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Buhari: Pinnacle Oil’s Facility Has Reduced Congestion in Apapa, Cost of Fuel Distribution Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday inaugurated the Pinnacle

Oil and Gas FZE Terminal in Lekki, Lagos, where he disclosed that the operations of the facility have eased congestion in the Apapa area, and reduced the cost of

delivery of petroleum product distribution to many parts of the country.

In a visual message at the inauguration of the facility, the

president congratulated the Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, Mr. Peter Mbah, for establishing the massive terminal facility and providing

hundreds of jobs to Nigerians.

Buhari described the investment as a demonstration of the success of his administration’s agenda to transform the nation’s economy,

adding that the federal government looks forward to many more investments of this magnitude.

Continued on page 5

Find out How Terrorists Get Arms and Have Yours, Danjuma Tells Nigerians… Page 5 Sunday 23 October, 2022 Vol 27. No 10057

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NCC to Auction Two Additional 5G Licences for $547.2m Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to offer two additional slots in the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band for the deployment 5G network in the country.

It set the reserve price at $547.2 million, translating to $273.60 million for each licence.

NCC disclosed this at the weekend in its Draft Information Memorandum, titled ‘Information Memorandum on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction’, which it

published on its official website.

According to NCC, the offering includes the remaining lots of 2 x 100 megahertz (MHz) in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band to support 5G deployment in Nigeria.

NCC last December, offered a 3.5GHz spectrum to MTN

Nigeria Communications Plc and Mafab Communication to support their 5G rollout.

Since NCC awarded the 5G spectrum, MTN has launched its 5G network in selected locations while Mafab is yet to roll out its 5G network.

“The spectrum reserve price (RP) is the minimum price for one slot of 100MHz TDD for a 10-year licence tenure fixed at $273,600,000.00 or its equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates at the time of the auction, according

to the memorandum.

The commission said it had developed a draft information memorandum (IM) to support the attainment of this objective through an auction process.

Continued on page 5

Atiku Promises to Revive Economy as Tinubu Pledges to Improve Welfare of Nigerians Okowa, Obaseki, Tambuwal, Ganduje, Adamu confident of their parties’ victory Chuks Okocha in Abuja, Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City and Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has promised to revive the Nigerian economy if elected in 2023, just as his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu promised to move Nigeria to the right direction, particularly the welfare of the people, if elected in 2023.

While Atiku made his promise yesterday at a mega presidential campaign rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Tinubu spoke while inaugurating the Kano State Governorship Campaign Office situated at Club Road, Kano.

The PDP presidential candidate said Nigeria’s unity would be his number one priority if given the opportunity to lead the country in 2023.

He also made a strong case for Continued on page 5

RECEIVING ROYAL BLESSING… L-R: Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II; Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; his running mate and Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; and his deputy, Hon. Philip Shaibu, during their visit to Oba of Benin’s Palace shortly before the party’s presidential campaign rally in Benin City…yesterday

Again, UAE Imposes Visa Ban on Nigerians, Rejects Applications… Page 8

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Find out How Terrorists Get Arms and Have Yours, Danjuma Tells Nigerians Insists on self-defence, saying foreign bandits trying to colonise Nigeria FG will provide funds to probe killings in Benue, Buhari promises Ortom Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Wole Ayodele in Jalingo A former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), has once again called on Nigerians to defend themselves and their lands against armed bandits who are trying to overrun the country.

Danjuma’s charge is coming as President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday told Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State that the federal government was ready to assist the state government with necessary funds to probe the recent herders-farmers clashes, which claimed some lives in the

state.

Lamenting the current insecurity being witnessed across the country, Danjuma asked Nigerians to find out how bandits get arms so that they could have theirs for self-defence.

The former Chief of Army Staff had in a rare outburst in March 2018 raised the alarm that there was an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the country by herdsmen and asked Nigerians to rise to resist it.

Danjuma renewed the call for self-defence yesterday in Wukari in Taraba State during the coronation and presentation of Staff of Office to His Royal

Majesty, Manu Ishaku Ada Ali, the 25th Aku Uka Wukari.

Ali was appointed the new Aku Uka in 2021 by Governor Darius Ishaku, following the demise of Dr. Shekarau Angyu who ruled for 45 years.

Danjuma alleged that the Armed Forces were probably unwilling to defend the country.

According to Danjuma, his earlier call on Nigerians to defend their land against armed foreign bandits was taken for granted, adding that the result was clear for everyone to see.

He said it was sad that Nigeria, the biggest black country in the

world, is under siege by terrorists who are trying to root out the citizens.

“As a soldier, the best defence is to attack. Right now, we are all sitting ducks. These people are armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction but we don’t have them. We have the numbers and the land belongs to us. They are trying to colonise us and take over our lands. Your majesty, you must unite our people to defend themselves.

“I will not give you arms.

Find out how the people who have it got it and use the same means to acquire arms and defend

yourselves. This beautiful land called Nigeria is being brought to ruin by absolutely useless criminals. How do they get here? We know some of them may even be here. My prayer is that God Almighty that has given us this land will give us the courage to face these enemies and chase them out. This we must do, otherwise, Nigeria is finished.

“We must find out the source of the arms of terrorists; Nigerians should equally find a means of arming themselves to face the terrorists,” he said.

He said when he accused the military of colluding with

terrorists, he was called a liar, but now, Nigerians have realised the truth.

He said after his statement in 2018, a “Kangaroo panel” was set up by the military and he was invited to defend what he said but he refused to appear before the panel.

“In 2018 when I called on the people to defend themselves, a kangaroo commission of enquiry was set up to investigate and they said I was lying because there was no evidence.

“Today in the country, there is Continued on page 8

ATIKU PROMISES TO REVIVE ECONOMY AS TINUBU PLEDGES TO IMPROVE WELFARE OF NIGERIANS state policing as an antidote to the current security challenges across the country.

In their separate speeches at the PDP rally, the vice presidential candidate of the party and Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and the Governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal expressed confidence that the main opposition party would emerge victorious in the 2023 general election.

But in Kano, the state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and the National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu also expressed a similar sentiment that the ruling party will retain power in 2023.

Atiku also promised to put the country on the path of sustainable growth and development if elected president in the 2023 presidential election.

The PDP presidential candidate said he was in the race to restore, rescue, rebuild and reset Nigeria and put it on the path to growth and development.

He added: “We are here today to restate our five-point agenda, which includes to re-unite

Nigeria; restore security; establish compulsory primary education and ensure our institutions of higher learning don't go on strike; revive the Nigerian economy; develop our infrastructure, especially our roads, and build an effective and efficient rail system to ensure effective transportation.”

Atiku continued: “We promise to restore security in Nigeria; we promise to re-unite Nigerians. We will ensure our industries resume production and ensure jobs for the youths. We will build infrastructure, especially roads to connect this region to other parts of the country “The APC has destroyed our education, security, infrastructure, and economy as the nation is on the path of retrogression.”

Expressing confidence that the party will emerge victorious in the forthcoming election, Governor Obaseki said, “Edo is the heart of PDP. We are doing today what we did in 1999 when we produced the president of Nigeria. We welcome our President and Vice-President to Edo. We assure them that Edo State is for the PDP.” On his part, Tambuwal noted, “I appeal to Edo people to vote

massively for the PDP candidates in the February and March elections in 2023 as this will change Nigeria's situation for the better.”

Governor of Akwa Ibom State and Chairman of PDP’s Presidential Campaign Council, Udom Emmanuel added, “Atiku and Okowa are the only candidates in this election that will move Nigeria forward. Governance is not learnt overnight and it is wrong to bring those that will come into Aso Rock to learn on the job. Atiku already has the experience to lead Nigeria to prosperity, growth and development.”

Other leaders of the PDP on the entourage include Edo State Deputy Governor, Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu; National Chairman of the PDP Iyorchia Ayu; former National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus; former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekerau; among others.

Atiku was also at the Palace of the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, where the monarch wished him well on his presidential ambition.

The Oba, however, urged Atiku

to consider the state as his home.

The monarch said he has been following his (Atiku's) assurances to Nigerians ever since the political campaigns started.

He, therefore, prayed that God and the ancestors should grant the PDP candidate his heart desires.

"I have been following your assurances to Nigerians since you began your presidential political campaigns.

"And we pray that God and our ancestors should bring your heart desires to fruition.

"We have you in our prayers and I want to wish you well", the Oba of Benin said.

Again, Wike, Makinde, Ortom Snub PDP Campaign Rally in Edo Ex-VP to Commence Tours of Flood Impacted States Meanwhile, five PDP governors Tuesday who are at loggerheads with the Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku, will commence a tour of states with high incidents of flooding across all geo-political zones in the country on Tuesday.

A press release by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, stated that the former vice president flag bearer

BUHARI: PINNACLE OIL’S FACILITY HAS REDUCED CONGESTION IN APAPA, COST OF FUEL DISTRIBUTION He reiterated that the federal government would continue to encourage and support investors to take advantage of the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and replicate the feats achieved by Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited.

Assuring investors of the continued support of the federal government in efforts to elevate the growing prosperity of the country, President Buhari said: "Provision of energy security is one of the cardinal points of our administration. We have recognised that the seamless supply and distribution of petroleum products is challenged by infrastructure deficit and complicated by the congestion in the Apapa areas of Lagos since the start of our administration in the year 2015. ''We provided targeted support to the energy industry by providing an enabling environment, including regulatory facilitation, to ensure investment in critical infrastructure.

I am happy today that Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited leveraged the opportunities and established this massive terminal facility.

I am happy to also note that further expansion works which are starting will further provide incremental value, especially more employment to our teeming youth population. The success of our agenda to transform our country is demonstrated by this massive

investment and the obvious contributions it has made to our overall economic well-being.''

In his remarks, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, described the facility as the largest exit point for petroleum products currently in Nigeria.

Kyari added that Pinnacle's facility has demonstrated capacity by easing the delivery of petroleum products in many parts of the country and during difficult situations.

He said: "We will always remember that the exit point that will work for us in recent times, is the Pinnacle facility. I congratulate you, Peter, for the great work done, and for us at NNPCL, we will continue to partner with you and other stakeholders, and other investors in this space as we continue to provide energy security for our country, which is very critical for all of us.

"All this wouldn't have happened except if there is an enabling environment. That enabling environment was surely created by Mr. President in the last seven years by allowing regulation to work, allowing investors to have access to financing, supporting them in every way, and also bringing a framework which culminated in the Petroleum Industry Act coming in place to

make sure that business works in the energy sector."

Earlier in his remarks, the CEO of Pinnacle Oil, Mbah expressed confidence that the terminal with over one billion litre-capacity will fulfil its promise by positively impacting the downstream oil and gas industry.

Mbah noted that the ultramodern purpose-built petroleum products intake, off-take and storage facility will facilitate the efficient receipt of imported petroleum products, improve general energy security in the country and trigger significant savings in the costs of products at the pump.

He revealed that the funding for the facility, which is over $1 billion, was through a consortium of Nigerian banks.

The Pinnacle Oil boss also revealed that the company is already in advanced conversation with the Dangote Group regarding collaborations to complement the operations of the nearby Dangote Refinery which will soon come on stream, to form the nucleus of what will become Africa’s largest energy logistics hub.

Describing the facility as a world-class petroleum terminal with the capacity to handle products in two directions both import and export, Mbah explained that: "Mother Vessels arriving at the facility will have the opportunity to berth at either of our two offshore

would visit Bayelsa State, to kickstart the tour.

According to Ibe, “the tours to states ravaged by flooding become incumbent in view of the trauma that the incidents have caused its victims.

“Consequently, the tours will provide the presidential candidate the opportunity to have an onsight impact assessment of these flooding incidents and give him a veritable window to input those ecological concerns in his policy documents."

berths - either the Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM), which is in 17metres of water depth and can handle vessels of up to 120 million litres or our Single Point Mooring (SPM), which is in about 23metres of water depth and can handle vessel sizes of up to 200 million litres. These moorings are connected to our storage facilities by four networked pipelines of 40km total length. ''These pipe networks are designed to empty the vessels in a maximum of two days, a significant improvement on the previous duration which could take up to 30 days. Our shore tank farm is currently able to handle up to 300 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) as well as diesel or Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and the facility is designed to permit rapid discharge into trucks for evacuation at a rate of up to 20 million litres per day.''

party’s leadership were yesterday again conspicuously absent at the presidential campaign rally in Benin City.

The governors, Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), failed to show up.

The governors have so far failed to attend any of the rallies of the PDP since the campaign flag-off in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Wike, who is regarded as the arrowhead, recently reiterated the demand for the resignation of the party’s national chairman, Ayu. The longstanding call for Ayu’s resignation is because the national chairman and the presidential candidate of the party cannot be from the same region.

However, some members of the party had rejected the clamour, saying he can only step down after the presidential election in February 2023, if Atiku wins.

I will Move Nigeria to Right Direction, Says Tinubu In another development, the presidential candidate of the APC, Tinubu, has promised to improve the welfare of Nigerians if elected in 2023.

Inaugurating the Kano State governorship campaign office, the former Lagos State governor stated that: "We will move Nigeria in the right direction. God will spare our lives, and give us good health.

"As I stand before you, I promise that I will change the reward system once I become the president," he told the members and leaders of the party while urging them to keep on contributing to the party’s success.

“I will come back prepared to do a big rally. They will know we have come around,” he added.

Tinubu promised that the people of Kano State will not regret working for the APC. “You will not regret ever working for our party. It is a joy for me to go back home to Kano. We are not conducting any rally. We are only inspecting the campaign office and talking to interest groups.”

He said: “Don’t allow those who don’t know the way to victory and don't understand the success of a nation to lie to you about Buhari or anybody. Don’t let them. Throw it back at them. Take your broom firmly and sweep Nigeria clean.

God will bless you.

“This party will sing victory.

This country will experience progress. This office will be filled with joy come February 2023. We are confident that we don’t have any regrets.

"We will give you joy. Those who might think they have not been adequately rewarded, I beg your pardon. Forget it. The time of God Almighty is the best. God will answer your prayers and give you happiness and an adequate reward,” he said.

Also speaking, Governor Ganduje stated that the APC would emerge victorious in all the elections.

In his speech, the APC National Chairman, Adamu said for victory to come the way of the party, everyone must work hard to get it.

"No excuses; your party is the party in government and the opposition can only win the election only when the party in government fails," he added.

NCC TO AUCTION TWO ADDITIONAL 5G LICENCES FOR $547.2M “The commission will hold a Public Consultation in respect of the draft information memorandum (IM) on November 15, 2022.

“This is in line with the commission’s participatory rule-making process for the communications sector, to give stakeholders and interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on the draft IM

before the final document is published,” the memorandum further said.

The commission added that applicants for the spectrum do not have to be licensed network operators in the country but will need a unified access service licence (UASL) if their bid is successful.

In February 2022, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications

Limited made their full payment of $273.6 million each for a 5G spectrum licence after emerging winners of the 3. 5 GHz spectrum auction.

While MTN has rolled out the 5G mobile network, Mafab suspended roll-out till December this year and got the approval of NCC for a five-month rollout extension, which ends December 31, 2022.

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PEOPLE’S GOVERNOR… L-R: Wife of Borno State Governor, Dr. Falmata Zulum; Governor Babagana Zulum; and Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, at the inauguration of 804 houses for the resettlement of displaced persons in Mafa town of Borno State…yesterday

Again, UAE Imposes Visa Ban on Nigerians, Rejects Applications Chinedu Eze For the umpteenth time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has slammed a visa ban on Nigerians seeking to visit Dubai.

The ban was conveyed in a notice issued to the country’s trade partners in Nigeria, including travel agents.

This is coming weeks after the country tightened visa process to prospective visitors to the country.

In the latest decision which also affects virtually all black African nations, the UAE authorities in the notice said, “all Dubai applications submitted are now rejected,” adding that the rejections will be sent in batches.

Although no reason was given

for the ban, the Dubai authorities declared that all applications were on-hold until issues between the UAE government and the Nigerian government were resolved.

The latest decision made by the UAE immigration authorities is for all Nigerians seeking to travel to the UAE. The UAE government said the rejection notices would be sent in batches to applicants.

“All Dubai applications submitted are now rejected. It is general for Nigerians and approvals are on hold at the moment.

“Kindly advise your clients to resubmit applications when the issue is resolved between both governments,” the notice reads.

The development comes over

a month after the UAE stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40, which affected Nigerians as well as other countries.

A source from Wakanow, who confirmed the ban said, “it is true; it was issued yesterday. The Dubai immigration authorities did not state when the ban would be lifted but for now, everything is on hold.”

THISDAY, however, gathered from a customer representative in Air Peace, that the airline is still flying to Dubai with those who already have a valid visa. The representative added that if any changes were to occur as regards flight for Nigerians, it would be duly communicated, adding that no issue had been raised at the moment.

FG Orders 20 Petrol-engine Aircraft for Training Chinedu Eze The federal government has ordered 20 new petrol aircraft for training, out of which only nine have been delivered.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who disclosed this at a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, at the weekend, also promised that Nigerian Air would start as earlier approved.

At the meeting held at the National Assembly Complex, Gbajabiamila expressed concern over the project, saying that some issues needed clarification.

“The issue of the national carrier is very important. It is something we are all paying attention to. We just want to make sure we get it right. There have been some misgivings. Some issues have been raised. But some issues need clarification,” he said.

Sirika, however, said that President Muhammadu Buhari at the just concluded ministers’ retreat gave a marching order to ensure that the goal was achieved.

“When I came in as a minister, we didn’t arrogate to ourselves knowledge and wisdom. We believe in the stakeholders on whose behalf we are servicing. Having been made minister, I came out with a road map which in my little wisdom will help transform civil aviation in Nigeria.

“I ran it through the system within the ministry and we commissioned some consultants to conduct a market survey and see where we are as an industry at that time. We set out to concession our airports not to privatise but to concession the airports.

“We also set out to put a proper airline the size, capacity, dynamics and the population and the markets and the complexity of the nation, Nigeria and also set out a leasing company and develop the cargo terminals and so on.

“When I came to the House of Representatives, I found out that the act that was signed by Jaja Nwachukwu in 1963 was the act that we were using charging pounds and shillings in 2003. We hurriedly, as we were departing in 2007, got the civil aviation passed in 2006 with some imperfections.

“There were some important ones. roadmaps and to God be the glory that today we have done what we thought is good as an act.

So, all these roadmap items are private-sector-led and driven. It’s intended to do the framework and the foundation and steer it in such a way that it will be beneficial to the people and make it a private sector initiative to which the government has some interests, understanding the civil aviation in value addition, improving the GDP and jobs.

“The national carrier is in the

works and we have advanced significantly just yesterday, Mr. President in concluding the retreat has directed that this airline must work between now and December.

And it will work by God’s grace.

“We have ordered 20 brand new training aircraft that use petrol.

So, far nine have been delivered.

All these in the national carrier efforts,” he stated.

Explaining the reasons why the federal government should have a national carrier, Sirika stressed that they are giving every Nigerian the opportunity especially those in the aviation sector to participate in the airline so that the project can be workable.

“We have so far from all the submissions identified the partners, and the investors and we are currently negotiating and processing the AOC. We are twerking the business case in such a way it will give us an advantage and set in in the most efficient manner. So, I want to commit here by the grace of God, between now and the end of the year, the airline will work.”

Sirika also said that the cargo terminal of Abuja international airport will be ready in five days.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnodim Nnaji, expressed concern over allowing another country’s airline to own a major stake in the country’s national carrier, saying it may be counterproductive.

Speaking on the issue, the federal government said Nigerians need to respect the immigration laws of other countries to avoid “unwarranted treatment”.

“The general public is invited to note and be guided that the Government of the UAE has

introduced a new visa regime and has stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 years, except for those applying for family visas,” the ministry of foreign affairs had said.

“It is, therefore, instructive for prospective visa applicants

to indicate clearly their visa preferences without any ambiguity and also respect the immigration laws of other countries to avoid unwarranted treatments.”

For several months in 2021, Nigeria and UAE battled several diplomatic rows in aviation.

FIND OUT HOW TERRORISTS GET ARMS AND HAVE YOURS, DANJUMA TELLS NIGERIANS evidence everywhere; the foreign bandits are killing and taking over lands in all the places.

“The whole country now is being overrun and one very clear thing that is happening now is that these foreign invaders are destroying everything and our government allowed them to come into the country.

“My appeal to you the new Aku Uka is for you to unite us to be able to effectively defend ourselves against the enemies of the country,” Danjuma said.

Danjuma had in March 2018 raised the alarm that the Nigerian Armed Forces were colluding with armed bandits and charged Nigerians to rise and defend themselves before they were completely exterminated.

The former Minister of Defence, who spoke in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital at the maiden convocation ceremony of Taraba State University, said Nigerians must be alert to defend themselves and their country, pointedly accusing the military of complicity in the killing of farmers by herdsmen.

He said: “When I arrived at this arena, I saw a rich cultural display, and I was amazed at the rich cultural heritage of our people. Taraba is a mini Nigeria with diverse ethnic groups living together relatively peacefully. But the peace in this state is under assault.

“There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state and of course, in some riverine and rural states in Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise.

“Our Armed Forces are not neutral. They collude with the armed bandits to kill people and kill Nigerians. The Armed Forces guide their movements. They

cover them. If you are depending on the Armed Forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one,” he reportedly explained.

Danjuma was however accused of raising a false alarm after a panel set up by the military authorities concluded that there was no evidence to support his claims.

Meanwhile, Governor Darius Ishaku, while presenting the Staff of Office to the Aku Uka, urged him to unite his subjects for a peaceful prosperous kingdom and state.

Ishaku, who congratulated Ali on his elevation as the supreme leader of the Kwararafa Kingdom, urged him to use his wealth of experience to attract peace and develop the state.

On his part, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, urged the youth of Wukari to listen to the Aku Uka for a peaceful election in 2023 and beyond.

In his response, the Aku Uka and Chairman of Taraba Traditional Council pledged to work hard to ensure peace, unity and progress of the state and Nigeria.

The coronation was witnessed by a large crowd, including Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, traditional rulers from all over the country, and government officials, among others.

FG will Provide Funds to Probe Killings in Benue, Buhari Promises Ortom In a related development, President Buhari has promised Governor Ortom of Benue State that the federal government is ready to assist with the necessary funds to probe the recent herders-

farmers clashes, which claimed some lives in the state.

The President, in a statement issued yesterday by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, while condemning the recent attacks in the state, pledged the full support of the federal government in assisting Ortom, his state government, and the people of Benue State with resources to investigate what occurred.

According to him, “when tragedies like this occur, we must remember first and foremost that we are all Nigerians.”

"There are many times when President Buhari and Governor Ortom of Benue State have disagreed politically. But, today, the President puts all these aside, to reach out to the governor to express the heartfelt condolences of the nation for what has occurred in recent days.

"Politics too often gets in the way of what is best for our nation. Too often, it divides us. As those who have been entrusted with leadership by our citizens, we have to remember that, and do everything we can to bridge divisions and come together in the interests of all our people,” the statement explained.

"It is unacceptable for lives to be taken by herdsmen and farmers alike.

"No one should attack anyone because of their way of life.

Neither should anyone take revenge on others for injustice done to them. Both should be held accountable for their actions, and justice delivered.

"It is equally unacceptable for the lives of those merely practising their duties as police officers and government officials to also be lost. The government will hold those that took those lives to account."

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ROYAL CELEBRATIONS… L-R: Wife of Anambra State Governor, Mrs. Nonye Soludo; Governor Chukwuma Soludo; and the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, during the monarch’s 20th coronation anniversary and 2022 Onitsha Ofala Festival at the Ime-Obi Palace in Onitsha…yesterday

Edo CP Removes DPO over Killing of Suspect Who Attacked Apostle Suleman’s Convoy Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Auchi, Edo State, CSP Ayodele Suleiman, has been removed by the state Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, following the death of a suspect allegedly involved in the attack of the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleman’s convoy.

A statement by the command’s Deputy Public Relations Officer, Jennifer Iwegbu, said the DPO’s withdrawal was part of the measures to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of one of the surviving members of the gang that attacked the convoy.

The CP also directed the DPO to report to the state police command for debriefing.

The statement read, “The outgoing CP now AIG Abutu Yaro has ordered the withdrawal of CSP Ayodele Suleiman, DPO Auchi for debriefing at the State Headquarters with immediate effect.

“We urged members of the public to remain calm and patient, assuring that no

stone would be left unturned to unearth the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Recall that one of the suspected attackers of Apostle Suleman was said to have been arrested by vigilantes and handed over to the DPO, who reportedly killed him.

Following the alleged killing of the suspect, Apostle Suleman in a tweet accused the police of trying to erase all evidence that could lead to the arrest of his attackers.

The cleric and his family were on their way back to Auchi when the gunmen attacked his convoy on Friday at about 5 pm, just a few kilometres from his hometown in Auchi.

Seven persons, including his three police orderlies, two drivers and two female domestic workers in his convoy were killed during the attack.

Speaking shortly after the attack, Suleman described the incident as an assassination attempt.

“I just escaped an assassination attempt where seven people were killed. My car was attacked — (they) opened fire

CBN Appeals against N38bn Judgment Debt Alex Enumah in Abuja The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court, which ordered the garnishee of the sum of N38 billion belonging to the federal and 36 state governments for the payment of an alleged judgment debt.

The apex bank has, in addition, also filed a motion seeking a stay of the execution of the judgment which is in favour of a senior legal practitioner, Chief Joe Agi (SAN) The applicant, Agi, had approached the Federal High Court for a garnishee order nisi against the CBN, Minister of

Finance/Chairman Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the Accountant General of the Federation who were sued as 1st, 2nd and 3rd garnishees, respectively.

The request for garnishee order nisi was predicated on a judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on June 9, 2022,

by Justice Taiwo Taiwo (now retired), wherein the Minister of Finance, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Attorney General of the Federation, and the Attorneys- General of the 36 states were ordered to pay the sum of N38,878,451,742.22, owed the plaintiff being the sum of his legal fees which Continued on page 12

on my car, and kept spraying it with bullets. My wife and my kids were there. The escort car, with some police, they killed the policeman, they killed the other people in the other escort car and the buses with us. Seven people — we were all moving in a convoy — were killed,” he explained.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the attack, said six persons, including policemen and Suleman’s drivers, were killed, adding

that efforts were ongoing to locate the whereabouts of the cleric’s domestic worker.

“The attack is confirmed.

Three policemen were murdered; two of his (Suleman’s) drivers were killed; one domestic female worker was killed and they are still searching for another female domestic worker.

“As we speak, Apostle Johnson Suleman is safe. One of the hoodlums was gunned down and one of the vehicles was recovered,” Nwabuzor said on Friday.

A 42-second video clip showing the corpse of the killed suspect in a vehicle had been trending online.

In the video clip, a policeman was heard describing the slain suspect as a kidnapper.

The policeman said, “One of the kidnappers that were caught today (Friday) while the DPO, CSP Ayodele Sulaiman, led the operation along Iyewe-Auchi Road, and after a gun battle, this one (suspect) was gunned down while others escaped with bullet wounds. Bush combing

is ongoing.”

Reacting to the video, Suleman, in a tweet, condemned the killing of the suspect who was handed over to the police alive, alleging that it was an attempt to cover up traces that could lead to those behind the attack.

The cleric’s tweet read, “Lies… there weren’t kidnapper. He was caught and handed over and the police killed him immediately.

Why? Why kill him on the spot? Who is trying to cover up traces?”

ASUU: VCs Create Problems in Universities By Playing Role of CEOs

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that some universities in Nigeria are engulfed in crises because their vice-chancellors (VCs) regard themselves as the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of their schools.

The ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this yesterday while delivering his goodwill message at the special commemorative programme organised by the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye in Ogun State, Chapter of the union to honour the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ganiyu Olatunde, whose tenure ended two weeks ago.

Osodeke warned vicechancellors of public universities in Nigeria to shun dressing in the apparel of CEOs of their respective institution when in reality, they are just the first among their equals in the academic community.

Osodeke berated the situation whereby governors, must give approval before a university lecturer can be promoted, even despite the recommendation of the governing councils.

He also flayed a situation where some university vicechancellors administer with

military fiat.

He said, "One thing we have got wrong is that in universities, we look at the VCs as Chief Executive Officers, which by the law, it is not true. A vice chancellor is just one among equals and it's only when he sees himself as one that he will not have a problem with ASUU. "A VC is not a CEO because there are different committees.

All the actions and things are done after agreement and disagreement by members of the different committees. And when the VC disagrees, he goes back to committees. Unfortunately, what we currently have in Nigeria is that over 90 per cent of the problems we have in our universities today are caused by VCs, who look at themselves as CEOs and there is nowhere in the laws that permit a VC as CEO because everything he does can be challenged".

However, Osodeke commended the outgoing VC of OOU, Professor Olatunde, for achieving a "most peaceful" administration during his tenure, stressing that the celebration accorded him by the OOU chapter of his union attested to that.

"Having assessed Professor Olatunde and found him worthy, the union was glad to associate

with him to the extent that we have to suspend every other official engagement of the union to celebrate him. It is a pride for us to have a vice chancellor whom ASUU believed deserves to be honoured,” he said.

He, therefore, advised Olatunde's successor, Professor Deji Agboola, to emulate his predecessor's approach to issues and style of administration.

Earlier in his address, the Chairperson of ASUU, OOU chapter, Dr. Joel Okewale, hailed the immediate past vice chancellor for displaying the spirit of comradeship while his tenure lasted.

Okewale said that the spirit of comradeship and willingness of Olatunde to engage, as opposed to bossing over everyone, led to many fruitful discussions, acceptance and implementation of proposals in the interest of OOU. "To us, Professor Ganiyu Olatunde, in his five and half years as the head of this university, demonstrated the spirit of comradeship as espoused in the principles of our union in his conduct and relationship with members of the university community in general and ASUU in particular.

"As a vice-chancellor, one unique feature of Professor

Olatunde's administration was his willingness to engage people, no matter who they are, in fruitful discussions on issues that would bring development to this university.

"As a union, we took advantage of that opportunity and made several useful proposals which he accepted and implemented in the interest of this great University. For this we can boldly and openly say that we are proud of our relationship with Professor G.O Olatunde, a quintessential vice-chancellor," Okewale said.

The guest lecturer and former Vice Chancellor, of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahman Bello, speaking on 'The Roles of Vice Chancellors in the Evolution of and Sustenance of a Viable University System,' said a vice-chancellor should be an experienced academic, and researcher, who commands respect from peers and have administrative experience.

Bello, who is the ProChancellor of Ogun State-owned Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, said the above attributes were necessary to help a vice chancellor galvanise both human and material resources to drive a university to deliver on its core mandate of teaching, research and service.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2022 • T H I S D AY

11

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • OCTOBER 23, 2022

12

NEWS

SENIOR FELLOWS… L-R: Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Guest Speaker; Mr. Sonny Iroche; and former Director General of the Department of State Services, Mr. Matthew Seiyefa, at the Black History Week Seminar organised by the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford in London…recently

Flood: Obi, Diri Lament Destruction in Bayelsa, Seek FG, Donor Agencies’ Support Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi and the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, have called on the federal government and other donor agencies to quickly come to the aid of the state as the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) ravaged by flood swells daily in the state.

The duo lamented the havoc and destruction caused by the rampaging flooding which is yet to recede, saying that no state can handle both the humanitarian and infrastructural effects of the flood.

Obi who came into Yenagoa with a chopper was received at the Government House before proceeding to the IDP camp at Ox-Bow Lake to identify with the over 4,000 men, women and children who are victims of the flooding.

Obi, who was the state to offer his sympathy and support to the state government and the victims of the ravaging flood while speaking at the

IDP camp, lamented the destruction and large numbers of out-of-school children that are now in the camps.

"I came in through the air and I saw the impact of the flood. I have been to other places, and I have never seen this kind of destruction. The federal government needs to declare an emergency in Bayelsa State. No state can cope with such a disaster on its own. I also appeal to the international community and donor agencies to support the affected states. Here in Bayelsa, we need help. This destruction is unimaginable."

The governor, who thanked the presidential hopeful for his show of support, also called on the federal government and other well-meaning organisations and individuals to join the state government in providing succour to the flood victims.

