man with The Red Cap. He is the last bus stop before reaching the desk of Muhammadu Buhari, 76, President of The Federal Republic, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria since 2015.

He is as tough as they come. Analysts say if the President says: turn right, he turns extreme right.

When the President says turn left, he turns further left with little room for manoeuvres. Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, is the man whose no-nonsense demeanour has made him many enemies of those who wish to compromise the Presidential Villa.

He has told those who care to listen that his job resolves on three firm principles for which he has no apologies: ‘ I will not allow anyone to mislead the President through misrepresentation; I will not allow the President’s integrity to be violated; I will not allow Nigeria’s national interest to be subordinated’. For these, he has made many enemies - enemies who have serially launched corruption campaigns against him. What they have failed to do, however, is provide real evidence linking him with corrupt practices. The most recent social media storm involves his daughter Aisha, recently appointed to the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as Assistant Vice President (equivalent to Assistant Manager in most companies) several months after her application. Many cite the appointment as favouritism, but others say families of public servants deserve a life too.The NSIA says the appointment followed due process, while confirming she was appointed to a lower level position.

But such is the scrutiny Kyari faces in his every move in a bitter campaign to get rid of him and target the President.

Many forget that every Chief of Staff has to follow the lead of their principal. The President is a man of few words with a very conservative lifestyle devoid of frills. The Chief of Staff makes it his duty to protect the president from from the free-wheeling political honchos, pushing them to the ruling All Peoples Congress ( APC ) while concentrating on policy.

At the Villa the Office of The Chief of Staff finds gaps not being adequately addressed by ministers and departments and intervenes through Presidential Initiatives. They have spearheaded the successful fertiliser intervention programmes, saving billions in funding and subsidies by working directly with the King of Morocco; they have given life to the 2nd Niger Bridge which is now fully under construction, the Mambilla Power Project for which designs and funding are being finalised, and also processed the renewal of Oil Mining Licenses for which almost $2billion USD had been realised. They have ensured that there is no interference in the works of anti-corruption agencies such as the EFCC and ICPC. They continue to work with the security agencies to ensure that the armed services rise to the President’s charge to curb the increasing wave of insecurity.

However, there is the need to do much more.

Northern Nigeria is facing a grave security challenge.

President Buhari’s 2nd term must confront headlong the disparate cells of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists spreading like cancer from the northeast of the country, through the northwest, to the north central.

The security challenge is hemorrhaging Northern societies and urgently requires new Presidential initiatives.

Kyari’s Doctrine

“ I will not allow anyone to mislead the President through misrepresentation; I will not allow the President’s integrity to be violated; I will not allow Nigeria’s national interest to be subordinated”

17

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

FOUR YEAR REPORT CARD OF TEAM BUHARI: 2015 - 2019

Boss Mustapha: The Stabilising Force!

The challenge of his office notwithstanding, the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Gida Mustapha, has turned out a major bridge builder and stabilising force in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, writes Olawale Olaleye

T

he office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation comes with interestingly huge responsibilities, beyond the book prescription of what its brief should be. Responsible for ensuring the effective coordination and monitoring of the implementation of government’s policies and programmes in the order of hierarchy, the office generally coordinates policy designs and formulation by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for approval by the government.

The SGF serves as Secretary to the Council of State, the Federal Executive Council and other Constitutional Councils that are chaired by the President. Apart from coordinating the activities of the MDAs, the office also deals with constitutional, political and socio-economic matters as may be referred to the presidency.

Of course, it does not stop there. The office treats and handles a legion of other assignments, which explains its importance in the life of any administration.

Thus, when Buhari assumed office in 2015, the appointment of Babachir Lawal was with the understanding that he had a fair idea of what he was up against. He was however sacked as the SGF three years after on, specifically October 30 2017, following a report into his alleged involvement in diverting crisis relief funds.

His eventual dismissal came months after he was suspended by the president, following allegations of complicity in the misappropriation of funds earmarked for the welfare of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) through the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE), and in his stead, Buhari appointed Boss Gida Mustapha.

A lawyer, management consultant and politician, Mustapha’s appointment was with high hopes of intense repair works, both to the image of the federal government, whose anti-graft agenda had been blighted and its relationship with the various publics, other tiers of government especially.

Indeed, it is the belief in government circles that Mustapha has so far done a much better job than his predecessor, Lawal, both in terms of managing the office and stabilising the relationship of the federal government with other stakeholders in the body polity as an artful bridge builder.

Mustapha has been variously described and acknowledged as an enviable bridge builder, because he was always consciously pulling everyone together in the direction of success, not only for the government of the federation but in a sense that could enhance the jobs of the state governments as a collective push for nation-building and good governance.

It is generally believed that the President likes and respects him, because he does his job very well and does not get involved in frivolities especially, that which does not enhance or edify the current efforts of the government at changing the obnoxious narrative. Besides, he commands the respect of his staff unlike when Lawal was in charge.

Lawal was alleged to have fought with practically everyone and created huge problems for the President as a result of his inability to manage the other tendencies in the government, particularly, in the presidency.

For instance, he was said not to have got on with the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, a situation believed to have created tension in the ‘house’ and somewhat polarised the power centre, needlessly.

But since coming on board, Mustapha and Abba did not just get on well; they have remained good partners in the management of their respective yet overlapping responsibilities in the overall interest of the government, the presidency and the president.

Expectedly, Mustapha is said to also relate very well with the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the ministers, National Assembly members and key leaders of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Perhaps, the only issue the current SGF is said to have in the administration is with the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, but that has to do with their local politics in Adamawa State, and not about his job delivery or handling of his many assignments.

An experienced lawyer, it is curious to know that

Mustapha Mustapha is classmate with the recently sacked Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen at the Law School. A one-time governorship hopeful and former deputy chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mustapha is one of the silent achievers of the APC merger as it were.

God-fearing and cerebral, Mustapha is believed to have distinguished himself in the less than two years that he assumed office and whatever his inadequacies, they have been greatly diminished by his record of stellar performance as the SGF, enhanced by sound human relations.

18

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

FOUR YEAR REPORT CARD OF TEAM BUHARI: 2015 - 2019

Geoffrey Onyeama: Keeping an Even Keel Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry under the supervision of Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has managed to maintain relative stability under difficult circumstances, writes Nseobong Okon-Ekong

N

igeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama came highly recommended.

From his previous international designation as the Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Orgnisation (WIPO) from 2009 to 2014, he was responsible for the regional bureau for Africa, Arab Countries, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean; the Least-Developed Countries Division (LDCs); the Development Agenda Coordination Division (DACD); The WIPO Academy and the Special Projects Division.

ECOWAS as Focal Point

Successive Nigerian governments had always made Africa the centerpiece of her oversea relations. The Buhari administration has not been different. However, it has narrowed its focus to the immediate surrounding region. The result of this was an improvement on the counter-insurgency war which led to decimation of Boko Haram.

It is instructive that the Nigerian President’s first visit after he was sworn-in was to Niger, a neighbouring country, where Boko Haram fighters had gained more than a foothold and launched successful attacks on Nigerian soil. He was in that country for an anti-Boko Haram summit on June 3, 2015.

Buhari was elected chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Togo’s capital Lome in July last year. It is a yearly rotational tenure.

In his capacity as Chairman of ECOWAS, Buhari has made a number of interventions in the sub-region. The latest was the dispatch of Onyeama, as Special Envoy to Guinea Bissau.

However, one of the major goals of ECOWAS, which is to operate under a single currency, may not meet its set target year of 2020. The Chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama said achieving the ECOWAS Single Currency by 2020 would be a challenge.

Diplomatic Controversies and Victories

Unfortunately, the Nigerian foreign affairs ministry has been involved in unnecessary exchange of slur with the Office of the Presidential Senior Adviser on Diaspora Matters, as highlighted by the recent the release of Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar, the two Nigerians, who were arrested by Saudi security officials.

This is not the first time this ugly trend would be noticed,

Onyeama: though it became gutsy this time around. The rivalry between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Senior Adviser on Diaspora Matters also came up when Nigerian students detained on allegations of cybercrime were released in Benin Republic.

Another controversy that came up in the course of Onyeama’s tenure was the episode of allegation of sexual misconduct against three members of the House of Representatives in the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had insisted that there was no evidence to substantiate allegation.

Perhaps, the most potentially damaging of the controversies directly involving Onyeama was when he was put on the spot and had to explain why he did not directly pay his income taxes to Nigerian coffers.

Good Relations under Difficult Circumstances Despite the fact that Nigeria has come under severe criticisms for her human rights record, growing insecurity

within her borders and the dwindling fortunes of her hapless citizens, none of these has been as serious as to lead to a diplomatic row and/or the truncation of diplomatic relations.

For instance, relations between Nigeria and South Africa was at lowest ebb two years ago, but Onyeama said relations between the two countries are strong, although doubtful given the incidences of xenophobic violence.

It is also commendable that Nigeria was able to secure USD40 billion investment from China. In exchange, Nigeria has assured Beijing that it will adhere to the ‘One China’ policy, while announcing a shutdown of Taiwan’s office in Abuja, the capital city.

During the period under review, Nigeria signed the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, joining dozens of other countries that signed the treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

Under Onyeama’s supervision of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Nigeria has been able to further talks with authorities in Switzerland to arrange the return to Nigeria of $300 million confiscated from the family of the late maximum ruler, Sani Abacha.

Despite its willingness to maintain cordial relations with all countries, the federal government did not hesitate to call-out countries it felt were meddlesome in Nigeria’s internal affairs.

In more than one instance, the diplomatic community in Nigeria was warned not to cross the line between exhorting Nigeria on good governance and dictating to the country how to govern.

In September last year, President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the 73rd UN General Assembly. The 2018 General Assembly was Buhari’s fourth outing at the annual general debate.

The Federal Government also spent the sum of $1 million to evacuate 230 Nigerians and 17 Ghanaians, who were stranded in Russia after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Running the Embassies

There are 110 Nigerian missions abroad. Incidentally, the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs focuses attention on 30. The ministry owes both volunteers and staff over N4.9 billion entitlements. In the 2019 fiscal year, N7.6 billion has been proposed for the ministry, but N4.123 billion was approved. This can only cover 30 out of the 110 missions abroad. Therefore the ministry may be forced to close 80 foreign missions, due to poor funding.

Mansur Dan Ali: A Need for Strategy Review The Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali, has made significant efforts but not enough to yield desired results, writes Chiemelie Ezeobi

W

hen Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali (rtd) hung his boots on August 30, 2013, he had no inkling what the future had in store. Two years down the line, he was recalled from retirement and made the Minister of Defence by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 2015.

Upon assumption of office, one of his core derivatives was to decimate the Boko Haram sect, ensure improved welfare of officers and men of the Armed Forces, support families of fallen heroes, follow due process and accountability in procurement of equipment, as well as ensure the territorial integrity of the nation is not tampered with in any aspect.

While the minister recorded failures in certain areas, he also achieved success in others. Given the paucity of equipment bedeviling the Armed Forces especially, in the fight against terrorism in the North-east, piracy in the maritime domain and militancy in the South-south, it was obvious the military’s war-chest needed a boost, a lacuna he was bent on addressing.

The minister went a step further to put measures on the ground to prevent defence procurement fraud by ensuring the Ministry of Defence buys all equipment and platforms directly from the original equipment manufacturers.

Under his watch also, the Armed Forces launched different operations and exercises. They include Whirl Stroke, Safe Haven, Crocodile Smile, Delta Safe, Sharan Daji, Iron Force, Harbin Kunama, Gama Aiki I and II, Ayem Akpatuma, Safe Conduct Mesa, Last Hold, Python Dance, Operation Awatse, Tsare Teku, Lafia Dole, Open Corridor, Gama Aiki, Tsaftan Daji, Thunder Strike, Smoke Out, Karamin Gordon and Diran Mikiya.

He was said to have introduced more harmonised conditions of service for all military personnel, tailored towards improving their lives after retirement. Among the feats recorded was the implementation of prompt payment of troops’ operational allowances.

With military brutality rife across the board, the establishment of human rights desk in all military formations has also be credited to Dan Ali. Many would however contend that despite the presence of such desks and units, human rights abuses still thrive in the military.

Dan Ali Under his watch, 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted in April 2014 were released. This was in addition to the 21 who were earlier released after negotiations between the government and the Boko sect. Yet, many of them are still being held behind, including Leah Sharibu of Dapchi School in Yobe State.

Notwithstanding his successes, Dan Ali has also made so many gaffes in office, which is probably why he does not grant press interviews. The most visible blot on his tenure is the carnage going on in his hometown in Zamfara State. Daily, the media and the online space is inundated with reports of bizarre killings and plundering of livestock and farm produce in the state.

But in spite of the measures put in place, instead of abating, the scourge of armed bandits has continued to have a field day. The general consensus has been that the minister was particular about his personal security, an allegation that was backed by Security Watch International. The group had accused the minister of ensuring adequate deployment of military checkpoints around his

house in Zamfara State without recourse to the safety of others.

Dan Ali also showed poor form in the handling of the armed herdsmen militia. When states like Taraba, Ekiti and Benue came up with legal frameworks, like the anti-open grazing laws, to tackle the menace, Dan Ali had said the law was confrontational and that it was the reason the herdsmen were aggressive.

Another minus for Dan Ali is the complaints by soldiers, especially those fighting Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east, about the irregular payment of their cash allowance.

Although he would cite ensuring that troops who have stayed for a reasonable time in the theatre of operations are rotated and new ones inducted as one of his achievements, the soldiers on the field plead otherwise. Most of them have often complained about their deployment over-stretching the due date.

Under Dan Ali’s watch, the Boko Haram terrorist sect has killed hundreds of Nigerian troops in different operations, particularly targeted at military bases.

Another stain on Dan Ali’s record is the abduction of Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl, who is still in captivity for refusing to denounce her faith. On February 19, 2018, 110 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State.

Also, on March 1, 2018, Saifura Ahmed and Hauwa Liman of the International Red Cross were abducted alongside Alice Ngaddah of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

While Ahmed and Liman were later executed consecutively, Ngaddah is still in captivity.

The challenges facing the minister boil down to the lack of adequate funds to man the ministry. Given the serious nature of the challenge, it has restricted spending in the procurement of needed platforms in the fight against insecurity. Already, troops are overstretched in both internal and external security operations, which often translate to poor welfare package.

In summary, regardless of the achievements he’s recorded in the last three years, the glaring insecurity across the country makes a mince meal of them. From the continued Boko Haram assault in the North-east to militancy and piracy in the South-south, herdsmen militia and banditry in the Mid-west, the jury is still out on Mansur Dan Ali.

19

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 5, 2019

FOUR YEAR REPORT CARD OF TEAM BUHARI: 2015 - 2019

Abubakar Malami: A Tenure Marred

by Disobedience to Court Orders Encouraging government to disobey orders of courts may be Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami’s greatest undoing, reports Tobi Soniyi

C

onsidered a member of the President Muhammadu Buhari kitchen cabinet, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), savours a lot of privileges. His closeness to the president is as such not in doubt.

He was the national legal adviser for the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party founded by Buhari in 2010 and one of the legacy parties that fused into the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party that produced Buhari as president in 2015.

Section 174 (3) of the Constitution lists his responsibilities thus: “In exercising his powers under this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation shall have regard to the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.” But how has the AGF been able to balance these three interests, which are sometimes conflicting?

Since the president has made the fight against corruption a major pillar of his administration, the ministry of justice is crucial to realising that objective. Knowing this for a fact, Malami enthusiastically committed himself to the task of helping the president with the anti-corruption war. But in doing this, he would have to clash with his primary constituency – the bar and the bench. And sometimes, he chose to ignore the rule of law, to satisfy the president.

For instance, Malami supported and justified the decision of the Department of State Service (DSS) to raid the home of judges.

How Has He Fared?

As minister for justice, Malami has taken some bold decisions. One of such decisions is the withdrawal of the case of forgery against the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu. Malami discontinued the trial after he was told by the lawyers he hired to prosecute the case that the investigative report and evidence could not support the charge.

In yet another case, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) was pushing for his predecessor, Mohammed Adoke, also a SAN to be prosecuted for complicity in the controversial settlement of the Malabu oil deal, Malami wrote to the court stating that he was not sure Adoke has a case to answer, because he was merely carrying out presidential directive.

In a letter to the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, Malami wrote: “Having fully examined the entire case file, I am inclined to request you to consider the charge in relation to the composition of the parties, the offences, the proof of evidence and the case summary in view of the fact that nothing in the proof of evidence appears to have directly linked parties to the offences as charged.”

During the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission ordered the federal government to pay N135 million to people, who sustained injuries when the security agencies invaded an uncompleted building in Apo district of Abuja. Adoke did not comply with the order. But Malami ensured the victims were paid immediately he became justice minister.

Last year, he urged judges to disregard letters from the Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, asking them to declare their assets. The panel was obviously exercising powers it did not possess. The AGF had to call the panel to order.

After submitting his ministerial scorecard to the Presidency last week, the minister said: “Fundamentally arising from the cases that were conducted by Federal Ministry of Justice, the ministry succeeded in saving the government around N4.5 trillion relating to claims presented in respect to these cases, which were conducted and concluded.”

THISDAY has not been able to independently verify that claim.

Malami has also made efforts in tackling the seemingly intractable crisis of congestion in the nation’s prisons.

Through his efforts, many prisoners have regained their freedom.

The minister also gave opportunity to those arrested and detained in connection with the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast to have their days in court.

Many have been in jail for over six years without trial. A special arrangement was made with the judiciary, which led to the arraignment of these suspects before a federal

Malami high court in Niger State. This has led to a reduction in the number of suspects detained in barracks in the northeast.

To his credit, Malami worked to fast track the release of $322 million kept in foreign banks by the late military ruler, Sani Abacha and his family. The $322 million that was repatriated in December 2017, was money that was frozen by the Swiss Attorney-General and was not domicile in Switzerland, but in other countries, mainly Luxembourg.

The money was disbursed through Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) to 302,000 poor households across the country.

What Are His Flaws?

The minister has not been able to balance the tripartite responsibilities of ensuring ‘public interest, ‘interest of justice’ and compliance to ‘legal process’ imposed on him by the constitution. There is a case to be made for his willingness to encourage the executive to become lawless. The federal government did not obey the court’s judgment freeing the leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Ibrahim El Zakzaky.

When a federal high court granted bail to the former National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki, the government would not obey it. Malami justified the decision on the ground that national security should take precedence over the rule of law.

According to him, “The repeated court orders for respect of Dasuki’s right to freedom did not supersede the rights of Nigerians killed by the actions of Mr. Dasuki.”

In taking that position, the minister appeared to have constituted himself into a court of law. If there are security reasons for which Dasuki should not be released, the proper step to take is to give the reasons to the judge while opposing the bail application. It is for the judge to weigh the evidence and come to a conclusion

and not for the justice minister to sit on the judgment of the court. Many therefore considered the position taken by the AGF as a negation to his oath of office.

Under a different government, the role the justice minister played in the return, reinstatement and promotion in the civil service of Abdulrasheed Maina, a fugitive wanted for corruption, would have earned him a sack.

The Head of Service, Mrs. Oyo-Ita, and the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Mr. Joseph Akande, confirmed receiving letters requesting the reinstatement of Maina from the office of the AGF. But the AGF, in one of his embarrassing moments on the job, while testifying before the ad hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives to probe the controversy surrounding the reinstatement of Maina, could not remember writing those letters.

Others also view it as a weakness, the inability of the AGF to constructively engage the judiciary. He seems to prefer confrontation. This has been counterproductive for the anti-corruption. He is ready and willing to act, sometimes recklessly, to assist the executive in undermining the independence of the judiciary.

In his inaugural address to the staff of the ministry of justice, Malami said his tenure would mark the end of giving out cases to private lawyers, when there were many brilliant lawyers in the justice ministry. Today, unfortunately, Malami did not keep to his words.

Lawyers in the ministry have accused him of giving cases to private legal practitioners, who are his friends while lawyers in the ministry are busy doing nothing.

The minister has also been accused of interfering with the prosecution of some corruption cases. Immediately, he assumed office, he wrote the EFCC asking that all high profile corruptions cases be handed over to his ministry. This put him at loggerheads with the EFCC and had negative impact on the anti-corruption war.

Had the AGF provided the necessary assistance to the EFCC, the commission would have done better.

20

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

69

21

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

BUSINESS

08033204315, 08111813084

ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœË? Kunle Aderinokun Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ë? Ă•Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă–Ă?˛ËÎĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă™Ă•Ă&#x;Ă˜ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

A cross section of workers during a recent protest over minimum wage

May Day: A Victory Dance for Workers Onyebuchi Ezigbo

T

his year’s May Day celebration is significant in many respects. For one, this year’s May Day coincided with the centenary celebration of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Secondly, it came at a time when the organised labour emerged from a successful struggle for the N30,000 new minimum wage for Nigerian workers. It also happened at a period in history, when the nation is going through very challenging economic times.

May Day is very significant in the life of workers the world over. For the labour movement in Nigeria, the day presents an auspicious opportunity to appraise the contributions of workers to nationbuilding. It is also an occasion to reflect on the progress and setbacks in the struggle to improve the lot of workers. Apart from the theme of the day’s celebration: ‘Another 100 Years of Struggle for Jobs Dignity and Social Justice in Nigeria’, the organised labour also seized the moment to drum support for the implementation of the new minimum wage. The two labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) delivered a

joint speech at the May Day celebration, signifying unity of purpose and the fact that when it comes to the issue of workers welfare, they are ready to work together to achieve results.

Minimum Wage Implementation With the cloud of uncertainty hovering over the implementation of N30,000 new minimum wage, especially at the state level, the leadership of the labour movement used the occasion of the workers’ day to send warning to those state governments, which might be contemplating defaulting in payment of the new minimum wage.

But the federal government gave labour a reassurance that it is going to implement the new minimum wage with effect from April. Also 17 states have so far indicated that they will pay.

The states that have agreed to pay are Delta, Oyo, Lagos, Ondo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Edo, Kano, Zamfara, Kogi, Niger, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Anambra, Ogun and Enugu. For the federal government, the May Day event provided it with an opportunity to indulge in self-praise. It said the new minimum wage was the best gift it can offer the workers. Addressing workers at this year’s celebration at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Prof. Stephen Ocheni, said the federal government had

shown that it cared for the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerian workers by hastening action on the N30,000 new minimum wage.

Ocheni, who stood in for the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, said the new minimum wage law took effect from April 18, 2019, and that all entities, including states and local governments are to start paying immediately. That pronouncement came as a soothing balm to the workers, who thronged the Eagle Square venue of the event. The minister got rewarded with corresponding applause.

He urged private sector employers to do the same. Ocheni stated: “We expect immediate discussions with the different Joint Negotiating Councils for consequent adjustments upstairs as a result of the movement from N18,000 to N30,000.�

Ocheni further stated that the federal government had converted the tripartite committee on negotiations for new minimum wage to a standing committee, which will be responsible for setting new minimum wage after every five years. He said having assented to the N30,000 minimum wage bill, the federal government said it was committed to its immediate implementation.

Ocheni added that workers now had the right to approach the Industrial Court to enforce the payment of the new minimum wage at all levels of government. Labour

movement is not known to have such patience to wait for court to adjudicate on the issue of worker’s welfare. It will be difficult to say at this stage what will happen when indeed labour heeds federal government’s advice to drag states defaulting in the implementation of the minimum wage.

Tripartite Committee One recurring decimal in the history of minimum wage matter is that it has always been a subject of controversy. However, in attempt to guard against the mistakes of the past, the federal government said the tripartite committee on negotiations for minimum wage will now serve as a standing committee with the mandate to negotiate a new minimum wage every five years.

According to the minister, the tripartite committee will be expected to commence talks on review of the present minimum wage six months to the end of the fiveyear-timeline.

Also the minister in a bid to forestall industrial crisis resulting from any form of default in the implementation of the new minimum wage by states, said that trade unions have the right to approach the National Industrial Court on matters relating to the non-compliance with the New Minimum Wage Act for adjudication.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

22

Ëš

How Gas Pricing Caused the Failure of ALSCON

Kingsley Nwezeh

T

he Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria Ltd. (ALSCON), based in Ikot Abasi Akwa Ibom State was incorporated in 1989.

At the time of incorporation, ALSCON was owned by three partners, namely, the federal government, Ferrostaal of Germany and Reynolds Incorporated of America based on equity holdings of 70 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

The company operated an aluminum smelter plant that manufactured aluminum and was established for the purpose of utilising Nigeria’s natural gas resources, reducing gas flaring in the Niger Delta and saving forex from importation of aluminum. On October 15th, 1997 the company started operations of aluminum production with design capacity of 197,000 metric tonnes of aluminum ingots and billets per annum and a 540 MW (megawatts) gas fired power plant.

The power plant was meant to satisfy the power needs of the aluminum plant, while supplying its excess power of about 360 MW into the national grid. The plant therefore had two revenue streams: aluminum production and sale of electricity to the national grid.

The production of aluminum and supply of ALSCON’s excess electricity to the national grid were, however, dependent on sustainable supply of natural gas to the plant. By 1999, the company’s production capacity had reduced by 80 per cent due to suspension of gas supply by suppliers and transporters, because of the debt owed them by ALSCON. Gas supply disruptions continued till 2008 as the debt to gas suppliers continued to build up. Consequently, the company lost several millions of dollars in revenue as its production faltered due to gas supply disruptions. In all the years of its operation to date, ALSCON has never utilised more than 20 per cent of its production capacity due to lack of gas supply.

Natural Gas Conundrum ALSCON entered into a natural gas supply and purchase agreement with the federal governmentowned Nigerian Gas Company Limited (NGC).

The main business of NGC was gas supply and transportation, using its own pipeline supply infrastructure. In order to secure natural gas for delivery to ALSCON, NGC entered into a gas supply and purchase agreement with the upstream gas supplier, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) JV for the supply of 70 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMScf/d). Under the terms of the agreement between NGC and the SPDC JV, the SPDC JV would sell gas to NGC who would deliver the gas to ALSCON. The agreement between Shell

ALSCON building

and NGC stipulated that ALSCON would pay NGC for the feed gas while NGC would remit the payment to SPDC JV. Due to the federal government’s equity interest in ALSCON, a commercially unsustainable and uneconomic price of US$0.65 per thousand cubic feet (Mscf) was imposed on the SPDC JV for the sale of the feed gas to be used by ALSCON at its facility. In addition to the imposition of an extremely low and unsustainable gas price, the federal government further mandated that ALSCON would pay SPDC JV only a component of the gas price amounting to US$0.35/Mscf while the federal government would pay the balance of US$0.30/Mscf to SPDC JV directly as part of a federal government subsidy given to ALSCON. Whilst the company managed to pay its portion of the feed gas price allocated to it by the federal government, the latter compounded the woes by refusing to pay its subsidy portion of the gas price. This led to irregular supply of

May Day: A Victory Dance for Workers Looming Labour Crisis With organised labour insisting on immediate implementation of the new minimum wage law and some state governors vehement that they will not be able to foot the bill, the stage may be set for another round of struggle by the labour union. As stated in their address at the workers day celebration, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said they insisted on timely implementation of the wage increase. According to him, the tripartite committee has already wasted a lot of time arriving at the new national minimum wage. “We should not waste a single more second implementing the new national minimum wage across board.

We urge workers to remain vigilant till total victory is won.�

NLC and TUC said they would not only push for compliance with the minimum wage payment at all levels but noted that henceforth the national leadership of labour will also take action against states owing salary arrears to workers to ensure that it is cleared.

natural gas to ALSCON , frequent shutdowns of the facility, and eventual shut down of the company operations.

Lessons Learnt Today, ALSCON is not able to meet the objectives for which it was created. It never produced to full capacity and never generated electricity into the national grid, despite having facilities for this. The shutdown of the facility led to loss of employment for many employees, loss of significant revenues for the company, huge debts to vendors and service providers, inability to generate taxes for the government and inability to provide social support to its host communities.

As part of the key lessons from the failure of ALSCON, fixing of natural gas prices for the domestic market by the federal government is inappropriate. Rather, the government should provide economic enablers, macro and micro economic environment that would stimulate competition and efficiency instead of imposing

price restriction on goods.

Also, stemming from this failure, all agencies of the federal government should rather work towards creating an enabling environment that will attract investment in the oil and gas sector, than forcing market rules that create losses for businesses and limit investment.

Besides, it was realised that, approving subsidies for commercially viable businesses can result in allocative inefficiency, thereby reducing the desire of those businesses to become competitive and efficient.

While it is now believed that the industrial sector where there is price fixing by the government wouldn’t attract local and foreign investments, it is also the general notion that imposition of uneconomic feed gas prices on upstream producers (and other value chain players) makes it difficult for them to recover their investment cost.

It is crucial that the federal government learns from these mistakes to avoid a repeat of the ALSCON tragedy.

Cont’d from Pg. 21

The Deputy Chairman of Senate Committee on Labour, Senator Victor Umeh, who represented the Senate president, commended Buhari for giving timely assent to the new minimum wage bill after it was speedily passed by the National Assembly.

He said there could be no meaningful development without the contribution and support of workers. Many who addressed workers at ceremony applauded the federal government and labour movement for resolving the issue in a relatively peaceful manner. The senator representing Anambra Central on the platform of theAll Progressives GrandAlliance (APGA), spoke on behalf of the Senate President. He made a case for more investment in the development of human capital, adding that the future of the country depends on how efficiently and effectively the government is able to utilise the human resource potential.

In her goodwill message, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Eyo Etta, commended the resilience of Nigerian workers

and urged them to continue to support the government. She said the president had succeeded in putting a smile on the faces of Nigerian workers by not only approving funds for payment of arrears of salaries, allowances and pensions, but also signing into law the new minimum wage.

Assessment of State of the Nation The labour union made some valid observations on the just-concluded general election, saying the elections were characterised by lots of electoral infraction. It therefore, demanded the implementation of the Justice Muhammed Uwais-led Committee Report on reform of the nation’s electoral system as a way forward.

On the mounting debt profile, the apex labour union said workers were concerned over the increasing debt accumulation by governments at all levels. The concern of labour is quite understandable when one considers the fact that most of the states are currently witnessing economic hardship. According the labour

movement, figures from the Debt Management Office put Nigeria’s debt burden as at December 31, 2018 at N24.387 trillion, adding that the breakdown of the debt stock revealed that the federal government’s external debt increased by 42.69 per cent from N4.527 trillion in 2017 to N6.460 trillion in 2018.

Records indicate that about two-thirds of the government’s revenues go into servicing interest payments, with the principal still waiting for redemption at maturity. Another issue that attracted concern of labour is the deteriorating situation in the electricity sub-sector. It said that the privatised electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) have failed the nation and should have their terms of agreement reviewed. The union said: “It is sad that the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) appears soft on operators and hard on consumers. We call on the federal government now that the tenure of the DISCOs is due for renewal to review the entire privatisation exercise and come up with the best approach to deal with this challenge.�

23

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

Ëš

Nigeria’s Quest for Nuclear Power Plants Kingsley Nwezeh examines Nigeria’s power generation debacle and the government’s movement in different directions to achieve power sufficiency, deploying renewable energy and nuclear power plants

A nuclear power plant

H

ighly endowed with gas, oil and renewable energy resource, Nigeria is still grappling with a grossly insufficient 4,000 megawatts of electricity at the last count.

With installed electricity capacity of 12,522 megawatts from existing plants, well below the current demand of 98,000MW and several pronouncements and government’s depiction of its achievements since 2015, the power situation in Nigeria remains intractable.

Latest power generation figures showed that the country’s electricity grid collapsed twice recently. Statistics from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has shown that electricity generation crashed to as low as 18MW on April 15 from 2,548.5 MW recorded the previous day. The collapse is believed to be one of the worst in history. The crash continued the next day as power generation only slightly improved to 19.7 MW. By April 18, it moved up to 3,964,8MW. The upward trend hit 5,454.4 MW by April 19 and dropped again to 3,897

by April 21.

Govt’s 10,000 MW by 2019 Target In a recent media chat, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the Buhari administration was determined to realise 10,000 megawatts target projected by the end of 2019 in order to ensure adequate power supply.

The minister said that the 10,000 megawatts target given by the Buhari administration, needed to supply the country with adequate electricity by the end of 2019 is achievable, saying:“Sometimes when we sustain energy over 4,000 MW or 5,000MW, the feedback I get suggests to me that if we added a little more, we might as well be getting a little closer, but we must continue to work harder.�

He stated that as at May 29, 2015, the amount of power available on the grid was 2,690 MW.

By May 29, 2016, it had risen to 4,014 MW. And hit 5, 074 MW by May 29, 2007.

The minister attributed the drop in power supply levels to attacks on the pipelines. “We have had 16 consecutive attacks on the pipeline since we grew to 5,074 megawatts�, while maintaining that the 10,000 megawatts target given by the government would be realised by the end of 2019.

Renewable Energy The movement in the direction of alternative

power generation sources such as renewable energy is the outcome of insufficient gridconnected capacity to meet demand, inefficient transmission and distribution system and inadequate infrastructure to harness the nation’s abundant gas available for power generation, a recent 5-year demonstration project entitled: “De-Risking Renewable Energy NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action) for the Nigerian Power Sector� by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Ministry of Environment and Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, has revealed.

The study further showed that 50 per cent or more of electrical energy consumed in Nigeria is produced by off-grid power sources notably diesel and gasoline generators.

It said energy gaps that existed could be significantly reduced by renewable energy sources such as hydropower energy, bio mass, wind and solar.

The project has three key components: Design and development of a power sector renewable energy NAMA supported by De-risking renewable energy investment (DREI) analysis; developing policy and institutional framework for private investment in on-grid renewable power generation; and demonstration of 1st Commercial on-grid renewable energy project.

The project is expected to contribute to the country’s attainment of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) mitigation targets in the energy sector, with expected direct emission reductions of 205,700 tonnes of CO2e during the project’s lifetime and additional indirect emission reductions of between 6.79 and 9.72 million tCO2e.

The implementation of the study is expected to improve Nigeria’s power generation capacity and very significantly reduce the power generation challenges facing the nation.

The project is expected to assist the government in achieving a transformation in the electricity mix such that at least 20GW of Nigeria’s electricity is generated from solar PV (Solar Photovoltaic, a technology that converts sunlight (solar radiation) into direct current electricity by using semiconductors) by 2030.

Nuclear Power Plants In its quest to expand Nigeria’s power generation capabilities and options, Nigeria recently sought the assistance of Russian Federation to build power plants in Nigeria.

At a recent international security conference in Moscow, the Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan Ali (rtd), expressed Nigeria’s interest

in the construction of nuclear power plants. He said government was keen to leverage Russia’s widely acclaimed experience in nuclear power production dynamics. “Russia is the biggest market in Europe, while Nigeria the biggest market in Africa. The trade relations have been below expectation leaving gap for many unexploited potentials. “Nigeria would also be interested in Russia helping it build nuclear power plants, petroleum pipelines, railways and other infrastructural development investments in oil and gas. “Nigeria also seeks your assistance with critical infrastructural development,� he said.

The Arguments Beyond the position and desire of government, arguments have been put forward on the pros and cons of building a nuclear power plant in Nigeria. A clean energy resource, nuclear energy derives from the splitting of uranium atoms through a process called fission which generates heat to produce steam. It is then used by say, a turbine generator to generate electricity.

Since a nuclear power plant does not burn fuel, it does not produce greenhouse gas emissions.

The amount of electricity generated by a power plant at a particular time is dependent on the amount of time it operates at a specific capacity so if a reactor for instance, operates at 582 megawatts capacity for 24 hours, it will generate 13, 968 megawatt hours (MWh), a situation when applied to the Nigerian power generation mix would boost overall power generation.

