SATURDAY 1ST APRIL 2023

NSIA Assets Hit N1.02trn, Earns N96.96bn in 2022 Restates commitment to delivering increased investments in critical sectors Bennett Oghifo The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), managers of Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund, has announced a growth in its

total assets to N1.02 trillion at the close of its 2022 financial year on December 31.

In the 2022 full-year audited results released on Thursday, the investment institution said the asset

growth indicated a 10.5 percent increase from the N919.73 billion recorded in 2021.

The NSIA said its non-volatile revenue, such as interest income, revenue from infrastructure business,

and management fees earned from fiduciary activities, increased by 34.5 percent (N15.7 billion) year-over-year.

It noted that its total comprehensive income stood at N96.96 billion in 2022, representing

a decline of 34 percent compared to 147 billion in 2021.

The NSIA attributed the decline to strong macroeconomic headwinds.

The institution said although its earnings are lower than that

of 2021, it remained confident in its investment strategy and would continue to explore opportunities to mitigate risks and achieve its Continued on page 5

Presidency Confirms Sylva’s Resignation as Petroleum Minister... Page 6 Saturday 1 April, 2023 Vol 28. No 10216

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FG Moves to Bring Home Displaced Nigerians in Chad, Niger, Cameroon Deji Elumoye in Abuja

L-R: Senator Solomon Adeola; Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji; outgoing Chairman, Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN); his daughter, Mrs Bukola Araromi; and Senator Opeyemi Bamidele; at the send forth dinner in honour of Olanipekun, the 50th Chairman of Body of Benchers in Abuja … Thursday.

The federal government has released N15 billion to bring home thousands of Nigerians in three neighbouring countries - Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic - who were forced to flee Continued on page 5

APC Governors Demand Arrest of Elements Behind Interim Govt Plot Urge Nigerians to remain vigilant, resist any undemocratic conduct NGF pledges to continue defending Nigeria’s democracy Olanipekun: Interim government plan will consume everyone, including those in support

Charles Ajunwa in Lagos, Chuks Okocha, Alex Enumah and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), an umbrella body of Nigerian governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday called for the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in the alleged interim government plot, describing the “evil plan” as unfortunate, condemnable and treasonable.

On their part, state governors under the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), met on Thursday night in Abuja and resolved to continue defending Nigeria’s democracy amid the alleged interim government plot.

Continued on page 5

GOODNIGHT, BEATRICE OLABIMPE ABOYADE… L-R: Ojekunle Aboyade; Funlayo Odia (nee Aboyade); Professor Wole Soyinka; Funke Aboyade SAN, and Dr. Ojetunde Aboyade, during the funeral service for Professor Beatrice Olabimpe Aboyade at Chapel of the Resurrection, University of Ibadan, Oyo State... yesterday KUNLE OGUNFUYI

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SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2023 • T H I S D AY, T H E S AT U R D AY N E W S PA P E R

PAGE FIVE APC GOVERNORS DEMAND ARREST OF ELEMENTS BEHIND INTERIM GOVT PLOT Also yesterday, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and immediate past Chairman of the Body of Benchers (BOB) Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lambasted the alleged interim government conspiracy, saying it would consume everyone, including those in support.

In a statement issued yesterday by its Chairman and the Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, the PGF said it was ironic that after the Presidential, National Assembly, Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections in which all the major parties recorded varying successes and disappointments in different constituencies, “some self-serving individuals are unfortunately seeking to sabotage the country's democratic progress.”

The Forum adds: "The PGF notes the press statement issued by the Department of Security Service on the unfortunate, condemnable and treasonable conduct of some undemocratic elements who are agitating for an interim government. We condemn such agitation.

"It is commendable that the Department of Security Service exposed the plot and we call upon them to arrest and prosecute anyone involved."

The PGF said after a democratic contest, “parties are free to exercise the legal right of going to court.”

It stressed that indeed, it was widely reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) had chosen to go to the Presidential Election Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the presidential election, which was won

by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of APC. “In all the 36 states of the federation, tribunals have also been established to provide opportunity to those who participated in the various elections but otherwise feeling dissatisfied, to challenge the results.

"We urge all Nigerians to remain vigilant and resist any undemocratic conduct that is capable of undermining our democracy. Our

Country has done well in promoting democracy both in Nigeria and elsewhere in the African continent, and it is sad that some unpatriotic elements are nursing the evil plot for interim government, which will amount to subverting our national democratic progress."

The forum also commended the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Transitional Council for issuing a statement restating the federal government’s commitment towards a successful inauguration of a new President on May 29th, 2023.

It, therefore, called on all citizens to support Nigeria’s democratic development, which “the campaign for interim government is meant to truncate.”

NGF Pledges to Continue Defending Nigeria’s Democracy State governors under the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), met on Thursday night in Abuja and resolved to continue defending Nigeria’s democracy amid the alleged interim government plot.

In a communique of their meeting, signed by Forum Chairman/governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the NGF also called on the DSS to stop overheating the polity with its statement that some entrenched politicians are planning an interim government against the Presidentelect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The governors asked the DSS to rather arrest those concerned.

However, the governors acknowledged that the 2023 general election was not perfect.

"Governors condemned, in the strongest terms, any unconstitutional means of regime change and pledged their commitment to continue to defend Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

"In addition, the Forum believes that issuing statements without arrests is akin to heating up the polity and causing unwarranted tension in the country. It called on the DSS to do its job by immediately arresting and prosecuting all those involved in the plot as a matter of urgency," the communiqué of the meeting stated.

The communiqué also informed that the Forum received a briefing on the cancellation of the proposed privatisation of five National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) power plants by National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and the withdrawal of the matter at the Federal High Court - the 36 States of the Federation Vs the Federal Government of Nigeria - which was instituted to halt the process to enable stakeholders address the concerns by States and Local Governments who collectively own a joint stake of 53% in the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).

Governors, the communiqué explained, applauded this move by the NCP which appears to have taken into consideration the recommendation of the states to halt the process due to ill-timing, amongst other reasons.

Olanipekun: Interim Government will consume everyone Meanwhile, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and immediate past Chairman of the Body of Benchers (BOB), Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, has condemned the alleged Interim National Government plot, describing it as an invitation to anarchy.

Reacting to the alleged plot, Olanipekun warned those behind it to immediately perish such thoughts because ‘”it is a situation that would consume everyone including those in support of it.”

He spoke in Abuja during the send-forth dinner, organised by the

FG MOVES TO BRING HOME DISPLACED NIGERIANS IN CHAD, NIGER, CAMEROON Nigeria at the height of Boko Haram and other terror activities in the North-east.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State made this known yesterday while briefing newsmen at the State House, Abuja, after a meeting of the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement Committee, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

According to Zulum: "Few months ago, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria established a committee for the return and resettlement of displaced Nigerian living in the Republic of Chad, Cameroon and Niger to Nigeria.

“Based on the recommendation of the Chairman of this committee, which is the Vice President, N15 billion has been released to the committee. We are here to discuss the modalities for implementation; who does what. So far, so good.

A lot has been discussed. Many items will be procured so that the repatriation exercise will take immediate effect."

Asked how many displaced persons have been brought back so far, the Borno State governor said: "More than 300,000 have returned. But under this phase, we are yet to begin the process. This is the 4th Phase of the exercise we shall embark upon very soon.

“Guidelines were provided for respective agencies that are to handle this matter.

What should be given to the individuals in terms of food and non-food items; what type of house shall we build; what is the transportation medium?

What is the minimum threshold required to return people from the neighbouring countries to Nigeria? These are some of the issues that were discussed according to international best

practices."

In the meantime, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has directed all government agencies involved in the implementation of the work of the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Returns and Resettlement of Displaced Persons in the North-east to harmonise items needed and their prices in all procurements to be undertaken on behalf of the Committee.

The Vice President also directed effective monitoring and evaluation of the implementation at a meeting he presided over yesterday at the Presidential Villa.

At the meeting, presentations were made by the Borno State Government, the Military, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, and the National Emergency Management Agency, following the release of the N15 billion by the President for the task.

Specifically, the federal government has released N6 billion to the Borno State Government, N3 billion to the Defence Headquarters, N2.5 billion to NEMA and N3 billion to the Refugee Commission for the first phase of the work of the Presidential Committee.

After presentations by the different government agencies, questions were raised about price differentials between quotes and local market rates, and also certain duplications of needed items.

Osinbajo who expressed serious concern about the price differentials and the duplication of needs then directed that the sub-committee on harmonisation of needs and prices should correct the situation.

He also directed that the subcommittee should be engaged with the task of effective

evaluation and monitoring.

Osinbajo then specified that the sub-committee should work in consultation with Borno State Governor, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Committee, regarding the harmonisation of the needs and prices.

According to the Vice President, “the President is very serious about the work of the Committee, emphasising the need for judicious use of resources and transparency in the spending of the funds already released.

“It makes sense to have the already existing Sub-Committee liaise with the Governor of Borno State in order to streamline the needs and acquisition of requirements preparatory to the return of the IDPs.” Each government agency at the meeting made presentations on the state of preparation for the returnees.

According to the presentation of the Borno State Government, construction of housing for refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, rehabilitation of damaged houses and the provision and rehabilitation of social utilities such as schools, health, water and other facilities have begun.

The meeting yesterday was attended by Zulum, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Director General of NEMA and representatives of Chief of Defence Staff, Inspector General of Police, and other heads of agencies involved.

President Buhari inaugurated the Committee in February 2022, with members drawn from State Governments, Ministries, security agencies, National Refugee Commission, and the National Emergency Management Agency, among others.

Body of Bench on Thursday at the end of his one-year tenure as the 50th Chairman of the body, which began on March 31, 2022.

"It is unconstitutional. To me, it comes from the pit of hell. Calling for an interim national government?

Where did you get it from? How do you compartmentalise it? How do you accommodate it within a constitutional democracy?

As a lawyer, I don't know the jurisprudence that will accommodate it.

"Let's face it. Whenever there is an election anywhere in the world, there is bound to be disagreement.

But, if for every disagreement, you say let us disband the system, that does not make sense. You can't throw away the baby with the bath water. It is never done," he said.

Olanipekun, who cited cases from developed countries where election outcomes had been disputed, urged those aggrieved to explore the opportunities provided by the Constitution and the statue having gone to court.

He recalled the unpleasant experience the nation had under the last interim government experiment of the late Chief Ernest Shonekan in the country, describing it as an ill wind that will blow no one any good.

"I am not saying all is well. In every institution created by God for man, there would be minuses. You don't have 100 percent anywhere.

I am not saying there is no room for improvement. But, don't let us call for anarchy. No one is going to benefit from it, not even those calling for it.”

He pleaded with those calling for an interim national government to reconsider and think of what will be the outcome.

The Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret police, had early this week alleged that some persons were plotting to stall Tinubu’s inauguration and install an interim national government instead.

Dr. Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman, stated that some persons had weighed various options, which include foisting interim government after obtaining frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels.

Afunanya said such persons were also considering sponsoring endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency.

“The Service considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the constitution and undermine civil rule, as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis.

“The illegality is totally unacceptable in a democracy and to

the peace-loving Nigerians. This is even more so that the machination is taking place after the peaceful conduct of the elections in most parts of the country.

“Consequently, the Service strongly warns those organising to thwart democracy in the country to retract from their devious schemes and orchestrations.

“Stakeholders, notably judicial authorities, media and the Civil Society, are enjoined to be watchful and cautious to avoid being used as instruments to subvert peace and stability of the nation. While its monitoring continues, the DSS will not hesitate to take decisive and necessary legal steps against these misguided elements to frustrate their obnoxious intentions,” the Service said.

On March 1, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.

The APC presidential candidate garnered 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who polled 6,984,520 votes and the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who scored 6,101,533 votes.

Following INEC’s announcement, Atiku and Obi rejected the results, alleging that the election was rigged.

They have since filed petitions against Tinubu at the Presidential Election Tribunal.

NSIA ASSETS HIT N1.02TRN, EARNS N96.96BN IN 2022 investment objectives.

The NSIA said the 2022 fiscal year was marked by unprecedented shocks, such as the COVID-19 lockdown in China, the RussiaUkraine conflict, food and energy crises, supply-chain disruptions, soaring inflation, and monetary policy tightening, which impacted the financial markets.

It said its well-diversified portfolio continues to provide the resilience to withstand market challenges as evidenced by the results.

Commenting on the result, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq said a respectable performance was recorded despite the challenges in the operating environment.

“Against market expectations and internal forecasts, NSIA closed the 2022 financial year with a respectable performance. This result underscores the robustness of our diversified portfolio, and the excellent commitment of the team.

“As we look to the future, NSIA is resolute in its commitment to delivering increased investments in critical sectors of the economy, driving growth across its funds, and attracting third-party capital into Nigeria’s infrastructure sector.

“In 2023, we will be resourcing our various platforms targeted at emerging sectors – renewable energy, sustainability, innovation, and healthcare – which will ensure the Authority achieves its dual objectives of delivering financial returns and impactful social outcomes,” UmarSadiq said.

The key projects the NSIA delivered in 2022 cut across core sectors of focus and the implementation of specialised federal government initiatives.

They include projects in the agriculture sector, like the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative and the opening of the Pandagric Novum farm, a joint venture between NSIA and Signature Agri Investment for the cultivation of maize and soybeans and connected to a 147,000 metric tons per annum capacity poultry feed mill.

In the technology sector, NSIA said it introduced the NSIA Prize for Innovation as a measure to stimulate the ingenuity of Nigerian innovators and technopreneurs to develop solutions that address real-world challenges with global application. The NPI programme is a business enhancement initiative to support early-stage, growth-driven tech solutions through education, mentorship, and financing and

recorded milestones in the gas industrialisation sector, healthcare, power and road.

Under its gas industrialisation initiative, the NSIA and its partner, OCP Group of Morocco, made significant progress in the development of the 1.5MMT Ammonia and Di-Ammonium Phosphate production plants due to be sited in Akwa Ibom State.

It said the development of the project has reached an advanced stage, with all preliminary studies concluded: “The Gas Supply and Aggregation Agreement is being finalised with relevant parties, and financing is largely in place to ensure the delivery of the project.”

On roads, the NSIA reports: “In the 2022 financial year, NSIA continued its development of various projects under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), namely the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Highway.

These projects have reached advanced stages of construction, building on the successes of the 2021 financial year.”

On healthcare, the agency reports: “NSIA has kicked off the roll-out of phase 2 of its healthcare projects on the successes of the LUTH Cancer Centre and its two diagnostic centres in Kano and Umuahia. During the year, the Authority secured approval and began developing 23 new modern medical diagnostic centers of excellence which will span across all six geopolitical zones in the country.

Presently, two Oncology centres to be located in Enugu and Kaduna states, and six Cath Labs have advanced to the project execution stage.

“On another note, NSIA has incorporated an equipment leasing company, Equilease.

This is in fulfilment of NSIA’s commitment to bridge notable voids in the domestic healthcare value chain. Equilease was conceived to stimulate the proliferation of high-quality medical infrastructure in Nigeria by providing alternative financing options for acquiring critical medical equipment via equipment leasing.”

On power, the NSIA reports: “NSIA completed the 10MW Haske solar power plant in Kano in 2022 as its flagship renewable energy sector project. The power plant was developed on behalf of the federal government and its subnational co-investors to provide off-grid electricity in the Kumbotso Local Government of Kano State.”

On its Future Generations Fund (FGF), it reports: “For the FGF,

NSIA’s approach is centered on generating healthy risk-adjusted returns, cautiously increasing market exposure, and growing the tactical allocation portfolio (ETFs) within the year. Overall, the Authority’s portfolio delivered a return of 1.87% (in US$ terms) for the year ended 2022.

“The Future Generations Fund outperformed its sovereign wealth funds peers by 10% on average, with Private Equity being the top-performing sector. Developed Equity, Hedge Funds, and Emerging Long Only Equity posted a decline in the year due to prevailing macroeconomic market conditions.”

On Stabilisation Fund (SF), NSIA said it had largely invested in the U.S.’s sovereign debt instruments and Investment Grade Corporate Credit.

It noted that at the end of December 2022, approximately 30% of the fund was invested in a portfolio of U.S. treasury bonds tracking the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury bond 1–3-year index. The fund returned 4.08% (in US$ terms) for the year.

On governance, the NSIA reports: “In the 2022 financial year, the pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uche Orji, completed his second and final tenure on September 30, 2022, and a new Executive Management team, led by Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, was appointed by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari in October of 2022. Two other Executive Directors, Kola Owodunni and Olubisi Makoju were appointed to the Board of NSIA. “This internal sourcing of the new executives underscores the depth of the succession plan and the bench strength of NSIA.” Looking forward, the Authority said it remains committed to managing Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund in a transparent, accountable, and competent manner.

“The Authority's solid foundation, seasoned staff, and diverse portfolio will enable it to overcome any obstacles and provide long-term value to its stakeholders.”

It stated that 2023 will be an equally challenging investment period due to the lingering effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the activities of central banks of developed economies in curtailing inflation, and deglobalisation challenges. It added that the focus on ESG, Sustainability and Climate finance will play a vital role in its investment approach and strategy going forward.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 1, 2023

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News Editor Charles Ajunwa 09157401421 (sms only) Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

Presidency Finally Confirms Sylva’s Resignation as Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Close to three weeks after the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva left the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the federal government yesterday finally publicly confirmed the junior minister’s resignation from the government.

Traditionally, when senior government officials leave government positions, the administration ordinarily announces their exit.

However, it was unclear why the resignation of the minister, who has gone to vie for the governorship seat in Bayelsa state, was treated as top secret before yesterday.

However, in an apparent last-minute effort to douse the controversy generated by the refusal of the authorities to make the announcement, a Special Assistant to the President on Digital Communications, Bashir Ahmad, disclosed via his Twitter handle, that Sylva resigned to pursue his gubernatorial ambition.

“Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, has resigned his appointment to contest in the next Bayelsa governorship election,” Ahmad confirmed.

Sylva, who was yet to complete his constitutionally guaranteed two

Appeal Court Jails Two Chinese Nationals for Money Laundering Onuminya Innocent Presiding Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba of the Court of Appeal Sokoto Division, yesterday convicted and sentenced two Chinese nationals - Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuai to three years imprisonment each on issues bordering corruption, money laundering, and attempted bribery.

In a unanimous judgement, the court berated the lawyers for the accused for trying to frustrate the appeal through maneuvering, stressing that gone were the days of technicality in law.

He further added that the court must allow cases to be heard on merits not on technicality.

Earlier, the Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has discharged and acquitted the accused persons on three count charges preferred against them which prompted the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to appeal the judgement.

Justice Talba explained that the

EFCC had proven Count 1 and 2 of 3 before the Federal High Court beyond reasonable doubt but agreed with the lower court on Count 3 and accordingly struck it out because a similar charge is pending before the High Court of Justice Sokoto State.

According to Justice Talba, “the defendants are charged with conspiracy and making a cash payment in excess of the threshold provided by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended in 2012 to Abdullahi Lawal (then zonal head of EFCC Sokoto) which was established beyond reasonable doubt before the lower court but surprisingly the trial Judge summersaulted in his judgement and recanted.”

Justice Talba added, “I regret to say that the judgement is like a fiction by the trial judge who created doubts in his mind while discharging his responsibilities.

Without doubt the trial judge grossly misconceived that no offence was committed.”

Katsina Emir Inaugurates Foundation, Donates Relief Materials to IDPs Francis Sardauna in Katsina The Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, has inaugurated his personal foundation to tackle security challenges and render humanitarian services to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the less-privileged in the state.

The traditional leader, through the foundation christened ‘Emir of Katsina Foundation for Peace’, also distributed multi-million relief materials, including foodstuffs and clothing to victims of insurgency and the less privileged across the state.

The foundation has high-profile traditional title holders within the emirate and technocrats as its Board of Trustees (BoT) members.

Usman, while inaugurating the foundation, said it was a turning point towards rolling out his revolving security plans in ensuring the sustainability of peace and tranquility for development to thrive.

“I hardly sleep because of the security situation in this country.

Sometimes even for seven days and it has affected my health,” the monarch said during the inaugural ceremony of the foundation held at his palace.

He said the foundation would build and strengthen peace and unity among citizens of Katsina State and Nigeria as a whole, adding that he will do everything humanly possible to address insecurity.

The foundation’s BoT Chairman and Wazirin Katsina, Senator Ibrahim Ida, while unveiling its objectives, said the foundation would be assisting those affected by insurgency and forced out of their homes to become IDPs. He explained that the foundation would also be helping youths with different vocational skills so as to become self-reliant as well as to assist authorities concerned in taming issues of drug abuse in the country.

“The foundation would also ensure that our youths are taught basic skills with which they can depend on themselves. It will also help the authorities in whatever way we can to ensure that the perennial issue of drug abuse is squarely addressed.

“It will help women that have health issues, with people of Babbar Ruga Hospital receiving particular attention. It will be helping mentally affected people so that they can be treated.

terms as governor of Bayelsa State before he was forced out at the time, is seeking a new term as governor of the oil-producing state.

But THISDAY gathered that Sylva handed his resignation letter to Buhari on March 14 and had stopped coming to the office since then. The All Progressives Congress (APC) party primaries in Bayelsa is scheduled to take place on April 14.

On Tuesday, March 28, during the official inauguration of oil exploration in Nasarawa State, Sylva was absent, but the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, announced that he was standing in for him on the occasion.

In addition, unlike the usual practice of formally notifying or meeting with aides for formal goodbyes done by senior government officials, it was understood that nothing of such had taken place at the time of this report, leaving almost all his appointees in the dark.

In the resignation letter to Buhari obtained by THISDAY, Sylva told the president that he had delivered on all the priority areas he set for himself when he was picked as minister by the current administration.

In the official communication addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Sylva recalled that the Nigerian constitution and the

APC guidelines required that he stepped down from his ministerial position before contesting for any political post.

“Mr. President and Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources (HMPR) is respectfully invited to recall the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the guidelines for the conduct of primaries issued by our great party, the APC, relating to political appointees aspiring to participate in its primary elections at al levels.

“By the provisions of Section 3 of the guidelines: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for the purpose of the nomination of candidates.

“Any political office holder

interested in contesting for an elective office shall leave office 30 days prior to the date of election or party primary for the office sought.”

“I am interested in contesting elections for the position of governor of Bayelsa State and in participating in the upcoming party primaries. In this regard, I hereby tender my resignation as Honourable Minister of State with effect from 15 March 2023.

“In line with extant Regulations and Policies of the civil service, I shall hand over to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Resources, pending the appointment of a new Minister of State by Mr President,” the minister wrote.

IN THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN… R-L: Secretary of Katsina Emirate Council, Bello Mamman Ifo; Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmumini Kabir Usman; Wazirin Katsina, Sen. Ibrahim Ida, and Yariman Katsina, Sada Rufai, during the Emir’s distribution of relief materials to less privileged in his palace...yesterday.

‘Oborevwori’s Victory Confirmation of Okowa’s Excellent Performance’ Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba Former secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State and foundation member of the party, Otunba Nick Ovuakporie, has attributed the victory of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to the good performance of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Ovuakporie said that he read the writing on the wall clearly regarding the imminent defeat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the governorship election, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, hence he left the party and teamed up with the

governor to work for the party’s victory across the state and his Ward 12 of Isoko North Local Government Area in particular.