"The people you see here are those whose houses, farmlands, and fish farms have all been occupied by flood and so 99 per cent of Bayelsans are living as internally displaced persons.

Thank God you flew and you have seen for yourselves how Bayelsans are living in inhuman conditions.

"While Mr. President has given us hope, I want to thank you for still joining me to call on the federal government to show more empathy, to show love to the people of Bayelsa State from where oil and gas flow in this country."

Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Environment and Chairman of Bayelsa State Flood Mitigation Committee, Mr. Iselema Gbaranbiri, said despite the present challenges, the state is committed to

order nisi attaching funds in the Federation Account to satisfy a judgment debt, overreaches the provisions of Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution.

However, Justice Omotosho disagreed with the submissions of counsel to the judgment debtors and CBN and held that the monies standing to the credit of the judgment debtors be attached by garnishee proceedings.

The court also held that once the monies accruing to the judgment debtors are deducted from the Federation Account, the amount should be paid into an interest-yielding account through the Chief Registrar of the court to prevent the sum from being dissipated.

However, in the appeal

"Medical services have been provided. We are providing food and we have our sanitation unit that is cleaning the camp daily. We ensure that there is lighting.

“The government of Senator Douye Diri is passionate about the people and we have an obligation to stand for them in times of crises and challenges.”

The environment commissioner added that relief materials, including food items, have also been distributed and the second phase of distribution will soon take place.

According to him, mobile clinics are going around the

state to attend to medical emergencies.

He called on relevant federal agencies to hasten the implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise and come to the aid of the victims.

Also speaking the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayibaina Duba also called on the federal government to take urgent steps to prevent future floods by building dams and dredging the River Niger to contain whatever comes from the Cameroon dam whenever it occurs.

NBA Kicks against Corruption Tag on Nigerian Judiciary Urges improved welfare for judicial officers Alex Enumah in Abuja The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has decried the narratives that Nigerian judges are corrupt and can easily be compromised.

President of the association,

CBN APPEALS AGAINST N38BN JUDGMENT DEBT

was allegedly paid to the NGF by the Minister of Finance on the instruction of the 36 states governors.

In a short ruling on July 22, 2022, Justice J K Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, while granting the request, ordered the garnishees to appear before the court to show cause why the garnishee order nisi should not be made absolute.

Responding, the CBN represented by the law firms of Messrs. Kenna Partners and O.M. Atoyebi SAN & Partners, filed an affidavit to show cause why the garnishee order nisi should not be made absolute as well as an application urging the court to set aside the order nisi on several grounds, amongst which was that the

providing comfort for citizens who are at the various IDP camps established to accommodate victims of the unprecedented flood.

He said the flood had so far ravaged over 300 communities and rendered 700,000. individuals including; children, women and the aged, homeless.

Gbaranbiri disclosed that more than 4,000 flood-displaced individuals are being camped at the Oxbow Lake camp alone adding that: “Whatever we are doing here, is being replicated at the Igbogene camp and other camps.”

against the ruling of Justice Omotosho, the CBN submitted that the judgment creditor failed to obtain the consent of the AGF pursuant to Section 84 of the Sheriff's and Civil Process Act before commencing the garnishee proceedings against the CBN. The appellants further submitted that the garnishee proceedings is an abuse of judicial process as the plaintiff/applicant (Joe Agi, SAN) had earlier obtained a garnishee order absolute in Suit FHC/CS/1193/2017, a matter touching on the same judgment sum, for which there were appeals and a motion for stay of execution pending at the Court of Appeal and that the order nisi overreached the provisions of the Constitution.

Mr. Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), stated this in his address at the valedictory court session held in honour of a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mojeed Adekunle Owoade, at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan, Oyo State.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Akorede Lawal, the association’s president argued that the Nigerian judiciary is not corrupt and that the legal profession in Nigeria cannot be compromised.

Maikyau urged both the federal and state governments to improve the conditions of service for judicial officers.

He admitted that there may be some bad eggs in the judiciary, adding however that the action of a few bad eggs does not justify the accusation that the entire judiciary is generally corrupt.

He said the judiciary and indeed the legal profession in Nigeria consist of distinguished men and women that have worked and are still working honestly, sincerely and with

integrity to contribute their quota to the development of Nigeria.

Maikyau also stated that the fact that the toe in a body has turned gangrenous does not make the entire body rotten, adding that if the toe is so infected, it can be amputated to save the body.

He tasked the members of the legal profession - the Bench and Bar - to speak out loudly to correct that negative perception.

He said: “The fact that there may be some bad eggs amongst us, and this I say for both the Bench and the Bar, does not justify the characterisation of the entire judiciary and the legal profession as generally corrupt.

“The judiciary and indeed the legal profession in Nigeria consist of distinguished men and women that have worked and are still working honestly, sincerely and with integrity to contribute their quota to the development of this nation.

“The fact that the toe in a body has turned gangrenous does not make the entire body

rotten. And if the toe is so infected, the way to save the body is to amputate the toe.

That is what we must do as members of the legal profession; either on the Bench or Bar and we must speak loudly to the nation about who we truly are, to correct that negative perception.

“If we do not do so, it will be an abdication of duty on our part, and if we completely lose the confidence of the public, resort to self-help and the attendant chaos will be inevitable. We must break the silence!”

While acknowledging that the challenges faced in the system of administration of justice in Nigeria include the issue of manpower at the Bench, the NBA President also urged for better conditions of Service for judicial officers.

Maikyau described Justice Owoade as one of the numerous examples of integrity, honesty and excellence in the legal profession and congratulated the jurist on their excellent service record and glorious exit from the Bench.

13

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

BUSINESS

Editor: Festus Akanbi 08038588469 Email:festus.akanbi@thisdaylive.com

Adopting Agora’s Options for Revamping Nigeria’s Economy One major question resonating at every point of the ongoing campaign by the presidential candidates of the leading political parties ahead of the 2023 general election is how they intend WR À[ 1LJHULD·V DLOLQJ HFRQRP\ Festus Akanbi examines some of the blueprints to bring the economy back to track as encapsulated in Agora Policy Report published last week

L

ast week, the National Bureau of 6WDWLVWLFV 1%6 SXW WKH LQÁDWLRQ rate for September at 20.77%, up from 20.52% recorded in the previous month. The new Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed that Nigeria’s CPI rose by 20.77% year-on-year in September 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the index rose by 1.36% compared to the 1.77% increase recorded in the previous month.

7KH ODWHVW ULVH LQ WKH LQÁDWLRQ ÀJXUH LV VDLG WR be symptomatic of an ailing economy where revenue shortfall occasioned by sabotage and lack of policy direction are making nonsense of the unique position of Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa. This is because apart from the size of the economy, other indices contained in a special report byAgora Policy, in conjunction with MacArthur Foundation, on the Nigerian economy, showed that the economy needs an urgent revival.

Agora Policy is a Nigerian think-tank and nonSURÀW FRPPLWWHG WR ÀQGLQJ SUDFWLFDO VROXWLRQV to urgent national challenges.

According to the report, Agora Policy’s Informed, Inclusive and Accountable Public Policies (IIAPP) project, that produced this report is designed to achieve three things: one, to maximise the opportunity provided by the electioneering and transition periods and beyond to sustain attention on and further mainstream transparency, accountability, gender equity and social inclusion into policy and governance discourse in Nigeria.

It also seeks to generate original and credible evidence before, during and after the 2023 elections to focus the attention of the country on key policy areas and, ultimately, the adoption RI VHQVLEOH LQFOXVLYH DQG HͿHFWLYH SROLFLHV RQ key national challenges; and three, to deepen the capacity of state and non-state actors to undertake evidence-driven policy analysis, design, implementation and advocacy.

Unfortunately for the economy, as demand for better life increases, so is the compelling pressure on the federal government to increase expenditure. However, the orgy of revenue losses largely caused by oil theft and vandalism has continued to put the economy in such a precarious situation, with the government focusing on borrowings to make ends meet.

Debt Burden According to the report, “The revenue of the FGN is too low to support expenditure, leading to high debt stock and high debt service payments. FGN’s budgeted aggregate expenditure increased by 179% from N4.484 trillion in 2011 to N12.512 trillion in 2021. Despite this increase, government expenditure in Nigeria is lower than in comparable countries.

“Between 2011 and 2021, budgeted FGN aggregate revenue increased by 102%, from N3.348 trillion to N6.772 trillion. However, actual revenue increased by 81%, from N2.566 trillion to N4.643 trillion. Thus, with revenue unable to keep pace with expenditure, the government has resorted to more borrowing.

“The total debt stock of FGN has increased by 436% from N6.17 trillion in December 2011 to N33.11 trillion in December 2021,” the report stated.

Further breakdown of the data provided by the report showed that domestic debt increased by 242%, from N5.6 trillion to N19.2 trillion; while foreign debt increased by 2,435% from N546 billion to N13.86 trillion. ,W DGGHG WKDW WKH ´R΀FLDO GHEW VWRFN VWDWLVWLFV do not include FGN’s borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through Ways and Means which increased by over 7,000% from N265.7

billion in January 2014 to N18.89 trillion in March 2022. Thus, if the debt from Ways and Means as of December 2021 (N17.4 trillion) is added to WKH R΀FLDO GHEW WKH GRPHVWLF GHEW VWRFN DV RI December 2021 rises to N36.6 trillion,” noting that from January to April 2022, debt service was the largest component of expenditure; debt service exceeded revenue by N308 billion, meaning that government borrowed to pay back debt.

Boosting Revenue Earnings +DYLQJ LGHQWLÀHG UHYHQXH LQDGHTXDF\ LQ the face of the rising expenditure, the report VDLG WKH ÀUVW LPPHGLDWH VWHS FDSDEOH RI WDFNOLQJ the problem is to shore up the nation’s revenue through various policy initiatives.

One of these initiatives, the report said, is the sustenance of the current Value Added Tax automation being undertaken by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), where the service carries out onsite visits and installs software to automatically collect VAT. The report wants the VAT automation drive to be ramped up in all states and cities and extended to all economic sectors. It also seeks an increase in the VAT rate as well as an increase in the nation’s excise duties on luxury goods, tobacco and alcohol.

Noting that Excise taxes and VAT in Nigeria are amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa, the report suggested that Excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco can be increased to the ECOWAS average of 50% and that VAT can be increased to 10%, and subsequently to the ECOWAS average of 15%.

Disposing Unproductive Assets For a nation that has displayed a serious lack of capacity to manage assets, there have been calls for the disposal of some of the assets, especially those not yielding revenues.

Examples of these moribund assets litter the country. The report, therefore, listed as one of its recommendations, the need to do away with such assets.

It said, “There are many government assets that are either not generating revenue at all or are generating revenue that is grossly below their potential. Some of the assets can be sold outrightly to provide immediate/short-term funds for the government. In addition, some RWKHU DVVHWV FDQ EH RͿHUHG WR SULYDWH RSHUDWRUV who pay a lump-sum fee upfront, and then make payments at agreed regular intervals.”

Developing Critical Infrastructure 6D\LQJ DFWLYH HͿRUWV QHHG WR EH SXW LQ SODFH to develop critical infrastructure to facilitate economic activities, the report lamented the bad state of most of the nation’s infrastructure from power to roads.

For instance, it noted that many businesses have to generate power individually and the high running costs of doing this have led to many SMEs shutting down and multinational companies exiting the country for other domains. It also supports the urgent need to increase investment in digital technology in rural areas to create more jobs and economic opportunities. )RU LQVWDQFH LW FDOOV IRU UHVWUXFWXULQJ RI WKH ÀVFDO SURÀOH RI 0'$V WKDW SURYLGH LQIUDVWUXFWXUH VXFK as ministries of works, power, housing, water resources, etc.) and allied services by ensuring that recurrent expenditures are drastically reduced to boost capital expenditure.

Diversifying Economy from Oil The report also joined the position of some HFRQRPLF DQDO\VWV LQ FDOOLQJ IRU WKH GLYHUVLÀFDWLRQ from oil to other sectors of the economy. $FFRUGLQJO\ LW VDLG WKDW VXFK GLYHUVLÀFDWLRQ can be promoted through active promotion and encouragement of SMEs which create 70% of jobs. It explained that more initiatives by the government such as the tax concessions provided in the FinanceActs of 2019 and 2020 are needed to encourage SMEs. For the SMEs to fully maximise their potential, the report said insecurity needs to EH WDFNOHG LQ UXUDO DUHDV DFFHVV WR ÀQDQFH QHHGV to be provided; and corruption, bureaucracy and red tape in administrative processes by JRYHUQPHQW R΀FLDOV QHHG WR EH DGGUHVVHG To tackle the problem of rising unemployment, the report said the critical skills shortage among the youths should be addressed, saying there is the need for an upgrade of employable skills which it said can be done through investments in high-quality technical and vocational learning centres.

a robust targeting mechanism that minimises the risk of moral hazard and adverse selection.

Reforming Trade Policy Framework The report also makes case for the development of a comprehensive long-term trade policy framework and plans that can sustainably guide trade reforms, pointing out that this would include robust monitoring and evaluation systems to gauge the implementation of regional and multilateral trade initiatives as well as impacts. In this case, the report explained that addressing WKH WDULͿ UHJLPH DQG VHUYLFHV UHVWULFWLRQV ZRXOG be critical. ´7KLV ZRXOG HQWDLO VLPSOLÀFDWLRQ RI LPSRUW duties and gradual liberalisation of the service sector given its pivotal role in job creation and transfer of knowledge required for the non-oil sector.”

3KDVLQJ 2XW 'LVWRUWLRQDU\ 1RQ 7DUL; Measures Also on the agenda was the call for the review or SKDVH RXW RI GLVWRUWLRQDU\ QRQ WDULͿ PHDVXUHV ,W listed the measures to include the foreign exchange restrictions on 42 products by the CBN; a review of the import prohibition and absolute import prohibition lists and perhaps replacing these trade SROLF\ WRROV ZLWK WDULͿ GXWLHV RU LPSRUW TXRWDV

Reducing Oil Sector Dominance Italsocalledforthedevelopmentofanoverarching policy measure to improve manufacturing, DQG VXSSRUW H[SRUW GLYHUVLÀFDWLRQ DQG KLJKHU value-added export, saying there is an urgent need to reduce oil sector dominance, counterproductive waivers and informal leakages that reduce public and private investment in exportoriented sectors. This, the report said, would also entail addressing supply-side constraints that FDQ XQORFN GLYHUVLÀFDWLRQ IURP RLO WR KLJK YDOXH added agriculture and manufactured products.

On the monetary issue, the report said the &%1 VKRXOG UHGHÀQH LWV H[SOLFLW H[FKDQJH UDWH objective. The report maintained that the new Tinkering with Social Investment Policy objective should position Nigeria as a competitive It believes the existing social investment economy of the present and potential non-oil programmes need to be scaled up to help ad- exports.

GUHVV H[WUHPH SRYHUW\ ,Q VSHFLÀF WHUPV WKH There is no doubt that the timeliness of the report stated that the conditional cash transfer report cannot be overemphasised as analysts programme needs to be improved by increasing EHOLHYH WKH EOXHSULQWV RͿHUHG E\ WKH $JRUD UHSRUWV the amount from N5,000 to N10,000, explaining would be useful in setting a workable agenda that improving livelihoods, especially in rural for Nigerians who are earnestly yearning for communities, could be attained by developing good governance.

14

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

FINANCE activate any internet plan of their choice.

Airtel has a daily data plan of N50 for 40MB data, N100 for 100 MB data, N300 for 350MB data, N500 for 1GB data and N1,500 for 6GB data. For the monthly data plan, Airtel used to have N1,000 for 1.5GB data but has increased it to N1,100 for 1.5GB monthly data. The increase by Airtel and 071 LQ GDWD WDULͿ LV D ZKLFK GRHV QRW cut across all data plans of both network operators.

For Airtel, all of its monthly plans offer an additional 4 GB for YouTube night streaming except for the N1,000 plan that RͿHUV *% $LUWHO FXVWRPHUV DUH ZHOFRPH WR FKRRVH DPRQJ DQ\ RI WKH RͿHUV WKDW DUH valid for 30 days.

Emefiele

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In this piece, -DPHV (PHMR analyses the growing voices against the moves by the National Assembly to whittle down the powers of the Central Bank of Nigeria

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elecoms subscribers to MTN and Airtel, woke up last week to experience a sudden increase in their data plan, without prior notice from the telecoms operators, and not even from the telecoms industry regulator that is supposed to protect consumers as it had always done, since the rollout of Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) in 2001.

Disturbed by the development, subscribers are calling on the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to prevail on MTN and Airtel to UHYHUVH WKHLU GDWD WDULͿ WR WKH VWDWXV TXR insisting that the hike will further add to the economic hardship currently being faced

by Nigerians and telecom subscribers.

Some subscribers who spoke to THISDAY, expressed fears that other operators like Globacom, 9mobile, Smile, including Spectranet and other Internet Service Providers (ISPs), might follow suit to also increase WKHLU GDWD WDULͿ SODQ LI WKH LVVXHV DURXQG the hike were not addressed.

Data Hike Last week, subscribers to MTN and Airtel VXGGHQO\ QRWLFHG DQ LQFUHDVH LQ WDULͿ LQ WKHLU data plan, without getting prior information regarding the data price increase. Airtel for instance, increased its monthly bundle for data plan to: N1,100 for 1.5GB monthly data; N1,200 for 2GB monthly data; N1,500 for 3GB monthly data; N2,200 for 4.5GB monthly data; N2,500 for 6GB monthly data; N3,300 for 10GB monthly data; N4,400 for 11GB monthly data; N5,500 for 20GB monthly data.

MTN also increased its monthly bundle for data plan to: N1,100 for 1.5GB monthly data; N1,200 for 2GB monthly data; N1,500

for 3GB monthly data; N2,200 for 4.5GB monthly data; N2,500 for 6GB monthly data; N3,500 for 12GB; N5,500 for 20GB monthly data; N6,000 for 25GB monthly data. Although the QHZ UDWHV DUH VOLJKWO\ GLͿHUHQW IURP the former rates, with about a 10% increase, some subscribers to both MTN and Airtel told THISDAY that they were not happy because neither the operators nor the regulator informed them about the hike during the planning stage and that the timing ZDV ZURQJ RZLQJ WR WKH GL΀FXOW economic hardship that Nigerians are currently facing.

the cost of data, would likely experience a surge in their subscriber’s number, because many subscribers will port to their networks, LQ VHDUFK RI DͿRUGDEOH GDWD SODQV Another subscriber who gave his name as Philip Emordi, warned against the hike, saying it is unjust to increase the cost of data at a time when subscribers were expecting a further downward review of WKH FRVW RI WHOHFRPV VHUYLFH RͿHULQJV DFURVV networks. He said telecoms operators had long been pushing to increase the cost of service delivery and urged NCC to resist such a move.

Chairman, of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, told THISDAY in a NCC’s Role telephone conversation that he wouldn’t President of the National Associa- NQRZ LI WKH KLNH LQ GDWD WDULͿ FXWV DFURVV tion of Telecoms Subscribers (NAT- all the subscription plans, and promised COM), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, who to get more details about the hike before spoke to THISDAY about the hike he could make any comment about the LQ GDWD WDULͿ VDLG 071 DQG $LUWHO increase. couldn’t increase the cost of data, THISDAY also spoke with the Director of ZLWKRXW ÀUVW VHHNLQJ WKH DSSURYDO 3XEOLF $ͿDLUV DW 1&& 0U 5HXEHQ 0XRND of NCC. He, however, said the price ZKR VDLG KH ZRXOG ÀQG RXW LI WKH LQFUHDVH FDS IRU YRLFH FDOOV KDG EHHQ À[HG was within the approved price cap and between N20 and N50 per minute SULFH ÁRRU OLPLW IRU GDWD WDULͿ call since 2001, and that the current KLNH LQ GDWD WDULͿ GLG QRW H[FHHG WKH 'L;HUHQW 'DWD 3ODQV SULFH FDS IRU GDWD WKDW ZDV À[HG VLQFH THISDAY investigation shows that 2001, which he explained, could be 071 1LJHULD KDV GLͿHUHQW GDWD SODQV the reason why NCC has not reacted for subscribers, which range from daily WR WKH KLNH LQ GDWD WDULͿ plans to weekly plans to monthly plans.

Asked what would be the next step For example, MTN has a daily plan that is for subscribers, Ogunbanjo said since as low as N50 for 24 hours, N60 for 50MB NCC has not reacted to the contrary, data for 24 hours, N100 for 100MB data they would rather live by it without for 24 hours, and N300 for 1GB data for agitation of any sort. He, however, 24 hours. advised other telecoms operators, For customers to get data plans from including ISPs not to increase their MTN on a super-fast 4G+ network, they GDWD WDULͿ FRXOG VLPSO\ VHOHFW IURP WKH ULFK ERXTXHW The NATCOM president explained RI ÁH[LEOH GDWD EXQGOHV IRU WKHLU PRELOH DQG that any operator that did not increase MiFi devices, or dial the data code *131# to

1&&·V 5HVLVWDQFH WR ,QLWLDO 3ODQQHG Hike $OWKRXJK 1&& KDV EHHQ TXLHW RYHU WKH UHFHQW LQFUHDVH LQ GDWD WDULͿ E\ 071 DQG Airtel, the commission had over time, resisted the planned hike in the cost of services, as proposed by operators.

Telecoms operators, through its umbrella body, ALTON, had in April this year, called for an increase in the cost of delivering voice calls, short message services (SMS), and data services by 40%.

They expressed their worries over the negative impact of the economic and security issues on the Nigerian telecommunications industry, which they said KDG DGYHUVHO\ DͿHFWHG WKH FRVW RI VHUYLFH delivery across networks.

To drive home their points, they wrote a letter to the NCC in April this year, asking for an upward review of the cost of delivering most telecom services to subscribers.

The operators (Telcos) made their intention for an upward review known to NCC in a letter dated April 25, 2022, which was received and acknowledged

by NCC on April 27, 2022.

3ODQQHG ([FLVH 'XW\ RQ 2SHUDWLRQV The federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, also made a move to introduce a 5% excise duty on telecom operations, a development that was vehemently opposed by NCC, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, as well as telecoms subscribers.

NCC’s resistance, in collaboration with the ministry and subscribers, forced the federal government to rescind its earlier decision to introduce the planned 5% excise duty on operations.

If allowed, the 5% excise duty would have been an additional tax to the 7.5% tax that telecom operators pay for Value Added Tax (VAT), among other imposed taxes on operations, which tickles down as a burden to telecom operators who bear the brunt of the imposed taxes.

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning had in August WKLV \HDU QRWLÀHG WKH WHOHFRPV VHFWRU RI the intention of the federal government to introduce a 5% excise duty on operations, in addition to the 7.5% VAT that all sectors of the economy pay for goods and services rendered.

In the notice, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that government would begin the implementation of a 5% excise duty tax on all voice calls, SMS and data services, adding that the 5% excise duty has been in the Finance Act 2020 but has never been implemented.

Disturbed by the development, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, resisted the move and described it as unjust, a move that led to the suspension of the 5% excise duty on telecoms operations.

After the suspension, Pantami said it was directed by President Muhammadu Buhari, following his petition as the Chairman of the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and eGovernment, insisting that the policy has the potential to impact very negatively on the digital economy sector, and particularly, telecommunication, which is already overburdened with a plethora of taxes totalling about 41 categories.

So if NCC has been proactive in protecting telecoms consumers from arbitrary hikes in the cost of service delivery in the past, it is expected of NCC not to rest on its oars, but to also rise against the current hike in GDWD WDULͿ E\ 071 DQG $LUWHO

15

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

INTERVIEW MUSA RAFSANJANI:

Strong Economic Team is Non-negotiable in Nigeria Now

At the recently concluded meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World %DQN KHOG LQ :DVKLQJWRQ '& 8QLWHG 6WDWHV VHYHUDO LVVXHV DͿHFWLQJ WKH 1LJHULDQ HFRQRP\ including oil subsidy, oil theft, lack of accountability and excessive borrowing came to the front burner. In this interview with Funke Olaode, the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy. Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, stressed the urgent need for a strong economic team to navigate the Nigerian economy through its existential challenges

H

ow important are the IMF-World Bank meetings to the Nigerian economy?

The annual event is very important to us as a nation because it provides avenues for civil society organisations to draw the federal government’s attention to unnecessary wastage that might have emanated through its budget. If you recall, President Muhammadu Buhari on October 7, 2022, presented the 2023 National Budget and Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly. The budget estimates as contained in the bill total N20.5trillion with expected revenue of N9.7 trillion and expected (additional) borrowing to the tune of N8.8 trillion. If proposed budget scales through, Nigeria’s debt stock will be at N50.8 trillion. This is not just worrisome but also scary considering the state of our economy that we are already in. This situation looks like nothing but escalated poverty and exacerbated austerity. So, we consider this IMF-World Bank annual meeting as a very important forum for civil society to deepen their HQJDJHPHQW ZLWK WKH ÀQDQFLDO LQVWLWXWLRQV I remember that CISLAC in 2019 or 2020, when COVID-19 erupted, and the Nigerian government sought an emergency loan from the ,0) WR IDFLOLWDWH RU PLWLJDWH WKH HͿHFW RI WKH SDQGHPLF &,6/$& ZDV ZRUULHG DQG FRQFHUQHG DERXW WKH LQÁX[ RI PRQH\ ZLWKRXW accountability. So when the Nigerian government approached the IMF for loan facilities, CISLAC wrote to the IMF to insist that while we are not against the granting of the loan, there must be certain transparency clauses in whatever MoU that the Nigerian government was going to sign with the IMF. This was to ensure that there would not be room for the diversion of the funds that DUH PHDQW WR PLWLJDWH WKH HͿHFW RI &29,' $QG ZH DOVR ZDQWHG safe reporting for Nigerian journalists and other Nigerians to be able to expose and monitor the use of the money.

We also wanted to make sure that the emergency procurement is also properly spelled out. Besides, based on our engagement with WKH :RUOG %DQN DQG ,0) IRU WKH ÀUVW WLPH ,0) DQG :RUOG %DQN responded positively and they constituted a regular call with select Civil Society Organisations. ClSLAC is one of the organisations in Africa that the World Bank always does call with the directors. This has not happened before and it was as a result of this engagement that CISLAC brokered with the IMF on the COVID-19 money.

So now that the Nigerian government has presented a budget WKDW ZH FRQVLGHU D YHU\ GLVWXUELQJ ÀJXUH ZH DOVR IHOW WKDW WKLV LV also a good forum because almost half of the money projected would also be borrowed. And we felt that there is a need since all ÀQDQFLDO LQVWLWXWLRQV DUH KHUH DQG 1LJHULD LV WDONLQJ DERXW GHEW forgiveness. Nigeria is still borrowing money and this money is not utilised according to the Fiscal Responsibility Act. We thought that it is important to make use of this meeting to GUDZ WKH DWWHQWLRQ RI JOREDO ÀQDQFLDO LQVWLWXWLRQV WR WKH VWDWH RI WKH ÀQDQFLDO RU HFRQRPLF FULVLV LQ 1LJHULD RFFDVLRQHG E\ FRUUXSWLRQ diversion of public funds, mismanagement, and lack of ability to EORFN OHDNDJHV OLNH LVVXHV DV RLO WKHIW LVVXHV DERXW LOOLFLW ÀQDQFLDO ÁRZ DQG PRQH\ ODXQGU\ 6R ZH WKRXJKW LW LV LPSRUWDQW WR GUDZ WKH DWWHQWLRQ RI 1LJHULD DQG WKH ÀQDQFLDO LQVWLWXWLRQ WR HQVXUH WKDW WKH country’s economy does not collapse. We have already witnessed several recessions and the country has still not gotten its stand. We still need to do a lot to ensure that the economy is restored. Our foreign exchange rate has completely gone down. The lack of an HͿHFWLYH DQG H΀FLHQW HFRQRPLF PDQDJHPHQW WHDP LV DOVR SDUW RI the reasons why we are not having good policy choices in terms of our economy. And this is very worrisome because there is no ZD\ D FRXQWU\ FDQ EH JRYHUQHG ZLWKRXW DQ HͿHFWLYH DQG H΀FLHQW economic management team that will do that.

Are you not worried about the country’s indebtedness?

Of course, we are worried as CSOs. You know the way and manner in which money is being borrowed recklessly is a grave concern. Our income is not even enough to pay the servicing of the debt, not to talk of paying the debt itself. And yet, now and then, the National Assembly is approving fresh loans to the government.

This is worrisome because there are other ways in which Nigeria FRXOG LQWHQVLI\ HͿRUWV WR UDLVH PRUH PRQH\ UDWKHU WKDQ UHVROYLQJ to borrow. Because borrowing has become a lazy and easy way to get this money. And unfortunately, they misapply it or divert it or waste it, or do things that are not meant to regenerate the

of money to some militants or ex-militants to guide the oil pumps when you have the Navy, the police, you have the DSS, you have all sorts of security apparatus in the country. So this means that Nigeria is promoting militancy and criminality, if she would have to give this huge amount of contracts. For now, it has not even stopped the oil theft. It has not also stopped other vandalism that we are seeing. So it is a cartel. It is a properly organised local and international crime that is perpetuated in collaboration with local collaborators to continue to undermine the economy and destroy the economic base of Nigeria. And this is because corruption has EHHQ WDNHQ DV D MRNH 7KH ÀJKW DJDLQVW FRUUXSWLRQ KDV QRW EHHQ institutionalised. And it has not been taken seriously. Because if you have a system and you have proper anti-corruption in place, you will not see the kind of rampant and reckless way of doing things in Nigeria. So it is a serious crisis that we are facing. And government must rise.

Rafsanjani money back, as envisaged in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that spells out that loans should be collected, but the loan should be paid back from whatever source that it has been taken. That has not been the case and that explains why poverty is increasing.

Austerity measure is going to be harder now with this budget presented by Mr. President. And I think it is important that as a civil society, we continue to draw the attention of the government so that it can look inward for other areas where revenue can be raised. And waste, diversion, and stealing can be minimised so that the economy can come back.

It is generally believed that lack of accountability is majorly responsible for the current economic mess. How can this be addressed? ,W LV VLPSOH %\ KROGLQJ R΀FHKROGHUV DFFRXQWDEOH 3DUW RI WKH challenges that we have in Nigeria at local, state, and national levels is the inability to instill and ensure accountability in governance. So people believe that it is their birthright to squander or mismanage or loot public money and nothing will happen to them. So there is also a gross misunderstanding of democracy.

Some people assume democracy is a luxury for them to use public taxpayer’s money and get away with it. And also the political corruption we are witnessing is what is exacerbating the kind of crisis we are seeing. So when you loot, when you belong to the ruling party, a kind of soft landing is given to do whatever you are doing, until you have probably political clash, then that is when they will begin to think that you have deviated. But I think if we are talking about building systems and building institutions, it doesn’t matter whether you belong to a particular group, religious group, political group, and whatever identity. If you break the law, the law should take its course on you.

Are you worried about the issue of oil theft in Nigeria?

7KH RLO WKHIW LV D FRQVFLRXV DQG GHOLEHUDWH HͿRUW E\ VRPH SHRSOH who are also in power, in government, who are being given the trust to ensure that they secure the economy. They secure the oil facilities, but because of a few or small gains they make out of it, they allowed oil theft to be a very, very lucrative business against the interest of the nation. To the extent that more and PRUH GLVFRYHULHV DUH FRPLQJ RQ WKLV SURORQJHG GHOLEHUDWH HͿRUW to continue to siphon the oil and destroy the facilities. As I speak to you today after several years of oil exploration, Nigeria did not have one genuine metering system. So apart from oil theft, which LV D UHVXOW RI WKDW ZH DUH QRW HYHQ DEOH WR PHHW RXU TXRWD RͿHUHG E\ OPEC. There is also another fraud, which is, giving a huge amount

Nigeria’s economy has gone comatose. How do you think it can be saved?

