September 20, 2015 by The Nation

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

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CAPTURED

Man returns stolen phone four days later with note of apology

man who stole a cell phone from a business returned it four days later with a letter of apology, but police are not willing to forgive and forget. Surveillance video captured the man taking the phone from Butch's Welding in Trenton on September 11. The security system also recorded a man tossing the phone back over the company's fence Tuesday along with a handwritten note. The note said: "I'm the one who took your phone. I'm in a desperate situation. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm not that type but a situation can lead some to do dumb things." In the note, the man wrote he is out of work, his kids are in need and he took the phone while thinking of the money he'd get for exchanging it. Shop owner Butch Mikos and his daughter, Laureen Nichole Culliton, told Associated Press (AP) they weren't interested in pursuing legal action against the man. Culliton made a Facebook post that included the security system's video of the man swiping the phone, and an anonymous caller to the shop said the footage got back to the man, who was embarrassed, Culliton said. "We're just glad that maybe this did change him," Culliton said. "We're hoping it's a lesson learned." The man wrote in the note, "I promise this situation will change me." Police spokesman Lt. Stephen Varn said detectives are pursuing the investigation even though the phone was returned. "If he really would like to do the right thing, he should turn himself in to police," Varn said.

oon, President Muhammadu Buhari's minders and aides will begin to despair. In May, Nigeria was glad to be rid of the gaffes and malapropisms of the irresolute former president Goodluck Jonathan and his assertive and obtruding wife, Dame Patience. In their stead came the ramrod, resolute and unflappable President Buhari and his polished but somewhat anonymous wife, Hajia Aisha. While there has been a change of personnel at the seat of power, very fascinating for the remarkable juxtapositions of characters and personages that accompanied it, some other things have remained unchangeable, such as the gaffes of course. President Buhari is turning out to be as gaffe-prone as his predecessor, in fact in ways that seem even more

Gubernatorial usher • In an age when many top government officials -including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo are pastors, it comes as no surprise if some governors end up as church workers. In this photograph, Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel who is a deacon, is seen playing the role of usher at a thaksgiving service held at United Evangelical Chuch (aka Qua Iboe Church), Surulere, Lagos last Sunday. PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

BAROMETER sunday@thenationonlineng.net

Buhari’s unflattering view of ministers

alarmingly memorable. During his last two-day visit to France, the president spoke to France 24 Television, where, like his United States visit, he made glib references to his ideas and leadership philosophy. Asked about his cabinet, he spoke of his personal reluctance to constitute it. This was not new. He had shown back home that he thought ministers to be a superfluous addition to government, and only considered taking them on for constitutional reasons. “The ministers are there to make a lot of noise; for the politicians to make a lot of noise," he growled. "But the work is being done by the

technocrats. They are there to provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide us, [those of us] who are just coming in." Those who wondered why he had delayed in constituting his cabinet, and who were persuaded by the argument that he was taking his time because he wished to avoid making a mistake, now know better. “I think this question of ministers is political, " he said warily. "People from different constituencies want to see their people directly in government, and see what they can get out of it." In other words, his opinion of ministers is that apart from being needless, well, they are

another name for graft. The president was, however, not done. “As for the cabinet," he said testily, "I said we will have one by the end of the month, and time flies. The end of the month is coming too quickly for my liking. I will send the names to the National Assembly." It is clear the country and the constitution are forcing President Buhari to constitute a cabinet. He had given a September date to put one together; he would have preferred a later date, he seemed to say. Perhaps, if he had the courage to ask, the country could give him an extension. What is even

Federal agencies rediscover form

he famous body language of President Muhammadu Buhari is still actively turning things around. The improvement in electricity supply is attributed to that body language. So, too,

are fuel supply and other economic indicators, except of course economic growth, which is reportedly regressing. Responsively, also, a few other agencies, particularly the anti-graft bodies, are expertly reading the president's body language, adjusting appropriately, and ramping up their activities. The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has found the courage to take the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to the Code of Conduct Tribunal where he is expected to answer to false declaration of assets charges. The CCB will do more in the coming weeks in order not to be outdone by other agencies. But no agency in recent times has found its bark and bite so dramatically as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

For the agency, there is no cold case anywhere. Files and books are being opened with alacrity, and both the high and low look set to be dragged before the courts. The famous Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment fiasco of 2014 is a typical example. In that exercise, some 6.5m people chasing 5,000 vacancies were reported to have paid N1000 to participate in a recruitment test. The NIS and its consultants made about N650m from the fees charged the applicants, but 15 people died in the stampede that accompanied the test shoddily administered at various centres nationwide. Suddenly the EFCC, which ignored public outcry over the fiasco last year, has exhumed the case files and swooped on the former NIS

boss. The former minister under whose ministry the NIS carried out the exercise is expected to be hauled in for questioning too. The minister was not so much as frowned at when the recruitment debacle occurred because he had been taken under the wing of powerful legislative forces at the time. Now, President Buhari's body language has seemed to prove too strong for any malfeasant official to ignore. But what is really evident all over Nigeria is not that agencies are finding their bark and bite, or have become adept at reading the president's body language. The plain, deeper truth is that the nation boasts of few men of character anywhere. Their rediscovered form is not a true form; it is simply caviar to the general.

clearer is that the president can't seem to define and understand what a cabinet stands for. He prefers civil servants, especially the permanent secretaries, whom he regards as experienced technocrats. He is spending inordinate and careful amount of time in assembling his ministers, yet, he can't seem to understand that they are the people to avail him different perspectives, unlike the obedient civil servants, and proffer great social and economic philosophies to help his government transcend the limiting attributes of his constricted past and hesitant present. When he visited the US in July, he had advised USbased Nigerians eager to return home to stay put in their places of sojourn if they had something better doing. Then he suggested he was unlikely to treat all Nigerians equally on account of the fact that they did not vote for him equally in the last polls. Before one year is over, the country should expect more gaffes from the president. Dr Jonathan's aides were unable to put a lid on his boyish optimism and utopian ideas; President Buhari's aides have their work cut out for them in explaining and harmonising the president's disparate and jarring thoughts. As president, Dr Jonathan couldn't seem to identify any similarity between stealing and corruption, even as he engaged in colourful comparisons of presidential mannerisms, refusing in one

comical instance to be likened to Nebuchadnezzar or Pharaoh, perhaps Pharaoh Ramses. He also accused and insulted the Lagos elite, mocked the body language of opposition leaders, and snarled insensitively at ethnic a n d r e l i g i o u s tendentiousness. But as an untested politician who loved to prattle once goaded, Dr Jonathan was unsurprisingly at home with gaffes. President Buhari is on the other hand laconic, and his political and moral systems indiscernible. But this has not discouraged him from offering his publics dainty gaffes of his own, some of them as potent as Dr Jonathan's. President Buhari, it is clear, can be trusted with the nation's money. He remains honest and possesses both integrity far better than his predecessor's and a more reassuring ability to manage public funds. What is not so clear is whether as modern people and progressives Nigerians can also trust him with their lives; or, in view of his fairly antiquated opinions of government and society, trust him with their future.

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

History as hubris

OR the past few weeks, and in particular in the past fortnight, mainland Europe has been convulsed by a migratory tremor on the scale of some epic Biblical exodus. Hordes of refugees, having lost all hopes of earthly redemption, are fleeing their original homesteads with whatever they can salvage of their worldly possessions and are slogging their way towards what they consider as restitution and restoration of hope and possibilities. In its sheer confusion and disorientation, its utter hopelessness and loss of compass and earthly moorings, this historic human armada resembles the aftermath of a catastrophic nuclear bombing. Desperate humanity are absconding from the economic ruins of the old Balkan axis, the political and economic implosion of Iraq and Syria and from the total ruination of Libya or old Carthage, if you like. As usual, the trail leads back to the cradle of humankind. In the event, artificial barriers called national boundaries have been virtually obliterated. Many nationstates have come under a grave peril. Some of the custodians of their earthly paradises are having none of this civil invasion. A few days ago, Hungary closed its borders to the new Tartars and its security forces began unleashing restraining violence and other domestic disincentives on the hordes. The land of the magnificent Magyars, otherwise a sedate and very cultured people and heirs to a great civilization, seems to have had enough. Some other nations more welcoming are just in the process of perfecting some prohibitive legal hurdles to deal with the exigencies as they make a spurious distinction between refugees and economic migrants. The redoubtable Brits are waiting and watching this mainland maelstrom with icy resolve. They shall not pass. Europe is in dire turmoil. The horror! The horror of it all! If there is any redemptive trope in this trail of carnage and tale of human horror, in the pictures of hundreds drowning, many perishing on the road through sheer exhaustion and of a father clinging to the washed up corpse of an adorable son, it has to be located in the fact that this is not happening to Africans, the traditional laggards of modern civilization and orphaned destitute of history but to the triumphant victors of the race to modernity and their triumphalist choir people. This is a trail that leads back to the cradle of humankind, our mutual humanity and common ancestry on the old plains of East Africa, a fact which Euro-American mythmakers and numerous historians are wont to deny or ignore. It speaks to the hubris that first made our protohuman ancestors dare to stand upright and walk and then to begin a long trudge towards new foundations and new beginnings across the plains of Euro-Asia and eventually to the new world. But more importantly, it speaks to the hubris which usually makes a few people in human society with the adamantine will to power and the visionary impulse to seize the bull of history by the horns and by so doing to determine the trajectory of history and the destiny of human society. Alexander, the great Greek, the Roman emperors, the ancient Norse warrior-class, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and his Tartan hordes, Chaka the Zulu, forgotten and unrememberable old world avatars, and Napoleon Bonaparte all come to mind. If they ever succeeded at all, it was because they were standing on the ruins of older civilizations and the collective heritage of all

COLUMN

nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•A Turkish rescue worker carries the young boy who drowned during a failed attempt by refugees to cross into Europe.

humankind. The granite resolve, the will to conquer and dominate their environment, the sheer chutzpah, have been burnt into their genes in millennia of human striving and the accumulated DNA of human struggle for recognition and selfactualization. As Louis Althusser, the great French Marxist philosopher, has put it with daring and defiant extremity and Structuralist pathos: “History is a process without a subject”. The hubris of Western civilization and western modernity is to ever imagine that nothing came before it and that nothing will come after it. Around the tenth century, the leading country in the world was ancient China before it went into a long decline occasioned by a power struggle about modernity between the Mandarinate and the Imperial feudal dynasty. Artifacts retrieved from modern Kenya suggest that Chinese ships had already reached the old port of Mombasa around the seventh century. Much earlier around the first millennium, evidence suggests that some Indonesian clans had already reached the island of Madagascar. They were then alleged to have returned to East Africa to recruit wives and other domestic accessories. They would eventually be joined by migrants and adventurers from the African mainland to inaugurate a new beginning for what would become a new people. Mainland Africa and Africans are no strangers to epic migrations. The history of the continent is one long drama of forcible migration and forcible incorporation. Apart from the biblical migration and forcible expulsion of the ancient tribe of Judah from Egypt, there are numerous examples of long treks or voortrek as the old Dutch settlers would call it as they moved inland. In the same region in the early nineteenth century, a military genius from the Uguni sub-clan of the Zulu welded the Zulu people and the entire region together in a series of great military triumphs leading to great dispersals or mfekane, epic depopulation and repopulation. In an act of intellectual hubris, some western historians describe Chaka as a Black Napoleon but on the scale of military innovation and raw courage Chaka was Napoleon’s equal if not superior. Around the tenth century in what was to become modern day Yorubaland, a highborn nobleman called Oduduwa descended from the surrounding highland to the plains of Ile-Ife to commence a protracted and very bloody civil war to oust the

old order in a bold visionary bid for the centralization of authority and power. His heirs gradually extended their suzerainty to the whole of Yoruba race. Oduduwa had no western textbook or European authority to rely upon. In any case at that point in time, Europe had descended into the barbarity of the Dark Age. The Oduduwa revolt was part of a universal human impulse to impose order on disorder and chaos. It was a revolution to consecrate proper feudal relations. To the modern sensibility, a feudal revolution may sound like a quaint anomaly, a roaring oxymoron, but that was precisely the stage the dialectic of history had reached at that point in time. In the light of the migratory earthquake currently convulsing Europe, it may be tempting to mistake the symptom for the disease. It is tempting to see the ruins of Iraq, the carnage in Syria and the upsurge of counter-revolutionary momentum that has obliterated the gains of the Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia and the virtual implosion of Libya as emanating from the contradiction of modern Islam and the unending power struggle between the Sunni and the Shitte sects. It is indeed an old succession struggle which goes back all the way to the demise of the great prophet himself and whether he should be succeeded by his blood relations or the conclave of faithful followers. It has indeed occasioned many religious civil wars and Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the Homeric battlefields of the Middle East are just a modern enactment of a historic feud. While this is part of the narrative, it does not exhaust the whole narrative. The real narrative

is powered by western intellectual and ideological arrogance as well as political hubris. As they say in Nigeria, it is the case of Islamic trouble troublesomely sleeping and western yanga waking it. When you sow the wind, you must reap the whirlwind. At the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama, a notable American intellectual and policy wonk of Japanese extraction, published what was to become a famous book. It was titled, The End of History and the Last Man. Despite later modulations and modifications, Fukuyama’s thesis was simple and seemingly impregnable: after the routing of the Soviet bear, western notion of liberal democracy, market economy and the post-Westphalian nation-state has become globally rampart and its paradigm irresistible and indestructible. To be sure, Fukuyama was not speaking out of turn. He was merely providing an intellectual scaffolding for the collective political habitus of the western political elite and the feeling of euphoria and triumphalism that accompanied the defenestration of the communist threat. But as Paul de Man, the great Yale literary theorist has taught us, the moment of great insight is also often accompanied by great blindness. It would seem in retrospect that Fukuyama’s error of judgment— and the western political elites’ blindness—was to confuse the working out of a particular phase of history and the commencement of a new beginning with the end of history and the irreversibility of western global dominance. In retrospect, the political hubris emanating from this mindset and the rise of a unilateral global order dominated by America has cost the world much strife and bloody upheavals. It led to the attempt to impose liberal democracy and market economy on the Russian rump of the old Soviet Empire. It has led to tears and bloody affront at Tiananmen Square, the destruction of Sunni/Baathist Iraq, the fearsome stalemate in Afghanistan, the evaporation of Libya, the rise of rogue democracies in Africa, the near universalization of al-Queda as a potent counterhegemonic Islamic movement and the dramatic emergence of ISIS. How has the “end of history” ideology fared? Internally, it has led to the bleeding of the American economy and a military overstretch for a nation that was not conceived as a warrior-state. The Russian resistance has occasioned the rise of a pan-Slavic nationalism ricocheting in Ukraine even as Putin

permanently cocks a snook at the west particularly in Syria. It has led to an economically rampart China viewing the west with wary distrust even as it turns the fiscal screw with typical Chinese forbearance. It has overturned the delicate geo-sect balance in the Islamic world in favour of a rampart theocratic Iran. It has bred some murderously virulent strains of Islam like ISIS which has taken the traditional Islamic disdain for the nation-state paradigm and liberal democracy to a new level of proactive potency. It is these flashpoints of economic insecurity, political instability in the Balkans occasioned by ideological disorientation and religious upheavals in the Middle East that are feeding the great European exodus. But all this may be small beer compared to what is to come. When an ideologically focused, geopolitically dominant and nuclearempowered Iran recently declared that Israel as a nation may pass into history in a matter of decades and the no-nonsense warrior-state replied in kind, we may start wondering whether Fukuyama is not right after all and whether the end of history is not upon us in ironic aplomb. Claude Levi-Strauss, the great French Structuralist anthropologist, once famously declared that the world began without humankind and may end without it. For those who hold on to the immanent rationality of human history like yours sincerely, the world is not about to disappear and it is not yet the end of history. Other nations and people are simply developing their own political hubris as a countervailing perspective to the dominant political hubris of the west. This is what the Chinese people are doing. This is what Russia is up to. It is both an ironic tribute to as well as an ironic reproach of western dominance. This is what Singapore and the Asian tigers have been at with sheer contempt for Western political and economic orthodoxy. It is a strain of this that has been playing out in the Islamic world and it has so far outlasted modern communism which is essentially a countervailing western ideology. Hubris, or pride in extremity and overweening self-belief in a person, a people, a nation or an entire race, however morally reproachable its outcome often is, is a logical concomitance of history and human development. But however long it takes, the drama of human evolution shows that all that is solid will eventually melt into thin air.

Amuniso come jam amuniti

T is a sad day for the Nigerian political elite and a dark day for the senate when the third ranking political office holder in the land is hauled before a law court over allegations of gross corruption and graft. It is sheer sleaze at its most stupendous and state-upending. No matter what happens, and that is whether the charges hold or not, the Saraki brand is damaged beyond repairs or reparation. Since the matter is subjudice, snooper will say no more. But this elite lamentation and legal chicanery do not appear to cut any ice with the Nigerian underclass as represented by the inevitable Okon. The crazy one has been

jubilating all over the place over Saraki’s arraignment with Baba Lekki in senile complicity. They have been buying drinks for passers-by. On Wednesday morning, the drunken duo finally took the battle to snooper. “Oga, finally finally dem Buhari sheriff don nab dem Ilorin magomago man. Case don close”, the tipsy clown drawled. “I hope the case is water-tight”, snooper sneered cynically. “Ha!! See me see trouble oo. Dem yeye Yoruba people don come with dem wuruwuru again. Wetin concern watertight for court case? Abi you fit tie water? We no want watertight, na bottleneck we want. When you put dem

Oloye boy inside bottle he no go fit comot, unless him wan break him own neck.” Okon retorted. “But”, the crazy old crook began with a magisterial frown and snooper cut him short. “I hope you know this case is subjudice”, snooper shouted. “Subjudike ko under-judikenke ni. B’ara e da soun wa i”, Baba Lekki screamed. “What is going on here?” snooper asked in alarm. “As impunity come dey help immunity, amuniso come grab amuniti”, the crazy old man snarled as snooper shut the door against the besotted bandits.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

NEWS HID AWOLOWO: PASSAGE OF A MATRIARCH

HE Ikenne home of the matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty, Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo surged with heavy traffic of Nigerians yesterday. They were eager to sympathise with the family over the death of Mrs Awolowo. Mama Awolowo, wife of the foremost politician and first Premier of Old Western region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, died after a brief meeting with family members. The Yeye Oodua of Yorubaland, 99, would have been 100 years old by November 25 this year. Preparation had begun as early as August with many prominent Nigerians, particularly in the Southwest, approached to send in their goodwill messages for collation ahead of the expected centenary birthday. Early callers were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Acting Governor of Ogun State, Princess Yetunde Onanuga, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, ex - governor Gbenga Daniel and Secretary to the Ogun State government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa. Other sympathisers who visited the Awolowos to condole with them included the state Secretary of the Social

‘Mama died singing, praying’ Democratic Party, Alhaji Abimbola Awofeso; APC senatorial candidate for Ogun East in the last elections, Mr. Dapo Abiodun; Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Olufunsho Amosun, the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state, Gboyega Isiaka. The family said Mama died in the company of her children and also prayed for them as they strategised towards her centenary birthday. Her first daughter, Mrs Omotola Oyediran, said her mother spent five minutes with her family, had her routine daily chores meetings, prayers among others, before she breathed her last by 3:05pm "It is with gratitude to God for her remarkable and illustrious life, the entire Awolowo family announce the glorious home calling of our dear Matriarch, Yeye Oodua, Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo on Saturday (yesterday) afternoon. "Mama died as gloriously as she lived, she spent the day in the company of her children,

•She was an icon, says Obasanjo From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

grandchildren and great grandchildren. "She shared a precious five minutes with them when she went in to pray for them as they met to plan her centenary birthday. She died a couple of hours later as she had always wished, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and

great grand children." For Obasanjo, the death of HID is a passing of an Icon, a mother and matriarch of the Yoruba. Obasanjo said: "On occasion like this, for all of us in Ogun and Yoruba land nay Nigeria, it is passing of an icon. Normally for us it should be a mixed feelings; mixed feelings because Mama had lived a life most of us would envy.

"We must thank God because mama has experienced the vicissitudes of life but she died in peace. When I heard, I decided to come because I wanted to be sure. All I was thinking of was the centenary birthday, Mama has been a joy to many, she was the matriarch of the Yoruba land, faithful and loyal to her husband, supporter and pillar of the family. "She was somebody people ran to for advice and counsel and they get the best from her.

I pray that God will give the family the courage and wherewithal to bear the challenges of Mama's death. Each and every one of us must learn a lesson from the good life of Mama and may her soul rest in perfect peace." Also, the Acting Governor, Yetunde Onanuga, said Mama was a role model and mother, describing her demise as a shock since it happened at a time when preparations were progressing towards her 100 years birthday. Mrs Onanuga disclosed that the state government would be fully involved in the funeral ceremonies of the late matriarch when it is fixed.

We lost a pre-eminent mother, says Saraki

ENATE President Bukola Saraki has praised the extraordinary attributes of the late Chief H.I.D Awolowo. Saraki, in a statement, yesterday said: "Mama Awolowo truly distinguished herself among her contemporaries and not only because she lived longer but because she served God and humanity to the end. "Even as a nonagenarian, she kept on hosting different fora and contributing to ideas on the unity of the Yoruba people in particular and

Nigeria in general. "She was an epitome of a good wife and mother and I have no doubt that as she reunites with her darling husband, Pa Obafemi Awolowo, she would have good account to give of how far she had held forte in the absence of the late sage. "We commiserate with the Awolowo family on the death of their matriarch, the government and people of Ogun State and Nigeria in general. "They should all take solace in the fact that Mama lived a good life."

Dogara: Our mother is gone

PEAKER Yakubu Dogara has described Chief (Mrs.) H.I.D. Awolowo as a mother whose humanitarian, philanthropic deeds and exemplary life were worthy of emulation. Dogara, while mourning the passage of Mrs Awolowo in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Turaki Hassan, urged the federal and Ogun State governments to immortalise her. Dogara said: "The late Mrs. Awolowo was a mother to the nation and said she has left a huge vacuum in our lives. "She will continue to be

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja remembered for her humanitarian and philanthropic deeds and said she lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation. "She was a pious woman who was a pillar of support for her husband, the late sage Awolowo since the days of struggle for independence up to the eighties when he died. "Although we would have loved that she remain with us, as mortals, we all must test death but our joy is that she has gone to rest."

Amosun: She was a model of distinction

GUN State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has poured encomiums on Chief Mrs. Hannah Awolowo, widow of the first Premier of Western Region of Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Barr Taiwo Adeoluwa, the governor described the death of the matriarch of the Awolowo

family as a great loss. According to him: "Nigeria has lost a role model of distinction, a highly disciplined and principled woman, a trustworthy ally and dependable politician who equally made her mark in the business world." The governor urged the younger generation of women to follow in the footsteps of Mama HID.

•Former President Olusegun Obasanjo(third from left); Wife of Ogun State governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun(second left) with Dr Adetokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu(second from right) and other family members during a condolence visit to the Awolowo’s family at their Ikenne residence in Ogun State... yesterday

HID on slippery political field

F colonialism had not disrupted the traditional political institution, HID Awolowo may have grown up to inherit a fiefdom, his father being a Prince of Remoland. Her beloved son, the late Oluwole Awolowo, was apparently seized by that nostalgia of royal pride when he decided to pre-fix his name with the title of a Prince. However, the republican politics of the pre-independence and immediate independence era fame to her in the corridor of power. From 1950 and 1987, when her husband, Awo, was councillor at the old Remo Council presided over by the Akarigbo, Oba Williams Adedoyin, the Leader of Government Business and Premier of Western Region, Leader of Federal Opposition, Federal Commissioner for Finance and Vice Chairman of Federal Executive Council, and till the day he died in dignity as an elder statesman, Yeyeoba HID was a factor in the politics of the Southwest and Nigeria. The non-constitutional nomenclature of "First Lady" was unpopular in those early days. Thus, Mrs. Awolowo operated at the home front as the Premier's wife. Her public outing was limited to accompanying her husband to important state functions, rallies and campaigns. She boosted the morale of the Action Group (AG) Women Association led by the late Mrs. Emily Rosiji. On few occasions, she mounted the rostrum to campaign for party candidates. Within the party, HID was held in high esteem the a noncontroversial wife of the Leader.

By Emmanuel Oladesu, Group Political Editor

In post-1962, her father's absence foisted on her increased political role. She was just recovering from shock the 10year jail slammed on Chief Awolowo when her first son, Segun, a promising lawyer, died in an auto crash. But she had become a rallying point for the progressives in the region who were being hunted by Premier Remi Fani-Kayode (Fani Power). In the subsequent federal and regional parliamentary elections, she played a major role of being a leading campaign for the United Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA), following the decision of the repressed AG and a section of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) led by the Premier of Eastern Region, Dr. Michael Okpara. For the first and last time, HID Awolowo contested for a federal parliamentary seat in Remo Constituency, which had been vacant since Awo was imprisoned by the power that be. Her opponent was the Remo Prince, Chief Adeleke Adedoyin, nicknamed Seriki Tulaasi by admirers. Adedoyin, a lawyer, contested under the Nigeria National Alliance (NNA), which was a coalition of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and Akintola's Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). The campaign was hot. Reflecting on the poll in his autobiography, 'An Unbreakable Heritage', Oluwole Awolowo recalled that the election was rigged in favour of Adedoyin. "Mama's votes were not counted", he lamented.

