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Buhari Pours Cold Water on Emefiele's Traducers, Welcomes CBN Gov Back from Leave Says no nation can develop without peace

Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari personally welcomed Governor of

the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, from his annual leave during a function at the State House, Abuja, yesterday,

ending speculations about a tense relationship between them. The rumours followed attempts by the Department of State Services (DSS)

to arrest the CBN governor on charges of terrorism financing, which many saw as a ploy to oust him.

The president's warm welcome of Emefiele might have put paid to all the surreptitious moves.

Buhari spoke while receiving

in audience Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Continued on page 5

Where Are the 400 Bureau De Change Terror Financiers, HURIWA Asks Malami... Page 11 Friday 20 January, 2023 Vol 27. No 10146. Price: N250

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At Ibadan Rally, Atiku Declares Restructuring 'Will Be One of the Pillars of My Govt' PDP: we're determined to win South-west There’ll be no more APC after election, Ayu vows Ortom boasts PDP will win Benue

George Okoh in Makurdi, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja, and Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The presidential candidate of

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said if he wins the February 25 presidential election, restructuring, a core desire of people of the South-west, would

be a cardinal principle of his administration.

Atiku spoke in Ibadan while addressing a crowd of party members and supporters at

the frontage of Mapo Hall. He pledged to introduce reforms towards enhancing the status of the traditional institution in the country.

PDP also expressed its determination to win the Southwest in the forthcoming elections, while the party’s national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, urged aggrieved

members to return to the party.

Ayu said PDP would win the elections and its victory would Continued on page 5

Tinubu: If Elected, We'll Eliminate Corruption Says his govt will support establishment of construction bank

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, yesterday, said he would tackle head-on the problem of corruption, if elected president at next month’s poll. Tinubu stated this in Abuja during a consultative forum with the Federation of Construction Industry in Nigeria (FOCI).

The APC candidate also said his government would back the establishment of a construction bank.

While aiming to eliminate corruption from the Nigerian system, he assured that the government would make conscious efforts to adopt strategies that would attract, rather than scare away, investors.

Tinubu told the forum, “We don't want to scare away investors of today and tomorrow, but we promise you, we will eliminate corruption. Part of it is that we look at ourselves, too. Not just enforcement but to reduce the propensity for corruption."

The former governor of Lagos State stressed the need for a Continued on page 5

'GOVERNOR, YOU'RE WELCOME BACK'...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama; Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum and CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, during an audience with the Arab Bank for Economic Development at the State House Abuja...yesterday SUNDAY AGHAEZE.

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FG Begins Restructuring of MOFI as Buhari Approves Board Members, Mgt Team Shamsudeen Usman chairs new board Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja About three months after the federal government disclosed plan to restructure the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), its investment vehicle, President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved the appointment of members of the board and the executive management team of the new MOFI, in order to commence the execution of its mandate.

The Minister of Finance, Budget

and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed had last October disclosed that MOFI would be restructured as part of overall measures to revive over N30 trillion non-performing assets and boost government revenue.

To achieve this, the federal government seeks to fully set up MOFI as a world-class investment company with a new management and board to move from the civil service structure where it sits, as a unit under the Office of

the Accountant General of the Federation, with core professionals with specialisation in portfolio management.

In line with the goal of restructuring the investment vehicle, Buhari, yesterday approved the appointment of members of the board and the executive management team of the new MOFI. A statement issued by the Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Minister

of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi said the board of directors of MOFI was to provide strategic direction and oversight while the executive management team is to drive effective day-to-day operations of the business and will be supported by the middle management team.

He said: "The constituted part-time board members are: Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, Chairman.

"The non-executive directors are Permanent Secretaries, Finance and

Petroleum. Accountant-General of the Federation, and representative of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Others are Mr. Olawale Edun, Hajiya Fatima Mede, Ike Chioke, Muhammad Nda; and Barrister Alheri Bulus Nyako.

"Mr. President also approved Executive Management including Dr. Armstrong Katang as CEO, Eric Ojo, Executive Director, Portfolio, Sani Yakubu, Executive Director, Investment, and Oluwafemi Owonubi, Executive Director, Risk."

The statement added that, "all the above persons were identified with key competencies to drive the achievement of MOFI’s governance and management objectives."

The Governing Council of MOFI is to be inaugurated by Buhari on a later date.

Pursuant to Sections 2 and 3 of the MOFI Act 1959, MOFI is a corporation solely vested with the responsibility to manage all federal government investments, interests, estates, easement and rights.

AT IBADAN RALLY, ATIKU DECLARES RESTRUCTURING 'WILL BE ONE OF THE PILLARS OF MY GOVT' mark the end of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the country.

In a related development, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, at a rally in Oju and Obi local government areas of the state, yesterday, assured supporters of PDP that the party would be victorious in the 2023 elections.

Meanwhile, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, a member of the G-5 Governors who are upset by the national leadership of the party, was absent at the rally. He was, however, acknowledged by everyone, who spoke, including Atiku.

Although THISDAY gathered that a former governor of the state, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, had brokered peace between Atiku and Makinde during a meeting at his Ondo Street residence in Bodija, Ibadan, Wednesday night.

Atiku, who also visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun, lamented that the people of the South-west had been deceived by the APC administration on restructuring and other promises. He assured them that his administration would implement restructuring if he got to power in May. He disclosed that the type of restructuring he would introduce would give more powers to states and local government areas, insisting that restructuring of the country would be one of the cardinal agenda of his administration.

Atiku stated, "I will restructure

Nigeria. Restructuring of the country will be achieved during my time.

By restructuring, we mean giving more powers and autonomy to the states and local government areas.

"It will be one of the pillars of my government.”

He said, “They have failed to implement it. Vote them out,” apparently, referring to APC, and urging the electorate to, “Vote them out completely. From top to bottom, vote for PDP; from bottom to top, vote for PDP. We thank you very much. Vote for PDP so that together, we can match to progress."

The former vice president said PDP was committed to making sure that there would be no more strikes in the universities, adding that, if elected, he would fund the universities, and pay the teachers on time so that there won't be any disruptions in the academic activities.

According to him, "We also commit to making sure that we control and always take control of your security situation, so that there is law and order in every part of this country. These are our commitments. It is not like the commitments of the APC in the last seven to eight years, everything they have committed, they have failed to implement.

"Therefore, if you are living witnesses, this is an opportunity for you to vote out APC. Therefore, I want to appeal to you, the people of Oyo State, to support the PDP all the way, from top to bottom, and together, we can march into

victory and progress for our great country."

At the palace of Olubadan, Atiku said his administration would introduce reforms that would allow traditional rulers perform their role as expected.

Bemoaning the current state of insecurity in Nigeria, Atiku stated that traditional rulers had a role to play to maintain peace and security in their domains. He said the reforms he craved, when introduced, would place traditional rulers in a position to ensure peace and security in their areas.

Atiku told the paramount ruler, "Let me assure you that the PDP government will bring some reforms to enhance the position of traditional rulers, to ensure that the traditional institution plays its role in ensuring security in the country. I remember that during the colonial regime, the traditional rulers played significant roles in ensuring security in their domains.

"The PDP will introduce the reforms to ensure that the traditional institution takes its rightful place.

The government will dialogue with the people of various sections and areas in the country. These are the things we plan to introduce when we come to power."

Director General of the Presidential Campaign Organisation of PDP and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, also commended Makinde for allowing the democratic spirit to play out by allowing every member of the party to participate in the campaign.

BUHARI POURS COLD WATER ON EMEFIELE'S TRADUCERS, WELCOMES CBN GOV BACK FROM LEAVE Development, Dr. Sid Ould Tah. Emefiele and Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, had accompanied Tah on the visit to the president.

During the meeting, the president acknowledged the presence of Emefiele, saying, “The Governor of Central Bank, you are welcome.

I am pleased you were well received.”

Buhari's remarks elicited laughter from others present.

It was the first time the CBN governor was publicly meeting the president since his return from leave and also their first public meeting since the attempt by the DSS to obtain a court order to arrest Emefiele.

The apex bank’s governor had on Monday resumed office after his annual leave. But while he was away, in December, the secret service agency approached an Abuja court to try to obtain an order to arrest Emefiele over charges bordering on terrorism financing.

Many believed the charges were trumped up.

However, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja stopped the DSS from arresting the CBN governor.

After the meeting, Buhari, while bidding his guest goodbye, again turned to shake Emefiele's hand, saying, “Governor, you are welcome back."

Speaking earlier during the meeting, Buhari stressed that no nation could develop without peace

and tranquility. He said peace and development complemented each other.

According to statement issued by his media adviser, Femi Adesina, Buhari observed that the issues that affected one nation also affected others.

He stated, “This has been clearly demonstrated in our fight against the tyranny of terrorists that have spread across the entire West African sub-region, and beginning to emerge in our sister countries in some parts of East and Central Africa.”

The president, who on Tuesday in Nouakchott, Mauritania, received an award for Strengthening of the Peace in Africa from the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, said the work of the Arab Bank for Economic Development “is very critical and, indeed, a major catalyst and tool for achieving our overall objective as leaders on the continent.”

Lauding the bank for its investment in Nigeria, the president pointed out its strides in the agricultural sector regarding food security systems, capacity building, and integrated infrastructure project.

He said the key focus of his administration had been security, economy and anti-corruption, noting that the three are critical “towards achieving our overall development objective, not just as a country, but more importantly as a continent.”

Noting that focus on agriculture and infrastructure allowed Nigeria

to be resilient during the last two global economic and public health crises, the president urged the Arab Bank for Economic Development to review the amount of capital it could inject into various economies, “as this would lead to greater impact as we stare at the various issues that would confront our economies.”

Earlier in his speech, Zulum, who had interfaced with the bank at its headquarters, thanked the president for ensuring improvement of security in the North-east.

The governor added, “As we now get grants for livestock farming, gum Arabic production, infrastructure, and I believe Nigeria will still have more opportunities from the Arab Bank for Economic Development.”

On his part, Tah congratulated Buhari on his award on peace strengthening, saying it is a testimony to his efforts in promoting amity in Nigeria and Africa.

He said the bank had a strong relationship with Nigeria, and would love to do more in the areas of wheat cultivation, gum Arabic, veterinary support services, women and youth development, among others.

The CBN governor was back at the State House yesterday to see Buhari. He met with the president in a closed-door session in the afternoon before leaving the seat of government about 4.15pm.

Tambuwal said, "You must have noticed the train in the South-west, we in the PDP in the South-west are in a very strong competition in the South-west and by the grace of God, we are determined to win the South-west before any other zone.

"I commend Governor Seyi Makinde, the party chairman, for speaking to you to come out en masse to vote for the PDP from top to bottom. That is the only way we can complement each other to salvage Nigeria, unite Nigeria, rescue Nigeria and, indeed, to make Nigeria great again."

Ayu, in his speech, commended party members for coming out in large number for the rally. He described Makinde as a true party man, who had the interest of the party at heart.

While noting that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party had been able to return the party to the people, the national chairman appealed to those aggrieved to return to the fold.

According to him, "Eight years ago, some people came with lies, with propaganda and deceived you, that they are going to give you a change. They brought something called change. Everyone of you here is indebted, because every day they are borrowing.

"As a party in government, we made life better for every Nigerian.

We were working on it until you were deceived.

“After the election, there will be no APC in Nigeria. They will disappear from the surface of the Nigeria air and back to the small parties that they were.

"I'm calling on our aggrieved members to come back home, because we are going to win. We shall win at every level, PDP will sweep this country, all our state Houses of Assembly, our National Assembly members, our governors, and, of course, we are going back to the villa.

"Nigerians will know that PDP is back. We are not just back, we are back to work for you, to make sure that we improve your roads, we improve education, because the other party didn't even care when our children were at home for one year.

"That is not a government; that is irresponsibility. PDP will make sure that schools are open, roads

are good, food is cheaper, fuel is better and that is what you are fighting for. You are not standing in the sun for nothing. You are standing in the sun because you want the quality of your life to improve and we shall improve it all across Nigeria.”

The Olubadan waded into the crisis rocking PDP, asking Atiku and other leaders to do everything possible to ensure reconciliation with Makinde.

Speaking through the Otun Balogun of Ibadanland, High Chief Tajudeen Ajibola, he urged the PDP presidential candidate and other elders of the party to bring about genuine reconciliation between him and all the aggrieved members of the party before the election. He said there was nothing like unity of purpose in an exercise of this nature.

The monarch also charged the PDP standard bearer to see security as a serious issue to tackle if he became the country's number one citizen after the presidential election.

"Ibadan people want from your presidency the creation of Ibadan State and at our level as traditional rulers, we want your government to put us in mind so as to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the country," the monarch stated.

Other speakers, who commended Makinde for his developmental strides and for ensuring that the rally held, included Atiku’s wife, Mrs. Titi Abubakar; Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; Jumoke Akinjide; and Senator Dino Melaye.

Speaking at the rally in Benue, Ortom, who said the party structure would galvanise it to victory, noted that all the 276 councillors in the state were members of PDP, while 26 out of 30 members of the state assembly were also members of PDP. “We also have seven House of Representatives members out of 11 and all the three senators from Benue are members of PDP. Also, the deputy governor and the governor are members of PDP. This goes to show that Benue is purely a PDP state and this, we will maintain,” Ortom said.

He advised the people to arm themselves with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), emphasising

that the forthcoming elections were different from the past ones.

According to him, “The era of snatching ballot boxes is over.

Now is the era of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS).

With the introduction of BIVAS, you must be there at the polling unit to vote because the machine must capture you before you will vote. You should take this election very seriously.”

In his remarks, the governorship candidate of PDP, Mr Titus Uba, said he would consolidate on Ortom’s outstanding legacies if voted in, adding that the governor has built a solid foundation for security and they would leverage on it.

Uba, who asked the people to entrust him and his deputy, Mr John Ngbede, with their mandate, promised that they would never be disappointed if they gave them their votes.

“We are blessed with arable land in the state, as such, we will use agriculture to develop the state through modern agricultural techniques,” Uba said.

Ngbede, too, said they would build on what Ortom had done, and pledged that they would not leave the civil servants out in their programmes.

At the same time, the acting chairman of PDP in the state, Mr Isaac Mffo, told the people that a vote for the party meant securing the future of their children.

Some of the PDP chieftains, who were in Atiku’s entourage to the state, included the party’s vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; Ayu; his predecessor, Uche Secondus; Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; and his counterparts from Balyesa and Osun, Douye Diri and Ademola Adeleke, respectively; former governors of Kogi and Osun states, Idris Wada and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, respectively; as well as Mrs. Titi Abubakar.

Others were Senator Dino Melaye; former Vice President Nnamadi Sambo; former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido; Hon. Ndidi Elumelu; Senator Abdul Ningi; former governor of Adamawa State, Bonie Haruna; former governor of Cross River State, Lyel Imoke; former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and Senator Philip Aduda.

TINUBU: IF ELECTED, WE'LL ELIMINATE CORRUPTION construction bank, which could guarantee long term loans for players in the industry.

He said, "On the question of construction bank, we will look at that. You are the people, who will subscribe to its ownership. We can only support it as a government in terms of its policy.

"What is the problem with long term funding instrument? Is it because of the reserves that is lacking that we don't have a bond instrument that will be of 30 years tenure.

"If you have a bond that will be of 30 years tenure, you already have a bank, but if you get that integrated in the system, anybody in the construction industry will

recognise the need for us to have that long term money.

"And why is the market not trading on that long term instrument?

“Get that assurance from me because I know how, I’m not Mr. Sell it all. The symbol of my party is broom. Sweep it clean, bring about the good of the society."

The APC presidential candidate lamented what he described as the static nature of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), stressing that the bank lacks dynamic innovation to even create a secondary market in the housing industry.

According to him, "Changing the bottlenecks in the area of construction, tender processes, transparency. I know you have

noticed so much change since Fashola took over, we did some of these things together, when he was the Chief of Staff of Lagos and I was governor."

He reiterated his determination to ensure security of life and property, saying, "What we must look at are numerous, but our destination is a prosperous, better Nigeria, not for me as an individual, but for our children and their children. If we fail to invest in the future of those children and we take ours away to foreign countries for better education, neglecting the children of the poor, the result is what we are seeing today in the form of insecurity. They become a threat to your own investment."

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Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 0809 7777 322

9 MOBILE CASH TOKEN REWARD PROGRAMME...

L-R; Head, Product and Digital Services, 9 Mobile, Mr. Aminu Sani; Managing Director/CEO, Cash Token, Mr. Lai Labode; Director, Product Innovation, 9 Mobile, Mr. Kenechukwu Okonkwo; and Chief Marketing Officer, Cash Token Innovation, Chinaeyenwa Nwokedi at a Media briefing on 9 Mobile Cash Token Reward Program held in Lagos…. yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Naira Redesign: CBN May Increase Money Supply to Boost Availability of New Banknotes Vows to punish any bank found hoarding currency Intensifies awareness to traditional, religious institutions James Emejo in Abuja and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday said it would take appropriate measures where necessary to increase money supply in order to boost the availability of the redesigned naira notes nationwide.

The CBN Director/Managing Director, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Mr. Abubakar Abdullahi Kure, disclosed this while conducting onthe-spot checks on some banks to ascertain their level of compliance with the recent apex bank’s directive to dispense the newly redesigned banknotes via ATMs. He noted that the essence of the nationwide monitoring exercise was to evaluate the situation on the ground as well as take necessary actions following public outcry that the new banknotes were scarce and unavailable even through the ATMs. He said, “The monitoring exercise will end by Saturday when we hope to have enough feedback even if it means tinkering with our policies so that the new naira notes can be everywhere, we will do that.”

Asked to clarify the specific measures that could be adopted, he said, “Tinkering means whether there will be a need to increase supply or the monitoring evaluation may show that there is a diversion for penalties or whether the banks are hoarding the banknotes deliberately or whether the banks are not even picking it; it could be available and the bank may not be picking it – there could be many issues. So, this monitoring exercise will reveal many things.”

However, the enforcement team led by Kure, visited two different banks and found out that only one out of their four ATMs was dispensing the new naira notes while others were still dispensing the old currency notes.

On further enquiries into why they were in breach of the CBN’s directive, the bank managers separately told the monitoring team that they had not received the new naira stock.

Disappointed, Kure said the CBN would take inventory of the money they had collected from the CBN in order to verify their claims, adding that any diversion or hoarding of

the new banknotes by the banks would be penalised.

He said, “Any bank that diverts – collected the money and is not feeding into ATM or is allowing for withdrawal of new banknotes across over the counter – definitely, the CBN will look into it and declare appropriate penalties.”

The monitoring and evaluation exercise of central bank assurance is coming 10 days before the January 31, 2023 deadline it issued for the return of the old banknotes, after which they cease to be legal tender.

Addressing journalists at the end of the exercise, the CBN director said, “The summary is that the new notes are out but either the banks are not picking them from the CBN or the monitoring mechanism will reveal what is happening –whether there is the diversion of the new naira notes to other uses, we don’t know but basically, what we’ve seen is that some ATMs are dispensing new notes, whereas others are dispensing the old notes.

“So, those that are dispensing old notes, we would check our records and see what stock they have gotten from the central bank and how they have utilised it. And where there are diversions, we are going to penalise them.

“Above all, this exercise is useful because it would put banks on their toes to know at least, that there is a monitoring mechanism now for them to disburse the new notes.

“And those who do not do what is expected, of course, the CBN has the authority and powers to mete out appropriate penalties.”

Some of the bank customers interviewed expressed their frustration over the inability to access the new naira notes via ATMs. A POS operator told THISDAY that she had been unable to access the redesigned banknotes adding that her customers were beginning to reject the old naira notes.

Earlier, as part of the activities of the central bank to drive awareness and sensitise the public on the newly redesigned banknotes, Kure also led the team to traditional and religious institutions within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Kure, alongside other CBN officials, visited the Ona of Abaji/

Chairman of the FCT Council of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, at his palace in Abaji.

Stressing that the January 31 deadline for the return of old naira notes remained sacrosanct, the CBN director urged the people to make hay while the sun shines by depositing the old notes in banks - in order not to incur losses at the expiration of the timeline.

Among other things, he explained that the currency redesign project was meant to address inflation, control money supply, and reduce the cost of currency management as well as tame terrorism.

Kure added that traditional institutions remained critical in the sensitisation of the public, particularly rural dwellers on the naira redesign programme.

He also assured the traditional ruler that the people can always use their money at will even after exchanging them for the

new banknotes, adding that the CBN had established a robust payment infrastructure for people to use in their financial transactions – stressing that there are agency- banking operatives and POS terminals in every nook and cranny of the country.

Responding however, the monarch commended the federal government for deeming it fit to redesign the naira at a crucial time in the country's history, as well as praised the CBN for embarking on the awareness exercise.

The royal father also urged the opportunity to urge the central bank to review the January 31 deadline upwards noting that “up till now, some of my people haven’t seen the new naira”.

While also assuring of the support of the traditional institution towards the betterment of the country, Yunusa made a passionate appeal to the CBN to consider citizens of the FCT for employment at the apex bank.

The CBN team also took its awareness campaign to the International Centre for Islamic Culture and Education (ICICE), Abuja, where it was received by its Director General, Dr. Kabir Kabo Usman.

Kure stressed that the objective of the visit was to ensure that religious institutions help to spread awareness of the new naira to the grassroots.

Usman, while pledging support to the CBN team said the rural dwellers needed to act fast by depositing their old banknotes in order to save their investments.

He said the currency redesign programme was a positive step towards developing the Nigerian economy.

He said, “What we can only do is to encourage the local businesses in rural areas, in local governments to make sure that they go to the banks and deposit all their old notes because, after January 31, there are going to be obsolete.

“It is our responsibility to make sure that happens so that we don’t go and create insecurity, more inflation in the process of trying to achieve stability of our economy.”

“We will do our best to inform our followers and let them know that there is a positive thing that is coming out of this…”

Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar has advised the CBN to reconsider the January, 31st deadline for the old notes to remain in circulation in the country.

Speaking while receiving the CBN Comptroller in charge of Sokoto State, Dahiru Usman, who led some officers of the Apex bank to intimate him and seek his advice on the redesigned naira notes at his palace, yesterday, the monarch observed that, many people were still unaware of the redesigned naira notes, especially at the rural areas.

Continued online

Oil Theft: Niger Delta Group Writes Buhari over Alleged Complicity of Naval Personnel Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa A Niger Delta-based transparency group, known as the Coalition of Niger Delta Stakeholders Forum has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over the alleged complicity of the Nigerian Navy personnel in cases of crude oil theft, cases of gross misconduct and insubordination in their operations in the region.

According to the group, despite concerted efforts by the various newly engaged anti-crude oil surveillance contractors to counter cases of theft and pipeline vandalisation, some personnel of the Nigerian Navy in collusion with some individuals were allegedly engaging in illicit crude oil theft, trade, and pipeline vandalisation in the Niger Delta region, The group, in the petition dated January 18, 2023, and addressed to the president claimed that the alleged activities of the accused

Naval personnel was grossly impeding the efforts of the oil pipeline surveillance contractors.

The petition was signed by Engr. Dr. Akpan O. Essien, Chief Williams Erepatei, Barrister Adeleke S. Olubunmi, Engr. James Ipalibo, Dr. Mrs. Ejiro P. Obohvie, on behalf of the Coalition of Niger Delta Stakeholders Forum.

It stated, “we hereby submit this petition against the Nigeria Navy’s leadership for allegedly engaging in illicit crude oil theft, trade, and pipeline vandalisation in the Niger Delta region, and we also call for credible investigations against the leadership of the Nigeria Navy, on allegations of insubordination, the ft of our national resources and acts of treason.

“The fight against oil theft will be one of your greatest achievements and legacies. Mr. President, as the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, we must bring to your attention

the progress made by the Group Managing Director of the NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari who should be commended for taking the bull by the Horne, even with threats to his life by the shadowy figures of the illicit oil trade.

“One of the biggest problems and obstacles to the success of the fight against pipeline vandalism and oil theft it seems comes from the very security institutions mandated to secure and guide our territorial waterways and government infrastructure, it is no surprise that the federal government withdrew the services of the Nigerian Civil Defence Force from protecting the national assets of pipeline infrastructure after much outcry backed with evidence of the collusion of the civil defence service and oil thieves in ripping the nation off.”

It added: “In a disturbing video and audio recordings gotten from our sources in Port Harcourt, Rivers

State, the Nigerian Navy it seems are neck deep in the illicit trade of pipeline vandalisation and oil theft, after a vessel suspected with loaded stolen crude was apprehended

by Tantita Security operatives on the 14 of January 2023, the Nigerian Navy it seems appeared from the blue to beat up and later interrogate the operatives of Tantita Security aboard the suspect vessel, all these happening even after Tantita Security operatives tried to explain and reason with the Navy about its now globally known mandate to fight illegal and stolen crude in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.”

“This gets even more embarrassing to think that President Buhari, as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces who also doubles as the substantive Minister of Petroleum is directly responsible for the chain of command of the Armed Forces and the operation against oil theft.”

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ATIKU IN IBADAN...

L -R: PDP National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu; PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Lekan Balogun during the visit of the PDP presidential candidate to the monarch ahead of his rally in Ibadan...yesterday

FG Revoked 3,400 Mining Licences in One Year Promises to revoke more unutilised titles this year Generates N14.59bn revenue from mining licenses in five years Deji Elumoye in Abuja The federal government has disclosed that 3,400 mining licenses were revoked within one year with a promise to revoke other unutilised mining titles in 2023.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Nkom, who stated this yesterday, while speaking with newsmen at the State House, Abuja,

stressed that the application of the principle of, "use it or lose it" to mining title/rights administration and failure to pay up mandatory annual service fees, are responsible for revocation, revealing that some 3,400 titles have been revoked in the last 12 months.

On the principles of allocation of mining licences in Nigeria, Nkom said the agency gives priority to ‘first come first served’ and ‘Use

NLC Alleges Attack at Headquarters

by Thugs over N1bn Housing Project Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alleged that sponsored hoodlums disguising as civil servants attacked its headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

It accused one Mr. Emeka Anuna who according it posed as Chairman of the FGN/FCT/ NLC/TUC Mass Housing Project Subscribers Association to storm the NLC headquarters with thugs to protest delays in the execution of the N1billion housing project.

A statement signed by the NLC's Head, Information and Public Affairs, Benson Upah, described the action of sponsors of the attack as, "an attempt to embarrass the President of the Congress and to circumvent the efforts of the leadership of the Congress to pursue justice on behalf of genuine workers who were short-changed by the entrenched incongruities and wickedness in the Nigerian system."

The NLC added: "It is unfortunate that miscreants posing as workers’ representatives decided to spin a false narrative and present same to the public as true.

"The truth is that the headquarters of the NLC on 18th January 2023, came under heavy attack by hoodlums sponsored and led by one Mr. Emeka Anuna who poses as Chairman of the FGN/ FCT/NLC/TUC Mass Housing Project Subscribers Association."

The statement noted that Wabba was out of the office when he

received a call that well-armed thugs and hoodlums had besieged the national headquarters of the NLC and were assaulting Congress staff and other workers in the premises.

It explained that on getting to the office, Wabba noticed that the mob had spilled over to the road adjourning the headquarters of the NLC. "He decided to disembark from his vehicle to observe what was going on. It was at this point that he saw Mr. Emeka Anuna opening the trunk of his car and collecting placards and distributing money to some hoodlums who were beginning to disperse from the Labour House.

"The President and some staff of the Congress then decided to accost Mr. Emeka Anuna to explain the reason for leading thugs to invade the Labour House.

"Our reason for engaging Mr. Emeka Anuna was because the NLC as an organisation that fights for the interest of workers and the masses believes in the sanctity of protest and would always be willing to engage any peaceful protest but not hoodlums," it said.

NLC said that it was in possession of video clips of the attack against genuine workers and NLC staff by hoodlums hired by Anuna who it said was not a worker with any known organisation.

The NLC said last Wednesday's attack on the Labour House was not the first time that Anuna had resorted to self-help and criminal trespassing to achieve his selfish goals.

it or lose it’.

He added: “How does the system run? Is on use it or lose it basis?

We've had instances where people receive and get licences and keep these licences, and they don't use them. The law is very, very clear on that. What does that mean? We give you the license. If you don't adhere to the provisions of the Act, you lose it. How do you lose it, you lose it by way of revocation and it's not arbitrary. We give you a notice of default, for you to be able to remedy the defect, we give you 30 days, in line with the law.

“You can decide to remedy the effect on the 29th day. We are fine with that, but once it is 30 days, and you don't remedy the defects, then we revoke the title because we know that all these are subjects to litigations.”

He added that in a move to generate appropriate revenue for the government, the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, which is responsible for the management and administration of mineral titles in the country, would still go ahead to revoke more unutilised mining titles in 2023.

He also said the agency generated N14.59 billion between 2018 and 2022 from the issuance of mining licences Speaking on incomes, Nkom

said the agency, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, generated N1.55 billion, N2.38 billion and N2.57 billion respectively.

However, between 2021 and 2022, the agency’s revenue fell from N4.3 billion to N3.79 billion respectively, attributing this drop in revenue to changes in its internal operating system which temporarily affected revenue inflow.

Nkom, whose appointment was recently renewed for another four years, explained that there are restrictions and conditionalities for the issuance of coal mining licenses in Nigeria.

“We have to be very strategic, and also take into account current global issues. The Mining Cadastre Office does not just issue licenses, we look at the future, issues of sustainability, maximising value, strategically ensuring Nigeria is properly managing her mineral wealth to achieve maximum economic value and diversification”, he explained.

Nkom said the agency generated over three billion naira for the country last year alone, explaining that the agency generated the funds through its major mandate of issuing licenses to miners.

“My mandate is simply administration of mineral titles in line with the provisions of the

Act establishing the agency. The agency came into being in 2007 with the re-enactment of the Act. “So, the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act establish the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office in 2007 with clear mandates as to administration and management of minerals titles and maintenance of the Cadastre register. The essence of that is to ensure that is to ensure that minerals titles are administered and manage in the most transparent manner.

“Revenue Generation is key because we have had to be able to ensure that we improve on it.

We had 86 percent increase in revenue from 2001. But I can tell you that with the new system, without mincing words that subsequently we are going to have a steady increase.

“In our revenue generation, it is nothing, but application fees, processing fees and the annual service fee. We are not in charge of other activities like payment of royalties and so on. So, even with these little aspects of revenue components we still want to ensure that at the end of the day our revenue increase and we are able to add to the development of Nigeria and increase the wellbeing of citizens particularly the key components of job creation and

revenue, based on our vision for the country,” he said.

The Director General said the Cadastre has of recent witnessed an increase in the number of applications for mining permits, due to the transparent nature of the process.

“Among our key accomplishments, is the more you are transparent the more you will be able to see people coming in to submit application.

So we have quite an increase in that regard and the increase is not just nationally you have foreign investors getting attracted by way of our transparency, our policies and the way things are being done.

“We have also opened zonal offices, which has taken it closer to the people and the intent of the agency is to be able to ensure that we reduce the number of illegal or informal miners so that at the end of the day, we make licencing easier for them.” he added.

Nkom added that the agency collaborates closely with state governments in order to advice the Minister of Mines and Steel Development on mining matters.

He further said the agency is also looking at the coal sector because of the emergence of coal to power projects to increase energy alternatives for citizens.

Microsoft to Lay Off 10,000 Employees Microsoft plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of broader cost-cutting measures, the company disclosed in a securities filing, making it the latest tech company to reduce staff because of growing economic uncertainty.

Speaking before the layoff announcement at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, CNN quoted Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, to have said the company was not immune to a weaker global economy.

“No one can defy gravity and gravity here is inflation-adjusted economic growth,” he told WEF founder Klaus Schwab in a livestreamed discussion.

In a memo to staffers Wednesday, Nadella also cited changing demand years for digital services years into

the pandemic as well as looming recession fears.

“We’re living through times of significant change, and as I meet with customers and partners, a few things are clear,” he wrote. “First, as we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we’re now seeing them optimise their digital spend to do more with less.”

Microsoft had approximately 221,000 full-time employees globally as of June 30, 2022, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, with some 122,000 of those staffers based in the United States.

Nadella said the job the cuts represented less than five per cent of the company’s total workforce and the reductions will be complete by the end of its fiscal third quarter this year, which ends in March.

He said the company would incur a $1.2 billion charge in its second quarter related to, “severance costs, changes to our hardware portfolio, and the cost of lease consolidation.”

“These decisions are difficult, but necessary,” Nadella wrote.

Multiple tech companies have made deep cuts to their workforces since the start of the year, as inflation weighs on consumer spending and rising interest rates squeeze funding. The demand for digital services during the pandemic has also waned as people return to their offline lives.

Amazon had announced that it plans to lay off 18,000 people and Salesforce, saying it was cutting 10 per cent of its staff. Facebook (FB) parent Meta also recently announced 11,000 job cuts, the largest in the

company’s history. In October, Axios reported that Microsoft had laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions.

Tech CEOs, from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, had blamed themselves for over-hiring early on in the pandemic and misreading how a surge in demand for their products would cool once Covid-19 restrictions eased.

While the overall labor market remains tight, layoffs in the tech sector have mounted at a staggering pace. A recent report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found tech layoffs were up 649% in 2022 compared to the previous year, versus just a 13% uptick in job cuts in the overall economy during the same period.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

ASSOCIATION OF WASTE MANAGERS ENDORSES SANWO-OLU...

L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hazmat and APC Lagos Chairman, Hon Cornelius Ojelabi during an endorsement rally for the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and re-election of Governor Sanwo-Olu by Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria, at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos...yesterday

AfDB President Predicts Stable Economic Outlook for Africa in 2023

Dike Onwuamaeze in Lagos and James Sowole in Abeokuta

The President of African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has projected that Nigeria would lift the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of West African countries in 2023.

Adesina said this yesterday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, during the launch of the maiden edition of, “2023 Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook,” where he projected that the economic outlook for Africa would be stable in 2023/2024 at four per cent GDP growth in spite of slowing global demand, tighter financial conditions and disruptions in global value chains.

“But despite the confluence of these multiple shocks, growth across all 54 African countries was positive in 2022. And the outlook for 2023/2024 is projected to be stable,” he said, while advocating for bold policy actions at national, regional and global scales that would help African economies to mitigate compounding economic risks.

He said: “In the case of the rest

of West Africa, country like Nigeria, though affected by decline in oil production by insecurity, will lift the weighted regional growth rate within the region.

“In West Africa, the recovery in agriculture and tourism sectors coupled with expansions in construction and renewable energy projects will ensure that the region grows by 3.6 per cent. What you see in Ivory Coast is massive construction and that is really very important in boosting domestic investments in the economy.”

He also projected that “the Southern African region will manage to grow by 2.5 per cent on the back of strong rebound in tourism activities and resumption of investment spending in mining sectors.”

Adesina also gave projected that North Africa would record an economic growth rate of 4.3 per cent “with the resumption of global economic activities and as the alternative source of Europe’s energy needs.

“In Central Africa, policies that will stimulate demand and boost investments will see growth rise

to 4.7 per cent while the economic diversification and expansion in infrastructure will ensure that growth in East Africa averages 4.2 per cent.”

The former Nigeria minister also advised African countries that increasing food production in the continent would be more effective than monetary tightening in taming inflation since 60 per cent of consumer price index (CPI) is derived from food inflation.

He also observed that apart from the ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that was spiraling energy and food prices, massive devaluation of currencies are stoking inflation in African domestic markets. This is raising the risk of already high inflation.

He said: “If we do not have an abatement in food and energy crises it could plunge Africa toward a wrong trajectory in terms of eliminating extreme poverty.

“Probably 60 per cent of CPI is the price of food. Tightening monetary policy can drag down inflation but if you want to deal with market level increase in food prices it is more effective if you

produce more food.”