Security Implications Experts have raised concerns over the security implications of building nuclear power plants in Nigeria with the ongoing war against insurgency and armed banditry in Northern Nigeria.

A case in point is the Nigeria Research Reactor 1 recently evacuated from Kaduna State. Though set up for research purposes, it contained similar materials (reactor/uranium) used in the manufacture of nuclear power plants considered very attractive to terrorists.

The NIRR originally set up in the 1990s with technical support from China was located at the Ahmadu Bello University. It is classified as a miniature neutron source reactor, designed for “scientific research, neutron activation analysis, education and training.�

The reactor, however, powers scientific experiments as against power grid in the case of nuclear power plants, as revealed by the report of evacuation by a team of nuclear experts from China, United Kingdom, Norway among others.

It said material from the reactor could be

used to prepare a dirty bomb. “The design, however, used highly enriched uranium, or HEU, a type of nuclear substance often referred to by the general public as weaponsgrade uranium. This kind of uranium forms the core of any nuclear weapons material, and the Nigerian material was more than 90 percent enriched, making it particularly attractive for anyone looking to use it. “Since NIRR-1 went online, however, improvements in technology meant that experiments involving highly enriched uranium could now be run with a lesser substance. Across the globe, the IAEA and its partners have worked to swap out weapons-grade material with low enriched uranium, or LEU, which is enriched at less than 20 per cent, and hence unusable for weapons.

In all, 33 countries have now become free of HEU, including 11 countries in Africa. “With just over one kilogramme of HEU, the Nigerian material, if stolen, would not be nearly enough to create a full nuclear warhead.

However, a terrorist group would be able to create a dirty bomb with the substance or add the material into a stockpile gathered elsewhere to get close to the amount needed for a large explosion,� a United States-based defence publication, Defense News, reported.

In a statement released by the IAEA, Yusuf Aminu Ahmed, Director of the Nigerian Centre for Energy Research and Training, was blunt about his concerns over keeping the weapons-grade material in his country. “We don’t want any material that is attractive to terrorists,� he said.

Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission The Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) is aware of the concerns raised and offered reassurances from some publications on its website.

A piece entitled “Nuclear Security for A New Comer Country-Nigeria’s Approach� written by Ofodile O.N. and Ageda E.C. said Nigeria had taken measures to ensure security of the project. “As in many countries of the world, homegrown violent extremism exists in Nigeria. “Its implication for the Nigerian nuclear power programme is in the area of insider threat that could arise from internal radicalised personnel or external radicalised persons in collusion with internal personnel seeking monetary gains or for ideological reasons�, the duo posited.

Providing further information they held that, “measures to minimise the threat include the acquisition and sustenance of a well-trained workforce through various training programmes as well as certification programmes such as the WINS nuclear security professional certifications, maintenance of a dynamic DBT that captures evolving threats, creation of nuclear security culture awareness and implementation of a robust Human Reliability Programme (HRP) and Behaviour Observation Programme (BOP) etc. “To this end, a pilot programme has been designed and is ongoing to produce a pilot HRP for the NIR-1 research reactor which will serve as a sample for the general national HRP with behaviour observation.�

The piece argued that “the proposed new nuclear facilities are to be located in areas where fortunately, none of the home-grown violent extremism has the potential to take place. “With the provision of the requisite security in line with a dynamic DBT and the regulator’s security requirements, it can be concluded that there is minimal threat of home-grown violent extremism to the present and future nuclear facilities or activities in Nigeria�.

The Nuclear Power Plant Deal Nigeria signed an agreement to build two nuclear power plants in a bid to end its power crisis in 2017. The deal, which is said to be worth $20 billion would see Russian State-owned company, Rosatom, build one in the South and the other in the North-central.

The deal was signed after a long period of negotiation after both countries signed their first intergovernmental nuclear cooperation agreement in 2009.

The plants would be initially operated by Rosatom before they are handed over to Nigeria.

24

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

Ëš

NIRSAL MFB: A Viable Option for SMEs? Since the majority of microfinance banks are failing in their responsibility to reduce the level of poverty through provision of needed financial help to support small businesses, the Central Bank of Nigeria has embarked on an alternative option for MSMEs to achieve its desired goal of economic prosperity, writes Bamidele Famoofo

Workers busy at a tailoring factory

R

ather than lend out money to medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), at affordable rates to grow their businesses and as a result help the economy to grow faster, microfinance banks in Nigeria have been found wanting, as they jettison their target audience, and in the case where they offer to finance the small businesses, it comes at very high costs.

Due to their gross negligence of responsibility, only about one million of the MSMEs operating in Nigeria, have ever accessed loan from the microfinance institution to fund their businesses. As a result of dearth of funds for the small business owners, over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 190million population lives in poverty.

Statistics from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), MSMEs account for 80 per cent of jobs in Africa’s most populous economy and contributes about 80 per cent to the GDP. Microfinance banks came into existence in Nigeria in 2005 after community banks that were in existence before them, failed to achieve the purpose they were created.

Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, CBN, Mrs. Olatokunbo Martins, explained that the purpose microfinance banks came to serve was to eradicate poverty through financial intermediation in the small business sector, but regretted they are largely failing to achieve that purpose.

Martins, who did an appraisal of the new national micro-finance policy framework at a recent training workshop organised by the CBN for Finance Correspondents & Business Editors in Gombe State, said the microfinance sector in Nigeria was not achieving the purpose of its creation due largely to failure by most of the players to

restrict themselves to their real target audience, with majority of them preferring to operate in urban centres, rather than the rural locations where their customers are concentrated. Though regulators of the microfinance banks identified poor saving culture in Nigeria as a major challenge funds are not readily available for lending to small businesses, Martins said the small banks, unlike their commercial counterparts lacked the drive to mobilise deposits from Nigerians, as statistics from the CBN showed that money outside the financial sector remained huge.

Another reason Nigeria’s Central Bank believes microfinance banks in Nigeria are not performing like their counterparts in India was because most operators in the sector lacked the orientation of microfinance banking because the sector was infiltrated by commercial banks, which failed to meet up with the recapitalisation conditions of 2011. “Banks which lost out during the 2011 banking consolidation started operating as microfinance banks, but they are still operating like mini-commercial banks�, Martins lamented.

Making a comparison between India and Nigeria, she said microfinance banking in the former was beginning to deliver the desired results, as India, which used to account for the poorest number of people in the world, has been able to reduce the menace of poverty to a noticeable degree. “India’s GDP is now very close to that of the United States just because the microfinance bank sector in the country is doing well. Reduction of poverty in India, arguably, could be attributed to the performance of microfinance banks in the country,� Martins argued.

But while the dismal performance of the sector in the country has been bemoaned by a sizeable number of people, the CBN believes all hope is not lost for the sector as the director of OFID, said, a handful of the players in the sector were meeting up to expectations in all areas expect

high lending cost, which could be as high as 35 per cent in the industry.

New Financing Option The CBN, in pursuant of its people-oriented policy, which was main focus of Governor Godwin Emefiele’s administration, mid-wifed a partnership between the Bankers Committee, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and Nigerian Postal Services, NIPOST, to create a formidable lending institution which will give existing microfinance banks a run for their money. NIRSAL Microfinance Bank as a result of the CBN’s intervention came into existence in February, 2019 with a target of empowering about 400,000 SMEs, within its first two years of operations.

NIRSAL Microfinance Bank promised to make available credit to small business owners, especially farmers, at 5 per cent interest rate. This will be made possible with the cheap fund made available by the Bankers Committee whose equity holding in the partnership stood at 50 percent. Another reason why small business owners would be able to access cheap fund from NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, according to Dr. Steve Ogidan, National Coordinating Consultant, NIRSAL MFB, was because the new national microfinance bank didn’t have to invest in building infrastructure as NIPOST, which owns 10 percent of the equity of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, has offered its vast properties across the country for the use of the bank. NIRSAL, on its part, owns 40 percent shareholding of the bank.

Ogidan, whose presentation at the CBN seminar in Gombe bordered on: “The NIRSAL Micro-Finance Bank and Real Sector Financing� explained that the goal was to expand opportunities and empower SMEs across Nigeria through structured microcredit to help them grow their businesses.

Unveiling the NIRSAL strategy, he noted that the

new microfinance bank would have a network of branches in all the 774 local government areas of the federation and the FCT. The objective, according to the agency, is to drive and deepen financial inclusion, provide easy access to credit and other financial services to SMEs, reduce unemployment rate in the rural areas, and reduce rural-urban migration.

Ogidan, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman, NIRSAL MFB, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, revealed that millions of small entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in the country would be effectively served by the bank. “The mission and strategy of NMFB are focused on making significant, sustainable and measurable impact on small businesses across Nigeria and by extension, on the lives of millions of Nigerians dependent on them in the overall interest of the economy,� he said. The initiative is to put money in the hands of Nigerian farmers at low interest rate of 5 per cent with a seven-year tenor and a two-year moratorium. NIRSAL has close to N60 billion funds in deposit money banks’ vault which farmers are not able to access. The microfinance initiative is to establish microfinance bank branches in all the 774 local governments in the country.

Bail-out Plan As the other microfinance banks continue to strive to remain in business with the deadline to increase their capital base remains a daunting task for most of them, Ogidan as well as Martins said all hope was not lost for those, who will not be able to raise the fresh capital stipulated by the Central Bank. The duo disclosed that operators that fail to meet the new capital base requirement would be offered the opportunity to become an agent bank to NIRSAL Microfinance Bank. It has been estimated that about 250 existing microfinance banks would go down with the recapitalisation agenda.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

25

Ëš

A view Dangote ReďŹ nery and Petrochemical under construction...

Dangote Refinery, a Game Changer In the next three months, production activities will commence in the multi billion-dollar Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical complex situated in the Ibeju-Lekki axis of Lagos State, with the train one of the fertiliser plant expected to come on stream. But even as that historical day approaches, the project is already adding value to the lives of Nigerians through skills acquisition, jobs and wealth creations. Bamidele Famoofo writes that the project on completion will change the dynamics of the nation’s economy

T

hough Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical project, where petroleum products, gas and fertilizers are planned to be produced at commercial quantities is still being developed, its impact on its immediate environment and by extension, the nation in general, gives hope for a better tomorrow for Nigerians.

For instance, no fewer than 120 companies, which operate in the country are on contract to provide goods and services worth 368 million Euros (about N148billion) to both the refinery and petrochemical projects for the period the various works going on simultaneously in the complex would be completed.

In terms of employment generation, about 37,500 people, mostly Nigerians, are engaged in the various construction works going on in the complex. They have temporary jobs through contractors for a period not less than four years when the projects within the complex will be completed to earn a living wage.

Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, said through its corporate social responsibility programmes, about 250 youths from the communities around the refinery have been trained as artisans and given direct employment to work and earn income to fend for their families. “These are youths who do not have the requisite education and skills that can qualify them for jobs in the refinery and the other segments of the business which we selected and trained to acquire relevant skills in partnerships with the Lagos State government and Siemens to reduce unemployment in the state and also to engage them productively to contribute to the growth of the Nigerian economy,� Edwin told a delegation from the Nigerian Union of Journalists and Nigerian Institute of Public Relations during their recent tour of the complex.

In addition, Edwin disclosed that 900 engineers would be trained in foreign educational institutions for employment in the complex. He explained that the overseas training has commenced in earnest with batches one and two having completed their training, with the third batch proceeding to India for a similar exercise. “Classroom training only lasts for one month while on the job training takes one year. They are to work in real time with experts in the industry everyday for that duration of 12 months.� he added.

Currently, the company is employing 3,580 Nigerian personnel on site, which excludes employment created by the various contractors and sub contractors at the construction site.

Apart from job creation and capacity development, host communities have more things to benefit from the CSR programmes of Dangote. Edwin disclosed that free medical services would be provided in collaboration with the local government while schools, hospitals or community health centres would be constructed too. Access to micro credit and merit scholarship are part of the things to be provided for the host community. Development of youth entrepreneurs through trainings is also one of the key focuses of the CSR programme of the company in its immediate operating environment.

The refinery complex which includes a refinery, petrochemical plant, a fertilizer plant and a subsea pipeline project, is the largest in the world. The refinery’s daily production capacity would be 150 per cent of the current total demand of petroleum products in Nigeria, with the excess exported to other countries.

With a 650,000 barrels per day capacity and 838 KTPA Polypropylene plant, the refinery segment of the business on completion will become the largest single-train petroleum refinery in the world while the 3million tonnes per annum capacity Urea fertilizer Plant will emerge world’s second largest. The gas project has the largest subsea pipeline infrastructure more than any country in the world as it boasts of 1,100km to handle

3.8 million SCF gas per day. World scales gas treatment stations are expected to emerge after the completion of the project.

The Dangote fertiliser project which is estimated to gulp $2billion is the largest granulated Urea fertiliser complex to emerge in the entire fertiliser industry history in the world, with its 3million tonnes per annum capacity. The fertiliser complex, which sited on 500 hectares of land has the capacity to expand as it is only occupying a small fraction of the allotted portion. Natural gas being the main raw material for the plant is being expected to arrive anytime in May 2019 for the fully completed train one plant to commence operation.

Saipem Italy is the engineering procurement, procurement and construction contractor for the project while Tata Consulting Engineers, India, is the project management consultants for the fertiliser project. Meanwhile, Chevron has the contract to supply natural gas for production activities in the plant.

The management of the complex is confident that the fertiliser business will deliver good profit to the company and its shareholders as it is projected that population growth and the need for food production will jack up the consumption of Urea fertiliser beginning from 2020 when production of the production would have commenced in earnest.

The current consumption of Urea estimated at a dismal 700,000 tonnes per annum by Nigerian farmers, said to be due to very poor hectare usage is believed to be the cause of poor product yield, which threatens food security in the country.

By 2020, Nigerian population is projected to increase to about 207million, which would lead to increased food production. Statistics revealed that that around five million tonnes of fertilisers are required per year in Nigeria in the next 5-7 years bifurcated into 3.5million tons of Urea and 1.5million tons of NPK while current production levels in Nigeria are at 1.6million tons by 2019.

Beyond fertiliser and oil, Dangote is setting up

large oxygen and acetylene plant in Nigeria to produce wielding gases since the current production capacity of this product is not sufficient to meet the demand in the wielding industry.

The Dangote group has also seized the opportunity presented by the refinery and petrochemical project to build expertise in construction works, growing a construction company that will be formidable enough to take on huge construction contracts in the country. “We have bought over 750 equipment to enhance the local capacity for site works since even Julius Berger,Dantata & Sawoe, Hi-Tech and the likes are unable to handle even small portions of our construction requirement of heavy earth moving equipment, bulldozers, excavators, bobcats, compactors and front end loaders,� Dangote hinted.

Additional capacities built for construction are in the mechanical construction and stone quarry segments. The company, according to information made available by its COO, has bought 300 cranes to build up equipment installation capacity as he said the current capacity in Nigeria is extremely poor. Dangote equally boasted to have built the world’s largest granite quarry to supply coarse aggregate, stone column material, stone base, stone dust and material for break water. The quarry has a capacity of 10million tonnes per annum production.

The refinery and petrochemical project is estimated to gulp $18billion with the refinery alone accounting for $12billion, which represents about 67 per cent of total cost. Additional benefits of the project is that the gas from the pipeline system could generate 12,000MW electricity for the nation while direct employment to be created by the project is estimated at 4,000 on completion, about 145,000 people will get indirect jobs.

Besides, foreign exchange savings for Nigeria is projected to be $7.5 billion while additional forex income for the country is put at $5.5 billion.

The targeted completion date for the refinery is October 2019.

26

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Demola Ojo Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

At the Majestic Palace Downtown Dubai Ă’rĂ¸ĂšĂ˜Ă¸n‚Ă&#x;rĂ¸Â¸Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă˜â€şns‰‚enĂşhønĂ&#x;Ă˜nÂťâ€šÂ¸Ă˜nĂ˜n‚e~Ĺ“erĂ˜enĂşes‚øn¸‚øâesâ€şĂœeâ€šĂĄĂ˜eâs‚øre‚sâ€şĂœe‚›º‚Ă&#x;heâ€šĂœĂ¸n¥‚ ¸eĂ›Ă˜ÂťhĂ&#x;s‚ he‚{øÛøúe‚Õ›ânĂ&#x;݉nâ€šĂ•Ă ĂšĂ¸Ă˜â€šhøs‚Ă&#x;›‚›ººer‰‚ârĂ˜Ă&#x;es‚Demola Ojo

I

n the midst of Dubai’s grandeur and glamour, The Palace Downtown Dubai excites further.

The Palace is located on a spectacular lake with amazing views of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. For this writer, dinner at Thiptara was a great introduction to life at The Palace.

Thiptara, acclaimed as one of the best Thai restaurants in Dubai, is an elegant and intimate space that serves traditional royal Thai cuisine with an emphasis on Bangkok-style seafood.

Situated in a standalone building on the Burj Lake, its tasty treats are not the only attraction. It is complemented by a visual feast that is therapeutic and jaw-dropping in equal parts.

Thiptara, which means magic at the water, has been described as a jewel adorning the shores of Burj Lake. The restaurant offers stunning night-time views of Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Fountain in a romantic setting. The Dubai Fountain is a choreographed light and music spectacle that never fails to captivate.

Fire shows, traditional Arabian dancers and Abras (traditional wooden boats) sailing gently in the brightly-lit foreground of the dancing fountain, all add the surreal atmosphere.

But Thiptara is just one of the many attractions of The Palace, which is beautifully proportioned with an enchanting Middle Eastern theme.

New City, Old Town The Palace is the highlight of Downtown Dubai’s Old Town, where visitors are transported to a luxurious and innovative interpretation of Arabian heritage.

The luxurious hotel managed by The Address Hotels + Resorts is directly connected with the Souk Al Bahar, a modern shopping destination with Arabesque architectural features. The souk is a rich and eclectic mix of boutique shops, cafes, dining and entertainment facilities.

The Palace is also in close proximity to The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination. The mall features the world’s largest walk-through aquarium, a fascinating gold souk and an Olympic size skating arena.

Rooms and Dining The Palace Downtown Dubai offers 242 guest rooms and suites. Boasting a private balcony, every room in the hotel features Burj Khalifa, Burj Lake or Old Town views and is exquisitely furnished.

As you can expect, all rooms are equipped with the latest technological amenities.

Apart from Thiptara, the Palace offers other renowned food and beverage options from across the globe.

Asador is an Argentine grill offering the traditional ‘Asador’ cuisine, whereby premium meat cuts are prepared on an open grill in the centre of the restaurant. This is accompanied by the largest collection of Argentinean beverages in the Middle-East.

True to its concept, large skewers are used to serve generous cuts of perfectly roasted meat at Asador. This, along with live traditional Argentine music, transports guests to the ambience of a typical Argentine farmhouse.

Ewaan offers buffet or a la carte option, serving a blend of Arabic and oriental cuisines, a large selection of mezzeh (finger foods) and chef’s specialties.

The setting is of vivid Arabia brought forth by its luxurious drapery and flamboyant accessories.

Ewaan Lounge is outdoors, with exclusive music and a diverse array of Shisha options, complimented by traditional Arabic tents laid out next to the pool, which all give a magical Arabian nights’ experience.

Fai is a welcoming, chic and vibrant cocktail lounge where Asian architecture and highly contemporary touches are combined. A stunning terrace offers unparalleled views of The Dubai Fountain and the immense, tapering tower of Burj Khalifa.

And you can partake in afternoon tea and treat your tastes buds to an exclusive colour coded selection of specialty teas at Al Bayt, which offers indulgence in a truly palatial Arabian atmosphere, with a choice from premium beverages, exclusive teas and coffees.

The Palace Downtown Dubai (right) with The Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa to the left

Business and Pleasure The Palace is well-equipped for business events with its stylish and modern meeting and conference facilities. The Royale Ballroom, the main conference room, can cater for large conferences of up to 300 persons and can also be partitioned into two, to allow for smaller events.

With a pre-function area and a separate entrance to the hotel, The Royale provides a great location for private events and is perfect for weddings.

The Regal Room and the Palatine Room, both with plenty natural light, accommodate up to 20 and 16 people respectively. They are the hotel’s board meeting rooms, both equipped with advanced audio-visual equipment and wireless internet.

For relaxation, The Palace features a spa, a retreat for guests to unwind in a distinctly tranquil space, where the soothing hands of well-trained therapists ease stress.

The spacious treatment suites offer total comfort to stimulate the senses, relax the body and restore balance to the spirit with authentic therapy methods in a unique Arabic dĂŠcor.

Inspired by traditional heritage, the spa features oriental bath houses with Hammam tables, monsoon showers, hydro spas, steam rooms, and a relaxation lounge.

The Palace Deluxe room with fountain view

The Palace Downtown Dubai Entrance Arc

The Palace -Thiptara Terrace

27

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

Nigerians to Bear the Brunt of Trump’s New Immigrant Crackdown Homeland Security says Nigeria visa overstay rates climbed to 15.18% in 2018 from 3.05% in 2014 Demola Ojo

N

igeria especially, and 12 other African countries, may suffer American visa denials as US President Donald Trump targets countries with a high percentage of visa overstays.

The White House recently shifted its focus from the surge of families crossing the US-Mexico border to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrive in the US legally and then illegally remain in the country after their visas expire.

Though President Trump has fixated on the rising numbers of Central American families claiming asylum at his country’s southern border, he also promised during his campaign that deporting those who overstay their legal visas would be a top priority for his administration.

Last month, Trump issued a presidential memo declaring that visa overstay rates are “unacceptably high,� calling it a “widespread problem.�

In an effort to slow the trend, Trump ordered Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and Acting Homeland Security Secretary, Kevin McAleenan, to implement a broad series of punishments for countries whose citizens overstay their tourist and business visas more than 10% of the time.

Trump gave the State Department four months to consult with Homeland Security officials and Attorney General William Barr to recommend sanctions, which he said could include suspending or limiting visas for those countries. These restrictions will also affect student visa holders, visa waiver program participants and others.

Nigeria’s overstay rate is 15.18%. Nineteen other countries have overstay rates higher than 10%, according to the Homeland Security report.

However, except for Nigeria and Syria, these countries accounted for fewer than 1,000 overstayers each.

Travellers with Nigerian passports may face new restrictions from entering the US

Of all the African countries, only Nigeria posted a significant number of visa overstayers while also having a percentage that fit into Trump’s target category.

In the case of Nigeria, which could face serious visa restrictions under the new White House memorandum, DHS overstay reports say the B1/ B2 visa overstay rate climbed from 3.05% in 2014 to 15.18% in 2018.

About 29, 723 Nigerians were among the 569,000 foreigners that overstayed their visas in the US. In a Fiscal Year 2018 Entry/Exit Overstay Report

by the US Homeland Security provided to the Chairman, US Senate Committee on Judiciary, out of the 195, 785 Nigerians that visited the U.S in 2018 for business or pleasure via air and sea port of entries, 29,004 refused to leave after their visit with an additional 719 Nigerians leaving after the expiration of their visas.

Analysts have questioned the criteria used by the Trump administration, as using the percentage of overstays as a measure disproportionately targets African nations while avoiding political conflicts with large, powerful countries, such as China and India.

For example, more than 34,000 Brazilians, 15,000 Chinese, 10,000 Indians and 10,000 French overstayed their visas in 2018.

Djibouti, a small nation on the Horn of Africa, has the highest visa overstay rate – but that translates into 180 of the 403 business and tourism travelers to the United States last year. Chad’s 30.8% overstay rate amounted to 165 people. Yemen, with the third-highest rate, had 518 overstayers.

Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, and other nations also have large numbers of overstays, but their rate is lower than 10% because many more travelers come from these countries.

The DHS report says Mexico had more than 43,000 overstays – a rate of 1.5% – and that Canada had 88,000 overstays, at a rate of less than 1%.

But like the list of 20 countries the DHS analyzed, the overstays reflect just travelers who arrived on airplanes or ships. Most Canadians and Mexicans who travel to the United States enter the country by land.

The DHS said data for those entries will be included in future reports.

Visa overstayers account for a rising share of the newly arrived undocumented population of the US – as high as two thirds of arrivals during the past decade – largely because illegal border crossings sank to historic lows.

It is unclear how long immigrants overstay their visas, but the Pew Research Center estimated that the typical undocumented immigrant in 2016 had lived in the United States for 15 years. Other visa overstayers eventually return home or apply for legal residency through asylum or other methods.

Below is a full list of countries whose citizens overstayed their US tourist and business visas more than 10% of the time in 2018: Afghanistan, Angola, Bhutan, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Georgia, Laos, Liberia, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Nigeria, Palau, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Virgin Appoints Bell New Commercial International Flights End at Old Abuja Manager for Nigeria Airport Terminal as BA Moves to New One Virgin Atlantic recently announced the appointment of Justin Bell as the airline’s Commercial Manager for Nigeria. Bell will be responsible for the airline’s daily commercial activity in the region and will commence duties in June.

Bell will be familiar to many in Nigeria, having been Virgin Atlantic’s Airport Manager in Lagos for the last six years.

He boasts an impressive resume in his 29 years at Virgin Atlantic, starting in reservations and working his way up through the organisation.

He has managed the airline’s biggest Clubhouse in Heathrow, regionally managed Virgin’s northern airports including Manchester and Glasgow, and then established superlative levels of operational performance in Lagos, consistently achieving over 90% on time performance and ensuring record levels of reliability, currently tracking at 500+ days without a cancellation.

The move sees Virgin Atlantic’s present Country Manager, Samuel Lindfield, return to the United Kingdom. Over the 2.5 years of Lindfield’s tenure, the airline’s commercial performance has grown from strength to strength.

From the midst of the currency crisis in 2017, Virgin Atlantic has emerged financially healthier than ever on the route, with record passenger numbers, and a commercial performance trajectory that sets the airline up for continued success.

Bell commented, “I’m delighted to be taking up this new role for Virgin Atlantic in a region that Virgin Atlantic has served across two decades. We have built an incredibly positive commercial and operational trajectory, which I will look to develop through my time in role. “I have lived in Nigeria for the last six years, and I see the immense potential each day. I look forward to working with our partners in Nigeria to harness that potential into a new reality.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) last week announced that it has stopped international operations from the old terminal of the Nnamid Azikwe Airport in Abuja, with British Airways ending the relocation from the old to the newly constructd and commissioned terminal.

Thirteen airlines including, ASKY, Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airways, RwandAir, Emirates, Air France, Air Peace, Lufthansa, African World Airlines and Air Cote’d’Ivoire have also all relocated.

FAAN said, �Management is pleased to announce the arrival of British Airways to the new Abuja International airport terminal today, Justin Bell

“I’m also delighted to continue working with ALML Nigeria - they have supported us since day one and continue to offer an amazing service for our customers as we work hard to achieve our ambition to become the most loved travel company, in Nigeria and across the world.�

Virgin Atlantic offers daily service between Lagos and London using a mix of Airbus A330-300 and A340-600 aircraft, and has served the route for almost eighteen years, an anniversary it will celebrate in July this year. All aircraft boast Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class, Premium and Economy Light, Classic and Delight offerings.

With complimentary food and drink onboard, over 300 hours of entertainment and wifi, the Lagos-London service offers a consistent long haul experience for those customers connecting from Lagos seamlessly via London Heathrow to destinations throughout North America across the Virgin Atlantic network including New York and Boston, the leading commercial and educational cities of the US East Coast.

April 30, 2019. “Management wishes to inform passengers, airport users and the general public, to note that, this historic movement marks the end of international flight operations at the old terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.�

With relocation completed, rehabilitation works may soon start at the old terminal to bring it to standard for domestic operations.

Managing Director of FAAN, Engineer Saleh Dunoma had said during the commissioning of the Port Harcourt International Airport Terminal last year that domestic operations will move there.

Frankfurt Airport Begins Terminal 3 Construction Frankfurt airport has begun above-ground construction of its forthcoming Terminal 3, the first phase of which is scheduled to open in 2021.

Pier G will add capacity for five million passengers when it opens, followed by the main terminal building and Pier H and J in 2023.

At that stage the airport’s capacity will have risen by 21 million passengers, and there is an option for a further Pier (K) to be added at a later date, adding capacity for a further four million customers.

A cornerstone was laid to commemorate the start of above-ground construction, complete with a time capsule “To remind future generations of this milestone�.

Commenting on the terminal’s design, architect

Christoph Mackler said: “What passengers want before and after flying is, more than anything else, rest and relaxation. This was an essential for designing Terminal 3, alongside maximizing the technical and functional flexibility of the building complex. “The light-flooded interior spaces feature high-quality materials in warm natural hues to evoke a pleasant ambiance that invites passengers to relax and stay a while. In this respect, the new terminal will be the first of a new generation worldwide.�

Frankfurt airport is the busiest by passenger traffic in Germany – serving just under 70 million travellers in 2018, and the fourth largest in Europe behind London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Amsterdam Schiphol.

28

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY MAY 5, 2019

29

MAY 5, 2019 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

with RenoOmokri THE ALTERNATIVE Buhar i and Ab ike D a b ir i as Po s t e r B oy s for A ll th a t is Wr o n g w i t h N i g e ri a

F

For Nigeria to grow into a nation that fulfills its destiny as the Giant of Africa and a beacon of hope for the Black world, it is not corruption we have to kill. Corruption is a symptom. It is not our disease.

The disease plaguing this nation called Nigeria is that we are a forced union. Over the years, it was expected that we would become a real nation, but the actions of many of our rulers (we have had few, if any leaders) have served to exacerbate the artificiality of our union, with the present Buhari administration being the biggest culprit I have seen in my lifetime.

This administration started out heralding its tribalistic nature from the get go. Fresh from his first term inauguration, President Muhammadu Buhari signalled the fact that he would create first and second class citizens by saying in Washington that “The constituents, for example, gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.”

I have not added or subtracted to his words. Those were the President’s exact words. And he has introduced policies and surrounded himself with people whose words and actions give effect to that statement. One of these persons is Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Mr. Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

Miss Dabiri-Erewa has not hidden her disdain for people of a certain part of Nigeria. This much was evident after the Dubai robbery incident at the Al Ansari Exchange on March 20, 2019 Miss Dabiri-Erewa was one of the first government spokespersons to react to the incident.

This is exactly what Abike said precisely 2 months ago, while reacting to the Dubai robbery “We need to tell our brothers behaving badly to behave. Let’s get the names of those involved to NAME and SHAME them.”

The threat was obviously carried out and we soon knew the identities of those involved. They were of the Igbo ethnic nationality from the Southeast.

They came from the heartland of “the constituents, for example, gave me 97%”. But when multiple Nigerians were either executed or arrested for drug related offences in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and another set for Internet and credit card/ mortgage fraud in the United States, Miss Dabiri-Erewa did not feel the outrage she felt over the Dubai incident.

There was no burning desire to “name and shame” those involved. And when Saudi Arabia and the US (not Nigeria) eventually released the names of those involved, I could understand Abike’s dilemma. The names were too close for comfort. Too close indeed. They were not 5 percenters. They were 97 percenters.

The words and actions of Mr. Buhari and his appointees, like Miss Dabiri-Erewa, make clear that in their world view for Nigeria, people of Igbo descent are second class citizens not

Buhari and Abike Dabiri worthy of the full love, protection and projection of the state.

A while back, I said those marginalising the Igbo race in Nigeria are simply, but unknowingly to them, carrying out God’s plan of creating an atmosphere that forces the Igbo to leave Nigeria and fulfil their destiny of dominating the world.

This week, I am further vindicated as I celebrate Kaycee Madu, an Igbo who was first elected an MP in Canada and has now been appointed a minister of Municipal Affairs. All over the world, there are many Igbos like Mr. Madu.

I thought Abike Dabiri would celebrate this feat. She did not.

My question is this: How does it make sense to highlight the Dubai robbery and downplay this amazing feat?

President Muhammadu Buhari very often likes to say that ‘if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.’ He is wrong. Nigeria is more corrupt today than in 2015 because ‘ if we do not kill tribalism, it will lead to corruption, which will kill Nigeria’.

Nigerians are not corrupt because we are genetically given to corruption. No. The corruption in Nigeria stems from injustice.

When you use the instruments of government to favour your tribe and religion, you are watering and fertilising corruption.

Neither President Buhari, nor his Senior Special Assistant Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, have acknowledged Mr. Madu. This is a government that would acknowledge their favoured tribesmen if they win even a zobo drinking competition.

Last August, Five girls from Regina Pacies Secondary School, in the Southeastern state of Anambra, won the 2018 Technovation Challenge on 9 August 2018. It is the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering abs Mathematics) Olympics. Neither President

Buhari nor Abike Dabiri-Erewa seem to be aware of their feat. If they had been robbers. We would not have heard the last from the duo. It is these obvious and latent tribalism that is eating at the fabric of our nationhood and preventing us from fulfilling our destiny as a nation. That is why Nigerians do so badly in Nigeria, but when they go abroad, they perform so well, to the extent that even books, like Amy Chua’s Battle Hill of the Tiger Mother, are written about how to train up your child in the West, like a Nigerian parent.

Until we stop electing leaders who think tribe and religion, first, second and last, we will continue to chase our tails and think foolishly that we are chasing corruption.

That is why President Buhari believes that General Sani Abacha, a man convicted by multiple courts of law in Europe for grand theft, ‘did not steal’, yet believed that all his other professors, who have never been convicted, are thieves.

That is why Abike Dabiri-Erewa will celebrate Nigerians from one part and denigrate citizens from another part.

Hopefully, when Nigeria needs Mr. Madu’s help to secure aid and investment from Canada in future, the government will belated acknowledge his feat. Until then, I will not hold my breath.

Reno’s Darts

In Nigeria today, you can condemn anyone to death by doing any of the following: * Make them travel Abuja-Kaduna road * Employ them as Kogi civil servants * Give them farms in Benue * Relocate them to Zamfara * Transfer them to Southern Kaduna * Make them a trader in Katsina * Deploy a soldier to Borno * Convert to Shia and become a Shiite * Voting your conscience as an Igbo in Isolo, Lagos * Visiting Kajuru Castle for your holiday Under Buhari, life in Nigeria is almost a death sentence #RenosDarts

Reno’s Nuggets

Never confuse a man who has been humbled by life for a man who lives a humble life. One is by force, the other is by choice.

Many poor men look humble. But in fact, they‘re not humble.

They have been humbled. Let money come and they become prideful. God loves some people too much to give them wealth in their present condition. They can be close to God in their poverty, but as they become successful, the gulf between them and their God increases as their success increases and they may end up in hell #FreeLeahSharibu #RenosNuggets

TRIBUTE

Man In The Arena: Senator Ovie Omo-Agege

Afolabi Adepitan

T

hat Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the Urhobo first term senator who spearheaded the opposition to the Bill re-ordering the sequence of elections that was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari is running for Deputy Senate President is no longer news. What many do not know is that this suave legal practitioner has many caps to his name.

One of the most recognizable names in Nigerian politics, Omo-Agege is a darling of core supporters of the President for his principled stand against Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki’s efforts to use the senate as a platform to discredit the Executive branch of government with the sole aim of stopping the President’s reelection. And for this he suffered persecution which culminated in his unlawful suspension for 90 legislative days. The courts later nullified the suspension 26 days after it was imposed for being unconstitutional and in violation of Senate rule order. But that was not the end of the battle. Some members, who felt he stopped them from baying for the blood of the President and the ruling All Progressives Congress, still have their daggers drawn, waiting for the moment to strike. The import of this, Omo-Agege

said, is not lost on him.