"In fact, UPGA, to which Mama belonged, boycotted the election, but it was the belief of Remo voters that, despite the boycott, Mama won the election hands down. This was not impossible because in some parts of Western Region (Osun, Ife, Ijesa, Ekiti), some UPGA candidates won the election. People were aggrieved", Wole Awolowo stressed. Owing to her husband's profile, Mama became crowd puller. Despite her electoral misfortune, she hosted many political associates in Ikenne for her 50th birthday on November 25, 1965. The large presence of UPGA supporters at the ceremony threatened the few NNA members in town. On sighting the NNA flag, UPGA youths attempted to remove it and it led to fracas. Until her husband was released from prison, she faithfully held forte, mobilising people for the party and sustaining their courage with messages of hope. In 1978, Mrs. Awolowo played a major role in the election of Mr. Awoyemi into the Constituent Assembly. The choice of Awoyemi was contested by Awo boys, Olu Awotesu and Olayinka Yesufu, who insisted that the late sage had promised to support the former Remo Councillor, Awotesu, for the slot. Both claimed that Awo changed his mind because Mama HID mounted pressure on him to support Awoyemi. The incident led to the parting of ways between Awo and his two disciples who made sure that Awoyemi lost the election to Awotesu. Consequently, they were not admitted into the Unity

Party of Nigeria (UPN) when it was formed in 1978. Both Awotesu and Yesufu went to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Mrs. Awolowo campaigned for her son, Wole, who contested for the Apapa Constituency seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly. He won. He was also reelected in 1983. Also, in that Second Republic, HID and her friend, the late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, led a reconciliation team to Kwara State to resolve the crisis between the two governorship aspirants; Senator Cornelius Adebahyo and the late Chief Sunday Olawoyin. The UPN leader, Awo and former Lagos State Governor Lateef Jakande had supported Olawoyin, but Oyo State Governor Bola Ige backed Adebayo. The primaries ended in fiasco twice. At the third time, Adebayo defeated Olawoyin. The contest generated a bad blood. Olawoyin's supporters were injured by the outcome. When efforts to bring truce hit the rock, Mrs. Awolowo took the initiative to visit the two politicians with a team of women. As she reflected, women achieved peace where men failed. In the Third Republic, she identified with the proscribed Social Democratic Party (SDP) on which platform her daughter, Dr. Tokunbo Dosunmu, declared her intention to rule Lagos State. The ambition did not see the light of the day as the able lieutenants of Awolowo resisted it, saying that they could not serve father and daughter in quick succession. Mama Awolowo has been a pillar of support for the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and the Yoruba Unity Forum.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

REGENT is to oversee the affairs of Warri Kingdom in Delta State despite yesterday’s official announcement of the death of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, and the selection of an Olu-designate. The Olu-designate, Prince Ikenwoli Godfrey Emiko, was presented to the Itsekiri people at Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri), yesterday morning, but Sunday Nation authoritatively gathered that he would not ascend the throne for at least three lunar months in line with the tradition of the Itsekiri people. Consequently, in line with Section 8 of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict, 1979 of the defunct Bendel State (now Edo/Delta states), a regent is to oversee the affairs of the king pending the coronation of the Olu. It was gathered that the Oloriebi (head of the Ruling House), Dr Duakpemi Andrew Ayu, have automatically assumed the position, in line with the 36-year-old documents. A knowledgeable source said the regent is usually the “oldest among the sons and grandsons of the past three Olus”. The 1979 gazette stated that “Head of the Ruling House acts as the Regent from the

28yrs after, Emiko (Abiloye) fulfils father’s dream By Shola O’neil

HE Olu-designate is the first of three children (two male and a female) born by his mother to the late Olu Gbesimi Emiko (Erejuwa II), who died in 1987. His siblings are Prince Benjamin (Beliami) Emiko and Mrs Ogbemi Daibo. Various sources told the Sunday Nation that the Oludesignate was trained and tutored for the role he is set to assume since his birth. As the Abiloye, the first male son born to his late father Olu Erejuwa II, after he assumed the throne, he was the natural and traditional choice to succeed his father. “Before the 1979 gazette, the most qualified prince to succeed the Olu is the son of the reigning Olu, who was born after he ascended his throne. He may have older brothers, but only the son born after an Olu was crowned that is qualified. That is why he was named Ikenwoli. “So, everyone had expected Prince Ikenwoli to succeed his father, who had also shown and told several of his close chiefs that his Abiloye would succeed him,” an Itsekiri community leader said. However, it was gathered that following the 1979 gazette, his older half-brother, now the late Olu, became the successor in spite of some resistance by people who felt that the Ikenwoli should not be deprived. Twenty-eight years after, the Olu-designate, is set to fulfil his late father’s dream for him. He is a graduate of Business Administration from the University of Benin and has experience working in the private sector before his elevation to the highest traditional position in Warri (Iwere) kingdom.

NEWS

Godfrey Emiko is new Olu of Warri From Shola O’Neil, S’South Regional Editor and Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

time of announcement of the demise (of the Olu) until the installation (of Olu-designate). “At the end of the period of about three months, the Olu-designate is formally installed by the Ologbotsere in the presence of the general public,” the document concluded The position was confirmed by various sources, including the Secretary and a member of the influential Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Edward Ekpokpo Esq., and Mr Sunny Amorighoye. Ekpoko, who responded to our reporter’s inquiry on the absence of Ologbotsere, Iyasere and Uwangue, said there was no doubt about the regency, insisting that Dr Ayu had become the regent immediately after the announcements yesterday. Speaking in the same vein, A.S. Mene said the position of Ekpoko is in tandem with the 1979 Gazette, revealing that everything done by the Olu Advisory Council and the Ojoyes (noble Chiefs), both in announcing Atuwatse II’s transition and choosing Olu-designate, followed due processes. Meanwhile, the official unveiling of Prince Ikenwoli Emiko after the news of Atuwatse II’s transition took place at a poignant ceremony, which was held at the OdeItsekiri (Big Warri), the traditional headquarters of the

• Olu of Warri: Regent to rule for three months • Parties, ceremonies suspended in Warri till December • Confusion over who will crown next Olu

•Prince Abiloye being shown to the people

Itsekiri. Announcing both the passage of Atuwatse II and the choice of Prince Ikenwoli to the Itsekiri National Congress, the eldest member of the Olu Advisory Council, Chief Tesigiweno Yahya Pessu, who is the Ojomo of Warri Kingdom, also performed the traditional ‘breaking of the calabash’, which represents the

death of the king. The ritual was punctuated by shouts of ‘alejefun’ and otatse, meaning “the white chalk has been eaten by the earth” and “the anchor is broken”, respectively. After performing the traditional breaking of the chalkbearing calabash, Chief Pessu, who is also the Chief Priest of the kingdom, reeled out the

code of conduct for the entire Itsekiri nation, home and in the Diaspora, for the three months that the departed Olu would be mourned. According to the Chief Priest, “Itsekiri all over the world should be mourning until the burial ceremony is performed and done with. This may take three lunar months. All Itsekiri men and

women should wear their (expensive) clothes upside down. “There shall be no party, no drumming, no form of merriment for the Itsekiri anywhere, until this process is over. We are in a mourning position now. This shall be in all Itsekiri domains”. The passage of Ogiame Atuwatse II, the Olu of Warri, was announced to a tumultuous crowd of Itsekiri people by the Chief Priest and in the presence of other members of the council of chiefs at around 11:50am. The announcement was heralded with several canon shots. The name of the Olu-designate was announced at about 12:15pm, leading to a wild cheer among the huge crowd of Itsekiri chiefs, elders and people, who had converged on Ode-Itsekiri to be briefed on new developments. Describing the mood of the Itsekiri nation at the announcement of the Olu-designate, a member of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILT), Professor Nesin Omatseye, attributed the cheers that greeted his name to his goodness and acceptance by all. He said “not everybody would be accepted by all, but this is a person that most of us know over the years that is intelligent, intellectually inclined and culturally exposed. We expect the best”. Explaining the uniqueness of the choice of Prince Ikenwoli as the next Olu to be, •Continued on Page 59

How Emiko emerged as Olu-designate

HE process leading to the selection of 60-yearold Prince Godfrey Ikenwoli Emiko, as the Olu of Warri designate yesterday followed a careful line of programme laid out in accordance with a declaration made under Section 8 of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict, 1979. The declaration, signed by D. P. Lawani, (O.O.N), Secretary to the Military Government of the then Bendel State, is the customary law regulating succession to the title of Olu of Warri. The document, a copy of which was obtained by Our Reporter, specified that there is “only one Ruling House in Warri”, and it is known as Ginuwa I. The gazette further stated: “Succession is limited to Olu’s Company (Otolu’s) i.e., the de-

By Shola O’neil scendants of the last three Olus. The descendants of the other Olus who had previously reigned are known and referred to as Omajaja Company. “Ordinarily, succession passes to a son of a demised Olu, failing which to a suitable member of the Otolu’s, provided that brothers are preferred to uncles, and uncles are preferred to grandsons and grandsons are preferred to other relatives within the Otolus. Females are absolutely barred. “The Ologbotsere summons a meeting of the members of the Ruling House to the Palace (Aghofen) specifically to choose a successor. The meeting is presided over by the oldest man in the Ruling House,

failing which by the ‘Olare-Ebi’ or ‘Olore Ebi’. All the sons of the demised Olu and members of the Ruling House below the age of eighteen are excluded from the meeting. “To qualify, a candidate’s mother must be an Itsekiri or of Edo origin and his father must be Itsekiri. “The oldest man of the Ruling House presents a candidate selected to the Ologbotsere, the Iyesere, the Uwangue, the Ojomo, the Oshodi and a maximum of two other Ojoyes (titled noblemen) whose presence in the opinion of the Ologbotsere is essential. “At this stage, Ifa Oracles are consulted. The oracle must agree on a choice failing which the selection process is repeated until a candidate acceptable to the oracle is selected. The oracle’s decision is final.

“After the approval of the candidate by the Olu Advisory Council and the oracles, the Ologbotsere summons at his residence a meeting of the Ojoyes and there he announces the passing away of the demise Olu and the appointment of a successor who is presented to the Ojoyes by the Ologbotsere. “Thereafter, the Ologbotsere summons a meeting of the Itsekiri National Assembly i.e. of all Itsekiri people and announces to them, the passing away of the demised Olu, and the appointment of a successor whom he then presents to them. The whole process of selection need not take more than two to three days of the demise of an Olu. “Upon the demise of an Olu, and after selection, the Olu-designate participates in the burial rites and ceremonies

of the demised Olu, particularly in the performance of the ‘Iken Rites’ at the royal cemetery at Ijala. “Failure to perform and complete the burial rites and ceremonies is a bar to the installation of the Olu-designate. Immediately upon internment of the demised Olu, the Oludesignate proceeds to the ‘Ideniken’ where he remains for a period of three lunar months during which the burial rites and ceremonies are completed. ‘Otolu’ i.e. Head of the Ruling House, acts as the Regent from the time of announcement of the demise until the installation. “At the end of the period of about three months, the Oludesignate is formally installed by the Ologbotsere in the presence of the general public,” the document concluded.

Confusion over crowning of Olu-designate

LTHOUGH Prince Ikenwoli Emiko has scaled the first of many hurdles in his quest to succeed his late brother, a long tortuous journey has only just begun, if feelers from the Warri Traditional Council of Chiefs are anything to go by. It was gathered that the Omoba (Olu-designate) can only assume the throne after successfully burying his predecessor and carrying out a number of rituals including, the Iken rites and three months retreat at Ideniken. Our investigations revealed that absence of three of five members of the Olu Advisory Council almost marred the selection process. The Ologbotsere (traditional Prime Minister), Iyatsere (Minister of Defence) and

From Shola O’neil Uwangue stools are vacant. The continued absence of these key figures in Itsekiri traditional administration may pose further problems. The last Ologbotsere, the very influential Alfred Ogbeyiwa Rewane, died in 1995, 20 years after the stool is still vacant. Rewane, who was instrumental to the emergence of Toritseju Emiko as Atuwatse II, reportedly fell out with his protégé, shortly after the coronation in 1987. Why the late monarch failed to appoint Rewane’s successor in 20 years despite the plethora of competent and willing candidates is a subject of theories and conjectures among Itsekiri leaders. The very wise Chief

Gabriel Mabiaku, who was the Iyasere, died shortly before the Atuwatse II; his death left a gaping chasm in the nation. It was gathered that the occupants of the trio of vacant stools, along with the Ojomo and Otsodi of Warri Kingdom, constitute the Olu Advisory Council. The council is empowered to appoint two members of the Ojoye to include in the selection of a new Olu. Ironically, it was gathered that only the Ologbotsere can crown the Olu, in line with the 1979 Gazette, but it is only an Olu that can appoint an Ologbotesere based on names suggested by the family. The same is true of Uwangue and Iyasere. “This has left the kingdom in a very fragile state; how do we get an Ologbotsere when

there is no Olu to appoint one?” one of the younger members of the kingdom told our reporter. It was gathered that Chief Yahya Pessu, the Ojomo, who being first among equal, led the process that culminated in yesterday’s announcement, might not be able to perform the coronation ceremony, as members of the other families saddled with the responsibility could kick. “Even the Uwangue family are still seething after the 1987 coronation, which was done by the Ologbotsere, who is traditional father of Uwangue. We expect either Uwangue or Ologbotsere to perform the next coronation; any other family might not be acceptable,” a source added. But Mr Sunny

Amorighoye Mene, a member of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, who hails from the Uwangue and Ologbotsere families, assured our reporter that the Itsekiri have a long history to fall back on to correct the situation. He explained that going by the tradition, the various families know their routes, adding that prior to and before the 88-year interregnum (1848 – 1936) all families know their roles and how to play them, irrespective of their titular heads. Speaking in the same vein Mr Edward Ekpoko, a lawyer and member of the Ologbotsere family, said the absence of a known holder of the title is no impediment to the installation of an Olu. •Continued on Page 59

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

NEWS

HERE was anxiety yesterday following the relocation of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, from his personal residence in Maitama District in Abuja. He was said to have moved to the official Guest House of the Office of the President of the Senate for “security reasons.” It was learnt that the invasion of the Guest House by the police to arrest Saraki might be considered an assault on the Senate. But the police were still awaiting the warrant of arrest from the Code of Conduct Tribunal on yesterday. To stave off pressure, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, has allegedly switched off all his mobile lines. Findings by our correspondent revealed that Saraki has moved out of his personal residence to an official apartment for “strategic reasons and safety.” A source said: “The President of the Senate has relocated from his personal house in Abuja. Saraki is now staying in the official Guest House of the President of the Senate which is like a sacred place like the hallowed chamber of the Senate. “If the police and security agencies invade or storm the place, it will amount to a slap on the upper chamber. This can make the Senate to join issues with the Executive despite the fact that there is no immunity for any National Assembly leaders. “He has also been consulting with his strategists on how to vacate the Bench warrant against him by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.”

Anxiety as Saraki relocates from residence • Police await warrant of arrest • CCT chairman shuts down phones to stave off pressure • South-East Senator implicated in Saraki’s ex parte application drama From Yusuf Alli, Gbade Ogunwale and Sam Egburonu

When contacted, an aide to the Senate President, however, said: “He actually moved to the Guest House since Monday because of the ongoing renovation in his personal residence due to a recent fire incident.” As at press time, however, the police could not effect the

arrest of Saraki because it was still awaiting a copy of the Bench warrant from the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). There were indications that the warrant might be sent to the police on Monday. The Force Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Olabisi Kolawole, said: “We are yet to receive the bench warrant.” She avoided further comments when pressed to expa-

tiate on the development. A top source said: “I think the long session of the tribunal on Friday accounted for the delay in making the warrant available to the police. “And a tribunal will have no justification for issuing warrant of arrest on Saturday when it is not an official period. “The police have to be careful because any procedural er-

ror in the execution of bench warrant could affect the merit or otherwise of the case at hand. “The police can get the warrant by 8am on Monday and effect the arrest of the President of the Senate immediately.” All attempts to speak with the Chairman of CCT, Justice Danladi Umar failed as his phones had been switched off.

From L-R: Col Festus Onyeari, Navy Captain Emmanuel Anakwe, Ag. Commandant Nigerian Army College of Logistics (NACOL) Brig-General Julius Oni, guest Lecturer, Major General Kamorudeen Role (Rtd) and. Col. Mark Mamman, during the Inauguration/Inaugural Lecture for logistics Management Course 13/2015 in Lagos yesterday. Photo: Muyiwa Hassan

An official of the tribunal could not immediately ascertain the status of the bench warrant. The official said: “I cannot give you the status on the bench warrant until Monday. I knew it was being processed after the session on Friday. “On the CCT chairman, he has to switch off because of pressure from politicians, friends and associates. Some people are just desperate to either speak or meet with him on the matter. “Also, the case is sensitive and all his lines and other tribunal members will now be subjected to security checks by relevant agencies. Even some supporters of the defendant will be monitoring the call logs of Justice Umar.” Meanwhile, a Senator from the South-East is being investigated by security agencies for allegedly being the brain behind the ex parte motion filed at a Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Code of Conduct Bureau, and the Office of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation from arraigning Saraki . A security source said: “The said Senator is used to procuring ex parte order at will from the Federal High court. We are studying his antecedents, his relationship with some judges. “The entire process was swift. We want to probe whether or not there was substantial compliance with the relevant rules and the role of the said Senator.”

PDP faults trial, says democracy on quick slide

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). According to the party, the trial signalled a quick slide in the nation’s democracy and defining moments in the nation’s history. Saraki is standing trial for alleged false declaration of assets when he was governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011. A statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, expressed concerns over what the party described as the “prevailing executive intolerance, the undermining of the institution of the National Assembly and the overall threat to the survival of our democracy.” The party said Saraki’s ongoing trial, even when an Attorney General has not been appointed, did not follow due process. It alleged that the presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) could not hide their aversion to the emergence of Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President. The statement said, “The PDP says with the unfolding of events; the deliberate infractions and crass abuse of power by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government, it is no longer in doubt that the nation is on a quick slide into fascism and official terrorism. “Whereas the PDP totally supports the fight against corruption, while reposing confidence in the judiciary to pro-

tect and preserve its sanctity, we note with grave concern, the politically induced controversies within the judiciary as a result of the part being played by agents of the executive, especially the question of due process with respect to the roles statutorily vested on the person of an Attorney-General, who is yet to be appointed, regarding proceedings in the Code of Conduct Tribunal. “We note this dangerous trend because the Presidency and the APC have not hidden their aversion to the election of Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Senate

President and Deputy Senate President respectively, even as the fact of various moves to oust them from office, including the recent unsubstantiated allegations of forgery and harassments by the federal controlled security agencies are in the public domain. “We call on Nigerians to be aware that the fixation on the leadership of the National Assembly is part of a major step towards the appropriation of the federal legislature, so as to undermine its statutory role of checks and balances and set the stage for dictatorship in the land. “Part of this script is to commence a major onslaught

against federal lawmakers perceived to hold divergent views to those of the Presidency, irrespective of party affiliations, a situation that would ensure a subdued legislature. “The President Buhari-led regime has exhibited trappings of despotism, including ruling without a constitutional component of a cabinet, persistent abuse of power, undermining of democratic institutions, invasion of state government and personal houses, injecting confusion into the judiciary and hounding of individuals perceived to be against its interests”. The party expressed

worry over what it termed the relentless onslaught against democratic institutions, especially the growing tension trailing “the quest to annex the National Assembly” It further described as a mockery of reasoning, for President Buhari to condemn the recent coup in Burkina Faso while his government continued to violate the provisions of the constitution of his own country. The statement continued, “Also, similar machineries have been activated for possible forceful takeover of PDP states, a plot which played out in the recent act of terrorism against democracy, in the in-

vasion of Akwa-Ibom State Government House by the Department of State Services (DSS), under the direct instructions from the Presidency.” The party also listed what it called the “reprehensible invasion and sealing of Rivers local councils by the Police” saying, “We invite the international community and the civil society to note that our nation is facing a defining moment for the survival of democracy. Nigeria has come to a point where citizens, irrespective of political affiliations, can no longer freely express their views. “

Saraki vs CCT: Lawyers flay Senate President

S the face-off between the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) continue to generate interest across the country, some legal practitioners who spoke to The Nation yesterday said the third citizen goofed when he failed to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal but preferred to file an application before the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking to stop the scheduled trial at the tribunal. Explaining the development and the position of the law on this matter to The Nation, Idahosa Anthony, a lawyer, said, “The ex-parte application is the most frustrating avenue through which justice is frustrated and judicial process abused in our country’s courts of ‘justice’. The fact that the number three man in our political hierarchy chose this route to circumvent justice is

profoundly disappointing. “Perhaps due to ignorance of what really transpired in court, a section of the media reported that the application was granted. That would have been in manifest error of trite law. “In the first place, no court of law has the powers to interfere with, or in any way restrain the exercise of the judicial powers of another court of co-ordinate jurisdiction. In this case, the Federal High Court and the Code of Conduct Tribunal are courts of coordinate jurisdiction: appeals from the decisions of the Code of Conduct Tribunal lie to the Court of Appeal (s.23 (4) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act) and appeals from the decisions of a Federal high Court lie to the court of Appeal (s. 243, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999).

“In the second place, an injunction restraining the Code of Conduct Bureau will be misdirected and therefore, futile. The Code of Conduct Bureau is not a prosecuting authority; under section 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, it is merely an administrative and investigative authority and its role in the prosecution of defaulters under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act is limited to recommending persons for prosecution. The prosecuting authority in respect of offences under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act is the Office of the Attorney-General. Thus section 24 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides the AttorneyGeneral or any one nominated by him may bring charges in respect of offences under the Act.

“In the third place, it is incorrect for Saraki to hinge the basis of his ex parte application on the fact that there is no incumbent Attorney-General capable of instituting actions against him or any criminal action whatsoever. This line of legal reasoning, once regularly cited, has since been discredited by the Supreme Court in a number of cases and, most recently, in the case of Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Senator Adewunmi. The decent course for an accused, if he has concerns, is to raise preliminary objection(s) before the tribunal where he has been charged.” On CCT’s issuance of a bench warrant for the arrest of the Senate President on September 18, 2015, following Saraki’s failure to appear before it, Idahosa Anthony

said, “this power is inherent in any tribunal having the full powers of a court of law, such as the Code of Conduct Tribunal.” Two other legal practitioners, Dr Sony Ajala and Chief Maxi Okwu, who commented on the development in a telephone chat with The Nation yesterday agreed with Anthony’s views. Dr Sony Ajala, a legal practitioner in Abuja, told The Nation that the position of the law would not support Senator Saraki’s actions in this matter. According to Ajala, “The straight forward question is, does the Federal High Court have supervisory or power of appellate review over the decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal? The answer by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution is ‘no.’

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

NGO calls for strict enforcement of laws on rape By Oziegbe Okoeki ORRIED by the incessant cases of rape in the country, a faith-based Non Governmental Organisation, The Counselling Ambassadors Organisation has called for strict enforcement of laws dealing with cases of rape in the society. The organisation gave the advice at a programme it organised with the theme 'Transfiguration experience: Let's talk it and Pray it.' According to the Founder and President of the organisation, Regina Obasa, the prevalence of rape cases in the society, most especially with fathers and uncles raping their own children, necessitated the holding of the event "to talk about it, pray about it, find solutions and ways of preventing such practice. Obasa, a renowned Counseller of rape victims, called for more counselling centres in order to assist rape victims. One of the discussants, Barrister Adetokunboh Mumuni, said though there are laws in the criminal code against attempted rape and rape, the major challenge with the law is that the accusation of rape must be corroborated by a witness. He wondered why despite the incidence of reported cases of rape on a daily basis running to about 12,000 cases in a year, not a single offender has been reported jailed, adding, "Some of us are even hiding some of these cases; it is our conspiracy that makes those who should go to prison to walk freely."

Help find our children, parents of two missing brothers cry out

HE household of Mr. and Mrs. Moses Odugbo in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State are currently in grief following the mysterious disappearance of their two sons, Daniel and Channing, since the early hours of September 9. While 17-years-old Channing is Mr. Moses Odugbo's elder brother's son, 19-years-old Daniel is his son and second child. After observing their morning devotion on this fateful day, the two young teenagers were sent out on separate errands, but are yet to return. During a visit to the Odugbos' apartment at the Solomade area of Ikorodu,

By Olusegun Rapheal Mrs. Regina Odugbo (Daniel's mother), who was the only one in the house as at the time of the visit, in an emotionladen voice, narrated the trauma the family has been going through since the boys went missing. According to her, the two teenagers have never slept outside the house except on few occasions when they had to spend the weekends or holidays with some relatives. She said: "Daniel was last seen on Wednesday, September 9 after his father asked him to withdraw N5, 000 from the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). After waiting endlessly, his father called him on phone to know

what was keeping him. He replied that the GTB's ATM was not dispensing, so he had to go elsewhere. While still waiting for Daniel, his cousin Channing was asked to get milk from a nearby shop and he also did not show up." She added, "After waiting endlessly for their return, we left the house to search for them. On getting to the shop where Channing was sent to buy milk, the shop owner confirmed seeing Channing, but added that he left with Daniel and headed towards the main road. That was the last thing we heard about them. On steps the family has taken so far, Mrs. Odugbo replied, "We have lodged a

report at the police station and also reported to the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS). We have uploaded their pictures on facebook and whatsapp and we have gone to different places but up till now, they are still nowhere to be found. "Some people are alleging that they were lured away by friends, but my plea is that Nigerians should help me so I can find my two sons wherever they are." When contacted over the phone, Daniel's father also expressed shock over the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the boys, while appealing to Nigerians to assist the family in finding them.

Re-register or be closed down, Fayose warns hotel operators

â&#x20AC;˘Former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN (right); Chairman, MTN Foundation, Prince Julius AdelusiAdeluyi (2nd right); Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Dr. Paschal Dozie (2nd left) and the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Michael Ikpoki (left) during MTN Foundation's 10th Anniversary in Lagos at the weekend.

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado Ekiti KITI State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has slammed a fine of N50,000 on any private or commercial motorsit caught driving against traffic. Also, the governor has ordered hoteliers operating in the state to re-register with the state Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives. Hotels in the state, according to the governor, would also be issued official numbers for proper identification and prevent their premises from being used for criminal activities. The governor handed down the directive at a meeting he held with members of the state chapter of Hoteliers Association of Nigeria (HAN), saying they have up till January 1, 2016 to pay all taxes and levies. Failure to do so, he warned, would compel government to close down such hotels. Speaking against the backdrop of indiscipline of some motorists in the state, Fayose urged security agencies to immediately commence the arrest of such drivers in a bid to restore sanity to public transportation, ensure safety of pedestrians and generate more revenue into the state coffers. Fayose gave the order in Ikere Ekiti while on an official visit to the town following complaints from residents that accidents arising from people driving against traffic are now a regular occurrence.

