The Nation May 10, 2015 by The Nation

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

American dog bites the bullet, eating 23 rounds of ammunition ITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - After devouring a television remote, a lawn mower gas filter and bras, Benno, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois dog, outdid itself by consuming nearly two dozen bullets. “It acted like nothing was wrong until it threw up,” Benno’s owner, Larry Brassfield of Mountain Home, Arkansas, said on Friday adding that is when he discovered a nearly three-inch long bullet in the puddle. Brassfield noticed several 308-caliber rounds missing and rushed Benno to a veterinarian, where x-rays revealed a small arsenal in the animal’s stomach in the late April incident. “My first concern was not an explosion but poisoning,” said veterinarian Dr. Sarah Shelton, who feared Benno’s stomach acids would attack the metal to fatal effect. Shelton removed 16 cartridges from Benno’s stomach and left two in its esophagus rather than prolong the twohour surgery, correctly calculating that the animal would soon expel them. In all, the dog had eaten 23 rounds. She said Benno’s prognosis is “excellent.” Malinois dogs, which physically resemble German Shepherds, are used as bomb-sniffers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and known for both their intelligence and work ethic, according to Animal Planet. Benno, meantime, has diligently returned to its old ways. Since its surgery, Brassfield says, Benno has consumed yet another of his wife’s bras. “It’s at least its fourth,” Brassfield said.

CAPTURED

Change ofStyle style of First, he told his convoy to obey traffic regulations. Now President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari is captured in this photo riding an airport shuttle bus in Abuja. That is refreshing departure from the 'big men' who would demand their cavalcade drives right up to the aircraft steps. Surely the real breath of fresh air is blowing in the nation's capital.

sunday@thenationonlineng.net

Continuing uncertainty over Chibok girls

F it were possible to wish an issue into the March 28 presidential poll, especially one that should dominate every other issue, it would be the April 14, 2014 abduction of more than 276 teenage schoolgirls from Chibok town in Borno State. Some 219 of the girls are yet to be rescued, with news about their whereabouts and wellbeing taking Nigerians on an emotional roller coaster. In fact one of the most curious things about Nigerians, and especially the just concluded presidential poll, is the fact that in many parts of the country, the Chibok abductions, despite its universality, was nowhere near among the dominant issues of the race. If the North voted massively for the eventual winner and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, it was less because he symbolised or coalesced the pains Nigerians felt over the fate of the missing

girls than the fact that that region had appropriated him for reasons somewhat unrelated to the tragedy of a year ago, a tragedy that exposed Nigeria’s impotence in all its ugly ramifications. Abduction or no abduction, Gen Buhari, fondly called ‘Mai gaskiya’ (The honest one), would receive their vote. Abduct the entire Borno State, and neither the Southeast nor the South-South would have voted Gen Buhari. A number of people in those two southern regions might have been touched by the fate of the schoolgirls, but it was apparently not sufficient for them to embrace the APC can-

HEN his security team placed a ban on Africa Independent Television (AIT), barring it from covering the presidentelect’s activities, Muhammadu Buhari did not mince word cautioning his media and security teams from exceeding democratic boundaries. He did not deny that AIT was hostile to him during the campaigns, nor did he even dwell on the television station’s open lack of professionalism and immoderate partisanship during electioneering. All he said tersely was that members of his team designated to forge working relationship with both media establishments and others must be allowed to do their work. By now, Gen

didate and repudiate their beloved son, President Goodluck Jonathan. In one form or the other, similar or dissimilar reasons were given for either the acceptance or rejection of the two leading presidential candidates in the election. Lagos, with all its sophistication, appeared inexplicably to have ignored the Chibok factor and nearly voted for President Jonathan. Ekiti might be a learned community, as educationists have judged, but the president meant more to them than the obviously distant issue of the Chibok girls. But the Chibok tragedy is still an unfolding one — in ways too deeply troubling than the insensitive and irrational electoral behaviour of a significant proportion of

Nigerians projected. According to an account by one of the women abducted by Boko Haram and rescued from the militants’ Sambisa Forest redoubt — where the schoolgirls were thought to have been held — no one had sighted the girls. A few militants who had access to the deeper bowels of the forest, said the woman, told stories of how the Chibok girls had been married off, sometimes in twos or threes, to Boko Haram commanders, or sold into slavery. This was not cheering news. While many Nigerians, including the BringBackOurGirls campaigners, agitated for the rescue of the girls, the voting behaviour of Nigerians generally missed the import of the tragedy of

the abducted girls. The primary blame for the abduction of the girls and their harrowing experience in the hands of the terrorists fell squarely on the shoulders of President Jonathan. He failed to rally help for the helpless girls when the news broke, and behaved even far worse when it was evident the abduction was not a make-belief or political machination, as his wife and some of his aides first alleged. Public outcry was also too weak to compel the government to take urgent steps to rescue the girls, a weakness that showed disconcertingly in the significant support the president received at the last polls. The federal government has not behaved responsibly in looking after the internally

displaced victims of the Boko Haram crisis, let alone rehabilitating those rescued but traumatised. As a matter of fact, not enough resources have been committed to the problems, and the outgoing government has virtually given up on the girls. It is important that the incoming government of Gen Buhari approach the missing girls issue with single-minded resolve to find them dead or alive. Giving up must not be an option. Whether they were married off or sold into slavery, wherever they are — in Africa or outside the continent — they must be found. Nigeria owes them and their families to never give up on them. More importantly, we owe it to ourselves to find the girls, and thus extinguish the shame and dishonour of losing young schoolgirls entrusted to our care by both nature and the Nigerian constitution, a responsibility the Jonathan government took lightly to the chagrin and loathing of the world.

Reassuring sound bites from Buhari Buhari’s men know that their errant ways and tardy, presumptuous decisions will get short shrift from him. For a man who recognised he groaned under the liability of being described as a dictator by nature and by training, President-elect Buhari knows he has to bend over backwards to prove that his democratic conversion was not a fluke. So far, he is doing that admirably. His supporters expect him to sustain his newfound political culture and personal convictions. Indeed, during the campaigns, they recall how he stoically weathered the atrocious insults hurled at him by mem-

bers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign organisation and especially the loquacious and uncultured Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose. In those heady and abusive days, Gen Buhari said not a word. He is apparently a truly changed man. Now, bigger and better sound bites are coming from the converted general and president-elect, sound bites that obviously warm the cockles of the peoples’ hearts. After viewing the distress his new status was causing other road users, especially his convoy’s flagrant flouting of road traffic rules, Gen Buhari publicly or-

dered his aides to obey traffic laws. It would send wrong signals and encourage dangerous mimicry of bad behaviour should the number one citizen breach laws, whether traffic or otherwise, he announced. For a long time, the bane of Nigeria had been indiscipline, the kind that flowed from the top to the bottom. If the president-elect can find a way round the security nightmare his obedience of traffic rules is certain to cause, he will receive the genuine and fulsome appreciation of his long-suffering countrymen.

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

COLUMN

Epilogue to a Nigerian nightmare H ISTORY is a nightmare from which one is trying to wake up, James Joyce, the great Irish novelist, once memorably noted. As an insurance against the horrors of history, the old Dubliner wrote as if history does not really exist, indulging himself in grand mythic narratives and outlandish literary fireworks forged from the smithy of the harassed and harried soul. It seems to have worked for him, insulating the great literary genius from the terrible fiascoes of actual reality. As Nigerians begin to count the cost of sixteen solid years of authoritarian misrule by the PDP, there will be plenty of time for weeping and gnashing of teeth in the land, and for mass escape from bitter reality. It all reminds one of a great reggae song of the mid-seventies. “Weeping and wailing and mourning and gnashing of teeth, do you hear now? Nigeria has been taken to the cleaners by the PDP. Every institution in the land has been ravaged or completely destroyed. The judiciary is badly desecrated, and there are judges who should be in jail. The military has been destroyed by corruption and indiscipline. The police

ITH the death of Thomas Adeoye Lambo, Nigeria has lost another distinguished son, a paradigmatic titan and a colossus among the colossi of modern psychiatry. When beggars die, there are no comets seen, to recall the inevitable William Shakespeare. The sullied Nigerian firmament has since blazed forth at the passing of a true prince. In his life time, Lambo was a profound source of inspiration for many of his compatriots. In death, he has brought out the hidden literary gifts of his country folks in a rash of brilliant obituaries, particularly a memorable one penned by his protégé , Professor Akinkugbe, another Nigerian medical Maharaja. Yet the outpouring of grief at the passing of the great man has also come with a price. The sober reticence has denied us an opportunity to explore the implications of one of Lambo’s most brilliant but casually thrown insights: what to do with the political psychotics eternally thrown up by Nigeria’s dysfunctional political landscape, and the colourful masks they often wear to disguise their mental illness. Why do many depraved people who are obviously in need of psychiatric attention tend to prevail in Nigeria’s power sweepstakes? As a mental institution, Aro itself would be a very tame metaphor for the chaotic lunacies of contemporary Nigerian politics and the deranged antics of its principals. But that being the case, what does it say about the collective mental condition of a people who allow themselves to be lorded over by such disturbed characters? After all, the power-maniacs did not descend from Mars. This is perhaps why Lambo ought to have tarried awhile. But this is not Lambo’s turf. Nigeria awaits its preeminent psychiatrist of political disorder who will combine Lambo’s technical brilliance with the redemptive political passion of a Franz Fanon. An illustrious son of illustrious parents, Lambo was not only a genius among men, he was also a human among geniuses. This last point needs to be stressed because genius is often accompanied by petty and anti-social impertinences. But as pointed out by his many admirers, Lambo was a genial and deeply humane fellow. Yet here was a man who with one insight of genius changed forever the course and trajectory of African psychiatry. As Professor Akinkugbe has brilliantly noted, this was not the

•Lambo

force has imploded with the proliferation of criminals in its rank and file. The Nigerian legislature, bar a few exemplars, is a haven of gluttonous crooks. Technocracy is a synonym for kleptocracy. The treasury is so badly burglarized that economic collapse is a dire possibility. Never in the history of civilized humankind have so few wasted the lives so many,

and without any feeling of shame or remorse. And there shall come a time after the plague when humanity will begin to envy their animal cousins. Such times have come upon us. It is true that humankind first civilized on the plains of upper Africa, but they have not continued to do so there, particularly in Nigeria. Political, economic and spiritual cannibals roam about in Nigeria hunting down their hirsute brethrens. Hell is no longer an abstract concept. It is here with us in its throbbing and traumatic reality. On his deathbed when Justice Adewale Thompson was asked whether he would like to return as a Black person and a Nigerian, the great mystic and pan-Africanist savant retorted that he had had enough of both. A man cannot be a glutton for unremitting punishment. With the advent of a new political order, there is the possibility of a miraculous reprieve. But General Mohammadu Buhari has his work cut out for him. Very encouraging noise is coming from him, but the omens are still not very clear. Although there is revolutionary ferment in the air, what has brought the

nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu general to power the second time is not a revolution per se but a negotiation of power between two state parties aided and abetted by the vast majority of the Nigerian multitude. The general cannot seek revolutionary concessions from a non-revolutionary ascendancy. The attempt to impose a revolutionary reprisal against the AIT swiftly backfired and there will be more of such to temper and tamper with Buhari’s radically reforming zeal in the months ahead. To put it in legal parlance, relief not sought cannot be granted. The testy alliance will be sorely tested. It is precisely at this point that revolutionary expectations will come into a fatal collision with non-revolutionary momentum. The general will need all his political skills and street savvy to deal with a problematic situation. As Nigerians commence a difficult period of acute soul-search-

Myths and Masks of Mental Illness usual feat of robotic remembering, the homestead of the proliferating professorial paper in which a single insight is split into a hundred monographs. Lambo did not need to resort to such academic trickeries. As Meredith Owen has aptly put it, genius does what it must and talent does what it can. This was truly the birth of a new science, of rural psychiatry. According to Lambo, the ravages of mental illness among the rural poor can be mitigated and minimized if the agrarian bliss of their rural community can be reproduced in a psychiatric establishment rather than subject them to the harsh and institutionalized cruelties of the modern psychiatric ward. Aro became a global trope for humane psychiatry, and the very idea that mental illness may well be a ruling class myth became a theoretical possibility. Such moments are very rare in the history of science, a true paradigm shift. With characteristic but vehement elegance, the French call it the moment of epistemological rupture, that is when the chain of knowledge is broken and with all the violence that accompanies birth and the arrival in the world of a new baby. And since nobody had thought like that before, it meant that technically Lambo was on his own. This is what Louis Althusser, the great French Marxist philosopher, meant when he observed that all true geniuses are intellectual orphans. According to him, the price of genius ranges from alienation to madness and even premature death. Althusser should know. After killing his wife and long term collaborator in a moment of insanity, Althusser was promptly committed to a mental institution. He died there. A cultured rebel, Lambo was spared the fate of the quintessential genius. Since he threatened no one but his own folks back on a benighted continent, his international patrons could regard him as a benign curio from the heart of darkness. And since he was spared the worst neuroses of genius, it meant he could deliver the most outlandish of insights with deadpan humour and refined restraint. Nevertheless, his forage into university administration ended in a comprehensive fiasco. As the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Lambo could not understand why students were demanding such privileges as exotic food and beer-

drinking when majority of the people were wallowing in rural penury. In any case, who were the upstarts when he himself was the only son of the Iyalode of Egba Christians and a father who was one of the richest merchants of his era? It was a gross misreading of the psychology of the new post-colonial elite touching in its idyllic naivete and political innocence. The ensuing political eruption and the killing of a student, Kunle Adepeju, was to cost Lambo his post and some of his reputation. This was precisely the moment that Lambo himself moved permanently into this writer consciousness from hazy psychiatric hero to a humbled national figure. As a teenage journalist surveying the massive anti-Lambo demonstration from the verandah of the Nigerian Tribune, Adeoyo, Ibadan, one placard struck me with its malignant brilliance and poetic irony. It read: ARO IS THE BEST PLACE FOR LAMBO. Such was the inventive malice of Nigerian undergraduates of that generation. But Lambo was not to return to Aro, either as a patient, or the directing specialist. The former would have been a horrid fate. As Alexander Solshenitzyn, the great Russian writer, has observed in The Cancer Ward, there cannot be a worse fate than for a doctor to suffer an affliction in his own specialization. My next encounter with the phenomenon of Lambo was exactly a decade later in post graduate school at the University of Sheffield. The recently deceased and much admired Alec Jenner (1927-2014), a classmate of Lambo from medical school, had by then become the distinguished professor of psychiatry in the famous Sheffield medical school. Decades later, the professor was still so much in awe of Lambo’s feat at medical school that he thought all Nigerians must be geniuses. I benefited from this unduly generous branding, and so did a friend of mine. The professor cultivated us, and since Tokunbo Pearce was researching the phenomenon of madness in African literature for a doctoral thesis, we were both encouraged to participate in the professor’s community clinic in his sprawling pile in rural Yorkshire. Orgies of wine-drinking followed intense intellectual dissection of Marx, Sartre, Thomas Szasz, etc.

One evening after the wine got into my head, I tried to engage a member of the community in an intellectual exchange, a foolishness that saw me retreating with a huge black eye. Professor Pearce, whose father was one of the first indigenous officers of the Nigerian Navy, knew the military virtues of advancing with caution. Perhaps Lambo would have cautioned me against intellectual hyperventilation. And we must now return to the great man. When Lambo famously cautioned that Nigeria’s prospective political leadership should be subject to rigorous psychiatric evaluation to determine their mental fitness, the June 12 fiasco was still far away; so was Abacha; so were the infamous “elections” of 2003 and 2004. Every year, the absurdities in the theatre of political chaos lengthen. What will Lambo say? It is obvious that long before he died, Lambo had given up on the political class of his beloved country. Like a grizzled Yoruba savant, he took the oath of eloquent silence. Yet since every Rome has its own barbarians, there was nothing extraordinary about Lambo’s insight. Every society produces its own pathologies as a direct correlation of its economic and political contradictions. This, in combination with other variables, is what determines the type of political leadership thrown up at a particular epoch. The line between madness and genius is very thin indeed. Churchill was prone to severe and crippling depression, which he called the “black dog”. The same affliction dogged old Abe Lincoln. Napoleon was technically a madman. So were Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Lyndon Johnson was a bi-polar personality with cyclothymic mood swings. Richard Nixon was a paranoid psychotic. Ironically his successor, the sober and dour Henry Ford, ascribed his limited success in American politics to the fact that he was “disgustingly sane”. The interesting thing about these other societies is that they seem to have developed internal institutional mechanism for easing out political monstrosities before they cause permanent damage, or ,failing that, for putting damage containment mechanics swiftly in place. For every Hitler, there was a Konrad Adenauer, and for every Stalin, there was a Nikita Khrushchev. When General Washing-

ing and critical interrogation of what went wrong with their nation; as they mourn and bemoan their loss of political innocence, there will be plenty of political and economic analysis of what went wrong. But one thing that will be critically absent is the psychological and clinical analysis of the mental conditioning of the men and women who have put the nation through this orrery of horrors and historic torture wrack. The Nigerian political class deserves a psychiatric evaluation. This is why this morning, this column is turning attention to a great Nigerian who got to the juncture almost a quarter of a century ahead of his compatriots. It is the phenomenon of the healer as a seer. It is the obituary of the greatest psychiatrist ever thrown up by Nigeria and Africa. Please join us in celebrating once again the exemplary Thomas Adeoye Lambo. ton declined the invitation to become the democratic monarch of America, he was shrewd enough to recognize that there were already more lawyers in the US than soldiers and that he would be putting himself up for demystification. The problem with Nigeria and most African countries is that there is no such self-correcting system or institutional mechanism for dealing with a malfunctioning polity. Where there are, they are swiftly rubbished by a rampaging mob of disturbed politicians. After spending thirty years destroying every vibrant institution in the land, the military finally and logically self destructed. Now when it is needed as a patriotic countervailing institution, it is reduced to bleating incoherence and the periodic violence of the politically deranged. Rather than shoring up these crippled institutions or rebuilding them from scratch, the current political dispensation has chosen to despoil their remnants, particularly an already badly crippled judiciary. By the time it finishes, the political landscape will even be more awash with colourful and fanciful characters, political transvestites, Rasputins , electoral miracle workers, identity thieves, their doppelgangers and other outlandish figures as if from outer space. But that also bespeaks the end of these times. Whether this is what we are currently witnessing, or we have to tarry awhile for an even more fanciful finale is a matter of conjecture. Surely, a political dispensation that destroys its own natural habitat and demolishes its vital sources of nourishment has written its own suicide note well in advance. It is a crazed serpent that has bitten its own tail. It is only a question of time before the poison heads for its vitals. Where a new Lambo with a dash of Franz Fanon would have been useful is in plotting the political pathologies behind the collective death wish of Nigeria’s postcolonial political elite. As a youth, Lambo was known to have worn a mask to his mother’s stall. “Mother, the dead salute you, but where is your son?” the masquerade rumbled. But the mother was not deceived, instantly recognizing her own. Now with the great masquerade departed, the dead and dying of Nigeria, from behind the mask of collective political disorientation, are asking: “Where is our country?” For our own we no longer own. (Minus some upgrade of historical data, this was first published in 2004 as an obituary tribute to Professor Lambo)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

NEWS

UPPORTERS of First LadyPatienceJonathan in Bayelsa State are weighing the option of impeaching Governor Seriake Dickson before the May 29 handover date. The governor and Mrs. Jonathan’s supporters are locked in a bitter rivalry, which prompted her camp to sponsor candidates on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) against those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state in the last elections. Their original plan was to field from their rank a candidate against Seriake in next year’s governorship election in the state but with President Goodluck Jonathan leaving office on May 29 after his defeat in the April 11 poll, the Patience Jonathan camp feels there is no point waiting for the governor’s current tenure to expire next year before sacking him. In the camp are Abujabased politicians from the state, two serving senators, aggrieved members of the state House of Assembly and a faction of the state’s leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was gathered yesterday that they have been holding meeting upon meeting to perfect their Seriake-must-go campaign. Sources close to the group said that the Jonathan’s defeat initially slowed down the campaign but has been revved up in the last few days. Some of the governors allegedly recruited by First Lady’s camp to move against Dickson were said to have backed down following Jonathan’s defeat. It was at that point the

street walk campaign. “This is to give the impression that the Dicksonled government has failed in its duty to provide employment opportunities to the teeming youths in Bayelsa State.” He urged the authorities to take proactive steps to investigate and go after those behind the evil plot and bring them to justice. He warned youths in the region, particularly Bayelsa, not to allow themselves to be used by “power drunk, self seeking and desperate politicians”.

•Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II (left) and Kaduna State Governor-elect, Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai when the Emir paid El-Rufai a congratulatory visit in Kaduna yesterday PHOTO: ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE

Patience Jonathan’s men move to impeach Dickson before May 29 From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa group decided to make use of as many members of the State Assembly as possible in actualising the plot. But they have to contend with Speaker of the House, Kombowei Benson, who is said to enjoy a good rapport with the governor. A pressure group, Niger Delta Solidarity Front

• It’s a rumour, says gov

(NDSF), claimed last week that 1000 thugs had been recruited to take to Yenagoa streets demanding Seriake’s ouster. But the general secretary of the group, Mr. Nelson Ebebi,has vowed that the plan will fail. The NDSF, he said, would “mobilise its members across the entire

region and resist any planned street protests in Bayelsa State.” Ebebi said that 1000 thugs had been instructed to disguise as unemployed youths to demand economic empowerment from the Dickson-led government through their protest. “The thugs would create crisis within the state capital

Subsidy fears may prolong fuel scarcity

ORSE DAYS may be ahead for Nigerians in respect of the current fuel shortage as international traders and local marketers back away from imports over fears that the incoming government will halt costly subsidy payments. The federal, state and local governments are so cash strapped that the federal government had to borrow over N400million to pay its workers. Already, lines at petrol stations in the major cities are blocking traffic as the country runs out of domestic fuels. The shortage in some rural areas is even more acute due to a payment battle between independent retailers and the government. “We have exhausted our stocks,” said Stanley Yakubu, a worker at the Forte Filling Station in the Maitama neighborhood of Abuja. “We thought government and marketers have resolved their issues but supply is very slow in coming.” Traders said new bookings for vital tanker imports of transport fuel into Nigeria have slowed to a trickle and some cargoes offshore are being redirected to other regions. Efforts by outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 to end expensive subsidies, which would have doubled gasoline prices, led to riots in the street. The steep drop in world oil prices would have cushioned

consumers from any withdrawal of subsidies but gasoline prices would still jump by roughly 30 percent if the current capped price of N87 per litre is allowed to move closer to N115 it would cost without the government support. Additionally, as subsidies cover the difference between the capped price and the cost to buy the fuel on the international market, marketers worry Nigeria could end the payments without letting capped prices rise, leaving them to shoulder the potentially sizeable price difference. Nigeria relies on oil exports for 80 percent of its revenue and has already burned through half of its borrowing allowance this year. It could follow Angola and Indonesia in cutting expensive subsidies but with crude prices now edging back up after last year’s slump, the most ideal moment may well have passed. “The time to cut was January/February, when oil prices were so low,” said Stanislas Drochon, director of Africa oil and gas with IHS. “That was really a missed opportunity but it’s not too late.” Though Nigeria exports around two million barrels per day of crude, it is almost wholly reliant on imports for the 40 million litres per day of gasoline it consumes, due to inadequate refineries. The effort is expensive, accounting for an average of 2.5 percent its gross domestic product from 2006-2012,

according to the IMF. The government set aside N914 billion for it in 2014. Critics say the subsidies are not only inefficient but open to abuse by corrupt operators. Imports that have arrived so far this year total at least N300 billion, according to panAfrican lender Ecobank, a bill that would come due after incoming President Muhammadu Buhari’s May 29 inauguration. “The new regime will be the one who pays the bills,” said Dolapo Oni, a Lagos-based energy analyst with Ecobank. “And no one wants to wait for the new government.”

Buhari has not made clear his plans for subsidies, which are paid by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). The latest budget, passed earlier this week, slashed the money dedicated to it by 90 percent to N100 billion. Nigerian banks are already scrambling to limit their exposure to the oil industry at large following the precipitous decline in crude prices. “Quite a few players have had issues getting letters of credit,” one trader said. “Some people are choosing not to import anything.”

Ogun CJ frees 37 prisoners

GUN State Chief Judge, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade, has granted unconditional release to 37 inmates from the five prisons in the state. Six prisoners were set free at Ilaro; 11 at 0ba; 15 at Abeokuta, two at Sagamu and three at Ijebu-Ode prisons. Olopade explained that the exercise, which was supposed to have taken place earlier, was shifted to this month due to judicial workers strike and the state counsel’s work to rule. She expressed optimism that the released inmates would have learnt their lessons, imploring them to

turn a new leaf and be good citizens. The Chief Judge, however, revealed that the state judiciary has put up a Justice Fast Track Initiative Clinic in Abeokuta, Ijebuode and Ota High Courts to expedite criminal cases. “Industrial photocopier was purchased to enable easy duplication of the case file. With this, delay in the filing of information will be a thing of the past,” she said. Olopade implored police officers to cooperate with the judiciary by using available amenities because government has spent so much to enhance easy dispensation of justice.

and they have been instructed to resist any attempt by the security agencies to try to dislodge them, as was done in the recent protest organised by some ex-militants,” he said. “To show how serious and calculated their devilish plot is, they have branded the theme of the street protest as #WeAreHungryBringBackOurJobs

“There is no state in the country today that is not confronted with the harsh economic situation. The situation is so bad that most states cannot afford to pay staff salaries to their workers running into several months. “Even the federal government is not immune to this harsh economic reality. Hence, the so-called #WeAreHungryBringBackOurJobs street walk campaign in Bayelsa is nothing but a politically motivated, devious and malicious propaganda that is intended to serve the sole selfish political interest of its paymasters.” However, Dickson dismissed the impeachment plot as a rumour. Reacting to The Nation’s enquiry through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the governor said: “People are peddling rumour but as a government we will not join issues with them. “We are determined to continue offering purposeful leadership and remain focused on the restoration agenda of the government”.

EU tasks Buhari on dividends of democracy

HE European Union (EU) yesterday asked the presidentelect, Muhammadu Buhari, to ensure that Nigerians benefit from the nation’s wealth. The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Michel Arrion, made the call at the Europe Day 2015 in Abuja. Arrion explained that democracy meant nothing to the common man except it leads to the improvement in their standards of living. “But democracy only makes meaning to the common man to the extent that it delivers good governance, creates opportunities and improves the quality of living. “Nigeria is rich but Nigerians are poor. The incoming administration will have a lot to do in this regard. “It must ensure that Nigeria’s massive population is galvanised into a formidable productive force that will generate wealth that is equally or rather equitably shared among all citizens,” he said. According to Arrion, as the new government comes on stream, the world will want to see a Nigeria with the basic freedoms that distinguish democratic societies. “The government must ensure that the basic freedoms including economic rights and welfare are not the exclusive preserve of a privileged few.” The EU envoy reminded Buhari of his promises before and after his election to pursue three priority objectives.

He said the first objective set by the president-elect was “to swiftly end the insurgency in the North East and restore peace and stability.” According to him, the second is to eradicate corruption, while the third is to put policies in place to put Nigeria’s economy on a proper footing. He said that these goals set for the incoming government match closely the European Union’s vision for the country. “Let me add a fourth objective that is very important for the European Union: regional integration,” he said. Arrion said the EU strongly believed that peace and stability, as well as the economic development of Nigeria were achievable. According to him, they will be better achieved within the framework of a closer and deeper co-operation of Nigeria with its neighbours in West and Central Africa. “It is in that global context that the partnership between Nigeria and the EU is taking place. “I am delighted to state that Nigeria and EU do share very strong relations of mutual trust and partnership. He commended Nigeria and Nigerians for the success of the general elections, saying the last three months were very special for Nigerian citizens. “We are happy that Nigeria has got it right and look forward to other African countries following its good example,” he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

HE agitation for resignation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Mallam Adamu Muazu, has polarised the party’s governors. Several PDP Northern governors have thrown their lot with the embattled party boss. Championing his exit are the Southsouth and Southeast governors as well as Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State. Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State yesterday publicly identified with their position. Muazu is under increasing pressure to resign following the PDP abysmal performance in the

NEWS

PDP governors split over Muazu •Aliyu, Ohakim back chairman’s ouster •North rejects Jonathan as BoT chair •President backs moves to revive party By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor/ Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

recent elections. The immediate past governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, yesterday joined in the Muazu-must-go campaign.

The party chair himself has warned that continuation of the tradition of use- and- dump, which terminated the tenures of his predecessors, is not in the best interest of the party. He said in a statement penultimate weekend that the only

way forward for the PDP in the aftermath of the recent election is to rebuild and re-strategise ahead of the 2019 polls. President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday promised to work with the PDP Post- Election Review Committee to return the party to its

•President Goodluck Jonathan (L) in a handshake with the Chairman, PDP Post Election Review Committee/Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, after a meeting with The PDP Post-election review committee at the State House Abuja at the weekend. PHOTO: NAN

Madam Oyegbile bids final goodbye

ATE Madam Mary Oyegbile, mother of the Deputy Editor, The Nation on Sunday, Mr. Olayinka Oyegbile, was yesterday buried in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Her remains were lowered into the grave at exactly 1:05pm. As the body was being lowered, the choir, children,

By Edozie Udeze

family members and well wishers sang “Nearer My God to thee, nearer to thee”. The presiding pastor, Dr Idowu Adetola, advised the children to toe the path of goodness followed by their mother. He said they should take

consolation that a saint has departed, adding that there is usually a celebration in heaven when a saint is called to heaven. While the children were performing the traditional earth-to- earth ceremony, the minister-in-charge of Masifa Baptist Church, Ogbomoso said that every saint has a

dirty past but he or she is made clean by a new life. He extolled the virtues of the deceased, describing her as a mother to all. Adetola said she devoted her life to community service and church works. Madam Oyegbile died on March 8 at 91.

Benue guber race: Suswam betrayed me, says Ortom

ENUE State Governorelect, Dr Samuel Ortom, is disappointed in the

incumbent, Gabriel Suswam, for almost truncating his ambition. He called the governor’s action betrayal. Ortom, who was given the cold shoulder in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before ending up in the All Progressives Party (APC), told a delegation of APC leaders from Gboko Local Government area of the state yesterday how Suswam allegedly set out to “undermine my emergence as governor.” He said he was pained because of the crucial role he personally played in ensuring Suswam’s emergence as governor in 2007. His words:”When our leader, Senator George Akume, directed us on what to do in the run up to the 2007 governorship election I,

•In-coming governor to have 13 commissioners From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

alongside others, worked tirelessly to ensure that Suswam became governor. “Even though I am his senior in age and politics, I never abdicated my role as a dedicated party leader. “When I served under him as national auditor at the PDP headquarters and later as Minister, I never betrayed him nor worked at cross purposes with his intentions. “I was therefore saddened when he worked to undermine my ambition to be governor of Benue state.” Dr Ortom also spoke on the eight Sport Utility Vans (SUVs) which Suswam recently gave to him, his wife, the deputy governor-

elect and his wife. He said the vehicles were statutory obligations of the outgoing administration to the incoming government. He pledged to discharge his duties in the best interest of the majority of the people and govern with the fear of God. The Gboko APC chairman and other leaders of the party who spoke pledged their commitment to the success of the incoming administration. Gboko local government returned 55002 votes, the highest by any local government area, for Ortom in the April 11th elections. Ortom had, earlier on Thursday, given an insight into what his government would look like. His cabinet will comprise no

more than 13 commissioners and 15 advisers. This, according to him, is to save costs and ensure better funding of ministries and agencies. Receiving representatives of groups in his Makurdi residence, Dr. Ortom said that apart from propelling the state towards greater development, he would also strive to empower many people of the state who would surpass him in all aspects of life. He said that after God has turned his life around, he owes the people of the state a responsibility to touch as many lives as possible. He recalled that while serving as a local government chairman way back in 1992, he received a revelation that he would one day become governor and since then he had been preparing for the office.

lost glory. He told the Ike Ekweremaduled committee in Abuja that everything will be done to ensure that PDP does not only present a credible opposition for the country but also work to return to power in 2019. Multiple party sources told The Nation that the Muazu-must-go campaign is threatening to put PDP Northern governors and their Southern counterparts on collision course. One source said that at a recent meeting PDP Northern governors resolved to mobilise party chieftains across the North to resist the move to sack Muazu, and what is seen as an attempt by the Southeast and the Southsouth to hijack the party. “Governors at the meeting insisted that the plot to remove Muazu does not enjoy the support of President Goodluck Jonathan. “According to them, those behind the divisive move are merely popularizing their intention by dropping the name of the President,” the source said. The convener of the meeting, a Northwest governor, reportedly said he had spoken with Jonathan on the issue and the President swore he is not a party to the plan to change the leadership of the party before or after his exit from office. The governors agreed to remain in the PDP and ensure that all organs of the party are allowed to complete their tenure, the source said. Another source said that following the stand of the Northern governors, their Southern counterparts tabled a modified plan to replace the Muazuled executives with a caretaker committee. This was also reportedly rejected by the PDP Northern governors, who similarly kicked again an alleged plan to install President Goodluck Jonathan as chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party. One of the sources said: “There is an imminent clash of interest amongst the governors. “There seems to be no way to bring them to an agreement because some governors, especially those from the Southsouth, are still going about how to reposition the party without Muazu and his executives. “Even as we speak, they had a meeting where it was resolved that the Southsouth should produce the next chairman while the Southwest should retain the Secretary. “The decision of three Northern governors who were previously part of the ‘Muazu Must Go’ plot to pull out could not even convince these governors to dump the plot. “So unless something gives way soon, any plan to change the leadership of the party and even the BoT in the nearest future will pitch our governors against one another along regional lines. This is obviously not good for the PDP.” Jonathan backs moves to revive PDP President Jonathan receiving the at PDP Post- Election Review Committee at the State House yesterday said he was in support of efforts to return the party to its lost glory. Chairman of the committee and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, told State House correspondents after the committee met with President Jonathan said he assured the committee that everything would be done to ensure that PDP does not only present a credible opposition for the country but also return to power in 2019. He said: “Mr. President has given us his word that he will encourage and support this process and that he is interested in

the party returning to its past glory and that he is going to do everything to ensure that we remain intact and we also agreed that all bickering have to stop so that we have a position that will enable us to rebuild our party.” Asked why the party could not manage its success, Ekweremadu said: “When you have this kind of situation, the first reaction will be blame game. But I think we have been able to absorb that shock and right now I can assure you that all that bickering has stopped. “We are now ready to rebuild our party and be able to present a credible opposition for this country that will ensure us return to power in 2019. “We are ready to hold the new government accountable and make sure that the promises they have made that we will be able to benchmark each of them appropriately so that it will not be that they have deceived Nigerians and got their votes. “They are going to account for their statements, their promises. We will hold them accountable to all the promises.” Aliyu, Ohakim back Fayose, demand Muazu, others’ resignation Governor Aliyu of Niger State and the immediate past governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, yesterday joined in the call for the resignation of the members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by the party’s chairman, Mallam Adamu Muazu. Like Fayose, they said Muazu and other PDP’s NWC members should take a cue from the leaders of the British Labour Party,UKIP and the Liberal Democratic Party who resigned as soon as it was clear that their parties had lost last Thursday’s election. Aliyu, speaking in Dutse, Jigawa State capital, at the inauguration of a township road named after the ‘G7 Governors’ by Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, said any politician, who leads his party to defeat , has no reason to remain in office. “It is unfortunate that people have to be called to resign. The leaders are supposed to voluntarily resign their positions for the loss at the just concluded general elections,” he said. “It is unfair that they are threatening to form a factional PDP because they were asked to resign,” he added in reference to the crisis brewing in the party on account of its disastrous outing in the polls. He said the PDP members must imbibe morality and principle if the party must succeed in the future, arguing that what happened in the United Kingdom election on Thursday was a reflection of those virtues. In a separate statement, Ohakim said more people will, in the days ahead, demand Muazu’s exit because “regardless of the defeat it suffered at the just concluded general elections, Nigerians believe that the PDP should be nurtured back to life to play the role of a creditable opposition for the growth of our democracy.” He said Muazu should quit without further delay, adding: “I am aware that for reasons that have to do with the Nigerian factor, Mallam Muazu may find it difficult to submit to the wishes of Nigerians.” Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State had engaged PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, in a war of words over the defeat of the party in the 2015 general elections, calling on Muazu and others in the party’s National Working Committee to resign. Muazu vowed penultimate weekend that he won’t quit. He said the PDP should be tired by now of its impunity of using and dumping its chairmen. At the Dutse event yesterday, Aliyu, who expressed delight on the naming of streets after the ‘G7 Governors’, commended Lamido for his vision in terms of history.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

NEWS

Benue governor-elect roots for Akume

ENUE State Governorelect, Dr Samuel Ortom, yesterday appealed to the people of the state to intensity prayers for the emergence of Senator George Akume as President of the Senate. Addressing APC stakeholders at Akume's residence in Makurdi, Ortom said the former Benue governor has paid his dues, and has the leadership qualities to steer the affairs of the Senate positively. He said Benue stands to

benefit immensely should Akume become Senate President. Meanwhile, Akume's Media Assistant, Mrs. Beckie Orpin, has denied a report that her principal is not interested in the Senate Presidency. Mrs. Orpin described the report as totally false. Akume, according to her: "is eminently qualified to aspire to any position and he is still in contention for the position of the President of the Senate."

Jang administration leaving N18bn debt - commissioner

â&#x20AC;˘ Nigerian refugees returning from Republic of Niger at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) transit camp in Yobe.

Senate Presidency: Lawan gets backing of North-West, South-West, North-East

HERE were strong indications last night

that the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Alhaji Ahmad Lawan, can now bank on the support of three geopolitical zones in his bid to preside over the affairs of the Eighth Senate. It was also learnt yesterday that ex-Governor Bukola Saraki has emerged as the main rival to Lawan. Ex-Governor George Akume is also very much in the race. But the President of the Senate, Chief David Mark, and the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Senators mostly from the South-East, SouthSouth and North-Central may break the tie between the two leading candidates Lawan and Saraki -both of whom are now directing their campaign at Southeast and the Southsouth caucuses. Investigation revealed that Lawan has been endorsed by 12 Senators from the South-West, 20 from the North-East and about 18 from the North-West. It was gathered that the support for Lawan is being driven by political heavyweights in Yobe State, especially ex-Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Governor Ibrahim Gaidam. Apart from reaching out to North-East leaders, Bukar and Gaidam have started intense lobbying of NorthWest and South-West leaders within and beyond the All Progressives Congress (APC). A reliable source said: "Our leaders in the NorthEast have rallied round Sen. Ahmad Lawan for the Senate Presidency. As a matter of fact, we prefer to lead the Senate than the House of Representatives because of enhanced political leverage. "So far, we have secured the backing of a sizable number of Senators from the

â&#x20AC;˘Faces main opposition from Saraki, Akume FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation/ Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

North-East, North-West and South-West for Ahmad Lawan. "In fact, North-East leaders are already opening up talks with heavyweights like all the governors and political leaders in the NorthEast, North-West and SouthWest. "We are hopeful that Lawan may emerge the President of the eighth Senate." On his part, Sen. Bukar Abba Ibrahim said Lawan is eminently qualified for the office. Ibrahim, who heads the Senate Housing Committee, said Lawan's endorsement was made on behalf of the people and government of Yobe State. He added: "Lawan possesses the required qualities, character and the frame of mind to make a qualitative Senate President. He is energetic, hardworking and possessing progressive values. Gaidam, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Abdullahi Bego, urged "all senators-elect to consider Senator Lawan's experience, his goodwill, capacity and reach and, therefore, support him to be the next President of the Senate." It was also gathered that the President of the Senate, Chief David Mark and the PDP Senators mostly from the South-East, South-South and North-Central may break the tie between the two leading candidates (Lawan and Saraki). A highly-placed source in the PDP Caucus said: "I do not think we will be bound by the zoning arrangement of APC. Instead, we will vote on our Inauguration day according to our conscience,

what is good for democracy and the directive of our party. "We are certainly weighing options. You see, some of those aspiring for positions in the Senate and in the House of Representatives defected from our party to APC. "Their defection eventually led to the defeat of PDP. To some of us, it is pay-back time. We may not allow these people to have their cake and eat it. "A negligible few among us however feel that if a defector from PDP to APC becomes the Senate President, we will be recovering our mandate gradually ahead of 2019. "So, either way, all these aspirants in the National Assembly need us and we will play a "strategic role." Another source added: "Lawan is more or less a favourite of the President of the Senate, Chief David Mark. "So, you can see that even Lawan's candidacy might gain some weight in the PDP Caucus in the Senate if Mark endorses his anointed "favourite" whom he saddled with Public Accounts Committee. Mark will prefer to serve under Lawan in the Senate than Saraki. "There is no hiding place for Mark. He will be interested in his successor having built some legacies including the preservation of the maturity and unity of the Senate." In spite of the support base for Lawan, ex-Governor Bukola Saraki is still reaching out to political leaders and Emirs in the North on why the NorthCentral should retain the Senate Presidency slot. To pacify the North-East, it was learnt that Saraki's camp is considering the option of producing the

Speaker of the House of Representatives from the zone. A Senator-elect said: "I think the race is a straightforward one between Lawan and Saraki. The two candidates have dominated lobbying sessions in the last one and a half weeks. "Most leaders from the North seem to prefer Lawan because of 2019 factor. Realising that the North-East cannot be shoved aside, the Saraki camp is pushing for the concession of House Speakership to the zone. This is why Representative Yakubu Dogara's name is coming up. "Saraki is trying to use his Senate heritage (since his father was a former Senate Leader), political connections in the North, and leverage as a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). "Therefore, Saraki is no push over. Saraki has only two obstacles. These are his rich Yoruba heritage, which will not make the core north to accept his presidency as really a slot for the NorthCentral. "This same factor denied the late Senate Leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki the presidential ticket in 1978. It was the same reason the late Chief S.B. Awoniyi could not be either the National Chairman of PDP or a presidential candidate. This is the dilemma facing Yoruba in the North. "And if Saraki says he is a pure Fulani, most Senators will remind him that the President-elect is also a Fulani too. In the spirit of Federal Character, a Fulani cannot be president and be the President of the Senate. "Some governors are however flaunting the cosmopolitan credentials of Saraki to seek the Senate Presidency for him."

HE outgoing Jang Administration in Plateau State will be leaving a debt profile of N18billion for its successor, Information and Communication Commissioner, Abubakar Badu, has said. Badu told reporters in Jos that speculation that the state has a total debt of N200 billion was false. He revealed that the Jang administration inherited a debt of N80 billion in 2007 but was able to defray it in its first tenure. He added that government borrowed N48 billion to finance the execution of capital projects. Finance Commissioner, Davou Mang, who was with Badu, confirmed that government got a bond of N28.2 billion from the Capital Market ''in its efforts to put the state on a sound financial footing.''

The bond was used to service the state's rising debt profile because as he said bonds have a longer gestation period and come with low interest rate. He said that a net issue of N25.3 billion accrued to the state out of the total sum of xxxwas used in the bond and financing the loans obtained from commercial banks. He explained that the difference between both figures, amounting to N2.9 billion, went into sinking funds, which included professional fees and other service charges. His words: "From the N25.3 billion, Ecobank was paid N10 billion, Zenith Bank, N10 billion while FCMB was paid N5.3 billion. "The intention of the administration is to make the burden of the loan easier for the incoming administration,'' he stated.

xxxx

Wedding tragedy: Toddler, four others killed in crash

TODDLER and three others were killed in an accident along the Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu expressway yesterday. The accident, involving a Primera car marked Lagos LSD 770 BZ and a Space Wagon with registration no GGE CDO CQ, occurred at the Onipepeye stretch of the road. The victims were said to travelling to Sagamu in Remo local government area of Ogun State for a wedding. It was gathered that three

From: Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

persons died on the spot while two others died while being rushed to the hospital. It gathered further that ?the driver of the Primera car lost control, skidded off his lane and crashed into the Space Wagon coming in the opposite direction. No fewer than 10 others were injured and taken to hospital by the operatives of the state's men traffic management unit.