The president of the AfDB noted that this edition of Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook recognised the difficult challenges African economies faces in navigating these multiple overlapping risks.

He said: “First, the high interest rates environment could exasperate the cost of debt services and see some African countries flip into high risk of debt distress.

“Second, the increasing loses and damages due to more extreme weather events will continue to exasperate fiscal risks for countries.

“Third, countries that continue to depend on commodity exports with minimum value addition will continue to be exposed to commodity price volatility rate and may miss significant opportunities in the global green transition.

“Fourth, continuing global and regional conflicts could exasperate a softer supply and demand chain disruption.”

“The report also reiterates the call for accelerated implementation of structural reforms that will drive private sector industrialisation.

Fashola Flags Off 116 Federal Housing Units in Abuja, Lists FG’s Welfarist Initiatives Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) yesterday performed the official ground-breaking ceremony of 116 housing units under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) Programme in Gwagwalada, Abuja.

In his address, the minister said civil servants were a critical component of development in Nigeria, stating tha it is why the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is paying special attention to their housing needs.

He reeled out many policy efforts being carried out by the present administration, which he argued are targeted at uplifting the welfare of civil and public servants in Nigeria to make them comfortable enough to perform optimally .

Some of the initiatives, according to the minister, include the federal government's support for states to clear their salaries liabilities; civil servants salary review; pension reforms and the removal of equity contribution of the Federal

Mortgage Bank (FMBN) housing loan of below N5 million for civil servants.

While commending the ministry's public building and housing directorates for their commitment in securing the land and development of the site’s master plan and infrastructure, the minister stressed that the government will continue to take the wellbeing of its employees seriously.

He assured the Gwagwalada community of government's continued effort in developing the area, citing the recent tax credit policy investment on infrastructure, and the Abaji- Lokoja road among some of the benefits the area had derived from the current administration.

Earlier in her keynote address, the Head of Service of the Federation , Dr Folashade YemiEsan thanked the ministry for providing the expansive land in a prime area spanning five hectares.

The HoS described the groundbreaking event as a watershed moment in accelerating attainment of government's agenda of ensuring

the welfare of civil servants through the provision of affordable housing.

She added that the programme was conceptualised as a vehicle to address the current housing deficit faced by civil servants consequent upon the monetisation policy that saw the selling of government's quarters across the country .

Meanwhile, Fashola has handed over the intervention project to tackle the gully erosion in Ugbowo and construction of the connecting road at the Ugbowo Campus , University of Benin, Edo State .

"It is true that a lot of work needs to be done in many sectors of our national life , including education.

The Buhari government has stepped up to lead the process of getting that work done," he stated.

Before the completion of the project, some staff and students residing close to the Ugbowo Campus of UNIBEN and residents in Iguo-Osagie and other surrounding communities in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area of Edo were about to be cut off because of the ravaging gully erosion in the area, a statement by the Director, Press, Blessing

Lere-Adams, said.

The Edo State Controller of Work, Dr Aransiola Ademola, who represented the minister at the event said the structural work and the water drainage were professionally done and the filling of sand was about seven metres high.

Vice Chancellor, UNIBEN, Prof.

Lilian Salami in her remarks said the gully erosion had taken its toll on critical areas of development of the university over the years.

“The good news is that we made our pleas and cries to government and the pleas have received the desired attention of government and we are today savouring the result of a government that listens and acts . " Kudos must also go to our worthy alumnus of the University, Fashola, for his commitment to the successful implementation of the project," she added.

The Executive Officer, Edo State flood Erosion and Watershed Management Agency, Dr Tom Obaseki, expressed joy at the project and pledged the support of the state government to such endeavours.

And of course in quality healthcare infrastructure and the pharmaceutical industries and in digitalisation and e-commerce.”

Meanwhile, Adesina, yesterday said the financial institution, has invested about $171 million in education in Nigeria.

Adesina said the bank, had equipped no fewer than 50 million young Africans with skills, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The AfDB President stated this in a lecture delivered at a colloquium on, "The Role Education in 21st Century Nigeria Development: BBHS Adventure," as part of activities marking the 100 years Anniversary of Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Adesina, who delivered the lecture virtually, said the various interventions produced more than 464 Master degree holders and 83 PhD holders.

He said, the AfDB would

soon establish a Youth Enterprise Investment Bank in Africa to address high unemployment rate in the continent.

He called on African countries to improve access to quality education by adequately funding the sector to reduce youth unemployment in the continent.

He warned that, the high unemployment rate in Africa if not checked could worsen the social and political fragility of the countries in the continent.

The event, was attended by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and other alumni of the school Adesina while delivering his lecture said for the United Nations (UN) goal for inclusive and quality education for all to be achieved, the global spending on education must rise from $1.2 trillion to $3 trillion per year by 2030.

Continued online

TCN Announces Arrival of Additional Eight Transformers, 20 Truckloads of Accessories Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday announced the receipt of eight additional new power transformers at the Apapa Port, Lagos, under the company’s Project Management Unit .

The transformers, it said, comprise six 150/187.5MVA and 330/132/33kV power transformers as well as two units of 100/125MVA, 132/33kV power transformers, which are still at the ports while arrangement is being concluded to move the transformers.

A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs of the TCN, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, said the equipment were being prepared for onward movement to Bauchi, Mayo Belwa in Adamawa, Maiduguri, and Yola.

The company added that through the Engineering, Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor (MBH), it will move all the transformers to its substations mentioned above.

“The project is among the World Bank funded project under the Nigeria Electricity Transmission and Access Project (NETAP). The transformers are part of the ongoing grid expansion projects under TCN's project

management unit,” the statement noted.

Also, the Kumbotso 330/132/33kV transmission substation, Kano yesterday, received another 13 heavy duty trucks, loaded with transformer accessories.

The TCN said the number brings to 20 the total number of trucks that have delivered the accessories for 300MVA and 100MVA power transformers that will soon arrive the Kumbotso transmission substation.

The 300MVA and 100MVA transformer accessories which arrived Wednesday, it said, are also part of the TCN World Bank funded projects. *As soon as the main transformer arrives, TCN already has in place a contractor that will carryout the installation of the transformers “The 300MVA is targeted at increasing bulk power to five substations including, TCN's DanAgundi, Hadejia, Wudil and Azare Substations as well as the Kumbotso substation where it will be installed,” it stated.

According to the organisation, the 100MVA power transformer is targeted at increasing bulk supply to Kano Industrial areas through Kano Distribution Company (Disco).

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NEWS

FIRST BANK MANAGEMENT TEAM’S MEETING...

L-R: Group Executive, Transaction Banking Group, First Bank, Mrs. Olaitan Martins; Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan; Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji; Executive Director/ Group Chief Risk Officer, FirstBank, Mr. Olusegun Alebiosu and Special Assistant/ Business Support Executive, Adekunle Amujo; during First Bank Management Team’s meeting with the Governor in Ado-Ekiti…recently

Where Are the 400 Bureau De Change Terror Financiers, HURIWA Asks Malami

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), yesterday queried the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, over the alleged secrecy and mystery surrounding the 400 Bureau de Change operators arrested for terrorism financing about two years ago.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement also kicked against the release of 131 terrorists awaiting trial, saying the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari continued to display hypocrisy in Nigeria’s terror war.

Onwubiko stressed that until justice was done to the arrested

Boko Haram, ISWAP and Ansaru, terrorists jail breaks and deadly attacks may continue, adding that insurgents would naturally feel emboldened.

HURIWA lamented that under the watch of the current government over a dozen brazen jail breaks occurred and over 3, 000 hardened criminals escaped including terrorists who are going about bombing churches and killing reverend fathers.

The group recalled that Malami recently disclosed that the federal government has prosecuted 1,500 terrorism cases and secured 397 convictions from May 2015 till date.

According to the statement, the AGF also confirmed the recent release of 30 Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs) from the Keffi Correctional Centre as well

Omo-Agege Promises to Revive Moribund Companies in Delta Sylvester Idowu in Warri The once famous Ethiope Salt Company, which produces one of the best salts in the country, and a fishery firm, Shrimps Company both in Oghara town in Ethiope West Local government area of Delta State, would be revived to boost employment and the economy of the state, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has assured residents of the state.

Omo-Agege, who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, said his administration's economic blueprint encompasses the revamping of moribund industries including the now abandoned Independent Power Plant (IPP) in Oghara and other abandoned industries across the state, if elected.

The Deputy President of the Senate made the promises yesterday, during his ward-toward campaign in Oghara, the hometown of former Governor James Ibori and Mosogar, the hometown of Senator Ighoyota Amori, the Delta Central Senatorial candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

He assured that the now moribund Ethiope Salt and Shrimps Company, which used to be the economy live-wire of Oghara and its environs, would be revamped if he emerges governor in the forthcoming governorship

election in the state.

Omo-Agege also promised to reduce tuition fees in the state-owned higher institutions, stressing that the recent hike in school fees was far beyond the reach of ordinary citizens in their quest to provide quality education for their children.

While stating that he would run a transparent government, the Delta Central lawmaker disclosed that he would also build a Central Truck Park for tankers visiting the area to lift petroleum products to avert similar incidents like the 1998 Jesse pipeline explosion where over 1,000 persons died.

Vowing to keep his promises to Deltans, the APC governorship candidate said, "I have committed that as the next governor of Delta State, I will be judicious, I will be equitable, and I will be fair in the distribution of our resources so that everybody will get their resources.

"As I was coming, looking at Oghara, everywhere you go you see trailers and tankers. You know how dangerous that thing is, with one explosion you know the consequences. It happened once in Jesse where so many people died. And as a result of our 'urban renewal agenda,' we are going to construct a Central Truck Park outside of this place so that it will no longer be a menace to our people.

Continued online

as the release of 101 suspected terrorists from the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre “who have spent over 10 years in custody without trial before the Federal High Court in Lagos.”

Onwubiko however remarked that, “397 convictions of terrorists is not equal to 400 terror sponsors whose arrests were nationally announced by the AGF office and the Presidency in 2021.

“Where are these Bureau de Change operators? Who are they? What courts were the so-called 397 convictions made?

These mystery and secrecy are

baffling and pointer to complicity by the federal government.

“Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu is being tried publicly but nobody knows the identity and the courts that tried the so-called terrorists?”

He added: “If we may ask, is this not covering evil people and evil deeds by this government? What a conspiracy!

The government should disclose every detail of those convicted including the prisons they are for verification by all Nigerians or if for the purposes of concealing their places of detention due to

fear that their colleagues at large may stage attacks to free them, let the government publicise their identities and photos.

“In the last eight years, over 7,000 prisoners have escaped during about 15 jailbreaks all over the country including sentenced Boko Haram terrorists. The most recent one being the attack on Kuje Custodial Centre on July 5, 2022 where scores of insurgents remanded and awaiting trial at the facility are still AWOL! “But amid rising security challenges, the AGF found it thoughtful to release 131

terrorists awaiting trial. This is preposterous!

“HURIWA demands accountability from President Buhari and his Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola to tell Nigerians how they still sleep knowing fully well that thousands of convicted terrorists, armed robbers, kidnappers and murderers were left to escape from prisons. More shamefully is that fact that school girls in Yauri, Kebbi State were kidnapped by armed Fulani terrorists and are still being kept in the forest for 19 months.”

Escalation of Violence, Insecurity May Lead to Inconclusive Elections, Constitutional Crisis, Stakeholders Warn Adedayo Akinwale Some stakeholders have warned that the escalation of violence and insecurity pose a serious threat not only to the smooth conduct of the elections and the electoral process, but might also lead to inconclusive elections and a constitutional crisis in the country.

The stakeholders gave the warning yesterday, in Abuja, at the Second Seminar on Election Security organised by the European Union – Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN).

The stakeholders said the forthcoming elections would hold against a backdrop of rising

insecurity and violence across the nation, as witnessed by various acts of violence against citizens, infrastructure, and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)in several states across the country.

Presenting a paper titled, "Analysis of the legal consequences and impact of insecurity on the 2023 elections", a former INEC Director, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, said while insecurity had always been an issue of concern in elections in Nigeria, it was of even greater concern in 2023, due to how pervasive and widespread it is, affecting all geo-political zones, with swathes of the country under the control

of non-state actors.

He noted that a further complication was its diverse and multifaceted nature; varying from insurrection, terrorism, separatist agitations, banditry and farmer/ herdsmen clashes, to ethnic and religious tensions, kidnapping for ransom, assassinations, attacks by 'unknown gun- men' and arson on targeting public institutions and facilities.

Osaze-Uzzi stated: "The spectre of elections not being held in many parts of the country due to insecurity or leading to many cancelled or inconclusive elections is real and if not properly dealt with may lead to constitutional crisis that could

present a clear danger to Nigeria's democracy especially given its history of flawed or questionable elections.

"Therefore, the escalation of violence and insecurity poses a serious threat not only to the smooth conduct of the elections and the electoral process, but to Nigerian governance more widely."

Also speaking on the, "Framework for election security in Nigeria", Prof.

Adele Jinadu, said the history of elections in Nigeria, especially since the 1951 general election portrayed the conduct of elections and electoral politics as a continuation of war by other means.

Continued online

Edo Seeks Support from WHO, UNICEF, Others to Contain Lassa Fever, Confirmed Cases Rise to 58 Decries alleged neglect by FG, Minister of Health The Edo State government has called for the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other humanitarian aid organisations to boost the government’s emergency response against the spread of Lassa fever in the state.

Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare made the call in a statement after the weekly Edo State Executive Council (EXCO) meeting chaired by Governor Godwin Obaseki, at the Government House, in Benin City.

Decrying the alarming rise in the number of confirmed cases of the disease across communities in the state, the Commissioner said several efforts by the state government to reach the federal government and the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire for support to contain the disease and protect residents have not yielded any positive response.

He said, “As of today, we have 58 people infected with the disease with a five percent case fatality rate which is very high, even compared to COVID-19.

“The state government has tried everything within its

power to tackle this outbreak which is prevalent in about 3 local governments but to no avail.

“With all pleas and entreaties to the Federal Government for intervention in this very challenging outbreak, it appears they apparently have been falling on deaf ears and this is particularly disheartening especially as the current Minister of Health is from Edo State. It seems that the Minister and the federal government are not interested in helping us fight this outbreak.”

The Commissioner further noted, “As a government, we have written several letters to the

Ministry of Health, the Center for Disease Control, and to all the people involved in health issues to come and intervene and fight this outbreak. Unfortunately, it seems the Federal Government has abandoned us.

“We are crying out to the international agencies to intervene quickly before the situation gets worse. We are constrained to reach out to international agencies such as the WHO, UNICEF, and any other international organisation with a mandate to intervene with infectious disease outbreak.”

Continued online

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 • T H I S D AY

CBN CAMPAIGN

Again, CBN Threatens to Sanction Banks Dispensing Old Banknotes via ATMs Continues nationwide sensitisation on naira redesign project Monitors ATMs to ensure banks’ compliance Panic grips Ogun residents, traders as deadline draws closer Amby Uneze in Owerri, Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia, James Sowole in Abeokuta, Fidelis David in Akure and Francis Sardauna in Katsina, Okon Bassey in Uyo, Nume Ekeghe in Lagos, Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt, Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia, Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano, Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan, Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City, Seriki Adinoyi in Jos and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday continued its nationwide sensitisation on its naira redesign project, threatening to sanction banks that still dispense old N200, N500 and N1000 through their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) In Nasarawa State, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, handed down the threat at a one-day sensitisation meeting with traders in Lafia on the redesigned new naira notes.

Represented by the Director of Security Services at the CBN, Mr. Atiku Mohammed, the CBN governor called on residents of Nasarawa State to reject old naira notes dispensed to them by any commercial any bank henceforth.

He said: "When you go to any bank and you are issued the old N200, N500 and N1000, do not collect from January 31, 2023, because you will be collecting tissue paper that will not be acceptable from January 31, this year.

"We will sanction any bank in Nasarawa State and elsewhere found guilty of dispensing the old naira notes at ATMs to customers.

"The central bank has supplied adequate new naira notes to the various commercial banks. Nobody should collect the old naira notes again. If any bank issues you old naira notes, report such bank to the CBN for appropriate action.”

The CBN governor therefore insisted that despite appeal by some traders calling for extension of the deadline, there would be no extension of the date to phase out the old naira notes.

Following complaints raised by residents and traders at the sensitisation meeting between the CBN with traders, the CBN boss decided to visit five commercial banks in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, to ascertain the level of compliance to the directive given by the apex bank. Among the commercial banks visited were Access Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa Plc, FCMB, First Bank, GTBank, among others as they were found despensing the old naira notes.

LAGOS STATE In Lagos State, findings by THISDAY showed that more banks have started to comply with the CBN’s directive for them to load their ATMs with the new banknotes. THISDAY findings showed that more bank branches across Lagos Island and some parts of Lagos mainland have started complying.

The apex bank had in recent days intensified its awareness campaign across Nigeria to enhance acceptance of the new banknotes.

Speaking on the sidelines of the monitoring process, a Deputy Director, in CBN, Mr. Seyi Badmus noted that all the banks had been adequately supplied with the new notes and that the information on how much was given to each bank indicates that they should be fully able to comply with the directive.

“The data we have confirmed that all banks should have new notes to dispense and the banks that claim they don’t have, our monitoring team nationwide is going around to confront them and we would ensure that banks fully comply to dispensing the new notes,” he added.

OGUN STATE In Ogun State however, some residents and traders are now panicking as the deadline for depositing the old banknotes approaches.

The worries of the citizens were heightened as commercial banks in Abeokuta were still paying their customers both over the counter and through the ATMs old notes.

The situation has persisted despite the threat by the CBN to sanction any bank that as at yesterday was still paying their customers the old notes.

The traders expressed their concerns during a sensitisation and awareness campaign on the redesigned currency notes held by the CBN, at Lafenwa Market in Abeokuta North Local Government area of the states.

The sensitisation exercise, attended by market leaders and some traders, was conducted in Yoruba Language

by CBN officials, who assured traders of their money, if they deposit such in their banks before January 31,2023 deadline.

Addressing the gathering, the CBN Abeokuta Controller, Alhaji Wahab Oseni, explained reasons that necessitated the redesign of the three naira notes.

He advised those who do not have bank account to approach any bank of their choice, to get one.

Oseni also said the CBN would sanction any bank that continues to dispense the old notes, stating that the apex bank, had made available huge new currency notes, to commercial banks.

IMO STATE In Imo State, the apex bank took its sensitisation tour to the popular relief market and other rural markets in Owerri municipal city.

Enthusiastic traders turned out in their large numbers to learn about the features of the new naira notes which was introduced in the country last month.

Branch Controller of CBN in the State, Mrs. Oyoburuoma Boma, encouraged the traders to embrace the new banknotes.

She encouraged the point of sales (POS) agents to start making their transactions in accordance with the cashless policy, adding that it would help reduce theft occasioned in the business world.

According to her, when you go cashless, “it will help prevent armed robbers that often attack you and steal your money, there is everything to benefit from the CBN policy.”

Boma also used the opportunity to educate the traders on how to recognise the new currency notes, and warned residents, market women and leaders not to pay charges while depositing the old naira notes to their respective commercial banks in Imo state.

ONDO STATE In Ondo State, officials of the central bank yesterday stormed ATM galleries in different commercial banks in Akure, with a view to ensuring compliance with payment order on the redesigned naira notes.

The CBN Director, Branch Operation, Mrs. Elizabeth Fasoranti, who led the team of officials of the apex bank to GTBank, Zenith Bank and Wema Bank ATM galleries at Alagbaka, Ijapo Estate, Akure, to verify if they were dispensing new redesigned naira notes said the level of compliance was improving.

Addressing traders at the Shasha market, Fasoranti urged them to take their cash to the bank so that they could change to the new redesigned Naira notes.

She emphasised that the redesigned currencies can never be counterfeited and encouraged the public to explore other payment channels, such as eNaira, PoS, electronic transfer, USSD, internet banking, and mobile money operators and agents, for their economic activities.

But some residents of Ondo State lamented the non-availability of the new currencies at some of the ATMs. The Iyaloja of Shasha market, Mrs.

in Benin City, the Assistant Director and Acting Branch Controller, Benin Branch of the CBN, Michael Mgbeze, also said the apex bank have sufficiently provided the new banknotes to banks assuring that from this weekend, all ATMs would no longer dispense the old notes.

He urged the people to adopt other alternatives of transacting business like the e-naira, among others, saying, “We want people to be aware of the new notes and we also introduced the e-naira and we are doing onboarding for those that are not yet in the digital currency.

"The essence of the exercise is for people to use other channels of transaction like the internet banking, banking app, the USSD, PoS. there are always many alternative channels for payment but because we are used to naira, we want to us cash at all times.

The message is that people should try and shift their base and use alternative channels for business transactions.”

Also speaking the State Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Austin Odile said: "This is an election year and some of these persons feel that this redesign is targeted at them but whatever they meant by that, I cannot fathom.”

Emefiele Bosede Abidakun, noted that there were some other public open markets which needed enlightenment on the naira redesign project.

KATSINA STATE However, in Katsina State, the CBN said it would not extend the deadline despite pressure from Nigerians.

The nation's apex bank also warned commercial banks in the country to desist from dispensing the old currencies through their ATMs. Addressing traders at the Katsina Central Market on the need to change their old currency, the CBN Director of Currency Operations, Ahmed Bello Umar, said the bank has no plan to extend the deadline.

Umar explained that the apex bank has enough new naira currency which have since been distributed across commercial banks for onward disbursement to their respective customers through ATMs. He added that the management of the CBN had directed that from Friday last week, "all ATMs must carry only new notes. If the banks don't have the new notes they should not load the old notes."

RIVERS STATE In Rivers State, officials of the CBN yesterday, stormed different market locations in the state, , sensitising the traders on its naira redesign project.

The Branch Controller of CBN in Port Harcourt, Mr. Okafor Maxwell; Deputy Director, Strategy Management Department of CBN, Abuja, Emenike Eleonu and other officials led the sensitisation programme to Mile 1, Fruit Garden and Creek Road markets in Port Harcourt.

The CBN team also visited some major banks, including Access Bank, Union Bank, First Bank, United Bank of Africa, others, to monitor the level of compliance to dispensing of the redesigned currency in their ATMs. Addressing the traders at Mile 1 market, Port Harcourt, Okafor, harped on the benefit of the redesigned currency.

He also warned that the central bank would not extend the deadline.

He said: "The CBN which started cashless policy since 2012, is now set to deepen it in Nigeria, and there is no going back. Henceforth, tracking of currency that leaves the CBN has started with the redesigned money."

On his part, Deputy Director, Strategy Management Department of CBN, Abuja, Emenike Eleonu, said, "I am quite impressed with what is happening here today, the idea is for to make people put their monies back in the bank so that the old currency

could be out of circulation."

ABIA STATE In Abia State, the CBN took its awareness campaign to Umuahia and Aba. Officials of the CBN went round Umuahia the capital city and the commercial its of Aba to monitor and evaluate the level of compliance by banks in making the new notes available to customers through ATMs as directed by the apex bank.

Speaking at the event, the CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi explained that the awareness campaign became necessary to make Nigerians understand the reasons behind the naira redesign project.

The CBN spokesman said that people should embrace other payment channels such as ATMs, internet banking, mobile banking among others, adding, "it is very dangerous to carry cash" these days.

He, therefore urged traders and other Abians to cultivate the habit of transacting their businesses without carrying huge amounts of money about as the apex bank has provided seamless payment systems for people to utilise.

The chairman of Ariaria Market Traders Association(AIMATA), Chief Emeka Igara thanked the CBN for bring the awareness campaign to the door steps of traders and appealed for the extension of the January 31 deadline for phasing out the old notes.

KANO STATE In Kano State, the apex bank yesterday, threatened to sanction banks found hoarding the new naira notes.

The Branch Controller of the CBN in Kano, Alhaji Umar Ibrahim Biu assured bank customers that the apex bank has produced enough notes for distribution to all banks across the country.

Umar said the traders have the right to report any bank found either hoarding the new naira notes or charging customers before depositing their old naira notes in their banks.

"You have the right to report any bank found hoarding the new naira notes or refuse to collect your old naira notes before the 31st January 2023 deadline.”

The CBN Kano Branch Controller was at the popular Kwari Market, Wapa Bureau De Charge Market, Kofar Wambam market and the famous Kurmi market.

CROSS RIVER Similarly, in Cross River, the CBN staged sensitisation rallies in markets, motor parks, and other business areas as part of its efforts at educating Nigerian on the redesigned Naira notes.

The sensitisation rallies which

commenced in the morning and ran through most of the afternoon, were held separately at Watt Market, Etim Edem Park, Bogobiri, Marian market, Ikot Ishie Market and 8 Miles Market, all in Calabar metropolis.

The Branch Controller, CBN, Calabar, Glory Iniunam, who addressed residents of the state at the rallies with similar messages and advice, said that the essence of the exercise was to keep the people informed on the new naira notes, and the deadline for the use of the old notes Iniunam told the people to return the old N200, N500, and N1000 to the banks before the January 31st deadline set by the CBN for the old denominations to be withdrawn from the banking system.

AKWA IBOM STATE In Akwa Ibom State, the CBN was lauded for the ongoing enlightenment campaigns on its naira redesign project.

The commendations were made when officials of the CBN, Akwa Ibom State branch took the sensitisation exercise on the new naira notes to Itam park and Itam market all within the Uyo metropolis.

The CBN officials led by the Deputy Director, Abuja office, Mr. Ekanem Akpan and Assistant Director, Head Banking, Uyo branch, Mr. Isang Agbomi, stormed the park and the market with thousands of flyers for the sensitization exercise.

Some of the people who reacted said they were happy to see officials of the CBN coming to the park and market to educate them on the development in the new monitary policy in the country.

A driver, Mr. Emmanuel Udoh said they don't have power to reject the redesign naira notes since it was government directive and policy.

He regretted that members of the public might not be able to meet the January 31, 2023, deadline calling for extension to the month of March.

Udoh reasoned that if the period to end the use of the old currencies was not extended, things would be difficult with Nigerians because the new currencies are not even enough in circulation.

EDO STATE In Edo State, the CBN took the campaign on the availability and admissibility of the new naira notes to Edo markets where it also urged the people to replace their old notes with the new ones.

The apex bank told them to accept the new banknotes, adding that there was no plan to shift the January 31st deadline for the old ones to be out of circulation.

Speaking at a sensitisation workshop at the popular Oba Market

OYO STATE In Oyo State, the central bank expressed its commitment to ensure that the new naira notes circulate to every nook and cranny of the country before the January 31, 2023 deadline.

This was just as it said adequate new naira notes have been dispensed to the banks in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, for onward distribution to the banks all over the state.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who spoke through the Branch Controller, Ibadan, Mrs. Olufolake Ogundero, during sensitisation to Dugbe and Aleshinloye markets in Ibadan, said the bank has been dispensing the new naira notes to the commercial banks before December 15, last year, stating that the deadline of January 31, 2023 still stands.

She said the CBN would not hesitate to sanction any bank who refuses to comply with the directives on the new naira notes, noting that the sanction will vary based on the infraction committed by the bank.

Ogundero disclosed that the motive of the sensitisation was to inform the public about the newly redesigned naira notes, stating that it was also organised to inform them on the need to deposit the old notes before the deadline.

She enjoined market men and women to ensure that they deposit the old notes at their commercial banks before the deadline, disclosing that there is no limit to how much a customer can deposit between now and the deadline.

She however admonished them to explore other payment channels, such as eNaira, the Point of Sales, electronic transfer, the USSD, Internet banking and mobile money operators and agents, for their economic activities.

PLATEAU STATE The CBN also took its public awareness campaign on the redesigned naira notes to traders to the outskirt community of Jos, saying it was part of the apex bank’s strategies to create more awareness among the remote populace on the redesigned naira notes.

CBN’s Director of Payment System Management, Alhaji Musa Jimoh, who led the sensitisation team to building materials market at Sabon Barki, said, “We are here in the market to sensitise the traders about the new currency and to demonstrate to them some of the features of the new currency so they can identify and differentiate it from the purported fakes that are being circulated.”

Continues online

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POLITICS

Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com 08033025611 SMS ONLY

Ngige: Taking Elder Statesmanship a Notch Higher Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige recently said he will not campaign for any of the four leading presidential candidates. David-Chyddy Eleke sees this as a new high in elder statesmanship.

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any supporters of the Dr Chris Ngige, especially in Anambra State call him Onwa. This means moon in Igbo language. It is his traditional title. However, there are others, maybe taking Into consideration his size who call him the diminutive general.

Whatever he is called by different people, one thing that can not be taken away from Ngige is his assertiveness, courage and maybe stubbornness too.

Having been a former governor, senator and two time minister, Ngige is among Igbo personalities that have seen it all. He recently tried to run for the presidency of Nigeria, maybe as a way to put a crown to all the political positions he has held. He went as far as purchasing the presidential form of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). He later withdrew from the race and continued his ministerial task in the ministry of Labour and Employment, where he has worked hard to enthrone stability in labour/federal government relations.

But in what can be said to be a way to assert himself as an elder statesman in Nigeria, Ngige, even without resigning from partisan politics has said he will not be supporting any of the four leading presidential candidates in the February, 2023 election.

Speaking at his hometown, Alor, Idemili South local government area, Anambra State, during the yuletide, Ngige declared that the four leading candidates for the presidential election are not just his friends, but contemporaries, with whom he has had dealings at various times.

In Alor, it has become a ritual for Ngige to call together family members, friends, supporters, and members of his party every yuletide to distribute cash, food items and many others.

The distribution is also extended to indigent members of the society, widows and aged persons. It was while performing this year’s task at the St Mary Catholic Church field in his hometown, Alor that Ngige spoke to his supporters about the 2023 Presidential election.

“The four frontrunners are good candidates with cognate experience in governance at the federal and state levels. They are my friends and they are well known to me. They have worked with me in one way or the other before now. Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was at the helm of affairs in the country when I was kidnapped as a sitting governor. He was Acting for Mr. President who was away in Maputo at that time. He ordered my reinstatement. We sat together in the National Economic Council where he was the Chairman. We formed the Action Congress (AC) with Asiwaju.

“Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC is also my good friend and political ally. He was very supportive during our trying times as Governor. We formed AC together. We worked together in ACN and I became the lone opposition Senator in the Eastern Region under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He is not somebody I don’t know.

“Peter Obi of the Labour Party is my brother, his Local Government is next to mine here, he is my successor and everything. I know him too well. I know his capacity. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of NNPP is my friend too. I knew him as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives under Agunwa Anaekwe in 1991 as Speaker.

We were in APC. So, so I know him.

“For me, let the Nigerian people vote right. Let Nigerians look at them and their manifestos and vote, according to what is right for the country. I don’t think I will go around campaigning for candidates A or B or C. I won’t do that. It is not my stock in trade. I don’t jump from party to party. But besides, I have some conscience and I am

going to protect my conscience and make sure that I don’t hurt it.”

Several comments had trailed Ngige’s decision, with many hailing his decision, while others have stated that it’s a veiled way of hiding his aversion for the candidacy of Tinubu as the candidate of APC, where Ngige belongs.

Some people have also analysed the decision as a way of veiling the support,

which he has for the candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, over the candidate of his party, APC. One thing that is certain is that Ngige has not denied that he has a candidate he will vote for, as a registered voter, but, has said that his conscience will not let him disclose who, or even try to convince others to join him in his choice, but to feel free to make their own choices, as they feel will be better

for the country.

But also, in the outing, in what looked like staunch defence for his party, Ngige took time to tackle former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had previously made unsavoury remarks about the sufferings of Nigerians, under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

He named some key projects completed by the President Buhari administration, including the second Niger Bridge, the Zik’s Mausoleum, saying those were evidences of Buhari’s performance.

According to him: “I was the one who brought Buhari to South East people in 2015. While we were laying our campaign manifesto, as the South East Zonal Coordinator, I told the General that the bridge is very important to our people and the entire South up to North Central. The General asked if we can do it and I said, ‘why not?’

The same question he asked at the Zik’s Mausoleum completion and he told me and the late Chuma Azikiwe that if God made him President, he will construct the Bridge and complete the abandoned Mausoleum for our people.

“I was the one who brought to the fore in our South East campaign, that 2nd Niger bridge, Enugu-Onitsha expressway and Enugu Airport renovation and remodelling, of which the Federal Government gave the Minister of Aviation N10billion to execute the upgrade, as critical infrastructural projects needed by the zone. Today, the tarmac was reconstructed and the runway expanded from one to three kilometres with a modern night lighting system and navigational aids NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

Turaki Gears Up to Return to Senate Ejike Umunnabuike and Nazir Galadanchi writes on ambition of former Governor of Jigawa State, Senator Saminu Turaki, as he prepares his winning streak for a comeback to Senate to represent Jigawa North-West on the ticket of Peoples Democratic Party

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enator Ibrahim Saminu Turaki is the candidate of the PDP for Jigawa North-West Senatorial District in the forthcoming elections. Turaki, was a former Governor of Jigawa State between May 29, 1999 and May 29, 2017, and later elected Senator from (2007-2011).

Turaki who’s set to return to the red chamber can best be described as a living human puzzle. As a man of few words, he has a knack for details, besides being gifted with the high extra sensory perceptive cognitive capacities, emotional and investigative intelligence.

Perhaps, the Almighty Most High God Allah SWT, also imbued him with exceptional brilliance, intelligence and long memory-span with a tendency to always show calmness in the mid of emerging political, social, cultural, traditional and allied emotive appeals that have huge tendencies to stir public hysteria.

For the most part Senator Ibrahim, who is often careful about his choice of words in his public speech-making processes, is currently presenting himself as a puzzle in the build to the February 25 & March 15, 2023 general election.

He has began to showcase the unique and uncommon creativity potentials that singled him out as a super genius who brought E-Governance culture to national limelight even as most uninformed minds who could not keep up to his brain-waves, stoutly criticized him due to crass ignorance and lack of

knowledge.

Ahead of the 2023 polls, Senator Ibrahim and former civilian Governor of Jigawa State is a man of many parts.

His deft political interests- aggregation moves and growing grassroots acceptance, is not surprising.

For instance, this reality principle can be attested to by the fact that since he left office as Governor at the successful completion of his two-term tenure, he had maintained the strong cordial relationship that he built with the grassroots, the middle-class, the elite-class as well as the complex political sub populations across populations- sizes , populationspatterns and populations- distributions in the three senatorial zones that make up Jigawa State.

Surprisingly, Senator Ibrahim, does not believe in the common-place social

concept of a political leadership figure, having imagined, perceived or real enemies.

His responses to the often negative social stimuli which encourages some political personalities, bearing grudges against certain political associates or followers, is one that baffles even a growing child in the remotest part of Hadeija, Dutse, Gumel or Kazaure Emirates of Jigawa State. He has no perceived political enemies.

A highly cerebral personality, who uses the wee period of the night and the early hours of the morning to carry out his reading routines, ICT engagements and electronic supervision of his business concerns, interests as well as political consultations, is a puzzle for special studies. Calm, calculated and fast-thinking, he takes his time in espousing his thoughts in his carefully worded speech.

Any independent view you seek in Jigawa State, even from among those, who may not share the same political persuations with him, they will tell you that the man, Senator Ibrahim Saminu Turaki, has a good rapport with the voting electorate, besides having very brilliant ideological concepts aimed at building strong political affiliations.

-Umunnabuike and Galadanchi write from Dutse NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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POLITICS

EPISTLES of ANTHONY KILA

President Biden’s Classified Before It is Too Late Anthony Kila writes about the need for every Nigerian Documents Palaver of voting age to properly scrutinise all candidates

Chido Nwangwu writes about recent discoveries vying for 2023 elective positions and determine their of secret documents traced to US President Joe suitability to represent the citizenry Biden during his tenure as Vice President now ear Readers, For close to two and a half being investigated by a panel of the House of years, “come 2023…” has been Representatives recurrent phrase in the national

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n Sunday, January 13, 2023, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a tweet that has since gone

viral.