You lied on our status, entitlements, PHCN workers accuse Igali

OME workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) are up in arms against the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, over his recent comments before the Senate Committee probing the power sector that those claiming to be casual workers of the organisation "are mere personal staff with no proof of evidence to back up their appointments." Igali was further reported to have told the Committee that the workers would not be paid their entitlements due to the nonregularisation of their appointments. But speaking at a press conference in Oyo, the defunct PHCN casual workers numbering about 500 described Igali as "wicked, unreasonable and a pathological liar". The workers are from 22

From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo districts of the Ibadan zonal headquarters comprising Oyo, Ogun, Osun and part of Jebba in Kwara State. At the press conference addressed by their President, Comrade Rasheed Olawunmi, said contrary to Igali's position, a meeting was held on October 31, 2013 between officials of the federal government and representatives of labourunions,includingtheNational Union of Electricity Employees to resolve outstanding labour issues ahead of handover of assets of the PHCN to private owners. He said: "At the meeting personally attended by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, it was unanimously agreed amongst others that a total of 2,500 workers were casual workers within the PHCN system as identified by the Presidential Committee set up by the last administration nationwide.

Not only that, the meeting also resolved that the issue of uncleared casuals should be treated on compassionate basis." Olawunmi disclosed that when the list of verified casual workers was eventually released to the zonal headquarters for payment and regularisation, the Ibadan zone alone got a total of 1,000 casual workers. He added, "But rather than complying with the government directive, the then Chief Executive Officer of Ibadan zonal headquarters deliberately handpicked only 500 names out of the 1,000 sent to him by the government for payment and regularisation of appointments, thus leaving behind the remaining 500 casual workers, who are yet to receive their entitlements. All complaints and protests yielded no positive results. "We were employed like every other employee in the

company and placed on contract and casual basis. We were issued with appointment letters backed up with the promise of being regularised some day. We were interviewed in 2009, biometrically captured in 2011 and verified in 2012. Some of us were issued letters of regularisation of employment in April, 2012.The then management admitted to have omitted several names which it attributed to the delay in releasing the remaining letters. The error, as admitted by the then management, had not been rectified till today. "What is more worrisome and disturbing is the denial of the Permanent Secretary before the Senate Committee that there were no identified casual workers entitled to any payments or benefits. The Permanent Secretary was a signatory to the communiquĂŠ issued at the end of the meeting two years ago."

I'm not interested in 2018 governorship, says Osun senator

ENATOR representing Osun West Senatorial Zone, Isiaka Adeleke, has denied plans to contest the 2018 governorship in the state. He described the speculations as a "wicked rumour from his political detractors." In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Alhaji Olumide Lawal, the lawmaker, who is the first democratically elected governor of the state, said he is focused on his current assignment in the National Assembly and not

interested in succeeding Governor Rauf Aregbesola in 2018. He said: "I am out to give my best as far as my legislative duties in the 8th Senate are concerned. I want to give Nigerians value for their votes through a far-reaching legislation and thorough oversight functions. I am also out to complement the efforts of the Osun State government so as to make the residents live as comfortable as possible. "I am determined to ensure that my membership of the 8th

Senate attracts people-oriented projects to Osun West Senatorial District. I believe this will keep my constituency many steps ahead of others. I also believe that only God Almighty shall decide my political future both in Osun State and Nigeria. So, let us wait till we get to the bridge before we start talking about how to cross it. 2018 or 2019 is still far away." He enjoined the people of state to support the Rauf Aregbesola-led administration in

proffering solutions to the myriad of challenges facing the state, while praying for the quick resolution of salary impasse in the state. Urging the labour unions, workers and pensioners in the state to toe the line of peace, the lawmaker however advised the state government to make the forthcoming Sallah celebration a happy one for the workers and retirees by quickly effecting the payment of their salaries and pensions.

'Murder of DSS operatives wicked, barbaric' By Oziegbe Okoeki member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing, Segun Olulade, has condemned the killing of about seven operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) by suspected pipeline vandals in Ikorodu area of the state. In his reaction to the sad incident, which occurred on Tuesday evening, Olulade described the pipeline vandals' act as "gruesome and wicked", noting that the alleged perpetrators are gradually becoming a "threat to the state." Reports have it that the vandals had allegedly engaged the DSS operatives, who came to the area after receiving a tipoff that the vandals were siphoning fuel from a broken pipe belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The Tuesday's incident, which occurred at about 8pm, was the second in two weeks. The vandals were said to have attacked four policemen attached to the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) and Owutu Police Division on August 30, 2015, with three of the policemen losing their lives, while one was critically injured. Olulade maintained that the activities of the pipeline vandals are beginning to pose great dangers to the lives of Nigerians, especially, those residing in areas where petroleum pipelines are sited. He called on the relevant security agencies to rise up to the occasion by commencing a full scale investigation into the killing of the security operatives. The lawmaker who is the immediate past chairman of the House committee on Information, strategy, security and publicity, commiserated with the DSS over the loss of its men, while praying for the repose of the souls of the gallant officers.

Hoteliers task govt. on multiple taxations, insecurity By Adeyinka Aderibigbe

OTELIERS operating in Lagos State have called on the state governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, to address the issue of multiple taxations and insecurity in the state. They noted that the tourism potential of the state would continue to suffer if the government does not harmonise its tax regime. President of the Hoteliers Association of Nigeria (HAN), Tola Odunuga, lamented that the multiple tax regime in the state being is crippling the hospitality business. He said: "We want to appeal to Governor Ambode to save our business from collapsing; multiple taxations on our members are crippling our businesses. While the state government imposed levies on us, which we pay when due, local government officials and officials from the ministries of Health and the Environment, have also imposed various levies on our members. "All this is excluding VAT and consumption tax paid to the federal government. These levies are too numerous and some of them are duplicated. We are forced to pay the same tax under different names."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

T’s a Tuesday and a few minutes past 1pm on the ever busy 10-lane Ikorodu road, in Mainland Lagos. Traffic, naturally is gradually building up, as workers going to lunch, business meetings or drivers simply going on errands, are all streaming onto the road from different offices and side streets. Not surprisingly, drivers are also beginning to exhibit the legendary impatience road users in the city have come to be known for. Cars are hooting, drivers are shouting expletives and tension is generally building. Around Onipanu/ Fadeyi, as vehicles approach the two- lane bridge linking Western Avenue, traffic gradually comes to a halt, with vehicles now assuming a nagging snail pace. Suddenly all hell breaks loose, as commercial buses, popularly called danfo, and even motorcyclists vie unto the dedicated BRT lane, zooming noisily, hooting and generally taking over the lane. A BRT bus comes along, but rather than hoot threateningly like they were want to do, it simply queues up patiently behind the yellow buses, tagging along. Abomination! “No, legitimate,” the driver of the bus, where this reporter is a passenger retorts. Other passengers acquiesce. As if to further rub it in, he tells this reporter: The governor has set us free from you all. Isn’t this the BRT lane you all made seem so sacred and harassed us all for plying? Shior.... Meanwhile men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA stand by and watch. At best, they meekly implore the gloating drivers not to block the lane, making no single attempt to arrest or enforce a law, which even the former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola once took it upon himself to enforce by apprehending and cautioning a senior officer of the Nigerian Army. From Ikorodu Road, to Ketu/Mile 12, to Ikotun/Isolo and even Abule-Egba, the situation is no different, as unruly commercial bus drivers have simply gone haywire, parking illegally, even on expressways, and daring the LASTMA officials to harass them. At the Jakande Junction along Oke-Afa, Ikotun-Isolo road, yellow buses literally park on the junction of the newly constructed Isheri-Osun-Ijegun road, creating gridlocks both for those coming in and out of that road. Again, all the men of LASTMA could

Mega city, mega gridlock Following Governor Akinwunmi Ambode's directive to men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA ) to stop impounding vehicles, drivers in the state seem to have gone haywire, with fingers pointing more at commercial bus drivers, who see it as a license to perpetuate recklessness on the roads. Gboyega Alaka, Dare Odufowokan, Edozie Udeze and Sunday Oguntola report on how LASTMA and commuters are reacting to the new traffic control measures do was watch and issue weak warning, which the drivers literally ignored. Such recklessness and disdain for order, seems to have become the norm on Lagos roads and highways, especially since Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode reportedly warned LASTMA officials men of the Vehicle Inspection officers, VIO, and Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, to desist from forcing themselves into vehicles of suspected traffic offenders. A governor’s directive The governor, who gave this directive early July, while interacting with officials at his office, said his administration would not condone a situation where law enforcement officers of the state “will torture” his citizens. He said “They may

be offenders, but don’t torture them. Don’t jump into their cars to arrest.” Ostensibly, this is the directive recalcitrant drivers are holding unto, to go haywire and flagrantly flout traffic rules. However, the governor also reportedly challenged the officers “to be creative and use technology in the implementation of the law.” He said he would prefer the agencies to help his administration deliver on its twin promise of making “life simpler for every resident” of the state and “each resident happier than before.” The increasing lawlessness, goading and gloating by most of the road-users, since that governor’s directive caused a team of The Nation correspondents to go out on a fact-finding and interactive mission with stakeholders. Could it

•Braimah possibly be that the drivers have taken the governor’s appeal for sanity for license to flout existing law and order? How exactly do they see the directive and of what benefit has it become to them? Is it that the LASTMA officials have indeed become powerless, or that they misconstrued the governor’s statement? When exactly will they be coming out with new modus operandi of dealing with motorists, that will be in line with current technology and that will not amount to torture or harassment? Commecrial bus drivers respond Femi Orelope, a commercial bus driver, whose LT bus plies Ikotun, Oshodi route, says the governor’s directive is a welcome one for him and his fellow commercial bus operators, as they can now heave a sigh of relief. Hitherto, he said it was hard to please the LASTMA officials, whom he said harass and harangue them at every stop – whether designated or not. He however said that “the government still needs to devise a way of dealing with the troublesome ones (drivers) amongst us, who are always driving against traffic.” Orelope, who says he never drives against traffic, even when impatient passengers urge him on, said the only way he and other motorist can show appreciation for the governor’s intervention, is to obey traffic rules and eschew driving against traffic. He cited the chaotic situation that resulted (on the morning of this interview), when some drivers, including private car-owners drove against traffic, as a result of the slight morning traffic, and therefore created a gridlock that lasted for hours and delayed virtually everybody going to work from that axis. He said the situation further became compounded, when one vehicle plying the normal route and another other driving against traffic collided. Asked what men of LASTMA did to salvage the situation, Orelope said, “They all stood looking, especially because there is a directive that they should no longer arrest or impound vehicles.” Akinola Emmanuel, who drives a Volkswagen Paragon and plies Ikotun-Cele Expressway, said “It’s a very good process, we all like it. LASTMA, I must tell you, have

•Contd. on page 12

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 120 2015

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How to fix Nigeria's aviation industry, Nigeria's aviation industry is grappling with a myriad of challenges - among them high operating costs, one-sided air treaties, multiple taxes, failure of government to engage active investors as well as absence of a deliberate policy to grow indigenous carriers. In this interview, Sir Joseph ArumemiIkhide, chairman of Arik Air, speaks on how to fix the aviation industry as well as reflections on the proposed national carrier. He spoke with Kelvin Okunbor.

by Arumemi-Ikhide

rik Air plans to get listed in Nigerian Stock Exchange next year. What structures have been put in place to achieve this? We have been working round the clock to reposition the airline. The reason is to ensure that Arik Air does not revolve around me as a single investor and owner of the airline. We are carrying out some levels of internal restructuring. Arik Air is not managed by me; the managing director and his deputy are saddled with the task of running this airline. We are planning to go public and the preparatory steps are being taken by engaging reputable firms including Goldman Sachs and other reputable firms to carry out audit on our team. We have also engaged Delloitte, and other international audit firms to put the papers together to achieve this feat. The whole essence is to put a good structure on ground to achieve efficiency. We are hopeful that by January 2016, we should be ready for the process to attain going public. We are working hard to attract both institutional and private investors to make the airline a reputable company running with efficiency. These processes are ongoing both within the country and outside to achieve the highest level of efficiencies as a growing business. After nine years of operating as a major indigenous carrier, what level of partnership is Arik Air working out to ensure it grows beyond being a point-to-point airline? I think the question of partnership is key to the survival of airline business. No single airline globally can do it all alone without getting the commercial and operational understanding of other players in the sector. This is a matter we have to look independently. As an airline, if you want to strike any level of partnership with any partner you must consider all variables involved in terms of what each partner needs from the other. In aviation if airlines are interested in each other’s market, there must be some acceptable level of synergy. Unfortunately, here in Nigeria, airlines including Arik Air are having problems entering into strategic partnerships because the Ministry of Aviation had not made it easy for domestic carriers to utilize the market potentials to negotiate agreements and partnership with foreign airlines because they have given undue advantage to foreign carriers on issues to do with commercial air agreements and traffic rights. When the foreign airlines come to the ministry without reference to domestic carriers the ministry grants them whatever they want. This has become a huge disincentive to many partnerships we could have forged with foreign carriers. For instance, when Etihad Airways officials went to the ministry to seek traffic rights thrice weekly into Lagos and Abuja airport as well as how Arik Air could partner with them to distribute passengers, officials of the ministry at the time did not help matters. The Middle East carrier had it way with officials of the ministry to secure traffic rights without recourse to the indigenous carrier that they would have forged partnership with. The point I am making is that the actions of the Ministry of Aviation in their relationship with foreign carriers is not helping matters. In aviation every country protects its own territory - government must ensure there’s strict implementation of the policy of reciprocity in bilateral air services agreements. The Nigerian government through the Ministry of Aviation had not been supporting domestic airlines enough to ward off the predatory interest of foreign carriers which enjoy more frequencies in Nigeria that their governments will not grant to Nigerian carriers.

When Arik Air went to Angola to negotiate with her ministry of aviation, the government asked us to negotiate with Angolan carriers and that whatever we sign with them they will endorse. The absence of support from government is not helping Nigerian carriers in their drive to forge stronger partnership. Arik Air, for instance, has a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Airlines. The partnership is somewhat one sided. It is skewed more in their favor because we are the partner that needs them. The whole idea is to help them distribute their passengers in Nigeria and some African countries. But, government has not helped our cause. Literally, government has removed wind out our sail, giving foreign carriers multiple entry points. Many foreign carriers including Air France all enjoy this multiple entry approval to erode the Nigerian market. Whether government is trying to put together a national carrier or not, you will see that foreign carriers have been giving undue advantage over indigenous carriers. The challenge is that such foreign carriers have become wiser; when you approach them for bilateral discussions their governments pretend they are not involved in the matter. They insist that all negotiations should flow in their favour. But in Nigeria the Ministry of Aviation is yet to come to the understanding of assisting domestic airlines. We look forward to bilateral air services agreement being negotiated properly so that two or three strong Nigerian carriers could emerge as flag carriers. We need such strong flag carriers as a weapon to negotiate bilateral air services agreements. No matter the policy we have on ground, if we do not empower two or three strong indigenous carriers Nigerian aviation will not grow. What really is the nature of partnership Arik Air is considering and what are the intricacies involved? We must make it clear that Arik Air’s inability to enter into major airline partnership networks, call it interline agreement, code sharing or whatever, is hinged on the slow pace of development of the aviation industry the country . A lot of Nigerians would have been delighted to see or hear Arik Air join such networks. But, as an airline, you cannot as an infant go into such partnership or code sharing with international airlines until certain rules and procedures are complied with to benchmark you for such operations. Arik Air is looking at all alliances with global airlines to see the ones that will be suitable for our operations and the Nigerian public; which one will be suitable for our flights, which one will be suitable for our business model. There are many

of such partnerships namely One World, Star Team and Sky Alliance. But, we have to understand that there is a process for getting into any alliance which requires a minimum time of operation of say three years, or you are required to have operated for five years before you apply. When you apply you have three years to even get into that alliance. Then for partnership and code sharing, you are required to be in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) clearing house, and you must have a bilateral or unilateral way of billing. So this issue of partnership must be addressed with the infancy of the industry in Nigeria. What level of certification has Arik Air undergone to prepare for global alliance? First we got enhanced certification for the International Operations Safety Audit of International Air Transport Association. We are the only carrier in Africa to achieve that feat. We have attained full membership of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). We are ready now to get into the clearing house; we are taking time before we leap. We have to look at those who have our interest at heart; who are those that will serve us, we won’t just jump into it. That is very important. Sadly, the situation of our Naira is another factor weighing us down. The falling value of the Naira will not pay us in the clearing house because transactions are done in dollars. The fares we will charge in Naira to some destinations our potential partners will charge connecting fares in dollars. That will mean Arik Air going to the Central Bank of Nigeria to sort out the inter currency transactions. Already at the Central Bank there is a lot of backlog of such transactions. These are the issues. We are currently sorting out many foreign transactions concerning aircraft spares and other issues with the Central Bank for which we made a lot of representations. These are issues we are working on to balance the inflow and outflow of currency exchange concerning many aspects of our operations. There are lots of issues concerning this which have become a dilemma. What do you think of plans by government to set up a national carrier? The national carrier is a welcome development. We at Arik Air are not bothered over its coming. It is good for the industry. Arik will boldly welcome the national carrier. But we would like to know in clear terms why government is interested in setting up a national carrier. The motive is not very clear to us. Though, we are excited about the new carrier coming because it will take way part of the problems that Arik is grappling with, what really is the motive? Is it just setting up a national carrier to take people around? Or is it for the development of the aeronautical

industry of Nigeria the way the Chinese government did to boost the technology of aircraft manufacturing? Or is it a national carrier that will be used for the training of pilots? In other countries the national carrier does not compete with private airlines. The ambition of such national carriers is completely different. The present administration must have something in mind for setting up a national carrier. The objective could be broad, but if it is just for ferrying passengers around, then it will not in any way disturb Arik Air operations. The national carrier would be good if it is set up to ferry passengers around, that way it will even complement our efforts. When the new carrier comes on board it will assist government to understand the challenges private airlines are going through in terms of operational challenges like multiple charges. The national carrier will assist government to understand how to put to the best use the bilateral air services agreement as it concerns the need for reciprocity. Government will understand better the challenges of how they handle landing permits in other countries when it starts running its own national carrier. The whole matter will become very open. Government will see clearly. We expect government to protect us private airlines, the way it will protect the new national carrier; the way the British government is protecting their carriers…British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The whole idea is to protect all carriers. We expect government to create a level playing field for all indigenous carriers without favouring only the national carrier. If government will give any incentives to the national carrier it should also consider existing carriers. Is there any model of a national carrier working profitably and efficiently anywhere in the world that Nigeria could adopt? I think there is a problem here of proper definition of what could be categorized as a national carrier. What is a national carrier? Are we saying is there a model where the state holds majority equity in any carrier in terms of ownership? There are a few countries including China and Japan that have the complete model of national carrier with one hundred percent government ownership. But, I don’t think an airline should be seen in terms of profit. It is from this point of view that I have consistently asked that if government wants to set up a national carrier it must have an objective in mind – but not from the point of view of profitability. The national carrier may have been considered as a platform to train pilots - that could be the main objective for setting it up. It should not be seen as a naira or kobo affair. The issue must be considered seriously in terms of what its motive or objective is. So what model should we be looking at to drive a national carrier? If government is considering setting up a national carrier to develop the aeronautical industry, that is a different ball game all together. Then government could pump money to achieve such an ambitious project. This national carrier must have a goal to develop aviation technology. One of the reasons why governments set up national carriers is to development the human and technical capacity of its aviation industry. For countries that are developing aviation technology in aircraft manufacturing having a national carrier would be good. But, the exercise in Nigeria must be seen beyond just appointing managing directors and board members. If government is thinking of setting up a national carrier out of a sense of nostalgia for former Nigeria Airways, they missed the point there. The former national carrier was not successful because there was no strategic plan. We must have a strategic plan for the aviation industry. Every government should have a strategic plan for its airline industry which has to be continuous. We have to define such a strategic plan and design it to achieve aeronautical development to, for instance, produce an air plane. Some countries are setting up national carrier to develop technical expertise of their aviation professionals. What is the plan of Nigeria? These are the questions we have been asking. Every national carrier in every country will have an objective. In Japan, Ethiopia, India there are objectives. But Nigerian government is thinking of setting up a national carrier without looking at the objective. Where we are going with the national carrier must be properly defined before we invest heavily in the project. Why can’t government consider siting the national carrier in Abuja and affiliate it to the University of Abuja? People are looking at the project from a myopic point of view.

Contd on page 10

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015 Nigerian government must learn to carry private airline owners along when it is taking serious decisions on air transport. The challenge of the aviation sector in this country is that people without investment in the sector are the ones talking and misleading people on issues they do not have competence to talk about. The currency of debate in the industry is tilted in favour of so called experts and stakeholders who mislead government with their unfair comments about the state of the industry. Some industry players are misleading government on the best way to drive the growth and development of the industry. That to me is unpatriotic. Government should start thinking of how to grant audience to major players in the sector. This is the practice in other climes. If you want to carry out a fair assessment of the industry, you will realize that the major operators are not more than four or five. What is the relationship between Arik Air and Lufthansa Technik? That is the best relationship we have consolidated since we started operations over nine years ago. Lufthansa Technik is responsible for the provision of our aircraft spares and maintenance of our aircraft. We have kept this deal because Lufthansa does not compromise on quality. Our conviction is that we have a partnership with a reputable aircraft maintenance company that does not compromise on safety. Lufthansa Technik will not release an aircraft for flight until all checks have been carried out. This is important because safety remains key in air transport business. They are not under any commercial pressure to release any aircraft to you because they are regulated by the European Air Safety Agency. They do not compromise on safety in line with adhering to rules and regulations of the civil aviation authority. Even, some civil aviation authorities from Europe come to Nigeria to inspect how they carry out repairs in our aircraft. They come in for audit, and they come in unscheduled. It is a very unique very situation that we have in Arik, where our technical partner is not under any pressure to release any aircraft to us until it is certified okay to fly. Our goal is to ensure safety. A lot has been heard recently about Arik Air’s alleged huge indebtedness and related issues about its credit profile. Can you address this? It is important to state categorically that all airlines across the globe owe money because of the huge capital outlay required to acquire aircraft. Where we are mixing things up is about some airlines which use their leasing companies to acquire aircraft. In that case the leasing companies are the entities owing and not the airline: such companies buy the aircraft and lease to their airlines. May be what Arik should have done is set up Arik Leasing Company to get the aircraft and now give it to Arik Air, which will not be owing. The whole matter is about perception of credit. When we started Arik Air we were a paper company looking for funds - huge capital to acquire aircraft. We needed huge money to buy planes that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. That was how foreign institutional investors gave us money to acquire aircraft. They needed a bank guarantee from Nigerian banks and they gave us the required guarantee. Unfortunately, the guarantee we got from Union Bank was converted to cash, not because we failed to pay back the money at the agreed time but because the banking rules changed. That was how the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) gave Union Bank money to take care of that situation. That is where we are. But it is unfortunate that some people have decided on their own to tag Arik Air as a heavily indebted airline. Regrettably people outside Nigeria do not bother about such labels because they know it is not true. After all, which airline is not owing? The Nigerian banks…I will not say we are not owing them money, but we are not owing them heavily the way the matter is assuming. For instance, we have some credit commitment with First Bank, and by next year, the Sovereign Trust Guarantee they offered us would have paid for one of our major aircraft. But, we are paying regularly and the bank in return is remitting the money to Exim Bank. There are other banks including Access Bank, that gave us guarantees and we are paying them. Look, how do have 30 planes and people expect you not to owe money? The business requires huge capital outlay. The average cost of our aircraft is over $80 million. How do you expect us to raise that kind of money when I don’t have oil contract? How do you expect an airline to raise money to buy all these aircraft? Even the richest countries in the world, when they are buying aircraft don’t go with cash, they utilize mortgage that would make them to be in debt. It is a normal business practice to seek money from the bank to facilitate your business. It is not wrong for airlines to owe. If you have a leasing company, it is such a company that will buy the aircraft and give it to the airline - all the

NEWS REVIEW

airline needs to do is to pay its lease to the company, then the airline cannot be said to be owing. In that case it is the leasing company that will owe the institution that financed the aircraft purchase. No airline in this world goes with $80 million to buy an aircraft off the shelf. What if it is a wide body aircraft worth over one hundred or two hundred million dollars? Some aircraft like the Boeing 787 is over $247 million. How do you expect an airline to raise such capital? That is why we go to the banks to borrow money. What in your estimation is the contribution of aviation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? People have been hazarding guesses about the exact contribution of aviation to the gross domestic product. I think we cannot equate it in terms of figures in any currency. The figures being bandied that a v i a t i o n contributes to 0.4 % is not correct. At several fora when the issue is raised I have disagreed with those pushing such figures around. Aviation to me is a catalyst for e c o n o m i c development. It is the driver of the economy. We must see aviation as a vehicle to move the economy. It should not be looked at it from the financial point of view. Airlines help to drive e c o n o m i c activities. That is what Emirates has done for Dubai. The same applies to the tube in the United Kingdom. So, aviation contributes significantly. It is for this reason that I want most of the so-called industry experts to think deeply in their analysis of the sector. I have argued this with many people - including the former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka that aviation contributes significantly to the economy - not the 0.4% they are talking about. If the airlines do not fly the economy will be grounded. What are the challenges operators are grappling with that government needs to consider critically? Government needs to do something about the multiple charges. There is need for the relevant agencies to review this five per cent ticket sales charge airlines pay. If you look at the five per cent charge by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority - it is wrong. In other climes there is a flat rate paid as charges on ticket sales. The current charge regime is not fair. There should be a fixed charge for categories of tickets as it is done in the United Kingdom. That way the fixed charge on tickets is easy to collect and administer. After paying the five per cent ticket sales charge, FAAN expects you to pay landing and parking and other fees and charges. It is not right.