Glamour, glitz at Lagos carnival

ARIOUS groups representing diverse neighbourhoods, communities and selected associations put up a masterful display yesterday at the Tafawa Balewa Square during the 2015 Lagos Carnival. The contingents undertook processions through different routes like Bourdillon Road-Giwa BarracksFalomo RoundaboutAwolowo Road,-King George V RoadBamgbose -Campos SquareCatholic Mission Street to the Tafawa Balewa Square. The groups includeD, Lafiaji, Epetedo, Oko Faji, Locomotion, Obalende, IsaleEko, Ogba, Woro Group, Ikeja, Emerald, Surulere and Ilasamaja. Governor Raji Fashola(SAN) described the day as a great family day where all the children and parents can come out, dance, sing, display and have fun. He stressed that a nation

that has so many young people needs many more such activities to direct their energies to productive purposes. The governor hoped that participants have enjoyed themselves despite the postponement of the event owing to the just-concluded general elections. Being the last edition before handover, Fashola expressed optimism that the governor-elect, Akinwunmi Ambode, will keep the tradition going. While signing off, the governor said: "We have built a great team and it couldn't have happened without you, so for me, it is time to say thank you all very much, you have been wonderful over the years and it is also time to say bye- bye, God bless you." Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, was one of the dignitaries at the event that attracted tourists from within and outside the country.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

Additional relief materials for rescued Boko Haram victims From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

HE Chairman of the Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE), who also chairs the Special Committee on the Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Prof. Soji Adelaja, has ordered release of additional relief materials to over 1,000 women and children rescued from Sambisa forest, the former stronghold of Boko Haram terrorists. PINE Communications Officer, Odutayo Oluseyi, disclosed this in a statement yesterday. Adelaja issued the directive at the end of a meeting of the Special Committee on the Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) last week. While commending the committee for progress recorded, he said that the interim report will be submitted to the federal government very soon. He also indicated that the interim report would be only the first part of a strategic and comprehensive intervention plan for the economic redevelopment of the north-east, which will be submitted to the incoming administration through the proper channel. The distribution of relief materials, Adelaja said, will commence tomorrow. It will kick off with registration and distribution by NEMA and Red Cross at all host communities in Gombe, Taraba, Bauchi and IDPs camps in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states simultaneously. He said PINE has mapped a short, medium and long term plan to reposition the north east for a vibrant and robust economy.

NEWS

Jonathan’s portrait disappears in Kano offices T HE portrait of President Goodluck Jonathan is gradually disappearing in federal institutions, business centres and other public offices in Kano State. Constitutionally, Jonathan’s portrait should adorn public offices and institutions until his handover on May 29. But our correspondent observed that the portrait of President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, have taken over in many offices.

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

The development confirms many cannot wait for Jonathan to get out of office on May 29. As a result, the demand for the portrait of Buhari has soared with each going for as high as N1, 500 on many streets of Kano. It was gathered that manufacturers of the portraits have

run out of stock after making stupendous money. In one of the offices visited by our correspondent, Buhari’s portrait welcomes visitors at the reception. With Buhari spotting a red cap, a spectacle and a white male flowing gown, the portraits has an inscription: His Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), President Commander in

Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria. A café operator, who craved for anonymity, along Civic Centre Road where the portrait of the president-elect was conspicuously hanged on the wall, said: “Buhari has won the election and that was the change we were looking for and the change has eventually come. “So, we wouldn’t want to waste time delaying the time for his inauguration before we start hanging his portrait.”

• From left: Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger; Gov. Sule Lamido of Jigawa and Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Adamu, at the inauguration of township road named after the then G7 governors in Dutse yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Buhari will stamp out corruption, C & S leader assures T HE Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide is confident president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, will stamp out corruption upon assumption of office. Its Spiritual head, Rev. Samuel Abidoye, stated this while declaring open C & S 2015 Mount Horeb Ascension at the church’s Galilee camp along Ilorin-Ogbomoso expressway. He asked: “Is he the mes-

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

siah we are looking for? I do not know if Buhari is the messiah we are looking for but I am eager about the whole thing coming. “When I compare the two together , I see hope. The president-elect is a man of discipline and the pastor beside him, I can say that corruption

is gone, put it that way. You cannot stop corruption entirely. “Buhari was one of the people who introduced the War Against Indiscipline (WAI). I feel very comfortable that the government will do something very important.” He added: “The vicepresident-elect is one of the pastors from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). When you look at the action of Buhari in those days and add it to the incoming vice president, a pastor, one will be congratulating Nigeria in advance because I am certain, that God willing, Nigeria will soon see the change we are

looking for. “I want to congratulate Nigerians again for having them. I thank God a change of government has come. “It was our prayer. All Nigerians prayed with one voice. May God help them do what they are expected to do.” On what the incoming government should focus on, Abidoye said: “There are so many things he should do. We lack electricity, good roads; we have nothing at all presently. I call it woes of Nigeria.” He called for prayers for the incoming administration. “Everybody has to pray for them. Let all Nigerians pray for these people so that they would have success, if they fail, then only God knows what he will do,” he reiterated.

TUC partners firm over 100, 000 From Bukola Amusan and housing units Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

PRIVATE property firm in partnership with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has unveiled plans to develop about 100, 000 housing units for members nationwide. TUC’s president, Comrade Bala Kaigama, said the initiative will provide affordable housing for members of the union. He spoke during the inspection tour of the first cluster of 500 housing units of the project in Rock City Estate, Lugbe yesterday in Abuja. He said the project would be supported by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) while members of the public who subscribed to the National Housing Fund (NHF) could also benefit from the scheme. According to him: “The pro-

posed housing units include two and three- bedroom apartments, three and four bedroom terrace duplexes as well as four bedroom semi- detached duplex and five bedroom fully detached duplexes.” The Executive Director, Rock of Ages Properties Limited, Adike Chux stated that with about N1.7 million deposit, the United Workers Housing Scheme ýcould be made available to workers. He said subscribers could as well enjoy repayment period that lasts for about 30 years. Chux stated that private business owners, who do not subscribe to the NHF, can contribute 30-40 per cent equity and enjoy repayment between one to three years. The four hectares allocation is expected to be completed in 12 months.

Emir Sanusi visits El-Rufai •says Kaduna elected competent governor From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

HE Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, yeterday paid a congratulatory visit to Kaduna State Governor-elect, Malam Nasir El-Rufai. The Emir, who led Kano Emirate Council’s delegation after congratulating the governor-elect, said the people of Kaduna State have elected a competent and capable governor who will provide sound leadership. The traditional ruler also counselled Kaduna indigenes to, irrespective of religion, ethnicity and political inclinations, pray and support El-Rufai for peace and development. The Emir expressed confidence that El-Rufai will provide strong leadership, good governance and unite the diverse people and faith communities of Kaduna State. He further charged him to remain focused on responsive and dedicated leadership and never lose his connection to the people. The Emir, who recalled his decades of friendship with ElRufai, said that he is delighted “that Nigerians with such ability and experience are stepping forward to offer themselves for leadership.” Sanusi prayed that God would grant El-Rufai a successful tenure and bless the people of Kaduna State. Thanking the Emir for the visit, El-Rufai praised him for his prominent roles in helping to provide a positive redefinition of traditional leadership. The governor-elect said: “I promise the people of Kaduna that I will not disappoint them. I will govern with fear of Almighty God and will unite our diverse people towards attaining real development. “Our doors are open to all segments of our society. We will be a listening government and conscious of common good and to the glory of Almighty God. “I will not let our citizens down by the grace of God.”

Why govt should not manage hospitals, schools, by Obi

ORMER Anambra governor, Peter Obi, yesterday argued that government has no business in managing hospitals and schools. He spoke at the jubilee celebration of St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha where an ultra-modern School of Nursing and other projects were commissioned. Obi, who was eulogised as the architect of the projects, said he decided to partner with the Church in education and healthcare delivery because it was better at managing those institutions. Though he recognised the importance of government in running the institutions, the former governor said that governmental role should at best be supervisory. “I mean, look at the projects the hospital delivered in partnership with the Church. If it were entirely by the government, I am sure today they will be in variation stage,” Obi said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2014

NEWS

Ekiti APC alleges fraud in disbursement of MDGs cash

Oke-Ogun University implementation committee inaugurated

•Govt: We’re transparent From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado Ekiti

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has accused the Governor Ayo Fayose-led administration of fraud in the disbursement of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) scheme. The party in a statement on Saturday accused the state government of shortchanging the beneficiaries by doling out N30, 000 out instead of the N100, 000 they are entitled to. But in a swift reaction, the state government stated that it has been very transparent in the disbursement of the funds, stressing that it was not true that the beneficiaries are being shortchanged and paid in installments. The government accused the opposition of “intellectual laziness” and attempting to play politics with the CCT policy of the MGDs. The APC, which spoke through its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun accused the Fayose administration of greed, claiming that the Kayode Fayemi administration which secured the scheme for the beneficiaries, had told them that they would be entitled to N100, 000 each and not N30,000. The APC said: “If not because of our outcry in the media, the governor would have creamed off N70, 000 out of N100, 000 that MDGs paid to each of its Conditional Cash Transfer indigent beneficiaries of the scheme. That translates to N155.7 million, which would have accrued to the governor from the pockets of the poor people of Ekiti State. “The governor paid these hapless and poor beneficiaries just N30, 000 instead of N100, 000 approved by MDGs already lodged in bank opened by Ekiti State for direct payment to the beneficiaries. “Fayose did not know that former Governor Kayode Fayemi, who secured the scheme for Ekiti people, had already told the beneficiaries that they would be entitled to N100, 000 as exit fund of the scheme and so he decided to shortchange them. “When we raised the alarm and MDG officials read our press release, ýthey queried the governor and threatened to stop the scheme and blacklist Ekiti State. This forced the governor to quickly order the payment of another N30, 000 and immediately the beneficiaries started to receive payment alerts.” Denying the alleged fraud, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dipo Anisulowo, said a total of 2,250 beneficiaries of the MDGs CCT got N225 million with N30, 000 paid into their wallet accounts on Wednesday, another N30, 000 paid into their accounts on Thursday, another N30, 000 paid on Friday, while the balance of N100, 000 will be paid on Monday. “The E-Wallet Platform designed for the scheme by EcoBank can only accommodate payment of N30, 000 per day. The N100, 000 will enable each of the beneficiaries to invest in Agricrelated business as part of the Poverty Reduction Accelerator Investment (PRAI).” Anisulowo, who oversees the MDGs Office in the state, urged the 2,250 beneficiaries to activate their phones to enable them receive payment alerts.

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (3rd left), groom’s father and music maestro, Commander Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi (2nd left), groom’s mother and Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief (Mrs.) Alaba Lawson (left), bride’s mother, Mrs. Modupe Siyanbola (right), groom, Oreoluwa Obey-Fabiyi (3rd right) and bride,Titilayo (2nd right), during the wedding of Oreoluwa and Titilayo held at Arch Bishop Vining Cathedral, Ikeja, Lagos State...yesterday.

Ondo may produce new NDDC MD, as APC holds talks on appointments

HE National Leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is reportedly holding crucial talks on which of the states in the Niger Delta region should produce principal officers in the incoming Governing Council of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The key positions seriously in contention include the Managing Director, Executive Director, Projects (EDP) and Executive Director, Finance and Administration (EDFA), and representatives from each member state. The leadership of the party, according to sources, has however reached a consensus that the seats of the principal officers be shared among the three geo-political zones that make up the member states. A chieftain of the party who spoke in confidence said the position of the MD has been zoned to Ondo State to represent the South West geopolitical zone, while Edo and Imo states have been asked to nominate candi-

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

dates for the positions of EDP and EDFA of the commission representing South-South and South East geo-political zones respectively. Delta State will tentatively produce the next Chairman of the board, The Nation further learnt. Explaining the rationale for the choice of Ondo State to produce the new MD of NDDC, a source said the state, which is currently rated number five among the oil producing states, has never produced a candidate for the top three management members of the governing board, while the first four states comprising of Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa States have concurrently produced candidates for the positions. The source said, “The appointment of the Managing Director and the two Executive Directors who are also members of the governing board of the NDDC as stated in Section 2 Paragraph I, G and H, seems to have

raised dust on which of the states is to produce the next Managing Director of the Commission. “Section 12 paragraph 1 of the NDDC Act 2000 states that there shall be for the Commission a Managing Director and two Executive Directors, who shall be indigenes of the oil-producing areas starting with the memberstates of the commission with the highest quantum of oil and the appointment shall rotate among member states in the order of their oil quantum.” Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa States who are often referred to as the “Big four” among the oil producing states, have repeatedly produced the Managing Director, EDP and EDFA of the commission while Ondo, Edo and others have not tasted any of the juicy positions since the inception of the commission 15 years ago. Statistics showed that the first Managing Director of the Commission came from Delta State, while Bayelsa and Akwa ibom

produced the EDFA and EDP respectively. During the term of the second board, following the resignation of Emmanuel Aguariavwodo from Delta State, Timi Alaibe from Bayelsa State became the substantive Managing Director of the board having earlier served on the Board as EDFA, while Delta produced the EDFA with the EDP position filled by Rivers State. In the third and fourth governing boards of the Commission, the statistics further revealed that Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers States produced the Managing Director, EDFA and EDP at the detriment of Ondo, Edo and other states. APC spokesman in the state, Abayomi Adesanya said the state deserved the Managing Director’s position of the commission going by the rotational arrangement and the massive support the party enjoyed from the people of the state during the presidential election.

UCH doctors’ strike: Demands not included in the budget, says CMD

HE Chief Medical Director (CMD), University College Hospital (UCH), Prof. Temitope Alonge, has insisted that the skipping allowance being demanded by the striking resident doctors of the hospital was not included in the 2014 budget. Only the National Salary and Wages Commissioný (NSWC), he says, can address the issue. The CMD, who stated this over the weekend while commissioning a new mobile blood bank in the hospital, also denied that hospital has doctors with casual status in its employ. Alonge said that some of the issues raised by the striking doctors were internal matters which had been resolved, adding that the issue of salaries and wages that are due to

HE Chairman, Committee on Works and Infrastructure of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Olowo, has said the Bill for the establishment of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (PWC) would ensure accountability when passed into law. At a public hearing on the Bill at the weekend, Olowo said the Bill is meant to replace the 2003 Law, which backed the establishment of the Lagos State Works

•Its untrue, CMD should be blamed, says ARD President From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

workers is not the prerogative of the ministries. He said: “Funding for the hospital is coming directly from the Federal Government and when you prepare the budget, it captures specific part of personnel cost, but the issue of skipping does not exist in the calender of the Federal Ministry of Health. “When we had a meeting with the resident doctors on Monday and we explained to them that the budget of 2014 which was approved in 2015 only has the issue of the correction of anomalies of core duties called relativity, the issue of Skipping was not captured. It is the prerogative of the National

Salary and Wages Commission. Also, the issue of employment is resident in the Head of Service and what the resident doctors presented to us was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). “A letter is just intent and does not carry much weight as an MOU. The next one is a circular, which is something that has been agreed upon and has received the backing of government. What we got from the resident doctors was an MOU and not a circular from the commission. But in a swift reaction, the President of the Resident Doctors, Dr. Lukman Ogunjimi, ýdescribed the claim of the CMD as untrue, stressing that it was a circular that was issued by the

Head of Service of the Federation which he has seen. Ogunjimi said at their last meeting with the CMD, the association showed him a circular and not a MOU in the presence of eminent scholars in the profession. “We showed him a circular from the Head of Service of the federation and Ministry of Health, before we now showed him a MOU that was signed by the Delta State Governor, ýSecretary to the Government of the Federation, Chairman, Salaries and Wages Commission, the Director of Budget, the Chairman, House Committee on Health. “It is sad, worrisome and pathetic that the CMD can describe our claims as untrue.“

‘PWC law will ensure accountability’ of how money comes in and how By Oziegbe Okoeki

Management Board. According to him, there was a need to have a Bill to take care of the corporation and give it a Governing Board through which funds would get to the corporation, in addition to receiving donations from members of the public and private organisations. He noted, “We don’t want the

corporation to be like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Our own gifts and donations would be accounted for, and we need to have a board that would take care of the funds for accountability and transparency purposes. “We also want to have a Secretary for the board. The Bill would allow for efficiency and accountability. It would take care

it is spent. The corporation is an agency of the government funded by government’s money and their income and expenditure would be open to members of the public.” Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of PWC, Mr. Gbenga Akintola, disclosed that the new Bill, when passed into law, would enhance good governance.

S part of efforts to accelerate the socio-economic and educational development of Oke-Ogun axis of Oyo State, eminent personalities in the zone over the weekend gathered at the Iseyin Township Hall to inaugurate the implementation Committee of the proposed OkeOgun University. The inauguration, which was spearheaded by Oke-Ogun Development Council (ODC), featured various speakers who contended that the creation of the university was long overdue. In his speech at the occasion, acting President of ODC, Mr. Oladoja Oladele, lamented that various efforts in the past to have a university sited in Oke-Ogun had proved abortive, adding that indigenes of the area made sacrifices to have the then Oyo State University of Technology (now Ladoke Akintola University of Technology) sited in Oke-Ogun. He said: “Money was contributed and appeals made for the university to be in Saki, headquarters of the then Ifedapo local government. We recall with sadness, that the decision to take the university to Ogbomoso was taken due to high level political maneuvering in less than 72 hours to the announcement of its location.” The ODU chairman, who stated that educational facilities were lacking in Oke-Ogun, equally lamented that efforts made to have the Oyo State Technical University located in OkeOgun did not yield fruitful result. He disclosed that the implementation committee, which comprises of seasoned academics, administrators and professionals in various fields, would work on the conditions laid down by the National Universities Commission (NUC), adding that “establishing and running a University are highly technical and requires a lot of administrative acumen.” He charged the committee members who, he said, were answerable to ODC to serve with absolute commitment. In his address, the deputy governor of Oyo State, Otunba Moses Alake Adeyemo lauded ODC for taking the bull by the horn to ensure the establishment of the University. The deputy governor pledged to work for the early take off of the university.

Don urges FRSC to consolidate on achievements From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

HE Dean, College of Information and Communication in Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Dr. Ganiyu Alarape Balogun, has urged the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to consolidate on its past achievements. Speaking as a guest lecturer at the Osun State Sector Command’s 2015 Quarter Retreat held in Gbongan, the university don said the Commission has justified its 28 years of existence. The organisation, he added, has also gained the respect of members of public in its efforts to reduce accidents on the roads.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

•President-elect Muhammadu Buhari meeting with APC governors last week

‘Nigeria jaga, jaga, poor man, dey suffer, suffer…’

HEN Nigeria's famous hip hop sensation, Eedris Abdulkareem, born Eedris Turayo Abdulkareem Ajenifuja, in 2004, waxed the above lyrics, he was made the butt of derisive jokes and roundly condemned by government apologists, many of who believed he was buoyed by selfish reasons rather than by patriotic fervour. But when you fast forward to 2015, the import of what Eedris Abdulkareem sang about remains a sad reality still: Nigeria's economy is in the doldrums. Put more succinctly, Nigeria is dead broke! But how? Why? What happened? A penny for your thought: after constant self-denial that Nigeria's economy was in good standing, albeit, financially, those vested with the responsibility of managing the nation's common wealth have since recanted. Finally, the chicken has come home to roost and the jury is out: there is no money left in the treasure. Truth be told, all the assurances of the past years, it does appear, were all false claims after all. REALITY BITE Peeved by the gloomy reality that stares them on the face, the APC governors had last Tuesday met with President-elect, MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari (retd) at the Defence House, Abuja, to express their displeasure over the parlous state of the economy. The governors cried out that most state governments had gone bankrupt and, therefore, cannot pay workers' salaries. According to them, it was obvious that they were going to inherit huge debts which may delay speedy progress in their respective states. They were, however, silent on APC states like Lagos, Edo and Osun, which are currently the most indebted in the country. Addressing journalists after their indoor meeting with Buhari, chairman of APC governors, Chief Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, said the outgoing government had ruined the economy. According to him, the fact that the federal government has not paid April salaries was an indication that the economy was not healthy. "One of the issues that became of concern to all of us is the state of the Nigerian economy which is really in bad shape. We have come to

COUNTDOWN TO MAY 29

Inheriting an empty treasury Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Tuesday literally opened a Pandora's Box when they admitted to President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari that the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP had milked the economy dry, a development, which set off a chain of reactions. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in this report examines the issues notify the incoming president of the challenges ahead of him," Okorocha said. Pressed further, he said: "As it stands, most states of the federation have not been able to pay salaries and even the federal government has not paid April salary and that is very worrisome. "By May and June, the salary will be in cumulative of three months. With the huge expectation from Nigerians and people who have voted us into power, we wonder. We are hoping that the president-elect will do whatever that is humanly possible to bring about a bailout not only in the states but the Federal Government, at least for people to get their salaries and turn around the economy." NIGERIA'S TROUBLING DEBT BURDEN As at December 31, 2014, Nigeria's debt burden was put at N11.24 trillion. After the Paris debts buy back, a lot of people expected that die down but that has not

been the case. In its 2014 Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), the nation also adopted a subsisting debt management strategy as captured in the approved Nigeria's Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS), for 2012-2015, which seeks to achieve an optimal mix in the debt portfolio of 60:40 for domestic and external debts respectively as against the current mix of 83:17 through a gradual substitution of relatively more expensive domestic borrowing with cheaper external financing. Thus, the 2014 DSA has already incorporated government's policy objective of reducing the overall cost of government borrowing at an acceptable level of risks. This may have informed the minister's statement of government's preference for approaching multilateral agencies. The objective of the 2014 DSA is to assess the country's capacity to finance its projects/

programmes and service its debt obligations, without undue large adjustments that may compromise its macroeconomic stability, overall growth and development. The growing concern over the country's debt overhang has been on the front burner for years, but often times, government officials have always argued that the nation's debt level has not gone out of a safe trajectory. However, the lid over this confidence margin, appears to be weakening and increasingly contested. A lecturer at the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Dr. Austin Nweze, pointed out a grave danger in accumulating excessive foreign debts as such would place undue burden on future generations, especially if the loans are not channeled into capital projects. Nweze, however, said that there is nothing wrong in borrowing provided the funds are well utilised or invested in the provision of infrastructure. According to him, the fall in oil prices has reduced revenue receipts, forcing the government to look for money to run the economy. Dr. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at Department of Economics, University of Lagos, said there is no way we are going to finance capital budget without borrowing. He said: "That is why the allocation to capital account or expenditure is very small unless the government says it not ready to invest or provide for the future then it's going to borrow. But how did we get to this sorry past? At this juncture a short anecdote would suffice: REMOTE CAUSE OF CASH CRUNCH Despite becoming the largest economy in Africa, the Nigeria economy faced major headwinds last year, from the substantial decline in international oil prices in the second half of the year to significant constraints to business activities in the north-eastern part of the country owing to the activities of insurgent and then the build-up to the 2015 elections. Thus the cash shortage caused by low oil prices have forced Nigeria to borrow heavily through the early part of 2015, with the government struggling to pay public workers the federal government admitted last Wednesday. "We have serious challenges. Things have been tough since the beginning of the year and they are likely to remain so till the end of the year," said Finance Minister Ngozi OkonjoIweala.

•Contd. on page 10

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

NEWS REVIEW

Nigeria: Running on empty â&#x20AC;˘Contd. from page 9

Despite been Africa's top economy and largest oil producer, Nigeria has been hammered by the 50 percent fall in oil prices, with crude sales accounting for more than 70 percent of government revenue. Okonjo-Iweala said the federal government had a projected borrowing allowance for 2015 of 882 billion naira ($4.4 billion/4 billion euros). But N473billion had already been used up to meet recurrent expenditures, including public worker salaries. "We have front-loaded the borrowing programme to manage the cash crunch in the economy," the minister told reporters. While Okonjo-Iweala said the severity of Nigeria's cash crunch requires daily management, the problem will certainly be off her desk in a few weeks time, as presidentelect Muhammadu Buhari will be sworn in on May 29 and may not likely retain any of the key ministers appointed by outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan. Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria was still projected to grow at 4.8 percent this year and was therefore "doing much better than many other oil producing countries," similarly hit by the collapse in crude prices. Before the headwinds in the oil market, the country set its benchmark crude price between 75 and 80 dollars, and was supposed to deposit excess revenue in a savings account. But even when crude was selling above $100 last year, the federal government struggled to build savings. The federal government had pauperised most states and made it impossible for them to pay the salaries of their workers by refusing to refund the huge funds they spent on federal projects. POINTS TO PONDER To Festus Keyamo, one of the sad reality of Jonathan's government is the brazen crude oil theft which became so legalised that there was now what is known as "Bayelsa diesel" in the market, a fall-out of the 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil valued at $60billion stolen in Nigeria, which is the equivalent of the daily crude oil production of Equatorial Guinea. Besides, he said, another case in point is the $20 billion missing oil funds which ought to have accrued to the Excess Crude Account

â&#x20AC;˘Okonjo-Iweala (ECA). "The crude oil benchmark for 2014 budget was $77.5, in which Nigeria made $33 per every barrel of oil, which amounted to about $24 billion in a year. But we recorded less than $6 billion in the ECA. So, the question is what happened to the remainder?" he queried. Sadly, Keyamo said, over N1 trillion was budgeted for defence in 2014 with little or no result to show for it. The Jonathan administration reportedly built a new banquet hall at the presidential villa to the tune of $100 million just as it bought a brand new private jet to add to the presidential fleet, much bigger than those of more endowed nations as well as most airlines across Africa. WAY FORWARD While attempting a prognosis of the

economic fundamentals in Nigeria, Razia Khan, Managing Director, Head, Africa Macro, Global Research, Standard Chartered Bank, United Kingdom, said, "In terms of future monetary policy, there isn't a great deal of new news at this point. The current monetary policy stance is considered to be sufficiently tight and this will continue." "Our sense is that this stance will be viewed positively by investors - many of whom will be looking to re-enter Nigerian markets postelection. However, we are only likely to see this happen in scale when investors themselves start to share the CBN's optimism on the stabilisation of the Nigerian naira." Prof. Jide Osuntokun, Pro-Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, in an article titled: 'Buhari: Sweat and tears', he

suggested a change in revenue mobilisation as a means to revamp the economy. "There has to be a change in revenue mobilisation, a situation in which Nigeria charges a VAT of seven percent while other African states are charging 18percent must change. We have to increase VAT to 18percent especially at a time when our income for oil has been reduced by 50percent." Otunba JK Randle, renowned financial expert while advising the incoming government on what economic template to adopt in terms of interest rate management, said: "You cannot isolate interest rate, you have to look at the entire picture. You have to look at the exchange rate, as well as the inflation rate and most importantly, the productivity rate. All of them have to be in alignment." On further devaluation if the naira, he said: "Devaluation of the naira is a function of supply and demand. Again, it is combination of two things namely: supply and demand." Continuing, he said: "There is element of confidence in other words, there is no panicbuying or speculative buying or round-tripping or what have you, you can establish a certain reasonable level of stability. What is happening now, volatility, which is being driven by equity factors. The reality is that you will be earning less and less. The price of oil has dropped considerably. They have not explored the non-oil sector sufficiently enough for whatever reason, is very instructive that." The duo of Mr. Walter Ahrey, a former Director of Strategy and Performance at the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Prof. Jonathan Aremu, renowned economist and professor of International Economic Relations at the Covenant University, hold the view and very strongly too that what better way to address the legion of economic woes bedeviling the nation is by taken decisive steps aimed at blocking all leakages and wastages in the system. Such measures, Ahrey and Aremu said would ensure an uptick in the economy sooner than later. A cross-section of analysts have also assured that the second half of the year is expected to offer some respite to the domestic economy as political uncertainties taper, the international oil prices gradually inch upward on the back of the expectations of output cuts by OPEC at its next meeting in June 2015.

'Block all leakages in the system' Mr. Walter Ahrey, a former Director of Strategy and Performance at the Central Bank of Nigeria, also served as the Deputy Coordinator for the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS2020). In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, he proffers useful tips on how the incoming government can turnaround the economy. Excerpts:

hat fiscal, monetary policy and economic policy tools would be preferred by the incoming government? Well, for me, it's common sense economics. If you are building revenue, the first thing to look at is your cost. You have to look at the areas of leakages and waste to be able to cut down the cost. Secondly, don't just have a budget with numbers alone. Our budget should be such that would be investment-oriented. We have to invest in the right infrastructure, build the right capacity and have the right institutions that would promote growth. The next thing is the diversification of your income. You must have diversification. We must have diversification with a sense of purpose. We should be able to invest in the real sector of the economy. We must be seen to be promoting business activity nationwide. There have to be concerted efforts towards building our revenue base. The best of investors are those in the bottom of the pyramid. To what extent should the incoming administration devalue the currency in its quest to increase government oil revenues and rebuild foreign currency reserves?

If we are doing devaluation now because of indiscipline, let's deal with that first. Just because you can just wish a change for devaluation of the naira is not good enough. To shore up the local currency, all hands must be deck. There is no magic about it. Good fiscal policy promotes discipline and effective budget implementation. It is not rocket science at all. Devaluation has to be based on the dynamics of the market. You have to wake up to the reality of what is causing it, you can't do it artificially. What happens presently is that we don't know the dynamics or what is the thing causing us to devalue the naira. We have to get that straightened out first of all. How to tackle the challenge of interest rate If all we are doing is artificially driving interest rate rather than managing inflation, that's not good enough. So for me, we need to know what those things driving these headwinds in the economy. The biggest challenge for me is the cost of doing business, poor infrastructure and wastefulness generally. So until that discipline comes and for me, you must make people work for every naira they get. All the monetary policy tools will not work without the necessary political will on the part of government. It would be as if you are dealing with the symptoms and not the cost of the problem in the first place. At the moment, government expenditure is way too high. There is low level of productivity, high risk, issue of poor credit administration. If the cost of doing business is humongous and it is further compounded with wrong tax and the investing public whether in the public or organised private sector is not productive, government borrows and allows others to borrow and there is default from both ends, things won't work. We must encourage a system where the organised private sector and the public institutions have the same kind of values,

â&#x20AC;˘Ahrey shared vision. That way, things can get better. Cost-cutting measures inevitable As I said on cutting cost, we must know how much is coming in and how much we have to spend. Government needs to be run like a private business. You can't have five people doing the work of one person. Is borrowing an option? The traditional sources of borrowing are the international and external government debts instruments. You can equally borrow from outside sources such as international organisations that provide such avenue. But I would advise that as a government, you only borrow for what is essential. If what we are borrowing is to produce and repay, then it is okay. If you borrow only so that you can meet your bloated way of living, then it doesn't make any economic sense. How much can you put to the price of comforts? You can't really quantify such.

If we must borrow, we must back it up with the ability to pay back. Of course, it is very easy for a government to borrow especially as a sovereign. As a sovereign, you are considered not to be broke. But such reassurance mustn't provide the leeway for you to go a borrowing because you may incur a lot of deficit at the end and that's not good for the economy. All revenue that comes to government must be efficiently utilised. Most successful countries live on taxes. You have your eye on your revenue, have your eyes on cost, tackle the over bloated civil service. There is no way you can have an efficient civil service or get the best as it is if you pay scant regard for meritocracy. Currently, nearly all our processes and policies are so crude. A lot of things need to be revolutionised with a desire to succeed ultimately. Need for new work template in the civil service Unlike in the organised private sector, work implementation is not purely performance-based in the civil service. In my considered view, if you have a performance-based service sector, have the right people for the right job in the right quantity and not that they just come and waste, that is the only way to achieve the desired efficiency in the system and if this percolates down, it is all well and good. To get a performance-based structure, it must start from the top. Now, we have a situation where even the president himself has a retinue of support people. It only happens in Nigeria. Such culture breeds a complacent and lazy system. Finally, to recap, we must have monetary and fiscal policy that work hand in glove. There must be accountability by all stakeholders in the payment system, in interest and exchange rate. People should be held accountable for making this happen. People should be held accountable for performance. If we are going to create a system that works, everybody should be held responsible for doing their job.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 SETTING MONETARY AGENDA

HANKS for your questions on this topic of setting monetary agenda for Buhari's administration. I will focus more on monetary policy and later touch briefly on its mixture with fiscal policy. If I get you right, you wanted to know how the incoming administration will engage its monetary policy to resolve the various problems the country is facing. It is quite some time I left the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). However, the main objectives of an effective monetary policy are still constant. They include the following: full employment, price stability, economic growth and balance of payments. Over the years, the CBN engages some instruments to determine the availability of credit and its flow; volume of money in circulation; cost of borrowing, (that is, the rate of interest); and general liquidity of the Nigerian economy. The instruments of monetary policy to achieve the above objectives are usually of two types: first, quantitative, general or indirect; and second, qualitative, selective or direct. Both instruments affect the level of aggregate demand through the supply of money, cost of money and availability of credit. Of the two types of instruments, the first category includes bank rate variations, open market operations and changing reserve requirements. The bank rate is the minimum lending rate of the central bank at which it rediscounts first class bills of exchange and government securities held by the commercial banks. When the central bank finds that inflationary pressures have started emerging within the economy, it raises the bank rate. Borrowing from the central bank becomes costly and commercial banks borrow less from it. The commercial banks, in turn, raise their lending rates to the business community and borrowers borrow less from the commercial banks. There is contraction of credit and prices are checked from rising further. On the contrary, when prices are depressed, the central bank lowers the bank rate. It is cheap to borrow from the central bank on the part of commercial banks. The latter also lower their lending rates. Businessmen are encouraged to borrow more. Investment is encouraged. Output, employment, income and demand start rising and the downward movement of prices is checked. Open market operations refer to sale and purchase of securities in the money market by the central bank. When prices are rising and there is need to control them, the central bank sells securities. The reserves of commercial banks are reduced and they are not in a position to lend more to the business community. Further investment is discouraged and the rise in prices is checked. Contrariwise, when recessionary forces start in the economy, the central bank buys securities. The reserves of commercial banks are raised. They lend more. Investment, output, employment, income and demand rise and fall in price is checked. Every bank is required by law to keep a certain percentage of its total deposits in the form of a reserve fund in its vaults and also a certain percentage with the central bank. When prices are rising, the central bank raises the reserve ratio. Banks are required to keep more with the central bank. Their reserves are reduced and they lend less. The volume of investment, output and employment are adversely affected. In the opposite case, when the reserve ratio is lowered, the reserves of commercial banks are raised. They lend more and the economic activity is favourably affected. The selective credit controls aim at controlling specific types of credit. They include changing margin requirements and regulation of consumer credit. They are used to influence specific types of credit for particular purposes. They usually take the form of changing margin requirements to control speculative activities within the economy. When there is brisk speculative activity in the economy or in particular sectors in certain commodities and prices start rising, the central bank raises the margin requirement on them. EFFECTING A SUCCESSFUL MONETARY POLICY Monetary policy in a relatively underdeveloped economy like Nigeria is expected to plays an important role in increasing the growth rate of the economy by influencing the cost and availability of credit, by controlling inflation and maintaining equilibrium the balance of payments. The incoming administration through the CBN should use monetary policy towards the following areas. To control inflationary pressures of the instruments of monetary policy, the open market operations are not as successful in controlling inflation in Nigeria because the bill market is fully developed. Banks still keep an elastic cash-

NEWS REVIEW

'Economic roadmap for in-coming government' Prof. Jonathan Aremu, renowned economist and professor of International Economic Relations at the Covenant University, began his working career in the Research Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1980 as an Assistant Economist, and rose through the ranks to become Acting Assistant Director of Research before he voluntarily retired in December 1992. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, Prof. Aremu gives useful suggestions on the fiscal, monetary policy and economic policy tools which may be required by the incoming government to respond to the prevailing macroeconomic pressures. Excerpts:

â&#x20AC;˘Aremu deposit ratio because the central bank's control over them is not totally complete. They are also reluctant to invest in government securities due to their relatively low interest rates. Moreover, instead of investing in government securities, they prefer to keep their reserves in liquid form such as foreign exchange and cash. The banks are also not in the habit of borrowing from the central bank. Monetary policy is an important instrument for achieving price stability as it brings a proper adjustment between the demand for and supply of money. An imbalance between the two will be reflected in the price level. A shortage of money supply will retard growth while an excess of it will lead to inflation. As the economy develops, the demand for money increases due to the gradual monetisation of the non-monetised sector, and the increase in agricultural and industrial production. These will lead to increase in the demand for transactions and speculative motives. So the monetary authority will have to raise the money supply more than proportionate to the demand for money in order to avoid inflation. To achieve balance of payment, as earlier said, monetary policy through the use of interest rate policy plays an important role in bridging the balance of payments deficit. Many developing countries like Nigeria today, have balance of payments difficulties to fulfil the planned targets of development. To establish infrastructure like power, irrigation, transport, etc. and directly

productive activities like iron and steel, chemicals, electrical, fertilisers, etc., we still have to import capital equipment, machinery, raw materials, spares and components thereby raising their import in spite of declining fortune from oil. This is the cause of our imbalance created between imports and exports which lead to disequilibrium in the balance in payments. Monetary policy can help in narrowing the balance of payments deficit through high rate of interest. A high interest rate attracts the inflow of foreign investments and helps in bridging the balance of payments gap. One of the objectives of monetary policy in developing countries is to create and develop banking and financial institutions in order to encourage, mobilise and channelise savings for capital formation. Such a policy will enhance financial inclusion by monetising the nonmonetised sector and encourage saving and investment for capital formation. It should also organise and develop money and capital markets across the country. These are essential for the success of a development oriented monetary policy which also includes debt management. DEBT MANAGEMENT Debt management is one of the important functions of monetary policy in an underdeveloped economy like ours. It aims at proper timing and issuing of government bonds, stabilising their prices and minimising the cost of servicing the public debt. The primary aim of debt management is to create conditions in which countries can finance development programmes and to control the money supply. But public

borrowing must be at cheap rates. Low interest rates raise the price of government bonds and make them more attractive to the public. They also keep the burden of the debt low. Thus an appropriate monetary policy, as outlined above, helps in controlling inflation, bridging balance of payments gap, encouraging capital formation and promoting economic growth. MIXING MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICIES Nigerian economy is currently facing extremely difficult times after having been hit by converging adverse developments, some due poor governance others due to declining fortune from oil revenue. In the past, the Nigerian economy has proven resilient in times when economic circumstances have suddenly changed. While the economy's flexibility is now being tested, an adequate policy response would help to revamp growth, enabling companies to expand investment and create new jobs. To this end, the domestic incoming administration should aim at quickly restoring the economy to balance and laying out the foundations for a sustainable recovery. This includes stabilising the exchange rate and inflation, and also implementing a decisive fiscal consolidation programme. MANAGING INFLATION Inflation had been high and volatile even before the recent problems resulting from the collapse of the oil price. Facing difficult challenges, including the management of the financial crisis and laying the foundations for a sustainable recovery, the monetary authority, under the in-coming administration, should consider the following among others earlier mentioned. We have to keep capital controls in place until they can be safely removed. Until then, monetary policy should continue to be mainly focused on exchange rate stability, which may limit the scope for further reductions in the interest rate. Besides, we must take measures to restore the credibility of the CBN. Best-practice policies should be adopted in terms of communication, independence, governance and monetary control. Even more importantly, the conduct of monetary policy should be decisive and the incoming government should respect the independence of the CBN. A suitably modified inflation-targeting framework can act as an effective nominal anchor for monetary policy and Naira should be allowed to be determined at the market rate without further subsidy. FALL IN OIL PRICES The collapse of the oil price and the consequent dwindling of economic activity in the country put public finances of the in a dire situation. An aggressive fiscal consolidation programme should be quickly implemented along the monetary policy recommended here. This will involve significant tax increases and spending cuts, with the latter playing an increasing role over time. Many of the tax cuts implemented over the boom years should be re-examined and possibly withdrawn. The tax system should be reformed over time in order to increase revenues in a growth friendly way by widening tax bases, imposing corrective taxes and closing loopholes. For instance, the number of goods and services exempt from the VAT should be reduced. There is also scope to better target tax allowances. To do that we have to halt all non-essential public infrastructure projects and impose a freeze, or even a cut, on nominal wages in the public sector. We also must adopt a new fiscal framework emphasising spending control and medium-term sustainability, by requiring public agencies to make up for any over expenditure in the following years and giving public-sector managers greater autonomy and accountability in deciding how to achieve their objectives. COST CONTROL Exorbitant remunerations of politicians/ administrators must be drastically slashed to reflect the reality of Nigerian economy. Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies must be pruned down. A time of crisis provides the opportunity for introducing politically difficult reforms (like removal of oil subsidy). Above all, there is scope to cut a number of inefficient programmes, starting with the unsustainable subsidies and similarly, the consolidation/harmonisation processes among state and local government authorities should be embarked upon.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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S one of my friends used to tell me, laughing with someone is not necessarily a sign of affection. So, no one should be deceived that President Goodluck Jonathan’s conceding defeat in the last presidential election necessarily translates to wishing Muhammadu Buhari well. Much as one agrees that there cannot be a vacuum in governance, some of the recent decisions and appointments made by the outgoing president give cause for concern. One of these is the removal of Mallam Habib Abubakar and his replacement with Sanusi Lamido Ado Bayero, the eldest son of the late Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, as managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Abdullahi was fired on April 29 via a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Dr Reuben Abati. No reasons were given for the removal. He is the second major government official to be removed, after the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, who was similarly fired last month, barely a few weeks to the end of the Jonathan administration on May 29. We also have the appointment of the former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Obi, who was elected governor on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2006, was reelected governor under the same platform, with the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu pleading passionately with the people of the state to honour him (Ojukwu) by reelecting Obi for a second term in 2010. Ojukwu’s wish was granted, but about three years after Ojukwu’s death, the governor began plotting his way to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He had played prominent roles in the government and was indeed a member of the president’s campaign team. His appointment as the SEC chairman could therefore be said to be the president’s way of showing appreciation to a friend in need. There were also new appointments at the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) where its executive secretary, Olufemi Thomas, was removed as executive secretary/ chief executive officer with immediate effect, and replaced with Olufemi Akingbade in acting capacity. The government was also said to be recruiting into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), when all the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, did was to accept responsibility for the deaths of about 14 applicants in the same recruitment exercise last year. Without doubt, most of these steps could rightly be described as booby traps for the incoming Buhari administration, as some observers had noted. Otherwise, why the haste in appointing these people these dying minutes of the government? Even where the appointments were made in good faith, it is difficult not to see bad blood in some of them. Take the sack of the NPA boss for example. Those who see it in bad faith say Abdullahi was removed because he did not open the NPA treasury to the ruling party for the elections and that if the president had been serious, he would have removed him a long time ago, given the series of complaints made against him, and not wait till after he failed to cooperate with the PDP chieftains in placing the authority’s funds at their disposal It would be difficult not to believe this theory, given that this is the style of the ruling government; you can commit

The baptism Buhari should expect He has to hit the ground running

• Buhari

murder in the government’s interest and get away with it! Again, those who think the sack and appointment at the ports authority were not done in the national interest wonder how Buhari would remove Ado Bayero without reaping enemies from Kano State in return. The NPA, we should not forget, is a money spinner. And just like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), its activities are shrouded in secrecy. Indeed, a chieftain of the PDP, Bode George, who was its chairman was in 2009 convicted for contract splitting and inflation, and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. Also, the NPA, NNPC, and some states including Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Lagos are regarded as honey pots that the ruling party must not lose, which was why the elections in some of these states, literally dripped with blood. So, it is understandable if President Jonathan appointed one of his own as NPA boss. It is also left for the incoming president to decide what to do about the appointment and others made in the dying minutes of this administration. But for me, the most deadly booby trap being set for the Buhari government is the fuel subsidy issue and availability of petroleum products in the country. Since most of the corruption we are complaining about are in the oil and gas sector, some of the players in the sector who are uncomfortable with the impending coming of Buhari are likely to want to play some pranks. Most of the time when we have had crises between oil marketers and the Federal Government, leading to fuel scarcity, the fuel queues began to thin the moment government released some fund to the marketers. Not so this time. One week after the government released N156billion of the N254billion it owes the marketers, normalcy is yet to return to the fuel stations. I smell a rat here. If I am right, what we may witness is a

Although one is not sure how many heads would still roll before President Jonathan leaves the stage on May 29, the fact is that Gen Buhari has to watch it, particularly his handling of fuel subsidy and fuel supply in the early days of his administration, to avoid a situation where the APC too would find itself not adequately prepared for its new role of ruling party

situation where the Buhari government may come on May 29, with long queues at the filling stations heralding its advent. The government may then be forced to take panicky measures before Nigerians start murmuring like the Israelites in the wilderness. In case we have forgotten, President Jonathan’s problems started with his removal of fuel subsidy barely seven months after assuming office. So, it won’t be a bad idea if the incoming government too starts having challenges with fuel matters on assumption of office. The only difference though is that while that of the president was self-inflicted, with his party having been in power from 1999 when we started this democratic dispensation, Buhari would be coming in as a brand new president from a different political party. The point I am making is that while the PDP had about 13 years (1999-2012 when we had the fuel subsidy riots) to do something about our refineries, it did nothing, making Nigeria the only crude oil producing nation that imports petroleum products. It is difficult for a party that has been in power for 16 years to suddenly relinquish that power only to wish its successor well. That the PDP is now like fish out of water is evident in the acrimony that has become the lot of the party since its defeat. The persistent calls for the removal of the party chairman and the entire Central Working Committee are enough pointers to the fact that the party is still trying to find its feet in its new role of opposition-in-waiting. If there is any proof about this, then check out the number of its members that have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) since the party’s loss in the elections. Although one is not sure how many heads would still roll before President Jonathan leaves the stage on May 29, the fact is that Gen Buhari has to watch it, particularly his handling of fuel subsidy and fuel supply in the early days of his administration, to avoid a situation where the APC too would find itself not adequately prepared for its new role of ruling party. It takes two to tango. So, it would have taken some of the fuel marketers and government officials to perpetrate the fraud in the oil sector. That is why the battle for sanity in the sector is not going to be between the government and its officials alone, but between the government as well as the greedy marketers. And since corruption will always fight back; no one should be deceived that it would be easy to get to the bottom of the subsidy scam. The government has to be systematic about this. More importantly, it has to be on the drawing board now, trying to ensure how there would be uninterrupted supply of petroleum products immediately after its swearing in, before the Fates with its enemies do contrive.