The very fast-talking politician knows how to pideon-hole any of his opponents or shall I say, targets. Whatever you consider to be his partisan interests and animus, he knows how to frame the issues and get his social and political base riled up.

He tweeted: “Hillary Clinton mishandled classified documents. Joe Biden mishandled classified documents. But the only one who gets his home raided is President Trump— and he didn’t even do anything wrong!”

Only about two weeks ago, the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. Congressman Jordan (from Ohio) is now the chairman of the influential Judiciary Committee. He’s leading the Republican panel investigating the discovery of classified documents at U.S President Joe Biden’s home and office.

Jordan and Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson on Friday Jamuary 13, 2023, sent a letter to the U.S Attorney General Merrick Garland announcing their probe and immediately requesting documents.

Significantly, the Jordan and Johnson letter was sent one day after Garland named a special counsel, Robert Hur, a Trump appointee to investigate the potential mishandling of classified materials.

The letter stated “We are conducting oversight of the Justice Department’s actions with respect to former Vice President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, including the apparently unauthorized possession of classified material at a Washington, D.C. private office and in the garage of his Wilmington, Delaware residence.”

In the letter they are querying Garland’s decision to appoint a special counsel, arguing that it raises “fundamental oversight questions that the Committee routinely

examines…. We expect your complete cooperation with our inquiry.”

One of the perception and actual problems for the Biden White House is what has come almost like every three days a new discovery of classified documents are found and announced….

For example, last week’s Monday Richard Sauber, special counsel to Biden, said that “The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.”

The materials/documents were first discovered at an office at a University of Pennsylvania building in Washington DC. Mr. Biden used that office while he was an honorary professor for the university from 2017 to 2019.

After a couple of days, the Biden White House announced that a second batch of documents had been found in a storage space in the garage at Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware.

Welcome to the replay of some of the theatrics and some cogent questions from the Repubican and Democratic congessional members from the Beghazi hearings and the 2016, Hillary Clinton infamous “private e-mail server” issues while she was U.S Secretary of State.

Joran, a conservative agitator with a high pitch, very loud voice you would have seen 100 times during Congressional hearings does not leave you any speculative room as to the equalization of wrong-doing.

Consequently, as a realistic issue of political positioning and inquiries, let me simply say on these classifiied documents problem, the past has come rushing into Biden’s present and future!

-Dr Nwangwu is Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com Follow him @Chido247

Nigerian political discourse and it is easy to see why so many people and so many groups were looking forward to that year.

Well, 2023 is not here. Let us be clear, in the political discourse, the two months that matter most are the months of February and that of May. For politicians, May is the month of assuming office, better still getting their hands on the reins of power, February is the month of winning the battle for mantle of power.

Thankfully, the battle for power in a democratic system is or should be battle of wit, a presentation of alternative and competitive ideas by gladiators called flagbearers (candidates) chosen by their platforms (parties) because they are deemed to be the most suitable persons to pass the test of character, capability and competence that the historic moment, defined by topical issues, requires.

It is important to hold clear the notion of historic moment, defined by topical issues, because contrary to what many tend to assume democracy does not ensure that the absolute best of us rules.

What democracy can at best ensure is that the most suitable person in that specific moment emerges because it is generally assumed that he or she has the best temperament or perceived skills to deal with the issues of the moment.

That is why a leader popular in times of war might not be the one popular when the issue to deal with is unemployment.

Nigeria offers a peculiar case study to the literature of modern democracy: For many politicians in Nigeria, the starting point to convince members of their party and later the general body of voters of that they deserve to lead is ethnical and such mindset has generated concepts like zoning and rotation in the context of a system that can be termed as “Turn by turn Nigerian unlimited”, for some other politicians the ticket to contest and win in February in order to be sworn into power in May is based on loyalty and philanthropy.

A lot of observers and even many analysts argue that these peculiarities are due to and indeed inevitable given the constitution and structure of Nigeria, I disagree. In my personal and strongly held view, what we are dealing with is a failure of elites (leaders) that in both the public and private sectors have not been able to live up to the basic but crucial call of successfully leading the country in the process of nurturing a state or geographical expression into a viable nation. This is a blatant and dangerous failure that needs to be addressed and corrected before it is too late.

For citizens, February is the month to choose and May the month to start to hope for the best and to start and endure anything that comes out of the choice of February and its ratification in May. A sort of a one-way ticket for at least four years. Today’s epistle is written with the simple and hopefully clear intention of publicly, passionately and for the records remind we the citizens that things do not have to continue the way they are at the moment and that our choices can define our immediate and long-term future.

After May, it becomes very difficult to change our fortunes but before February, we can correct things before it is too late. Before May comes the first task, we the citizens need to absolve is to make sure that those vying to lead our affairs and to manage our commonwealth do their vying through a process that shows they effectively understand our

needs and concerns and appreciate our status as citizens.

Parents and students who care about education should be looking to see if the candidate they want to vote for or against really understands and care about education or not.

They need to check if the candidate of their choice finds it appalling that educational institutions in the country are closed for long periods or that they offer good and useful education when open.

Business people that want to build and invest need to carefully check to see if the candidate of their choice can make sure that proposed government policies (manifestos and election promises) truly understand and appreciate the importance of business and its place in the society: a source for generating wealth and jobs through ideas and risk taking.

They need to see if the candidate they are considering to vote has a good idea of the problems business are dealing with and above all that the candidate can solve these problems.

As a people, we all have to deal with security, it is important therefore that we make sure that the candidate we are considering to vote for sees security issue as a crucial issue connected to everything we do and want to do.

Left alone to their devices, candidates will not talk about these issues let alone show their capacity to solve these problems and lead others to prosperity, the natural instinct is to find their way into power through gossips, emotional rhetoric, insults and vague promises and once in power they think of self-preservation and consolidation of power.

It is important at this stage to notice that politicians know how to reach out for what they want. A simple and very visible proof is their ability to make sure their campaign posters are affixed in every nook and corner of even forsaken parts of the country only to disappear once they get power at that point it is too late to negotiate. Before it is too late, we the people need to learn to negotiate what matters to us. We need to use these few days leading to election to decide what matters to us and insist that politicians negotiate on our terms and conditions.

We need to make sure we insist that politicians know what we truly care about and we need to make sure only those we think want to solve our problems and have the capacity to do so get into power.

There is a general call for people to go out and vote, that is an essential element but it is not enough. Democracy is a game of numbers, to make sure we get what we want, it also important that we make sure that we do not leave those who do not care about us to decide who gets into power, before it is too late, we need to convince others to avoid errors that can lead to disastrous outcome for us come May this year.

Join me if you can @anthonykila to continue these conversations.

-Prof Kila is Centre Director at CIAPS Lagos. www.ciaps.org.

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T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

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Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Email oriarehu.eromosele@thisdaylive.com

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Despite Tightened Security, Illicit Goods Allegedly Flood Lagos Airport Cargo Terminal

Chinedu Eze Despite the close monitoring, tightened scrutiny and investigations to boost security around the airport, the cargo terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, is still a veritable route for the smuggling of drugs, weapons and other illegal goods, THISDAY checks have revealed.

However, airport officials and insiders who work at the cargo terminal have commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for their efforts at stemming the tide, insisting that illicit goods still have

free passage through the terminal.

On Tuesday, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced that it intercepted military and police hardware along with hard drugs, including 162 cartons of banned Tramadol hydrochloride 225 and 250mg at the cargo section of the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

The Customs Area Controller of the Muritala Muhammed Airport Command (MMAC), Compt. Sambo Dangaladima, said the items were intercepted at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO).

Giving a breakdown, Dangaladima said, 309 pieces of Military helmets; 106 pieces of Military Armless Jackets;

352 pieces of ballistic body armoured pads and 119 pieces of Police Badges were intercepted.

Other contrabands intercepted were five pieces of bulletproof jackets; 33 pieces of body side ballistic pads and 105 pieces of ballistic chest plates, he added.

THISDAY spoke to the Managing Director of SAHCO, Mr. Basil Agboarumi, who commended the activities of NDLEA and Customs and stated that the federal government agencies were fully in charge of examination of cargo that leave Nigeria or arrive the country through their facility.

He said SAHCO as a company had its own security apparatus

whose officials report to the federal government agencies if there is an incident or suspicion of cargo.

So Customs are fully in charge of cargo and carry NDLEA along, and if there are hiccups in the process, SAHCO should not be held responsible. He exonerated SAHCO and the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc, two of the biggest handling companies in Nigeria.

“We have our own internal security, we have scanners and Close Circuit Television (CCTV) and we monitor everything that go on in our premises. It is the duty of the agencies to arrest anyone suspected to have engaged on illicit

deals. We don’t have the right to open anybody’s cargo. So we relate effectively with the officials of these two agencies. We have our bonded warehouse, which they are in charge.

You cannot access the warehouse without Customs officials. Our role is to corporate with these agencies,” Agboarumi said.

He also said the NDLEA and Customs have the right to inspect goods, but it is the duty of SAHCO to provide the equipment and facilities to facilitate movement of these goods.

“All these agencies are located within the environment of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). SAHCO and NAHCO are gateways for goods in the aviation

industry. Our clients make use of the gateway but the federal government agencies make sure that the right things are done and that banned products are not brought into the country. We have Aviation Security (AVSEC). Our security personnel are well trained and they go through various certifications. We also have external security officials who have obtained licence from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Our security personnel do not have the power to open anybody’s cargo.

Our warehouse has full CCTV coverage and I commend NDLEA because they are doing well. They Continued on page 23

Climate Investment: Nigeria, China, Others May Lose $377bn GDP Growth Eromosele Abiodun Failure to invest the bare minimum needed to withstand projected climate damage could cost China, Nigeria and other emerging markets a whooping $377 billion in climate damages and lost gross domestic products (GDP) growth this decade, a new study by Standard Chartered has revealed.

The report, tagged, “The Adaptation Economy,” which investigates the need for climate adaptation investment in 10 markets – including Nigeria, China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan – reveals that, without investing a minimum of USD30 billion in adaptation by 2030, these markets could face projected damages and lost GDP growth of $377 billion: over

12 times that amount.

“Examples of climate adaptation projects include the creation of coastal barrier protection solutions for areas vulnerable to flooding, the development of drought-resistant crops and early-warning systems against pending natural disasters, “it stated.

Nigeria, the report stressed, is among the top 5 countries to

benefit the most from adaptation investment According to the report, “Among the 10 markets in the study, Nigeria is projected to Nigeria significantly from the adptataion investment. Leading the pack is India, which will benefit the most from adaptation investment. The market would require an estimated $11billion

to prevent climate damages and lost growth of $135.5 billion in a 1.5°C warming scenario – equal to a thirteen-to-one return for the Indian economy of investment in climate adaptation. Meanwhile, China could avoid an estimated cost of $112 billion by investing just USD8 billion. And Nigeria could avoid costs of an estimated $19.9 billion by investing $1.5 billion in

adaptation.

“Even if the world’s nations manage to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, measures to adapt to climate change must be pursued alongside the global decarbonisation agenda, with the banking sector having a critical role to play in unlocking finance. The Continued on page 23

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T H U R S D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 2 3 BONDS DESCRIPTION Price ^14.20 14MAR-2024 ^13.53 23MAR-2025 ^12.50 22JAN-2026 ^16.2884 17MAR-2027 ^13.98 23FEB-2028

10.362, 00 10.459, 00 10.287, 00 11.168, 00 10.386, 00

Yield 10.82 11.11 11.35 12.60 12.92

Change Updated Time (%) January -0.01 6, 2023 January -0.71 6, 2023 January 0.00 6, 2023 January 0.00 6, 2023 January 0.00 6, 2023

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Change Updated Time (%) January 6, -0.01 2023 January 6, 0.00 2023 January 6, -1.71 2023 January 6, 0.00 2023 January 6, 0.00 2023

MATURITY FDHP CP III 17-MAR-23 VHPL CP III 1-APR-23 MREP CP VI 11-APR-23

Change Updated Time (%) January 6, 9.26 9.43 0.00 2023 January 6, 14.15 14.64 0.00 2023 January 6, 10.52 10.81 -0.01 2023

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Current Rate Updated Time ($/₦) January 6, 469.87 2023 January 6, 472.05 2023 January 6, 474.23 2023 January 6, 476.42 2023 January 6, 478.60 2023

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

AIR WATCH

NCS, MMIA Revenue Hits N20bn in December 2022 Gilbert Ekugbe The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command (MMIA), Mohammed Malami Gidado, has stated that the commend’s revenue collection at the end of December 2022, hit N20.89 billion The figure, according to Gidado in a statement, represents a significant increase in revenue generation of N1.849 billion when compared to N19.048 billion generated within the same period of 2021.

According to him, the significant increase is due to an improved integrity of passengers’ in the

declaration of goods and high level of compliance towards voluntary payment of (Couriers Parcels, Passengers Accompanied and Unaccompanied Baggage) duty.

“We had a smiling end of year sum of N20.89 billion only for the period of January to December, 2022.

While in 2021, the sum of N19.048 billion only was the revenue collected within same period,” he said.

He pointed out that during the December 2022 review, the Command collected the sum of N1.75 billion, adding that the sum of N1.62 billion was the revenue collected within same period in 2021.

In his words: “This simply implies

that the Command had an increased sum of N393.30 million in 2022.

The seamless travelers’ clearance procedure adopted by the Command as initiated by the CAC over the period is worthwhile as evidenced in the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command revenue collected from August to December 2022.”

“This implies effectiveness of initiated and adopted strategies while measuring performance and challenges from August to December 2022 compared to the preceding year’s revenue collection of 2021 towards a better performance in the near future,” he added.

A I R WATCH Amid 2022 Challenges, AON Recorded Boost in Capacity

Wakanow Restructures for Global Expansion Chinedu Eze Travel tech company, Wakanow has announced that it is defining the future in the travel industry, opening new doors, creating ease of travel, unlocking new destinations and providing Fintech services that enhance travel.

The company said the revolution created opportunities that are driving the future of how customers shop for travel and how they interface with travel agencies and the entire value chain of the travel industry.

“Keeping in step with the new frontiers being created, Wakanow has restructured to function as a group entity. In line with that, the Board of Directors and Management of Wakanow Group has appointed Mr. Adebayo Adedeji as the Group Chief Executive Officer and Mrs. Adenike Macaulay as Chief Executive Officer of Wakanow Nigeria, effective January 2023.

“At the tip of the spear in the new structure, Bayo Adedeji will be at the forefront of expanding the business in Africa (beginning with West Africa) and then exporting the Wakanow excellence into other regions of the world. Adenike Macaulay is tasked with leading the charge within the shores of Nigeria and ensuring that the business in Nigeria deepens its roots and spreads its tentacles across the regions of the country,” the company said in a statement.

Whilst announcing his new role, the new Group CEO, Bayo Adedeji, stated: “We are expanding into new verticals and countries in Africa & beyond to take advantage of new business opportunities in the emerging competitive landscape, leveraging our deep understanding of the African customer and expertise in the travel tech industry, and I will be leading this venture as Group CEO. “The synergy I have built with

Adenike over the last 18 months makes me super confident to take on this new challenge knowing that our core business will continually grow geometrically in her hands.”

Also reacting to her promotion, Mrs. Adenike Macaulay, the new Wakanow Nigeria CEO said, “I am delighted to receive the leadership torch of Wakanow Nigeria from Bayo and also excited to take on the new responsibility saddled upon me by the board and management of Wakanow and look forward to leading and building with an immensely talented team.”

In addition to major executive management changes, the company has also said it has strategically positioned its subsidiaries to open new frontiers, constantly innovating for a more satisfactory customer travel experience, delivering technologically powered solutions for things as basic as buying flight tickets to booking hotels and rides.

ValueJet to Expand Operations, Acquire Three CRJ Aircraft Nigerian start-up airline, ValueJet has concluded plans to begin flight services to Jos, as the carrier is keeping an eye on some other routes it plans to service.

The airline equally unveiled the expansion plans that would see it spread its wings to other key destinations.

Consequently, ValueJet is working assiduously to bring down the cost of flight tickets without compromising safety.

The carrier is also keeping an eye on Akure, Yola, Kano, and Gombe.

The airline said those are destinations that are of great potential while maintaining and concentrating on its six stations Lagos, Abuja, Benin, Asaba, Port-Harcourt, and Jos with an on-time departure that is above 95 per cent.

Speaking on its 100 days since ValueJet started operations, the Managing Director of the airline, Capt. Dapo Majekodunmi said: “At our 100 days, we have been able to

stabilise our operation, understand the market, and make inputs on passengers’ preferred time of travel demands into our schedule.”

Speaking on route expansion, the airline chief further stated: “The expansion will be gradual to other stations. We would like to maintain and concentrate on the six stations Lagos Abuja Benin, Asaba, Port-Harcourt, and Jos with an ontime departure above 95 per cent.

“We are keeping our eyes on Akure, Yola, Kano, and Gombe.

Those are destinations with great potential. The vision of the airline still remains the focal point. That is making flying available for everyone.”

Majekodunmi disclosed that three additional CRJ aircraft are expected by the third quarter of 2023, while the aircraft would be a cargo configuration CRJ 200, saying that would be the first such cargo plane operation in West Africa.

ValueJet Airlines is celebrating

an important milestone -100 days of operations. As part of the celebration, the carrier would from January 16, 2022, introduce promo fares to its teeming customers that are as low as N40, 000 for a one-way trip to the destinations the airline operates.

ValueJet operates scheduled flight services from Lagos, which is its hub to Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Benin, Asaba, Jos, and some other states across Nigeria which the carrier intends to launch soon.

Chairman of ValueJet, Mr. Kunle Soname, remarked that the airline was no stranger to the industry and would base its services on the need for the right pricing.

He thanked the passengers for being part of history and patronage in the past 100 days of the existence of the airline when it launched flight services on October 4th, 2022, with its CRJ 900 90-seater aircraft, recording above 97 percent load factor.

Schneider Electric Completes Acquisition of AVEVA Emma Okonji AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software has announced the completion of its acquisition by Schneider Electric, a leading global industrial company specialising in digital automation and energy management.

Since its foundation, AVEVA has grown from a niche design software developer to a leading global industrial software company with a value of more than £10bn.

Today, AVEVA’s software drives efficiency and reduces costs for over 20,000 customers worldwide, offering a Digital Twin for the whole asset lifecycle from Engineering through to Operations and Maintenance across diverse industries worldwide.

The global industrial sector

increasingly relies on data to maximize business value. But like other materials, this key industrial resource only becomes useful when it is extracted, processed, and delivered to the right people at the right time – securely and in context.

CEO of AVEVA, Peter Herweck, said: “The needs of the industrial world are becoming ever more complex. But the opportunities to create competitive advantage, value and sustainability through digital transformation have never been more compelling. AVEVA is now optimally placed, with the collaboration not just of Schneider Electric but all its partners, to drive innovation, change and value for its customers. The last 50 years for AVEVA have been incredibly

exciting. Thank you to all of the stakeholders who have been part of the journey so far in creating a global leader in industrial software and data. I’m convinced that through continued investment and transformation, the best is yet to come.”

Chairman of AVEVA, Philip Aiken, said: “It has been a pleasure to be Chairman of AVEVA over the last decade, as the business has grown to be a global leader in industrial software and the largest listed technology company in the UK. I’d like to thank the Board, our employees, customers, partners and investors for their contributions and support and to wish AVEVA continued success as part of Schneider Electric.”

Chinedu Eze The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) in a review of 2022 said it witnessed a lot of challenges, ranging from high cost of aviation fuel, scarcity of the product, high exchange rate and paucity of dollars coupled with environmental challenges like bad weather that caused flight delay inadequate airport facilities, which encumbered facilitation.

The high cost of aviation fuel gave vent to high airfares and scarcity of forex hindered major maintenance of aircraft, which must have to be ferried overseas for checks. This reduced the number of operating aircraft and low capacity further led to increase in airfares, as fewer aircraft seats available could not meet the demand of air travellers.

Airline operators were aghast at sudden hike in aviation fuel, known as Jet A1 from the beginning of the year, the price of the product skyrocketed, prompted by high exchange rate and sometimes alleged artificial scarcity manipulation by the oil marketers, as middlemen usurped the position of major marketers and created a segment between the importers and the marketers, adding their avarice to the final cost of the product.

But despite these challenges, the airline operators provided elixir with the acquisition of more aircraft, which eased anxieties during the high Christmas season and somewhat, tamed the fares. With insecurity threatening every part of Nigeria, travelling by road became insipid, so those who could afford it travelled by air. The operators provided the needed capacity but with cutthroat lease terms to some airlines.

The airlines said they were spurred by the desire to provide service than to make profit and that was why they did everything possible to increase their fleet and meet the demand of Nigerians.

The Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines and spokesman of AON Professor Obiora Okonkwo observed in the interview he granted to TVC and monitored by THISDAY that last year, Nigeria’s aviation sector grappled with a lot of challenges ranging from hike in Jet A1 and airfare, regulatory, institutional and structural challenges.

According to him, others include challenges of poor infrastructure, poor access to financial incentives, inability to repatriate funds, as well as underfunding of Nigeria’s aviation industry.

He said due to the challenges, some airlines, including domestic and international airlines were forced to limit their operations across the country.

Highlighting some of these key issues and policies that impacted the aviation sector last year and projections for 2023, Okonkwo said aviation fuel was a major issue because it was about this time last year (January) that the alarm was raised on the steady increase in price.

He said foreign exchange also played a very major role, as the sector was dealing with foreign exchange of about $500 to $1

at the parallel market and it was available even at the window early in the year.

But within a very short time it went to 600, 700, 800, going to 900 to 1000 per dollar, saying that it was a major challenge and then worst of all, it later became unavailable.

Okonkwo said: “These challenges were a big shock to the aviation industry in Nigeria, and it only took the grace of God for us to continue to breathe. There’s really no company in the world that would have survived such a combination. We faced the depreciation of the Naira locally. So that combination was actually very toxic and obviously the logistic challenges that we also noticed brought about scarcity.

He added that more importantly was the unpatriotic approach of the marketers, the vendors and all who were involved in that cycle of importation distribution up to the pump of the aircraft.

Okonkwo said that last year was not all bad because despite all those challenges towards the end of the year there was increased number of fleets, remarking that within the last two quarters of the year, there was influx of about 10 to 15 large body aircraft, including the one acquire

by United Nigeria Airlines.

“Some of our colleagues, the operators had their challenges. Some of them had to take out time to reorganise themselves. Some of them had to get the hammer of the regulators. But in all, it is exciting and quite commending to say that operations have been very safe and it will continue to be safe because there is very high quality of regulation and operators are fully in compliance to what is required for safety”, he said Speaking on the issue of federal government’s debt, Okonkwo said that government is indemnifying all their debts and all their borrowings and explained that most of domestic operators of the industry in Nigeria had made it the fastest growing aviation sector in the whole world.

“We have the highest recovery period after the COVID-19 all over the world, only second to Colombia with a small margin.There’s no aviation industry that has recovered in any part of the world after COVID-19 without any support from the government.It’s because of the operator’s persistence and devotion, and all these shocks certainly would have brought about a low passenger increase in operational cost, which if you had to apply directly would have brought the tickets to be between $200 and $250,000.

“But we knew already the impact that could bring down the national economy and already masses who have been suffering.

So we’ve been absorbing a whole lot of that. Instead of commendation, were facing a threat of extinction.” Okonkwo added.

In 2022 there was no accident involving scheduled flight service and there was no very serious incident so in terms of safety, it was a good year for Nigeria’s aviation industry.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

INDUSTRY

Creating Improved Manufacturing Environment with Subsidy Removal Manufacturers and members of the organised private sector has argued that monies spent to subsidise consumption should be used to drive production, writes Dike Onwuamaeze

O

perators of the Nigerian manufacturing sector are demanding for fiscal and monetary reforms that would improve the country’s business environment and make their products competitive in domestic and international markets. These reforms, according to their expectations, would take away expenditures like fuel subsidy and channel them to productive ends to finance infrastructure development. They believed that adequate funding of infrastructures like rails, roads, port’s facilities and electricity would lower their cost of production and enable them to produce at competitive prices.

They also believed that monetary policy reforms, especially in the management of the country’s foreign exchange market, in a manner that could bridge the gap between the official and parallel market could block financial leakages that would bring N4 trillion into the government’s coffers in 2023 alone to finance critical infrastructures.

The reforms should also go as far as breaking the monopoly of the NNPC as the sole importer of refined petroleum products and accommodate the recent request by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) that its members should be given licences to import same products, curiously from the Republic of Niger.

The Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, stated this clearly in a paper he titled “Unlocking Revenues From Subsidy Regimes.”

Yusuf argued that the Nigerian economy is heavily burdened and encumbered by two major subsidy regimes: the fuel subsidy regime and the foreign exchange subsidy regime, adding that huge sums of revenue could be unlocked from these subsidy regimes, if appropriate reforms are implemented.

NEED TO REMOVE SUBSIDY

Already, there is a plan to discontinue petroleum subsidy, which is a positive development. This action would unlock a minimum of N6 trillion revenues into the federation account annually.

The second major subsidy regime from which huge revenues could be unlocked in the short term is the foreign exchange policy regime. Over the years the exchange rate assumptions in the appropriation acts were grossly and deliberately understated, leading to loss of trillions of Naira to the federation account.

In 2021, for instance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold an estimated $18 billion US dollars as interventions in the foreign exchange market at a hugely subsidised average rate of N400 per dollar.

Effective exchange rate in the economy at the time was N560/$. This meant an estimated subsidy of N160/$, which translated to conservatively estimated revenue loss of N2.9 trillion.

Similarly in 2022, an estimated $18 billion was sold as intervention in the FOREX market at an average rate of N447/$. The average effective exchange rate for the period was conservatively about N650. Again, this meant a subsidy of N203/$. This translated to an estimated revenue loss of about N3.64 trillion.

He said: “These are huge loses of revenue to foreign exchange subsidy, which is as damaging to the economy as the fuel subsidy. But curiously, the National Assembly and the CBN had serially, grossly and inexplicably underestimated the exchange rate benchmark in the appropriation bills of the past few years.

“For an economy that is burdened by huge fiscal deficit and unsustainable debt obligations, this should

not be allowed to continue in 2023. The reality is that FOREX end users are paying well over N700/$ for their business transactions. Selling government forex at less than N500/$ is inexcusable.

“The exchange rate assumption in the budget should be immediately reviewed to reflect exchange rate realities and boost revenue to the federation account. This could be done within the framework of the Finance Act which is fortunately being reviewed. A realistic exchange rate benchmark would boost the federation account revenues by about N4 trillion in 2023.”

NECA’S VIEW

The Director General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. AdewaleSmatt Oyerinde, told THISDAY that in other climes, these funds being thrown at subsidies “would have been judiciously used for more productive activities that will directly impact the lives of citizens, most especially provision of infrastructural facilities.”

Oyerinde noted that over a decade, the country has spent well over N20 trillion on fuel subsidies while about N15.5 trillion was spent on capital expenditure, N2.5 trillion on health and about N3.9 trillion on education.

In 2022 alone, over N5 trillion was expended and over N3trillion budgeted for same in the 2023 budget.

This, according to him, is a misplacement of priority and showed that critical developmental items such as education, health and infrastructure have suffered due to crass misplacement of the country’s economic priorities. The corollary is that Nigeria seemed to be behind in all economic growth fundamentals, except a large market, which if not harnessed might become a curse as the implementation of the AfCFTA gains more steam.

The fuel subsidy mechanism was introduced in Nigeria in 1973 as a tool to cushion the landing

cost of the petroleum products as a result of the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries.

Since then subsidy has taken a frightening turn, becoming a major drain in the purse of the nation.

“It is no gainsaying, that the subsidy regime as currently operated is shrouded in secrecy and fraught with corruption. The humongous amount spent in the guise of subsidy regime is literally being used to subsidise inefficiency, corruption and consumption.

“Few years ago, the report of a Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments between 2009 and 2011, showed that about 667 billon (about $4.3b) was being mismanaged annually subsidising millions of litres of petrol that Nigerians never used, or even needed.

“Recent comments by high-ranking Government officials including the Comptroller-General of Customs also alluded to the fact that the subsidy scheme is a brazen rape of our scarce resources,” Oyerinde said.

The NECA believed that the application of the subsidy regime has remained unsustainable, and has been characterised by fiscal loss and the recklessness associated with the subsidy regime.

Worse still, Nigerians are currently not buying petrol at the subsidised rate of N165. The product sells as high as N650 in some part of the country.

The employers’ association strongly recommended that the fuel subsidy regime should be removed latest by June 2023, as contained in the Appropriation Act, 2023. It also argued strongly that government should not spare any effort to complete the Turn Around Maintenance of the four refineries before the June, 2023 date; institute a judicial enquiry involving employers and workers representatives to ascertain those that are culpable in the fuel subsidy scam and make necessary adjustment to the Finance Bill 2022, by removing sections that

contradicts the Petroleum Industry Act, for the rapid development of the oil and gas industry.

ENSURING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Director General of MAN, Mr. Segun AjayiKadir, said recently that Nigeria’s path to economic growth, industrialisation and sustainable development has been compromised by inadequate attention to the numerous pressing challenges of the manufacturers who are meant to be the propellers of its long-term economic agenda.

Ajayi-Kadir argued that achieving a stable rapidlygrowing Nigerian economy would require taking head-on the daily bottlenecks confronted by business owners within the manufacturing sector because of its active inter-linkages with other key sectorial drivers of the economy.

He observed that the Nigerian economy is completely dependent on importation of refined petroleum products including diesel and other vital manufacturing raw materials and there are currently no sufficient alternatives.

The MAN expressed concern about the implications of the sharp increase in the price of diesel on the manufacturing sector, which include the exertion of untold hardship on the manufacturing sector leading to the closure of many industries, leading to reduction in capacity utilisation, further decline in GDP, large scale unemployment across 76 sub-sectors and increase in crime rate; further decrease in foreign exchange earnings from the manufacturing sector as high cost of production feeds into export commodity prices; reverse-multiplier effect, as cost of production escalates and the headways already made in the sector are grossly eroded; negative spiral effects on every sector of the economy, resulting in hyperinflation, lower productivity and turnover amongst others.

The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

CLIMATE INVESTMENT: NIGERIA, CHINA, OTHERS MAY LOSE $377BN GDP GROWTH $30billion investment required for adaptation represents only slightly more than 0.1 per cent of combined annual GDP of the 10 markets in the study and much less than the estimated $95 trillion emerging markets require to transition to net zero using mitigation measures.”

The report also surveyed 150 bankers, investors and asset managers and found that, currently, just 0.4 per cent of the capital held by respondents is allocated to adaptation in emerging markets

where investment is needed most.

“However, 59 per cent of respondents plan to increase their adaptation investments over the next 12 months. And on average, adaptation financing is expected to rise from 0.8 per cent of global assets in 2022 to 1.4 per cent by 2030, “it added.

Commenting, the Chief Sustainability Officer, Standard Chartered, Marisa Drew, said: “This report makes it clear that irrespective of efforts to keep

global warming as close to 1.5C as possible we are going to have to incorporate climate-warming effects into our systems and adapt to its reality.

“All nations will need to adapt to climate change by building more resilient agriculture, industry and infrastructure, but the need is greatest in emerging and fast-developing economies with a disproportionate risk of exposure to the negative effects of rising temperatures and extreme weather.”

DESPITE TIGHTENED SECURITY, ILLICIT GOODS ALLEGEDLY FLOOD LAGOS AIRPORT CARGO TERMINAL have the support of the US and the UK. They celebrate them because of the efficient job they do, ”he said.

He added that the duty of the federal government agencies is to track, identify and investigate and they cooperate with the handling companies. Agboarumi also stated that a lot of activities took place and that the agencies were doing their job but it is not every time that the public would hear about

their exploits.

“If arrests are not being made it does not means that nothing is happening. We cooperate with them to ensure that nobody hides anything. We should also be praised for putting the right things in place.

We work as partners. Customs are the custodians of the bonded warehouse. They search each cargo to ascertain what revenue that goes to government. They have scanners to

do comprehensive examination and they share information with NDLEA. If there are drugs and other related prohibited goods they hand over the goods and suspect to NDLEA,” Agboarumi said.

A senior official in NAHCO told THISDAY that if there were any security breach in terms of bringing illicit cargo that Customs should be held responsible because the agency is fully in charge; that the handling

companies are facilitators.

“You cannot open or close the bonded warehouse the presence of Customs officials. There are assigned Customs officers that are in charge. If there are two keys to the warehouse, they have one and we have one. When we resume in the morning we go together to open the warehouse and it is the same thing at the close of work.

We cannot close it without them. It

is their business to make sure that prohibited goods are not brought into the country,” the official said.

He said that FAAN does not have control over territorial borders; that Customs is in charge because “they know what is allowed and what is not allowed.

“So the ultimate security checks are under Customs,” he said.

Informed sources at the terminal told THISDAY that if such illicit

goods and drugs were not finding their way out of the airport, the importers would have stopped importing through the airport.

“This thing is simple. If you ban foreign rice in Nigeria and you enter Balogun market in Lagos and you still see foreign rice you will know that those whose job is to ensure that foreign rice does not enter the country have compromised their job,” he said.

24 T H I S D AY FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2023 TR

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Friday January 20, 2023 Vol 27. No 10143

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

The continuing harassment of the central bank governor questions the integrity of the secret police, writes BOLAJI ADEBIYI

A CHANGE OF STATUS

Okezie Ikpeazu will represent Abia South Senatorial District better, reckons MICHAEL NWABUEZE

See page 25

ELECTIONS, THEN WHAT? JOSHUA J. OMOJUWA urges the electorate to consistently put governments on their toes

See page 25

EDITORIAL

TACKLING THE RISING RAPE CASES

26

1

THE TRAVAILS OF GODWIN EMEFIELE By the time the week ends tomorrow, it would have been an interesting one that began with the dramatic return RI *RGZLQ (PHÀHOH WKH HPEDWWOHG governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and was spiced by the dust raised by the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign over a confession of a former aide of Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, alleging corrupt practices against the main opposition party’s torchbearer.

For weeks after the legal misadventure of the Department of State Service to KDYH (PHÀHOH SXW LQ WKH FRROHU QR RQH could say with certainty the central banker’s whereabouts safe that he was said to be abroad on medical leave. As the curiosity of the weary public grew over the striking coincidence between the failed legal ambush and his medical vacation, speculations became rife that security agencies were waiting for him to be apprehended once he steps his foot on Nigerian soil.

But knowing that he could not VWD\ DZD\ IURP KLV VHQVLWLYH R΀FH LQGHÀQLWHO\ ZLWKRXW DWWUDFWLQJ WKH DFFXVDWLRQ RI DEDQGRQLQJ KLV R΀FLDO duty, particularly as the year’s maiden meeting of the Monitory 3ROLF\ &RPPLWWHH ZDV GXH (PHÀHOH made a deft legal move to guarantee a safe passage back home. The incorporated trustees of Forum for Accountability and Good Leadership, a non-government organisation had approached the court of Justice A.A. Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, for an exparte order to stop the DSS and the Inspector-General of Police from arresting the central bank governor.

Again, like the earlier order of Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja that fenced the DSS from LQFDUFHUDWLQJ (PHÀHOH LW LV FXULRXV that although Justice Hassan’s order was made on 19 December, it did not become public until eleven days after.

But despite the order, speculations remained rife that the security agencies were waiting in the wings to take in the embattled banker from the airport.

His arrival, therefore, was bound to generate some drama. Would the DSS or police defy the orders of the court forbidding his arrest?