Even, the Value Added Tax (VAT) airlines are expected to collect and remit on the ticket is unfair. Other modes of transport are not expected to pay VAT, why should aviation be the only mode of transport subjected to this? If you look at all these you will realize that the ticket charges are very low. If the charges are taken out what is left for the operator considering the huge cost of running airline business, buy aircraft parts, paying for insurance, paying pilots and other running costs? It does not cover the cost of running the business. If airlines are doing appropriate pricing many airlines will not fly. Compared with other countries air fares are cheaper in Nigeria when viewed against the value of the Naira. Even the cost of aviation fuel is too high. It is only in Nigeria where the cost of aviation fuel didn’t go down despite the falling oil prices being enjoyed across the globe. Aviation fuel price in Nigeria is still very high. We thought that with falling crude oil prices airlines should enjoy the twelve per cent discount. It is cheaper for Arik Air to buy aviation fuel in London, Accra than in Lagos. It is even cheaper in America. Many airlines abroad are declaring profits because of falling oil prices, but we are yet to feel such impact in Nigeria. Even the fuel browsers are not calibrated for appropriate measurement. There are other challenges including adulteration of fuel. What are these other challenges? The cost of funds is a major headache for Nigerian airlines. To get money from the banks is very difficult. Even, the attitude of government agencies publishing airlines for blacklisting for failure to comply with tax collection platform…This is not good for business. That is one way of destroying our airlines; we have to protect our airlines. Any government agency publishing the name of an airline for default could tarnish the reputation of such an airline. It could affect their chances of getting money from the banks. I think it is good for the airlines’ body to request the Federal Inland Revenue Service to retract the publication. All these ‘name and shame’ game by government agencies is not good for business. It could have implications for safety and access to finance. We should stop blacklisting airlines and do the right thing. The Ministry of aviation should protect Nigerian airlines and stop giving multiple entry points to foreign carriers. If there are strong domestic carriers it will create jobs for Nigerians. May be with the coming of the new national carrier, it could help the ministry to sit up. That could be the positive side of the national carrier. Even, if we have a national carrier it will not solve the problem of the aviation industry. One airline cannot solve the problem of the aviation industry. I think a combination of three or four airlines will solve the problem of the industry. All these depend

“In aviation every country protects its own territory - government must ensure there’s strict implementation of the policy of reciprocity in bilateral air services agreements. The Nigerian government through the Ministry of Aviation had not been supporting domestic airlines enough to ward off the predatory interest of foreign carriers which enjoy more frequencies in Nigeria that their governments will not grant to Nigerian carriers.”

on the policy government wants to put in place. We need the Fly Nigerian Act. We need to give time for the airlines to grow. Our joy is to see all domestic airlines having new airplanes. What is your take on airlines merger or consolidation for enhanced efficiencies? In Nigeria thinking of airlines coming together will be a tall order. The first step to enhance capacity for domestic carriers is for the Ministry of Aviation to stop giving multiple entry points to foreign carriers. Even if a thousand airlines come together, if the ministry keeps giving out multiple entry points, consolidation for airlines may not work. If airlines must merge, it should come naturally it is not forced. Government should create incentives for airlines to come together. Has government created an enabling environment for airlines to merge? Government should create the economic benefits for merger. It could be a tax holiday to stimulate merger. Why are media houses not merging? Mergers are natural creations. All that is needed to drive it is for government to create an enabling environment. The airlines expected to merger should be shown enough incentives, set benefits like no more payment for landing and parking, service charges, then, airlines will start considering merger options. If there are no incentives it will be very difficult. Imagine we have new airplanes, how do we merge with an operator with old planes? What about the certification of our personnel and other factors? These are the issues you have to look at before you start thinking about any merger plan. Aviation requires long time to recoup investment. How are you navigating the challenge of absence of maintenance repair and overhaul centre in Nigeria? This is a huge challenge for operators. We were able to mobilize funds for the project but government failed to give us adequate land to site the facility. We started about three to four years ago. We went to the Ministry of Aviation and started an agreement with Lufthansa Technik to bring in more revenue, but the land we ought to have been given was divided. Lufthansa said the available land was too small. That was how that project was frustrated by the officials of the Ministry of Aviation. We got the money but the project was stalled. The Nigerian government should support its investors in aviation the way the British government is supporting Sir Richard Branson. Arik Air is beyond me. People should stop this of ‘pull him down’ syndrome. It is unhealthy for business in aviation. That is why some people were getting worried that Arik Air got a credit facility of about over a billion dollars from foreign institutions. We are going to raise our money separate and negotiate with AMCON and pay them off to be out of the private placement we are doing. Then the airplanes will start coming and we will consolidate our strategic planning. We are negotiating to get somewhere in Ghana where we can do our maintenance. The people are ready for us because we have franchise with some West African countries to partner with them to fly. We have our strategy. We will fly our own planes. Even if government wants all airlines to merge there must be an incentive for it. What kind of hearing are you getting in government circles over challenges in the aviation sector? I think government should try to hear directly from major players in the industry. That will be a major achievement, hearing directly from the airline owners. It will give government better understanding and not what some people who claim to be experts say about aviation. Government must listen to players in the sector. The American government did that many years ago. In Nigeria aviation is relegated to the background. During the last dispensation, government never held any meeting with airline owners. What is your message for investors? The message for investors is to look at Africa - West Africa - as the last frontier for investment. There are two economic power houses in West Africa - Nigeria and Ivory Coast. Aviation in Africa is expected to grow astronomically even in terms of intra-continental traffic. This will increase business and West Africa is under focus. On sundry matters Arik Air has contributed significantly to build the cause of the country. We have assisted in terms of evacuating people for the good of the country but what we get in return are attacks. Only recently, the presidency in the last dispensation poached four Arik Air pilots. This was done during the Jonathan administration and we spent money to train these pilots. We are proud that the presidency is poaching our pilots. It means Arik Air has pilots good enough to be poached. But, why is government poaching our pilots? We have to look at the reason for such poaching after we trained them at our own costs. We will work with the presidency if it wants Arik Air to train pilots for it that it all pay for.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

NEWS REVIEW

Lagosians groan under traffic gridlock •Contd. from page 9 become high-handed and over-zealous. Even in cases where they’re supposed to just warn you, they just issue you a ticket; and usually the fine is N20, 000, N50, 000; and I don’t think the money even gets to the government. The reason I say this is because usually when they eventually accede to our plea, they normally tear the tickets in our presence. Would they be tearing the tickets, if indeed it were from the government?” Akinola said he does not support recklessness on the steering, as this would ultimately boomerang on all road users. He also pointed out that traffic has been moving smoothly since the governor issued the directive. He however does not think the governor’s directive totally precludes the LASTMA officials from apprehending traffic offenders. “If you drive without using your seat-belt, stop illegally or drive against traffic, LASTMA must have a way of dealing with you. I think the government must empower LASTMA to deal with such offenders.” Mayhem on Mile 12-Ikorodu axis Our correspondents, who visited the Ikorodu axis report that people living along that route are currently facing terrible traffic jams on a daily basis. Until recently when the governor’s directive ostensibly clipped the wings of the LASTMA officials, they claim that commercial drivers, though with potentials to be reckless, operated with caution and less impunity. Eunice Abiodun, who resides around Weighbridge area, lamented the current situation, where commuters now spend between 3 to 4 hours on the road. “The distance between Weighbridge where I live and Mile 12 is not up to half a kilometer, but we usually spend about 3 hours to cross over to Ketu from here. Just last Saturday, we were stranded on this road for close to 4 hours, and I had to eventually cancel the appointment I was going for. Many people got so frustrated that they resulted to trekking. Many of the passengers also cursed the new government for being too soft on traffic offenders, especially commercial drivers.” She said the governor’s order is always going to boomerang in an area like hers, where commercial drivers are notorious for reckless driving. “It’s a known fact that commercial bus drivers stop right in the middle of the road at Mile 12 Market; and it is unfortunate that as they do this, LASTMA officials and other security personnel stationed there can only stare at them, without being able to take any action. This I must say has encouraged the commercial drivers to behave more irresponsibly.” Martin Idede who works around Onipanu along Ikorodu Road is so piqued by the chaos currently playing out on the roads but blamed it all on the new administration. “Before now, the LASTMA officials appeared to be working; at least, the traffic jam was less. I don’t know what happened, I just noticed that in the past two or three weeks, all hell seems to have been let loose. Even though I leave home an hour earlier than I used to, do you know that I’ve been reporting late for duty lately?” Idede lamented that even the newly constructed Ikorodu/Mile 12 road, which commuters had thought would usher in better commuting experience has not yielded any result. If anything, he said “It’s even worse now. Commercial bus drivers practically take over the BRT lanes every day, causing more trouble and confusion and creating tension on the road.” Rather than restrain the LASTMA officials, Idede therefore feels that the state government should come out with stiffer punishment for traffic offenders, else the Ikorodu axis become a no-go-area. Some commuters however blamed the problem partly on dealers at the Owode Spare Parts Market, whom they say connive with commercial bus drivers to disregard traffic laws. Toyin Aluko, a hairdresser complained that “the Owode market is too busy and lousy to be located along that lane.” She also condemns the current trend where LASTMA officials just stand by and watch commercial bus drivers go haywire. John Edemekang on his part asked, “How can the governor order LASTMA officials to soft-pedal on them? If he did say that, then he is inviting anarchy on our roads. Commercial bus drivers are the most difficult set of people to deal with, and Governor Ambode has to be very tough to handle them very well. It is only when he has done so that sanity can return to Ikorodu – Mile 12 road and other parts of the state. For now, the confusion on the road will continue.”

•’You’re under arrest!’

•LASTMA officials Proprietress of Excellent Funton Schools, Ikorodu, Funmilayo Fawehinmi, who plies the road on a regular basis declared that the danfo drivers and other impatient drivers are making nonsense of the governor’s good intention. She said “LASTMA men must be able to arrest erring drivers and confiscate offending vehicles on the spot to serve as deterrent to errant road users. That is the only way we can restore sanity on this road. Since the directive was given, these danfo drivers have become kings on the road. Chinwe Ubani of Agboyi-Ketu, a community along the road also said the situation may soon get out of hand. “If you were here on Monday, you would have seen how people are suffering on this road. To get to Ojota from Mile 12, which used to take a few minutes, we now spend two hours or more.” Sounding almost desperate, Ubani said “I cannot understand how these wayward danfo boys can be controlled without being arrested on the spot. Imagine the LASTMA officer now begging danfo drivers to allow traffic to move. I witnessed one incident yesterday. The LASTMA official was urging the danfo driver to move and allow traffic to flow. But the stubborn driver retorted angrily, saying “Why are you disturbing me, haven’t you booked me twice today? I beg, allow me to work joo, I will go and sort out the bookings later.” On the Abule–Egba axis along LagosAbeokuta expressway, traffic has been anything but smooth. Most commuters on the route, who spoke with our correspondent, said they have been through a lot in recent times. “The traffic around here has been going from bad to worse,” said a commuter, who simply identified herself as Morayo. “Lately, the danfo drivers have been misbehaving, claiming

Governor Ambode has instructed that they should not be arrested.” This, she said has incapacitated the LASTMA officials, such that they only now hit vehicles and shout instructions, which the drivers at best ignore. Our correspondent observed that the main intersection at Abule-Egba is always in a standstill situation from 5pm most days. And this continues till 12 midnight most days, with the chief culprits being the reckless commercial bus drivers. One of the LASTMA officials on the axis, who spoke in confidence, said: “We cannot do much. The commercial drivers have been terrible these days. Even before you say anything, they quickly tell you that you cannot arrest or impound their vehicles. “So now, all we do is appeal to them to keep moving. It is a bad situation but there is nothing else we can do,” the obviously frustrated official trailed off. The bad portions on the road also compound traffic gridlock, forcing many drivers to drive against traffic or seek alternative routes on the adjoining roads towards Abattoir in Agege. The scenario is more complicated on the Oshodi axis along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway stretch. Most commuters start experiencing snarling traffic from the Cappa Junction after managing to emerge from the suffocating Mushin/Ilupeju traffic. Owing to much commercial activities at the popular Oshodi market, most vehicles constitute serious impediments from under the bridge section of the axis, especially from 7pm. It was observed that officials of the NURTW have stationed themselves at a spot under the bridge to keep traffic flowing during peak hours, but once it is nightfall, the notoriety of the traffic on that axis returns full swing. Most commercial vehicles wait right in the middle of the

expressway to pick and dispatch passengers, with nobody to enforce discipline. Conversely, the traffic task force team of mobile policemen stationed at the BRT end of the road busy themselves asking for ‘returns’ as against ensuring free flow of traffic. The situation is so bad that commuters spend as much as 30 minutes to navigate from Oshodi to Cappa, a distance that ordinarily shouldn’t take two minutes. Governor’s directive OK - NURTW Despite the lamentation and complain of the general populace, officials of transport unions are of the opinion that the directive should be allowed to stay. An aide of Alhaji Tajudeen, the state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), who spoke to The Nation at the union’s secretariat in Iyana Ipaja, said while the union is also affected by the worrisome traffic situation, it is of the opinion that the new government directive is not the cause. The aide, who claimed anonymity on the ground that he was not permitted to speak to the press, said the traffic situation on Lagos’ roads goes beyond the governor’s good gesture, arguing that traffic problem is not new in the state. He said “We are the worst hit by the traffic situation and we are working with the government to find lasting solutions. But I disagree with anybody that is saying it is because LASTMA is no longer arresting our men. We plead with the government not to listen to those asking for the directive to be withdrawn. Our approach will now be scientific and technology-based - LASTMA PRO According to LASTMA Public Relations Officer, Hassan Mahmud, who spoke on behalf of the General Manager, Mr Bashir Braimah, the agency has not shirked its responsibility and has not been stopped from taking disciplinary actions against traffic offenders. Following the governor’s directive, he said the management of LASTMA has been working on modalities of dealing with recalcitrant traffic offenders, which he said “will now be scientific and technology-based.” Said Mahmud, “When you violate traffic laws now, rather than arrest or impound your vehicle like we used to do, the approach now is to book the erring driver on the spot and allow him to proceed on his journey or business. But we will give you a deadline to pay, after which we may now take action.” Mahmud said part of the argument against the old system is that “it impedes traffic. So we consulted all stakeholders and came out with this new approach, which will allow free flow of traffic. And you know that if there is free flow of traffic, vehicle owners will spend less on fuel, and therefore save money for investment. Needless to say, this would impact positively on the economy.” Mahmud also said the state government is in possession of data of all registered vehicles; hence it would not be difficult to trace vehicle owners who fail to comply with the fine and deadlines. Asked how the agency hope to deal with drivers who refuse to stop for booking after committing an offence, Mahmud said “Our officials are well-equipped with cameras, with which they can capture offenders as they commit the offence. So your number will be captured and when you’re eventually confronted, you yourself will see that the evidence is irrefutable. The plan is to apply international best practice in the delivery of our duties as traffic managers.” Mahmud disclosed that “The new approach is already underway as I speak with you, and one of the high points is that our men will now concentrate more on controlling traffic than arresting reckless drivers. ‘Governor’s directive will bring out the best in LASTMA’ A senior official in the governor’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Nation that the whole idea of Governor Ambode’s directive is to make LASTMA become more responsible and responsive as an eye of the government. He said “What the government is against the issue of impounding vehicles for years. The duties of LASTMA revolve around making traffic flow, and not specialise in impounding vehicles. Do you know that at times, these officials even cause traffic? Meanwhile the people have been complaining. So what the governor is saying is that there should be a more creative way of doing things. There is an existing database and every vehicle owner is supposed to be on that list; so if you’re arrested, you are supposed to be issued a ticket, which you’re supposed to pay. It is only if you refuse to pay at the appointed time that you will now be punished accordingly.

Ropo Sekoni

Page 14

Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Next level indeed Nigerians devise new way to launder money: swallow dollars!

tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

08050498530(SMS only)

OME years back, gonorrhea was seen as a disease of the famous in the country. At least that was the way those selling what they regarded as its cure in Molue buses used to advertise the product/s. The reason why the disease was so regarded probably has to do with the temptations that come with fame, some of which are irresistible. Attraction to the opposite sex ranks high. Since the idea of asking people to zip up was not yet common then, chances of people contracting gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were very high. What the gonorrhea cure vendors were saying in essence is that should someone who is not too famous contract the disease, he or she had nothing to be ashamed of. He or she should just walk into any hospital or contact the local drug seller for solution. Today, despite the avalanche of churches and mosques, as well as all manner of campaign asking people to refrain from premarital sex, or have at most one sexual partner if they cannot flee from it, we have many cases of STDs Just as these STDs used to be the disease of the famous; so was money laundering, at least in Nigeria. Mere mortals could not have engaged in it because the stakes were usually high. Hence, it was usually heads of state, governors, ministers, etc. that engaged in money laundering. Some of them, including highly placed Nigerians, have had their days in jail abroad for engaging in it. But what we hear these days is that because some of those countries that they used to stash the money (usually illgotten wealth) have tightened the noose on them due to fears that such monies could be used for terrorism or drug-related matters, these rich Nigerians have now devised a way to beat the new measures. They are now said to be 'warehousing' those monies in buildings that they constructed specifically for that purpose. If this is true, then it is only a matter of time for us to be led into the new tricks of our big thieves. But, just as our big men are trying to find a haven for their ill-gotten wealth, some not-too-rich Nigerians came up with their own version of money laundering. According to reports, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency's (NDLEA) Joint Task Force (JTF) team has smashed a money laundering syndicate of six at a hotel on Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos. They allegedly swallowed $156,000 cash in a money laundering bid. What we were used to are stories about people swallowing hard drugs with the intention of taking them abroad to sell. Even when that started, it was strange to the rest of us who could never in our wild imagination have thought it possible or practicable for human beings to swallow hard drugs with the intention of excreting it later for monetary gains. That practice

otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net

Needless abductions

•Some of the dollar bills allegedly swallowed

apparently is still very much with us as the law enforcers keep making arrests that are widely reported in the media. But with advancement in science and technology, it was only a matter of time for the appropriate machines to be developed to catch up with such characters. Of recent, security agents have begun to arrest people with suspicious huge foreign currencies at our airports, with the aim of exporting such huge sums contrary to the law. Again, this seems not to be enough. But, like the Abiku (Ogbanje) and his mother who continue to engage one another in a battle of wits, those bent on making money, no matter how, have continued to deploy their God-given talent for even more sinister purposes. Given this new dimension, it would seem killing for ritual purposes too would soon be on the decline because many of those in the act are also being caught. Perhaps these are the reasons that made some other people come up with the idea of swallowing cash. Nigerians may not be the only nationals harbouring all manner of criminals, local and international, but we should hardly be surprised when our people are subjected to extraordinary frisking by security agents abroad because, if we have lost our own capability to be shocked, we should not expect others to be like us; and when they don't, we should

not be crying foul as if we do not know the extent some of us can go to get rich quick. It beats my imagination that people could be as ingenious as to even contemplate swallowing money. An equally baffled online commentator appropriately tagged it "Next Level Money Laundering". I doubt if there could have been a better headline for the report. I wrote on this same page that for everything that God or man has made, there is always an adulterated version. When we talk about money laundering, it was not something for the hoi polloi; it was and remains a crime committed by the rich and mighty. But the poor who want to do what the rich do but could not muster the huge amounts the rich launder allegedly came together, with six of them trying to export $156,000. Even at a generous exchange rate of N220 to a dollar, the total amount is N34.3 million. Is this sufficient for six men to take the risk of swallowing cash? Many of those who swallowed drugs died in the process; just as many who are crossing over to Europe from Africa in search of the elusive better life. Yet, none of these is sufficient to deter others from doing same. Swallow cash? This sure, is more than next level in need. It smells more of next level indeed.

The Nwosus, the police and jurisdiction

VEN as the full and final report of what actually led to the abduction, on Monday, of Toyin, wife of the Deputy Managing Director of The Sun, Steve Nwosu, is yet to be released, one thing that has come out of it is the question of jurisdiction. According to report, when the marauders got to the Nwosus’ house, the husband placed calls through to the 'Area E' Division of the Nigeria Police Force in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos, but they did not

“Even at a generous exchange rate of N220 to a dollar, the total amount is N34.3 million. Is this sufficient for six men to take the risk of swallowing cash? Many of those who swallowed drugs died in the process; just as many who are crossing over to Europe from Africa in search of the elusive better life. Yet, none of these is sufficient to deter others from doing same. Swallow cash? This sure, is more than next level in need. It smells more of next level indeed.”

respond on time because, according to them, the street where the Nwosus live is under Okota Police Division, which is outside their jurisdiction. I am not a policeman and therefore do not know how these things work. But I guess the divisions were created for administrative convenience and should therefore facilitate, rather than hinder efficiency. The Fire Brigade is a good example. When there is a fire incident, and you call the appropriate emergency numbers, fire fighters from as many as three fire stations could meet at the scene and collaborate to put out the fire. That, I think, should be the model. The police authorities could look at the issue again if that, strictly speaking, is not what obtains now. It is gratifying that Mrs Nwosu was released at about 2.20 a.m. on Thursday. But the family might have been saved the agony if the police division initially contacted had responded swiftly.

CHIBOK GIRLS: STILL ON MY MIND

YO Arowolo, the publisher of the defunct Moneywise magazine, revealed in an interview why he left the comforts of paid employment as a journalist to set up his business magazine. According to him, while in the ThisDay newspapers, he and his boss who was also the publisher, Nduka Obaigbena, paid a then Military Head of State a visit. They were treated to a sumptuous dinner, VIP reception by the security guards and had a first-hand feeling of surreptitious blue-blood induction. When he got back to the office, he visited his bank and his account was in the red. He thought of the visit to the seat of power and the whole thing didn't seem to make any sense as his bank account had absolutely nothing to show for it. At this point, he could not take the charade any longer and immediately threw in the towel. Dele Momodu, publisher of the celebrity magazine, Ovation, in one of his articles in the ThisDay newspaper exposed the ignorance of some of his kinsmen and family members who inundated him with a plethora of financial requests because of the opinion that he had an extremely deep pocket due to his close association with the high and mighty. This is the fate of journalists all over the world and Nigeria is no exception. The profession gives them access to the decision makers in the country and sometimes in the world. Many ignoramuses misconstrue this for power and influence on the part of the pen pushers who are just doing their jobs. Kidnapping, which was once targeted at oil company workers as one of the weapons of the militants in their 'fight' for justice, has now tragically spread to the purveyors of the brick and mortar business called journalism. The economically-motivated criminals in their warped opinion think that these poor poets are also princes of fortune because of the razzmatazz they see in the media. In 2010, the former Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Lagos State and the current Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, Wahab Oba, was abducted alongside his colleagues while returning from a meeting of the national executive committee in Uyo. They demanded the ransom of 250 million naira before they could be released. How ludicrous! In June this year, the News Agency of Nigeria correspondent in Imo state, Miss Chidi Opara, was abducted in her Imo residence and a five million ransom was slammed on her. Donu Kogbara, the popular Vanguard columnist who writes the sweet and sour column on Fridays, must have been thought to be a huge catch. She was the London correspondent of the Vanguard in the 1980s and 1990s and had worked with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Channel Four, amongst many reputable foreign media organisations. They had forgotten that she had once written of her state of homelessness when her father, Ignatius Kogbara, passed on. Her late dad was an INEC Commissioner and was housed in an official quarters where the columnist also lived with him. After his death, she was practically on the streets until the late Chinyere Asika took her in. Where then was the gold? The kidnappers have now expanded their coast to abducting the spouses of these impoverished gentlemen of the press. The latest victim being Toyin Nwosu, the wife of Steve Nwosu, the Deputy Managing Director of The Sun newspapers, who has now been released. I recall reading a humorous article of his where he complained that he was too ashamed to openly declare his assets as there was really nothing to declare. What was the logic then behind the kidnapping of his wife and the 100 million ransom being demanded? Is he worth half that much? These abductors have proven that they are rebels without causes as they are misdirecting their energies towards the wrong targets. The farce is that they may even be economically better off than their targets. Where then is the economic sense? •ADEMILUYI writes from Lagos

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

COMMENT

Infighting among veterans of Jonathan's conference?