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Unpaid salaries

HE challenges ahead of the incoming General Muhammadu Buhari’s administration are indeed enormous, considering the poor state of the economy. Years of inept leadership at all levels have left the country’s economy in a bad shape and a lot has to be done by the Buhari administration to meet the very high expectations of the people looking up to it for real change and not endless transformation without real development. One of the urgent issues that have to be addressed is the irregular payment of workers at state and the federal levels which governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) drew attention to during a meeting with Buhari last week. Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, who led his counterparts to the meeting, confirmed that most states of the federation have not been able to pay salaries and even claimed that federal workers are being owed April salaries. Some states are owing as much as four months in a country where even those who are paid are barely able to meet their various obligations. The claim that federal workers are also being owed salaries have, however, been denied, though the Finance Minister, Ngozi OkonjoIweala, confirmed that the federal government borrowed N473bn to pay salaries and overhead cost in four months. To solve the cash crunch problem and meet the expectations of voters, the APC governors urged the president- elect to consider providing a bailout out of the situation. Much as I am not opposed to a bailout if it is possible and can be accommodated under the federal expenditure, it is necessary to be sure of the real cause of the inability of the states to pay their workers. Contrary to claims by the states that poor management of the economy and dwindling federal allocations have denied them needed funds for recurrent expenditure like salaries, Okonjo- Iweala insists that the states should be blamed for their predicament. According to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, “The 50 per cent drop in revenues simply means that salaries should be prioritised. The federal government should not be blamed for avoidable mistakes made at the state level.” The implication of Okonjo- Iweala’s refutal is that if the affected states have managed their limited resources better and prioritised payment of salaries, they would not have had backlog of unpaid salaries. To the extent that not all states are owing their workers’ salaries, Okonjo-Iweala’s defence cannot be totally dismissed. The dwindling federal allocation affects all states. If some states are able to pay, others should not have any excuse not to pay. While not all states can generate additional revenue from other sources, state governments can definitely manage their resources better. They need to cut down on excessive spending on projects and activities. State governors should be more concerned about the development of their states and the welfare of the people instead of funding their personal projects. How can some of the state governors owing their staff justify the huge amount spent on reelection campaigns and bagging of ‘worthless’ awards for the work they have not done? Unless state governments check corrupt practices, eliminate wasteful spending, improve on internal revenue generation and accept the reality that federal allocations may not increase soon, bailout by the federal government may not solve their problem. They must come up with a perfect formula for ensuring regular payment of workers, irrespective of the revenue available to them. There cannot be any acceptable reason for non-payment of workers’ salaries, majority of whom have no other sources of income. If the number of staff has become bloated over the years, there should be a gradual layoff of unproductive staff. The level of redundancy in government service is very high and should be checked with policies that promote efficiency.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

COMMENT

Implications of change manifesto (4) Jailing corrupt people after due judicial process is one effective way to fight corruption; borrowing from the tradition of shaming persons who misbehave is another

RESIDENT-elect Buhari recently promised Nigerians that he is set to kill corruption before corruption kills Nigeria. People at home and abroad put credence in his words on account of his moral cleanliness, probity in public life and austerity in private life. Buhari has already started to demonstrate his no-nonsense approach to governance; he recently ordered his aides to desist from the flaunting of power for which people in public office are known: pushing other vehicles off the road to give political office holders a right of way they do not have. From a short field research before the presidential election, I interviewed some regular Nigerians that can be referred to as folks in the technical sense of the word, asking them why they would vote for General Buhari. The answer I got seven out of ten times was “Because we know he would fight corruption, even if he did nothing else.” While going through my files for the fourth piece on Implications of Change Manifesto, I came across an article that appeared in this paper about four years ago, shortly after President Jonathan assumed power after winning the 2011 presidential election. This was after President Jonathan’s assurance during his visit to Washington to fight corruption as part of his Transformation Agenda. At that time, just like now, transformation was viewed by many as change. I have chosen to take the liberty to re-present the article, at a time that the nation is also full of expectation and hope about the imperative of fighting corruption. Despite the fact that President Jonathan had little space for fighting corruption in his Transformation Agenda, I am taking the liberty to re-present the article in today’s column, as part of the avalanche of suggestions to General Buhari on how to deal with the hydraheaded monster that corruption has become in our country. Our new president is certainly aware that the culture of corruption in the country he has recently accepted to lead or govern is the primary source of the embarrassment that Nigerians face outside Nigeria daily, the reason for the stigmatisation of the coun-

try (and the perpetual call for re-branding the nation by our ministers), and the deepening of poverty in the country. I believe Mr. Jonathan was confronted with some hard facts about Nigeria’s oversize corruption during his visit to Washington. It was during his visit that a CIA revelation about Nigeria stated that Nigeria had lost more money to corruption than any other country on the continent. The report said that $89 billion was illegally removed from Nigeria’s treasury between 1970 and 2008. If international agencies are able to trace $89 billion to political and bureaucratic corruption in the 28 years under review, it will be safe to assume that four times this amount must have been stolen, with some taken out without being noticed while some is kept for use inside the country by those who are afraid to be caught exporting such stolen funds. It must have been Mr. Jonathan’s recognition of the magnitude of corruption, like the magnitude of darkness that covers the country every night, that he announced in Washington that he would fight corruption during his presidency. The country’s criminal justice system is unduly slow. There is some value to the slow wheel of justice in the country. It is usually better to err on the side of justice by being slow than to have a speedy adjudication system that puts an innocent person in jail. It must be because of the recognition of the slow criminal justice system that anti-corruption gurus are asking for establishment of special courts to handle cases of corruption. President Jonathan needs to respond to the challenge of fighting corruption in a country where everyone generally suspects the person in front or behind him of being corrupt. Too much of the nation’s funds that could have been used for providing good roads and adequate energy for development are being held by some of the few individuals that have had access to political and bureaucratic power in the country. There is

need for creative response to the mother of Nigeria’s problems. Preventing corruption is, like preventive medicine, likely to cost less than fighting corruption in the traditional way that we have done in the last few years. Most Nigerians would not be surprised if the money collected from those charged with corruption in the last few years does not justify the money invested in fighting this scourge. Using the present criminal justice system to prosecute the hordes of corrupt people in government and corporate governance may not be fast enough to bring many corrupt people to justice in their lifetime. More importantly, the existing mode of prosecuting and adjudicating cases of corruption may not assist the country to recover most of the stolen funds that are hidden in foreign countries or have been used to buy houses in Dubai, London, Washington, Pretoria, and even Accra by individuals that had taken money illegally from the nation’s treasury. The need to get money back from fraudulent politicians and civil servants to provide electricity, rail transportation, globally competitive education system, and life-saving health care makes it reasonable for the president to take another leap in the dark: offer amnesty to corrupt men and women who had stolen and taken out of the country so much of the nation’s funds meant for development. The EFCC and ICPC need to be reenergised through adequate funding, sincere commitment to the fight against corruption at all levels of government, and genuine cooperation with international graft-fighting institutions. With all these, it should not be hard for a re-invented EFCC to have accurate data on the places in which past fraudulent leaders have hidden and are still hiding the money they had stolen from Nigeria. It is with a list of such fraudsters in hand that the president should openly call on all past leaders that had stolen money to register for Corrup-

tion Amnesty. A deadline for registration should be set. The offer of amnesty must include allowing thousands of politicians and civil servants who had looted the treasury between 1960 and 2009 opportunity to buy freedom from prosecution by surrendering 80% of the money they had stolen. Like the Niger Delta amnesty, those who voluntarily surrender the required percentage of their loot should be free from any judicial stigmatisation while those who refuse should be made to face the court of speedy justice in special anti-corruption courts. Nigeria cannot afford to forget 400 billion dollars in the hands of looters and their descendants. Doing so can only fuel the cycle of corruption and impunity and deepen poverty. Even if corruption amnesty does not lead to total deterrence, it will clear the way for anti-corruption institutions to deal with fewer cases and to buy appropriate technology that can make preventive measures more efficient and effective. In his own case, President Buhari is not new to fighting corruption. He must have thought out his plan of action for his own war against corruption. Many voters (if not most) have shown that political and bureaucratic corruption is one of the reasons they voted for Buhari during his fourth shot at the presidency. Trying and punishing every corrupt political office holder or public servant is an onerous thing to do for a government that also has Boko Haram and mass unemployment to fight. Jailing corrupt people after due judicial process is one effective way to fight corruption; borrowing from the tradition of shaming persons who misbehave is another. Corruption Amnesty may bring back the culture of shame that has disappeared from public life in our country for decades. Both forms of intervention can deter future offenders. To attempt to jail all corrupt past politicians and civil servants will require enormous expenditure because corruption has been the core of governance for too long in the country. Amnesty is a variant of Plea bargaining that can bring shame to corrupt persons while bringing back much of stolen funds to the country.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

COMMENT

Another Igbinedion gets a tap on the wrist N3m fine for involvement in N25bn money laundering is laughable

AST week’s judgment by Justice A. M. Liman of the Federal High Court, Benin, sentencing Mr Michael Igbinedion, to a mere six years jail term, or N3 million, option of fine, for his involvement in a N25 billion money laundering charges rankles the ordinary mind. For us, and we guess many other lay people, the law surely works in mysterious ways. Indeed, the possibility of such a lowly punishment for such a serious crime, perhaps explains why for many, the law is referred to as ‘an ass’; and if we may add, probably available to be ridden by all manner of persons, as they desire. But, if that sentence is justifiable under the law, then the in-coming administration must post-haste, take steps to amend the law. That tap on the wrist punishment, meted out to Michael, the son of the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, and the brother of the former Governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion, was for his involvement in a fraud against the government of Edo State, during the reign of his brother. In the 81-count charge of money laundering, proffered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Michael and his aide, Patrick Eboigbodin, were charged with their four companies, Messrs Gava Corporation limited, Roming Nigeria limited, PML Securities Company limited and PML Nigeria limited. In the judgment, Patrick, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, without an option of fine, while PML Limited was to forfeit her assets to the Federal Government of Nigeria, and pay a fine of N250,000. Also, while Michael was found guilty on three counts, his aide was found guilty on 10 counts, out of the 81-count charges. In our lay view, the import of the judgment is that for

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his junior brother now, he also got out, on a dubious leeway of so-called plea-bargain. Again, like in the current instance, it was the common wealth of the people of Edo State that the two brothers, with proven itchy fingers, helped themselves to. But beyond the Igbinedion brothers, there are similar charges of corruption across the country which have languished in the courts for donkey years. Many of the governors who served with Governor Igbinedion between 1999 and 2007 were also charged with one corruption case or the other. Nearly eight years after the charges against his colleagues were filed in the courts, many of those cases are still battling with preliminary applications, while the main charges have been left in limbo. As if to confer the status of un-seriousness on our criminal justice system, many of those charged with the grievous crimes have brushed the cases aside, and have enthusiastically sought fresh positions of authority, even as their earlier misdemeanours languish in courts. Of course, as we have many times argued on this page, there is the need to re-jig our criminal justice system, if we hope to lay any claim to seriousness in the fight against corruption. As the in-coming president, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, has severally stated, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us. While some have suggested a special court to deal with corruption, others have proffered the designation of specific time, to deal with corrupt cases before a judge. Some have also suggested that our criminal procedure laws, particularly with respect to the law of evidence, be tinkered with. Luckily, the incoming vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, is a reformist lawyer, and so should gel with our anticorruption president, to fight the debilitating corruption that wants to kill the country.

LETTER

HE situation at the Lagos State University, LASU, certainly calls for urgent action among all stakeholders in the education sector. Things have gotten to such a level at LASU that one is tempted to suggest that Anezi Okoro probably had LASU in mind when he was writing his famous book: One Week One Trouble. No doubt, LASU, the academic institution that was established by the Lagos State Government, thirty -one years ago, to help nurture and produce new crop of future leaders, has been turned into an arena of the theater of the absurd. At the moment, whenever LASU is in the news, it is almost going to be for the wrong reasons. Sadly, the current state of affairs at the university sharply negates the dreams and aspirations of the institution’s founding fathers. Years ago, LASU used to be notorious for cultism activity which was then quite rampant among some of the students. Then, it was not unusual to see various cult groups engage in fierce and bloody gun duel; sometimes in broad daylight. Typically, this was usually followed by serious commotion, which often spread into the adjourning communities, with consequence disruption of socio-economic activities. At a time, things got so bad that an Armoured Personnel Tank, APC, had to be stationed permanently at the entrance of the institution with fierce looking armed security personnel constantly monitoring people and events around the school. When eventually cult ac-

the crime of laundering N25 billion naira, the principal accused person, Michael, would pay a mere N3 million for his freedom; even as the purse of Edo State and her people have lost the sum of N25 billion naira. What this judgment tells us is that those who have access to humongous state resources may easily feel encouraged to steal. Indeed, it may not be far-fetched to regard the judgment of Justice Liman as incentive to those with the predilection for crime to pursue it, knowing as Michael’s case may suggest, that the consequences are not that grave. We know that many Nigerians will see that judgment as a travesty of justice, and so there is the need for the EFCC to appeal against the sentencing, if not the whole judgment. Unfortunately, Michael Igbinedion’s judgment may not be much different from similar cases in the past, where for grand larceny many of our privileged class got away with little or no punishment. That perhaps explains why corruption, particularly the variety of looting public treasury, is very high in the country. Notably, just like his junior brother Michael, Lucky Igbinedion was also charged for grievous cases of corruption, and like

What is it about LASU? By Tayo Ogunbiyi

tivities subsided to a reasonable degree at LASU, the institution became bedeviled with students related crisis that are too numerous to be recalled. In1992, for instance, one of such crisis became so complicated that the institution had to be closed down for over two years. Till date, in the history of tertiary education in the country, no university has been shut down for that long on the consideration of students’ crisis. But that is LASU for you! It has suddenly become an institution that has developed a penchant for getting into the Guinness Book of Record for the wrong reasons. Indeed, some parents who could not bear the horror of watching their wards waste away for over twenty -four months had to devise alternative options to get their wards out of the messy LASU imbroglio. Ever since, student union activities have become so volatile at LASU that successive Vice-Chancellors have to devise ingenious means of dealing or coping with it. In some cases, it worked. In some other instances, it triggered off further troubles. Interestingly, the trouble with LASU is not only limited to students’ crisis. If LASU students are capricious, the vari-

ous unions at the institution are fiery lots. When they sneeze, LASU catches cold. One of the glorious eras of the institution, under the leadership of late Professor Jadesola Akande, was eventually marred by several acrimonious agitations by members of the institution’s chapter of Academic Staff Union, ASUU, Non Academic Staff Union, NASU, among others. On one occasion, the situation got to such a ridiculous peak that some agitating NASU members had to tear the dress of the then Registrar, Mrs. Jacinta, who had the misfortune of having to address the aggrieved NASU members, into shreds. The sorry episode became a tale that reverberated across the land. Many who could not hide their disgust at such a show of shame, coming from the ivory tower that is universally renowned for decency and civility, astonishingly asked in utter disbelief: “What is it about LASU?” That was over a decade ago. Years after the ugly Mrs. Jacinta’s theater of the absurd episode, LASU has continued to move along the ignoble path of unending crisis. Presently, all is not at ease at LASU as the various unions at the institution are at daggers drawn with the current Vice

Chancellor, Professor John Obafunwa, over several issues ranging from high handedness to non promotion of staff as at when due. A few weeks ago, in the characteristic LASU fashion of handling such rancorous matters, the Vice Chancellor and some of his principal officers were chased away from the school. The ASUU members that spearheaded the move are insisting that the embattled Vice Chancellor is no longer welcome at the institution. Till date, reports have it that the Vice Chancellor hasn’t stepped into the school since he was ingloriously chased away. Presently, LASU remains shut implying that academic activities are grounded. The way things stand; nobody knows how soon the institution is to be reopened. Once again, the hopes and aspirations of students at the institution hang in the balance. Worse hit are those in the final stretch of their academic endeavours. They are no longer sure of what the future holds for them. If the students are at present toeing a precarious path, their parents’ plight is no less pitiable. Some of them, who are training their wards under extremely excruciating economic condition, are already counting their

losses as the institution remains shut. On its part, the Lagos State Government has remained unwavering in its commitment to investing in infrastructure development at LASU. The LASU School of Transportation, first of its kind in Nigeria, which is a response to contemporary necessity, has been fully accredited by the Nigeria University Commission, NUC. Equally, the Students Arcade, Senate Building, Central Library, School of Transportation, Faculty of Law Auditorium, School of Management Sciences, LASU International School, among others, are part of the State Government’s sponsored capital projects at various stages of completion at the institution. It is, therefore, rather agonizing that it is at a time when the Lagos State Government is committing huge resources to usher in massive infrastructure development at LASU that the various unions at the institution with the school’s management have, once again, decided to turn the citadel of learning into a battle ground. Naturally, one would have envisaged that the current infrastructure development strides being spearheaded by the State Government would be a rallying point for all stakeholders at LASU to

give peace a chance for the sake of the survival of the institution. It is, however, not too late for the warring factions at LASU to sheath their swords for the sake of peace. Grandstanding on matters that could be settled amicably is unbecoming of an institution of learning of LASU’s status. It is, therefore, not too overdue for the promoters of this current imbroglio at LASU to toe the path of honour and peace. The Vice Chancellor needs to device a practical style of dealing with unfriendly union leaders and their cohorts. That is what management demands. Being unduly high handed, as he is being accused, would certainly leads LASU to nowhere. The various union leaders equally need to act responsibly. There should be a marked difference in how intellectuals and lesser intellectually endowed folks handle and react to contentious issues. Universally, peace is a vital precondition for development. Without peace, no meaningful development could take place in a chaotic atmosphere. According to Martin Luther King, “peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” It, therefore, behooves on all stakeholders in the LASU project to give peace a chance. This is the only way to fulfill the dreams of founding fathers of the institution. This is what LASU needs. Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

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COMMENT

In an era of change, Nigerians expect to see credible, measurable changes It is obviously not worth her oily concern that the Nigerian poor, who literally never get to see kerosene, are still made to part with N150 for a subsidised product expected to sell at N50 per litre

“T

HE Nigerian economy has continued to experience declining growth, increasing unemployment, galloping inflation, high incidence of poverty, worsening balance of payments, debilitating debt burden and increasing unsustainable fiscal deficits” Benjamin Dikki, Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, speaking on the theme, The Nigerian Reforms & Privatisation Policy, Processes, Gains, Challenges and Prospects, to members of the IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja. If there should be any official of the Goodluck Jonathan administration who could tell the world a more robust view of the state of the Nigerian economy, it should be none other than Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy. But what do we have? Unfortunately, Okonjo-Iweala would rather tell Nigerians such platitudes as: “We now have a Nigeria, which is the largest economy on the continent. … I also feel that with this strong base that we have, if we just keep steady, we will be able to exit, and the value of the naira will strengthen, because we have got the different sectors etc.” And you ask: keep steady at what? With Dikki’s down-to-earth views on the Nigerian economy, no time can be more opportune than the imminent inauguration of the Buhari administration to blow off the lies and stunts Nigerians have been fed with these past 16 years; especially in this current regime, be it in its lodestar Ministry of Agriculture, whether in its

glamourised ‘transformation’ in the railways which was hardly anything more than repainting old wagons or whether in a promised forensic audit into the NNPC cesspit which turned out to be a none audit. Any keen observer of the Nigerian economy, especially in the 16 years of a now haemorrhaging PDP, must have seen that it is nothing more than a kalokalo, generator economy, underpinned by a gripping renteer-sm that kept that largest ‘rally’ in Africa going. One such keen observer has been former U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, who, in his: Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink explored the country’s post colonial history, offering a nuanced explanation of the events and conditions that have severally propelled it to the edge. Central to his analysis are oil wealth, endemic corruption, and elite competition, all of which have combined to undermine her nascent democratic institutions as well as alienated its increasingly impoverished people. That last bit, the alienation, no, pauperisation, of the Nigerian people, more than anything, accounted for the ouster of President Jonathan whose tenure had been largely corruption-ridden and effete. As a result of the president’s listless approach to governance, all manner of crass opportunists carved out empires from which they rummaged on the Nigerian economy. Exmilitants, who most probably browbeat the president, became proud owners of multi-billion naira oil pipeline security contracts which recently saw total illiterates in pro-

fessional arms-handling, like the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) emerge one such beneficiary. The direct result of that was the unfortunate, fatal shooting of a young pregnant lawyer, Mrs Adebimpe Fajana, at Arepo, near Lagos, only this past week. However, none of these ‘empires’ would compare with the NNPC where all manner of cabals mushroomed, literally economically killing off Nigeria. On the first day of January, 2012, an ill-thought through removal of subsidy on petroleum products had led to an unprecedented mass protest which on being probed further, led to the exposure of a multi-billion dollar cabal oil subsidy fraudsters who were paid billions of dollars for petroleum products that were never delivered. Quite unsurprisingly, children of two former PDP Chairmen were named among them. But the mother of PDP’s inhumanity to the Nigerian poor, planned and executed under the watchful eyes of a complicit Goodluck Jonathan government, is the fleecing of poor, helpless Nigerians through the kerosene subsidy. This ungodly scam, responsibility for which must go directly to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Madueke, is a double jeopardy because just as it defrauds the Nigerian poor, who hardly ever gets kerosene to buy even at between N120 – 150, so does it cream off a monthly $100 Million from the Federation Account. The former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, testifying at the resumed Senate Investigative Public Hearing on un-remitted oil revenue

in Abuja,had told the panel that the $20 billion spent on subsidising kerosene, belonged to the Federation Account. Relying on data from the National Bureau of Statistics which confirmed that kerosene was not a subsidised product he also produced evidence to the effect that former President Yar’Adua, indeed, issued a presidential directive eliminating subsidy on kerosene, effective from July 2009. Speaking on the same issue at another occasion, Dakuku Peterside, Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), said: “In 2010, we spent N110, 068,533,988 to subsidise kerosene. In 2011, the government spent N324, 089,961,319 and N200bn in 2012. So, in three years, we spent a total of N634bn, subsidising kerosene. This is a third of what we spend in a year on capital budget.” In a statement that would be extremely difficult to surpass in its outright vacuousness, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources, claimed before a Senate Committee hearing, that the Jonathan government could not implement President Yar Adua’s order to remove subsidy from kerosene because, hear the kind mum: “it would be inflicting hardship on the citizens,” as if she did anything else in all her yeas in public service. As you read this, Nigerians are buying a litre of petrol, fixed by government at N87, at more than N150. It is obviously not worth her oily concern that the Nigerian poor, who literally never get to see kerosene, are still made to part with N150 for a subsidised product ex-

pected to sell at N50 per litre. In case it could still be of any help to Mrs Madueke on her way out, let me quote her the words of Beatrice Kelvin, a restaurateur: ‘‘the last time I bought kerosene, it was as if the commodity was going to be sold for the last time in Nigeria that day. Every space in the filling station was occupied by intending buyers. It was indeed a sight. Many people buy kerosene at a rate higher than N50 and I know that it is not also available.’’ President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, must see the above as only the tip of the ice-berg in the economic ruination President Jonathan would be handing over to him on May 29th. The entire Nigerian space is crawling with evidences of despoliation by a PDP that survived almost solely on corruption. Reacting to one of my articles recently, a reader from tel. no 080523631- - wrote: “My theory about the PDP being a criminal organisation is proven now. It is one thing for a party to harbour criminal elements, quite another for the party itself to be criminal like those mafias in Southern Europe. For better, for worse, it seems good now that that organisation has been dislodged from Abuja. In a society where nation building is taken seriously, it ought to be legally disbanded, criminalised and banned like the Nazi party.” That, Mr President-elect, is the picture of the ruined country you will be confronted with on May 29, 2015. Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see decisive and measurable changes from that date. And you can, the very minute President Jonathan bows out, promptly stop this scam which was put in place for the presidency’s ‘weeping boys’ and its other cronies, some of who practically owned the NNDC.

PDP and its overgrowth of weeds People are sick, hungry, poor, deprived, and they are all looking to the government to keep them from dying. The government is not expected to look the other way and live in obscene opulence, which is exactly what PDP did; “just shearing monies”. Indeed, by election time, the party had finished dealing with the Naira and had started on the dollar.

NYONE will tell you that farming is a very tedious but rewarding activity. Whenever I have bitten into a slice of bread, I have often given a thought to the farmer who started the whole process of how bread gets to my table. First, I imagine him putting his back to the soil to grow the wheat. Then he prays that the rain or snow would put their backs to their jobs and fall. Then, he applies all kinds of measures to make sure the new plant is not done in by any of those innumerable species of pests or, worse still, innumerable kinds of weeds. After watching the tantrums on TV of the erstwhile respected ex-Minister and PDP member, Elder Godsday Orubebe, at the recently concluded presidential elections in Nigeria, I leaned back in my chair and immediately thought, ‘Well, there goes my well worn definition of a baby’. You know a baby is that special breed of newly born twolegged creatures which has no sense or care of its whereabouts but has a keen sense of its wants. I was not surprised a few days later to find some unkind commentators on the social media had given him new names, including ‘Orubaby’. I had to readjust my definition of baby to read ‘… a special breed of two-legged creatures that may not necessarily be newborn.’ Since the PDP lost the presidential election in March and especially lately,

there has been a great deal of tear shedding, hair tearing and blame trading in public. The party obviously has taken to heart Shakespeare’s famous line, ‘The fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves ...’; so, it has taken to some kind of house cleaning. This means that there has been a rather large pile of mud being slung in different directions of PDP membership. In one corner is your unquiet A. Fayose and co vociferously accusing, and in another corner pants the beleaguered chairman of the party, Muazu, stoutly defending. While we are none the clearer for all these talk, talk, talk, all we are seeing are rather muddy faces. Dear reader, if you and I don’t talk now, some of that mud pie may reach yours and my corners because pies are notorious for splashing every which way. I think that rather than sling these mud pies in all directions, this party should borrow King Arthur’s Round Table, sheath their swords and get them some strong weed killers. That table is particularly useful because it usually has no head or tail, right way or wrong way, right person or wrong person. Everyone comes to it with an equal share of the blame, guilt, falsehood, truth, justice and blamelessness. Methinks the first thing these gladiators need to do is to be honest on who to apply the weed killers on; that is, if it is possible for them to be honest,

because one of the stereotypes of politicians anywhere is that, like lawyers, it is difficult to get any amount of truth from them. Please note that I did not say it is impossible because I have some lawyer friends and family whose truths I am at the moment digesting. Anyway, I believe it is difficult to say exactly what the PDP did wrong to have lost that presidential election. Perhaps, it is one single factor – e.g. underrating the power of the card reader; perhaps it is a combination of factors – e.g. underrating the power of the card reader and the near-suffocating suffering of the Nigerian public while PDP members and families smiled to the banks and overseas, I don’t know. What is clear is that the victory of the APC candidate in the presidential election did not happen because of luck. Let us see some more of the things PDP needs to apply its weed killers on. I think the party members might examine carefully again their public image, especially their advertisements in the media. There is nowhere in the world where any advert or party slogan that includes ‘PDP … Power!’ will not read like a page in the Book of Insults to any people. It not only smacks of arrogance (even more arrogant than someone declaring that PDP will rule for 60 years, until God told them in March, ‘Really?’), it clearly tells the people that all they are interested in is getting power, being in control, ruling and reigning without a purpose. It lacks that necessary pretentiousness to

humility. It lacks, you know, that ‘let us pretend that the real power belongs to the people and kowtow to them’ kind of attitude. In politics, as in religion, it is absolutely essential that you acknowledge yourself most unworthy. Then, prior to and during the elections, there just was too much frothing at the mouth from too many of PDP’s ‘young Turks’ who thought they were waging a psychological warfare without ever having seen a war. It got so bad at one point I thought, surely PDP is stricken with epilepsy and it does not even know it. From the mouth of young (surprisingly!) party members streamed forth bad, foul, irreverent, indecent, barbaric, and untoward language most unexpected in this age. Worse, they came mostly from the lips of front-line public figures: governors, ministers, senator hopefuls, and even the wife of the president, finally culminating in the public gabbling of our man mentioned above. The little I know about language is that even if you had no respect for your subject of discourse, you would at least consider the sensibility of your hearer, which will compel you to use a more decorous language. Believe me, it is very possible to insult someone in such elegant prose that even the victim of the abuse would be very pleased with you and give you a handshake. It is necessary for the PDP (and other parties too) to vet who interacts with the public on their behalf and learn to quickly distance themselves from the mouths of reckless speakers before that one

drowns him/herself and the party. Failure to do this will only signal to the public that the run-amok individual is speaking for himself and his party, and that the party hopes to win its election by adopting the ideology of abuse. From what I know, it appears that the PDP adopted an ideology of winning ‘by hook or crook’, ‘at all costs’, or ‘whatever it takes.’ These are no decent ideologies but gangsters’ style of operation. For instance, APC is commonly associated with the progressive ideology. This is why I do not understand why they are allowing just anyone to decamp and join them. On the other hand, I am hard put to say exactly what PDP stands for. This is why its members can decamp so easily to anywhere power seems to swing to. Above all, there is just no substitute for good governance. People are sick, hungry, poor, deprived, and they are all looking to the government to keep them from dying. The government is not expected to look the other way and live in obscene opulence, which is exactly what PDP did; “just shearing monies”. Indeed, by election time, the party had finished dealing with the Naira and had started on the dollar. Governance is about bringing out policies that would guarantee the people’s comfortable present and bright future. A credible government needs a good opposition to keep it on its toes. This country still needs the PDP, so the party needs to apply its weed killers now, because come election time, the people are entitled to their choice.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

COMMENT

(115) T

HE announcement this week that Nigeria has signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with Rosatom, a state-owned Russian multinational corporation that specializes in building, commissioning and maintaining nuclear energy plants around the world predictably generated considerable concern in Nigeria itself and in many other countries in Africa and the world. The announcement was made by no other person than the flamboyant Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), Dr. Franklin Erepamo Osaisai. It is no secret to Nigerians themselves and perhaps other denizens of planet earth that we are not exactly an advanced scientific and technological nation. Some would indeed argue that breakthroughs in science and technology being virtually nonexistent in our country, we are not even a developing scientific and technological nation. That fact, coupled with worldwide post-Chernobyl and postFukushima fears of horrific calamities that could happen in advanced scientific and technological nations when man-made or natural disasters cause nuclear power plants to malfunction has caused many people to tremble at the thought of building nuclear power plants in our country. Indeed, no less than half a dozen people have written me this past week urging me to please take up this issue in this week’s column. The case for not building any new nuclear power plants anywhere in our world is at the present time more powerful than it has been in decades. As a matter of fact, Germany has not only decided to put a stop to all plans to build new nuclear power plants, it has set itself the task of gradually decommissioning the existing plants. In France which has the highest number of these plants in Europe, there is an intense soul-searching debate on the frightening, unspeakable risks of the country’s overdependence on nuclear-generated electricity. And in post-Fukushima Japan, the promoters of nuclear power plants are losing out in the debate between them and the rest of the country who are asking for a phased-out decommissioning of the country’s nuclear plants. This is the broad international and global context for the extremely aggressive push by Rosatom to find customers for newly built and commissioned atomic power plants in Africa and the developing world. Apparently, Rosatom has found a willing partner in our own NAEC and its nuclearobsessed CEO, Dr. Osaisai. Dear reader, please find out as much as you can about both Rosatom and our own NAEC. I warn you in advance that you won’t find much in what they say and do to assure you that building and commissioning nuclear power plants in our country will be safe and is therefore desirable as the final answer to our perennially frustrating abiku/ogbanje generation and distribution of electricity. Everything about NAEC since its formation in 1976 indicates that its pursuit of nuclear-generated electricity in our country is nothing short of an absurd joke. If you visit the Commission’s website you will find that other than its CEO giving enthusiastic speeches around the world about the future of nuclear power plants in Nigeria and the African continent, there is virtually nothing on the ground to show as practical proof or

Building nuclear power plants in Nigeria:absurd joke and/or sublime terror?

•Nuclear power plant catastrophe - what capacities do we have to deal with such catastrophes?

demonstration of NAEC’s achievements. True enough, it has three socalled research centers, these being the Center for Energy Research and Training (CERT) Zaria; the Center for Energy Research Development (CERD), Ife; and the Nuclear Technology Center (NTC), Sheda. And it is also true that NAEC occasionally conducts what it calls 3-month Bridging Programmes (3MBP) that offer training in basic nuclear science and engineering for a few selected graduates of physical sciences and engineering from our universities. But these are all projects that are more real on paper than in real life against the background of the complete absence of nuclear technology in the economy of our country. In fact, so unreal is nuclear capacity of any appreciable scale in Nigeria that in the agreement that NAEC just signed with Rosatom, the Russian corporation will provide virtually everything in the process of building, commissioning, maintaining and possibly decommissioning nuclear power plants in our country. As a matter of fact, Rosatom will have majority shares in the ownership of the nuclear power plants that will be built under the agreement. Without wishing to stir any demagogic xenophobia in the reader, I would like to suggest that the perfect slogan for the signed agreement between NAEC and Rosatom ought to be “the Russians of Putin’s Dreams of Global Power Are Coming, They Are Coming”! I admit it. Apart from my total opposition to the building of any more nuclear power plants in Nigeria or any part of the African continent and the world, I also suspect that the agreement between NAEC and Rosatom is a scam and that no power plants will ever eventuate from the deal. In the first place, the first nuclear facility under the agreement will not

be built until the year 2025, ten years from now. The ostensible reason for this is the fact that it takes time to plan for and build nuclear power plants. But we know also that in the course of a decade, cost estimates will be continually revised upwards. Secondly, Rosatom will be responsible for finding and generating financing for the joint venture – making the deal not so much a “joint venture” but the monopoly of a state-owned Russian multinational corporation. Thus, there are things about the whole venture that make it highly dubious, much like the absurd and astronomical wastefulness of steel production in Nigeria which, by the way, was also partnered with state-owned Russian companies. In ending this piece, I must also admit that I am worried, deeply worried that against all my suspicions, it might just happen that thanks to our legendary complacency, Rosatom and NAEC might eventually foist a nuclear power plant on us in Nigeria. This essay is based on the premise and the wish that this should never happen without a debate, without a struggle that involves every community, every stakeholder in our country’s economic and technological future. Perhaps the ultimate question in this debate, compatriots, is this: would you allow a nuclear power plant to be built in your part of the country? Beyond this ultimate question, there is the more rational issue of the many alternatives to nucleargenerated power that we have not exploited with adequate management acumen. And if we have been so utterly incapable of managing much safer forms of power generation and distribution, what absurd logic is driving us to try nuclear power plants? Could you please respond to this question Dr. Franklin Erepamo Osaisai?

The calumny of Soyinka’s alleged diatribe against Igbos at Harvard: how lying morons are able to play on Nigerians’ worst divisive instincts First, a statement of fact: I was not only present at Soyinka’s lecture at Harvard on April 29, 2015 I was in fact the person that introduced him before his talk. Thus, I can attest to the fact that Soyinka did not say anything remotely close or similar to the vile and contemptible diatribe against Igbos that one unnamed reporter ascribed to him. Furthermore, I wish to assert the following things before I come to the more substantive section of this short piece. First of all, if Soyinka had said any such things about Igbos or any other ethnic group in our country, I would have walked out of the lecture and I am absolutely certain that dozens, scores of other people at the lecture would have done the same thing. Secondly, no writer or intellectual of Soyinka’s stature could and would have come to a place like Harvard to express the kind of hateful and despicable things that he was alleged to have said. True, Harvard has a past that contained a lot of racism, antiSemitism and discrimination against women and Native Americans. But from the about the mid-20th century on, the University has been a place that is extremely inhospitable to hate speeches of any kind, so much so that when Larry Summers, a former president of Harvard expressed arrogantly derogatory remarks about women in science, he lost his job. In other words, Harvard is not Ajegunle; it is not the kind of place that a writer of Soyinka’s stature and knowledge would have come to if he wanted to insult Ndigbo. And finally, as a public lecture, Soyinka’s talk was recorded and has gone into the archives of the University. It is therefore accessible to any researcher who presents valid credentials for access to the University’s ar-

chival holdings of recorded public lectures. I now come to the more crucial, the more disturbing part of this piece. To my mind, the unnamed person who ascribed those derisive anti-Igbo words to Soyinka – and in quotes, no less! – must him or herself be either a virulently anti-Igbo person or a moronic ethnic jingoist. Why did he or she not identify him or herself? Why hide in anonymity? Why could not this person see that the direct quotes she or he ascribed to Soyinka, in being so linguistically and grammatically crude, would not be credible to people aware that Soyinka is one of the greatest users of the English language in the world? This is the real issue in this carefully manufactured and orchestrated scandal: linguistic, grammatical, philosophical, moral and even simple factual veracity does not count one jot in the millennial internet. The originator of the calumny against Soyinka must have known this fundamental fact, perhaps subliminally, about the proliferation of inanities and imbecilities on the 21st century internet. For the simple fact is that unthinkingly, hordes of twitter and facebook users fell for the calumny against Soyinka, as improbable as it was and as easily disproved as it is. For me, perhaps the single most disturbing thing is the number of people who welcomed the diatribe ascribed to Soyinka, claiming to share the same sentiments about Igbos and defending Soyinka’s right to say openly what he presumably thinks about them in secret! The devil loves the company of good, beneficent souls! While the case of defenders of Igbo honor and dignity who rushed to condemn Soyinka was perhaps somewhat understandable, they also stand guilty of recklessness. In the face of such thoughtlessness, how are we to distinguish between genuine cases of condemnable Igbophobia like the ones expressed by the Oba of Lagos a few weeks ago during the run-up to the gubernatorial elections in Lagos from the entirely spurious and cynical case of this anonymous moron who ascribed to Soyinka palpably and demonstrably false allegations of hatred of Ndigbo? I end this piece on what I consider nothing short of a tragic irony. Soyinka’s lecture at Harvard on April 29, 2015 was quite easily one of the best lectures he had ever given on the political and past and future of our country. Please don’t take my word for this, those among the readers of this piece who can visit the archives at Harvard and see and hear for yourselves. Moreover as he had done in the past, Soyinka spoke with respect and barely hidden approval of MASSOB and its pursuit of the seemingly lost cause of Biafra. To a questioner, he even categorically reaffirmed the right of Biafra to have sought complete or con-federal selfdetermination. How ironic then that what has dominated the discussion of this superb lecture has been the inane and cynical calumny of one anonymous moron! Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

COMMENT

sms only: 08116759748

E-mail: festus.eriye@gmail.com Twitter: @EriyeFestus

PDP must earn right to criticise Buhari I

OVERHEARD a conversation between two men on a street that captures the magnitude of the burden inherited by President-elect Muhammadu Buhari. It went something like this: Mr. A: “Why e come be say now wey your man (Buhari) don win naim we dey suffer dis kain thing? No light, no petrol, no money… Na so una dey shout change, change … him don win now see wahala!” Mr. B: Haba! But Jonathan is still in charge, Buhari never take over now!” Mr. A: “Look … we no go gree o!” And their voices tapered off in the distance. In stunned silence I digested what I had just heard. The size of the challenge confronting the next administration is gargantuan, but it is compounded by so much ignorance on the part of a longsuffering population who now expect their newlyminted leader to brandish a wand and sweep their troubles away. If only this was wonderland! Buhari’s assignment is complicated by the bitterness factor. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was unprepared for the loss of the presidency. Party spokesman aptly described his organization as ‘traumatized’. Many in the ruling party still cannot reconcile themselves with what has just happened: they are handing over the reins to the man they disdained and they just can’t stop the habit of sniping at him. This is the campaign that never ended, and the attacks would continue whether or not they are reasonable or morally justified. That the PDP is in disarray after its calamitous electoral performance is to be expected. The scope of the debacle is such that the party which has been in power for an unbroken 16-year stretch would be would be psychologically damaged for a long time. Up North it has been virtually wiped out by Hurricane Buhari. In the South West it is standing on two shaky legs in Ondo and Ekiti. These outposts are bound to come under sustained pressure from the new governing party after May 29. In the South South and South East zones it faces an uncertain future. Electoral litigation and potential defections are bound to erode its holdings in these areas. In Abuja, national chairman Ahmadu Muazu and members of his National Working Committee (NWC) are exchanging brickbats with aides and associates of President Goodluck Jonathan over the defeat while crossing swords with governors who want them sacked. But no matter how bad things look for PDP at the moment, the worst is yet to come. In the next few months as the new government begins a forensic examination of the Jonathan years we should expect more embarrassing scandals to be unveiled as whistleblowers - long restrained by the fear of the outgoing government - begin to sing. The savage in-fighting that has already kicked off is not going to disappear just because a committee has been appointed to examine why the party did poorly at the polls. Peace will only come when one of the fac-

•Muazu

•Metuh

“Many in the ruling party still cannot reconcile themselves with what has just happened: they are handing over the reins to the man they disdained and they just can’t stop the habit of sniping at him. This is the campaign that never ended, and the attacks would continue whether or not they are reasonable or morally justified.” tions contending for the soul of the party prevails. Although there’s no unanimity as to the best way forward most members agree that PDP has to reinvent itself. But that isn’t going to happen until the party understands where it went wrong. The reactions of some of its leaders – from President Jonathan who’s already dreaming of PDP’s speedy return to power in 2019 to Muazu who’s been bragging about transforming into a vicious attack dog who will give the All Progressives Congress (APC) government nightmares – shows they still don’t get it. Their comments and those of their camp followers on the internet show that their understanding of their new opposition role ends with lobbing criticism and invective at every move of the incoming lot and their leader, Buhari. It was that sort of wooly-headed thinking that inspired the hate campaign strategy that backfired spectacularly of March 28 and April 11. The tactic or strategy a party in opposition adopts is usually shaped by the circumstance. There is the ‘reaction model’ involving relentless sniping and nitpicking. This means harassing your quarry over every little failing. It could be quite effective where the government in power is already unpopular, but it is very risky where certain lines are crossed. The other option is the ‘proactive model’ in which the opposition tries to take the initiative by proffering new and more attractive policies

than those set forth by the government of the day for dealing with challenges. This is mostly adopted where the incumbent regime retains a measure of popularity and credibility. In this case frontal attack doesn’t work because there’s not much to attack. APC adopted the relentless attack model, now the PDP lazily wants to follow that same tack without understanding why it worked. You don’t attack for attack sake. The power of a critic’s utterances comes from his credibility. When Buhari talks about fighting corruption there’s a ring of believability to his words because of his history. The same comments coming from some of our former heads of state immediately conjures images of very black pots calling the kettle names. Jonathan was roundly criticized because there was so much to criticize in his government. The flak hit home because it was supported by concrete evidence. If the opposition were hitting him over the head for corruption, they could point at several running scandals at every point in time. It was so bad that by the final year of his tenure the president had lost so much credibility locally and internationally. In trying to savage Buhari even before he’s sworn into office, the PDP is making a big mistake. The man still enjoys tremendous goodwill and this will not dissipate overnight; it will take him stumbling from disaster to disaster for that to happen. If anything PDP and its leaders should stay out of the way. As the

“One of Jonathan’s greatest undoing is that for much of his tenure he lived in denial and never leveled with the public about how bad things were. He preferred to tell the each audience what he felt they wanted to hear instead of the bitter truth.”

magnitude of the mess it created becomes evident they should be hiding their heads in shame and allow the new team clean up their mess. And truly Nigeria in 2015 is one massive mess. Every day the sheer scale of Boko Haram atrocities becomes evident. On the positive side the military has recorded successes in recent times. But it has struck me that all the efforts of the armies of Nigeria and three neighbouring countries have not been able to wipe out the sect. After each day’s fighting the military reports new heavy death tolls of the part of the militants. How did they manage to get this big? How did they manage to build such a mighty force of men under arms? What were the administrations in charge in the last decade doing while this monster grew? All of this occurred under PDP’s watch. Under the same party the nation has become bitterly polarized along ethnic and religious lines like never before in her history. The hatred between groups is frighteningly approaching the intensity of the precivil war period. That’s not all. The economy has been run aground. There is no electricity. Fuel queues have become a permanent feature of our landscape. We squander billions of naira on dubious subsidy payments every year. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that neither the Ministry of Finance nor the oil marketers can agree on what the numbers are. Unemployment has assumed the status of a plague. Under pressure from falling oil prices the naira now exchanges at an all-time low of well over N200 to the US dollar. The foreign reserves and Excess Crude Account are depleted. With one or two exceptions most states cannot pay monthly salaries and even the federal government had to borrow to meet its own wage obligations. This is the country that PDP would be handing to the next administration. The clean-up exercise that Buhari has been saddled is going to take a while to get to done. We’re not going to wake up on May 30 to discover that Nigeria has become Paradise. I believe that the president-elect has started going about his business in a very sound way. Some have tried to make his attempts at lowering expectations out to be an attempt to renege on campaign promises. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

Anybody who has bothered to read between the lines of his words in the past few weeks would notice he’s been clearly setting the style and tone of his government. In his comments on the first anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok girls he said the approach of his administration to resolving the issue would be founded on honesty. That required him to declare bluntly that there were no guarantees the girls would ever be found. One of Jonathan’s greatest undoing is that for much of his tenure he lived in denial and never leveled with the public about how bad things were. He preferred to tell the each audience what he felt they wanted to hear instead of the bitter truth. He glossed over the insurgency even when bombs were going off in Abuja – preferring the narrative that it was the work of APC and sundry enemies who were bent on unseating him. He and his wife didn’t initially accept that the Chibok abductions happened. Indeed some of his aides up till today insist that the incident was a politically-motivated stunt to embarrass the government. After he accepted that the incident did happen, he kept reassuring the country of their imminent return. At a point one of his defence chiefs even boasted of knowing where they were being held. More than a year after they are still not home. By promising what he could not deliver Jonathan did incalculable harm to his credibility. The result is he led his party to the electoral carnage we’ve just witnessed. Seamlessly the party responsible for our sorry state becomes the new opposition. It expects to get going in that role by deploying criticism. But the erstwhile ruling party lost the moral right to criticise by its criminal mismanagement of Nigeria. Indeed, it would be amusing watching PDP leaders moan about the state of the nation in the next one or two years. PDP must now earn the right to criticize those who govern the country. Introspection and planning were never its strong suit. But that more than anything is what is required in opposition. In 1999, the party’s first Minister for Power, Bola Ige, excitedly promised to deliver 24-hour electricity within six months. He didn’t wait to understand what the problem was. Sixteen years after his successors haven’t done better. The party needs to prove through concrete actions that it has repented of its old, discredited ways and can now be entrusted with power. It will not have the federal platform to showcase anything in the coming years. It would have to prove its competence using its few remaining outposts in the South-South, South-East and Gombe. APC did this successfully – that was why during the campaigns it could point to the achievements of its governors in Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Ogun, Oyo and elsewhere as examples of good governance it intended to replicate at federal level. Until it has something positive to show PDP and its discredited leaders must really stay out of the way of the cleaners.