That question was answered on Monday as Osita Nwanisobi, the bank’s director of communications, in a VWDWHPHQW FRQÀUPHG WKDW (PHÀHOH KDG resumed duty. How? Media reports had been agog that security agents were milling around the airport to pick

him up. But it would later be reported that the central banker beat the arrest net with the aid of a service chief who deployed soldiers to help him evade the security cordon. Interesting. Next, Peter Afunaya, the spokesman of the nation’s secret service denied any DWWHPSW WR WDNH LQ (PHÀHOH Meanwhile, the news wave would become inundated with reports of a SROLFH VLHJH RQ (PHÀHOH·V UHVLGHQFH on Tuesday night. Although both Olumuyiwa Adejobi, force public UHODWLRQV R΀FHU DQG -RVHSKLQH $GHK )&7 FRPPDQG SXEOLF UHODWLRQV R΀FHU denied knowledge of the action, there were reports that the policemen at the central banker’s Abuja residence might have been there to compel him to answer a court summons scheduled for Wednesday over a $53million dollar suit. Another strange occurrence.

Why would policemen, without the knowledge of the police hierarchy compel the appearance of a party to an essentially civil suit?

7KH HQWLUH (PHÀHOH VDJD RR]HV D rotten smell, and without a doubt, a national embarrassment. That the governor of the central bank is accused RI WHUURULVP ÀQDQFLQJ DQG HFRQRPLF sabotage, and several months after this weighty allegation, nothing concrete has happened to prove this accusation is not only unfortunate but extremely disgraceful. It questions not only the integrity of the nation’s secret service but also its capacity to secure the people it is instituted to protect.

When Justice Tsoho dismissed the exparte request of the DSS many weeks ago, he said if the secret service was sure of its claims, it should step forward with the evidence. Several weeks after the judicial challenge, the DSS has been

groping in the dark, perhaps in search of non-existent evidence to nail a man they had sought to incarcerate for crimes against national security.

For years, the courts have told security and law enforcement agencies that the law is that investigation precedes arrest and prosecution. This constant recourse to putting the cart EHIRUH WKH KRUVH RU ÀVKLQJ IRU HYLGHQFH after an arrest is regrettable and ought to stop forthwith not because it involves a big man but because it is a common occurrence nationwide particularly as LW DͿHFWV WKH OHVV SULYLOHJHG FLWL]HQV In the meantime, President Muhammadu Buhari ought to end his aloofness on this embarrassing episode of his central banker being accused of the most heinous crime that has plagued the country in the last seven and a half years. The subtext of the ongoing show of shame is said to be the desire of some power centres at the highest level of government to see the EDFN RI (PHÀHOH DQG UHSODFH KLP ZLWK a more pliant person that would do their bidding in the dying days of the outgoing administration and beyond.

This would be a political move that would require more rigorous thinking to pull through given the stringent constitutional requirements for the removal of a central bank governor.

Pending when these power holders would come up with the appropriate strategy to achieve their essential political objective it is important that the central bank governor is allowed the peace of mind to pursue his task.

Presently, he has on his hands a currency change policy that is being widely resisted, to implement. It WKUHDWHQV WR EH D GL΀FXOW WDVN DV HYHQ the banks appear to be resisting the policy which is aimed at mopping excess cash in circulation as one of the VWUDWHJLHV IRU WDPLQJ LQÁDWLRQ With politicians up in arms against the currency change and cash withdrawal policy close to what looks like the keenest presidential election ever, the central bank governor needs all the focus and concentration he can get to make a success of the new policy.

Consequently, the DSS and other security agencies who have evidence RI DQ\ PDOHÀFHQFH DJDLQVW (PHÀHOH should approach the court with it.

Otherwise, they should leave him alone to do his job.

Adebiyi, the managing editor of THISDAY Newspapers, writes from bolaji.adebiyi@ thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY

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FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2023

Okezie Ikpeazu will represent Abia South Senatorial District better, reckons MICHAEL NWABUEZE

A CHANGE OF STATUS

Democracy is a system of government lost glory of Aba. whose outcomes in elections are +DYLQJ VXͿHUHG QHDU WRWDO DEVHQFH RI GHWHUPLQHG E\ WKH SHRSOH )RU DQ HOHFWLRQ federal government presence due to weak to be adjudged successful, it must be free, representation by the current Senator fair and credible, and these are factors representing Abia South, residents of Aba driven by the system’s ability to allow the know that the man to take the challenge people to so freely express their choices XS ZLWK WKH )HGHUDO *RYHUQPHQW QRW necessarily through unproductive strategy without let, hindrance or coercion.

Such free choices are expressed in several of belligerence and bellicosity as is the case ways in the run up to the election and give now, but through adroit engagement of DQ LQVLJKW LQWR ZKDW WKH ÀQDO RXWFRPH people and agencies that matter using his would be. It is therefore safe to say that ZLGH FRQQHFWLRQ DQG ÀUVWKDQG NQRZOHGJH following on the above, the Governor of the challenges confronting the people, is Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

That unprompted, unplanned scenario DW WKH VFHQH RI WKH ÀUH LQFLGHQW LQ $ED LV what has further got Ikpeazu’s opponents worried. His popularity keeps growing by leaps and bounds, from strength to strength. They know that given that scenario and similar ones, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has already won the 2023 Abia South Senatorial election especially when the electorate considers the R΀FLDOO\ FRQÀUPHG UHSRUW E\ WKH 1DWLRQDO Assembly of the performances of each senator. of Abia State and the PDP candidate for Recall that the National Assembly Abia South Senatorial District, Dr Okezie recently released the report of the Ikpeazu, is in clear lead to win his election. performances of each Senator between His wide acceptance by the people 2019 and 2023 with regard to the number was epitomised by the spontaneous of bills each Senator introduced in the outpouring of love to him by the people on Red Chamber, and the following are the streets of Aba as he walked the road to the performances of those from Abia State: Orji Uzor Kalu - 25; T.A. Orji WKH VFHQH RI D ÀUH LQFLGHQW UHFHQWO\ The unfortunate incident had happened 10, Enyinnaya Abaribe - 2. Given that at a petrol station on Aba-Owerri Road, lawmaking is the primary responsibility Osisioma Ngwa LGA, Aba, and the of senators, the reason they are referred to Governor, who was on his way to another as lawmakers, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe occasion had his attention drawn to FDQ FRQÀGHQWO\ EH VDLG WR KDYH IDLOHG the incident. Rather than drive to his abysmally in his primary responsibility. original destination, he chose to stop to The implication of this is that Abaribe DVFHUWDLQ ÀUVWKDQG WKH FDXVH RI WKH ÀUH should actually place himself in the incident, evaluate the extent of damage same scale as those he takes pleasure to DQG PRWLYDWH WKH ÀUH ÀJKWHUV RQ JURXQG lampoon for their failures. He is not in any And as soon as the mammoth crowd that way better than those he criticises. had besieged the area sighted him, every While the other two senators in the other thing became secondary to them as persons of Orji Uzor Kalu and T. A. Orji they broke into spontaneous jubilation have been working hard to contribute and mobbed the governor while singing richly to our laws and even attracting his praise. Although it was a convergence projects to their constituencies, Abaribe RI $ED UHVLGHQWV RI GLͿHUHQW SROLWLFDO has not done well for his own constituency.

LQWHUHVWV WKH SUHVHQFH RI ,NSHD]X XQLÀHG It is even sadder that he has neither been all of them as they see him as the man who HͿHFWLYH DW ODZPDNLQJ QRU KDV KH EHHQ can continue his legacies of recovering good at attracting any meaningful project Aba through legislative instruments at the to his people. Worse still, he is angling to return to the same Senate after wasting 16 )HGHUDO OHYHO DV WKHLU 6HQDWRU In the midst of the ecstasy, the governor years of his constituency there. It is high alighted from his car, walked on with the time for him to give way as his people swag of a man assured of the people’s cannot continue to progress on the path of love and waved majestically at them with error and thereby continue to get grossly D VPLOH WKDW UHHNV RI FRQÀGHQFH ,W ZDV shortchanged because of their senator who indeed a herculean task for security details attracts no project but only opprobrium to stop the mob from advancing further. to them. It is even more worrisome that But Ikpeazu is their man, their idol so to Abaribe could not use his position as a speak, so the people did advance even senator of the PDP, the then ruling party, to make any meaningful impact on his further.

7KH UHDVRQ IRU WKLV HͿXVLYH VKRZ RI constituency.

ORYH WR D PDQ ZKR KDV VXͿHUHG WKH PRVW It is therefore not surprising that even the acerbic propaganda, acidic narratives, and apparition of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in malicious falsehood weaved against him the political horizon of the people of Abia by opposition elements he has roundly South excites the people and inspires hope. and severally defeated both at the polls A new face with new ideas, established DQG WKH FRXUWV \HW LV ÀQLVKLQJ VR VWURQJ connections and a perfect knowledge of his traducers marvel, is very easy to how governance works is what Ikpeazu GHFLSKHU 7UXWK KDV ÀQDOO\ ULVHQ DERYH represents for the people of Abia South. the dark clouds of malicious falsehood Nwabueze and the people now know that Ikpeazu’s writes from Aba, Abia State performance is one that has restored the

JOSHUA J. OMOJUWA urges the electorate to consistently put governments on their toes

ELECTIONS, THEN WHAT? Back when I was in JSS3 at King’s College Lagos, we had a book of classic poetry collections that had several African literature legends in them. One of the poems that stuck in my head was Gabriel Okara’s “the celebration is now ended”. It did, not just on account of the strength of the poem but because of the style and manner my English Literature teachers, the legendary Ms. Etomi and the iconic Mrs. Odusina, used in delivering what was like a lecture, in retrospect.

The poem went like, The celebration is now ended but the echoes are all around whirling like a harmattan whirlwind throwing dust around and hands over faces and feet grope The celebration is now ended the drums lie quiet, silent, waiting.

And the dancers disperse, walking with feet that have known many dances waiting for the next…

And so, the poem went. One of the major reasons this poem often comes to mind is because it is one of my references before taking certain decisions. The euphoria that comes with certain situations sells itself, but what comes after the euphoria?

The elections will come and go. As usual, we’d retreat into the usual conversations; was it rigged? Was he rigged out? What could the other have done to win? How come another got fewer votes than was anticipated? On VRFLDO PHGLD LW JRHV D OLWWOH GLͿHUHQW <RX JHW to see tweets along the lines of, “I am leaving this country” even from people who have no plans to get an international passport, “I will stop sending money home, since they have FKRVHQ WR FRQWLQXH WR VXͿHUµ D FRQGHVFHQGLQJ shot all the way from the diaspora – no one needs to check whether they ever sent any home in the past. “Canada here I come” even from those who have been on the Canadian Comprehensive Ranking System for half a decade, without even an accidental consideration - and several variants of such escapists and condescending tweets.

As a people, we are excited by new governments – by default. It does not matter how the new government comes in, hook, crook, bloodless or bloody coup d’état, election, etc. Almost as though, to us, if it is new, it is good or at least, it is going to be good. If the record of governance is anything to go by, we have often been proven wrong by these governments. In four months, we’d have another new government. It’s excitement time again, starting with the campaigns, the elections and ultimately, results and inauguration. We must learn though, getting excited or interested about who governs us will not compensate for the LQGLͿHUHQFH WR JRYHUQDQFH LQ WKH LQWHUYHQLQJ years preceding election periods.

Like the election, the post-election period will go too. Everyone will ultimately wake up to the fact that they have a president to love or hate for at least another four years. All the attempts at denial eventually fades into acceptance, because really, what will you do about it other than wait for the next election?

So, two years later, the rumblings for the next election will start. Another dance. %XW WKLV FRXOG EH GLͿHUHQW 1LJHULDQV can participate in governance long before elections. Often, bad leaders get away with their incompetence and corruption because there are not enough citizens asking for better.

I expect there’d be about 30 to 40 million voters next month. Imagine these voters deciding to

commit to consistently asking better of government at every level, tier and arm?

It is impossible for the government to ignore a consistently locked-in and loud population. When the people roar, the government, even the chronically deaf ones, are forced to hear. The challenge though is, whilst the people often remain loud, the absence of consensus on the most important issues means government can ride on the waves of their disagreement.

Also, it’s hard to hear a discordant tune.

There must be a better way. Whilst we cannot agree on everything, we must agree on some things and work to build the base to ask for better on those fronts.

Government will not provide leadership

here. It is not in the interest of government – any government – for the people to always speak with one voice against it.

Whilst those who lost out of government, who have been frozen out into being TV commentators/social media analysts/ twitter trolls, will understandably have the loudest voices, on account of their previous platforms, it may be counterproductive to have them lead VXFK HͿRUWV 7KH\ DUH RIWHQ VHHQ DV KDYLQJ ulterior motives – they often do have such motives. Their guidance and voices matter too. They provide advocates and activists with the broader lens that sees issues beyond the often-binary ways that those who haven’t been in government DSSHDU GL΀FXOW WR VHH LW $SDUW IURP WKHLU perceived ulterior motives, they are easy targets on account of their own records in government. Imagine a former minister or governor with no known legacy – except the ones only they remember – leading a campaign on good governance and better leadership? Their hypocrisy is easily a VRIW XQGHUEHOO\ IRU VXFK HͿRUWV )RU WKLV reason, such people – if they mean well – must share their experiences, including even their failings with young people who could use those as part of their lessons.

You are free to distrust anyone who shares only their successes in government but have never volunteered their failings.

Elections will come and go, your candidate may win or lose, but there will be a government to support, critique and criticise. There will be a government to put on its toes. Whilst voting is essential, if voting alone made things better, we haven’t been short of voting exercises in Nigeria. There is more and we must commit to that, educating ourselves about how government works, asking better questions of our government and insisting on the better, always. We need to stop waiting for the next dance, the dance should just never stop.

Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach, and author, Digital Wealth Book

26 4

T H I S D AY

FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2023

EDITORIAL

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

TACKLING THE RISING RAPE CASES Perpetrators of the crime must be severely and swiftly sanctioned

I

the current situation demands from the relevant t must worry the Nigerian authorities that authorities. rape has assumed epidemic proportions. In A non-governmental organisation, Women at Risk school premises, hospital wards, places of International Foundation (WARIF), in collaboration ZRUVKLS FRUSRUDWH DQG JRYHUQPHQW R΀FHV with the United States Consulate General, Lagos, and playgrounds, no place is sacred for these recently called for an end to rape, sexual violence predators. While rape, the act of sexual assault DQG WUD΀FNLQJ RI ZRPHQ WKURXJK D WKUHH NLORPHWUH DJDLQVW D SHUVRQ PDOH RU IHPDOH FRPHV LQ GLͿHUHQW walk along the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge. “Sexual forms, the most common in our country is against and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a human girls and women. rights violation with detrimental impacts on Rape is a violation of the most demeaning victims, survivors, families, communities, and kind that scars many victims for life. But having societies,” says WARIF founder, Kemi DaSilva-Ibru. created a society in which the seemingly strong “In Nigeria, 33 per cent of women and girls aged are seeking ways to display their superiority over between 15 and 49 have ‘weaker’ people, rape experienced physical and may be a more blatant or sexual abuse in their manifestation of a A point of safe, protective, and comforting recourse must exist for lifetime.” deeper deviation in our victims of sexual violence to address their immediate needs as well as 7R HͿHFWLYHO\ WDFNOH social psychology. But no the menace, our courts society should condone to enable them to summon the courage to pursue the ends of justice must be more proactive rape which regrettably and stringent in applying has become a serious sanctions, as some of the social problem today. verdicts, for the few that Accurate statistics of T H I S D AY have been successfully prosecuted, were ridiculous.

YLFWLPV DUH GL΀FXOW WR FRPH E\ HVVHQWLDOO\ EHFDXVH EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU Our private network providers should readily in our country, insensitivity, and the fear of stigma DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA donate helplines with free calls for victims of (or persecution) discourage targets of sexual MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO violence, while our hospitals and the legal profession DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU violence from formalising the reports of incidents.

CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI VKRXOG EH SUHSDUHG WR RͿHU SUR ERQR VHUYLFHV WR WKH This reluctance, however, has only contributed to EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN victims. However, society also needs to be alive to the rise in a culture of impunity on the part of the MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI its responsibility. A point of safe, protective, and perpetrators. The policy brief of the National Crime THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE comforting recourse must exist for victims of sexual and Safety Survey once highlighted the prevalence violence to address their immediate needs as well of sexual violence and the fact that our society as to enable them to summon the courage to pursue seemed to be living in denial about the issue.

T H I S D AY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D the ends of justice.

The study particularly revealed that victims of EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA We call on the relevant authorities to devise rape hardly lodge reports for fear that their cases GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, HͿHFWLYH PHDVXUHV DQG VWUDWHJLHV WR FKHFNPDWH ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI would not be treated seriously, that they would the growing menace of sexual assaults across the DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, be stigmatised or that corruption would hinder ANTHONY OGEDENGBE country. While better training on a wider scale, HͿHFWLYH LQYHVWLJDWLRQ E\ WKH SROLFH (YHQ WKRXJK DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI diligent prosecution and swift and exemplary human rights violations of this nature occur SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH sanctions would certainly send a strong signal to everywhere in the world, as the sick, the evil and the ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI deranged exist in all societies, the only way citizens CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI the perpetrators to desist, the media remains a DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO QHFHVVDU\ SDUWQHU LQ VXVWDLQHG HͿRUWV WR FXUE WKHVH can feel safe and secure is where the response to TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com wanton acts of evil.

FULPH LV VZLIW H΀FLHQW DQG HͿHFWLYH 7KDW LV ZKDW

Letters to the Editor Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 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 (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LETTERS OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF KOGI STATE I am compelled to write you this open letter because of the love I have for you and the new direction of your government. One of the lessons I learnt from my father is the fact that even though in this part of the world, it is hard to see people speaking truth to power, I should always remember that those who look at me straight and tell me the truth are my best friends. I am compelled because I felt I owe you an obligation to tell you the truth about the challenges before you as you DUH SUHSDULQJ WR OHDYH R΀FH DV WKH JRYHUQRU RI .RJL 6WDWH DQG PRYH up the ladder to become a true statesman. $ OHDGHU LQ WKH WUXH VHQVH RI WKH ZRUG LV QRW KH ZKR IXOÀOOHG DOO KLV DPELWLRQV EXW RQH ZKR DIWHU OHDYLQJ R΀FH FDQ WUXO\ EHDW KLV FKHVW DQG say to himself that he left behind justice, equity and peace for others to emulate. I can tell you with every sense of patriotism that you have done your best and history would be kind to you. <RXU ([FHOOHQF\ \RX FDQ VWLOO ZLQ WKH KHDUW RI WKH .RJL SHRSOH LI you can rise above petty ethnic, tribal and religious sentiments and look for a person who in your leadership recruitment drive for succession as governor can serve the whole people of the state rather than the whims of the power brokers in the state. I am writing to advise you that it is time you look for a good leader who you feel can even be better than yourself because this is an obligation you owe the people of the state because there is no good leadership if there

LV QR JRRG VXFFHVVRU <RX PXVW LQ WKLV OHDGHUVKLS UHFUXLWPHQW HͿRUW look for somebody who is dynamic and track record of achievements, and acceptable to not only the people of Kogi State but the country in general based on contemporary challenges and positions on national issues.

There is a legal expression that the court is not only a court of law but a court of justice, fairness, and equity and this also goes for leadership. For example, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had his way today as the Presidential candidate of the APC because of the deliberate action of the northern governors of the ruling party which took a patriotic position that they would rise above petty political considerations by honouring the unwritten agreements to rotate power back to the southern regions of our country. This singular action has truly earned them positions of honour as true statesmen and this can be replicated in Kogi State. So it behoves on you now after the expiration of your tenure to allow power to rotate to the Kogi-west senatorial district for justice, equity and fair play. This singular decision can immediately transform you to a statesman. This is true because, make no mistake about it, there is no central district that can singularly make a governor of Kogi State Musa Wada,, Kogi East

ENVIRONMENTAL VANDALISM Most times when you see four masked men carrying away a young woman you would ring the police but this time it was the police doing the carrying and they were riot police.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and others, who were not so newsworthy, were taken away when they were protesting outside the German village of Lützerath. The destruction of a village where people had lived their whole lives in order to build a big hole in the ground, actually a coal pit mine, seems sad as well as being environmental vandalism.

Maybe rather than ‘bravely’ carrying away a little girl they should listen to her because it appears few people are really aware of the dangers and destruction that the search for non-renewable energy sources.

Let’s be brave enough to accept that there is climate change and damage to the environment and WU\ WR ÀQG VROXWLRQV Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

27

BUSINESSWORLD

AVIATION

Airlines: Retarded by Obsolete Airport Infrastructure Nigerian domestic carriers are set to bring in new aircraft, increase their fleet, but the challenge they face is that airport facilities are not expanding to accommodate more aircraft and increase in passenger traffic. Chinedu Eze writes that inadequate and obsolete airport infrastructure could retard growth of the aviation sector

R

ecently, travel expert and the organiser of Akwaaba African Market, Ikechi Uko, said facilities at Nigerian airports may not be able to accommodate the new equipment being brought into the airport.

He said this while reacting to the report on the delivery of brand new aircraft by three Nigerian airlines: Air Peace, Ibom Air and Overland airways in the next 36 months.

THISDAY had last week exclusively reported that Air Peace, beyond the 10 brand new Embraer E195-E2 expected to be delivered this year, is expecting 15 Boeing 737MAX 8 and MAX 10 to be delivered in the same three-year timeline.

Industry stakeholders posited that greater priority in the Aviation Master Plan of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration should have been modernizing the airports, establishing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility and establishing a leasing company, instead of a national carrier and the establishment of aerospace university, as Nigeria has well reputed aviation college, the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria and the International Aviation College, Ilorin. Also, domestic airlines still provide Nigerian travellers the needed capacity for domestic, regional and international travel so the country is not in dire need of a national carrier as it would airports with modern facilities, MRO and leasing company.

PLANNING

Top airline official and former airport manager both in Nigeria and overseas has made significant observation about building airports and terminals in the country and urged that Nigeria should let go arbitrariness and spontaneous decision making on critical issues concerning airport development.

He said processes should be followed and everything about airport development should be planned and such plans should strictly be followed.

According to him, airports must meet certain standards in tandem with their categories and there is need for continuous upgrade of airport infrastructure to dovetail with current growth of the aviation sector.

“Part of the certification of an airport is that its infrastructure is designed in accordance with the regulations. So apron capacity, apron strength, apron dimensions, markings, procedures, lighting, signage, parking bays, taxi lanes, etc must be compliant. After the NCAA (the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority) approves that, it is the airport that must regulate its own capacity, by ensuring that operations are in line with its certification. If you have capacity to process 10 flights an hour and you accept 11 or more flights an hour, you’re creating a serious safety hazard, not to mention huge negative service implications for all airport users. He said airports must cap their peaks to suit their capacity and force customers to spread their schedules, when capacity is maxed out at certain slots.

“Are we doing this yet? Obviously not. It’s a potentially unsafe situation in Lagos (both GAT and MM2 (the domestic terminals) and Abuja for many hours every day. You can see that just by observing the operations, if you know what to look for (and for operators, we feel the huge impact of this on our businesses),” he said.

He frowned at the fact that Nigeria does not develop its airports on the basis of master plan and that is why airport development has not kept pace with growth of the industry, including passenger growth, airline growth and emergence of new aircraft fleet.

“On the other hand, we are where we are because we do not develop our airports on the basis of master plans. As a result, we have not catered for this growth as a system. Airport infrastructure is planned with capacity to match, from road access and egress, to terminal throughput, to apron parking and runway/taxiway capacity. It’s an end-to-end thing. But as long as someone says, ‘let’s build a terminal here’, with no attention to the basics, you get what we have. The first question a terminal designer requires answered is, ‘how many passengers are we designing for’? When that is answered, then everything from end to end must be made to match; otherwise you get capacity mismatch and resultant gridlock, not to mention latent unsafe conditions. The best approach to this is to have a well thought out master plan for the airport,” the industry expert said.

RETARDING GROWTH

He also noted that it is the airport’s primary business interest to anticipate traffic growth and to develop its infrastructure to match that anticipated growth ‘just in time’ for it. If not, then the airport itself becomes the obstacle to its own growth and negatively affects economic growth in its catchment area.

He regretted that many terrible decisions have been made in the aviation industry and even some of them bordering on criminal and the country has been suffering the consequences of these poor

decisions for years now.

“One major credit that we have not given this current Minister is the quiet but thorough and painstaking effort he has made to mitigate the grave and extremely costly mistakes made by his predecessors. And he has done this without casting blame. It is sad to note that Nigeria, our country, built manifestly ‘silly’ terminals for billions of Naira and then had to spend further billions of Naira to try to correct them and make them even basically workable,” he also observed.

He said that after making structural and other corrections of the various grave mistakes made, apron capacity for both passengers and cargo should now be expanded.

“Master plans need to be done for the airports and codified. Nobody should come and say, ‘build am here’. ‘Put am there’. Airports cannot be developed like that. If we continue on this trajectory, we cannot build an Ethiopian-like airline here. This thing cannot be wished into existence. The right work has to be done to move our industry into the 21st century. This is 2023, my friends. Nigeria deserves much better,” he stated.

THISDAY checks revealed that apron of many Nigerian airports seem to pay the price of bad planning and bad design, as the apron of the airports cannot take in many number of aircraft that provide service to the passengers, even at the busiest airports in Lagos and Abuja. At the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos, the apron is too small to accommodate operating aircraft and that is why there has been high record of aircraft collision.

At the MMA2 the apron is also small that sometimes during peak hours passengers are bussed from the GAT, as the aircraft cannot be accommodated at the apron of the terminal.

In October last year when passenger traffic started building up at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, sometimes aircraft that has landed would have to keep passengers in and wait at the taxiway for aircraft already boarded to create space as it taxies of the apron for the arriving aircraft to take over. Sometimes it could cause up to 25 minutes delay.

REVIEWING PAST AIRPORT PLANS

Industry expert and Executive Secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Group Captain John Ojikutu, urged that there should be a review to current regulations because currently, many airlines seem to be operating from two major airports, Lagos and Abuja airports and that is why the domestic terminals of the two airports are congested.

“We need to go back to the FCAA (Federal Civil Aviation Authority) Operational Directives of the early 1990s; all the operating airlines should have operational bases and not concentrating in only Lagos; Kabo had its base in Kano, Okada in Benin, Triax in Enugu, Barnex in PH, etc; however, ADC that was expected to be operating from Calabar broke the rule because of the relationship the management had then with those in the administration of the government. Unfortunately, those ones could not save it from the reports of the two crashes in Ejinrin and Abuja,” Ojikutu said.

He remarked that the allocation of operational bases for them was to create spaces at the Lagos airport aprons where they all were concentrated, recalling that the number of aircraft then in the operating airlines were not together up to fifty except the okada with about 15 in its fleet, adding that Lagos was specially meant for the Nigeria Airways.

“Today, even with the increase and expansion of terminals aprons, airlines are demanding for space for their aircraft because they are all concentrated in Lagos. In spite of the concentrations, no regulations is in place by the airport terminals operators and the regulatory authority on how many aircraft can be accommodated on the aprons neither are the aprons

marked out for the number. No specific number of ground handling services equipment is provided in terminals operating manuals and that includes the fuel dispenser for the aircraft.

“There were fuel hydrants in all aprons where fuel dispensing engines tap into to supply fuel to aircrafts; today fuel tankers are the common dispenser of fuel into the aircrafts. Nobody has looked into the dangerous manner the drivers that are not certified get into the aviation operating environment.

It is not sufficient that the drivers hold a driving licence; they must be certified in safely operations in the aviation environment. This is one major reason why there had been many collisions on the Lagos aprons where there is uncontrolled number of aircraft on the aprons.

That is the responsibility of the NCAA to oversight whether or not the terminal operator has failed to specify that in its operations manuals,” he said.

NIGHT OPERATIONS

The Managing Director of Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan, told THISDAY that while it is very important to have airfield lighting in many airports where airlines operate till night, but it is not all the airports that

must have night landing facilities. But currently, few airports have night lighting facilities; that an aircraft in the Nigerian airspace would have few airports to land in under emergency. With 32 airports, 26 operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria does not have more than seven airports with guaranteed landing aids in the night. Some of the airports like the Uyo; Enugu and Anambra airports, night landing is allowed on request. It is expected that some of these airports have permanent landing lighting and other aids. But Akpan insisted that not all airports should have landing aids.

“Airports are designed and equipped with infrastructure to meet specific functions. That is why we have them in categories and give them nomenclatures like tourism airport, agro cargo airport, transit/hub airport, maintenance airport etc. Every airport issue Notice To Airmen (NOTAM), in addition to ICAO/IATA published compilation - JEPPERSON. “A thorough feasibility study for most of the airports will reveal non sustainable traffic data (in and out) from number of flights/aircraft to passengers and cargo. The other business activities within the airport that should attract traffic are undeveloped, or nonviable due to economies in their location,” he said.

The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

28

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 • T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS 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

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 18Jan-2023, unless otherwise stated.

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: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 193.97 195.12 2.58% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 10.43% Nigeria International Debt Fund 325.15 325.15 1.19% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 107.59 108.69 2.26% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.71% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.82 3.89 12.46% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 10.29% Anchoria Equity Fund 151.55 153.24 4.55% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.24 1.24 0.59% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com info@anchoriaam.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 22.74 23.43 12.12% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 535.69 551.84 18.73% ARM Ethical Fund 46.03 47.42 18.17% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.13 1.13 4.31% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.12 1.12 9.91% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.20% ARM Short Term Bond Fund 1.04 1.04 106.96% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 100.45 100.45 5.63% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,132.77 1,132.77 0.56% 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 CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha 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 13.39% Paramount Equity Fund 18.53 18.87 3.04% Women's Investment Fund 148.69 150.49 1.43% CHD Nigeria Bond Fund 108.95 108.95 12.10% CHD Nigeria Dollar Income Fund 1.06 1.06 8.94% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.15% Cordros Milestone Fund 140.54 141.57 2.12% Cordros Fixed Income Fund 105.96 105.96 10.06% Cordros Halal Fixed Income Fund 103.56 103.56 8.59% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 113.34 113.34 5.57% CORONATION ASSETS MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com, Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.21% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.07 1.07 10.64% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.11 1.11 53.65% Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.99 104.99 0.19% FBNQUEST ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1477.4 1477.4 12.22% FBN Balanced Fund 204.61 206.04 2.46% FBN Halal Fund 123.64 123.64 12.72% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.96% FBN Dollar Fund 120.68 120.68 6.70% FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund 172.12 174.65 3.93% FBN Specialized Dollar Fund 104.42 104.42 9.74% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.95% Legacy Debt Fund 3.53 3.53 -11.83% Legacy Equity Fund 2.04 2.09 17.58% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.26 1.26 4.44% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1

Fund Name Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

Bid Price 4,300.85 3,727.24 100.00

Offer Price 4,332.39 3,727.24 100.00

Yield / T-Rtn 44.78% 8.26% 13.83%

FSDH Dollar Fund 1.13 1.13 5.81% GUARANTY TRUST FUND MANAGERS LIMITED 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 N/A N/A N/A Vantage Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) N/A N/A N/A Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: www.meristemwealth.com/funds/; Tel: +2348028496012 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.66 12.70 2.62% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.57% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.12 101.12 8.48% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 11.80% 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 11.64 11.81 4.79% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.00 10.00 10.97% PACAM Money Market Fund 1.48 1.51 4.56% PACAM Equity Fund 123.71 126.62 8.58% PACAM EuroBond Fund 123.69 126.60 8.57% 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 128.73 130.99 0.05% 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 1.00 1.00 11.05% 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 3,722.30 3,752.21 9.81% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 245.61 245.61 4.26% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.47 1.49 17.46% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 333.53 333.53 6.51% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 269.94 273.26 15.59% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.91% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 12,716.21 12,855.29 16.40% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.37 1.37 5.98% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 121.34 121.34 3.79% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 115.50 115.50 8.58% Stanbic IBTC Absolute Fund 4,588.03 4,588.03 7.85% Stanbic IBTC Aggressive Fund 3,343.80 3,385.70 20.27% Stanbic IBTC Conservative Fund 4,307.38 4,322.77 13.13% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.98 1.00 2.75% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.41 1.44 3.07% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.18 1.19 1.50% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.11 1.11 9.64% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.96 1.96 7.65% United Capital Eurobond Fund 125.70 125.70 5.57% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 14.39% 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 Balanced Strategy Fund 14.21 14.34 7.74% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 16.29 16.45 11.42% Zenith Income Fund 23.65 23.65 7.75% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.11% VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD funds@vetiva.com Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund 4.31 4.41 7.44% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 6.28 6.38 7.37% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 19.24 19.44 8.75% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.42% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 24.33 24.53 21.62% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 143.03 145.03 -9.28% REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

122.19 52.92 101.31 9.91

7.68% 3.98% -13.22%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.31 137.65 107.59 17.40 16.40

14.41 140.05 109.45 17.50 16.50

2.30% 7.87% 7.61% 3.17% 4.17%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

106.75

0.00%

Fund Name

SFS REIT Union Homes REIT Nigeria Real Estate Investment Trust UPDC REIT

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

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.

This

Weekend

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

TR

UTH

& R E ASO

N

WEEKLY MAGAZINE

NEWS Foundation Honours Leaders with 2022 MLK Heroes Awards See page 31

ETRENDS BBTitans Update: Khosi, Yemi Cregx and Other Possible ‘Ships’ See page 32

ART WEEKEND Tributes as Nigeria’s Culture Ambassador Jahman Anikulapo turns 60 See page 33

POLSCOPE Yes, Buhari was a Mistake See page 34

CONSUL GENERAL WILL STEVENS: Group Features Editor: CHIEMELIE EZEOBI chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com

07010510430

Articulating, Integrating US Policies, Interests in Nigeria

30

Ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͱ ˾ T H I S D AY

COVER

Consul General Will Stevens: Articulating, Integrating US Policies, Interests in Nigeria Will Stevens is the United States Consul General at the U.S Consulate General in Lagos. As an experienced Foreign Service Officer with overseas experience in South Africa, Russia, Turkmenistan, Israel, and Belarus, as well as experience in Washington at the Foreign Service Institute, the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Bureau of African Affairs, he brings to bear his years of experience to Nigeria in articulating, championing and integrating US policies and interests. In this interview with Chiemelie Ezeobi, he discussed the role of US government in the forthcoming 2023 General Elections, the issue of insecurity in Nigeria, engagement with youths and creatives, and contribution to the fight against Gender and Sexual Based Violence, as well as how the US Government needs to position itself to be Nigeria’s partner of choice over the next century

F

or Will Stevens, the United States Consul General, his three-year tour of duty in Nigeria, which began roughly six months ago, was a dream come through.

without recourse to Nigeria’s security agencies, others also posited that the alert infringed on Nigeria’s sovereignty.

While the Consul General admits that the US Government shares same value of protecting their respective nation’s sovereignty, he however believes they owe its citizens the duty of care, especially to share information that will be useful to their well being.

But beyond this, he said each time they have leading information, they not just share with its citizens but also with Nigeria’s security agencies, as well as their NGO partners on regular basis.

He added that they have a robust partnership with Nigeria on security.

Initial Perception, Expectations about Nigeria As at the last count, he has been in Nigeria for the last six months. On what his initial perception about Nigeria was, he said he always wanted to work in Nigeria, especially seeing the success of the Nigerian diaspora in the US. “I begged for this job. I tried so hard to get it and it’s met and exceeded my expectations.”