Fielding questions from journalists in Asaba about the electoral success of his new party, Nick Ovuakporie, stressed that the victory is a confirmation of Governor Okowa’s good governance and expressed the belief that his successor, Governorelect Oborevwori, will sustain the legacy of “developmental politics” introduced by the incumbent.

On the series of victory dance and thanksgiving going on across the state, Ovuakporie said, “Over time, I have never had any atom of fear that the PDP candidate,

Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, will emerge as the governor of Delta State, because whatever happens in the physical has already occurred in, or has spiritual interpretation.

God has divined him to be the successor of our ever-focused Governor of Delta State, His Excellency, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.

And, owing to the antecedent of the incumbent government in terms of development, there was no doubt as to the party’s victory in the elections.

“Oborevwori’s victory is only a confirmation of excellence of good works of His Excellency, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. It’s an affirmation of developmental politics, not politics of selfishness or greed

that has been the lot of APC. “The victory is a confirmation of positive change, which is not synonymous to the change as explained by the APC administration at the federal level because that has really not benefited Nigerians obviously.”

On why he described the APC as a crisis-ridden party when he joined the PDP barely one month ago, he said, “First, I want to say that the victory of the PDP and Rt. Hon. Oborevwori will sustain the tempo of governance, impactful leadership and equitable development of the state. It also signals the beginning of the end of the APC in Delta State.

Kwara APC Suspends Ex-Senator, Gov’s Aide, Others over Anti-party Activities Hammed Shittu in Ilorin All Progressives Congress(APC) in Kwara State has suspended a former Senator representing Kwara South senatorial district, Senator Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi, Special Assistant on Youths Matters to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Mr. Rasaq Apaguntan and 10 others from the ruling APC for alleged anti-party activities during the last general elections.

But in a swift reaction, Senator Ajadi described the suspension by the group as a huge joke taken too far.

Speaking at a news conference in Ilorin yesterday, the Assistant Secretary, APC Share Ward 5 in

Ifelodun LGA, Mr. Issa Yunusa said that “the decision to suspend Senator Ajadi for alleged anti-party activities was reached at an enlarged meeting of the APC in Adio in Ifelodun LGA that involved ward executives, stakeholders and youths in the local government.”

He said that the former Senator allegedly directed all his supporters to vote against the APC House of Assembly candidate for Share/OkeOde state constituency, Hon. Rasaq Owolabi during the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.”

Yunusa added that, “To achieve his diabolical desire, a few days to the elections, Senator Ajadi mobilised the opposition parties, PDP, SDP, ADC, Accord Party and NNPP

during a meeting at Babalomo and directed them to vote for Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the governorship election but to vote for the PDP candidate in the House of Assembly elections and this manifested in the results recorded during the two elections in the state.”

Yunusa however said that,”Based on the overwhelming evidence of Senator Ajadi’s compromise of the party’s constitution, we therefore suspend him indefinitely from the party forthwith.”

Also yesterday, leaders of the APC in Share ward 1 and 2 in Ifelodun LGA suspended another five leaders of the party for alleged anti-party activities.

Addressing a news conference in

Ilorin yesterday, the Spokesperson of the APC in the two affected wards, Mr. Yusuf Kolawole said that, “After an exhaustive deliberations and review of the results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25, 2023 and the Governorship and House of Assembly Elections of March 18, 2023, by the ward executive members, party elders and critical stakeholders, the meeting passed a Vote of No Confidence on the following individuals for their anti-party activities and gross indiscipline, which had resulted in the loss of APC candidate in Share Wards One (I) and Two (II) in the Governorship and House of Assembly election.

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NEWS UN Laments Lack of Funding for Deprived North-east Nigeria Michael Olugbode in Abuja The United Nations (UN) has lamented the lack of funding for many indigent and deprived persons affected by the protracted Boko Haram crises in the Northeast.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) in a statement yesterday said since 2023, aid agencies have received only eight per cent of the US$ 1.3 billion required to reach six million people identified for emergency assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Matthias Schmale said: “I urge donors, the private sector, and other well-wishers to urgently provide additional funding and resources to enable national and international humanitarian organisations working with government to act early and at scale to deliver assistance to save lives, improve living conditions and protect those most in need ahead of the lean season.”

Schmale further said: “I am alarmed by the impact that continued conflict is having on vulnerable people,

Air Peace Launches Nonstop Flights to India Chinedu Eze Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace attained another milestone yesterday when it launched nonstop flight services to Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra State in Southwestern India.

Air Peace said it is starting with two weekly flight frequencies to Mumbai with plans to commence Delhi operations as soon as the Mumbai service garners significant momentum.

“This direct, nonstop Mumbai service is a respite to Nigerians and Indians who have to travel for so many hours to India with stopovers via other countries,” the airline said. The Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace, Oluwatoyin Olajide, said: “The Mumbai route is our fourth international destination and is strongly indicative of our unwavering commitment to continually expand our route network to meet the evolving travel needs of not only the Nigerian market but also the West African sub-region.

“On May 31, 2020, Air Peace became the first ever Nigerian airline to operate the first direct flight from Nigeria to Kochi, India, airlifting 312

Indian citizens. In the same year and early 2021, we operated more than six evacuation flights afterwards, showing our strength and familiarisation with the Indian airspace.

“Our Mumbai service is direct- meaning no stopovers.

So, you’re saving time, money and avoiding stopover stress.

Also, we’re offering a launch fare of 450,000 naira. That’s unbeatable, especially considering that we’re deploying our comfy Boeing 777 aircraft, offering passengers best-in-class hospitality.”

According to her, the airline is strengthening its presence on the Asian continent with the launch of Mumbai service, adding that it is not just a big stride for the airline; but also a huge feat for Nigeria in the implementation of its Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA, with India, and deepening socio-economic ties between both countries.

Olajide disclosed: “Passengers can connect from Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Accra, Monrovia and Douala through Lagos to Mumbai, and if you are connecting from any of the aforementioned domestic routes, the fare for the local leg is waived. These are some of the benefits you enjoy on our Mumbai service.

Suspension Moves Against Me Illegal, Inconsequential, Says LP National Chairman Emameh Gabriel in Abuja The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has described a suspension move by those he described as unidentified executive members of his ward in Edo State as illegal and inconsequential.

Abure stated this yesterday in Abuja while reacting to news of his suspension by some executive members of his ward led by one Martins Osigbemhe, over allegations of scandals, forgery, perjury, mismanagement of funds, anti-party activities, among others.

The group had earlier in a statement signed by seven of its members during a press briefing, pointed out that the decision to suspend the national chairman was arrived at after a thorough review of the National Chairman’s conduct by the leadership of the ward at the end of the just-concluded general elections.

Among others things, he alleged that Abure had moved to install former Edo State

House of Assembly Speaker, UyinmwenAtivie as party’s House of Representatives candidate for Uhunmwode/Orhionmwon, Edo State, with forged court documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

But reacting to the development, Abure in a statement made available to THISDAY, and signed by the National Secretary of the party, Farouk Umar, described the group as faceless.

Farouk described the acclaimed ward executives as intruders who do not have the legal footing to suspend the national chairman, adding that the announcement is a ploy to distract the leadership of the party.

He said: “Our party constitution is clear on who can suspend and who cannot suspend the National Chairman. They should go and read the party constitution. It is only the National Convention that can suspend the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

It also must be through such a convention called for the purpose of the suspension of the National Chairman.

in particular on children, in North-east Nigeria.

“Yesterday, I visited El-Miskin Camp in Maiduguri, Borno State, where approximately 7,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought safety.

The food situation is severe for many families in the camp due to lack of funding for operations. Women told me that they had not received food assistance in more than three months and they are struggling to feed their families.

“Some children described going for several days without eating enough. Mothers were telling me that their children go to bed crying from hunger.

In the Outpatient Therapeutic Feeding programme, they were

also telling me that they are already seeing dozens of admissions of children with acute malnutrition. This is unacceptable.”

He noted that: “The people I met in El-Miskin are among an estimated 4.4 million people who will need sustained emergency food assistance this lean season (the peak hunger period between planting and harvesting from June to August) in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, according to the October 2022 Cadre Harmonise food and nutrition analysis.

“Partners I met with are ringing the alarm bells, months ahead of the lean season as worryingly malnutrition figures are starting to increase. Severe

acute malnutrition is expected to double compared to last year, affecting some 690,000 children. Government and the humanitarian community must redouble efforts to prevent this from happening.

“Financial resources are needed now to take the necessary action to save their lives.

Without assistance, cases of life threatening severe acute malnutrition will increase, and more people will resort to negative coping mechanisms such as begging, survival sex and child labour to survive.”

“In El-Miskin Camp, I was also saddened to see so many children out of school. Over 4,000 school-age children in the camp have

not been able to go to school in years. Only one of the 17 women I met in the camp could read or write. We must not let this generation, a generation affected by war and deprivation, be a lost generation. The children I met wanted to be doctors and teachers, jobs that Nigeria urgently needs to fill and bring stability and prosperity to the north-east. We must strengthen our efforts to support the authorities in providing all children with access to education. They will otherwise be deprived of a better future and will never be able to realise their potential, their dreams and aspirations,” he added.

PROVIDING INFRASTRUCTURE… L-R: Adegboruwa of Igbogbo Kingdom, Oba Semiu Kasali; Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Special Adviser to the Governor, Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye; Sekumade of Ipakodo, Oba Bashir Sotonwa and Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Saheed Sotobi, during the inauguration of the reconstructed Oba Sekumade Road, Ipakodo and strategic sectional rehabilitation of T.O.S Benson Road in Ikorodu...yesterday.

Media Inaugurates National Complaints Commission In the bid to strengthen public confidence in the media as a credible barometer of public opinion, the Nigerian media will on Monday, inaugurate the ninemember board of the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), otherwise known as the National Ombudsman.

Members of the commission who are drawn from the media, the bar, the academia, and civil society are Mr. Emeka Izeze, former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers (Chairman), Mr. A. B Mahmoud, SAN,, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Prof Chinyere Stella Okunna, Deputy Vice

Chancellor, (Academics) Paul University, Awka, Anambra State; Dr. Hussain Abdu, a Development Specialist and Country Director, Care International (Nigeria); Mr. Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications Ltd. and Founder, Diamond Awards For Media Excellence (DAME); Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, a Journalist, Lawyer and Arbitrator ; Mrs. Eugenia Abu, Broadcaster, Author, and Columnist, and the Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Information.

The inauguration is a major step by the industry to strengthen

public confidence in the media through prompt resolution of issues bordering on ethical breaches in media content.

The process is being driven by the Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO,) comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), along with other strategic media players and the civil society, in particular the MacArthur Foundation.

The commission will serve

as an independent forum for resolving complaints about the press quickly, fairly, and free of charge; maintain high standards of Nigerian Journalism and journalistic ethics; and defend the freedom of the press and the rights of the people to know.

Prior to the February 22, 2023 announcement of the composition of the commission, each media house had been directed to institute at the newspaper level, the local Ombudsman.

The National Ombudsman will serve as an appellate body for the local Ombudsman as well as a court of first instance.

Obaseki Offsets N10m Debt to BEDC by Ibiwe Community, Restores Light After 2 Years Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has cleared a N10m debt owed Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) by Ibiwe, Obhakhavbaye, and other communities to facilitate the reconnection of the communities to the national grid after being cut off for over two years.

Speaking on the matter, Chief B.O.B. Edogun, the Edogun of Benin Kingdom, said, “First and foremost, we want to thank the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin

Nogheghase Obaseki for his intervention. We have been in darkness for over two years.

Though we had a transformer, it broke down as a result of power overload and we have been repairing it over the years.”

He further noted, “We continued our meeting with BEDC to see how we can work things out.

Finally, the governor did us a favour and paid the sum of N10 million to the community to help. A day before the February 25th election, the light was

switched on and that is how it has been ever since. We have been having constant light. We want to thank the Edo State governor for the show of love to the Ibiwe Community.”

Also, Rev. Dr. Angel Osa Oke, the Ogaevbo of Ibiwe Community, while appreciating Governor Obaseki said, “The N10 million paid by the governor enabled BEDC to restore our light fully. We thanked him and because of that, we gave him a new name. We gave him a new name because of what we

have seen him do so far.

Recently, there has been light everywhere. Anywhere he goes, light comes. So, his new name is: light has come.”

Also full of gratitude to the Edo State governor is Okunbor Theodore, a resident in the area, who noted that “for two years, we didn’t have light at all. Governor Obaseki is a listening governor. We decided to approach him. Through his representative, he promised that the Edo State Government will fix the light before the February 25th election and it was done.”

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NEWS 10th NASS : Why Akinremi Deserves to be Deputy Speaker Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

CERTIFIED TO GOVERN… L-R: INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Enugu State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu; Governor-elect of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah receiving his Certificate of Return from the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, Chief Ken Ukeagu, during the presentation of Certificates of Return to winners of the recent Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state in Enugu...recently

and Ajibade Saheed Ayoola, Oyo State, said the position of Deputy A group within the All National Auditor which is junior Progressives Congress (APC), was given to Oyo State during South West Youth Forum for the last National Convention Good Governance, has thrown of the party, noting that it is its weight behind the lawmaker LQFXPEHQW WKDW WKH R΀FH RI representing Ibadan North Fed- Deputy Speaker should be eral Constituency, Hon. Musliu ceded to the state.

It maintained that out of Akinremi, to become the Deputy Speaker of the 10th National the candidates vying for the R΀FH $NLQUHPL LV WKH EHVW DV Assembly.

The group in a communique he possesses the requisite comissued at the end of its meeting petence, capacity, and character held in Osogbo, the Osun State to provide the needed stability capital, and made available in for the House of Representatives Ibadan, yesterday, said the return- being a member of the National ing lawmaker is the best person Caretaker Committee of the party.

It added that as an experienced WR RFFXS\ WKH R΀FH JLYHQ KLV antecedents and the need to give leader who is emotionally intelOyo State its due in positions ligent to provide leadership coming to the South West region. and stability for the House he The group in the communique has succeeded in delivering signed by Ogunwale Babafemi, the dividends of democracy Ogun State; Omiyale David to his constituents in Ibadan Ayobami, Osun State; Adetunji North, stating that within the Oluwaseun Paul, Ekiti State; last four years Akinremi has Adepeju Flora Iwajubu, Ondo become ‘Governor of Ibadan State; Setonji Koko, Lagos State North.’

Nigerian Workers Will Resist Any Bad Policy, Legislation, Says NLC Ecotutu to Launch Cold Storage Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that it will join hands with Nigerian people to resist any policy or law that does not respect the wishes and interest of the people.

The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, also raised the issue of welfare and conditions of service for practicing journalists.

According to him, the new leadership of the labour centre will focus on ensuring that owners of media houses pay a living wage to their employees

and desist from owing them arrears of salaries.

Ajaero, who made assertions when journalists covering the NLC under the auspices of the Labour Correspondents Association of Nigeria (LACAN) visited him in his office in Abuja yesterday, said that no one should expect the labour movement to ignore the plight the workers or the sufferings of Nigerian people arising from bad government policy.

He said that NLC will always fight for their interests and wellbeing.

“Any bad law or bad legislation must be resisted and we will not obey such law because a law must first respect the interest of the people, their history and culture,” he said.

Ajaero urged critics of the labour movement to realise that there is need for tact in every negotiation, adding that no one can stampede the Congress into doing anything that will hurt the country’s interest.

He also described as unfounded, allegations of corruption and compromise often levelled against Labour leaders whenever

they call off strike or protest, saying that certain situations demand that tact and wisdom be employed to achieve the desired result.

Ajaero said that he led the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to negotiate one of the biggest privatisation exercises in the country without any indictment.

“I want to call for caution because I came from one of the strongest unions in the country and I have participated in one of the highest and biggest privatisation exercises in the country

Court Restrains Newly Appointed Taraba PDP Chairman from Resuming Wole Ayodele in Jalingo

2nd Defendant Abubakar Bawa from acting, carrying out functions and parading himself as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Taraba State chapter pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.

“AN ORDER restraining the 1st Defendant from taking any step (s) that may negatively affect the membership right of the 3ODLQWLͿ DV WKH DFWLQJ FKDLUPDQ of the 1st Defendant pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.

ing as Chairman of the party pending the determination of The Federal High Court the substantive suit.

Alhaji Bawa, who was the sitting in Jalingo under trial Justice Bala Usman has Special Adviser (Political) to restrained the newly appointed governor Darius Ishaku was Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appointed Chairman of the Chairman in Taraba State, Alhaji party penultimate Friday to Abubakar Bawa from assuming replace Alhaji Bakari who was acting Chairman of the party.

R΀FH Bakari, who was Vice ChairRuling on an exparte motion ÀOHG E\ $OKDML ,QXZD %DNDUL man of the party assumed yesterday, Justice Usman gave acting Chairmanship of the an order of interim injunction party following the resignation restraining Alhaji Bawa from of Lt. Col. Agbu Kefas to contest parading himself or function- the gubernatorial primaries of

the party.

Defendants in the suit are the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). $ &HUWLÀHG 7UXH &RS\ RI WKH ruling obtained by THISDAY in Jalingo read in part “upon this MOTION EX-PARTE dated the 31th day of March, 2023 and ÀOHG RQ WKH VDPH GDWH FRPLQJ up before this Honourable Court praying for the following reliefs: “AN ORDER of INTERIM INJUNCTION restraining the

UK, Brighter Futures Roll out Campaigns to Tackle Cybercrime, Cultism

Senate President Reappoints Sulaiman, Director General, NILDS

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

able youths and educate them on the dangers of cybercrime The war against cyber crimes while providing alternative in the country got a boost as the pathways to building sustainBrighter Futures programme, able livelihoods.

The statement read that while an initiative supported by the United Kingdom government speaking about the campaign has launched the Thrive Online during a radio programme in Lagos State, Mr. Oladokun campaign.

The initiative, apart from Olajide, a mentorship coach WKH ODXQFK RI HͿRUWV WR FXUE on the campaign stated that the rising tide of cyber-related Thrive Online is a sustainable crimes in Nigeria, also launched development campaign that the Cancel Cultist campaign addresses legitimate ways aimed at reducing cultism and IRU \RXWKV WR EH ÀQDQFLDOO\ other forms of serious organised independent, and the dangers of serious and organised crimes crime in Nigeria.

According to a statement to themselves, their families, yesterday, the Thrive Online community and the image of campaign aims to reach vulner- the Country.

The Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, Prof. Abubakar O. Sulaiman, has been reappointed for another four-year term by the President of the Senate and Chairman of NILDS’ Governing Council, Ahmad Lawan.

Lawan’s action was in consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Alternate Chairman of NILDS’ Governing Council, Rt. Hon.

Femi Gbajabiamila.

The announcement was conveyed in a statement released yesterday in Abuja by the Deputy Director of Information/Communication and Protocol at NILDS, Mrs. Joke Akinsanmi.

The reappointment of 6XODLPDQ ZLOO WDNH HͿHFW from May 28, 2023.

The President of the Senate has congratulated him while urging him to continue working towards achieving the core objectives of the Institute as outlined in sections 2-3 of the Institute’s Act (as amended).

Infrastructure in Mile 12 Market Bennett Oghifo Ecotutu, a startup accelerating off-grid cooling solutions is set to launch a solar-powered cold storage infrastructure in Mile 12 Market, Lagos, to provide market-led solutions to postharvest losses causing wastage of fresh produce.

The launch which is scheduled to take place at Mile 12 Market – Nigeria’s largest market for fresh produce on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Lagos, will fill fresh produce supply chain gaps and facilitate marketplace opportunities for farmers and aggregators.

“Ecotutu’s mission is to democratise access to affordable and reliable cold storage solutions in Africa,” said Michael Akinsete, co-founder and CMO, Ecotutu.

“Nigerian farmers, aggregators, and retailers manage up to 23 million metric tons of fresh fruits and other vegetables worth $4 billion annually, yet the country loses between 35 and 45 per cent of these due to post-harvest issues

during storage and distribution,” Akinsete said.

He noted that post-harvest losses remain a major challenge confronting the Nigerian agricultural sector for so long.

According to him, Ecotutu provides a solution to postharvest losses through its flagship ‘pay-as-you-chill’ model by offering cooling and logistics services, and facilitating marketplace opportunities for retailers and wholesalers, without the need for the high upfront costs.

He stated that the cooling facility helps extend the shelf life of perishable produce from two to 21 days and reduces post-harvest loss by 85 per cent.

“Each unit of Ecotutu’s solution eliminates food waste and preserves the economic value of food, enabling farmers to take a more significant share of their harvest to market. And more importantly, it boosts the confidence of the value chain players to remain in the food business.”

May 29: Masari inaugurates 83-member Transition, Inauguration Committees Francis Sardauna in Katsina Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has inaugurated 83-member transition and inauguration committees ahead of the May 29 handing over of power to the incoming administration of Dr. Dikko Umar-Radda.

The governor, while inaugurating the committees at the Government House, said the transition committee, which has 40 members, would compile inputs from ministries, departments and agencies and capital projects completed and ongoing, from 2019 to date.

The transition committee is chaired by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Muntari Lawal, while the inauguration committee has the Commissioner for Water Resources, Musa Adamu-Funtua as Chairman and Hannatu MusaMusawa as Secretary with 41 other members.

Masari, during the inaugural ceremony, urged members of the transition committee to ensure that the compilation of the projects shows total contract amounts paid, amounts outstanding and completion stage of those that were not completed.

He added that the committee would offer critical suggestions that would assist the incoming administration in the successful implementation of its campaign promises.

The governor admonished members of the committee to make appropriate recommendations that would assist the new administration to further improve the livelihood of the people of the state.

He, however, said members of the inauguration committee would identify and make adequate preparations for the venue of the swearing-in and expenses for the governor-elect and his deputy.

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COMMENTARY

ALLEN ONYEMA AT 59 Bonaventure Melah pays tribute to Onyema, lawyer, entrepreneur, and chief executive officer of Air Peace

T

he entrance of Air Peace into the airline sector was a game-changer in Nigeria’s aviation industry.

It was Air Peace, more than any other airline that revolutionised the sector in terms of quality service, fare competitiveness, on-air-hospitality and especially safety of passengers.

It is therefore to the glory of God that since it came on board eight years ago, there has never been any incident of air mishap associated with the brand, in spite of the fact that the airline undertakes hundreds of flight across national and international routes every week.

From paying huge taxes to the federal government, carrying out corporate social responsibilities and standing up for country in times of national emergency, Air Peace has become one of Nigeria’s most responsible corporate citizens.

Air Peace was founded in 2013 by Barrister Allen Onyema who once said that he set up the brand with the intention of using it as an engine to provide economic opportunities to Nigerian youths. Seven years down the line, the company is currently one of the most employment-giving firm in Nigeria, placing thousands of citizens and non-Nigerians on well-paid jobs within and outside the country, with a greater percentage of its workforce made up of young Nigerian men and women who are pilots, technicians, medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, journalists, air hosts and hostesses and cleaner, among many other professionals.