LIFE

SUNDAY

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

Fresh from an adventure into the world of bankers, Medinat Kanabe uncovers the big problem of casualisation, and related issues currently bedevilling the industry, and how it is fast eroding the past glory of the once glamorous profession.

â&#x20AC;˘Continued on page 20

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

20 SUNDAY LIFE

•Continued from 19

•A cashier at work

“I worked for 14 years as a contract staff without any form of promotion, so I decided to leave. Now I can see that I made a good decision.”

•Salako

•Continued on page 21

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE 21

•Customers in a banking hall

“Some have been on these jobs for as long as ten years without promotion, but they prefer to remain there. And if they are sacked, you find them weeping, rather than rejoicing. During recruitment, you even see them fighting. Some of them even bribe to be recruited.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

22 SUNDAY LIFE

It's over one year since Toba Falode, son of ace sports broadcaster, Aisha Falode died in mysterious circumstance in far away Dubai, but the ripples have yet to go still, as his elder sister, Tolu prepares to lunch a book in his memory come May 19, his birthday. She spoke on the book and her relationship with her late brother with Gboyega Alaka.

•Falode

“My heart started palpitating and mind was racing. How would I tell Toba? How would I protect Toba? How was I going to get us through this? Because I immediately assumed it was my mother. I couldn't imagine that death would come so confidently into my home, without it being my mother.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE

Adebola Agunbiade, president and co-founder of Foga95, an association of old girls of Federal Government Girls College, Akure, 1995 Set speaks to Gboyega Alaka on the association's forthcoming 20th Anniversary celebration and why it's a must-attend for all alumni.

“I remember when we went to attend the wedding of the first person in our set that got married; it was really fun and nice. These days we look at the pictures in our old school iro and buba plus gele, have a hearty laugh and remember how far we have come.” •Agunbiade

By Tutu Audu

•The Remo Group, TRG33

•Continued on page 24

24 SUNDAY LIFE

Just back from a brief visit to Ghana, Folu Olamiti extols the beauty and organisation of the small West African country, but lamented the ugly epileptic power situation fast creeping in on it.

•Accra metropolis

•Continued from page 23

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

GLAMOUR

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

‘I'm humbled that everything I touch turns to gold’

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

GLAMOUR/OUT & ABOUT

OAU Alunmi honours ‘outstanding’ members By Tajudeen Adebanjo

•Chief Executive Officer, Credit Reference Company, Alhaji Ahmed Popoola (right), receiving award from National President, Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA) Prof AbdulWahab Egbewole

•Chairman on the occasion, Mr Yusuf Alli (SAN) (left), and Guest Speaker, former University of Ilorin Vice-Chancellor cum Secretary-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede

EMBERS of the Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA) from different states recently gathered at Lagoon Restaurant on Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island for a Public lecture/Luncheon. Organised by the UNIFEMGA Lagos Chapter, the event, eleventh of its kind, featured former University of Ilorin Vice-Chancellor cum Secretary-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Prof. Ishaq Oloyede as the Guest Speaker. Prof Oloyede spoke on Cultural Pluralism as a Challenge to the Effectiveness of University Education in Fostering the Culture of Dialogue and Understanding. The gathering also attracted members of the association and well wishers from far and near as well as Muslim personalities from all walks of life. Aside the lecture, the major high point of the event was award presentation to some members in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the growth of the association. National President of UNIFEMGA, Prof Abdulwahab Egbewole, underscored the significance of the lecture as a platform to “identify the critical areas of our national needs.” Prof. Egbewole said the association was formally established 15 years ago, saying “Before then, we had been functioning at different state levels but decided to come together as a national body 15 years ago.”

•Former Lagos Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Alhaja Wonuola Folami (right) receiving award from Arabel Chief Executive Officer Hajia Shareefah Andu

•Justice

Wale Abiru (right) and Chairman, UNIFEMGA Lagos Chapter, Alhaji Muhammad Busari

•From left: Prof Asif Folarin Ahmed of National Open University of Nigeria left: Mrs Adekumbi Bakare; Alhaja Muinat Yusuf and Hajia Safiyat (NOUN), UNIFEMGA Chairman, Board of Trustees, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti and Durodoye UNIFEMGA National President Prof Abdul Wahab Egbewole

•From

•District Governor Lions Club 404BZ Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu

Adediji (right) and Aree Lekan Sulaiman Owolabi

•Former Ogun State Deputy Chief of Staff, Alhaji Shuaib Salis (right) and Mr Aliu Badmus

• Chairman UNIFEMGA Abuja Chapter Alhaji AbdulGaniyu Oladokun (left) and Mr Hafiz Bakare.

PHOTOS: SOLOMON ADEOLA

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

To Whom It May Concern

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

THIS is to certify that the bearer, Endurance Wazobeah, completed a course in Economics and Conflict in Society at the University of Life between 2010 and 2014 and is, therefore, fit for employment. His Bachelor of Social Science (combined honours) degree is documented proof that he passed through the university and the university passed through him – the former to a greater degree, considering the meagre resources at the bearer’s disposal while in school. The rather unfortunate financial circumstance of Mr Wazobeah was no fault of his, we assure the prospective employer. A succession of wayward leaders since the country’s independence from the British should be held responsible, as should the former colonial masters in a more remote sense. Mr Wazobeah is certainly not to blame for the ‘mistake of 1914’ otherwise known as the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates by Sir Frederick Lord Lugard. Nor is he responsible for the bungling of the First Republic, the ensuing Civil War, successive military coups and scrapping of progressive regional governments, mismanagement of crude oil proceeds, crass corruption, introduction of austerity measures and the Structural Adjustment Policy, let alone consistent naira devaluation, mounting foreign debts, obscene cost of governance, militancy, terrorism, armed robbery, kidnapping, police brutality, intractable power failure, debt repayment instead of development, oil price tumble, and fuel subsidy removal. In addition, Mr Wazobeah would not touch with a long pole official economic policy relics in the mould of Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), Mass Mobilisation for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Economic and Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), Directorate of Food, Roads, and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI), National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), its state version and other ideals. Guided by policy somersault and erratic budget implementation, they lie in the graveyard of ideas. At any rate, Mr Wazobeah comes highly recommended, even if the same cannot be said for his estate, being in the mobile value of three weather-beaten shirts, two woebegone trousers and frayed underwear topped off by patched socks and a used pair of open-mouthed brogues. On a more positive note, he emerged top of his class, excelling in nearly all his courses and remaining a firm favourite of his sociology and economics teachers as they valued him as readily available reference material in case studies on the effect of endemic poverty. Blessed with prodigious amount of self-belief, Mr Wazobeah in turn contested the offices of class representative, hall representative and student union leader while on campus. And in turn he fell short of winning, being, as pointed out earlier, a man of lean resources (you know how these things work in the society). He lacks not leadership qualities, however, as he has demonstrated on more than one occasion the critical attribute of resilience backed by the experience of disappointment and a remarkable ability to take defeat on the chin. Mr Wazobeah counts among his strengths unremitting loyalty to benefactor, boss and brethren. He can also be counted upon to work his socks off – as physical evidence reflects – on assignments. You will find him easy to work with as his ambition of personal development and enduring relevance to organisational growth and the wider society’s economic emancipation should tally with any forward-looking set-up’s. You will also find him amenable to technical concepts following his resourceful adoption of the widely-acknowledged campus feeding formula: the 1-0-1, 0-1-1 or 1-1-0 and, in dire straits, 0-1-0 or any of the other two variants in the single-feed category. Suffice it to say that his conduct was satisfactory. Signed: Management The University of Life

QUOTE The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. —James Openheim

Jokes Humour Too Drunk A DRUNK stumbles through the front door of a bar and orders a drink. The barman says, “No way, guy, you’re too drunk.” A few minutes later, the drunk comes in though the bathroom. Again he slurs. “Give me a drink.” The barman says, “No, man, I told you last time, you’re too drunk.” Five minutes later the guy comes in though the back door and orders a drink. Again the barman says, “You’re too drunk.” The drunk scratches his head and says “I really must be. The last two places said the same thing.” Lady and the Bird WHILE walking down the street to work a lady saw a parrot on a perch in front of a pet store. The parrot said to her, “Hey lady, you are really ugly.” Furious, the lady stormed past the store to her work. On the way home she saw the same parrot and it said to her, “Hey lady, you are really ugly.” She was truly mad now.

The next day the same parrot again said to her, “Hey lady, you are really ugly.” The lady was so incensed that she went into the store and said that she would sue the store and kill the bird. The store manager apologised. “That’s not good,” he said and promised that his bird wouldn’t say it again. When the lady walked past the store that day after work the parrot called to her, “Hey lady.” She paused and said, “Yes?” The bird said, “You know.” Time Machine WHILE proudly showing off his new apartment to friends late one night, the old timer led the way to his bedroom where a big metal gong stood against the wall in one corner. “What’s that big metal gong for?” one of the guests asked. “Why, that’s the talking clock,” the man said with a toothy grin. “How does it work?” “Watch,” the old man said and gave the gong an ear-shattering pound with a hammer. Someone on the other side of the wall screamed. “You old fool! It’s 2 a.m. in the morning!” •Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain reat tips for writing: Every story has a beginning, middle and end. But unexpected voice can provide the most compelling, the secret to successfully getting a short story focused experience of the central story. Just be noticed is to add something special to your story, careful that you don’t unconsciously give the story something that captures the attention of editors to a supplementary character. Narrating the story and readers. The following are a few tips that will line through a character that is not central to the action is a common mistake many new authors help your writing stand out: Find a thrust. Explore your motivations, make, often with confusing or convoluted results. Opposites attract. Elements that work against determine what you want your story to do and stick to your core message. Considering that the your character’s central desire will keep the reader most marketable short stories tend to be around 3, intrigued and prevent your story from getting 000 words, you’ll need to make every sentence stuck. You can also try approaching your core idea count. If you burden your plot by including too from an unusual direction. Dialogue, setting, and many distractions, your story will feel overloaded characterisation are all areas that will benefit from an unexpected twist. and underdeveloped. The importance of a strong title. This can be Get a different view. Experiment with your short story point of view (POV). A unique, one of the most difficult – but one of the most important – parts of writing your story. How do you find inspiration for a great title? Have friends Exceptional matter: read your story and note which words or phrases •An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain. strike them or stand out. The excerpts they choose •As a general rule in the animal kingdom, just might hold the perfect title. As much as possible, the more complex or relatively big the eye in avoid one- or two-word titles, which may seem as relation to the body, then the smaller the rest taking the easy way out. of the brain. Shorter is better. When writing, resist the urge •A zebra is white with black stripes. to go on and on. With a shorter short story, you •A hummingbird weighs less than a penny. will have more markets available to you and a •An octupus has three hearts. better chance of getting published.

PAGE 31

MAY 10, 2015

• Gbajabiamila

• Jibrin

• Iriase

Who'll preside over the Green Chamber? • Monguno

• Famurewa

Pages 36-37

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

Politics of N

As the intrigues over the emergence of the leadership of the next National Assembly peaks this week, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo and Sunday Oguntola report on the politics of the National Assembly leadership since 1999

HE office of the Senate President is the third most important elective position in the country and as such, has always been a subject of interest among politicians and their political parties. Besides presiding over the upper chamber, the Senate President is the chairman of the National Assembly and the head of the legislative arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Given this reality, power brokers have always seen the occupation of that exulted office as vital in the power balancing act. This is why the politics of who would succeed the outgoing Senate President, David Mark, in the new government, and who would head National Assembly, has become a major political concern in today's Nigeria. The intrigues has reached its peak as interest groups and political stakeholders mount pressure on the powers that be to zone either the office of the Senate President or that of the Speaker to them or their people. Considering the traditional factors that had over the years helped to determine who presides over the legislature in the country and the unique realities of today's polity, where a major tripod, both the South-East and the South-South, did not have a single ranking senator that may be considered; it remains to be seen how the emerging riddle would be resolved. The traditional tripod At independence, the country's political system naturally rested on a tripod that evolved from the original three regional governments and the three largest tribes: Hausa/Fulani in the Northern Region; Igbo in the South Eastern Region and Yoruba in the South Western Region. Since then, notwithstanding the political developments that led to creation of states and change from regional government to federal system of government, the importance of the traditional tripod remained entrenched in the sharing of offices in Nigeria. So, after the long period of military dictatorship, upon the country's return to civil rule in 1999, the political class, across party lines, in an unwritten but generally accepted resolution opted to re-adopt the principle of zoning in determining which sections of the country should produce the leadership of the then troubled country. Consequently, the presidency was ceded to the South-West geo-political zone perhaps in a widely accepted position that the 'region' should somehow be palliated for its many losses to the June 12, 1993 crisis. So, with General Olusegun Obasanjo from the west and Atiku Abubakar from the North-East, emerging as President and Vice President respectively on May 29, 1999, the position of the Senate President was zoned to the South-East geo-political zone by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to complete the age-long "North-West-East" tripod on which the politics of the country had always rested. With the regional issue easily settled, the politics of who should occupy the position of Senate President was left to the political dynamics within the ruling party in the South-East zone. Eventually, Senator Evan Enwerem, who was elected to the Nigerian Senate in 1999 to represent the Imo-East Senatorial Zone became the first President of the Nigerian Senate during Nigeria's Fourth Republic. Enwerem beat his chief rival, Senator Chuba Okadigbo, from Anambra State, to the Senate presidency race on June 3, 1999. Enwerem's emergence was not without some intrigues. Obasanjo backed Enwerem for the position against Okadigbo. With the support of the Obasanjo's allies in the governing parties, plus supports from senators elected on the platform of the two opposition parties,

Enwerem defeated Okadigbo with 66 votes to Okadigbo's 43 votes in a keenly contested election. Enwerem did not hold the post of President of the Nigerian Senate for very long. As his problems started when there were discrepancies on his real name of Evan with or without an 'S' as written on his academic qualifications and also the alleged falsification of his true biological age. Barely months into his presidency, a senate committee started investigating him for corruption. Out of utter frustration and pressure, he resigned from office on November 18, 1999, in an ouster spearheaded by allies of Sen. Chuba Okadigbo and thus, the journey of periodical changes in the leadership of the Senate, began. Okadigbo, Enwerem's earlier rival, became his successor in year 2000. His emergence, still based on the principle of zoning respected by the ruling party, was without much contest as the South-East PDP caucus was left to decide who would succeed Enwerem. But because he didn't enjoy the confidence and support of the Obasanjo-led presidency, he was in turn removed from office on August 8, 2000. On allegation of some federal contract scams associated with the Senate, he was promptly probed and impeached as the senate president. Following Okadigbo's 2000 ouster, Enwerem briefly expressed interest in again assuming the presidency of the Senate. However, Enwerem withdrew from the race in favor of Senator Anyim Pius Anyim at the shadow election conducted by PDP Senators in Senate Hearing Room One. Anyim, an Ebonyi State indigene, was soon also accused of alleged gross corrupt enrichment. This soon became a source of investigation by the ethics and privileges committee of the senate. Because of this, he eventually resigned and returned to the floor as a senator. In 2003, Senator Adolphus Wabara, representing Abia Cental Senatorial District, also from the South-East, became Senate President, the fourth in a space of five years. But less than two years in the saddle, he was accused of of bribery in collaboration with some senate members. Senator Ken Nnamani, a senator from Enugu State, became the fifth senate president in 2005 and he went on to lead the hallowed chamber till the expiration of the 5th session in June 2007. So, all through this period, the singular factor that determined which geo- political zone would produce the Senate President was zoning, based on the traditional tripod. No one challenged it and no extraneous factor came up to alter it. The accompanying intrigues that led to the very senator that seats on the plum seat was largely left in the hands of the other senators from the zone. Obasanjo's factor As hinted earlier, President Olusegun Obasanjo's influence also loomed high both in the emergence and removal of most of the Senate Presidents in that era. Obasanjo, accused of being dictatorial and powerful was largely instrumental to Enwerem's defeat of Okadigbo in the 1999 Senate Presidential race. Okadigbo was considered more influential but Obasanjo, it was alleged, saw in his popularity and attitude, a potential threat to his authority and therefore went all out to ensure Enwerem's victory. Even when the tide turned against Enwerem and Okadigbo emerged his successor in 2000, Obasanjo would not let go. It took barely eight months of high wired politics to dethrone the late Okadigbo. National Assembly leadership (20072015) From 1999 till 2007 when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo called the shots as Nigeria's president, the zoning policy of his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was held

â&#x20AC;˘ Enwerem

â&#x20AC;˘ Wabara

sacrosanct by the leadership of the party and the government of the day. Within this period, the top four positions in the country, the President, the Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House were zoned to the South-West, North-East, South-East and North-West respectively. With the expiration of Obasanjo's tenure in 2007, and the return of the Presidency to the North, the ruling PDP reviewed its zoning policy without much controversy. Thus, the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua from the North-West became the President while the South-South produced the Vice-President in the person of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Senator David Mark from the North-Central became the Senate President, while Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh from the South-West was elected by her colleagues as the Speaker to succeed Hon. Aminu Bello Masari. Mark and senate stability Until his election as Senate President, the politics of the National Assembly leadership was largely focused on the Red Chamber where high wired intrigues led to the emergence and fall of many Senate Presidents. Known more for its instability then than for any other legacy, the Senate produced up five Senate Presidents just between 1999 and 2007. But the election of Senator David Mark as the Senate President in 2007, which came with little or no opposition from his colleagues in the Senate, changed the politics of the

Upper Chamber of the National Assembly as he stabilized the hitherto unstable Senate. His choice was allegedly at the behest of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had implicit trust and confidence in him, though he was far his junior colleague in the army. His critics allege that the stability that came with the emergence of Mark may have been a mere coincidence even as they trace the instability to Mark himself, claiming that he was more or less the author of the instability and has since his election conveniently packed away the "banana peels" that at one time caused the regular fall of his predecessors. His supporters however described Mark as the harbinger of peace, insisting that it was that attitude that brought peace and stability to the legislative chamber. The debate apart, most observers said the stability brought to the Senate under Mark and the collective experience of the leadership of the Senate that includes his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) is an obvious advantage for the country's democracy. The relative peace in the Senate within 2007 and 2011, analysts argue, could be attributed to the principles of rotation, zoning and power shift in spite of its imperfections. But while the Red Chamber recorded led intrigues, associated with leadership tussle or power show with the presidency or the executive, the politics in the House of Representatives has remained intriguing. Etteh's election and removal

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

of National Assembly leadership

• Okadigbo

• Anyim

• Nnamani

• Mark

Senate Presidents 1999 - 2007 1. Evan Enwerem

1999 - 2000

2. Dr. Chuba Okadigbo

2000 - 2001

3. Anyim Pius Anyim

2001 - 2003

4. Adolphus Wabara

2003 - 2005

5. Ken Nnamani

2005 - 2007

6. David Mark

2007- 2015

The election of Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in June 2007 did not come to many Nigerians as a surprise. Weeks before the formal inauguration of the House, speculations were rife in the media that she had been endorsed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP national leadership. But unknown to many PDP members, Etteh was not a founding member of the PDP. In 1999, she was elected into the House to represent Ayedaade/Isokan/Irewole Federal Constituency in Osun State on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). But early in 2003, she later defected to PDP and won a re-election. She was elected to the position of Speaker unanimously in June 2007, the only woman to have held this position in the country. Corruption scandal

But no sooner had Etteh assumed the speakership position than it was rumoured that some young turks in the House were not comfortable with her leadership style and were plotting to remove her from her exalted seat. There were unconfirmed reports that Etteh was imposed on her colleagues, some of whom were uncomfortable that she was allegedly loyal to Obasanjo, her godfather. The opportunity presented itself following the allegations that Etteh allegedly approved the sum of N628 million for the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy, in addition to the purchase of 12 official cars meant for the House of Representatives. From this moment, activities in the House became charged, with many of the members calling for Etteh's removal or resignation, while her supporters led by Hon. Dino Melaye, now Senator-elect, backed her to the hilt. The polarisation of the House led to the formation of the Integrity Group led by Hon. Farouk Lawan. Other members include Halims Agoda, Lynda Ikpeazu, Mercy Almona Isei, Igo Aguma, Ikechi Nwogu and Abike Dabiri. The group cut the image of a group seeking an ideal National Assembly where decorum and integrity reign among members and in which legislators conduct themselves in a responsible, dignified and transparent manner.

Within weeks, the Integrity Group swelled in ranks and became very dominant in the proceedings in the House. And in September 2007, Etteh faced a committee to answer charges that she acted inappropriately for the N628 million scandal. Even as it was obvious that she had lost the confidence of majority of her colleagues, the leadership of PDP continued to back Etteh, although some members, such as Isyaku Ibrahim, criticised this stance, while former President Obasanjo continued to support her. On October 30, 2007, following weeks of pressure, Etteh resigned her position as Speaker. Her deputy, Babangida Nguroje, also resigned. Interestingly, at the last sitting of the 6th session of the House of Representatives in 2011, it was agreed that "there is no record or proceedings of the House where Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh was ever indicted." Bankole steps in The three-month crisis in the then 6th Assembly of the House of Representatives ended with the election of Hon. Dimeji Sabur Bankole, also from the South-West, as the new Speaker. He represented Abeokuta South Federal Constituency in Ogun State. From the South-West like his predecessor, Bankole's election conformed with the power sharing formula of the PDP, which had zoned the speakership to the region. Also, Hon. Usman Bayero Nafada, a twoterm lawmaker from Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency in Gombe State, emerged as the new Deputy Speaker through acclamation.

No member from his North-East zone opposed him. Bankole, who was first elected to the House in 2003, defeated his only opponent, Mr. George Jolaoye. The election was conducted by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Nasiru Arab. Bankole polled 304 votes as against 20 votes by Jolaoye. Four lawmakers abstained from voting. The election was conducted through the calling of each of the names of the 328 legislators that voted. Each member of the House was directed to mention the name of the candidate he or she wanted to vote for. Bankole's nomination was made by Hon. Sampson Osagie, a lawmaker from Edo State. The nomination was seconded by Ms. Lynda Ikpeazu. Current puzzles The result of the last National Assembly election, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) capped its victory of the presidential election with clear majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives has made it necessary for the new ruling party to produce the next Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. Since 1999 when PDP controlled the federal government, it has produced all the Senate Presidents and Speakers of the House. But at the soon-to-be inaugurated Senate, APC has overwhelming majority of 60 against PDP's 49 members. For the House of

•Contd. on page 34

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

House: How intrigues, internal wrangling produced Ta T

O the less perceptive, June 6, 2011, may be seen just like any other day. But in Nigeria's political history, that day marked the beginning of the end of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was the first day the 7th House of Representatives convened. Top on the agenda was election of the new Speaker. Tension was high days before the election. The PDP had characteristically decreed that a member from the South-West must emerge Speaker. The party even went ahead to handpick Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola (Ogbomosho Federal Constituency, Oyo) as the candidate members must vote for. PDP members in the House balked. Some even openly spoke against the choice. The opposition, it was gathered, was based on intelligence reports that Akande-Adeola was being sponsored by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo, it was believed, had instructed the South-West PDP to ensure Akande-Adeola was picked and supported to emerge as the Speaker. The ploy worked so well, even up to the National Working Committee (NWC), which ratified the nomination of the SouthWest PDP. This was anchored on the zoning arrangement of the party. Since the South-South had clinched the presidency with the North-West grabbing the vice-presidency, it appeared logical that the South-West should produce the Speakership. This was more so because the senate presidency was still retained by the North-Central. The PDP, in its wisdom, wanted the NorthEast to produce the deputy speakership. That way, all the six major regions would have occupied the major political positions in the nation. This was the same zoning arrangement that existed in the 6th National Assembly. But many lawmakers in the Lower Chamber were uncomfortable with a candidate allegedly backed by Obasanjo. The former president, they felt, should be consigned to a benchwarming role in the unfolding dispensation. They believed he had had enough and shouldn't remain influential in the choice of the House leadership again. To slight the PDP zoning arrangement, some members decided to assert themselves. They contended that it would help the House to be independent and free from the influences of Obasanjo, who many of them considered overbearing. The aggrieved lawmakers decided to rally opposition members to support their cause. Members of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) were understandably most enthusiastic. It would allow them to puncture PDP's suffocating grip in the National Assembly and grant them the much-needed recognition. They also mobilised a few members from the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC). With their numbers, they were confident to stage a famous upset, one that had never been since 1999. They settled on a consensus candidate, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal from Sokoto State. A ranking member, Tambuwal, a lawyer, was much loved and respected by members across party affiliations. He had served as Deputy Chief Whip in the last House

• Buhari

• Na’abba

• Masari

• Etteh presided over by the then Speaker Dimeji Bankole. Though their plan was well-conceived, it didn't take a long time before it became known to PDP chieftains. The party's leaders balked and sulked. Over their dead bodies would such a sacrilege happen in the nation, they said. They vowed to enforce party supremacy and whip recalcitrant members to shape. But first they pleaded for the aggrieved lawmakers to have a rethink. It was turned down with a resounding no. That was when the PDP knew the battle lines had been drawn. The party made for its bag of weapons and dusted the N10billion loan scam that rocked the leadership of the 6th House. Former Speaker Bankole was facing corruption charges with his deputy, Nafada. The party felt other principal officials, including Tambuwal, must also face the music for the scam.

• Bankole

• Tambuwal

Speakers of House of Representatives since 1999

Tambuwal, sensing plans to arrest him, went underground in the days preceding the elections. He had rebuffed emissaries sent to him to reconsider the offer by aggrieved members to lead the House. All entreaties were also turned down by the Sokoto-born lawyer. All government's machineries and operatives were sent against him. Yet, Tambuwal

evaded all. Finally, the d-day arrived for members to elect their speaker. Tambuwal, forever a tactician, employed a decoy to gain entrance to the Green Chambers. Known for his flowing babaringa, the man about to make history opted for a suit with a bowler cap to match. That way, he beat all security checks. Emeka Ihedioha (Imo, PDP), who was destined to be his deputy, was also a marked man. He had served as Chief Whip in the 6th House and was also wanted for questioning on the alleged N10billion scam. Like Tambuwal, he too decided for a change of attire to gain access to the Lower Chamber. He dropped his suits for a Mallam-like agbada. As soon as Tambuwal succeeded in gaining entry to the chamber, members hailed him with shouts of 'sai Tambuwal'. Ihedioha enjoyed the same affection. All was indeed set for a titanic battle. It was more of a case of

never produced a Senate President is insisting that the zone should be compensated with the position of Senate President and made to feel be part of the Nigerian project. Their demand, according to some political stakeholders, "is made more persuasive both by the current devastation of the zone by the Boko Haram insurgency and by the fact that the zone delivered the second largest number of votes to APC." So, today, though many influential APC senators-elect are interested in the plum position, it seems the search has been narrowed to three leading contenders from the North-East and North-Central geo-political zones. They include Senator George Akume, a former governor of Benue State in the NorthCentral zone, Senator Bukola Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State also from NorthCentral and Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan from Yobe State in the North-East zone, who has been in the National Assembly since 1999, first at the Green Chamber before moving over to the Red Chamber in 2007. These frontline runners are however not the only contenders from the two zones. From the

North-East zone, for example, the likes of former governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje; Ali Ndume from Borno State and Binta Garba Maasi from Adamawa State are also in the race. From the North-Central zone, Abdullahi Adamu is also mentioned as a frontline contender. The race for the Speaker of the House of Representatives is also eliciting equal interest. Virtually every geo-political zone, excluding the North-West where the president-elect hails from has been reported to show interest in the Number Fourth Citizen's position. Dr. Francis Uko, commenting on the current debate over which zone should be favoured and who will wear the crown, said, "this task of electing the Senate President and the Speaker, including their deputies, is very crucial for the survival of General Buhari's government. Most Nigerians are worried but informed observers know that the seeming confusion arises from the fact that APC, being a new ruling party may not have established its zoning policy. The leaders of the party will need to be careful, fair and firm and must in addition be open on how they arrived on whatever choices they will make.

1. Salisu Buhari 1999 - 2000 2. Gahli Na’abba 2000 - 2003 3. Aminu B. Masari 2003 - 2007 4. Patricia Etteh 2007 - 2007 5. Dimeji Bankole 2007 - May 2011 6. Aminu W. Tambuwal 2011 - 2015

Current Puzzle: Who’ll be next Senate President, Speaker?

• Saraki

•Contd. from page 33 Representatives, APC is also in control with a comfortable 214 members out of the 360 members. This clear majority should, on the surface, mean that APC will find it easy to produce the next Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

including the other majority principal officers of both the Red and the Green chambers. But two factors seem to have made the permutation rather tricky, thus resulting in intricate politicking and agitation from various zones and political stakeholders. The factors are zoning and the fact that South-East and SouthSouth geo-political zones did not produce a single ranking senator on the platform of APC, who may be made the Senate President in order to achieve what many term the usual balance. With General Muhammadu Buhari, the President-Elect from the North-West and the Vice-President-Elect, Prof. Yomi Osinbajo, from the South-West, it would have been tidier to pick the Senate-President or at least the Speaker from either the South-East or the South-South. Given the development, the search within the APC, according to reports, has been shifted to the North-Central and the North-East zones, where some historical realities have made the task even more complex and intriguing. Our investigation, for example, shows that the North-East geo-political zone, which has since 1999 been in the opposition and has therefore

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

ed Tambuwal David against Goliath. Yet, neither side was ready to blink first. The Clerk of the House, Sano Omolori, commenced the roll call of honourable members by 11:30am. When he called out Tambuwal and Ihedioha, the chamber responded with approving shouts. By 12:02pm, Omolori sought nominations for positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. To underscore the division within the PDP, it was Emmanuel Jime (PDP, Benue) that nominated Tambuwal without delay. He was seconded by Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia). Adeola-Akande was nominated by Hon. Bethel Amadi (PDP, Imo) and seconded by Saidu Namadi (PDP, Jigawa). For over three hours, members went into an historic voting. It was supervised by the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA), Alhaji Salisu Kasuwa and his deputy. By 3.49 pm, the voting ended while counting commenced by 3.52 pm. When the result was declared, the unthinkable had happened. Members had defied the zoning arrangement of the PDP to be their own men and women. Tambuwal scored 252 to AdeolaAkande's 90 votes. Jubilant PDP and ACN members hugged Tambuwal in an open show of defiance. It was an historic election. It changed the political landscape and configuration of the nation. Sensing defeat, the two candidates for the position of deputy speakership from the NorthEast, Dogara Yakubu and Ishaku Bawa, stepped down. That paved the way for the emergence of Ihedioha. It was a reconfiguration that completely altered the zoning arrangement of the PDP. The resolve of aggrieved PDP members and enthusiastic ACN and CPC members had successfully plotted a coup. That alliance forever cemented the strength of opposition members in the House. It also triggered off the alleged marginalisation of the South-West by the Jonathan's administration, a development he couldn't redress until he was voted out of power in March 28. In the Upper Chamber, David Mark was easily re-elected Senate President unopposed. He had been presiding over the Senate since June 6, 2007. Senators simply ratified the recommendation for re-election without any objection. While his re-election was historic, making him the longest serving Senate President, it was the defiance of the Lower Chamber that really made the news then. Commentators said members had affirmed their independence and the nation will never remain the same again. One result of the development was that it confirmed, to informed observers, that PDP, which had since 1998 remained politically invincible, had commenced its downward spiral. Tambuwal will later dump the party with several other members to the All Progressives Congress (APC) which has succeeded in defeating PDP at the presidential election. It is on record that his dramatic emergence as the Speaker of the House of Representatives was a tsunami with a tornado effect.

• Lawan If they do this, governance will be easy for Buhari and his team. As a Nigerian, I am more interested in the quality of the emergent leader than the zone he or she comes from. This is an era of change and we must all be willing to change from our mentality of tribe and zoning. If you ask me, merit and equity are better than less noble criteria for zoning."

POLITICS

ITH over 70 percent of serving House of Representatives members and Senators not returning to the National Assembly, the National Institutes for Legislative Studies (NILS) has concluded a strategic training for newly elected members of the 8th Assembly. The induction certificate course was to acquaint the new NASS members with legislative procedures and rudiments for effective lawmaking. It was aimed at increasing institutional capacity of the legislature, comprising of legislators and the legislative staff. Justifying the needs for the training, the Director-General of NILS, Dr. Ladi Hamalai, explained that sustainable democratic development does not end with successfully completed free and fair elections. Rather, she stated that elections are the beginning towards democratic maturity. "It is an entire process that requires a deliberate long-term and comprehensive effort to build up and consolidate representative and wellfunctioning parliament able to ensure sound implementation of its law-making and oversight powers," she said. Stating that NILS was tasked with the responsibility of designing projects that will deepen democracy, Hamalai stated the institute has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Benin to run Post Graduate Diploma and Master's programmes on Legislative Studies, Legislative Drafting and Parliamentary Administration. On research, she said the NILS has been involved in active research on current and emerging key issues, legislation and policy reviews, Drafting of Motions and Resolutions, Bill Analysis and Scrutiny, etc. "As part of the institute's research effort, the NILS Library, Data and Documentation

NILS inducts new NASS members

• Senator Ekweremadu, Dr. Ladi Hamalai, others at the ceremony

By Sunday Oguntola Unit are open to researchers, students, National Assembly staff, and legislators. "The institute is also involved in reference services, parliamentary publications and NILS's publications. We also print reports, periodicals and journals and give information alerts," Hamalai said. On how the data bank works to aid the activities and functions of the National Assembly, she said: "The data bank was launched with the objective of providing comprehensive access to national, regional and international legal information. Thus, the laws are systematically classified under Nigerian Laws, the Laws of African Countries and Global Laws.

"Each of these categories has detailed contents that ensure both comprehensiveness and simplicity of access. Three websites serve as online storefront, providing rich information on all works of the Institute." The institute, she added, was accredited by the Nigerian National Universities Commission (NUC) to conduct Master's and PGD programmes. On how the courses impact on the work of legislators, Dr. Hamalai said when they come in fresh, the interaction gives them confidence to understand the system, their works and perform their functions well. "They are also able to develop the confidence to represent their communities better," she stated.

'Don't distract APC leadership in Delta'

HAT is your overview of the recently held 2015 general elections? Nigerians were really tired of the way the PDP had run the country in the last 16 years; so people were already yearning for change. No one should really be amazed by the outcome, which eventually produced General Muhammadu Buhari as winner; that was actually the feeling Nigerians expressed in their votes. He is the one Nigerians want to lead them out of the current situation PDP has led them into. That's what Nigerians want; he won because he is popular with the people. He won, but you can't still say he was accepted by all, take a look at the results from the South-East and South-South. What do you think is responsible for this? Actually you could not have expected that Buhari would have performed at the same level with Goodluck in the South-South, this is Jonathan's home base and his people will ordinarily want to side with him. Besides that, you and I know that the results of the elections from this region were orchestrated to favour Jonathan because he's from this region. I am an Ijaw man and it was very difficult to even come out to declare you are an APC member in this state because the whole South-South was like their son was in the race and nobody from the opposition should come out to say anything against Goodluck Jonathan's candidature, but we were of the opinion that the position of our people about the contest was wrong, that the better man should win and we in the APC were of the opinion that if we put our best into it we should be able to rake in substantial votes for our candidate, even if it would not be enough to claim the victory here. We didn't think we could win the region for Buhari because it was obvious that Jonathan is from this place, it would be a very difficult task. Majority of the people here; the women, the youths and other stakeholders, already had their minds set that Goodluck is their brother and their son and they would vote for him. That's what happened. In your state, Delta, how do you summerise the election here? Delta State is made of different ethnic groups and there were bargains that had been reached, but at the end of the day the results from this state were planned, rigged and not the true figures that came out from the various units and wards. For instance,

Ebiakpo Ezebiri is the Financial Secretary of the All Progressives' Congress (APC) in Delta State. He is also the Director of Youths, O'teg4Governor Campaign Organisation. In this interview with Bolaji Ogundele he warns trouble makers to stop disturbing APC leadership in Delta State. Excerpts

• Ezebiri in Burutu Local Government Area, you know that votes as high as 73,000 can never be realistic, if you are saying votes as high as thirty something thousand that looks close to the true picture, but seventy something thousand is outrageous. So, when you take a good look at it, you will discover that the election in Delta State was rigged in favour of President Goodluck Jonathan. Though we are saying that if they had conducted a free and fair election in this state, President Jonathan would still win because he's from this place, but the figures they brought out weren't in accordance with what transpired in this state from the various polling units. We know very well that the elections were rigged in this state, if not the results would have been more reasonable; something like 35,000 and not all those 70,000 and 75,000 that they came out with. You just claimed now that the elections were rigged and you have headed to the tribunal, I mean for the governorship. What are the chances of your party at the tribunal?