Throughout the course of his first term, Omo-Agege demonstrated the ability and willingness to give selfless service to the APC Senate Caucus. His record of leadership in the Caucus has, no doubt, prepared him well for the office of the Deputy Senate President. He is broadly respected in the Senate and beyond for his huge intellectual and political savvy, uncompromising sense of justice, uncommon courage and steely grit in defence of rule of law and justice.

As one who suffered persecution in the senate because of his principled stand against the leadership of some persons, Omo-Agege believes that all senators are equal and that the 9th senate will usher in a new era “where the common good of Nigerians, true friendship and mutual respect” for each other’s opinions and respect for the truth would be the guiding compass of the business of the next senate.

Announcing his bid for the coveted position in a letter to senators-elect, Omo-Agege said “If elected Deputy Senate President of the 9th Senate, I will work with courage to change how this Senate operates.” He explained that he joined the race “on the clear understanding that the position has been zoned to the South-South geo-political zone by the All Progressives Congress, APC”.

Since 1999, the South-South geoplotical

zone has not produced the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President or the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and for a party that wants to make great inroads into the zone that lays the golden eggs that sustains the Nigeria economy, zoning the DSP position to the zone would be a welcome development. And Omo-Agege would be a perfect fit.

In all fairness, Omo-Agege deserves to be Deputy Senate President for his principled stand against impunity in the 8th Senate.

His high-profile personality and track record of standing up for what he believes in and demonstrated loyalty to the party fits well with APC that wants to enforce party discipline.

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege’s vision, steadfastness along with an uncompromising commitment to the ruling All Progressives Congress’ populist ideals are at the core of his ambition to become Deputy Senate President in the Senate of the 9th National Assembly.

“Our victory in February was a powerful message from the Nigerian people that the legislative arm of government should work harmoniously with the executive in a unified government. Our mandate therefore is to co-operate with President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill the promises we made to the Nigerian people, to stand for rule of law

and the constitution, to tackle insecurity, fight corruption and grow the economy,” he said, adding that “The Senate will serve the people better when we work faithfully as co-equals in the discharge of our constitutional duties of oversight without antagonizing the executive while maintaining our independence.”

Against all odds, he made history to become the first senator from Delta Central to win re-election. One reason Omo-Agege was able to vanquished the vast conspiracy against him is skilled retail politicking and his suaveness at tailoring national position to the local politics. For OmoAgege who believes all politics is local, he never abandoned his responsibilities to his constituency. Not only has he executed all his constituency projects which he was able to account for during the campaign, he also attracted federal government funded projects to his constituency. The multibillion naira dualization of Sapele -Ewu Road, Section 1&2 in Delta and Edo states is one of such projects.

It takes many things to make a good leader – experience, academic qualification, focus, foresight, intelligence, true grit and many more – and these, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, a lawyer of some thirty-three years’ standing, has in his belt. “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the leader· adjusts the sails,”

30

˜ ˞ MAY 5, 2019

MARKET NEWS

Nigerian Breweries Posts N91bn Revenue, N8bn Profit in Q1 Goddy Egene Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced a revenue of N91.388 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, up from N88.446 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. According to the unaudited and provisional results filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the company

expended N8.11 billion on excise duty, a jump from N5.479 billion in 2018, while cost of sale rose from N44.948 billion to N48.223 billion in 2019.

The brewing firm reduced administrative expenses from N5.231 billion to N4.599 billion. Net finance cost rose from N2.414 billion to N2.599 billion. Profit before tax fell from N15.249 billion to N11.457

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

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

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

billion, while profit after tax (PAT) fell from N10.2 billion to N8.025 billion in 2019.

In the statement, the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, said that the increase in net revenue was offset by higher excise. “Cost of sales increased by 7.3 per cent primarily driven by raw materials and consumables

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 02May-2019, unless otherwise stated.

while marketing and distribution expenses increased 7.9 per cent over the same period in 2018.

Administrative expenses reduced by 12 per cent, partially driven by the right sizing exercise undertaken by the company in third quarter (Q3), 2018. The impact of inflation and currency devaluation was minimized by the continued focus on cost efficiencies

delivered through Cost Leadership initiatives,� he said.

According to Agbebaku, the 2019 operating environment so far, has shown similarities with the difficult environment witnessed in 2018, adding that “notwithstanding, the board remains confident that it has a clear strategy to deliver good return on investment.�

The company recently applied

to raise up to N15 billion in the first and second series of its N100 billion commercial paper to support its short term funding. The series 1 which is for 90 days has an effect yield of 11.59 per cent and will mature on July 22, 2019. On the other hand, the Series 2, which is for 182 days has an effective yield of 14.43 per cent. It will mature on October 22, 2019.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.11% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.29 2.31 2.93% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 16.11 16.60 -2.90% ARM Discovery Fund 352.51 363.14 -1.16% ARM Ethical Fund 29.04 29.91 2.83% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.14% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.94% Paramount Equity Fund 12.04 12.13 1.90% Women's Investment Fund 105.84 106.38 2.15% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 N/A N/A N/A Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 N/A N/A N/A CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.94% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.84 0.85 Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.18 1.18 5.38% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,175.69 1,176.51 5.39% FBN Heritage Fund 143.81 144.80 0.28% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.26% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 118.99 119.40 4.48% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 118.88 119.29 4.64% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 143.87 145.93 -4.09% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.28% Legacy Debt Fund 3.38 3.38 4.06% Legacy Equity Fund 1.16 1.18 -5.27% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.05 1.05 1.57% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.42% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 108.93 109.40 1.32% INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.98% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.19 0.83% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.06% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 129.51 129.86 3.73%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD ďŹ ncon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.16 1.18 1.59% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,090.44 1,090.44 4.50% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.27 1.29 3.63% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.34 11.40 2.00% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 13.13% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 121.48 121.97 0.59% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.01 1.01 4.63% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,359.18 2,372.01 1.93% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 199.09 199.09 4.71% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.93 0.94 -1.58% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 252.85 252.88 2.30% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 159.77 161.50 -2.08% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.74% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,216.90 8,310.08 -3.24% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.11 1.11 -0.11% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.18 1.19 -1.03% United Capital Bond Fund 1.68 1.68 5.10% United Capital Equity Fund 0.69 0.71 -2.38% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.17% United Capital Eurobond Fund 110.19 110.19 2.73% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.12 1.13 2.83% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.67 10.83 1.53% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.13 12.27 1.75% Zenith Income Fund 21.67 21.67 12.40% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.60%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 120.17 52.31

-44.85% 2.07% 1.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

9.88 104.59 84.51

9.98 106.80 86.05

-6.34% -10.84% -4.70%

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

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.78 6.69 13.73 10.74 153.61

3.82 6.77 13.83 10.94 155.61

-5.54% -12.17% -8.14% -13.02% 6.97%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

106.90

17.40%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

05.05.2019

FABIAN ADEOYE LOJEDE Pushing the Pan-African Narrative ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

32

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˞ ͳ, Ͱ͎ͯ͡

COVER

The knowledge contained in what you call western education is a combination of the intellectual contribution of many races and civilizations. We had the written form of Nsibidi in Nigeria, Algebra from the Arabs. I know some people will say so what did it do for us and I think this question normally comes with the expectation that if it doesn’t make us like the west it has done nothing for us,â€? the ďŹ lmmaker explained Lojede

The Man Who Thinks Western Education Is a Fallacy

Methodical in mission, strategic in style and successes, Fabian Adeoye Lojede exudes confidence and smacks of camaraderie. Suave, sensational, Lojede is most famous for his iconic role in the Pan-African TV series ‘Jacob’s Cross’ which ran from 2007 to 2012. Now living in South Africa, the filmmaker, director, actor, model and PanAfricanist has embarked on a Pan-African initiative. Following an encounter with Lojede, Vanessa Obioha writes about his belief, vision and purpose in life

A

s far as actor and filmmaker Fabian Adeoye Lojede is concerned, Africans still have a lot of issues to iron out. Foremost is the belief that foreign ideologies are a form of higher civilization. This form of supremacy, Lojede argues not only betrays our ignorance but also override our rational and humanistic thoughts such that we shun our true heritage. “It calls for re-education of the African history,� Lojede said.

He added: “Africans have issues

with Africans that practise African traditional faiths, but have no problem with Chinese or Indians that are neither Christian nor Muslim.

Some will marvel at the Great Wall of China and have never heard of the Great wall of Benin, which is longer than that of China. They will say white men brought science and mathematics but fail to see that Ifa is a set of binary numbers of ones and zeros or that there were no Arabs or white men in Egypt when most of the pyramids were being built as far South as Zimbabwe.

He does not believe “white men�

gave Africans any form of enlightenment and neither does he believe “in the fallacy� called Western education, arguing there is no such thing. “The knowledge contained in what you call western education is a combination of the intellectual contribution of many races and civilizations. We had the written form of Nsibidi in Nigeria, Algebra from the Arabs. I know some people will say so what did it do for us and I think this question normally comes with the expectation that if it doesn’t make us like the west it has done nothing for us,� the filmmaker explained.

“Well, we are the only ones that have kept our colonizers, religion, language as a form of academic instruction and inherited geopolitical boundaries and yet the others that have redefined themselves in their own image and history like China, Iran, Indian, Indonesia, Singapore etc. are far more developed than us.�

Lojede’s strong views on PanAfricanism didn’t emerge yesterday. In fact, it was what kept him away from the big screen until he got the right script.

At age 12, Lojede was fully aware of his creative skills. Yet as a young

57

MAY 5, 2019 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

COVER His Cross, Camaraderie and Conviction student in the United Kingdom (UK) who would later relocate to Nigeria to complete his secondary and tertiary institution, he chose however to study Psychology.

He was drawn to the subject by his father’s collection of Rosicrucian Digest magazines. His plan was to get a PhD. in Clinical Psychology and become a shrink just in case he did not make it as a creative.

While at the University of Ibadan as an undergraduate, he sampled his acting skills for his friends.

Upon graduation, he joined a global advertising agency Rosabel Leo Burnett in 1998 as a copy-writer and freelance voice-over artist.

His eloquent radio-friendly voice landed him roles in radio dramas and commercials such that by 2003, he has relocated to South Africa and set up a production company, 1Take Media in partnership with Mickey Madoda Dube.

More often than not, Lojede found himself turning down jobs.

“I’d always wanted to move to the big screen, the opportunities that came just didn’t seem right, so I did mostly TV commercials and concentrated on my copywriting, voice-over work and producing.”

However, he finally found what he was looking for when he landed a role in Pan-African TV series Jacob’s Cross in 2007. He played the unforgettable lead character Bola Abayomi throughout the series six-year run, which earned him fans beyond Africa since the show had a successful run on Canal Plus in France and Africa Channel in the United States of America and UK. The drama series was such a turning point for Lojede, placing him as an African idol. Twice, he was invited as a celebrity guest to the bi– annual Black Theatre Festival. More so, he landed other roles in movies such as Kunle Afolayan’s ‘October 1’.

He would later add a film producer and director feather to his hat when he co-produced and starred in ‘Man on Ground’, another blockbuster that earned him accolades.

His latest flick is ‘Comatose’ which premiered this year at PanAfrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO).

The dramatic afro-futurism film which explores an African perspective on the euthanasia debate stars Lojede, Bimbo Akintola, and Mary Thwala

among others.

The film which he co-produced and directed is part of his ongoing Pan-African initiative which will see Africans collaborating on different film projects.

Already, he has secured the blessing of the family of the revered Pan-African leader Thomas Jankara to develop a feature on the leader.

“I visited his family house and his village and it was an amazing and humbling experience,” Lojede said.

“It left me with hope that if we could produce one of him, we can produce more.”Currently, he is shooting a new international TV series in Cape Town, and has in development, a Pan-African music drama series called Eko Vibes.

There is also a documentary ‘Omo Egun’, “which is about tracing my family’s masquerade history and lineage in Abeokuta,” in the pipeline.

“I’m also in post-production for my short film titled ‘Eje’ and I have a few productions coming out such as ‘Heavens Hell’ which opens May 10 in Nigeria,” he added.

Other projects include ‘Ghost and the House of Truth’, a film directed by Akin Omotoso, produced by Ego Boyo, and starring Kate Henshaw which will be released later this year; and the series he did with Yomi Black ‘Jelli and Clitoris’.

Through this initiative, Lojede is lending his voice to the Pan-African movement.

“You cannot really love Fela and not be a Pan-Africanist, unless you are one of those people that just hear his music without listening. You can’t help but be Pan-African when you realize that as Africans we are still being pulled by political, cultural, economic, and religious strings of our former colonizers. There are people in Nigeria that are helping to push that Pan- African narrative already. You have Kunle Afolayan, Tunde Kelani; musicians like Olamide, Phyno, whose lyrical choice of delivery is more local than most, even if you don’t agree with their messaging.

“We have curators and cultural conservationist like Theo Lawson and Femi Odugbemi helping to keep the African documentary voices alive and grooming the next set of filmmakers right here on our soil. I think there is an unorganized movement here and in the Diaspora reminiscent of the more organised negritude movement in the 1930s,” he concluded.

Well, we are the only ones that have kept our colonizers, religion, language as a form of academic instruction and inherited geopolitical boundaries and yet the others that have redefined themselves in their own image and history like China, Iran, Indian, Indonesia, Singapore etc. are far more developed than us.

Lojede

58

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍłËœ 2019

GLITZ FOCUS

Today, he has not only discovered his career path, but he is equally making waves and his clients are in big leagues. He has styled celebrities including Wizid, Davido and Mr. Eazi, Stormzy, Martin Garriex, Rejjie Snow.

He recently also worked with Ibrahim Kamara on the New cover of ID Magazine featuring Solange Knowles. His commercial Clients included Selfridges, Mr. Porter, Harrods, Cerrutti, Orange Culture, and Turnball & Assaer on Saville Row. He has shot for international titles like the Sunday Times in London, The Telegraph weekend style magazine, ID, Nataal and Cactus, in Milan Ola-Ebiti

OLA-EBITI

My Journey from Fashion Magazine to Styling Celebrities Stylish, sensational, skillful, soulful and surreal with his glistening, luxuriant facial hair, and the glint in his youthful eyes, he has been there, done that. In his few young years, he has filled his dossier with mouth-watering and extraordinary clients. Ola-Ebiti’s physique signposts an image of a supermodel and as a young man, he has dared to dream. The outcome is not far-fetched: exceeding successes. He is a celebrity men’s stylist based in London. He has styled Wizkid, Davido and also worked with Ibrahim Kamara on the new cover of ID Magazine featuring Solange Knowles. Funke Olaode writes about the exhilarating moments of triumphs of the Lagos-born first class graduate of Fashion Communication and his love for everything fashion, beauty and uniqueness

T

he passion and vision of the career path he wanted to toe was well-pronounced as a child but no one paid much attention to it as they saw his obsession flipping through celebrity magazines particularly Vanity Fair and Sun Vogue as a fleeting fad and every time his daddy travelled, he asked him to return home with fashion magazines,

even ones on the airplanes.

Suave, sensational, skillful, soulful and surreal with his glistening, luxuriant facial hair, and the glint in his youthful eyes, he has been there, done that. In his few young years, he has filled his dossier with mouthwatering and extraordinary clients. OlaEbiti has dared to dream. The outcome is not far-fetched: mesmerizing successes.

To his immediate family members, it was a pastime that would come and fade away but for the young Ola-Ebiti, his

career trajectory has been laid out thanks to his early self-discovery.

Today, he has not only discovered his career path, but he is equally making waves and his clients are in big leagues.

He has styled celebrities including Wizid, Davido and Mr. Eazi, Stormzy, Martin Garriex, Rejjie Snow. He recently also worked with Ibrahim Kamara on the New cover of ID Magazine featuring Solange Knowles. His commercial Clients included Selfridges, Mr. Porter,

Harrods, Cerrutti, Orange Culture, and Turnball & Assaer on Saville Row. He has shot for international titles like the Sunday Times in London, The Telegraph weekend style magazine, ID, Nataal and Cactus, in Milan. Intelligent, brilliant and paying attention to details, it did not take so long for the Nigerian stylist to land his dream job. Ola-Ebiti is well-grounded academically. He began his early education at Greenwood School Ikoyi and later proceeded to

59

MAY 5, 2019 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

GLITZ FOCUS

My Story on Styling Beyoncé’s Sisters, Other Celebrities Dowen College in Lekki. He did his A’ Level in Economics and Business in the United Kingdom before heading to Northumbria University, London where he graduated with a first class in Fashion Communication.

Ola-Ebiti has passion. He is a young man on a mission. He knows what he wants.

Explaining why, he said: “As a child, I used to consume a lot of fashion contents, by the time I went to the United Kingdom for further studies it was the rise of fashion on the internet as well.

I would print out a lot of articles from fashion publications and read them in between my books, making me quite obsessed. At that time though, I was studying Economics and Business, doing fairly well in it but my passion wasn’t there.

“In school here in Nigeria as well, I did the same accounting and business really well also but without passion. It was just something that I did because I was expected to and then after a while, I realized I wanted to do fashion and so I got the courage, spoke to my mom about it and she was very supportive. I guess she spoke to my dad about it.”

And what was his father’s reaction?

“He wasn’t particularly against it but I think he was just shocked because he never knew that side of me at all and I was really good at my courses. So it wasn’t like I failed and wasn’t doing really well. He thought you know, ‘he’s doing okay’ and it just came out of the blues for him. My father didn’t really understand the whole idea of fashion and its lucrativeness. He wasn’t against it but he was wary though quite supportive.

“I remember when we went for interviews with universities to attend fashion courses, he was like ‘I still don’t understand this fashion thing but let’s go ahead and do it anyway’. So, my mom was more supportive. It eventually worked out in the end because when I got to Northumbria University, the United Kingdom, I did really well. I had a first class and my father was really happy. He even flew in 15 family members to the UK for my graduation,” he recounted.

With his rooted feet firmly on his career path, Ola-Ebiti is set to conquer the world. Humble and unassuming, he decided to learn under the tutelage of the establishment. He did an internship with FAB Magazine in the UK and later

switched to other bigger magazines such Mary Claire for about two months; with this first internship, reference was made to other magazines and he went to The Times Newspaper, in London.

“I was working at the fashion desk and again, doing a lot of writing. Then, I used to support the fashion editor with her shoots and from there, they took me to The Guardian where I also worked at the fashion desk. It was a really small team as well; I would do the fashion and still write copies for the website while allowing me to do Twitter sometime “From there, I got a seven-month placement at a design fashion magazine called Wallpaper and that was really when styling took the full stage because asides styling, I was working under the men’s wear fashion editor, Jason Huce. It was like a really good fashion magazine.

It’s a very European fashion design magazine and he also loves tailoring.

From there, I learnt how a suit should sit on a person and how your body should move in clothes, just how to make an image really good,” he recalled.

Speaking further, the talented stylist said: “After that, I just freelanced and assisted for a long time. I assisted another resident stylist called Jack Bruckett; he now works at British Vogue. I assisted another stylist; she did women’s wears more but she used to style David Beckham, her name was Karby Kastrine.

From assisting all of them, there were opportunities and from then, I started styling on my own.

Having acquired much-needed experience, he set out to become his own boss in styling.

“After what I would call a learning process for eight years, I finally got that confidence to work by myself. Also in the UK, they have a lot of e-commerce – where you can buy clothes online and from there, I used to work with a lot of Selfridges in the UK because I used to style a lot of their looks for online shopping; that was also very good for me because Selfridges have the biggest brands in the world, so that really taught me to merchandise clothes to brands.

“It gave me sort of a taste level which was really important. So after that, I started reaching out to my contacts and friends.

From there, I would get opportunities to work with some people may be as a photographer in a relationship with a musician. So, that was how it started. For someone like Wizkid, I was working for a magazine called ‘Something About’ and I knew the editor really well. That was at the time Afrobeats were becoming very popular in the UK and they were looking for someone who wasn’t really mainstream but was very interesting to use on their cover and Wizkid had just signed with his label in the UK, Sony Music.”

Talking about his experience co-styling Solange Knowles, Beyoncé’s sister, Ola-Ebiti said: “We styled that shoot under the head stylist Ibrahim Kamara and it was recently for the cover of Ideal magazine. It was back in September because she had just released her new album.

“So we went to Texas for a few days, met her, prepared all the looks together started from the cover idea and she was happy with it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Beyoncé but Solange was there and she was really lovely. She remembered everyone’s name and even sent Ibrahim an e-mail to say ‘thank you’ that she really liked what we did.”

So how does it feel to be clothing or working with the stars? “I used to be very nervous about it but now, I think the more you do it, the more it is just like another day. And I don’t think about them as celebrities. I just take them as persons

As a child, I used to consume a lot of fashion contents, by the time I went to the United Kingdom for further studies it was the rise of fashion on the internet as well.

I would print out a lot of articles from fashion publications and read them in between my books, making me quite obsessed. At that time though, I was studying Economics and Business, doing fairly well in it but my passion wasn’t there. that we are working with; today, it happens that they’re big musicians or something like that,” the youngster simply said.

For someone who has styled the rich and the famous, Ola-Ebiti’s view about style is different. To him, style is something that you either have or you don’t. Style is innate and it comes from the way an individual sees the world, colours, and everything other things.

What is his own style?

“My style is comfortable but tailored. I don’t really wear a lot of jeans except when I am on set. I like to wear button-up shirts and tailored trousers made by Nigerian tailors.

My style is also formal. My creative works also reflect on my Yoruba heritage; my mum is the source of information on that for me,” he said.

Then how would he rate Nigerian fashion designers compared to their foreign counterparts?

“Nigerian stylists are doing really well considering that there are a lot of struggles here for creatives in Nigeria more than in the UK. There are funds, free fashion schools in the UK but in Nigeria, we don’t have those; even if you want to shoot in Nigeria, there is the stress of being harassed on the streets. So I feel if you are taking all of that and are still able to contend with people in the international fashion market, then I really think we are doing a good job.

“For instance, Kenneth Eze was just nominated for the MFMH prize in Paris, which is like the biggest young designer prize in the world at the moment and he is a Nigerian. He makes his clothes in Nigeria using aso-oke but he is still perceived to be as good as the other designers in Paris and New York. One thing about Nigerian people is that we would always make things happen regardless. We are doing pretty good work,” Ola-Ebiti explained.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

60

AROUND THE WORLD

Japan’s Emperor Akihito Abdicates Throne for Nahurito

A

day after his father became the first monarch to abdicate the imperial throne of Japan in more than two centuries, the new emperor, Naruhito, last week received the sacred imperial regalia that represents his rightful succession to the world’s oldest monarchy.

In an eye-blinkingly brief ceremony at the Imperial Palace, Naruhito, 59, officially succeeded Akihito, 85, an enormously popular monarch who brought the royal family much closer to the people as he emphasized a message of peace in a country haunted by the legacy of war.

Emperor Akihito abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne three decades after he succeeded his father, the wartime emperor Hirohito. While the role of emperor has been chiefly ceremonial since the end of World War II, the departing monarch acted as the nation’s chief consoler during times of disaster, such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and sought to make amends throughout Asia for Japan’s wartime atrocities.

Conservatives balked at Akihito’s embrace of atonement, but his son is likely to continue to stress pacifism and war remembrance, as well as his father’s efforts to humanize the monarchy. “In acceding to the throne, I swear that I will reflect deeply on the course followed by His Majesty the emperor emeritus and bear in mind the path trodden by past emperors, and will devote myself to self-improvement,� Naruhito said in his first remarks as emperor after the enthronement ceremony on Wednesday.

He added that he would work in ser-

Emperor Akihito (left) has abdicated his throne

vice “of the unity of the people of Japan, while always turning my thoughts to the people and standing with them.�

Naruhito is taking the throne at a time when Japan faces numerous challenges, including a low birthrate and a declining, aging population. The country is making efforts to open itself to foreign workers, change the country’s brutal, entrenched work culture and reduce gender inequality.

Under the country’s postwar Constitution, the emperor — once regarded as a demigod — has no political power to address any of these issues directly, but he can set a tone.

Analysts have been scrutinizing Naruhito’s previous public statements for hints of what his reign might look like.

Educated at Oxford University, Naruhito, along with his wife, Masako, a former diplomat with a degree from Harvard, represents a cosmopolitan outlook in an often insular Japan.

In his limited public statements, Naruhito has indicated he believes the monarchy should adjust to modernity.

travels across Japan. Akihito and Empress Michiko were a consoling presence particularly after disasters.

They visited the Kobe region after the 1995 earthquake that killed close to 6,500 people, kneeling before survivors in a break with tradition.

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed almost 16,000 people in northern Japan and caused a nuclear disaster, the emperor gave an unprecedented nationally televised address, asking people to act with compassion “to overcome these difficult times.� “Since ascending the throne 30 years ago, I have performed my duties as Naruhito takes throne the emperor with a deep sense of trust “I believe that just as new winds blow in and respect for the people, and I consider myself most fortunate to have in every age, the role of the imperial been able to do so,� Akihito said on family changes in each age as well,� he said at a news conference on his birthday Tuesday in a short address inside a state in 2017, shortly after Akihito indicated he room at the palace, in central Tokyo.

As the successor to Hirohito, Akihito wished to retire. also took on the mantle of atoning for “I would like to learn various things Japan’s wartime sins. He traveled widely from the past and firmly carry forward throughout Asia to countries that had traditions that have been passed down been attacked or conquered by Japan since ancient times, while also pursuing during World War II, and spread a the ideal role that the imperial family message of pacifism. should take in the future.�

When Akihito took over the throne in The royal family itself faces a looming existential crisis. After Naruhito, there are 1989, it was after his father had suffered a prolonged illness. Akihito, who was only three male members left in the line treated for prostate cancer in 2003 and of succession, including his 83-year-old underwent heart surgery in 2012, may uncle, his 53-year-old brother and his have wished to avoid subjecting his son 12-year-old nephew. to a period of such limbo. But the deciWomen are not allowed to ascend to sion to abdicate was not the emperor’s the throne, and women born into the royal family must renounce their imperial alone to make, and he ultimately had to wait three years after first expressing titles and officially leave the family once they marry. None of their children can be his desire to step down. The abdication required a special act of Parliament, in line to the throne.

Naruhito’s father secured his reputation passed in 2017. The law applies only to him and not to future emperors. as an admired figure in his extensive

Semenya: A Controversial Ruling In a landmark judgment last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the IAAF rules medically limiting the naturally-occurring testosterone levels in female athletes running in events from 400m to the mile were necessary to ensure fair competition.

The rules, which come into force this week (May 8), apply to female or intersex athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) who have a blood testosterone level of five nmol/L or above.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe called the ruling “very straightforward� and said there would be no delays in implementing the new rules, despite CAS concerns there was not enough evidence to apply them to the 1,500 metres and mile.

“Athletics has two classifications age and gender,� Coe said at a press conference in Doha on Thursday. “We are fiercely protective about both and I’m really grateful that the court of arbitration has upheld that principle.�

However, Athletics South Africa (ASA) said it was “deeply disappointed and profoundly shocked� at the CAS ruling, with both the sporting body and Semenya’s lawyers saying they could contest it. “ASA respects the CAS decision and will now review the ruling and decide whether to consider the option of taking this matter to the Swiss Federal Tribunal within the 30 days as stipulated in the ruling,� the national governing body said in a statement. “We are, however, reeling in shock at how a body held in high esteem

like CAS can endorse discrimination without flinching.�

ASA went on to compare the regulations with apartheid, where South African citizens were separated by racial group and afforded differing rights based on their skin colour.

Barring further legal action, Semenya will now be forced to medicate to suppress her testosterone levels if she wants to defend her world title in September in Doha, Qatar or look to compete in longer distances.

Meanwhile fans are urging the runner not to quit after she posted a cryptic message, hinting retirement. “Knowing when to walk away is wisdom. Being able to is courage.

Walking away with your head held high is dignity,� Semenya posted on Twitter.

Semanya

Prince Harry Cuts Back Foreign Trip, Royal Baby Watchers on Alert Miss North Carolina Wins Miss USA Prince Harry has shortened a forthcoming trip to the Netherlands, prompting inevitable speculation that his wife, Meghan, could be about to give birth.

Harry had been due to visit the country for two days from next Wednesday, but will now fly in and out on Thursday. The decision has been attributed to logistical challenges, but the Duchess of Sussex is known to be in the late stages of her pregnancy. “Due to the logistical planning for the travelling press to cover visits and engagements by The Royal Family, we have taken the decision to postpone The Duke of Sussex’s scheduled visit to Amsterdam on Wednesday 8th May 2019,� Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The Duke is currently scheduled to travel to The Hague on Thursday 9th May for the launch of the Invictus Games The Hague 2020 as planned.�

The couple previously announced they would keep details of the birth private. In a

Prince Harry and Meaghan Merkle

statement on April 11 the couple said they “look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family.�

Miss North Carolina Cheslie Kryst was crowned Miss USA 2019 last week.

This year’s contestants were an accomplished group of women, including a full-time attorney licensed to practice in two states and represents prison inmates for free.

During the competition, she tackled questions about her thoughts on the Me Too and Times Up movements. “I don’t think these movements have gone too far. What me too and times up are about are making sure that we foster safe and inclusive workplaces in our country,�

Kryst said. “As an attorney, that’s exactly what I want to hear, and that’s exactly what I want for this country. I think they’re good movements.�

Miss Oklahoma Triana Browne was named second runner-up and Miss New Mexico Alejandra Gonzalez was named first runner-up. This year’s finalists were an especially diverse group of women, highlighted by Miss New Mexico’s speech

Kryst

about immigration. “I think that there’s so many people out there wanting the American dream, and my parents immigrated here from Monterrey, Mexico,� Gonzalez explained. “And I am their representation of their American dream.�

MAY 5 , 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

High Life

61 with KAYODE ALFRED 08116759807

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

The Mystique of Senator Phillip Aduda If you live or work in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, and you want to belong, you need Senator Phillip Aduda in your life. More so if you’re an aspiring young bird harbouring hopes of growing into a mighty swan that can give the political hawks and eagles entrenched within the capital a run for their money.

The chubby dude who was recently re-elected to represent the Federal Capital Territory in the Senate is one of the go-to guys in Abuja that can be relied on to make things happen. Unlike a lot of the powerbrokers there who are actually immigrants, his roots run deep into the Abuja soil. His parents Rt. Rev Tanimu Samari Aduda (the Bishop of Gwagwalada), and Chief (Mrs.) Jummai Tanimu Aduda, the president and founder of Grassroots Associations of Nigeria and International Grassroots Association are both entrenched Abujalites.

Commanding so much respect from all and sundry, Senator Aduda is one of the few uncontroversial politicians who can count on cross-partisan support whenever they need a bill passed or a project approved.

This is because of his amiable disposition and his philosophy that regards politics as a game of creating friends rather than making foes.

The two-term senator who will turn 50 in June already has a Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) honour on account of the giant strides he’s made in delivering good governance to his constituency. He’s chaired key committees on the upper chamber as well as the lower chamber where he served between 2003 and 2011. He’s the current chair of the Land Transport Committee in the Senate.

It is not all work and no play for the robust senator. He knows how to unwind after a long day’s work. He is a frequent visitor to fun spots in the Abuja metropolis and environs. He’s the toast of the fun-loving crowd who find his approachability and exuberance endearing qualities.

Despite being a Christian, Senator Philip Aduda is a perfect example of the age-old wisdom that merit has no religion. He’s

Philip Aduda

Oba Elegushi and his wife, Olori Sekinat

Oba Saheed Elegushi Marries Second Wife Debonair Lagos monarch, Oba Saheed Elegushi, officially married his second wife, Hadiza Tanko, in Yankaba, Kano State, Friday, May 3rd. There have been the customary introduction and other such private ceremonies between the two families; however, the wedding Fathia proper took place after the Friday prayers at the Jamaat Mosque near the Tanko family house in Yankaba. The announcement of the wedding was made by the bride’s older brother, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, who is a Special Adviser Media to the Kano State Government. He didn’t provide further details, except for another post of a picture of him and the lawyer brother of the king who he tagged as ‘my in-law’.

Drop-dead gorgeous and light-skinned, Hadiza works in an oil and gas firm and has

reportedly been warming the heart of the young monarch for a few years especially whenever the stress of monarchy and business become overwhelming.

They have also visited some of the scenic cities of the world together while savouring each other’s warmth and company. Though sources at the palace have not categorically confirmed the disposition of the King’s first wife, Olori Aramide Sekinat, to the reality that she would now play second fiddle in the affection pecking order to the new wife, obviously, it should not have come to her as much surprise because he is a king and polygamy comes with the terrain.

The shock, for her, close friends say, is that she and the king were high school lovers and being so cosmopolitan and

young, polygamy, perhaps, shouldn’t have occurred. But she thought wrong.

Married in 2003 at a colourful ceremony that had two of Nigeria’s biggest musicians, King Sunny Ade, and K1 De Ultimate, on the bandstands, they are blessed with three adorable daughters.

In his early 40s, the Elegushi of Ikateland ranks as one of the youngest traditional rulers in the country. A graduate of the Lagos State University, he was a former personal assistant to the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He also worked with former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola before resigning in 2010 after it became apparent he would succeed his father as king of one of the largest and most exclusive communities in Lagos.

Politics Not for Tonye Cole... May Get Ministerial Appointment

Tonye Cole

In one area, some men have all the luck in the world. In another area, they have none at all. Just ask Tonye Cole. The face behind oil and gas giant Sahara Energy has tried to dip his feet in the waters of politics only to get scalded each time. And as someone who has long harboured grand ambitions of leadership, Tonye Cole isn’t finding the situation funny at all. He is like the brilliant science student who flunked literature because he is simply no good at that subject. Whether due to inexperience or conspiracies or ill luck, Tonye has found the terrain of politics a hard nut to crack.

His political travails began during the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan. For a time, it seemed that Tonye had secured an easy route into the elite political circle as his name kept cropping up in talk of ministerial appointments. That turned out to be a false alarm as he was pitilessly passed over in favour of another candidate deemed more pliant by the kingmakers at the centre.

Fast forward to 2018 and Tonye had shifted his attention to unseating governor of Rivers Nyesom Wike. To achieve this grand dream, he brought his wealth into play and successfully secured the APC’s governorship ticket. But just as he was beginning to allow himself to dream of sweet success, Tonye received a visit from the ill wind that certainly blew him no good. Due to infighting among members of the Rivers APC, the party’s name was struck from the governorship list, leaving Tonye stranded at the cusp of glory, a king without a kingdom.

Despite these setbacks that would make a lesser man throw in the towel, Tonye remains hopeful of a turnaround.

There are talks he will be compensated for his loss at the polls with a ministerial appointment. In the meantime, Tonye has returned to his business as chair of Sahara Group, an energy conglomerate with operations spanning the entire energy chain in Nigeria and beyond.

62

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

HIGHLIFE

Fashion Meets Royalty... As Kiki Powerful Man: Okewale Dazzles at Dubai Fashion Week Ahmed Indimi Kiki Okewale, the talented Nigerian behind Lagos-based Couture Hope Fashions was in her designs-creating, fabric-spinning element at the Dubai Royal Gala and Fashion Show which took place on April 27 at the 5-star Palazzo Versace Hotel, Dubai. It was a glorious opportunity for the very creative lady to display the best of Nigerian and African fashion and style and she did not disappoint at the event populated by the Who’s Who of Middle Eastern royalty and global fashion aficionados.

As the first Nigerian nay African to grace the exclusive event that brings the very best trends in contemporary fashion on display, the onus was on Kiki to show her mettle and she rose to the occasion with a dizzying array, unique designs and artistic interpretations using a blend of traditional and modern fabrics that left the exclusive crowd who eat fashion for breakfast wanting more.