7KH SXEOLF ÀQDQFH LQWHJULW\ LQ 1LJHULD LV SUREDEO\ DW LWV ORZHVW VWDWH 7KH GHEW SURÀOH KDV GHÀHG DOO HFRQRPLF SUXGHQFH IUDPHworks that exist in the laws. During interaction with the media, I mentioned many contributors to the non-existent solution to the issue. The number one is tax administration. I said this because the OHDNDJHV WKDW H[LVW ZLWKLQ WKH ÀQDQFLDO DUFKLWHFWXUH RI 1LJHULD DV D FRXQWU\ FUHDWH D GHIDXOW RSSRUWXQLW\ IRU LQHͿHFWLYH WD[DWLRQ DQG consequently failure in optimising our revenue that is required for national development. And this must be addressed.

Also, the extractive sector must be looked into. As mentioned earlier, organised corruption in the oil and gas sector is a major issue that is expressed in several ways including oil theft and all other forms of sabotage within the trade value chain – fuel subsidy and other unproductive incentives. This trend has consistently left us in a situation where this revered sector is rather sapping revenue from the government instead of contributing substantially to fund developmental projects in Nigeria. Another one is the absence of an economic team. As the saying goes “If you fail to plan then you are planning to fail.” Every government should constitute an economic team of technocrats saddled with the responsibility of advising the President on economic issues at any given time in the life of every regime.

The absence of such a critical team leaves room for a knee-jerk approach to economic policies and interventions which a lot of times fail to make any serious impact. Although this essential spending is being made by our governments today, the debate over how to deal with the debt generated by the COVID-19 crisis will be of vital importance to Nigerians.

Also, policy actions that choke the middle class and informal sector and public procurement issues have been issues with numerRXV LUUHJXODULWLHV WKDW DUH DOOHJHG ZLWKLQ WKH SURFHVV $QG ÀQDOO\ misplaced economic priorities. I said this because the legislature’s primary mandates are oversight, law-making, and representation. The legislator is never saddled with the responsibility of implementing projects at any level of government. This is arguably putting the constituency project concept as an economic misplaced priority. Also, these funds have never been accounted for nor have they ever had any resemblance of proper management in the past. We believe that the lawmaker should concentrate on his/ her primary mandates, but ensure that the executive implements DQ\ SURMHFW DV SURYLGHG E\ WKH $SSURSULDWLRQ $FW ZLWKLQ WKH ÀVFDO of the government.

The IMF has been clamouring for the removal of oil subsidies, but its critics believe the masses will be at the receiving end, if it is removed. What is your stand on this?

Before the IMF, we as CSOs have been advocating that government should stop this fraudulent oil subsidy. There is nothing like an oil subsidy except oil stealing. We are also in agreement with the so-called oil subsidy that should be removed and utilised for other social development like the healthcare system, like an educational system that has collapsed. These are visible areas where we can see revitalisation.

See concluding part on www. thisdaylive.com

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SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2022 • T H I S D AY

SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • OCTOBER 23, 2022

CONVERSATION WITH MY BILLIONAIRE FRIEND ayo.arowolo@thisdaylive.com 08086447494 (SMS only) LESSONS NOTES MODEL STUDIES BINOCULARS

AYO AROWOLO

PERSONAL FINANCE

SPECIAL REVIEW

Enlightened Wealth Builders Create Opportunities Out Of Challenges in locally producing cement, eliminating cement importation by Nigeria and expanding his brand into some 13 other African countries. His brand is also currently exploiting the unsatisfied opportunity gaps in food, sugar, tomato paste and very soon, refined petroleum. Dangote has thus built his wealth of about $12 billion from exploiting and satisfying the unsatisfied needs of Nigerians and other African cement with a successful brand.

“Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard if you but dig for them” –Russell Conwell

O

ne question that has kept coming from readers that need to be dealt with is what some have described as contradictions.

Some have found it difficult to settle with the fact that most times what present themselves as problems also present themselves to discerning wealth builders as opportunities to create solutions which when systematised become avenues for wealth.

My first Billionaire Friend had dealt with the issue in the past but many have still expressed doubts over what they term as contradictions.

This edition examines some situations and circumstances in which problems have been transformed into opportunities and wealth.

Here we shall be discussing searching and discovering, existing opportunity gaps in human needs and creating successful brands to exploit and satisfy such discovered opportunities; gaps in human needs, for building wealth. Put differently, wealth is thus created through discovering commonly hidden but existing gaps within human unsatisfied needs, exploiting the opportunity around those unsatisfied needs and creating successful brands out of the products and services that are discovered from the search for unsatisfied human needs around us.

“There are no exceptions to this wealth-building rule; it does not matter where you are from, your religion, your complexion. Once you comply with the rule, you will become wealthy beyond your imagination. This is the same principle successful people you read about, practise, and the billionaires that yearly make Forbes’ list, employ to build phenomenal wealth”.

“These are people that have been able to discover one unsatisfied human need and have exploited and built brands, products and services that have been able to satisfy this particular need. People don’t understand that wealth-building opportunities show up daily around them in the forms of problems, challenges and complex human difficulties, but instead of praying to God to show them the wisdom to solve the human problems around them, they hop from one country to another looking for wealth building opportunities that exist in abundance in their homeland. How tragic!”

“Sometimes I wish that many who sold their God-given businesses and travelled to the so-called advanced countries to become second-class citizens were able to lay hands on the Russell Conwell classic, THE ACRES OF DIAMONDS. They would have discovered that in the backyards they abandoned, there were acres of diamonds waiting to be mined.

I have travelled widely and I have seen brilliant individuals from different African countries, professors, surgeons, journalists, bankers driving cabs, washing dead bodies, and doing all manner of crazy things abroad in the name of looking for wealth. Such people cannot be truly happy no matter the impressions they give you. They have uprooted themselves from where God planted them to be solutions providers, stars, employers of labour and gone to increase the wealth of other countries with their brains”.

“It is the height of insanity when an African professor leaves his country to become executive assistant abroad to a white guy that has no school certificate and to nationals of other countries who cannot even communicate well. This calls for weeping.

When a country allows its best brains to risk their lives through seas, mountains, deserts and other dangerous routes to foreign countries to become second-class citizens in countries built by human beings like them, rest assured that this is a tragedy of monumental proportion”.

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE…ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO REALISE THEIR TRUE WORTH AND COMMIT THEMSELVES TO PUSHING THE ENVELOPES For the reason of space, we shall limit our examples of globally-acknowledged wealthy people to only five individuals: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, amongst many others. These five wealthy people searched for and discovered unsatisfied human needs, and successfully exploited, created and built their brands with products and services which are satisfying hitherto unsatisfied human needs.

BILL GATES

Let us start with Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a 66-year-old American, with a wealth of about $130 billion, who built his wealth by creating his Microsoft successful brand. He discovered and

FEMI OTEDOLA

Bill Gates

Musk

Femi Otedola, also discovered and exploited the unsatisfied opportunity gap with his brand, in the supply of diesel and has since built wealth around this and expanded into corporate equity investments.

Thus, in general, wealth can be created and built from discovering, exploiting and creating successful brands by satisfying existing unexploited opportunity gaps in human needs around us. Indeed, Nigeria is a country with numerous unsatisfied opportunity gaps, which are waiting to be exploited for satisfying burning needs. Nigerians need to take advantage of these yearning unsatisfied needs around them, to build wealth, by discovering such opportunities, exploiting them and creating successful brands out of these unsatisfied needs.

NIGERIA IS BLESSED INDEED, WE ARE BLESSED! Indeed, Nigeria is a country with numerous opportunity gaps waiting to be satisfied. Let’s briefly look at how to identify opportunities in Nigeria.

Buffet

Otedola

Spending money on personal development enlightens your mind to see opportunities that fly all around you. Step out of your comfort zone; make mistakes but get back on your feet again and solder on. If your mind is not developed, you will not see those opportunities when they come because, in most cases, they disguise as problems Dangote cars are the pioneers of electric cars in the world. developed his uniquely successful software which has become the generic fulcrum of world information technology. William (Bill) Henry Gates built wealth by founding his software development company, along with his partner Paul Allen and building his globally successful software brand to explore and satisfy a huge undiscovered opportunity that was idly waiting to be explored regarding the human need for information technology. He built his fortune as the chief executive, chairman and chief architect of the Microsoft Corporation, which IT brand, that blazed the trail in information technology of our world. He stepped down from the day-to-day running of Microsoft in 2008 and from being chairman of Microsoft’s board in 2014. He left the board completely in 2020 to focus on philanthropy. He went into investing in corporations, warehousing his investments in Cascade Investment LLC.

ELON MUSK

Another example is Elon Reeve Musk, who is exploiting the huge opportunity gap in rockets, spacecraft and electric vehicle technology. He started by first creating his X.com and PayPal brands. He then sold his PayPal brand to eBay, which fortune provided the major fulcrum for his humongous wealth. He is currently exploiting and creating brands to satisfy the wealth-generating opportunity gaps, in human inevitable future needs for electric cars and rockets for exploring the earth’s outer space. His electric

WARREN BUFFET

Again, we have people like Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett is a very old man of about 90 years of age but still kicking in the investment world. He is called the Oracle of Omaha. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. He started by exploiting the opportunity gap in textile manufacturing and building his successful brand. He thereafter veered into investing in blue chip companies through courageously differing prevailing investment trends. He thus built his wealth by exploiting the unique opportunity in his sound trend analysis of the financial position of corporate entities and investing in well-chosen stocks, against differing prevailing investment trends.

ALIKO DANGOTE

Coming home to Nigeria, there were decades, when cement manufacturing in Nigeria, was monopolised by West African Portland Cement and hugely augmented by imports. Indeed, some of us still recollect the time when our ports were blocked and we had some major blockade of our Lagos, Apapa port, with ships loaded with imported cement for Nigeria. It took the dexterity of late Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, to decongest our Apapa port.

Aliko Dangote saw the huge unsatisfied opportunity gap in the local production of cement in Nigeria and went into creating a successful brand of his,

HOW TO DISCOVER THE OPPORTUNITIES We discover the opportunity gaps in human needs, by scanning our environments through conducting market research. These opportunities are hanging there around us, waiting to be discovered and exploited by those who seek them. Knowledge is required for such a discovery and exploitation of the unsatisfied need opportunities. A typical example is Warren Buffett. At only the age of seven, out of family financial frustrations and challenges, he borrowed a book to read. The book is titled: 1000 ways to make $1000. From reading that book at that age, it fired up the determination, hidden talent, commitment and zeal, that created the multi-billion dollars wealth, of about $60 billion, for Warren Buffett, who at some 90 years of age, is still investing in trend-defining investments and building wealth out of it.

There are opportunity gaps all around us, that need to be discovered and it is people who discover such opportunity gaps that grow to build successful brands, create jobs and build wealth for their nations. Governments also earn income through taxes and FOREX from these.

COMMITMENT TO LEARNING AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ENABLES YOU TO SEE OPPORTUNITIES Not all eyes see; not all ears ear and not all minds perceive. But when you commit yourself to developing your mind, you will begin to accurately interpret events around you and why God positioned you right where you are now. When your mind is not developed, you simply pass the opportunities (in the form of problems and challenges) and go to your imams and pastors to pray those problems out of your life. Ten years ago, did you ever hear any word such as Zoom? Zoom became prominent during the lockdown period when people could not move around, yet they had to communicate.

The owner had been nurturing this idea for years before the lockdown period. So, when the opportunity came, he seized it with both hands and legs. Today the owner is a multi-billionaire.

That is how enduring wealth is built.

Spending money on personal development enlightens your mind to see opportunities that fly all around you. Step out of your comfort zone; make mistakes but get back on your feet again and soldier on. If your mind is not developed, you will not see those opportunities when they come because, in most cases, they disguise themselves as problems. Have you not observed that while many Nigerians are jetting out of the country permanently to other countries, nationals of other countries are trouping into Nigeria to exploit the incredible opportunities that abound in Nigeria? We now have garri yam flour made 100% in Nigeria, packaged and resold to Nigerians by the Chinese.

Nationals of other countries are establishing modern factories, producing goods from here which are then re-routed. That is why the Bible says that a lazy hunter does not roast his catch.

Read the full article at https://www.thisdaylive.com

SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23, 2022

INTERNATIONAL

Nigeria and Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi’s Calls for a New World Order: Beyond the Deaf and Dumb Saga

T

he Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), considered by its founders in 1961 as an International Institute in Africa, an African Institute in Nigeria, and a Nigerian Institute in Lagos, played host to Professor AkinwandeBolajiAkinyemi’slecture,entitled‘Towards A NewWorld Order,’onThursday, 20th October, 2022.

The lecture was delivered within the framework of the NIIA’s Distinguished Lecture Series and was delivered to a very distinguished audience. At the lecture, virtually and physically attended, were seasoned diplomatists, military professionals and accomplished scholars, and more importantly, students from the University of Lagos, as well as from Babcock and Covenant Universities.

Academics like Professors Akinjide Osuntokun, Adele Jinadu, Kayode Soremekun, Adekeye Adebajo, andToyin Falola were graciously there.

FOC Nnaemeka Ignatius Ilo, the Chief of staff of Logistics, who stood in for the Air Officer Command, and CSP Aladegoroye, and Commodore J.D. Rashid were there. It was also a forum for former Foreign Ministers: Major General Ike Nwachukwu, Professor Akinwande Akinyemi, the guest lecturer, and Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, a SAN and Chairman of the event. In fact, diplomatic presence at the lecture was quite noteworthy as the Indian Consulate and Rwandan Embassy were represented.

Ambassador Segun Akinsanya, Ambassador Tafawa Balewa, Sports Ambassador Segun Odegbami and Cultural Ambassador, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu were all there. Several professional politicians, including the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, also took active part during the question-and-answer session.

The importance of the distinguished audience is best explained by the rationale for the lecture. The NIIA’s Director General, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, said it has become necessary to stop taking Africa to the world. We should bring the world to Africa. At the level of Professor Akinyemi, the situational reality of global power and sustained quest to have a NewWorld Order (NWO) demand that the Nigerian elite should henceforth be more actively engaged in the discussion of the modalities and criteria for the NWO.Thus, the invitation extended to members of various strata of society therefore appears to be a foundation-laying for the making of a NWO beginning at the domestic level. And true enough, the lecture generated much interest and the NIIA appears to be returning to normalcy, especially that Professor Akinyemi also recognised the NIIA as one of the potent determinants considered in qualifying to be given a National Honour, Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), eleven years ago. With the lecture, Professor Akinyemi wanted to ensure that Nigeria is relevant in any given NWO.

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Akinyemi and a New World Order Without doubt, Professor Akinyemi has been talking about the need Akinyemi for a NWO for some time. In 1992, he authored a lecture on the platform favour of priorities determined in Moscow, Washington, London of the Nigerian Society of International Affairs (NSIL). In March 2022, and Paris. Third World countries, except for their ruling elites, had he again discussed the need for a NWO in which Nigeria should be an little autonomous interests to project, talk less of a capacity to active participant. As he put it, ‘Nigeria should join in the search for a defend such interests in the old order.’ It is precisely because of NewWorld Order by becoming an active participant. Medium-income these observations that Professor Akinyemi has been calling for States are scrambling to create a New World Order. No one wants to a New World Order. make the mistakes of leaving the jigsaw puzzle to the two superpowers When he called on African leaders, and particularly on Nigeria, to of USA and China plus a few handpicked European-medium powers and have a black Bomb, the objective is to provide a stronger foundation their allies.’As further observed by Professor Akinyemi, Nigeria was not for a better appreciated Africa and black dignity in international an active participant on the global scene because of a lack of domestic relations. Considering that Nigeria ought to lead the struggle for consensus among domestic foreign policy elite (Vide“Planning for a a better and respected black people, Professor Akinyemi came New World Order,”thisdaylive.com, March 2022). up with what has been described as the Akinyemi Consultation His lecture last Thursday at the NIIA was the latest effort to sensitise Doctrine. This was when Libyan Muammar Gaddafi sought the the Nigerian elite and the NIIA, indeed was the best platform for the understanding and support of Nigeria when Libya had problems lecture for two major reasons. First, Professor Akinyemi was a former with the United States. Professor Akinyemi simply argued that the Director General of the Institute. He was therefore very conversant with spirit of mutual respect required mutual consultation before acting. the terrain. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the cardinal and Perhaps most importantly, Professor Akinyemi’s idea of a Concert first mandate of the NIIA is‘to encourage and facilitate the understanding of international affairs and of the circumstances, conditions and of Medium Powers is undoubtedly another way of complaining attitudes of foreign countries and their peoples.’ about the existing order and demanding a NWO. And interestingly too, not only were some medium-power countries invited Inthisregard,anydiscussionofaNWOisnecessarilyaboutinternational to Nigeria, countries like Switzerland, internationally recognised attitudes and cooperation. It is about international struggles. In fact, as one of the neutralist states, was represented at the meeting, the question of a NWO has always generated considerable discussions. which was, for avoidance of not giving the impression of directly On 11 July 1992, the NIIA held a one-day National Seminar on ‘Africa confrontingthebigpowers,changeditsnametoLagosForum.Thus, and the NewWorld Order.’One pertinent observation made by Professor Bassey E, Ate at the seminar was that under the Cold War order, the recent NIIA lecture was therefore a fresh call on the Nigerian ‘development and security interests of theThirdWorld were skewed in foreign policy elite to begin to reflect on current international

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In fact, more disturbingly, while Nigeria, under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as Chairman of the AU Assembly of Heads of State argued that it would be better to first secure the membership of the UNSC and then begin to struggle within for the right of veto, many of the Arabophones, especially, Libya, said there was no need accepting permanent seats without veto power. Thus, African leaders created the first obstacle to expansion of membership at the continental level. Besides, Articles 108 and 109 of the UN Charter require the consent of the P-5, which further complicates because acting in unanimity is not forthcoming. Thus, amendment of the UN Charter cannot be possible without the consensus of the P-5.

However, Nigeria’s diplomatic machinery did well. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his Foreign Minister, Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, clearly warned the AU leaders about the implications of insisting on the right of veto. Today, the expansion of the permanent membership of the UNSC has become a political lull and a case of the deaf and dumb leading the blind. The challenge of Professor Akinyemi’s sustained calls for a NWO is basically how to avoid a situation of the deaf and dumb being led by the blind. Who is listening to what? Professor Akinyemi’s lecture and search for a NWO is most welcome a development and should be understood in light of the need to revisit the idea of the Concert of Medium Powers

developments with the ultimate objective of helping to also shape international attitudes.

Nigeria’s military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, asked two questions in his address to the NIIA National Seminar on 11th July, 1992:‘What should African countries do to stem this bleeding of its developmental surpluses? What can we learn that is based upon the truth of our circumstances and that promises reversal of a condition that is structurally unviable?’ There is nothing to suggest that any meaningful answers have been found since then. The idea of the Concert of Medium Powers that was rejected in Nigeria is what is currently informing the establishment of new concerts, like the BRIC and the BRICS. Efforts are being made in different nooks and crannies of the world to find alternative ways of ensuring self-protection and advancement in the current World Order.

And true, every quest for a NWO is always an acknowledgment of the observation that the world is complex and contradictory, integral and indivisible. In the words ofVladimir F. Petrovsky, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the USSR, ‘this basic idea is a departure from the old and erroneous view, which saw the opposition of one socio-economic system to the other outside the context of an interdependent and interconnected world’(NIIA Lecture Series, No.57. 1989).

Put differently, if we admit of the indivisibility and interconnectedness oftheworld,aconflictbetweendifferentsocio-economicsystemscannot but be an issue, especially in the quest for a NWO, which essentially is a manifestation of international cooperation. Whenever there is a change ofWorld Order, international cooperation necessarily changes in character as it is the new order that defines the pattern and orientation of international cooperation.This partly explains why Professor Akinyemi has from time to time advocated a NWO. Deaf and Dumb Saga: The Issues Several issues were raised in Professor Akinyemi’s NIIA lecture: attitudinal disposition of the foreign policy elite, Colonial Pact and Charter of Imperialism, COVID-19 Pandemic and international policy attitudes, dynamics of the NWO in comparison with the current order, reform of the United Nations and Permanent Seat for Africa, setting an agenda for the NWO, the Nigerian factor in the NWO. Let us look at some of these questions.

Thefirstishowtoexplainandunderstandwhythereishardlyagreement among the Nigerian foreign policy elite, especially in terms of articulating the foreign policy leeway, and also particularly on what Nigeria’s roles should be continentally and regionally in the conduct and management of Africa’s international relations? One obvious possible reason for lack of elite consensus is the psychology of human differences which allows for holding of different perceptions. This is natural. Another possible factor is the lack of coordination between and among foreign policy institutions. There are the NIIA, the NIPSS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the forefront but all of which act along parallel lines in terms of common approach to foreign policy making and implementation.

What is ideal is to have all the foreign policy institutions directed to investigate the place of Nigeria in the strategic foreign policy calculations of all the Member States of the international community. In this regard, since Professor Akinyemi is positing that Nigeria has to be actively engaged in the making of the NWO, such participation can only be meaningful if the extent of how Nigeria is perceived internationally is first understood.This is a first responsibility that should be given to the NIIA and to spearhead because it falls within its core mandate.

More concernedly, there is no Ministry, Department or Agency of government that does not have one thing or the other to do internationally. More often than not, government ministries operate internationally without necessarily carrying the Foreign Ministry along. Nigerian diplomatic missions are frequently cut unawares when home-based government officials travel abroad and expect to be well received. In fact, the foreign policy elite, largely comprising retired and serving diplomatists, diplomatic scholars, are not related with on the basis of professional competency, but on the basis of religious solidarity, ethnic jingoism and personal friendship. By so doing, the national interest is oftenrelegatedto thebackground.ThisiswhyProfessorAkinyemicannot be more correct in submitting that‘Nigeria needs to clean up her act.

She needs to become a less corrupt country. She needs to practice an inclusive form of governance and not a patently form of governance that emphasizes incompetence, square pegs in round holes, and turns Nigeria into the exclusive property of one nationality thus breeding secessionist agitation.This state will not help Nigeria achieve its manifest destiny in the world.’

On Colonial Pact and Charter of Imperialism, the question to ask is when shall they operationally be brought to an end?The Colonial Pact, as espoused by France appears to be one major dynamic of the turmoil and coups d’état in Francophone Africa. Professor Akinyemi reminded us the noisome aspects of the pact: political and not economic independence for colonial territories. Political independence was subjected in 1958 to conditionality: acceptance by the colonies of a French tax on what France had spent in developing the colonies; prohibition of an independent national currency. They were to accept the CFA franc whose rate is exclusively determinate by France and which was directly linked to the French franc; obligation to set up an army to be made up of soldiers who had fought on the side of the French during World War II and who were still in the French army; any award of economic contract must give priority to French companies; in the same vein, when and where mineral resources are found, the first right of exploitation must be given to the French; and more interestingly, 85% of the foreign exchange reserves must be kept in the Central Bank of France.

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OPI NION

121

T H I S D AY MONDAYSunday MARCH 2022 2022 23 14, October, Vol 27. No 10057

opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

A KING AND A PRIEST UDOM EMMANUEL waxes spiritual as he inaugurates the PDP Governorship Campaign Council in Uyo

See Page 22

A DEADLY CRACK IN NIGERIA’S DISASTER RESPONSE

Government at all levels must be alive to their responsibility, writes AISHA SHUAIBU

See Page 22

EDITORIAL FLOOD-GATE OF MISERY AND DEATHS

See Page 51

AUSTIN AVURU argues the need to fix our major inland waterways’ infrastructure

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2 22

T H I S D AY SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2022

UDOM EMMANUEL waxes spiritual as he inaugurates the PDP Governorship Campaign Council in Uyo

A KING AND A PRIEST

Every single speech that you would have wanted to hear from me today has been delivered by the PDP Governorship Candidate, Pastor Umo Eno. I am therefore here strictly for a serious spiritual exercise and I need your rapt attention.

If you have ever wanted something good for this State, I think you will listen to me attentively. I would not have suspended every national engagement that I had to be here today if this event was not important even to generations of Akwa Ibom yet unborn. The problem we are having in Nigeria today is that we have always ignored the foundation of issues and expect that we can build something on nothing and expect it to stand. So this is an occasion to lay a foundation that is very VLJQLÀFDQW %XW EHIRUH , JR DQ\ IXUWKHU OHW me appreciate the presence of our Deputy Governor, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, our governorship candidate and his running mate, our party chairman and all our distinguished senators, our entire party structure, members of the National Assembly and our elders. I am so grateful to be here and what trips me most is that this is the creme de la creme of politics in Akwa Ibom State.

Let me now begin by saying that I concur on everything the incoming governor has said. Some investors spoke to me recently (I think the SSG was there with me) and I said to them: the person coming after me is 100 times better than me. I believe that by now, those who did not believe before are beginning to believe that the person coming after me is 100 times better than me. I’m not saying so DV ÁDWWHU\ , DP VD\LQJ VR EHFDXVH , NQRZ what I am saying is true. Let me also say here that only 11 people go to play for a team in a football match…So, please let those who were not selected into this campaign council and committees show some understanding and recognize that it is totally impracticable to put everybody in the campaign council and committee…

Let’s move in the spirit of sportsmanship that only 11 footballers can come out to play but trust me…we will get the support of 7.9 million Akwa Ibom people…for the EHQHÀW RI WKH SHRSOH Standing here, I am not going to speak any word of my own…Every single word I am going to speak will not come from me but will come from the leadership ERRN WKDW ZH DOO KDYH 7KH ÀUVW SRLQW , want to make is in Joel 3:9-10 (Proclaim \H WKLV DPRQJ WKH *HQWLOHV 3UHSDUH ZDU wake up the mighty men, let all the men RI ZDU GUDZ QHDU OHW WKHP FRPH XS Beat your plowshares into swords, and \RXU SUXQLQJ KRRNV LQWR VSHDUV OHW WKH weak say, I am strong!). That is what we are doing here…If you also check what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 8:16, he said: “Thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus the same concern for you”. This is the same concern I have for the people of Akwa Ibom State. Thanks be to God who put into the heart of all Akwa Ibomites

that same concern for the generation yet unborn…that yes, we all rose up to build a stronger and more sustainable economy for our people and above all, we all rose to maintain peace in our land.

I also want to assure our people that we can never ever be shaken, which is also what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3.

He said that: “Ye be not shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (That day is 2023 when the entire Akwa Ibom will vote for the PDP).

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come D IDOOLQJ DZD\ ÀUVW DQG WKDW PDQ RI VLQ EH revealed, the son of perdition”. No such (son of perdition) shall govern our State, except (the one chosen) by the inspiration of the Almighty God. Let me also assure the entire campaign structure, especially the leadership of the campaign, that if you check in Isaiah 29:22, it says: “Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.” DG of Campaigns, it is not now that we can be ashamed. PDP has never been ashamed in Akwa Ibom. Is it now? Is it during your time as a council member? God forbid! It is not possible, not in your time. And I want to say as a prayer also, that in Gen. 24:12 (in the New Living Translation): “And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.”

That is our prayer as we inaugurate this campaign council. We join our hearts and voices to say: “Oh Lord God of our master Abraham, please give us success”, because no matter what we do...the Bible says “by strength shall no man prevail”. It is only God that can give us success.

I want to reassure you and pray that no matter what happens, God will give us success. I will end my prayer for you as a Campaign Council in Psalm 66:3. It says “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.” Through the greatness of God’s powers shall our enemies submit themselves to us. I pray that as we have inaugurated the council today, everybody will go to work.

I want to also appreciate the comment made by the DG that the campaign shall be issue-based. All those who know me very well know that I have never mentioned any other political party on a platform by name. You will never hear me both at the state and national level do that. I have never stood on the political platform to mention anybody’s name. The issue is not about that person. The issue is about what we are after and that is the soul of Akwa Abasi Ibom State. Mentioning that person’s name can only make that person popular for nothing. There is nothing that person can do. It doesn’t work that way. The Bible says “many are the devices in a man’s heart but nevertheless, it is the council of the Lord that shall stand. The battle is not for the strong nor the race for the swift…It is not of him that runners nor willeth but it is God who shows mercy. So, it doesn’t add any value mentioning any opponent on the podium during your campaigns. Stay away from all that. Face the issues. Tell the people what you are going to do to move this State forward? That is what we should concentrate on. How are you going to build on what we have on the ground already?

I playfully told someone today during a discussion that KE MMÖNG ANEM KE CUP (water is only ‘sweet’ in a cup).

Excerpts from Governor Emmanuel’s speech

Government at all levels must be alive to their responsibility, writes AISHA SHUAIBU

A DEADLY CRACK IN NIGERIA’S DISASTER RESPONSE

Thirty-three out of the 36 states in Nigeria are currently experiencing one of the worst environmental disasters in the last decade, as floods have claimed up to 600 lives, caused the destruction of 340 hectares of land, and the displacement of 1.4 million people. This calamity is set to intensify as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouk predicted the floods could continue for much longer due to the torrential rains. One of the ways the federal government has responded is in the approval of the release of 12,000 metric tons of grains by President Muhammadu Buhari to the affected states. Although it seems the state governments, and responsible MDAs have scrambled to their feet to salvage what’s left of this tragedy, there has been little to no transparency into their actual response system, data collected, or plans of action. The country appears ill-equipped to manage these floods, despite several warnings made by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to gear up for what was coming based on the data they obtained from The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA). Just like in 2012 when the floods claimed over 400 lives, affected communities are having to pay for the failures of those in charge that are meant to put in place preventative measures for the protection of human lives and property. A disaster of this magnitude does not discriminate and will destroy anything in its way. For the preservation of our lands and public safety, we must insist that the state governments alongside the people take responsibility for being more environmentally conscious to avoid contributing to such unfortunate occurrences.

Nigerians are watching helplessly as communities get wiped out, people disappear with no trace, and the ripple effects of the floods impact the supply of fuel, goods, and services around the country. Anambra is one of the worst affected states, where one-third of it is submerged, putting their already erosion-prone land under serious threat. It has become a topic of controversy to point blame at the Lagdo Dam in Northern Cameroon, which the Governor of Anambra said has been a long-term threat to Nigeria due to its water release spilling into the country every few years. He expressed concerns over the dam one day engulfing every part of the country, a disconcertment that may or may not be valid during this time. Should this come to pass, food security and economic stability will take a huge hit as 13 flood-prone states that grow the nation’s crops and produce their oil will inevitably be hit by the dam waters.

The country is already seeing the rising effects of the floods in form of fuel shortages, road closures, loss of livestock, and the spread of

waterborne diseases. In Bayelsa State, up to 700,000 people have been displaced as 90% of the state is underwater. The Governor has called on the federal government to declare a national emergency as hunger and tension has taken over the state.

Other than the 2012 incidences, the years 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 also reported flooding that resulted in multiple destruction, displacement, and deaths. The inevitability of these floods every year when the heavy rains come must be closely examined and contained by the government on the local, state, and federal levels. The recklessness and incompetence displayed by these bodies in their lack of preparedness for re-occurring environmental disasters speak to Nigeria’s quality of leadership and their misplaced priorities. The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu debunked claims of the Lagdo Dam being responsible for the floods and said it was “water we are blessed with from God from the sky”, an uncalculated statement with no logical association to the role of the ministry in this situation. Foreign intervention is in progress as the United States government, UNICEF, and other development organizations are working to aid the affected states. It is quite clear that this national catastrophe could have been avoidable given adequate infrastructure, environmental guidelines, and regulation strategies in each state to manage allnatural or man-made disasters. Nigeria has once again been brought to its knees by the disorderliness of the government and relevant MDAs to perform their duties with attention and commitment. We must demand for regular and detailed reports from all responsible agencies to assure the country that everything is under control.

Attention must shift from the ongoing blame game to quick intervention plans, financial aid, and the supply of more relief materials. UNICEF has identified shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene, and food as the most urgent needs of affected areas and victims of floods. We must call on all local NGOs, institutions, and aid programs to collaborate with the government in helping where they are able to. Members of the general public should also actively seek out credible individuals and organizations to offer their support to, as there can never be too much assistance. ·

Shuaibu is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

FLOOD-GATE OF MISERY AND DEATHS

H

Government could do more in cushioning the plight of the victims

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We have not seen the kind of emergency response we saw a decade ago which suggests that we may have normalised the tragedy

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A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

23.10.22

Senator Lanre Tejuoso Groomed to Lead, Ready to Serve He has lived in different worlds, first as a successful medical doctor, then as a politician and now as a school administrator. His grasp on leadership was recently put to test when he was appointed the Pro-Chancellor of University of Lagos. Within a short period in the saddle, he is already walking the talk as every move isn’t about experimenting, unlearning or figuring things out. It is about his commitment to the institution, his party and the nation. Senator Lanre Tejuoso in a recent encounter, tells Funke Olaode about his first assignment as UNILAG’s helmsman and his commitment to restoring the good old days of the foremost institution.