For the governorship case I know very well that we will be victorious because, like I said earlier, the elections were rigged; there was no election in Delta State that was conducted in line with the INEC's guidelines. INEC's guidelines clearly stated that we must use the card readers and if you look at the elections, you will realise that the card readers were not used. These people just gathered themselves, went somewhere and started writing results, coming out with such figures as high as 73,000 votes from Burutu, seventy something thousand from Warri South-West, fifty something thousand from Ika and so on. Where are these people? Did the card readers capture the number of people they had in those results? No. INEC placed newspaper advertorials to the effect that card readers must be used and if at the end of the day there are places where card readers failed to work, such elections should be carried over to the next day. We were fully relying on this directive, but to our surprise, INEC compromised and the elections were rigged massively and figures of about 700,000 was awarded to Okowa, more than 100,000 was awarded to Great Ogboru and Olorogun O'tega Emerhor was given just above 90,000. This is wrong because in Delta State, we have more than 150,000 registered members of the APC in Delta state; are they now saying that even our own members could not vote for us? That's to tell you that the results were a pre-planned arrangement; they created those results. Let us talk about something more critical to your party in the state; the crisis bugging it. Is it in the party's corporate interest to be enmeshed in this sort of internal crisis at this point? It is very difficult to wake someone pretending to be asleep than one who is sleeping indeed. When someone is asleep, you can easily wake him, but when someone is awake, but is pretending to be asleep, to wake him will be a task because he's been awake all along. The crisis you see there is planned by a group of persons who are not even in APC; they are just friends of one leader or the other in Abuja and Lagos and

•Contd. on page 42

Following its surprise overwhelming victory at the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC), upon the inauguration of the new National Assembly on the 4th of June, 2015, is expected to take charge of the leadership of both chambers of the federal legislature, replacing the defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the new majority party in government. Going in line with that swift change, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, majority leader and other principal officers of the House would be produced by the party. Pundits are already predicting that the House leadership positions would be filled by members of the APC from the stronghold of the new governing party, which include the North-East, North-West, North-Central and South-West. The exclusion of the SouthEast and the South-South is not unconnected with the dismal performance of APC in these zones on March 28 and April 11 that saw the PDP claiming nearly all the National Assembly seats in these areas. Consequently, few days after the results of the elections were announced and with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC yet to make an official pronouncement on which zone of the country will produce the heads of the two chambers, six federal lawmakers from six states in four zones of the country, indicated interest in clinching the House number one position. They include Israel Ajibola Famurewa from Osun State (South-West); Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi (North-East), Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos (South-West), Mohammed Monguno from Borno (NorthEast), Pally Iriase from Edo State (SouthSouth); Abdulmumin Jibrin from Kano (North-West). Expectedly, the race for the Speakership is generating a lot of issues as the candidates use all factors ranging from zoning to experience and the need to balance certain variable in the new government as reasons why they should be considered for the plum job. The gladiators are joined in the ensuing political contest by their various geopolitical zones with unending clamours for a chance to produce the next helmsman of the lower chamber of the National Assembly. Northwest, Jibrin and the Buhari challenge And from the North-West, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin is warning the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against preventing lawmakers from the North-West from contesting for the position in spite of raging argument that with the President-elect from the zone, it is unfair for it to be eyeing the number three seat. Jibrin, who chairs the House Committee on Finance, said it amounts to blackmail for anybody to suggest that no lawmaker from the North-West should be considered as either the Senate President or as Speaker of the House of Representatives because the President-elect is from the zone. According to him, the election of General Muhammadu Buhari from the North-West is not enough to affect the zoning arrangement because he was elected before the party started discussion on the issue of National Assembly leadership. He said: "In the first instance, we are getting the interpretation of the zoning arrangement completely wrong. The Presidency is not supposed to be zoned because whoever emerges is the President of the whole Nigeria. Muhammadu Buhari was never presented as the candidate of the North-West. The whole idea is for the President to emerge first. After the emergence of the President, the six geopolitical zones would have to sit down and distribute whatever positions that are left particularly, that of the parliament. "I think we need to get this properly right. There would be seven segments. Six are those of the zone while one is that of the President. This is really going to help the country when people actually realise that the President is not supposed to be included in the zoning arrangement." According to the lawmaker, if the office of the President was included in the zoning arrangement, Governor Rochas Okorocha would not have contested against Muhammadu Buhari at the APC presidential primaries. He said: "Although the President-elect is from the North-West but trying to exclude his zone from benefiting from the leadership positions in the incoming 8th National Assembly is very unfair, adding that his zone had the largest contingent of the state assembly members, Senators, members of the House of Representatives and even recorded the highest number of votes during the Presidential election.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

Who'll preside over the Green Chamber? As the search for the next Speaker of the House of Representatives dominates political discuss across the country, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports on the frontline candidates, the zones and their arguments

â&#x20AC;˘ Gbajabiamila "What do we tell our people if you exclude us from the leadership positions in the National Assembly, simply because of zoning? We want the President to concentrate on the entire country. We want other offices that we will take back to our people, because they need to hold on to something", Jubrin said, calling on all eligible senators and members of the House of Representatives from the North-West to come out and contest the leadership of the National Assembly because it is their right to do so. But Jibrin's kinsman and fellow legislator from Kano State, Hon. Nasir Garo, disagrees with him as he cautioned some of his colleagues seeking the number Four (4) seat who are calling for the jettisoning of zoning to eschew such idea and work for the success of APC. "For me, Nigeria is not yet politically matured to jettison zoning. It is important that we carry every zone along, especially in the distribution of political offices in the land," he said. He added: "To me, the issue of zoning is very important and we should maintain it. I strongly believe and rightly so that there is no zone in the contrary that does not have individuals that have the capacity and capabilities to effectively run the, leadership of the National Assembly. "In view of this, whatever misgiving anyone can have against zoning will definitely not hold water, we have evolved over time and even though we are still open to learning. "The only problem I have is the delay in coming out with the zoning arrangement by the party, the earlier the party comes out with its decision the better for everyone. I say this

â&#x20AC;˘ Famurewa because the delay is likely to cost contestants time and resources. "Apart from that, as some of them have set out to work, there may have been some promises along the way. The point is that what happens to some of these promises if the party eventually zoned out their candidate? So, my take is that the party should expedite action on it and come out with its decision for people to streamline and articulate their strategies rather than going from pillar to post. While he is unwilling to let go his ambition, even as sources within the APC in the NorthWest say he is not being supported by his party men in the zone; it is left to be seen how Jibrin intends to overcome the Buhari challenge he faces in his quest to be Speaker. Gbajabiamila, Famurewa jostle from the South-West Buoyed by permutations that the party will eventually zone the seat to his native SouthWest zone, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Gbajabiamila, recently increased the tempo of his campaign for the position by setting up mobilization committees, saddled with the responsibility of reaching out to state caucuses to woo more lawmakers to his side. Reliable party sources added that beyond the issue of zoning, the party leadership may back Gbajabiamila for the job given his pedigree and experience. "Above all things, the party is concerned about the need to ensure a stable legislature as we go into government at the centre for the first time in 16 years. While zoning will in no way be jettisoned, experience and pedigree will be seriously considered in arriving at the choice

of who leads the next National Assembly. We will in no way do away with lawmakers who played pivotal roles in positioning the party as a force in the outgoing assembly. Gbajabiamila, a four-time returnee lawmaker, was the Deputy House Minority leader till the end of the 2007-2011 term. He emerged as Minority Leader in 2011. He is credited by his colleagues for his "oratory and erudite approach" to debates in the House, which gave the opposition loud presence in the outgoing session. Before the race for the Speaker's seat blew open with the Lagos lawmaker in the frontline, many had thought he would simply step into the position of the Majority Leader with the APC having full majority control of the House after the March 28 polls. But party sources revealed that the SouthWest caucus in the House threw up his candidacy following indications that the Senate presidency may return to the north upon the failure of the South-East to return any of the party's senators to the National Assembly thereby leaving the North-Central and the North-East in the race in spite of the fact that the President-elect, General Muhammaddu Buhari, is from the North-West geo-political zone in the north as well. But beyond the zoning issue, many commentators have been citing competence and experience as the major selling points of Hon. Gbajabiamila in his quest to lead the House. "Gbajabiamila is the best material from the South-West in terms of legislative experience and House leadership at the moment. He is tested and trusted by most of

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

â&#x20AC;˘ Monguno his colleagues in the House and his records are there to speak for him. Beyond all other factors, it is important to give credence to competence in matters like this," a member of the House from Kwara State, said. "The North has President and they will also take the Senate President. The South-West has the Vice-President, but since the South-South and South-East have shut themselves out in a way, it becomes necessary for the South-West to take up the speakership, especially when the man in question is eminently qualified to occupy the exalted seat. In a situation like this, we must consider all factors and ensure that at the end of the day, the best man is given the job," a party leader said. Perhaps conscious of his underdog status in the race, Famurewa, has hinted that the leadership of the party has the final say on which zone of the country and the personality that will get the slot. The Ijesa-South Federal Constituency of Osun State representative said the speakership race is not a do or die affair, adding that his ambition was still subjected to final decision of the leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC). The lawmaker, who explained that though his colleagues from other geo-political zones, especially the northern axis of the country, have unofficially endorsed and mobilized other members of the green chamber for his candidature ahead of the June 2015 speakership election, declared that "I have to appeal to them to exercise caution in the way and manner they go about this internal campaign so as not to run foul of the APC leaders. Reports say the Gbajabiamila camp, notwithstanding his seeming good chance at emerging victorious, is not resting on its oars as consultations continue amongst both returning and new legislators. According to reports, The Gbajabiamila arrowheads in some state are Mr. Rufai Chanchangi for Kaduna State, Mr. Abdulahi Balarabe for Sokoto State, Khadijah Ibrahim for Yobe and Bolarinwa White for Ondo State, amongst others. Dogara, Monguno and the North-East quest While many analysts are still critically examining the move by Dogara and Monguno, both from the North-East to produce the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 8th National Assembly, considering indications that the zone may produce the next President of the Senate, a pressure group, North-East Concerned Citizens, recently threw its weight behind the contenders, insisting that the North-East geopolitical zone deserves the position the most among other zones in the country. The group, like many other bodies and individuals from the zone, would want Nigerians to see the two lawmakers' ambitions beyond their persons but rather as a geopolitical quest for political survival. Endorsing the ambitions of Dogara and Monguno from Bauchi and Borno States respectively, the group appealed to lawmakers

POLITICS

â&#x20AC;˘ Iriase

Pundits are already predicting that the House leadership positions would be filled by members of the APC from the stronghold of the new governing party, which include the North-East, North-West, NorthCentral and South-West

and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to afford the zone the opportunity of occupying the coveted seat for the first time in the political journey of the country. Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the deputy coordinator of the group, Hon. Salisu Sabo, stated that members of the House know that the North East has people who are credible and enjoy wide acceptability, respect and recognition among old and new lawmakers of the Green Chamber, making them suitable for the job. "I will like to use this medium to appeal to the members of the House of Representatives and members-elect and also the leadership of our great party, APC, to zone the seat of the speakership to the North-East geopolitical zone of the country. The North-East, which has greatly contributed to the activities of the House of Representatives, hereby forwards our intention to produce the Speaker in the 8th Assembly. The time has come and the time is right. We have shown strength and character. "It is only fair for the people of the NorthEast to settle for nothing less than the leadership of the House of Representatives," Sabo stressed. But of the two, Dogara appears to be the leading candidate from the zone with reports indicating that the North-West and NorthCentral caucuses in the House may have endorsed him for the position. Hon. Dogara represents Tafawa-Balewa/ Bogoro/Das Federal Constituency of Bauchi State in the House of Representatives. He chairs the House Services Committee and was the chairman of Customs Committee in the sixth Assembly. He was among the 37 PDP members of the House of Representatives who defected to the APC, in spite of the fact that his home state is not among those whose governors joined APC. According to him, the distribution of positions in the next National Assembly must guarantee "fairness and justice."

â&#x20AC;˘ Jibrin Dogara described the North-East as the poorest geo-political zone in the country that required the backing of other zones in the sharing of political offices. He also stated that the reported prospect of the zone producing the Senate President did not in any way affect his aspiration. He addressed a news conference where he said, "We represent the aspirations of a zone that is the poorest in the country. "There are candidates from other zones that already hold leadership positions in the APC, yet they are running for the position of Speaker. Why are questions not being asked in their own case?" Dogara admitted that the APC must be passing through a difficult period in taking a position on the issue, but he advised the party to be guided aright so as not to hurt the feelings of members. But in spite of Dogara's current promising chance in the race, most pundits are of the opinion that he may have to settle for something lesser than the Speakership should his zone produce the President of the Senate. According to a reliable party source, it is most unlikely that the APC will allow one zone produce the two frontline positions. "We are not worried over the ongoing agitations. It is good for the party and for democracy, contrary to what some people are trying to insinuate. We are comfortable with the aspirations of all our members jostling for positions. However, one thing that is sure is that the positions would be spread amongst the geo-political zones. When it is time for us to ensure that, as a disciplined party, we will have little or no problem in getting that done," our source said. On his part, Monguno, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, said he is not desperate to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, adding that he is willing to abide by the decision of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), on the zoning of offices to parts of the country. He however advised that whoever emerges as the Speaker should give premium to addressing key challenges of economic downturn and security, specifying that if he happens to be the favoured one, he would assist the Executive on how to surmount the hydra - headed challenges. Iriase's case for the South-South In spite of the less than encouraging disposition of party leaders to the idea of the South-South being considered for the position, the lawmaker representing Owan Federal Constituency of Edo State in the House of Reprehensive, Pally Iriase, insists that the APC should support the South-South to produce Speaker for the Assembly in-line with the principles of fairness, equity and Justice. The two -term member is supporting his right to speakership with Section 14(13) of the 1999 Constitution that states that Federal Character must reflect in the composition of Government of the Federation.

He noted the President-elect is from North-West and his Vice from South-West stressing that based on federal character provision, neither of these zones should get priority on the queue for National Assembly presiding officers Pally Iriase emphasized that as things presently stand, the right thing to do is to have a South-South Speaker, thereby ensuring that there is no predominance of persons from a few states, ethnic or sectional group in the incoming government. Pally Iriase, the Deputy Chairman of House Committee on Constituency Outreach Committee further said as a good manager of people with a long track of experience, he is the best candidate from the South-South to fit the position. He cautioned the APC not to "go against the Federal Character Principle" enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, insisting that the seat should be zoned to the SouthSouth "for the purpose of geo-political balancing." According to Iriase, the APC will be going against the Federal Character principle if its zoning ruled out the South-South. "I don't wish my party a replay of the Peoples Democratic Party scenario in 2011. If the zoning is equitable and fair, members may not want to rock the boat of the APC." Supporting Iriase's position, the South-South Equity Forum (SEF) recently said the incoming government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not be fair to the South-South region if it does not allow it produce the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. SEF said it is only "fair, just and, as a matter of necessity" that if the Senate presidency goes to either the North-East or North-Central as being speculated, the speakership should go to the South-South with consideration for the member representing Owan Federal Constituency in the House of Representative, Pally Iriase as Speaker. SEF, led by Harrison Omagbon, at a press briefing in Benin City, appealed to the leadership of the APC and the President-elect to be on the side of "fair play, equity and justice in the larger interest of the APC and the country," noting that Edo State, an APC controlled state in the South-South states, is among states, "where General Muhammad Buhari, the President-elect scored 45 percent, which is above the mandatory 25 percent as required by the constitution." Although Iriase describes himself as the only one that has the necessary administrative experience among the aspirants, promising to run a transparent leadership, fight corruption and ensure prudent management of resources, many analysts are of the opinion that aside the issue of zoning, the lawmaker will find it difficult to compete for the position with some of the more experienced aspirants.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

My vision for Nigeria Police, by Acting IGP, Arase The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, opens up to a select group of editors on his plans for the Nigerian Police, including the challenges that confront the average policeman daily. Though he says the issue of corruption can be reduced if certain measures are taken, he believes the welfare of the police should be looked into to engender trust and sense of belonging within the ranks and file. Deputy Editor, Nation's Capital, Yomi Odunuga, was there. Excerpts:

IGERIANS expect much from you and from the Police, how do you give Nigerians hope that they will have better policing under your watch? I have come in a very defining moment in our national life. I know that the expectations are high. I have been in the system for quite some time too and in strategic positions in the force. In personnel, you first take a look at our personnel profile. We warehouse the best you can have in the system. But, what we have not been able to do over the years is for us to build on the capacity of our officers. So, one of the areas where I am very interested in is trying to delegate our needs assessments, look at areas that we need to concentrate on and give my officers purposeful training that will make them perform in those offices. Such departments may be administration, operations, investigations or intelligence. Whichever of those areas we look at, we should be able to develop the capacity of the officers to be able to develop on their statutory mandates. The other area is public perception of the Nigerian police force. We have a negative public perception, whether rightly or wrongly. Perceptions, I must say, are often subjective. At the same time, there are certain things that members of the public would expect policeman should do. They will not want a police officer to be corrupt; they will want him to be civil, polite, and to treat Nigerians with respect. Nigerians naturally expect the police to give them the needed respect since the tax payers' money is invested on the police. They will demand a lot from you and at the same time, we will see how we can connect to the community. This is because there is no police force in the world that can perform without information from members of the community. So, you must be able to win the confidence of the community for you to get that information. We are working to gain the public confidence in information management especially in areas where the public think that whatever information that was given to the police would be divulged. It is going to be a two way thing. This is your police force. You cannot bring any police force from any other part of the world. Globally, if you look at policing in the advanced countries like in Europe, America and Britain, they have gone through this same process of re-modelling itself. It is not a one fixed thing.And so, members of the public should also learn to be very patient with the police force. I will give you an example, a murder case occurred and Nigerians are very anxious for the police to get his result. They don't take into consideration the limitations that the Nigerian Police Force is working with. When you talk about the professionalism of the average policeman, it is not enough for him to be able to confront those issues he is dealing with if there is no technical platform to back it up. If you go through Central London twice in a period of four hours, you are captured within the system. So, incase anything happens, it is just to focus on that particular movement. That is why the Metropolitan police Force has a 90 per

cent success rate in terms of homicide cases. You cannot do it and escape the eagle eye of their surveillance system. Those are the issues we are dealing with. Intelligence is key in policing. What then are your expectations on the issue of applying intelligence in fighting crime? I do not want a situation where people are detained unnecessarily. I expect that my policemen should be sufficiently trained enough to be able to gather evidential proofs about those cases. Bank fraud is a ready example. There are cases where you can get records from the bank, corporate affairs. You assemble these things before you invite whosoever you think you have invited. That way, you limit the pre-trial detention period thatsuspects would have to stay in our facilities. That is one area where we really have to work on because, if you invite someone because you said he has committed an offence,, you keep him in custody, then you start looking for evidence. The period you have kept him there will be very long and the relations start asking for bail. When they start asking for bail, the corruption circle is completed. To grant that bail, you start putting conditions here and there and in the final analysis, money change hands. Those areas where I know are capable of exposing my officers to corruption; I want to remove them from the system. I have already directed that on no account should anybody be directed to police station where you don't have sufficient evidence to confront the person. Within 48 hours, you should be able to make up your mind if the truth is being told or you are able to keep the person in custody. Do you have enough policemen to police 170 million Nigerians and equipment to do the job effectively? You can never have sufficient policemen to police 170 million Nigerians. People always talk about this United Nations ratio. Even that one, you can only situate it against societies that already have good technical platforms. The United Kingdom is an example. We do not have a technical platform. What people try to do now is visibility policing. You position your men in strategic points so you create that psychological reassurance that the society is being policed. In Abuja, for example, instead of dotting the streets with police officers, you can position them strategically so that anywhere you go, by the time you are driving from Shehu Shagari Way to the other junction, you see them by the way. It does not presuppose that you have sufficient manpower. No. there is no police organisation in the world that will ever say they have sufficient manpower. That is why community partnerships in policing is very important in internal security management.This is because, if you are able to win the confidence of the community, half of your job is done. Somebody picks a phone, sees someone who has parked for a long period in a lonely street or somewhere, and called the nearest police officer. That person can easily go there and verify. But, here in Nigeria, there are some of us who don't care. In as much as he does not affect you, you walk away and say 'what's my

â&#x20AC;˘ Acting IG.P, Arase business?Tomorrow they may say I should come to give statements.' Is community partnership the same with community policing? The nomenclature has been variously abused. People, especially the elite, use it when they want to rationalise what good policing and responsive policing is all about. We will make sure that we will do community policing. If you asked them to conceptualise it, they won't be able to give you the answer. What he is talking about is why can't you allow the people to police their security space? It can be likened to what was obtainable in pre-colonial says where groups such as age group, masquerade groups etc were involved in some form of policing or the other. For example, If you reach one village and you tell them you want to get married, they would first carry out some form of profiling on you and your family. If they found out that you used to steal goats or found you wanting in certain aspects, they would quickly sound the alarm bell. The age group people also know deviants. It is like asking the people to be involved in internal security management. In your maiden address, you spoke extensively about deploying technology in fighting crime. With the state of the economy, how do you intend to actualize that? I will give you an example. I have done it before. I set up all the intelligence laboratories in the police force. The intelligence department has become moribund after about 38 years of the extraction of the NSA to form what you now know as the nucleus of the DSS. Since then, we have not been able to replace a department to drive policing through predictive concepts and it took us just about two years to redirect what intelligence was all about---crime analyses, ability to train the officers to know that they can always ascertain the trend and patterns of crime, crime mapping in their various states and commands. For instance, as I sit here, with the intelligence department that we set up two years ago, we can give you statistics of kidnap cases in the country in one week, month, weeks or in one year. We can give you statistics of manpower wastages and operational losses. We can geo-locate and tell you where crimes are prevalent? What are the typologies of crimes that are prevalent in those areas? All those things are things that can be done. And what do we do? Simple enough, when you talk about technology, you think about warehousing a big building like this with heavy machines. It is not so. It is about thinking outside the box. We decided to setup intelligence lab. We got a server, computer

systems, we trained the men, gave them phones and put them on Skype. So, all my information collectors in all the states of the federation, once they get information they send it to me. It hits my intelligence lab and the analysts who are there start drawing the graphs and putting it in intelligible forms. So when you talk about technology, it is not about technology driving itself. It is about the mindset of officers who are going to operate the system. If crime has become scientific and technological, the response to it and officers who are supposed to respond to it should also be mentally mobile. There should be situations where they should be able to think outside the box. So, in that technology, these things are all simple. We migrated from finger printing to automated system where we can easily generate your character certificate. What does it cost us? A laptop, Camcorder and biometric device. So I said, how many cases do they report in the force CID on a daily and weekly basis? Because when I came, I said you are not going to investigate land cases, commercial transactions, civil cases. Those are the areas you pick people and lock them up and the other person is somewhere demolishing someone's house, especially in Lagos, Benin where I come from. Reform is always something that people react to negatively. The men that were there went haywire. Those technologies are there. It is not something that you conjure from the moon. The small technologies you need to perform as a policeman are things that are easy to access. We all know that roadblocks are reoccurring decimals, how do you intend to address this? I have already cleared them. I have dismantled them. I have set up a task force with 12 vehicles. I have deployed them. They are going to be in the six geo-political zones that are co-terminus to the ones that are being supervised by the various DIGs and all I have asked them to do is a very simple task. I pay your bill, give you money, give you vehicle, fuel it, you go there. Wherever you see those roadblocks, remove it from the highway, note where it is and I will hold the Commissioner of Police and the Area Commander including the Divisional Police Officer responsible. Secondly, they are supposed to go to the cells to see when those who are kept in the cells were arrested, on what offence and how long have they been there? Do they meet the prosecutorial standards of keeping those people in our

â&#x20AC;˘Contd. on page 69

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

Buhari on the threshold of history T

ALKING about the allimportant subject called History, Cicero once said "To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to remain a child forever". A lot has been chronicled about the actions and malactions of the outgoing party (PDP) in the last eight years, but a new dawn came on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 when it was consigned to the position of opposition party. Was it General Muhammad Buhari (GMB) himself or his party, APC that told Nigerians, after its victory that the party will be a governing and not a ruling party! A matter of semantics you might say. But the fact remains that a ruling party may constitute itself into a 'sit-tight government' or modestly vow to rule for '50 or later 60 years'-thereby playing god. A governing party instead holds its entry and exit from power to the electorate (the masses) that voted it into such power. The Lesson: Some folks get elected because they are known; others are defeated for the same reason. My late father used to drum it into our ears that no man is totally useless-in that you can pick some of those flaws that made him 'useless' and 'refrain' from them. On a huge signpost on entering Hiroshima is an inscription: The Mistake Will Not Be Repeated" (referring to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The APC should therefore learn from the mistakes and failures of PDP. The last eight years presented an opportunity for Nigerians to tap into the 'brains' of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) holder and an Architect, but what can we show for it? Perhaps, as a friend said some weeks ago at Watershed Event Centre Ibadan, 'The eight years of the outgoing government was years of disservice for the masses of the country'. At the same centre, a friend interjected that the fault may not be in the 'stars' of our President, or the Vice President, but by the 'undoings' might have stemmed from the activities of their overzealous foot-soldiers, bootlickers, sycophants and the ever-ready attack-dogs that are at the 'corridors of power' to protect their 'honey-pots'. After all, he concluded 'Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State once had over 99 Special Assistants/Advisers and Personal Assistants in his cabinet'. For our democracy to be deepened, the incoming government needs a formidable opposition party for 'a balance of power'. The incessant 'jumpology' by members of the outgoing party to the incoming one is not a wise approach. Senator David Mark has vowed to remain and salvage what remains of the party. To fast-track this onerous mission, spokespersons of PDP may be 'dispatched' for a training session and be tutored in the Art and Science of 'Ideological Opposition' under the tutelage of Alhaji Lai Mohammed and other political scientist, political communications gurus and erudite legal minds in the land.

Immature lawmakers

â&#x20AC;˘ Buhari

By 'Muyiwa Obiyomi

The training, is better done here in Nigeria and not under any Special Federal Government Scholarship Scheme ?. To further grow our democracy 'meritocracy' should be cultivated at all levels of government. There is a management acronym T.E.A.M (Together Everybody Achieve More). There are lots of rots in the land today but they are not beyond redemption. It is often said with much truth that teamwork is a team discipline and as we have seen a disciplined man in person of GMB (based on his past performance as military Head of State between December 1983 and August 1985, it is expected that disciplined eggheads will be assembled to salvage our country from the 'hawking cabals' who are always part of any government in power (AGIP men and women). A sitting governor in one of the south western states said recently at a social function that he is not like those who have power and don't know how to use it. The same governor also sacked one of his permanent secretaries simply because a former governor and his predecessor attended his (Permanent Secretary) Father's burial. As Pittacus once wrote: The measure of a man is what he does with power. On the team leader and his lieutenants therefore, the ever living words of Andrew Carnegie that no man will ever make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or get all the credit for it could guide us in all our undertakings as leaders. No doubt, success has many friends, but every leader should remember that Hausa adage: 'there are no bad kings but bad courtiers.' There are plethora of national issues that are calling for attention and I have no doubt that Buhari was not oblivious of these challenges but we all need to muster the spirit of sacrifice and support to help the government succeed. Corruption is today ingrained into our socio-economic and political 'fabrics' that GMB himself said "if we don't kill

corruption, corruption will kill our country." Corruption has even undermined the operations of our revered armed forces whose morale needs restoration to tackle headlong the current kidnapping and terrorism in the land. Over the years, we have been playing politics with all these vices whereas soldiers shouldn't be used to intimidate people under any circumstance. The military should never be dragged into partisan politics again; rather they should face their statutory roles. Kudos to our military men that recently rescued over 300 women and 275 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Sambisa forest. We are also gladdened by MajorGeneral Chris Olukolade (the Defence Spokesman) who assured us last month that the Chibok girls would also be rescued safe, sound and alive. In the last one and half decades, the masses of this country had the wrong end of the stick to the extent that anti-people policies such as the sale of government properties to private individuals and organizations were carried out. The Old Federal Secretariat in Lagos is today an eyesore to whoever cares to see it. Even the Daily Times outfit in Lagos was sold in a controversial circumstance many years back, even before the present party came to power. There are also rumours of the government's plan to sell the refineries, auction National Theatre, Trade Fair and other national and enviable monuments and structures in the land. According to the 2014 World Bank Survey, Nigeria ranked 3rd among top five poorest countries with 61 percent of its citizens living below the poverty rate of $1.25 per day. The current tempo in the agricultural sector, the brainchild of Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina (Minister of Agriculture) should be sustained. But let the truth be told: Food production is still far from meeting the demand of Nigerians. The self sufficiency in food production he promised Nigeria in 2017 should guide the incoming administration. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Obiyomi, writes from Lagos via muyobi97@gmail.com.

here are basic assumptions that go into the distribution of functions among the three major organs of government. Apart from the Supreme Court where all those who sit are regarded as wise men, the legislature, given its hallowed responsibility is expected to serve as a platform for men and women of experience, wisdom and knowledge. The constitution regards the legislature as the first arm of government and this is obvious from the arrangement of the organs in the supreme legal instrument. Section 4 of the constitution vests powers of making laws in the National Assembly for the federation. And, in sections 47-59, 80 and 162, the powers of the federal legislature to make laws for the federation and control public expenditure are set out. In addition, lawmakers at the federal and state levels are expected to keep watch over activities of the executive branch of government. This is popularly called the oversight function. The legislature thus has the power to summon any official of government, or, indeed, any Nigerian or resident of the country to appear before it in the process of investigating any issue of national importance. And, to demonstrate the awesomeness of its power, the Assembly has the authority to issue Bench Warrant for the purpose of producing anyone who may fail to respond to its summons. The purport of all this is to demonstrate that only those who could understand the purpose of governance, its intricacies and maturely handle the responsibilities could be elected to the chambers. Unfortunately, at both the federal and state levels, these powers have often been misused; the federal lawmakers have sometimes conducted themselves in dishonourable manners. This is a crucial juncture at which another look may be taken into the functioning of the two chambers of the National Assembly. It is at the state level that rascality and immaturity have played out the more. First, contrary to logic and common sense, every move to hand the state legislatures independence have been resisted by the lawmakers. Acting on the instruction of their overlords and godfathers in the executive, state legislators have said they do not want their finances charged on the Consolidated Fund. Rather than control and monitor the executive collectively, they have opted to worship at the shrines of the state governors. In recent times, one symptom of immaturity has been the penchant to wade the impeachment wand at every opportunity. In most cases, again at the direction of the state governors, they have moved against their Speakers. So was the

situation in Ebonyi, Enugu and Ekiti. In some cases, they stand logic, equity and justice on the head by working like gangsters with the minority moving against the majority. Whereas both laws and convention expect lawmakers to seek consensus through consultation, our lawmakers sometimes resort to fisticuffs, trying out new boxing styles. On occasions, the mace, being the authority by which the business of the chanmber is conducted, is stolen and all activities thus suspended, sometimes for upwards of six months. In Ekiti State, the governor has backed the only seven members of the Peoples Democratic Party to seize the legislature. The majority 19 belonging to the All Progressives Congress have been banished, their salaries and allowances suspended and aides sacked without recourse to decency, decorum and common sense. The point is that some lawmakers chose to lend themselves to the gangsterism of a man notorious for such activities. In Rivers, Edo, the texture is only slightly different. The lawmakers have played into the hands of the executives at the state and federal levels, thus displaying crass immaturity. The other phase of this mentality is the penchant to make attempts to impeach state governors barely one month to the end of their tenures. Where they got the impetus for such action is difficult to fathom. They dig out alleged gross misconducts dating back to three years and make bold moves to heave out the Chief Executives. To me, unless in very exceptional cases that recently happened, decency should dictate that governors who have held office for 47 months should be allowed to serve out their terms. The only reason the docile legislators try out their powers is because many of them had lost out in the party primaries and want to pay back the despots. In Niger, Governor Babangida Aliyu responded to the move by getting the lawmakers dispersed with teargas. The move to sanitise public affairs should start with the lawmakers who are so indisciplined in their conduct that they find it difficult to meet for the 181 days stipulated in the constitution. Many are only good at collecting their emoluments. This must change. Lawmakers must be men of true homour deserving of the respect of the chief executives, ministers and commissioners. When they use oversight as mere instruments of extortion and blackmail of agency heads, they cannot earn respect and cannot therefore serve the interest of the public. The Nigerian people must begin to hold their representatives to Account. Otherwise, nothing would change.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

â&#x20AC;˘ Oni

S a key stakeholder in APC, can you give us a glimpse of what the Buhari government is going to look like? Well, I believe that the Buhari government is going to be made up of people of integrity, first and foremost. It is going to have people of competence. His government will have people that have passion for the masses as well as passion for change. Of course, it will have in it people of progressive thinking. These are the people that will form the majority in his government. The South-West was integral to the success of the presidential election. As a region which has never shied away from articulating how it wants the polity to look like, what are those regional expectations that can realistically be met by the Buhari government? I will not want to zero in on the SouthWest. The expectations of Nigerians should be that this government will address directly issues that affect the common man and development issues. This government will be able to bring hope to the people because they will see an end to impunity. They will see an end to mindless corruption that has made everybody so disillusioned that change was not possible. This government is going to achieve landmark results in some areas such as infrastructure, corruption and governance, and internal security. I am very confident that we will achieve landmark results in these areas because the president-elect will deliver in these areas. The gale of defections into the victorious APC even by major stakeholders in the PDP after the presidential election was roundly condemned by the Nigerian public and the media. They said that the APC leadership should have been more circumspect in receiving these defectors, if at all. What's your take on this? Well, defection is an exercise of fundamental human rights of people to be where they think they want to be. But we have to look at it from two points of view. Not everybody is defecting because they want to be part of sharing whatever cake is available. Some of the people that defected had found it very difficult to realise their own vision and goals within the PDP environment. Some are ideologically not contiguous with the kind of environment they found themselves. A lot of people went to PDP not because they believe it's the party they should be, but because it is the party that is more or less in vogue. Such people will leave whether you're offering them anything or any hope of anything or not. One of the reasons many of these people could not leave before was the question of where are they leaving to? Some of them did not believe that the opposition was organised well enough to be formidable. But now we have opposition that is formidable to the extent that it has become the government. The journey to a two party political system has started. You will see people crossing the two political divide. Some people are probably going to leave the APC in the future when they discover that they're incompatible with the kind of ideological direction that we're going. I expect a lot of people to still leave the PDP because they disagree with what the PDP represents. Yes, there're opportunists also who would want to leave as quickly as possible because of the largesse they believe are available in the new government. There would be such people. The president-elect has provided what I would call a smart basis for evaluation. If you're joining a house that has just completed preparing dinner don't expect to be served ahead of those who prepared the dinner. But definitely if you're prepared to be part of the house there would be other means to be served later. If people genuinely want to cross over and be part of APC because they believe in what we're doing, even if they don't make the list of Ministers or Board Chairmen now, they're going to be the party leaders of the immediate future. So, I don't believe that people moving from one party to the other should be seen as all opportunists.

Fayose didn't offend me but the constitution -Oni

The simplicity in his personage also reflected on how he juggles the demands of his office vis-Ă -vis the hordes of visitors that comes to his Abuja office. You can be rest assured to see him when in the office. Even when he's not, his office aide will tell you the approximate time he's expected to beback. And within that approximate time you would see him walk in. He is non-other than Engr. Segun Oni, the Vice Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Congress. In this spur-of-the -moment interview with Femi Odere, the former governor of Ekiti State bares his mind on some of the issues of the time. Excerpts: There is a school of thought on the Ekiti political imbroglio that sees the 19 APC lawmakers as overreaching themselves in their efforts to impeach Governor Ayo Fayose. Its argument is that here is someone that the Supreme Court had ruled in his favour about his eligibility to run for governor. It's saying that the fact that his party won all electoral offices in the state attested to his acceptance by the people. What more does APC want? We want the rule of law. Even if all the votes in Ekiti were delivered to him without exception, they were delivered to him on the condition that he would rule us in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The votes were not delivered to him so that he would run the House of Assembly with seven lawmakers, which is unknown to law. You see, the implication is very simple. A hotheaded man whose agenda was to wreak havoc could come to power somewhere in Nigeria with three or four political gangsters and tell them to go ahead and pass the state budget because he wanted all the money by the next day. They would run everybody that disagrees with them out of town and pass the budget and spend the money as they like. We want to be governed according to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we have no apologies to make about this. If Fayose was elected by the will of the people, it becomes his responsibility to govern according to the constitution that he swore to uphold. A House of Assembly of seven legislators is not known to law at all. If a governor would degenerate to that level, that governor has insulted the intelligence of all right thinking people within that state and outside of that state. That governor has committed a rape of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That governor has turned criminality into a virtue because it's criminal. It's like robbery of some sort. So, Nigerians should be thinking about what the future holds for all of us, not one man trying to make everybody feel that whatever he does is the constitution. No, whatever he does should be according to the constitution, and

not that whatever he does there would be the constitution according to him. If anybody is thinking along these lines, that everybody voted for him (I didn't vote for him and even if I had voted for him, I would think that it's a misuse of my vote), then it's unfortunate. Some of us believe that there's a minimum level of decency that we would like to see in anybody on parade as governor. If we're not seeing it, must we not talk? Must we say because some other people don't feel offended the rest of us who feel offended should have nothing to say? No. You see, we have to take this away from partisanship. Even those who are his biggest fans are yet to find us reasons why seven people should be called the legitimate legislature of the state. The people who designed the process that includes separation of power are not mad. I must tell you, there hasn't been any legislature in Ekiti since December. There hasn't been a judiciary either. And if everybody keeps quiet and one man, an emperor, now parades the streets with gangsters, wielding machetes and so on and that's the rule of the day, must decent people not ask questions? What is going on is more than one man being impeached or not being impeached. It is an impeachment of our own conscience as a people. It is an impeachment of our rights to good governance. It is an impeachment of our own sensitivity and sensibility as a people. If he has raped us that much, if he has impeached us that much, should we give him a medal and ask him to continue? Let those who support him tell us what to do. The governor said he has apologised to all the people that he offended and I said the governor has not offended me. He offended the constitution. What happens if, say, tomorrow the governor signs an undertaking with the House of Assembly that he will from henceforth operate under the rule of law you accuse him so much of violating, will you ask that his impeachment be stopped? He should first sign an undertaking to backdate his own offence against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As far as I know, what he has done must be addressed, and we can then address

what he would do. But I also want to warn; the people who came up with the adage that a fool at 40 is a fool forever must have been grounded in psychology to know that character traits don't change significantly when you have attained the age of 40 and beyond. What do you think Ekiti elders and elites should do in order to resolve this political quagmire in the state? They say democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The elites are part of the people. But they're not taking a position. Why are their voices not being heard? Why is it that if the Okada rider holds a cudgel in the middle of the street, flexing his muscles and saying, yes ooo, why don't others say that they're also entitled to make their own voices heard. The conspiracy of the elites to keep quiet because they don't want to rock the boat is going to be the greatest undoing of the system ultimately. Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to move forward in spite of fear. You may become unpopular by saying it. You may say it and some people would threaten to burn your house. The fears may be there, but one should take courage and let the people know on which side you are. I want to believe that even those who are custodians of our culture and traditions should know that if the system falls out of everybody's favour, they would also pay. It's better not to have the system fall out of everybody's favour. Once upon a time, there was a country called Somalia. It has not come back because of the apathy of the ruling class and the elite. They probably would have rescued the country from Siad Barre, but nobody wanted to stick out his neck. The people who wanted to do so were too few and far between. But when the problem came, everybody paid. Are we going to allow a situation where we have a state in Nigeria that is not governed according to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? It's not our problem alone. It is Nigeria's problem. Some of us are not going to keep quiet and there's no way you can get us to keep quiet.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

'It's time for PDP to put its house in order' want you to reflect on the last 2015 general elections considering the propaganda, hate campaigns and series of predictions before the election? I congratulate all Nigerians irrespective of party affiliations on the success of the March 28 Presidential elections in particular. The peaceful outcome of the exercise is a blessing for our beloved country. I give kudos to Professor Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for his exceptional, brilliant and transparent performance. In Attahiru Jega we found the hope of a new Nigeria. What we are celebrating today would have evaporated into thin air but for the calmness, sense of mission and thoroughness of Jega and his working team. ? I equally acknowledge the patriotism and sense of leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan for having the inner mind and eye to appoint Jega who has proven to be the right man for the job, and for allowing him the free hand needed in doing the delicate but important national assignment. Jonathan further demonstrated his high level of patriotism and leadership in view of his calm disposition through the course of the electioneering exercise and crowned this when he conceded defeat when it became glaring that his opponent had won the contest. The rare action in this part of the globe was most crucially necessary to douse the fear across the nation at the period. That was probably the most difficult decision ever taken by the President of the Federal Republic but, trust me, that's the wisest and most profitable as well. It was a display of true leadership statesmanship. You are talking as if it was only the efforts of some Nigerians that were responsible for the success of the election?â&#x20AC;Ś A lot of Nigerians, friends of Nigeria and the international community played great roles in ensuring peace before, during and after the elections. One cannot underestimate the powerful intervention of the United States of America (USA), European Union, United Kingdom, The African Union, ECOWAS, Dr Kofi Annan, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, His Eminence, The Sultan of Sokoto, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, GeneraL Abdusalam Abubakar (rtd) and so many others who intervened and worked frantically for peace. The churches/mosques prayed and fasted. The youths of Nigeria on their parts took

Ambassador Karo Ekewenu, a United Nations Ambassador on Millennium Development Goals in this interview with some journalists talks about the last general elections in Nigeria, Delta State politics, President Goodluck Jonathan and the roles of other countries and personalities of note in the democratic journey towards 2015 general elections. Excerpts:

â&#x20AC;˘ Ekewenu

to the social media to seriously canvass for peaceful general elections. They demonstrated their seriousness about the type of government they want at all levels in Nigeria despite being let down by some of their hustling celebrities and role-models who tried everything to kill the dream. The determination to achieve peace was hugely massive. Elections have come and gone, if you were to advise the contestants, what would you tell them? ? I congratulate all the candidates who contested for different positions, from presidential to the states Houses of Assembly. It is not always about winning, I know that the participation is always the beginning of a long journey in the wilderness of politics. I further congratulate the winners as I implored the losers not to be disillusioned. A loser who feels genuinely concerned and doubtful about his loss should address the grievance through the recognized channel instead of instigating crisis that will not take the nation anywhere. Losers of today can be winners tomorrow.

You were in Delta State during the elections, what was the experience like? In Delta State, I was surprised at the level of awareness from the urban to the rural areas about the contesting candidates in each of the political parties. From Ethiope -West to Ethiope-East down to Okpe, Sapele and the entire Ughelli, everybody knows Senator Ifeanyi Okowa who was then contesting to be governor. I was moved to ask one of the old women in one of the villages in Okpe Local Government whom I saw in the PDP shirt on why she was supporting Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. The response I got from her in Urhobo language was that "Where we are heading to is greater than where we are coming from. '' She further said that if the Urhobos can fully accommodate strangers and make them part of them then why can't we as Urhobos give them a chance to share their goodness to the land. And I must confess that this is the mentality of the Urhobo nation. From 1999 when an Urhobo son in person of Chief James Ibori became the

By Sheriff Salawe

from the electorates in Lagos, but the sensitivity of the office to continually foster the umbilical relationship between the Executive and Legislature in Lagos State requires that the voice of the people of the state be heard in the quest of who emerges as the next Speaker of the state House of Assembly. The Lagos State House of Assembly, constituting a total of 40 honourable members, with two members representing each of the twenty local governments in Lagos State will determine who becomes the Speaker before May 29th 2015, hence there is a need to feel from the intellectual point of observation, the pulse of the people of the state as to the right choice. The cursor of interest points at the returning members of the House and a good look at the criterion of experience as a major factor in electing who becomes the speaker of the hallowed chamber gives the returning members special consideration against newly elected members of the house. However, an external glance into the inwards of the political happenings in the House, the interest of the member representing Ikorodu Constituency 1 Hon. Sanai Oyeniran Bolanle Agunbiade to become the Speaker of

governor of Delta State, the state has been flourishing in harmony as a multi ethnic state despite the fact that the Urhobo nation is the largest ethnic state in the state. The expectation from Okowa among the people of Delta Central is high and to whom much is given, much is expected. What is the way forward for the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State to consolidate on its political grip in the state? What is more interesting to note is that Delta State people are completely of the position that the political class in the state should come to accept the final verdict of the credible governorship election. In the journey of life, there is bound to be a victor and the vanquished, There is bound to be a winner and a loser. In principle, the jostling for a political office is to consent to the fact that one person is bound to triumph and the rest aspirants are obligated by the rules of the game to accept defeat. Indeed, this understanding is a golden rule. It is not exclusive to politics. Even in the prominent fates that we understand and believe in, magnanimity in victory and gallantry in defeat is what differentiate real sportsmen from dilettantes and desperadoes. The time to shun greed and begin to strengthen our institution as a party is now. It's time to shun ethnic sentiments and be patriotic as party men and women. The strategy of bridge building has worked for the Urhobo nation and it will work for the Peoples Democratic Party. Senator Okowa as a leader has proven by all standards that he is capable of taking the party to its Eldorado and all he needs is the support from all and sundry. If Lagos State can attain its enviable heights today even as an opposition party in government, why won't Delta State under Senator Okowa make it as an intellectual power of the Niger Delta nation? This is the time for PDP to put its house in order and strengthen the party to become a formidable force. That is the spirit of unity needed for political advancement. Enough of disgraceful defection of members here and there. The way forward is for PDP to embrace the principles of justice, equity, unity of purpose and jettison ethnic sentiments so as to recover its lost pride and dignity as the once largest political party in Africa.

Race for Lagos Speaker: Where will Laha stand?

HE much awaited elections have come and gone in Nigeria after April 11 2015 and this saw the wind of "change" sweeping out the government at the centre with the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari of the APC as the president of Nigeria, thereby ending the tenure renewal of the incumbent president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The aftermath of the presidential election on March 28th, which returned GMB as the president-elect of Nigeria saw a lot of focus and diversion of interest to the former seat of power of Nigeria, Lagos and one could begin to imagine the importance of Lagos State in the comity of states in Nigeria. The pertinence of the largest city in subSaharan Africa brings Lagos to the focus of every other state in Nigeria and the emergence of who steers the affairs of the state is also as important as the existence of the state itself. With the emergence of the former Accountant-General of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode as the GovernorElect of Lagos, his experience no doubt will help in consolidating the achievements of

the outgoing governor, who has been widely adjudged as the 'actualizer'. However, the Siamese support enjoyed by the Executive from the Legislature and the judiciary may have played a pivotal role in the success of the 7th democratic administration of Lagos State steered by the out-going governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, and at the legislative chamber, the experience of the outgoing Speaker of the state, Rt. Hon. Sabit Adeyemi Ikuforiji, can be greatly adduced to much of the successes recorded by the state from 2007-2015. Suffice is to say that the emergence of Ambode as the governor-elect cannot afford not to solidify and continue with the landmark achievements of his predecessor, who has been widely acclaimed as the best governor in Nigeria. Even though the people of Lagos State have resolved the question of who takes over from Fashola through the general election at the poll on April 11 2015, the onerous task of determining who takes over the leadership of the hallowed chamber from Rt. Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji cannot be done by popular franchise

the House has taken the centre stage in the schemes on who emerges as the next Speaker of the House. The reactions which have trailed his aspiration for the highest legislative position in the state suggest a nod from other members of the Assembly. His supporters say the possibility of seeing Agunbiade as the Speaker will not only be a solidifying success for the new government of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, considering his dossier as chairman House Committee on Judiciary where he moved not less than 25 motions and co-sponsored several other bills which pivoted the relevant laws of the state for the benefit of the good people of Lagos. They also cite his performance at the plenary of the 7th legislative Assembly as boosting his acceptability. Nigeria may have gotten it right for the first time, the Lagos State House of Assembly must also strive to get it right to consolidate the existing development of Lagos State, a state which remains the benchmark of cosmopolitan development for every other state in Nigeria. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Salawe, a public analyst, wrote from Lagos Island

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS

Mohammed prepares for life after office

• Tejuosho

Race for Lagos speakership intensifies

HE race for who succeeds Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji as the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly has gathered a feverish pace in the last few weeks, as aspiring contestants intensify their campaign for the seat. At the last count, about five members of the incoming 8th Assembly have signified intention to contest for the position. They include Rotimi Abiru, Mrs. Funmi Tejuosho, Wasiu Eshinlokun, amongst others. Lately, there have been unconfirmed reports that Eshinlokun has been endorsed by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, a claim which has been disputed by majority of the contestants. The contestants, sources say, have been told in clear terms by the party leadership to campaign and lobby their colleagues and not bank on any alleged endorsement from any quarter.