While Air Peace commenced operations in 2013 with Dornier 328 and Boeing 737 planes, it launched its first international routes in 2017 to Accra, Ghana.

After barely five years in the trenches, the brand by 2018, had the largest market share in the domestic airline market in Nigeria, took delivery of jumbo jets - Boeing 777 planes and commenced flights to Sharjah United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2019.

Before it marked the 7th anniversary of its operations in 2021, Air Peace had emerged the leading Airline in the West and East Africa Regions of the continent.

As part of its efforts to continuously stay ahead of others in the industry with the aim of giving air travelers the best service, Air Peace on December 9, 2021, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Ikeja, Lagos, took delivery of its 5th brand new Embraer 195 C2 Aircraft, which is the latest invention in the world of aviation and one of the most sophisticated planes ever made.

As promised by Chief Allen Onyema, while respond-

ONE CANNOT EASILY FORGET AIR PEACE’S UNMATCHABLE PATRIOTISM DURING AN OUTBREAK OF XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE AGAINST FOREIGN NATIONALS IN SOUTH AFRICA IN SEPTEMBER 2019 WHEN THE AIRLINE EVACUATED NIGERIAN CITIZENS FROM THAT COUNTRY FOR FREE

ing to questions from a journalist, Air Peace in 2022, took delivery of another set of 12 brand new Embraer 195 C2 making it 17, with the aim of acquiring a total of 30 of the supersonic planes to fly passengers across the world.

According to reports, the management of Air Peace played significant roles in the realization of the International Cargo and Passenger Airport, Umueri, Anambra State, and its plane was the first to land at the airport following the approval of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities for flight operations to commence there.

As a solid testimony of its commitment to safety of its patronising travellers, Air Peace last year, received its fourth International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification, which signifies that the carrier was successful in the globally recognised and rigorous safety audit.

Apart from providing jobs for thousands of people in Nigeria and from across the world, especially countries where it operates; ensuring that air travellers are flown with the healthiest planes and in line with international best practices, Air Peace management is neck deep into philanthropy as well as intervening for Nigeria, in times of emergency and other needs.

One cannot easily forget Air Peace’s unmatchable patriotism during an outbreak of xenophobic violence against foreign nationals in South Africa in September 2019 when the airline evacuated Nigerian citizens from that country for free.

In September 2021, Air Peace flew the Nigerian Super Eagles to Cape Verde for their second fixture of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The encounter took place on September 7 in Mindelo.

Before the encounter, Air Peace CEO, Allen Onyema challenged the Eagles to win the match with a promise to give them N20 million if they win. The Nigerian side won the match and Onyema fulfilled his promise.

It is no wonder therefore that Air Peace was one of the three airlines that the Nigerian government engaged in 2022 to bring Nigerians who were stranded in Ukraine due to the raging war between that country and Russia back home, a task that was successfully executed.

Although at 59, Allen Onyema could be described as a successful man by all standards, his energetic physical looks and managerial acumen combine to present a man destined to achieve greater things.

Happy birthday Allen Onyema Melah is a Journalist and Author

POLICING THE POLICE FOR THE PEOPLE The Anambra State Police Stakeholders Partnership Forum is doing a yeoman’s job, writes Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

S

ome policemen and women can be more dangerous than armed robbers and bandits any day of the week for sure.

The latest charge is that some of the police blokes are deeply engaged in the sordid business of organ harvesting.

People get arrested by the police and the arrested ones are never seen anymore because their body parts have been harvested and sold for hard cash.

The joy for me is that there are some courageous Nigerians who are determined to hold the police to account no matter the danger.

One such Nigerian who is as ever determined to police the police against all odds is Comrade Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC).

In his drive of tracking the activities of the police all over Nigeria, Comrade Nwanguma set up the Anambra State Police Stakeholders Partnership Forum (PSPF).

My meeting with Nwanguma at East-End Hotels & Suites, Awka, Anambra State on Friday, March 24, 2023 where PSPF held court to review and take positions on the state of security and human rights in the state was indeed an eye-opener.

The PSPF coordinator, Prince Chris Azor harped on the committed interventionist role of Comrade Nwanguma who ensures that nobody is oppressed by the police has led to Nwanguma being addressed as the Civilian IGP! It was heartening hearing Nwanguma condemning the reports of unwholesome doings in Anambra police formations such as illegal detentions, extra-judicial killings, torture, organ

harvesting and random kidnappings undertaken by police apparatchiks.

He stressed that the notorious Awkuzu SARS that had its name changed to Rapid Response Annexe amounted to only a mere name change.

Nwanguma cited the allegation of organ harvesting that a whistle-blower put on the doorstep of Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo and the RRS which had apparently been swept under the carpet. The accused police culprits walked in and were freed the same day while the whistle-blower was traced to Benin Republic and arrested, and is still wallowing in detention.

He insisted that the police authorities must come clean on these unprofessional conducts, and asserted that the police mantra of “Power pass power” must no longer be tolerated.

He asked victims of police brutality to always speak out, stressing that RULAAC will ensure that nothing untoward would ever happen to them.

The father of one of the victims of police menace, Titus Orji revealed that his only son, Jeremiah Chibuzo Orji, was on the night of March 19, 2022 taken away and had not been seen ever since.

His son was a student at Federal Polytechnic, Oko and had a bus with which he earned money by always ferrying passengers to Onitsha.

The family had been to the police area command and many police stations in search of the 22-year-old who hails from Uga town but had not met with any luck whatsoever.

Another victim, Bishop Gilbert Obinwa narrated the sordid story of how armed police officers stormed his residence in Okpo village,

Ekwulobia, Aguata LGA at noon on April 24, 2022.

The officers ransacked the entire compound, saw Gilbert’s son holding a phone, and angrily asked him who he was calling.

When the policemen started manhandling him, the sister ran to the scene but the policemen ordered her to get back or they would instantly send her to meet her ancestors.

The policemen who came in a black Sienna bus and a red Spider vehicle arrested him and his apprentice and two other persons.

The daughter tracked their movement up to Nteje, but when the family went there in search of the arrested ones they were told that the place was a dangerous no-go area.

Gilbert Obinwa’s wife has since lapsed into depression.

Shedrack Nwafor, on his part, suffered unlawful detention, torture and intimidation in 2014. He was serving as a PTA teacher when the policemen came to arrest him.

He was not around but the policemen came back two days later and accused Shedrack of being a kidnapper and a thief.

He went with a lawyer to the police but they ignored the lawyer and took him to the back of the station and locked him up.

The police took him to the village for a thorough search and also to where he lived in Awka and made more searches, discovering nothing.

They searched his MTN line to no avail before he was detained for nine days until people from his community came to stress that he was not a criminal. He was reluctantly set free.

Shedrack revealed that people were being hung upside-down, and not a day passed without a detainee being killed and taken away.

Comrade Ernest Nnoli informed all that youths were mostly the victims of random police arrests, and remarkably the police always made use of local informants.

There was a revealing case on January 5, 2023 in Ukpor when one informant called a friend to come to drink with him only for the victim to be arrested by the police.

The community told the informant that if anything happened to the victim, the townspeople would make sure that the informant would meet with death. The victim was immediately released.

Christian Aguigwo narrated the case of a lad who had come back from Lagos suffering from a diabetic sore on the leg.

He was arrested in Amaenyi, Awka and taken to Enugwu-Ukwu until his barrister brother came to help arrange his release.

The police men are fond of saying: “Are they not your fellow Igbo people who are giving us information to arrest your brothers?”

Christian also narrated the case of the unlawful arrest and extortion of a final year student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka who was taking his final exams.

The poor lad had been tagged a criminal until Christian went to Central Police Station (CPS), Awka to make sure he was released.

May the great work of RULAAC and PSPF partnership under Comrade Okechukwu Nwaguma on policing the police for the people endure!

Uzoatu is a Journalist and Poet

13

APRIL 1, 2023 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

INSIGHT

One too many...

Addressing Rising Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases

C

ardiovascular disease (CVD) which affects both men and women over the age of 50 years of age (although, men are more likely to develop it earlier than women), is one of the many health problems that affect the circulatory system, consisting of the heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries. According to WHO, this disease claims an estimated 17.9 million lives each year and has been discovered to be the leading cause of death globally.

CVDs are a team of issues that consists of coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, peripheral artery disease, pulmonary embolism, congenital heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. Coronary heart disease is a type of disease in which the heart arteries fail to supply the heart with an adequate supply of oxygenated blood.

A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot from the leg that travels to the lung and stays there. This can cause problems with blood flow and oxygen stages in the lungs. Cerebrovascular diseases are divided into ischemic disease and haemorrhagic disease, and this subdivision of cerebrovascular diseases that develop suddenly and cause neurological damage is called stroke. About 85% of strokes are caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain. Rheumatic heart disease is a condition in which the heart valves have been permanently damaged by rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that can affect many connective tissues, especially in the heart.

Moreover, the cardiovascular disease problem in Nigeria’s population is exacerbated by as many factors as the Ozone population. Ozone which is also recognized as “lung tanning” is a gas and a major air pollutant in photochemical smog. This is caused by the interaction of sunlight with large amounts of uncontrolled- volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by burning fossil fuels.

These pollutants are emitted through motor vehicles, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, biomass and fossil fuel burning facilities. There are also several underlying determinants of cardiovascular disease, which encompass poverty, stress and genetic factors.

According to WHO, heart attacks and strokes are usually acute events and are mainly caused by a blockage that prevents blood from flowing to the heart or brain. The most common reason for this is

a build-up of fatty deposits on the inner walls of the blood vessels that supply the heart or brain. Bleeding from a blood vessel in the brain or from blood clots can cause strokes.

Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that occurs in foods. Trace concentrations of trans fats occur naturally, but large amounts are found in some processed foods. Cardiovascular disorders have been shown to be among the predominant causes of sudden unexpected natural deaths in Nigeria, while hypertensive heart disease and intracerebral haemorrhage are the most prevalent individual causes. Hypertensionrelated disorders are mainly seen in people between 40 and 70 years of age, while infectious disorders are more commonly seen below 40 years and above 70 years.

The majority of these deaths occur outside the hospital setting because most persons do not have access to primary health care programmes for early detection because of the high cost of this medical care.

As a result, many people are often diagnosed late which in turn makes the situation more difficult to

manage.

It is no news that the risk of cardiovascular disease increases with age in both men and women and unfortunately this disease is very expensive to treat, given that people do not have sufficient money for hospital bills and thereby they might result in managing their health inappropriately and this little carelessness is what results in rapid death. For this reason, it is important to consider providing health medical insurance to manage this condition. Providing this insurance will also encourage the patients to visit the hospital when a crisis strikes. Because health insurance offers benefits such as cashless hospitalization, coverage for pre-existing conditions, day-care expenses, no medical test required and a higher coverage amount, also, there is this peace of mind a person can feel knowing that medically they are covered. It is also comforting to ill- health persons when they know that they have access to affordable care and health information to keep them healthy.

Claire Nwachukwu, Centre for Social Justices (CSJ), Nigeria.

Smart Zelenskyy T H E SAT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE DEPUTY EDITOR AHAMEFULA OGBU MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

V

olodymyr Zelenskyy just prevented Vladimir Putin from making further demands on Ukraine strictly on Russia’s terms after the Crimea imbroglio. Soon, and very soon, Russia and Ukraine will be doing battle as “peer adversaries.” I won’t be at all surprised if Zelenskyy announced sometime in the year that “Ukrainian Military High Command-Patriots of the Fatherland” have “successfully tested a substantial yield nuclear device” at some mystery location.

Who says Zelenskyy wasn’t a smart “comedian?”

Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State

14

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

NEWS Five Feared Killed as Police Confront Protesting IPOB Members Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

CHANGE OF BATON… L-R: Outgoing minister, Restoration Area, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Festus Adepetun, wife, Deaconess Esther Foluso Adepetun, and successor, Pastor David Kolapo Shitta-Bey, during the official handing over ceremony at the church’s premises in Ejigbo, Lagos...recently

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15

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 1, 2023

RingTrue 08054699539

Yemi

Adebowale

yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

Anguish, Economic Loss of Naira Scarcity

E

ntering banking halls across beloved Nigeria remains problematic, no thanks to over three months of Naira scarcity.

Because of several failed Point of Sale (POS) transactions, I was compelled to attempt this very difficult task last Monday after weeks of avoiding the war zone. Attempts to log in the complaints via the bank’s customer care telephone lines failed. I arrived my branch somewhere in Ikorodu (Lagos State) to find scores of nervous customers locked outside. Some had arrived as early as 5 a.m.

It was big war outside. The bank would not allow the customers in because the hall can’t accommodate them. Besides, the managers were afraid the customers could become rowdy inside. I could not move near the security gate because of the mob. I eventually called my account officer who sent the necessary form to me outside. I filled it and left dejected. I was told it would be resolved, maximum, seven working days.

The customers locked outside of that branch on that day should be over 300.

Aside those desperate for cash, the majority had card issues, particularly failed transfers and botched POS transactions. Accounts are debited without crediting receivers, transaction hanging for days/complete lack of access, expired or faulty ATM cards, and the rest of them. Accessing the banking halls to resolve these issues have become almost impossible. Nigerians are going through hell with no hope in sight.

Many were pushed to the digital payment platforms because of endless Naira scarcity. Unfortunately, these platforms are performing sub-optimally, largely because of congestion. Banks can’t cope with the sudden surge. citizens are consequently left in a quandary. Our clumsy CBN forcefully pushing Nigerians into digital banking pretends to be unaware that payment digitisation is a basic challenge that will take time and require a methodical approach, especially to address inclusion and capacity issues. The CBN has decided to ignore the fact that there will be hitches in online payment platforms of banks because of the rapid rush in transactions. Failed electronic transactions are causing so much

Traumatised Nigerians now sleep in banks in a desperate search for cash, with the hope that they will be the first on the queue when the banks open in the morning. Many are still buying Naira with Naira at ridiculous charges.

Yes, buying Naira with Naira, the first time in all our years as a country. Also, it has never happened in any part of the world. This is the shoddy level this country has degenerated in the last three months. It is happening in a country supposedly with a government pain to Nigerians. Besides, petty payments are still done with cash in developed climes.

So, what nonsense total digital payment is the CBN trying to enforce on Nigerians?

Back to cash scarcity. Traumatised Nigerians now sleep in banks in a desperate search for cash, with the hope that they will be the first on the queue when the banks open in the morning. Many are still buying Naira with Naira at ridiculous charges. Yes, buying Naira with Naira, the first time in all our years as a country. Also, it has never happened in any part of the world.

This is the shoddy level this country has degenerated in the last three months. It is happening in a country supposedly with a government. What I discovered in the last few days is that the CBN no longer has new banknotes to push out. The apex bank obviously did not print more than N300 billion after seizing about N3 trillion from Nigerians.

What about the old notes they promised to push out? Even when President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN reluctantly decided to obey the Supreme Court on old Naira notes, the quantity being pushed out is inadequate. The Supreme Court plainly in an interim injunction on February 8 ordered the suspension of

the February 10 Naira swap deadline, and also directed the continued use of all the old notes, but Buhari refused to budge. If this had been done, this country would not be in this cash crisis.

Rather, our President went on air on February 16 to invalidate the old N500 and N1000 notes, returning only the old N200 notes for a few weeks. What lawlessness!

When the apex court delivered its final judgement, ordering Buhari to ensure that the old notes circulate alongside the new notes, it took our President another 10 days before obeying the judgement. What is happening now is that the old notes are not being pushed out by the CBN in necessary quantity. Even when they eventually do this as promised, the cash crisis will persist. Why? This is because the CBN has created a big “cash hole” that is now very difficult to cover. So, cash supply will be very difficult to stabilise.

Now, everybody wants to take their cash out of banks because of the ugly experience of the last three months. Whatever cash Nigerians are able to withdraw are being kept at home. Nobody is entering banks to deposit cash again.

President Buhari and the CBN governor,

The Silly Bill Seeking to Legalise Cannabis

F

or three members of the House of Representatives - Benjamin Kalu representing Bende, Olumide Osoba representing Abeokuta North and Miriam Onuoha of Okigwe North – All they have to offer Nigerians in appreciation of the over N9 million they each take home monthly, are bills seeking to legalise the cultivation, sale and recreational use of Cannabis (Marijuana). They talk about the medicinal and commercial strengths of this deadly plant with so much passion. These three lawmakers spent over two years pushing for this useless bill until it was stepped down in the House this week due to lack of support.

Kalu, Onuoha and Osoba did not deem it fit to push bills that will solve the multitudes of problems in their constituencies.

What a country! They are only interested in fighting for the legalisation of Marijuana, a psychotropic drug that goes straight into the brain and more often than not, destroys it.

A bill for the decriminalisation of Cannabis cultivation, sale and use. That’s what these guys want for this country. They also talked about controlled growing and usage. They say it will earn this country forex. Kalu, Osoba and Onuoha must be high on something.

These lawmakers pretend to be unaware

that so many young men and women, who thought smoking Marijuana was right, have ended up in mental hospitals. Scores of lives are still being destroyed daily by Marijuana across Nigeria.

Kalu, Onuoha and Osoba pretend to be oblivious that the negative effect of Marijuana outweighs the medicinal value. Yes, there are medicinal values from Cannabis, but these are not without alternatives. How can these lawmakers be talking about the commercial side of Marijuana? So, it’s good to make money at the expense of human lives? Economic benefits should not override health and social consequences. Well, other members of the House of Representatives refused to be consumed

by Kalu, Onuoha and Osoba’s baloney. They promptly stepped aside the bill. For me, the irrational bill should have been thrown out.

The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd.) aptly noted: “history will never forget those who stood with parents to protect them and their children from any legislation that would turn Nigeria into a nation of junkies and criminals, which would amount to taking a step forward and 10 steps backward. In the final analysis, drug abuse is indeed one of the factors fueling insecurity.

As such, Nigeria cannot afford to permit the

Gbajabiamila

cultivation, sale and use of the most abused illicit drug under whatever guise.”

Clearly, a bill for the legalisation of Marijuana is objectionable. Kalu, Onuoha and Osoba deserve all the tongue-lashing they are getting. They have by these bills shown that they don’t know why they are in the National Assembly. I would have urged the people in their constituencies to consider recalling them, even if they have less than two months to go. But it doesn’t work in this part of the world. So, let’s continue tongue-lashing these horrible lawmakers.

Godwin Emefiele should be ashamed of their roles in the cash crisis ravaging this country. The Naira redesign policy and implementation of the cash swap have been fatally flawed. It fell way short of universal standards. It was total nonsense that happened faster than I thought, providing no benefits to our people or the economy of this country, both of which have suffered substantial damage as a result.

Frustrating disruptions of trade and payments continued nationwide for most of this week due to this shortage of new banknotes. Rural areas are also affected, particularly farmers. These people rely heavily on day-to-day cash transactions. In beloved Nigeria, a large number of farmers now watch helplessly as huge farm produce go bad because buyers have no cash and producers have no bank accounts.

I was trembling while reading the report of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on the crisis. According to AFAN, many farmers, particularly those in remote villages, have switched to trade by barter in order to feed, following the cash crunch.

The association’s latest findings indicated that farmers have lost about N30 billion to the Naira crisis, and that all arms of the agricultural sector are suffering as a result of the painful CBN policy.

AFAN’s President, Kabir Ibrahim, said though the poultry sector was among the worst hit, other producers of agro-commodities are suffering unending losses: “The policy caused so many hiccups, a lot of poultry farmers have thousands of crates of eggs that are unsold due to the cash crunch. The losses were not only incurred by egg producers. The producers of vegetables, grains and almost all facets of the sector are affected. Some farmers could only feed through trade by barter.

That is how bad the situation is in some remote areas.

“Vegetable farmers who want grains, exchange their vegetables for the grains. Also, farmers of grains exchange their products for some other crops, all in a bid to survive the hardship that was caused by the lack of cash for several months.”

Clearly, the suffering and economic loss caused by Naira scarcity is unparalleled. The Nigerian economy is struggling and has lost trillions of Naira to this cash crisis due to the deceleration of economic activities, crippling of trading activities, stifling of the informal economy, contraction in the agricultural sector and the paralysis of the rural economy. Millions of citizens have slipped into poverty as a result of the disruptions and tribulations caused by the cash crisis.

Last Tuesday, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero aptly cautioned the CBN on the cashless drive, saying, “People have suffered so much as a result of this policy. This is because people were rushed into it. So now that you are here, we advise that you should look into the challenges people are facing and consider reviewing the implementation process. Take it easy and steady for people. You cannot do this in a haste, people need time to accept and get acquainted with the policy…

You should also consider people in the rural areas because they are suffering the most during this hard time.”I am not sorry to say that the Naira redesign policy is absolutely unnecessary. Buhari and Emefiele decided to play Russian roulette with our lives. The way forward is very simple: The CBN should massively push out the old Naira notes to end the pain in our land. In addition, massive printing of new Naira notes should commence immediately. This is the only way the old notes can be smoothly withdrawn in December.

16

SATURDAY APRIL 1, 2023 • T H I S D AY

17

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

Ferdinand Ekechukwu - 08035011394 Email: ferdi_adthisday@yahoo.com

SHOWBIZFLAIR

Davido’s ‘Timeless’ Arrives, Set for ‘A Timeless Night’ Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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Stakeholders Brainstorm on Proposed Creative Industry Bill Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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‘Jagaban, The Last Man Standing’ Comes to the Big Screen Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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18

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

SHOWBIZFLAIR

Tosin Clegg

07062816737 e-mail: tosinclegg@hotmail.com

Adetokunbo Shittu

I Believe in Living Peacefully with Everyone Adetokunbo Shittu is a film and theatre producer, director, actor and writer. He started his directing journey at the Dramatic Arts Department, OAU, where he graduated with a degree, majoring in Play Production and Directing, over a decade ago. Since then, he’s handled productions like Femi Robinson’s Ajantanla sponsored by the Lagos State Government for the Centenary Celebration of Nigeria in 2010 and Gboyega Àjàyí Bembe’s Towo Omo for the Lagos@50 celebration and a lot more. Shittu talks to Tosin Clegg about movies, his production style, early days as a film maker, his new movie and lots more Growing up in Ilesa grew up in Ilesa, Osun State and the Egungun festivals gave me my earliest exposure to performances. I and my immediate elder brother mingled freely with the itinerant audience until our feet could go no further. The TV serial, $UHOX DOVR ÀUHG P\ ]HDO DQG DVSLUDWLRQ WR RQH GD\ EH SDUW RI WKH WKHDWUH DQG ÀOP EXVLQHVV My family later had to relocate to Zaria, where I started school afresh because of some policies I was too young to understand. Zaria then was cosmopolitan, with people of varying ideas and orientations from across the country mixing freely with the native population, with little or no frictions. Being a time when entertainment for kids was so limited, I and my little friends had time to play outdoors, inventing our games and sports. The only available television station was the NTA, which opened at 4pm, with children’s cartoons programmes.