For them, getting to see Kiki’s showstealing presentation was like tasting the heavenly meal they never knew they needed.

With the fine show she put on, Kiki has opened doors for further interest for internationals to patronize the Nigerian fashion scene as well as invite other Nigerian designers to these exclusive fashion gatherings in the future.

The event is owned and organized by the Blue-blooded princess Sheikha Hend Al Qassemi, who is a descendant of the royal family of Sharjah. Popular fashion and lifestyle magazine Velvet Magazine belongs to her.

Obviously, she must have heard superlative

Becomes Go-to Guy in Abuja

T Kiki Okewale Dazzles

things about the young woman who is married to Dr Babatunde Okewale, the medical director at St Ives Hospitals and legendary IVF guru, which is why she was even invited in the first place. At the end, the United Arab Emirates princess was beaming with happiness at having got more than her money’s worth.

As for Kìkì, she is that bright star that would not be hidden by bushels, by clouds, or by a lack of opportunity. She’s long carved her name at the top of the list of happening fashion designers in the country. Her Hope Fashion outfit at Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, is continually besieged by fashion horses

Best Legacy... Prince Arthur Eze Gives Scholarships to His People

Prince Arthur Eze

The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example, quipped 19th-century statesman Benjamin Disraeli, and in Nigerian philanthropic circles, no current name is greater and no current example more worthy of emulation than that of Prince Arthur Eze. The billionaire oil mogul is in a league of his own when it comes to loosening the purse strings for the benefit of humanity. For the billionaire businessman and head honcho of Atlas Oranto Petroleum, no price is too steep to pay for a better world.

Worshippers at the local St Mary’s Catholic Church in Prince Eze’s homestead of Ukpo, Anambra State got a front-row seat to his boundless munificence during the Easter period. Informed that the locals have been mandated to pay a levy for the purpose of building a new secondary school in the community, the great Eze undertook to bear the costs — a not inconsiderable sum — all by himself. He further donated 10 million to the elderly and another 10 million each to help with facelifts for the schools in the area. Then came the icing on an already delicious cake as Eze, who is the prince of the town, announced plans to begin construction of the 10 billion Arthur Eze University in May 2019

In accordance with the admonition of the great sages of old to leave something in people, not just for them, the brilliant prince who recently joined the septuagenarian club has cultivated a habit of tying his generosity to laudable causes whose impact will still resound generations after. His first love is education and he regularly awards scholarships to indigent students all over the country. It wasn’t long ago that he made waves by building a $800,000 school in wartorn South Sudan.

Reputed to be among the wealthiest people on the continent, Prince Eze’s oil exploration firm Oranto Petroleum sits atop one of the largest cumulative oil reserves in Africa with assets in Nigeria, Liberia Equatorial Guinea and the United Kingdom.

Even so, the prince from the royal family of Ukpo kingdom in Dunukofia local government of Anambra state remains the picture of a very down-to-earth gentleman.

With no false airs and no myriad barricades between him and the common people, Prince Eze gives off an aura of approachability that belies his status. He is equally at home among the poorest peasants of the poorest soil as he is in high-powered boardroom meetings with world leaders.

Fair Weather Friends Abandon Nsima Ekere The saying that the strongest man is he who walks most alone might apply to much of life but certainly not in politics. Just ask Obong Nsima Udo Ekere. The former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is feeling anything but strong these days. His club of close friends and political associates whom he relied on and trusted to bail him out of tough situations has begun filing for the exit door, leaving the popular politician distraught.

We gathered that his unceremoniousº defeat at the Akwa Ibom governorship polls despite all his hue and cry about unseating the incumbent led quite a few of his inner sanctum to pack their bags in search of winning trains to jump aboard.

It was perceived in some quarters that Ekere couldn’t translate his success in bureaucracy and the boardroom into comparable conquests on the political terrain, especially given the huge amount of resources, material and human, available to him as NDDC boss.

The recent controversies that trailed

Ekere

Ekere didn’t help his cause as some of his lifelong allies began to grow lukewarm in their devotion. Just before the governorship elections, a warrant of arrest against Ekere for a 2.4 billion fraud case was brought to light, subsequent to which the Federal High Court in Abuja disqualified him from contesting.

Against all odds, he went ahead to participate but was soundly trounced by the incumbent Udom Emmanuel.

Since then, winter has come for Ekere. He is no longer the hot commodity he was. Even his political godfather Godswill Akpabio has little time for him as he is occupied in fighting his own battles. Ekere was the Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State when Chief Godswill Akpabio was the Governor.

The recent surfacing of a recording where a voice allegedly Ekere’s could be heard negotiating with a militant warlord to bring in bombs, arms and a munitions to use in destabilizing Akwa Ibom during the governorship elections has only worsened the mass exodus from the camp of the beleaguered ex-NDDC boss which used to be full to the brim with acolytes and hangers-on.

The man himself doesn’t have much time to dwell on the disappointment from people he thought were friends for life. He is busy fighting in the courts to overturn the governorship election results which he claims were marred by large irregularities.

ies of blood to the most powerful do more than unlock doors. They turn the person into a human regulator of supply and demand, conducting trade between those who can bestow favours and those who need them.

Little wonder Ahmed Indimi has risen in prominence in the last few years. The husband of Zahra Buhari is having a swell time of it in the federal capital territory where he has become one of the most sought r powerbrokers.

The very handsome son of Borno billionaire Muhammed Indimi and son-in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari is well placed through his ties of blood and marriage to shape how things unfold in the corridors of power.

He enjoys unfettered access to the presidency and can depend on his father’s financial might to get things done with a minimum of fuss.

These days, top shots who are looking for one or two things in the corridors of power now count on Zahra Buhari’s husband for connection. Even though he is neither an aide nor a member of the president’s kitchen cabinet, what he has going for him is his status as a son-in-law to the president which instantly unlocks privileges closed to even some of the president’s top henchmen.

The Director/Head of Crude Marketing Department at Oriental Energy Resources never shies away from leveraging his growing influence to help select supplicant, a trait that has endeared him even more to the Abuja crowd. The graduate of IT from the American InterContinental University, Atlanta, Georgia is always welcome at any gathering of the capital’s elites. He has become the beautiful bride pursued by all and sundry.

Recall that Ahmed got married to the president’s daughter Zahra in December 2016 in a very opulent ceremony topped off by a series of celebratory extravaganzas in different cities. Last year, Zahra gave birth to a bouncing baby in faraway Spain which the couple named Muhammed. Recently, they took to social media site Instagram to celebrate their second wedding anniversary.

Indimi

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5 , 2019

63

HIGHLIFE

Fallen Man! Dafe Sejebor, Arrested in US Sex Trafficking Sting Profit should never come at the cost of human blood. Nor should inordinate wealth be exchanged for human happiness, especially when the person whose joy was traded away for a few bags of gold is not you. Sadly, the first concern of the crook is profit after which he tries to cover up the bloody tracks. But truth will eventually come out, and the man of foul means and false pretences soon finds his cupboard of skeletons thrown open and he exposed to public scorn.

Such is the fate that has befallen Dafe Sejebor, the former Group General Manager (GGM) of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a core arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He was arrested along with 46 others in a successful sex trafficking sting carried out by the

Dafe

United States security agencies.

Dafe was among the 20 men and 27 women arrested in the State of Texas last month on charges ranging from human trafficking and possession of a controlled substance to prostitution, sexual assault of a child, tampering with evidence, and unlawfully carrying a weapon.

The security agencies also rescued two minors from the sexual traffickers’ lair.

Though not specifically named as a ringleader, Dafe is obviously knee-deep in the ring, with reports surfacing he had been leveraging on the shameful activity to acquire choice properties in Texas.

As his glory grew with every wretched step he took, so did his shame.

As his greatness rose in the open, so did his guilt in the closet. With every female body forcibly pressed into sexual slavery, the stain on his conscience became deeper and deeper shades of crimson

until there was no white to be seen in sight.

Recall that Dafe lived large as NAPIMS boss. Carpets were laid out for him wherever he walked. He was a god among mere mortals. He made men sweat and ladies swoon with delight. Contractors and lobbyists milled around him like flies, hanging on his every word. Fame pursued him like an amorous lover. Dafe basked in her embrace.

However, his time in the limelight began to set in the western sky following some internal grumbling of his perceived high-handedness, culminating in his replacement as NAPIMS boss by Roland Ewubare. Flame fled. And, apparently, so did fortune. This would certainly explain an exalted individual stooping so low as to trade his fellow humans as commodities.

Shocker! Nasarawa Governor-elect Audu Sule Takes a New Wife Spare a thought for the first wife of incoming governor of Nasarawa State, Audu Sule, Hajia Silifa Sule. These days, she feels like a used toothpaste squeezed of most of its content and then discarded for the shiny new mouthwash in town. Despite the huge role she played in her husband’s emergence as the successor to the senate-bound Tanko Al Makurai, Hajia Silifa has been left by the wayside as a new wife openly waltzed into her matrimonial home.

Hajia Silifa’s crime? She is not modern.

While Audu Sule was trying to reach the people of the state with his campaign message, his wife served as a willing loudspeaker that helped to mobilize the masses for the cause. She mobilized massive support from the womenfolk who trooped out en masse to vote for her husband. And now that it is time for her to reap the fruits of her labour, someone else has jumped the queue and slammed the door in her face.

Those close to the matter say that the governor-elect had been eyeing his new damsel, Hajia Farida for a long time but could not come up with a good enough

reason to justify bringing her in as a second wife. Now that he has become a state executive, he claims his first wife’s inability to communicate in English will prove a hindrance to smooth discharge of the duties of a first lady.

Hence he seized on the excuse to wed Hajia Farida at an exclusive shindig on April 19 in Katsina. There are indications that the governor and some of his associates have begun to champion her as the first lady despite that she played no role in his emergence. Though quick to debunk the rumour when asked, feelers from his camp are that he might use his first wife as a figurehead to appease the people while Hajia Farida wields de facto power in the office of the Nasarawa first lady.

Despite the strong criticism which hasn’t stopped rushing his way in a never-ending wave, Sule doesn’t give a hoot as he savours the sweet taste of political and romantic conquests. In contrast, the longsuffering Hajia Silifa feels betrayed. She silently gnashes her teeth while maintaining outward support for her errant husband.

Audu Sule

Proud Father... President Buhari’s Love for Akinwunmi Ambode

Buhari

Ambode

It is easier to tumble down a mountain than to make the arduous climb back up to the very top. Little wonder many expected the outgoing governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode to become a forgotten commodity after being schemed out of the customary second term for incumbents. But despite the loud prophecy of impending oblivion for the very hard-working governor, he remained unflinching in his desire to make his last weeks in office a very memorable one for Lagos citizens.

Like a boxer pummelling his opponents to a pulp Ambode has been channelling all his anger into speeding up the dividends of democracy for the people. His road projects like the 10-lane New Airport Road were quickened, healthcare delivery was given a lift with the return of Ayinke House, the popular baby factory which was relaunched as a 170-bed ultra-world-class Institute of Maternal and Child Healthcare.

Little wonder President Muhammadu Buhari rated Ambode as a man worth having as a friend. Those in the know claimed that the president tried his best to turn the tides, albeit unsuccessfully, when the Lagos APC kingmakers decided not to back Ambode for

a second term. And unlike those who turned their backs on the cerebral governor after the APC governorship primaries, the president has become even closer to him on account of his tremendous achievements which litter the landscape of the Centre of Excellence, lasting monuments to a sterling legacy.

Buhari is always on hand to inaugurate any big project of Ambode and the formal commissioning of the Oshodi transport interchange was no exception.

As a visibly happy President Buhari was shown round the interchange, first of its kind in the country, insiders gathered that he could not help but beam with pride at the energetic chief executive of Lagos whom he now regards as a political son.

In fact, rumours are rife that Ambode will soon follow his predecessor Fashola onto the national stage after leaving office. He has allegedly been pencilled in for a plum job in President Buhari’s cabinet that is due for a reshuffle in a few weeks. The expected darkening of his prospects was just a temporary eclipse: his star is set to burn brighter in the coming months.

When Losers Reconcile

Beginning of last week, we were regaled with news of reconciliation between former governor of Rivers State, ChibuikeAmaechi and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator GodswillAkpabio.

However, it was not known that they were at loggerheads.And what if they were? Of what use is their reconciliation? Recent events point to the fact that both actors in this comedic reconciliation are losing relevance.

If anything, this reconciliation is a gimmick to keep them visible.

Amaechi, who is currently Minister of Transportation, has attempted to wield power in his state on several occasions by proxy, to no avail. Each time, he has been soundly defeated by his successor, Nyesom Wike. The latest attempt must have haunt the most, with his influence waning in Rivers politics after the courts barred his party from participating in the election in Rivers. Amaechi somehow contrived to go into the election with a candidate that even the man’s

neighbours didn’t know and expected him to win the governorship race.

All because he was blinded by his quest to unseat Wike and be the godfather of Rivers politics, he let the military loose on his people while backing a candidate from a lightweight party in a foolhardy bid to unseat Wike. He lost woefully.

AndAkpabio? He decamped a little over a year ago and immediately started chest-thumping, promising his new party he would help unseat his erstwhile godson, Governor Udom Emmanuel, in a way similar to how Hitler invaded Poland.

“Warsaw saw war and war saw Warsaw,”Akpabio boasted before the election. Unfortunately forAkpabio, not only did Emmanuel bat his challenge away like one would do an annoying fly, he also lost his senate seat.

Alas, in this war, he met his Waterloo, like Napoleon.

And since when did Keyamo become a press officer to tin gods? If we hazard a guess, Keyamo , who

was Director of Strategic Communications for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election, doesn’t care one bit about these demystified, egotistic politicians. Keyamo explained that the meeting, which was at the instance of Akpabio, talked about their various disagreements from their days as governors in PDP and in the then Nigerian Governors’ Forum. While emphasise to us at who instance a meeting was called?

It is obvious thatAmaechi andAkpabio are looking back wistfully at the good times with nostalgia. This was when they wielded power as unquestioned executives of two of Nigeria’s richest states under the umbrella of the PDP, the same party they keep accusing of squandering resources when the country enjoyed the benefit of skyhigh oil revenue.

Now, as the first term of the presentAPC government winds to a close, these characters will soon be out of their jobs, and are obviously seeking ways to seem important by putting up a facade of relevance.

Amaechi and Akpabio

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5 , 2019

64

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

OgunGovernor–elect, Dapo Abiodun’s Homily

Ogun State Governor- elect, Dapo Abiodun, is undoubtedly a very successful man who understands the ABC of business.

Apart from being a top player in oil and gas sector with Heyden, he is also a known name in the real estate sector.

Interestingly, he is fast emerging as a political force to be reckoned with, having trounced his opponents , especially Abdulkabir Akinlade, the anointed candidate of the incumbent Governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in the last governorship election in the state.

Unlike some others, he still recognizes that only God is the unseen hand behind his success story; and he submits absolutely to His will. In other words, he is always quick to say that His armour against failure is ceaseless prayers.

At a thanksgiving service held at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, London Parish recently, he shared his inspiring journey to his current position.

According to him, it all started in 1997 when he ran for the Senate and became a senator-elect.

But his balloon of hope was later punctured. He also revealed that he was persuaded to run again for the Senate in 2015.

Giving further testimony, he narrated how he lost his first son in 2017 and how he was broken by the cruelty of fate before he was brought back to life.

He told his listeners how he resolved to contest the governorship elections and the intrigues, horse-trading, backstabbing as well as betrayal, especially from the incumbent governor, Ibikunle Amosun, whom he claimed had been his friend for over 25 years.

While the thanksgiving service lasted, the congregation as well as his guests were amazed at his humility and his total dependence on God in taking the most critical decisions of his life.

Dapo

Celebrating The Bull @66 For Dr. Mike Adenuga, Chairman, Globacom, a leading telecommunications company, Monday, April 29 could not have come and gone without some celebration.

The man famously called The Bull turned 66 on that memorable day and the world duly celebrated him.

Indeed, one of the major stories that trended on that day was the birthday celebration of Adenuga, who is one of the richest black men in the world.

Though he is not given to throwing elaborate party on the occasion of his birthday, many, including his family members, still shared in his joy, as they celebrated him to high heavens.

In particular, his beautiful daughter, Bella Adenuga-Disu, penned a powerful piece on him on her Instagram page, saying, “For many things, so very many things...

“For teaching me that the word “impossible” doesn’t exist .For pushing me to build resolve, persistence and grit “For instilling humility in me… refusing to buy me a new school bag, and insisting that I get it repaired after I cut it up myself as a 9 year old – just because I wanted a new school bag.

“For introducing me to Highlife music .But most importantly, for giving me my very first taste of Kir Royale!

“66 Hearty Cheers, Dad! “Thank you for the gift of you.”

No doubt, the serial businessman has been one of the most beautiful gifts from

Nigeria to the continent of Africa. He is described as a shining light in Africa’s business firmament.

For a man who has a flourishing business empire with substantial investments in telecommunications, oil and gas and banking, it is not for fun that he is described as a visionary leader, an exemplary entrepreneur and an outstanding manager of men and resources.

Even when he had to temporarily relocate to Ghana at the height of his face-off with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he never gave up on the Nigerian project, so to say. He came back better, stronger and more determined with the introduction of Globacom, which later rescued the country from the jaws of other competitors in the sector.

1n 1991, he launched Consolidated Oil Limited, which became the first indigenous oil company to strike oil in commercial quantity. It has since grown in leaps and bounds, after he consolidated his investment in the oil sector with the purchase of National Oil (now Conoil Producing Limited).

Blessed with innovative ideas, he introduced modern retail outlets such as mega stations and non-space pumps with Conoil Plc in the downstream sector.

Adenuga, who cherishes friendship a great deal, loves to put smiles on people’s faces with his philanthropy.

In particular, The Mike Adenuga

Adenuga

Foundation has positively impacted the lives of so many people within and outside Nigeria. The foundation has achieved this by creating or supporting initiatives that deliver knowledge, skills, resources and infrastructure that will stimulate innovation, facilitate commerce, drive enterprise and improve living conditions. Its core programme interests are entrepreneurship, education, health, and rural development.

The education programme aims to support the study of disciplines that drive innovation and development.

Again, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, Stirs Up a Hornet’s Nest Again, the Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, has set tongues wagging about his person.

Since he ascended the throne, his actions and inaction have been dogged with controversies, leaving many to wonder if he cherishes his description as a controversial monarch. While still at loggerheads with the Ooni of Ife, His Majesty Oba Enitan Ogunwusi among individuals and institutions, the billionaire monarch has again stirred up a hornet’s nest.

This time around , he has a lot of questions to answer from some probing powerful Yoruba personalities over what they described as his arrogance and violation of traditions.

Trouble started when the oil magnate turned king installed some individuals in the Diaspora as kings, including the Oriade of Georgia, Oba Bernard Shola Akinrimisi; the traditional ruler of Yoruba in Liberia, Oba Omobolaji Ogunkoya,Oodua Gbadewolu I and the traditional ruler of Yoruba in the Republic of Ireland, Oba Saheed Ibrahim Adufe.

During the installation, Akinruntan was quoted as saying “I am ready to crown more kings in the Diaspora as long as I remain the number one king in Yorubaland. I am the custodian of Yoruba culture. I am going to give more obas in the Diaspora crowns. Many of them will get crowns and staff of office from me and nobody can query me.

They know that I’m a special oba in Yorubaland. My father is the owner of Ife, Oba Makin Osangangan.

“I am the leader of all obas in Yorubaland. I speak with thunder in my mouth and I make bold to say so. No one is above me in Yorubaland inasmuch as it has been accepted that we are from Ife. I am the one that Oduduwa met at Ife. In his reaction, the Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has called on all South-West governors,

Oba Fredrick

especially Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, to ccaution the monarch, saying such a thing could destroy Yoruba tradition if something urgent is not done. ‘’What Olugbo did, he did it singlehandedly, against the wishes of all the Yoruba Obas in Nigeria as a whole.

“A good example of this historical hiatus happened not long ago, wheome surrogates came from France, asking the Oluwo of Iwo land, oba Abdul Rasheed Akanbi, to install them as Yoruba Obas in France. But rather than toeing the path to perdition as Olugbo just did, the Iwo monarch resisted, saying he would never go against the wishes of the Yoruba Obas.

“Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi knew what was right from what was wrong. As a royal father, he does not want to go to Golgotha.

“I am delighted to say it anywhere that Yoruba history is rich in all ramifications.

Nobody has the audacity to distort our history.

“For instance, one can only become an oba either by hereditary or by conquering territories. None of the newly installed obas in Olugbo’s Palace has a history of being related to royalty, either by blood (hereditary) or by conquering a territory.

“In Yoruba history, Ile Ife remains the cradle of our existence, with over 99 per cent of the race migrating from Ile Ife. Apart from Ile Ife, Oyo has always been a foremost institution in Yorubaland, with Oranmiyan being the great progenitor. The two ancient towns occupy the most prominent positions in Yoruba history. So, who among the great Yoruba indigenes and progenitors migrated from Ugbo land? It is a story for another day.

“As the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, I want to tell Akinruntan that he only crowned these characters as chiefs in his domain, not as Yoruba Obas in the Diaspora, because he doesn’t have the power. It is fraudulent, it is an affront to our history and we will not allow anybody to distort our history.

“In the same vein, I think all the sociocultural groups in Yoruba land, including Afenifere, Yoruba Council of Elders, Yoruba Unity Forum and other notable groups in the South-West should raise their voices against such fraud. It is our responsibilities to protect our history, and put our records straight.

“When you install an Oba, government presence must be felt or else, everything is null and void. Who did Akeredolu send to represent him when Akinruntan engaged in that anti-traditional institution action in his palace?

“All these characters that Akinruntan installed, how come nobody followed them from where they reside abroad to the socalled installation? What types of businesses are they engaged in, in their places of abode?

Are we not preparing the ground for a gigantic embarrassment for Yorubaland?

65

MAY 5 , 2019 Ëž T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

SOCIETY WATCH

Razak, Shade Okoya’s Unending Romance Andy,

Razak and Shade

When billionaire industrialist, Razak Okoya, married his beautiful wife, Folashade, in 1999, not a few gave the marriage any chance of survival.

Many had predicted that the couple would soon go their separate ways before their eyes.

Many of the critics and doubting Thomases had expressed their doubts on the survival of the marriage owing to the age difference between the couple.

But 20 years after their celebrated wedding, the couple has not only shamed their detractors, they have also proved to the world that genuine love still exists and that theirs is another marriage made in heaven.

No wonder, the couple went the extra mile to throw a lavish party to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on April 28, to the admiration of all.

Though the respected business tycoon has some other wives, Folashade is said to be the apple of his eyes.

A source revealed that they are always

glued to each other at social functions, displaying open love that can make younger lovers green with envy.

Indeed, it was double celebration for the couple, as Folashade also celebrated her 42nd birthday on April 25, three days before the wedding anniversary.

A source revealed that Folashade, among other reasons , gets the attention of her billionaire husband because of her dedication to the family business. Folashade, the source said, had through visible and tangible measurable achievements, proven herself to be a suave and astute business woman in her own right, winning and gaining honours and acclaim locally and internationally.

Forty-two- year-old Folashade is a dazzling beauty. She is one of the few women whose beauty would make any full-blooded man drool. All this, in addition to her commanding dress sense, usually makes the stunning beauty the cynosure of eyes at any public event.

Enyo Oil Boss, Awobokun’s Rising ProďŹ le With Service Liquid and Gas, SLG, Abayomi Awobokun has been able to etch his name in the minds of active players in the oil and gas sector in the country.

Since he ventured into the business, his strategies, which have given him fame, have endeared him to a lot of people in the sector.

Interestingly, in his bid to consolidate his achievements in the industry, he launched Enyo Retail and Supply Limited, an indigenous oil and gas and customerfocused company, recently.

The new company has been described as a pacesetter in petroleum products marketing, with the pioneering of a technology-driven fuel retailing revolution in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sector.

The company has also announced its rapid expansion plans across the country, following the acquisition of new retail stations to provide Nigerians with trusted

fuel and other quality petroleum products and services.

Awobokun has also delighted industry watchers with the launched of his “Fuelled

by Trust-1-litre is 1-litre� initiative, which is targeted at ensuring consumers are provided with their products’ value worth.

Leveraging on the words ‘trust’ and ‘fuel’, Enyo Retail & Supply is reinforcing its commitment as a true customer-focused brand.

Indeed, its continuous delivery of authentic and innovative products/services is fuelled by the positive customer and stakeholder experiences. Awobokun, who holds a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, is a 2016 recipient of the Young Global Leader award from the World Economic Forum (WEF). He was also nominated by the Choiseul Institute in Paris as one of the top 100 under 40 business leaders in Africa.

Enyo

More Recognition for Billionaire Olu Okeowo

Okeowo

Â—ČąÂ˜Â—ÂŽČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČąÂ˜Â?Â?ČŹÂšÂžÂ˜Â?ÂŽÂ?ČąÂœÂŠÂ˘Â’Â—Â?ÂœÇ°Čą •ŽÂ?Ž—Â?Š›¢ȹ Š‘ŠÂ?–Šȹ Š—Â?Â‘Â’Ç°ČąÂœÂŠÂ’Â?ȹǹȹ ČąÂ–ÂŠÂ—Č‚ÂœČą true wealth hereafter is the good he has done to his fellowmen.â€? —Â?ÂŽÂŽÂ?Ç°ČąÂ‹Â’Â•Â•Â’Â˜Â—ÂŠÂ’Â›ÂŽČąÂ‹ÂžÂœÂ’Â—ÂŽÂœÂœÂ–ÂŠÂ—Ç°Čą ’›ȹ •žȹ Â”ÂŽÂ˜Â Â˜Ç°ČąÂ’ÂœČąÂ˜Â—ÂŽČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?‘ŽȹÂ?ÂŽÂ ČąÂ Â‘Â˜ČąÂ‘ÂŠÂ&#x;Žȹ’–‹’‹ŽÂ?Čą Â?Â‘ÂŽČąÂ–ÂŽÂœÂœÂŠÂ?Žȹ’—ȹ Š—Â?Â‘Â’Č‚ÂœČąÂ Â˜Â›Â?ÂœÇŻ Â˜ČąÂ Â˜Â—Â?ÂŽÂ›Ç°ČąÂ‘ÂŽČąÂ’ÂœČąÂŽÂ&#x;Ž›ȹ›ŽŠÂ?¢ȹÂ?Â˜ČąÂŒÂ˜Â—Â?›’‹žÂ?Žȹȹ

generously to humanity. His charitable footprints can be seen in many landmarks.

Though he gives freely without drawing ÂžÂ—Â—ÂŽÂŒÂŽÂœÂœÂŠÂ›Â˘ČąÂŠÄ´ÂŽÂ—Â?Â’Â˜Â—Ç°ČąÂ?Â˜ČąÂ‘Â’Â–ÂœÂŽÂ•Â?ČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČą philanthropic gestures are so huge that they continue to be noticed by many. Â’Ä´Â•ÂŽČąÂ Â˜Â—Â?ÂŽÂ›Ç°ČąÂ‘ÂŽČąÂ‘ÂŠÂœČąÂ‹ÂŽÂŽÂ—ČąÂ‘Â˜Â—Â˜ÂžÂ›ÂŽÂ?ȹ ’Â?‘ȹ a lot of awards and recognitions at home and abroad. Â™Â›Â’Â•ČąĹ˜ĹžÇ°ČąÂ?‘Žȹ ’‹›Š•Â?ÂŠÂ›ČąÂ‹Â˜ÂœÂœČąČąÂ ÂŠÂœČąÂžÂ—Â&#x;Ž’•ŽÂ?Čą and inducted as the Ambassador for the Â’Â?‘Â?ÂœČąÂŠÂ—Â?Čą ÂŠÂ›ÂŽČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?‘Žȹ •Â?Ž›•¢ȹ’—ȹ Â’Â?Ž›’Šǰȹ’—ȹ Lagos. ‘ŽȹŠ Š›Â?ČąÂŒÂŽÂ›ÂŽÂ–Â˜Â—Â˘Ç°ČąÂ Â‘Â’ÂŒÂ‘ČąÂ‘ÂŽÂ•Â?ȹŠÂ?Čą Â?‘Žȹ ÂŠÂ›Â•ÂŠÂŒÂ’Â˜Čą ÂŽČą Â”ÂŽÂ˜Â Â˜Ç°Čą Š›”ȹ Â’ÂŽÂ Čą ÂœÂ?ŠÂ?ÂŽÇ°Čą Â”Â˜Â˘Â’Ç°ČąÂ ÂŠÂœČąÂ˜Â›Â?Š—’œŽÂ?ȹ‹¢ȹ ÂŽÂ—Â’Â˜Â›Čą Â’Â?’£Ž—ȹ Š›Žȹ ˜ž—Â?ŠÂ?Â’Â˜Â—ČąÇť ǟȹ‘ŽŠÂ?ÂŽÂ?ȹ‹¢ȹÂ?‘ŽȹÂ?Â˜Â›Â–ÂŽÂ›ČąČą Ä´Â˜Â›Â—ÂŽÂ˘ČŹ Ž—Ž›Š•ȹŠ—Â?Čą ’—’œÂ?ÂŽÂ›ČąÂ˜Â?Čą žœÂ?Â’ÂŒÂŽÇ°Čą Â›Â’Â—ÂŒÂŽČą Â˜Â•ÂŠČą “’‹˜•ŠǰŠ—Â?ČąÂ?‘Žȹ Â•Â˜Â ÂžČąÂ˜Â?Čą  žǰȹ Oba Olusanya Dosumu . ‘ŽȹŽÂ&#x;Ž—Â?ČąÂ ÂŠÂœČąÂ?›ŠŒŽÂ?ȹ‹¢ȹÂ?Â’Â?—’Â?ÂŠÂ›Â’ÂŽÂœÇ°Čą ’—Œ•žÂ?’—Â?ČąÂŽÂĄÂŽÂŒÂžÂ?Â’Â&#x;ÂŽČąÂ–ÂŽÂ–Â‹ÂŽÂ›ÂœČąÂ˜Â?Čą Ç°ČąÂ?Š–’•¢ȹ Â–ÂŽÂ–Â‹ÂŽÂ›ÂœČąÂŠÂ—Â?ČąÂ?›’Ž—Â?ÂœČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?Â‘ÂŽČąÂ›ÂŽÂŒÂ’Â™Â’ÂŽÂ—Â?Ç°ČąÂŠÂ–Â˜Â—Â?Čą others. Â—ČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČąÂ›ÂŽÂ–ÂŠÂ›Â”ÂœÇ°Čą Â“Â’Â‹Â˜Â•ÂŠÇ°ČąÂ Â‘Â˜ČąÂ’ÂœČąÂŠÂ•ÂœÂ˜ČąÂŠČąÂ?Â˜Â›Â–ÂŽÂ›Čą “žÂ?Â?ÂŽČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?‘Žȹ —Â?Ž›—ŠÂ?Â’Â˜Â—ÂŠÂ•Čą ˜ž›Â?ČąÂ˜Â?Čą žœÂ?Â’ÂŒÂŽČąÇť ǟȹ Š—Â?ČąÂ?Â˜Â›Â–ÂŽÂ›Čą ›Žœ’Â?Ž—Â?Ç°Čą Â’Â?Ž›’Š—ȹ Š›ȹ œœ˜Œ’ŠÂ?Â’Â˜Â—Čą Çť ǟǰȹÂ?ŽœŒ›’‹ŽÂ?ČąÂ?‘ŽȹÂ?ÂŠÂ˘Č‚ÂœČąÂŽÂ&#x;Ž—Â?ČąÂŠÂœČąÂ?Â•Â˜Â›Â’Â˜ÂžÂœČą Â’Â—ČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČąÂ•Â’Â?ŽȹŠ—Â?ČąÂ&#x;Ž›¢ȹ’—Â?Ž›ŽœÂ?’—Â?ČąÂŠÂœČąÂ ÂŽÂ•Â•Ç°ČąÂœÂŠÂ˘Â’Â—Â?Čą

Â”ÂŽÂ˜Â Â˜Ç°ČąÂ Â‘Â˜ČąÂ‘ÂŽČąÂ ÂŠÂœČąÂ–ÂŽÂŽÂ?’—Â?ČąÂ™ÂŽÂ›ÂœÂ˜Â—ÂŠÂ•Â•Â˘ČąÂ?Â˜Â›Čą Â?Â‘ÂŽČąÄ™Â›ÂœÂ?ČąÂ?Â’Â–ÂŽÇ°ČąÂ ÂŠÂœČąÂŠÂ?“žÂ?Â?ÂŽÂ?ČąÂ‹Â˘ČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČąÂ›ÂŽÂŒÂ˜Â›Â?ČąÂ˜Â?Čą ŠŒÂ?Â’Â&#x;Â’Â?Â’ÂŽÂœČąÂ?Â˜ČąÂ–ÂŽÂ›Â’Â?ČąÂ?‘ŽȹŽ¥Š•Â?ÂŽÂ?ČąÂ˜ÄœÂŒÂŽÇŻ ŒŒ˜›Â?’—Â?ČąÂ?Â˜ČąÂ‘Â’Â–Ç°Čą Â”ÂŽÂ˜Â Â˜ČąÂ‘ÂŠÂ?ČąÂŠÂ•Â ÂŠÂ˘ÂœČą ‹ŽŽ—ȹ’—ȹ›ŽÂ?ž•Š›ȹÂ?Â˜ÂžÂŒÂ‘ČąÂ Â’Â?‘ȹÂ?‘ŽȹŽ•Â?Ž›•¢ǰȹ ‘’•Žȹ also caring for the young ones in the society.

He disclosed that a proposed medical ÂŒÂ•Â’Â—Â’ÂŒČąÂœÂ’Â?ÂŽÂ?ȹ’—ȹ ‹Š›Šǰȹ ‹Ž˜”žÂ?Šǰȹ‹¢ȹÂ?‘Žȹ Foundation had been named after the ›ŽŒ’™’Ž—Â?ǰȹŠÂ?Â?’—Â?ČąÂ?‘ŠÂ?ȹ’Â?ČąÂ Â˜ÂžÂ•Â?ČąÂ˜Â—ČąÂŒÂ˜Â–Â™Â•ÂŽÂ?Â’Â˜Â—Čą ‹ŽŠ›ȹ ’›ȹ •žȹ Â”ÂŽÂ˜Â Â˜Čą Ž›’ŠÂ?Â›Â’ÂŒČą Ž—Â?›ŽȹÂ?Â˜Â›ČąÂ?‘Žȹ Care of the Elderly. Čą Â“Â’Â‹Â˜Â•ÂŠČąÇ°ČąÂ Â‘Â˜ČąÂ’ÂœČąÂ?Â‘ÂŽČąÂŒÂ‘ÂŠÂ’Â›Â–ÂŠÂ—ČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?‘Žȹ ˜ž—Â?ŠÂ?Â’Â˜Â—Ç°ČąÂŠÂ?Â?ÂŽÂ?ČąÂ?‘ŠÂ?ČąÂ?Â‘ÂŽČąÂŒÂŠÂ›ÂŽČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?‘Žȹ elderly was the collective duty of the society . Â•ÂœÂ˜ČąÂœÂ™ÂŽÂŠÂ”Â’Â—Â?Ç°ČąÂ?‘Žȹȹ Â•Â˜Â ÂžČąÂ˜Â?Čą  žǰȹ ‹Šȹ Â˜ÂœÂžÂ–ÂžÇ°ČąÂ™ÂŠÂ’Â?ČąÂ?›’‹žÂ?ÂŽÂœČąÂ?Â˜ČąÂ?Â‘ÂŽČąÂ‘Â˜Â—Â˜ÂžÂ›ÂŽÂŽČąÇ°Čą saying available records showed that he had been close to the elderly and taking good care of them.