Portfolio in Nigeria During his three-year tour of duty in Nigeria, his job encompasses overseeing 17 states in Nigeria for the US Government. To do this, he said he works hand in glove with Mary Beth Leonard, the US ambassador, whom he described as an an amazing mentor and one of the most experienced ambassadors in the world.

“It’s a great opportunity to work with her and under her leadership and working on engagement with Nigeria,” he added.

On what his career as a foreign service officer entails, he said they work at USA Embassies and promote US interests, adding that it that can “be everything from being an officer in the consulate section to helping American citizens, and issuing visas to people who want to travel to the USA, to working in the political economy section- understanding the political economy context of the country we are working in.

“I spend a lot of time doing public diplomacy, public affairs, exchange programmes and working in the media, articulating US policies to foreign audiences and helping people understand what we are about and why we exist.”

But also as Consul General, he works across all the USA agencies and tries to integrate them to achieve their national security objectives which are based on three things; security cooperation, economic growth and development, and governance and democracy.

Priorities in Nigeria as Consul General For him, his priorities are quite simple but slightly different from those in the North-east due to the peculiarities of the region.

On the above listed priorities he said: “Those are still our priorities here because some of the issues which my colleagues in Abuja and the North-east face, we don’t face here. So we have much more business sector based in Lagos, and tech sectors as well as the creative sector.”

Youth, Creative Engagements Beyond the consular work, Stevens also champions engagement with the youth, creatives and even the tech sector.

On this he said: “It’s everything from helping to bring in American investors and highlighting the things Americans are doing. We fully support AFRIFF Film festival. We have Netflix, Disney, and Amazon all coming in and debuting Americansupported films, Nigerian films or other African films here at the festival.

“That means investment. We are actually looking at it as a Nigerian export. They are producing content for streaming platforms but that’s not the only thing.

“We are also working hand in hand with our American centres to support things like the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs where we help young female entrepreneurs figure out how to take their businesses out of the ideation and start their business, get mentored to supporting people like girls in tech, tech women, exchange programmes like the ones you’ve been on (International Visitors Leadership Programme). We just build connections with the USA.” Contributions to Fight against Gender and Sexual Based Violence Laudable is the work the consulate is doing in championing the fight against Gender and Sexual Based Violence. During the recently commemorated

Stevens

16 Days of activism against Gender and Sexual Based Violence, the Consul General personally joined a march across Lekki bridge.

“It’s something we support greatly,” he said, adding that “gender-based Violence is actually an element of our health program. One of the biggest sectors of USA financing in humanitarian assistance comes to Nigeria and it’s almost half a billion a year.

“It’s about combating HIV/AIDS, some focus on preventing or responding to gender-based violence and that means making sure women and girls are empowered to prevent it or report it when it happens”.

However, he said almost all these goes through the local society, and NGOs- “supporting and helping them do the work they do. So you won’t see us out there saying look what we are doing, you’ll see local organisations doing exactly that”.

African Leaders Summit On the recently held African Leaders Summit, he said it was an opportunity for Nigerians to engage with President Biden; Vice President Harris; Secretary Blinken and and a variety of cabinet officials and USA business leaders about the future of the US business.

According to him, it was a chance to highlight President Biden’s strategy in Africa, “which is a little bit of a shift in resourcing as it hasn’t changed in years but in how we talk about the partnership. We use the term African solution to African problems and what we are talking about is helping to elevate African problems to solutions.”

Ultimately, he believes that “USA needs to figure out how we can position ourselves to be Nigeria’s partner of choice over the next century”.

To achieve this, he aligns with President Biden, who is already working on rebuilding partnerships with African nations including Nigeria to address issues like climate change, food insecurity, the brutal invasion of Ukraine and the violation of some of the basic UN ethos, as well as the decline across the continent and the world.

Controversy over US Security Alert in Nigeria Last year, in November to be precise, the US government had issued a terror alert for Abuja, advising its citizens to exercise caution, an action that generated controversy. While some argued that the embassy shouldn’t have made it public

he pointed out the work the Nigerian Navy has done with support from the US government.

Speaking on the reduction of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea waters, he said Nigeria went from the most pirated in the world to the least, adding that it’s “an incredible testament to the Nigerian military but some of that is due to our partnership, training and technical assistance, providing sensors, radars.”

Also touching on the increasing achievements of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), he said their drug enforcement agency works with NDLEA to combat drug trafficking.

“We’ve seen that some of the recent drug burst in Nigerian history happened in the last six months.

That’s a testament to our Nigerian partners and we are proud to support them because when you catch Role of US Government in 2023 Elections the drugs here, you are stopping drugs from going On the role of the US Government in the into your communities, and around the world, it’s forthcoming 2023 General Elections, he succinctly a global fight. stated that they do not support any party, rather, “And the truth is these bad guys aren’t just their interest is supporting credible transparent traffickers, they’re trafficking wildlife, weapons, and peaceful elections to reflect the world. people sometimes, drugs and feeding sometimes He however charged Nigerians to reject the use the violent insurgency. So the more criminals you of violence and language before, during and after get off the street, the safer it is.” the elections. “When we say all Nigerians, we mean politicians, candidates, students, religious Tackling Backlog of Visas and traditional community leaders, youth, and One of the herculean task most Nigerians face social organisations. is securing a US Visa. But the Consul General said “Everyone has a role to play because even a they have taken specific concrete steps to reduce small number of troublemakers can cause havoc. the visa wait time.

So it’ll take a comprehensive effort to eliminate One of the ways they reduced the visa wait the use of violence in the elections.” time was to ensure people are now eligible for On other parts of support the US government is the interview waiver program. This is for people channeling for the election, he said though technical that have had a visa that’s expired in the last four assistance and ICT support for the Independent years, and extended for two years that used to National Electoral Commission (INEC) and civil be known as a drop box. Now, they don’t need society organisations, they hope to encourage to come for an appointment. voter participation.

With that, he said it has led to almost 60 per cent in wait time. Also, he said they have increased Wielding the Big Stick for Electoral Offenders staffing to full levels. This he said made them meet When asked what punitive measures they will the need of demand for visas and it led to 12 per apply for defaulters, he said “any individual cent increase last year in the number of students seeking to undermine the democratic process studying in the USA. through violence may be found ineligible for visa He however said they are getting as there’s still a movements. We’ve imposed visa restrictions in the lot of digging out to do, adding that the improvement past against those responsible for or complacent speaks about partnership and relationship. in undermining the democratic process and we are willing to do so again.

About Will Stevens “There are a variety of tools the United States Prior to arriving in Nigeria, Mr. Stevens served has at its disposal, one of which is visa bans. I as the acting Consul General in Cape Town don’t like to speculate about hypothetical or what South Africa, where he directed U.S. government happened but we’ve heard over and over again engagement in South Africa’s three cape provinces, that the visa ban is a powerful tool for those expanding trade and investment by 50 per cent over people that want to go to the United States.” two years and overseeing the U.S. government’s response to COVID-19 in the Cape.

Tackling Corruption According to further information on the US Continuously, the US has proven to one of the government website, in 2014, he received the places where corrupt politicians and civil servants Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public squirrel off stolen money gotten from Nigeria’s Diplomacy, the State Department’s highest award for commonwealth, especially through purchase of public diplomacy work, for his work leading the U.S. properties.

Government’s Interagency Task Force on countering But Stevens said already, President Biden has Russian propaganda during the Ukraine crisis. made the fight against corruption a core part of In the Bureau of African Affairs, Mr. Stevens was a their security when he released the first-ever USA Senior Advisor on countering violent extremism and strategy on Countering Corruption. This he said also served as the Bureau Spokesperson, where he emphasises better understanding and taking steps directed the public affairs planning and messaging for of reducing the ability of these people to use the the 2014 U.S.-Africa Heads of State Summit, which USA and others to hide assets, and launder the brought together 50 African leaders in Washington proceeds of corrupt acts. for the first time.

He said: “We are here in Nigeria with Mr. Stevens was the Director of the Foreign Service organisations like the EFCC to bring individuals to Institute’s Public Diplomacy (PD) Training Division justice. We offer technical assistance and training, from 2017-2019, where he oversaw the training of the and cooperate with Nigerian officials to find State Department’s entire public affairs and public evidence of assets. diplomacy corps.

“Just last month we announced the return of 3.5 He was also the Spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy million dollars that’s in addition to those returned in Moscow from 2014-2016, where his team’s work over the years. So these assets can be stolen and was recognised in the Public Diplomacy Council’s together through legal proceedings, we can make annual “Ten Best” for the “Best Use of Social Media sure such things are stopped.” by an Embassy.”

He has also served as Chief of Staff at the Bureau Partnership in Tackling Security Threats of Educational and Cultural Affairs, chief of public Giving the insecurity challenges faced by Nigeria, affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan, and especially with terrorism, he reiterated that they in the press and cultural affairs offices at the U.S. have built partnership and worked robustly with Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Nigerian security forces in capacity building A native of Great Falls, Virginia and a graduate of and equipment, adding that he is proud of that Brigham Young University, Mr. Stevens is married with accomplishment. five children. He is an avid football fan, basketball Highlighting the fight against Maritime crimes, player and bodyboarder.

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NEWS

Foundation Honours Leaders with 2022 MLK Heroes Awards

REGUS OPENS AT GBAGADA, TARGETS 2.5M PROFESSIONALS

Regus Nigeria Executive Vice-Chairman, Mr Ayo Akinmade

Stories by Mary Nnah

Foundation Honours Leaders With 2022 MLK Heroes Awards

Stories by Mary Nnah A. Atlanta Metropolitan State College in partnership with Borderless Media recently ADKing the organised Foundation Atlanta 2022, a forum for leaders to discuss and create change amid uncertainty.

The event was held at Atlanta Metropolitan State College.

This year’s event focused on awarding leaders drawn from different sectors like Advocacy, Governance, Technology, Media, Education, and Agricultural Innovation.

Executive Director of A.D. King Foundation Atlanta, Dr. Babs Onabanjo said, “Specifically, we wanted people who have made contributions in the areas of promoting peace, education, improving communities in Africa and have

demonstrated leadership and volunteerism like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Alfred Daniel King themselves.

The major highlight of this event was the unveiling of the ADKing - MLK heroes award to recognise individuals who demonstrate Dr. AD King’s spirit and legacy through their dedication and contributions to Africa.

While speaking at the Bootcamp with students of Atlanta Metropolitan State College, one of the speakers, Owolabi Williams emphasised that the future is not set in stone, and it is up to us to shape it with our actions and decisions.

Even when faced with challenges and obstacles, we ha can make a positive impact and bring about the change we wish to see in the world.

Sharing her experience, Debby Awoyemi emphasised on the importance of staying focused and never turning down a great opportunity because of fear. “Fear is our greatest enemy. Sometimes we feel like we are not worthy of being in top positions but that is the essence of our goals.”

Another awardee, Richardson Ojeka stated, “we believe that young people have the right to opportunities and will take action to create them for ourselves if they are not available to us.”

The 20 awardees are representative of the plethora of leaders who devote time and energy to improving the lives of others and who are beacons of light within their communities.

The awardees include Mr. Owolabi Williams Founder/CEO of Boys Lead Foundation -Dr. Cynthia Harper - Founder/CEO Harper Services LLC; Ms. Debby Awoyemi - CEO (Co-Founder & Product manager) at BluetanksEV; Mr. Ayomide Ibrahim - FCA CFE CEO Finserve Pro; Mr. Richardson Ojeka CEO Africado Foundation; Mr. Henry Ayansola - Co-Founder Alpha Evo Corporation; Mr. Ben Seyi-Ola - Author (What Makes Gen Z Different); Dr. Ngozi Onyechie - Founder Dream Inspiration Africa USA; Dr. Cynthia Harper - Founder/ CEO Harper Services LLC; Ms. Glory Attaochu - Founder Black Foreigner Ukraine USA and Mr. Oluyinka Davids International Film Maker.

Insurance Practitioner Celebrates 80th Birthday Dr. Teslim Adekunle Sanusi, an insurance icon and a brand face in the Nigerian insurance industry celebrated his 80th birthday by impacting the lives of the poor and needy in the country.

The event, jointly organised

by Lions Clubs International District 404B2 Nigeria, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers and others, took place in Ota, Ogun State and was aimed at reaching out to the needy and underprivileged in the society.

In his opening speech at the event, Sanusi said, “Over the years, I have been celebrating my birthday like any other person by throwing parties but on my 70th birthday, I decided not to be doing parties anymore, I decided that the best way to celebrate is to reach out to those who need help and how they can benefit and to provide free health care to the people.

He said, “I asked my friends, family and associates to contribute and we aggregated all that was given to organize the medical outreach.”

BUSYBEE ACADEMY, WEDDINGS BEAUTIFUL AFRICA SIGN PACT ON INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

Insurance Practitioner Celebrates 80th Birthday

He urged the elite to give to the needy, adding that no one gets poorer by giving and the more one gives, the more he or she gets in return.

Also speaking at the event, Mrs. Ekeoma Ezibe, the Chairman of the Central Planning Committee for Teslim Adekunle at 80, said that the celebrant loves to give to the needy and that was what the committee did.

Ezeibe, who is the Vice President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, stated that eye tests were conducted on people and those

who needed glasses were given and those that needed surgeries had operations performed on them.

She said that many were screened for diabetes and those that required drugs were given the same, adding that they were counseled on how to live right and manage the disease.

She disclosed that eyeglasses were given to about 800 people and surgeries were performed on more than 100 people and counting, adding that thousands of people were fed during the exercise.

Ezibe said that all this was done in five centres namely, the insurance Brokers’ House, Lagos, General Hospital, Erin-Ile, Kwara State, Lions Eye Centre, Ota, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos State.

Also speaking at the event, Prof. Idowu Obasa, a friend of Dr. Sanusi, described the celebrant as a person who loves to give to the needy and people who will not repay him.

Obasa listed many projects, he said the celebrant executed to benefit the poor in society and urged the rich to emulate him.

Africa’s Largest NGO Founder Implores Nigerian Youths to Elect Next President The President/ Founder of the largest entrepreneurship network in Africa, Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs (A.Y.E), Dr. Summy Smart Francis, has appealed to Nigerian youths to elect the next president.

Francis said that the 2023 Presidential election is fast

A global workspace provider, Regus, has unveiled its newest network of workspace centres in Gbagada, Lagos to connect over 2.5 million professionals.

The new center located along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos, is the 8th centre launched in Nigeria by Regus, a flagship brand of International Workplace Group (IWG) Plc. The new workspace is a part of the firm’s strategy to bring its workplace services closer to Nigerians and offer them an unparalleled choice of ambiance, design and proximity that will enable them to meet their unique needs.

Speaking during the unveiling, the Executive Vice-Chairman for Regus Nigeria, Mr. Ayo Akinmade, said the new centre is located on the Lagos Mainland to create a dynamic and interactive environment for individuals and businesses in the heartland of Lagos to thrive.

“The object of this hub is to expand our scope of offering to Lagosians. Our goal is to enable 2.5 million Lagosians to be able to use our premises at any given point in time. This fits into our global strategy of bringing businesses to the people”, he said.

He said: “Our network of workspace enables businesses to operate anywhere, without the need for set-up costs or capital investment. It provides our customers with immediate cost benefits and the opportunity to fully outsource their office portfolio.”

Akinmade explained that businesses are facing challenges with the rise in real estate costs while access to funding has become a challenge for some businesses, thereby creating a barrier for those looking to obtain contracted office space.

He noted therefore that this was one area where Regus’ flexible workspace comes into play, saying, “Regus offers a transformative flexible workplace solution that alleviates the significant financial burdens associated with renting office space in a premium location and leveling the playing field for companies unable to invest in permanent space.”

Akinmade further said that Regus is a global infrastructure built for businesses to support every opportunity. “Our network of workspaces enables businesses to operate anywhere, without the need for set-up costs or capital investment. It provides our customers with immediate cost benefits and the opportunity to fully outsource their office portfolio,” he added.

approaching, and from all indications, it is clear that the youth holds the determining factor in deciding who will become the next President of Nigeria.

He stressed the role of Nigerian youths in the forthcoming election as vital, promising to share a

shocking story on the “Fate of Nigerian youth through a documentary via his post on social media.

Francis said the youths constitute 70,473,990 under the age of 49 years out of the 93,469,008 total registered voters, adding that with a percentage of about 75%, it

is clear that the youth cannot be disregarded.

Notingthattheforthcomingelectionmightbethelastchancetosave thenation,hesaidhehasdecidedto puttogetherashortdocumentary abouttheFateoftheNigerianYouth andthattheinformationheintends to share would reveal a lot to Nigerians.

BusyBee Academy Africa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an International Event School Weddings Beautiful Africa, as the only licensed training centre in Nigeria to offer the International Wedding Planning Certification Course. Weddings Beautiful Africa is a subsidiary of Wedding Beautiful Worldwide based in the United States of America on knowledge exchange and training of the new generation of wedding planners.

The agreement was signed today (Tuesday, January 17th, 2023) at the head office of BusyBee Academy Africa in Yaba Lagos by Founder, BusyBee Academy, Coach Bisi Sotunde, and Managing Partner Wedding Beautiful Africa, Côte d’Ivoire Astou Djamat-Dubois, present also was Academy Director, Mr. Tunji Ajadi, Co-Managing Partner, Weddings Beautiful Africa, Cinthia Aka and other representatives from the Alumni Network of Weddings Beautiful Africa.

BusyBee Academy Africa’s vision has been to be one of the leading event training schools stemming from Africa to the world, and by this development, the school is gradually moving towards achieving that dream. Addressing the press after the signing ceremony, Mrs. Sotunde stated that by this MoU Agreement, BusyBee Academy Nigeria has the authority to train students and issue that certificate backed by the Wedding Beautiful Africa and Weddings Beautiful International.

She said “This landmark agreement would further strengthen the event management industry in Nigeria as the Academy now assumes an international status. Established and intended professionals in the event industry in Nigeria are availed with the state-of-the-art intentionally recognized academy,” “Professionals do not have to travel abroad for training because BusyBee Academy Africa is a one-stop event management school recognised worldwide,” she added.

An elated Astou Djamat- Dubois while speaking on the agreement stated that Africa has some of the best professionals in the industry globally and the pact between the duo would further reinforce the continent’s position at the global level.

“PrBeforehe the agreement, BusyBee Academy Africa has already attained global status. This pact is icing on the cake and we believe that the academy should be able to train and issue certification on behalf of the Weddings Beautiful International, a parent body worldwide,” Astou Djamat-Dubois enthused.

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E-TRENDS

MUSIC SHOWBIZ

…Your weekly entertainment delight

NOLLYWOOD

BBTitans Update: Khosi, Yemi Cregx and Other Possible ‘Ships’ Stories by Vanessa Obioha

Pere Jason performs Beyoncé’s ‘XO’ at The Voice NG

THE VOICE NIGERIA S4: COACHES RACE TO COMPLETE THEIR TEAMS The coaches of The Voice Nigeria are racing to fill in their slots as the blind auditions slowly approach an end. So far, the coaches had eight talents each on their team. They are expected to have 12 talents each on their team to proceed to the battles.

In the fourth episode, each coach had two talents.

Pere Jason, a 25-year-old vocal producer, opened the show with his smooth rendition of ‘XO’ by Beyoncé. He got all four coaches to turn and was praised for his vocal fluidity. After listening to the coaches’ pitches, he chose Niyola. Niyola would also turn for Emmanuel who performed ‘Believe’

by Ric Hassani.

Despite Waje pleading with Praiz not to turn when Henry Sidum performed ‘Conversations in the Dark’ by John Legend, Praiz did not only turn but was the preferred choice for the talent.

His second talent for the episode was 23-year-old makeup artist Chioma Unogu.

Waje would later have her own spotlight when MartinsAsogwa chose her over Naeto C. She also got Chika Nwosu, a 32-year-old music director on her team.

It’s a new season of Big Brother Titans — a first of its kind featuring talents from South Africa and Nigeria — and Cupid arrow has already hit some hearts. The most trending couple on the show which premiered Sunday, January 15, is Yemi Cregx and Khosi. The duo hit it off from the moment they entered the new eye-popping Big Brother House. After barely 48 hours in the house, the duo shared a kiss, with Khosi suggesting that she would love to visit Nigeria after the show. But Yemi Cregx’s reaction to her plan suggested that his emotions may only be for the camera. At least, this was the thought of fans on Twitter.

Not a few are doubtful of the survivability of the ship — a colloquial term for romantic relationships in the house. Yemi Cregx, according to some fans, is the ideal playboy and may not have his eyes keen on only Khosi. His roaming eyes may settle on another female housemate, particularly Yaya and Yvonne, thus creating a triangle in the house.

Yemi Cregx and Khosi are not the only housemates on the possible ships on Cupid’s radar.

Mmeli who won the Head of House (HoH) this week may have a soft spot for Ipeleng whom he chose as his (HoH) guest. There are also Thabang and Nelisa as well as Yvonne and Juicy Jay, and Kanaga Jnr and Tsatsii.

Interestingly, the South African female housemates seem to have the hots for the Nigerian male housemates. They are quick to express their desire to visit Nigeria to satisfy their curiosity about the most populated African nation.

As it is the first week, Big Brother charged the housemates to be familiar with each other.

It turned out to be a revelation of some sort.

Housemates discussed personal and general

KORTYEO: NIGERIA’S EMERGING QUEEN OF YOUTUBE RITA DOMINIC, FLAVOUR, Last Christmas Day, KortyEO uploaded her most OMOTOLA JALADE-EKEINDE current work. Guess how she attracted 7.6k likes, GRACE TOBE NWIGWE’S PRE63,000 views and 515 comments in that number of days? She titled it, “I Don’t Like KortyAnymore!’ Is GRAMMY NOMINATION PARTY thatsomethingtocelebratewhenBurnaboy,Wizkid and Davido have over 1,000,000 (One million) eyeballs rushing to see any new production by them within one hour of release?

That is exactly why Eniola Olanrewaju, better known in the creative space as KortyEO is excited.

“I am not even a celebrity yet,” she said as a matter of fact in the video. In 2022, she was surprised at the wave of hate and negative energy from people trolling her.

The video set out to review her work last. Expectedly, some part of it sounds like blowing her trumpet. Though she is humble to admit that she is notquitewheresheisaiming,she’salsoclearheaded to state she is not at the bottom of the rung. “I am somewhere in between.”

Her station in life right now, no doubt, attracts apparent envy. Who wouldn’t want to be selected as one of the Youtube Black Voices Class of 2023 honoraries? The #YouTubeBlack Voices is a global programme designed to support Black creators, artists, songwriters, and producers on the platform.

In less than three years, the former model has garnered almost 10,000,000 views on her Youtube pageandgottenmuchdigitalbuzzandreviewseven though she admits to begging people to subscribe to her Youtube channel when she first started.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES FRANCHISE GOES TO ABUJA After a successful Lagos iteration of The Real Housewives, streaming and video-on-demand platform Showmax has teased the second instalment of the Real Housewives franchise in Nigeria. This time, the TV reality show is heading to Abuja and as such, the season is titled ‘The Real Housewives of Abuja (RHOAbuja)’.

A teaser image for the show was published on Showmax’s social media pages in the early hours of Tuesday, January 17, 2023. The Instagram caption read, “Stepping into the luxurious world of the Abuja babes. The Real Housewives of Abuja coming soon to Showmax.”

Retaining the format of the show, RHOAbuja will follow the lives of influential and successful women as they navigate their social lives, relationships, businesses, careers, and family within the capital city and beyond. In true Abuja style, the series is expected to showcase influence, power play, luxury, glam and drama among the rich and ultra-wealthy socialites.

This version will be the fourth instalment of the Real Housewives franchise in Africa and is produced by Delmedia Productions.

Iyke Bede Weeks ahead of the 65th Grammy Awards, some of Nollywood’s finest stars convened to celebrate the Grammy nomination of Nigerian US-based rapper Tobe Nwigwe at The Sky Restaurant, Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

Powered by Afrozons and Heineken, the glitzy pre-Grammy event attracted Nollywood heavyweights like Omotala Jalade-Ekeinde, Rita Dominic, Kate Henshaw, Dakore Akande, alongside music stars like Seun Kuti and Flavour; creative entrepreneur Obi Asika; and Grammynominated Ghanaian act, Rocky Dawuni.

The ‘Lord Forgive Me’ hitmaker earned a nomination in the Best New Act category, one of the ‘Big Five’ categories presented during the Grammy show.

The pre-Grammy party which serves as a precursor to the Afrobeats preGrammy party planned for February 3, 2023, in Los Angeles, doubled as a homecoming for the rapper who arrived with his wife Martica ‘Fat’, and their children.

Soaking up the cool ambience of the neon-lit evening, guests were charmed by the camaraderie displayed when Nwigwe, who donned a black oversized suit was joined by his wife (impeccably dressed in flowing gown complemented with blonde braids) and a host of celebrities as they danced to Flavour’s ‘Doing’, mirroring Igbo folk dance steps.

In heartfelt gratitude for the warm reception he and his family received in Nigeria, Nwigwe candidly relayed his surprise at the Grammy nod.

“It was surprisingly overwhelming because I didn’t think they would have the audacity to nominate an independent artiste like me, “ Nwigwe explained.

He continued: “Afrobeats is at the top; it is the most influential sound in all of music right now. It is just for us to continue to do what we have been

Yemi Cregx and Khosi details. While Juicy Jay left the housemates teary with the lost opportunity to know his paternal family, Nana, the Nigerian from Kaduna State left viewers gobsmacked with her lifestyle.

She shared how she dropped out of school for pecuniary reasons, her struggles with her family,

her pregnancy loss, and her sexual orientation.

The first eviction show will be held this Sunday, January 22 and would likely see one or two housemates leave the show. Nana appears to lead the pack with eight nominations. Will Sunday see her bow out of the race for $100,000?

doing: bringing those traditional sounds, modernising those traditional sounds, and continuing to be the influence that we have always been.”

Recently, the American Music Awards (AMA) included an afrobeats category (Favourite Afrobeats Artiste). Responding to this development, the convener and a voting member of the Recording Academy, Sheila O. hinted that the Recording Academy is considering toeing a similar path in the future.

“Afrobeats is bigger than calling us ‘Best Global Performance’” Sheila said. “We are bigger and here to stay, and it is something that the Grammy is looking forward to and trying to make happen.”

The Afrozons pre-Grammy nomination party was acclaimed by guests who described the soiree as ebullient.

2023 Sundance Film Festival, kicking off Wednesday, January 19, 2023. She is distinguished as one of the three jury members of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, alongside Shozo Ichiyama and Annemarie Jacir.

This year ’s festival will take place January 19–29 in person in Utah. Sixteen jurors will grant the awards for feature and short films, which will be announced on Friday, January 27. The jurors of the 2023 edition are Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin for U.S. Dramatic Competition; W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz, and Carla Gutierrez for U.S. Documentary Competition; Shozo Ichiyama, Annemarie Jacir, and Funa Maduka for World Cinema Dramatic Competition; Karim Amer, Petra Costa, and Alexander Nanau for World Cinema Documentary Competition; Madeleine Olnek for the NEXT competition section; and Destin Daniel Cretton, Marie-Louise Khondji, and Deborah Stratman for the Short Film Program Competition.

Funa Maduka is an award-winning filmmaker and the former head of International Original Films at Netflix where she worked with the world’s top global and emerging filmmakers.

Over six years, she was positioned at the frontline of the company’s global expansion, managing the launch of the film offering across 100+ countries.

She pioneered Netflix’ move into international film production, building a development slate across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Meanwhile her film acquisitions brought Netflix its first film nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. Previously she worked at Participant Media developing and managing campaigns for film and television projects.

Funa is an awarded filmmaker, credited with writing, producing and directing the first Nigerian film to world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. She is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. She holds a BA from Cornell University and a Masters from Harvard Business School.

2023 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: NIGERIAN FILMMAKER, FUNA MADUKA, AMONG JURORS

Funa Maduka

Filmmaker Funa Maduka is one of the 16 jurors granting awards at the

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ART WEEKEND

…For pure art enthusiasts

Tributes as Nigeria’s Culture Ambassador Jahman Anikulapo Turns 60 Arguably the most ubiquitous figure in the arts and culture community in Nigeria, Jahman Anikulapo recently turned 60, thus igniting tributes and a series of activities to celebrate his imprints on the media and of course, culture activism. Yinka Olatunbosun writes

A

firebrand culture activist and arts connoisseur, Jahman Anikulapo was the highlight of the week as members of the arts and culture community gathered in multiple venues in Lagos to celebrate the legend at 60. The graduate of theatre arts at the University of Ibadan began his art journalism career at The Guardian as the arts and media editor in 1993. He would later work as the arts and media editor until 2003 and later, the Editor of The Guardian on Sunday and The GuardianLife Magazine from 2003 to 2013.

Born Eniolorunda OladejoAnikulapo in Lagos, the earlier part of Jahman’s childhood was on the Lagos Island. His father- a businessman-was mostly working up north. Anikulapo was a child during the civil war. Later, his family moved to Agege, a part known as Capitol Road.

“We were one of the first families to settle in that area where all the characters in our turbulent past were residing,’’ he recalled in an interview.

“New Banger, Ejire, Kosi Iya Were Leko, Alado and some from Mushin would come to our house then for one reason: my father was a distributor for Top Beer. In front of the house was a shop where he sold drinks and musicians and kinds of layabouts often came by. The Apala musician, Ayinla Omowura used to come. He was an uncle to my mother. Olowo Nyo, Oseni Ejire and many of them when they came to Lagos to perform would always end up in our house. The No banger character and Alado were always coming. In that kind of environment, it was easy for a child to lose orientation.’’

As a youth, he learnt skills like boxing and played football. His father ensured that holistic education was imparted in his children.

“He insisted that all of us must go to school,’’ he continued. He used his car to drop us off in school, reminding us that education was the only thing that he could give us. And he ensured that we got that. He also taught us the value of work.

For instance, he ensured that we participated in the building of his houses. We worked with the bricklayers, we mixed the sand and cement and put the pan on our heads. I still have the mark on my head till today. He said ‘You cannot live in a house that you never participated in building it. You would never appreciate it.’

Though his father was well-to-do, boasting of four houses and some cars, Jahman and his brothers were made to take on jobs at the factories in the neighbourhood.

“I worked in WAHUM, Guinness, and other places where you would work overnight and when you get home in the morning, you are almost dead. My mum would fight for us but my father said we had to go and learn the value of work. He also taught us to be respectful of the dignity of others.”

Buoyed by his strong background, Anikulapo proceeded to study Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan under the mentorship of late Prof Dapo Adelugba 1939-2014), a theatre critic and playwright who was the director of the university’s theatre troupe. Anikulapo was encouraged to write reviews of plays and films regularly. Whilst in his undergraduate days, he was known as an advocate for the art and culture community.

Jahman is perhaps one of the busiest persons known in the arts and culture sector. Working closely with the Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, Jahman is often seen promoting as well as directing art and culture events. He could be anchoring a panel discussion, hosting a festival or serving as a compere at a programme. Full of wit and smiles, he could throw banters at some members of the audience who are often his associates.

He is the programme director for Culture Advocates Caucus since 2009 and the Chairman, Committee for Relevant Art (CORA). In 1999, he founded the cultural picnic, the Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) and teaches young European students media arts and culture.

At the 60th birthday colloquium anchored by the actor and theatre scholar, Dr. Tunji Sotimirin held at

Book cover

AIRING THE TRUTHS ABOUT AVIATION IN NIGERIA Yinka Olatunbosun

Jahman Anikulapo

Freedom Park, Lagos, Soyinka acknowledged Jahman’s support through the year in executing his projects and other artistic engagements.

“In just a few words, the best expression I have for him is that of a ghost worker,’’ Soyinka said as laughter erupted. “You hear about the expression ghost worker in a negative sense.

Some of them have never been anywhere near the establishment. But someone somewhere is collecting salary. I always think of Jahman as a ghost worker. By that I mean you don’t know how he achieves what he does. If you give him a task, you don’t ever see him at work on it. I think he’s an instinctive artistic facilitator. He promotes others without promoting himself.

He has assisted me in theatrical production and worked behind the scenes.’’

In the same vein, the recently retired Professor of TheatreArts at the University of Lagos, Duro Oni described Jahman as a literary legend in his keynote address titled “The Artman as Interventionist: Celebrating Jahman at 60.’’

“Jahman has celebrated so many people who are listed in the committee of friends for this programme. The fear of the critic is the beginning of wisdom. Jahman does not suffer fools. He can be very hard. Even at this gathering he is looking around.”

Expectedly, there was praise poetry accompanied by drums by Akeem Lasisi, a former Arts Editor at Punch Newspapers and poet in adulation of Jahman. The bi-linguist poet showered prayers on the celebrant with music accompaniment from Afrocentric musician, Eda Oto. The award-winning writer and former Arts and Culture Editor, NEXT Newspapers Molara Wood also eulogised Jahman for his selfless spirit and willingness to help other colleagues grow in arts reporting. Citing her personal experience, she recalled that as a new entrant in the cultural scene in Nigeria after living and working in the UK for over a decade, she relied on Jahman to gain knowledge of

the cultural context in her home country. She observed that through Jahman’s intervention over the years, many great artists that had fallen into oblivion were celebrated. Recalling her days as a contributor to The Guardian, she described herself as one of “Jahman’s girls”- that is a group of female journalists mentored by Jahman.

“He gave me the column to write on the broad range of arts. He shipped off all the Guardian Literary Series to me in London.

He would always give me context. From there, I was able to build readership. He did a lot to encourage me. He truly believed in me,’’ she said.

Nobert Young, Nollywood’s veteran actor recalled how it was like to work with Jahman in theatre productions, attesting to his workaholic nature.

“Jahman was a stage manager for two plays.

Jahman would be the last to sleep and the first to wake up. The natural flair for arts energises him,’’ he said.

On his part, the artistic director, Crown Troupe ofAfrica, SegunAdefila noted Jahman’s devotion to intellectualism even at leisure.

“With Jahman, you can’t be an artist and be relaxed. One day, we went to eat amala. And we were supposed to eat and take inspirational drinks and go. But not with Jahman. The topic of one book must come up,’’ he said.

The social media was also abuzz with congratulatory messages for the adire-wearing Jahman who was sporting a powder-blue outfit. Okey Ogunjiofor described him in a post as a “champion of the arts. At 60, you have achieved what some 80 year olds only dream about.”

The Founder, Freedom Vibes, Ayo Ganiu expressed his gratitude in a heartfelt message: “Thank you for the monumental contributions you have made in ensuring that other people excel in life.”

A 330-paged book titled ‘Air Transportation In Nigeria: The Lingering Expectations’ by Olusegun Koiki and Chinedu Eze is set to take the reader on an excursion into the developments, prospects and challenges of Nigeria’s aviation industry. Tracing from inception in 1925 when the first Royal Air Force Squadron flew into Kano and Maiduguri and subsequently in 1946 when the West African Transport Authority was established, the authors dug through history to uncover extensive surveys that were carried out by the British Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Colonial Office for the then four colonialgovernmentsofNigeria,GoldCoast(Ghana), Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

Written by two award-winning and seasoned journalists, this new handbook on Nigeria’s civil aviation industry serves as a pointer to the inherent problemsstultifyingtheaviationindustry,bufferedby analysisandpossiblesolutions. Amongtheproblems identifiedbythewritersareinconsistentgovernment policies,gapsinimplementation,endemiccorruption perpetrated by those saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the safety and effective management of the air transport system in Nigeria.

Split into 16 chapters, some of the titles include ‘Air Transport Development in Nigeria,’ ‘The Birth of Aviation Agencies,’ ‘Death of Nigeria Airways’ and ‘Deregulation of Nigeria’s Aviation.’

Koiki and Eze also examined policy formulation, policy summersault, concession challenges and prospects, as well as airline ownership syndrome respectively.