These formed the mental template of our creativity. Our note books became drawing pads on which we visually retold our dramatic scenes from the last cartoon episodes we watched. Soon, we began to make cutouts of these characters and playing them against light sources to observe their shadows at Night. This we soon developed into a shadow theatre where we charged tokens from little friends not so artistically inclined. I was an animator and made quick bucks for goodie-goodie then. That childhood experience formed the bedrock of my pursuit of visual DQG SHUIRUPLQJ ÀOP DUWV DW ERWK VHFRQGDU\ and tertiary levels of education, and made me an outstanding director during my days at the University.

cuts the workload by half. As a producer too, the last point above also relates to getting good scripts from levelheaded writers to start with.

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Life is a mirror of who we are Life is what we make out of it. It is a mirror of who we are and doesn’t exist independent of us as individuals and a people. A Yoruba adage says “it’s they who keep their space clean that HQMR\ WKH EHQHÀW RI WKH FOHDQ VSDFHµ 7KDW IRU me, encapsulates life and its essence. I believe in living peacefully with everyone regardless of GLͿHUHQFHV 6WULIH DQG QHHGOHVV FRPSHWLWLRQV EULQJ about tension and negativity. I bring this to play in my works. A calm and friendly atmosphere, ZKHUH RͿHQVHV DUH TXLFNO\ DGGUHVVHG KXPDQHO\ and put behind, fosters productivity and a free ÁRZ RI SRVLWLYH HQHUJ\ :H FDQ DOO OLYH DQG work peacefully even when we’re not the best RI IULHQGV :H MXVW QHHG WR EH KXPDQH My artistic sensibilities I developed artistic sensibilities right from a tender age. Many attribute this to my being left-handed but I’ve seen more creative persons who are right-handed. The TV serial, Arelu, which was an action-packed dramatisation of the tension between the good and evil element of society also captivated me a lot. Fast forward to Zaria, a cosmopolitan city then, and boiling SRW IRU FXOWXUDO GLYHUVLW\ IXUWKHU LQÁXHQFHG P\ love for the arts. At Zaria, my little friends and I, had fun playing outdoors and developing our own sports and entertainment.

From this little beginning I discovered my ÁDUH IRU WKH DUWV YLVXDO DQG SHUIRUPDWLYH ZKLFK made me opt for drama in the university. The Dramatic Arts course at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife has an aspect dedicated to ÀOP DQG PHGLD DUWV ZKLFK H[SRVHG VWXGHQWV IURP OHYHO WR ÀQDO \HDU WR WKH WKHRULHV DQG SUDFWLFH RI ÀOP DQG PHGLD DUWV 7KLV ZDV D good springboard for me to hone my skills

0\ PRGHUQ ÀFWLRQDO GUDPD My recent production, Atunwa is a modern ÀFWLRQDO GUDPD $QG LW ZDV LQVSLUHG E\ WKH story of a mythical character, Eleko Idere, in Irosun Meji of the Ifa corpus. She reincarnates in the 21st century Lagos Island suburb to pay RͿ WKH GHEW RI .DUPD VKH DFTXLUHG LQ KHU SDVW life as a successful merchant. The story exposes human interconnectedness and the inevitability RI UHZDUGV IRU HYHU\ DFWLRQ ,W UHÁHFWV WKH $IULFDQ concept of life, death and rebirth.

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Adetokunbo Shittu

ZRUNLQJ RQ VWXGHQW ÀOP SURMHFWV DQG ODWHU RQ freelancing with First Abisogun and Magnum Entertainment Network. This coupled with my training as a director, which was my major, PDGH IRUD\ LQWR ÀOP SURGXFWLRQ DQG GLUHFWLQJ stress-free for me.

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lot. So, what more can one wish for?

African traditions I derive inspiration from the richness of African RUDO DQG SHUIRUPDWLYH WUDGLWLRQV :H KDYH VR much to tell and show the world, stories that are uniquely ours and are worth telling. The Asians, Americans and Europeans are telling theirs, even tapping freely into our archives, ZK\ QRW XV" , VHH JUHDW ÀOPV FRPLQJ RXW RI Nigerian production houses already and this is exciting and inspiring. My creative process entails, FRQFHLYLQJ LGHDV WKDW DUH EHQHÀFLDO UHVHDUFKLQJ deeply on them, making wide consultation and exploring partnership opportunities where necessary. Getting a good team to work with also

A democratic production style 0\ VW\OH RI SURGXFWLRQ LV GHPRFUDWLF .QRZing what to expect from every member of the team, but allowing them to function maximally.

My work, as a director, is to help deliver the production from the realm of concept, like a midwife does a baby, it’s not to help father the FKLOG , RIWHQ SUHIHU VW\OL]HG QDWXUDOLVP DQG , guide all the creative imputs towards this end.

My works are exceptional for their content and vivid execution, allowing various elements to communicate parts of the message.

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Along the line, an actor friend advised me to switch to screen since it is part of my training. , MRLQHG D <RUXED ÀOP SURGXFWLRQ FRPSDQ\ where I ghostwrote, acted and provided unpaid advice on directing and shots conception. Acting LQ D VFHQH RU WZR LQ WKH ÀOP ZDV DOZD\V P\ reward, but it helped me acquaint myself with the SURFHVVHV DQG SOD\HUV LQ WKH ÀHOG , FDPH DERXW growing my brand by putting my nose to the grind, studying, learning, observing, providing VHUYLFHV ZLWKRXW DQ\ KRSH RI JUDWLÀFDWLRQ 7KLV eventually worked together with my artistic ÁDUH ZKLFK , KDG FXOWLYDWHG VLQFH FKLOGKRRG

I derive inspiration from the richness of African oral and performative traditions. We have so much to tell Meaning of good acting Good acting, in my view, is seamless interand show the world, stories that are uniquely ours pretation and portrayal of a role in such a way that both the actor and the character merge and are worth telling. The Asians, Americans and up into one new believable entity. The basic of an actor, in my view, is one, which Europeans are telling theirs, even tapping freely into element LV GLVFLSOLQH :LWK WKDW DQ DFWRU ZLOO DFTXLUH the skill-set, physical, mental and vocal means RXU DUFKLYHV ZK\ QRW XV" , VHH JUHDW ÀOPV FRPLQJ of character interpretation, and would be easy to direct. Distribution is another very technical slippery challenge, but a good production out of Nigerian production houses already and and VWDUWV ZLWK D JRRG VFULSW 7KH 1LJHULDQ ÀOP has improved drastically in this area, this is exciting and inspiring industry but good scripts can’t be too much.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

19

INTERVIEW Peter Mbah

We will Provide Water in Enugu in 180 Days Governor-elect of Enugu State, Peter Mbah speaks to Arise News about his plans for the state. Excerpts

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n your acceptance speech, you called on Ndi Enugu to come together because you are all brothers and sisters and that there will be no difference between Nsukka and Nkanu, referring to the circumstances during the election. Can you expatiate?

Thank you Reuben. First of all, we thank and congratulate Ndi Enugu for making us their preferred choice because in the build up to the campaign and the electioneering process, we took a bold view of what Enugu state could achieve if we work together as a people and the message resonated with them. So, what we did immediately was to begin to put those campaign promises into actionable plans and policies. We said to Ndi Enugu that we want to grow the economy in a manner that Enugu state has not witnessed in the past and obviously that means that there are specific things that we must do and we have to be deliberate about it. We also said to Ndi Enugu that we want to kick poverty out.

And there are a couple of promises that are specific because we didn’t just make vague promises, but those that are tied to timelines so our people can hold us accountable. We know that Ndi Enugu are expectant. We are already working to ensure that we accomplish those promises. And in doing that, we have invited all my brothers that we ran the race with. The truth is that we may be running on different political platforms, but we are united in our passion to ensure the growth and development of Enugu State; and that is why I have extended the Olive branch to them.

A lot of people are still commenting on what happened regarding the Nsukka and Nkanu East results. One of your opponents and candidate of the Labour Party has said he would go to court to retrieve his stolen mandate. It was a neck and neck, just 3,000 votes difference. What do you say about all of that is going on?

I believe that the democracy we practice has bequeathed us with that infrastructure of ventilating our views. It is very difficult for anybody in any race, who lost to give credence to the process. We believe that the voices of Ndi Enugu have been heard and they have shown their preference, which is us. We believe that our message resonated with them and that is the message of “Tomorrow is here”.

Let’s talk about some of the things you are promising the people of Enugu State because even in that your acceptance speech, you had so much packed into it. You said you wanted to build economic zones, schools and make sure that there is water in every part of Enugu metroplis within 180 days; and that the incoming administration is in a hurry. In your manifesto, you said you wanted to raise the GDP from the value of $4.4bn to about $30bn in a space of eight years. Isn’t that a bit on the ambitious side? And before you joined us, we were discussing the public debt profile of the states and the federal government. Enugu seems to be heavily indebted. Where will the money come from?

Great point. The truth is that we acknowledge that going by our current revenue model, there is just no way on earth that those campaign promises can be met, which is why we said from the onset that we are going to disrupt the current revenue models, positively. We recognize these current revenue models that focus on a rent-seeking approach where we have to rely on revenues from the Federation Account, come back here and spend it. And of course, the money we collect and the fraction

Mbah

of it that we get from the internally generated revenue is hardly enough to optimally intervene across all the critical sectors of our economy, hence we said that we will have to tweak our revenue model and unlock our rural economy, for example, and explore the resources we have in the state, which we haven’t done in the past.

And there are a number of things we have to do in our revenue part of things. We didn’t just come out and make those promises or pick them from the blues. They are numbers that we have carefully reviewed and numbers that we know that based on the disruptions that we are going to witness in our revenue model, we are able to basically grow our economy, not just by the government activities, but also making sure that we provide both the policy and the physical environment to attract private sector investment. So, that growth side we talked about in our GDP, you are going to see that coming from both the public and the private sector.

Again, if you look at what we have done, we have not quite optimally addressed our rural economy like agriculture, which only contributes a fraction to our GDP. But that fraction again we believe is suboptimal. So, what we need to do is to essentially look at ways to scale up our activities in the agricultural sector. But beyond just the production, we are going to process, package, market, and export. There are a lot of value chain we want to tap into in the agriculture sector. For us, the agriculture

will be migrated from just being a sector to agriculture and agro-allied industrial sector because there are a whole lot of economic activities that we have not tapped into in that sector and we are going to be looking to do that. We also have the energy and the mineral resources sector, which is something new.

We have not explored all the mineral resources we have in the state and also the energy resources. So, those are the things we will be looking at. But above all, we believe that we want to make Enugu State the preferred destination for investment, business, for living.

As I have always said to people, businesses are not father Christmas. They are obviously interested in returns on investment. So, they want the environment, both the policy and the physical environment to be friendly; and because of my background as a private sector person, I know how to work with investors and prospective investors and businesses and attract them here because we know how to help them de-risk the investment flow.

Are you going to be raising bonds and raising more debts because you simply do not have the money. Your IGR was about 26 billion, which is disproportionate to what you get from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, which is about N60bn. So, in a year, you get about N86bn or N90bn or thereabout. But you have so much to do. So, the first question is: Are you going to be raising a bond, how soon

So, once we are able to address the production, which LV WKH PDMRU FKDOOHQJH ZH KDYH DQG LV D TXLFN À[ WKDW we want to quickly tackle and that is why we said to Ndi Enugu that in 180 days, you are going to have water. That for us is a low hanging fruit. There are other low-hanging fruits. We want to convoke a diaspora and investment forum within the 100 days of coming to power. We are also going to get on with making sure that those things are in place, including the infrastructure, needed to attract investments are in place

are you doing it, sought of like a way to give you a headroom or leeway to be able to do some things. You talked about the fact that you wanted to provide water that has been moribund for so many years in 180 days. How much is that going to cost you to start with?

Rufai, I am glad that you are going into data, which is something you do frankly if you want to craft strategies. You want to look at the trend and perhaps the growth pattern and maybe also get data on the economic side of things. But the truth is that if we were to do a trend analysis, our growth pattern over the years, we cannot be talking about a seven-fold. If I told you that I will do exactly what we have always done and expect to grow the economy seven-folds, of course that will not be true. But we actually want to disrupt innovatively the current revenue model. We are going to get a head start because there are a couple of things we want to do. In terms of bond, that is not our immediate focus.

Attracting investors will require you providing some basic infrastructure. If you look at the way we have explained the things we want to do in the agric sector, we said we want to attract commercial farmers and to do that, it means that we have to create that environment for them to come. Most times, the hurdles that these commercial farmers have are the friction they have with the communities and we have said we are going to address that by making sure that we legislate the harmonization of these rural lands and ensure that we parcellate them and get them ready and build access and feeder roads so that these commercial farmers will find it attractive.

In terms of even the current farmers we have in the state, we also want to enhance their skills and provide them with extension services. These are the things we are going to do that will disrupt our revenue model.

The current revenue model that focuses on the FAAC and IGR may have served their maximum potentials. So, in order for us to do the things that we have promised our people, we have to rejig that model and attract funds from these sectors.

We made the promises of getting water to our people in 180 days based on a robust study that we have done in the water resources sector. This current government has already been able to access funding from the French Development Agency.

They have already been able to draw a part of that and a lot of things that are required, for example, the engineering, GIS mapping, procurement of the mechanicals and electrical components of the supplies of the water schemes that we have, have all been done. So, some of the items that we needed to essentially frontload, like the pumps that we need. First of all, it is important to note that we have already existing water schemes in Enugu like the Oji River and the Ajali schemes, which can produce over 130,000 cubic meters of water to Ndi Enugu and our daily consumption today is about 100,000 cubic meters. So, what are the problems?

They are largely with the mechanicals and the electricals, the M&E. Those mechanical components, we have constantly gone back and forth on repairing, which has not quite served us. Some of those pumps may have lived out their lives. So, what we want to do is to order them and make sure that they arrive here in good time. They are items that are built to specification. So, we are going to get them and we are confident that as we did promise Ndi Enugu that in a 180 days, which is our pessimistic case.

Read full interview online - www.thisdaylive.

20

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

AUTO WORLD

Bennett Oghifo 07052343083 Email:bennett.oghifo@thisdaylive.com

TIPS OF THE WEEK 5 Symptoms of a Broken, Clogged, or Stolen Catalytic Converter

L-R: Executive Vice President, Vehicle Sales (Sub-Saharan Africa), Isuzu Motors International, Mr Geoffrey Mulandi; Deputy President, Mr Hirokazu Maruyama; and Managing Director, Auto, Kewalram Chanrai Group, Mr Anil Sahgal, during a press conference on the visit of Maruyama to Nigeria ...recently

Isuzu Plans Increase in Nigeria’s Light, Medium Duty Truck Market Share

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suzu Motors International has said LW SODQV WR LQFUHDVH LWV PDUNHW VKDUH in Nigeria this year, in the light duty DQG PHGLXP GXW\ WUXFN VHJPHQWV RI WKH PDUNHW 'HSXW\ 3UHVLGHQW ([HFXWLYH 9LFH President, Isuzu Motors International, 0U +LURND]X 0DUX\DPD ZKR ZDV RQ D ZRUNLQJ YLVLW WR 1LJHULD VWDWHG WKLV GXULQJ D PHGLD FKDW DW WKH R΀FH RI LWV UHSUHVHQWDWLYH in Nigeria, Koncept Autocentre, a subsidiary of Kewalram Chanrai Group.

Isuzu is leveraging its excellent technology and its customer-tailored products to achieve their goals in Nigeria, he said, adding that Isuzu is strong in Nigeria in the commercial VHJPHQW VXFK DV OLJKW GXW\ WUXFNV DQG PHGLXP GXW\ WUXFNV DV ZHOO DV GLHVHO HQJLQH JOREDOO\ 0DUX\DPD VDLG ´7KH 1LJHULDQ DXWR PDUNHW is unique. We feel it has a lot of prospects and we want to stay here and be part of the development.

“We are here to promote new Japan-made GLHVHO HQJLQH WUXFNV 7KLV ZLOO KHOS RXU FXVWRPHUV· business to grow; reduce their operational cost and downtime. It will also be the contribution of Isuzu to the economy of this country.”

According to him, Nigeria being the largest economy in Africa with also its large population

has a lot of opportunities for the auto business.

He said, “In 2023, our target is to increase RXU VKDUH LQ WKH 1LJHULD PDUNHW PRUH WKDQ what we did last year.

“We started promoting the 3-S philosophy last year; we are continuing with that this year. The 3s stands for Sales, Service and Spare parts.”

In line with the directive of the Isuzu management, he said they had set up a team with the 3-S to support its dealers’ operations, adding, “We want them to be more service-oriented in order to assist the customers. We send our team out to meet with the customers’ needs.”

He said Isuzu would contribute to the growth of Nigeria’s economy through its unique technology and would focus on local assembly of vehicles, through Koncept Autocentre, because RI LWV KXJH EHQHÀWV “For us, local auto assembly is important.

This will help to develop the local industry fast.

Through this, we will have a lot of component/ VSDUH SDUW VXSSOLHUV LQ WKH ORFDO PDUNHW 0RUH employment opportunities will also be created and it will boost the national economy,” he said.

The Isuzu team, he said, assisted its Nigerian partners to set up the assembly plant operation, DGGLQJ ´:H DOVR DVNHG WKH WHDP WR WUDLQ VRPH VSHFLDOLVWV WKDW ZLOO FRQWLQXH WR ZRUN DW WKH plant for production. We provide an assembly

manual that could be easily understood by WKH ORFDO ZRUNHUV µ +H VDLG WKH\ ZHUH VDWLVÀHG ZLWK WKH SHUformance of their representative in Nigeria, .RQFHSW $XWRFHQWUH VWDWLQJ WKDW WKH ÀUP GLG well last year, and that it could do better this year.

“Our management is determined to provide quality commercial vehicles to contribute to the world economy and help our customers’ business to grow well; our strength in diesel-engine vehicles will contribute to the economic growth and serve our customer needs immensely.”

6SHDNLQJ RQ WKH ,VX]X·V SODQV WR LQFUHDVH LWV PDUNHW VKDUH WKH ([HFXWLYH 9LFH 3UHVLGHQW 9HKLFOH 6DOHV 6XE 6DKDUDQ $IULFD 0U *HRͿUH\ Mulandi said, “Our strategy is to get closer to our customers. This will enable us to hear their voices and we are able to address their needs. We have promotional activities that enable us to reach out to the customers and get to understand them better.”

On what is unique about Isuzu products, Managing Director- Auto, Kewalram Chanrai Group, Anil Sahgal said, “At Isuzu, we want RXU SURGXFWV WR VSHDN IRU XV 7KDW LV WKH UHDVRQ WKDW HYHU\ GD\ DQG QLJKW WKH\ ZRUN RQ QHZ product development to meet the customer needs.

Coscharis Renault Delight Golfers at Uche Okpuno Golf Tournament

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oscharis Motors Plc, the exclusive representative of the iconic French automobile brand, Renault vehicles in Nigeria gave members and IULHQGV RI WKH ODWH *ROI EXͿ &KLHI /XNH 8FKH 2NSXQR a memorable experience of the French brand during the recently held memorial tournament at the Ibori Golf and Country Club in Asaba, Delta State.

The major highlight of the tournament was the sponsorship of the Hole-In-One prize of a Renault Duster donated by Coscharis Motors Plc. This expectedly raised the bar of the tournament with both the Pros and others that participated aiming at going home with the star prize but unfortunately, it was a tall order for any of the golfers that participated to hit the hole in one but ultimately it still created the real fun of the game for all the participants.

In his words, Abiona Babarinde, General ManDJHU 0DUNHWLQJ &RUSRUDWH &RPPXQLFDWLRQV Coscharis Group who represented the sponsor, he said “our sponsorship of this tournament with a Renault Duster for the Hole-In-One prize amongst other donations made towards the success story of the tournament was to ÀUVW DQG IRUHPRVW FHOHEUDWH D OR\DO FXVWRPHU of Coscharis in his lifetime in person of late

General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Coscharis Group, Mr. Abiona Babarinde (3rd from the right) presenting the winning Plaque to the overall winner, Mr. Collins Oseh (4th from the right) while other executives of the Club look on &KLHI /XNH 8FKH 2NSXQR DQG WR GR WKDW LV WR NH\ LQWR KLV IDYRXULWH VSRUW RI *ROI ZKHQ KH ZDV DOLYH /LNHZLVH WR EH DEOH WR FUHDWH DQ avenue for his family, friends and well-wishers WR FRPH WRJHWKHU IRU D WRXUQDPHQW OLNH WKLV LQ

his honour to unwind with the game of golf and at the same time have the opportunity to aspire to own any of the brand new Renault vehicles on display aside the one for the star prize.”

Car maintenance is a complex topic as PDQ\ GLͿHUHQW FDU SDUWV QHHG WR EH NHSW in good condition, or else drivers will face issues down the road. This is true for catalytic FRQYHUWHUV WRR ZKLFK DUH RIWHQ WDONHG DERXW in terms of theft but play a vital role in a FDU·V H[KDXVW V\VWHP +HUH DUH ÀYH V\PSWRPV GULYHUV VKRXOG ORRN IRU DV WKH\ FDQ SRLQW WR D EURNHQ RU HYHQ VWROHQ FDWDO\WLF FRQYHUWHU One of the symptoms that drivers should DOZD\V EH ZDU\ RI LV WKH FKHFN HQJLQH OLJKW and according to Auto Evolution, this may be a sign that the car’s catalytic converter LV IDXOW\ 7KDW VDLG WKH FKHFN HQJLQH OLJKW can mean a lot of things, as several other issues can trigger it.

For example, the gas cap being loose may trigger it, and so can faulty oxygen sensors.

5HJDUGOHVV GULYHUV VKRXOG WDNH WKH FKHFN engine light seriously and bring their vehicle LQ ,I GULYHUV JHW D FKHFN HQJLQH OLJKW DORQJ with other symptoms that point to a catalytic converter problem, the issue is clear.

2. Loss of power Another common symptom of a clogged RU EURNHQ FDWDO\WLF FRQYHUWHU DFFRUGLQJ WR AutoZone, is the loss of power. This usually happens because of a buildup of carbon or grime in the catalytic converter. This issue is why drivers who care about getting the most performance out of their car should routinely maintain their car’s catalytic converter by NHHSLQJ LW FOHDQ DQG FOHDU 3. Dark exhaust smoke That being said, catalytic converters’ primary purpose is pollution control. It does that by cleaning up the exhaust from the car’s engine so that the exhaust released into the air is cleaner than before. This is a big reason why catalytic converters can get clogged up, and it’s DOVR ZK\ GDUN H[KDXVW VPRNH LV D V\PSWRP of a faulty or missing catalytic converter. +RZHYHU GDUN H[KDXVW VPRNH GRHVQ·W happen exclusively because of faulty catalytic FRQYHUWHUV 'DUN H[KDXVW VPRNH FDQ KDSSHQ because of a rich fuel mixture, which can be caused by several other problems, such as IDXOW\ R[\JHQ VHQVRUV 5HJDUGOHVV GDUN H[KDXVW VPRNH LV JHQHUDOO\ EDG IRU WKH HQYLURQPHQW VR GULYHUV VKRXOG WDNH WKLV V\PSWRP VHULRXVO\ 4. Increased fuel consumption Another symptom of a faulty catalytic converter is an increase in fuel consumption.