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/victoria.olaode@thisdaylive.com.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

53

COVER My Life Has Revolved around UNILAG for 55 Years, I’m Challenged to Restore and Improve on the Good Old Days

Tejuoso

H

e has lived in the public glare all his life by virtue of his rich pedigree having come from the noble family of Tejuoso from Oke-Ona Egba in Ogun State. He would later serve for four years as a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where he was held remarkably in high esteem.

But his grasp on leadership was put to test last year when he was appointed the ProChancellor of his alma mater, the University of Lagos (UNILAG), following a protracted crisis that almost engulfed the foremost institution.

Smart, intelligent, diplomatic and peaceful in his approach to issues, the icing on his administrative cake was the successful installation of the first female Vice-Chancellor of the foremost institution. Professor Folasade Ogunsola recently emerged as the first-ever female Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG. As the 13th substantive VC of the institution, she will succeed Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the current VC whose five-year tenure ends in November this year.

With the success of his first assignment, Senator Lanre Tejuoso is considered a breath of fresh air due to his mature way of handling crisis, dousing tension and returning normalcy to the embattled varsity.

How does he feel coming back to his alma mater to be a Pro-Chancellor? “Anybody will feel humbled. I believe it is a very divine intervention. God must have recognised me for what I am doing for me to be recognised in such a way. It cannot be man. It is God,” he said.

His life has revolved around the university.

He started his nursery and primary school at

the University of Lagos Staff School while his tertiary education was obtained at the same university from the College of Medicine, Idi Araba.

“I have practical knowledge of the positive and negative developments of the institution over 55 years! It is like being trained to be a Pro-chancellor in the same environment. It will be a failure if you were trained for 55 years and you have nothing positive to show for that. I am challenged to ensure that all that I have been privileged to experience in the good old days of this institution shall be restored and improved upon,” he said.

It is not surprising, but rather extraordinary, for a person of such high stature who lived in the public glare as a distinguished Senator from 2015-2019, within a short time to be held in such remarkably high esteem.

So, what is it about Senator Tejuoso that is different? It is simply this: he lives in accordance with his faith.

“I’m not perfect but I will, by the special grace of God, continue to exhibit a worthy character that’s befitting of such graceful elevation.”

He also alluded to his commitment to such principles as cooperation, democracy, and fair play. It is obvious that in his Christian faith, and the values it inspires, he has been brought up to cherish a sense of duty to others, and to hold in the greatest respect the precious traditions and responsibilities of the unique history of the University of Lagos and system of academia.

During the 51st convocation ceremonies of the institution, Senator Tejuoso made a clear commitment to strive for a united

council where peace reigns and left no question that his Governing Council would do everything in its power to lead towards making the University a truly world-class citadel.

“I reaffirmed the One C for 3Cs Agenda of the University’s governing council, which can be interpreted as One Council for Cooperation, Creativity, and Consolidation, ” he said.

As he forges ahead in his responsibilities as UNILAG helmsman, Senator Tejuoso’s moves aren’t about experimenting, unlearning or figuring things out, it is about his commitment to the institution, his party and the nation.

He said: “Well, as a representative of the present government, and a senior leader of our party, All Progressives Congress (APC), I cannot be in a position and encourage things that will give the party or the government a negative name.

So there is no problem that arises that we cannot solve amicably without involving the press and making noise. So, there is nowhere you get to that you will not see some little problems, but everything is just to find a solution and try to resolve it without exposing it to the public and make sure that you have answers for every aspect before you go public. I think that is a major aspect of the problems before my time,” he said.

Within a few months in the saddle, Senator Tejuoso is already walking the talk.

And the recent exercise of appointing the Vice-Chancellor and Bursar without any rancour has introduced a new fresh air into the administration of UNILAG. “So far, it has been smooth sailing. And I will say it is work in progress as we have to keep on upgrading standards to a level expected of an institution referred to as the University of First Choice and the Nation’s pride.”

He continued: “You know, I am coming from the private sector and in addition, I have the expertise of being a senator for four years. I know the bureaucracy of the government in getting issues sorted out and I know the smoothness of getting things sorted out in the private sector. I was expecting to see a kind of private sector-like situation in the university, but I discovered that we have similar government bureaucracies in the university, which we will need to improve upon to move the university forward.”

For someone who has tasted both public and private sectors, he believes that bureaucracy can be jettisoned if internalising the teaching is a clog in the wheel of progress.

“I have realised that theory makes an insignificant difference, we need to be practical. We need to have testimonies, we need to have things to refer to as, ‘this is what we did and this is the result.’ The selection process we just had recently was done transparently by engaging a first-class accounting and human relationship company to conduct the interviews for both the Bursar and the Vice Chancellor under the watchful eyes of all. Everyone was there and we all agreed on the processes that they presented and at the end of the day, they chose the best candidates. It is unprecedented in the history of an institution of learning to have such a process. No one could complain because they saw everything the way it was done. Hence, we need to attract such positive interventions to make our universities grow and our country become better for it.”

In a few weeks, Prof. Ogunsola will be in the saddle as the new Vice-Chancellor.

Senator Tejuoso said his expectations are not high.

“We need someone that is very accommodating, someone that can attract a lot of funding and grants to the university, someone that can be fearless, and ensure that you don’t promote just for promotion sake but meritoriously. Someone that can think out of the box and exhibit evidence of international exposure.”

And on his take on an alumnus of a university being a Vice Chancellor, he said: “Well, I will equate the University of Lagos to Nigeria. So that is what we are fighting for in Nigeria. We don’t want to know where you came from, or your tribe, meritocracy is the keyword. We want the best candidate to lead, whether you are from Zaria, Akwa-Ibom or anywhere, we just want the best for the institution.”

With incessant and prolonged ASUU

strike and underfunding of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, Senator Tejuoso is delighted that UNILAG has continued to make monumental achievements and landmarks both in Nigeria and outside.

“UNILAG ranks first in Nigeria, 401–500 globally in the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, out of over 1,799 institutions across the world. This is according to the 2023 rankings released on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. Nigeria’s University of Ibadan [436] and University of Lagos [449] ranked better than these UK Universities in 2023. We have to maintain this position,” an elated Senator Tejuoso exclaimed.

Senator Tejuoso has also been on the front burner canvassing for support for the institution.

At the 2022 general meeting of the UNILAG Alumni Association, North America chapter held on October 9, 2022, he reiterated his determination to raise the bar of successes and achievements to greater heights, which all and sundry can all be proud of.

He, therefore, made clarion calls to his schoolmates scattered all over the world to be partners in progress. According to him, UNILAG is one of the foremost institutions in Nigeria and could boast of state-of-the-art infrastructure and qualified manpower to train, teach and mentor their students, who could compete relatively with their peers anywhere in the world.’ “But due to the gross reduction in funding of education, the reverse is the case which has pushed several of its manpower to seek greener pastures abroad.”

Enumerating his agenda for the institution, he said: “The first one is to make UNILAG a global university. By global, I mean all the students will have access to the internet and also have access to lectures online. So that even if they go on strike they will still be having their lectures ongoing. And apart from that, even when we are on strike we will not be affected, they will have recorded different lectures of our lecturers so that the students will continue to learn and we just have to call them for an exam and they will be ready. They would be learning at no cost to them.”

Speaking further, the renowned politician also will be delighted if the diaspora alumni can partner with the university to develop student hostels for the students and bridge the accommodation gap they are currently experiencing. “We have about 62,000 students and only beds for 10,000 students are available!”

Another area that is close to his heart is the restructuring of the University’s Microfinance Bank into a full-fledged Fintech Company in the mould of Kuda Bank but highly focused on educational and related products geared towards students, young graduates and budding entrepreneurs.

“We will invest to update the technological infrastructure of the MFB and increase conventional and digital marketing efforts nationwide. To ensure more transparency, we will invite representatives within the association to administer funds donated.”

In recent times, UNILAG has been making giant strides in partnering with foreign universities with the theme, “Partnership For Change.’ Senator Tejuoso said he believes in building on ‘worthy’ existing legacies. “Well, university management is a continuum, so the new management must get a handover brief from the old management and build on what they inherited.”

How would he assess Ogundipe’s led administration? His response was quick.

“Well, Professor Ogundipe comes out to me as someone that believes there is no monopoly of wisdom or knowledge. So all the issues that you have heard, that we discussed between ourselves in the room, whenever he is not getting the right side of a stick, he gives up and accepts my position. And likewise, that is what I do when he has a better position for any issue.”

Within the space of 13 months, Senator Tejuoso was bestowed with two higher responsibilities: First as Pro-chancellor and as “Baba Ijo” of The Cathedral of St James African Church, Idi-Ape, Abeokuta, Ogun. This is indeed another call to duty and a challenge to give more. How does he feel?

“Well, I will start with the Baba Ijo aspect.

I believe it is a privilege. My family is firmly rooted in the African Church, Idi-Ape. From my grandmother, my great-grandfather, and my father. And to have found me worthy enough to be the Baba Ijo, which is like an administrative head of the church, is humbling and I feel honoured. I believe it is also a challenge and also a favour from them to ensure that I work stronger towards the salvation of my soul.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

54

HighLife Femi Gbajabiamila Raising the Bar of Legislation: How He Played Major Role in ASUU Strike Suspension

with KAYODE ALFRED 08116759807, E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com

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

Elites Gather for Eighth Day Fidau Prayers of Bola Shagaya’s Mother in Ilorin People who are greatly loved by others will always have extra attention paid to their needs. This has been proved to be true once again for the well-known businesswoman and lady of society, Bola Shagaya. A few days ago, elites from different parts of the country descended on the ancient town of Ilorin to honour Shagaya and her late mother.

These top individuals visited Ilorin for the eighth Fidau prayers of the late mother of Hajia Shagaya, Saadat Abdulraheem Baakini. It was a glorious meeting for sure, and the people of Ilorin will not soon forget its magnificence or the ultimate expression of honour and loyalty paid to Shagaya.

According to reports, the event was held at Atlantic Event Centre, Ilorin, and clerics like the Chief Imam of Ilorin, Dr. Mohammad Soliu, and the illustrious

Sheikh Farouk Onikijipa were in attendance.

After these clerics and others had prayed for Shagaya’s mother, the event took a livelier turn with food and wine aplenty.

Among the elites at the gathering were Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Duke of Owa Kingdom and founding Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of the THISDAY/ ARISE Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena; businessman, Tayo Ayeni; Mrs. Kay Ovia; former Executive Director of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo; Chair of Chapel Hill Denham Group, Wale Edun; high society madam, Abba Folawiyo; as well as Olori Hadiza Elegushi, Dr. Muheeba Dantata, Engr. Sadiq Kaita, Mrs. Comfort Ipaye, Comrade Lukman Ahmed, Comrade Olukayode Muritala, Falilat Mohammed, Bolanle Ibrahim, Honorable Fatai Ajidagba, and Prince Bisi Olatilo.

Shagaya

Gbajabiamila

When one values something, it is evident in the degree of commitment that is noticeable from one’s engagement with the thing.

For the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, tertiary education in Nigeria is a precious thing. This became very obvious when he struggled against the indolence of some people and succeeded in intervening in the industrial action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) until the strike was suspended.

Tertiary students all over Nigeria are throwing salutes to Gbajabiamila for his contribution to ending the strike that has lasted for eight months. As some of these students commented online, if Gbajabiamila’s intervention had failed, the present administration would have gone on to become one of the most notorious for ignoring the pillars of sustainable national growth and economy in the history books. But such a thing did not come to pass.

Readers would recall that ASUU commenced the strike on February 14 as a kind of Valentine’s gift for the federal government. Despite the ups and downs of students and some very prestigious Nigerians, no agreement could be reached. ASUU insisted that its demands had to be met or its members would continue to stay at home. The federal government, on the other hand, tried every means available, including force, but none of these means amounted to anything. It was not until the judiciary was called in and Gbajabiamila intervened that ASUU agreed to call off the strike and return to class. So Gbajabiamila’s involvement cannot be trivialized. This is why the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) also commended the Speaker, noting that his wisdom was key to resolving the age-long clash between ASUU and the federal government.

So, with individuals like Gbajabiamila at the helm of affairs in Nigeria, things will likely take a good turn. His wisdom and understanding are the hallmarks of a progressive leader, one more committed to terminating the ordeals of his people than romancing the label of leadership and delegated authority.

Babangida

As long as there is life, there will always be hope of glory and honour. This saying has to be adjusted so that posthumous accolades can be fitted inside. Recently, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, determined that the late founder of Better Life for African Rural Women, Mrs.

Maryam Babangida, deserved an award for planting the seeds for the recognition of women’s rights in Nigeria as we have it today.

Some days ago, Aisha Babangida, the daughter of the late First Lady, and current Chairperson of the Better Life for African Rural Women received a posthumous award on behalf of her late mother. This bestowment was carried out as one of the events organised to commemorate the 2022 United Nations International Day of Rural Women.

To be sure, women in Nigeria are seeing great improvements as regards the expression of their rights. In very few places are there still oppressive atmospheres for women, and this is the handiwork of many people. Because of the great contribution of the late First Lady Babangida to this cause, the award delivered by Tallen and received

by Aisha was well-deserved.

Adaora Umeoji: Proving Her Mettle in the Banking World

Gone are the days when women were relegated to the back in the name of being weaker or slower. These days, women like Zenith Bank’s Deputy Managing Director (DMD), Dame Adaora Umeoji, run the show. Therefore, as her fellow illustrious women were handed national honours some days ago, Umeoji was not left out.

Zenith Bank is currently celebrating the ascension of its DMD, Umeoji, from the status of an ordinary Nigerian citizen to one who can now add OON to her name. This is a result of the recognition of President Muhammadu Buhari who conferred on Umeoji the title of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), thereby distinguishing her as one of the top pillars of Nigeria’s growth and development in recent times.

Without question, Umeoji’s award is well-deserved. Although there have been many women who descended on the

Omolara Adebiyi’s High Point Event Centre Rolls out for Festive Period

Umeoji

Great things are imminent for Omolara Adebiyi, the renowned businesswoman and wife of the LaraLek Ultimate Constructions boss, Olalekan Adebiyi. After spending some time tying up loose ends, Lady Lara has finally unveiled her event centre in all its glory. As things stand now, the Lagos event centre is going to reign as one of the most incredible pieces of real estate and commercial land use on this side of Africa.

Things are picking up for Lady Lara’s High Point Event Center. As the world prepares for Christmas in about two months, High Point

Before asking the audience to observe a minute of silence in honour of the late matriarch of the Babangida family, Tallen justified why it would be foolish and unrealistic to celebrate the 2022 United Nations International Day of Rural Women without acknowledging the late founder.

She explained that it was the late Maryam that first realized the value of rural women in any nation, and made great strides to set up a social infrastructure for it. Tallen also acknowledged the work of Aisha, who continues to hold the touch of transformation after her mother.

Just like Tallen explained it, the late First Lady set the pace for the great work that many others (her daughter, Aisha, for example) are doing now for women, especially rural women. Thus, she deserves every recognition and award, posthumous though they will be. corporate industry and made names for themselves, very few have been able to remain strong and perpetually increase in influence and renown as the years go by.

Among this latter group, Umeoji tops the chart.

With her 20 years plus of banking and executive management, Umeoji is one of the most capable people into whose hands the founder of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, thrust his bank. But the level of trust she has gained over the years is not all too surprising considering her academic and professional profiles. There is not enough time and space to compile and list the awards she has obtained on these fronts, but it is enough to say she has more certifications and Chartered fellowships than the average top executive at Zenith Bank.

Umeoji is not only relevant in Zenith Bank, but back home as well. That is why her native state of Anambra is always singing her praise for her many good works. is drawing more and more attention to its fascinating features, not excluding the massive real property that distinguishes it from other buildings in Ikeja, Lagos.

Based on several commentators, Lady Lara’s High Point Event Center tops the list of humming activity spots in the Ikeja area of Lagos. Because it is located on the Mainland, Lara’s stretch of developed land is by itself a magnificent and state-of-the-art property for others to emulate. Who knew that she could use land that is 10,000 square meters so effectively?

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HIGHLIFE

For Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye, ‘Sports in His DNA’ Great things are always on the horizon for diligent and passionate people. For Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye, the foremost Nigerian sports administrator and politician, this horizon is gradually becoming a backyard. This is principal because Elegbeleye’s love for all things sports has been tested over the years and found to be adequate.

The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has announced the appointment of Elegbeleye and several others to a super committee for the grooming of sports champions in Nigeria.

Specifically, the committee is Domestic League, composed of 10 individuals bearing the name, Interim Management Committee (IMC), and expected to help revitalize Domestic League and temporarily oversee its management until a professional league board is set up to handle the task.

Being the frontman for sports in Nigeria, it was not surprising that Elegbeleye was

appointed as the Chairman of the committee and expected to help give flesh to the 10-year football Master Plan approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. To help Elegbeleye are Paul Bassey (who is to serve as Vice Chairman), Davidson Owumi (who is to serve as Head of Operations), and Olumide Bamiduro (the Secretary). Others on the Committee include Kunle Soname, Daniel Amokachi, Calvin Emeka Onwuka, Aliyu Adamu, Danladi Ibrahim, a representative of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and a representative of the Nigeria Police Force.

Concerning commitment to sports, very few individuals stand on the same level as Elegbeleye. Despite his academic profile that is steeped in administration, management and accounting, as well as sales management, Elegbeleye has always had a strong thing for sports. As a result, he has held the sports touch so many times and won many awards on this front.

The appointment to the Domestic League

Elegbeleye

is likely a dream come true for Elegbeleye.

And considering his history with sports administration in Nigeria, it is almost certain that he will do great things in the committee.

Sowami in the News Again after Long Hiatus

Sowami

No ambitious person can keep a low profile.

It doesn’t matter how strongly that individual wants to stay in the shadows. Their appetite for greatness will soon see them exposed

and back in the limelight. This is one of the lessons one can learn from the corporate lifestyle of notable investor and all-round businessman, Abdulwasiu Sowami. After hugging the cloak of obscurity even after upstaging his peers with the acquisition of Forte Oil earlier this year, he is in the news again.

Sowami’s reemergence is no choice of his own. Much the same as the last time he was found in the limelight, Sowami has once again been thrust into the public eye. In fact, the new situation follows from the last, which is another way of saying that Sowami’s tango with Femi Otedola’s company and the various complexities involved in the acquisition of the said company is not over.

In the latest issue of the court presiding over corporate matters, Sowami lost to Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited. According to the

reports of the proceedings from the judgment made in the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Sowami’s company, Prudent Energy and Services Limited had been unable to complete its acquisition of Forte Oil from Zenon Petroleum.

As is often the case with company acquisitions and mergers, there are several intermediaries involved in the case.

Nevertheless, it all traces back to Sowami.

Even though Sowami’s camp alleged that Zenon had breached parts of the agreed-upon contract, the allegation did not cause too much ripple. At the end of the day, Sowami’s side is expected to pay Zenon a total of $19.2 million.

For big people like Sowami, the financial loss may not be much. But he has lost face among the corporate giants in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. But life goes on for both Sowami and his company, acquisitions, and investments.

From Dangote to BUA… How Yahaya Bello Battles Two of Nigeria’s Richest Men The narrative of rulers who reign but do not rule is not new. Since time immemorial, the governmental authority has always flourished when it is supported by the majority.

In Kogi State where Governor Yahaya Bello is at the top of the food chain, his authority is largely uncontested. As a result, the former presidential aspirant has no issue going against any and every individual that he perceives to be walking against his interests. So far, many have fallen under the weight of this sin, and it appears to be the turn of two of Nigeria’s richest men.

The topic of Governor Bello asking Dangote Group to relinquish its ownership/ management of the Obajana Cement Factory is still ongoing. Although court proceedings are underway, most people have already formed their opinions anyway, and taken sides to support Bello or Aliko Dangote. However, some of these people have had to revise their

stands after Governor Bello appeared to go after Dangote’s rival, BUA, owned by AbdulSamad Rabiu.

According to the reports, the Kogi House of Assembly has called on the BUA Group to fix its accounts so that it can pay for a 50,000-hectare land that it acquired in 2012. The request came after it was realized that the company had acquired the land, and obtained a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), but had not paid for it.

Stating that the company had refused several summonses, the Kogi House of Assembly appears to be considering revoking the C of O if BUA fails to comply.

Folks everywhere are debating what it is that Bello wants. Ordinarily, this gesture to hold the big guys accountable would be hailed as daring and impressive. However, considering the individuals involved and the time frame, some people have taken to referring to Bello as petty and insufferable.

Bello

Olusola Oke Plants His Feet Firmly in Ondo State Politically It is not very easy to be the go-to guy in any Nigerian state and have no obvious connection with the powers that be. And yet, for Olusola Oke (SAN), this is exactly how it is in Ondo State. Despite being someone who likes to run things from the shadows and allow others to bear the glory and honour of doings, Oke’s name is gradually gaining more and more primacy.

As a result, he has become one of the most reliable power brokers in the state.

Nigeria’s Sunshine State, Ondo, is currently involved in fewer controversies than its sisters, especially in the Southwest. This is primarily because the power brokers in the state, regardless of their political parties and affiliations, have managed to reach a balance that is wholesome and inclusive.

Much more than this, Ondo’s political progress can be laid on the feet of individuals like Oke who are doing their best to satisfy every individual.

Due to his growing influence in the state, Oke may now be described as the person to see if one needs anything. As a result, he is now the most lovable politician in Ondo, even though he is an unshakeable member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Moreover, it helps that he does not go around poking the eyes of those who are in power, especially Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. Instead, with a depth of wisdom trained from his lawyerly history, Oke is doing well for himself and those that care to rely on him for all things political in Ondo.

According to the word on the street, Oke is consolidating his strength as he prepares to take over from Akeredolu. With all he has learnt from the late Olusegun Agagu, former Ondo governor, he stands a chance of advancing things beyond wherever Akeredolu stops. His momentum is thus unstoppable and his influence uncontainable.

Sweet Mother: 12 Basket CEO, Michael Afolaranmi, Plans Befitting Burial for Mum

Afolaranmi

After having lived for at least three decades on earth, it becomes clear to every observant individual that tough times never last but tough people do. Even so, during this period of testing, tough people could break down many times.

This is one such time for Michael Afolaranmi, the CEO of 12 Baskets Foods. After he recently lost his mother, he was down for a while. But he

is getting back on his feet once again and intends to give her a befitting burial as the last goodbye to the woman that brought him up.

Afolaranmi and the entire crew of 12 Baskets Foods are currently making burial arrangements for the grandmother of the company, the late Madam Esther Titilayo. Before her demise, Madam Titilayo was the mother of Afolaranmi and one of his biggest supporters. It is consequently not surprising that the 12 Baskets man will invite some of his most accomplished peers, not to mention relatives and friends, to send off his mother and bear witness to her burial.

According to reports of the preparations for the burial, the ceremony has been slated for October 28 and will be held at Classique Event Centre, Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos. Because the late Madam Titilayo was a strong pillar for Afolaranmi’s current status as

one of the most successful and accomplished gentlemen in the country. The event will certainly see some of the big guys marching in to render a final salute to Afolaranmi’s mother.

While considering all that Afolaranmi has accomplished as the CEO of 12 Baskets Foods, one might conclude that the late Madam Titilayo was lucky to be his mother. But Afolaranmi will likely affirm the reverse, that he was the lucky one. After all, a significant fraction of his attainments today, including the drive to make something out of his life, reflects his late mother’s views and ideals about meaningful human life.

Ultimately, Afolaranmi’s gesture of a befitting burial ceremony for his late mother is his way of acknowledging her contributions to his life. Through him, one can conclude that the late Madam Titilayo has touched the world formidably.

Oke

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Tinubu, Atiku’s Run and ‘Quench’ Campaigns Please, if this is not a serious season, I would have been laughing all over the place. These grandpas are in a race to defeat nature. They have insisted that they are strong and ready. They have showed us themselves riding bicycles, jogging, dancing and the only thing left is for them to release sex tapes so we know that they are fully fit. In fact, the other day, one lady on Instagram challenged Tinubu to rounds of heavy sex. I quickly offered to replace him, stating my credentials as a man who has friends in APC but she declined, insisting that it was Tinubu she wanted.

This one wants to kill our candidate o.

Anyways, these two Babas, once they do one small campaign, they will run abroad to refuel and come back.

Last week, Atiku ran to France. FaniKayode alleged that he collapsed and that na drip they used to carry him inside plane. Dino released a video of Atiku eating in one canteen in France and asking us ‘if this place looks like a

hospital?’

Tinubu had just come back from his refuelling the other day. You see, for me, I really do not have anything against old men aspiring because the problem with the complexity of this country is not the one that teenagers with no pubic hair will solve.

But if we are going to go for old men, not brittle-legged men who look like small breeze from Bar Beach will blow them away. This is not about riding stationary unplugged bicycles or jogging with oversized tracksuits and dancing like they have put staples in their knees like Atiku the other day.

Are we not tired of sickly old men? From Yar’Adua though to Buhari and now these two? Which kind of leaders are we throwing up? Sooner than you know it, we will now be having a budget for creche at Aso Rock so that our President will be taking feeding bottles in between meetings.

Nigeria is just a big circus.

JIMI AGBAJE’S CUNNY HOMECOMING Did I just see a report that my egbon Jimi Agbaje was on his way back to APC? In the report, I saw him smiling and saying he was very happy to finally come back ‘home’.

Mbok, the question is, did you ever go anywhere in the first place? Na posting you go na. You were on national assignment to PDP simple and work don finish and you have been recalled home.

Throughout Mr. Agbaje’s two time attempt at the Lagos seat, he had been dogged with accusations of being a ‘mole’ in PDP. He usually used to fight very strenuously to deny the accusations. In a meeting with him at his campaign office during those heady days, I had asked him and he mumbled somethings.

Anyways, we are very happy that he has come back home after serving his party meritoriously in his posting.

This Nigeria na scam. All of us na real scam. Kai! ABIKE DABIRI-EREWA AND THE ‘ODE’ IN US Mummy lost her temper the other day on Twitter and it took the personality of the well-respected Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili to caution her.

But mummy had lost it and returned

by asking that one where she was when they were calling her names on Twitter.

She was so uncouth almost like a Shomolu market woman as she ranted all over the place. She was asking if she was the one that sent us to traffic drugs and if we were there when they were all over the place begging that we should not be killed in faraway Asian countries and all of that. Typical catfight o.

The fact is that she will not be cautioned especially as this attitude is very unbecoming of a high-ranking government official. She acted as if she was put there to do us a favour.

Very negative messianic tendency from an untrained and by accident diplomat.

No be this Abike wey we dey see for NTA News? Now she is seeing herself like United Nations top diplomat cascading the world and causing more confusion everywhere.

From Abidjan to Brazil and South Africa to Thailand, mummy is everywhere, putting mouth. Once something happens even before the better trained and well-suited foreign office people talk, she don talk.

This her diaspora office, mbok is it a parallel Ministry of External Affairs because me I am not understanding

YAHAYA BELLO, YOU SEE YOURSELF? Bro, you see yourself, now BUA said they are no longer interested in the huge expanse of land you offered them. I have read somewhere that when the Kogi State House of Assembly summoned them to find out why they hadn’t paid for the land or taken possession, those ones said “sorry, we are no longer interested.”

Who will be when they can just wake up one morning and enter their canoe – you know the whole place is flooded - and come and shut down the place claiming ownership. The drama with Obajana just ended with the federal government’s intervention. That was sick. It was a crazy turn. Even if they gave Bello that factory, will he even know how to handle the toilet

Agbaje

Dabiri-Erewa

Bello

Tinubu

it again. Who carries on diplomatic business on Twitter abusing people up and down.

She is kuku correct. If we are not all ‘ode’ why would she be in that office in the first place let alone of being representative of the millions of Nigerians in the diaspora with little or no training. Na we be the ‘ode’. Thank you.

Atiku

bowl let alone running a multibillion-dollar investment.

Every responsible government is begging for investments especially at this time when unemployment is even at its highest and the one major one you have in your state, you are doing cowboy and Indian with them and then you will now be expecting others to come and take a risk.

Mbok, e be like say the state will gain more from you following madam to the GYM daily to keep you busy till your tenure is over.

Mbok, I tire.

OMOYELE SOWORE, LEAVE DELE GIWA OUT OF IT Mr. Sowore is a friend. At least we chat on Whatsapp about this and that. This is not to say that the next time they want to arrest him, anybody should come and ask me any question o. I don’t know him like that. We just chat once in a while when I am bored o.

Anyways, recently he sent me a post stating that he wants to throw up the Dele Giwa issue again. I tell my brother why not focus. You have a presidential campaign you are running and you are not doing well at all,

Atake

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

LOUD WHISPERS na Dele Giwa you want to go and unearth?

I said to him, why not wait till you win and then use presidential powers to seek justice. As expected, he disagreed. You know he can argue and he no dey gree. I continued, “bro the youths who are throwing up Peter Obi and making him the issue were not even born when the man was unfortunately killed by the enemies of this country.”

Those ones have immediate issues they want resolved. I continued, you should ride on them and build a bridge to Peter Obi since politics is all about compromise and negotiations. “Ahhhhh” he screamed, “I knew that was where you were going to. I am not an establishment person. You are an Obi man,” he concluded.

Obi wey dey wear cheap shoe? I am not an Obi man o. I told him that if he was going to be taken seriously, he should build a base and use that as leverage to negotiate himself into power. “At least, if you work hard enough, you can get an ambassadorial posting to Jamaica so you can better understand the uses of medical marijuana, something close to your chest.”

The man no gree o and I leave am go check one sexy picture one young sweet person sent to me.

For me, I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Sowore dey use this presidential run as immunity against his friends at the DSS and all those people that like to disturb him. Simple. Abi who dey arrest presidential candidate?

OONI OF IFE: THE POLYGAMIST COMMITTEE REACTS Last week, I had mentioned, although very briefly, my concerns on the ongoing collection of wives by the highly revered king. Well, this week, the Polygamist Committee of which I am a bona fide member, has released a press release on the back of the announcement that the Ooni would be taking his fifth wife.

Let me reproduce the press release here verbatim: “Ooni of Ife - setting up to give polygamy a bad name We in the polygamist committee have been watching with growing concern the recent activities of the great Ooni of Ife. The highly revered monarch in the last few weeks has been collecting wives the way farmers pick cotton in the fields. As at the last count, the well-respected monarch would have pulled in at least three new wives all within a few weeks.

While watching very closely these activities, we would first like to advise parents to keep their daughters, especially the lightskinned ones away from Ife and his immediate environs until we are very sure of what is going on.

The ancient and sacred institution of polygamy is a well respected and highly disciplined initiative guided by specific rules aimed at conferring dignity and respect to all involved especilaly the women who find themselves very lucky to be chosen.

This doesn’t seem to be the case in Ife as we are witnessing a corralling of women into a union that is at best shaky.

After two attempts at marriage in which both ended colourfully, we remain highly skeptical that the great ruler has empowered himself through, learning, tutelage and research on the very intricate web that is polygamy.

We fail to see the maturity needed to steer responsibly a polygamous setting seeing the way and manner these marriages are being contracted.

This is making us in the committee really worried that an implosion which appears inevitable will go a long way in giving our association a bad name.

It is in this wise that we advise the Ooni to suspend further marriages

and subject himself to training and tutelage before continuing with this exercise.

We in the committee have resolved to put in place a robust and comprehensive training programme that will take him through the rudiments of polygamy.

Subjects like emotional maturity, emotional balancing, sexual stamina, the joys of sex toys - because he

PETER OBI: A WONDERFUL SIGHTING

Obi

My brother, Rufai Oseni, was having a tribute session for his late father and he invited me. I made it a point of duty to attend since I really do not attend such things. The wahala is usually too much and you know these Yoruba people, they will not serve Afang. Everything is Ewedu and Amala although the women who will be shaking their big bums and be daring you, usually make up for the huge disappointment that is their owambe parties.