HATEVER may be the weaknesses of former President Jonathan (and they must be legion) he is a man with the kind of consistency that made him predictable while in office and after. He ruled with relish; fought for tenure renewal with gusto; and accepted the judgment of majority of Nigerians with resignation. Even when he complained bitterly after his exit brought about by voters, he did so with the faith of a child, especially when he said at different times that he accepted the verdict of the last election in order to grow the country's democracy and that he could see no reason why he or his assistants should be singled out for punishment for any wrongdoing after his generosity to the country. But the harmony between Jonathan's theory and method or between his vision and policy appears to have disappeared within the group of Jonathan's national conference veterans, despite the boundless enthusiasm that marked the investiture of members of Nigeria's most cited group of political structural engineers or architects. When Jonathan picked about 400 Nigerians in 2014 to think and talk about various aspects of the country's condition, those awarded the status of polity designers felt encouraged to stay united on one issue: Delegates appointed and anointed by President Jonathan were the right Nigerians to change the destiny of the country before or by the time of the 2015 presidential election. This was despite warnings from millions of Nigerians that Jonathan's sudden convening of a national dialogue was not the most democratic way to address the issue of sustainable federalism in a multinational democratic state. It is ironic that the source of unity among handpicked conference delegates before the presidential election in 2014 now appears to be the cause of disunity among them after the election in 2015: using the occasion of 'national conference' to stay relevant politically. How else does one explain the recent eruption of opposing stances among those who claimed just a year ago that they had created the best blueprint for the re-making of Nigeria? In a recent press release by Northern Reawakening Forum, one of the nominees of Jonathan to the

They are forgetting that many Nigerians are saying that the 2014 national dialogue failed to address such important matters as fiscal federalism, multinational federalism, and finding a people-friendly process of constitutional reform. 2014 conference announced the decision of the North (or just North East?) to call for another national conference. It is not clear yet if the proposed conference is, like the Jonathan conference, to be called by Buhari and driven by Buhari's men and women in the corridors or reception halls of presidential power. What is clear so far is the sudden recognition by NRF that the North in general and the North East in particular are holding the short end of Nigeria's stick of growth and development. Northern Reawakening Forum's claim of the North's underdevelopment in relation to the Southwest and Southeast is based on convincing statistics: "The North has the highest number of people below $2.00 a day. 71.5% of the population in the North East live in poverty and more than half are malnourished. A 2013 World Bank Report showed that poverty in 16 out of the 19 Northern States have doubled since 1980. The North has the lowest literacy rate in the country. Lagos is at 92%, Kano 49% and Borno less than 15%. 65% of Northern girls and 53% of boys are not in school compared to only 20% for the Southeastâ&#x20AC;Ś" No better case can be made for immediate and sincere intervention in the situation of the North than the communique of NRF. What is wrong with the proper diagnosis is the suggested treatment that Nigeria as a whole needs to summon a national conference to discuss what can better be addressed as a regional problem. For example, when the Yoruba region, otherwise referred to as the Southwest, came to terms with its social and economic decline a few years back, it convened a regional summit, which produced a blueprint (largely still to be implemented by the six governors in the region) for regional integration and creative solution to the region's underdevelopment. There is no section of Nigeria that is better positioned to identify the problems of the North and proffer solutions to such problems than the nationalities and communities in the North. While it may be uncharitable for anyone to

read hidden meanings into the call of NRF for help in its new efforts at renaissance, it is advisable for opponents of Kumaila to acknowledge that calling another jamboree of friends or supporters of the new president in Abuja (as it was with the 2014 conference) may be another round of misuse of scarce resources. Should President Buhari be favourably disposed to identifying with regional initiatives, the most he should be encouraged to do by his advisers is to provide matching grants for the communities in the North to come together to find solutions to a problem that has been in existence for over half a century of postcolonial Nigeria. Questions or comments about why Mohammed Kumaila would, after full participation at the 2014 national dialogue, suddenly realise that the most serious problems of the North were not addressed at the last conference may not be as relevant as making efforts to understand paradoxes in NRF's desire for genuine social progress. Why should a region that supplies most of the protein consumed in the country have the most malnourished people in the country or why should a region that collects more funds from the country's oil-wealth for having over 400 local governments have the highest number of illiterate citizens, sixty years after the exit of British colonialists? The best way to assist NRF is to empathize with the regional think-tank by showing it how other former educationally-disadvantaged states in the South of the country were able to move to the group of states with over 70% literacy and numeracy. Ironically, the most mordant critics of Kumaila and the NRF are his fellow veterans of the Jonathan Conference. His fellow delegates from the Southwest and the Southeast are already calling him names. For example, his fellow delegates from Afenifere are drawing Kumaila's attention to a greater problem than what he has identified in respect of the North: the clear signs (that may be invisible to NRF) that "what will restructure Nigeria is already here." Others are

reminding NRF of the consensus at the 2014 conference to remove "some of the undeserved privileges of the North" as the cause for NRF's call for a new conference. In addition, Kumaila's fellow delegates from the Southeast are drawing his attention to the fact (yet to be verified) that "the majority of the North want the report of the confab implemented." Intentionally or unintentionally, Northern Reawakening Forum, Afenifere, and Ndigbo are joined in what looks like an effort to distract President Buhari from the immediate tasks he has set for his presidency: fighting corruption, fighting terrorism, and diversifying the economy and preventing it from collapsing under the weight of low revenue from petroleum. Such distraction in itself is not anti-democratic. It is needed to make President Buhari realise that the problem of Nigeria may be about being blessed with good leadership once in a while as much as it is about having a good structure for governing a culturally diverse 'republic.' Both proposers of a new conference at the instance of the North and supporters of Jonathan's 'mother of all national conferences' at the instance of the South are ignoring something very crucial. They are forgetting that many Nigerians are saying that the 2014 national dialogue failed to address such important matters as fiscal federalism, multinational federalism, and finding a people-friendly process of constitutional reform. It is, however, reassuring that at the same time that Kumaila was promoting NRF's call for a national conference to address the problems of the North, some of the most cerebral or intellectual veterans of Jonathan's conference were attending a conference in Edinburgh on Constitutional Change in Canada and the United Kingdom: Challenges to Devolution and Federalism. Once the noise over the imperative of a Buhari conference and the inviolability of the recommendations of the Jonathan conference subsides, it may be easy for genuine federalists to benefit from the new knowledge acquired by some of the delegates at the 2014 conference at the Edinburgh Conference about effective ways to create and sustain federalism in a polity that has constitutionalised regional or ethnic domination under the guise of unity. Neither the old conference nor the new once (if it happens) will amount to anything, if efforts are not made to adopt modern ways to find out how citizens want to be governed in a plurinational state like Nigeria. No genuine national conference is likely to hold any water until citizens are allowed to choose their delegates and to vote Yes or No on recommendations from such conference.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

COMMENT

Unruly libido University teachers have gone out of control in exploiting and harassing female students for sexual favours

EXUAL exploitation of female students by their teachers who should stand in loco parentis for them has for long been a disquieting but neglected phenomenon in Nigerian universities. It gained national salience for a while in the late 1980s, largely through the attention it received from former first lady Maryam Babangida's Better Life for Rural Women and allied women's societies. Unfortunately, their intervention, seen largely by a skeptical attentive public as just another front on Babangida's regime's unrelenting crackdown on the universities, the bastion of resistance to his dictatorial rule and his agenda of self-perpetuation, soon fizzled out. Today, campus sexploitation has now grown to an extent that warrants forthright discussion and prompt action. This ugly phenomenon takes many forms. In perhaps the most brazen manifestation, lecturers blackmail female students into granting them sexual favours, on pain of failing a critical course. Some lecturers even ask the unfortunate student to arrange, at her own cost, a rendezvous for her own violation. That is not consensual sex. It is rape, pure and simple. And it is not uncommon. In one widely reported case, a professor and faculty dean at the University of Calabar has been cited in the investigation of a sexual assault on a 20-year-old female student. In another, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Lagos is alleged to have raped an 18-year-old, seeking admission into the university.

HE brand BMW is known to be superb to all, like the newly launched electric super car at the Frankfurt Auto show where the boss of BMW was reported to have lost his stand physically and lost stability till he landed, but does this in any way rub on the brand BMW? German cars are known to be durable, rugged and can stand the test of time; like the popular parlance, "Under the sun or in the rain", BMW remains. Typical of the German football team, little wonder, they were and are called the "German Machine" because they never give up or say die, but does the fall of the

HEN some hundreds of years ago, European explorers embarked on intercontinental explorations, the primary aim was to discover virgin lands and preach their religion as well as colonise primitive civilisations. The Lander Brothers, Mungo Park, Christopher Columbus, Prince Henry the Navigator, were some of the adventurers that were popular among primary school children in Nigeria in the good old days. The Puritan/Pilgrim Fathers and some other Europeans made the risky journey to America - the New Found Land - taking very big risk in the trans-Atlantic journey. Of course they were fleeing from subjugation and economic deprivation back

In another common practice, some lecturers invite female students to their offers under the pretext of academic consultation or and advisement, only to grope and fondle them, without their consent and without the least regard for consequences. In a more subtle but no less deplorable manifestation, some lecturers lace their classroom presentation with gratuitous sexual allusions guaranteed to make female students uncomfortable. One line of argument in this tawdry business has it that some female students dress "provocatively" and thereby invites attention to themselves, wittingly or unwittingly. This is simply untenable. Lecturers are supposed to be disciplined adults in full control of their emotions, not predators. The instances the public gets to know about may seem few relative to the university population, but the fact is that, for every case reported, there are probably dozens that never get reported not just from for fear of further victimization, but also from the shame of it

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh

•Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile

•Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye

•Associate Editor Sam Egburonu

•General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

all. Returns from a survey conducted by the Dream Project for Africa in its End Sexual Harassment and Bribery in Nigerian Colleges indicate that 75 percent of those polled said that sexual harassment was common on their campuses. One-third of the respondents said they or someone they know has been or is being sexually harassed. More than one-third of them said they feared the idea of reporting the issue to anyone, and only one in 12 students believed that the authorities took the matter seriously That enough is not being done to address sexploitation on campus is clear from the recent announcement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission that it has concluded plans to prosecute lecturers against whom a case has been established. The announcement should serve as a wakeup call to the university community. With the National Universities Commission providing broad guidelines, University authorities should develop a code of conduct that defines sexual harassment in clear terms and specifies sanctions for conduct that violates it. The code will be binding on serving and new appointees, and it must be rigorously enforced. A climate that offers protection to those reporting sexual harassment will have to be created. Without such protection, they will not feel confident to come forward. And unless they come forward, the problem will not get the forthright attention it requires.

LETTERS

The man fell but the brand stood

CEO of BMW affect the brand? The BMW share fell 19% recently as concerns surrounding China's economic woes have hit investors' confidence. Does a fall in share price change the perception people hold towards a brand that has stood the test of time? Without bringing in another auto brand in comparison, do we say the fall of the CEO and fall in share price, would likely tilt the perception

of people towards the brand BMW? Like the Toyota brand that is known to be conservative and cheap to maintain, the BMW is believed to share some and even more of these attributes, but the rugged nature of it is the Distinct Novelty Attribute (DNA) it has built for herself across the world. In law, it is said that an individual is a separate entity from an organisation; therefore,

what happens to an individual does not necessarily happen to the organisation. The one million dollar question therefore is: does the fall of the CEO of BMW create a feeling of fall on BMW as an auto brand? As they say, the remaining part of the body is useless when the head is sick and the question continues, does this apply in the case of BMW? After

all, the head is not off. Unconditionally, I like anything rugged and durable, hence I am a fan of a club in the premier league that was once dominated by blacks (who were seen to be strong and dogged) and it drew the attention of a lot of Africans but after the black quota was reduced due to policy, the fan base has not reduced. This applies to the BMW brand, even

The international migration tragedies

home. Not long after the discovery of America and other habitable lands, the transportation of "human cargo" across the Atlantic started in earnest. The slave trade between Africa and the West began. After the official abolition of slave trade, economic hardship among the

HE non prompt payment of workers at the federal level has been a source of concern for now, hence the urgent need to ameliorate the present hardship they are facing currently. The lateness in convening the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) meeting also contributed to the

third world countries led by Africans south of the Sahara Desert kicked off. African youths went in search of elusive greener pastures. Western nations encouraged the entry of cheap labour into their countries with promos like Green Card, Yellow Card, Visa Lottery etc. With sickness,

poverty and underemployment staring Africans in the face nobody could stop them from moving to the Americas and Europe in droves. However, with economic meltdown across the globe, many African immigrants were turned back with the official reason that unemployment is

creeping into their once robust economies. For some months now, if not years, the news media has been awash with the tragic news of hapless African youths sinking in the Mediterranean Sea and others suffocating in the scorching sun of the Sahara Desert. African leaders and

Pay FG workers promptly delay being faced in payment of allocation to the federal, state and local governments across the country. The prompt payment of all the workers in the country will help to upset the various problems faced by workers in all sectors of the economy.

The various revenuegenerating agencies in country should endeavour to remit their income to the federation account to ensure the commencement of a monthly allocation account committee meeting. The wages of most

Nigerian workers can't meet the needs of ordinary workers in the country, due to inflation and high cost of living. Hence, the urgent need for all relevant stakeholders to be hasty in ensuring workers in the country get their salaries when due.

if the CEO is changed today due to health reasons, the brand remains. Therefore, the illness or exhaustion of the CEO of BMW does not affect the brand in my own view. A brand that has been in existence for years, that made a few individuals spring up appetite to watch the Pierce Bonaire version of James Bond (007) where some of its undoubtedly superb series were displayed, cannot but live on even if the man dies. It is a neversay-die. • By Ben Eremen Lagos. government must wake up and save their nationals. We must strive to create employment, and put in place other palliative measures against poverty to make sure that our people do not die in misery. • By Dickson Nnaji Ogbodo, Agbani Town Enugu State.

The Muslims' festival of Eidel kabir is coming soon, and workers in the country are not sure they will be paid their salaries before the sallah to enable them purchase their rams and meet other needs of their families at the period of the festival. • By Bala Nayashi, Lokoja

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

COMMENT

A tale of two states

Perspicacious Ekitis, if any remains at all, should ask themselves where El Rufai got the tens of billions he is going to spend providing free education in Kaduna State but Fayose must inflict this punishment on poor Ekiti parents.

N these pages last Sunday, I showed how President Goodluck Jonathan, eager to ensure his own victory at the 2015 Presidential election, suborned the entire Nigerian army to rig the 2014 Ekiti gubernatorial election for candidate Ayo Fayose of the PDP. As should be expected with an order from the Commander-in-Chief, MajorGeneral Kenneth Tobiah Minimah, the Army Chief of Staff, a Cross Riverian, unerringly delivered Ekiti to Ayo Fayose. Since his 'victory' and inauguration on October 15, 2014, Governor Fayose has shown abundantly, that he is a product of the gun, and not of the ballot box, no matter how many times he repeats 16:0, 20: 0. He can, of course, take consolation in the fact that he is ruling over an awestruck, fawning and adoring Ekiti people. Concerning this emerging Ekiti sociology which tramples all the qualities everybody once knew Ekiti for, some young researchers must show interest in what is certain to be a rewarding academic exertion. Two momentous events happened this past week. The first: concerned with education and how it has plummeted in Ekiti under governors who did not deliberately encourage cheating at public examinations as we learnt in the course of the sittings of the Fayemi Education Task force, governor Fayose took the decisive decision of conveying a 3-hour education Summit under the lead of a highly respected monarch, a former Chief Justice of the state who cannot be described as a novice in matters of Education. Fayose evidently needed such a highly regarded Oba to lean on even if his intentions were not pure. Then the second, in faraway Kaduna

State, in those far flung places where those of us in these parts humour ourselves into foolishly believing they know nothing, the new governor of example, the stormy petrel, no nonsense and, take no prisoners Nasir El Rufai, literally re-invented the wheel. It is not that fees had ever been a major part of the school architecture in the North, but here, indeed, was a John the Baptist, in the depth of his free education programme. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai is an educated governor. He could have read any of Medicine, Engineering, or Chemical Engineering and he, indeed, had a scholarship from the Kaduna Polytechnic to read Mining Engineering at the Camborne School of mines in the U.K which he declined and opted, instead, to read Quantity Surveying at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Nobody will therefore be surprised that he appreciates the value of education and its place in the development of a people, state or nation. There was no way he could have introduced school fees in Kaduna State. I quote below, how newspapers reported what ElRufai did in Kaduna State in this regard: "The Kaduna State government yesterday instituted free education across all government owned primary and junior secondary schools in the state. According to the state Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai who announced this, his administration would spend N9 billion annually on free feeding of over one million primary school pupils. He further stated that the free education in junior secondary school will gulp N600 million yearly noting that the programme will save parents N3.7 billion for them to channel to

other family demands. He added that, 5,000 tailors would be engaged to sew free uniforms which will be distributed to pupils across the state. He mentioned that, (not surprisingly) the free education introduced by the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration in the state was a fraud to milk parents dry as the programme did not work." And what did governor Fayose do in Ekiti, leveraging on his 3-hour Education Summit? Here, I must say that we have variations. While his spokesperson gave some ludicrous figures of N2, 400 and N3000 per term for primary and secondary schools respectively, figures for which Fayose would never even as much as consider a minute's summit, parents of new secondary school students claim they had been asked to pay N35, 000, besides the cost of chairs, desks, bags, school uniforms and books that the parents will have to bear. Even if N2400 per term is correct for primary schools, you are still talking of a lot of money for some

parents. Add to that, the cost of chairs, desks, books etc. These patently illegal charges will not stand in Ekiti as long as the Lord liveth. Some concerned individuals are already working at calling governor Fayose's attention to the provisions of the Universal Child's Rights Act, already domesticated in the state and they may, if he refuses to withdraw the charges, head to court. The Act sets out to "Empower our children with Children's Rights Education so that they can build a global culture of respect for human rights as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child. Then each child can fully develop into critically literate, rightsrespecting citizen who will collaborate with others to uphold human rights and question the root causes of social injustice in the pursuit of global peace." Besides that act is the UBEC Law, flagged off 29, September 1999, by President Olusegun Obasanjo and being executed by the government

and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and poverty as well as stimulate and accelerate national development, political consciousness and national integration. By the law, years 1-9 of schooling in Nigeria is free of all charges as the federal government intends to make it a world class education intervention and regulatory agency for qualitative and functional basic education in Nigeria, and one which will operate as a monitoring agency to progressively improve the capacity of states, local government agencies and communities in the provision of unfettered access to high qualitative basic education in Nigeria. It also has the objective of providing unfettered access to nine (9) years of formal basic education which will be FREE to every Nigerian child. I have gone all this length just in case the governor or even the summit acted out of ignorance of these extant provisions. I shall not be surprised, however, if Governor Fayose knows all these but still decides to use all manner of nomenclature to rake in some free money he could spend without question. Perspicacious Ekitis, if any remains at all, should ask themselves where El Rufai got the tens of billions he is going to spend providing free education in Kaduna State but Fayose must inflict this punishment on poor Ekiti parents.

Fayose revokes Ayo Orebe’s house

N a classical case of the son being punished for the sins of the father, governor Ayo Fayose this past week revoked my son Ayo Orebe's sale agreement with the Ekiti Housing Corporation all because, as chairman of the tenants' association he, with the executive, went to court when the governor barricaded their homes, he with a 3 day old baby. Fayose wants the case withdrawn to give him a free hand to send them packing. This, in spite of Ayo, a banker, paying monthly to his primary mortgage institution and the governor rejecting the tenants' payment terms of N30, 000.00k per month.

My family is happy that the 'Daramola Option' hasn't been contemplated. But even then, he who the gods will destroy, they first make mad. Some three weeks ago, I contacted Wole Olanipekun, SAN, about this probability, asking him to talk to the governor and informed Femi Falana, SAN, as soon as it happened. Let Ayo Fayose continue to add to his long list of cases none of which has a statute of limitation. He is neither God, nor is four years eternity. Post Buhari, a thousand SANS will not be able to help the likes of Fayose and the consequences of his disregard for Nigerian courts will be fully

visited on him. Even while the case is in court, the world now knows he will still send his thugs to evacuate the family even with a month old child. He will have his comeuppance as palaces in South Africa or Dubai will have no more effect than they did in the Ibori case. And what is more, government being a continuum, since none in Ekiti - not Obas, not nobility whose hero he is, nor his beloved Okada riders - can advise or restrain him, Ekiti people should know that be it 20 years, they will end up paying for all of Ayo Fayose's impunity and infractions in office.

Nigeria and the menace of armed robbery

RMED robbery occurs when someone attempts to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and or by putting the victim in fear. Robberies can occur almost anywhere at any time, but tend to occur more often in anticipated settings and at expected times. All that is necessary is a motivated robber and an unwilling victim at the wrong place at the wrong time. Robberies can occur in private or public spaces. Robbers and their victims can be friends, relatives, or total strangers. Most robberies involve one robber and one victim and the crime from start to finish lasts less than a minute. Most commercial robbery victims are not injured during the transaction as long as long as they don’t resist. A shoplifter can also commit the crime of robbery if they fight with store personnel who try to stop them from getting what they want. Armed robbery is a global phenomenon as there is no country that is immune to it. Though, the level of occurrence differs from one country to the other. In neighbouring Ghana, amidst the harsh realities of poverty, hunger, starvation, and joblessness, Ghanaians are also been subjected to out-of-control armed robbery cases. Unfortunately, the government

By Michael Oputeh seems to have no strategy in place at this moment to fight back. Though the present administration in the country is working hard to find a lasting solution to the nation’s ailing economy, but if it is not yet winning the battle against armed robbery. Today, armed robbery is not only one of the biggest threat in Ghana, but also a social scourge, which is a bad news in the ears of prospective foreign investor. Even Ghanaian citizens living inside and outside the country are concerned about the spate of armed robbery activity in Ghana. In the United States, despite advancement in technology, oldfashioned bank robbery cases are still a cause for concern. In 2011 alone, in the United State more than $30 million was stolen and just over 100 people killed or injured in some 5,000 robberies of financial institutions reported across the nation. The FBI has had a primary role in bank robbery investigations since the 1930s, when John Dillinger and his gang were robbing banks and capturing the public’s imagination. In 1934, it became a federal crime to rob any national bank or state member bank of the Federal Reserve. The law soon expanded to include bank burglary, larceny, and similar crimes, with jurisdiction

delegated to the FBI. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 447,403 robberies were reported to the police at the rate of one per minute in the United States. Over the years, crime rate in Nigeria has risen to an alarming height. Cases of armed robbery occurrence, pickpockets and shoplifting have increased due to increased level of poverty among the populace. The crime rate in any country is directly tied to the level of poverty in the country. No doubt, the rate of unemployment in Nigeria has become high as thousands of graduates leave school without any hope of getting a decent job. While social services are unavailable to those without jobs, millions of Nigerians watch helplessly as corrupt leaders loot the nation’s treasury with reckless abandon. Sadly, the corruption and unemployment situation compound the social problems in the country as many unemployed youth easily turn to crime as a way to make ends meet or in defiance of the society that has failed to provide for their basic needs. The reasons for increase in the crime rate in Nigeria are, however, not meant to validate the actions of those who perpetuate armed robbery or any similarly related crimes. Most people think of robberies as those committed against banks or at late-night

retail establishments like fuel stations or shopping malls where a gun is used to force the cashier to hand over the money. However, most robberies occur on the street, directly against a person. When someone uses force or fear against you to steal your car, it is called carjacking and this is quite common in major cities such as Lagos, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Kano and Jos among others. Particularly, in Lagos robbery cases are rampant along the border axis and other dark spots. Recently, a different kind of robbery act, which was quite audacious in outlook, occurred at Ogolonto area of Ikorodu, Lagos state. A lady reportedly led the gang to the banks and stayed outside while the over two hour’s operation lasted. The leader of the gang was said to have sat down in front of the bank bragging, and no police officer was able to confront her. She reportedly tied charm around her neck. It was disclosed that the gang that carried out the robbery consisted of about 15 youngsters whose ages should not be more than 20years.The bank’s safe, as reported, was broken with the use of dynamite and the staffs were made to lie on the floor while the robbery continued. The young robbers reportedly to have burnt three of their vehicles in front of Origin Gardens, a recreational place not far from

the scene of the incident, and escaped via the ferry service operated beside the Gardens. It is important for people to know that most armed robbery attacks are based on information from someone who knows you to someone who is into criminal acts. For example, if you bring a lot of cash home, you can be sure you are likely to be a victim of armed robbery attack. This is because someone that is aware that you have cash at home is likely to inform people who might come for the cash. Someone close to you will likely betray your confidence when he knows you have a lot of cash at home. The informant could be leaked from your driver, cook, security personnel, or anyone else close to you. In some cases, it could even be from your spouse or children! Therefore, it is not wise to keep a huge amount of cash at home. Also, it is not smart to give vital information, especially about one’s business transactions to just anybody. With the current spate of insecurity arising from insurgents’ activities in the northern part of the country, everything must be done by everyone to ensure that armed robbery attacks and other criminal activities are reduced to the barest minimum. Oputeh, is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

COMMENT

(134) â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;H

EAR Word!' is coming to Harvard and I can report that there is tremendous excitement at the prospect of bringing this powerful piece of Nigerian theatrical performance to the Harvard community. It says a lot that even though the event is nearly seven months away in mid-April 2016, already the folks at Harvard are as excited as if the visit is only a week or two from now. Moreover - and this is perhaps the most significant portent of all - at a meeting last week at which all the programs and organizations at Harvard that are collaborating and pooling resources to bring this performance to Harvard met to begin planning for the visit, everyone who spoke about 'Hear Word!' and its Producer-Director, Ifeoma Fafunwa, spoke with great respect and admiration, without the slightest bit of condescension that is the more usual sentiment that you get when Americans in positions of power and influence speak about something from Nigeria or abut Nigerians they purport to respect. As the only Nigerian or African at the meeting, I was struck by this factor, especially since Ifeoma Fafunwa (nee Obianwu) happens to be an old acquaintance of mine who, the last time I saw her was an architect, not a theatre producer and director. The observations and reflections in this piece have their origin in that meeting here at Harvard early last week. I suppose the first thing to do here is give the reader a sense of what 'Hear Word!' is and what its impact has been at home in Nigeria where, so far, it is the only place, the only country in which it has been performed. This is all the more necessary since I have myself not seen the play in performance but am going by what I have been told about it, and what I have read about it on the Internet, together with YouTube clips and images of the performance that I have watched. Actually, the full title of the piece is 'Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True". It has an all-female cast that is appropriate for its content and message: Nigerian women are talking and are asking Nigerian men (and women) to listen and listen well to stories and accounts of the discriminations, abuses, injustices and suffering that women in our country experience for no other reason than the fact that they are women. Cast in the form of an experimental production that mixes individual and collective stories with music, song, dance humor, and biting wit, 'Hear Word!' has been performed to enthusiastic, perhaps even ecstatic audiences in formal proscenium stages at the MUSON Centre, the University of Lagos and the National Theatre and in the open-air venues of some markets in Lagos. If all these reports are true - and there is no indication of any kind that the reports are made up - these would make 'Hear Word!', in content, form and presentation, one of the most revolutionary theatre productions ever staged in Nigeria. These factors are critical for a proper appreciation of why the great excitement at Harvard about 'Hear Word! is the axis, the pivot around which I am making all the observations and reflections in this piece, especially around the subject of the 'rebranding' of Nigeria in America and the world at large. My colleagues here at Harvard would definitely not be exactly happy to hear me say this, but I should emphasize the fact that the great interest, the great excitement at the prospects of bringing this performance to the Harvard community does not

'Hear Word!' comes to Harvard and America: 'rebranding' Nigeria with the best in ourselves