Once again, this happens largely because the catalytic converter is clogged. Since it’s FORJJHG VRPH H[KDXVW JHWV VWXFN LQ WKH engine, and that can reduce the car’s fuel economy. As a result, cleaning a clogged catalytic converter can improve a car’s fuel mileage. There’s also the option of replacing an old CC with a new one.

That being said, removing the car’s catalytic FRQYHUWHU VKRXOGQ·W DͿHFW WKH FDU·V JDV PLOHDJH so this symptom is not a symptom that the catalytic converter was stolen. On top of that, this symptom may be tough to spot since most drivers don’t pay that much attention to their car’s real-world fuel economy.

5. Rotten smell (sulfur or eggs) A symptom that’s easier to spot is a rotten smell, such as sulfur or rotten eggs. This happens because of the chemicals that a FDWDO\WLF FRQYHUWHU XVHV +RZHYHU OLNH PDQ\ other symptoms, this isn’t a symptom that’s exclusive to catalytic converters.

A car may have this type of smell for several reasons, so it’s important to narrow down where the odor is coming from. However, even if the rotten smell comes from the exhaust, it might still be caused by other issues, such as the engine overheating.

(Source: MotorBiscuit)

21

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

AUTO WORLD

Naomi Campbell Becomes Co-creator for Launch Communication of First BMW XM

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he launch communication for the new BMW XM (fuel consumption combined: 1.7 1.6 litres/100 km; combined power consumption: 34.5 - 33.0 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 39 - 35 g/km accordLQJ WR :/73 GDWD DFFRUGLQJ WR 1('& WKH ÀUVW high-performance automobile with M HYBRID drive will be launched by BMW together with VWURQJ LQGHSHQGHQW DQG VHOI FRQÀGHQW FUHDWLYH partners. First and foremost: Naomi Campbell, model, actress, cultural innovator and one of the PRVW LQÁXHQWLDO ÀJXUHV RQ WKH LQWHUQDWLRQDO IDVKLRQ scene over the past four decades. With her as co-creator, the worldwide communication for the market launch of the BMW XM under the motto “Dare to be You” focuses on a new dimension of VHOI FRQÀGHQW SUHVHQFH H[SUHVVLYH OLIHVW\OH DQG DVVXUHG LQGLYLGXDOLW\ 7KH ÀUVW %0: ;0 QRW only makes an extravagant design statement, but is the pioneer of maximum performance ZLWK HOHFWULÀHG GULYH DW WKH VDPH WLPH “The BMW M slogan ‘Dare to be You’ immediately appealed to me because it describes H[DFWO\ WKH FRQÀGHQW DWWLWXGH WKDW LV QHFHVVDU\ for progress and positive change,” says Naomi Campbell. With her strong sense of aesthetics and design, she will be instrumental in the

upcoming projects. As a further highlight of WKLV FRRSHUDWLRQ D RQH RͿ PRGHO RI WKH %0: XM designed by her will be presented in the course of 2023.

A timeless icon and committed champion of social change, Naomi Campbell belongs to that select circle of catwalk stars for whom the term supermodel was invented. To this day, the British-born daughter of Jamaican parents uses her presence at international fashion shows to advocate for more diversity in the fashion business. That is why she is still considered to be a pioneer for the next generation of emerging talents in the creative and fashion scene.

Parallel to her career on the catwalks of haute couture, Naomi Campbell has long been successful as an actress, designer and entrepreneur.

In addition, she supports a variety of charities, including its new EMERGE initiative to promote the creative talents of tomorrow, which in 2022 focused in particular on the next generation of cultural talent on the African continent, as well as UNESCO. “Naomi Campbell is a woman who goes her own way unswervingly and has become not only a unique supermodel but also a fascinating personality,” says Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President Customer and Brand BMW. “There are few people who can identify with the motto ‘Dare to be You’ as strongly as she can.”

Naomi Campbell and BMW XM launch

Kia Reveals EV9 Groundbreaking Bold Design, Authentic SUV Character

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ia Corporation has revealed full images of the exterior and interior design of the Kia EV9, its first three-row electric flagship SUV, which encapsulates bold styling and sophisticated elegance inside and out. The Kia EV9 represents a pivotal step forward in the company’s journey towards becoming a sustainable mobility solutions provider.

The bold and confident visual presence of the EV9 is inspired by Kia’s ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy, which harnesses the creative tension generated by the divergent values of nature and modernity to deliver a harmonious whole. Kia’s designers have fused a unique combination of sleek, sculptural shapes and assured, assertive geometry to deliver a strikingly contemporary yet gracefully serene SUV. “The Kia EV9 breaks new ground, aiming to

redefine standards for design, connectivity, usability and environmental responsibility,” said Karim Habib, Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Center. “The Kia EV9 offers customers an exceptionally high-quality proposition and a fresh EV perspective in the family SUV sector. This new vehicle typology provides instinctive experiences and excellent comfort for not just the driver, but all occupants, through innovative use of space, technology and design.”

Exterior design: paving new paths for future electric SUV design Guided by the brand’s ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy, Kia’s designers strive to create vehicles with unprecedented visual appeal. In particular, the ‘Bold for Nature’ pillar of the ideology, which inspires the combination of elements from the natural and material worlds, has played a key role in forming the exterior design of the EV9.

The Kia EV9

Beware of Railroad Crashes Did you read my first write-up on the above subject?

In my introduction, I listed out some of the causes of train crashes I listed? As I wrap up my focus which was prompted by the Lagos train/BRT bus crash that caused the nation pains and trauma, I wish to bring you up to speed with other causes. They include negligence, human error, reckless pedestrians and drivers, mechanical failure, speedy trains, defective tracks, derailments, unprotected railroad crossings, stalled cars on the track and .Suicides Last week, I prioritized some especially human, negligence as well as speedy trains. Speed I reminded you is a killer not just on the road with cars but also with trains. Just like with cars, the faster the train the worse the consequences should there be a crash and higher the likelihood of derailment. In the case of defective tracks, this could be caused by foreign objects left at the site where the train passes.

Derailment was cited as one of the reasons for the train crash. Last week I cited the famous train crash.

It was the Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment in France which occurred in 1917.This crash caused the death of more than 700 people. Till date, it is the greatest rail disaster in French history. It was caused by brake failure.

For the sake of space, I will stop with unprotected railroad crossings which I am confident will form part of the report being expected from government on the Lagos train/BRT bus crash. It is said that about 80percent of crossing lack adequate warning devices such as lights and gates where more than half of all railroad crashes occur. If you care to know, poor visibility, distraction, intoxication as well as malfunctioning signals are others.

So what tips are there to prevent train crashes from occurring? I know I gave you some tips last week but if you allow me I will run through the summarized tips before continue with the details of what I started.

The first is always assume a track is in use. This assumption will guide you never to stop on a railroad track. It will equally guide you from entering a train tunnel or crossing where you can get trapped without

SAFE DRIVING with Jonas Agwu

amnipr, mcipr,mprsa,arpa Assistant Corps Marshal Zonal Commanding Officer Federal Road Safety Corps. escape if a train enters. You must never drive around lowered gates even where it appears the gate is stuck.

It is advisable you find another route. You must never walk down or play on a train track, and please never try to race or beat a train. Just like the safe rules for using the road, always look both ways before crossing a track and understand that trains are wider than the track they’re on. And for those with suicidal tendencies, remember that it can take a train traveling 55 mph up to a mile to come to a complete stop.

To be specific, always yield the right of way to the train which the BRT driver failed to do hoping he would outrun the train. The train cannot yield to you. More than half of all motor vehicle-train collisions occur at crossings equipped with the automatic signals.

It’s because some drivers choose to drive around the gates or through the flashing red lights because they believe they can beat the train, or they assume a stopped train has activated the signals or the signals are malfunctioning.

The third which I hear the BRT driver also fell short of, is, never ignore active warnings at crossings.

Locomotives are huge;17 feet high and 10 feet wide.

As a result, they appear to be traveling much slower than we think when viewed from a slight angle at the crossing. The combination of the size and angle create this illusion. The parallel lines of the rails converging toward the horizon contribute to the illusion and fool

our minds into thinking the train is farther away than it actually is. It is virtually impossible to accurately judge the speed of a train when these combinations of illusions are present.

The fourth which the BRT driver was guilty of as testified by a witness is that trains will arrive at a crossing faster than you anticipate. One in four crashes occurring at highway-rail crossings takes place when vehicles run into the side of the train. Often, it’s because the vehicle is traveling too fast for conditions, such as darkness, rainy weather or fog. Many drivers “overdrive their headlights.” This means driving too fast to be able to stop in the distance illuminated by your headlights. By the time drivers see the train at the crossing, it’s too late to avoid the crash. In other instances, there may be high levels of noise in the vehicle, which distracts the driver from noticing the train’s warning devices.

The fifth which is applicable to even road transportation safety is to look and listen when you see advance warning signs indicating a rail-highway crossing. I don’t know if the there was one but the plea by passengers was enough advance warning sign which again was ignored by the driver. Drivers who pass vehicles when approaching a highway-rail crossing run the risk of a collision at the crossing and this was exactly what happened in Lagos. The vehicle being passed may obstruct a clear view of the tracks, or vehicle speed while passing may be too great to stop in time.

Sixth, don’t get trapped on railroad crossings. Many vehicles get trapped on the crossing, between other vehicles, and end up getting hit by a train or are abandoned by drivers just before they’re destroyed.

Seven, before starting across the tracks, be sure there’s room to get completely across. Many crossings are on a surface higher than the roadway. Shifting gears with a manual transmission while going across this raised surface may cause the vehicle to stall on the tracks. If your vehicle is ever stalled or trapped on the tracks and a train is approaching, quickly get yourself and all other passengers out! Don’t try to take any other

items with you.

When the train strikes the vehicle it will send flying metal and glass ahead of and outward from the locomotive. Many people have been seriously injured and even killed because they ran the wrong direction. When running away from a vehicle stuck on tracks, run away from the tracks at an angle in the direction of the approaching train.

If a train is not approaching when a vehicle is stuck on the tracks, be sure to get yourself and all other passengers out of the vehicle and to a safe location. At crossings, there are signs with a toll-free number to call the railroad directly and warn them of stalled vehicles or other problems at the crossing.

When crossing has more than one track, don’t try to cross immediately after the end of the train passes -- there may be another train approaching on the second track. Many crossing crashes have resulted because of impatience or inattentiveness at multiple-track crossings. You will always know how many tracks are at the crossing by observing a sign posed under the cross buck. Directly below the cross buck is a sign that indicates the number of tracks present if there are multiple tracks at the crossing.

6WD\ RͿ UDLOURDG SURSHUW\ DQG VWD\ VDIH 6RPH people believe railroad tracks are public property.

Railroad tracks, railroad service roads, and other railroad right of way are often used by joggers, hikers, people walking their pets, or as a pathway to ride motorcycles or other all-terrain vehicles or a wide variety of other activities. The danger with these activities on or near railroad tracks is these people are concentrating on their own activities not a train! Many joggers wear headphones and cannot hear a train warning horn. Motorized vehicle noise also drowns out the locomotive horn. Many people who do not hear the warning fail to escape the danger.

More importantly, railroad tracks, service roads, and right of way are private property and only persons authorized by the railroads can be on that property.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

22

MARKET PLACE with Omolabake Fasogbon... 08155131874

L-R :Deputy Registrar, Operations, Michael Umogun; Registrar/CEO, Mrs.Taiwo Olusesi; President/Chairman of Governing Council, Taiwo Owokalade; Chairperson, Publicity Committee, Lynda Onefeli; and Member, Publicity Committee, Mrs.Yvette Okwesi all of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria(ICSAN) during her quarterly media parley in Lagos...recently

L-R: Managing Partner, LP/Conference convener, Olumide Babalola; Managing Partner, Alliance Law Firm and keynote speaker; Uche Val Obi, SAN and Judge of High Court of Lagos State, Justice Ibironke Harrison at the maiden edition of ‘PrivCon Nigeria’ conference held in Lagos... recently

Heineken Stresses Responsible Drinking with New Campaign Lager beer brand, Heineken has restated its commitment to ensuring moderate consumption of its product, as it urged consumers to drink responsibly. &RUSRUDWH $ͿDLUV 'LUHFWRU RI 1LJHULDQ Breweries Plc., Sade Morgan explained that the organisation recently partnered with Oracle Red Bull Racing in an attempt to further drive home its advocacy campaign tagged, ‘When you Drive, Never Drink.’’

She said, “Our relationships with

Oracle Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen are all part of our strategic intent to use our association with racing and by default driving, as a platform to share our ‘Enjoy Heineken Responsibly’ message.

“This message is relevant to all of our consumers irrespective of the sport they are most passionate about. We admire the steadily growing passion for F1 in Nigeria and we are excited to have this partnership with the

current F1 champion to deliver our responsibility message.”

Morgan said the organisation will continue to leverage opportunities to communicate and reiterate the brand’s message of responsible drinking.

“As you are aware, we currently sponsor the UEFA Champions League and recently brought the trophy to Nigeria as part of the UCL trophy tour.

We also sponsored the Lagos Fashion and Design week. We will continue to

engage with our Nigerian consumers as we have done over the years.”

Heineken recently disclosed that it had dedicated 10% of its marketing budget to drive the responsible consumption campaign so as to encourage healthy lifestyle through responsible consumption.

It informed that it will be partnering with world’s most exciting sporting and music events to also ensure that the campaign spreads.

OrganisationsTasked to Prioritise Jumia to Bridge Digital Awareness on Data Security Divide with Initiative Experts have stressed the need for businesses to take data privacy issue with seriousness and promote awareness on the emerging sector.

The experts declared this at the maiden edition of Privacy and Data Protection conference tagged, ‘PrivCon Nigeria’ which held at Muson centre, Lagos, recently.

Organised by Olumide Babalola LP, the conference gathered privacy professionals, regulators, policymakers, end-users and other stakeholders in the privacy and data protection industry to discuss factors stunting sector growth and way out.

According to the Convener and Managing Partner, Olumide Babalola LP, Olumide Babalola, while data protection had gone global, it is still very passive in this clime because of the poor exposure given to it. +H LGHQWLÀHG ODFN RI DZDUHQHVV HGXFDWLRQ and weak regulatory enforcement as factors DͿHFWLQJ WKH VHFWRU “This is why we have put the conference together to identify some of the present and IXWXUH VHFWRU FKDOOHQJHV SURͿHU ZRUNDEOH VROXWLRQV and also create a platform for stakeholders to

network”, he said.

The programme also featured high-level panel discussions centred around the theme of the conference, “Building Blocks of Privacy and Data Protection Practice for Nigerian Business Community: The Stakeholders Role-Playing”.

During one of the sessions, Associate, Templars, Victoria Oloni charged organisations to build a culture around data security so as to prevent DQG PLWLJDWH WKH HͿHFW RI EUHDFK DQG YLRODWLRQ “Firms must strive to create awareness and WUDLQ DQG UHWUDLQ WKHLU VWDͿ RQ GDWD SURWHFWLRQ in their own interest,” she said.

Admitting that data breach is unavoidable, Senior Associate, Advocaat Law Practice, Lazarus Kalu said organisations can prevent it or mitigate WKH HͿHFW E\ EHLQJ SURDFWLYH He said, “companies must understand any data collected from the point of entry to the exit to be able to fathom and assess the risk of possessing. With this, they can have an idea of risk impact and adopt the best security measures ahead. These measures can be in form of acFHVV FRQWURO HQFU\SWLRQ ÀUHZDOO DQG DQWLYLUXV amongst others.”

Electronic commerce platform, Jumia has restated commitment to bridging digital gap amongst tech consumers, as its declared open 2023 edition of ‘Tech Week’ campaign.

The initiative aimed to ensure that consumers were able to access authentic tech devices such as mobile phones, accessories, TVs, computers, cameras and video games, amongst others. $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH &KLHI ([HFXWLYH 2΀FHU of Jumia Nigeria, Massimiliano Spalazzi, the campaign which will come to a close by $SULO RͿHUV DOO FRQVXPHUV QDWLRQZLGH DQ opportunity to upgrade their tech devices for less from renowned brands like samsung, tecno, binatone and scanfrost,amongst others.

He added that the programme was designed to enable every device user, irrespective of their economic class access quality and original gadgets.

He said, “We believe that everyone should have access to quality products at competitive prices, and we are committed to making this a reality. By partnering with leading brands to provide our consumers with access to the

latest tech devices, we hope to help bridge the digital divide and empower more people to achieve their full potential.

“Consumers can be sure to have their tech needs met during this campaign. At Jumia, we remain committed to providing the best shopping experience to our consumers across the country.”

On his part, E-Commerce Operation Manager, Oraimo Technology Limited, Alex Liu stated that Oraimo is partnering with Jumia so as to connect with the objective of the initiative in the interest of consumers.

He said, “Through this collaboration, we are GHWHUPLQHG WR EULQJ DPD]LQJ RͿHUV DQG GHDOV to our customers and ensure that they have access to our high-quality products. We are excited to work alongside Jumia to provide our customers with a seamless shopping experience and build a lasting relationship with them. Together, we are committed to delivering the best products and services to our customers, and we look forward to a successful partnership with Jumia.”

ICSAN Urges Review of Cashless NCC Marks Consumers Rights Day, Policy Implementation Opens Enquiries Desk in Airport The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), has urged federal government to see to the review of the implementation process of cashless policy as a matter of urgency.

The institute which commended the economic motive of the policy decried it ways of implementation, noting that there was need for its handlers to return to their drawing board to adjust delivery process.

President of ICSAN, Mr. Taiwo Owokalade while addressing the press in Lagos, recently, maintained that already, the intention of the SROLF\ WR WDPH LQÁDWLRQ DQG PRS XS FDVK LQ circulation has been defeated, thus, raising public skepticism. +H VDLG WKDW WKH HͿHFW RI WKH SROLF\ KDV DOWHUHG trust in the banking sectors and would require government to roll out new initiatives to restore

SXEOLF FRQÀGHQFH He said, “There is nothing good about a policy WKDW LV D NQRFN RQ EXVLQHVVHV DQG LQÁLFWLQJ VXIfering on the masses. It is no gainsaying that the implementation of the policy is not proper and thorough and something must be done urgently. A lot of businesses have packed up because they can’t access cash while many have been pushed into unemployment. There is need to return to the table as quickly as possible to amend the entire process.”

On ICSAN expectations for the incoming administration, Owokalade said emphasy should be paid to policies that will improve electricity supply, mass transportation and petroleum supply.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law the amended constitution allowing states to license, generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

As part of activities to commemorate 2023 International Consumers Rights Day, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has opened a Telecom Consumer Assistance, Resolution and Enquires (TELCARE) Centre in Abuja Airport.

According to the commission, the public concourse at the Terminal C of the Nnamdi Azikwe International $LUSRUW $EXMD LV WKH ÀUVW EHQHÀFLDU\ RI TELCARE Centre.

Speaking on the initiative, Chairman, Board of Commissioners of NCC, Prof.

Adeolu Akande said the launch of TELCARE was the beginning of the helpdesk project expected to adorn some airports and other similar public locations across the country.

He said the centre was one of NCC’s

strategies for expanding the channels of engagement with telecom consumers.

Akande stated that the project was D GHOLEHUDWH HͿRUW E\ WKH FRPPLVVLRQ WR amplify its commitment to promoting the interest of consumers using various engagement strategies and initiatives to protect, inform, and educate telecom consumers.

He also thanked Management of the Federal Airport Authority Nigeria (FAAN) for its support towards the successful establishment of the TELCARE desk.

He explained that the platform would be an additional channel for consumers to make enquiries and allow the commission to provide advocacy on consumer concerns as well as create awareness on commission’s activities.

23

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾APRIL 1, 2023

POLITY

Gov Abiodun’s Betrayal, Triumph and Karma Femi Ogbonnikan

G

overnor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State is the man of the moment. Having emerged winner of the just concluded governorship election conducted on March 18, 2023, his victory celebration is still resonating among the supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State. Similar to the event of the 2019 general elections, the party witnessed open disloyalty and anti-party activities both from within the allies of the governor and his foes alike. He would eternally be thankful to God for the triumph of the truth over falsehood.

What the eye does not see, they say, the heart does not grieve about. Unsuspecting of their innate wicked disposition, Abiodun reposed trust in some of his supposed close friends to guide his flank while electioneering lasted. But for no other reason other than self-preservation motive, they stabbed him in the back, plotted his defeat, and surreptitiously entered into an alliance with the opposition for them to have a field day.

In the end, the wish of the people ultimately prevailed. The Ogun State’s sophisticated electorate smelt the rat but refused to be swayed by the offer of the N10,000 worth of credit cards each used as bait to buy their conscience. Instead, they turned out in their numbers to cast their ballots for Governor Abiodun. With their unflinching support, he secured his second term re-election clean and square despite the treachery of his political adversaries who were masquerading as his friends.

Like the previous one before it, the contest was largely a three-horse race between Prince Abiodun as the incumbent governor and the candidates of the opposition PDP, Oladipupo Adebutu, and his counterpart in the ADC, Biyi Otegbeye.

They both fought fiercely to wrest control of power from the APC-led government but only one party and its candidate can win at a time. Abiodun won with a narrow margin of 13, 915 votes, polling a total of 276,298 votes as against 262,383 votes scored by his main challenger, Adebutu.

And that, of course, makes it a sweet victory. Sweet victory because all the plots orchestrated by those of his trusted allies to make him lose the election eventually came to naught. But for the people of a good conscience, who in appreciation of the sterling performance of his administration in less than four years, decided to stand firm on the side of the truth by overwhelmingly voting for continuity, the story would have been different.

In all of this, what the sad experience has taught us is that when those in public office do the right things, they can be rest-assured that they will find a favoured refuge in the ordinary people whom they elected to serve.

Once again, Governor Abiodun has earned the mandate of the good people of Ogun State for his second term to nurture his transformative agenda into fruition. As a trustee of the

Abiodun people, it is now left for him to administer the trust with absolute prudence, probity, and public spiritedness. He would do no less because the spirit behind his inclusive governance style is to ensure transparency, openness, and accountability in managing the affairs of the State.

On Tuesday, precisely, March 21, 2023, Governor Abiodun was received with a heroic welcome when he paid a thankyou visit to his Iperu-Remo country home. For the first time, he voiced out his pains for the betrayal of his supposed allies and thanked them for playing the ostrich.

While speaking at a reception organized in his honour at the garage area of the town, Governor Abiodun attributed the victory at the governorship and state assembly polls to the Almighty God and the people for standing solidly behind him during the election. However, he could not hide his emotion about the betrayal of his friends. He had this to say: “This election has shown that man will always be a man and God will forever remain God. In the course of this election, people we thought were our friends betrayed us, people stabbed us in the back, and many disappointed us.

“I know that even those who called themselves our friends did not vote for us, but that does not matter anymore because the election has come and gone, and God has given us victory.