But this one was different. Rufai is now the nation’s conscience. His take on national issues has thrown him up as our own ‘truth speaker’. Furthermore, he is fronting my media campaign for my December plays. We are staging an unprecedented four play series over four weekends and Rufai is the main person fronting both TV and radio campaigns.

So, you see why I had to attend, make he no change him mind.

That was how I walked in and saw great writers, Jahman Anikulapo, Dr. Rueben Abati, Udeme Ufot and my brother Austin Ebose, Managing Director at Anchor Insurance. Then my other brother Timi George walked in.

Timi is the Managing Director of FBN Custodian. Great guy.

As the usual Amala landed, I looked up and saw him. That was Peter Obi in his usual black outfit. Me, I even wondered how many of that black outfit he has abi na only one that they will be doing wash and dry for him. That dressing abeg is not presidential, na wetin dem dey wear go wake keep for your landlord. Not what presidential hopefuls wear.

Anyways, I imagined what the photo optics will do to my ego and to the many babes who look up to me as a huge influential Nigerian. So I called Rufai, I said, “bro can you introduce me to Mr. Obi?” He said sure.

He took me to the table. As we approached, I saw Jandor. That one was looking at me to come and greet him.

Me, to come and look at ‘lightweight’ politician when we are walking towards Peter Obi? I made it a point to ask my intern who was with me to help me greet Jandor and snap picture with am, while I take my time and get presidential aspirant picture.

That was how Rufai introduced me to Mr. Obi. “This is Edgar, he is the Duke of Shomolu and a columnist with THISDAY.” The whole hall was admiring and envying me o. My brother, Kola Adeshina of Sahara Group was beside him and looked up immediately he heard my voice. I just give am ‘face’ make he do like he nor know me. You know why? As Obi don hear columnists, he don stand up with respect so I didn’t want Kola to dey ask me in front of Obi if that shoe he dash me size me. You know, since Kola gave me the shoe, I have not seen him. So, I just ‘bone’ him and put my serious journalist face on.

“Mr. Obi, I am indeed very privileged to meet you.”

Those were the exact words Vice President Osinbajo told me when he came for my Play Awo. So, I save am to use am again. So I unleashed on Mr Obi those words and he smiled in his spare part dealer smile and said, “Oh a pleasure Mr. Duke.”

So I said, “Oya let us take picture” and he agreed.

As we turned, I noticed his shoe. Kai, this shoe no fine o. Which kind shoe is Labour Party presidential hopeful wearing like this? This shoe be like a cross between Cortina and rainboot. Very ugly and black. With this kind shoe, this man fit no get my vote o. He no see the shoe Udeme Ufot and Kola Adeshina wear beside am? Na wa o.

Well, what concerns me, I am not a Labour Party card-carrying member. I just hinted at my photographer to snap above the waist. Let’s leave the shoe out. No energy to explain anything to anybody.

won’t have time to go round, in-law management, conflict resolution and rift management, among others.

We will also put his wives through the same training which will involve - self pleasure, humility and respect, conflict management, jealousy management, juju 101 among others.

Works by such great polygamists like Fela Anikulapo Kuti, MKO Abiola, Alafin of Oyo and Oba Tejuoso would be made available.

Lastly, the Polygamist Committee remain fearful of the situation and would like to distance itself from Ife for now except the great monarch agrees to subject himself and his wives to the 30-day training.

We wish him and his new wives well even as we seek his understanding of our position.

Thank you Duke of Shomolu Gen. Secretary Polygamist Committee” ASUU PRESIDENT AND THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND LAUGHS The whole thing has come down to this. Asking for transport fare after holding the country down for over eight months. It was always clear from the start that the strike would not achieve anything. Asking for trillions from a government that is broke and insisting on being paid it all was always a class act in tom foolery.

Now that a court has asked them to return to class, they are now asking for transport fare. You see both sides – government and ASUU are just taking the country for a ride and leaving our kids to suffer and the system in dire straits.

They both know the solution but are too corrupted to face it squarely.

Sell the schools simple and end this periodic debacle. This is just a brief interlude which I can swear with everything I hold dear, that we will still see this same strike on the same issues.

If ASUU no call strike in the next six months, I will go celibate and for an Ibibio man to say this you know I am not saying this lightly. I tell you.

Jokers.

EYIMOFE ATAKE: WHEN PEDIGREE MEETS THE ARTS You will not believe that I have never met this fine gentleman physically.

But I have met his very beautiful wife, Dorothy. We once attended a course at the Lagos Business School but that was years ago.

I, however, have been following his brilliant career and much more importantly his fashion sense. He drips and has the carriage to carry those beautiful pieces.

Anyways, during the week, I reached out. I am bringing my play Ogiame Erejuwa II to Lagos this December and as a prominent Itsekiri young man, I reached out.

He immediately jumped on the train. The fact that the very rich and colourful story was coming to Lagos was a huge pull for him. He had supported the first showing in Warri and did not need too much push to join Amaju Pinnick and Julius Rone this time again.

So, guys, if you suddenly get to the gates of the Muson Hall and the gates are flung open for you to enter free to see the 80-man cast on stage with some of the most beautiful costumes you will ever see in your life, just kneel down on the spot and send a little prayer to Mr. Atake.

When pedigree meets the arts – I tell you.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

How Friends Celebrated Julius Rone’s National Honour

Iluyomade

Siju Iluyomade’s Season of Giving Back It is yet another season of the much-talked-about annual gathering of women of substance in the country: Arise Women Conference, a yearly event that has over time become a turning point for many participants.

Essentially, the annual event packaged by Dr. Siju Iluyomade usually offers a great opportunity to discuss, motivate and empower the womenfolk in the country, particularly the most vulnerable.

The epoch-making event slated for Saturday, October 29, at the Trinity Towers of City of David, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Oniru, Victoria Island is planned to attract thousands of participants, both physical and online.

According to the organisers, the 14th edition themed “By Appointment” with #appointedtolive, will also be televised on Channels TV. Though the organisers are still keeping sealed lips over the identities of some of the great speakers on the occasion, everyone has been assured of a most memorable Arise Women Conference ever.

Some of the notable gospel artists who will be spicing up the day with entertainment include Mike Abdul, Nathaniel Bassey, Beejay Sax, Gospel Force, Efe Nathan, Ayan Jesu and Bidemi Olaoba, among others.

The Convener, Dr Siju, has also disclosed that no fewer than 5,000 less privileged families will be given free Arise Pink buckets filled with assorted foodstuff at the event.

In one of his oft-quoted statements, the popular Bishop of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, said: “A good deed is never lost.

He who sows courtesy reaps friendship; he who plants kindness gathers love; pleasure bestowed on a grateful mind was never sterile, but generally, gratitude begets reward.”

This beautiful quote was at play recently when the Group Managing Director of UTM Offshore, Julius Rone, received the award of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).

The award bestowed on Rone by the Federal Government of Nigeria availed him the rare opportunity of identifying who his true friends are.

No sooner had the highly influential and connected billionaire been decorated with his award than encomiums began to rain on him from several of his friends from all walks of life.

Many penned down sweet and heartfelt messages for the man described as a real definition of a true friend.

As revealed by Society Watch, pages of adverts in newspapers were placed by his friends for over a week in different newspaper publications across Nigeria to felicitate the affable and detribalised Without recourse to the use of any hyperbole, Nigerian billionaire businessman, Sir Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu, Chairman, Premier Lotto, is a compelling study in grace. Indeed, with him, there is no more concrete evidence of a man born under the proverbial lucky star, as his paths in life, since childhood, have been laced with more roses than thorns. His inspiring journeys so far would ordinarily make good material for any creative biographer.

Interestingly, one of the things that the Ogun State-born businessman, whom Providence has granted the grace to get the best out of life cherishes is celebrating life. He loves to celebrate with achievers in life, and he is equally celebrated for his great feats.

Therefore, as he is set to turn 87 tomorrow, October 24, not a few are looking forward to seeing the octogenarian organise a birthday shindig that will be the talk of the town for a long time. And if information reaching Society Watch is anything to go by, the light-skinned businessman would be marking it quietly with his family with praise and worship to Almighty God that has spared his life.

He has been described as a serial entrepreneur with magical fingers. And expectedly, anything he touches turns to gold. He juggles other profitable investments, some of which include Arbico Plc,

entrepreneur.

A source disclosed that over 100 congratulatory paid adverts were published by some of his friends; this is simply a reward for his kindness and good deeds in the past.

“He was practically swept off his feet by the show of love exhibited by his friends. It is not surprising though as he has always shown love and kindness to his friends,” a source told us Rone, a successful businessman, has built relationships and networks with other powerful Nigerians from every part of the country, as well as across the continent.

He has been in business for decades and has made a huge success of his endeavour.

It has been said many times that if you need authentic information in the energy industry in Nigeria, you will be doing yourself a lot of good by consulting the top player, who many regards as an encyclopedia of sorts in the sector.

It is no exaggeration at all that he is called ‘The Gas King’. He definitely knows his onion, having paid his dues. He has sown in sweats and is now reaping bountifully with smiles.

Despite the uncertainties of the industry, his company has remained afloat with a lot of

Kessington Adebutu Celebrates at 87

Rone

success stories.

Those close to him revealed that he has remained relevant and achieved great feats based on his wonted tenacity and doggedness.

He has continued to sail untroubled in the entrepreneurial ocean, navigating numerous business boats with the grace and nous of a veteran captain. one of the oldest construction companies in Nigeria with a presence across different parts of Nigeria and Park Inn by Radisson (formerly Gateway Hotels), a five-star 400-rooms hospitality outfit standing in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

A few years ago when the good news emerged that Adebutu had decided to acquire the derelict hotel, owing to his intimidating profile, many people were eager to see the result. As usual, he didn’t disappoint.

The Odoole of Yorubaland is everything you would wish for in life. Providence, no doubt, has literally lavished its favour on him.

But success, greatness and fame were never thrust on his laps on a platter of gold.

His is an intriguing story of a man who is determined to survive in life. Indeed, if anyone had told him that he would someday become one of the gladiators in the nation’s business sector, he would have dismissed it with a wave of the hand.

While he was growing up, he had the picture of how rich he wanted to be in his head but was slightly unsure of how to actualise it.

Today, the man famously known as Baba Ijebu has risen to the pinnacle of success through hard work, integrity, self-discipline and accountability.

Adebutu

Businessman, Chukwuka Obiora Set to Host Crème of the Society Anyone who knows Dr. Chukwuka Obiora, a businessman and Chairman of Greenlife Pharmaceuticals Limited, can testify that he does not do his things in half measures.

Perhaps, this explains the frenzy and buzz currently in social circles, as the respected pharmacist and his wife of over two decades, Obiageli, will be playing host to the creme of the society at the forthcoming wedding of their daughter, Ijeoma Rozeeta, with her heartthrob, Nonso Davis.

Society Watch gathered that colourful invitation cards are already in circulation among family members, close friends of the couple, celebrities, business tycoons, politicians

and high net-worth individuals.

The white wedding, which is scheduled for November 5, is already being talked about by many in society.

The Anambra State-born businessman, it was further gathered, is not leaving any stone unturned to make the wedding a grand affair.

A source disclosed that he is such a good father who never jokes with his children’s happiness.

Ijeoma Rozeeta studied Pharmacy at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, while the groom, Nonso Davis, is a graduate of Computer Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.

Ijeoma Rozeeta weds Nonso Davis

Has Serial Contender, Owolabi Fakunmoju, Finally Quit Politics?

Fakunmoju

Owolabi Fakunmoju is well recognised as a successful immigration lawyer in New York City, United States of America. Without a doubt, the Lagos State-born legal practitioner is brilliant, hence the volume of briefs he handles at his chambers in Brooklyn. It is also a fact that he has done well for himself by providing legal advice and representation for many in the busy city of New York.

However, despite his great achievements in

life, Fakos, as he is famously known, has never hidden the fact that his greatest ambition is to someday become the number one citizen of his state, Lagos. He doesn’t mouth this alone. It all began in 2007 when he threw his hat into the ring under the umbrella of the Action Party of Nigeria for the number one job of the state.

He had then contested with the likes of Babatunde Fashola (SAN), and Musiiliu Obanikoro, among others.

A political tyro, he lost in the bid to govern the state then. And following his loss, he ran back to his US base to lick his wound. But like a stubborn hopeful, he returned in 2011 when he contested for a seat in the Senate. Sadly, it turned out to be an effort in futility.

Just when many had thought that he had

learnt his lesson, the legal practitioner, again, ran for Governor on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). But it was another unsuccessful attempt.

Goaded by what some people have described as an over-bloated ego, he came back in the last governorship election under the umbrella of Action for Democracy (AD). But, again, his balloon of hope was deflated.

Following his loss, he approached the election petition tribunal to challenge the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. But in the views of political observers, Fakunmoju, who many described as a serial contestant, became a laughing stock and an object of ridicule.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

59

GLITZ ENTERTAINMENT

Google Arts and Culture to Digitally Preserve Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove Stories by Vanessa Obioha As part of its Heritage on Edge project — which seeks to support site managers in digitally documenting heritage sites at risk due to climate change, using the imagery captured to further support community maintenance and conservation — Google Arts and Culture recently signed a partnership deal with CyArk and the Adunni Olorisha Trust to digitally preserve one of Nigeria’s last remaining sacred groves, Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove.

“Google Arts and Culture’s mission is to preserve and promote the world’s art and culture online, allowing anyone, anywhere in the world to share in it,” said Chance Coughenour, Program Manager and Digital Archaeologist, Google Arts and Culture.

“We are grateful that through partnerships we are now able to preserve one of the most recognised, culturally rich Yoruba heritage sites, known for active traditional worship and contemporary art movements.”

The collection allows people to view 900 high-resolution photographs of the site, contemporary and historical artworks and sculptures, artists and spiritual leaders. It also tells 28 stories about art, community and spirituality at the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, and the effect of climate change at the site and includes three audio interviews, including one with popular artist Jimoh Buraimoh about Susanne Wenger.

Arugbá Gate of Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove

MTV Shuga Naija Returns Alongside Talent Accelerator Programme Foundation, the program is in partnership with Unitaid, The Global Innovation Fund, and Paramount.

Adesua Etomi to feature in MTV Shuga Naija S5

The fifth season of MTV Shuga Naija will return to the screen next year alongside a Talent Accelerator Program which will invest in female creatives within the Nigerian film industry. According to MTV Staying Alive

The Talent Accelerator Program will support the pathway for gendertransformative, high-quality content production and give more young females an opportunity to take on senior roles in future seasons of MTV Shuga Naija.

To promote this, the fifth season will be produced by 1Pod Pictures, a femaleled production company, founded by Directors Isioma Osaje and Temidayo Makanjuola.

The new season of MTV Shuga Naija will promote HIV prevention and selftesting, and COVID-19 including vaccine uptake, while tackling gender-based violence and promoting gender equity. The program will target young people aged 15 to 24 years. Online auditions for aspiring talents to partake in the new season have opened and will close on October 24, 2022.

Adesua Etomi-Wellington who played Sheila on MTV Shuga Naija Season 2 and Down South will star in the new season alongside Tomiwa Tegbe and Sharon Jatto.

‘Black Panther Wakanda Forever’ Comes to Nigeria Nigeria has been tapped to be the host of the Africa premiere of the much-anticipated Marvel Studios movie ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.

In partnership with Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and FilmOne Entertainment, the film will be screened to industry stakeholders and Nollywood stars during AFRIFF ahead of its November 11 release. A specific date is yet to be disclosed.

The sequel follows Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje’s (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita

14 Countries to Compete in Airtel’s The Voice Africa For the first time, 14 African countries will be competing in The Voice Africa. Leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, Airtel Africa revealed this in a grand event recently that had music stars P-Square and other top communications personalities in attendance. The company has been a solid sponsor of The Voice Nigeria but this time is expanding to the continent to celebrate the diverse sounds of Africa.

According to the Group CEO of Airtel Africa, Segun Ogunsanya, represented by Emeka Oprah, Vice-President Communications and CSR of the company, the company is driven by the “purpose to transform lives, and that means unlocking the potential for people to grow. The Voice Africa gives us an incredible platform to help discover and champion the musical talents of young Africans, enabling them to achieve their full potential. I believe the drama and excitement around their stunning performances will unite people across the continent.”

Building on the fame of The Voice Nigeria which is produced by Akin Salami’s FAME Studios Africa, The Voice Africa is expected to pool thousands of music hopefuls from every part of the continent. As Head, Brand Research and Communications, Airtel Africa, Nandu Buty puts it, it is about nurturing dreams.

Tapped to also produce the new show, Salami said that the competition will retain its format that has made it a fan’s favourite: blind auditions, knockouts, battles and then the live show which will culminate in a grand finale to crown the winner. 100 contestants will be drawn from the virtual auditions which began on Wednesday, October 19.

The show will be broadcast in March 2023, with the grand finale taking place later in the year.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Fame Studio Africa, Akin Salami; Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Africa PLC, Emeka Oparah; Music Artist, Paul Okoye (Psquare); Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji; Music Artist, Peter Okoye (Psquare); Founder/Chief Executive Officer, HIP TV, Ayo Animashaun and Head, Brand Research and Communications, Airtel Africa, Nandu Buty, during the press conference to announce the commencement of The Voice Africa in Lagos.

Fanfare as Naija Highlandah Challenge Enters Second Phase The search for William Lawson’s The Naija Highlandah entered its second phase with so much fanfare. The challenge, which seeks the boldest and most unconventional Nigerian who lives life by their own rules, is the first ever to hold in the country, and as such fun seekers came out enmasse to compete through a series of challenges to win the grand prize of two million Naira and a trip to Scotland. Having been officially unveiled on October 6, the contest for bold people with guts and wits moved into its second phase, with participants testing their ruggedness in selected outlets across Lagos. About 392 people registered and played in the goodhumoured, bold and unconventional games last weekend (Friday to Sunday) at on and off-trade outlets, including the Moulin Rouge in Amuwo Odofin, Full House Lounge, FESTAC, Loung 95, Iju, and Cozy Bar, Abule-Egba. Others were Spar Surulere and Ilupeju and JustRite outlets at Iju and Abule Egba. It continued this weekend at Papiee Lounge, Yaba, Dreamers Lounge, Ajao Estate, Pandova Rooftop, Okota and Red Charcoal, Surulere with more games such as spin the bottle, animal imitation, balloon games, Walk-A-Plank and Kaku Meter.

The Top 10 participants with the best Highlandah attitude and the highest number of points at the end of the challenges will move to the grand finale.

Asake Unveiled as New Face of Roqqu

Danai Gurira in ‘Black Panther Wakanda Forever’

Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore.

Nigerian singer, Ahmed Ololade, famed as Asake, was recently unveiled as the newest ambassador of Roqqu, a leading technology company disrupting the traditional financial market with the sale of cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

The ambassadorial deal was inked at their office nestled in Ikota Villa Estate, Lekki, Lagos. According to the CEO of Roqqu, Benjamin Eseoghene, Asake was selected because his musical artistry aligns with the company’s mission of attaining set goals through unconventional Asake means, hard work, and a drive for excellence.

“Asake is unconventional, and as a brand, we are unconventional. Just imagine when two unconventional partnerships meet. It is out of this world,” an excited Eseoghene disclosed. With the deal, Roqqu hopes to drive cryptocurrency adoption across major fields of commerce and demographic for everyday use Speaking about the new union, Asake who now joins the likes of skit maker Aproko Doctor, and artiste Hikima as ambassadors on the crypto platform, was enthusiastic to kick-start a good working relationship.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

GLITZ TRIBUTE

FABIAN AJOGWU

A Well-deserved Recognition Prof. Fabian Ajogwu stands tall among his peers, not only for his contribution to the legal field but his expansive views and knowledge on corporate governance and other areas of nationbuilding. As he becomes a recipient of the national honour, Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic, Vanessa Obioha profiles his outstanding and enviable career

T

he year 2022 is a remarkable one for the Ajogwus. On October 11, 2022, when President Muhammadu Buhari awarded National Honours to a few exceptional Nigerians, one outstanding personality was Fabian Ajogwu. His contributions to the country, law and humanity, have not gone unnoticed. Though he is used to receiving awards and honours, this for him, stands out greatly because it came from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Ajogwu, a founding partner of Kenna Partners is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) with over two decades of law practice experience. He is well respected and reputed for assisting in drafting Nigeria’s pioneer Code of Corporate Governance for the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2003 as well as serving as a lead counsel to the Federal Government of Nigeria in several cases of national importance with an emphasis on aviation, defence, energy, and financial services sectors. He has served as Honorary Counsel to the State of Israel in Nigeria, Venezuela and the Republic of South Africa in Nigeria.

Ajogwu’s forte lies in the field of Foreign Direct Investments and corporate restructuring in the financial services sector, and natural resources sector; including litigation and arbitration in related fields. As such, he has played different roles in these fields including chairing the Nigerian Communications Commission Committee on Corporate Governance that produced the 2014 NCC Code of Corporate Governance for the Telecommunication Sector. In 2018, he again served on the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Committee on the 2018 National Code of Corporate Governance.

Arguably, Ajogwu is walking in the shoes of his father, Dr. Michael Ajogwu who clocked 80 this year.

Apart from being a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) himself, he was also the Enugu State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.

Ajogwu’s contributions to corporate governance cannot be overlooked or overemphasised. He was born on June 23, 1970, just as the civil war was ending. At the time, his father had lost three years of academic work to the war. The younger Ajogwu was just two years old when his father obtained his law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1972.

His mother on the other hand was a school principal.

Perhaps, seeing his father kick off his career at that young age, inspired him to toe the same path. After obtaining his secondary school education from Federal Government College, Kano, Ajogwu needed no soothsayer to lead him into the law profession. He obtained his law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a master’s degree in Law from the University of Lagos.

Ajogwu

However, his quest for knowledge led him to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy (Law) degree from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona, Spain. He is an Alumnus of the Lagos Business School and Said Business School of Oxford University.

Like his father, the younger Ajogwu wears many hats and is notable for his works, having taken Silk at the age of 39. One of his prominent achievements is the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN), a registered nonprofit committed to the development of corporate governance best practices and ethics which he founded in 2005.

SCGN works with the active support of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and leading listed companies in Nigeria.

Ajogwu is a fellow of many institutions including the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, African Leadership Initiative West Africa, Henry Crown Global Leadership, and Aspen Institute. He is also the President of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators. He served as the Distinguished Legal Author on the

Council of Legal Education and was a member of the General Council of the Bar. He chaired the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria Continuing Legal Education Subcommittee and served on the Body’s Ethics Committee.

Beyond the legal field, the revered SAN is known in the corporate world.

He has extensive experience in deal structuring for complex financing transactions and serves on the boards of some real estate and mall development companies in Nigeria with investment portfolios across the country. He serves on the board of the Lagos Court of Arbitration as its VicePresident.

He is a Director of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc (member of Standard Bank Group), Guinness Nigeria Plc (Diageo), and Seplat Energy Plc. Sitting on the chairs of many companies, the professor of Law chaired Leap Africa, NES Global, and ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund (Nigeria’s pioneer infrastructure fund) and currently chairs Novare Malls Group.

Anacademician, served as a member of the Governing Council of Pan-Atlantic University up until 2018. He’s been teaching courses on Business Law and Negotiations over the past 15 years at the Lagos Business

School.

Ajogwu inherited many things from his parents including their passion for education, arts and leadership. It is no surprise then that he founded the AIFA Reading Society which promotes reading culture and educational support for less privileged children. He is also the founder of the Society for Art Collection and the Akashi Leadership Initiative which promotes personal leadership.

A brilliant author, Ajogwu has penned down his legal experience and thoughts in several books. They include ‘Corporate Governance in Nigeria: Law and Practice’; ‘Mergers & Acquisition in Nigeria: Law and Practice’; ‘Law and Society’; ‘Commercial Arbitration in Nigeria: Law and Practice’; and ‘Ship Acquisition & Finance: Law & Practice’; among a few.

On other occasions, Ajogwu lent his thoughts to other authors in books such as ‘Outcomes-Based Governance: Modern Perspectives to Corporate Governance’ with Professor Mervyn King SC; ‘Petroleum Law and Sustainable Development’ with Dr Oscar Nliam; ‘Oral and Written Advocacy: Law & Practice’ with Chief Folake Solanke, SAN; and ‘Collecting Art: A Handbook’ with Dr Jess Castellote.

At Kenna Partners where he specialises in advising and representing major multinational corporations in diverse areas of law, Ajogwu co-authored ‘Legal & Regulatory Aspects of Commerce’ and ‘Trade & Investments in Nigeria: Legal and Regulatory Aspects’.

Some of his notable articles include ‘Making Boards More Effective’ which was published in 2001 in the Lagos Business School Management Review, and ‘Dealing with Guerrilla Tactics in International Arbitration: Which tools for Counsel and Arbitrators’, to the Disputes Journal of the Lagos Court of Arbitration for publication in 2014.

Ajogwu who has been a recipient of other awards and honours such as the Justice Kayode Eso Award for Excellence, Nigerian Institute of Arbitrators, was conferred the honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), His quest to impart knowledge and build a good society through purposeful giving will continue to set Ajogwu apart from his peers and make him a remarkable leader for the future generation.

For someone who is used to receiving awards in the past, his OFR honour conferred on him, coming from the Federal Government of Nigeria means that his good works have not gone unnoticed nationally.

Just like President Buhari told the recipients of the National Honours that the awards are not merely decorative, but a reminder of an important part of their responsibility, as citizens, to always endeavour to do their best for the country, for Prof Ajogwu, just like other awards and honours bestowed on him in the past, this national recognition will definitely spur him to do more in the pursuit of justice and humanity in Nigeria.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ JUNE 24 2012

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

23. 10.2022

F Former-President P id t Ol Olusegun Ob Obasanjo-presenting j ti th the award d to t Agema A who h received i d it on behalf b h lf of Orioguns

Oriogun watching the proceedings at the prize awards ceremony through Zoom

Plodding on from Pain, through Poetry, to the Prize…

Winning the NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Literature Prize is a big endorsement for US-based Romeo Oriogun, who disclosed that he has long stopped caring about validation from the local literary scene, writes Okechukwu Uwaezuoke

S

urely, Romeo Oriogun could not have been less excited about becoming the fourth winner of the poetry genre of the Nigeria LNG-sponsored literary SUL]H ZKLFK ZDV ÀUVW jointly won by the renowned Gabriel Okara and Ezenwa Ohaeto in 2005. This is even when—not so long ago—he won the Logan Prize for Poetry, the Poetry Society of America’s Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award, The Chukwu Prize for Poetry, and the 2017 Brunel International African Poetry Prize.

The expression on his face, beamed on a screen through Zoom from his Ames, Iowa, US base—thousands of kilometres DZD\ DQG D VL[ KRXU WLPH GLͿHUHQFH from Lagos—to the distinguished audience that converged that Friday, October 14, evening at Eko Hotel and Suites, in Victoria Island, said much more than he could have expressed in words. Becoming the Nigeria Literature Prize's latest laureate—arguably Africa’s most prestigious—is a big deal for the poet who bemoans his having lived all his life in the margins. ´, JLYH WKDQNV WR WKH MXGJHV IRU ÀQGLQJ Nomad worthy of the 2022 Nigeria Prize for Literature,” according to his post on KLV YHULÀHG 7ZLWWHU KDQGOH 7KLV ZDV QRW long after he was declared the winner by the Advisory Board Chairperson, ProfesVRU $NDFKL (]HLJER ZKR ZDV ÁDQNHG E\ her board members, Professors Ahmed Yerima and Olu Obafemi, while NLNG's Managing Director and Chief Executive 2΀FHU 'U 3KLOLS 0VKHOELOD VWRRG LQ the background.

What followed afterwards was unprecedented — as well as heart-

warming and eye-watering— in the history of the prize. Oriogun RͿHUHG D WRNHQ IURP KLV prize money, which he won with his poetry collection Nomad, to his co-shortlisted contestants Saddiq Dzukogi (Your Crib, My Qibla) and Su’eddie Vershima Agema (Memory and the Call of Waters), each of whom would UHFHLYH ´, JLYH WKDQNV DQG congratulations (to) my brothers, Saddiq and Su’eddie, for their poetry and the many journeys ahead of us. And as agreed upon, I will EH VHQGLQJ RXW RI WKH SUL]H money to Saddiq and Su’eddie,” KLV WZHHW FRQÀUPHG Isn’t it all the more touching that Agema—who was present at the SUL]H DZDUG FHUHPRQ\ DQG MXVWLÀably nourished the faint hope of winning the prize—was mandated

by Oriogun himself to receive the plaque, which was presented by the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on his behalf? “We had agreed among us that whoever wins will actually give the other WZR 86' HDFK WKDW ZKRever wins will reach out to the other WZR µ $JHPD FRQÀUPHG ´,W ZDV in that spirit that I went to collect the prize on his behalf. So, there was no issue. We already had the agreement. As a matter of fact, we spoke yesterday and even before the event we were chatting, and even after the event, all of us still spoke generally. Even before the award, we were always talking on D GDLO\ EDVLV RQ VWXͿV OLNH WKDW µ Shunned and sometimes trolled

for his unconventional sexual orientation, Oriogun cocoons himself through ZULWLQJ LQ KLV RZQ ZRUOG ZKLFK RͿHUV him an escape route and shield from the disapproving mob who would have none of his queerness. Should it, therefore, surprise anyone if he invests a substantial part of his prize money in the activity that he deems important to his existence?

Back to Nomad, his winning entry. It is his groundbreaking work he is proud of.

He disclosed in an interview published in the NLNG in-house magazine that its language departs from everything that he has written so far. “It is a language of movement, the language of reckoning with the self, with history, with the future. It is a language that distorts what I have come to know as my poetic voice.”

Talking about his poetic voice, writLQJ SRHPV ZDV KLV HͿRUW WR PDNH VHQVH of his life’s apparent puzzles. He said in that same interview that it was his way of piecing together what he calls "fragments" of his life. After his sunny years of living a relatively comfortable life, the threads in his carpet of fate led him through dark periods of loneliness (after losing both parents), homelessness, working as a Federal Road Safety Corps marshall, and as a bartender in a brothel.

Like most people, he would have wondered – and is perhaps still wondering – why he had to go through all that experience. The experience of losing his father when he was just six years old and his mother shortly before his secondary VFKRRO FHUWLÀFDWH H[DPV PXVW KDYH EHHQ hard on his young, uncomprehending mind and must have left him reeling in

bewilderment. "Poetry is the only place where I can ask myself that question, and then try to answer it for myself without trying to hear someone else’s voice,” he explained.

Oriogun was exposed to experiences earlier in his life that led him to search for his own answers without the dogmatic restrictions of his religious background. +HQFH ÀQGLQJ SRHWU\ DV D VHFRQGDU\ school student at Edokpolor Grammar School, thanks to his teacher, Mrs Uweni, became an important step towards making sense of his vicissitudes. Even so, this medium of expression continued to DVVXPH GLͿHUHQW PHDQLQJV IRU KLP DV KH matured through his life experiences.

His passion for the literary genre KDV VHHQ KLP HPHUJH DV D ÀQDOLVW IRU the Lambda Award for Poetry and The Future African Prize for Literature, receive fellowships and support from Ebedi International Writers Residency; PEN American; PEN Sweden; Harvard University; Hutchins Centre for African and African American Research; Oregon Institute for Creative Research; and the IIE-Artist Protection Fund. Only two years ago, in 2020, he received his MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers Workshop and is currently a postdoctoral research associate in Ames.

Meanwhile, the organisers and sponsors of the Nigeria Literature Prize – which rotates annually between the four OLWHUDU\ JHQUHV RI SURVH ÀFWLRQ SRHWU\ drama, and children’s literature – deserve a pat on the back for sustaining "18 years of annual tournaments" that have so far attracted "over 1,851 entries in 16 competitions and produced 12 winning manuscripts since its commencement in 2004."