M • Mohammed

Between Amosun and Adegbuyi

INISTER of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, is arguably, one of the ministers in whom President Goodluck Jonathan is well pleased. With just a few weeks to the end of his tour of duty in Abuja, the Bauchi State-born politician, according to sources, is set to return to his home state where he is poised to assume the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This move, it was learnt, is prelude to his alleged plan to run for the governorship come 2019. Already, political watchers are anxious to see how he plans to turn the fortunes of the party around in Bauchi.

• Salami

Salami's appointment elicits excitement

HE appointment of Dr. Adedoyin Salami as the Vice Chairman of the Transition Committee recently inaugurated by the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari came to many Nigerians by surprise. Until recently, Salami has operated more from the background, even as many have attested to his intellectual depth, particularly on economic issues. His appointment into the APC's transition committee has fuelled speculations on the possible appointment of the unassuming economist for a very influential position in the in-coming government. A brief perusal of Salami's CV will suffice here. A doctoral degree graduate of Queen Mary College, University of London, Salami is currently a full-time member of Faculty at Lagos Business School (LBS), where he is a Senior Lecturer. In addition, he is also an Executive Director of the UK-based African Business Research Ltd. In addition to teaching, Salami's consulting activities have included assignments for the Department for International Development (DFID), World Bank, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Beyond multilateral organisations, he also works as a consultant for corporations. Presently, he is retained as a consultant by British American Tobacco (BAT) and BGL Securities Ltd. Other companies for which he has undertaken consulting assignments include Coca-Cola Nigeria, Equatorial Africa (CCNEAL) and Kakawa Discount House. He has also facilitated or participated in corporate retreats for, amongst others, Zain Nig Ltd., MTN, African Petroleum Plc, to mention but a few. Given his resume and the unexpected appointment as the Vice-Chairman of Transition Committee, many are wondering what his role would be in the in-coming government.

TRONG indications have emerged that pro-democracy activist and lawyer, Bisi Adegbuyi, is in line for a crucial appointment by the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, sources have disclosed. The outspoken politician, who contested for the Ogun East Senatorial seat in 2011, served as the Deputy Director-General of Governor Ibikunle Amosun Campaign Organisation in the last general elections. Feelers have emerged that Amosun is considering nominating Adegbuyi, who was a prominent member of the late Anthony Enahoro-led PRONACO, as one of the Ogun State representative in the next Federal Executive Council (FEC). • Adegbuyi

'Don't distract APC leadership in Delta'

•Contd. from page 35 they feel they can just come to Delta State to exploit their friendship. What is going on in Delta State is that a congress was held, which produced the ward, local government and state executive councils. Elections were held that produced all of us as state officers, but some persons were not comfortable with this and some of those persons came out to even challenge it in court. I don't know why they are fighting structures that people have built, but as far as I know, O'tega is the leader of this party in Delta State; he's the person who singlehandedly financed this party from ward to local government and state congresses. He has been financing the party and has been there to finance and see to it that the party is well run from day one to date, nobody came out. Since O'tega started financing this party, all these socalled APC leaders flying up and down now did not show up; I am just surprised to be hearing some people saying they are the leaders of this party. Like I told you, I have been in this party, as an opposition party, from 1999 till date. I've been a councillor under APP; I have contested House of Assembly three times; I have contested local government chairmanship once; I have worked with General Muhammadu Buhari; supported him from 2003 to 2007 to 2011 and now in 2015. As far as I know, Buhari

is the kind of leader Nigeria needs. All these people are now claiming to be members or leaders of APC in Delta because Buhari has won; for instance, look at Ayiri, who just decamped from PDP yesterday, calling for the scrapping of the amnesty programme. Between me and you, was Ayiri a member of APC before the presidential election? It was after Buhari had won that he claimed to have decamped to APC. These people are just there for their personal benefits and not for the interest of the party. These are the group of people causing problems at the top; they don't know the status of their state and they cannot come to organise the party in their various local governments or wards; they are just there in Abuja, causing problems, saying there's no APC in Delta State. It means if there is no APC in Delta State, you too are not in Delta State. Some of them only know how to speak on Channels TV in Lagos, they don't come home. Can Pat Utomi tell people that he was in this state as at when the presidential and governorship elections were held? As far as I'm concerned, there's no problem with the party in Delta State; the only thing we want is let O'tega be the leader of this party in the state to be known by all of us and let us all rally round him so that we can prepare properly against 2019. Let them not distract the leadership of the party.

Raising a voice for the Nigerian girl With Temilolu Okeowo temilolu@girlsclub.org.ng 07086620576 (sms only) Please visit my blog www.temiloluokeowo.wordpress.com for more inspiring articles. Twitter@temiloluokeowo

I've been through several hells and I've been out of all the hells. When you lose your father as a child, then you would understand what it means to live with pain...

y m h t i w g n i l i c n o c re o b u k o D a d l i H â&#x20AC;&#x201C; d n a husb

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

IMBO Manuel is one of the veterans of stage drama in Nigeria. Although he is best known as Nduka in the now rested television sit-com, Checkmate which made its debut in the early 1990s, Manuel has since moved on in the theatre profession where he now finds more fulfilment in live theatre. His involvement in the Saro, a stage dance performance that took place during the last yuletide showed him as one of the notable icons in the industry. He said concerning the level of live theatre in Nigeria today that, “we are entering another phase in live theatre in Nigeria at the moment. You remember there was a lull for a long time, when everything came to a comatose. There were all kinds of explanations people offered for the lull. There were some who felt after the Soyinka generation, the Kola Omotoshos, the Femi Osofisans, … in fact that those generations did not groom or mentor anyone to take over from them. There were arguments for and against. I was fortunate to have sat down with Professor Osofisan here at the Freedom Park to discuss it”. He went on further to throw more light on the current situation and what the likes of Osofisan offered as a solution to ensure that stage theatre is revatalised. According to him, it was purely because we didn’t have a purposeful theatre anymore. In addition, some of the theatre departments in higher institutions paid more attention on producing graduates for Nollywood. In addition to that, stage performances did not have enough people paying attention to it. No sponsors, and no enthusiasms from thespians. Even in cases where plays were done, the halls were practically empty. The audience, an appreciative audience was lacking”, he offered. To him, there was also no incentive, no reward as such coming to theatre producers. “In that kind of situation,” he said, “you can hardly blame anyone who refused to go and do live theatre. However, in the midst of all that, the scenario suddenly began to change. We began to have the likes of Wole Oguntokun, Bolanle Austin-Peters of Terra Kulture, and so on. Even the presence of Terra Kulture itself began to encourage people to go out to watch live theatre and plays”. It is from that moment that theatre lovers began to experience the re-enactment of the works of some masters. This was spearheaded b the likes of Austin-Peters who took it upon herself to bring life into musical and dance performances and more. “There were also new plays by young writers and so on,” Manuel consented. “And I think we can situate the stage of live theatre within the norm we have now. I think we can situate it,” he repeated, grinning. “It is people like the Terra Kulture really, who have been in the forefront since this revival. It is the hub of traditional live theatre in Nigeria today and you can see how buoyant and robust the stage is at the moment.” In spite of the seemingly hopeful situation, more needs to be done to get the situation to a more appreciative level. “Even those who used to sit out at Abegi at the National Theatre, Lagos, those artistes who used to hobnob there have since moved on to other areas of life. We need to get that groove back in order to have a full live theatre. It was under those trees that ideas were fertilised in those days. Artistes used to meet there and discuss drama and theatre generally. We need to get those ideas to crystalise the theatre sector and put it back into action. The halls at the National Theatre were almost non-functional for a long time. In fact, the National Theatre itself was a disincentive on its own. At that stage not many people who would have patronized the Theatre were willing to go there. This was mainly for fear of violence or what have you.” Looking critically at the security situation at the Theatre and the neglect of the place over time, Manuel said, “The Theatre didn’t present itself as conducive to people who might want to do theatre there. That fear was always there that the environment itself was not comfortable to have live theatre. If you took traditional theatre there, may be it would work, people would come from Agege, Mushin and so on to watch. But theatre, even in Western cultures, seems a bit elitist. So, you’ll be wasting your time if you carry a play like the one we are watching here today (Beatification of

Why Checkmate was a huge success – Manuel Apart from his recent major role in Saro, a stage dance drama that projected the Nigerian drama scene in a bigger light, Bimbo Manuel, is a huge asset to the theatre industry in Nigeria. Known for his role as Nduka in the rested television soap named Checkmate, Manuel is a thorough-bred artiste whose love for live theatre cannot be compromised, not in the least. He spoke to Edozie Udeze on a variety of issues concerning theatre in Nigeria and lots more

• Manuel. PHOTO:

Area Boy by Soyinka) to places like Mushin and Agege. Nobody will come. But you can present it here at the Freedom Park or Ikoyi or VGC or Lekki and the people who know the value will come.” Since insecurity and lack of concerted efforts to secure the society still pervades the theatre scene in Nigeria, Manuel reasons that that perhaps contributes essentially to slowing down the interest people still show in this area. However, it appears that the provision of more secured venues in parts of the country have been of immense help to boost live theatre as it is now. “We should also mention places like the Freedom Park where people feel at home to watch plays. Once you come here for the first time, you’d to come again and again,” he explained. Describing what we have now as the true renaissance of live theatre in Nigeria, Manuel said, “this is where people fully show their

EDOZIE UDEZE

commitment to performances. Also, we can repeat the feat we performed in Checkmate. Yes, we can. May be we have even done more than we did in Checkmate. That is not to also remove the fact that people like Amaka Igwe had the mastery of what they did. And she had the daring to produce the kind of thing she produced then. That generation did so well, although Amaka came much later. They were probably the last of the amazons in the television scene.” As far as he is concerned, the tube has not done badly in terms of creativity and the presentation of interesting soaps on a variety of issues. “What made Checkmate special was that it was daring for its period. The story was incredible, the writing was amazing, proper production values were deployed. A lot of people, fresh from the university were involved. We were burning with energy and vitality. We were also committed to the art. It

wasn’t really about money. The money wasn’t much; we needed to prove our mettle. It was about we being happy to do it. We were not even aware of the glamour at that time. No, we were not, we were not conscious of it. It was just that people were glad finding expressions for their art. But we are doing a lot more now, quite a lot. Our budget can genuinely cross border now. We are going everywhere now and people are appreciating it. Most of our new creative endeavours and productions are well-marketed and people are saying oh, you guys are doing well.” The live theatre can then thrive better when the cinema houses, when theatre stages and venues are properly built and protected by those who are meant to do so. For this, enough resources have to be deployed and the vision to make it work well has to be properly envisioned. To him, it is not just enough to build theatre stages, but what matters most is to create what can last the test of time. “Yes, structures have to be built around that vision to ensure that they fit into the system. If you build a community theatre at Okokomaiko, what are the practical needs of the people. Who are the calibre of people who live there? You have to consider all that in order to make that stage proper for their needs. Little details like that have to be attended to. Is government going to fund it and how much can they make there? If government is not going to fund it, those who put up shows there, how would they make their money? What kind of money comes from the corporate organizations, because artistes have to be paid, producers and directors have to earn their pay. On the whole, there has to be a support structure in place to make this sort of theatre scene completely blissful and good for the people concerned.” Concerning the scripts and the writings and how they reflect and project the Nigerian situation, Manuel explained thus: “You see, different scripts and different stories are written for various reasons. I will be interested, for instance to listen to someone like Soyinka to know why he writes. His writings for now have been dictated by the events of the moment and he says it all. He tackles mostly some sensitive socio-political issues that pertain to the people. But beyond reactions to various issues, people also want to tell their own stories, people want to relate what happens within their environment and so on. That is what we have these days that we can truly say that Nigerian stories are being told every day.” As it is, the people have more stories to tell, more experiences to share, more ideas to convey. “These are stories of the cultures of their people to share. There are endless flow of such stories. They have ethnic stories too to share. So people have all kinds of reasons to write and these stories truly say who we are. It is the right thing to do and the head of the writer would help to produce the kind of story he gives out. Naturally, dramatists have always reacted to issues in their climes and those issues may often be put into writing. Acting it on stage further gives it the impetus it deserves and lets the people see who they are through the stories. This is what our writers have been doing to keep this sector aglow and vibrant,” Manuel said. He referred to the just concluded Saro, a stage dance-drama in which he played a major role as the very best thing for Nigeria. “It was a big outing,” he simply said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

ARTS

MAY 10, 2015

Jazz in the megacity of Lagos

•Skata Vibrations playing on stage during the festival.

•Biodun Batik and his band

EYOND making April 30 an international Jazz day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Jazz itself is a form of musical rendition that has permeated most societies of the world. For three days last week in Lagos, Jazz musicians and Jazz lovers and picnickers from far and near gathered at the Freedom Park to celebrate not only world Jazz day, but also what the organizers of the event tagged Lagos International Jazz Festival 2015. This is a celebration that began three years ago, meant to gather lovers of this genre of music with jazz musicians themselves from all over the world playing and generally having fun. With this year’s theme as Jazz in The Mega-city, Ayoola Sadare the festival director explained that it was time to consolidate on past gains and experiences and to also showcase what he termed jazz in Naija and other climes. This

ETERAN musician, OnyekaOnwenu, Nollywood thespians, OmotolaJaladeEkeinde, and GenevieveNnaji, are among the celebrities who have joined the ONE Campaign and Nigerian civil society organizations in a call for world leaders to take urgent action for women empowerment. This is coming ahead of the establishment of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals As part of the African Union Year of Women Empowerment, the ONE Campaign on Thursday April 16, in Abuja launched Poverty is Sexist, a campaign and online petition calling on world leaders to make the affairs of girls and women centre stage in 2015, a year when new development goals will be set. High profile Nigerians, including Executive Director of the National Centre for Women Development, Lady OnyekaOnwenu, actresses OmotolaJalade-Ekeinde, and Genevieve Nnaji, musicians Omawumi and D’banj, have added their names to ONE’s call for action. The campaign was launched at a policy forum that was attended by representatives of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), Equity Advocates and Save the Children Nigeria among others. A recently released report by ONE titled, Poverty is Sexist: Why Girls and Women Must Be at the Heart of The Fight to

Jazz music is obviously gaining grounds in Nigeria as Edozie Udeze shows in this report concerning the justconcluded Lagos International Jazz Festival was why he invited Rashid Lombard of South Africa as the special guest of honour for this year’s show. Lombard is the founder of Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which has been incharge of all jazz jams in that country since 2000. He is not just an internationally – acclaimed entertainer, promoter and director, he is also a former political and war photojournalist. His primary responsibility includes his foremost strategy in conceptualizing and marketing jazz festivals all over the world. This was partly why in 2014 the South African government conferred on him the Presidential Order of Ikhamanga. It is the highest South African honour granted by the president of the country for

outstanding achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, sports and photography. Lombard’s presence indeed helped to encourage artistes to play to their hearts’ content. As these jams happened simultaneously in different locations inside the Freedom Park, guests strolled round from place to place to savour the different renditions. Musicians in other genres were equally invited to play. It was totally a jamboree of musical entertainment, created to douse tension in the hearts of many. The atmosphere was conducive as musicians played the best they could to hold the people together. Sadare explained that this Lagos outing is modeled after the famous Cape Town

International Jazz Festival in order to give it the desired effect and clout. He said, “this festival is designed to offer visitors and residents in Lagos world class entertainment. The theme of this year is Jazz in the Megacity and our intention is to celebrate Nigerian Jazz and Jazz-related musicians who play the genre of music in various fusions and with an indigenous flavor.” For this purpose, artistes for this year’s outing were mainly the accomplished ones among them. A few of them were up-coming singers who equally showed that they were ever ready to prove their mettle. With the five different stages tagged after Nigeria’s foremost jazziests and high life impresarios like Osita Osadebe, Steve Rhodes, Fela Kuti, Fatai Rolling Dollar and

Onyeka Onwenu, others join women empowerment campaign By Ovwe Medeme

End Extreme Poverty shows how unlocking women’s economic potential could improve the lives of everyone in society. During the event, Lady OnyekaOnwenu joined ArumaOteh to sign an online petition, which is online at www.one.org/sexist. Onwenu recognized that progress is being made in women empowerment, but there is a lot left to be done. She said: Other Issues raised at the policy forum include the need for a comprehensive national policy on political inclusion for women, the need for monitoring mechanisms for funds targeting women development, and increased collaboration and synergy among women’s empowerment groups and champions. A policy document will be compiled from the forum, which will contribute to a continental narrative being developed by the ONE campaign to lobby leaders for action, in the lead up to the AU Heads of State Summit in June and the UN Summit in September. The report shows that poverty and gender inequality go hand in hand, whether you look at health, education or work. Not only are girls and

Bala Milla, the stage was set to thrill and enthrall the audience. One of Nigeria’s foremost jazz exponents Biodun Batik described the show as a big event to bring jazz musicians together and create a beautiful scenario to make people happy and be more appreciative of the jazz music.” Some of the performers included Biodun Batik, Ugo, Oyin, Seun Sticks, Dr. Blaze and Alex Osho. Their performances made people asking for more. The mix of acoustic and big saxophones and other familiar jazz instruments added huge vibes to the accompaniments. The rendition by Skata Vibrations on the last day sent the crowd reeling with joy as they shuffled their legs and twisted their waists. Skata Vibration made use of loops. With heavy reliance on guitars and bass and trumpets to stir the crowd, it was more of a spiritual production, with heavy instruments that often

women worse off than those in wealthier countries, but the gender gap in these areas between males and females is greatest in the poorest countries. This double disadvantage means that: a woman in Sierra Leone is 183 times more likely to die in childbirth than a woman in Switzerland, working women in the least developed countries are three times more likely to be in vulnerable employment than women elsewhere and in the poorest coun-

tries, literacy levels are a third lower for women than men. New Sustainable Development Goals, due to be unveiled at the United Nations in September, will set out a plan to end extreme poverty by 2030. But that ambition will only be realised if efforts are directed where the need is greatest, in both the poorest countries and to boost the prospects of girls and women, who are disproportionately affected.

sounded like those of the rock musicians. At a stage, it even seemed as if the defunct Police Band, known for its heavy percussion was on stage. But the leader of the band, Jad, an American could not hold back his joy when they were through and he enthused, “Oh, we just play music. We jam to the mood of the moment, right from our inner souls.” With over 200 live performances within three days, it is yet to be seen any other jazz festival that can match what the organizers put together. Yet it is not time for celebration. Nigerians are yet to be fully in love with jazz. Even though it is a music for the elite, jazz sooths the soul; it is so edifying that the combination of lyre, cymbal and tambourine can match what King David did in the Bible to honour God. Jazz is soul-searching; it is conducive to douse worries and render hearts free from acrimony, headaches and pains.

Want in the land of plenty Title: River people (Short story) Author: Peter Ukwa Publisher: The Mariner, (A compilation of essays, poems, stories, plays, reviews and news) Reviewer: Mike Adewale

•Onyeka Onwenu

PHOTOS: EDOZIE UDEZE

OINING the instructive but by no means exhaustive literature on pollution and its impact on the way of life in the Niger Delta is Peter Ukwa’s River People, a short story that explores the volatile mix of oil spill, land degradation and angst in the oilrich region. Set in the rustic, riverine town of Obir, the 3,700word story published in the January issue of The Mariner, the journal of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Bayelsa State Chapter, connects the dots between oil exploration and environmental disaster. With a simple, narrative style laced with proverbs and cultural interjection reminiscent of the late literary legend Chinua Achebe, the author succeeds in transplanting the dense mangrove of the South-south to the reader’s backyard. Through the hero, Godstime, and his sidekick,

Sangha, the writer exposes the fragile structure of a Niger Delta described by insensitive oil firms, careless government and an agitated people. Confronted by alarming odds in the climate of natural abundance, the people react with all the civility they can muster. Inspired by the resistance of hot-blooded war hero and landowner, Tuesday (‘Old Soldier’) to maddening exploitation, and galvanised by American returnee Mark’s leadership of a mass protest, the people make sure that the efforts of the illfated Old Soldier are not in vain. Godstime ends up a passionate witness to the tragic events of the 70s. Prodded by providence, the holidaying schoolboy goes from sampling the fruit of the land to brandishing a placard in protest against the fouling of abundant resources by foreign firms. Scholarships are awarded in compensation, but survival in the despoiled region remains topical as an older Godstime contemplates his people’s fate on the approach of the 21st century.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

-- Page 53

‘We try to be fair to all’

Page 58, 59

Subsidy claims: court to the rescue

NEXIM Bank: Delivering value through strategic partnerships

•Williams

Page 60

•Orya

Page 62

Experts task professionals on nation building

•From left: Deputy Managing Director, Chams Plc, Mr. Lukmon Balogun; Managing Director, Mr. Olufemi Williams; Outgoing Managing Director, Mr. Demola Aladekomo and Chairman, Mr. Ayo Richard, during the company's 31st Annual General Meeting in Lagos…recently

FAAN denies granting unauthorised N1 billion waivers T

HE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has cleared the air over irregularity in the appointment of its Director of Finance, Mr. Tochukwu Bede Uchendu, affirming that he was not sacked by the Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka over granting of unauthorised waivers worth over N1billion. The Authority said Uchendu was only asked to wait for conclusion of all formalities in line with due

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor process for his appointment to be regularised. The process, FAAN maintained, is still ongoing. Investigations revealed that the purported sack of the FAAN Director may not be unconnected with the removal of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Mohammed Abass, who has been replaced with one Hajia Binta Bello. According to the General

Manager, Corporate Communication, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, the Director of Finance was not sacked over unauthorised waivers because he does not have powers to grant such waivers in the first place. Dati said insinuations in a section of the media that the FAAN Director was sacked by Chidoka is inaccurate. In a statement which reads in part, Dati said: "The attention of the Federal Airports

Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has been drawn to a misleading news story published recently in some newspapers, alleging that the Honourable Minister of Aviation had sacked FAAN's Director of Finance, Mr. Tochuku Bede Uchendu over irregularities in his appointment and the granting of unauthorised waivers worth over one billion naira by him.” Uchendu, he said, does not have the powers to grant such waivers.

Lagos to create gender-desk in tax offices

HE Lagos State Inland Revenue Service has pledged its commitment towards the creation of a gender-sensitive desk in all the tax offices in Lagos. The Deputy Director, New Growth, Lagos State Inland Revenue Service, Bicci Alli gave this hint at the Tax Forum for Business Women organised by DFID Growth and Employment in State (GEMS) in collaboration with NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women in Lagos recently. According to him, women play a very important role in the informal sector, as such, they need to be encouraged to become parts and parcel of the tax regime. He said: "We will institute the gender-sensitive unit as soon as possible which would help to address the growing fears, doubts and concerns of women in business as far as tax in Lagos is concerned." Earlier, in her opening

By Adeola Ogunlade address, the President of NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women, Mrs. Lola Okaya cited the Belinda Gates Foundation report in 2012 that 42 per cent of women in the country are entrepreneurs, which according to her, is an indication that lots of women are willing to work

and support their families if the business environment is conducive for them. She said: "We need a gender-sensitive desk for Tax Revenue Collection Services because most women are not competing with the big industries but we want to run our businesses in peace to help

Firm unveils new payment system

INANCIAL transactions in the country has been further made easier as eTranzact, a multi-application and multi-channel electronic transaction switching and payment processing firm, has unveiled the New PocketMoni system. PocketMoni is a mobile payment solution designed to allow users to conduct financial transactions anytime, anywhere, from their mobile phone. In addition, the newpocketmoni gives you the opportunity to use the cash at the ATM function in the app to send cash to anyone at any First

By Ambrose Nnaji City Monument Bank (FCMB). Speaking with The Nation during the presentation of the product in Lagos, the Executive Director, Strategy and Head of Pocket Moni, Ike Eze said with the payment system an end user could send money to billers, friends and family, or payment merchants for goods and services. He said as a mobile money wallet, pocketmoni gives users an alternative to the traditional method of payment with a bank account adding that the user could be his/her own bank and control payments with a zero

our families." Okaya, who just launched a microfinance bank said: "We have opened account for over 400 women who are in the informal sector and we want to bring them to the formal sector. But the environment must be conducive and policy put in place must help to support small businesses." COT pocketmoni account. According to Eze, with the pay list you could create and schedule payment profiles, flexible transaction schedules such as weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly as well as annually, payment reminders before each transaction is made, different payments recipients such as data services, cable subscription including DStv, GoTv, Startimes etc. Head, Product Service, Bunmi Ogulewe, said the company would continue to sustain its customers by ensuring that that it comes out with new other products that would give them meaningful living.”

H A L L E N G E S confronting professionals in nation building was what preoccupied the mind of scores of professionals saddled with rule of law, corporate governance, and preservation of civil liberties, proper accountability and demand for social responsibility that converged recently in Lagos. The event was at the 14th induction ceremony of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN). In her speech, the past president of the Institute of Directors (IoD), Ms. Bennedikter Molokwu, who identified political instability and security, corruption, globalisation, wrong economic order, religious cum ethnic cleavages, poor infrastructure, lack of strong institutions, illiteracy and poverty, trends of nonresponsiveness by leaders and anti-intellectual culture as parts of challenges to be addressed and obliterated in nation building. Molokwu further stressed that "professionals like other Nigerians require a stable and peaceful atmosphere to thrive

By Biodun-Thomas Davids and contribute their quota to national development. The fact that Nigeria has challenges in terms of political stability and threats to national security has hampered both the quality and quantity of the contributions of the professionals to the development of their father land." The registrar of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Dele Togunde, in his tacit speech for the occasion tasked secretaries and administrators in different part of the country "to be mindful of new opportunities as we expect the inauguration of a new government in Nigeria next month." The president and chairman of council of the Institute, Dr. Suleyman Abdu Ndanusa, while addressing the newly inducted fellows, associates and graduates of the Institute, admonished them to maintain their good stand for integrity, transparency and accountability and refuse to compromise irrespective of the circumstance.

Julius Berger harps on quality, local content

HE construction giant Julius Berger, through its subsidiary, AFP Furniture Production facility, has assured Nigerians of meeting their needs in the production and delivery of quality furniture works of international standard. This was stated by Susan Obi, the Media Relation Officer of the company while speaking to visitors and participants who visited AFP Furniture Production stand at the flagged off of the Lagos Architects Forum, held inside Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, recently. "AFP is the furniture production facility of the Julius Berger Plc. We are into production of furniture work for private individual, schools, hotels and multinational corporations. AFP is a production facility of JB that is proudly Nigerian because we depend on local raw materials for the production of our finishing work. "We have competent hands and production machinery that can produce customised furniture specification given to us. Our work is not limited to production alone but we produce, deliver and install at

any location in Nigeria. The beneficiary of the efforts is not limited to final consumers alone as woods merchants are vital to our production," he said. In Abuja, the company also donated 280 books to the school authority at Government Secondary School, Kubwa, Abuja. Students of the school were also tutored on the art and science of poetry. The session on poetry, which was anchored by Dike Chukwumerije, witnessed the reading of works of Nigerian poets, as well as tutorials on how to write their own poems using poetic literary devices. Chukwumerije is the author of eight books and winner of several performance poetry competitions in Nigeria. The school's Vice Principal (Administration), Mr. Sule Momoh Lawal, said Julius Berger has reputation for touching lives across the length and breadth of the country. A member of the CSR team, Grace Ayoola, told the gathering that the goal was to create educational progress through the establishment of sustainable programmes and donations.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

BUSINESS

HO is truly entitled to subsidy claims? Oil marketers or banks? As simple as these questions seem, it defy clear answers. To get to the bottom of the matter, the dramatis personae involved in the whole subsidy saga have gone to the court of law to resolve the jigsaw puzzle. Genesis of subsidy crisis A frosty relationship has existed between the federal government and oil marketers as always far as subsidy claims are concerned. It has always been a back and forth argument, with both parties most times disagreeing. Things came to a head last week as oil marketers embarked on strike. The federal government had last week stated that it paid N156 billion as subsidy but the marketers denied and put the figure at N154 billion. The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria, (MOMAN), ObafemiOlawore, while speaking with journalists, said marketers collected a postdated FBN which is about two months old, with N98billion postdated for the main subsidy and N56 billion for the interest, making a total of N154 billion. "So, I can confirm that it is only a N154 billion that has been paid out of a total ofN354 billion. We still have N200 billion outstanding," he said. According to him, the industrial action was suspended because the minister agreed to meet the aggrieved parties and look at how the balance will be paid. Olawore, however, said that the action would be resumed if after meeting with government there was no positive response. Thankfully, the parties reached some compromise. While giving a bird's eye view of the subsidy template, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, said that N145.2 billion had been set aside for payment of subsidy on petroleum products in the 2015 budget. Okonjo-Iweala gave this hint in Abuja last Tuesday while addressing newsmen on the changes made in the 2015 budget recently passed by the National Assembly. She said that N100 billion was set aside for subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) while N45.2 billion for kerosene. "I want to clarify some of the information in the media that the National Assembly passed the budget without the subsidy. This is not true. "I also want to share with you that we have sent in a budget with a benchmark price of 52 dollars per barrel, the National Assembly passed a benchmark oil price of 53 dollars per barrel. "That is one dollar higher than the budget proposal. "This generated an extra revenue of N54 billion for the federal government; they retained the production volume of 2.2782 million barrels per day and exchange rate of N190 to a dollar," she said. This, she said, was because the interbank rate was at N197, adding that the Central Bank had advised that the exchange rate should be used. New twist in subsidy saga As oil marketers and the federal government tried to mend fence, some banks also came into the picture. One of those involved, Ecobank Nigeria Limited had last week accused the Director General of the Debt Management Office, DMO, Mr. Abraham Nwankwo, of frustrating its move to recover a huge debt allegedly owed it by an

Subsidy claims: court to the rescue Though the problem of subsidy claim has remained a hotly debated issue, a new dimension has been introduced into the whole saga with banks seeking litigation to get a slice of the pie. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Nduka Chiejina in this report examine the issues

â&#x20AC;˘ NNPC Headquarters, Abuja

oil marketing firm, First Deepwater Discovery Limited. To get even with the DMO boss, the bank approached a Federal High Court in Lagos last Tuesday urging the court to commit the Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, to prison for contempt of court. DMO is the federal government agency saddled with the responsibility of processing fuel subsidy claims by oil marketers, as well as the issuance of sovereign debt notes. Ecobank Nigeria Limited made the appeal before Justice Mohammed Yunusa after accusing the DMO of frustrating its effort to recover debts from an oil firm, First Deepwater Discovery Limited (FDDL). Justice Yunusa had in a ruling on February 25, directed that the DMO should transfer the outstanding fuel subsidy sum due FDDL into the company's account with the Ecobank. The bank had alleged that the oil firm has a cumulative subsidy claim of about N1.8 billion with DMO, with N845 million due for payment, prompting Justice Yunusa to rule that the agency should transfer with dispatch, the said sum into the defendant's account with Ecobank, in order to offset part of FDDL indebtedness to the bank. The judge ordered that the DMO should "communicate the PEF/Admin Charges on the balance sum of N1, 020, 451,733.22 to the plaintiff/applicant via the receiver/manager and to pay forthwith, remit or otherwise transfer the entire sum to the first defendant's account with the plaintiff/applicant." Addressing the court on Tues-

day, the bank through its lawyer, Kunle Ogunba (SAN), also prayed that one Umaru Abubakar, who is the DMO's officer in charge of processing fuel subsidy claims by oil marketers, be jailed for contempt. It claimed that despite being served through the agency's principal officers on February 27, DMO is yet to take the necessary steps to transfer the said funds, thus, frustrating the bank's effort at recovering its customers' money allegedly held by FDDL. In the affidavit filed in support of Forms 48 and 49, which Ogunba said were already served on Nwankwo and Abubakar, the deponent, Ajibola Ajiboye, alleged that in spite of serving the alleged contemnors with the papers for contempt proceedings they had refused to comply. While urging Yunusa to take a decisive action and commit Nwankwo and Abubakar to jail, Ajiboye noted, "Contempt of court, being a deliberate disobedience of a court order, is a serious offence, which every court should not allow to go unpunished; this is because treating such an act with levity could lead to total destruction of the entire judicial system and all that the administration of justice stands for." But Nwankwo and Abubakar have, through their counsel, S.E. Omoraghon, urged the court to refuse the bank's prayer for committal order against them. In a counter-affidavit filed in opposition to Ecobank's committal proceedings, the Principal Operations Officer of DMO, Sandra Ipigansi, maintained that the alleged contemnors were never served with the papers for contempt proceedings in personal capacities. Besides, Ipigansi said the issue

of disobedience to court order did not arise, because DMO could not have transferred the fund as directed by the court as the agency was never in custody of any subsidy claims by marketers. According to Ipigansi, the role of DMO in subsidy claims is more or less administrative, while the money is usually kept and claimed from the Central Bank of Nigeria by the concerned oil marketers. She claimed, "Physical custody of the funds used for the payment of subsidy claims by oil marketers are, at all material times, kept and domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria. "The 2nd defendant and its officers, by their mandate, do not keep custody of funds and do not directly touch funds meant for the subsidy claims payment and therefore lack the capacity to transfer funds to any account as directed by the court, as they do not have custody of the said funds. "The duty of the 2nd defendant is more or less administrative and limited to the issuance of sovereign debt notes to oil marketers on the advice of the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPRA, after due diligence and other necessary payment procedures." Ipigansi added that it was strange that a court would order DMO to remit the subsidy sum due to an oil marketer into the bank account of a judgment creditor. Yunusa has adjourned till 13 May to entertain the committal proceedings and to probably take a decision on the matter. Many claimants Findings by The Nation revealed that DMO is caught between a rock and a hard place as Ecobank and six others claimants

are pulling it to settle a subsidy payment owed by petroleum products marketers. The Nation gathered that the claim for payment by Ecobank, against the First Deepwater Discovery Ltd (FDDL) is actually a contest between Ecobank and six other claimants to the same money with each brandishing what they believe is a compelling case against the company. According to a concerned party to the claims "the case in point is clearly, a subtle attempt to force the DMO to take sides in a clearly very complex and convoluted matter which is currently before a court of law." Expatiating, the official who asked not to be named because the case is a subject of litigation, said: "The other claimants to the same monies have also obtained court order/judgment demanding the DMO to pay the same monies to them." He added that "it is therefore easy to see why a responsible public official like the Director General of the DMO will exercise due caution in ensuring that the most equitable and appropriate steps are taken to ensure that all competing interests in the case are given due consideration. The same consideration which Ecobank is seeking to achieve for itself is also being claimed by six other entities." By alleging that the "DG DMO was frustrating the bank's move to recover a huge debt allegedly owed it by FDDL' is indeed misleading because the reports did not tell the entire story." The DMO boss, he said, is simply caught up in a web of deceit and intrigues by vested interests bent on making him a scapegoat in a case in which he is determined

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

BUSINESS

Law banning animal slaughter under way I

•Diezani-Madueke

•Okonjo-Iweala

F a Bill for the production and distribution of processed meat in Lagos now in the works at the state House of Assembly is passed into law slaughtering of animals at home may be banned. Lagos state Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Gbolahan Lawal stated this while speaking at a-day stakeholders' meeting on, 'A Bill for A Law to Provide for the establishment of Lagos State Meat Regulatory Authority and for Connected Purposes' at Lateef Jakande Auditorium, Alausa Ikeja over the weekend. Lawal added that the meat industry has a lot of potentials in the state. Section 21 (1) of the bill states, "It shall be unlawful for anyone to slaughter any animal which is intended for human consumption or dress the carcass of such animal in any place other than in an approved abattoir. "Anyone who contravenes any provision of the proposed law shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) or six months imprisonment on conviction," the bill says.

By Oziegbe Okoeki Lawal stated that the law would make it mandatory for all meat to be slaughtered at approved abattoirs to ensure safe consumption, adding however that the Agriculture Commissioner would always release a statement during festive periods to allow people slaughter animals at homes. The Commissioner revealed that the agency that would be established to regulate the abattoirs through the bill does not have to be headed by a veterinary doctor since what matters is for the person to be an administrator. "There are still other jobs that the veterinary department would do. The industry is large in a state that slaughters about 5,000 herds of cattle every day except on Sundays. So, the agency would just focus on red meat industry. "A lot of people travel abroad and see how they do it there. It is just a Bill, so it is left for the House of Assembly to decide on what to do next," he said. The Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture, Cooperatives and Rural

Development, Olanrewaju Ibrahim Layode also said that all animals should be slaughtered at approved abattoirs and that the Bill would cater for the production of quality animals. "We will give certificates for all animals that would be slaughtered. We will control all our borders and our veterinary doctors are expected to control all the animals that come into the state," he said. In his contribution, the Director of Veterinary Services in the state Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Ganiyu Omotosho Adams revealed that 25 veterinary doctors in the state, including him, are undergoing training on meat value from a foreign consultant. Others, who spoke at the meeting such as the Secretary of Meat Sellers in the state, Alhaji Nurudeen Adesokan, and AbdulGaniyu Adegbenga AbdulMojeed promised to send their memoranda to the Assembly, while calling on the state government to take their observations into consideration. Members of the public who wish to make inputs into the proposed law were given seven working days to submit memoranda.

Fanfare as Diageo unveils Smirnoff Ice Double Black S •Nwankwo • Olawore

•Ecobank MD, Jibril Aku

to ensure that the right thing was done. Ecobank had claimed that First Deepwater Discovery Limited had a cumulative fuel subsidy claim of about N1.8billion with DMO, out of which it claimed that over N845million was due for payment. The Principal Operations Officer of DMO, Sandra Ipigansi, had submitted that the alleged contemnors the DG DMO and the DMO officer directly in charge of processing fuel subsidy claims by oil marketers, Mr. Umaru Abubakar, were never served with the papers for contempt proceedings in personal capacities. Ipigansi said the issue of disobedience to court order did not arise, because DMO could not transfer the fund as directed by the court as the agency was never in custody of any subsidy claims by marketers. Instead, the DMO only

issues a Sovereign Debt Note (SDN) assuring oil marketers that the government was owing what has been guaranteed. According to Ipigansi, the role of DMO in subsidy claims is more or less administrative, while the money is usually kept and claimed from the Central Bank of Nigeria by the concerned oil marketers. "Physical custody of the funds used for the payment of subsidy claims by oil marketers are, at all material times, kept and domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria," she said. The DMO she explained does "not keep custody of funds and does not directly touch funds meant for the subsidy claims payment and therefore lack the capacity to transfer funds to any account as directed by the court, as they do not have custody of the said funds. She noted that "the duty of the DMO is more or less administrative and limited to the issuance of sovereign debt notes to oil marketers on the advice of the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), after due diligence and other necessary payment procedure." Ipigansi added that it was strange that a court would order DMO to remit the subsidy sum due to an oil marketer into the bank account of a judgment creditor. In the view of analysts, as much as the parties have the right to seek justice in the matter, it is equally important that those who have reduced subsidy claims to a bargaining tool, need to exercise some restrain.

MIRNOFF, the world's number one vodka from the stables of Diageo Brands Nigeria has launched its new variant, Smirnoff Ice Double Black with Guarana amidst fan fare. The Double Side launch party was the first of its kind in Nigeria as guests were welcomed to an unconventional venue for a party- a thriving auto workshop turned into a party venue. Arriving at the venue located in Lagos, guests were eager to experience the uniqueness and dynamics of taking the party to such an unusual venue. Smirnoff Ice Guarana combines refreshing and invigorating taste of Smirnoff Vodka blended with Soda and extracts of Guarana. It joins the existing Smirnoff family of Smirnoff Vodka and Smirnoff Ice Red. Unveiling the brand, the Head of Marketing, Spirits and RTD, Liz Ashdown said Guinness Nigeria is driven by

innovation and the company is committed to launching products that meet more of their consumers' needs and occasions. "Smirnoff Ice Guarana has been produced to satisfy the quest of our younger consumers, who are of the legal drinking age and want to make less obvious choices because that's what makes their nights better and more memorable. The refreshing taste of this new Smirnoff variant is the outcome of an extensive research that resulted in the right blend of the best ingredients," Liz Ashdown said. Regarding the possibilities of the new variant putting sales pressure on the existing variants, Ashdown explained that "we have provided consumers with greater choice and with a drink that is more relevant for higher tempo

occasions than many other offerings in the market." "The #doubleside idea is the celebration of an alternative side of life -be that of places doubling as something more epic or oneself that is more expressive and open to new experiences. The double side party brought this to life through the unexpected performances and location - an auto workshop doubling as a party venue at night," Ashdown noted. The Smirnoff team also hinted of plans to carry out a series of consumer activities across major cities for the product launch starting from July through December 2015. The highpoint of the occasion was exhilarating performances from Mr. Incredible, M.I Abaga, Terry G, Kola Soul and ace disc jockeys D.J Spinall and D.J Nana who kept the party crowd going all night.

From left: R&B Singer, Kola Soul; Hip Hop/Reggae Singer Terry G and Innovation Commercialisation Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Ubani Christian at the Smirnoff Double Side Party to launch Smirnoff Ice Double Black with Guarana at the weekend

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

BUSINESS

HAT are you bringing on board as the new Group Managing Director of Chams Plc? Well, I'm an engineer to start with. I have been part of the management for the last 14 years. I have been the Deputy Managing Director before now. I have been on the company board for a while. I have been an Executive Director. I have been one of the pillars for whatever strategy you would have seen comes out of Chams Plc in the last 14-15 years. So, with the very good and solid team behind me, you can see the Deputy Managing Director and the new and old hands, we are sure to power the company to the next level. My job is simple: it is to lead, manage and weather the storm if there are, and to get new glory for our company, Chams Plc. Just this year, we created new synergy that would power the organisation for the next five years. To see to the strict implementation of it, and to react positively to changes in our environment, the polity is now stable, and we can manage and implement our strategies better now without the risk of election, of who will win or who will not and we believe with the new government in power, things will turn round better for the company. As the new GMD, what style of leadership would you adopt? My style of leadership is nothing major. What I 'm just going to bring on board is to be fair to all. Fair to the shareholders, fair to the consumers and bring products and services out of the company. We're transiting now from doing more of contracting to product development. And we have created about six new products and solutions and services that we're going to start to launch now that would turn the face of the company round completely from being a contracting company to a service delivery , as we now have products and solutions and services that we're going to be selling. And that is going to make a lot of difference from what we used to do in Chams. So, these are part of what we're going to bring on board. Unlike overseas, you hardly find Silicon Valley estates here. Is Chams Plc going to take the initial at some point? We now have one in Nigeria. All the products and services that we have now are wholly developed by Chams Plc, by Nigerians, in Nigeria. We spend a lot of resources and money in developing and training our people. So, we have a pool of young and qualified developers and we're still training them the more. We don't believe so much in foreign technology as such. And if we want to take foreign technology at all, we localise it before it is deployed. That is the plan, our mission. So, we now have a Silicon Valley entity in Nigeria. All our guys are some of the best developers you can find in the country today. Many industries around are battling the challenge of power generation. To what extent has Chams Plc been able to work around this challenge? The challenge of power is not peculiar to our sector. But it is easily managed in our sector. Everybody goes cloud now. By this time next year, we probably would have shut down our data centre because we now use a lot of cloud capacity. We don't have to host those servers in our offices. They are there in the cloud and that is where you have 24/ 7supply and it's even cheaper, less stressful. So, we have invested a lot in cloud computing and most of our servers and most of our processing power is now in the cloud. Power challenge would be with us for some time. But I believe that the incoming government would likely do something about it to make sure that things work. But even while we wait for that to happen, we're proactive. Most of our servers are in the clouds.