An obviously elated Okeowo expressed his appreciation to the Foundation and Â?‘Žȹ Â•Â˜Â ÂžÇ°ČąÂœÂŠÂ˘Â’Â—Â?ȹ ‘ŠÂ?ČąÂ?ŠÂ&#x;Žȹ‘’–ȹÂ?‘Žȹ recognition to merit the ambassadorial award ˜Â?Čą Ç°ČąÂ Â‘Â’ÂŒÂ‘ČąÂ›ÂŽÂ™Â›ÂŽÂœÂŽÂ—Â?ÂœČąÂ?Â‘ÂŽČąÂŒÂŠÂ›ÂŽČąÂ˜Â?ČąÂ?‘Žȹ Ž•Â?ÂŽÂ›Â•Â˘Ç°ČąÂŠÂ–Â˜Â—Â?ČąÂ˜Â?Â‘ÂŽÂ›ÂœÇ°ČąÂ ÂŠÂœČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČąÂ˜Â Â—ČąÂ ÂŠÂ˘ČąÂ˜Â?Čą Š™™›ŽŒ’ŠÂ?’—Â?Čą ˜Â?ČąÂ?Â˜Â›ČąÂ Â‘ÂŠÂ?ȹ‘Žȹ‘ŠÂ?ČąÂ?Â˜Â—ÂŽČąÂ’Â—ČąÂ‘Â’ÂœČą life.

Chris Uba ‘War’Gets Messier Theirs would always make an interesting read.

They are brothers; yet, they are sharply divided by political interests.

It is so bad that some alleged there is no love lost between them, following their defeat in the last election in Anambra State.

It was gathered that since their poor outing and defeat in the election, the two brothers no longer see eye to eye. In fact, their followers and supporters are said to have become sworn enemies.

For long, these two brothers were among the most powerful, inuential, wealthy and ruthless politicians in the state.

But as the saying goes, “A dog determined to get lost would not listen to the whistle of the hunter.�

Society Watch gathered that the ‘war’ took a new dimension sometime ago when they decided to contest against each other for the Senate in Anambra South Senatorial District on different political parties.

Andy, the elder brother, is currently representing the constituency under the All Progressives Congress, APC, while his brother, Chris, contested for the position under the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP. Chris, it was gathered, reportedly vowed to dethrone Andy, saying he was tired of being addressed as a political ‘godfather “without any other beneďŹ t.â€?

Alas! They were both destroyed, while their political dynasty crumbled before their very eyes.

Sifax Boss, Taiwo Afolabi , Celebrates Birthday in London Once again, billionaire businessman, Taiwo Afolabi, had cause to appreciate the grace of God in his life, when he clocked 57 last Monday.

It was gathered that the SIFAX boss celebrated the day low-key with his family and close friends in his London home.

The Ogun State-born billionaire showcased his sense of hospitality to his invited guests, as he treated them to delicious foods and best of wines, expensive champagne and classy

cognac. For those who do not know him too well, Afolabi has a unique way of making his competitors go green with envy always.

He, no doubt, loves to make a definitive statement about everything he does.

Not quite long, he added to his fleet of wonders-on-wheels with two of the world’s most exquisite auto brands, Bentley Bentayga 2019 model and Bentley Continental GT, to the amazement of all.

It was gathered that the two exotic cars cost

him a whopping N140m.

A source revealed that he ordered the cars in preparation for the opening of his muchtalked about Mariot Hotel in GRA, Ikeja, Lagos next month.

The architectural masterpiece that spreads through two major streets in GRA- Joel Ogunnaike and Oba Adejobi Streets with 251room hotel built on 7,000sqm - promises to offer top-notch luxury services hitherto unseen in the Nigeria’s hospitality industry.

Andy

66

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5 , 2019

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Zainab Aliyu – Close Shave I have decided not to listen to the CAN on this one. I hardly ever listen to them though because I think they are out of tune. Trying to throw a dampener on this miracle is kind of funny. Comparing the episode os Zainab Aliyu with Leah Sharibu’s is quite unfortunate and in my books amounts to playing politics with human lives. Leah is still under bondage and the government must come out very seriously to ensure her freedom.

It is our right to demand that, and elesewhere the government would be shaking so in that sense, I support very

vigorously the call and pressure on government to do everything within its powers to bring this young girl home.

But comparing these two issues and trying to paint a funny comparison between the two is childish.

This Zainab lady has just escaped with the skin of her teeth a certain death which would have been disastrous if the President hadn’t stepped in considering that she was said to be innocent. This for me is a giant leap for our government even as I hope that this is the beginning of a realization that our overlords know what it means to protect Nigerians

anywhere in the world no matter the circumstances. I received the news of her release with immense joy and did not look at the fact that she was a Muslim or from the North or that Leah had not been saved. This is one life saved, let’s even be happy for two seconds on this one first.

Kai, she must have gone through a harrowing experience. Mbok Zainab, God or should I say Allah will continue to protect not only you but all of us from the evil ones who seem hell-bent on controlling our destiny. Well done and God bless you. I for come see you but I dey fear that Kaduna-Abuja Road.

Zainab

FAAN AND THE GANG Shebi it is FAAN that has control over the airports because I don’t want to make mistake o. You know Nigerians now because I did not get the authority well, they will now not listen to my message. Travelling through Nigerian airports is a harrowing experience. Everybody is a thief or beggar. Security is so lax that you will just be finding yourself walking on a minefield. As if this is not enough, we are now hearing of the gang that put drugs in people’s bags thereby landing them in the kind of trouble Zainab just came out from. If there is anything more scary, I have not seen o. This is really wicked at all levels. The level of the authorities who seem really helpless at these things and also at the level of the innocent passengers who will now find themselves in deep trouble at the other end. I thank God they have said they have caught the gang, but we knowing ourselves very well if you dig deeper you will see that this particular gang got caught because they did not ‘deliver’. Me I don kuku suspend all travels till further notice, I cannot shout. The other time on my last trip to the US, when I landed as I was clearing customs, they called me aside, ‘sir, whose bag is this? I look the Oyinbo, the man no smile, I look other passengers, dem do like dem no know me. I begin to stammer, ‘ I am not sure of your question sir”. Oyinbo stand up say make I follow am. Piss catch me. I don die o. Where is my mama?

Where is my juju? Please don’t fail me o. If anything happen, Madam Dabiri go quickly release my name come add say I have brought shame to the nation and that I should be castrated before I am returned. The man ask again, ‘Is this your bag and did you pack it yourself? Now imagine what Zainab would have said confidently knowing full well who she was. This country is scary, I tell you. Any ways I tell oyinbo,

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed

Yahaya Bello – Boy in the Hood It is looking like a reelection is looking slimmer than Ned Nwoko’s new wife’s waist by the day. This lad has frittered away all chances of writing his name in gold and blemishing a whole generation in the process. I am just reading the interview granted by one traditional ruler in his state and the sadness in that commentary cannot be missed. The baba said that he had recommended Mr. Bello in 2015 but what he is seeing now he cannot recognize. Well that is his business when he admitted that his choice of Bello was because they were cousins. You see nepotism? I

hear the man never pay salaries forever and he still get face to be calling press conference and want reelection. We are a shameless people. Any man who cannot feed his family must stand clear if his wife comes home late at night in search of food. This man must step aside and if he does not have the conscience to do the right thing, then Kogi people must show him the door with their votes. Sad and pity because we really had hoped for a better outcome. This boy needs to be kicked out of the hood. Enough said.

Yahaya Bello

well as of the time I boarded, it was my bag, but right now I am not sure o. As I dey answer, I dey look to find how I go run come back to Shomolu. I don’t know who send me come US. The man

laugh, say I should open the bag and with shaking hands I opened the bag, Duchess been don put white amala for her cousins. Mbok Yoruba people with amala. The oyinbo asked what

Mobolaji Sanusi

Hon. Ned Nwoko

it is. I say na amala but I dash him, I no need again. I walk away legs still shaking and heart pounding from fear.

So my people, you can now see why we should all be very grateful that Zainab has been saved. The experience is not what I wish my worst enemy, Christian or Muslim, northerner or southerner. Where is our humanity?

COMMANDER- IN-CHIEF OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF LAGOS I had sworn not to say or write anything about my lord, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for at least another three months after comparing him to the great Awolowo and receiving so much flak from Yoruba people.

But the bobo never ceases to amaze me. Just as I was alighting from my flight (I went to Accra for a small holiday. Mbok make I do like my senior egbon, Dele Momodu wey dey always mention the exotic places he dey travel to and in some cases send us pictures of the plane), the front page of Thisday on Sunday hit me.

The story was that our emperor had instructed my governor even in these last days not to inaugurate the projects he had so laboriously worked on and allow his successor do that. This na taking things just too far. This is like telling the man who just raped your wife thank you and well done. When you ply the new airport road and see that wonderful thing on Oshodi wey Ambode buil, you will just lament for this country. A whole governor was asked not to return by one man simply because ‘party men were not carried along’. And as if that was not enough, you are now saying that he should not even take the little glory he so deserves because you are what?

This thing reminds me of my first job.

The madam was so harsh and abusive.

I took all the abuse and insult like a fool till I got a new job. With the letter in my pocket, I went to see her and she started shouting and abusing me

Godswill Akpabio

67

MAY 5 , 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

LOUD WHISPERS

Shehu Shagari

Kennedy Uzoka

Senator Dariy

Uzor Ozimkp

again, I just looked her straight in the eyes and called her what I had always wanted to call her – a frustrated hag.

She almost died from shock. I don go, na so. How would you deal with me again? You have taken the second term, given me the highest humiliation and now you still want to exercise whatever control you feel you have over me when I really have nothing to lose.

Mbok, Ambode just look am for face and turn him back. These things just grate on someone’s nerves. We are over 20 million in Lagos ooooooo. How can?

keep your head up the people yabbing you will attempt to snatch her o. Let me advise you sha, for continued happiness, don’t go near her phone o. There is something there they call Instagram and WhatsApp, it will bite you if you see it. Don’t allow any young male cousin or classmate near your house o, those ones are the ones finishing the job you obviously cannot finish. Learn the latest slangs, your driver can teach you otherwise your young wife will be booking date right under your nose and you will be smiling thinking she is praying for you. Finally she will cheat, don’t ever think otherwise or else you will be like the wizard of Oz. Any ways, this is still a good move and I am happy for you. Welldone sir and I wish you guys a long bliss full ‘marriage’. Na wa.

he is contesting it, the point has been made. So all these style and signal he is sending gauging public reaction on his matter should stop forthwith. The PDP is not interested in his folly and would not want him to come and distract them from the rebuilding process going on just yet. Chief Akpabio please stay in APC and teach them about the glories in well-made afang and the joys of pulling out periwinkle from its shell.

Just go.

‘banj seeing what was happening moved towards him held his hands and started doing the dance we call ten – ten in Shomolu. Mbok that was some years ago o, today my brother don jump on stage again and as usual I laugh nearly kill myself.

Great guy though, brilliant banker and compassionate human being but dance no be him forte, the only problem is that bobo no want gree.

Please can his handlers put bouncers around his table who will gently restrain him anytime the music move him? No be him fault, the thing dey do me too. Kai. No vex bro, I just had to hit you this time. Charles Aigbe has been restraining me. LOL

MOBOLAJI SANUSI – THE CZAR OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING You know as a practitioner, I have been watching very closely the activities of this agency under this chap. The Lagos LASAA, has been undergoing tremendous changes especially since Mobolaji Sanusi took over the reins. You know me, I really do not heap praises any how o. I am a one-man riot squad with these things but when person see something good I need to shout. It is not criticize and yab all the time, we need to be encouraging the few that are doing things. The sanity and orderliness in our outdoor industry especially with the strict regulation cannot be overlooked. I watched very closely the electioneering and apart from the slight matter that involved the PDP candidate and my brother Edgal there was clear near perfect impartiality in the agency’s approach to its duties. I hear staff welfare has never been this good, the effectiveness and efficiency in the way they engage their publics has never been this good. The one that has really caught my attention is the significant reduction in visual blight. That is the control of the rash of posters and banners all over the Lagos metropolis. Today we have some level of sanity which has contributed to the decency we see in some streets. Well, all I can say is well done sir and keep up the good work.

Thank you.

HON. NED NWOKO – SHOW ME THE WAY This 59-year-old man has acquired for himself a brand-new Nollywood starlet. They say the girl is all of 20 and beside her, the man looks like an ancient dinosaur. But what does it matter, abeg happiness and fulfilment is all that matters. The huge age difference no be problem. This is the kind of thing that I will recommend for all men. As we age, we should begin to look at the younger demographic, they will help you live longer. I tell you. These children will keep your blood flowing, make you feel young again and much more important teach you the latest things. For the girl, what will she lose? Nothing! She now has access to tremendous good things of life that she ordinarily will not get. Mbok, Chief Nwoko don’t mind all these people o. The girl is fine no be small. If you don’t

ABUJA – KADUNA ROAD – TRIP TO GOLGOTHA Be like say evil get timetable for Nigeria and they will be taking turns in a regulated sequence to unleash mayhem on us. As one dey finish, the other will commence; they hardly ever strike at the same time. Maybe our government should learn efficiency and regulation from the devil. First it was the Niger Delta militants and when they finished unleashing terror in the Delta, they handed over to the Fulani herdsmen.

Ahhhh those ones overreach themselves o. They really take a flame thrower to the country. They started killing, maiming, destroying farmlands almost with no recompense. And when their tenure expired, they handed over to Boko Haram. Kai, those ones took the North East to the cleaners. Don’t let me talk too much on that one and now it seems that they have handed over to raiders and kidnappers on this road and in Zamfara and Kaduna. We have witnessed a relay raise of terror and our police are chasing prostitutes for not paying taxes, taking over Fowler’s job at the FIRS. That road should be closed down or something very strategic should be done to secure lives and properties. Are we really helpless as a nation or it’s just a case of lack of focus?

GODSWILL AKPABIO – DON’T COME It is just as well that oga has denied attempting to come back to the PDP. Don’t come o, that is the clear signal being sent to the clay-footed giant. His case in my mind’s eye signpost the beginning of principled centered politics in my home state as against the ‘any where belle face’ style he champions. He was the all and all in Akwa Ibom, the man with unparalleled control and influence over us all. Then one day he made an uncommon move and ended up having an uncommon humiliation. His humiliation was complete when he lost his senatorial seat – even though

SENATOR DARIYE THE MIGHTY They say this paddy is still sending out bills from prison. This is a miracle in itself and must be emulated.

Meaning that all incarcerated fraudsters and armed robbers must be allowed to continue with their activities with full allowances and perks of office complete. We just like to be partial in this country. If a senator can carry out his duties as a full senator of the Federal Republic, then every other person in jail must be allowed such privileges. We are a joke in this country and the people he is representing are proud and happy to say that their senator is the best possible they can get under the circumstances. Even if we no get sense as a people, the Senate which is supposed to be made up of gentlemen and women cannot tell the Ethics Committee to look at this thing and stop this shame? So if he can be sending Bills, why not kuku be allowing him to go for plenary abi wetin remain? They should be releasing him for plenary and after a hard day’s work, he goes back to his comfy cell for a well-deserved rest.

For me, I am not believing that this is happening, I am thinking that it is just an expensive joke, that a senator will not only retain his seat while in jail but still appending his name on Bills. Only in Nigeria. Msheww.

KENNEDY UZOKA : THE MAN WHO CANNOT DANCE Let me yab this bobo small today abeg. I have seen the video of this UBA hotshot attempting to dance while Wizkid was on stage, I don’t know why he like to dey do these things. You cannot dance, leave am no be by force o. The other day at one of those UBA big parties that was how Kennedy jump on stage as D ‘banj dey dish out some great steps. You see, while Tony Elumelu respect himself by just standing by his table and be moving his head back and forth, na so Kennedy jump on stage.

Immediately, his feet freeze. He did not know whether to move the right one first or the left one.

He wiggles his waist, shakes his head come dey do like person wey get small diarrhea. Laugh nearly kill me. I laugh roll for ground, D

EBENEZER ONYEAGWU HITS THE ZENITH The announcement has been made.

This very brilliant chap has just been made the managing director of one of my favourite banks - Zenith. You see I have three accounts with this bank and it is because of my account officer. But that said, the bank has over the years continued to ride the wave of success, leading the industry in so many indices that you begin to imagine that this is not a Nigerian concern. Their push in technology and innovation continues to marvel the market and I think Ebenezer’s appointment would consolidate its leadership position. Recently, the bank decided to make striking incursions into the retail market using fashion, entertainment as main vehicles. Saw Ebenezer at the Thisday Style event presenting a cheque to a legendary designer and I just smiled at the perfect strategy in aligning with one of the fastest-growing sectors in its continued quest for relevance. From here, I wish him an eventful tenure even as I firmly stand in his corner.

UZOR OZIMKPA SIZZLES IN THREESOME Uzor is one of the most gifted actresses that I have ever come across.

Her star quality and charisma remain undeniable. Mbok come and see her at the photo shoot on Sunday and you will see what I am talking about.

Someone had taken her picture with an ordinary camera phone and when we looked at the photograph, everybody gasped. What we saw was electric. She is so talented that you begin to feel cheated by God. Well, she would be taking part in the Alibaba and Olisa Adibu-produced play coming up this June at the Muson Centre called Threesome. It is a psycho-erotic drama that will look at marriage, lust and desire as its central themes. It will be crazy fun as I am also going to cameo in the play. Be like say, I go run on stage nude for a minute. But make we dey see. Guys Threesome is a must see.

Thank you.

68

M ͽ˜ ͺ͸͹΁ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL Protecting Untruth in a Presidential System: The Case of PDP vs INEC and US Attorney General vs the Congress

T

he political environment in Nigeria might truly be ‘fantastically corrupt’ as suggested by some foreign friends of Nigeria. The issue here is not simply that Nigeria is corrupt but the qualifying word, fantastically. Why fantastically? One possible explanation is to espy it from the perspective of societal disorderliness that has come to characterise political governance at all levels of

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

national life.

First, how does the Government think in Nigeria? What is the philosophy of governance in Nigeria? Has the Government any philosophy guiding the protection of the national interest? Has the Government any philosophy on the protection of Nigerians abroad? Why would a whole Ministry of Foreign Affairs be remiss in its duties and it would require the faculty of a Senior Special Assistant to the President, Abike Dabiri-Erewa to courageously perform the duties of the Foreign Ministry, especially as regards saving the lives of Nigerians wrongly put on death row in Saudi Arabia?

We strongly believe that, under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, political governance is said to be predicated on the pursuit of national security, vibrant economy, and corruption-free society. It is most unfortunate that the general public’s perception is negative on all the three areas and this is simply because of untruth in political governance.

Regarding corruption, the objective of government to neutralise corruption is quite commendable but the approach is transparently dishonest, self-serving and embarrassing. As such, corruption cannot be nipped in the bud in the Nigeria of today and this is why the description of Nigeria as fantastically corrupt has some elements of truth.

In terms of the economy, it has truly been witnessing growth, but the growth has not been allowed to dovetail into development.

Nigeria’s potential resources have not been allowed to be made manifest. In other words, Nigeria is wealthy potentially but not in real life. In fact, many businesses are on record to be leaving the country for reasons of an inclement environment, especially increasing insecurity and challenges of power outage. The challenges at the domestic level are such that the Government has been constrained and prevented from signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as well as signing the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement.

As for national security, this should not be simply seen in the context of carrying battles to the door steps of the Boko Haram and other groupings, such as the MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra) and MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta). National security, should a priori be explained in the context of ‘stomach infrastructure’, wellness and happiness of the people. The first focus of national security should be the defence and protection of the Nigerian wherever he or she may be found. Most unfortunately, the contrary is most often the case.

You may wish to recall the reported statement of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on the platform of the Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, 24 April, 2019, regarding the situation of unemployment and brain drain in Nigeria. The general public was showing concern about the increasing exit of medical and paramedical practitioners from the country. As reported in The Punch of Thursday, April 25, 2019, Dr. Ngige declared as follows: ‘No, I am not worried about doctors leaving the country. We have surplus. If you have surplus, you export... Who says we don’t have more than enough? We have more than enough. You can quote me. There is nothing wrong in them travelling out. When they go abroad, they earn money and send it back home here. Yes, we have foreign exchange earnings from them and not just oil.’

From the perspective of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), the Minister does not appear to understand the requirements by the World Health Organisation. Dr. Francis Faduyile, the President of the NMA, has said ‘that is an unfortunate statement, which shows that he has done nothing in medical practice. The WHO stated that (for) the optimal health care to be achieved, we

need doctor/patient ratio of one to 600. In Nigeria, we have 40,000 doctors taking care of 200 million people. It is unfortunate we do not have enough doctors.’

Two points are noteworthy here: What is the place of the WHO in the medical calculations of the Minister of Health of Nigeria? If 40,000 doctors currently attend to 200 million people, this means that the ratio is one doctor to 5000 (five thousand) patients, whereas the prescription by the WHO is 1 doctor to 600. In this regard, can it be rightly said that medical doctors are in excess in Nigeria? If a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not have the appropriate data to work with in policy making, why should anyone expect any policy objectivity of purpose in outcome?

The second point is how to reconcile the WHO’s request for optimal health care and the current healthcare situation in the Country?

Is Dr. Ngige also suggesting that the optimal level of healthcare has been attained and therefore there is no problem with brain drain?

This is an expression of untruth in political governance.

Under this same administration, rape, extra-judicial killings, as well as child abuse are also on the increase. The same is true of ransacking of communities and villages, suicide by young people, kidnappings, armed robberies, especially in Lagos and along Abuja-Kaduna expressway, and examination malpractices, to the extent that the JAMB has had to cancel many results. The situation of extra-judicial killings has prompted the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to declare that he would sanction any principal officer whose subordinates abuse the use of firearms.

In the words of the acting IGP, ‘I have already ordered that a signal be circulated to all police commands and formations, warning of dire consequences against any personnel that, by their incorrigible acts, deviate from accepted police culture and values.’

More important, the IGP has it that ‘the line supervisors of such officer, including the Area Commander, Divisional Police Officer or sectional Head, shall be held vicariously liable for lacking supervision and shall be similarly sanctioned.’

Although the acting IGP has also revealed that President Buhari had also directed him ‘to immediately implement community policing strategy across the country,’ with the objective that such a structure ‘will enable traditional rulers to maintain an effective cultural and social control over their subjects,’ (vide https://www. thecable.ng), it is not yet clear whether the community policing will be allowed to be driven by honesty of purpose. This point is made against the background of the intention to have special constables provided for in Section 50(1) of the Police Act Cap P19 LFN 2004. In other words, ‘the Special Constables will be drawn from members of the community to serve as voluntary community police officers under the coordination of the Nigeria Police Force,’ the acting IGP further said.

The resort to community policing is not only an admission of the deteriorating security situation in the country but also a justification and righteousness of arguments of all those that have been calling for restructuring, not only of the police force, in particular, but that of the polity, in general. President Buhari never saw any goodness in the various calls before now, but has, for reasons of force majeure, now accepted to chart the path of national restructuring with his directive on community policing.

Yakubu, INEC Chairman

Mueller, Special Investigation Counsel

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Without any jot of doubt, institutional corruption is serious business in Nigeria but everybody pretends not to know about it. It is useful to provide two or three illustrations at this juncture.

First, institutional corruption thrives well at the domestic airport. It is coupled with disorderliness. I asked my staff to buy me a ticket on Sunday, April 28, 2019 to travel with Arik Airline, Lagos-Abuja.

The ticket was booked by Maverick Travel Agency at the domestic wing of the airport. The amount of the ticket was N58,000 (fiftyeight thousand naira only). It was an economy ticket, not a business or First Class ticket. I queried my staff why such an amount, since the maximum cost of any economy class is by rule not more than N46,000 (forty-six thousand naira only). Why didn’t you buy directly from the Arik? I asked my officer. He responded that Arik claimed that there was no more place for 6am flight on Monday April 29. But the Maverick Travel Agency guaranteed him a booking.

I took the complaint to the Office of Arik in Abuja on my arrival there and was told that the Office knew nothing about the travel agency. One truth here is that the travel agency booked the ticket using the Arik platform. The travel agency deleted the correct amount of N45888,00 and issued a separate receipt for the payment. Without doubt, what prevents the Arik from operating very professionally by particularly compelling whoever wants to represent it to have a code of conduct? I called the travel agency to inform of my intention to get the matter prosecuted because I was not prepared to pay N12,000 as service charge for simply booking an airline ticket. No airport reception. No lounge. No tea or coffee service. No security escort. Absolutely no other benefit than just reserving a place. The travel agency did not want any police matter and offered to refund part of the money. With much begging, I accepted a N5000 refund. This is stealing by a corrupt method. The intention is ab initio to steal. One interesting argument of the travel agency is that Arik does not pay it any commission. Why enjoy services of a travel agency and refuse to appreciate? This is another expression of corruption.

In fact, at the checking-in counter, it is also disorderliness galore: touts are allowed in through business passengers’ corridor. Affinity Wings clientèle cannot lay claim to any privilege. Rowdiness and struggles between those who would want to go by 6am but scheduled for 7am flight, turned the area into another roaring market. Unfortunately, Arik flight hardly leaves at 6 am. On this very day, it taxied off at 6.27 am. I took time to monitor various acts of indiscipline and refused to beg anyone for help. But it dawned on one staff, who noticed that I was asking for names of some of them, to attend to me.

True, genuine people on the queue were unnecessarily ridiculed.

How do we explain this type of assault on the integrity of honest people? Does the Minister of Aviation want to claim not to know about all these indecent activities in the airport? National image is tainted. This is a manifestation of institutional corruption and societal indiscipline to which we all acquiesce. Foreigners see all these and laugh, write reports back home, but deal decisively with erring Nigerians back home.

What about violations of simple traffic code? Let us begin with the case of Lagos State for example. The State of most spectacular societal indiscipline and disorderliness in Nigeria is Lagos State. It is a State that prides itself State of Excellence. The question to ask, however, is simple: in which areas should we be talking about situations of excellence? ‘Show me your friend and I will tell you whom you are’ is a common saying. It simply means let first appearance suggest further details about you.

Visible societal indiscipline in Lagos State begins with the lawlessness of the commercial vehicles, popularly referred to as ‘danfo.’

They do not have any respect for any traffic rule. They operate with impunity and are always in a haste to make money and, therefore, strongly believe that any road traffic offence could be settled by money giving. And true enough, whoever wants to verify this observation should go to Ikorodu road, and see how danfos ply the reserved BRT way in the glare of law enforcement agents meant to arrest them. Why is Government unable to discipline ‘danfo’ (the yellow commercial vehicle) drivers? The answer is well known: corruption, dishonesty, untruth at the level of government.

And true enough, road traffic wardens in Lagos State set traps for motorists. In many parts of Lagos State, there are no road signs, especially for one way but the traffic officers hide in a corner and arrest unsuspecting drivers. I was arrested in one area of Mushin by Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and I refused to settle anyone because there was no road sign indicating the street was one way only. I not only went with the officers to their office to invite their superior officers to come and show me where there was a prohibiting road sign. We went to the street to discover that the road sign had fallen down long time and that the writings on the very rusted metal any sign post has faded.

Perhaps, more interestingly, I noted that the traffic warden who took me to his area office also took the same one way for which he arrested me. I told the Head of the office that If I was guilty of taking one way, what makes it legal for you as road traffic wardens to also take the same way and you would not be guilty? This scenario clearly shows how political governance is carried out in the whole of Nigeria. Government agents can do anything and they are protected. If the abiding citizens do the same, the story is different.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

ARTS & REVIEW

TRIBUTE EXHIBITION FOR EBENEZER OBEY FABIYI AT ADF 2019 PAGE 72

A

PUBLICATION

05.05.2019

TONI KAN'S NIGHTS OF THE CREAKING BED:

WHEN A BOOK DEFINES A WRITER

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

71

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

ARTS & REVIEW\\LITERARY CAFÉ

WHEN A BOOK DEFINES A WRITER News of the release of the UK edition ofToni Kan’s award-winning short story collection, Nights of the Creaking Bed was major literary news of the week from the pages of newspapers to blogs and social media platforms.

Why is a book that was first published 10 years ago eliciting such excitement? Olufunke Adepuji wonders

T

he book is one of Cassava Republics top-selling titles and has never been out of print since it was published. And as the author said in a post, his book “has been used by over 30 people for their theses or dissertations.”

The news filtered out of Cassava Republic towards the end of April that the copies of the UK edition of Nights of the Creaking Bed, Toni Kan's critically-acclaimed and award-winning short story collection would be on the shelves in a matter of days.

Popular Kenyan blogger, James Murua had announced the launch of a new imprint under Cassava Republic in an April 24 blogstory: “Cassava Shorts to issue Chika Unigwe, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim and Toni Kan Titles.”

“Nigeria’s newest imprint Cassava Shorts is set to issue titles by Chika Unigwe, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, and Toni Kan… It has announced a new short story series that will bring to the light gripping stories by celebrated and emerging authors. “With this new series, we want to celebrate the short story’s potential to reactivate a love of good old-fashioned storytelling in pithy form. At a time when so much is competing for our attention, short stories are a quick way to get immense [sic] in a world and still feeling satiated. Some of my most explosive and evocative reads have been the short story form. So, I am very excited to introduce this series by some of the best-known and emerging writers from across the African world,” said Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Cassava Republic Publishing Director.

Toni Kan’s Nights of the Creaking Bed hit book stores on April 30, in the UK as the first book to be released under the company's new imprint, Cassava Shorts. First published in 2009, the UK edition features new stories and a brand new cover that appropriates the yellow of Lagos danfos. The book has never been out of print over its 10 year plus run making it one of Cassava Republic’s best sellers and has received wide critical attention from the online portals to the academia.

Described by Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters Street and Booker Prize judge as “a brash and vibrant collection that brims all at once with sadness and humour; suffering and compassion; longing and loss” the UK edition of Nights of the Creaking Bed features 15 stories and opens with Strangers, a signature Toni Kan story that is all too familiar with its human drama in an urban setting yet visceral and atavistic.

The story begins with – “Nobody saw them arrive. But everyone knew when they left; none of us on that street will forget even if we lived to be hundred. They were two young boys on the cusps of manhood. Nineteen? Twenty? Twentyone? Who knew and who really cared. They were strangers, not one of us, so nobody poked their nose into their business.”

Toni Kan occupies a unique place in Nigeria’s literary establishment

as probably the only Nigerian writer with a publishing deal that extends to the UK and the US who does not live or lecture abroad nor have a foreign agent or publisher.

He has remained fully in Nigeria and has in the past 20 years, since his work first appeared in the Liberty Short story Anthology, Little Drops become one of the leading lights of the

Nigerian literary scene.

Journalist, editor, online publisher and untiring movie and book reviewer Toni Kan was described

by Nduka Otiono as “one of the most anthologised writers of his generation.” He is, also in many ways, one of the most garlanded and prolific with over 15 books published between 2003 and this

year. Past winner of the Prof. Wole Soyinka Award for Literature and the Saro Wiwa/NDDC prose prize in 2009 (for Nights of the Creaking Bed,) his novella Ballad of Rage was shortlisted for the inaugural NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature and received honourable mention in the ANA/Spectrum Prose Prize, 2004 while his debut novel, The Carnivorous City was shortlisted for the Kwani Manuscript prize long before it was published and upon publication was picked as “Crime Reads Best International Fiction for May 2018.

His debut poetry collection, When a Dream Lingers Too Long received honourable mention at the ANACadbury Poetry Prize 2003 competition. He has also received honours at the Liberty Short Story competition as well as the MUSON poetry prize where he won the third prize on both occasions.

With two degrees in English Literature from the Universities of Jos and Lagos respectively where he graduated at the top of his class, Kan who is a fellow of the Heinrich Boll, Civitella Ranieri and Yaddo fellowships has written or co-written seven biographical works.

The new look collection of short stories has received further commendation from other writers aside Chika Unigwe. Sefi Atta, author of Every Thing Good Will Come and Caine prize judge says "beginning with deliberate brevity and ending on a note of lush lyricism, these fascinating vignettes of Lagos life showcase an array of peripatetic characters who are hopelessly stuck in their dilemmas."

Zukiswa Wanner, Zambian-born Kenyan-based author of London, Cape Town, Joburg has said that "in Nights of the Creaking Bed, Toni Kan holds a mirror to humanity's ability to love tenderly one minute and destroy cruelly in the next, thus capturing with style the complexity and unpredictability of not just his characters but ourselves. A necessary addition to the library of any discerning reader."

For Michael Sears, one half of the Michael Stanley tag team the collection's "Lyrical prose and harsh insights make each story a sweet and sour treat."

Expressing his delight in a series of social media posts, the author hailed by fans as Mayor of Lagos wrote: "New look. New Imprint. New stories! The UK edition of my award winning short story collection, Nights of the Creaking Bed, hits the shelves from today. This news makes me happy on several levels.

Nights was published 10 years ago but it has never gone out of print and has been used by over 30 people I know for their theses or dissertations.

Secondly, it was my first properly published book with a proper publisher, contract and royalties. But above all it is the first book to be issued under Cassava Republic's new imprint; Cassava Shorts. Every writer wants to publish a work that endures and defines him, It is early days yet but Nights remains a gift that keeps giving."

Toni Kan will be embarking on a book tour of the UK in June to promote the new book.

––Adepuji writes from Lagos.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

72

ARTS & REVIEW\\EXHIBITION

AIMASIKO Album cover

Gov Ibikunle Amosun Prof. Wole Soyinka and the curator Damola Adebowale at the exhibition

TRIBUTE EXHIBITION FOR EBENEZER OBEY FABIYI AT ADF 2019 Yinka Olatunbosun

F

rom wall to wall, pictures of the heroes of Nigeria’s indigenous music were lined. They include album covers arranged in frames, some dating back to the 1970s. The destination was Olumo Rock, a leading tourist site in the capital city of Abeokuta, Ogun State. The show was one of the major highlights of the just-concluded African Drum Festival, a rich multi-cultural gathering that accentuates the value of

the drum. An initiative of the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the festival honours sons and daughters of Ogun state who have used their drums and other percussive instruments in their practice.

Curated by the Founder and Publisher, ASIRI Magazine, Oludamola Adebowale, this year’s edition of the exhibition was designed to honour the great juju musician, Chief Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi who turned 77 on April 3, 2019. It was a celebration of an iconic musician with an exemplary life who was also present at the opening ceremony of the ADF held at the amphi-

theatre, City Centre, Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta.

“The exhibition is designed to give deserved honour to select cultural and artistic ambassadors of Ogun State origin who in their individual practice have explored and exploited the resources of the drum in attaining accomplishment in their career,’’ stated the curator.

His personal collection that attests to his flamboyant persona on stage include agbada (robe) made of expensive sequined lace and aso-oke, crocs-inspired leather shoes, sequined shoes, an assortment of string instruments mostly electric guitars (Hawaiian steel guitar), damask caps

amongst others.

Other items on display include album covers of “Solution”, “Aimasiko” and “Victory”; pictures of Obey at the studio with Lak Adeniran who was regarded as one of the best studio engineers of his generation. They were also pictures of him with his US manager, expatriates, wife, and Late politician, MKO Abiola, and plaques of his music awards.

Other artists who were honoured alongside him include Hubert Ogunde, Fela Sowande, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Ayinla Omo-Wura, Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, Haruna Ishola and Salawa Abeni.