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

62

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23, 2022

ARTS & REVIEW\\POTPOURRI

Priceless Nuggets from Septuagenarian’s Life Experiences Dapo Adelegan

H

istory is often categorised into those who make it and those who write it. Those who make history are the central characters in the story around which the story revolves. Nevertheless, it is possible to make history and write it by oneself. This is why memoirs and autobiographies are great, and The Industrial Manager, by Asiwaju )RODZHZR %DEDWXQGH 2VLER H[HPSOLÀHV WKLV essence.

Asiwaju Fola Osibo is a foremost Nigerian industrialist and businessman, with a long and distinguished career accumulating decades of experience in management roles for various reputable companies, including the UAC foods division, Lipton, Inlaks plc, and CSS Bookshops.

After an illustrious career in the corporate sector, the launch of The Industrial Manager, which coincides with his 78th birthday, marks Chief Osibo’s transition from a corporate executive to a writer; a worthy art for a septuagenarian.

According to the author, the idea of writing a book crossed his mind several years ago while he was the Managing Director of CSS Bookstores, an iconic Nigerian publishing and book-selling RXWÀW +RZHYHU KH FRXOG QRW ZRUN RQ WKH LGHD at that time because of his busy schedule. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 presented the golden RSSRUWXQLW\ WR ÀQDOO\ DFKLHYH KLV GUHDPV $V WKH Nigerian economy shut down and people were restricted to their homes, the septuagenarian ÀQDOO\ EHJDQ WR ZULWH PRWLYDWHG E\ KLV GDXJKWHU Having put some context and background on the book, it is pertinent to analyse what the book is all about. The Industrial Manager is a memoir; a personal account of the man’s experiences. The book explores Chief Osibo’s career and personal life, including his major experiences as a manager in various enterprises over a period of four decades IURP WR ,W PLUURUV WKH VLJQLÀFDQW IDFWRUV that contributed to his rise over the years from PDQDJHPHQW WUDLQHH WR &KLHI ([HFXWLYH 2΀FHU In its 130 pages, the book also details some major events in his life as he manages to keep both his

Book Cover

ART FESTIVAL career and family life together. $V H[SHFWHG WKH ÀUVW FKDSWHU H[SORUHV WKH DXWKRU·V childhood and early experiences. Asiwaju Fola Osibo was born on Thursday, September 28, 1944 to a highly religious and educated family in Lagos, South Western Nigeria. However, his father was a native of Ofada, a small town near Abeokuta, Ogun State. And it was in Ofada and Abeokuta that young Fola had his primary education. The chapter also mentions two major events that impacted his religious beliefs.

The next chapter explores the author’s childhood even further, while the third chapter delves into his education, right from primary, through secondary, and up to tertiary level. The author talks about his interest in agriculture, which eventually spurred him to study agriculture at the University of Ibadan, after spending a year at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). ´0\ ÀUVW VLQFHUH LPSUHVVLRQ RI WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI ,IH WKHQ ZDV WKDW LW ZDV MXVW D JORULÀHG VHFRQGDU\ school. I therefore, made up my mind that I had to change to another university,” Osibo recalled.

The two major events in his university days were his short voluntary service in the NigerianArmy as a soldier under the 3rd Marine Commando Division during the Civil War and his participation in the play, Kongi’s Harvest, written by renowned playwright, Wole Soyinka. Chapter four captures his early years in the industrial world, while Chapter ÀYH GHVFULEHV KLV H[SORLWV LQ KLV FDUHHU +H MRLQHG the United Africa Company (UAC) in 1970 as a trainee. He recalled a candid discussion with his boss in which he told him his expectation within the next ten years was to be sitting in his seat as the CEO of the company. He moved up the ladder quickly becoming an Executive Director at the age of 34. In 1974, Mr Osibo was transferred to Lipton Nigeria Limited as Production Services Manager and was promoted to Technical Manager in 1977.

One of the most interesting highlights of Chapter ÀYH UHODWHV WR KLV LQYROYHPHQW LQ WKH VHWWLQJ XS of the tea plantation at Mambilla Plateau, NorthCentral Nigeria. The Mambilla Plateau today is renowned as the location where the best tea in West Africa is grown.

Following Lipton’s merger with Lever Brothers Nigeria Limited, Mr Osibo left and joined Inlaks Plc, heading the Indian company’s Cube Sugar Division. Chapter seven delves into his experience leading Odutola Nigeria Industries. In Chapter 8, the author changes careers and begins another adventure in the world of book publishing, becoming the CEO of CSS Bookshops, one of the ELJJHVW DQG ROGHVW SXEOLVKLQJ RXWÀWV LQ 1LJHULD Afterwards, he began setting up his own businesses, including a hotel, an outsourcing company, DQG DQ LQVXUDQFH XQGHUZULWLQJ RXWÀW 7KH ODVW two chapters deal with the author’s activities in the church as a devout Christian and prominent member of the Anglican church, and his awards and recognitions.

Whilst it is being referred to as an autobiography, my opinion is that The Industrial Manager is a memoir due to the brevity of the content in it. The book is simplistic in style, yet succinct and profound in content. Whilst the book is short and simple, the nuggets embedded within it are priceless.

Chief Osibo’s almost eight decades of life and all the lessons from his experiences, struggles, and victories are vividly illustrated. $GHOHJDQ ZULWHV IURP /DJRV

Jerry Buhari Heads Limcaf 2022 Jury Yinka Olatunbosun

T

he Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-based renowned art educator, painter, and scholar, Professor Jerry Buhari, has been announced as the head of a six-man panel of jurors for the Life in My City Art Festival (LIMCAF) 2022.

This announcement was made by the LIMCAF art director, Dr. Ayo Adewunmi, after a recently held meeting of the Board of Trustees and the Organising Committee. According to Dr Adewunmi, this year’s panel was made up of two senior female and four male artists, in addition to two past LIMCAF Overall Prize winners.

The jury’s other members are Yaba College of Technology, Lagos-based multidisciplinary artist and academic, Dr Odun Orimolade; the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State-based ÀQH DUW SKRWRJUDSKHU SDLQWHU SULQWPDNHU DQG lecturer Dr Timipre Willis Amah; the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, US-based art historian Dr Okechukwu Nwafor;Abuja-based graphic artist and photographer Ms Mariagoretti Eze; and a leading Nigerian hyperrealistic artist, Olumide Oresegun.

LIMCAF, a youth-focused annual celebration of creativity in visual art which began in 2007, is currently the biggest and longest running art event in Nigeria. At its core is the visual art competition EXW WKH IHVWLYDO·V JUDQG ÀQDOH ZHHN IHDWXUHV YDULRXV events including the Grand Finale Exhibition of the Best 100 Artworks of the Year, as well as the annual art lecture, the school children’s and art teachers’ workshops and side exhibitions in various venues in Enugu. It comes to a climax with the Gala and Award Night when the results of the art competition are announced and the young artists win various prizes. ,Q WKH UXQ XS WR WKHVH ÀQDO HYHQWV RI WKH IHVWLYDO

ART FESTIVAL regional exhibitions, adjudication and selection had been held from July to September in eight regional centres across the country including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Lagos, Ibadan, Ondo, Auchi and Enugu from where the 100 best artworks to feature in the Grand Finale Exhibition were selected.

Dr Adewunmi explained that there used to be between nine and 11 Regional Centres before now EXW WKH 7UXVWHHV EHOLHYH WKDW ÀUVW &29,' LQ the year 2020 and later the ASUU strike, account for the less than the usual number of between 400 and 500 entries every year. This forced the Organising Committee to collapse the entry and regional exhibition centres to eight for this year.

In spite of this, the Trustees are no less impressed with the quality and eclectic range of works comprising sculpture, terracotta, mixed media, paintings, charcoal drawings, photography, ceramics, textile and clay done by young, talented Nigerian artists over which the panel of jurors will preside.

Jerry Buhari

Talent Overload at Lagos Freedom Fest Yinka Olatunbosun

A

collaborative concert project organised by Tenstrings Music Institute and Freedom Park took place at the Freedom Park to mark the last Independence Day celebration. Called Lagos Freedom Fest, it was a marketplace of new voices in music and a glimpse at the brighter future for the Nigerian music scene. The venue, a former colonial prison, bore an historical context for the celebrations.

The parade of green and white-themed costumes

VLJQDOHG WKH VWDUW RI WKH ÀYH KRXU VKRZ WKDW IHDWXUHG multiple performances from Ten Strings band and a few solo performances, winning hearts and attention with powerful vocal deliveries.

A formation of the choristers sang “God Bless My Homeland, Nigeria,” with harmony and vigour, followed by “We Pray” composed and arranged by Akapo Emmanuel. The song is a rich bi-lingual composition, switching from Yoruba to English and vice versa with the enchanting chorus “Olorun Aiye.”

What can be described as a beautiful moment that evening was the highlife rendition of Onyeka Onwenu’s'HalleluyahChimle,'composedbyKunle

CONCERT

Jide Ofor

&()·V 1HZ $OEXP -LGHRIRU DQG ,WV $OOXVLRQ WR $QLPDO )DUP Yinka Olatunbosun Jideofor the latest project ofAbuja-based musician, CEF is a product of traditional Igbo instrumentations and literary allusion. The seven-track album KHDYLO\ LQÁXHQFHG E\ 2JHQH +LJKOLIH $IUREHDW Soul and Reggae and Jazz is in tandem with the artist's musical style dubbed Genti music.

Genti simply means ‘listen’ in Igbo language, and with this style of music, the artiste beckons listeners to listen easy sound, the simple yet intellectually driven lyrics and the pleasant reverberation of sounds crafted with the merging of modern western instruments comprising guitar, piano, percussions and other traditional instruments.

Ebelebe, one of the songs in the album is described as an eargasm of local Igbo instruments comprising the ogene, oja and ekwe.

With inspiration from literature, the song titled Animal Farm, draws upon George Orwell’s literary text of same title, Animal Farm. It compares the Nigerian society to world of farm animals depicted in the classic text where the pigs get fat, and the dogs are the workhorse; both sides predator and prey to one another. And in case the listener missed it, seasoned performance poet, Dike Chukwumerije deconstructs the nuance at the song’s interval by spokenwords:Allanimalsareequal/butthetragedy is in this place/ some are more equal than the others.

Piano and guitar are the dominant instruments featured on the love song ‘Dikeke which holds WKH PRVW ÁRZHU\ DQG DLU\ O\ULFV ZKHUH WKH DUWLVWH reiterates to his lover that her love.

Other songs in the album include Ije Uwa and Ekwe Kuo featuring Nze Chidi Echefu and Odo Yewu.

At a recent chat with the media, CEF commended his music collaborators and team who worked on the project.

“There was no one else who understood the idea of (Animal Farm) as Chukwumerije did. We were both coming to it from the perspective that we are a part of those animals, and we have a responsibility. &KXNZXPHULMH LV VHOI UHÁHFWLQJ DQG ORRNV GHHS within. So, when we had the opportunity to create this, he was the best person for it. We didn’t have to think much because it is our reality.

“I am very thankful for the creator, and the kind of people I have worked with on this project. I say we because there is no individualism here. I didn’t play all the instruments. Little contributions by everyonegavebirthtothiswork.Thisisacommunity SURMHFW ZKDW PDGH LW OHVV GL΀FXOW LV WKDW D WHDP of people who believe in the idea came together to achieve this.”

On future projects, the artiste is dedicated to getting deeper into his Igbo culture, exploring its traditional music instruments sounds beyond its present state, digging deeper into his culture in order to extend original and unadulterated into the world, drawing more ships to the high sea of Genti and other music forms.

7KH DUWLVW ZLOO NLFN RͿ WKH -LGHRIRU WRXU LQ ODWH October starting with Abuja, Lagos and the rest of the world.

Ogunronbi otherwise known as BabaAjasco. One of the best solo vocalists, Mulbarak performed the R&B track ‘Adupe’ with acoustic accompaniment just before Omojay sent the audience into a frenzy with his cover of Majek Fashek’s classic “Send Down the Rain” – a performance which was heavily accentuated with bata drums and acoustic.

WithFabolous,herstagepresenceandpersonabeat KHU YRFDO GHOLYHU\ +HU EODFN GUHVV PDGH RI UX΁HV and sequin was a showstopper. Avery awesome performance of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No &U\µ ZDV GHOLYHUHG E\ )DYRXU DQ HͿRUWOHVV VLQJHU ZLWK DQ HQJXOÀQJ UDQJH 8QGHU WKH GLUHFWLRQ RI Akapo Emmanuel still, Tolani, another chorister, did her cover of Marley’s Redemption Song.

63

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

CICERO

Editor: Ejiofor Alike SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

IN THE ARENA

A Flood of Grief With about 450 out of the 774 local government areas of Nigeria devastated by unprecedented flooding and over 603 killed with diverse assets destroyed, the federal government and subnationals must avoid blame games and take needful actions, writes Louis Achi

“P

eople shouldn’t be living in certain places - on earthquake faults or on flood plains. But they do, and there are consequences,” said Vaclav Smil, a CzechCanadian scientist, policy analyst and Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

Smil’s insight may have prompted the Lagos State Government to alert residents of the state, 18 days ago, especially those residing on the flood plains of Ogun River, to relocate upland.

In a move comparable to shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted, the state government directed property owners and developers to desist from embarking on any form of physical development without adherence to processes and procedures outlined by it to provide habitable structures across the state.

The State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, had listed areas likely to be affected by flooding to include: Ketu, Alapere, Agric, Owode Onirin, Ajegunle, Alagbole, Kara, Isheri Olowora, Araromi Otun Orisha community, Agiliti, Maidan, Mile 12, Odo Ogun, Owode Elede, Agboyi 1, Agboyi II, Agboyi III. Beyond Lagos State, floods have hit many Nigerian states, wreaking extreme devastation in the last two months with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announcing that about 2.5 million persons have so far been affected and over 603 persons killed by the flooding caused by torrential rainfall of late.

Houses and farmlands were submerged in Bayelsa, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Imo, Abia states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to NEMA’s Director-General, Mr. Mustapha Ahmed, the 2022 floods hit 450 of the 774 local government areas of the country and the FCT. His words: “The 2022 Annual Flood Outlook forecasted that 233 local government areas in 32 states and the FCT would be at sizeable risk. It stated also that 212 council areas in 35 states and the FCT were within moderately probable flood risks.

“Already, NEMA is inundated with reports of flood in more than 450 council areas in

Flood menace 36 states and the FCT and it is still counting, causing loss of lives, livelihoods, properties and infrastructures,” he added.

Ahmed spoke in Awka, Anambra State, last week, while addressing NEMA officials who brought relief materials to the victims.

More than one-third of the land mass in Anambra State has been devastated by flood which has also taken 17 lives as at mid last week.

The floods have also caused the collapse of infrastructure, public and private buildings and means of livelihoods of residents, the deputy governor, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, revealed, while addressing NEMA officials in Awka. Ibezim said the ‘devastating flood’ hit seven of the 21 local government areas of the state.

In Delta State, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa called on the federal government, corporate organisations and individuals to come to the aid of hapless victims of flood in the state. He made the call on Wednesday when he visited flood victims at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps at Utagba-Ogbe Technical College, Kwale in Ndokwa West; Alaka Grammar School, Ozoro in Isoko North; St. Michael’s College, Oleh and Isoko Central School, Oleh both in Isoko South Local Government Areas of the state.

On his part, a distraught Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, appealed to the federal government for assistance, saying the floods in the state were overwhelming and beyond what his government alone could handle.

The presidential candidate of the Labour

Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has also raised concerns about the devastating flood, saying it would have “deleterious” consequences on food production, as well as orchestrate higher food prices at a time the country is contending with rising food insecurity due to banditry and insurgency.

Reacting to the disaster in a post on his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday, Obi said that the devastating enormity of the flooding and the damages it has wreaked is mind-boggling. “I sympathise with those directly affected by the loss of lives and properties. At a time our country contends with rising food insecurity due to banditry and insurgency, the ravaging floods will have deleterious consequences on food production, as well as orchestrate higher food prices. I call on FGN and NEMA to expeditiously assist those affected by this natural disaster.”

But in a rather curious blame game, the federal government faulted state governments for not heeding the early warnings issued by its agencies. Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services (NIHSA), Clement Nze, blamed state governments for disregarding “adequate and timely warnings” and weather advisories issued by the various federal government agencies.

He said: “If our predictions were heeded by relevant sub-nationals, we will not have been where we are today. But I believe that following this year’s flood disaster across the land, the consciousness of relevant actors especially subnationals will be awakened to do the needful

once they receive all these advisories.”

More, the Presidency also discredited trending theories that the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun was responsible for the large-scale flooding in Nigeria. It also described as inappropriate, the public attention on the federal government when in fact, the states and local governments received the chunk of ecological funds set aside for disaster management.

However, in an apparent rejection of the federal government’s position, Governor Okowa of Delta State and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on the federal authority to build new dams and desilt major rivers to check flooding, especially when neighbouring countries opened their dams.

More specifically, Okowa urged the federal government to make efforts at desilting River Niger and River Benue to deepen the depths of the rivers to accommodate high volume of floodwater.

In a statement, the presidency enjoined state governors to rise to the responsibilities of their office by responding to the needs of their citizens in the face of growing floods and other ecologically-related disasters. According to the federal government, roughly N1trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of the total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2023 was budgeted for ecological and disaster management. In 2018, 2.2 per cent of the estimated of N9.120 trillion budget, amounting to N198 billion was set aside for the Ecological Fund; in 2019, the 2.2 per cent amount of the budget of N132 billion was allocated for the Fund, while in 2023, 2.2 per cent of the N21 trillion budget indicated N462 billion allocation for Ecological Fund. However, these claims remain unverified.

The emerging consensus is that beyond climate change which is becoming very impactful globally and beginning to affect a lot of issues, the sea levels are rising and so also are water volumes of different river flood plains. Another issue that the federal government is apparently trying to gloss over is the dam in Cameroon which always causes major overflows in Nigeria’s river systems.

So beyond the customary blame games, proactive, knowledge-based, transparent, accountable interventions are imperative. This should also include building holding dams, regular desilting of the nation’s river systems so that they could hold larger volumes of water, especially during rainy seasons.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

Welcome Back, Lai Mohammed

Wike Mohammed

There is a every need to welcome the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, back to his responsibilityagain.Theministerwhohadforsometime surprisingly maintained his silence, had last week said naysayerswhoattemptedtoplaydowntheachievements ofthePresidentMuhammaduBuhari-ledadministration would be left “breathless.”

Mohammed, who spoke in Abuja at the first edition ofthegovernment’snewseriestitled‘PMBAdministration Scorecard 2015-2023’, designed to show off the achievementsoftheBuhariadministrationsincehecame into power in 2015, said the decision to highlight the administration’s achievements was necessary owing to the fact that the tenure’s end was near.

Theminister’scommentscomeaboutamonthafter

Buhari said those he appointed to be telling Nigerians abouttheachievementsofhisadministrationwerenot doing so. He said considering the available resources when his administration came into power, the current government had performed “extremely” well.

Mohammed,whowasveryvocalandvociferousbefore andimmediatelyaftertheBuharicametopower,blaming allthewoesofNigeriaontheformerPresidentGoodluck Jonathan’sgovernment,hadsuddenlydisappearedfrom theradarwhenNigerianswereexpressingfrustration with the government. At a point, many Nigerians were wondering if he was still in the current government.

How breathless does the minister think Nigerians would be when they release the ‘PMB Administration Scorecard2015-2023’whentheFirstLady,AishaBuhari,

hasalreadyapologisedtothemforthehardshipsthey arefacingduetoherhusband’smaladministrationand wrong policies?

ManybelievethatMohammeddoesnotknowwhat totellNigeriansanylongerbecausetherecordofthe government he serves is there for all to see. Today, after Buhari’s over seven years in office, Nigeria is battling untamed inflation, lack of improvement in powertoboosttheeconomy,energycrises,large-scale unemployment,insecurityandforeignexchangecrisis.

Oneimmediatefalloutofthisistheregime’scorruptladenpoliciesasexemplifiedinthecontroversialfuel subsidy programme, which has continued to deny Nigeriansofthemuch-neededfundfordevelopment projects.

64

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

BRIEFINGNOTES Now that El-Rufai Controls Army, DSS, Police After boasting recently that he has the 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna, Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police to arrest whoever he wants to arrest in the state, Ejiofor Alike wonders why the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has not deployed these massive federal forces to root out the terrorists that have made his state unsafe, instead of threatening political opponents

M

any Nigerians were stunned last week when Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State boasted that he has the 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police to arrest and detain anyone in the state. The Kaduna State governor made the shocking revelation at an interactive session organised by the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna, while narrating how the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi allegedly arrested him in Anambra State in 2013 when Obi was the governor of the state.

He accused the LP candidate, who also spoke at the event of arresting and detaining him for 48 hours between November 15 and 16, 2013, when he was seeking a second term in office on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

He said: “In 2013, I went to Anambra State as an official of the APC to witness the by-election for governorship. Your next guest, Peter Obi, as governor, got me arrested and detained for 48 hours in my hotel room.

“Now, I am the Governor of Kaduna State and he’s coming to Kaduna. In addition to the police and the State Secret Service, I have one Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army here, if I need to arrest and detain anyone. But we are northerners; we are civilised. We don’t do things like that. I wish you all safe journey back to your destinations.”

However, an old video that made mockery of el-Rufai’s allegation against Obi has since gone viral. In the video, the governor explained that he was arrested by “three state security service (SSS) officials holding AK-47 threatening me that they have directive from Abuja to restrict me to my room.”

He did not mention Obi or the Anambra State Government as being behind his arrest.

The Kaduna State governor also failed to tell his audience that neither Obi nor the Anambra State government was the respondent in the suit No: FHC/AWK/ CS/310/13, which he filed against the DSS and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for his detention.

He also failed to disclose that it was the DSS that the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Ibrahim Bature Gafai, ordered in September 2014 to apologise to him and also pay him N2 million in damages for the unlawful detention, and not Obi or his government.

However, the Kaduna State governor

El-Rufai

met his match in the LP presidential candidate.

Obi, at the same event in Kaduna, described the governor’s comment as a reckless one, which should not have been made in the public space.

“I believe that as we grow older and are saddled with more responsibilities, we are expected to become circumspect in our thinking and avoid recklessness in our speeches and utterances.

“How does the circumstance he referred to relate to bigotry, to warrant such a label?

“All I do for people like el-Rufai is to pray for them and encourage them to concentrate on doing those things that will better the lots of Nigerians rather than engage in hate speeches that will divide and destroy the country,”

Obi said.

Obi said it was impossible for him at the time to order agents of the DSS from Abuja to arrest el-Rufai.

“The police commissioner that was there then was from Adamawa State, and the AIG was from Nasarawa. There’s no way I could have done that.

“My chairman, I never asked anyone to arrest you. As governor of Anambra State, I had the best policeman in Nigeria as ADC, and he is from Kano; so, where will I give the order and tell a man who lives in my house every day that I want to deal with his people, and he will say yes?

“I was in APGA during the elections in 2013; the ruling party was PDP; how can I instruct the PDP in Abuja to detain anybody? Even me as state governor was detained in my own local government,” Obi explained. He said that it was suspicious

for a private citizen to travel to another state and move from one local government area to another on the day of an election unless the person belongs to an accredited election monitoring group.

Interestingly, the same el-Rufai who boasted that he has the Nigerian Army, the police and the DSS to arrest anyone had cried out on several occasions that governors failed to tackle insecurity in their states because they are not in control of the federal security forces.

For instance, the governor, who featured on a live Nigerian television programme from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 30, 2020, had argued that the October 2020 #EndSARS protest by youths exposed the weakness of the governors despite being called the chief security officers (CSOs) of their states.

“We are all frustrated. I am frustrated in my state; many governors are frustrated in their states; we are called chief security officers only in name; we have no control over cohesive instruments of the state,” the governor said.

He added, “We are almost helpless. The #EndSARS protest clearly showed the limit to the control of governors over the police and the military.

“Some of us have more influence than others, but to a large extent, you ask the commissioner of police to do something and he has to clear with the Inspector-General of Police; this is the reality.

“We are not in control of the police; I don’t determine who gets posted to my state as CP and if I give him directives, he can decide to flout the directives. So, we are all frustrated,” he added.

He suggested the decentralisation of the police force, stressing that Nigeria is the only federation in the world that has only one police force.

Since el-Rufai took charge of Kaduna in 2015, the state has known no peace as thousands of people have been killed by terrorists in a ruthless fashion. Thousands of homes and communities have also been destroyed and sacked by these monsters.

He raised the alarm recently that security agencies know the location of the bandits wreaking havoc in the state, but have refused to bomb their hideouts.

Having admitted that he has the Nigerian Army, police and DSS to arrest anyone he wishes to arrest, el-Rufai should quickly arrest these terrorists and make his state safe. With his latest admission, the world now knows that his previous lamentations were part of the mischief of some Nigerian leaders to explain away their shameful performance and failure to tackle insecurity in their states.

NOTES FOR FILE

Obi Continues to Win Hearts of Nigerians

Obi

On a daily basis, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has continued to worm his way into the hearts of many Nigerians. Last Wednesday, he said he had suspended his campaign tours to enable him help victims of floods across the states of the federation. Obi said the welfare of the flood victims and his concern for them are more compelling.

Addressing journalists after his visit to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State at his Abuja private residence where he had gone to discuss modalities on his planned visit to flood sites in Benue and other states, the former Anambra State governor said he expected other presidential candidates to suspend their campaigns to show concerns to the plight of

victims of flooding. He added that some of the candidates who spent millions of naira on nomination forms, have the capacity to assist the flood victims.

Floods have hit parts of Nigeria in the last two months with the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA)sayingthatabout2.5millionpersons were affected and over 603 persons killed by the floodingcausedbytorrentialrainfalloflate.Practically allthestatesaffectedbythefloodshavebeencalling on the federal government for help.

Houses and farmlands have been submerged in Taraba, Adamawa, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Imo, Abia states, and the Federal Capital Territory.

While the people are suffering, there hasn’t been an appreciable assistance from the federal government.Eventhepresidentialcandidatesofthepolitical parties have not made any effort to give the people succour. It took Obi to initiate the move.

Little wonder the Benue State Governor, Ortom, said he would have worked for the victory of the LP presidential candidate if he were not a member of thePeoplesDemocraticParty(PDP).Heencouraged Nigerianstogointothe2023generalelectionwiththe mindset of electing the best presidential candidate among the top contenders. According to him, Nigeria currently runs on oxygen and would need a hands-on anddetribalisedleadertorestorehope,development and progress.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23, 2022

CICERO/ISSUE

Yakubu

Atiku

Electoral Act Violation amid Presidential Campaign In violation of Section 97 of the 2022 Electoral Act, political actors have started stoking ethnoreligious sentiments in the ongoing presidential campaigns to set the federation on the perilous path to sectional politics that truncated the first and second republics, Gboyega Akinsanmi writes

O

n September 28, the presidential campaign officially kicked off nationwide in line with the schedule of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Consequently, political parties have stepped up activities, marketing their candidates to about 96.2 million registered voters who will decide their fate on February 25, 2023.

Like other political environments worldwide, there are clearly defined rules of engagement, by which all political parties and their candidates must abide in the interest of peace. The engagement rules are spelt out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Electoral Act, 2022.

Besides these legal instruments, nearly all political parties and their presidential candidates have, directly and indirectly, committed themselves to orderly and peaceful electioneering with the signing of peace agreement a day after the campaign kicked off. The National Peace Committee under the chairmanship of former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar midwived the agreements recently signed in Abuja.

But despite the clearly defined rules, presidential candidates have been resorting to their own rules of desperation, selfhelp and ethnic manipulation, which they believed, would guarantee them electoral victory. This came to the fore penultimate Saturday when the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was addressing an assembly of core northern leaders during a town-hall policy dialogue held in Kaduna.

The dialogue, organised by Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation (ABF), Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP) and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa (JMA), was designed to interact with key presidential candidates on their policy orientation and approaches to multi-tiered crises that beset Nigeria.

At this forum, Atiku unequivocally used the platform to urge the northerners not to vote for any presidential candidate from the South. He said: “What an average northerner needs is somebody, who is from the North, who understands other parts of Nigeria, and who has been able to build bridges across the country. He does

not need a Yoruba candidate or an Igbo candidate…”

The former vice president declared that the North needs him because he is “a pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”

Atiku’s statement was greeted with outrage from the All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and others. Among other sociocultural organisations, Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo immediately expressed their disappointment at Atiku’s descent to sectional politics, the kind of which weaponised ethno-regional conflicts and rivalries that crashed the First and Second Republics.

Like other civil society organisations, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Universal Global Resolve for Peace have raised diverse questions about the way political actors are leveraging ethnicity, regionalism, sectionalism and tribalism to gain some political milestones ahead of the 2023 presidential poll without considering its implications for national peace and stability.

The first question relates to whether Atiku’s statement is really consistent with the provisions of the existing statutes. Neither the 1999 Constitution nor 2022 Electoral Act supports the use of ethnicity or religion to gain political control in any part of the federation. With respect to religion, Section 10 of the 999 Constitution stipulates that the Government of the Federation or of a State “shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.”

In the same way, Section 97 of the Electoral Act warns against the resort to ethnicity, regionalism, sectionalism and tribalism as the instruments of political contests. The section states: “A candidate, person or association that engages in campaigning or broadcasting based on religious, tribal or sectional reason to promote or oppose a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction to (a) a maximum fine of N1 million or

imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both and (b) in the case of a political party, to a maximum of N10 million.”

In the context, as civil society leaders have explained, Atiku’s statement has flagrantly violated the extant statutes governing the administration and conduct of elections in the federation. By implication, onus is upon the INEC not just to ensure compliance with the statutes, but equally enforce all the provisions of the Electoral Act, when violated, to forestall incessant breach?

Again, is Atiku the only presidential candidate who weaponised ethnicity to gain some political mileage? First, the presidential candidate of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu adopted the campaign mantra, ‘Emi Lokan, Yoruba Lokan’ to woo South-west voters. But unlike Atiku’s case, Tinubu premised his own campaign on the need for the northern political actors to respect the power-shift agreement of APC. When APC was formed, the bulk of the southerners that gave it victory were from the South-west. So, when it was the turn of the South in the party, it was natural for Tinubu to make a case for the South-west and himself. To be fair to the former Lagos State governor, he never asked South-west voters not to vote for Igbo or Hausa candidate, unlike his counterpart in the PDP. On his part, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi has also not personally toed the path of ethnoregional politics. When he was visiting churches and was accused of campaigning in the church, his supporters were quick to point out that he started visiting churches before he indicated interest in the presidential race. Obi’s popularity first soared on October 1, 2016 when he delivered a famous speech at a popular annual event known as ‘The Platform’, a brainchild of Pastor Poju Oyemade, founder and Senior Pastor of Covenant Christian Centre.

Even his cult followers, also codenamed the Obidients, have not spoken in favour of or identified with ethno-regional politics or the need to shift power to any geo-political zone.

The Financial Times of London reported on October 18, that Obi enjoys the “support of a youthful, ‘Obidient’ movement,” who is “tired of a profligate elite”.

To the Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos and former leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, the Obidient Movement, “like the #EndSARS Movement, is driven by the idea of a better Nigeria, with the youths occupying the central place.”

Whether by weaponising ethnicity for political advantage or by outright disregard to the principle of power sharing, some of the presidential candidates are subtly deploying ethno-regional politics to garner overwhelming political support within their geo-political configurations, which civil society leaders claimed, could bring down the Fourth Republic if not averted. As the Director of CDD, Idayat Hassan recently argued, Atiku’s statement is a cause for concern.

Hassan argued that it could encourage the electorate to cast their ballots along the ethno-religious lines. This was the trend during the 1964/1965 elections when the political actors then resorted to the instruments of ethno-regional politics to gain control of federal power. The failure to manage electoral violence that erupted in the Western Region instigated the January 15, 1966 coup that ended the first coup de’tat.

In 1979 too, as shown in the presidential election results, the trend glaringly repeated itself. Like 1964/1965, the process was concluded without any political party clearly meeting constitutional requirements. This subsequently led to the infamous two-thirds of 19 states on which the election tribunal then premised its decision to pronounce the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) the winner of the election. The 1983 elections suffered the same fate, which eventually triggered the December 31, 1983 coup that crashed the Second Republic.