â&#x20AC;˘Hear Word! poster

come primarily from the revolutionary nature of 'Hear Word!'. Harvard is not instinctively against anything revolutionary, but neither is it known to be as reliably radical or revolutionary as some other major American colleges and universities are with regard to cultural currents and developments in Africa and the global South. The major criterion with Harvard is - excellence or merit of a high order. Social relevance also matters a lot to the University, but first you must have excellence. Thus, it was primarily because some Harvard faculty and staff watched 'Hear Word!' in performance in Lagos and saw how good it was, what impact it had on the audiences, that they became interested in bringing the performance to the Harvard community. Here one may think of the additional factor that at the present time, both the President of Harvard and the Director of the University's Center for African Studies are women, together with the fact that the Director of the American Repertory Theatre (ART) that is based at Harvard is also a woman. This might imply that a play about women in Nigeria is bound to elicit the interest of such powerful female figures at the University, but I give you my word that if 'Hear Word!' had not so strongly impressed the Harvard faculty and staff that saw it in Lagos, no "sisterhood" solidarities would have launched the series of meetings and contacts that will eventually bring the performance to Harvard and America

in April 2016. This is an appropriate note on which to now bring into this conversation the issue of the rebranding of Nigeria in America and the world at large. In case anyone reading this has forgotten let me remind the reader that under the previous PDP administrations, tens of millions of dollars were spent to "rebrand" Nigeria against the terribly negative perceptions of the country, its leaders and its peoples, particularly in the U.S. but also in the world at large. There is no reason to contest the fact that, at least on the surface of things, Nigeria and Nigerians seemed to need that project of rebranding. Across many parts of the world including the African continent, we were infamous for all kinds of indecent, backward and immoral things: political leaders and public officeholders who were not only some of the most corrupt in the world but were unequalled on the planet for the scale and impunity of their corruption; Internet scams that became the material of severely derogatory jokes about Nigerians throughout the world; the level of state and non-state thieving of oil products in the Niger Delta and the brigandage that passed for militancy in the region; tales of extremely cruel violence against women and children accused of witchcraft in many parts of the country and among communities of the Nigerian Diaspora in the United Kingdom; and the stories that visitors

to the country carried back to their countries of the levels of chaos, squalor and insecurity of life and possessions in Nigeria's towns and cities. So yes, on the surface, it seemed that Nigeria needed those projects of rebranding. There is no use in belaboring the utter uselessness of those rebranding projects, first under Frank Nweke Jr. which he dubbed "The Heart of Africa" and later under the late Professor Dora Akunyili that she called "Rebranding Nigeria". Millions were spent, very costly Madison Avenue consulting firms were hired and the two Ministers, each in her or his time, went on extensive tours round the world in an attempt at bolstering Nigeria's image that failed woefully and totally. I doubt that either Minister ever really understood why the projects failed, even though the reason is as simple as putting two and two together to make four: if the product is bad, if the material is rotten and rotten to the core, there is nothing in the world that you can do to make it smell and taste good. Moreover - and this is the most important point of all - while the official and totally hopeless rebranding projects were going on at great costs to Nigerians, quiet, non-official but powerful and eloquent acts of 'rebranding' were going on all the time and at no cost to the government or peoples of Nigeria. Examples: The Achebe Foundation, first based at Bard College in New York State and later relocated to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, was

holding seminal annual conferences that brought Africans at home together with Africans in the diaspora and that became the basis of identifying the locations of progress and renewal in Nigeria and the African continent; Wole Soyinka's many appearances at congresses of the world's leading thinkers and activists on issues of freedom and the war against terrorism in Nigeria and the world at large; Chimamanda Adichie's addresses to many major forums of both high and popular political and cultural constituencies like the British House of Lords and the Oprah Winfrey Book Club; the relocation of "Fela!", the hit musical on the life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti directed by one of the leading directors of American contemporary dance and opera, Bill T. Jones, from the small Brooklyn Academy of Music to Broadway; and the high profile performance of second generation Nigerian Americans as one of the highest achievers in high schools and colleges in North America, perhaps second only the children of South Asian immigrants. I see the coming of 'Hear Word!' to Harvard and America as a continuation of these currents projecting what is best, what is inspiring and creative in our country as a means of countering the many terribly negative things that are happening in our country and among Nigerian communities in many different parts of the world. The show has many first rate performers and artistes in its ranks: Joke Silva, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycet, Kate Henshaw, and Bimbo Akintola as well as many up-andcoming actresses who will probably go on to become the big names of the next wave of stage and screen actresses and performers in the country. Above all else, it is gratifying that having seen its impact in Nigeria, the Harvard faculty and staff are hopeful that through workshops and master-classes, Harvard students will get to learn much from the visit with regard to what we in the global South can teach the denizens of the rich countries of the world about issues of common concern to all the peoples of the planet. It is often the other way round: the global North dictating to the rest of us where things are headed for all of us, whether in the wrong or the right direction. I cannot end this piece without alluding to something about which I wrote in this column in October last year after the National Educational Summit (NES) organized by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at which I had the great honour of being the Chairman. At that gathering, the special session on women was endlessly and incredibly disheartening: virtually all the men at the gathering treated the presentations by and about women's affairs and condition in Nigeria as things to joke and laugh about. As a former National President of ASUU, I was greatly shocked by that experience. I now ask that the current National President to make all members of ASUU mandatorily watch performances of 'Hear Word!' on the condition of fines for failure to do so! â&#x20AC;˘ Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

COMMENT

Buhari, Buharism and Buharinomics T

HE nation is gradually seeing the president in action and the generations who were either not born or matured enough in 1983 to 1985 during the first coming of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as a military ruler, must now be able to see that the story they heard about the man has not changed. What story? The story that a military ruler took over from a civilian administration; from one President Shehu Aliyu Shagari, due to corruption and incompetence. The nation was made to undergo a rebirth from wastefulness and daylight political brigandry, the malady that almost suffocated life out of the nation. Buhari came, saw the nation bleeding to death, as an infantry officer, he shot his way to power, arrested the looters of the commonwealth and tried them under the military decree. Some politicians were jailed, while some were kept under house arrest, others fled. Those that fled the country were not spared. Buhari’s government declared them wanted at all cost. Ubah Ahmed, Adisa Akinloye and Umaru Dikko were declared wanted over treasury looting. Dikko was abducted by the State Security Service officials in the heart of London. The abduction failed at the Heathrow Airport in London and Nigerian officers behind the operation of repatriating Dikko to Nigeria were apprehended, tried and jailed in London for abduction. The Dikko’s loot remained in UK banks till today, but the conscience of the keepers kept troubling them till they cried out over why they are still keeping the loots. Buhari’s retroactive decree against drug traffickers was described as draconian. Some young Nigerians; Batholomie Owoh and others caught were summarily tried and executed, and the nation’s condemnation went far and near over Buhari’s government action. Those drug traffickers ran out of steam for the period Buhari called the

By Yomi Obaditan

shots, but returned and remain till date after his ousting. Buhari that we know will sooner or later chase the drug peddlers out again. This time not with retroactive decrees, but with the laws of the land. To Buhari, what is not good must not be spared. Drugs have ruined many lives all over the world. We must therefore waste the wasters before they waste our youths. Buhari’s War Against Indiscipline (WAI) battled indiscipline in almost all aspect of our lives. The war against indiscipline in schools curbed lateness among teachers and students. Soldiers were sent to schools to whip the students when necessary, but Fela Anikulapo would not tolerate that, so he withdrew his son, Femi, from school. The war worked against rushing and unruly behaviour at bus stops. Civility was restored in public places. No one dared to jump queues at post offices, supermarkets, airports and etcetera. The Buhari we know will not spare acts of indiscipline. Those concerned should get out of the way of indiscipline before PMB comes to that item on his agenda. No nation progresses in the midst of indiscipline; to Buhari, the change will not be completed without war against indiscipline. The Decree 4 of 1984 caused the press to clash with Buhari, two Guardian newspapers reporters were jailed. Buhari forgot the word of Chairman Mao of China who declared: “I fear the pen more than the sword.” Buhari took on the press, and it remains his albatross till date. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took him up with the press and he almost lost out. It was the then opposition press that rescued him. The world almost believed that the APC’s candidate had no secondary school certificate. Ayodele Fayose compared his mother’s health at 72 with that

of Buhari and swore the man’s brain was dead. Only those that were not in Nigeria will not remember how the president was humbled and embarrassed over the certificate issue. His health and mental capacity were queried before our very eyes. The State Security Services were always in the news over the political party that Buhari was flying its flag. The Raypower/ AIT documentary was out to damage the dream of his presidency. They spared not even his backers. But Buhari’s vengeance against Raypower/AIT came sooner than they envisaged and Buhari’s men sent them out of Aso Rock before the people cried out that this is democracy and not a military regime. Buhari was not done yet, but he said “They call me baba go slow, let them call me, I will go slow and steady.” BUHARISM Buharism- is a political philosophy. It is the philosophy that guides Buhari in all his years past. It is going to guide him for as long as he remains in power. Buhari believes in spartan discipline. He lives by it, he walks it and eats it. Buhari may not be in the class of the late Aminu Kano, the father of the Northern Talakawas, who at death had only a transistor radio and less than N300 in his bank account. Buhari may not be in the same plane with former Tanzanian President Juluis Nyerere, who ruled Tanzania for twenty years without building or owning a house. The Uruguayan former President Jose Pepe Mujica is far away from our Buhari in terms of accumulation of wealth. Jose Pepe Mujica lived with his family in a two-room apartment as a president. He owns an old Volswagen car and has no money in his savings account. All he does is to see to the welfare of the people. We can’t but commend Buhari, who was once a Petroleum Minister and Head of State at different times but cannot be grouped among the

billionaires. Our Buhari, from immemorial, has been accused of caring for the Hausa- Fulanis. He was accused in his first coming of double standard; Shagari and other northerners outsted by him were given house arrest, while hundreds of southern politicians were jailed. Unfortunately, he has started in the same step by appointing 90 percent from the north as his personal aides, only for him to say: “If I appointed people I know quite well in my political party all the way right from the APP, CPC and APC, and have remained together in good or bad situation, the people I have confidence in and can trust them with any post, will that amount to anything wrong?” Mr. President, something is wrong, you have violated Section 14 sub section 3 of the1999 Constitution of Nigeria. Buharism is going to shape the ministerial appointments. But will that work for long? It may, given the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a merger of many political parties. Will Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC National Leader, fold his arms while Buharism continues to prosper? Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, Rochas Okorocha and Dr. Christ Ngige may soon explode, as well as other members from the eastern part of Nigeria are not going to spare the president from his manner of lopsided appointments. Even some minority voices in the north are against this approach. How are we going to appease the Igbos that the president’s action, even without a slot among the top seven political offices in Nigeria is normal? How are we going to interpret Section 14 sub 3 of the 1999 Constitution that states: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to

command national loyalty, and thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or its agencies.” Can we collectively agree that Mr. President has complied with this section of the Constitution? If not, can someone tell Buhari that this philosophy will not work. BUHARINOMICS The challenge before the nation today is that of economy. The oil we all depend on is no longer sustainable, as its price in the world market is falling fast. There is the problem of corruption that has made billionaires out of the indolent and boot-lickers They became billionaires, not because they were contractors or businessmen or women, but because they looted the commonwealth. So, Buharinomics is working and must work against them. The experts have suggested that Nigeria should look beyond oil economy. PMB himself has warned that except we divert from oil to agriculture, the economy will continue to be in trouble. It is hoped that Buharinomics will be on agriculture. But will it be fertiliser-induced agriculture or commercial farming? Until we face the reality that agriculture was the first source of our revenue through which the nation was built from the colonial era till post-civil war years, we will continue to be at the mercy of western nations. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is another direction that PMB would likely fall back to, as well as the revenue acquired from duties. The appointment of Mr. Fowler as the new Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) boss may enhance government drive towards high returns in this area. The ongoing reorganisation in Custom Services and Nigerian Ports Authority may assist the federal government to shore up its revenue base.

Buhari and August 27, 1985 (thirty years after) •Continued from last Sunday

RSON has been used to cover up fraudulent acts in public institutions. I am referring to the fire incidents that gutted the P&T buildings in Lagos, the Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, the Republic Building at Marina, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Capital Development Authority Accounts at Abuja and the NET Building. Most of these fire incidents occurred at a time when Nigerians were being apprehensive of the frequency of fraud scandals and the government incapacity to deal with them. Corruption has become so pervasive and intractable that a whole ministry has been created to stem it. Fellow Nigerians, this indeed is the moment of truth. My colleagues and I – the Supreme Military Council, must be frank enough to acknowledge the fact that at the moment, an accurate picture of the financial position is yet to be determined. We have no doubt that the situation is bad enough. In spite of all this, every

By J.K. Randle

effort will be made to ensure that the difficult and degrading conditions under which we are living are eliminated. Let no one however be deceived that workers who have not received their salaries in the past eight or so months will receive such salaries within today or tomorrow or that hospitals which have been without drugs for months will be provided with enough immediately.We are determined that with the help of God we shall do our best to settle genuine payments to which government is committed, including backlog of workers’ salaries after scrutiny. We are confident and we assure you that even in the face of the global recession, and the seemingly gloomy financial future, given prudent management of Nigeria’s existing financial resources and our determination to substantially reduce and eventually nail down rises in budgetary deficits and weak balance of payments position.The Federal Military

Government will reappraise policies with a view to paying greater attention to the following areas: •The economy will be given a new impetus and better sense of direction. •Corrupt officials and their agents will be brought to book. •In view of the drought that affected most parts of the country, the federal government will, with the available resources, import food stuffs to supplement the shortfalls suffered in the last harvest. Our foreign policy will be both dynamic and realistic. Africa will of course continue to be the centre piece of our foreign policy. The morale and combat readiness of the armed forces will be given high priority. Officers and men with high personal and professional integrity will have nothing to fear. The Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other holders of judiciary appointments within the federation can continue in their appointments and the judiciary

shall continue to function under existing laws subject to such exceptions as may e decreed from time to time by the Federal Military Government. All holders of appointments in the civil service, the police and the National Security Organisation shall continue to exercise their functions in the normal way subject to changes that may be introduced by the Federal Military Government. All those chairmen and members of statutory corporations, parastatals and other executive departments are hereby relieved of their appointments with immediate effect. The Federal Military Government will maintain and strengthen existing diplomatic relations with other states and with international organisations and institutions such as the Organisation of African Unity, the United Nations and its organs, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, ECOWAS and the Commonwealth etc. The Federal Military Government will

honour and respect all treaties and obligations entered into by the previous government and we hope that such nations and bodies will reciprocate this gesture by respecting our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Fellow Nigerians, finally, we have dutifully intervened to save this nation from imminent collapse. We therefore expect all Nigerians, including those who participated directly or indirectly in bringing the nation to this present predicament, to cooperate with us. This generation of Nigerians, and indeed future generations, have no country other than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together. • Randle is a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region. He is currently the Chairman, JK Randle Professional Services. Email:jkrandleintuk@gmail.com •concluded

LIFE

SUNDAY

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

â&#x20AC;˘ Street sweepers at work

Photos: Olusegun Rapheal

Working as a highway sweeper undoubtedly comes with lots of risks of auto accidents and health hazards. But behind this also is the monstrous problem of poor pay packet, which literally confines the workers to a life of servitude and penury. Medinat Zuberu-Kanabe took a trip into their world.

â&#x20AC;˘ Continued on Page 21

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

20 SUNDAY LIFE

•Zanzibar-Tanzania-Stone-Town-Overview

A travelogue By Mitterand Okorie

• Okorie

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE 21

From what to pack and how to squeeze it all in, to the benefits of roll-over folding and the weird thing you should put in the safe, some British Airways' pilots share their professional secrets

• A pilot in a cock-pit

•Continued from Page 19

The world of Lagos street sweepers

•Dr Chinasa

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE

Ambrose Nnaji chronicles the new legislation that has suddenly put human trafficking in its proper perspective.

• Some victims of human trafficking

‘Exhibiting with Onobrakpeya an honour’

H • Evelyn Osagie, Odia Ofeimun and Okechukwu Uwaezueke of ThisDay newspaper

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE EXTRA 27

By: Steve Aborisade

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

A twenty-first century guide •Idiomatic edition

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

RAISE your head up. At the drop of a hat. Put your best foot forward. Hit the ground running. Go the whole hog. Go the whole nine yards. The ball is in your court. Stay on the ball. If it costs you an arm and a leg. Do not bite off more than you can chew. You might be forced to beat a (hasty) retreat. That could add salt to your wound. And then it is back to the drawing board. Actions speak louder than words. You will be judged better by what you do than what you say. To have the best of both worlds. To be the best thing since sliced bread. Burn the midnight oil. Better than sitting on the fence. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t be caught between two stools. You will cross that bridge when you come to it. You cannot judge a book by its cover. Do not bark up the wrong tree. It is no use crying over spilt milk. Too inquisitive for your own good? Curiosity killed the cat. Do not play the Devil’s Advocate. Do not cut corners. Do not give up the day job. Do not count your chickens before the eggs have hatched. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Every cloud has a silver lining. The future might be a far cry from the past. Give it the benefit of the doubt. A blessing (may come) in disguise. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Hit the nail on the head. Kill two birds with one stone. Steal a march on the opposition. Don’t fix what is not broken. In the heat of the moment. And a rush of blood to the head. Let there be method to your madness. Once in a blue moon. Jump on the bandwagon. Or let sleeping dogs lie. You might let the cat out of the bag. It could be the last straw. Make a long story short. Or you could miss the boat. And be seen as not playing with a full deck. You could be accused of going off your rocker. You wouldn’t be caught dead (thus). Speak of the devil! Hear it on the grapevine. Or hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Take with a grain of salt. It takes two to tango. To steal your thunder. A picture paints a thousand words. Do as you would be done by. See eye to eye. Don’t put wool over other people’s eyes. Or you could have a taste of your own medicine. When all is said and done. Your guess is as good as mine. Hit the sack. Piece of cake.

Whenever

CHEEK BY JOWL

Whenever you feel that you’re important, And your ego is in bloom, When you think yourself the best in the room, You start to take your position for granted. Whenever you imagine that your absence Would leave an abyss, Follow this simple advice, And see how it humbles your conscience. Take a container and fill it with water, Put your hand in up to the wrist, Withdraw and you’ll notice a twist, That the hole left does not matter. You may splash all you please when you go in, You can stir up the water some more, Yet it looks quite the same as before, So you’ll find when your thoughts you rein in. The point in this rhyme so traced, Is to do whatever, whenever you can, Be proud of yourself, boy or girl, man or woman, But never forget that you can be replaced.

QUOTE I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. —Thomas Jefferson

Jokes Humour Country Politics A BUSLOAD of lawyerss were driving down a country road to a conference when the vehicle ran off the road and crashed into an old farmer’s barn. The old farmer got off his tractor and went to investigate. Soon, he dug a hole and buried the lawyers. A few days later, the local police chief came out, saw the crashed bus and asked the old farmer where all the lawyers had gone. The old farmer told him he had buried them. The sheriff asked, “Really, were they all dead?” The old farmer said, “Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how them crooked lawyers lie.” No Help PETER, who recently broke a leg, loves to drink at the local bar, but his wife disapproves of this. One night, he’s at the bar and he gets really drunk. He tries to stand up, but immediately

falls to the floor. He tries this a few more times, but each time he falls to the floor. People offer to help him, but he says ‘no’ each time. He finally ends up dragging himself home and sneaking into bed, thinking his wife would never catch him. The next morning, Peter’s wife says, “Peter, you worthless idiot, no good drunkard! “You were at the bar last night drinking again!” Peter is confused. “How did you find out?” “The bar called. You left your crutches there.” The Proof SOME scientists recently revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones. To prove their theory, the scientists fed 100 men five bottles of beer and observed that 100% of the men gained weight, became chatty, turned emotional, preferred not to drive, and insisted on the last word in an argument. No further testing is planned. •Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain OP writing advice: Starting off —It’s a long road. That’s one qualifies for the World Cup just because something to note going in. So, keep working. they ‘like football’. Write regularly. Even when you don’t feel It could take as much as three years for books sent to publishers to get looked at. But if you like writing, even if it is just a little bit every love writing enough, you’ll embrace the day, write. Don’t spend too much time rechallenge and write lots of stories while you reading what you wrote before, because if you are like most people who think ‘this stinks’, wait for the big break. What matters is that you read along the you’ll get frustrated and quit. Or you’ll spend way. Read a lot of books and a variety of years polishing that first chapter. Here’s the writers to discover how writers do what they thing: sometimes, you won’t really know what do, and how to do it well. Know this though: the book is about until you actually finish the if you are not a reader, you’ll never make it as first draft. But you cannot polish what you a writer. There is too much to learn. Surely no don’t have yet. So you have to write that crude first draft, even if it is crude. Try not to think about this for the next year Understanding science: as you write your first draft. Decide early, if •Most people know what pH means, but this is what you really want to do, and if you few people know that it stands for pondus have, or can learn to have, a thick skin and a hydrogenii which means potential high tolerance for frustration. And then, just hydrogen and that each unit is a phidron. start writing. Write to the most fascinating •Morphine was given its name in 1803 by dilemmas and the hardest points and the the discoverer, a 20 year old German things you are most passionate about and the pharmacist named Friedrich Saturner. He things you are most scared of. named it after Morpheus, the Greek god of Keep going to those places, and keep dreams. making it worse. If you do that, who knows, •Most gemstones contain several elements maybe that first draft will practically write except diamond which is all carbon. itself.

PAGE 29

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

South-West PDP: Flock without shepherds?

Pages 30

• Wada

• Audu

Kogi 2015: Between Wada and Audu With the emergence of Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Abubakar Audu of All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governorship candidates of their parties, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that the November 21 governorship election in Kogi State will be an epic. He takes a close look at the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates in the election

LTHOUGH Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) and Abubakar Audu of All Progressives Congress (APC) are not the only candidates in the November 21, 2015 governorship election in Kogi State, their presence in the race, according to some observers, promises to transform the election to something in the realm of an epic. This is partly because of their prolonged political rivalry in the state. It would be recalled that four years ago, the two contested for the same seat in Kogi. In that well- fought election, Wada, who was backed by the then incumbent governor, Ibrahim Idris, defeated Audu, the first executive govenor of the state. While Wada won the election then on the ticket of PDP, Abubakar Audu ran under

the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). So, the two political arch-rivals, who hail from Kogi-East, know themselves very well and are well known by the electorates. Their zone, according to earlier reports, has the majority 54 percent of the population of the state. Although some say the population advantage they would have enjoyed may have been neutralized since they may split it, an insider, a top government official told The Nation that in event of any of the two suffering outright rejection by the people from the zone, the other candidate will likely ride on the majority population to victory. This speculation is based on the fact that they have both governed the state and could be objectively judged by the electorates, who are now being asked to chose from two well known leaders. •Contd. on page 32

Ondo 2017: APC in early search for Mimiko's Pages 34 successor

NASS legislative short-change Pages 31

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

POLITICS

South-West PDP: Flock without she

Since the last general elections, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the presidential seat to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the crisis that contributed to its failure has deepened in the South-West as Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that the party members in the zone are now like flock without shepherds HE embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West is not new to crisis, but its current state, according to observers and party sources, leaves much to be desired from a party whose national leadership is daily vowing to return to electoral prominence sooner than most Nigerians expect. The party in the zone has been bedeviled by internal wrangling and power tussle since 2005. Its zonal structure has been subjected to constant changes as chieftains and caucuses struggle for control. The state chapters are not left out of the confusion as the party in Lagos, Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti states witnessed and are still witnessing unending divisions. In spite of several efforts by party leaders, including the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, to mend the severely broken fences within the zone, the party went into the last general elections divided. Dozens of reconciliation meetings held in Ibadan, Lagos, Ijebu Igbo, Abuja and Akure could not resolve the numerous crises in the party. And shortly before the elections, its troubled zonal leadership under Chief Ishola Filani, was again booted out and all efforts to put another one in place failed. Filani, according to reliable party sources, lost out due to his loyalty to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Thus, it went into the electoral contest without an arrowhead. Not even the move by Jonathan to recognize Senator Buruji Kashamu as the new leader of the party in the zone helped matters. And PDP paid dearly for the glaring disunity as it was roundly defeated in all the states except Ekiti, where the coming of Governor Ayodele Fayose saved the day. Still in disarray Today, the situation in the SouthWest, among PDP chieftains and members, is that of flock without shepherd. According to Alhaji Saka Adebayo, senatorial executive committee member in Oyo State, "PDP in the SouthWest is an orphan currently. We have no known or identifiable leader or leaders. There is urgent need for something to happen fast." And with the exit of former President Jonathan, the man who used to mediate in the unending crises, from power, the embattled opposition party is in serious search of a lifeline in the South-West. Nearly six months after the last general election, the party is still without a zonal leadership. It appears no effort is being made to put one in place. Even the national leadership that postponed the zonal congress 'till further notice' shortly before the election, appears uninterested in the delicate matter of giving the party a leadership in the zone. "We have no zonal structure as we speak. The zonal congress, you will recall, was postponed before the last general election. Now, nobody is even talking about it. But I want to believe the issue will be addressed soon because without leadership, the party will lack direction," a leading female party chieftain in Lagos, told The Nation. "Senator Buruji Kashamu, who used to be the rallying point, is no longer as visible as he was. He really tried to galvanise the party towards the last election, but since his extradition issue started, he has had little or no time for the PDP in the South-West. Don't also forget he is now an elected Senator with responsibility to his constituents," she added.