ENCOUNTER

Up-Close with Versatile Performing Artist, Kehinde Adeyemo-Fasuyi Yinka Olatunbosun

W

ith over two decades of a career in performing arts, Kehinde Adeyemo, also known as Kehinde Adeyemo-Fasuyi is one of the most versatile in the industry.

A dancer, actor, singer, she laid a good foundation for her career with her study of Dramatic Arts at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. She has performed with the National Troupe, the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture, amongst others. Her portfolio includes work with music greats such as King Sunny Ade, Sir Shina Peters, Femi

Kehinde (r) dancing with KIng Sunny Ade

Kuti , Alabi Pasuma. Perhaps, one of her milestones in performing arts was to be part of the select performers for the COJA (Comité d’Organisation des Jeux Africain) 8th All Africa Games and CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) to welcome Queen Elizabeth to the summit in Abuja. She recently concluded her tour of North America with King Sunny Ade. She was the Assistant Co-ordinator, National Troupe Children creative station. A welltravelled performer, she and her twin sister co-founded the Osa Meji Entertainment and Ibeji Group, an Entertainment company that teaches African and Nigerian dances as well as languages. She is fluent in Igbo and Yoruba languages.

Growing up, one of her first discoveries about a successful career was that talent is not enough.

"I realised that I needed more than talent and a school leaving certificate to achieve that goal. So, I went to Obafemi Awolowo University where I studied drama and music. Next step for me is to travel the world with my art so I joined Femi Kuti's band as a dancer. But as fate would have it, that wasn't my ticket to travel the world.

While I was with Femi's band, I heard about Professor Wole Soyinka's audition for his new play 'King Baabu' which was to go on a world tour," she recounted.

Just a few weeks later, she was one of the selected actors for the play.

It turned out to be one of the most challenging moments in her career.

Kehinde

"It brought out abilities I never knew I had as an actor. I ended up playing six different characters both male and female roles because the play itself should have been performed with nothing less than 100 actors but because it was going on a world tour, it was streamlined to 15 actors. We had actors and crew from Switzerland, France and Nigeria."

Afterwards, she alongside her twin sister joined King Sunny Ade's band.

"He took us round the world," she declared as she remembered the experience as one that was both educative and electrifying.

Kehinde and her twin sister would later run a television show called ‘T and K in da Mix’; record songs as they explore other aspects of their creativity having imbibed discipline from the tertiary education.

Working with indigenous music bands had broadened her scope of dance and increased her versatility as a dancer because every music genre has its temperament.

For her as a performing artist, her decision to marry an artist was both a rational and emotional one.

"The best thing that has ever happened to me as an artiste is being married to an artiste. It makes it a lot easier to still practice what I love," she continued. "The only way I am able to do what I do being as busy as I have been and still able to keep my home is that I married my soul mate who also happens to be an artiste. When he travels, I keep the home; when I travel, he keeps the home. We balance each other and the fact that he is an artiste makes it all simpler. When you get a job you don't have to explain too much because, most of the time he got you the job or asked you to audition for it, so he already knows the details of it."

Adeyemo-Fasuyi is working to complete her music project.

73

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

Kidnapping as Nigeria’s New National Security Challenge Except the government does something fast, kidnapping and wanton killings may overrun Nigeria with the possibility of turning the country into a failed state, writes Olawale Olaleye

W

ith seemingly overfed service chiefs, who are obviously bereft of new age ideas on how to tackle high-level crimes and a police force that is helplessly bogged down by inherent and age-long challenges, insecurity is generally and gradually assuming a life of its own in the country.

But whilst it appears insurgency has succeeded in securing a spot in the body polity despite the unsustainable lies of technically defeating it by the federal government, another cankerworm is fast gaining the ground and it is kidnapping.

Kidnapping, like insurgency, is not a new crime wave. But while insurgents are unconventional in their modus operandi, the kidnappers’ approach is familiar – the cheap old ways, albeit with sophistication now. Apart from working with information sometimes obtained from insiders, they are believed to also partner some security operatives, who aid the smooth run of their operations.

This, perhaps, is one reason kidnapping is not only thriving but fast becoming an industry, which if not curtailed very quickly, could be another intractable menace in the hands of the overall security operatives in the country.

For example, reports of the nefarious activities of men of the underworld on the How helpless is the Nigerian security popular Kaduna-Abuja have tarried for a while. It is bad enough that travellers on that route are being killed, cars hastily abandoned by their owners. The development left many kidnapped or sometimes never found again. That the situation has motorists and passengers unaccounted for at the time even though remained as menacing as it belies logic in the face of the security their belongings were carted away by the kidnappers. architecture of the country.

Two days after the Kaduna-Abuja highway operation, Katsina But because men of the underworld had operated on that road State, the home of President Muhammadu Buhari came under heavy without as much an effective challenge or engagement from the attacks by bandits, who abducted the District Head of Daura, Alhaji security agencies, the Kaduna-Abuja highway has since become their Musa Umar. Believed to be Buhari’s in-law, Umar, a retired customs home and a very safe place to function maximally. officer was also said to be married to the daughter of the president’s Thus, when last week, travellers experienced one of the most dar- sister and the father of Fatima, wife of Col. Mohammed Abubakar, ing operations by these anti-social elements, the signs of what to come Buhari’s aide-de-camp (ADC). should the government not fully step in need no further explaining.

The kidnappers reportedly stormed his residence at about 7 p.m.

Kidnappers, on Monday afternoon – broad daylight – blocked and shot sporadically into the air, scaring bystanders, who scampered such major road and forced many motorists to abandon their vehicles to safety. He had just returned from the mosque, where he took part and straight to the nearby bushes to avoid being abducted. Of in the evening prayer and sat in front of his house with some people, course, they succeeded in abducting many travellers, including the when the bandits reportedly came in a Peugeot 406 saloon car.

Chairman of Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Dr. Muhammad In a similar breath, bandits had struck the night before in Abubakar, and his daughter. Abubakar’s driver was not as lucky.

Gobirawa and Sabawa villages in Safana Local Government Area He was killed as soon as the bandits opened fire on their vehicle. of Katsina State, killing no fewer than 17 people with several others Although Abubakar and daughter had since been released, including sustaining injuries, with a view to kidnapping. the cheering reports of the alleged arrest of some of the kidnappers, The member representing Safana constituency at the Katsina the development has not changed the state of the road either.

State House of Assembly, Abduljalal Runka, who confirmed the A correspondent with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who development said the armed bandits in their dozens stormed the witnessed the operation firsthand and narrowly escaped attack by the villages on motorbikes shooting sporadically. He claimed the bandits kidnappers reported that the incident happened a few kilometres to started their operations in Gobirawa village, where most of the Katari village in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State at victims were killed and later moved to Sabawa, leaving a number of about 3.30 p.m. women and children missing.

Hundreds of motorists travelling from Kaduna to Abuja as well Particularly niggling is the situation in Zamfara State. It has yet to as those going the other way were reportedly stranded for more ease off. Bandits in the state are said to have fully gone nuclear, to the than 40 minutes as both lanes of the expressway were blocked by

extent that villagers in many districts now fear to go to the farm for fear of being killed or kidnapped.

This, however, is not peculiar to the north alone. Indeed, kidnapping is the business of men of the underworld from the southern parts of the country. But while the situation remains as bad in the south, it has extended its tentacles to the northern parts of the country and doing really well, with the security of life and property stymied by the insurgency.

The general security situation in the country is at the moment appalling. Even more niggling is the fact that it does not appear the security operatives are up to the task – and in some cases, they look like accomplices. Not only is their number too insignificant to contain the current challenges, arms and ammunition are also not available.

Sadly, this has been further compounded by the increasing bag eggs in the various security agencies in the country.

Kidnapping is thriving in the country and has become an illegal ‘industry’ with tempting recruitment strategy for millions of unemployed and disgruntled Nigerian youths. With increasing unemployment rate made possible by a wobbly economy and an unstable political front, the future does not look good except of course government steps up its game. It is therefore not enough for the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to redeploy his men there. The question is: how well-equipped and prepared are the men reassigned for this task? Again, it may be true that no nation, like Governor Nasir el-Rufai espoused recently, has perfect security. What is different, however, is that in saner and decent climes, security is both responsive and responsible and that’s a world of difference.

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

How Did UN Come about That Number?

S Dr. Yemi Kale, the Statistician-General

ome days ago, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) shocked many Nigerians when it stated that the country’s population currently stands at 201 million.This, it added, represents an increase of 5.1 million from the 195.9 million it claimed the country had in October last year. In its 2019 State of the World Population report published on its website, the UNFPA added that the country’s annual growth rate has been at an average of 2.6 per cent from 2010 to 2019.

Curiously, apart from citing some fertility rate among the Nigerian women, which it claimed had dropped from 6.4 in 1969 to 5.3 in 2019, and interpreted to mean that

an average Nigerian woman gives birth to at least five children, there was no empirical fact-check to show the figure quoted is verifiable, authentic or reflects the true Nigerian population. It all seemed like some conspiracy designed for a premeditated end.

Unfortunately, this can only pass as UN’s population of Nigeria and not what Nigeria has verified as hers.

To continually impose population figures on sovereign nations, thereby undermining their growth plans and projections is totally anti-development and speaks ill of an organisation as important as the UN, especially when Nigeria has not held a census in many years. This number is fraudulent and not acceptable. There is more to it, coming from the UN, in fact.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 5, 2019

74

BRIEFINGNOTES

For Fashola, It’s a Wrap!

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, last week seized the occasion of a book launch on the activities of his ministries in the last three and a half years to give his closing report. Olawale Olaleye, who was at the event, reports

T

ypical of him, the event had his signature written all over the place in terms of organisation and content. Save for a slight delay in starting the programme, which was no fault of Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing. Fashola’s events are always business-like.

Apparently pressed for time as he was scheduled to deliver a speech at the one-day retreat for the governors-elect, Fashola would not even let the compere take the national anthem. There was no time to waste – straight to the business, he signalled.

Thus, from the opening remarks by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mohammed Bukar to the review by Taiwo Obe, founder, Journalism Clinic and remarks by a few of the guests, who included the Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Senator Kabiru Gaya; representative of the Chairman, House Committee on Works, Muhammed Wudil Ali and Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the launch of the book titled, ‘Proof of Infrastructure delivery Across Nigeria’ was sped up within time to let some of the guests undertake other commitments of the day.

Done giving their remarks, Fashola immediately mounted the podium and started by first serving notice that the speech he was about to deliver would also serve as his closing report on his activities in the ministry in the nearly almost four years that he assumed office.

Firstly, he said, “The story and records of what the ministry of Power, Works, and Housing has done in three years, five months and days, that is from 11 November 2015 to date, is largely documented in the book we are presenting today. The book reviewer has already given a preview of what it contains, and I will not dampen your reading enthusiasm by going into any lengthy detail. I propose only to set a context for evaluation and understanding.”

He, however, added: “I will start by referring to my inaugural press briefing on 8 December 2015, where I set out the agenda that this ministry would be pursuing so that well-meaning Nigerians, who were interested in monitoring us, could track us.

In that briefing, I set out what our campaign message of change would mean in this ministry and in respect of the three sectors of this ministry, I set out what should be expected of us.”

In the power sector, he recalled: “I said we will change the paltry budget of N5 billion, which we met in 2015 by spending more and I committed to the delivery of incremental power; as our short-term objective. For Works, I promised that we will increase the paltry budget of N19 billion, and use the same to revive abandoned road projects, restore construction activities, recover lost construction jobs and reduce journey times on our federal roads.”

In the housing sector, he promised: “We will set out to develop a model national housing programme, to ascertain what Nigerians find acceptable and affordable as a prelude to a more aggressive roll-out of the national housing schemes that we are sure that Nigerians accept and can also afford.”

To that extent, Fashola, who acknowledged the efforts of other ministers like Mustapha Baba Shehuri, and Suleiman Hassan Zarma, added that with the help, support and cooperation of “our staff, under the leadership of our permanent secretaries and directors, we have delivered on the agenda I set out at the 2015 press briefing.”

Specifically, in the power sector, the minister said well-meaning Nigerians acknowledged their efforts by saying clearly that their power supply experience had improved compared to 2015, even when he too acknowledged that the work has not finished.

Fashola stated: “The task going forward is to solve the outstanding issues of estimated billing, the supply of meters, add

Fashola...done and dusted more power and make the supply steady which I stated will be our medium-term goal.”

He said while the whole of Nigeria had focused on power from the grid for six decades in the search for a solution to the energy problem, the Buhari government opened a new page through his ministry about the possibilities in the off-grid sector.

Through this initiative and the Rural Electrification Agency, he noted that seven universities, two teaching hospitals are currently having independent power solution deployed at various states.

According to him, preparatory works have been undertaken on all sites. All the equipment had arrived in Nigerian ports.

Delving into works, Fashola said, “there is at least one federal road under construction in each of the 36 states and the FCT; while some have been completed, others are still under construction. Construction workers will tell you that they have a better deal than in 2015. Quarry operators will tell you that the business of supplying sand, rocks, chippings, laterite, and other construction materials is better today than in 2015.

“The volumes and quantities of Bitumen and Asphalt being sold has increased compared to 2015. Supervising consultants engaged to monitor our contractors and even banks, who issue bank guarantees to secure payment to contractors will tell you that they have a better deal than in 2015.”

He claimed that the road transport operators and their unions and commuters alike would admit that their journey times had improved, although work has yet to finish there, arguing that it was one of the reasons President Muhammadu Buhari was re-elected to take the people to the Next Level and finish the job.

Citing the Ilorin-Jebba road, which had collapsed, taking between three and seven days to traverse the 93km-route, he said the road has been finished and now takes a little over one hour to travel.

“Maintenance work on bridges, long neglected is being undertaken on assets like Third Mainland Bridge, Isaac Boro Bridge, Tamburawa Bridge, Eko Bridge, the old Niger Bridge, while new ones like 2nd Niger Bridge, Bodo-Bonny Bridge, Loko-Oweto Bridge, are being constructed and others have been recently awarded,” he added.

Apart from public highways, Fashola pointed out that other areas are being given attention, saying: “We are repairing,

building and rehabilitating internal roads in federal universities and tertiary institutions. This has not happened in a long time.

FERMA, our maintenance agency is now fully focused on her core assignment of road maintenance under a new leadership and management team.”

The housing sector, he posited, had a similar story of economic opportunities with construction going on in 34 states, most of which are now largely completed.

“We are now in the administrative state of setting better conditions for eligibility and offer to the public, while simultaneously planning the second phase in those states that have given us land. Our intention is to respond sustainably to deliver on the president’s promise to enable more job creation and employment opportunities,” he said.

He said the FHA was back to its core mandate of building houses and FMBN was more focused on lending to contributors to the National Housing Fund.

“We have cleared the backlog of unsigned consent to land transactions and issuance of certificates of transparency. As at 13th April 2019, we have issued1,417 consent to land transactions and 2,400 certificates of occupancy,” said Fashola, noting that some of the beneficiaries had paid for their properties as far back as the 1990s but did not get the title.

While noting that all the modest achievements of the Buhari administration did not happen while oil prices were $100 per barrel, but when oil prices dropped below $50 per barrel and at one time below $30, adding: “Very simply, we have made this place better than we met it. That is what our mandate for change meant and still means – making it better.”

Reiterating that the administration remained committed to delivering more services, he said one of the areas of focus would be an aggressive implementation of the National Infrastructure Maintenance Programme recently approved by FEC. For instance, he informed that contractors had started closing up major earthworks and keeping flood-prone areas motorable during the rainy season, adding that some of the state governments had been working with them to de-flood canals and drains to allow for easy flow of water that traverse their states.

Fashola touched on a rather sensitive issue, which is the procurement law and some of the processes involved in road construction in the country, so that “members of the public can understand some of what we do here as a basis for future assessment of performance.”

After running through the tedious process of getting any particular road construction done, from the stage of conception to approval and execution, he noted that government cycles in the last 20 years had been fixed tenures of four years at a time, subject to how the electorate votes.

“Since 1952 to date, Nigeria has had 34 ministers of works and I am number 34 in a period of 67 years. This amounts to an average of a Minister every 1.9 years. Further interrogation of the data of tenure shows that very few of them served for up to four years and above and the majority served a little over a year, which is barely enough time to design a road not to talk of undertaking the procurement and actually building the road,” the minister stated.

Reflecting on what had been done, he added that careful thoughts and choices still lie ahead, noting also that the trio of the executive, the legislative and the judicial arms of government must as a matter of urgency forge a national consensus on how to overcome some of the challenges that the country faces in the delivery of her urgently needed national infrastructure.

And on that note, Fashola wrapped up his service to his fatherland in the last three and a half years in the ministry of power, works, and housing, with rousing applause that showed approval and commendation.

NOTES FOR FILE

Tasking the Incoming NGF Chair

Fayemi

It is no longer news that the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi is the one to take over from his Zamfara State counterpart, Abdul-Aziz Yari as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’Forum, the nation’s most popular elite club. As elite and controversial as the club could be sometimes, it is not some ‘bread and butter’assignment or one for the faint-hearted. Indeed, Yari could be categorised as unpopular in his state, definitely not amongst his colleaguegovernors.

His era has been very prosperous for the governors. It was under him and through his efforts that they got the Paris Club refund. He made the refund for road projects to state since the days of former President Olusegun Obasanjo possible, such that Lagos alone got about N100 billion refunds for road works.

He was instrumental to bailout and reliefs from Excess Crude Account. He has been an amazing bridge builder for his colleagues.

Coming from the days when the forum was factionalised, Yari has taken it up to such point that he can only be envied. This, perhaps, is why the choice of Fayemi comes natural with many of his colleagues. Fayemi understands the essence of networking and building bridges for result. He has good very temperament and an actualiser per excellence. He yet cannot take anything for granted and must therefore strive to outdo his predecessor and by extension, change some of the unsavoury the perceptions about the forum.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

75

CICERO/REPORT

The acting CJN, Mohammed

Shittu

Shittu: How Judiciary Tolerates Impunity A recent ruling by a Federal High Court in the case filed by the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, against the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress may have further exposed how the judiciary promotes impunity, Davidson Iriekpen writes

P

enultimate week, Justice P. I. Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State, delivered a judgment that many analysts considered a dent on the quest to curb impunity in the country.

The judgment, which could have served as deterrence to those, who deliberately or ignorantly avoid undergoing the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme was quietly ignored by the court.

The case was in respect of a suit filed by the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, against the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for disqualifying him from contesting the governorship primary in Oyo State.

Shittu studied law at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and graduated in 1978. Upon his graduation from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in 1979, rather than participate in the one-year mandatory national service, he immediately joined politics and was elected a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly.

Reacting to why he did not participate in the scheme when the scandal broke, the minister was quoted as saying he did not need to participate in the one-year mandatory scheme because his election as a lawmaker had compensated for it, claiming also that he has a court ruling to that effect.

He said: “The constitution provides for the qualification needed for state assembly members, NYSC is not there. I didn’t need it to become a member of the state assembly, and that is already a service.”

When it was time for APC governorship primaries, Shittu indicated interest. But his party disqualified him on the grounds that he did not participate in the NYSC scheme. This angered the minister, who immediately proceeded to the Federal High Court in Ibadan to seek redress. He claimed that the national leadership of the APC omitted his name in the list of its gubernatorial aspirants for the primaries, because he did not participate in the NYSC scheme.

His counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustafa (SAN), who knows that failure to participate in the one-year mandatory service contravenes the law, among all other things, argued that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria required anyone seeking to be a state governor to possess a maximum of Senior Secondary School Certificate and not necessarily an NYSC certificate.

NYSC was set up in 1973. It is a one-year compulsory scheme for all Nigerians youths, who graduate from universities or equivalent institutions at less than 30 years of age. In addition to being a requirement for government and private sector jobs in the country, the enabling law prescribes punishment for anyone, who refuses to participate in the scheme or forges its certificates.

Eligible Nigerians, who skipped the service are liable to be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and/or N2,000 fine, according to Section 13 of the NYSC Act. Section 13 (3) of the law also prescribes three-year jail term or option of N5,000 fine for anyone who contravenes provision of the law.

At the peak of the controversy, spokesperson of the NYSC, Adenike Adeyemi, faulted the minister’s claim. She said the provisions of the Act were very clear, and that there are no exceptions for Shittu, who became a lawmaker at the age of 26.

Adeyemi insisted that the NYSC law gives no preferential

treatment to Nigerians other than those exempted by Section 2 of the Act. She said, “Serving in the national (or state) assembly is not one of them (conditions for exemption from national service).

You have read the Act and you can see the circumstances where someone is exempted, you analyse it if he (Shittu) was exempted duly or there is a reason why he should have served. But the Act is very straightforward on the grounds for not coming up to serve.

“If you are a graduate locally trained or foreign trained, as long as you graduate before the age of 30, you are expected to serve. Whether foreign or locally trained, the law is the same.

Our youths should be rightly guided that if you were able to complete your studies and as of the date of graduation, you are under 30, you are eligible to serve.

“The NYSC was set up to mobilise all eligible Nigerian youths. The Act does not talk about VIPs or children of VIPs. Anyone who is a Nigerian youth, who has a first degree and under the age of 30 must serve, the issue of VIPs or their children does not apply.

“However, if there is any reason why a corps member needs a concession, the corps member applies and concession is given, for example, for marital reasons and on health grounds.

Everyone is treated the same and where concessions are to be given, it is treated. So, VIPs or children of VIPs do not come into the Act and we do not look at that.”

But in spite of this, in her ruling, Justice Ajoku struck out the case. The judge, ignoring the main reason for the suit, said the plaintiff did not comply with Section 285(9) of the Constitution when he failed to file the case within 14 days. She noted that the plaintiff in his originating summons had confirmed that he is a card-carrying member of the APC, which gives him the opportunity to contest the governorship primary of the party in September last year.

The court explained further that Shittu had also declared that he only read about his disqualification as a result of his failure to perform the one year mandatory NYSC on the pages of newspapers on September 28, 2018.

The ruling did not go down well with a cross section of Nigerians, who thought the judge should have invoked the inherent powers of the court to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and other relevant agencies to investigate and prosecute the minister knowing that it is an offence not to participate in the scheme. They wondered why the judge would feign ignorance to what led to the suit in the first place?

When the case is placed side by side with the judgment of the Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos, which recently sacked a state lawmaker, Mr. Ibrahim Baba-Hassan, for certificate forgery, many observers see the verdict of Justice Ajoku as not only a miscarriage of justice, but a demonstration of incapacity and indiscretion titled towards encouraging impunity.

In the substantive case, a Plateau State lawmaker, Abdu Sale, had filed a suit at the state High Court against Baba-Hassan. Sale told the court that the Diploma certificate in Business Administration allegedly obtained by Baba-Hassan from University of Jos, and presented to INEC for the 2015 election, was forged.

After examining the case and evidence put before him, Justice Musa Kurya, while delivering his judgment, held that Baba-Hassan was not in the first place qualified to contest the

2015 APC House Assembly primaries Jos North-North constituency of the state. He found the evidence of the Registrar of the university to be uncontroverted.

The judge said he also found that Diploma certificate paraded

by Baba-Hassan which he presented to INEC in 2011 and 2015 was forged, which was why he (lawmaker) conspicuously expunged it from the 2019 form he submitted to INEC. While sacking the lawmaker from the state assembly, the judge ordered the Department of State Services (DSS), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other law enforcement agencies to take note of his judgment, which found the lawmaker guilty of forgery and to act appropriately.

Kurya was consequently granted all the reliefs sought by Saleh and made a consequential order directing Baba-Hassan to return all the salaries, entitlements and emoluments received by him and ordered that N2 million be paid as costs to the plaintiff.

For a country that has been ravaged by corruption and impunity, many analysts are not happy with the ruling in the Shittu’s case, describing it as ridiculous and a slap on the wrist.

They argued that though the case before the court was not a criminal charge, the judge has the power to invoke the inherent powers of the court or use his discretion to order security and law enforcement agencies to investigate and possibly prosecute the minister.

This, they argued, would send a clear message to public officers that impunity has no dwelling place in the country. To them, the verdict by Justice Ajoku shows how the judiciary uses indiscretion to encourage people to commit crime and perpetuate impunity in the country.

This is why the feeling in some quarters is that the inability of government and its institutions especially the courts to deal decisively with the impunity by public officers usually sends a wrong signal to the public that they are not punishable.

A public affairs analyst, Samson Edegbai, said the general incapacity of the judiciary to deal with impunity is the reason the malaise is on the rise in the country. He called on the judges to be firm in order to overcome impunity in the country. Edegbai argued that when judges begin to use their inherent powers to put people in check, it would help to curb impunity in the country. He said impunity was becoming an embarrassment to the country and must be tackled collectively.

“One problem the judges have is that they tend to either look away or feign ignorance when there is a problem. They behave as if they are not part of the society. All the problems we have in the country also affect them. So, rather than put their feet down to deal with these problems when they have the opportunity, the play to the gallery.”

On his part, a Lagos-based lawyer, Ademola Kolawole, described Nigeria as a country of jokers, saying until influential persons such as ex-governors, ministers, managing directors of banks and senior civil servants are put in prison for various offences, the country would never develop.

“I have always known that Nigeria is a country of jokers.

People who should have been locked away are the ones ruling us. How many former governors, ministers, bank MDs have you seen in jail in this country? Until this happens, nobody will sit up.”

76

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

Bello and the Forces against His Reelection With drab personality, no eye-catching projects executed in Kogi State, disgruntled civil servants and party members not fancying him, Governor Yahaya Bello’s re-election bid is like walking a tightrope, writes Yekini Jimoh

R

ecently some group of youths came forward and supported the reelection of the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

The group also donated the sum of N2 million to him for the purchase of his nomination and interest forms, claiming its members were drawn from the 21 local government areas of the state. But what seemed to have surprised many people the more was the so-called leader of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Comrade Israel Alonge, who made the donation.

The question on the lips of people now is: when did NYCN become affiliated to Kogi APC especially, that the story is that the youths cut across the 21 local government areas of the state. But some opinion moulders, who spoke to THISDAY condemned the action of NYCN, saying no political party has started selling interest form and queried why the governor was in a hurry.

They alleged that the event was stage-managed by the government to boost the popularity of the governor, following his travails within the party. A political analyst, Mr. George Law, was of the opinion that whatever plan or plans being made by the governor was already too late.

“He has the whole three years and he never changed. He sacked innocent workers, fought Dino Melaye, his deputy governor, Elder Simon Achuba, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasiru Ajanah and now his own Monarch, Dr. Ado Ibrahim.

“He made everybody his enemy in the state. If you are against his bad leadership he declared you as his enemy. He insulted the elders anyhow; workers were under bondage in the state. He never cared about the welfare of the masses that voted APC to the government in Kogi State.

“He claimed to have all the state assembly election and other elections in the state. He has forgotten that the people of Kogi central always support Buhari. We all saw what happened during the election. People on the streets were given police uniform and also armed to rig the election.”

To compound his predicament, the Kogi Patriotic Bello...will he survive minefield Group, has threatened that it would not hesitate to blacklist and tender a request before the anti-graft ping N1.8 billion in the last three years, to construct agency, EFCC, and its collaborators, over the missing a model flyover interchange at Ganaja junction, an funds of N1.8 billion Ganaja flyover project not idea conceived by the former governor, Idris Wada, executed, but paid for by the state. without job execution.

The group, in a statement, signed by Abdul Abdul “The company who had a good working relationcondemned the fraudulent activities of the company ship with the Ibrahim Idris administration and was and some members of the state executive council sustained by Capt. Idris Wada was cajoled into for reneging on the agreement earlier signed with defrauding the state by the current administration, the previous administration, on “Contract finance” subjecting the people to untold hardship,” he said. arrangement between the company and the state.

He said available documents had also shown full Abdul said towards the twilight of the last adminevidence of indictment on the part of the company istration, the job was awarded to TEC engineering, and its collaborators from the state government and basically on the condition that it would be wholly therefore urged the anti-graft agencies to carry out financed by the company with the state providing an a detailed investigation of all contracts awarded in enabling environment, through securing other jobs the state by the current administration, saying most that would deduct from source on other projects. of the jobs were inflated and kickbacks received by He, therefore, wondered why the agreement temagents of the state government. plate was suddenly changed by the Bello-led governAlso recently, stakeholders in the APC in the state ment, soon after assumption of office, with payment sent a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari fully made before completion of the projects. against fielding Bello for a second term in office. They Records showed that TEC engineering got a whopmade their position known in the petition signed by the Convener of the Kogi APC Stakeholders Forum, Senator Alex Kadiri, saying Bello had received about N344 billion in the last 38 months that he had been in charge of the state.

Regardless, they said the governor has been owing salaries, pensions, and gratuities without any visible capital projects on the ground anywhere in the state.

To that extent, they described Bello as a non- performing and violent governor in the past three and a half years.

In the petition made available to THISDAY, they said: “Governor Yahaya Bello was never elected by the good people of Kogi State. The death of Abubakar Audu made it possible for Bello to be Kogi State Governor. He has shown everyone that he lacks leadership abilities. He can’t fight for the rights and privileges of Kogi people.

“We request you to step down your support for the candidature of Governor Yahaya Bello for the forthcoming election in Kogi State. If the party fields him as a candidate, we are sure of losing the state to the opposition,” the stakeholders said, giving insights into how the governor allegedly mismanaged statutory allocations meant for the state.

It is very instructive to note that even without bailout and other funds received outside statutory allocation, GovernorYahaya Bello could have still paid all salaries including pensions without conducting multiple screening and inflicting pains on Kogi State and local government workers

They added: “For the past 38 months including February 2019, Governor Yahaya Bello has not paid full salaries to the workers of Kogi State, despite the fact that the state received full allocation from Federation Account as detailed below: Statutory allocation, Excess Crude and VAT(N132b); Internally Generated Revenue by the state(N51b); total allocations to local governments(N111b).

“Total funds received by the state and local governments: N294 billion. The other funds received by the state are as below: Bail Out (N20b); Paris Club refunds 1, 2, and 3 (N19b); and refunds for road construction by previous governments (N11b). The governor had conducted multiple staff screening for both the state and the local governments. And from the Report of the screening, the monthly wage bill (state, local governments, and pensions) at the inception of the administration stood at N5.8 billion. After screening, this figure reduced to N4.4 billion.”

Continuing, they said, “From the table above, it is evidently clear that the total revenue received by the state government was more than enough to settle all salaries, pensions, and gratuities with a huge balance remaining for overheads and capital projects.

“It is very instructive to note that even without bailout and other funds received outside statutory allocation, Governor Yahaya Bello could have still paid all salaries including pensions without conducting multiple screening and inflicting pains on Kogi State and local government workers.”

The stakeholders said they had tried to seek presidential and party interventions to call Bello to order without success, adding, “We respectfully write to bring to your esteemed attention, the following facts, and issues associated with our party and the governor of Kogi State.”

Although the governor is not giving up and is doing all he can to be reelected, the odds against him have also stacked up – making him the most unlikely candidate any party can field in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

It is also not certain if the APC will give Bello the party’s ticket as it appears the party’s leadership is under intense pressure to review its option as far as Bello is concerned.

77

M Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Π˞ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

FORTHERECORD Tracking Imoukhuede’s Career as a Public Servant Tunji Olaopa

T

he trajectory of Chief Joseph Enaifoghe Imoukhuede’s life and career is a testament to the coincidence of historical, administrative and personal dynamics that makes Imoukhuede one of the most significant administrative figures in Nigeria. Let me make a confession at this point.

Delivering this lecture brings me face to face with a huge absence in my reform and administrative scholarship. And that absence is constituted by the towering and redoubtable achievements of Pa Imoukhuede, especially within the ensemble of great pioneers that I have dedicated my intellectual energies to profiling for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s institutional dynamics. And yet, Imoukhuede stands shoulder to shoulder with the best in that period that marked what has often been regarded as the golden era of the public service in Nigeria.

By the time Nigeria got close to independence, the fault-line of postcolonial national troubles was already becoming clear.

This was especially around the politics of ethnic rivalry. This ethnic tension was most immediately felt in the recruitment into the newly emerging federal civil service that was most confronted with the task of nation-building and national rehabilitation. The challenge was that of how to get the best Nigerian personnel into the civil service on the basis of merit, without agitating the ethnic configuration of plural Nigeria. The compelling argument, eventually, was to allow representativeness prevail over merit in the characterization of the Nigerianisation Policy. The issue with the Nigerianisation Policy intersects that of federalism that was introduced by the Lyttleton 1954 Constitution.

What made the Era of the Imoukhuede’s so distinguished and what went wrong?

A host of factors really! First, there were a corps of pioneer civil servants schooled in the value-based administrative tradition instituted by the British, and who were eager to lay a foundation of a prestigious profession that was world-class.

These pioneers belonged to a Nigerian society that had its time-honoured value foundation intact, an era when people attained positions of responsibility that were earned by dint of learning achievement, distinct professionalism, a deep sense of self-worth underpinned by honour, exemplary conduct and the noblest of character. Meritocracy was sacrosanct in staffing and appointments, even as quota system was already a guiding policy in diversity management.

The then Federal Public Service Commission was unqualifiedly incorruptible in the discharge of its work of professional gatekeeping which it guarded jealously and with utmost integrity. Policy work thrived under a seminal spirit that allowed the public service to take advantage of an institutionalized town and gown multidisciplinary cross-fertilization of knowledge and skills available in the academia, industry, the civil society, Donors technical assistance and the global community of service and practice; very much unlike the reigning anti-intellectualism in the policy space today, a tendency dominated by the attitude that dismisses every attempt to reinforce the policy process with research findings as theory and therefore not practicable.

Motivation and condition of service were administered to preserve the prestige and professionalism of the service. So, what went wrong?

What ails the Nigerian public service can be interrogated from two perspectives namely, the systemic factors and the Nigerian factor. As per the systemic, aside from the very familiar causatives, the inherited ‘I am directed’ Weberian bureaucratic model of public administration was the global best practice up until the early 1970s. However, the variant of the bureaucratic model that the British activated in Nigeria, the Douglas McGregor “Theory X� version, was created not really to serve the people or to constitute the architectural platform of a developmental state; rather, it was oriented to help facilitate the extractive intents of colonialism. Besides, the one-model-fits-all service-wide standard operating system encoded in the General Order (GO) were oriented for regulatory control, maintenance of law and order, hence strong in managing the “input-process� side of a system or programme, but weak in managing the “output-outcome� results-framework and performance management.

This by extension applied to the rules of budgeting, accounting, personnel administration, planning, etc., that were designed not to ensure effective democratic accountability, but oriented to combat fraud and improper political influences. The greatest undoing for Nigeria was that she missed the global paradigm shifting commencement opportunity that the Udoji reform of 1974 offered, through the injection of strategic planning and programming via PPBS and MBO; merit and competency-based HRM, project management system underpinned by monitoring and evaluation system, etc. As most high-end achievements are secured through task force structures or project implementation units, there is no sufficient flexibility or change orientation and competences to mainstream these as smart cum good practices and innovations to improve MDAs internal operating systems.

There is also the erosion of competency-based HR practices and system’s poor sensitivity to reskilling to address capacity deficits in the dynamics of programmes and project implemen-

Olaopa tation. Managers do not have the full latitude that CEOs have in corporate settings to manage embedded politically induced behaviours that limit performance effectiveness at the core of MDAs operations. This is due to the one-size-fit-all service-wide single standards and centralized governance controls

From Fulton to Udoji: Managerial Ferments in the Time of Imoukhuede Imoukhuede’s public service credentials were honed at a time when there was a growing outcry about the public service and what it could achieve for the state of which it is a significant institutional apparatus. Simeon Adebo, Jerome Udoji, Alilu Akilu, Joseph Imoukhuede and many other pioneers of the golden era of the public service in Nigeria were all the professional products of the British tradition of administration. This is indeed a paradox of colonialism in Nigeria, as I have written in several pieces. What we now call the golden era of public administration in Nigeria was founded on the tight and constant reform of the British administrative machinery in ways that made the colonial administrative enterprise a success in the first place, and which also facilitated the emergence of Nigeria as an administrative entity.