'We try to be fair to all' Olufemi Williams, who has been named Group Managing Director-designate of Chams Plc, joined the company about 25 years ago and rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Managing Director until his recent appointment. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, he shares his vision to reposition the company for further growth

â&#x20AC;˘Williams

Cloud computing is still emerging in this part of the world and as such is prone to cyber attacks. What are the measures you have put in place to guard your system against hackers? Insecurity is a moving target, whether in Nigeria or abroad, it is a moving target. You only need to make sure that you invest in enough technology and be ahead of hackers. And you must continuously do that. It is not an investment you do and then you go to sleep. The reason is that once you have a computer in your bedroom, if you connect that your computer to the internet, it is subject to hacking, alright? But for people like us, who invest in robust technology solutions, we always

make sure that we deploy the best security solution now and on a continuous basis we review. We even pay some people to hack our system, that's the only way you can stay ahead of hackers. As the hackers, we also need to be thinking like them too. The onus on us really is to invest more on security to make their job almost impossible. But whether we like it or not, hacking is a threat that is with us. It's just there. A lot of people do it for money, others simply do it for the fun of it. Just to say that I was able to hack into the system of a big company like Chams is a thing of pride and prestige to some people out there. That's enough motivation for them to do it. So once you know that risk exists

and you know that threat is there, you have to invest continuously to make sure that you stay ahead of the hackers. What is your view of staff motivation? Motivation is essentially the role of management because you don't want people only to work with their hands; we want them to work with their heart, with their head and with their handsthose are the three 'H.' At Chams, if you look at one of our core competence it is that we aspire to be the company of first choice in Nigeria. So, in terms of our human resource policies, we're one of the best you can get in the land. In terms of our compensation framework, it is one of the best in the industry, in terms of our salaries and wages; it is still one of the best. And in terms of recognition, we don't just punish people when they err, we reward and we motivate people to do better. As I said, we don't go after one H, which is the hand. We go after the head, the mind and go after the heart of our employees. So, we're all a family. That is why you can see many people that are in the company today have spent 10-15-20 years, in an IT company. It is not common in Nigeria. But our culture is to groom people in our company that entered as messengers that became our Company Secretary. We give people room to develop themselves and to grow with the company. How do you whip erring staff into line? We deploy more of carrot than sticks. As the Deputy Managing Director what can you recall as one of the toughest decisions you took over time? Well, it is in disengaging staff. It is always painful for me because often times you think you can do better. But we have a company to run. Sometimes because we have laid down the rules, we have to excuse some people. Those have been the most difficult times for me. What's the most outstanding decision ever taken? For us as managers and at the level I have operated before and the level I'll be operating now, we take key decisions every day. So there is so many of them. But we thank God because in terms of strategy, in terms of decision making; we don't get it right all the time but we take pride in the fact that our decisions go more positive than those that go otherwise and we want to do more of that to make sure that we learn from our mistakes, and then we move on. That's why our brand is resilient. You will never find Chams in down low for a long time. We have had policies and strategies that didn't work out and we have had many other ones that worked out. So, the whole idea is that use your best intelligence and research very well. If it does not work out, use the experience and move on to the next level. That's how we have been able to evolve over the years. As a technology incubation company, Chams has developed a number of products for different economic sectors like banks, manufacturing, including providing technology for the cashless and mobile banking. What technology do you think can still be done to reduce the growing unbanked population in the country? You're talking about an industry challenge. It is beyond what a company like Chams can do. Some of the issues you mentioned has to do with infrastructure limitation, power, we have some of them regulation, cases of policy somersaults where government, for instance, stopped banks from deploying Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and companies like Chams invested heavily n the infrastructure. Suddenly, government allowed banks to deploy ATMs again, and we lost huge amount of money in the past. But the whole idea is not to relent on our oars. We keep on trying to invest n things that are beneficial to mankind, to the company and Nigeria as a whole.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

HAVE used Fairy washing liquid in the past, though not in Nigeria, for at least a period of over eight years and I can say it is good. For a while now, I have been using Morning Fresh and Mama Lemon dish washing liquid to do my pots, dishes, sink, cooker and even kitchen top and I can attest to the efficacy of these products. Morning Fresh, from PZ Cussons, is a recognised market leader and a household name in the dish washing liquid market with over 20 years of existence in Nigeria. Recently, PZ Cussons introduced another variant Morning Fresh antibacterial, bringing its total number of variants to three, giving consumers room to make a choice. With barely about seven years in the market, Mama Lemon, a product of Holdent Plc, is already making waves. Prior to the entrance of Mama Lemon into the market, the premium dish washing liquid was sorely controlled by Morning Fresh. Also, recently, Unilever Nig.Plc joined the race with the launch of its Sunlight dish washing liquid in the Nigerian market which is available in four pack sizes. Seeing the business opportunity in the market, the giant producer of consumer brands, Procter and Gamble, also unveiled in Nigeria its brand of dish washing liquid, Fairy, already in existence in 80 countries from the United States to Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to Japan. In Nigeria, for now, we have Fairy in 500ml containers while most brands of dish washing liquid come in different sizes of 1100ml, 1000ml, 500ml, 250ml, 350ml etcetera. Last week, on a visit to one of the big supermarkets, I saw an array of dish washing liquid appropriately displayed on the shelves. I saw brands I never knew existed. Brands from known companies and those from relatively unknown companies. While Fairy 500ml sells for N400, the already existing top brands in the market like Morning Fresh, Mama Lemon, Sunlight in 1100ml, and 1000ml containers sell for between N350 and

Fairy, other dish washing liquid battle for consumers' attention

â&#x20AC;˘Liquid washing soup

N400. The same brands in smaller containers of 500ml go for about N250. The not-so-popular brands, of course, come cheaper. Apart from the size of containers, from the information on their labels they all claim to be doing almost the same thing which is, 'providing superior degreasing benefits even for the toughest oil stains while caring for our hands.' But one clear difference is the variance in the size of the containers and the price disparity. As a consumer, first and foremost, I will want to go for the bigger container and of course will consider the price. How the manufacturers of Fairy, Procter and Gamble, intends to convince consumers to ditch the dish washing liquid in gigantic containers with

the price of N350-N400 and go for Fairy that is obviously in a smaller container with higher price tag, beats me. Putting it to Mrs. Iretiola Doyle, the brand ambassador of Fairy, at a media interactive session recently, she confidently said that though Fairy comes in a 500ml container, "It is more concentrated and potent than the other dish washing liquid in bigger containers. A container of 500ml Fairy will outlast a 1000ml container of any other brand. "While you will need more of the other dish washing liquid to get your plates clean, you only need a drop of Fairy, so at the long run, it is cheaper. The person using Fairy will still be on just one container while those using

other brands in larger containers would have long run out and gone for a second purchase," noted Iretiola Doyle. Responding to questions from journalists, the brand ambassador insisted that the size of the container does not matter but the efficacy of each drop. Still emphasising on the potency of Fairy dish washing liquid, Mrs. Doyle, said that "the dish washing liquid is so potent that poured into a clogged drain and followed immediately with hot water, it immediately unclogs the drain." Last December, Procter and Gamble formally announced the entry of Fairy into the nation's dish washing liquid market. Fairy was first launched in the

LG 6-Motion washing machine: Another leap in laundry care

EADING consumer goods manufacturer, Procter & Gamble Nigeria, has announced that it will be sponsoring the African adaption of the popular and awardwinning American series, Desperate Housewives, with two of its leading brands - Oral B & Ariel detergent - as its contribution to the promotion of local content in Nigeria's entertainment industry. Speaking at the premiere which held recently in Lagos, Ehis Enakabor, Director of Commercial and Brand Operations, P&G Nigeria, said the series is an authentic platform for enthralling and spell-binding homegrown content that will bring fun and entertainment to the family, and expressed her excitement that the two P&G sponsoring brands, Oral B & Ariel, will help make this a reality in many homes across the country. . "As the global leading player in the domestic front, it is only natural we partner with a brand like Desperate Housewives, a popular home-centred series that brings fun and entertainment to the family. Just as the show is set to offer enthralling and spellbinding homegrown content, Procter & Gamble's products Oral B and Arial - are poised to positively touch the lives of

EOPLE, irrespective of their social standings, are always seeking to look their best. For many professionals who feel the need to look good as well as focus on the things that matter most, owning a washing machine is essential. The washing machine, perhaps more than any other appliance, frees many working women from the drudgery of housework, and is conceivably the single most important invention of the 20th century. However, most conventional washing machines have been found to be ineffective and unreliable as they are only able to carry out just one wash motion which is what informed the introduction of LG 6motion washing machine, an appliance that is able to replicate six different wash motions for every fabric type. LG 6 motion washing machines are equipped with the high-efficiency direct drive motor that cuts energy costs and water consumption, compared to conventional washing machines. LG's direct drive system increases the motor's efficiency; this not only cuts back on energy use and makes it less susceptible to breakdown, but also helps reduce noise levels. Speaking on the product, General Manager, Home Appliances Division, LG Electronics West Africa operations, Mr. Hyunwoo Jung, said: "With an LG 6 motion washing machine, users are bound to enjoy amazing performance and unmatched results every time.

"6 motion is made possible, thanks to LG's inverter direct drive motor which enables better control of the drum - from both a speed and rotation point of view, thus enabling different wash motions. The different wash motions are specific to how the drum moves and its effect on the clothes and although different motions may be more suited to different fabrics, LG's engineers have found the optimum combination of wash motions to deliver the best performance and care

â&#x20AC;˘Washing machine

for your laundry based upon the programme selected." The 6-motion direct drive washing machines allows the drum to tailor each load from a combination of six unique motions: rolling, stepping, swinging, scrubbing, filtration and tumbling unlike the one motion--tumbling, available in most front-load washers.The LG direct drive technology has over time raised the bar for washing machines. With six ways to wash, the LG 6 motion washing machine's direct drive enable users choose the one that is right for them. Beside the established tumble which is the standard turn washing machine motion in most washing machines, LG 6 motion comes with five additional motions for specialised laundry care. So it's more effective, yet kinder, too. Today, consumers have come to expect more from household appliances in terms of innovation, design and performance; LG continually delivers products that guarantee safety, reliability and durability adding to the credibility of the brand. Overall, LG Electronics is not slowing down where customer satisfaction is concerned, as it continues to set the pace for the competition by breaking new grounds through forward-thinking inventions aimed at providing the "good life" to its consumers.

United Kingdom about five decades ago. The Fairy brand, according to the company, has grown to become a popular dish care brand globally with the Nigerian consumers being the first in the Sub Sahara Africa to experience its quality. Fairy products are concentrated in order to reduce packaging waste. Bottles are recycled and the dishwasher range is designed to be used in short cycles and at lower temperatures, thereby saving energy. According to the company's General Manager, George Nassar, "Fairy dish washing liquid boasts of over 50 years of scientific innovation in each bottle. It is proven to last two times longer than current best selling brands in this category." Yes, it may last longer than other brands but the claim by the manufacturers that "just one bottle of Fairy liquid washed 14,763 dirty plates, setting a world record," is what I find questionable. But Iretiola Doyle quickly explained that the experiment was done in a controlled environment. So while under a controlled environment it washes that much, it may not be the case for you and I. However, Mrs. Doyle added that a bottle lasts two months in her home. Explaining who their target market is, Bukky Sanu, Clients Service Manager, Public Relations Consultancy firm, C and F Porter Novelli, said that Fairy which is a premium product is targeting the very high class consumers and people who work for them. Does it mean the product will only be found in exclusive stores? "Though our primary target is African 1 and African 1 plus, it is still for everybody." With consumer satisfaction uppermost in my mind, I asked the brand ambassador to enlighten me on the return and refund policy of the company. Even without allowing me to finish my question, she asserted that there will not be any need for a return, exchange or refund of money as consumers will never be dissatisfied once they try the product.

P&G supports Desperate Housewives Africa millions of family worldwide, including Nigerians," she said. During the premiere event, one of the P&G's sponsoring brands, Oral B, gave out a washing machine to the winner of the 'Smile of the Day' competition. The surprised winner, Adebanke Elegbede, thanked P&G for its generosity. Mo Abudu, CEO of Ebony Life TV, owner of Desperate Housewives Africa franchise, commended P&G for adopting and believing in the potency of the African adaption of the American series, adding that its sponsorship is a proof of its commitment to supporting homegrown entertainment. P&G Nigeria's Media Manager, Funmilola Adigolo, Director of Commercial and Brand Operations, Ehis Enekabor, and Brand Manager of Oral B, Folarin Ojo, presenting a washing machine to the winner of the 'smile of the day' competition, Adebanke Elegbede, at the premiere of Desperate Housewives held at the Muson Centre recently.

ECENTLY the Nigerian ExportImport Bank - NEXIM Bank, embarked on a deliberate programme of building partnerships designed to deliver value to its stakeholders and target public as the Nigeria's sole Government Trade Policy Bank. This development has been applauded by both players and watchers in the Nigerian SMEs, especially those operating in the manufacturing, agroprocessing, solid minerals and services sectors. The world today has gone past the era of the lonestar performer onto the era of coalition building and strategic partnerships. Today, both open and crowd sourcing are becoming major drivers of global commerce; meaning that business networks are increasingly becoming more cross border and more virtual in nature. It is against this background that stakeholders have described the strong collaboration and interfaces among the NEXIM Bank and such institutions as the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the National Directorate of Employment and Crown Agents Nigerian Ltd as the way forward. The MD of NEXIM Bank's, Mr. Roberts Orya and the Executive Director of NEPC - Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, have over the period established a strong working strategic partnership - sharing ideas, valuable contacts etc. These have resulted in beneficial synergies that have linked Nigerian exporters in the non-oil sector with buyers of same abroad further creating jobs and boosting forex revenue for the country. This initiative indeed, is a major step in the effort towards the diversification of the economy from the dependency on crude oil for exchange earnings. It is also a clear evidence that the crucial nature of their respective mandates is not lost on them. NEXIM Bank's recent Corporate Transformation initiative has indeed improved its operations and positioned it as a world class institution that can hold its own among its peers in other fast growing economies, especially among the MINT Nations of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. The plan of the NEPC to

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

BUSINESS

NEXIM Bank: Delivering value through strategic partnerships By Nduka Bulo Nwaede

increase the level of non-oil exports by at least 30 per cent in the next four years cannot be fully realized without a dynamic credit institution that will supply the needed financing as well as moderate the shocks that are usually attendant upon the vicissitudes of the export market. This partnership is sure to shore up market confidence and improve the level of trade flows and revenue earnings. It is remarkable that in 2013 the annual earnings from informal trade was $12 billion (N1.9 trillion), a figure which is higher than the contribution from the formal trade sub-sector, which was valued at $3 billion (N477 billion) within the same period. NEXIM Bank and NEPC are concerned that most of the transactions that yielded this revenue did not go through the banking channel nor were adequately captured for statistical and 'market indicator' purposes. There is therefore, cause for optimism that the continued collaboration by both institutions would help leverage their huge potentials. Experts agree that both agencies are now better positioned also to boost Nigeria's chances of exploring other avenues of trade promotion especially the African Growth and Opportunities Acts - AGOA, designed to provide a leeway for selected African products to access the US market without the encumbrance of trade tariffs. From the time of his appointment as the MD NEXIM Bank in 2009, it is remarkable that Roberts Orya has since led a strategic transformation of the otherwise moribund institution and returned to a path of sustained profitability by refocusing its objectives to key sectorsManufacturing, Agroprocessing, Solid minerals, and Services, known as MASS Agenda.

â&#x20AC;˘Orya

Industry watchers are particularly optimistic that the NEXIM Bank-facilitated Sea-Link Project, designed to build regional maritime networks to connect West and Central African ports with a fleet of 3,000 to 5,000tonne ships, is one of those longed for initiatives that will boost trade within the West and Central African sub-regions. Particularly, it is also anticipated that it will boost Nigeria'strade and revenue benefits beyond the shores of ECOWAS where our products and services already hold sway. Another equally strategic move is the Bank's partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE). This is designed to build capacity, beyond its Corporate Transformation Initiative. Under the arrangement, both agencies are cooperating to train and empower a new crop of entrepreneurs who will become acquainted with SMEs and export of goods and services early in life, as a means of enterprise promotion in non-oil export

business. After the training, successful participants are given loans upon fulfilling some basic criteria such as registrations with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the NEPC as well as the provision of minimal guarantees, among others. Without a clear and deliberate effort of this nature, the gains the country is making in transformation of the economy would ultimately prove unsustainable. It is all too well known that Nigeria's educational curriculum is not where it should be in regard to training employable graduates. Young folks leave schools only to discover that skills and experiences they have acquired do not effectively equip them for engagement or work in most of the sectors and industries. Opportunities such as this, being provided by the NEXIM Bank and the NDE will re-skill the beneficiaries; bridge the skill gaps and provide opportunities for fresh graduates to build

capacities in the given areas. Another significant evidence of its passion for progress and growth is NEXIM Bank's partnership agreement with Crown Agents, an international development agency that specializes in strengthening operations of various corporate organizations to position them appropriately to deliver on their mandate. Through this arrangement NEXIM has strengthened its internal capacity and is reengineering its service delivery architecture for greater effectiveness. Crown Agents is particularly renowned inproviding consultancy and training intrade and growth, public private partnerships, public financial management, governance etc. Partnerships of this nature would greatly assist to reinforce NEXIM's human and technical capacities towards greater efficiency and productivity. The Managing Director/CEO of NEXIM, Mr. Roberts Orya, when he met with the Chief Executive of Crown Agents, Terence Jagger, at the inception of the partnershipin 2013 praised "the expertise and commitment of the agency to help improve good governance and capacity of several public finance institutions, commercial and investment banks, as well as supply chains." Mr. Orya observed, and rightly so, that without a sound and technically competent workforce, there is no way NEXIM Bank would be able to remain on track towards becoming the lead export development bank in Africa. Mr. Jagger and his team reemphasized the commitment of Crown Agents to helping governments to reduce poverty, improve health and increase prosperity for sustainable development. Indeed, as government's sole trade policy bank and export credit agency, NEXIM Bank is at a vantage

position to generate the critical mass and synergy with relevant institutions to harness the huge opportunities available for economic prosperity in Nigeria's non-oil trade space. Such agencies include: the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC; Nigerian Shippers Council (NPC), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN); Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) among others. The relentless drive and strategic leadership focus to transform NEXIM Bank into a world class export credit agency has shown that Mr. Orya is on course to take the financial institution even to greater heights. What is now left is for NEXIM to be strengthened and given the necessary fillip to aggressively begin to offer buyer's credit facility as an essential product to its customers. This is in line with international best practice and would provide an avenue to Nigerian exporters to overcome issues of cash flow consequences or the risks of extending long-term credit by helping an overseas buyer to secure a long-term financing with a lender.Normally, with this arrangement,aNigerian exporter would be paid as if he has a cash contract, whilst the overseas buyer has time to pay on the contract through the financing secured from the lender, which would be backed by NEXIM Bank's guarantee. For Nigeria to fully exercise its position as the largest economy in Africa, this is the next necessary step that must be taken. This will also afford NEXIM Bank the opportunity to consolidate on the gains of its strategic transformation. - Nwaede is a Public Affairs Analyst based in Lagos

IFAD boss tasks G20 Agric Ministers on rural investment

HE International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has made a case for improved agricultural financing. Josefina Stubbs, Associate Vice-President of IFAD, who represented the Fund the G20 Agriculture Ministers meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, advocated on behalf of the 76 per cent of the world poorest people who reside in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, stressing that the importance of investing in rural people in developing countries was paramount. "IFAD believes it is essential to bring millions of smallholder

farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs, women and men, into the financial mainstream, if we want them to become capable investors who can drive sustainable and inclusive agriculture and food systems," Stubbs said. "The G20 can truly play a catalytic role and create a more enabling environment for increased investment in agriculture and food systems in all countries," Stubbs added. "And IFAD will continue to provide its expertise to help realise these objectives." At the second ever ministerial meeting in Turkey, the focus was on how to

encourage high quality, responsible investment in the rural sector and in agriculture. The G20, a forum for supporting international economic cooperation and decision-making, is made up of 19 countries plus the European Union that represent about 85 per cent of global GDP and twothirds of the world's population. Last year, G20 leaders released the Food Security and Nutrition Framework, which aims to strengthen inclusive economic growth by increasing investment in food systems, raise productivity to expand food supply, and increase incomes and quality jobs.

From left: Marketing Manager, Samuel Ohemeng, Production Manager, Andrews Akolaa, Acting Chief Executive Officer, all of Agya Appiah Bitters Ltd, and Joseph Ajah, Managing Director, Strategic & Practical during the media briefing/launch of Agya Appiah Bitters in Nigeria at Savoy Suites, in Lagos...recently

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

INTERVIEW

‘How change can come to Nigeria’ F

EW days to the presidential elections, you sent an email to associates on a revelation of what you called the ‘coming change’. What influenced such a position then? Well, the Bible speaks about the men of Issachar and how they have the understanding of times and seasons. That is very crucial in this end time. Jesus spoke a lot about times and seasons. Daniel also recognised that God changes times and seasons. He brings a king in and disposes others. To the glory of God and with every sense of humility, we could see that Nigeria was working towards a change in the spiritual climate. I must say that the change was in the spiritual climate and usually when God brings a change in that climate, there would be physical manifestation and political dimension. God is the God of the prophets, priests and kings. The Kingdom of this world truly belongs to God though leaders across the world like to behave as if they are the ones in charge. God is interested in the nations. He is in charge, whether we acknowledge it or not. So, we could see it, from a prophetic perspective, that God was bringing a change. And when you receive such messages, you have to put your ethnic, religious and other sentiments across. You just open up to what He has to say and embrace it. Why? Because He does nothing that he has not revealed to His servants. Were there times you doubted hearing God well, especially when the pendulum appeared not to be swinging in that direction considering it would lead to the defeat of the outgoing administration? Yes, I must confess I had such times. I wondered if it was going to be so. And it is very instructive that each time I felt like that, I checked my spirit and realised God was still saying the same thing. You know those fears and concerns were natural. God assured me that there were always resistances to whatever He wanted to do in the times past. So, I had such doubts but God said it would be so. I had very several times when I heard some news and wondered if God would make it happen. I kept hearing God asking me not to listen to those things but trust Him to bring His words to pass. Your proclamation then attracted several oppositions. I remember you were planning a meeting that was instructed to be called off from Abuja. How did those oppositions make you feel? When God gives you rev-

Bishop Abraham Olaleye is general overseer of The Pentecostal Congregation, Ilupeju Lagos. The widely-travelled evangelist spoke with Sunday Oguntola on a revelation he shared shortly before the last presidential elections and how change can become a reality. Excerpts: elations as a prophet, then you have to dump your fears and hold on to what He has said. Like I said, there is no change that comes without resistance. But this resistance was from men of God, who one ordinarily expected to have known better… …Yes, but you know that it is not every man of God that always knows what God is about to do. That, to me, is where the prophetic dimension comes to play. You see God does not do anything until He has revealed it to the prophets, not the priests. Now, I am talking about the priests in the Aaronic order. But the prophet, if he is true, must hear and see what God is about to do. He sees what the ordinary man does not see. He hears what the ordinary man does not hear. He stands as a prophet to warn the people. Unfortunately, the priest in the Aaronic order doesn’t hear him. It takes a priest in the Mechidezek order to hear what God is about to do. I am taking about a New Testament priest with the prophetic grace operating in his life. Such person will be able to overlook the priestly benefits and declare what God is saying, even when such will not lead to any personal profit. That way, you are no longer in pursuit of human interest but the agenda of God. When we pursue His agenda, it will be a blessing to the generality of the people. But because of the limitations of the priestly office, they are always not in a position to know what God is about to do. There were also counter prophecies and revelations. When were your reactions to

•Olaleye

them? What will I say than to say let’s wait and see. I mean a true prophet of God does not struggle for anything. Even when God has spoken to you, you simply wait for time to tell. God says if someone claims to be my prophets, the words he speaks must come to pass. You remember the story of Jeremiah, who prophesised that the people of God would go into captivity for 70 years. But there was a prominent named Ananias who came that and said the captivity will be for just two years and that all the articles stolen away will be

bought back. Jeremiah only said amen. That is the test of a true prophet. He wasn’t fighting or making a case for his prophecies. He didn’t discredit the prominent prophet but simply went his way. But you know what? He died that same year. Why? That was because he taught the people of God rebellion. He said what God did not say. When God wants to correct His people and one prophet is downplaying it, he has turned against God. Sometimes, we think we are too truthful and people might be offended. But it is in being truthful, as bitter as it is, that healing comes for God’s

people. So, I wasn’t bothered. I just kept and expected God to bring His mind to pass. Many people also labeled you as partisan. Did that bother you? Let me say that we were not partisan. Every man of God must not take sides. We were just looking for credible, god-fearing people that can salvage the nation. We were looking for truthful, honest people, Christian or Muslim, that God can use for us. We were not APC, PDP or APGA. The person could have been in any party. I really wished that we would not consider parties in this country and focus strictly on the persons they present. Was that one influenced the breakfast meeting with the VP-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, then? That was it exactly. We felt he is a righteous man with integrity without any blemish or spot. We found his records to be clean. We saw him as a beacon of hope and that God could use him for the nation. But your critics wondered you didn’t invite any PDP candidate for the same meeting You see we were not even bothered what party he was. We just saw a credible man and felt God was moving the nation for him to clean the slate for us. As a matter of fact, it was a platform for him to explain his plans for the nation. It was not about assessing him because we knew him already but about hearing him out. So, when people were critical of our outing, we considered it normal. Whatever you do, people are bound to criticise you. We were persuaded we had made a good decision and didn’t feel bad at all. So, are you persuaded that change has come to Nigeria based on your revelation? Yes, I can say by faith that God has come to Nigeria. We have seen a semblance of sincerity, honesty and decency in the incoming administration. It is left to us to pray that they will not be distracted. That the

good intention they have will come to pass. The only reason it will be difficult for a leader to fight corruption is when he is corrupt himself. It is only when we have soiled our royal robes that we will become weak to fight evils. We feel the Presidentelect and his vice have good intentions. We must pray that they will fulfill the purpose for which God raised them. But people argue that there seems to some demons disturbing leaders from performing once they get to Aso Rock… I don’t think there is any demon in Aso Rock that is not making people work well. Rather, I believe we have not had people so determined to effect changes in the nation. I know many of our former leaders have been overwhelmed by the challenges that confronted them. Many of them never expected what came up. But even at that, I believe if a man is sincere and has no skeleton in his cupboard, he should be able to deliver with will power and courage. I believe our new leaders have the capacity to wage wars against forces fighting us. Has the outcome of the presidential elections nullify the impact of religion during the campaigns? I think so because religion is a dangerous tool of politics. God is the God of all. He can use anybody to fulfill His purpose. God is not sentimental or religious. God is God. He can use a Gentile or unbeliever who has the qualities that He is looking for among people. What should Nigerians be doing to make the longawaited change come? Everybody should embrace a new paradigm shift. We should join forces with the leaders to enforce changes in our society. We should avoid corruption like a plague. We should bring fruits good for repentance. We should change from a personal point of view before we demand changes from government.

NEWS

INGDOM Light Ministries has celebrated its 12th Anniversary at its headquarters in Ikotun, Lagos. The theme of the four-day event was ‘But by my Spirit’. The Presiding Pastor, Samson Makinwa, explained that the theme was vital because Christians live in an evil world and should be guided and empowered by the Spirit of God to avoid falling into the pit of sin. He said the Holy Spirit lives in Christians, adding that all they needed do is to listen to Him all the time.

Kingdom Light Ministries celebrates at 12 By Joseph Eshanokpe

He said the event was also an opportunity for them to thank God for His mercies over the years. “What God told me was that we have entered our year of expansion, solidity and prominence. If there is anyone who wants to join the church, it is now. “At 12, we have done well and I believe the church will go places. Yes, we are

working according to the will of God. Let me use this opportunity to thank our friends, pastors, our monarch, the Onidimu of Idimu and our neighbours who are Moslems for their understanding. “We are surrounded by Moslems yet we find it easy to operate. We say thank you to them.’’ He continued: “We thank President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat after the

elections. We are happy that change has come to the country. It is a great victory. I believe that Gen Muhammadu Buhari would see Jonathan as a great hero.’’ Makinwa urged Buhari to focus mainly on electricity. On the vice presidentelect, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Makinwa said he had known him since their days at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) as a faithful servant of God, who would

go places. ‘’He’s a very good man. He’s going to work very well for the nation,’’ he added. Makinwa urged Christians to join politics, saying that is the only way they can contribute meaningfully to national development. He debunked suggestions that Christians should not go into politics, arguing they could not be tainted by it.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

WORSHIP

COLUMN

Otubu: Professor of gynecology with heart for God

T’S all too easy to miss him in a crowd. But for keen observation, one will just pass him by without a second look. But Elder Professor Joseph Otubu is no small fry. He stands tall in the world of Obstetrics and Gynecology with subspecialty certification in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Yet, at a recent church meeting, the only thing that stood him out was his flowing Aladura garment. The General Evangelist of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide (MCCSW) stood humbly at a corner with a grin. Thoroughly immersed in the fraternal greetings exchanged by friends and associates, Otubu watched on in amazement. There were no airs around him; he was accessible and approachable to all. But he shouldn’t be going by his exploits in the religious and medical circles. The retired Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology is currently Executive Director of the Center for Reproductive Health Research (CRHR), Abuja. Otubu received extensive training in the Subspecialty of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He was first Nigerian who did the subspecialty training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (1979 to 1981) at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He did two years subspecialty training; one clinical year and one laboratory year, during which he studied the hormonal microenvironment of uterine Fibroids. He continued clinical training in Infertility at the Hammersmith Hospital,

•Otubu By Sunday Oguntola

London where he studied the path physiology of experimental hydrosalpinges in rabbits for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in the University of London. He received training in Fallopian tube microsurgery under the world-renowned Fallopian tube Micro surgeon Professor Lord Robert Winston. Professor Otubu was Senior Registrar/Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist in Murtala Mohammed Hospital, Jos (1977) and Lecturer/Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Ahmadu Bello University/ Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (1979). He was Senior Lecturer/ Consultant (1984-1987), Associate Professor (1987-1990), and Professor/Consultant (19902001) at University of Jos/Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State. He was head of Department, then Dean of Medical School at the University of Jos. At the University of Jos/Jos University of Jos Teaching, Professor Otubu established a subspecialty unit of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility that was best equipped in this country for infertility workup. He was the Pioneer Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja and First

Honorary Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja. The postgraduate trainer has supervised several M.Sc. students and two PhD dissertations. He has trained over forty consultant Obstetricians and Gynecologists, some of who are Professors. He has served as external examiner to several medical schools in Nigeria and Ghana and NIPPS, Kuru. He is a recipient of several research grants and has over 100 scientific publications to his credit. But he said he considers all these nothing. “I am what I am by God’s grace. I am God-made so I cannot brag or look down on anybody,” he stated. Despite his huge medical achievements, he does not toy with his rich spiritual heritage. Despite being the second son of the Late Baba Aladura Dr. G.I.M Otubu, who is the national and international symbol of Aladura churches, he still found time to obtain a diploma in theology from the famous Emmanuel College of Theology at the University of Ibadan. He has served in different capacities in Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Nigerian Interreligious Council (NIREC). Elder Otubu has written several handbooks and conference papers on Aladura churches and has special interest in organising training courses in Aladura churches. “God is my strength,” he replied when asked how he has achieved so much. “All I want to do is to do the best I can to advance His kingdom on earth. I love Him with all my heart and He is what counts to me.” Medicine might be his first love but God has his eternal love.

Cleric charges Buhari to avoid corrupt politicians

HE general overseer of Christ Anointed Church Peculiar International Ministry, Prophet James Hephzibah, has charged the president- elect to remain close to God and avoid corrupt politicians out to destroy God’s plan for his life. He said God was tired of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - led administration and the emergence of Buhari was the handiwork of God. Hephzibah spoke with

By Adeola Ogunlade

our correspondent at a special miracle night organised by the church at the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos recently. He noted that God is angry with our politicians across the parties for their wicked acts in murdering innocent souls and impoverishment of the masses. According to him: “General Buhari should learn from the defeat of President Jonathan and He should always remember God and his principles, which can never change and toe the path of honesty, and integrity.”

Hephibah refuted claims that he endorsed a particular governorship candidate in Lagos State. He said: “l did not and will not endorse any candidate even in the face of pressure. “I have members in my church who are from the different party lines and thus would not want to be partisans as a prophet. “But I will not fail to continue to preach, pray and speak God’s mind to Nigerians at every given point in time.”

Living Faith By Dr. David Oyedepo

Engaging the demand of discipline for success! (1)

OD’S plan and purpose for the redeemed is to enjoy unending success. But, we must understand that God’s success plan is not a promise, but a covenant. This implies that until our part is adequately played, God is not committed to deliver (Psalm 89:34; see also Proverbs 4:18; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Luke 5:1-8; John 21:56).(Ecclesiastes 10:5-8, 1617). Therefore, we must be conscious of our role in the covenant of success. For instance, we understand from scriptures that when we diligently hearken to biblical instructions and observe to do all that God commands, supernatural breakthrough is usually the outcome. But when the covenant is broken, breakthrough becomes impossible (Deuteronomy 28:1-2; Ecclesiastes 10:5-18). Moreover, there are certain demands that qualify us for our birthright of success and one of such is the demand of DISCIPLINE. BUT, WHAT IS DISCIPLINE? Discipline is possessing a sense of mission in the pursuit of any task: It is a strong dedication to a welldefined goal. Apostle Paul said, “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel”(1 Corinthians 9:16). It is operating as demanded, not as convenient: It is our task that determines the kind of approach we put into it. For instance, Nehemiah and the people

NEWS

CAMPAEI greets Buhari •Tells president-elect to deliver By Sunday Oguntola

Apapa family hosts Adeboye, others

HE 8th annual festival of music, worship and insightful sermons of the Apapa branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is set to hold. The theme of the festival that comes up on June 7 at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, is excel.

A statement by the Pastor-inCharge of the Region, Idowu Iluyomade, said the focus would be to harness the thrust of change championed by the Apapa family since the inception of the programme. Expected to Minister is the event is the General Overseer of

the RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, who will speak on the topic: ‘Riding on the wings of change’. Ministering in songs are Wale Adenuga, Frank Edwards and Nathaniel Bassey. There would also be free medical check-ups and meals for participants.

the zone. A statement by chairman of the planning committee, Rev. Anthony Clevers, said Rev. Bukola Oluwagbemiga will lead the team of anointed ministers of God including the Zonal Superintendent, Rev. Felix Onyeacholem, to minister at the 4- day programme with the

theme: Divine speed. The 4- day programme holds at zonal headquarters church, 1 Savannah Street, Off Adetola Street, Aguda Surulere, Lagos. The Surulere District Overseer, Rev. Olusegun Dada will declare the rally close on Sunday.

By Nneka Nwaneri

Foursquare Aguda zone holds rally

INISTERS, leaders and member from churches under Aguda zone of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria would gather from May 14- 17 for spiritual impartation and review past strategies to advance in the work of the kingdom within

never took off their clothes except for washing. They were on duty as demanded by that task. Also, Daniel and his companions purposed in their hearts not to defile themselves with the king’s rich food. Therefore, we cannot make the most of any task that does not make specific demand on our lives (Nehemiah 4:23; Daniel 1:8). It is setting order to one’s life pursuit: This means being where we should be at the right time and doing the right thing. For instance, at the time when kings go to battle, David tarried in Jerusalem and he met his waterloo in Bathsheba. He paid dearly for it, but mercy prevailed for him (2 Samuel 11:1-2). We must recognize that it takes high-level discipline to maximize our adventure on the earth. Moreover, we don’t know how much we are loaded with, until we set order into our lives. It is also making the most of one’s time:Time is the most precious asset to every disciplined man and whatever robs us of our time has robbed us of our best in life (Ephesians 5:16). We must, therefore, budget our time the same way we make budget for our money. This is because, just as money is squandered when it is not budgeted, when our time is not budgeted, it’s bound to be squandered. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of America –a believer, once said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”It is important for us to also under-

stand that time is not just in years, but in months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Therefore, we must constantly put value into our time by investing it. Interestingly, time is an asset of equality and every living being has an equal share. However, what each one does with his time determines the outcome of his life. In addition, self-discipline is being a law to oneself in a bid to accomplish a desired goal. For instance, Nehemiah lived an exemplary life to move the people towards the restoration of their dignity and in 52 days, they completed the building of the wall (Nehemiah 5:14-16; Genesis 39:9; Philippians 2:5-9). We must recognize that discipline is not a gift, but a lifestyle of choice we design and submit to (Genesis 39:9, 41:15-44; Daniel 1:8, 17-20, 6:10-28; 1Corinthians 6:12, 10:23). Friend, exploits is the birthright of the every believer. That means you can begin to manifest exploits when you confess your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. You can become a believer right now as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” I will continue this teaching next week. Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books — Exploring the Secrets of Success, Success Buttons, Success Strategies and Success Systems. I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. respectively. I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

•Ogbu

HRISTIANS and Muslims Peace Advocacy and Enlightenment Initiative (CAMPAEI) has congratulated president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, on his recent electoral victory. It said the victory was well-deserved and designed by God to liberate Nigeria from insecurity, unemployment and terrorism. CAMPAEI’s national president, Prophet Iwu Ogbu, told reporters last

week that Buhari was appointed for a time like this. “We believe we need a man of his kind and stature for this period in our national development. Buhari is God-ordained and we believe he will deliver.” Ogbu urged Buhari not to let Nigerians down but settle down as soon as he is sworn in to implement policies that will take the nation out of the woods. He said Nigerians expect nothing short of complete transformation from the incoming administration, saying the high hopes were not misplaced. “We believe in him and we are praying for him. We believe with him Muslims and Christians will work together. “We believe there will be religious harmony and interfaith collaborations while no faith will take preference over the other,” he stressed. The national secretary of the

interreligious body, Mrs. Amina Idris, urged Buhari to appoint only god-fearing, competent people as cabinet members. “He should seek out men of integrity, like him, across the nation to man strategic government positions. Men who hate bribes and will not encourage corruption should be our leaders,” she stated. Idris explained that the group will carry out ecumenical activities that will break down the wall of suspicions among Christians and Muslims. These, she said, were necessary to foster peace and harmonious relations among adherents of both faiths across the nation. “There is no wall anywhere. The divisions are artificial. When we talk to ourselves, we see that we are the same with the same objectives,” she stated.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015 CHANGE OF NAME OYEKOYA

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME ADEKOLA

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyekoya, Seyi Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyebode, Seyi Funmilayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olapeju Aderinola Adekola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olapeju Aderinola Adenekan. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

SIMON

AWORH

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Simon, Susan Amaronye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olamijulo, Susan Amaronye. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OTUNLA

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Otunla, Damilola Mercy, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Damilola Mercy Fasanmade. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ADEKOYE I,formerly known and addressed as Adekoye, Susan Adewunmi Oluiwadamilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwadamilola Susan Ajayi. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

MBAH-DIOH

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ALOHO

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ALIU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Maryam Muhammad Aliu, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Maryam Muhammad Aiyelero. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

KOLA

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SOYEMI

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MOMOH

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Momoh, Raluetu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Raliat Momoh Muhammed. All former documents remain valid.General public should take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that Mrs. Ngozi Catherine Ugoala is the same person as Mrs. Ngozi Chinedu Ugoala. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. Abia State Judiciary, Ministry of Justice and general public should take note.

OJO

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ISMAILA

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CHANGE OF NAME

OGUNGBEMI

UMEJIEGO

OGUNLEYE

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BRYON

ISIAKA

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NDUKWE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Chinomso Ndukwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Christian C. Chukwuemeka. All former documents remain valid. Ikwuano Local government Area, Government Service Commission, Umuahia and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeyemi, Damilola Jumoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyewole, Damilola Jumoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OFILI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Judith Nkechi Ofili, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Judith Nkechi Ameerat Lawal-Are. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NNADI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Dorathy Obiageli Nnadi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nwankwo Dorathy Obiageli. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

MBA

DADA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Chinasa Emetu Mba, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chinasa Chijioke Isaac. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNLEYE

I formerly known and addressed as Chijioke Isaac Iroha, now wish to be known and addressed as David Chijioke Isaac. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Olubukola Modupe DADA, now wish to be known and addressed as Olubukola Modupe ALADEUSI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Ogunleye Adeyinka Ajibola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojubanire Adeyinka Ajibola. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

MOHAMMED

SHAKI l formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Shaki Dolapo lbidun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Folorunsho Shakirat lbidun. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ABANIWONDA

AKINSANYA I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Akinsanya, Olufunmilayo Adefolake, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osikemudu, Olufunmilayo Adefolake. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWAFOR I, formerly called and adressed as Julius Nwafor, now wish to be known and addressed as Julius Nwadunma. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

JIMOH

I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Jimoh Obadire, Serah Tope, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Asunmoge, Serah Tope. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UDEH

I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Irene Ugochi Udeh, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Irene Ugochi Ajomiwe. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKINDELE

I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Akindele Elizabeth Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Akinklade Oluwaseun Elizabeth. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KOLAWOLE I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Kolawole, Elizabeth Oluwafunmike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fasina, Elizabeth Oluwafunmike. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AWODOLA

ADEYEMI

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Folashade Toyin Ojo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Folashade Toyin Akinwale. All former documents remain valid.General public should please take note. I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Asmau Titilayo Mohammed, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Asmau Titilayo Animashaun. All former documents remain valid.General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

IROHA

OMOLE

I, formerly called and adressed as James Olanrewaju Omole, now wish to be known and addressed as Elijah Ayodele Joseph. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

OKOEBOR

I, formerly called and adressed as Paul Okoebor, now wish to be known and addressed as Paul Okojie. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly called and addressed as Miss Wemimo Oluwafemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Awodola, Wemimo. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNLEYE I, formerly called and adressed as Miss Ogunleye, , now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Awodola, Wemimo. All documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME AMADI FRIDAY and OLA FRIDAY, refers to one and the same person now wish to be known as OLA FRIDAY. all former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OKWUAYANGA

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OKWUAYANGA OBIANEZE FRANCA, now wish to be known and addressed MRS AGBOGU OBIANEZE FRANCA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONYISHI I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ONYISHI NKECHI FELICITAS, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ONYEASOR NKECHI NKEM. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLANREWAJU I, formerly known and addressed as OLANREWAJU YEWANDE OLABODE, now want to be known as FATOWORE YEWANDE OLABODE. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

AROMOKUN I,formerly known and addressed as AROMOKUN JANET IFEDOLAPO, now want to be known as KEHINDE JANET IFEDOLAPO. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ORONIMIGHWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunleye Fiyinfoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Omotoso Ogunleye Fiyinfoluwa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MIss UFUOMA ORONIMIGHWU, now wish to be known as Mrs. UFUOMA NGADI. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

IGE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss MARILYN IYADA PEDRO, now wish to be known as Miss MARILYN IYADA TAYLOR. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Olaide Olanrewaju Ige, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. OgunleyeOlanrewajuIge. All former documents remain valid. Fidelity and general public should please take note.

AMADI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Amadi Bernice .N, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aneke Bernice N. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AYODELE I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Ayodele Tolulope Olufunmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Banjo TolulopwOluwafunmilayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OJO-OSAGIE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojo-Osagie Subuola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebayo subuola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

RAMONI

PEDRO

KAREEM

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Kareem, Samiat Omorinola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kolarinwa, Samiat Omorinola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AJALA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajala, Mulikat Omolara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajala-Shokunbi, Mulikat Omolara. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State, Itire Ikate LCDA and general public should please take note.

OYENIRAN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyeniran, Abimbola Salome, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abolarinwa, Abimbola Salome. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

MATHEW

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ramoni Adenike Racheal, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Oke Adenine Racheal. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Richard Mathew, now wish to be known and addressed as Richard Amewolo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SHOYOMBO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Stephen Salome, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Godfrey Salome. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Shoyombo Oluwakemi Bilikisu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Adekunle Oluwakemi Deborah. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OKOEBOR

I, formerly known and addressed as Paul Okoebor now wish to be known and addressed as Paul Okojie. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

AKEWULA I, formerly known and address as OlanrewajuAdetayoAkewula now wish to be known and addressed as Olanrewaju Adetayo Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

IBRAHIM

I formerly known and addressed as Miss MARIAN IBRAHIM, now wish to be known as Mrs. MARIAN I. AMIDU. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

JOE I formerly known and addressed as Miss JOEGULUBA JOE, now wish to be known as Mrs. JOEGULUBA OGORI. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

ONYEBUCHI

I formerly known and addressed as IJEOMA CONFIDENCE ONYEBUCHI, now wish to be known as JAMES CONFIDENCE ONYEBUCHI. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

KOLAWOLE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Kolawole Elizabeth Oluwafunmike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fashina Elizabeth Oluwafunmike, all former documents remain valid general public take note.

UHROBOTE

I, formerly known and addressed as UHROBOTE O. DAVID, now wish to be known and addressed as ADJERHORHE O. DAVID. All former documents remain valid general public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, PHILIP OKON and PHILIP IKWANG. refers to one and the same person, now wish to be known as PHILIP IKWANG. All former documents remain valid, general pubic please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME CHINONSO KENNETH MADUBUKO, and NWAMARIA KENNETH MADUBUKO, refers to one and the same person, now wish to be known as NWAMARIA KENNETH MADUBUKO. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OLANIBI

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olanibi Oluwafunke Bola, now want to be known as Mrs. Ajisegiri-Olanibi Oluwafunke Bola. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

STEPHEN

ALIU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Maryam Muhammad Aliu, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Maryam Muhammad Aiyelero. All former documents remain valid. General Public Should please take note.