Later on in the book, in depth study is done on the failed attempts of the new national carrier issues surrounding the untapped markets – alliance, collaboration, interline, and codeshare were discussed.

Of particular interest is the analysis of the circumstancesleadingtotheliquidationofNigeriaAirways in 2003 and the demand for a new national carrier after unsuccessful attempts to re-launch the carrier.

The analysis and solutions proffered in the book can help the relevant authorities in the onerous task of giving the nation a new national carrier.

On the whole, the authors made an in-depth analysis of the problems bedeviling the industry and suggested solutions or the way forward.

CaptainMusaNuhu,theDirector-General,Nigeria CivilAviationAuthority,atteststothiswhenhewrites intheforewordtothebookthus,“Itiscommendable that the authors put in a lot of work, but what is interesting about the book is that it was written by journalists who have detached disposition to look at issues from the observer perspective, digging deep without sentiment and chiding misdemeanors that begat the dark days in the sector. The book exposes us to salient issues, which we must ponder about as stakeholders.”

Chinedu and Koiki relied on their wealth of knowledge and experience garnered in coverage of the aviation industry over the last 30 years cumulatively, aided by their journalistic skills of research as the basis of inquiry into the phenomenon of civil aviation in the country, alongside their methodical presentation of findings to deliver a masterpiece.

The book’s offerings will be beneficial especially to the Ministry ofAviation and all those at the helm of affairs in the regulatory agencies, aircraft owners, current and prospective managers of our airports as well as all those saddled with the responsibility of ensuring safety and effective management of air transportation in the country.

‘Air Transportation in Nigeria’ is a must-read for aviation students, researchers, and scholars in our tertiary institutions and public libraries in the country. Written in a lucid style, the authors were motivated to write the book by their “desire to put pastandpresentactivitiesinthesectorinapermanent document.”

34

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͱ

POLSCOPE

áÓÞÒ ÎÎã ÎÓàáÜÓ ÏÎÎã˛ÙÎÓàáÜÓ̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙט ͸΀͸ͽ ͻ͸; ΁ͻͽ;

Yes, Buhari was a Mistake

F

ew weeks ago, he turned 80. At that, he is the oldest Nigerian to serve as the leader of this country. He is unarguably one of the luckiest Nigerians. Besides Olusegun Obasanjo who became Nigeria’s democratically-elected President, having served as military Head of State, no other person has been as lucky as President Muhammadu Buhari, not only for twice emerging as Nigeria’s leader, but more because on both occasions, he landed the presidency of the country on a platter of gold.

Even when he emerged as Military Head of State, on December 31 1983, the story was that he was only invited to head the military government. He was not part of those who planned the coup that ousted then President Shehu Shagari. And even in 2015, when he emerged as a democratically-elected President, he was literally uploaded into the office, as those who believed in his person, candidacy and political poise did everything under the sun to get him into the office, sometimes without him knowing the details and efforts being pumped into the process. Yet, it must be noted that before 2015, he had attempted to become Nigeria’s president three times (2003, 2007 and 2011) without success.

The fourth attempt succeeded because some persons literally adopted him and his ambition and flew with it.

In 2015, President Buhari won convincingly, not only because many Nigerians were tired of the lacklustre administration of Goodluck Jonathan, but also because many Nigerians believed that the no-nonsense Buhari of the WAI-fame was the kind of firm and fearless leader Nigeria needed to redeem the country from the rapid and steady slide to the valley. After sixteen unbroken years of the PDP rule, Nigerians were literally thirsting for a change. And the change came in the name of Buhari.

The goodwill he had was so much that nearly everybody was prepared to cooperate with his administration, believing that he was working out a perfect redemption scheme for the country.

This reporter was one of such people. But I had given up, just over a year ago. You cannot blame me. It is foolhardy to yet think or hope that some miracle will yet happen with the Buhari administration. As my people would say, if the rain fell all night and the bucket was not full, it would not be the dew that could fill the bucket.

I recall that the ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protest that prepared the exit door for the Jonathan administration was because there was a plan in January 2012 to remove the so-called petroleum subsidy which will see petrol selling at N141 per litre instead of the N65 per litre at the time.

Hell was almost broke loose. After much ado, the country settled for N87 per litre. That was the amount President Buhari inherited even as his allies and supporters regaled Nigerians with a pending “better deal” on the price of petrol.

By his first anniversary in office, not only did we not see the said “better deal”, he, in fact, served Nigerians a bitter deal when he raised the cost of petrol from N87 per litre to N145 per litre because according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria was broke. So, an indirect tax of about N58.50 was imposed on every litre of petrol. That was the second sign that all things were not going to be bright and beautiful with the Buhari administration. The first sign was the inexplicable loss of the first six months in search of saintly ministers, but ended up appointing the same “devils you know are better than the angels you don’t know”. Nigeria literally moved from the express lane to the service lane from that point.

It is instructive that when Buhari raised the price of petrol from N87 to N145 per litre, there was no whiff of protest across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Such was the grace and goodwill he enjoyed from Nigerians. Today, not only does the price of petrol sell between N200 and N300 plus, per litre, in many parts of Nigeria, yet, we cannot even find it to buy. Many people spent the Christmas holiday in long queues at fuel stations, looking for petrol. But with just five months to go, it has become clear that many of us who invested so much hope and trust in the Buhari administration not only made a mistake, but were indeed gullible to believe that the same fire-spitting Buhari of 1983/84 was the same Buhari coming in 2015 with a long sceptre of corrective rod to straighten every crooked way in the Nigerian polity. How wrong!

The Nigerian election is just less than 43 days away, after which the countdown to Buhari’s final exit will begin. He has promised to stay very far

Buhari

from Abuja when he leaves office. Yes, it will be a well-deserved stay-away.

We are in a politically high-octave season.

Those inclined to impress Buhari or who have been great beneficiaries of Buhari’s punitive years in Aso Rock do not and will not have to agree with me.

I was stunned to hear the tons of eulogies being poured on him at his recent 80th birthday ceremony. Not even the two monarchs who spoke dared to speak truth to power. The encomiums were garnished with verbal niceties suitable only for a knight with the shining armour, as if it is not the same Buhari squeezing comfort and ease away from the Nigerian populace.

A day or so earlier, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese had, in a Christmas message, dissected the Buhari administration point-marking the twin evil of corruption and nepotism. But it did not affect the speeches of praise and commendation that Mr President harvested. Interestingly, the duo (Kukah and Buhari) appeared chummy and convivial at the Catholic Bishops’ meeting in Aso Rock, early in the week In 2014, Buhari had campaigned on the tripartite theme of fighting corruption, reviving the economy and curbing the insecurity in Nigeria. On all fronts, I do not think the Buhari administration has performed creditably.

And the evidence of these failures is everywhere we turn. Never mind that he has promised to fix the economy before he leaves.

Yes, the EFCC has boasted about arraigning and securing more convictions of those who breached the financial regulations in the country, but that has neither reduced instances of fraud nor has it deterred people from fraud. The EFCC has basically offered post-committal services, not pre-committal. The EFCC does not evidently do anything to stem the tide of fraud wave in the country.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that allows one man (former Accountant General of the Federation—Ahmed Idris) to steal as much as N109 billion over time, before he gets caught or the case of Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, former acting Managing Director of NDDC who was accused of mismanaging N81.5 billion, over two years ago. Till date, nothing was heard of that story again, after the fainting drama at a probe panel of the said professor. What a country! If we have ten Ahmed Idris or ten Prof Pondei, why won’t the country truly sink and quickly too? None of them is in jail.

They were all under a Buhari that swore to battle corruption. Needless to say there are many more Ahmed Idris or Prof Pondei that may never be caught within the system.

Or how do we explain the case of the NNPC which for nearly two years has not produced a litre of petroleum product, nor remitted a dime into the national treasury, yet they receive the fatest pay in the land and run a huge budget like spending N20 billion on telephone calls in a year? Yes, telephone calls! What kind of country is that?

Perhaps it was the comment of Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State and close ally of President Buhari, who made the frankest statement about President Buhari, at the 80th birthday ceremony, when he said Buhari does not follow up on those he gives assignment because he (Buhari) believes they will do it and do it well. He however lamented that many people have taken advantage of that Buhari’s nature to abuse their offices through dereliction of duty. And that is what Nigerians have been suffering with Buhari. Everywhere you turn, you notice that nobody is in charge. Everybody does what he or she pleases. Buhari fails to realise that people will not do what a leader expects, but what a leader inspects. That explains why there are huge cases of indiscipline among government officials like an Agric minister spending huge government money to build a mosque in his village. There is monumental corruption. That height of presumptive gullibility is one cardinal weakness of the Buhari administration and persona. His response speed to urgent issues is ultra-slow.

If Government is claiming to spend N6.7 trillion on fuel subsidy this year, how come petrol is not only scarce, it can hardly be bought at the official price? Has the subsidy been removed already albeit unofficially? Why is the government quiet and indifferent to the wailing of Nigerians on this matter, after nearly two months of agonizing experiences?

If Buhari is really in charge, somebody should be made to explain to Nigerians why after spending N15.9 billion, Air Nigeria is yet a mirage, save the jamboree that followed the launch of the logo in London. With less than five months to go, the dream of a Nigerian carrier is obviously a lost one. How can that kind of amount be used in launching just a logo in a decent country?

I have heard many Buharists defend Mr President as a man of impeccable integrity with unrivalled sense of patriotism and all that. Two days ago, Buhari himself boasted about his integrity when he said he does not own one square inch of any property outside Nigeria. I may not contest all such virtues.

But what shall we say of a security guard hired in a company to secure and protect company property because he is trusted to be an honest man, but ends up idling away at his

duty post so much that company workers, one after the other, step out of the company premises, unchallenged, with one prized company item or the other, while the honest security guard is picking his teeth, after a sumptuous meal, in one corner of the gate. Shall the gateman be awarded a laurel because he himself did not steal any company property, yet the warehouse is now empty?

Mr President promised to revive the economy.

There is no point recalling all that Buhari’s APC promised Nigerians. But it is correct to say that nearly eight years after, rather than revive the economy, the Buhari administration actually plundered the economy. Our local and foreign debt profile has risen to new heights, with foreign and local debt now standing at N77 trillion just as the foreign reserve has been badly depleted.

Last year alone, the CBN had unlawfully printed money to the tune of N22 trillion in the name of “ways and means”. But pray, what did we do with all such money?

Life is simply far tougher and more tasking than ever before. Every Nigerian homestead is wailing about the rooftop inflation which is at over 21.4 per cent. Nigerians have been groaning. The Christmas festival was terrible for many homes.

The 50 Kg Bag of rice which was somewhere between N7,000 and N8,000 in 2015, is now over N43,000. The so-called Nigerian rice is not even affordable. The United States Dollar which was at N187/$ in 2015, is now very close to N800/$, on the parallel market.

The size of our FDIs has shrunk terribly.

Companies and factories have been shutting down. Jobs have been lost. Morale has been lost. Hopes have been lost. Self-worth and selfesteem have been lost. If you doubt me, please ask members of ASUU and students of federal universities. And the buzz word in town today is the Japa phenomenon. With the frustration in town, Nigerians are nearly being returned to Thomas Hobbes’ state of nature which he described as “short, nasty, brutish and solitary”.

How can we forget the issue of security?

Buhari, as a retired army General, had sold the impression that the Boko Haram menace was waxing strong because of poor military attack tactics. The belief that he was coming with a superior and unassailable crushing formulae, made many people to believe in his candidacy at the polls. Before he came on board in 2015, we had had only the mega case of Chibok girls’ abduction, and pockets of attacks here and there. But after Buhari came into power, we have had a litany of students’ kidnap cases from schools in Dapchi (Yobe State), Kankara (Katsina State), Kaya (Zamfara), Birnin Yauri (Kebbi State) Tegina (Niger State), Greenfield University (Kaduna State), etc. etc. Many of those abducted girls like Leah Shaibu and co. have remained as captors till date, while fate and fortune have helped to rescue some of the victims. Many others have died. Then apart from the attacks on schools, is the attack on public facilities like the Kaduna-bound train, the Catholic church in Owo, the Kuje prison attack etc. etc. That does not include the avalanche of abductions on the highways, in communities, in private estates, etc. Even 22 train passengers in Igueben, Edo State, were abducted a few days ago. Nigeria, at a point returned to the status of a jungle, despite the running government’s claim of having “technically defeated” or “degraded” Boko Haram and other terrorist gangs in the country. In recent months however, the combined military forces have decimated many of the terrorist gangs and the highways and forests are a lot safer.

Those who are wont to disagree with me are likely to say that it is my decision to see the bottle as half empty instead of being half full. I agree. Both assessments are basically the same.

But let it not be said that I am not aware of the huge investments in the train services in Nigeria, or the much-talked about second Niger bridge or the many kilometers of roads and bridges the administration has built, or even the Lekki Deep Sea port. Not forgetting the salient contribution Buhari has made towards the development of democracy in the country. His non-interference in political processes has helped to deepen the democratic culture in the country. This is unlike the desperation of a former President who saw election as “a do-or-die affair”.

But if the balance sheet of the Buhari administration is to be perused, the deficits will clearly show that electing him was indeed a big mistake, as his name has become a metaphor for poverty and hardship.

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY Ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͱ

IMAGES

35

Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

L-R: Leader of the Nigerian Youth Coalition (NYC), Oladotun Hassan; APC young Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) member, Dr. Nicolas Felix; Member, PCC, Mohammed Awwal; and representative of the Alaketu of Ketu Land, Oba Ajibade Adebowale, during a parley for North and South members of the coalition held in Abuja…recently PHOTO: ENOCK REUBEN

L-R: Brand Manager, Devon King, Mandela Ajuebor; Head of Sales, PZ Wilmar, Segun Adesina; Finance Director, PZ Wilmar, Anurag Kumar; Head of Manufacturing, PZ Wilmar, Femi Ojumu; and Head of Marketing, PZ Wilmar, Chioma Mbanugo, during the unveiling ceremony of the Devon King’s Low-Fat Spread in Lagos… recently

L-R: Secretary-General of Abu Dhabi Forum for Promoting Peace, H.E. Sheikh Al Mahfoudh Bin Bayyah; President Muhammadu Buhari; and President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, during the presentation of an award for ‘Strengthening Peace in Africa’ to Buhari by Abu Dhabi Peace Forum in Mauritania…recently

L-R: Wife of the All Progressives Congress (APC) vice presidential candidate, Hajia Nana Shettima; Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma; and the wife of the APC presidential candidate/ Chairman, Tinubu/Shettima Women Presidential Campaign Team, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, when the team paid a courtesy call on Governor Uzodimma ahead of the South-east zonal rally in Owerri, Imo State…recently

L-R: Lagos Archdiocesan Lay President-elect, Methodist Church Nigeria, Sir Olugbolahan Olayomi; Archbishop of Lagos, Most Revd Isaac Ayobami Olawuyi; his wife, Mrs. Funmi Olawuyi; and the Lagos Archdiocesan Public Relations Officer, Sir Aramide Tola Noibi, at the church’s 2023 Covenant Year Sunday Thanksgiving Service held at the Wesley Cathedral Olowogbowo, Lagos…recently

L-R: Group Chairman, Odua Investment Limited, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru; former Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Dupe Adelaja; and her husband/Managing Director of Rosabel, Mr. Tunde Adelaja, during the 60th wedding anniversary of the Adeyinkas in Lagos…recently PHOTO: ABIODUN AJALA

A cross section of Togolese choir of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries during a ministration at the Chosen’s International annual convention tagged: ‘What God has determined shall be done’, held in Lagos… recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

36

GAMINGWEEK

Edited by NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG | ikotibok@gmail.com | Tel: 08114495324

From Davido to Asake: Inside Social Media Banks of Nigerian Artistes Who Are Brand Ambassadors of Bookmakers Akeem Lasisi writes that betting companies indirectly leverage the social media assets of leading Nigerian artistes

Davido

Peter Okoye

Don Jazzy

Tekno

Falz

Olamide

Pasuma

Reminisce

Small Doctor

Asake

B

etting and entertainment are intimate things. The reason is that gaming is fun as it is a business. No wonder more and more betting companies are appointing reigning Nigerian musicians as their brand ambassadors.

For instance, 2022 ensured it never ended until the National Lottery Nigeria (otherwise called the National Game)) announced influential rapper Olamide (aka Badoo) as its brand ambassador. That was in December. The Managing Director of the agency, Mr Abiodun Akintoju, had noted that the partnership with Olamide was part of the activities showing that it was thinking and rising bigger than it had ever done. An excited Olamide, too, said the National Game had been giving back to Nigerians, adding that he believed in its passion for fulfilling folks’ desires.

What the fans of his YBNL music family will, however, also note is that about a month before, bookmakers Parimatch had also unveiled Olamide’s rave-of-the-moment ally, Asake, as its ambassador. Expressing elation at the development, Asake crooned, “It is exciting to be associated with a global brand like Parimatch. I like their

style, vision, appreciation and focus on creativity. I foresee us working excellently together.”

In celebration of the partnership, Parimatch has launched a 10 million Terminator Jackpot offer that promised to give old and new customers a chance to win a share of the big prize. The actual worth of each of the deals is rarely made public, but the relationship between the gaming outfits and the musicians seems to be so mutually rewarding that some have been ambassadors for more than one company.

For instance, Davido is the brand ambassador for 1XBet and Access Bet, while Fuji act, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, whom Eco Bet System unveiled in 2018, had earlier been appointed by 9jaPredict.com in 2013. ‘O gba penalty wo throw in’ singer, Small Doctor, is a co-ambassador with Pasuma at Eco Bet System.

Other bookmakers that have chosen Nigerian artistes as brand ambassadors are Betway (Don Jazzy and Falz), MerryBet (Peter Okoye), Sportybet (Tekno Miles) and Frapapa (Reminisce). Similarly, Olamide had earlier identified with Surebet247 as a star emissary, announcing in 2015, “God

bless our hustle. But can u bet ur life on ur hustle? Spend all ur last card on ur dream? Whatever ur dream is, every extra penny u have should be going to that. #SureBet247 #BloodyBeast #Grind.”

Gaming brands usually place emphasis on the feasibility, characters, resourcefulness and charisma of the music giants as some of the traits that prompt them to anoint them as their apostles. While the artistes have such in various degrees, a major factor also works for them: their social media assets. They generally command huge followings, which the betting companies now indirectly leverage. From Davido to Olamide, Peter Okoye, Don Jazzy, Falz, Tekno, Reminisce to Asake, for instance, none cumulatively has less than two million followers online, with Davido alone super solid with about 47 million followers across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The game companies would particularly be interested in the virtual crowds because they are mostly youths that often love to play. A visit to the social media of the creative birds reveals the following: On Twitter, Davido boasts 13.1 million followers, while he has 26.2 and 7.852,

respectively, on Instagram and Facebook.

He is distantly followed by Don Jazzy, with 7.4 million followers on Twitter, 14.4 million on Instagram and 3, 824,570 on Facebook.

Peter Okoye is online-rich, with 4.3 million followers on Twitter, 12.1 on Instagram and 7.8 million on Facebook.

Olamide’s profile goes thus: 6.1 million followers on Twitter, 10.2 million on Instagram and 2.9 million on Facebook.

While Falz’s figures on the three platforms are Twitter: 2.9 million; Instagram: 9 million; and Facebook: 2.1 million, Tekno’s case confirms that the virtual mart on which all of them have the highest numbers of followers is Instagram.

He flaunts 10.1 million followers on it, 2.5 million on Twitter and 1. 9 million on Facebook.

Reminisce has a million followers on Twitter, 2.2 million on Instagram and 589,000 on Facebook. Asake respectively has 301,000 on Twitter, 2.3 million on Instagram and 9.3k on Facebook – plus 377,618 on Asake Music on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Pasuma has 24k, 768k and 845k, respectively, on the three.

(All as of Tuesday, January 17, 2023.)

Jason Njoku: The Iroko Man Grows Blackbet Nseobong Okon-Ekong

T

Njoku

here was nothing like it when Jason Njoku introduced IrokoTV. His intervention in the Nigerian Film industry, Nollywood, was well executed. If people talk about the funding which helped to achieve this feat, mention must also be made of the painstaking efforts that went into it.

So, Njoku is said to be worth over $40 million today. No doubt IrokoTV has expanded beyond his original dream, but every daring businessman knows that the name of the game is to keep striving and

venture into new areas.

Though he is better known for his investment in Nollywood, Njoku may have earned the title, ‘King of start-ups.’ He has put his money into all sorts of ventures, including internet, drinks distribution, real estate and property letting agency and hotel room booking.

From one entertainment genre to another, having stamped his mark on movies, Njoku has taken on the adrenaline-pumping excitement that comes with sports betting by establishing Blackbet. He is also Chairman of the related company, BettyBjngo. Like everything he does, he is very ambitious about this investment, which is why he

advertises it as, ‘Bonus Kings of Africa.’

Njoku is among the few who can see the opportunity for business expansion in the gaming industry by connecting with “millions of people around the world who play Sportsbooks and casino games every day, making the sector one of the world’s fastest growing and voracious arms of the entertainment market.”

Six months after its establishment, Njoku was quoted in the media saying that the sports betting company raked in over 300 per cent more than IrokoTV. Blackbet has already established its footprints in the UK, collaborating in definite terms that the venture has been successful.

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

37

GAMINGWEEK

FORECAST Davidson Abraham’s Weekly Match Preview & Betting Tips Week 3

The A-B-C of Betting on Online Slot Machine Here is a step-by-step direction on how to have a rewarding experience with slots at a real online casino The modern gambling industry continues to evolve, and therefore regularly appears new software and platforms offer customers to bet.

Online casino games in Canada are very common. Users can try their hand at slots, roulette, card games, poker, and lotteries. However, it is the slots that are the most popular.

Players like them because of the intuitive rules to start spinning the reels. The user only needs to specify the size of the bet and click on the “start” button.

Some players, in turn, are quite sceptical of such software. They do not like the fact that making bets at an online casino on slot machines, they have little control over the process. However, this is far from the case. The player can easily increase their chances of ultimate success if they learn to control their bankroll and emotions.

To do this, for example, decide in advance how much time a day the player is ready to spend on rates and not exceed this figure.

Abuse of gambling can lead to addiction. Also, it is important to choose one strategy that minimises the probability of losing money.

FEATURES OF SLOTS

In general, slot machines are one of the main areas of gambling.

They were available to users as in

land-based gambling establishments and later adapted for a real online casino. To date, almost every gaming software provider is engaged in developing slots for gambling platforms. Among the most popular and recognizable brands are Microgaming, NetEnt, Play `n Go, Yggdrasil, and Endorphina.

Slot machines can be created for different subjects, so any player will find the best option for a bet.

This can be an anime theme and history related to the ancient world.

After the player has selected an online casino, he needs to decide for himself what games he is ready to make a bet on. In this case, it is important to pay attention not only to the visual appeal of the slot but also to its game characteristics. First and foremost, it is about RTP and volatility. The first figure indicates the nominal advantage of the company to the client. Typically, this figure is in the range of 85 per cent to 97 per cent. The higher it is, the better for the user. At the same time, volatility indicates the probability of getting into a series of unsuccessful bets. For example, even if you have chosen software with an RTP of 95 per cent or more, it does not mean that the profit will be obtained as easily as possible.

After all, the minimum advantage here is formed by high multipliers,

not by the regularity of winnings.

HOW TO BET CORRECTLY ON SLOT MACHINE

If a player has decided to visit a casino online to play for real money, he should know the algorithms for performing a particular operation.

To make a bet on a slot machine, you need to perform the following set of actions.

Go to the casino’s official website, register an account, or log in to an existing account.

Replenish the account with one of the payment systems.

When the funds will be in the account, the player should go to the section with games and choose the most interesting option. As a rule, you can search for a slot by name or thanks to the classification by the provider.

Clicking on the logo of the game system site automatically redirects the client to the page with the slot machine.

To make a bet, the player must specify its size, as well as the type of spinning drums. It can be automatic (the system itself starts a new bet) or manual. Also, with some combinations, the game can go to the bonus and risk rounds. In them, the user gets the opportunity to multiply their winnings.

Profit, if any, after a game session is automatically transferred to the player’s account, and he can use it for further interaction with the online casino or withdraw money conveniently.

In general, after one day of training the player should understand all the nuances, and subsequently, he will not have any problems.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BET ON SLOTS FOR FREE?

Yes, most modern gambling platforms allow their customers to bet on games free of charge. As a rule, this functionality is available to players without authorization.

Accordingly, there is no need to pay for it.

The company also actively develops bonus offers to ensure that customers get the maximum charge of positive emotions. Win them you can play most games at online casinos, including slots. If the gambler has certain problems, he can ask for help from the support service. A specialist assigned to the client’s account can find a solution to the problem in a short time, thereby allowing the player to bet again. r 4PVSDFE GSPN 5IF ,BUZ /FXT

Edu Shola: Everybody Can’t be a Game Developer The founder of Deluxe Creation Studios explains to the GAMING WEEK team who a game developer is in the gaming eco-system Edu Shola, Founder of Deluxe Creation Studios, Game Developer )PX EJE ZPVS KPVSOFZ JO UIF HBNJOH JOEVTUSZ CFHJO We started out as a media and entertainment company based in Lagos, Nigeria. We render media solutions for companies. Well, aside from that, in 2014, we figured out we needed to create our own products, games, and that’s what we’ve always wanted to do. So we created App Rush.

8BT UIF USBOTJUJPO GSPN B NFEJB TPMVUJPO DPNQBOZ UP B HBNF EFWFMPQFS B TNPPUI TBJM I wouldn’t say so because back then, it was just me. I had to learn some of those processes and add to my skill sets to achieve that milestone.

4P XIFO FYBDUMZ EJE ZPV EJTDPWFS ZPVS MPWF GPS HBNJOH Being a graphic designer and an animator, it has been for the love of games. I used to play games but I just had no idea it was going to be like this. I started gaming in 2014.

"OE ZPVS àSTU HBNF XBT JO Yes. )PX XBT UIF GFFECBDL People were wowed to know that someone made a game because not so many people are making games. We have people making them, but not so many

Shola were republishing them. So what I did was not to just create the game but put it out there. It was on iOS and on Android, and even on some PC websites where people can download for PC. "OE IPX NBOZ HBNFT IBWF ZPV EFWFMPQFE TP GBS Over 25 games.

8IJDI JT UIF NPTU USFOEJOH I don’t necessarily have trending games because when it comes to

games, we can have trends and we also have games that actually have numbers but not trending.

So I don’t have trending games.

I might have trending content in terms of maybe videos, visuals that I make for those games that might trend. When it comes to maybe numbers of installs, I think my most downloaded game is Stickman Fight. Over 200,000 installs in Google Play Store.

8IBU BSF TPNF PG UIF DIBOHFT ZPV IBWF TFFO JO UIF HBNJOH JOEVTUSZ PWFS UIF ZFBST More people are coming into this space because they love it. Some people need to step forward. And we have companies that have been around for quite a while. They have been making games for a while and are still here. They actually took the first step and shine the lights and let people realize that you can actually do it. So we have a lot of small companies coming up, even individuals, lots of individuals coming up.

8FSF ZPV BMTP TFMG UBVHIU I would say I’m self taught in the sense that I gathered all the resources myself, which I did the majority of them on YouTube. I used to make YouTube tutorials

on myself so I sought out tutorials that really helped out.

8IBU EJE ZPV TUVEZ JO TDIPPM Political Science.

8BT JU EVF UP QSFTTVSF GSPN ZPVS QBSFOUT PS ZPV IBE B HFOVJOF JOUFSFTU JO UIF DPVSTF I actually loved Government as a subject in secondary school.

So when I couldn’t study Mass Communication in university, which was what I really wanted, I decided to opt for Political Science. %PFT ZPVS QIJMPTPQIZ BCPVU 1PMJUJDBM 4DJFODF SFáFDU JO ZPVS HBNFT Not necessarily, but I think in my interactions with people, because we did a lot of psychology, philosophy, and in game development, you need a lot of psychology as well.

"QBSU GSPN QTZDIPMPHZ XIBU PUIFS TLJMMT EPFT POF OFFE JO HBNF EFWFMPQNFOU Interaction because it’s like I’m running a business so that really helps. Also being able to negotiate as well. And being able to network.

So do you find game The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

On Saturday, A Struggling Liverpool will take on the big-spending but out of form Chelsea at the Anfield stadium in what is expected to be an entertaining encounter except if one of the teams capitulate.

Liverpool are not expected to lose as they rarely loose at home no matter the opponent.

This game has been tipped for a win for Liverpool or a draw.

Benfica, Napoli and Barcelona (who are fresh from their Spanish Super Cup triumph over Real Madrid) are expected to dispatch their respective opponents across the Liga NOS, Serie A and Laliga. In France, Lyon and Lille are expected to easily advance to the next round of

the Coupe de France given that they are drawn against lower league sides (except if there are surprises).

Back in England, Manchester City are expected to beat the stubborn Wolverhampton Wanderers while the inconsistent Leicester City will battle it out with the Impressive Brighton in a game that is likely to end in a win for Brighton or a draw.

Juventus and Dortmund will take on Atalanta and Augsburg respectively in tricky Banana skin Fixtures. A Juventus who were humiliated 5-1 by an Excellent Napoli side last time out are expected to win this game or draw at the very least while Dortmund also face the same expectation as Juve.

Date Fixture Betting Tips DATE Saturday, 21 Jan 2022 Saturday, 21 Jan 2022 Saturday, 21 Jan 2022 Saturday, 21 Jan 2022 Saturday, 21 Jan 2022 Sunday, 22 Jan 2022 Sunday, 22 Jan 2022 Sunday, 22 Jan 2022 Sunday, 22 Jan 2022 Sunday, 22 Jan 2022

FIXTURE

BETTING TIPS

Liverpool Vs Chelsea

Over 1.5

Leicester City Vs Brighton

Over 1.5

Santa Clara Vs Benfica

2

Salernitana Vs Napoli

2

Chambery Vs Lyon

2 & Over 1.5

Man City Vs Wolves

1

Barcelona Vs Getafe

1 & over 1.5

Juventus Vs Atalanta

Over 1.5

Borussia Dortmund Vs Augsburg

Over 1.5

Lille Vs Pau

1 & Over 1.5

PROMO!!!

50 MOST

INFLUENTIAL PERSONALITIES IN GAMING Keep a date on Thursday, March 30, 2023 as Gaming Week reveals across the gaming spectrum, the ladies and gentlemen who turn the wheel.

GAMINGWEEK TEAM Nseobong Okon-Ekong ikotibok@gmail.com | 08114495324 John Bamidele amostogun@yahoo.com | 08022212236 Akeem Lasisi lasaisai@yahoo.com | 08023687884 Vanessa Obioha vaysylver@gmail.com | 08069838305 Davidson Abraham davisiano.adm@gmail.com | +971 56 744 6013

38

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

േ

േ

േ

7 R S 7 U D G H V E \ 9 R O X P H

7 R S * D LQ H U V P ric e

P ric e C hg %

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

IN T EN EGIN S

0.45

9.8%

Z EN IT H B A N K

18.6

-0.2%

C WG

1.04

9.5%

GT C O

18.5

-0.4%

C A VER T ON

1.05

9.4%

UB A

9.7

-1.2%

J OH N H OLT

0.96

9.1%

R OYA LEX

9.4

-5.6%

LIN KA SSUR E

0.52

8.3%

A C C ESSC OR P

7.7

0.6%

5.4%

FB NH

6.6

0.0%

C UST OD IA N

5.1

0.8%

T ic k er

NA HCO

,

7.80

WEM A B A N K

3.90

4.8%

UP L

1.83

4.0%

J A IZ B A N K

0.90

3.4%

M ULT IVER SE

3.98

3.4%

T ic k er

F ID ELIT YB K

5.0

0.4%

T R A N SC OR P

4.9

0.0%

ST ER LN B A N K

2.9

2.0%

7 R S 7 U D G H V E \ 9 D O X H

7 R S / R V H U V T ic k er C ILEA SIN G SOVR EN IN S

CHA M S

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

3.15

-10.0%

0.26 0.26

-7.1% -7.1%

UP D C R EIT

3.10

-6.1%

R OYA LEX

0.85

-5.6%

IN T B R EW

4.65

-5.1%

NP FM CRFB K

1.65

-3.5%

UN IT YB N K

0.56

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

Z EN IT H B A N K

455.7

-0.2%

GT C O

451.1

-0.4%

M TNN

205.1

0.0%

N EST LE

116.2

0.0%

UB A

78.6

-1.2%

FB NH

76.9

0.0%

A C C ESSC OR P

69.5

0.6%

-3.4%

WA P C O

39.8

1.0%

39.2

0.0%

30.6

0.8%

J A P A ULGOLD

0.30

-3.2%

UC A P

M B EN EF IT

0.31

-3.1%

C UST OD IA N

39

T H I S D AY ˾ AY, Ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͱ

Stock Market Rebounds Slightly to Close at 52,626.42 bpts Kayode Tokede The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) slightly rose by 0.02 per cent to 52,626.42 basis points yesterday amid precious’s day investors’ profit-taking in some high-mid capitalised stocks listed on the bourse.

The NGX All Share Index (ASI) rose by 10.91 basis points or 0.02 per cent to close at 52,626.42

basis points from 52,615.51 basis points it opened for trading.

Accordingly, investors gained N6 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N28.664 trillion from N28.658trillion it close the previous day.

Consequently, the stock market in its Year-to-Date return settled at 2.7per cent.

Analysing by sectors, the NGX Insurance index added 0.4per cent, NGX Banking index

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

DEALS

F O R MARKET PRICE

rose by 0.2per cent, and NGX Industrial Goods gained 0.1 per cent, while the NGX Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods indices closed flat.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 25 stocks gained relative to 16 losers. International Energy Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.76 per cent to close at 45 kobo, per share.

Computer Warehouse Group

S E C U R I T I E S QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

(CWG) followed with a gain 9.47 per cent to close at N1.04, while Caverton Offshore Support Group went up by 9.38 per cent to close at N1.05, per share.

John Holt went up by 9.09 per cent to close at 96 kobo, while Linkage Assurance appreciated by 8.33 per cent to close at 52 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, C&I Leasing led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N3.15,

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

while Chams and Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a decline of 7.14 per cent each to close at 26 kobo each, per share.

UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust (UPDCREIT) lost 6.06 per cent to close at N3.10, while Royal Exchange shed 5.56 per cent to close at 85 kobo, per share.

The total volume traded decreased by 40.8 per cent to

AS O F

129.039 million units, valued at N1.819 billion, and exchanged in 3,183 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 18.554 million shares valued at N455.739 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) followed with 18.522 million shares worth N451.133 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 9.731 million shares valued at N78.616 million.