•Fayose

• Mimiko

•Filani

•Daniel

• Folarin

•Obanikoro

But Kashamu's current disposition was not before some effort to mobilise his troubled party. According to party sources, after the party's dismal performance in the 2015 elections, the Ijebu-Igbo-born politician called a stakeholders' meeting to fashion a way forward. "But prominent PDP leaders stayed away from the parley. They questioned his right to call such meeting. They went to town and called on party members to shun the meeting. Although the meeting held, it was devoid of the presence and contribution of many prominent PDP leaders in the zone," our source said. Consequently, the Senator was said to have decided to look the other way on party matters affecting the zone for now as he was said to have told some of his friends that his senatorial duties are the most important to him right now. And given his ongoing extradition struggle, it is not likely he is able to provide leadership for his troubled party. More troubles in states In Oyo State, chieftains and members loyal to the governorship candidate of the party in the state, Senator Teslim Folarin, have vowed never to have anything to do with some prominent leaders of the party they accused of working against Folarin's governorship

ambition. To them, such people should remain suspended from the party. Those deliberately being kept out of the party by Folarin's group include former minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide, and Chief Saka Balogun, former chief of staff during the administration of former governor Alao Akala, as well as their numerous supporters. The duo, along with many other leading chieftains, were suspended from the party after the general election by the state executive committee on allegations that they engaged in anti-party activities before, during and after the governorship election in the state. In Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Senator Kashamu are still at loggerheads and as such, there are two factions of the party in the state. Kashamu had emerged as the candidate of the party in Ogun East Senatorial District to the chagrin of Daniel who was earlier tipped for the position. This caused crisis in the party before the election, but because of the desire of the party to ensure that it won the election, they both agreed to work together. As we speak, the two gladiators are struggling to control the party while party members and chieftains wallow in confusion. Lagos State is another state in the SouthWest where the crisis in the PDP is still deep

and all the warring factions are still not prepared to sheath their swords. The Musliu Obanikoro group and the Chief Bode George camp are still at loggerheads. The Obanikoro group still believed that their action against George and others still stands though the national body of the party had ruled against it. The situation on ground now indicates that the two groups are still not working together. In Ondo State, Governor Mimiko, who joined the PDP from the Labour Party which brought him into power, is still battling to silence those he met in the party. Although his group is now in control of the party, he is daily harangued by the faction loyal to Olusola Oke, governorship candidate of the party in the last election, who recently decamped to the APC. Missing Jonathan's men To add to the hopelessness of the situation for the embattled party, The Nation learnt that nearly all party chieftains from the zone, who served as ministers in the last administration are currently keeping the party at arm's-length. "None of the former ministers is doing anything to help resuscitate the party in the zone. They are all minding their own businesses as if it was not this same party that gave them the opportunity to serve the country. We even learnt some of them are planning to decamp soon," a party source said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

ut shepherds?

•Kashamu

• George The PDP parades a number of prominent chieftains who were part of the last administration. But nothing has been heard from any of them in recent time concerning how to reposition the party. Such chieftains include ageing Senator Jubril Martins Kuye from Ogun State. He is said to have vowed to stay away from the mess created in the party by the feud between Kashamu and Daniel. There is also Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd) in Ekiti. He is one of those battling Fayose for the control of the party in that state. Ex-ministers Segun Aganga and Omobolanle Johnson from Lagos and Ondo states respectively, according to party sources, are nowhere to be found within the political circle. "This is expected of them both. Don't forget they were not politicians but technocrats," a party chieftain excused the duo's attitude. Others being accused of abandoning the PDP in the zone include Erelu Olusola Obada and Jelili Adesiyan in Osun, Musiliu Obanikoro and Bode George in Lagos and Jumoke Akinjide in Oyo. "One would expect these people to be concerned about the party, but they are not," another source added. With the current unsavoury state of PDP in the South-West, political observers are wondering if the party is serious about its quest to return to winning ways in no distant time.

POLITICS

T was only time for the burble to burst. It had lingered on unabated since the provision was made in the statute books for members of the National Assembly to have in its employ, legislative aides, whose experience, maturity and intellectual background were meant to add value to their principals - Honorable Members and Distinguished Senators, in fashioning good laws for the citizenry. Law making is expected to be a very consuming parliamentary function, researching, articulating and churning out motions and bills to be presented on the floors of both chambers. For smooth legislating therefore, the legislative aides are veritable machinery and are sine qua non to attaining this lofty and noble objective. They are the engine room, which should tinker and chisel out from the furnace, several laws and positions their principals should adopt on any issue, local, national and international. The recent upheaval at the National Assembly of unpaid severance, wages, allowances and backlog of salaries, is only but a tip of the iceberg. It was just a time bomb waiting to be detonated. Of course, the aides could not have gotten a very opportune time than now with a President Muhammadu Buhari, whose template is to jail the looters and stop the hydra-headed corrupt practices, which had unfortunately become the norm in a nation endowed with numerous human and natural resources. The legislative aides have always remained the butt of both their immediate principals and the management of the National Assembly. In the past, legislators simply dipped their hands in their pockets to pay their aides. The pay then at the end of the month was scandalous. All it says, if it suits one, then stay, otherwise bolt away. Gladly the National Assembly Service Commission came on board and the aides are now being recruited by the commission and placed on salary scales even at ridiculous wage brackets with a caveat that the appointment is at the pleasure of the legislator. It does not bother the commission that the aides come from very rich professional backgrounds and are supposedly on political appointments and as such, sacrilegious salaries of civil servants should not have been the lot of the aides. It would have made more sense to treat the aides as politicians and up their pay packets just as the wages and allowances of their principals, the legislators. Depending on the side of bed, the legislator wakes up from, he or she can terminate the appointment without raising an eyebrow. So, the hordes of legislative aides are like slaves, no job security, poor remuneration, no dignity either from the principal one works for or even the National Assembly Service Commission or even the National Assembly management proper that runs the entire 'octopus' of the Assembly. Then there is the seen or unseen clause that says unless an aide stays at least for upward of two years with his or her principal, that aide is not qualified for the severance, which is stipulated by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, for aides at the end of their four year service. So, the aides continue to have butterflies in the stomach, praying and looking forward in anxiety to scale that hurdle. Indeed, the lawmakers in both chambers throw away their aides and change them as one changes under pants, without batting an eyelid. Having served in the 7th National Assembly, with my principal unable to make it back to the Assembly, one had made up his mind just before that edition wound up, that enough of all the shenanigan. A brilliant friend of mine, a Veterinary Doctor working for a popular Kaduna State legislator, was thrown out before completing the mandatory two years for just flimsy reasons of the legislator unable to

•Saraki

NASS legislative short-change By Musa Pategi

install a councillor at the ward of the aide, a fault that was not his because the legislator insisted in fielding an unpopular candidate after repeated warnings by the aide that the candidate was not the people's choice. It is a welcome development that the aides are now agitating for their rights and one is shocked to learn that the National Assembly management would be proffering unacceptable reasons for the delay in the payment of our legitimate dues-severance, duty travel allowances (DTA) and back log of salaries for those who at present have been employed and have been with their principals since June 6, 2015. As a matter of fact, the duty travel allowance ought to have been paid in April this year, since it is a quarterly allotment. The money, running to over N200 million as payment of DTA for legislative aides at the House of Representatives and Senate, was already in the coffers of the Assembly. Our colleagues at the 6th Assembly got theirs before that session ended, so the cock and bull story should be for the marines. The allegation is rife that the management had planned to pocket that huge sum in its usually corrupt stance, realising that for the first time, a large number of aides were not returning following the near clean sweep of former legislators who lost both primaries of their parties and the general elections. It is now like an albatross sticking out on the necks of those alleged fraudulent ones in the management and that is why there is a renewed protest that the anti-graft agencies must step in to get to the root of all the vices taking place in the National Assembly. The issue of severance should also be investigated. How come Senators and Members of House of Representatives have all been paid their severance payments? My principal who did not return to the House had since smiled to the bank. Where did the large sums of payment emanate from? Who is allegedly holding back those of the aides? Why the discrimination? Some legislative aides who served in the 6th Assembly had gone to court over their severance pay which they felt had been tampered with. Since it is subjudice; we await the final conclusion of that historic case. As one writes, the legislators have been paid their salaries since June, including other allowances. My colleagues who are lucky to still be aides, alleged that because they were agitating, the management was intimidating the aides that the practice of paying arrears of salaries to aides, might be tinkered to cover payments based on the day and date written on the appointment papers. Of course this is callous, vicious and another methodology for the management to

steal as usual from the aides. It should indeed not be contemplated because the aides have resumed since June with their principals and cannot be victims of the bottlenecks of bureaucracy between the National Assembly Service Commission and the National Assembly management. In 2011, when the 7th Assembly was inaugurated, most legislative aides got their salaries in November and were duly paid their arrears up to date when the payments were made. One nauseating criminal tendency of the management is to short-change the aides on the issue of training and seminars. Going by the laid down plans with monies budgeted and collected, each aide was entitled not a privilege to attend such training every three months or quarterly as the case may be. What the management does is to turn a blind eye, allow the quarter to elapse and merge the workshop, and as usual pay for only one training quarter exercise. No one dare to question the colossus. Can the management continue to get away with this oddity? In the past too, the management paid pittance. After a very severe protest, the take home allowance was upped a little and now the training allowances are paid through the bank. Most times, aides wait on end for the allowance; most times a month after to be paid and to some of the aides, it is a bad dream, their accounts are never credited, terrible lopsided arrangement only pleasing to those allegedly profiting from the racket. The painful aspect is that by the training programme, aides who serve at the constituency offices of their principals are supposed to participate and when they come from far flung places, not a kobo is given to cover their transport or even accommodation. Some aides choose to stay away because the pittance at the end of the day cannot cover their transport expenses to and fro. My experience at the Assembly as an aide would make a book just space cannot permit. Only very few legislators care a two pence about their aides. They cart away millions when they know their aides have not been paid a dime. To the legislators, they have done the aides the biggest favor by giving them employments and such the aides were no longer their burden and should wait until Adam drops. Unless the anti-graft agencies beam their searchlight on the rot in the system of the National Assembly, the alleged corruption there cannot abate. To my erstwhile colleagues, one should say bravo. After all, what is wrong in paying the laborer his wage!' Who says some officials would now not be sweating in their pants as the Czar of anti corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari sends coal fire from Aso Rock. –Pategi, wrote in from Minna

POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

â&#x20AC;˘Contd. from page 29 So, as the political parties, especially the PDP and the APC flag off the final phase of their preparations for the governorship election, featuring these two rivals, informed analysts say any of the two can win the election given the advantages they enjoy and the recent challenges likely to pose as major problems. For example, there is today the fear that Wada's PDP, though the ruling party in the state, is not certain to win the election, partly because of the kind of intrigues that trailed the organisation of its primary election and the emergence of Wada notwithstanding the deep disagreement amongst powerful stakeholders over his candidature. Following the humbling defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered in the state under Governor Idris Wada's leadership during March 28, 2015 presidential election, insiders said some leaders of PDP swore he would not be allowed to fly the flag of the party in the November 21 governorship election if the party hopes to retain the state. It would be recalled that during the presidential election, Wada lost his ward and local government to APC. So, as the party prepared for the governorship primaries, insiders said the earlier opposition of Wada's candidacy by some members of the National Working Committee and some elders of PDP in the state was primarily because of the failure in the presidential election and the fear that the governor may have lost substantial support both from many electorates in the state and from top PDP members at the federal level and within the state. But in the PDP primary election, supervised by Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, which held last Monday at the Lokoja Stadium, Wada reportedly garnered 709 votes to defeat Jubril Isa Echoho, earlier reported as a more favoured apirant, who scored 139 votes. Since INEC's regulations suggest that no party can replace a candidate by Tuesday, 15th September, 2015, it means Wada is at last, the PDP candidate for the Kogi's November 21, 2015 governorship election. So, now that it has become certain that Nigerians are being served a repeat contest between these two rivals who may still have some political scores to settle, observers are keen to see the outcome. Our investigation shows that the deep interest in the outcome of the forthcoming governorship election in Kogi is not only because of the age-long rivalry of the two top candidates but also because of the alleged baggage Wada of PDP is carrying to the electoral battle. The intrigues that trailed his emergence may have not only created a mortal crack in his platform and a division he may not successfully resolve within the short period before the election but has also weakened his candidacy. As the incumbent governor, who has made some claims to deliverance of dividends of democracy to the people, one expects him to be the candidate to beat. But some close observers and his opponents say his bitterest challenge in the coming election may be from his party. The depth of the crisis within the PDP was glaringly exposed during the first attempt to conduct the primary election that would produce the governorship candidate. The Nation had captured the confusion and the

Commenting on this first victory, Wada had said: "We have to reinvigorate and strengthen the party to meet the current challenges. "You can't enter a governorship election without putting in place the executive council members. With the successful election of the executive officers of the party, we are determined to retain the state. "The new leadership is hungry to make a mark and to put their footprints on the sand of history, and there is a renewed spirit among the members who have put behind them the incidence of presidential and National Assembly elections." Since then, especially since it became obvious he would go for a reelection, Wada has faced enormous challenges as opponents within his party and some ordinary Kogi electorates have been quoted as suggesting he should quit in the interest of the party in the state. But his supporters said he has performed very well and that his opponents were only employing blackmail tactics against his reelection bid.

Kogi 2015: Between Wada a

â&#x20AC;˘Wada absurd drama enacted by the ruling party in the state before canceling and postponing the first primary election. As The Nation puts it in the earlier report: "The delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were already at Lokoja for the much-anticipated governorship primary. The aspirants were busy canvassing for votes, trying to win over delegates to their camps. "Election materials were on the way just as many of the electoral officials were also on standby. Everything appeared set until the National Working Committee (NWC) announced the postponement of the exercise. "Many party chieftains and delegates were caught unawares. They never saw the postponement coming. But members of the NWC, according to investigations, were simply working towards a pre-determined end. It took only a terse statement from the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, to explain the postponement was to address logistical challenges." Sources who claimed the confusion could be traced to Wada's alleged frosty relationship with powerful members of the party's National Working Committee had said then that it was all a grand plot to stop Wada. They cited the July 1 report on how the worried Kogi State governor stormed the PDP national secretariat in Abuja for a meeting with NWC members. According to the report in The Nation, Wada "was kept waiting for hours, a development many attributed to the members' reluctance to have a parley with him. The governor had sought for the meeting to seek explanations on

why the PDP's leadership cancelled the ad hoc delegates ward congress in the state. The NWC had explained the congress was cancelled because it was conducted by what it described as "unknown local organising committee." Given that Wada's men recorded great victory at the cancelled poll, some analyst said the members of the NWC of the party were out to stop Wada in preference for Jubrin Isa Echocho. Wada's men however won the rescheduled congresses on July 14, 2015.

Wada's worries here would be deepened by the sharp division in Kogi PDP as aggrieved Jubril Isa Echocho's supporters, some fear, may work against Wada's victory at the polls. There remains the allegation from that camp that the primary election that produced Wada instead of Echocho was a sham. As it stands, it seems unless and until Wada truly reconciles with Echocho's supporters, PDP would only go to the November governorship election as a divided house

Idris Wada When Governor Idris Wada defeated former Governor Abubakar Audu in the governorship election four years ago, results of some researches showed that his platform was well positioned to win people's votes. His political party, the PDP, was the ruling party then both at the federal and in the state. It was said to be very popular in the state. So, not many were surprised when he won the governorship election and his party won 20 of the 25 House of Assembly seats. It also had the three senatorial seats and seven, out of the nine House of Representatives seats. Besides, the incumbent governor then, Ibrahim Idris, gave him ample support calculated at defeating Audu, who the two perceived as a common political enemy. With the changing political realities, it remains to be seen how far Wada can go in his bid to remain at the Government House. There is no doubt that he has the incumbency advantage which he seems experienced and determined enough to utilize optimally, notwithstanding attacks from within and outside. However, with the emergence of APC as the ruling party at the centre, the political climate has changed significantly. Investigations show that many electorates in Kogi State have already caught the bug of change, which is APC's catch word. Added to this is the fact that many important politicians, who wielded so much influence in Kogi PDP had since dumped the party for APC. Wada's worries here would be deepened by the sharp division in Kogi PDP as aggrieved Jubril Isa Echocho's supporters, some fear, may work against Wada's victory at the polls. There remains the allegation from that camp that the primary election that produced Wada instead of Echocho was a sham. As it stands, it seems unless and until Wada truly reconciles with Echocho's supporters, PDP would only go to the November governorship election as a divided house. Besides this grim prospect is Audu's presence. Sources claimed Wada would have preferred any other candidate in the rival APC than the first executive governor of the state who still enjoys ample support and followership. Born on August 26, 1950 in Dekina, Kogi State, Wada is the third civilian Governor of Kogi State as he took over office from former Governor Ibrahim Idris. A pilot and business man, he joined the Nigerian Civil Aviation Training Centre, Zaria and worked as Flight Instructor. He joined the

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

a and Audu

窶｢ Audu Nigeria Airways Ltd as a pilot and worked there from 1978 to 1983. He was employed by United Air Services as a Chief Pilot and General Manager. By 1995, Wada had become the Executive Chairman of Afroconsult Ltd. Available records show that he joined active politics in 2011. As the incumbent governor, he has the war chest, and a well oiled political structure in the state but his major concerns include the crack in his party at the state level, the sweeping influence of APC's change slogan in his zone and in the country and the Audu factor which the APC has used as part of its game plans to unseat him. How he would overcome these still needs to be seen. Abubakar Audu Former Governor Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of APC, is entering the race with great hopes. This is because of the favorable political climate in Nigeria of today. Unlike four years ago, when his party, the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), was just one of the numerous opposition parties fighting against the then political Octapus, the PDP, the tide has

changed in his favour. His party, the APC, is now the ruling party at the centre and with its message of change receiving positive response in Kogi, Audu's men say all they need is a free and fair election for them to dislodge Wada. They said Kogi indigenes are eager to join other states in the geo- political zone to wave the broom as they embrace change. "We can't afford to be the odd men out. No! Kogi people are wiser than that. All we need is a free and fair election, come November 21 and you will see Wada out of that Government House," boasted Ozigi Ahmed, a confessed supporter of Audu. Born on October 27, 1947 to a royal family in Igala land, Prince Audu was the First Executive Governor of Kogi State. A banker of repute before entering politics, he has served as governor of Kogi State twice, from January 1992 to November 1993 and from May 1999 to May 2003. Those who know him well said he is entering this year's race fully prepared and with enough muscle not only to match the incumbent governor but to win the race. The expectations are high!

They said Kogi indigenes are eager to join other states in the geo- political zone to wave the broom as they embrace change. "We can't afford to be the odd men out. No! Kogi people are wiser than that. All we need is a free and fair election, come November 21 and you will see Wada out of that Government House,"

POLITICS

Bayelsa Guber: Just before APC decides

HE day is here. On Tuesday, September 22, 2015, a small, almost negligible percentage of the people of Bayelsa State will march out to vote and decide who the All Progressives Congress will use to challenge the Peoples Democratic Party, represented by Henry Seriake Dickson, for the governorship of the state. Soon, what looked like a long journey will eventually end with a new phase beginning almost instantly. The road to tomorrow has been thorny. There is need for a recap here. Senator John Brambaifa is not used to political razzmatazz. Even physically, there is nothing extravagant about him. He is of a moderate height and size. However, when he speaks, you are persuaded to respect his deep intellect; a complete contradiction to a quiet mien that adorns his exterior. He has a dignified gait; almost princely. It is therefore natural to believe that his actions are guided by deliberate decisions; and not sentiments. Having served as a council chairman many years back before proceeding to the Senate, he is a deeply-rooted grassroots politician. Based on his pedigree, his understanding of pragmatic politics can therefore be taken for granted. These considerations came into focus on the last day of August 2015 when he appeared at the National Secretariat of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to pick a nomination form for the governorship of Bayelsa State. No, he did not pick the form for himself; his interest in the governorship race lies somewhere else; the man is gradually becoming a kingmaker. He picked the form for Timi Alaibe. Brambaifa led a team of elders and young men who said they were merely representing a multitude of other supporters who believe that time has come for Bayelsa citizens to decide who should lead them. One of them said, "We are fed up with being decided for; we are fed up with sitting on the fence and watching while others take decisions for us. It's our turn to decide who should lead us. What we are doing today is not common among our people. It is a rare. But the people have spoken. The people have endorsed one of their own窶ｦ." When confronted by journalists at the party office, Brambaifa was, as usual, unambiguous on why he led the team that endorsed Alaibe. He said the decision was well thought out, based on what they have seen as Alaibe's edge over other aspirants. He declared: "We have decided to buy the forms for him and present him to our people as the most favoured candidate because he will be the best to take the mantle of leadership in Bayelsa State." The former senator expressed delight that though Alaibe joined the APC last month, he has equal rights as others to contest for the office of the governor because "APC guidelines do not stop anybody who is a member of the party from contesting an election. Even if you joined yesterday, you have the same right to contest the election as somebody who joined two years ago." What he did not say was that even those who joined late are free to apply to the party leadership for a waiver. The political chieftain from Bayelsa State came short of boasting that his candidate is the best governorship material compared to and with other aspirants. He explained, "Don't forget that Alaibe has a track record of achievements when he was in the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission). At that time, he managed nine states. I don't think one state will be a problem for him. So, we are confident that he stands the best chance to pick the APC ticket and win the election scheduled for December 5." Politicians are the best optimists you can think of. They have roaring ways of talking with such assurance and certainty that you are bound to believe them. Sometimes they get it right. At other times, the prophecy hits the rocks; and they blame it on luck or the lack of it. I recall a story Ibrahim Mantu, the former Deputy President of the Senate, told me some time ago. I was trying to tickle his mind on the controversial June 12, 1993 presidential election. I knew pretty well that he was a member of the National Republican Convention and a close associate of the presidential candidate of that party. I asked him: when it was clear that Social Democratic Party was heading for victory in that election, how did you feel; and what was the atmosphere within the NRC camp. He smiled and replied: you won't understand the minds of politicians until you are involved in politics. He recalled that while they were still arguing over the result, one group was already writing a letter of congratulation to Moshood Abiola while the generality of opinion was for NRC to immediately start planning for the next election by looking into what went wrong with that of 1993. Meanwhile, a winner was yet to be declared and sworn-in; at the same, the other party was planning for the next election. Perhaps, Brambaifa's confidence in Alaibe's victory at the polls is not misplaced. It is possible

窶｢ Alaibe

By Jack Kalio he knows something about politics; particularly Bayelsa politics, that makes him beat his chest in anticipatory victory even before the contest begins. If politics were like football, it probably would be easier to predict since it is the quality of players in a squad that determines the outcome. It was equally thrilling to hear the aspirant talk in upbeat tone when he eventually went to party's office to submit his nomination form. Media reports quoted him as clearly justifying the reasons for his entry to the race despite past frustrations in the hands of chieftains of his previous political platform, the Peoples Democratic Party. He told journalists: "I came here today to submit my Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms. We, the Bayelsa people, are tired of accidental leadership, we are tired of lack of vision leadership and you know that I come with a lot of sustainable development experience; I come with goodwill, network, integrity and reputation to change the course of leadership in our state." Alaibe disclosed that Bayelsa as a major oil producing state in Nigeria has not been able to see structured development in the areas of economic, infrastructure even environmental development. He stated his mission: "We want to ensure that Bayelsa becomes that ultimate destination in the Niger Delta; that is the simple thing we want to do. It looks simple but other former leaders have been challenged with it and it is still not resolved. So, the credible person you see here is calling for such change. Our grassroots people are calling for change not just for the sake of it but to see change in their life. Welfare of our people is critical; our educational system has collapsed and we want to make that change happen." When a reporter asked him how he intends to handle the issue of poor terrain Bayelsa state which has been a constant excuse by the sitting governor for non-development of the state, Alaibe said there is leadership and there is leadership with vision: "I told you that I come with experience. I have built roads and schools in Bayelsa State, I have reclaimed shores. There is no terrain challenge that cannot be resolved. Talk about Netherland sitting on water and you can see infrastructure development. If you do not know what to do, let us not use the excuse of terrain. How does the excuse of terrain make you not to resolve the drainage problem in Yenagoa town? How does the excuse of terrain make you not to clear refuse?" Alaibe informed the reporters that his decision to step out again after all the frustrations of the past is because he possesses comparatively superior leadership qualities than all other aspirants. He said: "We are discussing leadership with vision and leadership that gives direction; leadership that knows the critical need for infrastructure development and empowerment. We are talking about leadership that connects people. That is what is absent and that is what we want to fix." As the APC delegates troop out to vote on Tuesday to pick a candidate that will replace Dickson, the above statements must raise alarm in their heads. They must be guided by sound reasoning rather than sentiments. They must know that Bayelsa State is not beyond redemption. They must interpret the uneasiness in the PDP camp correctly. It must be understood that PDP wants Alaibe out of the race so that APC will lose the bid for the governorship seat. It is clear to the PDP that with Alaibe in the race, APC will form the next government in Bayelsa. This is a fact; and even PDP knows it. 窶適alio, a journalist, sent in this piece from Bayelsa State

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

POLITICS

Although Peoples Democratic Party's Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State still has up to 2017 to occupy his plum office, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that All Progressives Congress (APC) may have concluded plans to commence an early preparation and search for the right candidate to take over Mimiko's job

Ondo 2017: APC in early search for Mimiko's successor

LTHOUGH Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State is not billed to vacate his current office until February 2017, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the sunshine state appears to have commenced the process of ensuring that it produces the next occupier of Alagbaka Government House. The Nation gathered that APC's preparation for the next governorship election in the state started immediately after the last general election. Following its surprise defeat by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State Assembly elections, in spite of its earlier victory at the Presidential and National Assembly elections, leaders of the APC in Ondo State saw the need to start the race to the Government House early if it must oust Mimiko and the PDP in 2017. It would be recalled that the APC won both the presidential election and majority of seats in the Senate and House of Representatives in Ondo State during the last general election. Specifically, the party won three out of the three senatorial seats and five out of nine House of Representatives seats in the state. But the ruling PDP surprisingly recovered from the shock of its earlier defeat and beat the APC in the State Assembly elections. The APC could only manage to clinch five state constituencies while Governor Mimiko's PDP cleared the remaining 19 seats to retain control of the 24-member Assembly. According to Chief Collins Adebayo, the party, startled by the unexpected recovery of the ruling party, set out to find out reasons for the development and how to forestall such in future. Adebayo, a Chieftain of the APC in Akure, said finding by the committee saddled with the task of unraveling the sudden decline in the fortune of the party at the last election in the state, prompted the leadership of the party to urge its members towards an early start in the race to the 2016 gubernatorial contest. "We realised that the Mimiko-led administration have been around for a long time and they have huge capacity to deceive the people with mind blowing propaganda. That was what happened during the last State Assembly election and we see the need to forestall a repeat. Apart from that, two years is a very short time in politics. Before you know it, the election will happen on us and we don't want to be caught unaware. We are resolute in our determination to free Ondo State from the shackles of this oppressive administration," he explained. Intensive membership drive Consequently, the APC in Ondo State has commenced what it called the Continuous Membership Registration (CMR) exercise in all the 18 local government areas of the state. According to Adebayo, the exercise, now in its second month, is a huge success. "If we had doubt about how ready the people of the state are for the good change they are seeing all over the country, this membership registration exercise erased such doubt. You need to see how eager the people are to join our party. With this, the PDP will soon become past tense in Ondo politics," he said. A statement issued by the party's Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya,

• Mimiko

• Boroffice

• Kekemeke

• Akeredolu

said "the Continuous Membership Registration (CMR) was informed by the influx and exodus of politicians and professionals from the LP, PDP, AD and other political parties to the APC. The defectors have realised that APC will offer a purposeful, peoples' government in the state". "We assure all members of our party, (APC), especially intending defectors, of a level playing field and equal opportunities for all aspirants. One man will not decide all candidates for all political offices like the narrative of the embattled LP. Our party would conduct primary elections for all political offices according to the party's guidelines. "We are all indigenes of Ondo State, and the reality of status quo in the state has put the task on all indigenes of our dear state to salvage it from this bad and inept leadership."