This golden era, in the 50s and the early 60s, was when the Nigerian state began its post-independence existence with a very strong and professional civil service, regarded as perhaps the strongest of the colonial legacies bequeathed to Africa. This civil service framework was one nurtured on the traditional Weberian structure which required from civil servants the requisite of anonymity, neutrality and impartiality. Thus, a civil servant’s overall profile is therefore expected to be circumscribed by efficiency, effectiveness, integrity, accountability, responsiveness, representativeness, loyalty, equity, fairness, and so on. These features of the civil service were fabricated through genuine and strenuous reform of the British civil service system, and this commenced in 1854 with two significant administrative moves by the British government. When the British administrative tradition was established, it was founded on two characteristic features—a career civil service and the accountability of the executive to the parliament in the conduct of government business. Both came as a result of the Reports of the Northcite-Trevelyan Report and the Macaulay Report.

Between the Northcote-Trevelyan Report of 1854 and the Macaulay Report on the Indian Civil Service of the same year, the British civil service imbibed the Weberian traditional understanding of public administration as a system that emphasizes selection on the basis of merit—civil servants therefore become professionals with common recruitment conditions and prospects, as well as a “career� in an acceptable life-time employment under the Government. Max Weber thus defines the bureaucracy in terms of its structural characteristics. He advocates a kind of organisation which is impersonal, where authority it exercised by administrators only by virtue of the office they hold, and in accordance with clearly defined rules and regulations. In other words, bureaucracy emerges as uniquely impersonal, neutral, passive, and instrumental. Its behavioural characteristics are objectivity, precision and consistency. Weber’s bureaucracy emerged as neutral, hierarchically organised, efficient and inevitable in contemporary society with features which make it technically the most efficient form of organisation. These include: r " XFMM EFGJOFE IJFSBSDIZ PG BVUIPSJUZ r %JWJTJPO PG MBCPVS CBTFE PO GVODUJPOBM TQFDJBMJTBUJPO r " TZTUFN PG SVMFT DPWFSJOH UIF SJHIUT BOE EVUJFT PG JODVNbents of various positions in the organisation. r " TZTUFN PG QSPDFEVSFT GPS EFBMJOH XJUI XPSL r *NQFSTPOBMJUZ PG JOUFSQFSTPOBM SFMBUJPOTIJQT

r 4FMFDUJPO GPS FNQMPZNFOU BOE QSPNPUJPO CBTFE PO technical competence.

There is an apt testimony, provided by Dr Anthony Okpaise, one time head of service of Edo state, I heard about Chief Joseph Imoukhuede that bears this point about spirituality of service. The testimony is that Imoukhuede was very punctual, always impeccably dressed, fluent in the Queen’s English, was forthright and very disciplined, was highly reasonable in the sense that he would bow to superior arguments on any matter, and was a highly social person even though he would never discuss government business outside of the office. I was told of an instance of Imoukhuede’s disciplined approach to work and abhorrence of mediocrity. A file was missing and he asked for it. He got an administrative answer that the file was missing.

But, argued Imoukhuede, why would a file go missing if it does not have legs or wings. He then demanded that the file be produced or all those involved would face dismissal. Thirty minutes later, the file surfaced.

Is there any wonder then that Joseph Enaifoghe Imoukhuede would be specifically honored by the Queen of England with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for exemplary service not only as a fine speaker of the language but more significantly as an exemplary public servant?

The second dimension of the spirituality recognizes the relationship between service and the web of relationships that sustains it. Here, spirituality transcends religion to envelope other beings to form a spiritual collective whose energies can then be translated into a spiritual capital. Translated into organisational culture, spirituality becomes a key component that is required in the search for meaning and value that encapsulates a desire for interconnectedness with others in a manner that leads to a dedication to certain objectives. Such a spirituality would encompass other notions like (a) a call to integrity; (b) edifying relationship—the realization that people are connected to one another beyond any notion of instrumentality; (c) love in the workplace that treats others the way one wants to be treated; (d) a search for meaning within a bigger picture that drives one to seek for solutions to problems.

The second fundamental quality that distinguished the administrative pioneers was their perspicacious capacity to transform their Weberian administrative knowledge into the national context of Nigeria, and to modify it accordingly in line with global best practices. In other words, their professionalism was not a capacity that they got and swallowed. On the contrary, administrative professionalism enabled them to reflect on the reform potentials that the administrative system has. In the western region civil service, Adebo and Imoukhuede had the opportunity to translate their professional competences and skills into alleviating the practical administrative challenges confronting a newly independent region of the Nigerian state.

Let me just identify about three of the unique institutional dynamics that enabled them to transform the public service into an efficient machinery that created the infrastructural wonders of the western region.

Administrative Reform Lessons: Adebo to Imoukhuede The failure of administrative reforms in Nigeria left the space open for all forms of dysfunctions to cripple the efficiency capacity of the civil service system in Nigeria. Most significantly, the failure to interrogate the capacity readiness of the civil service in postcolonial Nigeria led to the emergence of crippling process, policy, capacity, performance and resource gaps which undermine the capacity of democratic governance to achieve efficient service delivery for Nigerians. After the 1974 Udoji Commission report was voided, the Obasanjo military regime facilitated a massive purge of the civil service in 1975 which undermined morale and critical values significant for defining public service as a vocation. Public servants then became “wiser� in their conception of what service entailed. In this negative transformation, the value of deferred gratification which defined the professionalism of Adebo, Udoji, Akilu and Imoukhuede went out the window. Public service now became a source of livelihood rather than a Levitical vocation.

It is however at the point of this breakdown of the public service system that we really need to revisit the critical roles that the administrative pioneers and forebears played in building up the system in the first place. In other words, with those who were there at the beginning who saw the immense possibilities that the institution of the public service held for building a truly united Nigeria, we have the opportunity of unraveling the administrative for those insights that might enable us rethink what has gone wrong and what could be done to rehabilitate the system. Learning from administrative history is all the more urgent at the moment because we have the task of making our democratic experiment work to empower Nigerians. Whether we accept it or not, the future of democratic governance in Nigeria rests on the institutional capacity of the public service. –––Olaopa is a professor of public administration and Executive Vice Chairman of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy. Above is the abridged version of the paper he delivered at the inaugural edition of the J.E Imoukhuede Memorial Lecture series held in Benin City last week (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

78

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž AY 5, 2019

PERSPECTIVE/DISCOURSE

The Real Enemies of Edo Isaac Aimurie

A

lot of commentaries are trailing states in the country that are next in line for gubernatorial elections. Edo State is taking the lead in media attention among these states, perhaps due to its vast political scope and its numerous stakeholders with varying points of view.

Two men have dominated the discourse in the phantom battle for the soul of Edo State, which is founded more on speculation than actual facts. The two men are the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the incumbent governor of the state, Mr Godwin Obaseki.

Both very strong men. One you may want to describe one as the wind, the other, fire. The fire and wind adumbration of these two men mostly point to their characteristic strength but it also speaks to the modus operandi of the two great men.

While one of them will expressively move the heaven and the earth towards achieving any objective that has won his conviction, the other will summon the same momentum to achieve what he believes is in the best interest of the ordinary people but the major difference in style is that you don’t often see Obaseki coming. He is the wind and Oshiomhole is the fire. But make no mistake, both men are tough as steel.

Many who reason critically and who have interests beyond the pecuniary will tell you without equivocation that these two men are the best things that have happened to Edo State in the last two decades.

Those who were familiar with Edo State before 2008 when it was like a pile of rubbles understand why Oshiomhole must be respected. A friend once said that in Edo State, it was Oshiomhole who returned the consciousness of the social contract between the people and government. During the years of the locust between 1999 and 2008, the people were abused to the point amnesia and the leaders of the government of those days carted away the people’s patrimony with little or no resistance from the people.

Meanwhile, Obaseki has since taken excellence in governance beyond the very high standard set by Oshiomhole, again bringing more credit to the former governor who was able to spot the gem in Obaseki and support him to be his successor.

In these days of rapid evolution in information and communication technology, all anyone needs to do to confirm a claim in a distant location is to pick up the phone and call, text or email a few people who either live in that place or visit the place frequently.

Conduct a street survey in Edo State today on the effective-

Obaseki ness of Obaseki’s government, provided you are speaking to the real electorate who have no selfish political interest, you are likely to get a 90 per cent approval rating.

Obaseki and Oshiomhole in truth are not the enemies of Edo State. The real enemies of the state are the commentators and purveyors of baseless conspiracy theories, who are blinded by their vested interests.

Some sworn enemies of Oshiomhole have suddenly become his best friends. A former deputy governor whose hatred for the national chairman of the ruling party is deeper than that of ancient Greece against Troy now pretends to be his most trusted ally.

Another hater of Oshiomhole who almost destroyed the former governor’s political career with a malicious legal battle over primary school certificate now also dots around him night and day pretending to be a defender of his best interest.

All these enemies of Edo State have seen the beauty of the place where the alliance between Oshiomhole and his Godsons: Obaseki, Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu and Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie is taking Edo State and they hope their lies and false allegations of conspiracy theories against Obaseki can truncate it.

They know that the death kernel of their politics of selfaggrandizement is engrained in Obaseki’s second term in office and they hope they can hoodwink Oshiomhole to work with them to tear down the glorious house he has laboured to build

since 2008.

But if Oshiomhole is the same man he was when he fought for the liberation of Edo from the chains of former oppressors, then I am certain he will not condescend to the point of sending Edo back into the gallows by helping hyenas find the path to the Edo State Government House.

They have seen the vision of the greatness which Oshiomhole saw in Obaseki play out to perfection. They have watched how he has won the hearts and minds of the ordinary Edo people with development projects.

Some of the governor’s enduring projects include the establishment of the Edo Innovation Hub; revamp of the Basic Education sub-sector through the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo-BEST) programme; regeneration of towns and cities through massive infrastructure development; reforms in civil service, comprising steady payment of salaries and gratuities and migration to the contributory pension scheme; fight against human trafficking and illegal migration and development of affordable housing, among many others.

Through the Edo-BEST programme, 8700 teachers in primary schools have been trained on the use of Teacher’s Computer in the classroom, thereby engendering the use of digital tools as teaching aid in primary schools. This is followed with the revamp of 230 primary schools across the state, ensuring that learning takes place in a conducive environment.

For reforms in civil and public service, the state government under Governor Obaseki has prioritised workers welfare, ensuring that they not only work in conducive environment assured by newly constructed, well-designed offices but also that they get their salaries – and for those that are retired – pensions as and when due.

Most of the projects, especially the road projects, dot cities and towns in Edo State and have endeared the governor to the people of the state, leading to them to bequeath him the sobriquet, ‘Wake and See Governor’ a reference to his style of working without fanfare.

The discontinuation of these legacies is the target of these enemies of Edo, who are beating the drums of war in the state and hoping that Oshiomhole and Obaseki will dance to their evil tune.

But, as Governor Obaseki has recently asserted, there is no rift between him and Oshiomhole. So, these merchants of hate are doomed to fail. As enemies of Edo’s development, they stand no chance in enthroning reign of chaos in the state. Edo people want development. That is why they will continue to stand with Obaseki come 2020 and beyond so he can consolidate on his development strides and enthroning the extremely bold vision he has for Edo State. –––Aimurie, a journalist, writes from Benin City

Courage, Scholarship and the Revitalization of Traditions: The Life and Legacy of Professor Sophie BósèdÊ OlúwolÊ Jacob Olupona

was in the last phase of her long and sometimes tedious endeavor to deploy her prophetic voice and scholarship to speak to a country of unusual people, a people who too often celebrate their heroes only after they have gone. The Yoruba in their wisdom describe such responses to death as ĂŒgbĂ a bĂĄ kĂş lĂ nd’ère, ènĂŹyĂ n ò sunwon l’åà yè (humans are rarely appreciated in their life time but at death they become more precious than gold and literally idolized). Although I honoured Auntie Sophie greatly during her life, I did not deliver the message because I understood her mission, ambition and quest.

She felt that time was running out, and she still had so much to do in order to accomplish her vision- speaking to the men and women of Nigeria about how the nation could and should move forward.

The numerous responses we have seen to her death, and the tributes that have accompanied her transition, are significant testaments to her vision as well as to her accomplished and unfinished work.

M

y deep appreciation goes to the family of Professor Sophie BósèdÊ OlúwolÊ for inviting me to give this commemorative lecture on the life and times of Auntie Sophie. Permit me to begin with a personal tribute to the deceased.

As human history has shown, there have always been, in every generation, unique individuals who speak in prophetic and visionary voices and with a high sense of urgency and moral authority, alerting the people of impending social danger and calling them to action. For example, YorĂšbĂĄ mythical figures and ancestors such as Ă’sun, AjĂŠ, and MĂłremĂ­ in YorĂšbĂĄ ancient society are embodiments of this ideal. Indeed, in the not too distant past, women of the Southwestern region, such as Mrs. FĂşnlĂĄyo Ransome KĂştĂŹ, Mrs. AkĂ­ntĂşndĂŠ Ighodalo, and Chief Mrs. Victoria Oni, my own teacher in secondary school in Ile OlĂşji, who was as knowledgeable in English literature as she was in Mathematics, followed in the same lineage as the mythic ancestors. In our collective memory, these remarkable women seemed to defy description, and as such were often wrongly regarded as witches by men and women who could not fathom the source of their brainpower. In the human imagination, they were extraordinary, unconventional beings who pushed the boundaries of what was possible for a human to do and to be.

In the book of Proverbs, examples of these extraordinary beings are described as virtuous women, and in YorÚbå society, they are called Àkà ndå ObÏnrin.

Such was my aunt Professor Sophie BĂłsèdĂŠ OlĂşwolĂŠ, whom we have come to celebrate today. And if you are wondering why I call her my aunt, since we are not blood relations, it is in reference to the YorĂšbĂĄ idea of òre debí—when the bonds of friendship transform and link people as family. My first encounter with Prof. OlĂşwolĂŠ was in 1967, when my parents, Reverend (later Venerable) and Mrs. OlĂşpònĂ , were privileged to serve as Anglican missionaries in her home church, St. Paul’s Church, ĂŒgbĂ rĂ -Ă’kè, in Ă’ndĂł State.

Her parents, BĂ bĂĄ and MĂ mĂĄ AlĂłba, were their parishioners at the time. They visited my parents one day and expressed their desire to bring their daughter, BĂłsèdĂŠ, back home from Lagos to teach in the Anglican Grammar School in the town. So through these contacts Auntie Sophie was recruited to teach at the ĂŒgbĂ rĂ -Ă’kè

Lasting Impact and Influence

Late Prof. Sophie Oluwole Anglican Grammar School, then under the Principal Mr. (later Chief) Ilúyemí. There and then, Auntie Sophie and her à búrò Professor Fred OlúwolÊ Alóba became members of our family, and we became acquaintanced with their extended family as well.

Two years before the passing of Professor OlĂşwolĂŠ, Professor Fred AlĂłba wrote to me, in our regular email exchange, asking that I speak with Auntie Sophie and advise her to slow down. She was 81 years old at that point, and still very much active in her research, travels, and public engagement. I never delivered that message, even though I shared the concern, because I knew that Auntie Sophie would never agree to such a request. I could see that she

The trajectory of Professor Sophie OlĂşwolÊ’s education and career may be briefly outlined thus. Her parents were of Ado- ĂŒgbĂ rĂ Indigenes in ĂŒgbĂ rĂ -Ă’kè. She was born in 1935 and was a junior sister to the legendary journalist, nationalist, and founding member of the Zikist Movement, Chief AbĂ­ĂłdĂşn AlĂłba (whose pen name in the old Daily Times, The Nigerian Morning Post, The Nigerian Observer, and later The Kwara Herald was Ebenezer Williams). Her parents were ardent Christians, and Auntie Sophie, as we came to call her, married at a young age. She travelled as a young woman with her husband to the USSR (Russia) and (Western) Germany. She spoke both Russian and German fairly well, and was undoubtedly introduced to Russian and German philosophy during her travels there. Auntie Sophie returned to the University of Lagos for her first degree in Philosophy, earning a Second Class (Upper Division), and was subsequently appointed to the staff of the Department of Philosophy. While there, she began her graduate studies in Philosophy at the University of Ibadan, ultimately earning her Ph.D. in 1984, the first female to earn the doctoral degree in Philosophy in Nigeria. ––OlĂşpònĂ , Ph.D., FNAL, NNOM, is a Professor of African & African American Studies, FAS, Professor of African Religious Traditions, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, USA (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

79

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž AY 5, 2019

FEATURE

Red Cross ďŹ rst aid instructor showing how to resuscitate an unconscious breathing casualty

A ‘bandaging’ session during the training

PHOTO: Adewole Ajao

As Attacks on Nigerian Journalists Increase, Red Cross Provides Life-saving Skills Amidst growing concerns of the hostile environment journalists in Nigeria work and the possibility of being caught in violence and accident, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross Society organised a media workshop on ďŹ rst aid training. Bayo Akinloye reports

W

ith no one certain of what had happened as three journalists lay motionless on the floor of a hall, the bystanders – many of them journalists – looked on wondering. But in a flash, a number of their colleagues who had been part of the onlookers rushed to the scene after making sure there was no danger in sight.

One reached out to one of the journalists lying with his back on the floor, gently shaking his shoulders and calling out into his ears, “Can you hear me? Can I help you?� There was no response.

With two fingers to the chin and the other palm to the forehead of the seemingly unconscious journalist, the colleague tilted the head and lifted the jaw. Afterward, she put the fingers toward the nostrils of the ‘casualty’ and noticed he was breathing.

She then put him in a ‘recovery’ position – to keep his airways open – first by putting his arm with elbow bent, took the other hand slightly across his chest, placing its back by the left cheek.

Meticulously, she pulled up his right leg and turned him to rest on his side until the ‘casualty’ could be taken to the hospital.

That was one of the drills journalists from across Nigeria went through last April when the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) held first aid training for them.

The ICRC said the training became important because of the climate of intimidation and harassment that Nigerian journalists perform their duties.

According to the Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontier, RSF), Nigeria has dropped further in the ranking of countries that support press freedom, from 119 to 120 among 180 nations, adding: “Africa’s most populous nation has more than 100 independent newspapers and yet covering stories involving politics, terrorism or financial embezzlement by the powerful proves problematic. “Journalists are often threatened, subjected to physical violence‌. The all-powerful regional governors are often the most determined persecutors and act with complete impunity.â€?

The group noted further: “In 2018, one governor had the premises of a radio station razed after series of reports criticizing his handling of local affairs. The police also detained a journalist for several days in an attempt to identify his sources.�

Some days ago, The Guardian reporter, Emeka Nwachukwu, had to be kept in police custody following an attack on him by political thugs while he was covering the Ifelodun-Ajeromi local council by-election. Earlier in the year, a journalist with Albaraka Radio, Ibrahim Bahaba was also

attacked in Bauchi, sustaining some injuries.

The attack on Felicity Ezewuike, the Plus TV Africa journalist, also grabbed the headlines when supporters of then-governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) swooped on her for filming a fracas among the political thugs. “They almost killed me. They threatened me.

They had already started hitting me before the police came and saved me,� the journalist said.

Nigerian journalist, particularly those covering humanitarian crisis, violence, conflicts, riots, protests, political rallies, and disasters are even more prone to danger and having first aid skills can save them from danger.

Aliyu Dawobe, an official with the ICRC, told THISDAY that the first aid training for journalists will not only prove life-saving on the job for them but also elsewhere. “Journalists and humanitarian reporters are key in providing the general public with information related to conflicts, violence and various other disasters,� Dawobe noted.

He added: “In the course of doing this, some of them are susceptible to being injured or meeting people that are injured. The essence is to train them to manage injuries which they may likely encounter while in the course of working.

Although the training is meant to assist while at work, it may also help them while in their homes.�

Stressing further the importance of the media workshop that included hands-on training, another ICRC official, Zahraa Al-Janabi, explained the reason for the training. “Being able to bring information to people is a very powerful position, one that comes with different expectations and responsibilities. In this workshop, we hope to understand better some of the humanitarian reporting challenges faced by journalists and provide some tools which enable them to accurately report on the humanitarian consequences of the armed conflicts and violence,� she said.

Al-Janabi also admitted that like humanitarian workers, journalists may encounter significant risks in the course of their assignment, “which is why we believed first aid training is a potentially life-saving ability during emergency situations�.

With increasing violence and humanitarian crises in the North-East and other parts of the country, the ICRC said first aid skills can spare journalists from being killed.

Dawobe explained further: “The present situation of conflicts in the North-East of Nigeria, the communal violence in the north-central states and other crisis in the South-South of Nigeria is a clear indication that journalists will need to continue to follow up on stories of what is happening in these areas.�

Apart from the first aid skills they received, the journalists were also trained on the need to be up-to-date with current challenges related

to humanitarian reporting of rethinking, and reporting not only casualty figures but also being people-centric in their reporting. “This means that while reporting on dead figures and injuries,� added Dawobe, “they should also have in mind that the survivors are as important, if not more important, than the dead and injured.�

The ICRC said it is engaging with the Nigerian media regularly because it believes in the important role of journalists in bringing to the fore the humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts or violence. “Journalists have the tools to tell the story and spread information which is key for the affected population, enabling them to gain a greater control over their lives and future. For us, local media is one of the channels to understand the situation of communities affected by conflict and violence,� she added.

Along with the NRCS, the ICRC urged media organisations in Nigeria to have and implement safety protocols in their offices. “Safety is first. Without safety, we cannot report and by extension, we cannot get information related to the conflicts and disasters,� Dawobe explained, adding, “journalists respecting safety while in the field meant that other populations may get the situations that affected people face after conflicts, violence or disasters.�

Regarding rules of engagement during violent conflicts resulting in the violation of the international humanitarian law (IHL) by the Nigerian government and other armed groups in the country, the ICRC stated that it will continue to peacefully engage with all parties involved in any crises as an impartial organisation.

The aim of the IHL is to mitigate suffering during any armed conflicts as the ICRC puts its legal expertise at the service of the Nigerian government to support their efforts to ratify and implement treaties. “In all situations of violence or conflict, one of the key activities of the ICRC is to ensure that parties to the conflict respect applicable norms and rules regarding the conduct of hostilities,� said AlJanabi. “We continue to strive to ensure all parties to the conflict adhere to the laws of war by speaking with them directly and confidentially.�

The ICRC in Nigeria has contributed to the strengthening of Nigerian health services; helping people affected by armed violence; improving water supplies, sanitation, hygiene and shelter. It is also working with the NRCS to provide emergency assistance as well as to restore links between family members separated by conflicts.

At the end of the three-day training, the journalists learnt how to resuscitate an unconscious person, stop bleeding, bandage a broken limb, give burns victim first aid, and on how to deal with cases of shock, fainting, convulsion, choking, epilepsy, and stroke before a casualty is taken to the hospital.

80

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

SMS: 08116759819

ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœË? Olawale Olaleye Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ë? ĂĄĂ‹Ă–Ă?Ë› Ă–Ă‹Ă–Ă?ĂŁĂ?̜ÞÒÓĂ?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

Buhari surrounded by Vice-President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other members of sta of the president during the signing of the controversial 2016 budget

Security Agencies Get Additional N56.223 Billion of N90 Billion Added in 2019 Budget Finally, the National Assembly, on Tuesday passed the 2019 Budget with a slight adjustment of its portfolio from N8.83 trillion to N8.91 trillion, reports Deji Elumoye

T

he 2019 Appropriation Bill submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 19, 2018 has eventually been passed by the legislature, although it took the federal lawmakers more than four months to scrutinise and approve the budget for the 2019 fiscal year.

Apart from the fact that a day after the budget estimate was presented before a joint sitting of the National Assembly, the two chambers proceeded on Christmas break that dragged on till the first week in January, while the consideration of the budget estimates was also politicised at some point.

The bill went through first reading at the House of Representatives upon resumption from vacation in January, but the Senate leadership didn’t deemed it fit to include it in the Order Paper until the end of March. Even at that, the Senate didn’t commence debate proper on the budget until early April.

The bulk of the job was left in the hands of the Appropriation Committees of the two chambers that had to wait for the sub-committees to submit their proposals before the main committees now formally presented their reports at plenary in the two chambers.

In the course of the budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), which held March and April, some Ministers and heads of agencies were even queried by the committees over the way they utilised past budgets of their ministries and agencies.

A case in point was that of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah and the Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Nerhemba Nongo, who were accused of misappropriating NEPZA funds.

Thus, a few days before the passage of the 2019 budget, the Senate committee on Trade and Investment directed Enelamah and Nongo to return N14.3 billion allegedly diverted from 2017 NEPZA budget back to the national treasury.

The Upper legislative chamber in a letter written to that effect by Chairman of its Committee on Trade and Investment, Senator Mohammed Nakudu Sabo (Jigawa South West), warned the Minister and NEPZA boss to either comply with the directive or be ready to face serious legislative action against them.

The anger of the committee, according to Senator Sabo, rose from alleged fraudulent way the diverted N14.3billion was hurriedly transferred from NEPZA account into that of a private company

called Nigerian Special Economic Zone Company Account between 8th and 10th of April, 2019 despite earlier warnings.

The diverted money, according to the Chairman, was first warehoused in NEPZA account with the CBN from 2017 budget allocations before moving it into the private company account much later. “To prevent this fraud, my committee wrote a letter to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele on the 8th of April not to release the money but very annoyingly, the money is confirmed to have been released and transferred by NEPZA in collaboration with the minister into a private company account.

The NEPZA MD had on April 11, while defending his parastatal’s 2019 budget estimate before the committee, declared that warehousing of the N14.3 billion was not done fraudulently but in line with the Country’s Industrial Revolution Plan and approval of a memo submitted to that effect by Enelamah in June, 2018.

According to him, in 2014, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) in its bid to promote diversification of the economy and address the fundamental issues affecting productive activities. “Subsequently, the present administration also introduced the Economic

Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The ERGP adopted the substantial ideas and strategies identified in the NIRP,� he said.

But while the response of the Trade and Investment Minister to the letter was still being awaited, the National Assembly last Tuesday passed the 2019 budget and jacked it up by N90 billion from N8.83 Trillion to N8.91Trillion.

The breakdown of the N90 billion added to the budget include N23.67 billion as severance gratuity for outgoing legislators and their aides and induction; N10 billion as federal government intervention for tackling humanitarian crisis in Zamfara state and N66 billion as additional fund for security agencies including Army, Navy, Air Force, Police to tackle insecurity and all forms of crime in the country.

The budget reports were presented at plenary of the two chambers by Chairman of Senate committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hon Mustapha Dawaki, before the two chambers dissolved into their respective Committees on Supply to consider the budget report clause by clause.

Presenting the budget report, Goje explained that the N23.678billion severance package for outgoing legislators

81

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

Security Agencies Get Additional N56.223 Billion of N90 Billion Added in 2019 Budget also included induction programme/ Inauguration of the ninth assembly.

Goje explained further that in implementing the just approved N30,000 minimum wage for public servants, the N160 billion proposed as service wide votes was appropriated for, under the Public Service wage adjustment for the MDAs. All the parameters upon which the budget estimates were based by the Executive were retained by both Senate and House of Representatives.

The parameters are $60 per barrel oil price bench mark, 2.3 million barrel per day production level, N350 to one U S dollar as exchange rate.

But major highlights of the budget as passed are N502.058 billion for Statutory Transfers, N500billion for Special Intervention and, N4.055trillion for recurrent expenditure. Others are N2.094trillion for Capital expenditure, N1.908 trillion as fiscal deficit within the ambit of 1.37% deficit to GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Within the service wide votes allocation in the approved budget, N5billion is earmarked for payment of outstanding death benefit to civil servants and police personnel, N15billion as additional support for Universities and N65 billion for Presidential Amnesty Programme on reintegration of transformed ex-militants.

Within the Capital expenditure component of the budget, N394.906 billion is earmarked for the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, N107.218 billion for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, N159.125 billion for Ministry of Defence and N92.178bn for Ministry of Water Resources.

Others are N58.689 billion for Ministry of Education, N179.384bn for Ministry of Transportation, N53.678 billion for Ministry of Interior etc. However, in the recurrent expenditure and component of the budget, the Ministry of Interior has the highest appropriated votes of N564.222 billion, followed by Ministry of Education with N463.395 billion.

Speaking after it passed third reading, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki said: “With passage of this bill for third reading today, the executive must ensure full implementation of the budget, sector by sector for the benefit and wellbeing of Nigerians.

The House of Representatives at Tuesday’s plenary also appropriated N8, 916, 964, 099, 373 (Eight trillion, nine hundred and sixteen billion, nine hundred and sixty-four million, ninety nine thousand, three hundred and seventy-three naira) for the 2019 fiscal year.

This followed the consideration of the Hon. Mustapha Bala Dawaki-led Committee on Appropriation Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N8.916 Trillion.

But bothered by the quantum of money allocated to the office of the National Security Adviser as against what came to sections of the National Assembly, Kano lawmaker, Hon. Damburam Nuhu, on his part, said it was important for Nigerians to note that one office got as much as N86bn. “My worry is we are passing a budget of N86.8bn for the office of the National Security Adviser alone and the entire budget of the National Assembly N128bn.

This comprises the recurrent plus the capital and everything, which is not only for legislators; it is also for the commission and all other aides and co. “The people of the country need to know that, if a single agency like the National Security Adviser’s office will be taking N86bn, then, there is cause for worry. When people say, perhaps, we are taking too much in this place; that

A joint sitting of the National Assembly

is why I am raising this observation for everybody to know,� he stated.

Other caveats in the budget include that “The department of government charged with the responsibility of certifying that due process have been complied with in the processing of implementation of projects shall ensure that all processes of approval are completed within the specified period as provided for in the Public Procurement Act. “All accounting officers of Ministries, Parastatals and Departments of Government who control heads of expenditure shall upon the coming into effect of this bill, furnish the National Assembly on quarterly basis, with detailed information on the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the agency in any form whatsoever. “All accounting officers of Ministries, Parastatals and Departments of Government who control heads of expenditure shall upon the coming into effect of this bill, furnish the National Assembly on quarterly basis, with detailed information on all foreign and domestic assistance received from any agency, persons or organisation in any form whatsoever.

For the purpose of this bill, the term ‘schedule’ includes the detailed estimates of expenditure.�

With the passage of the 2019 budget by the legislative arm, the onus now lies on President Buhari to sign the bill into law as soon as it is transmitted to him.

Also last Tuesday, the Senate commenced moves to override President Buhari’s veto on the Industrial Development Act (Income Tax Relief) Amendment Bill.

The bill, which was earlier rejected by President Buhari, seeks to provide for additional incentives for some categories of investments and increase the value of the minimum qualifying capital expenditure (QCE) required from companies applying for Pioneer Certificate.

The proposal seeks to amend Sections 1, 2, 3, 11 and 25 of the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act. It also provides that companies that are in the process of expanding their operations to cover Pioneer Industries and/or Products will be eligible for

the issuance of the Pioneer Certificate, even as companies whose applications were previously denied on the grounds of expansion will be able to reapply for fresh consideration.

The Pioneer Certificate grants tax holiday to companies making investments in designated industries for an initial period of three years, extendable for one or two additional years.

Tagged: ‘Industrial Development Act (Income Tax Relief) Amendment Bill, 2019 (SB. 734), the proposal which passed First Reading at Tuesday’s plenary is sponsored by Senator Sabo Mohammed.

According to the 1999 Constitution (As Amended), for the bill to become law, it will require two-thirds approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Specifically, Section 58 (5) of the 1999 Constitution provides that two-third of both legislative chambers of the National Assembly (73 senators and 240 members of House of Representatives) are required to override the President’s veto.

President Buhari had in 2018 declined assent to the bill on the ground that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment was consulting with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the ‘tax holidays incentive regime for Expansion Projects’.

This, the President explained, would pave the way for Presidential Orders and executive bills for approval by the National Assembly.

However, on April 10, the Senate adopted the report of its Technical Committee on Declined Assent to Bills by the President.

In rejecting the President’s submission, the David Umaru-led panel had argued that the President was at liberty to either propose an amendment to the law or repeal same. “There is nowhere in the world where the President can propose to stop the lawmaking process by an Executive Fiat or Order. The President cannot withhold assent to a bill on the mere fact that consultations are ongoing, which would enable him come up with a new bill. “It should be reiterated that the procedure adopted by the Senate in passing the bill was all-inclusive, needless to say that a well-advertised Public Hearing was conducted, which provided the needed platform for all interested stakeholders to present their submissions on the bill. “Mr. President’s reason(s) for withholding assent to this bill are far-fetched.

Accordingly, it is the Committee’s view that the Senate and indeed the National Assembly should override the veto,� the report read.

BREAKDOWN OF THE N90 BILLION A DDED TO 2019 FEDERAL BUDGET : 1. N23.678 billion as severance gratuity for outgoing legislators and legislative aides, allowances for incoming legislators and legislative aides and induction programme/inauguration of the Ninth Assembly 2. N10 billion as federal government intervention for tackling humanitarian crisis in Zamfara state 3. N56.223 billion as additional fund for security agencies including Army, Navy , Air Force, Police to tackle insecurity and all forms of crime in the country.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

82

with DEMOLA OJO demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

SOCIAL MEDIA BITS

Last week, the Police faced accusations, bandits held sway, and Tiwa Savage stepped up...

L

ast week, social media was mostly about the Police. They raided clubs in Abuja penultimate Saturday and some days before. If you factor in yet another raid earlier in April, the number of people arrested is more than 100.

They’re all women and the Police claims they are prostitutes. But many of the victims say they were just out for the night. Victims they are, because a number of them were sexually assaulted by the police, allegedly.

This was condemned by 36 civil society groups, non-governmental organisations, media organisations, and gender activists, including Amnesty International Nigeria, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, and Girl Child Africa.

They threatened to take legal action to challenge the legality of the raid. “No attempts were made to question the club proprietors or arrest the male guests,� part of their statement revealed.

The Police might just be angry and taking

out their angst on soft targets. At least that’s what some observers on social media suggest. After all, two abducted policemen are missing, even though 1.4 million naira (one million raised by the Police, the rest by family) has been paid as ransom, according to reports. Appaerently, Police officer it was, who delivered the ransom. The reaction on social media? If the Police pays ransom for its own, why shouldn’t you?

Despite denials, the Universal Basic Education Commission chairman, Mohammed Mahmood - who was kidnapped with his daughter Yasmin and scores of other travellers on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway - only regained his freedom after mutiple millions were raised for ransom, according to reports.

Unfortunately, there has been no information about other commuters who were abducted by the bandits. The Kaduna – Abuja expressway has now been deserted by travellers who now commute by train.

If you consider the fact that the father-

Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Π˞ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

83

SOCIAL MEDIA BITS in-law to the president’s ADC was also kidnapped in Katsina, while kidnapping and banditry go on unabated in Zamfara, you can tell that the security agents are at their wits’ end. Banditry is becoming a way of life in large swathes of the North, from east to west.

Also released, this time by Saudi Arabia to the Nigerian consulate in Jeddah, were Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar, detained for drug related offences. Aliyu was arrested in December for being in possession of tramadol.