KOLA

I formely known and addressed as Miss Modinat Olaniyan Kola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oyeronke Medinat Aiyelero, all former documents remain valid Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, University Of Ilorin, Obafemi Awolowo university Ile - ife and general public note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Adebusoye Oluwaseyi Samson, I am the same person as Adebusoye Samson. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as Adebusoye Oluwaseyi Samson. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, WAEC and general public take note.

OTOBO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. HAPPINESS SONARI OTOBO. Now wish to be known and addressed as Miss. IVY OTONYE McWILSON JAMABO. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

MUSTAPHA

I formerly known and addressed as MISS MUSTAPHA SHIFAU YETUNDE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS IBIWOYE SHIFAU YETUNDE. All former documents still remain valid.The general public should please take note.

BRAIMAH

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS TAIWO HAFISAT BRAIMAH, now want to be known as MRS TAIWO HAFISAT ODUNEWU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just N4,500. The payment can be made through - FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 2017220392 Account Name VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide @yahoo.com or thenation_advert @yahoo.com. For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, Emailgbengaodejide@ yahoo.com or our offices nationwide. Note this! Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

How not to respond to xenophobia

Book launch Tuesday U O

N Tuesday, May 12, 2015, a book entitled ‘Media Gaffes & Essays’ written by this columnist will be presented at the Bolaji Akinyemi Hall of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), 13/15 Kofo Abayomi Road, Victoria Island, Lagos, at 11 a.m. It is the media event of the year. The Jigawa State Governor Alhaji (Dr.) Sule Lamido will preside over the occasion while his Katsina State counterpart Barrister (Dr.) Ibrahim Shehu Shema will deliver the guest lecture. Former Action Governor of Abia State (1999-2007) Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) will play host to the distinguished guests expected at the event. Access to the venue is free, but come loaded with convertible currencies as spectatorship is disallowed! Eminent personalities from all walks of life have confirmed prosperous attendance. I must thank the former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, who had thought that this book launch would have held on the initial date of May 5 and had to fix his overseas trip for May 6 which could not be aborted for strategic reasons. Just before he travelled last week, he called me and asked me to furnish him with my bank account details. By the time the transaction alert came the next day I was richer by hundreds of thousands of naira! In 2005, too, when I unveiled my second book entitled ‘My Country, The Media’, he made the highest donation which I wll not disclose here. I have never done anything for him— it is just his passion for issues concerning journalism (the media generally). Egbon, it will continue to be well with you. I recall when you invited me to your Ikoyi residence a long time ago just to appreciate me for my analytical and dispassionate writings. May God endlessly embarrass you with favours. With regard to Dr. Kalu, my principal, his resolution to be part of this ceremony all the way from Dubai will be disclosed when I give the author’s brief address in a couple of hours. This circumscribed space is not enough to capture his essence as regards this media show of the year. At this point, a synoptic view of what in-

formed this literary intervention using three memorable testaments would be apposite to round off this week’s output: “I wish to put on record my appreciation for the good work being done by you in MIDWEEK, especially through your column WORDSWORTH. Please keep up your pursuit of professional excellence.” (Tunji Oseni, Group Managing Director, The Daily Times of Nigeria PLC, April 3, 1995) “Ebere, I trust you are doing great! It has been quite a while I planned writing to encourage you after I read a couple of your articles since returning to Nigeria. Profound and brilliantly delivered in prosaic language that my perfectionist dad would have praised. Well done and may your ink never dry! Blessings always….” (Dr. Oby Ezekwesili (Former Vice President, World Bank, Africa Region) “I remember how we started off years ago at the defunct Daily Times where our professional skills were nurtured by such brilliant editors as Onyema Ugochukwu, the late Femi Sonaike, John Araka, Dapo Aderinola, and Ndu Ughamadu, among others. Along with such brilliant minds as Tunde Olusunle, the late Femi Olatunde, Hakeem Bello, Emeka Nwosu, Ebere Wabara, Abiodun Raufu, Louis Okoroma and Yomi Ola to name a few, we worked extremely hard and had such great fun.” (THE NATION Back Page, Saturday, June 30, 2012) (Segun Ayobolu, SSA (Media) to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Lagos State Governor (1999-2007) and now Deputy Chairman, Editorial Board, THE NATION Newspapers), The section on tributes glowingly celebrates some eminent Nigerians that I have shared experiences with, worked for or just admired from a distance. These three considerations are the standpoints for choosing the select personalities who constitute these pages. Just like the preceding section, all the elite I have encountered are innumerable for listing in this choky space. What originally would have been the last section of this book is now spread all through for effect. Something that has not happened in Nigeria in the past 21 years took place last year. It was the

widely-reported and reprehensible abduction of this author from his Lagos palatial home by officers and men of the Abia State Police Command Criminal Investigation Department at the instance of the Abia State Governor, Mr. Theodore Ahamefula Orji, for alleged “seditious publications”. Some of the perspectives that trailed the seizure of the author are represented in this last, but not least, section. Of particular note is the personal account of the victim—it is a 7,000-word award-winning essay. Indeed, the following pages should have constituted another book entirely. According to foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), “sedition is a colonial law, which went away with colonialism. It was a law meant to protect the government from being brought into disrepute. Now we have a constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. As such, the law of sedition can’t co-exist with the provisions of the constitution on freedom of speech and expression. The Court of Appeal declared over 20 years ago that sedition has ceased to exist and that is the way it must be.” (Vide DAILY SUN, April 2, 2014, Page 8) Human rights lawyers, Fred Agbaje, Festus Keyamo and Valentine Buoro, among other activist lawyers, also agree with Prof. Sagay. In one of the analyses in this section, Mr. Richard Akinnola, a rights advocate and social justice crusader, radically dissects the futility of this extinct law and the folly of those trying to resurrect it! FOR IGP Arase, PSC I plead with the IGP Solomon Arase and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to direct the Abia State Police Command headed by Hassan Adamu to release my HP Laptop and Samsung Galaxy handset unlawfully seized by officers and men of the CID, Umuahia, during their despicable, illegal and callous abduction of this columnist from his aristocratic home in March 2014. In his recent ruling, Justice Okon Abang of a federal high court in Lagos declared that “…The action of the governor (T. A. Orji) is barbaric, archaic, unconstitutional, and undemocratic….” God’s case, no appeal!

NDERSTANDABLY, passions were inflamed following the last month’s antiimmigrant attacks that left seven people dead and many others displaced and injured in South Africa. All around the continent and indeed, the world, there were loud condemnations of the shameful event in the South African cities where such occurred and the country’s government for its less than appropriate response to the matter. Nigeria, with which South Africa barely escaped a full-blown diplomatic spat, was justifiably angry, given that its citizens had been targets of such attacks in the past. So deep was the anger that there were suggestions that the most appropriate riposte to the unfortunate event should be the targeting of South African business interests in Nigeria. MTN, Shoprite and MultiChoice were the names that featured more than most. Of the three, MultiChoice, the pay-TV company, was the runaway favourite as target for the proposed attack. The antiforeigner attacks had coincided with the time MultiChoice subscribers in Nigeria got into a funk over the company’s new prices for its various programme bouquets. Thus, many subscribers, who had been persuadedwrongly-that the company treats its Nigerian subscribers with a disdain on par with oil multinationals’ treatment of host communities in the Niger Delta, saw an opportunity for revenge. I was troubled, very much so, by this attitude. Admittedly, the South African government hardly covered itself in glory with its tardy response and less than sensitive utterances of some of its officials. There is also no doubt that the people behind the antiforeigner attacks were driven by unpardonably deranged impulses. I was troubled-and I think we should all be -that the actions of a few morons pushed us to consider for punishment entities that played no part in the event and were clearly appalled by what happened. MultiChoice, I remember, issued a statement condemning the violence in South Africa shortly after it erupted. The company’s history of multiculturalism and penchant for diversity, as evidenced by its multinational staff and African programming on its DStv and GOtv platforms, hardly mark it out as insular and therefore, deserving of the suggested punishment. There is no doubt that

•Jonathan By Tobi Sobulo

MultiChoice makes money in Nigeria. It does in other countries as well. If not, it would not be here and other places. But it is also a factverifiable, that is-that it has spent heavily in Nigeria since it arrived on these shores in the early 90s, when it announced itself as a Nigerian company. MultiChoice is headed by a Nigerian and employs thousands of Nigerians directly and indirectly. Among MultiChoice’s major investments in Nigeria is the MultiChoice Research Centre Project, which has delivered toptier educational facilities to 322 public secondary schools in 29 states of the federation. The MRC project was conceived to grant beneficiary schools access to MultiChoice Education Bouquet and integrate programmes on the bouquet into the school curriculum in a way that enhances teaching and learning.This is done through media devices that include a television set, High Definition PVR decoder satellite dish, a generator, stabiliser, a set of chairs and desks for the laboratory, and other instructional aids. The company also provides training for the teachers as coordinators of the centres. The local content industry is a huge beneficiary of MultiChoice’s investments. DStv now has nine AfricaMagic channels (including the recently launched AfricaMagic Igbo) that screen shows African content to the entire continent round the clock. A huge percentage of the content and programming is derived from Nollywood which, through MultiChoice, has become known and admired throughout Africa. Through AfricaMagic, the world has also become more familiar

•Zuma

with Nigerian culture, while actors and actresses have earned global recognition. AfricaMagic also serves as a platform for industry stakeholders through AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA), which honours and celebrates creativity. Also through M-Net and SuperSport, MultiChoice has invested hugely in local content through MultiChoice-funded wholly Nigerian productions like soaps, drama etc. The company has invested billions of naira in building High Definition studios for both SuperSport and M-Net as well as in providing cuttingedge staff training staff MultiChoice has also provided generous support for the industry. It currently carries domestic channels like NTA, Silverbird TV, Channels TV, MITV and AIT on its platform at no cost to the operators. This ensures that those stations are watched by viewers in other parts of the country. Ordinarily, such viewers would have been unable to see those channels because of their locations. I am convinced that if the company has no belief in or commitment to Nigeria, it would not have invested as heavily as it has here. Suggesting an attack on its operations, whatever form it would take, to my mind, is not how to repay commitment and willingness to invest in a country with serious infrastructural deficits. MultiChoice had to build the needed infrastructure from the scratch. A less committed entity would have fled long ago. Reverse xenophobia, even the lightest shade of it, is undesirable. Otherwise, we would not be different from those vile thugs on the streets of Durban. Sobulo, a lawyer, writes from Lagos.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

Indian rebels hold 250 villagers to stop bridge construction

Dozens escape Iraqi prison, 50 inmates, 12 police killed

IFTY inmates and 12 policemen were killed when a riot erupted and dozens escaped from an Iraqi prison holding hundreds of people jailed for acts of terrorism, security and police officials said yesterday. The deaths occurred on site at the Al-Khalis prison, about 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, and during a manhunt for the fugitive convicts overnight, said the officials. They said 14 policemen were wounded in the latest violence to highlight the multiple security challenges facing Iraq, which is battling an insurgency from hardline militant group Islamic State. The officials said AlKhalis held about 300 people convicted of terrorism charges. In Iraq, terrorism cases are mainly linked to Islamist militants, including Islamic State, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and which the Iraqi military is fighting to dislodge. It was not clear if any highprofile prisoners were held at Al-Khalis, the head of Diyala's security committee, Seyyid Sadiq al-Husseini, said. "The inmates started fighting among themselves, which drew the attention of the police guards who went to break up the fight," said a police source, asking not to be named.â&#x20AC;?

Crew killed in military plane crash

MILITARY transport plane crashed near Seville airport in southwest Spain yesterday, killing its crew, Spain's prime minister said. Mariano Rajoy said up to 10 crew members were aboard the brand new Airbus A400M aircraft that was undergoing flight trials at the airport. It is unclear if any others were injured.Spain's airport authority AENA said Seville airport had been closed because its fire crews had gone to attend the crash, outside its perimeter fence. All flights to Seville were being diverted to Malaga and Jerez airports, AENA said.An industrial estate near where the Airbus came down in the suburb of Carmona had lost electrical power as a result of the crash, AENA said.Photographs published on leading Spanish newspaper El Pais' website showed fire services extinguishing the fire at the smoking wreckage in a ploughed field. Spanish state television TVE broadcast footage shot from a car driving past airport buildings showing a plume of black smoke rising into the sky. TVE said the pilots had communicated with the control tower, saying their plane was in difficulty. The A400M is a large, propeller-driven transport aircraft that is being assembled in Seville.

â&#x20AC;˘ Fresh from her husband's general election triumph, Samantha, wife of British Prime Minister David Cameron is pictured riding a micro scooter in front of their No. 10 Downing Street, London residence. No 20-vehicle convoy for this First Lady!

David Cameron working out his first all-Tory cabinet D AVID Cameron is spending the weekend finalizing his first allConservative cabinet after his party won a majority in Thursday's election. The PM has already reappointed Chancellor George Osborne, who has also been made first secretary of state. Theresa May, Philip Hammond and Michael Fallon retain their jobs at the Home Office, Foreign Office and defence with other announcements due tomorrow. Meanwhile Labour and the Lib Dems are beginning the search for new leaders following the resignations on Friday of Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg. UKIP leader Nigel Farage

also resigned his party position after election disappointments, leaving their parties to consider who is best placed to lead opposition to the new government. Nigerian born Chuka Umunna, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper have all been tipped as potential Labour leadership contenders after Ed Miliband stepped down but Tottenham MP David Lammy is the first to publicly ponder a bid . Mr Cameron, who has promised to lead a government for "one nation" after his party won its first majority since 1992 with 331 seats, has already spoken to SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose party won 56 of the 59 seats in Scot-

land. The SNP is expected to press for more devolved powers for the Scottish Parliament, going beyond what was proposed by the Smith Commission after last year's independence referendum. Speaking on Friday, Mr Cameron said he would "stay true to my word and implement as fast as I can the devolution that all parties agreed for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland". There are more jobs available to Conservative MPs now that the party is governing alone rather than in coalition with the Lib Dems. As he decides who will sit round his top table, the prime minster will need to replace

Lib Dems who held cabinet posts in the coalition government - such as former Business Secretary Vince Cable, Energy Secretary Ed Davey and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, who all lost their seats in Thursday's vote. He will also consider whether to find a role for Boris Johnson, who was elected to Parliament on Friday after a seven-year absence from the Commons. Mr Johnson has a year left to serve as mayor of London. As well as being reappointed Chancellor, George Osborne will act as Mr Cameron's de facto deputy in the added role of first secretary of state.

Egyptian court sentences Mubarak, sons to 3 years in jail A N Egyptian court yesterday sentenced former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in jail without parole in the retrial of a corruption case. Mubarak, who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years, and his sons Gamal and Alaa may not have to serve any jail time for those corruption charges because they already spent that amount of time in prison in other cases. The former air force commander was toppled from the presidency during the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the

region in 2011 and raised hopes of democracy. A previous court decision to drop charges against him of conspiring to kill protesters in the uprising, centered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, and the release of some of his associates from jail have cast doubt over Egypt's political transformation. Last May, Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of diverting public funds earmarked to renovate presidential palaces and using the money to upgrade family

properties. His two sons were given four-year jail terms in the same case. In January, Egypt's high court overturned the convictions, and the case went back to court for retrial. "The ruling of the court is three years in prison without parole for Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and Gamal Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and Alaa Mohamed Hosni Mubarak," Judge Hassan Hassanein announced yesterday.

Egypt is slowly recovering from the upheaval that followed Mubarak's ouster. Elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the latest man from the military to rule the Arab world's most populous country, removed the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi from power in 2013 after mass protests against his troubled one-year rule. Security forces then cracked down on the Brotherhood and its supporters and later began jailing liberal activists opposed to what human rights groups call a return to repression.

Liberia declared Ebola-free, but outbreak continues over border

HE World Health Organization (WHO) and the Liberian government yesterday declared the country free from Ebola after 42 days without a new case of the deadly virus. The virus had claimed more than 4,700 lives there during a year-long epidemic. Notwithstanding, medi-

cal charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged vigilance until the worst outbreak of the disease ever recorded is also extinguished in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone. A total of 11,005 people have died from Ebola in the three countries since the outbreak began in December 2013, according to the WHO.

A Liberian,Patrick Sawyer died from the virus last July shortly on arrival in Lagos from Monrovia. Dr.Stella Adadevoh who treated him died a few days later in the only reported cases in Nigeria. "Liberia is free of Ebola today ... We are celebrating the victory over Ebola," Liberia's Information Min-

ister Lewis Brown announced on state radio. "Whether you are in this party or not, we are united today. We have defeated it today." Liberia was recording hundreds of new cases a week at the peak of the outbreak between August and October, causing international alarm.

TOP state official said yesterday that efforts were underway to secure the release of around 250 villagers being held by Maoist rebels protesting the construction of a bridge in central India, a common tactic used by the insurgents. The rebels rounded up the villagers in Chhattisgarh state's Sukma district late Friday and are holding them in nearby forests, said the state's chief minister, Raman Singh. In the past, the rebels have held villagers as a negotiating tactic to get a state to concede to their demands. They usually release the villagers unharmed once their demands are met. Singh told reporters that officials were negotiating with the rebels and expressed confidence that the villagers would be released soon. The incident embarrassed Singh's government as it occurred on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Chhattisgarh. Police said the incident was unrelated to Modi's visit and was to stop villagers from working at the bridge construction site. The government has been trying to improve road connectivity in the dense jungles of Chhattisgarh because the poor roads hinder security forces from going after the rebels.

Burundi opposition leader to run for presidency URUNDI'S leading opposition figure yesterday registered to run in a coming presidential election against Pierre Nkurunziza, whose quest for a third term has sparked two weeks of protests. Nineteen people have died in the demonstrations against Nkurunziza's bid for another term, which opponents say violates the constitution and a peace deal that ended an ethnically-charged civil war in 2005. "I presented my candidacy to respect Burundi's constitution and the country's electoral law," Agathon Rwasa, who like Nkurunziza led a Hutu militia in the war, told reporters. "I want to clarify that I have not filed my candidacy to endorse the unconstitutionality of President Nkurunziza. It is a way to block his path as he is obviously forcing to be the single candidate." Rwasa has asked the electoral commission to postpone the parliamentary election in May and the June presidential vote, saying it is not possible to hold peaceful and free elections. Nkurunziza formally registered his candidacy on Friday, provoking a fresh round of protests in Bujumbura that left two people dead. Opposition leaders responded to the deaths by calling for a day-long pause in protests.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

POLITICS EXTRA

The power show in Niger In the last one week the political landscape of Niger State has been held spellbound by an intriguing power play. Jide Orintunsin reports.

IGER State lived up to its acronym, “Power State” last week. Virtually all the three arms of government were involved in a display of power in the state. Even the highly revered traditional institution and retired military generals were all active participants. The security agencies, except the military, lost their status as impartial umpire and got enmeshed in the power show. The week began peacefully, full of promises. The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Adamu Usman, did not have an inkling of the imminent turbulence when he summoned members to an executive session at the Press Centre of the assembly complex to discuss sundry matters, especially as it affects their welfare. Usman, who had enjoyed unalloyed support of his colleagues, was shocked to his marrow, when he along with three other principal officers, was given till 12 mid-night to ensure that the executive arm release their outstanding allowances, the assembly over-head and imprest being owed since January, all amounting to about N1 billion and to equally secure commitment on when their severance allowance will be paid. The tone and body language of the legislators at the executive session, according to a source at the meeting, were unambiguous. The legislators, who were yet to get over their defeat at the April 11 polls, blamed their electoral misfortune on the nonrelease of their allowances to enable them have adequate funds to pursue their ambition. A majority of the members who were in attendance at the executive asked the Speaker and other principal officers to get the governor to meet their demands and feed them back at plenary session later, a decision the Speaker vowed would not be. For Usman, there was no justification for the plenary session. It was reliably gathered that the Speaker sought and got executive permit to flood the house on Tuesday with armed policemen, agents of the Department of State Security, DSS, and civil defence, all in a bid to stop the sitting for fear of the inevitable: his impeachment. As early as 6:30am, a detachment of over 200 armed security agents with twelve Hilux vans were drafted and stationed around the assembly. The security men stamped their power on and cordoned off the main road leading to the assembly, forming vehicular and human barrier at the gate of the assembly. The power show of the police, DSS and civil defence impacted pains on commuters. Their action led to a traffic gridlock as vehicular movement on the ever-busy Minna-Suleja Road and adjacent linkages were brought to a crawl. The Clerk of the house, Mohammed Kagara, became the first casualty of the police power show. His arrival early at work was truncated at the gate of the house. He was politely told to go back. Even the production of his staff I.D card and disclosure of his status as the chief custodian of the assembly fell on deaf ears. By 9:28am, twelve law makers, led by Hon. Yusuf Kure, had a taste of the power show. A police officer told them they could not drive their cars into the assembly.

•Babangida Aliyu

•Adamu Usman

•Isah Kawu

Not deterred by the setback, the law makers decided to walk the 250-metre distance to the gate, only to meet a tougher power show. The House of Assembly Station Officer, Mr. Aaron Sunday, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, denied knowing the law makers. As a matter of fact, Sunday told the law makers he had orders not to allow anybody into the complex. After a fierce exchange between the police and the law makers, the security agents caved and allowed the law makers, staff and journalists into the complex. Their access to the complex left them with the reality of the absence of the Sergeant-at-arms and the Mace-in-the house symbol of authority. The Clerks appearance and later the Sergeant-atarms gave hope to the law makers who were spoiling for war. No sooner the house settled for business, 19 out of 25 members exercised their powers and impeached the Speaker, Adamu Usman, deputy speaker, Hon. Abdulraham Bala Gambo, Majority leader, Hon. Haruna Labaran and Chief Whip, Hon. Abdullahi Lawal. The house also elected the proverbial

“rejected stone”, Rt. Hon. Isah Kawu, as the 7th Speaker in the last eight years. Kawu was first elected and removed a week after in a “palace coup” allegedly bankrolled by the executive, only for the impeached Speaker, Usman, to run to the judiciary to stop his colleagues from sacking him. He got his prayers answered, but the court order granting him an interim injunction restraining his colleagues from impeaching him by the state Chief Judge, Justice Fati Lami Abubakar, got to the house about 10 minutes after sitting. Even when the police became wild and openly released tear gas to disperse the law makers, their resolve to stick to the impeachment remained unrelenting. Moves by Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu to put his executive power to test were deployed. He summoned the new principal officers for a meeting by Wednesday, with the hope of using his oratory prowess to beat the law makers to revert their decision. The law makers stood their ground, at least for once in eight years. They told the governor blatantly that his intervention was belated. The legislators also said further parley with the governor may not

hold until security men who are still stationed at the complex are asked to leave. Aliyu was stunned by the unrelenting spirit of the members. It dawned on him that with the realisation of the enormity of the power the legislators have and their resolve to exercise it, he may be the next in the line for impeachment. He was gripped with fear and thus ran to the court. Unlike the impeached Speaker, Aliyu succeeded. He got Justice Idris Evuti of Minna High Court to impose the power of the bench to restrain the law makers from initiating his (Aliyu) impeachment. The judge fixed hearing of the motion for May 27th, a day to the end of Aliyu’s tenure. The judicial option by the governor fell flat on his earlier position that he was never a target for sack by the law makers. He boastfully told who ever cared to listen that the face-off was internal and had nothing to do with him. He said that he was not to be impeached because of the cordial relationship with the legislators. Hear him: “The impeachment speculation on me is false and should be treated as such. I have worked with the lawmakers, establishing and sustaining robust partnership to deliver dividend of democracy to people of the state since 2007. “I am not the target for impeachment in the crisis that erupted in the Assembly on Tuesday, which led to the sacking of the House’s principal officers, including the Speaker Adamu Usman. “Those parading themselves as new leadership led my Hon. Isah Kawu met with me to explain their action and pledged their continuous support. “Let me debunk speculation over the alleged impeachment threat against me. The speculation is sponsored by mischief and should be discarded for what it is. I have enjoyed robust relationship with the House and that has not changed. “The action of the House is internal and the decision to change leadership has no other ulterior motive than the change of leadership which they have allegedly done. Let me therefore call on my supporters within and outside the country to remain calm.” But one of his aides justified the legal option as only being pro-active. “The governor cannot sleep with a fire on his roof. The action is just to protect him from any unholy action by the legislators. If they can remove their Speaker, nobody can be spared,” the aide stated. Efforts to engage the royal influence on the law makers also failed in the on-going show of power in the “Power State”. On Thursday, an attempt to make a first traditional ruler and a retired military general to trouble shoot the power show also hit the rock. The show of power that has engulfed the state in the last six days may drag on till the end of this administration. The impeached speaker wants to continue to hold sway in the Alhassan Jikantoro House of Assembly, Kawu is not ready to relinquish the mandate this time around, while Governor Aliyu will do everything not to be humiliated out of office as the first governor to be impeached in the state. The only reprieve the people of the state have is that virtually all the dramatis personae will be off the political scene by May 29.

NEWS 69 seeks Road Safety Officers' wives' scholarship scheme for reform Group support for She pledged continued support commended the Officers' wives support that could lead to the ives of Officers of the completion of some of the Federal Road Safety Corps of members of the association to for their support to the FRSC. incoming govt He assured them of the laudable projects they have under the auspices of Road the success of all the programmes THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 10, 2015

Safety Officers' Wives Association (ROSOWA) have expressed commitment to reforming their scholarship scheme. The reform would more children of deceased staff benefit from the gesture. ROSOWA's president, Mrs. Bolanle Oyeyemi, said this during a courtesy visit to the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, at the FRSC National Headquarters, Abuja. Mrs. Oyeyemi stated the association was working assiduously on establishment of a comprehensive health centre/ pharmacy at Wole Soyinka Estate, Kuchikau for first aid/dispensary services to residents, most of whom are FRSC staff. She added that plans were on to set up civic centres at staff estates across the country to serve the social and recreational needs of members of FRSC families. She appealed to FRSC management to provide space for the association at the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja to set up a Crèche that could take care of infants of female staff who bring them to work.

•Contd. from page 38 facilities? Those are the things we have rolled out. We don't intend to harass any policemen on the highway but you just have to say these things are points of corruption. It is intolerable; it is an inconvenience and nuisance to members of the public. But then, we are not saying we are going to leave the public space vacant. We have the Federal High Way Patrols, which the state commissioners are supposed to oversee. Wherever the roadblocks are supposed to be, the federal highway patrols are supposed to be there. So, in case of distress, the vacuum that has been created, if there is any, by the removal of those roadblocks. We have vehicles for all stakeholders and I have also asked all state commanders to give me where those vehicles are located. If they tell me where the vehicles are located, if there is any serious crime on that highway, I will hold the commissioners responsible because you cannot say you just removed those roadblocks. It is our statutory responsibility to police the public space. So that is one thing I think we have to understand. To remove the roadblocks does not mean we are not getting the policing right. Secondly and most importantly, there are times where we could do some staggered checks. If for instance they stole a vehicle in Ilorin, Kwara State, and they radio and said the vehicle is heading towards Abaji, we can lock down the highway. On the highway, we look for that specific vehicle said to have been stolen. So once we recover it, we ease out. They are strategies. The strategies are not too strict. They are flexible. They are internal security management strategies. Just as I have said, it is about capacity. It is about my men understanding the tenets of modern policing so that they will be able to key in into the reforms we are trying to bring in. Is it only Highways, how about other roads? If it is a roadblock, it is not acceptable. Wherever they are, once you stand on the road or you hinder a free flow of traffic. it is not acceptable. People call me. They send me text messages that your boys are there. So I forward it to the Commissioner of Police. That is why I'm going to appeal to you people, that wherever you are operating, you should have the Commissioner of Police number. The only way you can help is to send

being carried out by the FRSC. Corps Marshal Oyeyemi

willingness of the FRSC management to render necessary

identified and are embarking upon.

• Vigilante group in their traditional bullet proof armlets for fighting insurgents in Yobe State recently PHOTO: NAN

‘Why Nigerian policemen are corrupt’ a text to the commissioner whenever you witness such a thing. Tell him some guys have constituted themselves as public nuisance on the highway and you forward it to me too if possible. If I give him some reasonable time and he does not take action, I will hold him responsible as breaching of trust. Can you tell us how you intend to equip the police considering the dwindling economy? The economic downturn is something that I cannot really speak about. I can always articulate the needs of the police force. I don't have the resources directly. We have other departments that oversight the NPF directly. The one that infringes on the operational capacity of the NPF is the Ministry of Police Affairs because they keep our money. You spoke about fighting corruption within the police, how would go about that? It is very easy. When you talk about equipment, they are those things that touch the lives of a policeman. A policeman is corrupt because he is not very sure of the future. If he thinks that his future is not guaranteed, the tendency for him to be corrupt is very high. Don't forget too that corruption can be something that is pathological. Once you are corrupt, if I put you where they distribute stationery, you will still steal it. So there are issues like that. So the areas I'm trying to talk about is those areas where we can touch the lives of our policemen, inspectors and the likes. We have the cooperative societies, we have setup a mortgage institution, we have a micro finance bank. In our works department, we have been able to attract the best brains we can get from the system. These are architects, quantity surveyors, civil engineers. Now, we have an investment department. Why can't we pull our mortgage institutions and the cooperative and do direct labour stuff? We can build some houses like 2-bedroom apartment for our workforce where they won't have to pay more than N2.5 million or N3 million. If it is direct labour, to build a bungalow in this country, you need about N5to N6 million. If you give it to a contractor, maybe the land ispolice land, they take our money as counterpart funding then they

resell the land to us for N18 million to N20 million. Where do you expect a policeman who does not earn well to do it? There are areas where we can touch their lives and we now put some caveats to say if you remain straight, you will be entitled to this. It is a carrot and stick thing. I have been command commissioner. I have worked in various departments. Sometimes, I have had to rely on my friends out there. The technical platforms I'm talking about, most of my friends set it up for me which ought not to be anyway. I am not unmindful that these boys need tools to work. But with the available resources, we have, we provide those things. The management too, at the strategic level, we should be able to come up with policies that will give them hope that if you remain straight, you are entitled to these things. Now, we also have a scholarship scheme for children of ranks and file. We encourage them that if you are bright, we can give scholarship to two of your children at police secondary school or any other place you want them to go to. The Turkish International School has also given us some support. So, there are some small things you can use to motivate your workforce. I keep saying it, the money is not enough but it is not the least in the society. So are we seeing an increase in Police salary? Oh! Well, yes! Even my predecessors and a lot of us have been making cases about it. I have been in this police management close to five years now. We have always been articulating this issue that it is not enough. But, sometimes, when you make comparative studies, you take some African countries that are not as large as Lagos; you now say that the salary of those people is even bigger than ours. Well if you want to go further to situate it within the context of our institutions; you will see that our population is higher and the things we are taking care of are bigger. Is there any plan to stop a situation in which policemen have become domestic staff or personal bodyguards of politicians and others? One of my friends told me that what we are doing now is to police the elites; we are not policing the security space. So I have already

given directives that, as a stop gap measure, all civil commissioners in all states of the federation should not have more than two policemen. As for the excess, we are pulling them out to form Judges Protection Section because we think that, with this tribunal cases that are going on, the judges require special protection. We have already given directives on this and I have asked the Commissioners of Police to immediately effect that. More so, a lot of them gave argument that that during the electioneering campaigns, they were scared that their opponents were going to do this and that. But now that it is all over, we are going to take a census of how many policemen do we have out there? And we start pruning them. We will first start from the government houses. What would be your definition of effective policing and what legacy do you intend to leave behind as an IGP? There are always challenges in every facet of our lives. Let me say this on a philosophical note. I have come a long way. I have dreamt dreams. I have travelled extensively around the world. I have served in the corridors of power. I think I am the only policeman who is living in the police history who has served three Inspectors-General of Police for five years as Principal Staff Officer. I have articulated what I think responsible policing should be. I think I have the opportunity, no matter how short, to be able to navigate the NPF on the pathway of responsible policing. A police force that, when you meet with them, they are confident, proud, intellectually deep, professionally effective, people who can beat their chests and say 'yes, I am doing a good job.' I want members of the public to also see me as somebody who is doing a good job and someone who can change the police force. I think I have both the professional and intellectual capacity to do that. Sometime, I was discussing with some of my close friends, I said my kids have been out for a very long time. Whenever they come on holiday, I take them to Benin. I want them to connect with their environment but when people talk about issues of kidnapping, cult groups and I start wandering do I

pressure group, Pristine Initiative for Social Development, has canvassed collective support for presidentelect, Muhammadu Buhari, to succeed with his policies after swearing-in. Its chairman, Alhaji Isa Badamasi, said at the inauguration of a protem executive council for the group that the work at hand was enormous and would require the support of all Nigerians. According to him: ''We all know the antecedents of Gen. Buhari and we know that he has all it takes to deliver Nigeria from its comatose state to a healthy and wealthy nation. We know his sterling qualities, his doggedness and other attributes. "But Nigeria is a country with its unique complexities, its peculiar ethos. So anyone who shall govern this country, and govern it well, would not only have his hands firmly on the plough, he would need the support and prayers of all Nigerians''. Badamasi assured promised the group will not only hold the incoming government accountable but would also galvanise support for the Buhari administration to deliver on its campaign promises.

have to start caging my kids, protecting them from going to their environment? I want to see an environment where people can feel free and feel comfortable. Even if a crime happens, we have officers who can detect it or when you give information to an officer, you feel like it is information that has been dropped into the ocean or that cannot be shared with someone. I want to see a policeman whose word is his bond. I want to see a policeman who is neatly dressed and elicit public confidence. I want to see a policeman who, when he speaks, he speaks authoritatively about the security space. Those are the policemen I want. In all the officers I have mentored, sometimes, I want to replicate them, I want to see them and say even if I leave tomorrow, that I am leaving some crops of officers who are will be able to act as change agents to change the perception of policing in the country. I joined the police force as a civilian. I know I'm going back there again. I should be able to look back after my tenure and say that I have left some indelible mark. Something stands out in your resume. It is the fact that you hold two Bachelors and two Masters, how did you achieve that? Well, I read political Science as my first degree in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. When I left ABU, my mother, who was a teacher, wanted me to be a diplomat. When I did not become a diplomat, she was distressed. She could not understand why her only son ended up in the police. How would she tell her colleagues? I was a graduate already and I told her, 'no. you don't understand.' But she insisted I must go for a Masters, I now promised her that I was going to do a Master's programme and that when I do the Masters programme, if along the line, she is still not comfortable, I will end up being a journalist or teacher so she was comfortable with that. Immediately, I started thinking. I started doing the Masters programme in political science. But, along the line, I said no, I need a fall back. So, I deviated to law. I now did a first degree in law and did a second degree in law, did Masters in Strategic Studies-- in political science. Actually, I have completed a PhD as my exit gift but I still want to connect to my society in public law. That is why I was able to work with IGPs. Though, I socialize but there is a social content to policing.

QUOTABLE “I worked with the administration and I walked away. I have said so on television. People said I was fired. But I ask, how can he fire me? How can people that are not working fire those that are working? I couldn’t identify myself with what I saw. ”

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 3211

—Former Chairman of the Nigerian Population Commission, Festus Odimegwu on why the Jonathan administration failed.

ED by the vituperative and mendacious Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, many top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) officials have started to call for the heads of their party’s National Working Committee (NWC) members, especially that of the party chairman Adamu Mu’azu. Perhaps they will have the heads on a platter. But without needing to be sympathetic to the PDP chairman, it is well known that Mr Fayose lied when he said he had evidence the embattled chairman was in league with the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the last polls to bring President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection project to grief. Mr Fayose is a disturbed mind; he will rock the boat of his party for as long as he remains either in the party or as a governor. The accusations and counteraccusations between leading PDP officers came moments after both Dr Jonathan and Senate President David Mark futilely warned that unrestrained acrimony could destroy the party. Opponents and haters of the PDP have exulted over the destructive rage going on within the party. They surmised gleefully that all it took to unnerve the self-styled largest party in Africa was just one loss, a loss that has now so discomfited the party that it is sundering dangerously at the seams. They observe that such bitter and acrimonious fights are symptomatic of a defeated organisation, be it a country or a political party. Some PDP members, including Mr Fayose, have latched on to that logic by suggesting that it is customary for party officials who lead their parties to defeat to fall on their swords and give way for the emergence of new leadership. Their arguments are reinforced by the quick resignation that rocked the losing parties in last week’s British election. Alhaji Mu’azu and his colleagues on the NWC, however, retort that the provisions of the PDP’s constitution, unlike the post-election convention in Britain, are clear on how leadership changes should be effected. It will be naive to expect that the battle to enthrone new leaders in the PDP would cease simply because some concerned party leaders admonish their colleagues to embrace peace and think altruistically of the best interests of their distressed party. The PDP is unaccustomed to defeat. They will need to establish a convention, sans their party constitution, on how to behave in victory and defeat. We are fairly conversant with how they celebrate victory, and how the spoils of war are shared among them. How they mourn or cope with defeat, however, remains the grey area of their party culture. Dr Jonathan himself, in descending on his appointees with the fanatical zeal of the Spanish inquisition, axing and beheading those who crossed his emotions and drew his brittle ire, appears to be laying a curious, somewhat malevolent precedent. With practised ease, almost as if he had forgotten he would be vacating office in less than three weeks, he has also appointed new state officials. He is unconcerned about what his successor might do to or with his last minute appointees. The internal battles within the PDP may get worse before they get better. With men like Mr Fayose in the PDP, unscrupulous, impertinent and acerbic, the party will be constantly roiled by brutal internecine conflicts to assert hegemony. And with men like Alhaji Mu’azu who can call their souls their own, there will be no let in the war. Alhaji Mu’azu and his colleagues will give much more than they can take, and they will also be unsparing. But no matter how vicious the war, the bone of contention, to wit, who is to blame for the defeat, will never be resolved. Even a harmonised, facesaving and fence-mending sitting of the combative officials is unlikely to produce peaceful resolutions or agreements. The next few weeks, full of figurative bloodletting and bitter recriminations, will be the PDP’s greatest moment of angst. Both sides to the PDP war are of course wrong to presume, judging from their analyses and what they have said, that they appreciate the real reasons for the PDP’s

PDP’s moment of angst

•Mark woeful performance. Mr Fayose’s vindictive scaremongering is of course far from the truth. Neither Alhaji Mu’azu nor any other PDP NWC member schemed against his own party. They might wish that the PDP should not be rewarded for hateful campaigns, given the portentous electioneering embarked upon by divisive and petulant characters like Femi Fani-Kayode, Doyin Okupe, Mr Fayose himself, and more tellingly Dame Patience Jonathan. But it would be far-fetched to argue that the urbane leaders of the party actually worked for the APC’s victory. It may also be true that some northern leaders of the PDP, particularly governors, pulled their punches in the campaigns, but it is unlikely they did so simply because they loved the opposition or their candidates, especially Gen Buhari. Given the context in which the March and April elections were held, particu-

•Mu’azu larly the northern milieu, there was little any PDP leader in that region could have done to stymie the revolutionary momentum unleashed by the candidature of Gen Buhari. Conversely, too, it will be simplistic to suggest that hate speeches and campaigns alone undid the PDP and doomed Dr Jonathan’s reelection chances. While hate campaigns contributed immensely towards the failure of the party, the voting pattern in the last polls suggests quite clearly that a number of other factors were responsible for the revolutionary outcomes never before witnessed in these parts. Rather than bicker, and because the country needs a virile, sensible and credible opposition, the PDP must be encouraged to engage in hard-nosed analyses of why they failed. There is nothing wrong in the ongoing internecine battles within the PDP continuing for a

little while. These battles are needed to enable the party produce real and intelligent leaders for the next four years of its life, at least in the first instance. Once produced, the new leaders will impose discipline on the party, restore unity, and redirect the party to work for and achieve realistic goals and salient objectives. While the party will need to sanitise its internal mechanisms and codify its methods and values, there is little doubt it will also need internal opposition, the kind vaguely represented by Mr Fayose. But the party and its new leaders will have to determine whether Mr Fayose is not a dangerous and needless throwback to atavism. It is not immediately clear to outsiders who among the many claimants to the PDP leadership is suited for the party’s next decade. It needs party philosophers, but we cannot immediately see any in its ranks. It needs a disciplinarian, but the sensible, disciplined and moderate Alhaji Muazu has a chink in his armour by reason of the defeat it was his lot to lead the party. It needs new values, new sets of beliefs and programmes, and new national focus, but we cannot see anyone enunciating, projecting and championing these. And until they produce great men and leaders who can aggregate these principles and values whatever wars they fight will only bathe their party in blood rather than the revitalising elixir sorely needed to move the party forward and offer credible and toughened opposition to the victorious and fairly more ideological APC. By all means then, let us encourage the soul-searching and war of attrition going on in the PDP. No one takes perverse delight in weakening or destroying the PDP. The fact is that the country needs a strong PDP; but this new PDP will not come without the party passing through the furnace in order for itself and its ideas to be refined. The process of renewal and rebirth is not of course inevitable. If it chooses to bicker to the death rather than be refined to a new life, then perhaps a new party, rather than the PDP, would be needed altogether.

Okonjo-Iweala and states’ unpaid salaries

O one is certain what the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, hoped to achieve when she explained why some states were unable to pay workers’ salaries when they fell due. The federal government, she said happily, was not owing its workers, contrary to speculations in some quarters. But states which owed their workers, she added, disregarded advice offered through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee to prioritise salary payments. According to the minister: “Regarding difficulties in salary payments, certain governors are trying to blame the Federal Government for their predicament. This is wrong. They had been told through the FAAC to prioritise salaries but they chose not to do so, hence the backlog that some states are experiencing. The 50 per cent drop in revenues simply means that salaries should be prioritised. The Federal Government should not be blamed for avoidable mistakes made at the state level.” Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s explanation is patronising and tendentious. Was it simply the drop in revenues that accounted for the cash crunch Nigeria is facing? Many analysts suggest that there are other reasons for Nigeria’s financial woes. Some of these are: humongous waste of national resources, intolerable mismanagement of what is not frittered away, and unpardonable corruption, including unlawful election spending and bizarre and indefensible fuel subsidy payments. The minister of course cannot offer any explanation for these. She assumed it was enough that a cash crunch problem already existed, which states should take for granted and mitigate by forsaking all other priorities. One way the federal government has done its own mitigation is to suspend capital budget disbursement since the beginning of the year, the minister said, without bothering to understand whether states would find that option sensible, tolerable or even practicable. More importantly, the minister also dis-

closed that the federal government had had to borrow about N473bn to fund recurrent expenditure, including salaries and overheads, a sum estimated to be a little less than half of the N882bn budgeted for borrowing in 2015. At that rate of borrowing, what are the guarantees that budgetary projections would not be exceeded? And if the federal government had access to such huge borrowings, do states have the same or near half that luxury? Clearly, Dr OkonjoIweala’s recipe is not so inspiring. What is at stake here is the reputation of the federal government’s financial managers. While states could have done much better than they have done to lessen the problem of the cash crunch on their people, the federal government has not placed the country on financial ‘war footing’ partly because their laxity has brought the country nearly to its knees. The incoming president, Muhammadu Buhari, has his work cut out for him. The economy is prostrate, not simply because of the about 50 percent drop in revenues, as the Finance minister casually said, but largely because of the mismanagement of the economy. The federal government, despite patronising militants to the detriment of the security agencies, has not been able to put a lid on large scale stealing of crude oil, nor on the appalling abuse rampant in the downstream sector. In addition, the federal government has woefully failed to curb its extravagant spending habit. Nigerians know it, despite the government’s best efforts to disguise the catastrophe, and the world also knows it, for they are deeply as-

tounded by the Nigerian government’s poor financial management, policy miscarriage, and general indiscipline. Revenues may have dropped by more than a trillion naira, but the real and bigger problems lie outside oil market volatility. Dr OkonjoIweala should keep her gratuitous advice to herself. It is obvious that had President Goodluck Jonathan won reelection, as she hoped, many of the country’s assets would have been sold. She alluded to that option in proffering a solution to Nigeria’s cash crunch. On assuming office, Gen Buhari will have to examine all the options available to his government before making a choice. No one expects the current subsidy regime to be maintained. And it is likely some national assets will not be left untouched. But above everything, there will be a number of inquiries into what went wrong in order to have an understanding of how the country came to this horrific pass. It is only after that has been done, and blames apportioned, and punishment meted out, that the public will support the belt-tightening measures the new president will probably place before the country. And to think starry-eyed states creation campaigners hungered for a few more states, a condition upon which they based their support for Dr Jonathan.

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