“But we should not be surprised because even in the Bible,

our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed despite all the good things that he did. We should be grateful to God because, despite all the betrayals and all, God still granted us victory. “ Betrayal is one of the most painful things that we have all experienced at one time or the other in our lives. And as the governor has rightly noted, the saddest thing is that it never comes from your enemies but from your friends. People often say that politics is a dirty game. Politics is not dirty; it is the character of those who play politics without decency and decorum that makes it a dirty game. There are many reasons why people break trust. One thing to note is that a betrayer is not loyal to you and you probably must have given him space to hit you by trusting him. So, instead of blaming him, blame yourself and learn a lesson. If you blame him, there is a possibility of creating more mess in your mind. Therefore, when it happens, the best way is to learn your lessons and move on. Abiodun has since moved on.

The election has been fairly and keenly contested and the winner has emerged. Now, having secured a renewed mandate, the onus is on him to rally the support of all the stakeholders to achieve the vision of his administration for the greater interest of the greatest number of the people. The starting point is to recognize the right of every citizen who has a genuine desire to render public service and aspire to lead the state and to as well accept the essence of opposition as an integral part of the tenet of a multi-party democracy like ours. It is by so doing that we can grow our democracy and increase the political space to enhance effective participation in politics. It is not only that opposition is necessary for good governance but also offers the electorate a variety of choices among contenders. Anything to the contrary is another road to dictatorship and tyranny of leadership.

There is no gainsaying that the successful outing of Governor Abiodun in this election is a hard-fought victory that is worthy of celebration. But this is not a time to gloat. There is no time for such frivolity because there is so much work to do and time is of the essence. In any case, he doesn’t believe in gloating over victory. In his usual magnanimity, he has said that he has forgiven those who knowingly and unknowingly wronged him in any way. He has also extended an Olive branch to his co-contenders, seeking their hands in the collective effort to reposition the economy of the state.

In his address to his audience at Iperu Remo, he explicitly stated that the renewal of his mandate was an indication that people appreciated what the administration had been able to achieve in less than four years in office, adding that “it is a call to work even harder for the people”.

Ogbonnikan wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun State Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

Narrowing Down Search for Next Speaker Olu Jacobs It seems fairly certain now that the Senate President for the 10th Assembly will come from the South-east or South-south, a Christian, to assuage the feelings of those who felt marginalised and to make the All Progressives Congress the party it always claimed to be, one that belongs to us all, irrespective of religion, region or ethnicity, one where every Nigerian may aspire to greatness.

With 57 Senators so far, the party has a comfortable majority in the Senate and because of the famous “cognate experience” rule which presumes that only ranking senators may vie for the office of the Senate President, the battle is going to be amongst the returning senators of whom there are half a dozen or so who fit the bill; a Christian from the South-east or, perhaps, the South-south, a leader in a previous assembly and a former governor.

What this means is that baring any seismic changes, the office of Speaker will be zoned to the North, possibly between the North-west and the North-central, mainly because the North-east already has the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima. This may well truncate the ambition of someone like Hon Mukthar Aliyu Betara, the current House Committee chairman on Appropriations who represents Biu/ Bayo/Shani/Kwaya Kusar federal constituency of Borno State. It is the same principle that has knocked off Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila who comes from the same Lagos State as the President-elect Bola Tinubu.

In the North-west, names like Sada Soli from Katsina State, Aminu Jaji from Zamfara State and Tajudden Abbas from Kaduna State, appear to be at the forefront of those vying for this office. The current Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase who is from the North-central, is a major contender.

In the end, nearly everything will depend on how the party chose to zone the offices and how it wishes to share the spoils among the six geopolitical zones. It is clear that both Tinubu and Shettima, former senators themselves, will be taking a more active role in the process - if only to avoid the debacle that saw Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Senator Bukola Saraki upset the applecart a few years ago when they

took the positions away from the chosen candidates of the party.

At the time, Tinubu was said to very furious and though he eventually got his men, Gbajabiamila and Senator Ahmed Lawan on the saddle in subsequent assemblies, it is doubtful if he would allow that sort of clumsiness to play out under his watch. It is clear that the North-west has some edge over the rest of the regions in this quest for Speaker and there is a more than even chance that it would provide the candidate for that office. First, the zone was able to provide the party, and thus the President-elect the largest number of votes during the Presidential and National Assembly election of 25th February, 2023.

But beyond that fact is a nebulous but nonetheless profound fact: in an election where the president elect was buffeted from all sides, harassed and harangued by almost every power block, the northern governors, led by Soli the formidable governors of the northwestern states of Kano, After gaining crucial diplomatic experience, Soli returned Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara in the persons of Ganduje, to Nigeria and was posted as Clerk to the Senate Committee Nasiru El Rufai, Aminu Masari and Bello Muhammad, on Foreign Affairs. Three years later, he resigned and joined Mutawalle, stood by him in plain sight, defending him at politics. Soli was first elected into the green chamber in 2007. every turn. Tinubu would certainly feel that he owes them In 2011, he became Chief of Staff to the then Speaker Aminu some political capital.

Tambuwal. He returned to the House in 2019 where he was So, while there is no shortage of quality in the 10th Assembly, these permutations may well have skewed the process chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources. This, in favour of some. One of these is Hön Sada Soli, the calm but his third term in the chambers and he is being prevailed upon to run for the Speaker of the 10th Assembly. highly influential member who represents Jibia/Kaita Federal His slogan, Better Together resonates with those who Constituency in Katsina State and is the current committee believe that the last elections was fractious and exposed the chair for Water resources. His name stands out in the House raw underbelly of our problematic union, our tendency to of Reps today because of the trust he elicits from colleagues and Assembly staff alike, but also as a result of his remarkable, revert to atavistic ethnoreligious groupings. The clear path available for us is to find ways to come together and heal by extraordinarily particular experience. agreeing that no part is more important than the whole.

A former civil servant who worked for a decade and a A man of great generosity who likes to walk the talk, Hon half in the National Assembly, clerking for committees in Soli is determined to make his campaign about experience, both the Senate and the House of Reps, he spent four years about issues and about competence, but even more clearly, at the Nigerian Mission in Washington as Special Assistant about unifying the nation through the efforts of the foremost and Minister Counsellor to Ambassador Jibril Aminu on the symbol of democracy, the House of Representatives. approval of President Olusegun Obasanjo through a Special Dispensation that is granted by only the president when a Jacobs, a former newspaper editor, wrote in from Abuja crucial need arises.

24

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾APRIL 1, 2023

POLITY NGO: Preventing Youth Vulnerability, a Collective Responsibility Sunday Ehigiator writes on a recent public enlightenment lecture on curbing youth vulnerability, themed, “Our Youth, Our Future” organised by Sisters in the Deen Foundation (SIDF) Orphanage Home in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development Olu Jacobs IJuvenile delinquency is described as the habitual committing of criminal acts or offences by a young person, especially one below the age at which ordinary criminality prosecution is possible. Every society often witness an array of gangs who have become nuisance to the society why the vulnerable ones have been left to fend for themselves. There are guinea cases of orphans who are left to their fate. But majority are ‘self- inflicted’ having been neglected by the parents who have failed in their parental duties.

In its second year, in 2002, SIDF was able to give voice to the voiceless sector of the society by educating 255 members of the public on the significance of social and economic inclusion of Orphans and Vulnerable Youth for the betterment of the society by extension the nation and the world at large.

This year, the management of the home collaborated with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development to educate the public about some of the causes of vulnerability and how to handle them to reduce the alarming increase of this social problem which remains a threat to attaining the peaceful nation we all desire. The second annual lecture, organized during the month of Ramadan, took place on March 25. The lecture paraded top Islamic Clerics, Moslem Faithful and top management of the home addressed the issues raised/ The SIDF Orphanage Home which was first set out as a “Truth Bearer”, is a platform consisting of Muslims Sisters with the aim of nurturing their faith and makes themselves better representative of true Islamic virtues. And having identified the needs of the orphans and the vulnerable, they decided to float an orphanage home which was officially commissioned on October 1st 2021. Over the last 16 months, the home has become a transformational center where orphans and the vulnerable in the society are molded.

In her opening remarks, Chairperson, SIDF Dr. Nurat Akinlabi Balalola said Baytu Shekeenah is a story of gratitude: “The SIDF emanated from the Truth Bearer Platform, where we motivate ourselves by sharing knowledge on how to forge ahead in life in line with Islamic virtue “We are here to address the menace of youth problem and finding solutions to it. Last year’s lecture was to educate people about the importance of social and economic inclusion for vulnerable but today is to address the problems with the aim of curbing it. We recognize the United Nations voice that no Sustainable Development Goals can work without peace.

“In addressing youth vulnerability, we also observed that most of the youth we come across, their trouble emanated from troubled homes and they become endemic to the society.

It is either one partner neglected the children or some can’t take care of their children because they are not financially buoyant. Even a single mother is going through a lot. This becomes endemic which turns to menace in the society.

So, we are collaborating with the government to see how we can reduce this to the barest minimum we can. We are not establishing just an orphanage home but we want to get involved, find solutions to the youth vulnerability and eliminate it.

In her speech, Chairperson, BoT of the Foundation, Hajia Rafat Sanusi commended her team for their dedication to this noble cause: “From the inception, when we got the approval

L-R: Chairman BoT, Sisters in the Deen Foundation Orphanage, Hajia Rafat Sanusi; guest of honour, Hon. Justice Sherifat Solebo; Chairperson of the Foundation, Dr. Nurat Akinlabi-Babalola; Dr. Islahudeen Sakahudeen; Guest Lecturer/Director General, Daaru Naim Academy for Sharia Science of Nigeria and lmran, Sheikh lmran AbdulMajeed Eleha at the public enlightenment lecture. to accommodate children in the home, we have tried our best.

We also have adult that we are sponsoring in the university.

We are proposing a permanent site in Epe to develop a massive all-encompassing building to take more and more children. Apart from the children in the orphanage, we are also working on how to take vulnerable children out of the street, how to secure them.”

“There is an adage that if you train a woman, you train a nation. If you are able to train or impact a group of vulnerable children to become somebody in life, they too will replicate themselves positively and, in the process, we will have a better society.” And on how the youth vulnerability can be prevented? She said family has a role to play: “Like a mother, it is a nuclear family that builds an extended family, that build the community then to the larger society. That is why we are focusing on the home. A child that is not well trained will later become a problem to the society and the multiple effect we affect all of us. So, it is a collective responsibility to stamp this problem out of our society.”

Corroborating her team, Welfare Officer of the Foundation, Hajia Bashirat Oladosu said it has been an eventful journey: “It hasn’t been that easy but we have been able to achieve a lot. We have touched a lot of lives and even reaching out to families. We are delighted that we have been able to take some children out of the street. We have some in the university; those ones are not resident. We have about 13 that have passed through us. Five of them have been re-united with their families.

“The situation of the youth in the country and globally is worrisome. The effect of the social media and all that. We need to create more awareness and those who are already on the street should be rehabilitee.”

While admonishing the participants to continue to be a good example to emulate, guest of honour, Hon. Justice Sherifat Solebo said the Holy Quran is very clear about the duty as parents: “Husband is the caretaker and protector of

his home.”

While advising participants, particularly mothers, Solebo said they should always be at the forefront for ensuring that their offspring are on the right track in the areas of education, which is the only liberator from the shackle of poverty.

In his remarks, Mr. Eyiowuawi Sikiru (Representing Director of Social Welfare, Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development), Mrs. Jaiyeola Oluwatoyin, commended the Foundation for putting together the programme. Sikiru believes parents all have one role or the other to play, because “the nation emanates from the family units which is a reflection of family setting.” He identified some major problems that have played significant roles in juvenile delinquency in the society. According to him, economic situation, social, family and political institutions have failed: “With the collapse of the economy, the parents are not often financially buoyant. And in running up and down, they neglect their roles.”

In his lecture titled, “Family Conflict Resolution: A Vital Silver Bullet to Addressing Increasing Youth Vulnerability” Director General, Daaru Naim Academy for Sharia Science of Nigeria and lmran, Sheikh lmran AbdulMajeed Eleha said youth menace in the society is beyond family setting.

Eleha said: “If you want good children, it starts from the foundation of who to marry and that is why it becomes imperative to carry out background checks on your prospective spouse morally, spiritually because this plays a key role in our life trajectory.”

Sheikh Eleha also emphasized the need to be spiritually grounded in the life race as Almighty Allah is the only one that can guide true and true. According to him, being a faithful Muslims goes beyond paying Sakat or being benevolent.

But how your conduct by exhibiting moral behaviour in front of the children will help and guide them.

Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

SAMBO MURITALA

APC’s Victory in Kwara is Dethronement of Saraki Dynasty

Olaoluwakitan Babatunde

The Special Adviser to the Kwara State Governor on Legal Matters, Ambassador Sambo Muritala, has said the victory of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara in the February 25t presidential and national assembly elections, as well as the March 18th governorship and state house of assembly elections, is a confirmation that the Saraki dynasty in Kwara State has been put to a ‘permanent end.’

The Saraki dynasty was pioneered by the Senate Leader in the Second Republic, the late Dr Olusola Saraki. It was sustained by his son, a former President of the Senate and a two-term governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki until after the 2019 general elections when APC in Kwara State roundly defeated the Peoples Democratic Party led by Bukola Saraki.

In a recent interview, Muritala said that Kwara State, being in a democratic dispensation, is not tilting towards a one-party state even though the governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq was re-elected, all the candidates elected for the National Assembly are APC members, and except one, other candidates elected for the Kwara State House of Assembly are all APC members.

He noted that Nigeria operates a multiparty system of

government, adding that it is impracticable to operate the one-party system in a multi-party democracy like Nigeria.

He, however, said it is not out of place to have a single-party dominant party.

Sambo, who is an Ambassador of the United Nation International Peace and Governance Council (UNIPGC), said the Kwara State Governor performed excellently during first term, adding that such a feat guaranteed his re-election during the March 18, 2023 governorship election.

He said, “The 2019 Otoge movement which dethroned the Saraki dynasty was like a mirage to the entire PDP household in Kwara State and the entire Nigerians. Repeating this victory in the just concluded elections is a confirmation that the dynasty has been put to a permanent end.

“I don’t see what is wrong in putting an end to the autocratic government of MO-FUN-E (I GIVE YOU) which has never defined the exact wishes of the people of Kwarans.

It is time to allow every other responsible dynasty in Kwara State to grow and determine how far they would go to protect the wishes of the masses.

“Governor Abdulrazaq, who was re-elected has given both the elected and appointed members of his team the necessary

opportunities and support to grow at our pace. This was not in practice during his predecessors.

“This country operates a multiparty system of government, and each political party has its own political goals and ideologies which determine their cultures and dispositions and their candidates. It is impracticable to operate a one-party system in a multiparty democracy like ours, but it is not out of place to have a single party dominating the affairs of government for as long as the electorates prefer the party and its candidates. “It took about forty years to dislodge the Saraki dynasty and this does not mean the dynasty did not experience opposition from its inception till 2019 when the dynasty was ushered out of the political arena. What determines how long a political party dominates the political space is its bond with the electorates (people).

“From what I am seeing with Mallam Abdulrazaq, he has the bond, and he is not likely going to lose such a bond any time soon. I know some political parties (oppositions) can equally wait behind to seize any available opportunity to dislodge the incumbent, but I assure them that their wait will definitely be endless.”

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾APRIL 1, 2023

POLITY

Uaboi: Visa Committed to Championing Women in Sport The Country Manager, Visa Nigeria, Andrew Uaboi spoke with the media during the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup Trophy Tour of Abuja. He shared insights on why the digital payment platform is sponsoring the forthcoming tournament that holds in Australia and New Zealand, Olawale Ajimotokan reports Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

What are your thoughts on VISA’s growing engagement with women’s sport?

T

he presence and visibility of women competing in sport at the top level helps to build gender equality, and the growing engagement presents an opportunity to shift the paradigm in sports and open more opportunities for women, on and off the field. Visa is backing FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and Team Visa athletes to support them as they make history, not only for their athletic feats, but for inspiring young people around the world to gain skills and experience that build success in all aspects of life.

Why has Visa sponsored the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023?

Visa has rich history of enabling powerful sporting moments. In fact, having supported women’s football for 15 years, in 2021, Visa became the first Women’s Football Partner for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. We believe in the power of sport to drive excellence, equality, and inclusion which is why we are committed in women’s football to level the playing field for women, on and off the pitch. Many of the same barriers that exist for women on the pitch exist for women off the pitch, so we see driving equality in the game as a strong metaphor for breaking down barriers for women everywhere.

Our role as the first FIFA Women’s Football Partner is part of a much larger investment in initiatives to help recognise the limitless potential of women around the world and open more opportunities on and off the field.

Our sponsorship of FWWC is a platform to champion female athletes, players, and the wider community of supporters. This investment helps cement our commitments to growing the sport at all levels, driving acceptance, increasing visibility, and future-proofing women’s football.

Why does Visa hold an interest in women’s football?

Visa strives to create a more open and inclusive world for everyone, everywhere. We recognise that sport and football can act as a powerful platform for promoting gender equality and play an important role in empowering women and girls. By supporting women’s football and its athletes on the pitch, we believe we can make a difference off

Country Manager, Visa Nigeria Andrew Uaboi (2nd from right) and Marketing Director, Visa, Mrs Seun Adaramola, (3rd from left) with Access Bank officers, during the FIFA’s Women’s World Cup Trophy Tour of Abuja…recently.

the pitch.

Is interest in women’s football on the rise?

Women’s sport is growing worldwide at an exponential rate and women’s football in particular. Last year’s UEFA tournament, of which Visa was also a sponsor, sold more tickets than any previous European women’s football tournament and had record investment to raise the game to the next level. It is clear there is also a lot of excitement and engagement with this year’s FIFA tournament, with half a million tickets already sold, and we’re excited to see this continue.

How much has Visa invested in this campaign and as a sponsor? How much will Visa invest in the future?

We don’t disclose the level of financial investment, but we are absolutely committed to championing women in sport in the long term.

Why does Visa sponsor the FWWC from a commercial standpoint?

Social impact and business goals are no longer mutually exclusive. Consumers are increasingly making decisions about where they shop based on their values and whether a brand aligns with those values. Our sponsorship of the tournament is part of our commit-

ment to embed purpose driven work that aligns with our mission to enable individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive by fostering access and inclusion. And we are driving greater returns at the same time — for our business, clients, partners, consumers and the communities in which we do business. We are one of the world’s most active sponsors of women’s football. We partner with many of the leading women’s football organisations around the world, striving to be a catalyst for change and contribute to the growing recognition of women’s football. Through our sponsorships, we are committed to levelling the playing field for women, on and off the pitch.

What is the significance of bringing the FIFA Women’s World cup Trophy to Nigeria and how can this inspire more women and girls to participate in sports?

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is one of the most exciting events in world football and we are thrilled to be a partner of the tournament. The trophy represents the pinnacle of women’s football, and we believe that this tour will inspire young girls to dream big and pursue their passion for the beautiful game, provide a platform to showcase the talent of African women in football and encourage the development of the sport. Our hope is that it inspires the next generation of female football stars. Visa will continue to support women’s football.

L-R: Chairman, STB McCann/Chairman of the Occasion, Sir Steve Bamidele Omojafor; Principal Consultant (NECCI), Nkechi Ali-Balogun; former Chairman, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Mr. Tony Agenmonmen; Chairman, Distinguished Performance Award Performance; Joe Femi-Dagunro; and the Publisher/CEO, The Industry, Goddie Ofose at The Industry Summit/Award 4.0, held in Lagos…yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Director, Market Doctors, Mr Taiwo Oshinusi, Deputy Registrar (Senate and Governing Brand), Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Dr. Salami Sule, Grand Prize Winner of Shalina Rising Dr. Elizabeth Folashade Taiwo, Chief Operating Officer, West Africa, Mr. Arun Raj, Business Operations, Shalina Healthcare, Secretary General, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Chikezie Kelechi and Head of Corporate Marketing & Key Accounts, Shalina Healthcare , Mr Folorunso Alaran, at the Grand Finale and Presentation of Prizes of Shalina Rising Stars Award Season 2 in Lagos recently.

DAN UKANA

L-R: Head, National Register for Conformity Assessment Practitioners (NRCAP), Engr Shehu Ibrahim Maik; Chief of Staff to Director General, Prof Olobayo Kunle; Director General/Chief Executive, Standard organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim; Chief Consultant, Top three Concept Nigeria Ltd, Engr Bode Oke; and Director Training Services SON, Engr Timothy Abner at the Standard organisation of Nigeria one day Stakeholders Engagement on NRCAP Scheme, Operational Strategy and Registration Requirements held in Lagos….yesterday

Students from Dream Catchers Academy, Lagos at the concluded STEM (Introduction to Robotics) Workshop organised by Montego Group in partnership with STEM METS Resources, to mark the International Day of Girls and Women in Science, held in Lagos...recently

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER APRIL 1, 2023

26

EXPRESSION

MEDIAGAFFES

‘Fire Outbreak’ Wrong

EBERE WABARA

T

HE first school-boy howler today is from Education Today Cover Page: “Affected candidates demand for certificates” ‘Demand,’ when used as a verb, does not admit ‘for’—only when employed as a noun.

“FMN Women Network promote (promotes) equality, inclusion with technology” “16 drug traffickers bag 156 years (years’) imprisonment in Lagos” “…under the ruling APC and people’s trust on (in) your ability to deepen dividends of democracy in Ebonyi State when sworn in.”

“Corporate beggars on prowl (on the prowl)” “Mr. V…always your most hyginic water” Quality water, quality life: hygienic (always spell-check) as we celebrate World Water Day! Corporate misspelling tragic!

The killing of 39 Borno fishermen: “As we had always advised on many occasions, government should adequately equip our soldiers, motivate them and unleash them against (on) these terrorists.”

“Here are the faces of some of the personalities at (on) the occasion.” “…the trust reposed on (in) by choosing you above every other contestant.”

The Guardian of March 26 nurtured some wrongs right from its front page: “Zambia (Zambian/Zambia’s) ex-president, Banda, to appear in court today over Nigeria’s oil deal, others” Yet another headline wrongdoing: “EU suspends sanctions against most Zimbabwe officials” World Report: Zimbabwean officials “Every year since 1999, each of the federal legislators or his or her (their)

constituency has been voted millions of naira to execute projects in the said constituency.” (The Guardian, March 26) “UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) is a smoke free (smoke-free) environment committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff.” “…immediately available to all Airtel pay as you use customers” (Full-page advertisement in The Guardian under review) Amazing data deal: pay-as-you-use customers Still on THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER: “…writes about the live (life) and times of one of Nigeria’s poet (poets), writer (writers) and public speaker (speakers)….”

“We are committed to empower (empowering) women build sustainable business” Both sound clumsy! For headline purposes, why not ‘We’re committed to women empowerment’—let the reader find out the specific area of stakeholder engagement. “…as fresh episodes of the enthralling reality show continues (continue) to end in gripping suspense.”