Their release was met with relief, because investigations by the Nigerian authorities revealed that a drug cartel in Nigeria slip drugs into the luggage of unsuspecting travellers.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mustapha Sulaiman, revealed that the real culprits have been arrested and will be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, unlike their Bayelsa State counterparts who have seen their plans for a life-long pension shot down, federal lawmakers are getting away with allocating severance benefits totalling about N23 billion.

The Socio-economic Rights and Account-

ability Project (SERAP) are among the organisations seeking answers to some mind boggling questions. For example, what’s the breakdown? Why so high? Will re-elected lawmakers also get these benefits?

While there’s hardly any word from President Muhammadu Buhari during his “private visit� to the UK, two former Presidents were in the news for different reasons.

Goodluck Jonathan has departed for South Africa on an election observation mission as the “Rainbow nation� goes to the polls this week.

Meanwhile, Olusegun Obasanjo hugged the limelight in Vietnam for modelling the works of Chuong, a gifted Asian tailor, based in Hanoi.

Nigerian pop star Tiwa Savage is certainly used to the spotlight, and her talents are set to reach a wider audience after signing a recording deal with Universal Music Group.

Her future songs will be released internationally through UMG’s operations in more than 60 countries worldwide.

Her former label boss, Don Jazzy of Mavin Records, took to social media to wish her well with a heartfelt message. Great to see that this parting didn’t end in acrimony.

84

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

NEWSXTRA Bosworth, Arcadia Petroleum Named in $1.3bn Malabu Scandal Gboyega Akinsanmi with agency report Arcadia Petroleum Limited and its Chief Executive, Mr. Peter Bosworth are recipients of millions of British Pounds from a $1.3 billion Malabu oil deal, according to the Times, a leading newspaper in the United Kingdom.

The reports claimed that multiple court documents identified and his trading firm, Arcadia Petroleum as among the ultimate recipients of funds from the allegedly corrupt 2011 deal in which Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, the Italian company, acquired a prized offshore oil block.

Already, according to the report, the deal for the OPL 245 oil licence is the subject of criminal proceedings in Milan.

It claimed that two middlemen “have been convicted in one case and there is a corruption trial against Shell and Eni, in which both deny wrongdoing. The deal is also the subject of civil action in the UK, where Nigeria has filed a High Court claim against the two oil companies.”

The report said Bosworth and Arcadia Petroleum “have been named in all three cases

as having together received $16 million originating from the deal. Nigeria has said it is investigating the reasons for the payments and is understood to be considering action to try to recoup the money.

However, the report said Arcadia Petroleum and Bosworth “are not parties in any of the litigation and both deny any wrongdoing.

A lawyer for Mr Bosworth said that no proceedings had been brought against him in relation to OPL 245.

“There is little publicly available information about Mr Bosworth and no photographs. He joined Arcadia Petroleum in 1992 and rose to become chief executive in 2000. The commodities trading group is owned by John Fredriksen, a Norwegian billionaire.

“Bosworth left Arcadia Petroleum in 2013 and has since been sued by the company over separate allegations that he and another senior executive jointly perpetrated a $335 million fraud against it. Both men deny the allegations. The case continues.

“A huge cache of leaked emails and payment records compiled by Italian prosecutors reveals links between

Osinbajo, Ambode Urge Media to Adhere to Professional Ethics The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday urged the media to adhere strictly to the code of ethics topreservethesanctityoftheprofession.

Theduospokeatthe2019Biennial ConventionoftheNigerianGuildof Editors (NGE) held at the Airport Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, well attended by members of the guild from across the country.

At the conference, Ambode who was represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan said the media must discharge its primary responsibility as the watchdog of the society.

He noted that the theme of the convention, ‘Media Convergence As Strategy For Survival’ was very apt, saying the state government had drawn ideas and policy formation as well as execution from the criticisms and suggestions from the media.

He said, “We have learnt from your informed commentaries, reflecting deep concern about the need for solutions to problems that all of us worry about uninterrupted electricity, efficient transportation, affordable housing and the ease of doing business.

“What we have witnessed in Lagos state in the past four years and particularly the commissioning of transformational projects in recent times bear testimony to the fact that your criticisms and suggestions towards a livable megacity have contributed to our policy formulation and execution.”

He acknowledged that his administration benefited immensely from the coverage of landmark programmes and projects as media monitoring records revealed over 80 percent reportage of the state government

in the last four years was positive.

He, therefore, urged the guild continue “to see the stables and the titles as stakeholders whose social responsibility to actualise the vision of a greater Lagos will be taken to the next level by my successor, Mr. Babajide SanwoOlu.” Ambode commended the guild for the choice of Lagos as the venue of its conference, saying it was not just a vote of confidence in his administration for building a safe and secure city, but also an editorial comment on the freedom of the press as a fundamental pillar of the democratic culture of Lagos State.

In his keynote address, Osinbajo urged media practitioners to be open to the reality that the new and digital media was gradually taking over the traditional media.

He, however, said the greater worry was the fact that the new media had been saturated with several mushroom platforms, which do not regard the ethics of the profession in disseminating information.

“Editors must now take over the online media as seriously as they did to the traditional media and that move has to be unprecedented. What we see today is that instant reporting is making a mince meat of the virtues of cross checking facts before publishing.

“Since the role of editors is quality control and gate keeping, of the things they must do is to manage the new media and place some form of control.

Some people must take the lead to speak up against the bastardization of the new media as it is gradually relegating investigative journalism.”

Bosworth, Arcadia Petroleum and former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete and convicted money launderer at the heart of the 2011 deal.

“The documents, obtained

by Finance Uncovered and seen by The Times, suggest that Bosworth advised Etete on matters relating to OPL 245 and that Arcadia paid for

flights and hotels for Mr Etete for several years spanning the 2011 deal.

“The documents also appear to show that some of the money Arcadia

received from the deal was set against Mr Bosworth’s debts to the company after it purchased a “sumptuous” Swiss château on his behalf.”

LAST RESPECT...

L-R: Renowned business mogul, Mr. Arthur Eze; Enugu State Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Rev. Anayo Obasi, Chief Chidi Okolo and Parish Priest, St. Francis Catholic Church, Mbu-Amon, Rev. Felix Mamah at the funeral service for Okolo’s mother, Ezinne Lydia at the church ...yesterday

FG Approves N170bn for Road Construction, Rehabilitation Nationwide Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the award of contracts worth N169.74 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 10 roads across the country.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this yesterday in a statement by his Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Hakeem Bello.

Fashola said the projects would enhance the federal government’s objective of improving transportation infrastructure and restoring the country’s road network as part of the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

The approval, which followed a

memorandum presented to FEC

by Fashola on May 2, covered the rehabilitation of the Umuahia (Ikwuano)-Ikot Ekpene Road, Umuahia, Umudike in Abia State; rehabilitation of CalabarOban-Ekang Road (Section 1) in Cross River State; construction of Yola-Fufore-Gurin Road in Adamawa State; rehabilitation of Ado-Ekiti –Igede-AramokoItawure Road in Ekiti State; and rehabilitation of Funtua-Dandume-Kaduna State Border Road in Katsina State.

Others are the rehabilitation of Makurdi-Gboko-Katsina-Ala Road (Yandev-Katsina-Ala Section) in Benue State; rehabilitation of Old Enugu-Onitsha Road (Opi Junction-Ukehe-Okpatu-Aboh Udi-Oji to Anambra Border);

APC Elders Reject Oni’s Suspension Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ido/Osi Local Government Area, Ekiti State yesterday condemned the decision of the state chapter, which suspended the state’s former governor, Chief Segun Oni for alleged anti-party activities.

The leaders, who are from Ifaki Ward II, condemned the decision of the party in a statement signed by Mr. Michael Durodola, Mr. Tayo Okanlawon, Mr. Ebenezer Ogunlana and Mr. Sola Ilori, .

The APC executives in Ifaki ward II had slammed Oni with indefinite suspension from the party for allegedly involving in some activities perceived to be injurious to the interest of the

party.

Apart from other undisclosed allegations, Oni had shortly after the July 14, 2018 governorship election won by the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi approached a state hight court, challenging his eligibility to participate in the May 12, 2018 primary of the party.

Oni, among other issues, described Fayemi’s refusal to resign as a Minister of the federal Republic of Nigeria as a infraction and flagrant violation of the party’s constitution and guidelines.

The letter conveying Oni’s suspension was signed by the chairman and secretary of Ifaki ward II, Shina Akinloye and Ogunyemi Taiwo , respectively and 24 other executive members in the ward.

rehabilitation and dualisation of the 74-kilometre Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road in Abia/Akwa Ibom states; construction of four-kilometre township road in Gaya Local Government Area of Kano State; and rehabilitation of Billiri-Filiya-Taraba State Border Road in Gombe State.

The statement said the Umuahia (Ikwuano)-Ikot Ekpene road was awarded to Messrs Hartland Nigeria Limited/Raycon and Company Nigeria Limited in the sum of N13,296,283,958.68 with a completion date of 48 months, the rehabilitation of Calabar-ObanEkang road (Section1) in Cross River State was awarded to Messrs Setraco Nigeria Limited in the sum of N27,781,851,866.55 with a completion date of 24 months,

while the construction of YolaFurore-Gurin road (approximately 56 kilometres) was awarded to Messrs Wiz China Worldwide Engineering Limited in the sum of N13,643,670,884.81 with a completion dateof12months.

Rehabilitation of Ado-Ekiti–IgedeAramoko-Itawure road in Ekiti State (approximately 35 kolometres) was awarded to Messrs Deux Projects Limited/Hitech Construction Company Limited at N14,838,220,269.00 with a completion period of 30 months, while the rehabilitation of Funtua-Dandume-Kaduna State Border road in Katsina State was awarded to Messrs Rabash Enterprises Nigeria Limited/Afdin Construction Limited in the sum of N9,887,040,586.50 with a completion period of 24 months.

Auto Crash Claims 16 Lives in Kano Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano No fewer than 16 persons have been killed in a ghastly motor crash involving three commercial vehicles in Tukui Village on Dambatta-Daura road, Kano, while travelling to Daura, Katsina State.

A community leader, Mohammed Dambatta confirmed the accident yesterday, noting that at least 17 persons were involved in the accident, which include 14 males and three females.

According to the community leader, 14 persons died on the spot while two of three injured persons subsequently died in the hospital.

He attributed the accident to over speeding, saying shortly

after the incident, security operatives, including some Federal Road Safety Corps Marshal (FRSC) officials rushed the victims to the Murtala Mohammed Specialist hospital.

Dambatta claimed that the corpse had been deposited to the morgue.

Also, a source at the hospital confirmed that 14 persons were confirmed dead on arrival, adding that the remaining three injured victims were unconscious, as at the time of filing this report.

When contacted, Spokesman of the FRSC, Kabiru Ibrahim Daura, who confirmed the incident, said N500,000 cash was also recovered at the scene of the crash.

85

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 5, 2019

NEWSXTRA Taraba Residents Seek God’s Intervention in Ethno-Religious Clashes, Banditry Say security agencies have failed to guarantee their safety Wole Ayodele in Jalingo A sizable number of Nigerians living in Taraba State, a North-eastern state with a population of over three million, have turned to God for their personal security, citing insecurity that have earned the state one of the country’s worst danger zones.

The residents have, also, lost confidence in the capacity of security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police, to guarantee their safety and security, citing the state’s unprecedented cases of bandity, killing and kidnapping, among others.

They spoke with THIS-

DAY in confidence between Thursday and Saturday, lamenting the rising incidence of insecurity being recorded in the state on daily basis.

Consequently, the residents confessed that they “have gone spiritual and taken our plight to God in prayers for intercession since security agencies have not been able to protest us.”

One of the residents explained how they had been seeking God’s intervention, praying and interceding regularly to end banditry, kidnapping and all manner of violence.

According to him, we strongly believe that only

God’s intervention can restore peace back to the state.

We firmly hope God will intervene in our situation.

He acknowledged that the state government and security agencies “are mapping out strategies to contain the recurrent trend of insecurity, but we are safer and more secure in God’s hands.”

Another resident said since its creation in 1991 by the Ibrahim Babangida admin-

istration out of the defunct Gongola state, Taraba state had become synonymous with crisis.

He noted that the state, being one of the most ethnically diversified state in the country with no fewer than seventy tribes had witnessed series of communal clashes among the various ethnic group in the state Between 1991 till date, the resident noted that there

had been clashes between the Kuteb and Jukun; Kona and Mumuye; Tiv and Jukun; Fulani and Tiv/Jukun; Mambilla and Fulani; Mambilla and Kaka/Kambu/ Panso; Shomo and Jole as well as between Khumbo and Ichen.

Similarly, according to him, there had been repeated clashes between the Fulani and Mumuye; Fulani and Yangdang; Fulani and Kun-

ini; Fulani and Wurukum; Fulani and Jenjo as well as Fulani and Kuteb.

He, thus, said, “All these communal clashes, which had claimed several lives and properties as well as destruction to properties worth billions of naira have in no small measure led to disruption of social and economic lives and led to gross underdevelopment of the state.

US Court Sentences Nigerian to 15-Year Jail Term Akinwale Akintunde A Nigerian mother, Mrs. Oluremi Adeleye, whose actions led to the death of an 8-month-old baby in Maryland, United States, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Adeleye, 73, broke down crying in court as she spoke through an interpreter, saying, “It was a mistake. I did not want to kill that child.”

Adeleye was found guilty in a bench trial in February of child abuse and seconddegree murder.

The US Prosecutors said Adeleye forced milk down the throat of 8-month-old Enita Salubi in Glenarden in October 2016, suffocating the child.

The incident was captured on a nanny camera. The defense had argued that force-feeding was a common practice in Nigeria from where Adeleke came from.

The presiding judge Karen Mason said while she did not believe Adeleye was an “evil-intentioned baby slayer,” Adeleye knew or should have known her actions could result in the death of the child.

Prosecutors said Adeleye

was a live-in nanny at a couple’s home in Prince George’s County when one 8-month-old Enita Salubi died on Oct. 26, 2016.

Adeleye was asleep on a couch inside the house when the baby, who was in a walker, began crying and woke the nanny, police said.

Police said a video surveillance camera shows the nanny tried to feed the baby, but without success.

Adeleye then pulled the baby from her walker, removed the nipple from her bottle and forcefully fed her, police said.

Adeleye poured “eight ounces of milk down the child’s throat in less than 30 seconds, essentially drowning her,” the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

The baby appeared to squirm and resist while being fed the first bottle, and then Adeleye forced the contents of a second bottle into her mouth, documents said. After the baby became unresponsive, Adeleye called the baby’s father, who dialed 911 as he raced home. Enita Salubi was rushed to a hospital, where she died.

POSTHUMOUS HONOUR...

L-R: Lena Naumann, Salma Uche-Okeke, Ugoma Adegoke, Ijeoma Uche-Okeke, Prof. Young Sook-Onyuike and Chuma Uche-Okeke during the 86th posthumous birthday of Uche Okeke on Victoria Island... recently

CSOs Ask Target Malaria to End Risky Project in Africa

Tobi Soniyi

Some civil society organisations (CSOs) in Africa have called upon the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Target Malaria project to stop the intended release of 10,000 genetically modified (GM) “male sterile” mosquitoes in Burkina Faso, saying the release poses unacceptable risks to human beings and the environment.

The organisations that signed the statement are African Centre for Biodiversity, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Pagen and Alimenttation Souveraine pour un

Peuple Souverain.

The CSO in a statement said: “We note with grave concern that African citizens are being exposed to life threatening health risks, through questionable technology involving the release of GM mosquitoes. We are even more alarmed to learn that, by Target Malaria’s own admission, there are no advantages expected from the initial proposed GM mosquito release, as it is intended only for training purposes and not expected to deliveranybenefits for malaria control in Burkina Faso.

“We are aware that this open

release is intended to test the infrastructure and biosafety systems in Burkina Faso, in preparation for future releases of experimental ‘extinction’ technologies, in the form of “gene drive” mosquitoes.”

The CSO said there was absolutely no justification for releasing these GM mosquitoes in Burkina Faso or elsewhere on the continent.

According to them, it is highly unethical and totally unacceptable to conduct experiments that carry risks yet will not bring any result for malaria

control.

They stated that the intended release of the first-ever GM animal on the continent showed a callous disregard for African people and the environment and had caused many scientists to speak out about potentially harmful impacts.

The CSOs said there was evidence that Target Malaria was paying local villagers 400 CFA francs (approximately 70 US cents) per hour to collect biting female mosquitoes from their own bodies.

Dogara Tasks Media on Security Reporting

Oil Chief Canvasses Investment Okeke Honoured Posthumously on 86th Birthday in Employee Development

Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja

The Managing Director of Moahz Oil and Gas Limited, Abdulqadir Ojo has said deliberate investment in the personal development of employees deserves attention, saying it will lead to organisational growth.

Ojo made the remarks at a session on the imperative of employee development, noting that employees hired by the organization also deserved and should be given the opportunities to explore.

He emphasised the need “to take the internal promotion of employees very seriously as much as we pay heavily on external promotions. As an employer at Moahz Oil and

In the face of the growing violence in Nigeria, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has cautioned media practitioners to exercise their constitutionally preserved freedom with a sense of responsibility.

He also tasks governments at all levels to desist from impeding the media from carrying out their constitutional roles. You Dogara made the call yesterday at a conference the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism and European Union’s Rule of

Law and Anti-corruption organised to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day. At the conference, the speaker implored media practitioners to be circumspect in the reportage of Nigeria insecurity.

He said, “In all nations of the world, the citizens appreciate the role of the press to inform, educate and entertain as well promote accountability of the Government to the people.

“The Law, in all democratic settings recognizes the watchdog role of the Press in governance, which has earned it the appellation as “The Fourth Estate of the Realm”.

Gas, I take it upon myself to give room for the personal development of our employees.

“Allow them to explore opportunities. Don’t restrict, though you try to focus on your area of speciality. This philosophy is informed by our determination to recruit and reward a high-quality workforce in a competitive economy by creating an environment that supports professionalism, integrity and innovation.”

He explained that employees could only give and operate within the limit of their knowledge, adding that it would serve as a determinant and pedestal on which their assessment would be based.

Yinka Olatunbosun Master artist and father of Nigerian modernism, Uche Okeke would have turned 86 this year had he not passed away onJanuary 5, 2016 On April 30, the Ugoma Adegoke led Bloom Arts in concert with the Asele Institute and Iwalewa Books gathered artists and thinkers, art collectors and enthusiasts, as well as writers and creatives of various stripes in honour of the master artist at the well-appointed Bloom Art Studios in Victoria Island.

The two–in-one event witnessed the presentation of Uche Okeke’s seminal book, “Art in Development – A Nigerian

Perspective” just re-published

by Iwalewa House. It was first published in 1982 by the Asele Archives.

Toni Kan, who reviewed the book provided insights from the book while artists Victor Ehikhamenor and Chinwe Uwatse, shared memories of their encounters with the master artist.

Adegoke declared open a small exhibition of limited edition prints by Uche Okeke which she curated. They were mostly drawings which featured in his 1971 book, “Tales of Land of Death: Igbo Folktales” The exhibition will run from April 30 – May 19, 2019 and can be viewed on appointment.

86

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY MAY 5, 2019

87

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸͚Î

SUNDAYSPORTS Late Winner at Newcastle Keeps Liverpool’s Title Hopes Alive Edited by Demola Ojo Email: demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

D

aivock Origi’s late winner yesterday sent Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League with victory at Newcastle United to put the pressure back on Manchester City and ensure the title race will go to the final game.

Origi - on as substitute for Mohamed Salah after he was taken off on a stretcher with a head injury sustained in a collision with Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka - headed in Xherdan Shaqiri’s free-kick in the 86th minute.

It gave Liverpool three points after a topsy-turvy night on Tyneside.

Now Manchester City must beat Leicester City at Etihad Stadium on Monday to ensure they retain the initiative going into the final round of games next Sunday.

Liverpool went ahead after 13 minutes when Virgil van Dijk arrived unmarked on the end of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick.

Newcastle were quickly level when Christian Atsu scored from close range after AlexanderArnold handled Salomon Rondon’s shot on the line but Salah took advantage of more poor marking to volley home another fine delivery from the young defender.

Rondon, a handful all night, drew Newcastle level once more nine minutes after the break when Liverpool failed to clear a corner and

Jurgen Klopp’s side suffered another blow when Salah was taken off after a lengthy delay.

Origi was introduced and made the decisive contribution that keeps the title race alive - although Salah’s injury is a worry with Liverpool attempting to claw back a 3-0 deficit against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final second leg at Anfield on Tuesday.

Liverpool simply refuse to buckle in their pursuit of Manchester City - no matter how long they have to wait to get the victories they require.

Klopp’s side are showing remarkable drive and resilience, illustrated by the manner in which they have won so many games in the closing stages, especially when the pressure has been on.

There have been prime examples at home to Everton and Tottenham but in recent weeks they have stayed the course to outlast opponents such as Fulham, Southampton and now Newcastle away from home.

And here, in this unforgiving Tyneside atmosphere, they overcame adversity and a Newcastle side who were in no mood to stand meekly aside despite Premier League safety being assured.

Liverpool were vulnerable in defence but this is a side that carries a persistent threat and it was the introduction of the likes of Shaqiri

Origi heads in to ensure title race goes to the wire and Origi that made the difference.

Liverpool could have been forgiven for thinking the fates were against them when Salah took that sickening blow in an accidental

aerial collision with Dubravka, the Egyptian lying on the floor for several minutes before being taken away on a stretcher to sympathetic applause from the entire stadium.

Chelsea Host Watford with Top Four on the Line Of the teams chasing a top-four place, Chelsea arguably face the most awkward run-in with Watford – whose players are competing for an FA Cup final place with their captain, Troy Deeney, restored to the ranks after suspension – to pose a challenge at Stamford Bridge today.

Much will depend upon the hosts’ recovery from a strenuous evening in Frankfurt on Thursday, but Eden Hazard should be fresh enough to start. It remains to be seen how Chelsea’s rejigged defence copes with Watford’s brawn and energy.

However Hazard could play his final Premier League home game for Chelsea today. The Belgian is out of contract in 2020 and has been strongly linked with a summer move to Real Madrid.

He came off the bench on Thursday as Chelsea drew 1-1 with Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

With two games of the season left to play Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table, two points above Arsenal and three above Manchester United, who they drew 1-1 against last weekend.

A win against Watford could be enough to secure a Champions League place for next season, depending on how Arsenal and United fare in their games today.

Watford have seen their hopes of a seventh-place finish fade after a draw with Southampton and defeat to Wolves in their last two matches.

They are 10th in the table but have an FA Cup final against Manchester City to look forward to on May 18.

Since their return to the Premier League in 2015, Watford have scored more Premier League goals against Chelsea than they have vs any other side (13). They have also scored more goals at Stamford Bridge (7) than any other visiting side over the past four seasons.

Chelsea are winless in three Premier League games (D2 L1) - the Blues last went four without a win in May 2016 under Guus Hiddink.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek should be fit for the hosts after being withdrawn in the latter stages of Chelsea’s first-leg draw at Frankfurt. Head coach Maurizio Sarri put that down to cramp. Defender Antonio Rudiger (knee) and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles) are long-term absentees.

Troy Deeney returns from suspension for Watford after serving a three-game ban. Craig Cathcart will be assessed after going off with injury against Wolves last weekend, while Sebastian Prodl (knee) and Domingos Quina (shoulder) are out.

Chelsea are in a good position to secure a Top Four place

Zidane Downplays Spurs Lose at Bournemouth, Madrid Move for Pogba Fail to Secure Top Four

Zinedine Zidane has played down speculation linking Real Madrid with a summer move for Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.

Zidane said in March he knew Pogba personally and likes him “a lot� before adding Madrid could be his next club “when his experience in Manchester comes to an end�.

Pogba had also added to the doubts surrounding his future by saying that “all players dream of playing for Real Madrid�.

But ahead of his team’s La Liga game at home to Villarreal today, Zidane appeared to downplay the chances of Pogba moving to the Santiago Bernabeu. “I said Pogba was a good player but I could say the same about other players,� Zidane said at a press conference yesterday. “I know him but nothing more. If you ask me about Pogba, I say he is a very good player but he plays for Manchester United. “At the end of the season we will see which players come here, and who leaves, but I did not say ‘We are going to sign Pogba,’ nothing like that.

I will not say anything until the deals are done.�

Madrid sit third in La Liga, 18 points behind champions Barcelona and with little hope of catching Atletico Madrid in second.

Zidane Zidane’s team have delivered a series of underwhelming performances, most recently in a 0-0 draw with Getafe and 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano. “I was very angry the other day, so were the players, they didn’t enjoy it either,� Zidane said. “Sometimes nothing goes your way.�

Madrid fans have vented their frustration towards a number of players, in particular Gareth Bale, but Zidane said supporters cannot assume anyone will leave. “The season is what it is but the fans must think about next season. There will be changes but many of these players will stay,� he said.

Tottenham had two players sent off as they missed the chance to guarantee Champions League football next season after Nathan Ake scored an injury-time winner for Bournemouth.

It was far from ideal preparation for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who face Ajax in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday in Amsterdam, having lost the first leg 1-0.

Son Heung-min was dismissed for pushing Jefferson Lerma at the end of a frantic first half, in which Eric Dier was lucky not to have been sent off and Bournemouth could conceivably have had two penalties.

Then, just over two minutes after coming on at half-time, Juan Foyth was also shown a straight red card as he slid studs-up into Jack Simpson.

Spurs have now won just once in their past four league games and stay third on 70 points, four points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal, who have two games remaining.

Champions League qualification is still in Tottenham’s hands, and they need to

beat Everton in their final league game on 12 May to make sure of a top-four spot.

Bournemouth gave a senior debut to 19-year-old Irish goalkeeper Mark Travers and he made five saves in the first half to keep Spurs at bay, but was a spectator in the second half.

Despite their numerical advantage, the Cherries were unable to capitalise until Ake popped up to score in the 91st minute, heading in from a Ryan Fraser corner.

RESULTS & FIXTURES Bournemouth West Ham Wolves Cardiff Newcastle Chelsea HuddersďŹ eld Arsenal

1–0 3–0 1–0 2–3 2–3 v v v

Tottenham Southampton Fulham Crystal Palace Liverpool Watford 2pm Man United 2pm Brighton 4:30pm

TR

Sunday May 5 2019

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Price: N400

MISSILE

Kukah to Nigerians “The point I am making is when you live in a country like Nigeria where people are safer with their nephews, brothers, cousins, sisters as special assistants and personal assistants and so on, then we are in trouble.” – Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, at the 2019 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in Abuja.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

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

Of Detentions with Trial

A

week ago, Mr Femi Falana, the human rights lawyer, raised the alarm that the Nigerian Navy had been holding 15 Nigerian citizens captive without trial since September 2018. Worse still, one of them got a court order to be released from illegal detention but the naval authorities have ignored it — which, to be fair, has been a consistent behaviour of government institutions in recent times.

Time after time, Nigerians are being detained irrespective of court orders, under the nebulous excuse of “investigation is still going on” and “state security” — in absolute disregard for the rule of law. We have no way of knowing how many Nigerians are currently in detention and for how long.

In the military era, we had the obnoxious Decree No. 2 under which citizens were detained indefinitely and incommunicado.

The decree reigned for decades until Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar repealed it in the dying days of his administration in May 1999. Why did he repeal the decree before handing over power to President Olusegun Obasanjo? Every law made by the military automatically becomes an Act of Parliament in a democracy, except it is repealed. The incoming National Assembly could repeal the law but it was going to be too risky to allow the draconian legislation to be passed on to a democratic government.

The new administration might be tempted to retain it!

Now that we are in a democracy, you would think it should not even be a matter for debate that the laws should be followed and court processes respected by the security agencies. Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the chief of naval staff, is said to have personal issues with two of the detainees who are naval officers — Navy Captain Dada Labinjo and Lt. Commander Sherifat Ibe Lambert (also known as Mrs Bola Labinjo). Their families, doctors and lawyers have no access to them. Thirteen others are also in detention along with the Labinjos for an undisclosed offence — in a democracy!

I know one of the detainees and I am aware of some details of the incarceration, particularly the fact that they are being held incommunicado and indefinitely. I was very glad that Falana issued a press statement to alert the world to what is happening in Nigeria. The lawyer (who himself was a serial victim of Decree No. 2 decades ago) said that when they were arrested, they were immediately dumped in a military detention facility at Apapa, Lagos. To legalise the arrest and detention, the naval authorities obtained a remand warrant from a magistrate court in Apapa.

This warrant has an expiry date but that means absolutely nothing to the naval authorities.

After three months of incarceration without any criminal charges filed against the detainees, the magistrate court reviewed their case on January 7, 2019 and ordered the naval authorities to immediately release them from illegal custody, Falana said in the statement. Not only did the authorities disobey the second court order, the chief of

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas

naval staff was said to have ordered that they be transferred to another military detention facility in Abuja. Mrs Labinjo filed for the enforcement of her fundamental right to personal liberty at the Federal High Court and the court directed the navy to release her. Again, the navy ignored the court.

As Falana has pointed out several times, civilians are not subject to service law under which the naval authorities have continued to hold the victims in military detention facilities. So while the navy can defend detaining the Labinjos at all, it cannot explain why civilians are being held. Ibas can also not logically explain why the detainees have been denied access to their family members, medical doctors and lawyers. Mrs Labinjo lost her mother last month and you can bet that she has not yet been informed.

Nobody in the family has access to her.

The old woman did not see her daughter for months, and the daughter could not pay her last respects at the burial as well.

Falana further said: “As the prolonged incarceration of the detainees cannot be justified under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended or the Armed Forces Act, they should be released from custody or arraigned before a competent court of law if there is reasonable suspicion that they have committed any criminal offence whatsoever. However, to curb the growing culture of official impunity in the country we are compelled to call on the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN to charge the naval personnel responsible for the violations of the fundamental rights of the detainees with contempt of court and acts of torture under the Criminal Code Act and the Anti Torture Act.” My biggest headache is: why would they be detained for so long without any charges?

Even if they committed murder — which is probably the most grievous crime in the law — why not charge them to court? Why hold them indefinitely and incommunicado?

Why deny them access to their doctors?

Why prevent them from accessing their lawyers? Is this an acceptable behaviour of any institution in a democratic setting? A journalist that was released after spending two years in DSS detention came out to say he saw inmates who had been in detention

for seven years. In a democracy! Only God knows the fate of these detainees. No matter their offences, they deserve their day in court.

The case of the Labinjos has further reinforced my stand that the military should never rule Nigeria again. In recent times, there has been a lot of buzz on social media for the return of military rule, particularly after what happened in Sudan. There is this excitement that, as in the past, the military would come and “rescue” us from the civilians who are “misruling” the country. I have warned those who have ears: be careful what you wish for. One of the most amazing facts of life is our ability to get over the memory of pain.

Things that once hurt us can still appeal to us when the pains have subsided. That would be the only reason why anybody who has witnessed military rule in Nigeria would ever wish for a return to the era of the jackboots. Please count me out.

If any segment of Nigeria should wish for military rule, it shouldn’t be the media.

The civil society and the media are usually the first casualties. These soldiers do not believe in civil liberties. Freedom means nothing to them. Truth is not a defence when they come for you. I still remember, with pains, the arrest and detention of the late Mr Godwin Agbroko, then editor of the TheWeek magazine, in December 1996 by the military authorities over a story that alleged a dispute between Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, then chief of army staff, and Col. Yakubu Mu’azu, who was commander of Brigade of Guards. Agbroko was arrested and detained in a military underground cell for five months. He did not see sunlight for one day until his release! Yet the story was not false.

I read some ridiculous argument on Twitter last week that somebody was equal to Chief Gani Fawehinmi because he too was advocating for the masses on social media. Those who were old enough under military rule and witnessed the activism of Fawehinmi would never say such a thing.

Fawehinmi was arrested and detained incommunicado by the Babangida and Abacha military governments probably a million times — because of his activism.

Anybody who wants to compare himself with Fawehinmi should first go and spend one week in Gashua prisons, sleeping on bare floor in burning heat, in solitary confinement. Then we can begin to think of doing the comparison.

It is quite tragic that some people are beginning to see the military as a better option. Democracy, no matter how flawed, is the way forward. There are inbuilt mechanisms that can strengthen its practice, although it takes time. People say democracy is a journey, not a destination. The flaws of democracy and our current pains should never in any way make military rule more attractive to us. I find it very disturbing that the navy is behaving badly despite court orders — as pointed out by Falana — but the other side of the coin is: if they can do this in a democracy, what hope do we have under military rule? If you think the frying pan is hot, wait until you slip into the fire.

And Four Other Things…

ROGUE STATES Mr. Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), dropped a heavy accusation on Wednesday which might have escaped the attention of most Nigerians: that some governors promote insecurity in their states in order to inflate their security votes.

“We have also seen evidence of theft of public resources by some state governors – cashing on the insecurity in their states,” Magu said. Believe it or not, that is the truth. When kidnapping started in 2006, ransom-payment by state governments became a lucrative business, creating a dirty conspiracy from the bottom to the top.

Nigeria is an incredible country. Evil.

STITCH IN TIME Who remembers Chief Ojo Maduekwe’s ‘citizen diplomacy’? I must say I was very impressed with the aggressive way the Nigerian government came to the rescue of Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar who were arrested in Saudi Arabia over drug-related allegations. They were saved a certain public execution. I have read comments suggesting something fishy about the proactive moves by the federal government. Fellow Nigerians, if you were Zainab or Ibrahim, you would be dancing day and night to God for saving you from the beheader’s sword — not analysing the fine details of the rescue strategy. Hope Nigerian life begins to matter to government now. Kudos.

LONG LIFE In my previous article in which I highlighted and celebrated the 70th anniversary of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), I did name a few global companies that are more than 100 years. However, my friend, Ikechukwu Eze (spokesman of former President Goodluck Jonathan), called to remind me that The Merck Group, a German multinational pharmaceutical, chemical and life sciences company, was founded in 1668 — and that means it is 351 years old!

What an example! Meanwhile, I’ve also been reminded that I left out Wema Bank Plc from my list of Nigeria’s oldest banks. It started as Agbomagbe Bank in 1945 and is now 75 years old, making it, and not UBA, the third oldest. Historic.

MYTH BUSTER Did you recently read on social media that NEWSPAPER is the acronym for ‘North East West South Past And Present Event Reports’? Did you believe it? What then would the ‘paper’ in tissue paper mean?

‘Past And Present Excreta Remover’? For the record, ‘news’ is from the French word nouveau, meaning ‘new’ — or ‘tiding’. It was pluralised along the line to ‘news’ (‘tidings’) in what was clearly an adaptation of nouveaus from French. Paper, on the other hand, is derived from the French word ‘papir’ — a child of the Latin ‘papyrus’ which means ‘paper reed’ and is the material used to produce paper. So ‘newspaper’ is nothing more than ‘news’ printed on paper. Simple.

Printed and Published in Lagos by THISDAY Newspapers Limited. Lagos: 35 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos. Abuja: Plot 1, Sector Centre B, Jabi Business District, Solomon Lar Way, Jabi North East, Abuja .

All Correspondence to POBox 54749, Ikoyi, Lagos. EMAIL: editor@thisdaylive.com, info@thisdaylive.com. TELEPHONE Lagos: 0802 2924721-2, 08022924485. Abuja: Tel: 08155555292, 08155555929 24/7 ADVERTISING HOT LINES: 0811 181 3085, 0811 181 3086, 0811 181 3087, 0811 181 3088, 0811 181 3089, 0811 181 3090. ENQUIRIES & BOOKING: adsbooking@thisdaylive.com