1 9 / 0 1 / 2 3 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

40

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023

േ

േ

േ

7 R S 7 U D G H V E \ 9 R O X P H

7 R S * D LQ H U V P ric e

P ric e C hg %

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

IN T EN EGIN S

0.45

9.8%

Z EN IT H B A N K

18.6

-0.2%

C WG

1.04

9.5%

GT C O

18.5

-0.4%

C A VER T ON

1.05

9.4%

UB A

9.7

-1.2%

J OH N H OLT

0.96

9.1%

R OYA LEX

9.4

-5.6%

LIN KA SSUR E

0.52

8.3%

A C C ESSC OR P

7.7

0.6%

5.4%

FB NH

6.6

0.0%

C UST OD IA N

5.1

0.8%

T ic k er

NA HCO

,

7.80

WEM A B A N K

3.90

4.8%

UP L

1.83

4.0%

J A IZ B A N K

0.90

3.4%

M ULT IVER SE

3.98

3.4%

T ic k er

F ID ELIT YB K

5.0

0.4%

T R A N SC OR P

4.9

0.0%

ST ER LN B A N K

2.9

2.0%

7 R S 7 U D G H V E \ 9 D O X H

7 R S / R V H U V T ic k er C ILEA SIN G SOVR EN IN S

CHA M S

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

3.15

-10.0%

0.26 0.26

-7.1% -7.1%

UP D C R EIT

3.10

-6.1%

R OYA LEX

0.85

-5.6%

IN T B R EW

4.65

-5.1%

NP FM CRFB K

1.65

-3.5%

UN IT YB N K

0.56

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

Z EN IT H B A N K

455.7

-0.2%

GT C O

451.1

-0.4%

M TNN

205.1

0.0%

N EST LE

116.2

0.0%

UB A

78.6

-1.2%

FB NH

76.9

0.0%

A C C ESSC OR P

69.5

0.6%

-3.4%

WA P C O

39.8

1.0%

39.2

0.0%

30.6

0.8%

J A P A ULGOLD

0.30

-3.2%

UC A P

M B EN EF IT

0.31

-3.1%

C UST OD IA N

41

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

EU-SDGN ON ELECTIONS SECURITY IN NIGERIA...

L-R: Team Leader, EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN), Mr. Rudolf Elbling; Country Director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan; Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, Prof. Adele Jinadu; Representative of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp, Deputy Commandant, Udousoro Ime and Representative of INEC, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, during a seminar on election security in Nigeria held in Abuja.... yesterday ENOCK REUBEN

Ganduje: Ruga Settlement Failed Because It Was Conceived Out of Misconception Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has explained that the Ruga Settlement established by the federal government failed, because was conceived out of misconception.

He contended that mass

criticisms that trailed the policy resulted in the suspension of the project in which contracts had already been awarded.

Ganduje stated this yesterday in Abuja during the inauguration of a committee to organise a national conference with the aim of providing a lasting solution

Osinbajo to Elite: You Can Make Great Difference for Nigeria Deji Elumoye in Abuja Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has advised the Nigerian elites drawn from the political, religious and business class to come together with a clear vision to make a great difference for Nigeria.

This was the message delivered

by Vice President at separate meetings yesterday at the State House, Abuja, with the new Methodist Archbishop of Abuja, the Most Revd. Michael Akinwale and the leadership of the Northern Reawakening Forum led by Hon. Mohammed Kumalia.

According to a release issued by his media assistant, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said the elite (religious, political, business) in this country have the same hopes and aspirations.

"But it is to this elite that the future of this country has been entrusted. It is what this elite does that will make a difference in the lives of the rest of the nation. I think that the church has a great responsibility indeed,” adding that, “Christ said we are the salt of the earth, the light of the world,” he said.

According to Osinbajo, “the first point of call is how the faith itself responds to the problems of the country. How does Christianity, how does the gospel respond to the problems of the society?

“Once the religious elite accept that people can do whatever they like, enrich themselves in whatever way they wish, then, it becomes the culture of society and everybody accepts it as such.”

He thanked the Methodist Church for its prayers for peaceful coexistence in Nigeria, noting that, “We are always very mindful of the fact that this country is upheld

by prayers. There is no question at all that without prayers, we may not be where we are today. So, none of us is under the illusion that a country can survive without the prayers and supplications of the saints.”

Osinbajo, however, prayed that the Archbishop’s tenure would be of tremendous benefit to the people of Abuja and the country at large.

Earlier in his remarks, Archbishop Akinwale commended the Vice President for his solidarity, which he said he had always shown with the Christian community.

"We are also here to salute your visionary leadership, Godly character in governance, your Christian virtue, which you have demonstrated over the years, your integrity in enhancing and sustaining the credibility of the Christian faith, your doggedness and commitment and tenacity of purpose.

“We have come to declare peace upon this land and our support for this government. We are convinced that as a church, our main duty is to continue to pray for our country. We are here to assure you that as a church, we will continue to pray for the peace of this nation,” he said.

At the meeting with the leadership of the Northern Reawakening Forum, Osinbajo, while affirming his belief in the development of Northern Nigeria as being central to the development of Nigeria, noted that, “In the years that I have been here (in office), it is evident to me that this country has talents from everywhere.

Continued online

to the constant herder-farmer conflict across Nigeria.

The conference committee headed by a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, was also mandated to look into all the issues surrounding the plan to ease conflicts associated with livestock and the need to reform the sector.

The governor said the decision to host a national conference on “Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts in Nigeria" underscored the recognition that the primary business of government was law and order.

Ganduje recalled that in 2019, the federal government launched a 10-year National Livestock Transformation Plan to curtail the movement of cattle, boost livestock production and control the country’s deadly

herder-farmer conflict.

He decried the fact that, inadequate political leadership, delays, funding uncertainties and lack of expertise derailed the project, while COVID-19 pandemic intensified the challenges.

"It is regrettable that deficient political leadership, popular misperceptions about its purpose and widespread insecurity hindered its progress. There is also a clear sense which I think must be appreciated, that the federal government cannot dictate to states what to do with their land.

“This is so because the Land Use Act of 1978 puts land under the control of governors on behalf of their states. Even for use of federal lands in the states according to the Supreme Court, building or development control permit must be sought from the governors of the states.

"I am a strong proponent of restriction of herders’ movements into Nigeria from neighbouring countries as part of solution to tackling herder/farmer clashes. However, another issue worth taking into account is the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol, which Nigeria signed in 1998.

“This guarantees free movement to pastoralists, herders across the sub-region.

As signatories to that protocol, Nigeria is obliged not to restrict the movement of herders and their cattle from other ECOWAS countries. This is an issue to be looked into.

"This has added a further complication to the problems we already have. Besides most foreign herdsmen are exposed to the firearms market and are unknown to the local farming populace," he stated.

The Kano governor said his

administration since inception has led the way and has been pioneering the initiation of development-oriented interventions at reformation of the livestock sector to mitigate farmer/herder conflicts by tackling the issue headlong.

He said, "You may wish to know that until our intervention, activities of cattle rustlers such as rape, killings, abduction and banditry had paralysed economic activities in communities particularly, in Sumaila and Doguwa Local Government Areas, which left a lot of cattle farmers in a state of despair."

Ganduje said it was against this background that the government mobilised security agencies, resulting in the formation of a Police Anti-Cattle Rustling Squad, Ambush Squad and Tactical Observation points along the Falgore Forest.

Only Enemies of Bauchi Would Vote APC's Sadique, Says Bala Mohammed's Campaign DG Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi Ahead of the March governorship election, the Campaign Director General for Governor Bala Mohammed's re-election bid, Hon. Farouk Mustapha has declared that only enemies of the state would cast their votes for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ambassador Sadique Baba Abubakar.

The DG stated this in Giade, the home town of the APC Governorship candidate yesterday, at the ongoing campaign tour to local government areas of the state.

According to him, "We are here with our governorship candidate, other candidates of our party, our bases of campaign ranges from our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar down to house of assembly candidates."

The DG who expressed gratitude to the people of

Giade for voting the PDP in 2019, cautioned the electorates against voting the APC and other political parties to ensure continuity of the present administration's sustainable development ongoing across the state.

Mustapha, who is a former Governorship aspirant under the APC in the state, said despite receiving low votes in Giade in 2019, the governor did not neglect the people of the area, but treated them equally with other local government areas in terms of dividends of democracy distribution.

"We still appreciate what you did in 2019 because it was Bala Mohammed that won the election as predestined by Allah and he has treated each local government fairly without considering which one voted him most," he said.

"I can tell you that today, even the enemy of Bala Mohammed know that he worked in Giade local

government without regards to the low votes he received here in 2019, that is what is expected of a good leader, and I am assuring you that if you vote for PDP, from top to bottom, you will reap enough dividends of democracy from the Governor and Atiku Abubakar," he said.

"Shine your eyes, the people of Giade, don't listen to those whose interest is their pockets, let us all kick against such people and vote for our son, Governor Bala Mohammed who has performed creditably well", Hon Mustapha appealed.

"Anyone that is against the re-election bid of Kaura is your enemy, he is the enemy of Bauchi state", he declared.

According to him, the governor's performance within three and half years was more than what some governors did in eight years.

Mustapha said the Governorship candidate of the APC, who is believed

to be from Giade, was not an indigene of the local government.

"I want to draw your attention to some issues, they have brought someone to claim that he is from Giade, claiming that he is your son, but this is not true, it's just a cover up, he is not your son, don't listen to them," the campaign DG said.

Mustapha said if the APC Governorship candidate was actually the son of Giade, he would have proven that by periodic visits for condolences over the death of some traditional leaders in the area.

"Is politics not all about friendship? Must someone wait until when it is election period before he starts to claim indigeneship? No, he should have been visiting you for condolences, he should have been rejoicing with you during weddings and other joyous moments, this is how one should behave as a real indigene," he said.

42

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

COMMITTEE OF FRIENDS...

L-R: Owelle of Ichida, Anambra State, Chief Kenneth Okafor; Chairman/CEO, Megachem Nigeria Limited, Chief Sam Ubachukwu; Chairman/CEO, Benneks Groups of Companies, Chief Ben Amuta; at the burial ceremony of Ezinne Regina Ubachukwu in Ichi, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State…recently

Explosion Rocks APC Campaign in Rivers We're not afraid of guns, violence, says Tonye Cole Police: No explosion took place at Port Harcourt rally Atiku condemns attack Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt An improvised substance suspected to be dynamite yesterday exploded at the venue of a rally by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

This was just as the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state, Tonye Cole, stated that no amount of gun threats or violence would stop the party's campaign rally in the state.

The APC governorship candidate said this while addressing his supporters at the Ojukwu field, Rumuwoji community, Port Harcourt.

But Rivers state police command has said there was no explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt.

However, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the reported explosion that occurred at the rally.

THISDAY gathered that earlier in the day, the venue for the APC rally, at the Rumuwoji community field was on lock and key, taking the party hours to resolve the issues leading to the sealing of the venue before accessing the property.

It was gathered that while the supporters and party candidates were assembling at the field, an improvised explosive device was released, causing the serious tension and fear. The incident it was further learnt, left a female supporter of APC with a serious injury, while other persons sustained minor injuries.

An eyewitness who gave his name as Isaac, explained "We were at the Ojukwu field, Rumuwoji community waiting for the governorship candidate of the APC to address the people, when unknown person threw a 'bottle bomb' in the middle of the field.

"The bottle bomb exploded, which made many people at the venue ran for their safety believing it was a dynamite. One of the APC supporters ran with me to my shop and immediately removed his T-shirt in fear of being lynched by the suspected thugs. A woman sustained wound because pieces of the bottle from device injured her on the leg."

However, THISDAY observed that the incident did not stop the rally, as the governorship candidate and other candidates of the party continued their campaign.

Addressing the APC supporter at the venue, Cole said: "This election is not about party again, it is about your popularity, who can make difference and save the people from sufferings and hardship. Not to shoot gun to scare the people away.

"We are not afraid of election, we are not afraid of violence, we are not afraid of guns. It is not the first time they are shooting at me: they shot at old Bakana and ran away, they shot today, ran away and we started and finished our programme.

"We were there in Etche, they said it will not happen, Etche was a crowd. We were in Ikwerre yesterday, the crowd was bigger, it shocked them. They said they will stop Port Harcourt rally. They will not stop us, tomorrow we will continue, our people will come out. APC is on ground", Cole added.

Also, speaking with journalists at the venue, Cole said "The serving council chairman has been trying everything to prevent the rally from holding since 4am and we had series of meetings with the police over reports of threats to attack us today.

"We refused to be intimidated and insisted we will continue the rally. While introductions were going on, they threw a stick of dynamite followed by a round of gunshots.

"We were very proactive and prevented our people from panicking. This prevented a stampede and the rally wasn’t interrupted at all but rather galvanised our support base."

Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Darlington Nwauju who also reacted on the incident, said: “It is another black day in the annals of democracy where all sorts of underhand strategies are being deployed to frustrate opposition political parties in Rivers State.

"The National Security Adviser, General Monguno and IGP Usman Alkali must zero in on Rivers State and stamp out

politically sponsored violence.

No single opposition politician is safe. We have also intercepted credible intelligence of plans to attack key opposition politicians in Rivers state," Nwauju added.

Meanwhile, the Rivers state police command has dismissed that there was an explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt.

In a statement yesterday, by the State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said it was an argument between youths of the community and the APC that resulted to what she called mild incident.

According Iringe-Koko "Today, 19th of January 2023, the AllProgressive Congress (APC) had an open rally at Rumuwoji community town hall/playing ground in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State.

“Before the commencement of the rally, the internal crisis within the community over which faction should control the community playing ground/town hall revealed its ugly head. It was alleged that the CDC Chairman

collected the sum of N200,000 from APC as payment for renting the playground/town hall. Incidentally, he shared the money to only the chiefs and members of his faction.

"The other faction that didn’t benefit from the sharing insisted that the hall would not be used, except and until they were giving their share of the money.

Consequently, a fracas ensued. Two person were reportedly injured.

"The fracas was not between members of APC and any other political party but between the internal factions within the said community. The DC Operations, Area Commander Port Harcourt, the O/C SIB and DPO Mile one Diobu, were on ground to intervene and restore peace and security at the venue. Thus, the fracas did not affect the APC rally, which ended peacefully.

"There was no explosion before or during the rally. However, the Commissioner of Police has directed the DC State CID and O/C Bomb Disposal Unit to investigate and confirm the veracity of the rumour currently making the rounds on social media.

"It should be noted that Rumuwoji community is factionalised into two; not divided on political party lines, rather factionalised as a result of Chieftaincy tussle. The fracas was defined in these lines".

The police spokesperson however, urged the public to go about their lawful businesses and maintain peace, just as the Command reiterates that it is committed to protecting life and property of all residents in Rivers State.

In his response, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the explosion at the rally.

The former vice president in a series of tweets from his verified twitter handle said there should be no place for violence and anti-democratic manifestations in this election.

The presidential candidate said the political parties had committed to that in the peace pact they all signed up to.

Atiku stressed that elections are not a do-or-die affair, but an

opportunity to reinforce the belief in democracy through leadership choices via adult suffrage.

He tweeted: "Our worst fears have now manifested with the explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt. It stands condemned "We had complained about the violence that had been visited on our party in some states because we did not want it to become a pattern if those engaged in anti-democratic activities were not brought to book.

"Our worst fears have now manifested with the explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt. It stands condemned. Elections and the choices we make should be about the ballot and not the Bullet.

"On behalf of my team, I stand in solidarity with the APC and the families of the injured. I wish the injured a quick recovery."

The former vice president called on security agencies to ensure that those behind this dastardly act, including their promoters, are brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to copycats who might be emboldened to thread this same anti-democratic path.

House Moves to Change How Federal Lawmakers Are Addressed

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives, yesterday, at the plenary passed through second reading, a Bill seeking an Act to change how members of the National Assembly were addressed.

The proposed legislation sponsored by the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and the Chief Whip, Hon. Mohammed Monguno, proposed that members of the Green Chamber be addressed as Representatives' and not Honorables while those of the Red Chamber be termed as 'Senators' and not 'Distinguished'.

In his lead debate, Monguno said it seeks to amend the Legislative Powers and Privileges Act to clear the ambiguity

that exists now and to be in tandem with what is obtainable internationally.

Contributing to the debate, Hon. Segun Odebunmi, hailed the motive of the bill, saying it would distinguish members of the House from councillors and others at the state, who were also termed 'Honourables'.

On his part, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase while supporting the bill, warned that its application should not make members look down on any other arm of government, as they were "all working together for the benefit of Nigerians."

The House also passed for second reading, a bill for an act to establish Gum Arabic Research Institute; and for Related Matters to boost the country's revenue base.

In his lead debate, sponsor of the bill, Monguno said the planned legislation was sponsored against the backdrop that Gum Arabic is a high source of revenue, as can be seen in other countries such as Sudan.

The lawmaker said this was important, especially, considering the dire need of the country for revenue from the export of such profitable commodities as gum arabic.

But Hon. Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) kicked against the bill, saying the creation of the institute would bloat the cost of governance, and called for the institutes that dealt with crops to handle the harnessing of gum arabic, so as not to create duplication of institutes.

Deputy Minority Leader, Hon.

Toby Okechukwu, praised the spirit of the bill but wondered why some other related institutes could not be used to harness the resource of gum arabic due to the economics of scale.

He called for a specialised department from an existing similar institute to be dedicated to harnessing gum arabic so that the aim of the bill was not lost, considering the cost of governance.

House leader, Alhassan AdoDoguwa, however, hailed the spirit of the bill as it sought to diversify the national source of foreign exchange for the country.

He expressed optimism in the benefits the proposed institute sought to achieve to benefit the Nigerian people and economy, urging members to support the bill.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2023 • T H I S D AY

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MOU BETWEEN BUSY BEE ACADEMY AND WEDDINGS BEAUTIFUL...

L-R: Co- Managing Partner, Weddings Beautiful, Africa, Cinthia Aka; Managing Partner, Weddings Beautiful Africa, Aston Djamar-Dubois; Founder, BusyBee Academy Africa, Coach Bisi Sotunde; Chairman, BusyBee Group, Bolaji Sotunde and Academy Director, Busy Bee Academy Africa, Tunji Ajadi at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Busy Bee Academy and Weddings Beautiful on international certificate in Yaba, Lagos … yesterday.

Soludo: As Governor, Peter Obi Denied Campaigners Govt Facilities Insists Labour Party refused to play by the rules on billboards’ placement To present formal request for Kanu’s release to FG Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, yesterday ramped up his attack on the presidential candidate of the Labour

Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, describing the party’s complaints of removal of campaign billboards around the state as ‘ranting’ of some people.

The Anambra governor who was speaking on Channels Television,

maintained that even as governor, Obi failed to allow the the same LP, the platform on which he is now a presidential standard bearer, access to use public facilities.

Soludo stated that anybody

who refuses to play by the rules of exhibition of campaign posters, including Obi’s party, the LP, will be dealt with according to the law.

Obi’s supporters had recently accused Soludo, who has not

Olanipekun Donates New High Court Complex to Community Calls for special intervention on state of courtrooms across Nigeria Oyebanji urges other indigenes to emulate former NBA president Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti The Chairman, Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun has emphasised the need to pay special attention to the state of courtrooms across the country.

Olanipekun made the remarks in Ikere-Ekiti, his country home at the inauguration of the ultra-modern court room, he built and donated to the Ekiti State High Court, Ikere Judicial Division, yesterday.

Specifically, the legal icon pleaded to different governments all over the country, as well as all men of goodwill, “that we have to pay attention to the deteriorating state of courtrooms, court facilities and fixtures, in most parts of the country.”

According to the legal giant, "the walls and roofs of a good number of our courtrooms are collapsing and caving in Basic facilities such as toilets are not available in a good number of courts all over the country.

"May I use this opportunity to plead and appeal to our different governments all over the country, as well as all men of goodwill, that

we have to pay attention to the deteriorating state of courtrooms, court facilities and fixtures, in most parts of the country.

"The walls and roofs of a good number of our courtrooms are collapsing and caving in. Basic facilities such as toilets are not available in a good number of courts all over the "Water and electricity are lacking.

In most instances, functional libraries are not available. A sad spectre or scenery if lawyers scrambling to secure seats with litigants or sharing the meagre available accommodation within the "sardine - packed" courtrooms menacingly intimidate judges, counsel and litigants" Olanipekun, said the ambience of a typical or average courtroom should reflect an atmosphere of learning which judges and lawyers subscribe to, and are known for, rather than representing, both from unkempt theatre.

"I venture to submit that a good courtroom with up-to-date facilities will attract the confidence of litigants in our judicial system.

"If we continue to fail, refuse and neglect to maintain Justice, Justice,

in turn, may refuse to regulate us, and eventually desert us," he said.

In his speech, Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, while commending Olanipekun and the family for the donation of the High Court, Ikere division, said there was no doubt that Olanipekun remains a man who takes pleasure in giving back to the society and the institution that once nurtured him.

Oyebanji, said this was another demonstration of his commitment to giving back to the law profession where he made his mark as a distinguished member of the Bar and the Bench.

"I therefore call on all Ekiti indigenes all over the world to emulate this act of generous giving back," the governor said.

The state Chief Judge CJ, Justice John Adeyeye decried that some of the judicial divisions were constructed four decades ago, saying out of 10 judicial division, six of them are at various stages of dilapidation, including Omuo, Ikole, Efon, Emure, Ilawe and Ido Ekiti divisions.

"20 out of 29 customary courts are yearning for renovation. Their

urgent intervention can therefore not be overemphasized.

"As the last hope of the common man, the judiciary can't be an appendage of another arm of government. It must be independent in positive partnership with other organ of government for a better society. This independent can only be achieved if judiciary is allowed to function well in a conducive environment,” he added.

Sections in the newly constructed High Court complex were named after some illustrious sons of the state -Honourable Justice Olajide Olatawura, Honourable Justice Micheal Ekundayo Ogundare and Founder of Afe Babalola University In his address, legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola who commended Olanipekun for his philanthropic gesture, added that, " its Challenge to all at the event of today, is a challenge to all of us and I hope others will emulate the “giving back spirit” of Chief Wole Olanipekun".

Afe Babalola noted that, "In addition to all these, the spirit of giving back to the society with the aim of making the world better than he has met it is highly commendable.

hidden his resolve not to support his predecessor’s political ambition, of pulling down campaign billboards erected by the LP presidential candidate.

The governor also alluded to his piece in November 2022 where he said though Obi might win in Anambra, he won’t win the overall presidential election, urging the LP candidate to go to the field to contest like his opponents.

“It does not worth my time to comment on the rantings of some people about their billboards or no billboards and so on. I don’t want to be drawn into that. I think that has been exhaustively dealt with by the government and the Anambra state signage agency that regulates this.

“It is on record and everybody knows that I have twice granted the presidential candidate of the Labour Party to use government properties, government house, for his campaign without charging him a penny.

“Nobody has done that. He did not do that when he was in government. He did not even allow Labour Party, where he is now, to freely campaign in Anambra. He denied them even the venue that they paid for.

“But I have allowed him to use the government house twice free of charge. They were in Onitsha to go and campaign. They have their billboards all over the place but the point is when you fail to play by the rule, you put up billboards and you don’t pay for the relevant things.

Of course, the signage agency will come after you,” he stated.

Soludo insisted that despite his complaints, Obi’s campaign materials still litter the state, especially in areas where they have met the conditions set by the relevant laws.

“Even when they said their billboards were pulled down, you go all over the state, the billboards

are lining up everywhere, where they have met the terms and conditions for that.

“They want some kind of entitlement. We can’t continue to give them everything for free. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress ( APC) and others are not complaining. Why only them?,” the governor queried.

The Anambra governor, who is now the new national leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), explained that he has given Obi all the necessary support to campaign freely without let or hindrance.

On the the matter of the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, Soludo said he would present a formal request to the federal government soon.

The Anambra governor maintained that Kanu’s release would be critical to peace in the south-east, promising to forward an official letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN), in a few days.

“Our major focus is delivering on our plans of security, not just in Anambra, but the entire south-east and that is why we are calling for the immediate release of Kanu because he has to be part of the conversation.

“The AGF will receive a formal letter of our request for the release of Kanu in a few days time. It’s about the life and prosperity of the entire South-East. We want peace and transformation to return and we need all the stakeholders around the table,” he opined.

Soludo also evaded questions on whether he was interested in contesting for the presidency in the future. “The possibility of being president is in the hands of God and only Him knows who will be alive to become whatever,” he responded.

A’Ibom Guber Tussle: A'Court Reverses Nullification of APC Pry Alex Enumah in Abuja The Court of Appeal, Abuja, yesterday reversed a judgment of a Federal High Court in Uyo, which nullified the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the selection of its governorship election in Akwa Ibom State.

The appellate court, in a unanimous decision delivered by

Justice Mohammed Idris, voided the trial court's decision on the grounds that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit since it bordered on the internal issues of a political party.

Justice Agatha Okeke had on November 14 2022, nullified the primary election of the APC in Akwa Ibom State, on the grounds of alleged irregularities and non-

compliance with the law.

Her judgment was in respect of a suit filed by a former Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, who cited breach of the electoral guidelines and prayed the court to void the pry election, which had produced Mr Akanimo Udofia.

After agreeing with the

submission of the plaintiff, the court nullified the election and ordered the APC to conduct a fresh governorship primary within two weeks and barred Udofia from participating in the fresh primary.

Dissatisfied, the APC and Udofia approached the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court and affirmed the nomination of Udofia as the

candidate of the APC in the March 11, 2023 governorship election in Akwa-Ibom State.

Delivering judgment yesterday, the appellate court held that the Federal High Court acted without jurisdiction, when it nullified the APC primary election.

In a unanimous decision, the court held that the primary election being an internal affairs of the APC

ought not to have been adjudicated upon by the High Court.

Consequently, the appeal filed

by APC was allowed for being meritorious while the arguments of Enang were dismissed for being unmeritorious.

Other Justices on the Appeal Court panel were Elfreda WilliamsDawodu, who presided and Danlami Senchi.

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NBA WOMEN FORUM GETS NEW EXECUTIVES…

L-R: Treasurer, NBA Women Forum(NBAWF), Mercy Ijato-Agada; Chairperson, NBAWF, Mrs. Chinyere Okorocha; Judge, High Court of Lagos State, Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay; Secretary, NBAWF, Irene Iniobong Pepple ,at the inauguration of the NBAWF new executive committee in Lagos… recently ETOP UKUTT

Scout Association Seeks FG’s Approval to Relocate to Bandits’Den

Olawale Ajimotokan inAbuja

The Scout Association of Nigeria (TSAN) has requested the federal government to allow it to convert the sprawling forest along the Abuja Airport-Kaduna Road where people are being kidnapped to its national headquarters.

The Chief Scout Commissioner of TSAN, Hon Dave PadopadsAwunah, tabled the request yesterday at a press conference on the planned induction and decoration of President Muhammadu Buhari as National Patron of TSAN and an Ambassador of Messenger

Anxiety in Delta PDP as Ibori Supports APC Senatorial Candidate

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, has thrown his weight behind the ambition of the Delta South Senatorial Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election, Hon Joel Onowakpo-Thomas, Ibori stated this on Wednesday when the senatorial candidate visited the former governor in his country home in Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area, as part of his campaign and consultations to realise his dream of succeeding Senator James Manager in the upper

chamber of the National Assembly through next month’s election.

“Onowakpo-Thomas is a man of immense and undeniable capabilities that can deliver the desired democratic representation towards the transformation of the state and Delta South in particular,” the former governor said.

Describing him as intelligent and humble despite his towering personality and remarkable professional track-record, Ibori prayed that God will grant him his heart’s desire to represent the people of Delta South in the Senate.

of Peace.

“Nigerian scouts are requesting 1,000 hectares of land. We have seen the place where people are being kidnapped in the forest along Abuja Airport-Kaduna Road. We are asking government

to allocate that land to us as we will be building our National Towers which will be our scout headquarters. We shall also turn it into children amusement park and water park. We also want a wildlife park because as scouts, we don’t

cage animals. Rather than a zoo, we believe in a wild-life for animals to exist,” Padopads-Awunah said.

He said also noted that the criminality bedeviling the country would have been put under check if the federal government

had incorporated scouting into its security plan.

TSAN, which presently boasts of three million members in Nigeria, also decried the prevalence of drug addiction and organ harvesting among Nigerian youths.

CSOs, Stakeholders Condemn Killings, Destruction in Ebonyi Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) yesterday condemned the killings and destruction of property in Ekoli Edda Community of Ebonyi State.

It said killings of innocent members of the community by

thugs, misguided youth groups claimed many lives over the years without commensurate action by the state government and law enforcement agencies.

The groups also called on the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Ebonyi State government to look into the circumstances

surrounding the campaign of violence in the community, to expedite action on the matter and ensure justice and compensation for the victims of violence in the community.

A statement issued in Abuja by the groups, Society for Good Governance, Peace and Justice

Forum and Campaign against Violence, said the wanton killing of innocent indigenes and destruction of property by thugs attached to politically exposed persons, rival unions and youth groups had continued unchecked in spite of the presence of many security agencies in the state.

Peter Obi Decries Worsening Economic Situation in Nigeria LaleyeDipoinMinna

Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in next month’s election, Peter Obi, has decried the worsening economic situation in the country, saying Nigerians are going through hell.

“Next election will not be about region or religion. Is there a place

you buy bread cheaper? Cost of living is high everywhere. So, there’s no ethnicity. Don’t be deceived.”

Obi said at the campaign for his election as president in Minna Niger state yesterday.

“All I want you to do is to vote for LP. We are going to have an agricultural revolution and we cannot do that without cultivating

the land in Niger State. And you are going to have jobs to do.

“We will fight insecurity to enable you farm. We assure you that your airport will be made lively because we will be coming to Niger State regularly. We want to show the world that Nigeria can feed itself” Obi said at the rally.

He also promised to complete the

construction of the Baro port started by the APC federal government, adding that he will ensure that Nigeria utilises its abundant natural resources to grow its economy before calling on eligible voters to vote for competence rather than looking at the tribes, religion or regional affiliations of candidates while casting their ballots.

Kwara Students Adopt PDP 2023 Polls: Time to Rewrite Nigeria’s History, Guber Candidate, Abdullahi Ohanaeze, Arewa, Afenifere Youths Declare Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The National Association of Kwara State Students (NAKSS), has adopted the Gubernatorial Candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr. Shuaibu Abdullahi Yaman, as their sole gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 election in the state.

The National President of the NAKSS, Mr. Alawaye Musbau, stated this in Ilorin

on Thursday in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the PDP Candidate, Mr. Abdulwahab Oba, on the sideline of summit on leadership and entrepreneurship held at the University of Ilorin main campus.

Mr. Musbau said that “the current government of the APC in the state is a huge disappointment to the Kwara students having failed to fulfil all its promises made to the students’ body.

MAPOLY Gets New Registrar, Librarian The Governing Council of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic(MAPOLY), Abeokuta has approved the appointments of Mrs. Olubunmi Olubukola Elewodalu as the Registrar and Alhaja Basirat Olayinka Akintunde as the Polytechnic Librarian respectively.

Both appointments take a retrospective effect from Monday 22nd December, 2022 for a single non-renewable term of five years.

According to a statement, Mrs..

Elewodalu became the sixth and second female Registrar to be appointed. She succeeded Mr. Emmanuel Adeleye who retired on 21st December, 2022.

She is the first Registrar of the

Polytechnic to hail from Remo region of Ogun State Elewodalu joined the services of the Polytechnic as an Administrative Officer I in 1996 and rose through the ranks.

Until her appointment, she was the Deputy Registrar, Academics Affairs Division I of the Polytechnic, the post she held since 2019.

Mrs. Elewodalu is a 1992 graduate of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Borno State.

She attended the prestigious University of Ibadan for masters in Managerial Psychology and Educational Management in 2008 and 2019 respectively.

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

After concluding what has been termed “strategic dialogue,” some notable youth organisations in the country have called on young people to seize the opportunity offered to them by the 2023 general elections to re-write the Nigeria’s history.

These organisations include Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Yoruba Youth Council, NigerDelta Youth Coalition, National Youth Council of Nigeria and other similar bodies.

The leaders of the youth groups made the call at a world press conference in

Abuja with the theme “The Youths Have Awaken for a New Nigeria.”

They noted that a succession of bad leadership foisted on the country and the misgovernment resulting thereof is now reflected across every sector of the nation.

According to them, the youths, as the engine room

of the nation, must strive hard to achieve a new Nigeria.

Mr. Oweilaemi Pereotubo of the Niger-Delta Youth Coalition, who read the communique issued at the end of the strategic meeting, said that the 2023 elections presented a golden opportunity to steer the ship of the nation away from the path of bad governance.

Enugu 2023: Ozalla, Obe Communities Embrace PDP, Reject Opposition Parties Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the people of Ozalla and Obe communities in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State have resolved that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is their preferred political party, saying their support was based on benefits they have enjoyed from the party since 1999.

The communities, while rejecting

other political parties in the area as specialists in failure due to their incompetence and predictable defeats in successive elections, commended the PDP for the impressive human empowerment it has brought to their people over the past 23 years.

Speaking at the town hall meeting held at Obe town, headquarters of Nkanu West

Central Development Centre, yesterday, stakeholders and representatives of the different bodies said they would vote for the PDP en bloc because of the positive impacts their people are enjoying today. They described themselves as great beneficiaries of the party in terms of appointments into key positions, employment, empowerment and economic

growth.

While addressing the large crowd at the meeting, the Chairman of the council area, Hon. Uche Ejim. stated that the visit of the Enugu PDP’s governorship candidate Dr. Peter Mbah to his people had renewed their hope and faith in the party that more dividends of democracy will continue to pour in.

Lagos Salary Increment Excites Street Sweepers Segun James

Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday announced that his administration is already working on salary and allowance increment for the personnel of the state waste management, particularly the street sweepers.

Sanwo-Olu, who disclosed this

while addressing members of the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN) at a mega rally organised by the union, said that upcoming salary increment to the union members that their welfares were his government priority because of the role they are playing in the state.

He commended the union for

deeming it fit to reciprocate the kind gesture of his administration and Tinubu’s initiative which paved way for the union to contribute its quota to the society.

According to him, the support by waste managers becomes imperative as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Tinubu is the brain behind the establishment of the

Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) in Lagos, which many states in Nigeria have replicated.

Sanwo-Olu charged the union’s members not to stop by just endorsing Tinubu and him alone but to go to the grassroots to mobilise every eligible voters to vote for APC.

FRIDAY JANUARY20, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS XTRA

CIBN PRESENTS 2023 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK…

L-R: National Treasurer, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mojisola Bakare Asieru; President and Chairman of Council, CIBN, Ken Opara; Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe Associates Limited, Dr. Biodun Adedipe, and Founder/ Group Managing Director, SystemSpecs Limited, John Obaro, at the national economic outlook round table held in Lagos…recently

Nigerian Filmmaker, Funa Maduka, Takes a Juror Seat at Sundance Nigerian filmmaker and former Head of International Original Films at Netflix, Funa Maduka, is among the jurors that will grant awards for feature and short films at the ongoing Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Notable for premiering groundbreaking films on the American and international scene, the festival kicked off on Wednesday January 19 and will round up on January 29.

Distinguished as one of the three jury members of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition,

alongside Shozo Ichiyama and Annemarie Jacir. Maduka will join other distinguished jury members to give out the awards on Friday, January 27.

Maduka is not a newbie on the international film scene having spearheaded Netflix global expansion and managed the launch of the film offering across 100+ countries during her six years stint with the streaming giant.

She also pioneered Netflix’ move into international film production, building

a development slate across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Meanwhile her film acquisitions brought Netflix its first film nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. She is also credited with writing, producing and directing

Hacey health initiative has posited that over 1,920 families as well as over 155 policymakers have signed a pledge to support the eradication of female genital mutilation across project states of Osun, Oyo and Ekiti.

Also over 65 traditional leaders are equally in support of the effort embarked upon by the Hacey Health Initiative to eradicate genital mutilation.

Speaking at a media press conference in Osogbo, the programme Manager of HACEY Health Initiative, Mr. Oluwatomi Olunuga, however charged journalists and media practitioners to intensify their campaigns against practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Osun State.

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The Guild of Medical Directors (GMD), has identified poor working conditions, weak infrastructure, poor reward and remuneration of health workers as the reasons Nigeria is losing hundreds of healthcare personnel to brain drain.

The GMD noted that the solutions to mitigate or reverse brain drain among healthcare Olunuga, who acknowledged workers in Nigeria must be the roles of the media in the practical and adopt a systemic development of any society, urged approach just as practiced by media practitioners in the state to join hands with the organisation in order to stamp out the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) from the state.