Political analysts have raised the alarm that the country is already on the reverse transmission that can end in political jeopardy except INEC is courageous enough to wield big sticks when required and serve carrots where needed. With the current ethno-religious dimension ahead of the 2023 elections, Nigeria obviously risks relapse to the era of intractable political crises and contradictions if INEC fails to ensure outright compliance with the statutes and inculcate the equitable political values in the political gladiators.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

66

CICERO/ISSUES

As Electoral Violence Threatens Peace Accord With the attacks on political parties’ rallies in some parts of the country, the signing of the Peace Accord by the 18 presidential candidates contesting the 2023 elections might not guarantee credible and violencefree polls in the country next year, Emameh Gabriel writes

D

isturbed by increasing violence at campaign rallies and the growing resort to incendiary comments barely four weeks after signing a Peace Accord by political parties, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, recently expressed concerns over the spate of violence at the ongoing campaigns.

Yakubu said the commission would summon the leaders of political parties next week over the resort to violence.

Yakubu raised concerns in Abuja after the leaders and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were attacked by suspected thugs in Kaduna State. Describing the development as worrisome, he warned parties and their supporters to focus on issues and steer clear of attacks on one another.

He noted that the violent acts were not only a violation of the Electoral Act 2022, but also negate the voluntary commitment by all political parties and candidates to the letter and spirit of the Peace Accord.

Yakubu said: “As the commission is working hard to ensure a credible process, reports of clashes among parties and their supporters are worrisome. So too is the reported denial of access to public facilities for parties and candidates in some states. Let me caution parties and their supporters to focus on issues and steer clear of attacks on each other.

“Parties, candidates and their supporters should not by acts of commission or omission further complicate the prevailing security situation in the country. A peaceful electioneering campaign is critical to the conduct of peaceful and credible elections.

“The commission will continue to monitor the situation closely and will convene a meeting with leaders of political parties next week to discuss, among other issues, the imperative of peaceful campaigns and equal access to public facilities. In same vein, the commission will also meet with the security agencies under the auspices of the InterAgency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) next week.”

Yakubu’s alarm followed recent political rallies across the country that were marred by attacks. The most recent one was allegedly carried out by the supporters of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) on members of the main opposition PDP, during a rally in Kaduna State.

Also a fortnight ago, scores of the APC members in Oyo State, were allegedly attacked by an identified chieftain of the PDP. Members of other political parties have also not been spared, especially supporters of Labour Party (LP), who have continued to raise the alarm over the safety of its members against assaults.

The Kaduna attack coincided with the day the leadership of LP raised the alarm over the incessant attacks on its members across the country and went further to call on President Muhammedu Bubari to declare a state of emergency in Delta State where the party accused the PDP in the state of acts of intimidation and open assault on its members in the state.

All these incidents took place just less than a month after the 18 political parties that will participate in next year’s presidential election signed the National Peace Accord pledging to abide by the rules of engagement.

The peace pact which was signed by the presidential candidates and the national chairmen of their parties a day after INEC lifted the embargo on political parties’ campaigns, was expected to set the standard for the campaigns. But the recent developments have shown that it may be impossible to have violence-free elections next year.

By the terms of the agreement, which was designed by the National Peace Committee, the candidates and their political parties agreed to conduct campaigns that would

Abdulsalami

Kukah

be focused on policy issues. They are also expected to promote their parties’ manifesto, and ensure that their spokespersons and members abide by the rule of law and refrain from bribery, extortion, and violence.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Peace Committee, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) and the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu, had during the signing emphasised that the essence of peace pact was to commit all presidential candidates, political parties, and their spokespersons to focus on national developmental issues rather than insults and violence.

They also identified fake news and misinformation as major concerns ahead of the 2023 election, saying the spread of fake news had “shifted focus away from issue-based campaigns and created the platform for political parties to resort in name-calling and character assassination.”

Yakubu was more specific with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the commission’s determination to play

the role of a regulator; and vigorously monitor compliance to ensure that parties shun abusive, intemperate or slanderous language as well as insinuations or innuendoes likely to provoke a breach of the peace during the electioneering campaigns.

That the signing ceremony was attended by eminent Nigerians like the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar II; Nigerian business moguls, Femi Otedola; Aliko Dangote, and Sam Amuka; as well as John Cardinal Onayekan; the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, among others, was a strong indication that the leaders sensed the dangers that lurked in the atmosphere.

The attacks have further confirmed reservations earlier made by analysts and even some presidential candidates that political actors might not subscribe to the standards set either by the National Peace Committee or INEC. Some of them anchored their argument on the “winner-take-all” political culture in the country, which does not provide any sense of belonging to the opposition. The culture has made the Nigerian political environment a

very tough and dangerous option.

For instance, when the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, recently appeared on a live interview on The Morning Show of ARISE NEWS Channel, before the Peace Accord was signed and was asked if he would attend the signing ceremony, he responded by saying: “Yes, even though, I have my reservations about it. But you and I know that electoral contests in Nigeria, at any level, are much fiercer than being at war.”

For those, who have been following Nigeria’s political development since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the ongoing mass movement mainly organised by the Nigerian youths for the Labour Party (LP), has sent a strong signal that the 2023 general election could make or mar Nigeria.

The 2023 polls will be the first elections since 1999 where three major political parties whose presidential candidates came from the three dominant ethnic groups will be going into a presidential election, leaving political pundits befuddled as to where the pendulum will swing. This means that it will be an uphill task for the National Peace Committee, including INEC to achieve the goals they are set out for.

While the effort of the Abdulsalami-led peace committee has been widely commended for what it has achieved since inception, there are suggestions by political watchers that the commitment to peaceful and issue-based campaigns should resonate beyond parties’ chairmen and presidential candidates.

The call followed the incidents in the past where people simply signed the Peace Accord but failed to abide by its letter and spirit.

For example, in the 2015 general election, the National Human Rights Commission reported a total of 61 incidences of violence in 22 states in which at least 58 people were killed.

Recently, elections conducted in the country have shown an upsurge in the number of electoral violence and killings since 2015 as a result of non-adherence and lack of genuine commitment on the side of political actors and critical stakeholders, including the judiciary which have also been indicted through several conflicting rulings.

Similarly, an estimated 626 persons were killed across Nigeria in the six months between the start of the election campaign and the commencement of the general and supplementary elections, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has said.

The report which was contained in its final report on the 2019 general election, the group said the number increased compared to the 106 killed in the 2015 general election.

The organisation in its report on the elections listed the numbers of deaths per the six geopolitical zones in the country.

“Situation Room is deeply worried about the spike in politically motivated killings in the period leading up to the elections. At least, 626 people were said to have been killed between the start of the campaign in October 2018 and the final election in March 2019”, the coalition observer group said.

The 2023 general election will no doubt be keenly contested. There are several factors that will influence the elections. The first lies in the hands of INEC in the manner in which the election will be conducted.

INEC has promised at different fora expressed its readiness for the general election. The commission has also promised after the Kaduna incident that it will convene a meeting with leaders of political parties next week to discuss, among other issues, the imperative of peaceful campaigns and equal access to public facilities. It has also declared to meet with the security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) next week. It is hoped that whatever is discussed at the meeting will be implemented.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

ENGAGEMENTS

with ChidiAmuta e-mail:chidi.amuta@gmail.com

The Rise of Tyrant Governors

T

he distance between political campaign promises and their fulfilment is an infinity. Between whenthesepromisesaremadeand theendofthetenureofthosewho usuallypromiseparadiseanddeliver hell, people are often too dazed to remember. As it were, empty promises seem to be partofthelanguageofpoliticalcampaigning.Atthe rootofthisanomalyespeciallyinAfricaisthecrooked assumptionthatpoliticsisbyitsverynatureanamoral undertaking.Ithasthereforecometobeassumedin these parts, at least, that politicians are inherently a tribe of professional liars. Over time, this has led to what is now called a trust deficit with politicians.

Simply put, most citizens no longer believe most of whatpoliticianssayeitherduringcampaignsoreven whileinoffice.CallitcountertruthorDonaldTrump’s ‘alternatetruth’. Politicians seemtohave redefined truth in their own image.

Electionseasonsaredemocracy’sseasonofreveries ormassdelusiondecoratedinhysteria.Theopening of Nigeria’s campaign season for 2023, is also the inaugurationofourseasonofreverieandcarnivals.

It is carnival time, a great time to dream while wide awake.Theelectorateistakenonasustainedmake belief roller coaster ride, entertained with endless vistas of AnurgentthreathoversoverNigeria’sdemocracy.

It is not just the spectre of bad elections or the predominanceofatrociouspoliticians.Itisinsteadtherise andincreasing numbersofauthoritariangovernors alloverthecountry.Thoughenthronedbyouroften murkydemocraticprocess,anincreasingnumberof stategovernorsnowcarryonmorelikebananarepublic tingodsthanelectedrepresentativesofthepeople.

Thisisperhapsthemostvisibleflagrantsubversion of Nigeria’s democratic pretensions at the present moment. Ironically,however,notmuchofourmedia focus has been interested in drawing attention to the long term danger of this trend. Instead, people are clapping for these fledgling autocrats seeing them more as entertainers on social media rather than condemning them for the danger they pose to ourfuturecultureoffreedomanddemocracy.While wewatchandhailtheauthoritariancontentcreators, theNigeriandemocraticshellnowhousesislandsof the equivalents of the vile autocrats that we see in placesthatwearetooashamedtobeassociatedwith.

Let us take a random look at recent trends.

ThegovernorofZamfaraState,Mr.BelloMatawalle recentlyorderedtheshutdownofanumberofmedia houses in the state on account of their coverage of political activities in the state. The affected media housesincludetheNigeriaTelevisionAuthority,Gamji Television,Al-UmmaTelevisionandPrideFMRadioin Gusau,thestateCapital.Theircrimeostensiblyisthat theycoveredandreportedthecampaignrallyofthe PeoplesDemocraticParty(PDP),theoppositiontothe governor’srulingAllProgressiveCongress(APC).The governmentstatementonthematterclaimedthatthe stategovernmenthadsuspended politicalactivities inthestatewhilethePDPwentaheadandhelditsrally which was covered by the offending media. By the wordingsoftheorderofclosure,theoffendingmedia houses are, in the governor’s judgment, in breach of “therulesofjournalism”.Reportedly,somejournalists from the affected media houses were arrested for enteringtheirrespectiveworkpremisestoperform their legitimate functions.

Predictably, outcries and condemnations by international and national media organisations as well as civil society groups have followed but none of that has impressed the authoritarian despot in the Gusau Governor’s Lodge.

Bytheillogicofthisaction,thegovernorhasplaced hispartisaninterestsabovethefundamentalfreedom ofexpressionofthemediawhichisacornerstoneof alldemocracies.Aboveall,thegovernorhasusurped the regulatory powers of the relevant authorities on media practice and arrogated those powers to hisexecutivefiat.Ifindeedhefeltthat theaffected media houseshad flouted any state laws, heshould havereportedthemtotherelevantregulatorybodies liketheNationalBroadCommission(NBC)insteadof takingrecoursetoalineofactionwhichevenamilitary regime would be reluctant to undertake.

Mr. Bello Matawalle is not new to authoritarian flirtationsandrecklesspronouncements.Earlier,he hadunilaterallyannouncedthatcitizensofthestate werefreetoacquirewhateverarmstheythoughtfit tosecurethemselvesagainstthemenaceofbandits in the state. Of course, in the absence of a federal law granting citizens authority to bear arms, this declaration was in flagrant violation of all existing lawsandtheconstitutionofthecountry.Theleader-

Wike shipofallnationalsecurityagencieswereunanimous in condemning the governor’s directive as an open invitation to anarchy.

It would be recalled that Governor Aminu Masari ofKatsinastatehadpreviouslyadvocatedthesame self- help approach to citizens’ personal security, encouraginghispeopletotakemeasurestoprotect themselvesincludingtheacquisitionandpossessionof weapons.Masari’spronouncementwasconsequential sinceheisthegovernorofthePresident’shomestate.

ButnothingcomparestoBelloMatawalle’srecord in terms of recklessness and flagrant disregard for democraticorder.Thisisagovernorwhohadpreviously entered into all manner of agreements with bandit leadersinthestate,sometimesallowingthemtoroam free in certain areas only to scream aloud each time hisagreementwiththem appearedtobefoundering.

Meanwhile, he has ceded the state to terrorists to the extent that his state is arguably the epicentre of banditry and rural terrorism in the nation. Most ungovernedspacesinZamfaraareeffectivelyunder banditcontrolevennow.Localfarmerspayleviesto banditsandwarlordsinordertoplantorharvesttheir crops.

Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state typifies a different dimension in the descent into low levels of authoritarianism.HiscontributionisIntheareaofthe consciouscultivationofapoliticalpersonalitycult.A recentviralvideointhesocialmediashowedGovernor Umahigleefully‘overseeing’theopenfloggingofinnocentpublicservantsbysoldiersandpolicemenbecause they arrived after him during a visit to a government facility.Itisuncertainwhetherthegovernorordered thefloggings.Butitremainsdoubtfulthatsuchanact of open abuse of citizens rights can take place in the presenceofthegovernorwithouthisauthorisation.

WhatiscommonknowledgeisthatMr.Umahihas beenconsistentlyintolerantofdissentingviews.He hasembarkedontheuseofroughtacticstomaintain hispoliticalpredominanceinthestate.TocriticizeMr. UmahiinEbonyistateistotransgressagainstallknown deities. For him, intimidation and harassment of his politicalopponentsseemsroutine.Oppositionpoliticians,journalistsandplainwell-meaningcitizenshave been subjected to this governor’s ire for just holding contraryviewsorquestioningthegovernor’shalf-baked andilldigestedideasandpolicies.Itdoesnotmatter thathehaschangedpoliticalpartiesinpursuitofsome phantomIgbopresidencyprojectwhichhesawashis entitlement.

Probably because he is uncomfortable with the growingpopularityofMr.PeterObiandhisOBIdients movement, a peaceful street rally in Abakaliki by the movement was visited with police tear gas and truncheons ostensibly on the orders of the state policecommissioner.Itremainsdoubtfulwhetherany state police commissioner can undertake an action that violates the constitutional right of assembly of citizenswithouttheauthorisationofthegovernorof the state. But that incident went down as the first and only state where the rallies and street marches of the OBIdients has been dispersed with tear gas anywhere in the federation.

ThegovernorsofOndoandBenuestatesbelongin asomewhatdifferentcategory.Theyhaveengaged inactsthatruninopencontradictiontothespiritand letter of the constitution. Reacting to the pervasive insecurityinthenationandtheheavytollsithastaken on lives and property in both states in particular, the governors have responded to what is clearly

an emergency. They have pioneered the setting up of state security outfits. In the case of Ondo, it is the Amotekun vigilante outfit which is a pan-South West endeavour. But Mr. Akeredolu has gone a step further than his other South West counterparts. He hasvociferouslytakenfederalauthoritiestotaskon thematterofthecalibreofweaponsthatOndoState Amotekunshouldbear.Hehasrequestedformilitary gradeweaponssuchasAK-47assaultriflesandother high calibre armaments that clearly go beyond the security needs of a state. Mr. Ortom of Benue state has followed suit.

Theremaybesomejustificationinthestanceofboth governors.Theirargumentishingedonthenatureof thethreatontheirstates.Afterall,thearmedherdsmen,sundryterroristsandbanditswhoattackandkill theircitizensarearmedwithmilitarygradeweapons anddisplayaproficiencyinweaponsusethatcanonly befoundamonghighlytrainedandprofessionalkiller squads. Buttheinsistenceofthegovernorsonarming theirrespectivemilitiaswithmilitarygradeweapons runs counter to the law of the land. Constitutionally, only the authorised security agencies are allowed to acquire and use weapons like assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers. The insistence ofthesegovernorsontheirrequestisinviolationofthe constitutionalprovisionwhichplacesthearmedand securityservicesandtheirequipmentintheexclusive handsofthefederalgovernment.Toinsistotherwiseis torunfoulofthedemarcationofpowersbetweenthe twotiersofgovernment.Itisalsoanopenchallengeof thesupremesovereigntyofthefederalgovernment.

Basic constitutional compliance is at the root of the democratic essence of every sovereign nation state. Open challenges to the national constitution exceptthroughthejudicialprocessamounttopolitical rascality under the guise of protection of citizens of theirrespectivestates.Theargumentofthefederal authoritiesthatastategovernmentcannotbemore concerned about citizen security than the federal governmentis,tosomeextentvalid.Butthesecurity of citizens is a joint responsibility of the federal and state authorities.

InImoState,GovernorHopeUzodimmahastended to pursue political survival and pre- eminence in his fractious state through all manner of authoritarian head butts. For a governor whose legitimacy and ascendancy hinges on the verdict of a handful of Supreme Court judges, his every step seems to be immersed in controversy. He walked into a political minefield with a predecessor that was considerably popular.Thestatewasalreadychargedwithchallenges.

Ahostilepopulaceplusaformergovernor,Mr.Rochas Okorocha, who was embattled over illicit property mattersandwhoisdeeplyentrenchedintheImopower structure meant that Mr. Uzodimma has to fight for every inch of political foothold he enjoys.

AddtothistheweaponisationofpoliticsinImoand theenlistmentoffactionsofIPOBseparatistmilitia and other opportunistic criminal gangs into the Imo frayandyouhavethemakingsofabattlefieldofsorts.

AsmallMexico!Astatelikethiscanonlybeconducive to anarchy and violent insecurity. The rapid descent of a hitherto peaceful and happy- go- lucky state into a hell hole of violence and anarchy is a study in the convergence of bad politics and opportunistic criminality as an enterprise.

Mr. Uzodimma is clearly an embattled governor from many fronts. Arguably, therefore, the niceties of democratic civility may not secure him the power

longevity he desires as a politician. He has tended to adoptautocraticmeasurestosurvivewhilepretending tocateringtostatesecurityandrestorationoforder.

He has, for instance, enacted a law authorizing him to arrest and detain citizens who may not share his viewsorthosewhoseactivitiesandviewsheadjudges inimical to peace and order in the state. He has also reportedlycooperatedwithfederalsecurityagencies tolevyactsthatamounttowaragainstcommunitiesin partsofthestatewhereseparatistmilitantsallegedly have calls and camps. The trouble in these so called special‘securityoperations’hasbeenhowtodistinguish between the governor’s armed political opponents and genuine criminals or IPOB activists.

Thiswarlikesituationhasexposedfederalsecurity operativesdeployedtothestatetogreatriskleading toahighcasualtyrateamongpolicemenandsoldiers andofcoursegravehumanrightsviolations.Thishas perhaps become a license for more authoritarian measures.Intheprocess,thegovernor’scredentials as a democratic leader have become badly tainted as his state has descended into a permanent state of undeclared emergency. And states under some form of ‘emergency rule are never the best venues for democratic civility or genteel displays.

In present day Rivers state, we come face to face withallthefacetsoftheabuseofdemocraticmandate to propagate the worst traits of authoritarianism and despotic rascality. The most recent initiative of Governor Nyesom Wike is a plan to recruit no less than 100,000 ‘special assistants’ predictably to act as authorised political thugs in the 2023 election season. Prior to this, Mr. Wike, who is in the political trench with his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as afactionalleader,hasusedundisguisedintimidation, harassment,blackmailandviolenceagainsthispolitical enemieswithinthestate. Hehasclosedthebusinesses ofhisadversaries,demolishedhousesandhotelsofhis enemiesandwithdrawntitles,privilegesandpatronage from political allies who now believe and align differently.Hehasunilaterallyconvertedtheapparatusof statetoaninstrumentofpoliticalblackmail,authorized gangsterism and reckless charity.

Inutterdevaluationofalldemocraticnorms,Mr.Wike hasbarredpoliticalcampaignsinpublicpremisesincludingschools.HehasusedtheStateHouseofAssembly to instigating the de-listing of Mr. Omehia as former governordespiteearlierrecognizingandrewardingthe samemanasanexgovernor.ThefactthatthelistofMr. Wike’spoliticalvictimsandadversariescorresponds toallthosewhonowsupporthisopponent,Mr.Atiku Abubakar,whoroundlytrouncedhimtoemergeasthe PDPpresidentialcandidate,isinteresting.Intermsof generalpoliticalconduct,Mr.Wikehasdescendedfrom the high pinnacle of an elected state chief executive to adopt the language and mannerisms of an undisguised gutter snipe and motor park bus conductor.

Thecandourofexpression,respectfordecorumand considerationforpublicsensitivitiesareutterlylacking inthedictionaryofthiselectedautocraticupstart.Inhis embodimentofalltheanomaliesinNigeria’sdemocracy today,GovernorWikemayhaveunwittinglyendedup moreasanonlinecomiccontentcreatorthanaserious politician. The most lowly in the public merely laugh off his foibles for entertainment.

Takentogetherthemultipletransgressionsofthis diversity of governors amplify the crisis of Nigeria’s democraticpretensions.Nothinginourconstitution amountstoacodeofconductforstategovernorsina democracy.Wearethereforeleftwithonlytheschedule of duties and responsibilities of state governors in theconstitutiontoguideourbasicassessmentofthe conduct of our 36 governors.

Perhapsthemostcompellingindictmentofthecurrentspateofauthoritarianismamongmanygovernors isdemocracyitself.Democracyinitselfshouldimpose an ethical code, requiring basic civility on the part of those elected to rule over us. This implies respect for the rights of the citizenry as the prime enablers of power, privilege and authority in a democracy. It also implies strict observance of the rule of law and the observance of the rules of democratic civility by thoseinpositionsofauthority.Agoodnumberofour currentcropofgovernorsareindefianceofthebasic tenets of democratic governance.

Toremindusall,especiallyourtyrannicalgovernors, thejobofstategovernordoesnotincludecertaindefilementsthatwearenowwitnessing.Agovernorshould not insult his opponents for believing differently. A governor should not spend or ‘donate’ public money withoutlegitimateappropriation.Agovernorshould notbulldozethepropertyoftheiropponentsordeny peopletheirrighttofreeexpression.Governanceina drunkenstateisworsethandrunkdriving;itscasualties could include the driver himself and other innocent road users!

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

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NEWS

News Editor: Gboyega Akinsanmi E-mail: gboyega.akinsanmi@thisdaylive.com,08152359253

MAN Asks FG to Explore PPP, Dredge Rivers Benue, Niger to Mitigate Flooding 1$,&20 V\PSDWKLVHV ZLWK ÁRRG YLFWLPV SURPLVHV SURPSW FODLPV VHWWOHPHQW Sunday Aborisade in Abuja National President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) yesterday asked the federal government to consider public private partnership (PPP) windows in finding permanent solutions to the perennial flood

disaster facing the country.

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) sympathised with flood victims across the country, assuring policy holders that it would ensure prompt claims settlement In a statement by its National President, Otunba Francis

Army Rescues Two More Chibok Schoolgirls Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Nigerian Army has presented two more Chibok schoolgirls rescued by troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Borno State to the general public.

Presenting the rescued Chibok schoolgirls to journalists at the weekend in Maiduguri, Borno State, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Shiaibu Waidi, said the troops of the Operation Hadin Kai have rescued 11 of the abducted Chibok girls in the last five months.

The recently rescued Chibok schoolgirls according to Maj. Gen Waidi are Yana Pogu who was

rescued with four children and Rejoice Penki rescued with two children.

He added that the two girls “are in serial numbers 19 and 70 of the list of the abducted Chibok Schoolgirls. The rescued Chibok schoolgirls in the past five months include Hauwa Joseph, Mary Dauda, Miss Ruth Bitrus, Kauna Luka and Hanatu Musa.

Others are Aisha Grema, Miss lalmata Lawal, Asabe Ali, Jinkai Y ama, Yana Pogu and Rejoice Senki.

“Most of the girls were rescued with their children. The names of the rescued girls are in serials 18, 46, 41, 58, 7, 11, 3, 12, 20, 19 and 70 respectively (in the order of rescue) in the list of the abducted Chibok Schoolgirls.

Again, Suspected Herdsmen Kill Two in Nasarawa Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen Friday night invaded Gidan Ityotyev, a Tiv farming community in Obi Local Government Area, Nasarawa State and killed two persons as well as injuring another.

The killings at Gidan Ityotyev had happened barely two weeks after same suspected herdsmen invaded Gidan Sule, a community in Keana Local Government Area and killed about 10 Tiv farmers, displacing thousands.

Spokesperson for Gidan Ityotyev, Mr. Ukpuu Abaa gave names of the community members killed during the invasion as Moses Saaku (m) and Aondofa Saaku (m).

This was even as the spokesperson continued that the marauders chopped off the breast of one of the community members, Kwaghdoo Saaku (f).

Nevertheless, Ukpuu said the Gidan Ityotyev people took courage to stay put, despite the attack and killings in their community, and buried the dead bodies.

Family Seeks N15m to Save 18-year-old Son The family of Mrs. Joy Osondu has pleaded with the general public, especially governments, corporate organisations and philanthropists to raise N15 million to treat her 18-year-old son, Chinonso Osondu, currently suffering secondary renal disease.

The management of Dialyzer Specialist Medical Centre confirmed the claim in a letter titled, “Re: Osondu Chinonso, Sex: Male Age 18 years Hospital No: 01/63/78.”

The letter noted that Chinonso referred “to our facility on February 1, 2022 on account of recurrent facial puffiness and deranged kidney profile.

“He is correctly being managed for end stage renal disease secondary to Reflux Nephropathy. He has had several dialysis sessions (with 6 sessions at our facility so far).

“He is correctly on twice weekly maintenance dialysis and erythropoietin stimulation

Meshioye, MAN suggested the approach when he visited Harbour-Bridge Head Industrial Layout, Onitsha, Anambra State to assess the level of damage done on factories in the layout by the flood disaster.

Harbour Bridge Head Industrial Layout, Onitsha is on the bank of River Niger in Onitsha, Anambra State and plays host to numerous

agents. He had been reviewed by the Urologist and Nephrologist “He will benefit from a kidney transplant. The cost of a kidney transplant is N15 million,” the letter said.

The family pleaded with individuals, governments, corporate organisations, philanthropists and well-wishers to send their support to this account details.

Name: Chinonso Osondu.

Bank: Zenith Bank. Acct. No: 2270309294.

long term and permanent solutions to this crisis. Most importantly, there is need for an urgent but permanent solution to end this nightmare entirely.

“The federal government must consider private public arrangement in the dredging of the two major rivers in Nigeria and construction of dams that will mitigate the impact when excess water is

released from Lagdo Dam in Cameron.

“In the interim, however, we as an association will look at the immediate causes of the flood, look at the impacts on infrastructure and equipment and suggest a solution to state and Federal governments on what must be done to alleviate the sufferings of local manufacturers here who have suffered heavy losses,” Meshioye said.

EMPATHYTO FLOOD VICTIMS… L-R: Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment and Chairman of the Task Force on Flood Mitigation and Management, Mr. Iselema Gbaranbiri; Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi; Governor Douye Diri; and member, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mrs. Obiowou Koku-Obiyai, during Obi’s visit to the Internally Displaced Persons’ camp at the Oxbow Lake Pavilion in Yenagoa…yesterday

Ex-Finance Minister Urges FG to Learn from Abacha’s Economic Policies Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Former Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Anthony A. Ani, yesterday urged the federal government to learn from the economic policies of former Head of State, late Gen. Sani Abacha, to overcome the present economic challenges bedeviling the country.

He made the suggestion the 2nd Gen. Sani Abacha col-

loquium which was organised

by Centre for Political Research, Education and Development (CEPORED), with the theme, “Towards Evolving a Home Grown Solutions to Nigeria’s Challenges.”

Apart from Abacha’s administration, Ani observed that no regime in Nigeria’s history had a bumpier ride almost from the first quarter of its existence, including oil strike, urban riots, election

boycotts, ultimatum to pack and leave, call for sovereign national conference, sanctions and rumours of sanctions all against the backdrop of sustained local and international efforts to delegitimise the government of the late head of state.

He said: “It is therefore pertinent to ask why despite all these problems, the economy did not collapse. Why did the adverse economic situation give

way to macro-economic stability that had become the toast of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)? This is the Abacha Miracle.

“Abacha Miracle was a phrase coined on the streets by those ordinary people who appreciated the wonderful works and achievements of that short period of the Abacha government in which jobs, businesses and smiles were on the faces of many Nigerians.

Protest Rocks Ekiti over Deplorable Federal Roads Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Anger is now brewing across 12 local government areas (LGAs) in Ekiti State over the abysmal and deplorable conditions of federal highways, which indigenes of the state have described as nightmarish and regressive.

The indigenes became concerned with the decision of the federal government to stop the Ekiti State Government from reconstructing

Osondu

top level manufacturing companies in the South-East.

Infrastructure and equipment of naira have been damaged by the flood while thousands of job are threatened as the companies affected struggle to recuperate from the impact.

He said: “There are many options the federal government has in finding lasting solutions to this challenge which include short term,

some of the federal roads in the state after securing $350 million from African Development Bank (AfDB) for this purpose.

Consequently, the conditions of federal road yesterday protests in Efon Alaaye and Erio yesterday due to the outright collapse of the second most important federal highway that connected Ado Ekiti to Osun State.

Besides Efon Alaaye and Erio, residents of Ado Ekiti, Ikere,

Ikole, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ekiti South-West and Ekiti West LGAs lamented the deplorable conditions of the federal roads in the state.

They lamented how their communities and towns had been cut off from the entire state and with kidnappers and marauding killers hiding under the situation to commit various nefarious actions like kidnapping to get ransoms.

Recently, residents of Ikere Ekiti and the neighbouring Iju, in Ondo

State trooped out in large numbers to demand explanations from the Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola over alleged neglect of the Ado-Ikere-Akure road.

Despite that Fashola unveiled the reconstruction of the road in Ado Ekiti in 2020, the federal government had only released N1.4 billion for the project that was awarded Dantata & Sawoe Construction Company at N30 billion.

Obi of Onitsha Laments Nigeria’s Dwindling Fortunes David-Chyddy The traditional ruler of Onitsha kingdom, Obi Alfred Achebe, has decried the dwindling fortunes of Nigeria under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the country is in dire straits.

The monarch spoke yesterday during the traditional festival of Onitsha to commemorate his 20th year on the throne as the monarch of the ancient Kingdom

of Onitsha.

Achebe said from insecurity to oil theft, to the rapid fall of the naira and other issues like bad economy, spiralling inflation, the high petrol prices and ravaging poverty, Nigeria was fast getting out of hand.

Reading his address during the occasion, Achebe said: “Our country today appears to be in a more dire straits than any other time since national independence,

except for the three years of the civil war.

“The biggest challenge of the nation today is insecurity, which affects most parts of the country and disrupts every aspect of our public and private lives.

“The inability of farmers to harvest their crops due to terrorists, and the conflicts between farmers and cattle herders are causing serious food inflation.”

Speaking on the rise in food

prices, the monarch said: “Not withstanding the phenomenal increase in fuel subsidies since 2015, fuel prices have more than doubled over the same period.

“Over the same period, crude oil export has almost halved, due to organized theft of the commodity by domestic and international syndicates, whilst our security agencies appear to look the other way.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R OCTOBER 23, 2022

NEWS Akinyemi: Nigeria in More Trouble than We Appreciate Blames Buhari, Jonathan, Yar’Adua for Nigeria’s inactivity on global affairs Gboyega Akinsanmi Former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has revealed that Nigeria is in more trouble than what the citizens of the country actually appreciate or know.

Akinyemi also blamed the illhealth of President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Umaru Yar’Adua and lack of interest by former President Goodluck Jonathan for Nigeria’s silence on global affairs.

He expressed the concern at the 2022 Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of

International Affairs (NIIA) held in Victoria Island on Thursday.

The lecture, titled “On the New World Order” and held at the NIIA Lecture Theatre, was attended by former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), NIIA Director General, Prof. Eghosa Osagie and former DirectorGeneral of the institute, Prof.

Bola Akinterinwa, among others.

Delivering the lecture, Akinyemi said Nigeria “is in more trouble than we perhaps

appreciate,” explaining that he had served on several committees dealing with security issues that supported his claim.

He also said: “I have come across documents, which indicate that, the security problems such as Boko Haram, the so-called issues of kidnapping, banditry, clashes between Herdsmen and farmers have external manifestations.