Daily Trust of March 21 played with lexical fire: “Mother, five children die in Kaduna fire outbreak” ‘Fire’ will always break out—it is not magical! Just end it at ‘fire’—away with ‘outbreak’ and ‘incident’! THISDAY of March 22 had a similar headline: “Army: Fire outbreak didn’t occur in COAS’ office” FROM MY INBOX “THERE is no doubt that Mr. Chimezie Agwu, one of your contributors, is about 35 years ahead of me in knowledge and wisdom. In his reaction last week to my

earlier submission that Nigerian writers should always hyphenate the noun ‘vicepresident’, he cited several works to drive home the fact that ‘vice-president’ should not be hyphenated. Thank God that Baba, in his typical self, was humble enough to accept that even at 70, he could still be taught. It should be noted that all the works cited by Baba are all of (North) American origin. May I refer Baba Agwu to page 1656 of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th and latest edition). If that is not enough, Baba should look up ‘vicepresident’ on page 1610 of the Concise English Dictionary. Space will not permit me to cite more. While ‘vice-president’ and ‘vice-presidential’ are hyphenated in these dictionaries, ‘vice chancellor’ and ‘vice admiral’ are not. Do we now say that these dictionaries are wrong?

Nigerian writers should, as a matter of principle, hyphenate ‘vice-president’. I insist!

Members of Wordsworth Fan Club have asked: ‘What is the impartial Ebere Wabara’s position on the Matter?’ Let him be the umpire! I am quick to add here that the inimitable Agwu, and Ebere Wabara, the indefatigable defender of lexical purity, are my role models. They teach me what I teach others. If my insistence that Nigerian writers should stick to British English is a wrong assertion, they should be held responsible. I rest my case.”

(Stanley Nduagu/08062925996) Stanley, the robust debate is still at the high court. When it gets to the apex court, I will intervene!

--Ebere Wabara “MY good brother, thank you for the nice job you have been doing. The problem is

Falling in Love with Nigeria (2)

I

s it possible to love a hateful, corrupt and villainous individual? Is it advisable to prolong a relationship steeped in suspicion, treachery, sabotage and all sorts of abuses? It is probably understandable that no one desires to stay long in a loveless relationship where the prospect of possible change or improvement seems a mirage. Of course, all the agonising scenarios posed above are common and possible in human relationships. However, dealing with the diverse and disparate inter-relatedness between individual Nigerians and their country, Nigeria is wildly beyond contemplation - an absolute nightmare.

Yet, we need to isolate ourselves even at the darkest periods of our existence as a community of peoples hedged by geographical encumbrance with our complex and distinct socio-cultural worldviews and dispositions…and seek to relate with our environment, irrespective of its foundational imbalance and storied iniquities. We have to perform this ritual in a way that shows that we have common sense, and we understand that in finding the natural attributes and goodness of the country we call Nigeria, is our road to redemption and revival.

We must find reasons to fall in love with Nigeria; and there are quite a lot of reasons to do so effortlessly if we dig deep within ourselves, to shun the Russian roulette of blame game, revisionism, nostalgic self hate, tribal slurs, ethnic parochialism, and such defeatist claims and counterclaims.

Let us look at the divine orchestration of Nigeria’s physical location at the trigger crux of the African continent, with a fairly elaborate kiss of the Atlantic Ocean. We often read of great and devastatingly destructive natural tragedies like hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and such tropical storms that terrorise coastal nations and even landlocked ones. For several decades,

we merely read about them, watch the extent of their devastations on televisions, and we sympathise effusively.

Sometimes we send relief materials without truly appreciating the concept of empathy with the ill-fated inhabitants of those countries, because we have been shielded from such calamities. In such moments, we ought to pause in our quarrels and complaints to thank God for placing us in Nigeria - the authentic God’s own country. How blessed are we to avoid such fates considering our state of infrastructures and our abject maintenance culture.

As if being a cocoon of safety is not enough, Nigeria is blessed with natural resources, that even in our profligate and senseless misuse, siphoning, misappropriation, and all sorts of looting, we are blessed with reserves of immeasurable resources buried deep under our feet that it may take several generations to exhaust; and even more overground yet to encounter. Apart from petroleum, marine life and fertile land, Nigeria is so embarrassingly blessed in solid minerals - mostly yet unexploited - all across its 36 states (and Abuja) that a list of it seems like a careless exaggeration! Let us tick a fraction: Marble, Tantalite, Bentonite, Gold, Cassiterite (tine ore), Columbite, Gypsum, Wolfram, Barite, Clay, Coal, Gemstone, Iron-Ore, Lead/Zinc, Limestone, Salt, Diatomite, Hydro-carbon, Kaolin, Lignite, Marcasite, Manganese, Uranium, Butyles, Amethyst, Asbestos, Flosper, Graphite, Hyanite, Mica, Rock Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Superntinite, Tentalime, Copper, GlassSand, Pyrochinre, Bauxite, Bismuth, Emerald, Fluoride, Molybdenite, Phosphate, Potash, Silica Sand, Soda Ash, and much more. (Source: Embassy of Nigeria, Hague).

With that impressive list of solid minerals languishing underneath us, all we need is a proactive, intelligent and committed leadership willing to work

hard and smart in the even development of the ‘nations’ that make up this country, and provoke emotional and patriotic attachments amongst its citizens. What is more, we have a huge population, loosely recommended to be over 200 million, which makes us a capitalist’s dreamland of unlimited manpower and buying power resources. With the right leadership, well thought-out action plans, and some sort of messianic zeal to jumpstart the creative and economic imperatives of dragging Nigeria into the global club of high-achieving prosperous countries, Nigeria will become a source of pride - a signpost of glory - that all shall be thrilled to not only claim as theirs, but work hard to be a part of its enduring success.

Our country is beautiful and enchanting - in spite of the discomforting hands our political leaders and interlopers have dealt us. We remain upbeat and ennobling, relishing every opportunity to showcase and celebrate our diverse cultures, traditional ceremonies, festivals, folklores, and such colourful representations of our civilisation and sophistication. We are a happy, hard working and industrious lot, with the right encouragement, progressive leadership, intelligently entrenched institutions, and an unyielding culture of self representation, and resolute democratic observance…a highly mobile and influential middle class shall re-emerge to energise the necessary socio-economic live wires.

When we venture into the nebulous zone of spirituality, there is a tendency to scratch the side of the head that inhabits the realm of doubt, unbelief, dissonance, and such incredulous elements. Yet, it is clear that there is some spiritual ambience, or at least, peculiar circumstance that makes our Nigerian parents produce offspring with mostly high levels of intelligence and irrepressible drive to succeed and thrive,

ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948

that those who commit these blunders do so out of ignorance, not as a mistake. So, even if they see your corrections, they would never understand the reason for the corrections. Please note that the moment you miss the rudiments from primary and secondary schools, you have missed it forever! That is why some professors write and speak very bad English language.

Keep trying. God will help us.” (Ojo Okafor Esq./08055217580) “YOU are doing a great job. Keep it up.

Though ‘nook’ and ‘cranny’ are countable, the approved British English language is ‘(every) nook and cranny’—not nooks and crannies. I know of civil society or civil society groups/organizations and not civil societies as published in Vanguard last week. Present-day grammar recognises ‘presently’ as both ‘soon’ and ‘now’—it’s authoritative. Check Dictionary of Contemporary English for instance. The Chambers Dictionary (2004) defines ‘presently’ as: at present; now; before long; in a while; directly; immediately; necessarily; inevitably; for the time being; at once. Equally, BBC English Dictionary, published by Rex Charles & Patrick Ltd., in association with Africana-FEP Publishers Ltd., agrees. Also note that ‘dual’ (a road) can function as a verb or noun. ‘Parastatal’ (agency) is an adjective and not a noun as Nigerians use it. Finally, Ebere, it may interest you to know full well that, just like Mr. Agwu, I also studied Latin.” (Kenneth Ugbechie) “MAY God bless you real good for your WORDSWORTH every Wednesday in Jesus’ name. Amen.” (Tony Agbache/08037114150).

COUNTERPOINT

FEMI

AKINTUNDE-JOHNSON fajalive1@gmail.com 08033622806- (SMS Only)

irrespective of the physical or mental situations and encumbrances. Clearly, our genetic pedigree, even without empirical experimentation, is arguably verging on the precocious.

Look around you with dispassionate clarity, you will notice that Nigerians can thrive and evolve stoutly in any location, profession or fields of human undertakings. All we need really is the right mix of hard work, perseverance, attention to details, humility to learn and unlearn, and thereafter, almost any Nigerian can touch the mountain tops of any profession, occupation or vocation - and erect his or her own tent thereupon.

This is a clarion call to all Nigerians to quit the self-degrading notion that “nothing good can come out of Nigeria”, or that “Nigeria happening to anyone” is some sort of tragic or horrific entanglement. Shorn of current and age long animosities, frustrations, disappointments and serial acts of unpatriotic and criminal nature at every level of the Nigerian entity, there are millions of other heartwarming acts and accomplishments of incredible Nigerians who have broken through the barriers erected by undesirable elements to stamp the name of our country on global platforms. Let us focus on the great acts and illustrious attainments of the best of us, and use that as “prayer points” for the survival, revival and the upliftment of our country.

Frankly, with evil, greedy, bungling and irredeemably corrupt leaders (and their ignoble enablers and sycophants) out of our way and lives, what is not to love about Nigeria?

3

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 24, 2011

GLOBAL SOCCER A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

1.04.2023

NEWS

PLATEAU TEST UNBEATEN RUN PAGE. 29

Victor Boniface Fit for Osimhen’s ‘Big Shoes’?

28

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 1, 2023

GLOBAL SOCCER

Victor Boniface tries to waltz past two defenders

Victor Boniface Fit for Osimhen’s ‘Big Shoes’?

If there is one player that has been in the news as far as the summer transfer is concerned, it is Nigeria’s in-form striker,Victor Osimhen. And in order not to be caught unawares should the Super Eagle decide to dump the Maradona Stadium in the Summer, Napoli are already in the market for a replacement for the Serie A hot shot, and one name that tops the shopping list of the Little Donkeys is compatriot and Union Saint Gilloise striker,Victor Borniface. The big question however remains if the former Bodo/Glimt can wear the big shoe Osimhen will leave behind should he be prized away from Naples

V

ictor Boniface has been one of Union Saint-Gilloise’s stars this season and could make the jump to Italy as both Napoli and Milan reportedly set their sights on the striker.

The 22-year-old Nigerian forward joined the Belgian side last summer from Bodo/ Glimt in a deal worth around €2m, a price that looks like a bargain in hindsight considering his explosive work this season.

His 14 goals and eight assists in his first 39 matches for Saint-Gilloise is attracting attention across Europe.

Belgian outlet Nieewsblad reports that Napoli have been closely scouting Boniface this season and been impressed with what they’ve seen, and are therefore interested in making a move in the summer.

Boniface’s intermediaries are reported to have been in contact with Milan recently, another team who have been following the 22-year-old closely. Lazio are also keen on the Nigerian forward but are currently focused on Tigre striker Mateo Retegui.

Union Saint-Gilloise value Boniface at around €10m, making a deal accessible for the interested Italian sides.

Reports from Belgium suggest that Lazio are one of three Serie A clubs interested in signing Union Saint Gilloise striker Victor Boniface.

The 22-year-old Nigerian forward joined

the Belgian outfit from Bodo/Glimt last summer for just €2m, and has quickly proven his abilities in a more difficult league, scoring seven goals and providing five assists across 27 Juplier Pro League appearances.

Lazio know that they need to sign a new centre forward in the summer to take some of the pressure off of talismanic striker Ciro Immobile, and a number of options are being considered.

As reported by Het Nieuwsblad, Lazio have joined Milan and Napoli in the race for Boniface, a physical striker with a strong eye for goal.

Valued at around €10 million, the Rossoneri and Partenopei have already scouted the 22-year-old on a number of occasions.

Lazio are hoping to pick up Tigre striker Mateo Retegui in the summer but could switch to Boniface should they miss out on the Argentine-Italian.

Boniface, who has been dubbed the ‘next Osimhen’ by some is Milan’s latest idea for the summer window as he continues to shine for USG, having scored 19 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions this season.

His role, nationality, home city (Lagos) and even first name is the same as that of Osimhen. If it weren’t for size and age – given Boniface is two years younger and a few centimeters taller – there would be even more coincidence.

Boniface’s career started in Nigeria with

Real Sapphire but as soon as he hit 18 he moved to Bodo/Glimt in 2019, the same club Jens Petter Hauge came from.

In his three years there he played alongside Botheim (now at Salernitana) and Solbakken (at Roma).

Before leaving Bodo/Glimt and moving to Union Saint-Gilloise he played in the Champions League preliminaries, scoring four goals across two games against Klaksvik and another against Linfield before absent in the two legs against Rangers.

Five goals became 10 thanks to the other give scored in the Europa League with USG. Boniface is a great friend of another Nigerian striker who plays in Belgium, namely Gent’s Gift Orban, who scored three goals in four minutes in the last round of the Conference League and has also been linked with Milan.

With Osimhen’s departure from Napoli this summer gathering momentum.

Reports in Belgium this week have it that the Italian Serie A leaders who are on the verge of winning their first Scudetto in 33 years, may have caved in to requests to lure the Nigerian international away from Naples.

Osimhen, who is top scorer in the Italian topflight on 21 goals from 23 league games is on the radar of both Manchester United and Chelsea even as there are also interests

from Arsenal.

Interestingly, both Osimhen and the 22-year-old Boniface share same traits and attacking style.

With the two Premier League teams believed to be studying the $150million transfer tag on Osimhen, Napoli too have been reported to be considering Boniface as Plan B should their prized asset leave for England in the summer transfer window.

Boniface with potential to become another Nigerian hit in Italy should the deal pull through, will be another jackpot for the Naples club.

The ex-Real Sapphire youth player has been outstanding and is the joint second joint scorer in this season’s UEFA Europa League with five goals, one goal behind Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.

It however remains to be seen if Borniface could meet up to the high-level performance of his comp a t r i o t s h o u l d O s i m h e n leave Naples.

Meanwhile, against the backd ro p o f re p o r t s t h a t w e n t ro u n d t h a t B o n i f a c e i g n o re d t h e S u p e r Eagles call up for double legged A F C O N qualifiers against Guinea-Bissau because the invitation came late the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has cleared the air saying the the striker was not a main consideration for the game’s against GuineaBissau.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 1, 2023

GLOBAL SOCCER GROUP A Team 1 Bendel 2 Remo Stars 3 Akwa Utd 4 Enyimba 5 Plateau Utd 6 Gombe 7 Shooting 8 Kwara 9 Nasarawa 10 El Kanemi

P 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

W 7 6 5 5 5 3 3 3 2 1

D 4 2 4 3 2 4 4 3 2 2

L 0 3 2 3 4 4 4 5 7 8

Pts 25 20 19 18 17 13 13 12 8 5

L 1 3 3 3 2 3 5 4 6 7

Pts 19 19 18 18 17 16 12 9 9 8

GROUP Group B B Team 1 Rivers Utd 2 Lobi Stars 3 Warriors 4 Tornadoes 5 Sunshine Stars 6 Doma Utd 7 Rangers 8 Bayelsa Utd 9 Wikki 10 Dakkada

P 10 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

W 5 6 5 5 4 4 3 1 2 2

D 4 1 3 3 5 4 3 6 3 2

ROUND 12 FIXTURES Rangers Nasarawa Akwa Bayelsa Doma Kwara Plateau Remo Rivers Tourist

Plateau United were on rampage against El Kanemi as they pummelled the Borno Warriors 5-0

v Lobi v El Kanemi v Enyimba v Warriors v Tornadoes v Shooting v Bendel v Gombe v Sunshine v Dakkada

Plateau Utd Vow to End Insurance’s Unbeaten Run Top Scorers Plateau United’s head coach, Fidelis Ikechukwu has boasted that the Peace Boys will end Bendel Insurance’s unbeaten run when both teams clash this weekend.

Bendel Insurance is the only team yet to taste defeat in the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, this season.

Monday Odigie’s side enjoyed a five-point lead at the top of Group A table.

Ikechukwu is, however, confident his side will inflict the first defeat on the Benin Arsenals.

“It’s 100 per cent possible to take revenge on Bendel Insurance. Last season Rivers United were 14 games unbeaten coming to Plateau United but we beat them. So, that one is not a problem,” Ilechukwu said.

The most important thing is to psyche the team up but we will beat Insurance on Sunday.”

Plateau United lost 3-2 to Shooting Stars in Ibadan on Wednesday, while Insurance were held to 1-1 draw by Akwa United on the same day. Meanwhile, Chief Coach of Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin, says the fixtures of the 2022/2023 NPFL were becoming harmful.

Odigie, whose team drew 1-1 at home to Akwa United FC of Uyo on Wednesday in a Group A match day 11 fixture, said the schedule was not helping him.

“The fixtures are too close for us to get the best out of the players,” he said. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Imade Osarenkhoe put the

hosts in front in the second minute of the game at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.

Cyril Olisema rescued a point for his team against the hosts who shocked them 2-0 in Uyo on Match Day 1 of the abridged league season.

Odigie was however unhappy with the stalemate, even as they still lead their group with 25 points from 11 matches.

Akwa United are in third place on the log with 19 points from 11 games. In his postmatch reaction, Deji Ayeni of Akwa United said the result was not bad for the two teams.

The coach noted that while his visiting side came into the match seeking revenge, the hosts were too resilient to give

Mutiu Adepoju Lauds NPFL’s Officiating Kunle Adewale

Former Shooting Stars General Manager, Mutiu Adepoju has hailed officiating in the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, so far, saying there has been great improvement by the men at the centre when compared to what was witnessed in times past.

“What we’ve witnessed from the referees so far has been an improvement to what was obtainable in the past. The win at home at all cost syndrome is fast disappearing from our league.

“Teams can now confidently win away which was not something that was usual in the NPFL. The number

of away wins that were recorded at the beginning of the season was unprecedented, which also brings competitiveness to the league,” Adepoju said.

The former Nigeria international however is of the opinion that the officiating is perfect, just as he expressed that there is still room for improvement.

“I’m not saying the officiating has been perfect because there is always room for improvement. Even in European leagues where the referees are armed with all the gadgets, there are still errors. The good thing the managers of the league, the Interim Management Company, IMC has

done is not sparing referees that fell short of expectations,” the player who was fondly called headmaster in his playing days expressed.

Adepoju opined that in spite of the fact that this season’s league is abridged it has lived beyond the expectations of most followers, saying with the second round which just kicked off has heightened the competition for the Super-Six qualification.

The former Real Sociedad player is very optimistic that by the time the league returns to its original format of 20 teams next season, more improvement and competitiveness would be witnessed.

Player Club C. Obioma Enyimba I. Osarenkhoe Insurance R. Mizo Bayelsa D. Okoromi Tornadoes S. Ayanrinde Shooting O. Ifeanyi Plateau K. Suur Lobi C. Olisemah Akwa J. Atule Lobi Stars U. Abba Lobi Stars Y. Taiye Gombe I. Seriki Insurance

16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00

Goals 9 8 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

NPLF Debut Excites Rangers Youth Sensation

Rangers’ new youthful midfield sensation, Chinemerem Ugwueze, was an excited young man as he made his debut in Nigeria’s top-flight league, NPFL, after his brilliant display against reigning champion, Rivers United F.C which his side narrowly lost in Port-Harcourt.

Ugwueze who joined the ‘Flying Antelopes’, mid-season from NNL side, Giant Brillars F.C was a delight to watch in his first two matches and hopes to continue with more sterling performances to help the team finish amongst the top three in Group B of the abridge league season.

In an exclusive chat, the lanky midfielder charged the club’s numerous fans to believe in the team and support them with prayers stressing, “Let me start by thanking the coaches, management, and teammates for their huge support that has helped me in no small way in settling down faster in the team. With what I have seen on the ground, I strongly believe that we can get the top three tickets and go for the trophy which is realisable with the strong prayers and support of our teaming supporters.”

The young midfielder who once played in the Slovenian top league further stated, “The match against Rivers United that was my baptism of fire was like an El-classico and I thank God, who has always been my source of strength, and my teammates for whatever performance I put up in Port-Harcourt. I really appreciate the opportunity and hope that my contribution and that of my teammates will help us get the team’s target at the end of the season.”

30

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 1, 2023

GLOBAL SOCCER Premier League Table TEAM

P

GD

PTS

Arsenal Man City Man Utd Tottenham Newcastle Liverpool Brighton Brentford Fulham Chelsea Aston Villa Crystal Palace Wolves Leeds Everton Nottm Forest Leicester West Ham Bournemouth Southampton

28 27 26 28 26 26 25 27 27 27 27 28 28 27 28 27 27 26 27 28

40 42 6 12 20 18 15 9 1 1 -4 -16 -19 -9 -18 -27 -9 -10 -29 -23

69 61 50 49 47 42 42 42 39 38 38 27 27 26 26 26 25 24 24 23

PREMIER LEAGUE TODAY

Man City v Liverpool 12:30 Arsenal v Leeds Utd 15:00 Bournemouth v Fulham 15:00 Brighton v Brentford 15:00 Crystal Palace v Leicester 15:00 Nottm Forest v Wolves 15:00 Chelsea v Aston Villa 17:30 Erling Haaland dispossess Liverpool, left back,, Andrew Robertson when Man City visited Anfield for the first leg of the Premier League

SUNDAY

Guardiola’s Treble Dream Faces Liverpool Test

LA LIGA

Manchester City’s dream of winning a treble this season will face a litmus test as the Citizens welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in today’s Premier League early kickoff. Joao Cancelo’s blunder ensured the Reds ran away with the three points when both sides clashed in the first leg at Anfield and the league defending champions would be craving for a revenge this afternoon to keep the pressure on leaders, Arsenal, who enjoyed an eight-point lead before the international break. Only the red side of Manchester-United, have won the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup in one season and this is one record the‘noisy neighbours’is aiming to equal Following a two-week long international break, the Premier League returns with Manchester City and Liverpool locking horns at the Etihad Stadium for a mouth-watering contest in today’s lunchtime.

Last season’s top two are both chasing different targets heading into the latter stages of this campaign, with the Citizens seeking to close the gap to league leaders Arsenal, while the Reds battling to make the top four.

Man City embark on an important stage in their season as they endeavour to get their hands on the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, and Pep Guardiola’s side will be keen to pick up from where they left off after putting together a strong run of form before the international break.

The Citizens have won each of their last six games across all competitions, including their last five without reply, with 7-0 and 6-0 drubbings of RB Leipzig and Burnley respectively, in which Erling Braut Haaland scored eight goals – two standout results that helped them progress into the latter stages of the Champions League and FA Cup. Back-to-back Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and Southampton are up next for Guardiola’s side, who still sit second in the table and are tasked with reducing the eight-point gap to leaders Arsenal – who have played a game more if they wish to retain their top-flight title.

Victories over Liverpool in all competitions have been hard to come by for Man City in recent seasons and they have already lost two of their three meetings against the Reds this season, although a 3-2 EFL Cup

fourth-round home win in December ended a five-game winless run against the Reds.

City’s Premier League home form against Liverpool bodes well ahead of today’s clash, though, as they have only lost one of their last 13 top-flight meetings against the Reds at the Etihad Stadium, suffering a 4-1 defeat in November 2015 under former boss Manuel Pellegrini.

Securing maximum points in the lunchtime kickoff will see the Citizens win four successive Premier League games for the first time this season and put the pressure back on Arsenal when they play host to Leeds United a few hours later.