She explained that the HACEY Health Initiative commenced the Udora Orizu inAbuja stop cut project in 2020 with stakeholders in the state as regard The Speaker of the House of the protection of the women and Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has congratulated girls on FGM. Olunuga further explained that elder statesman, Chief Emeka their organisation has worked with Anyaoku, on his 90th birthday.

Gbajabiamila, in a statement the House of Assembly, community leaders, some non-governmental said the former Commonwealth organisations and traditional rulers Secretary-General has been a unifier as part of the efforts to ensure total and a strong pillar for Nigeria and eradication of the menace in the Nigerians over the years. state.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and the All Progressive Congress (APC) Senatorial Candidate for Ogun West, Senator Solomon Adeola, has stated that the district is better off with an experienced legislator like him than a new person that would spend years to understand the working of the parliament.

Adeola stated this while addressing people in continuation of his ward to ward campaign of Ado Odo axis of Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area.

He said that he would be going to the Red Chamber

Costa, and Alexander Nanau for World Cinema Documentary Competition; Madeleine Olnek for the NEXT competition section; and Destin Daniel Cretton, MarieLouise Khondji, and Deborah Stratman for the Short Film Program Competition.

developed nations.

The guild disclosed this in a communique that was signed by the President of GMD, Dr. Raymond Kuti, at the end of its annual general meeting with the theme: “Human Resource Management for Healthcare: Challenges, Strategies and Opportunities.”

The guild also highlighted limited career opportunities for advancement, lack of performance-based promotion, pervasive challenging political climate, insecurity, and lack of

adherence to the Commonwealth Code of Practice for International Recruitment of Health Workers as among the factors that are making it easy for other countries to recruit Nigerian medical professionals with impunity.

Kuti said that innovative approaches to increase the pool of health workers available should be explored, which would include the elimination of roadblocks (such as licensing of doctors) that discourage mid-level doctors from coming back to Nigeria for short stints or short periods.

The GMD also urged the government at all levels to create a safe and enabling environment, including provision of generous incentives that will make it attractive for doctors and other health workers who have left the country to desire to come back home.

Kuti said the GMD “will engage with the government and all stakeholders in the implementation of the WHO policy that frowns at advanced countries poaching healthcare workers from developing nations.

Gbajabiamila Greets Chief Anyaoku at 90, Describes Elder Statesman as Unifier

2023: ‘Ogun West Needs Experienced Legislator’ James Sowole in Abeokuta

Notable jurors at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival include Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin for U.S. Dramatic Competition; W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz, and Carla Gutierrez for U.S. Documentary Competition; Karim Amer, Petra

Brain Drain: Guild Urges FG to Stem Tide, Emulate Advanced Nations

Over 1,920 Families, 155 Policymakers Pledge to Eradicate FGM in Osun, Oyo and Ekiti Yinka KolawoleinOsogbo

the first Nigerian film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

A member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Maduka has previously worked at Participant Media where she developed and managed campaigns for film and television projects.

as a ranking senator with cognate legislative experience not only in the Senate as a two term member but with progressive experiences at state legislature and the House of Representatives.

He said: “From the marginalisation of Ogun West and what I am seeing of the level of underdevelopment, we as a people need a ranking legislator to bring in proven wealth of experience in attracting development from the federal government.

“Clearly, none of my competitors in the race possess enough or even any legislative know how to do a good job in addressing development challenges of Ogun West.”

Describing Anyaoku as an asset to Nigeria, he noted that his contributions to nation-building have been commendable.

The Speaker recalled that the elder statesman represented Nigeria and Africa well when he served as the third Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations between 1990 and 2000.

He said he was personally proud of Anyaoku just like every

other Nigerian, noting that the famous diplomat’s career has been a wonderful one.

He wished the diplomat continuous good health, protection, and blessings from the Almighty God. “Chief Emeka Anyaoku has been a blessing, not just to Nigeria but also to the whole of Africa.

Here is a man who served his country and continent diligently and has had an unblemished

career.

“The entire life of Chief Anyaoku is a lesson for us all as a people. His sacrifices for the country are laudable. At 90, he still finds time to counsel Nigerians, especially the leaders, in his private capacity. We are truly blessed as a people to have Chief Emeka Anyaoku among us. We are all beneficiaries of his endless wisdom,” Gbajabiamila said.

Diphtheria Outbreak Claims 25 Lives in Kano Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

An outbreak of diphtheria disease in Kano State has killed 25 persons in Kano State, mostly children.

The strange disease which causes cough and sore throat mainly to children is said to be very infectious, but preventable if precautions are taken.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aminu Tsanyawa

confirmed the outbreak of the strange disease.

Some patients are currently being attended to at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital as at the time of filing this report yesterday.

The disease was described by medical experts as deadly and contagious.

Symptoms of the disease include: sore throat, cough,

drooling of saliva, change of voice, neck swelling, abnormal breathing, fever and mouth odor.

Tsanyawa said his Ministry had already set up an Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC) which is currently holding meetings, “with a view to evaluating the casualty figures, reviewing the data and measures to address the situation.

“Presently, the Kano State rapid

response team has been reactivated and indexed an action plan to check the spread of the deadly disease in the state.

“Right now, we have presented a budget for this to the government and it has been approved.”

The Commissioner added that, “the low routine immunisation attributed to the spread of the disease is due to the hard-tobe-reached areas in the state.

At WEF, Zelenskyy Urges ‘Speed and Resolve’ in Ukraine The world must act with speed and resolve to fight back Russian aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a livestreamed address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2023, urging world leaders to support his 10-point formula for an end to hostilities with Russia.

“History repeats itself.

The world fails to notice or underestimates a threat. Then the world realizes and acts,” Zelenskyy was quoted to have said in a statement yesterday, nearly a year after his country was attacked by Russia.

“The world overcame apartheid, the pandemic, the financial crisis… Now the world is fighting Putin. The world will

overcome again.”

He called for a minute’s silence for all the lives lost in the conflict.

His address took place hours after a helicopter crash near Kyiv killed Ukraine’s interior minister along with 14 others, including children “Every death is a result of the war. There are no accidents at war time, these are all a result of the war,” he said.

“Three years ago, I spoke at Davos for the first time in person, Zelenskyy continued. “The topic was how to build a cohesive and sustainable world. Today, we’re discussing how to cooperate in a divided, fragmented world. To the call for efficient, urgent action, I add the call for speed… speed of decision-making and reaction of the civilized world.”

46

FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS XTRA

Owasanoye: ICPC’s WORLD OF ISLAM Making Progress in the Islamic Alternatives for the Fight against Corruption Concept of Civilization (I)

Edited by: MJO Mustapha Email deji.mustapha@thisdaylive.com

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

The Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practice and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, has disclosed that the commission will continue to strive hard to deliver its mandates, adding that despite challenges, the commission is making progress in the fight against corruption.

He made this known while speaking at the official inauguration of the ultra-modern prototype office in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, yesterday.

He explained that ICPC was

obliged to have offices in the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja, stressing that this was in a bid to ensure that the staff of the commission operate in a conducive environment for better performances.

The ICPC boss pointed out that this was the first time the commission was putting up this prototype edifice, noting that as at today, the commission has offices in 21 states of federation while this prototype would be replicated in Akure, Awka and Asaba.

Owasanoye stated that the main objective of the

commission is to curb corrupt, stressing that it therefore necessary to work in an enabling environment.

The ICPC chairman, therefore, expressed gratitude to the Kogi State Government for graciously approving the land in which the edifice was built, commending the state governor for his enormous support in the fight against corrupt.

He also lauded the Senate and House Representatives Committees on Anti-corruption for their wonderful support in the bid to fight corruption across the country.

Enugu Launches Scheme to End Multiple Taxes on Commercial Vehicles The administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Enugu State yesterday launched the Single Inter State Road Stickers (SIRTS) and Single Haulage Fee (SHF) in the state aimed at promoting uniformity in the application of road tax laws in the state and across states in order to avoid double or multiple taxation.

Speaking during the launch of the scheme, the Executive Chairman of Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Prince Emeka Odo, disclosed that the exercise was in line with the initiative of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) which “the Enugu State Government under the distinguished leadership of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has keyed into in the interest of the tax payers of Enugu State.”

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Odo explained that “the JTB, last year, introduced the Single Haulage Fee (SHF) at points of loading and off-loading in states of departure or discharge and the Single Inter-State Road Taxes Sticker (SIRTS) for any vehicle within Nigeria.”

The ESIRS chairman announced that Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration has approved and adopted the mandate with effect from January 1, 2023, revealing that Enugu State “will now make use of a Single Inter State Sticker

for all commercial vehicles that ply on its road anywhere in the state.”

Explaining the modalities, Odo said: “The Single Haulage Fee will be paid at the point of loading or off-loading of any type of goods anywhere in Enugu State. These SIRTS and SHF are to be handled and enforced by Enugu State Internal Revenue Service.

“All motorists are expected to pay for SIRTS either at the point of registration/renewal of papers or with the Enugu State approved consultant while SHF will be paid per trip.”

NatureNews Publisher Wants Biennial Confab on Climate Change Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NatureNews, environment newspaper, Aliu Akoshile, has advocated for a biennial, as against the annual, Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

He made the call yesterday at a public lecture to mark the second anniversary of NatureNews and presentation of the Hero of Environment Actions for Development (HEAD) awards in Abuja.

The Editor-in-Chief said the COP of the UNFCCC has been

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held annually since 1995 and that despite the nearly three decades of the global climate summit, far-reaching decisions were not only few but their implementations had left much to be desired.

He noted that climate activists and sundry stakeholders were beginning “to question the rationale for the annual ritual of climate summit that has become a mere talk-shop.”

He said it was therefore, imperative that the United Nations takes a critical review of the frequency of the global climate summit.

“The COP should be held biennially, instead of annually as it has been held since the first summit in Berlin, Germany, in 1995”, he said.

Akoshile, who spoke at the gathering attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Barrister Mohammed H. Abdullahi, highlighted the benefits of holding the climate summit biennially.

He said: “If adopted, the biennial COP of UNFCCC will afford countries and regional blocs the ample time to digest resolutions of a previous summit, develop action plans and implementation strategies, and present a harmonized shopping list at the next meeting to reduce frictions and save the precious time often spent on negotiation.”

The publisher noted that, NatureNews is African’s first, and perhaps only, newspaper that is devoted entirely to reporting issues of the environment and climate change on the continent.

He reiterated that NatureNews is not unmindful of its historic role in the global campaign to reduce green house gas emissions and atmospheric warming below the 1.5 cu threshold.

“We are as resolute today as we were two years ago when development journalism witnessed a defining moment with the birth of NatureNews”, Akoshile emphasised.

By: Spahic Omer/IslamiCity

T

he concept of civilization is questionable.

It was conceived in the 18th century. As part of the fast-developing Enlightenment thought, civilization was understood as a sign of man’s evolution from the stages of rudeness and barbarism to the stages of refinement and sophistication. As Adam Ferguson (d. 1816), a Scottish philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment, wrote in his seminal book The History of Civil Society (1767): “Not only the individual advances from infancy to manhood, but the species itself from rudeness to civilization.”

By the way, Adam Ferguson was the first who used the term “civilization” in English. In French, it was Victor de Riquety Marquis de Mirabeau (d.

1789), a French economist and a leading figure of the French Enlightenment.

“Civilization” was a Western construct. It was created in the milieus of Western colonization and imperialism and was used for their justification and consolidation. It was imposed as such on the rest of the world, including the Muslim world. In the course of the past two centuries, the Muslim mind had to grapple with the concept and its monolithic mold, producing mixed results. Additionally - and as painfully - civilization was an embodiment of the Western worldview(s) and its moral principles and values, which however are deeply rooted in the de-sacralization of existence at large. If the Western mind from the Renaissance and the Enlightenment eras was at war with God and Heaven, so was its civilization.

As much paradoxically as expectedly, civilization has often come to be closely connected with conflicts, conquests, and dominance. Since the term was coined, about two-and-a-half centuries ago, many atrocities have been committed in the name of civilization. There were yet times when the modern “civilized” man behaved like the most primitive and most savage being the planet earth has ever known. He still does.

Islam and Civilization The revealed message of Islam emphasizes that “the noblest and most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous (god-fearing and pious) of you” (al-Hujurat, 13); that “Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and actions” (Sahih Muslim); that “the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children” (al-Hadid, 20); that “the things that endure, good deeds, are best in the sight of your Lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes” (al-Kahf, 46); and that “the life of this world is nothing but a provision of vanities (goods and chattels of deception)” (Ale ‘Imran, 185) – civilization in Islam should exemplify those principles, both in theory and practice. Its ideals and the exigencies of life should forge a resilient and mutually harmonizing partnership. In Islam, civilization (all-inclusive progress, refinement, civility, success, and happiness) is tantamount to life, and vice versa.

The ultimate aim of civilization is to produce upright, good, content, dynamic, enlightened, creative, and forward-looking individuals. The order that such people will establish on earth will be a microcosm of a higher existential order of things, meanings, and experiences for which they live and whence they derive inspiration and direction. Surely, civilization is about people, not things; about spirit, not matter; and about the permanence, rather than transience, of life. It is about the truth and certitude, not about falsehood and skepticism. However, as expected, Islam addresses differently all the positives that are entailed in the concept of civilization, elevating them yet further. It developed its own ideas and vocabulary. These two potential Islamic substitutes for the term “civilization” stand out: ‘umran and hayah tayyibah.

‘Umran - an Islamic - Substitute for “Civilization”

‘Umran is the strongest candidate which in fact could be translated as civilization in its Islamic universal meaning and application. ‘Umran is derived from the Qur’anic word ista’mara, which expresses the object of man’s creation and his raison d’etre. Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) uses ‘umran exactly in that sense. He speaks about “civilization” per se, but roughly three and a half centuries before the word “civilization” was even created.

Hence, Muslims should have continued using ‘umran in Arabic throughout, and should have later anglicized, Latinized, Germanized, Gallicised

(Frenchified), etc., it – that is to say, universalized it – and should have carried on applying it as such the whole time. ‘Umran is much more comprehensive than hadarah and tamaddun. It is as much a total phenomenon, almost a proper noun, as a definite noumenon (to borrow Emanuel Kant’s expression). It is practically an absolute and unmodified concept. While hadarah and tamaddun, on the other hand, are mere conditions, coupled with descriptions, of ‘umran. As if their existence is contingent, depending on ‘umran.

In Ibn Khaldun’s thought, therefore, hadarah and tamaddun mean no more than “city-living and sedentary lifestyle”, as a dimension and character of ‘umran. In addition, one of Ibn Khaldun’s foremost conclusions is that the qualities of hadarah and taraf (luxury) are the natural destinations of ‘umran and its organic evolutionary trajectory.

They spell its rapid decline and ensuing collapse, after which it cries out for renewal. Hence, Ibn Khaldun articulates such expressions as hadarah al-‘umran (the city-dwelling, urbanism and sedentism of ‘umran) and al-‘umran al-hadari (‘umran described in terms of city-dwelling, urbanism and sedentism).

However, it must be borne in mind that to Ibn Khaldun, and according to the totality of his philosophy of ‘umran, if there is al-‘umran al-hadari, there is also al-’umran al-badawi (‘umran described in terms of villages, desert and nomad lifestyles). The latter is the embryonic form of the former. It denotes the elementary index of ‘umran in general. Put another way, if there is ‘umran (civilization) of cities, towns and other forms of human settlements, there is also ‘umran (civilization) of the desert – or Bedouin civilization – “as found in outlying regions and mountains, in hamlets near suitable pastures in waste regions, and on the fringes of sandy deserts.” All this shows that neither hadarah nor tamaddun is suitable to exemplify all the meanings and values enclosed in the Islamic vision of civilization. ‘Umran is the closest to fit the bill.

Hence, “Islamic civilization” should be “Islamic ‘umran”, al-‘umran al-islamiyy in Arabic.

Ibn Khaldun’s Science of ‘Umran As a small detour, on account of Ibn Khaldun’s visionary disposition, his science of ‘umran - as he explicitly calls it at the beginning of his Muqaddimah - is not just a system of sociology.

Rather, the same stands as a general framework for theoretical as well as applied science of human society and its civilization (‘umran). Ibn Khaldun’s methods were based on pragmatism. He was not an idealist. He studied ‘umran and its eternal laws the way they are, nothing more and nothing less.

His historical, naturalistic, and inductive modes of argumentation prevented him from falling into rampant anti-intellectual traps. He deliberately avoided “political utopianism”. In a way, he was an empiricist.

As far as ‘umran is concerned, Ibn Khaldun’s realism and practicality obliged him not to dwell extensively on abstract and ideal models. He did not care to evaluate the events, people, and outcomes in relation to what and who was more, and what and who was less Islamic. As if he left judgments to God. That might be a reason why his book sections end with such emphatic declarations as, for example, “God gives success and guidance”, “God knows better”, “God inherits the earth and whoever is upon it”, “this is how God proceeds with His creatures”, etc. But he gave frequent hints as to what “Islamic ‘umran (civilization)” and other forms of the same could be. For instance, when speaking about human ‘umran (civilization) as a whole, requiring political leadership for its organization, he clearly differentiates between the model based upon the religious law which is divinely revealed by God and the model that is based solely upon rational politics.

In the first scenario, people are obliged to submit to the revealed divine law “in view of their belief in reward and punishment in the other world, (things that were indicated) by the person who brought them (their religious law).”

In the second scenario, people are obliged to submit to the human-made law “in view of the reward they expect from the ruler after he has become acquainted with what is good for them.”

Ibn Khaldun then proceeded to affirm in most unequivocal terms: “The first (type of rule) is useful for this world and for the other world, because the lawgiver (Almighty God) knows the ultimate interest of the people and is concerned with the salvation of man in the other world.

The second (secular type of rule) is useful only for this world.”

To Be Continued

47

FRIDAY, JA ͺ͸˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

FRIDAYSPORTS Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe on Targets, Neymar Miss Penalty as PSG Beat Riyadh All-Stars

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

E X H I B I T I O N M AT C H I N S ’ A R A B I A

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in his debut game in Saudi Arabia yesterday yet his Riyadh All Stars XI side ultimately succumbed to a 5-4 defeat against Lionel Messi's PSG. Though an exhibition game, the Portuguese star had to wait for his first appearance since joining Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr due to a FA suspension during his Manchester United days. Two of Saudi Arabia’s biggest teams: Al Nassr and Odion Ighalo’s Al Hilal provided the top players that played Paris Saint-Germain in the friendly game.

Messi and Ronaldo shared the pitch for the first time since the latter's Juventus side beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League group stages in October 2020.

Messi and Ronaldo had previously met 36 times, with the PSG player winning 16 matches compared to just 11 victories for Ronaldo - and it was the Argentina World Cup winner who opened the scoring with a clever finish from an acute angle after just three minutes.

Ronaldo would not be kept quiet for long, however, with his first goal in Saudi Arabia restoring parity for

Riyadh. It came from the penalty spot after the Portuguese was fouled inside the box by Keylor Navas.

Juan Bernat was shown a straight red card at 1-1 in the opening half to give the hosts a numerical advantage, but Marquinhos would nudge

PSG back in front after finishing from Kylian Mbappe's cross.

Neymar had the chance to extend the Parisians' lead before the interval but he produced a tame spot-kick that was easily saved.

Moments later, Ronaldo hit the

post but he would not be denied from his second effort on the stroke of half-time.

Sergio Ramos prodded home another Mbappe cross to make it 3-2 and the goals continued to flow as an Mbappe penalty would

cancel out another equaliser from the home side.

Despite a late rally, a powerful finish from former Newcastle target Hugo Ekitike would prove the decisive fifth goal for PSG to make it 5-4.

Red Hot Lookman Bang Another Brace for Atalanta Nigerian international, Ademola Lookman, received rave review after another cameo performance as Atalanta hammer Spezia 5-2 in a Coppa Italia Roundof 16 clash at the Gewiss Stadium yesterday.

The Super Eagles winger scored the double while Rasmus Hojlund, Ethan Ampadu and Hans Hateboer scored one each for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.

Albin Ekdal and Daniele Verde were on target for Spezia’s

COPPA ITALIA consolation goals.

According to the Serie A scout Twitter handle, Lookman made 51 accurate passes, created three chances and recorded 19 recoveries in the match.

The 25-year-old has scored 11 goals in 18 appearances across all competitions for La Dea this season.

BATTLE OF THE G.O.A.T...

Cristiano Ronaldo (second right) who captained The Riyadh All-Stars against PSG in an exhibition match in Saudi Arabia yesterday scored twice but ended up on the losing side as the visitors won 5-4

NPFL: Late Goals Give Insurance, Remo Stars Maximum Points Femi Solaja

Ademola Lookman was on target twice as Atalanta beat Spezia to Reach the quarter final of the Coppa Italia...yesterday

Elite league returnee Bendel Insurance of Benin City and Remo Stars of Ikenne had to dig deep to earn late winning goals in their respective games last night to join Abia Warriors as the only clubs to have maintained perfect score points so far in the on-going Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

Unlike the opening day of the season that recorded unprecedented away wins, only Remo Stars of Ikenne secured that feat on Match Day-two with a lone goal win at Gombe United.

After intense play from both sides, club’s goal machine, Andy Okpe, who was absent in the team’s 2-0

win against El-Kanemi got the only goal of the match from a free kick in the 89th minute.

A well scripted dead ball was squared to the left side and Okpe scored from a cross at a close range to give the side six points from two matches.

In Benin, Insurance had to work harder to get the winning goal deep into added time against last season’s runner-up, Plateau United.

After a goalless first half, Ismael Sarki put the home side in the front seat in the 53rd minute.

With the match looking to have been won by the home side, Christopher Nwaeze equalised in the first minute of added time via a penalty kick but two minutes later, Imade Osehenkhoe restored the lead and put the side on maximum points after two matches.

The trio of Abia Warriors, Remo Stars and Insurance are the only teams to have won all their respective matches as teams prepare for the next round of matches this weekend.

In the other matches played yesterday, Shooting Stars of Ibadan maintained winless start with another draw against Kwara United as both sides settled for a goalless result at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan.

El-Kanemi Warriors won 2-1 against visiting Nasarawa United with goals from Alfa Igbudu and Zayyad Musa but Onuche Ogbelu reduced the score line on the dot of 90th minute.

Niger Tornadoes won by a lone goal at home against Doma United when Munir Idris scored in the 8th minute of the match while Sunshine Stars of Akure denied the defending

champion, Rivers United maximum points in Akure with a late equaliser scored by Ejike Uzoechi from the spot to end the game 1-1.

Seasoned journalist and sports marketing personality, Taye Ige, will mount the podium as one of the sports persons to be garlanded at the upcoming Sportsville awards on Saturday, February 4, 2023 at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

Reacting to the well deserved award, the President/CEO of HS MEDIA Group who is beaming with self-satisfaction and full accomplishments expressed pleasure at the Awards organised by renowned sports journalist and astute politician, Frank Ilaboya.

"I truly feel honoured. I usually would turn down offers of so many of such Awards because, as you know they have become like half-a-penny. But the Promoter of this particular one is a man of

integrity. He was my very first editor in sports journalism when I joined the Complete Communications Group in 1988.

“Everyone in and outside our professional circles (eg in politics which saw him become the Chairman of his local government in Edo State) attests to him as a thoroughbred believer in hardworrk, honesty and diligence. So, I will whole heartedly accept an award from such a man anytime, anyday," Ige said.

Former Nigeria Decathlon champion and two-time technical director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, Brown Ebewele will also be posthumously honoured at this year’s Sportsville Special Recognition Award.

Ilaboya, the Chief Executive Officer of Sportsville revealed this on Tuesday shortly after receiving the report from the Award Committee.

Ebewele, fondly called ‘Jujuman’ when he was alive died in 2022 after a protracted illness but his contributions to track and field in Nigeria as an athlete, a coach and an administrator have not been forgotten.

Several other recipients of the Sportsville award include; Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, wife of Edo State Governor, Mrs Betsy Obaseki and former Director General (DG) of the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Patrick Ekeji amongst others.

MATCH-DAY 2 Group A Enyimba 0-0 Akwa Utd El Kanemi 2-1 Nasarawa Bender 2-1 Plateau Gombe 0-1 Remo Shooting 0-0 Kwara Group B N’Tornadoes 1-0 Doma Sunshine 1-1 Rivers Utd Abia War’ 3- 1 Bayelsa Utd Dakkada 2-1 Wikki Tourist Lobi Stars 1-0 Rangers

Diri Rewards, Offers Automatic Employment to NSF Medallists Taye Ige Delighted with Sportsville Award Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has announced a reward package for athletes that represented the state at the 2022 National Sports Festival held at Asaba, Delta State between November and December.

Bayelsa placed a historic second behind Delta, surpassing its earlier best position of third recorded at the 2020 festival hosted by Edo State in 2021.

Governor Diri, who received the state’s contingent on Wednesday inside the Executive Council Chambers of the Government House, Yenagoa, recalled that Bayelsa won 109 gold, 104 silver and 87 bronze medals.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, the governor announced N1million each

to individual gold medallists and N750,000 each for team gold winners.

He also rewarded individual silver medallists with N500,000 and N300,000 for team silver medallists while individual bronze medallists got N300,000 and N150,000 for each team bronze medallist.

Coaches and secretaries of gold medal teams got N500,000 each while their assistants got N300,000 each. Those in silver category N300,000 each and their assistants N200,000.

The governor also rewarded non-medallists with N50,000 each.

He equally announced automatic employment for those yet to be employed in the state’s Sports Council and directed the Ministry

of Youth and Sports to work out the modalities.

His words: “You have broken your own record and now Bayelsa is the number two sporting state in Nigeria. Your record and the state’s exploits in football and other sporting activities have resulted in my being nominated as the Best Sports Governor in Nigeria. That award will be dedicated to all of you. Let us continue to raise the image of the state like you did in Asaba.”

Earlier, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Daniel Igali, said Bayelsa was the only state that rewarded its athletes instantly at the games, which inspired them to exceed their target.

TR

Friday January 20, 2023

UT H

& REASO

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Price: N250

MISSILE Pastor Bakare to Tinubu

“Can someone tell these people that scoring zero in a primary election with one’s true identity and integrity intact as well as having original credentials from wellknown schools -primary, secondary, colleges and universities -within and outside of this nation are a veritable badge of honour, absolutely legit and unquestionable.

Please tell them that in the words of Michel De Montaigne, ‘There are some defeats more triumphant than victories” –Pastor Tunde Bakare, replies Bola Tinubu, that he has true identity and integrity intact even though he scored zero in APC primary.

MAHMOODYAKUBU GUEST COLUMNIST

2023 Elections: Preparations, Priorities for Electoral Integrity

I

am highly honoured to lead this discussion today and to share this illustrious platform which has over the years welcomed exceptional intellectuals, celebrated public servants and renowned statesmen.

Today is exactly thirty-nine days to the next general election in Nigeria, which I have both the privilege and challenge of leading its proper delivery.

Elections in Nigeria have become events that attract extensive international attention and concern, not only because of the sheer size of the deployment, which usually draws extensively on both national and international resources, but also because of the importance of Nigeria in Africa and particularly the West African sub-region.

Although it is true that elections should normally be routine, programmed events, each election in Nigeria invariably presents its own unique context and therefore distinct challenges and prospects. Overall, therefore, there are enormous expectations, both within Nigeria and internationally, about the conduct and management of elections in the country. The 2023 general election is no exception. These expectations place a great responsibility on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a responsibility that we do not take lightly. We appreciate that there are challenges and concerns. But we also realise that there is enormous goodwill and support, both in Nigeria and beyond. Consequently, we believe that by forthrightly sharing our experiences and discussing the challenges openly, we can surmount them and ensure that each succeeding election in Nigeria shows marked improvement over the preceding ones. This is what I hope that the exchanges we are going to have here today would achieve.

The general election will start on Saturday 25th February 2023 with the national elections, i.e. the Presidential election and elections for the two Houses of the National Assembly – the Senate and House of Representatives. On that day, legislators for 109 Senatorial Districts and 360 House of Representatives constituencies will be elected. The State elections, i.e. election of Governors, as well as 993 members of the State Houses of Assembly, will hold two weeks later, on Saturday 11th March 2023. Only 28 out of 36 Governors will be elected on that day. The other eight do not fall due because of past electoral litigations that misaligned the tenures of the affected Governors.

Given the geographical expanse of the country, the number of registered voters, electoral constituencies and polling units, conducting a general election in Nigeria is a huge undertaking. The delimitation details are staggering: 93,469,008 registered voters expected to elect their representatives for 1,491 constituencies in 176,846 polling units. Based on the figures we compiled from the websites of various Electoral Commissions and Interior Ministries in West Africa, Nigeria’s current voter population is 16,742,916 higher than the 76,726,092 registered voters in the other 14 countries put together. This means that a general election in Nigeria is like conducting elections in the whole of West Africa and beyond.

Since 1999, Nigeria has been conducting regular general elections following the restoration of civiliandemocratic rule governance after many years of military rule. The 2023 general election will be the seventh consecutive general election in Nigeria.

This fact makes this the longest period of electoral democracy in the country’s history. Previous periods of electoral democracy were relatively short, repeatedly truncated by military interventions. However, the quantity of elections is one thing, but their quality is another. As Zavadskaya and Garnett aptly note, the question of integrity of elections is relevant for “all elections, whether in new democracies or jurisdictions that have held election for decades“, because they are all “vulnerable to malpractice.” However, good elections are not only about curbing malpractices, but also about ensuring inclusivity. Inclusive elections constitute an essential part of democracy. This is the reason why in our Commission we regularly speak of our commitment to free, fair, credible, transparent,

Action (SP & SPA), as well as the 2023 Election Project Plan (EPP), over 18 months prior to the date set for the election. The 2023 EPP identifies all the specific activities to be implemented for the general election.

Each of these activities has a specific timeline based on which it is implemented and tracked. Among other things, the Plan reflects the new technological innovations that will be used in 2023, the increase in the number of voters from 84,004,084 to 93, 469,008 as well as increase in Polling Units from 119,974 to 176,846, following the Commission’s expansion of voter access to Polling Units in 2021.

Electoral Legal Framework

verifiable and inclusive elections. To be sure, credible and inclusive elections in the final analysis depend on adequate preparations and my main preoccupation today is to share with you how we are preparing for a general election of high integrity and inclusiveness in Nigeria in 2023.

LESSONS FROM THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTION

Preparations for the 2023 general election are largely being concluded and preliminary deployments are already underway. Indeed, our preparations began quite early, learning from some of our experiences in 2019, particularly the sore experience of having to postpone that election a few hours before it commenced.

One important lesson from 2019 is that great planning and preparations are important, but unfortunately these are often at the risk of what Pippa Norris calls “simple human errors, technical malfunctions and logistical failures”. However, early preparations provide opportunities for adequate planning, resourcing, and testing of systems that will reduce these risks to a minimum.

A second lesson from 2019 is that early choice of election management tools, especially the main election technology. Their proper pilot-testing and deployment are exceedingly important for a successful election. For election technology, early decision is central to maintaining its integrity, popularising it among voters and addressing any challenges that could arise. We know that political actors often try to undermine the process by attacking the technology, casting doubts on its suitability, bypassing its use or indeed seeking to undermine its security. This informed the early choice of a new voter accreditation technology using an electronic device we call the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). We have tested it in several bye-elections and off-cycle Governorship elections. In addition, the decision to make polling unit election results available for public viewing, which has always been a major demand by citizens and election observers, falls into this early choice of election technology. The INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal is a dedicated web portal for the public to view polling unit results as soon as they are finalised on election day. This has been employed in several elections conducted by the Commission in the past few years. In particular, the uploading of Polling Unit results on the IReV portal has been deployed 105 constituencies where the Commission conducted off-season elections since August 2020. The result can still be viewed on the portal, making the IReV an invaluable repository of elections results in Nigeria.

A further lesson from the 2019 general election, which is helping us immensely in our preparations for

the 2023 general election, is that an early finalisation of changes to the Electoral Act, the principal legal basis for elections, is critical to proper organisation of elections. In the build-up to the 2019 general election, there was an unending back and forth between the Executive and Legislative arms of government on the Electoral Act, and in the end the amendment of the Act was stalled. One consequence of this was that INEC could not conclude work on the Regulations and Guidelines for the election, which are meant to derive from, and be consistent with, the Electoral Act as early as we intended. Since the Commission has no say as such in the passing of the Act, it had to wait for a final document to emerge from the process, which ultimately did not materialise. The several recommendations that the Commission made to the National Assembly to include in the amended Act to improve the quality of elections, such as the strengthening of the use of technology, early conclusion of candidates’ nominations, as well as timely funding of elections, never became law. It is noteworthy that this time around, the Electoral Act 2022 was passed in good time, and it has addressed some of these issues.

The last noteworthy lesson from the 2019 general election is that adequate funding and early release of funds to the Commission is also very important to well-organised elections. Partly because of delays in finalising the electoral legal framework for the 2019 general election, finalising the budget for the election and arranging a good schedule of fund releases to the Commission was rather tardy and challenging.

To add to the pressure on the Commission, there were over 14 million more voters to cater for in 2019 compared to 2015. It required painstaking and prolonged engagements between the Commission and both the Executive and Legislative arms of government. Given that practically all the activities for the elections depended on funds, from printing of ballot papers and results sheets to hiring of election staff and transport providers, the Commission could not meet many of its targets in preparing for the 2019 general election.

PREPARATION FOR THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTION Election Planning

Learning from all these, the Commission has worked with all concerned government agencies and stakeholders to ensure that the challenges of preparing for the 2019 general election are minimised this time around. A great deal of forward planning and engagements has been done, and many aspects of our preparations attest to that. First, we concluded a new four-year Strategic Plan and Strategic Programme of

Elections are essentially anchored in law. Unlike the case with the 2019 general election, new Electoral Act was signed into law on Friday 25th February 2022 exactly one year ahead of the general election, giving time for both the Commission and all stakeholders to fully acquaint themselves with any changes in their responsibilities and functions. As an affirmation of our readiness for the general election, the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities the following day, Saturday 26th February 2022. The new law contains some very important changes that hold potentials for improving the quality of Nigeria’s elections. Perhaps the ten most important provisions in the new law are: 1. Early appropriation and release of funds. INEC to get its funds at least one year to the general election.

2. Early release of notice of election. INEC is now required to issue the Notice of Polls 360 days to the general election. This also entails an early release of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for general elections by the Commission. When these are added to the fixed dates for general elections established

by INEC, which is the 3rd Saturday in the month of February of the election year for the national election and State elections coming two weeks later, stakeholders now have ample time for forward planning, which will greatly benefit the quality of general elections in Nigeria.

3. Use of electronic device for accreditation of voters. The debates over the legality or otherwise of the Smart Card Readers now appears to be settled

by Section 47 of the Act which empowers INEC to use the Smart Card Reader or any other device for accreditation.

4. Early primaries by political parties. They must now complete their primaries and submit the names of candidates 180 days to the general election. This gives the Commission enough planning time to produce the materials for the elections, particularly the sensitive materials.

5. Type of Primaries. There are now three types of primaries in the law namely, Direct, Indirect and Consensus, giving political parties a wider range of options for selecting their candidates.

6. Electronic transmission of results. The Act now empowers INEC to determine the form of transmission or transfer of election results.

7. Ensuring inclusive elections. INEC is now mandated to ensure that persons with disabilities and other vulnerabilities are properly assisted to participate in the process.

8. Election finance. Various new limits have been set for amounts of money that political parties and candidates can spend in elections, as well as the amounts that can be donated to them.

9. Redefinition of overvoting. Unlike the 2010 Electoral Act which defined overvoting in terms of registered voters, the new Act defines it in terms of accredited voters. This will greatly reduce the challenge encountered by the Commission whereby elections are easily declared inconclusive because they were tied to the number of registered voters, even where turnout is low.

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