“I have interrogated villagers who have no interest in lying swearing by their local deities

that they saw helicopters at night dropping weapons, food and supplies to some of these terrorists and taking off in the middle of the night.

“As of that time, the Nigerian Air Force insisted that they were not involved, as they did not have helicopters with night capabilities. So, who are the forces that were involved in these night operations to distabilise or to even destroy Nigeria,” he said.

While admitting that the night operations happened

before the Buhari administration came into power, Akinyemi noted that it could not be billed fully to the present administration.

He, therefore, alleged that the present administration “has its share of the responsibility.”

While reviewing the Nigerian factor of the new world order, the former minister emphasised the need for Africa to be present at the table where the design of the new world order would take place.

He said: “We must admit

that in the past 16 years, the voice of Nigeria on global affairs has been embarrassing and irritatingly silent.

He reiterated the need for the federal government of the day to practise an inclusive form of governance and be more interested in its foreign affairs.

Akinyemi also emphasised the need for Africa to be present at the table where the design of the new world order would take place and where the African agenda will be autochthonous.

Austen-Peters Wins MIT Foundry Fellowship Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bolanle Austen-Peters, has been selected for a prestigious fellowship programme of the Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA. This was contained in a statement the Legatum Centre issued Thursday.

The statement said Austen-Peters would join 11 other fellows for the Legatum Foundry Fellowship, which is a transformative experience for accomplished entrepreneurs.

It said: “She is one of the four women selected for this highly competitive fellowship, a hybrid training that will take fellows across select African cities for study tours and coursework in Boston.

“The 2022-2023 Foundry Fellows

are here. Join us as we welcome our incoming cohorts. From Egypt to South Africa to Botswana and Nigeria, our incoming fellows are working on enterprises to improve their communities in various sectors.”

The statement added that they would highlight each #foundryfellow over the next week as they get ready to begin an incredible year of networking, innovation and building community here at Legatum.

The Foundry Fellowship is a transformative experience for accomplished entrepreneurs who are at an inflection point between scaling an innovation-driven company and transitioning into a role as an entrepreneurial leader catalysing systems change and inclusive economic growth across the African continent.

Rotary Club of Ikeja Gets Pass Mark for Project Execution Project commissioning and recognition of the young club by the Rotary Foundation signposted the recent visit of District 9110, Governor Omotunde Lawson, to the Rotary Club of Ikeja Alausa Central. The Rotary Club of Ikeja Alausa Central would be two years old next March.

A statement from the club at the weekend said the District Governor and her delegation were left spellbound and wowed as they visited the club’s adopted school, Olowora Nursery and Primary School where they flagged off a borehole project and a botanical garden.

According to the statement,

Omotunde was accompanied by her Special Assistant, Assistant to the Governor, Valentine Shomoye and Personal Assistant, Past President Aderonke JonesAdewale.

AG Shomoye led the New Club Development team that founded the Rotary Club of Ikeja Alausa Central and is also its New Club Adviser. The supervising AG for the club, AG Mufutau Adelotan was also effective with the delegation.

The statement added that Omotunde, the first female Governor in the District’s 42-year history, commended the club as she commissioned the project.

Chamber of Commerce Offers Tour Opportunity to Nigerians The Nigeria-Antigua and Barbuda Chamber of Commerce, has offered Nigerians tour opportunities to Antigua and Barbuda, an island in the Caribbean.

This is done, in collaboration with Airfield Travels and the Government of Antigua, thereby, offering the Nigerian people a fiveday tour of ‘Paradise on Earth! A Twin Island of vast opportunities.

While calling on Nigerians to Come and fly with them to Antigua and Barbuda, an Island with 365 beaches, one for each day of the year, the Airfield statement said, the trip offers people, Government to Business and Business to

Business connections, in addition to fun.

“It is one of the world’s most desirable destinations for tourism, business and investment. It is visa on arrival, come and have a piece of Paradise! Flight fare, Visa fee and Hotel bills all-inclusive.”

The departure date according to a statement is October 31, 2022, while November 6, 2022, is the return day.

Antigua and Barbuda is an independent Commonwealth country comprising two bigger islands and several smaller ones.

It is positioned where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet.

THE NEW EXECUTIVES… L-R: General Secretary, Maryland Club, Mr. Charles Thomas; Vice President, Mr. Peter Egwuatu; President, Mr. Bayo Ogunbiyi, and past Vice President, Mr. Cornel Olawuyi, at the inauguration of new executives of the club in Ikeja... recently

Police Rescue 27 Kidnapped Victims in Zamfara Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

The Zamfara State Police Command has rescued 27 persons kidnapped from Kawa, Gwashi, Tungar Rogo and Anka towns in Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas of the state.

The victims were rescued after seven days in captivity.

The command’s spokesperson, Muhammad Shehu, while presenting the rescued victims to the state Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Mamman Tsafe, in Gusau

yesterday, said the victims were rescued ‘unconditionally’.

Shehu said the victims were taken to bandits’ camps at Gando/Bagega and Sunke forests in Bukkuyum and Anka local government areas respectively.

“The rescue was sequel to the report received by the command that a group of bandits invaded the villages and abducted unspecified number of people and took them to Gando/Bagega/ Sunke forests.

“Receiving the report, police deployed additional Tactical operatives to reinforce DPOs Anka/Bukkuyum and vigilante in their rescue operation to rescue the abductees.

“A well coordinated search and rescue operation was carried out with the full support and partnership of the two council sole administrators of Anka and Bukkuyum.

“The outcome of the rescue operation was the unconditional rescue of the 27 kidnap victims.

“Now 17 out of the 27

were presently brought to the police command headquarters while the remaining 10 are in the hospital receiving medical attention, following the trauma they passed through while in captivity. “All the victims have been debriefed by police detectives,” he explained.

Receiving the rescued victims, Mr Tsafe commended the commissioner of police and other security agencies for their efforts in the fight against banditry and other security challenges in the state.

NNPC, SPDC Face Court Action over Secret Oil Pipeline Sylvester Idowu in Warri Oil Spill Victims Initiative (OSPIVV) has threatened to sue the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) over the discovery of a four-kilometre pipeline being used to siphon crude oil to rogue vessels on a platform on the high seas.

Also, the Coalition of Niger Deltans has urged the people of South-south to cooperate with Tantita Security Services Limited, operated by former warlord of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Deltan (MEND) Chief Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a Tompolo) in its fight against crude oil theft.

The Executive Director of

OSPIVV, Prince Harrison Jalla disclosed the plan at a session with journalists yesterday, noting that the organisation had already given instruction to its lawyers to file a lawsuit against Shell and NNPCL for the heist that crippled the nation’s economy.

He stated that the court action would reveal how SPDC, NNPCL and other

International Oil Companies (IOCs) were responsible for the extensive oil theft that had been occurring in the Niger Delta.

Jalla disclosed that the purpose of the lawsuit was to recoup all funds related to the illegal fourkilometre secret crude oil pipeline that had been used illegally for nine years to steal crude oil from Nigeria.

Akinbile-Yussuf: Lagos is Ready for EkoNAFEST 2022 Yinka Olatunbosun Preparations are in top gear for this year’s edition of the National Arts Festival (NAFEST)-which has Lagos as its host state. The festival is set to hold from November 7 to 13. In a guided tour around some of the earmarked facilities for one of the nation’s biggest cultural events, the organisers

have promised to deliver the best ever hosting that befits the status of Lagos state as the culture capital of Nigeria.

The tour which took place in Lagos included a walk-through the multi-purpose venue inside the National stadium, Onikan and well as the multi-bed accommodation at Bariga. Efforts are in place to restore glory to the

National Stadium which was the venue of the historical Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.

Meanwhile, the opening and closing ceremonies are designated to hold at the newly-built Mobolaji Johnson Arena popularly called Onikan Stadium. Expectedly, Lagos state is rebranding NAFEST first with

the title ‘EkoNAFEST’ and curating a slew of entertaining content to make this edition a remarkable one.

While fielding questions from the journalists, the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf expressed her optimism on the planned megagathering of festival buffs.

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • OCTOBER 23, 2022

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B AC K PAG E C O N T I N UAT I O N WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS ‘NORTHERN INTEREST’? different races, tribes, and religions who are knit together to common history, common interest and common ideas. The things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. I always remind people of our firmly rooted policy of religious tolerance.”

His actions matched his words. He made critical appointments that accommodated all and sundry. You did not have to be Hausa, Fulani or Muslim to be in his inner circle.

The man Bello made prime minister (as he preferred to remain a premier) was Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a minority Gere man from today’s Bauchi state. Years ago, a retired general told me that in the first set of foreign scholarships awarded by Bello, nobody from his home Sokoto caliphate benefited. When he created the School of Agriculture, which was prestigious given the nature of the northern economy, he did not site it in his village. He located it in Kabba. He promoted unity in diversity in word and in deed.

To make the north compete in a changing world, Bello encouraged Western education.

Before colonialism, northerners had their own civilisation rooted in Islamic and Arabic education. They were already writing in Hausa, using the Ajami script, a form of Arabic. The colonial masters incorporated Ajami into national symbols to preserve their culture and history. But the other ethnic groups, such as Yoruba (who also used Ajami at some point) and Igbo, were using the Latin script and the north was inevitably misaligned because of the clash of cultures. Bello embraced Western education all the same. He set up the University of

Northern Nigeria, later renamed Ahmadu Bello University (ABU).

Bello wanted the north to be an economic power in the Nigerian federation. In 1962, two years after establishing the Bank of the North (now part of Unity Bank), the Sardauna engaged a British consulting firm, Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners, to do an economic and industrial survey of the north.

Abubakar Liman, a professor of comparative literature and popular culture at the ABU, in a newspaper article, noted that the report focused on the Nigerian economy: industries based on local raw materials; industries based on imported raw materials; general administrative factors; and public services.

They identified agriculture as the cornerstone of northern Nigeria’s economy.

The broad classification of industries and services was disaggregated into textiles, milling, tanning, leather footwear, sugar, fisheries, tobacco, cement, asbestos, building materials, starch, glucose, bags, timber, sawmills, boat building, fruit canning, etc.

Same year, Bello rejuvenated the Northern Nigerian Development Company (NNDC) with the mandate of stimulating economic growth in the north. At a point in history, NNDC’s wholly-owned subsidiaries included Kaduna Hotels, Arewa Hotels, Arewa Suites Limited, Aso Motel, and Sokoto Hotel, etc.

NNDC had substantial shareholding in Arewa Textiles, Chellco Industries, Critall-Hope, Funtua Textiles, Gaskiya Corporation, etc.

If I may extrapolate, therefore, I would say one “northern interest” the Sardauna pursued with his might was the unity of the region irrespective of religion and ethnicity.

There are roughly 300 ethnic groups in the north, with Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, Nupe and Tiv in the majority, but Bello behaved as the leader of all. Another northern interest that the Sardauna pursued with determination was quality education for his people, girls and women inclusive. He built schools and awarded scholarships. Yet another northern interest was robust economic development, so his people could work and compete with dignity and industry. Clearly, the people were at the centre of his vision.

It would appear that “northern interest” today is about the sharing of “juicy” appointments and contracts that, all said and done, will only favour a tiny class of people and keep the others as servants, beggars and street urchins. Many northerners today are very comfortable with the almajiri system which keeps young people down and out, with no skills and no future to look forward to. They are only useful for elections. The politicians keep telling them to “vote for a northerner”. The elite would rather discourage them from receiving Western education (“they want to convert you to Christianity”) while their own children are schooling in UK, US and UAE. Northern interest indeed!

Sadly, the ordinary northerners that Bello toiled for have become the biggest victims of poor governance. Zamfara state that used to be home to Zamfara Textiles, John Holt Tannery, Gusau Oil Mills and cotton ginnery plants is now a den of bandits who have made life miserable for farmers and traders.

Religious intolerance, which the Sardauna preached against, has come to define the north. I never read of any religious killings

under his watch. It would appear the more northerners got political power, the poorer and more insecure the ordinary northerners became. The neglected people became easy recruits for terrorists, insurgents and bandits.

Bello would cry in his grave.

The northerner is today a subject of scorn.

The northern farmer who treks miles to till his land with bare hands and produce the yams and tomatoes that feed the nation is classified as a “parasite on our oil” while the “productive and hardworking” Niger Delta states get 13 percent derivation thanks to the multinationals who use sophisticated equipment to drill the oil. Yet, a northern voter has been pre-programmed to think the solution to his or her problem is to elect a northerner as president to protect the “northern interest”. Ordinary northerners would see their poverty as a divine design as the predatory elite continue to stockpile obscene wealth in the “northern interest”.

I know I risk being accused of exaggeration and overgeneralisation. Indeed, I testify that there are many northern leaders who are working relentlessly to revive and emulate Sardauna’s ideals. There are still governors and other politicians with vision and passion for development. But they are in the minority.

However, should we still be talking about “northern interest” and “southern interest” after 70 years of self-rule, including 62 years of independence from colonialism? Shouldn’t we be more engrossed in the national interest at this stage? When are we going to rise above region and religion and focus on the matter that really matters: lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty and misery?

And Four Other Things…

FLOOD OF DEATH Nigeria has been experiencing increased flooding in the last few years but the fatalities this year have been very disturbing. Jigawa alone has recorded about 100 of the over 600 nationwide deaths, with millions displaced.

From what we are hearing, the disaster may not be over yet. The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had warned that heavy flooding from River Niger and River Benue between September and October would affect most states of the federation, with attention on Kebbi, Niger, Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa.

Government must do everything possible to save more lives and property. Emergency.

SINKING SUBSIDY Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), launched his manifesto on Friday with a clear message: petrol subsidy must go. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has also said so. Mr Peter Obi, the flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP), said subsidy is a scam and must go, although his party “clarified” by saying local refineries would work and there would be no need to remove subsidy. That’s a topic for another day. Basically, the leading candidates have made their positions known.

As I have been saying, there are tough times ahead no matter who wins. Let us fasten our seat belts. Sacrifice.

FORCADOS RELIEF Nigeria has not been benefitting from high oil prices primarily because production has dropped, our share of production has fallen, and we are using most of our share to, indirectly, import subsidised petrol under the direct sale direct purchase (DSDP) regime.

It was recently reported that we do not even have enough oil to do the DSDP. Isn’t our country simply amazing? A little relief appears to be on the way: Shell has announced that export operations will soon start at the Forcados terminal after repairs on a subsea hose which was vandalised in August. That’s over 400,000 barrels of exports coming back. It won’t solve our deeper problems but half a loaf is better than none. Respite.

TRUSS’ TRUCE Elizabeth Truss, the UK prime minister, fell on her own sword on Thursday – approximately six weeks after taking the reins of power from Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign over a cocktail of scandals. Truss is officially the shortest-reigning PM in UK history. In a sense, I like her decision to resign. Although her legs were already shaky after her mini-budget was shredded to a basket of confetti to calm the markets, Truss realised, and accepted, quite quickly that she was never going to deliver on her agenda and the promises. You don’t cut taxes and increase spending in a fiscal state and expect the capitalist market to roll out the red carpet for you. It will never happen.

Suicidal.

THE URGENCY OF FIXING THE ECONOMY interventions in five sectoral clusters: government and security; demographics and human capital; basic infrastructure; agricultural revolution; and economic and export diversification. The result of the modelling shows that reforms in each of the five domains will, at different rate and pace, produce improvements in GDP and GDP per capita, and reduction in poverty.

The researchers also created what they called the ‘Super Nigeria scenario’ where all the reforms in the five domains are undertaken simultaneously, an approach projected to produce an impact greater than the sum of its parts.

“Of the five intervention clusters,” states the report, “the Economic and Export Diversification (industrialisation) scenario has the most significant impact on development indicators, but in the short term, a revitalised agricultural sector will be the low hanging fruit to improve Nigeria’s human and economic development outcomes.

Meanwhile, the Super Nigeria scenario, which combines all intervention clusters, shows that an integrated approach or policy coordination across sectors could yield a significantly brighter future for Nigeria.”

The ISS on Nigeria report can be accessed at: www.issafrica.org.

The second report is by Agora Policy, a new policy think tank based in Abuja.

(Full disclosure: I am the founder of Agora Policy.) Titled “Options for Revamping Nigeria’s Economy,” the maiden report of Agora Policy was produced by a group of economists who focused on four areas: Federal Government’s fiscal position, human welfare (unemployment and poverty), trade and investment, and monetary policy. The authors used datasets from 2011 to 2021 to track the health of the Nigerian economy

over the decade.

What the authors saw was not pretty: an economy in ill- and failing health, wracked by slow and fragile growth, lean and narrow revenue/export base, bloated debts and deficits, constricted trade and investment, suboptimal government spending, and soaring inflation, unemployment and poverty. The report sounds an urgent note.

It states that despite that Nigeria posted GDP growth for six consecutive quarters and that its economy remains the biggest in Africa, “many of the macro-economic fundamentals have worsened.”

This seeming paradox should worry all of us and rouse current and future managers to get into emergency mode to arrest what may become a freefall. The report advises: “Nigeria needs to undertake swift, bold and far-reaching reforms to halt the precipitous decline and the attendant negative impacts on citizen’s welfare. These reforms must be undergirded by inclusion, transparency and accountability.”

Data in the report shows that Nigeria has regressed on most socio-economic indicators in the period under review and that the country consistently underperforms its peers. Our public finance, for example, is all over the place. FG’s expenditure is not in lockstep with its revenue, resulting in spiralling and suffocating debts. According to the report, FG’s expenditure rose from N4.48 trillion in 2011 to N12.51 trillion in 2021, an increase of 179%. But FG’s actual revenue increased by only 81%, from N2.57 trillion in 2011 to N4.63 trillion in 2021. The gap, of course, is always covered by debts which leapt by 436% from N6.17 trillion in 2011 to N33.11 trillion in 2021.

The report maintains that FG’s domestic debt is understated by almost half as official

figures do not include CBN’s advances to FG, which is called Ways and Means. As at March 2022, CBN’s advances to FG stood at N18.89 trillion, a jump of more than 7000% on the N265.7 billion of January 2014. (Last week, the Minister of Finance disclosed that Ways and Means is now N20 trillion and that President Muhammadu Buhari has given approval for it to be converted into debt instruments of 40 years tenor at 9% interest rate).

The Agora Policy report clearly shows that Nigeria has a debt problem, despite official strident but hollow claims to the contrary, especially with debt service becoming the highest expenditure component and debt service swallowing most of revenue. However, the report agrees with government’s preferred narrative that Nigeria has a revenue problem.

FG’s revenue to GDP shrank from 8.2% in 2011 to 4.4% in 2019. FG’s tax take as a proportion of GDP is the lowest among its peers, and the lowest even in Africa.

In addition, the report shows that the significant increase in expenditure has not translated to improvement in human welfare, how unemployment and poverty are not only growing but have a disturbing regional, gender and spatial dimension, how debt service and petrol subsidy have been crowding out spendings on critical sectors such health, education, infrastructure and others, and how restrictive trade and monetary policies have negatively impacted exports, manufacturing, investments, job creation and overall development.

In line with Agora Policy’s commitment to finding practical solution to urgent national challenges, the report is replete with recommendations in its areas of focus.

Some of these recommendations include the urgent need to end petrol subsidy

and crude oil theft, to block leakages in revenue-generating agencies, to improve efficiency of tax collection, to expand the tax base and raise the rates of some taxes, to sell and concession some dormant or underperforming government assets, and to expand investment in critical infrastructure, especially through PPP. Other recommendations of the report are: the need to improve coordination of poverty alleviation interventions among the three tiers of government and finetune jobcreation strategies, to incentivise small and medium enterprises, to increase investment in education, especially technical education and market-facing skills, to remove restrictive and distortionary trade practices, to address cumbersome custom processes and corruption at the ports, to improve capacity of traderelated agencies and review Nigeria’s trade policy framework, to develop export and job creation pipelines especially through agro-processing and light manufacturing, to improve synergy between the CBN and other managers of the economy, to redefine exchange policy in a way that makes Nigeria’s current and future exports more competitive, and to prioritise inflation targeting and fully account for and end Ways and Means.

The report was produced with the support of MacArthur Foundation. It is the first of four reports supported by the foundation and designed to elevate discussions around policy options before, during and after the 2023 elections. The other reports are on security, gender and social inclusion, and transparency and accountability.

•PS: Soft copies of the report can be accessed from Agora Policy’s website (www.agorapolicy.org) or can be requested by email (info@agorapolicy.org).

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 23 , 2022

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SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by: Duro Ikhazuagbe email:Duro.Ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

U17 World Cup: Nigeria’s Flamingos to Play Colombia in S’final

S

Taiwo Awoniyi (centre) returned to haunt his formerly club Liverpool yesterday, scoring the lone goal winner at Nottingham Forest

Liverpool Reject, Awoniyi, Haunts the Reds with Forest’s Second Win

RESULTS

Casemiro rescues point for Man Utd at Stamford Bridge Duro Ikhazuagbe

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aiwoAwoniyishockedLiverpoolwith his lone goal winner in the 55th minute to give Nottingham Forest victory on Saturday afternoon.

The victory meant so much to Awoniyi who was signed by Liverpool in 2015 shortly after winning theFIFAUnder-17WorldCupwiththeGoldenEaglets in Chile but never got to play a single official game for the Reds before leaving in 2021.

Expectedly, out of respect for Liverpool his former club, the Super Eagles forward did not celebrate the goal.

On a day that Liverpool desperately needed the victory to rekindle their waning Premier League

PREMIER LEAGUE fortunes having lost two games earlier in 10 games, it was Awoniyi that reacted quickest when his first effort came off the upright. He smashed the rebound for the match winner in the 55th minute.

He was scaled highest 8.6 in Forest’s rankings of the day’s match.

Awoniyi was also the match winner against West Ham and it was Forest only second win of the campaign.

Forest have endured a difficult start to their first season back in the Premier League, but this was a day to remember as they thoroughly deserved their victory over a flat Liverpool.

Liverpool were a long way from their best - Virgil van Dijk wasted their best chance - and remain without an away league win this season.

ForestkeeperDeanHendersonproducedasuperb save to palm away aTrent Alexander-Arnold header in the final 10 minutes.

There were jubilant scenes on and off the pitch at the final whistle as Forest enjoyed their best day since returning to the top flight this season after a 23-year absence.

Liverpool are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal having played one game more while Forest, who are 19th, move above Leicester.

Elsewhere on the night, Casemiro’s looping stoppage-time header gave Manchester United a deserved point in a dramatic 1-1 finale against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Super Falcons Draw Hosts Australia, Ireland and Canada in Group B

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igeria will play joint-hosts Australia, Canada and Republic of Ireland in Group B of the 9th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals happening in the summer of next year.

At the draw ceremony held in Auckland/Tâmaki Makaurau yesterday, it emerged that Nigeria will play Canada in her first match of the compettion to be staged in a total of nine cities (five in Australia and four in New Zealand), and which will boast 32 teams – the biggest in the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since it began in China in 1991.

Joint-hosts New Zealand will battle Norway, Philllipines and Switzerland in Group A. Nigeria, alongside USA, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Japan are the only seven countries to have featured in all previous editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, between China 1991 and France 2019.

The Falcons were on tour of Canada six months ago, where they played two matches against Olympic champions Canada, losing one narrowly and drawing the other.

The 29 qualified nations can now advance

outh America runnersup, Colombia yesterday defeated a depleted Tanzania side to set up a semi final clash with Nigeria’s Flamingos on Wednesday at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

This is the third time both teams will clash with Nigeria twice victorious over the South Americans in 2012 and 2014.

In the match played at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Nigeria came from behind to win 2-1.

Angie Rodriguez shot Colombia ahead in the third minute before Joy Bokiri levelled up for Nigeria in the 26th minute and Uchenna kanu scored the winner in the 59th minute.

Vengeance may be in the mind of the South Americans when they face the ‘flaming’ Flamingos on Wednesday.

They made hays while the sun was shining when they faced Tanzania on Saturday thus denying the tournament the first all-African clash.

They scored all their three goals in the first half while Tanzania ended the encounter with just nine girls.

In the day’s other quarter final, Spain rallied to beat Japan 2-1 and make the semifinals of the tournament.

Momoko Tanikawa put Japan ahead with his 66th minute strike, but Vicky Lopez (87’ and 90+3) scored twice to seal the issue in his team’s favour.

PREMIER LEAGUE N’Forest Everton Man City Chelsea

2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP their plans for next year’s tournament, which will be the first to be co-hosted by two nations from different Confederations, and the first

FIFA Women’s World Cup to feature 32 teams.

The Draw outcomes will also further serve to inspire the nations competing in next February’s Play-Off Tournament, as they plot their paths to the groups – D, E, and F – that require one more side to be complete.

Liverpool Cry’Palace Brighton Man Utd

LA LIGA Rayo Valladolid Valencia R’Madrid

5-1 1-0 1-2 3-1

Cadiz Sociedad Mallorca Sevilla

SERIE A Salernitana AC Milan Fiorentina

1-0 4-1 3-4

Spezia Monza Inter

Costa Rica’s Galo Suspended for Dope

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Super Falcons have been drawn along with joint hosts Australia, Ireland and Canada in Group B of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand

1-0 3-0 3-1 1-1

osta Rica midfielder Orlando Galo faces missing the World Cup after FIFA said on Saturday that he has been provisionally suspended for a doping

violation.

Galo, 22, tested positive for a prohibited substance following a random test carried out in September, the country’s football federation (FCRF) said on Tuesday.

“FIFA can confirm that in accordance with the FIFA Anti-Doping Regulations the player Orlando Galo Calderon has been provisionally suspended, and the usual procedure has been opened,” a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters.

Costa Rica kick off their World Cup campaign on November 23 against Spain.

Sunday October 23, 2022

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“In 2018 when I called on the people to defend themselves, they said I was lying because there was no evidence. Today in the country, there is evidence everywhere; the foreign bandits are killing and taking over lands in all the places” – Former Minister of Defence, General TY Danjuma (rtd), blaming the federal government for insecurity in the country.

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SIMONKOLAWOLE What Exactly is This ‘Northern Interest’?

SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

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irst, a caveat: I am not in the business of endorsing or demarketing any presidential candidate. But what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP flagbearer, said in Kaduna last weekend generated so much heat that I felt compelled to throw in my perspective.

Speaking to a group of northerners at the interactive session of the Arewa Townhall Policy Dialogue, Atiku said that as a northerner, he was in the best position to understand and address northern problems compared to an Igbo or a Yoruba candidate and northerners should, thus, vote for him.

In a country with explosive ethno-religious sentiments, Atiku’s misguided statement instantly provided a good raw material for politicking.

Atiku may be guilty of promoting a sectional agenda on camera, but he is not alone. Others are also “codedly” using region and religion to campaign. It is all politics.

My real interest is the actual definition, or meaning, of this “northern interest” that we have been hearing for decades. A former secondary schoolmate, whom I had not heard from in probably 35 years, got in touch with me four months ago. After the “long time no see” pleasantries, he tasked

Atiku me: “Please I need you to enlighten me on this thing called the northern interest.

Many northern politicians always claim to be fighting for the northern interest. Yet northern Nigeria offers the worst data when it comes to poverty.”

He was preaching to the choir. As readers would find out from several articles in my book, ‘Fellow Nigerians, It’s All Politics!’ — which is now on sale in leading Nigerian bookstores as well as on Amazon — I am always sceptical when politicians say they are doing things in the interest of “my people”.

Watching proceedings from my balcony, I have observed over time that the priority of most Nigerian politicians, northerners and southerners alike, is neither the people nor the society. It is usually about grabbing power and its perks to lord it over us, using siren and SUVs to chase the rest of us off the road. Some surprisingly build roads and schools here and there, but that is an extra.

Between 1960 and 2022, northerners have ruled Nigeria for about 47 of the 62 years. Policies have been formulated, states, councils, agencies and departments created, strategic appointments allocated, and contracts awarded — all purported to promote “the northern interest”. If indeed northern interest was the purpose, I should think that the best roads, the best hospitals, the best schools, and the biggest factories would be in the region today. The region should be top in development indices such as literacy rate, access to water, access to healthcare, and general infrastructure. There

should be security, peace, progress and unity across the entire region.

But what do we have? The north is tops when it comes to insecurity and poverty.

According to a 2020 report of the World Bank, 87 percent of poor Nigerians are northerners.

Out of the 10 states most affected by cholera cases between January and July this year, there are eight northern states sitting on the chart provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Lest we forget, cholera is a water-borne disease. With clean water, cholera is history. Providing clean water does not require nuclear technology.

What else? Boko Haram and bandits have been ruining the lives of hapless northerners in the last 13 years, turning millions into refugees in their own country.

What then is this “northern interest” that we always hear? I want to borrow a leaf from the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the premier of the Northern Region from October 1, 1954 to January 15, 1966.

As premier, he had a vision: to position the north as a political and socio-economic force in the Nigerian federation. At the centre of his vision was unity in diversity. He said: “Here in Northern Nigeria we have people of many Continued on page 70

WAZIRIADIO POSTSCRIPT

The Urgency of Fixing the Economy

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ost of the things that ail Nigeria today have an economic underpinning or at least an economic dimension.

And Nigeria’s economy, to put it mildly, is not in a good place right now. Underlying economic conditions in turn compound the other growing ailments, and the logical consequence of the devastating combination of both cause and effect is Nigeria’s current dire state. Fixing Nigeria’s plunging economy thus provides the most pragmatic pathway for stabilising then revitalising the country.

Healing the economy is our most urgent task.

There is no better time than the electioneering/transition period to begin the uncomfortable task of not just wrestling with the health of our economy and our country but also for undertaking proper diagnosis and embracing right-headed prescriptions, including necessary but painful lifestyle changes and adjustments. Little of that is happening now; and little of it is being proposed.

The leading candidates are skirting the

main issues, speaking in general terms, dishing out promises by the second without bothering to show us the cost implications, where they will find the money and what the trade-offs will be. In fairness, our political campaigns have always been more about words than numbers. Our politicians, over time, seem to have taken too seriously Mario Cuomo’s famous saying that ‘we campaign in poetry but we govern in prose’.

But this is an unusual time. We don’t have the luxury of just indulging in the poetry of campaigns. Make no mistake about it, whoever wins the presidency next year will inherit a distressed economy, with a public finance wracked by low revenue, serious haemorrhage and suffocating debts. The proposed 2023 budget provides a poignant snapshot of the state of our public finance.

The Federal Government has projected to earn N9.73 trillion as aggregate revenue next year, but it has also proposed to spend N6.5 trillion on debt service and N3.36 trillion on petrol subsidy for six months.

This means that the 2023 projected revenue (which may still fall short) will not be enough to cater for just two items: debt service for the whole year and petrol subsidy for just

six months. This means that we will need to borrow to fully cover those two items and borrow everything we will spend on salaries, pension, overhead and capital.

Though this administration still has seven months to go and cannot be excused from the current state of the economy, it will be unrealistic to expect it to fix or reset our public finance and the larger economy in the little time left. This has to be the burden and the first order of business for the next administration, which unfortunately will not have much room for experimentation or error. It has to get it right, or we risk further meltdown. And this is why we need to take more seriously the search for evidence-backed diagnosis and sensible solutions.

Among others, two recent reports can help in this important search. Produced by the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the first report was presented recently in Abuja at two events organised

by ISS and Nextier, a Nigerian public sector advisory firm. Titled “Nigeria in 2050—Major Player in the Global Economy or Poverty Capital,” the report uses Nigeria’s past and current development indicators to project

our country’s trajectory by 2050 when our population is projected to hit 450 million, the third highest in the world after India and China. The data and the modelling for the report benefitted from the open-source International Futures model developed by the Pardee Centre for International Futures of the University of Denver, Colorado, USA. The report shows that on most economic and development indicators, Nigeria lags behind lower middle-income countries in Africa and lower middle-income countries globally, especially in terms of GDP per capita (PPP), life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality, education pipeline, access to electricity, tax-to-GDP, and government effectiveness. The report also highlights the high incidence of poverty and unemployment and posits that despite Nigeria’s youthful population the country is projected to achieve demographic dividends much later than its peers.

Using both current path and scenario analyses, the report submits that Nigeria can significantly change its development trajectory if it undertakes critical policy Continued on page 70

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