Almost 12 months on from attempting to win an unprecedented quadruple before ultimately lifting an EFL Cup and FA Cup double – Liverpool have fallen some distance behind their rivals across all competitions this season and will end the current campaign trophyless.

Before the international break, Jurgen Klopp’s men followed up a famous 7-0 victory over Manchester United with back-to-back 1-0 defeats against Bournemouth and Real Madrid, with the latter confirming their elimination from the Champions League last 16.

Liverpool’s loss at Bournemouth, meanwhile, was their eighth in the Premier League this season, leaving the Reds sixth in the table and five points behind the top four, albeit with two matches in hand on fourthplaced Tottenham Hotspur.

Klopp and co, who were remarkably 30 points better off at this stage of last season, have struggled for consistency away from home

throughout the campaign and have picked up only 12 points from 13 Premier League matches on the road, losing seven times and failing to score on six occasions in the process.

Liverpool know what it takes to beat a reigning Premier League champion, though, having done so more times than any other team (23) in the division’s history, including the 1-0 win against Man City at Anfield back in October courtesy of a secondhalf strike from Mohamed Salah.

Claiming a much-needed victory today would not only lay down a marker to their top-four rivals, but would also see the Reds complete just their second league double over Man City in the last 17 seasons, with their first taking place in Klopp’s inaugural season at the helm in 2015-16.

Meanwhile, with 13 places and 43 points separating them in the Premier League table, Arsenal and Leeds United resume topflight action at the Emirates this afternoon.

The Gunners hold an eightpoint lead at the top, while the Whites are one of nine teams in danger of demotion to the second tier.

There was no post-Europa League exit hangover for Arsenal last time out, as Mikel Arteta’s side focus all their efforts on the title-run in for the next two months, but the Spaniard was quick to shoot down the sentiment that elimination to Sporting Lisbon in the last 16 was a blessing in disguise.

With their minor February blip now consigned to history, Arsenal are going in search of a seventh Premier League win in a row this weekend -

West Ham v Southampton 15:00 Newcastle v Man Utd 16:30 TODAY

Girona Bilbao Cádiz Elche

v Espanyol 13:00 v Getafe 15:15 v Sevilla 17:30 v Barcelona 20:00

SUNDAY

Celta Vigo Madrid Villarreal Atlético

v Almería 13:00 v Valladolid 15:15 v Sociedad 17:30 v Real Betis 20:00

Hot Shot PLAYERS

CLUB

Erling Haaland Harry Kane Ivan Toney Marcus Rashford Gabriel Martinelli Bukayo Saka Mo Salah Rodrigo Aleks Mitrovic Miguel Almiron

Man City Tottenham Brentford Man Utd Arsenal Arsenal Liverpool Leeds Utd Fulham Newcastle

GOALS

28 21 16 14 13 12 11 11 11 11

Head to Head 07/10/18 03/01/19 10/10/19 02/06/20 08/11/20 07/02/21 03/10/21 10/04/22 16/10/22

Liverpool 0-0 Man City Man City 2-1 Liverpool Liverpool 3-1 Man City Man City 4-0 Liverpool Man City 1-1 Liverpool Liverpool 1-4 Man City Liverpool 2-2 Man City Man City 2-2 Liverpool Liverpool 1-0 Man City

Arteta is yet to hit such a streak since taking the reins and the title-chasers have also struck at least three goals in each of their last four top-flight contests.

Keeping the back door shut at the Emirates has not been one of Arsenal’s specialities this term, though, and if their trip to Molineux is anything to go by, Leeds certainly know a thing or two about making the net ripple on rival territory.

Leeds travel to the Emirates entrenched in 14th place in the table, but they only have a two-point lead over West Ham United in 18th - such is the volatile nature of the bottomhalf standings and no side from 12th to 20th can consider themselves immune from the dogfight.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾APRIL 1, 2023

31

GLOBAL SOCCER

Anthony Joshua comes face-to-face with Jermaine Franklin during the weigh-in

Joshua Places Career on Line against Franklin Life was very different for Anthony Joshua the last time he fought at London’s O2 Arena.

In June 2016, the British heavyweight made a first defence of his world title by stopping challenger Dominic Breazeale with a seventh-round knockout.

With a perfect record of 17 knockout wins from as many fights, the 2012 Olympic golden boy was living up to the hype.

After seven years or 2,472 days to be exact - Joshua, 33, returns to the arena tonight to face American underdog Jermaine Franklin, desperately searching for a victory to reignite his career after consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.

But for Joshua to get back to winning ways, does he need to revert to the fearless, powerful, ruthless boxer and clinical finisher we saw early in his blossoming career?

“I can’t deny it,” he says.

“Maybe fans do need to see

the old Anthony Joshua.”

Joshua has only been defeated by two men. He suffered a shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, but won the rematch six months later and, in Usyk, he lost to a fighter likely destined to be for the Hall of Fame.

But with wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker, Joshua does boast one of the better records amongst active heavyweights.

Promoter Eddie Hearn feels his fighter’s demise has been somewhat embellished.

“I see one of the best heavyweights in the world who wants to regain his position and become a three-time heavyweight world champion,” says Hearn.

However, Joshua has been criticised for being too gun-shy in his approach since losing to Ruiz, opting to outbox rather than bulldoze his opponents.

Trainer Jamie Moore feels Joshua should play to his strengths against 29-year-old Franklin.

“He (Joshua) was a tremendous amateur, and he’s a good boxer, but his main asset was his raw strength and power,” Moore says. “If we’re going to see the best of him against Franklin, he needs to find that killer instinct again. It’s not easy, but I do think it’s possible for him to get back to the top and turn back the clock. We just need to see a throwback AJ.” Joshua “100%” understands the need to make a statement against Franklin.

“The type of style you take to the fight and the way you win is a massive part of moving to the next stage of your career,” Joshua says. “No-one wants a boring fight, everyone wants to see someone get smashed to pieces.”

Brentford Tables 12m euro Offer for Osayi-Samuel English Premier League side, Brentford FC, reportedly made a €12 million proposal to Turkish side, Fenerbahçe, to recruit Nigerian star Bright Osayi-Samuel.

According to a previous report the Nigerian star was on the verge of returning to the Premier League after receiving a few offers in January from Bournemouth, Leeds, and other Premier League teams.

Due to their loan requirements, his transfer to Bournemouth was unsuccessful.

And yet, the Yellow Canaries are only looking for at least €12 million in exchange for their prized right-wing-back.

But, according to Turkish media outlet, the Bees have made a 12-million-euro offer to acquire the Nigerian’s signature, meeting the price tag imposed on Osayi-Samuel in January.

After helping his side to a 1-0 win against Guinea-Bissau in the second leg, the Super Eagles star has been playing

vital parts for Jorge Jesus’s team and has been able to extend that to the Super Eagles team as well.

Despite being a defender, the 25-year-old enjoys helping the offence, and Thomas Frank could use some assistance.

Fenerbahçe may refuse to sell him until they get his €12 million value, but given that they only paid €508k to Queens Park Rangers for the talented defender, now would be the ideal opportunity to make a profit.

NapoliVersus AC Millan, Arsenal, Leeds Utd on GOtv After a two-week international break, club football returns this weekend with actions in the English Premier League, Italian Serie A and Spanish La liga. In the Serie A, in-form Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen, will lead the line-up when his Napoli side takes on defending champions, AC Millan, at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Sunday.

Napoli are 19 points clear at the top of Serie A standings, while AC Millan are fourth with 48 points. The match will

be live on SuperSport Select 1 (GOtv channel 33) on Sunday, at 7:45pm.

Today, EPL leaders, Arsenal, will host relegation battling Leeds United, at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are currently eight points ahead of defending champions, Manchester City, and will be hoping to extend their lead over Pep Guardiola’s men, as the season hits the home stretch.

The match will be broadcast live on SuperSport Football (GOtv channel 31) at 3pm on

Saturday.

In the Spanish La liga, league leaders, Barcelona, will travel to Elche today. The match will be live on SuperSport La liga (GOtv channel 32) at 8pm. Defending Champions, Real Madrid, will host Valladolid on Sunday, showing on SuperSport La liga (GOtv channel 32), at 8pm.

EPL Monday Night action between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, will also be live on SuperSport Football (GOtv channel 31) at 8pm.

Musa Livened Eaglets’ Camp with N.5m Per Goal Pledge

Super Eagles’ captain, Ahmed Musa was the surprise visitor to the camp of Nigeria’s U17 team, Golden Eaglets at ParkView Hotel in Abuja on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s most capped international admonished the players to endeavour to maintain the rich culture of Nigeria football and also make a name for themselves and their families, adding that he regrets not ever playing for the

U17 team in his football trajectory.

“You have to work hard.

Listen and obey your coaches if you want to succeed at this stage of your football. Sometimes, I regret that I never played for the Golden Eaglets. You have to make use of this opportunity. You are not the best in Nigeria. Many players out there are better than you.

The only difference is that you

have the opportunity.

“So, you have to work hard.

Pray a lot and be determined to make a name for Nigeria and also for yourselves and your families. Do not miss this great opportunity. I was only given five minutes in my debut game for the Super Eagles, but today I am the captain of the team. I never thought I would someday be the captain of the Super Eagles.

Nigerian sensation, Piety Lucky, bowls at the Ghanaian batters at the TBS Cricket Oval in Lagos on Friday in match that Nigeria won by 63 runs

Osimhen Doubtful for AC Milan Clash Due to ‘Distractive’ Injury Super Eagles star, Victor Osimhen, could miss SSC Napoli’s crucial game against AC Milan, on Sunday, according to reports. A new report by his club revealed that the Nigerian star picked up a knock during the Super Eagles’ doubleheader Africa Cup of Nations qualification tie against Guinea-Bissau.

The Nigerian star, who scored four goals in a 10-goal rout of São Tomé and Príncipe in June of last year, returned to the Super Eagles national squad.

After putting up a strong showing in the Parthenopean’s Serie A title campaign in the 2022–23 season, scoring 25 goals in all 29 games for

Luciano Spalletti’s team this year.

The Nigerian forward was expected to continue his goalscoring streak for the Super Eagles side at the international level, but he went scoreless in the two-legged match.

The former LOSC Lille attacker, who is expected to play against his former colleague and current Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, could be unable to participate in the match. His injury is expected to need evaluation this following week.

The statement continues: “His condition will be evaluated next week.”

It is anticipated that even if Osimhen misses the Sunday match, he will still be able to

challenge his old teammate Maignan with shots on goal since the Neapolitan will play their bitter rivals, Milan, three times in the month of April.

The former LOSC Lille attacker, who is expected to play against his former colleague and current Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, could be unable to participate in the match. His injury is expected to need evaluation this following week.

It is anticipated that even if Osimhen misses the Sunday match, he will still be able to challenge his old teammate Maignan with shots on goal since the Neapolitan will play their bitter rivals, Milan, three times in the month of April.

Cricket: Nigeria Wins Third Game against Ghana Nigeria has won her third game against Ghana by 62 runs at the ongoing Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Women’s Invitational in Lagos.

The game at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Cricket Oval on Friday, saw the Ghanaian team win toss and opted to field.

Nigeria had a slow start to the game but usual suspects Salome Sunday 27(18) and Agatha Obulor 25(34) helped kept the scoreboard ticking for the Nigerian side.

The hosts eventually sailed

to 120 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs.

In the second innings, Ghana relied on Rasidatu Salia 20(29) and Komalpreet Grewal 11(23) to help see the side reach the target but their efforts wasn’t enough.

Nigeria’s Racheal Samson 4/18 and Peculiar Agboya 2/18 did the damage against the Ghanaian side as they limited their West African rivals to 58 for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.

After the game, Rhyda Ofori, captain of the Ghanaian side,

said there are lots of lessons garnered so far from the tournament.

“We lost all our matches in the tournament but it’s not the end of Women’s cricket in Ghana. “We have learnt some lessons here and we will take it home and improve on our game. Hopefully, we will come back better and stronger,” Ofori said.

On her part, Blessing Etim, captain of the Nigerian team, lauded her team’s efforts adding that they needed to do more.

Amadu, Omorogiuwa Win Okojie @ 60 Charity Golf Tournament Victor Amadu and Joy Omorogiuwa last weekend emerged champions at the Chief Percy Okojie @ 60 Charity Golf Tournament held at Benin Club Golf Section (BCGS), Benin-City, Edo State.

Amadu (hcp 10) played a net score of 72 to win men’s category while Eghosa Otabor (hcp 16), who placed second beat Mr. Adekunle Edeki (hcp 28) on count-back having both played 74 net. BCGS Competition Secretary,Osaze Iyare (hcp 3) won the best gross with 75 gross.

Similarly, Omorogiuwa (hcp 31) won the ladies category with 67 net, thus beating the duo of Foluso Oboro (hcp 36) with 75 net

and BCGS Lady Captain, Betty Oriakhi (hcp 26) 76 net to second and third place respectively. Ehis Igbinadolor won best gross with 81 gross.

Encomiums were showered on the celebrant, the Ebojieta of Ohordua for his exemplary leadership quality and contributions to sports development in the state and beyond.

In the veteran men’s category, Sir Tony Aghedo confirmed supremacy with 70 net while Sylvester Akhigbe played 73 net and Robert Owamagbe with 77 net placed second and third. Dr. Jackson GaiusObasekiforplaying77netwon the super vet men.

Adesuwa Osahon (hcp 36) led

the veteran ladies cadre with 83 net just as Prof. Oseluse Dawodu (hcp 31) recorded 85 net to settle for second ahead of Omosefe Osaghae (hcp 34) who played 86 net. Ivie Iyoha (hcp 32) aka Mama Golf won the super veteran ladies with 94 net.

However, the guest men trophy was won by Otunba O.Adekanola with a net score of 73 net while Abraham Aburime played 74 net to pick the second spot award.

Meanwhile, Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma emerged winner of the maiden edition of Chief Percy Okojie Moot Court Competition among Law Faculty students from universities in Edo State.

Dortmund, Arsenal Chase League Titles Live on StarTimes Bayern Munich will welcome title rivals Borussia Dortmund for a crucial top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash today at 5:30pm.

The German Clásico will be televised live on the World Football channel on StarTimes, the exclusive broadcaster of Bundesliga matches in Nigeria.

Before that, the SportyTV channel 258 (DTT) on StarTimes will air Arsenal vs Leeds United match at 3pm.

Both Dortmund and Arsenal

top their respective tables and are looking forward to rare title winners in several years. The last time Dortmund won the Bundesliga was in 2012 while Arsenal won the English Premier League in 2004.

Bayern are a point behind league leaders Dortmund, and the outcome of this fixture may have a big impact on the title race this season. Dortmund head to the Allianz Arena in control of their destiny.

Bayern Munich, the 31-time

Bundesliga champions have not lost a single one of the eight match-ups when the two German giants have been first and second in the league standings (W7, D1), and have won the last eight Klassikers in front of their fans by an aggregate score of 33-6.

Dortmund’s form has been impressive. They have only lost one out of their last 14 outings and are atop the standings. Their excellent form means the upcoming clash promises to be an exciting Der Klassiker for the fans.

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Saturday, April 1, 2023

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Price: N250

MISSILE

Emir of Kano on Cashless Policy “People have suffered so much as a result of this cashless policy. This is because people were rushed into it” –Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero cautioning the CBN on its cashless drive.

87 +

5( $ 62

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FRANCISDAMINA GUEST COLUMNIST

An Advisory for Kaduna Gov-Elect Uba Sani

K

ekong Bisong was my indefatigable metaphysics teacher back in the days at St Joseph Major Seminary, Ikot Ekpene. He is perhaps one of the finest wines that the Catholic church has brewed. In knowledge and in character, he is a good advertisement for the Church. He is not a scholar and a saint only, but also a controversialist.

As a distinguished Philosophy Professor, he does not only fancy controversies; he creates them. On this, I can safely say that he is a brewery of controversies.

Whenever he went up to the pulpit to preach, the atmosphere became mute so much so that you could hear the musings of ants. Mute because, we knew he will disagree with even what Jesus had said in the Scriptures. But only to agree later.

He does not only disagree for disagreeing sake; he disagrees so he will have reasons for agreeing. It was he who taught us how not to follow the crowd, subscribe to groupthink, belief system, conventional wisdom, etcetera, until when there’s a justification or a raison d’etre.

On one occasion when he came to the class, he told us a story to validate his point on what he called ‘necessary disobedience’.

He started by asking who discovered the mouth of river Niger. Ofcourse, all of us said Mongo Park. He then went on to tell us of a boy who was preparing for a common entrance interview. Fortunately for him, his uncle is a member of the panel and had whispered to him that he will be asked “who discovered the mouth of river Niger.” Ofcourse, the conventional answer even among university professors is that Mongo Park did.

The day came and the boy was again reminded of the name Mongo Park before he departed home to the venue. The interview had started and it was his turn to answer questions. His uncle’s eyes were all on him when a panelist asked: “Who discovered the mouth of river Niger?”

“My grandfather”, the boy answered.

The uncle was so disappointed as the boy keeps repeating” my grandfather.” A member of the panel then went further to ask him why he thinks the answer is his grandfather. He replied: “My grandfather was a fisherman who lived around New Bussa long before Mongo Park arrived.

He definitely knew about the mouth of the river before Park. Only that he was not literate enough to tell the story.”

All the panelists were amazed and clapped for the boy. This is what Kekong Bisong called necessary disobedience. For him, the work of the teacher is not to produce conventional ideas and then expect the students to reproduce same at examinations. It is rather to train the mind in challenging beliefs and conventions so as to ascertain what is true and real. This was also what Dr. Bala Usman advocated for when he called for a review of our

Sani

syllabus to reflect our situation. May God bless his soul!

The ‘partisan behavior’ of some clerics during the 2023 elections, have now forced me into a recollection of Kekong’s philosophy in thinking that these behaviors, inspite of the provision in most Churches, that Priests ought not to take part in partisan politics, could at best, only qualify as holy or necessary disobedience. Apart from my personal experience, a large number of people had called to either complain about not knowing the direction to follow because of the discordant political prescriptions made by their pastors on the party to vote for, or that they and their priests belonged to different political parties and hardly see eye to eye.

The situation chilled me to the marrow because, almost, if not all churches, had representatives in the unfortunate tournament of choosing for, instead of guiding their followers on how to choose their leaders. Even the Catholic Church that used to be our bastion, exemplar, and parapet of hope owing to its rich traditions on Church-State relations, plus the provision of the Canon law that priests should not take part in partisan politics, had some of her Priests involved in this exercise of unprofessional, uncritical and seemingly embarrassing prescription of our present paralysis. What is evident is that, some church leaders, baffled by the development, came out to speak.

The Catholic Bishop of Aba, out of many other church leaders, for instance, said in a statement: “My attention has severally been called to publications and allegations of partisan engagement by priests and leaders of various groups within Aba Diocese but

I carefully elected to study the situation from behind the scenes to understand the motivations of the individuals, priests and lay faithful, involved and what exactly they intend to achieve by dragging the Church and my good self into the murky waters of partisan politics.

“I find it particularly shocking that the individuals who are actively tarnishing the image of the Church in several parishes and communities in the name of active partisanship claim to be acting with my imprimatur. They feed unsuspecting faithful in various parishes and groups with lies and had become very much emboldened in the last few weeks, perhaps assuming my silence to mean acquiescence.”

The Bishop then cautioned: “The Church has left its doors open to all participants in the 2023 electioneering season to come sell their programmes to the people of God. We have maintained this informed position since the beginning of the campaigns because the Church cannot as a true Mother embrace one or few of its children and throw the others into the cold. We have welcomed everyone into our fold while allowing the voters the freedom to make the ultimate choice at the polls.”

That was Rev. Prof. A. N. Echema - the Catholic Bishop of Aba Diocese. After reading the statement, a friend said to me, had the Bishop seen what happened in Southern Kaduna, he would had called for a declaration of a State of emergency to checkmate clerical partisanship. But on my own steam, I remarked: “Apart from the fact that I was not happy with the way and manner some of the clerics literally bullied their followers into voting in certain patterns aimed at changing the current leadership and the nest that hatched it, I prophesied that there’s likely going to be a church-going apathy after the elections.

I say this because, the positions these clerics took, excluded most of their sons and daughters whose dreams, candidates, party and interests didn’t tally; thereby denying them the warmth of the Church’s motherhood for all. But I thought we had gone beyond the issue of party and are now talking about candidates.

Yes, as Bishop Echema observed: “While admitting that the Church can guide the decision of the voters within its fold at very critical points, it must be emphasised that in making that decision, the Church is essentially concerned with the personal attributes of the leaders and their vision for the society. Membership of any group or society has never formed the basis of the Church’s approval or disapproval of any political leader.”

Now that the elections are over and it is an open secret that most Christian clerics in Kaduna state, out of deep angst, pointed to the direction of the PDP’s gubernatorial candidate, Isa Ashiru, who, according to the INEC, lost to Uba Sani of the APC, it is important to re-echo the words of Bishop

Matthew Hassan Kukah at the funeral of Yakowa to the governor-elect, Uba Sani.

Kukah said to the then deputy governor and Yakowa’s successor, Ramalan Yero: “To our new Governor, Archbishop Ndangoso and I listened to all your beautiful testimony.

The world looks up to you never to be tempted by the whispers of the wicked whose devilish and selfish hold on power has held our society down. Do not be tempted to think that the Muslims have taken what the wicked have presented as a prize for only Muslims. You have taken over the steering wheel and must obey and respect all road signs so that we can arrive at the destination that we have set for ourselves. “ “Balancing our dreams together “, Kukah continued, “can make ours one of the greatest States in Nigeria. Let us reverse the divisive, ugly and pernicious past which was constructed by men who had the hearts of apartheid. By pursuing the politics of exclusion, these men and women merely destroyed both the noble Faith of Islam and the North that its founders dreamt of. I want to assure you that there are millions of Yakowas outside the Muslim community, and that the monopoly of power by one section or even one gender or generation denies our people a future. This is what South Africa realized. It is what the Americans have now realized in Obama.”

To my mind, the necessary disobedience by the Christian clergy in especially Southern Kaduna should not be interpreted and seen as a creedal hatred against the identity of the governor-elect since the candidate whose coming they heralded doesn’t share the same Faith with them. It should rather be seen as an angry yearning for a change from an APC that could not only manage our rainbow collection of diversities, but also implemeneted, even on the eve of the elections, some uncritical policies that made some of its governors went to court.

Finally, did the clerics stray? No! It was simply a situational intervention; a necessary clerical disobedience to their code of conduct aimed at saying enough is enough. A contumacy that was entered into out of love. They complain that government didn’t manage diversity well; government implemented uncritical policies; the body language of government has not shown that the defense of human life is the essence of democracy. Therefore, they are ready for a new order even if to be headed by the red goat economist. God is the Giver of Power. May He bless our governor-elect and all our leaders with the wisdom to reunite us. Out of the ashes of despondency, and the cynicism of the vulnerable, shall arise a great nation. May God bless our state and nation.

•Damina wrote from Holy Family Catholic Church Gidan Bako and can be reached via francisdamina@gmail.com

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