• Alasoadura

• Oke

Defection galore And it appears the party is already reaping from its early moves as hundreds of leading PDP members across the state continue to defect to the APC. Recently, scores of PDP chieftains in the oilproducing Ilaje Local Council Area joined the APC. Led by Prince Glory Okuntade, the defectors said they were leaving PDP, which they described as Egypt because of the mismanagement that they alleged the party has subjected the country to for the past 16 years it had been in the saddle. Aside Okuntade, other defectors included former political and party office holders, including Messrs Timi Olowofoyeku, Dele Asogbon, Ademibo Okuntade, Festus Ademuwagun, Chief Ebini Idowu and Oronla Adebanjo. Okuntade, who spoke on behalf of others, said they have nothing to show their

teeming supporters in the coastal area as evidences of the development that their membership of PDP had brought to them. Former National Legal Adviser of the PDP and its governorship candidate in the 2012 election, Chief Olusola Oke, who earlier defected to the APC, while receiving the defectors, said the time has come for all Ilaje sons and daughters to dump the PDP which has brought untold hardship to the people in the country. "The change that has taken over Nigeria will come to Ondo State. This is the time for change in Ondo State. It is not good for this state to be in opposition to the federal government. We must be in tandem with the government at the centre. We want to take over the government both at the state and local government levels," he said. Speaking in similar veins, another PDP defector and a former commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Benson Enikuomehin, said the structures of PDP in the local government and state are collapsing as its former leaders are leaving for the APC. A former special adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State on Environmental Sanitation, who is from Ondo State, Bola Illori, expressed his optimism that with its determination and preparation, the APC will win the next governorship election in the state. Ilori confirmed that the party has started mobilising new members for the party as well as pacifying aggrieved members across the state. According to him, the APC is in a better position than before to chase Mimiko and the ruling PDP out of the Government House next year. "I am very sure Mimiko will not produce his own successor. Anyway, there is no third time and we are set for the election. We are getting more people on our side every day; we are winning the traditional institution, winning the social institution and we are active and ready. The momentum of change is heavy in Ondo and for that we are quite sure that we are set to win. It is over for PDP in Ondo, if you look at Ondo town where the governor hails from, you will know that PDP is no more popular," he said. Governorship hopefuls emerging Already, aspirants interested in vying for the governorship ticket of the party are emerging. Amongst them is the senator representing Ondo North in the National Assembly, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice. The second term senator also vied for the ticket in 2012. He is from the Akoko axis of Ondo North Senatorial District. Close sources told The Nation that in line with the party's preference for early preparations towards the election, Boroffice would soon announce his intention to contest the governorship seat. "He is serious and ready to go all the way with his governorship ambition," an aide of the senator said. Other APC chieftains allegedly interested in the governorship ticket are Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, the current State Chairman of the party, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who currently represents the Ondo Central Senatorial District and Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who was the party's candidate in the 2012 governorship election. Party sources also added that more party chieftains, especially amongst the defectors, are also eyeing the ticket. Leading the pack, according to findings by The Nation, is Chief Sola Oke, the PDP governorship candidate in the 2012 gubernatorial contest. Oke, who is from Ondo South Senatorial District is banking on the party's promise of a level playing ground for all aspirants as he enters into the race for the ticket. "Oke is the man who can defeat Mimiko and the PDP. He is the man APC need to effect change in Ondo," an associate of the former PDP National Legal Adviser said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

POLITICS

SGF: What Ojukwu said about the job I

N a contribution to a debate over whether or not the South-East should accept the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) after Dr Alex Ekwueme lost in his presidential bid in 1998/1999, the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu reminded his people that a secretary is someone who carries coffee. That might have been a hyperbole but it drove the point home: The offer was not befitting for his people, as far as he was concerned. Not everybody might have shared in that view but methinks that there is something awry in the fact that 16 years later, the posturing among some political leaders in the zone is such that suggests that the best that could happen to the South-East is that office. I find the interest shown in that office by some Igbo elements as both a contradiction and a seeming sense of desperation. Those showing disappointment that President Muhammadu Buhari failed to appoint an Igbo as the SGF failed it for at least three major reasons. One, an Igbo has just left that office, and so what's the big deal. If the South-East couldn't get a promotion, its people should not canvass for the office again as if everything has been denied them by Buhari. Good a thing, the last holder, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, brought glamour to it but it should not be seen as an ambition for the South-East collective. But even with what Anyim did, I am of the view that Ojukwu's coffee theory may readily apply under the present circumstances. An SGF of South-East extraction under the current dispensation may not have as much clout as Anyim had, given the current matrix of offices in the Buhari regime. Or, do we want a secretary who will be excused from a meeting after serving coffee? Agreed, some Igbo elements in the All Progressives Congress (APC) might have nursed the ambition of becoming the SGF but that interest does coincide with the collective interest of the people of the zone. Which brings us to the second reason why the South-East expectations over the SGF were faulty: Whether South-East APC leaders like it or not, the truth is that the people of the zone were generally for President Buhari's opponent in the last presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan. Yes, Buhari got votes from the zone but the people of the zone, as a collective, wanted Jonathan, for reasons that have been so well stated previously by several commentators that they do not warrant any repetition here. President Buhari himself has put that on record when he made a clear distinction between those who gave him five percent of their votes and those who gave him 95 percent. That was a clear innuendo on "I know those who voted for me."Is it fair, therefore, to expect him to bring the zone that gave him only five per cent into the innermost temple of his government? As a child, my mother used to allude to the proverbial child who eats in the house of a woman to whom his mother is a debtor. According to the proverb, the creditor mother would only grudgingly give the child a portion of the meal: "Eat and add to the debt your mother owes me". By aspiring for the office of the SGF, even if subtly, the people of the South-East, if you like, the Igbo, were playing that proverbial boy. Finally, the people of the South-East ought to be reminded that even their worst critics have acknowledged what they have accomplished for themselves through the last general election. They have broken the "Jinx" of "not speaking with one voice". Perhaps for the first time in a long period of time, they took a common stand and stuck to it to the end. Some critics wish it away as out of default. But it was not. The Igbo of the South-East should not arm their critics. They know what and whom they wanted and were ready to face the consequences of their actions, including forgoing choice offices. But even so, the general feeling of despondency among the Igbo of the South-East to the Buhari regime is not necessary and may even be counterproductive. The people (of the South-East) wanted to prove a point and it is to their eternal credit that they succeed in doing so. As I have stated in previous articles, the APC-Buhari project was not superior to the Jonathan re-election agenda, the victory of the former and the current bashing of the latter's regime notwithstanding. Both sides knew what it was out to accomplish and in every contest, a winner must emerge. In my article, "Igbo did not make a mistake on the 2015 general election," I noted that the major reason the Igbo took the stance on Buhari was that

Senate President on trial

â&#x20AC;˘ Ojukwu By Ethelbert Okere

he was wrongly presented to them. And it is worth respecting: Buhari was presented as a religious fanatic, a Boko Haram sympathizer and even an Igbo hater. Those who had the responsibility of packaging him did not seem to care about Buhari's image among the Igbo apparently because they thought it did not matter. Yes, he went ahead to win the election but that does not in any way obliterate the significance of the fact that the Igbo chose to distance themselves from fellow who, going by what they were told knew about him, did not fit the bill. Some Igbo APC leaders have tried to give the impression that the Igbo are receiving the punishment for not being part of the Buhari project. My advice to such leaders is that they should desist from such posturing because they are bound to regret it. In any case, it is not a hidden matter that Buhari is not enamored by them, due both to their antecedents and abysmal performance in office. Consequently, Buhari should look beyond this class of politicians and see ways he can endear himself to the people; not the political elite whether in the APC, PDP, APGA and what have you. As I have stated earlier in this article, the president should not listen to the talk about SGF. There are many things at his disposal to use to make the Igbo of the South-East feel quite at home with him; and there are people he can use to achieve that outside those currently parading themselves as Igbo representatives in the APC-Buhari dispensation. Still, the president should not also listen to those who say that the appointments from the Igbo speaking parts of the South-South, notably Delta and Rivers states, makes up for the Igbo of the South-East. It is not the same thing because the matter has to do with geo-politics, not tribe. It is only a matter of coincidence that there are Igbo in those states. It is also a matter of coincidence that the South-East is made up entirely of only Igbo. Nobody should mix up issues: Igbo of the South-East sincerely see those of the South-South as their brothers but it is politically incorrect to take what belongs to one group for the other. Therefore, those who argue that the appointment of said Dr Ibe Kachikwu, an Igbo from Delta State, should be taken for an appointment for the Igbo of the South-East are blackmailing the Igbo of both zones, and misleading the president. Overall, my people, the Igbo of the South-East, should not allow themselves to be cajoled into rubbishing what they achieved at the 2015 general election; which is that they gave character to the politics of the zone. While they must not cheapen themselves by expressing hasty regrets over what they did, they, nonetheless, owe themselves a duty to work for a better Nigeria and which they can only demonstrate presently by cooperating with the Buhari regime.

ENATE President Bukola Saraki's trial for alleged under-declaration of assets scheduled for last Friday would have kick started the Buhari War Against Corruption. The Code of Conduct Bureau that filed the charges before the Code of Conduct Tribunal said Saraki had violated the law in 2003 and 2007 as he was alleged to have deliberately left out some prime assets from the forms he filled at the CCB. As expected, the Senate President took exception to the charges and chose to fight all the way. He was quick to credit the prosecution to political vendetta over the June 9 leadership contest in the Senate where he felt he had outsmarted the President and his party, the All Progressives Congress. All this is legitimate. He has the right to fair hearing and his defence. However, the mode of defence is unacceptable. Senator Saraki opted to delay the trial by obtaining an ex parte motion from a Federal High Court, Abuja. His lawyers contended that, under the law, only the Attorney General of the Federation, or a lawyer mandated by him, could prosecute such a case. This is a constitutional fine point on procedure that could be brought up on any trial since President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to hold on to the appointment of ministers. I once argued on this page against the delay in appointing ministers. It was, and is still, my view that failure to do so hampers the take off of governance and is actually a violation of the supreme law of the country. One of the sections I cited was the one on mandatory appointment of an Attorney General. The Executive Council of the Federation has a role to play in governing Africa's most populous country. But, I see no justification in making efforts to obstruct the commencement of trial in this case. Rather than rush to a court to obtain such an injunction ex parte, the accused could have waited for his arraignment and raised the same objection before the Tribunal. His attempt to befuddle issues by linking the trial to the prevailing political environment amounts to standing in the way of justice. I see no merit either in the argument by those sympathetic to the Senate President's political cause that the case is coming up more than 10 yea

after the alleged crime was committed. Mike Ozekhome, a senior lawyer, is one of such supporters of the accused Senate President. He was on television on Friday attempting to sway public opinion against the trial. He agreed that arraignment for crime is not statute barred, but, nonetheless, he contended, Dr. Saraki ought not be hauled before a court of competent jurisdiction. Ozekhome was a pathetic case as he sought to use adjectives to cover his submissions' lack of merit. Agreed, the CCB failed in its statutory duty of checking on submissions made by public officers. It is a shame that it took the Bureau all of 12 years to discover the alleged Saraki cover up. Even where it is accepted that the Bureau could have been influenced by the prevailing political authority, it is still an indication that its leadership failed to perform its statutory duties without fear or favour. 8Anyone with an iron-cast defence would have felt so outraged that he would unhesitatingly seize the opportunity of the trial to clear his name. Were the prosecution to nr slothful in handling the matter, I would, in Saraki's shoes, have applied that it be expeditiously treated. It is surprising that some lawyers who claim to be neutral, have chosen to support the Saraki course of action. One would expect them to feel insulted by the Senate President's subtle suggestion that the CCB is being used by the President to fight a petty battle. This is an indictment of the judiciary which every lawyer and judge should have denounced until proven. It is my considered view that the Nigerian public should rise to support the ear against corruption by backing this government despite its failure to be up to speed with public expectation. The Saraki approach to fighting the matter is a wake-up call on the President and the Bureau. The President should drop the "Baba=g=slow" tag and begging to enunciate policies for development. He should make appointments that would elicit the confidence of the public. Gaps that those who could run foul of the law could exploit should be blocked that the same lacuna that afforded officials impunity under previous administrations would not derail the change agenda. The Nigerian state has waited long enough for the dawn of a new day. President Buhari has a task that personal failing should not hinder.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

POLITICS

Buhari's high expectations for civil servants

PDP's house of commotion

ill the embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ever be free from the multiple crises that have been its lot since its defeat at the last general election? This is the question on the lips of friends and foes of the party alike following news that fresh crisis is brewing as the national leadership of the party put on hold a proposed PDP National Conference slated for October. Ripples gathered that many prominent chieftains are miffed at the development seen as a slap on the face of a committee that has the former Information Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, as chairman, which has been working round the clock to organise the conference. While the Gana Committee enjoys the support of all other statutory organs of the party, except the Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC), the NWC is scared that the conference may be used to pull the rug off its feet. Calling off the conference through the National Secretary, Professor Adewale Oladipo, the NWC said there is need to allow the PDP Post Election Assessment Committee, led by Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, submit its report before any other action. Sadly, many people are grumbling over the development and there are fears that more troubles are in stock for Secondus and his men. • Buhari

P • Fayose

Fayose's Sallah rams: 'To take or not to take?'

HERE is a new debate going on in Ekiti State. The people are talking and there is need for a decision to be taken, especially by the Muslim Community in the restive state. But the debate is not about development or new government policies; rather it is about Governor Ayo Fayose's Sallah rams. Fayose, sources say, is eager to 'dash' out many rams to Muslims across the state, for their Sallah enjoyment, but trouble started when the League of Imams and Alfas issued a statement ordering all Muslim adherents in Ekiti to reject rams and other gifts offered them for Eid-el-Kabir celebration to protest alleged marginalisation of their members. They accused the governor of sidelining Muslims in his appointments. But the order was swiftly countered in another statement by the General Secretary, League of Imams and Alfas, Alhaji Abdulrasak Adenipekun, who described the governor as a defender of all faiths who has been fair to Muslims in the appointments made so far. But the League has described Adenipekun as an impostor, saying he is not recognised to speak for the body. To Muslims in Ekiti State, there is confusion over how they should treat Fayose and his rams. Are they to collect, or to reject the gift? Ripples also learnt that the governor and his government are also worried over the development as the order and counter order may affect the 'smooth distribution of the laudable dividends of democracy' which the disputed rams are supposed to be.

• Secondus

RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, in far away France, displayed his rare side when he told the world that civil servants were preferable to ministers who are politicians and 'make a lot of noise.' "But the work is being done by the technocrats. They are there; they have to provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide us who are just coming in," the President said. With that statement, the President has shown that he would be expecting a lot from civil servants as he made to plunge headlong into the task of piloting the affairs of the country for the next four years because "to whom much is given, much is expected.' It is now left to be seen if the civil servants, known for being ready accomplices with corrupt politicians in the past, will change their ways and reciprocate Buhari's kind gesture by living up to his high expectation, because no one need be told that it is the same way he unsparingly flattered them in France that he will disgrace them back home should they be found wanting. Didn't the elders say a word is enough for the wise?

Still on Faleke's triumphant homecoming in Kogi

AST week, Ripples reported Abiodun James Faleke's triumphant homecoming in Kogi State. The report said erroneously that he hails from Iyamoye-Okun tribe of Kogi State. We have since gathered that the two-term member of the House of Representatives, representing Ikeja Federal Constituency of Lagos State, who was recently picked as the All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate in the forthcoming election in Kogi State, is from Akinrin-Adde in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State. We note that contrary to claims in some quarters that the youthful lawmaker is an outsider in Kogi State politics, he has indeed, for many years, been part and parcel of the political system of his state of origin. Faleke will run on the ticket which already has Abubakar Audu as the governorship candidate. Until he was elected a federal lawmaker, he had been chairman of Ojodu Local Government Council in Lagos twice. Even while practicing politics in Lagos, Faleke has on many occasions joined other progressives to intervene in the politics of Kogi State in one way or the other. For one, it is on record that he played very important roles in popularizing the APC within the state in the run up to the last presidential election. He was also named Director, Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign, in charge of Lagos activities, in the build-up to the presidential election. With his emergence as the deputy governorship candidate in the state, many people are saying, for Faleke, it is a much desired and awaited return to his state of birth.

• Faleke

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

NEYMAR ROBINHO WAS MY BIGGEST HERO’ ‘My boyfriend

dumped me because of weightlifting’ PAGE 39

GRASS TO GRACE How Olukoya transformed MFM into Premiership club PAGE 40

NATIONS SPORT & STYLE

Meet Maureen Mmadu

First Nigerian woman to coach top European club

Maureen Nkeiruka Mmadu is living her dream in Norway where she is the first Nigerian women's football coach attached to a top European club at Avaldsnes and the former international told PATRICK NGWAOGU that she's the best woman to lift the Super Falcons from their present quagmire state on the continent.

AUREEN Nkeiruka Mmadu was born on May 7, 1975 and hails from Onitsha in Anambra State. She is a Nigerian football coach and former midfielder. As a player, she most recently represented Avaldsnes IL, a First Division team based on Norway's west coast. She played for several other teams in Norway's Toppserien as well for Linköpings FC and QBIK in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. She previously played for Klepp IL in the Norwegian Toppserien. Mmadu played for Kolbotn in Oslo, Norway, for the 2010 season, helping them to third place in the Toppserien league. She was seen playing for Avaldsnes IL in an off-season tournament in Oslo on 5 February, 2012. She was the first Nigerian player to make 100 appearances for the Nigeria women's national football team including appearing at four FIFA Women's World Cups as well as the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics.Today, she is the only Nigerian women coach handling a premiership club in Europe. "From 2012 to date, I have been the assistant coach in Avaldsnes team and chief coach of the same Avaldsens 2 division too,” said Maureen. “So, I'm in the Premier League as assistant and chief coach of 2 division in this same team. “The club have a lot of respect for me because of my immense contributions to them as a player; I have my UEFA C license as a coach. I'm also a chief coach with a Division 2 women's team here and an assistant coach in a premier league women team. “I am also a coach developer in my team since 2012

and I think Nigeria should tap from my wealth of experience as a player and as a coach too. “I have gathered experience over the years, having played in Europe for 13 years and also as a coach for the past three years with a Premier League women's team and also a Division 2 women too. “If I am given the opportunity to handle the Super Falcons, I am going to bring in my best with a lot of experience and teach them how modern-day football is played. “We have good talents but we lack a lot of things about modern-day football but I will change their African mentality and ways of playing because football now is not only kicking the ball, you also have to teach them what to do when we

are not in possession of the ball too. “I have worked with some of the best coaches in Europe as assistant in the premier league women here in Norway and I have also learned a lot at various coaching courses I have attended,” she revealed. Speaking further, the former Nigerian international said she was not oblivious of the problems befuddling the Super Falcons following their failure to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as well as missing the soccer Gold Medal at the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville. "I'm not boasting, and I think I can help the Super Falcons at these challenging times when the team is really struggling,” she said. “I will do my best to change their mentality to the way modern football is played now but I have refused to lobby anybody for the job. “My job should be able to speak for me and If you check the line up of my team, you would see the Colombian player that played in the last World Cup is here with me. “We have players from different countries like Brazil, Iceland, Ireland, Colombia, USA and Norway too in the team; if the NFF wants the best for our female team, I should be given the job and honestly I will turn the team around; I don't talk much but my work should speak for me." The amiable former hard working midfielder said she already has a strategy in place should she be given the Super Falcons' job: "I would only take players who are between the ages of 20-28 years and honesty, I will not tolerate any player who is not ready to work for the team and the country. “I want to be realistic here. There is nothing a foreign coach is going to teach that I can't but I would want to stop at that. The difference would only be the colour. “I have played football at the top level and I have worked with top coaches and I have also played under top coaches and I am now a coach too, so what quality of coaching does the Super Falcons need that I don't have? “We have talented players but we are missing a lot in formation, organisation, collective and tactical things to make our women football grow, and I think I have what it takes to handle the Super Falcons at this time," she concluded.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

OR Baliqis Otunla, winning three gold medals in weightlifting event at the 11th edition of the All Africa Games is the biggest achievement she has ever had. But her worry is not having someone by her side during such feat. Otunla, who is making her first appearance at the Africa's miniOlympic Games, revealed to Akeem Lawal that she had to break up with her former boyfriend since he could not cope with her involvement in the sport. “I was once in a relationship but it didn't work out because my guy then was not comfortable with my calling as a weightlifter,” said Otunla after she wrought three gold medals in only her first appearance at the African Games in Congo Brazzaville. “He was complaining too much about my travelling for competitions, saying he cannot cope and even complained then that I will not be beautiful again because of weightlifting but I've decided to leave everything in the hands of God because I do not have to rush into any relationship again.” She further explained that her focus is now squarely on her career until she finds a man of her dream: “I need a man that will understand me; a man that would give me support and be by my side to celebrate my success. “I'm not in any relationship at the moment and I think this contributed to my success here (at the African Games) since there was nobody disturbing me with calls asking me when I'm coming back home or what are you doing and stuff like that. “I was able to concentrate here but that does not say I won't marry or go into relationship; in fact, I want it (relationship) and anything can happen any time by the grace of God,” Otunla admitted as she spoke on sundry issues.

Three gold medals on her debut at African Games Well, I am extremely happy because, as a first timer, I never believe I could achieve such a great success. It was not on my mind to win gold medal but when we started and I saw that I was doing well, I said to myself that I

‘My boyfriend

dumped me because of weightlifting’

should go for it. Also, it was not by my power but God's. So when I made it, it was like a spirit came out from me and I felt, 'so I'm still alive that I still have the ability to do it.' I'm happy to have made such an impact. There is no sport (inclined) person in my family and when I told them that I won, they did not believe me. They asked if truly I won and I said to them that I did; it was then they now expressed gratitude to God that, at last, I was able to prove myself to them. That it was truly I wanted to go back into sport because they were not totally in support at the beginning of my career, they do not understand the sport or the importance of sport. They do not understand what it was all about. To them, I was wasting my time, playing away my future; that there are a lot of better things that I can do with my life rather than taking to sport. But with this success, they promised to celebrate it with me. Road to success Well, I will say it was not easy. It was rough, seriously and terribly rough. Rough in the sense that you have to train very well; stressful, struggle to make a better performance because it is all about record in weightlifting and what you have in your shoulder. Even if you have injury but once you pray and believe you can achieve good results, you will want to go ahead once you trained so hard.

Though it was rough, I enjoyed it. Dumping school for weightlifting I was disturbed by my parents to go school but I had to put it aside as a part time student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta. I put it aside because I love this sport. I also went for fashion designing, yet I still could not finish it because of the love I have for weightlifting. But with what I have achieved now, I can go back to school and even to fashion designing. I really want to go back to school because I will not want to be a liability to any man. Also, one needs to plan for life after sport because I will marry and settle down to live with my husband and children. Even as pet fashion, if I learn it, I will design my cloth by myself. With education, one would be respected; nobody will underrate you or look down on you. You will be respected and get good positions in the society. I have made up my mind that I will not allow anybody to look down on me because if you don't know, you don't know and people will rubbish you, but I don't want that to happen to me. Even though delayed, that does not mean I can't go back to school because I have already promised myself education once I achieve success in weightlifting and now that I am getting there, I have to go back so that I will know right from left. Picking interest in weightlifting

My getting involved in weightlifting was like a child's play. It was not what I actually set out for. Then I used to play football, but because of the way they treated us which I didn't like. Apart from the stress, they didn't encourage us. At times, you would be begging for assistance, but you won't get it. Even when you think you would make the team, you would be dropped. They would not pay allowance. So, when we were to go to Denmark but the trip was aborted without any concrete or genuine reasons, it was then I decided to quit football finally. And fortunately, I met one man Mr Ismaila Yusuf, a weightlifting coach at the National Stadium in Lagos who said I can do the sport. I asked, 'how can that be possible when I do not have prior knowledge or any form of training?' But he said I can do it. I told him I do not have the power to lift, he said it's not about power but techniques and when I started gradually, I realised that I can do it. And in a particular day when I saw the way I developed with my muscles, I loved it and it was then I made up my mind to go into weightlifting fully and before I knew what was happening, I was invited to the national team and I said to myself this is where I belong; that it pays better than team event where I was not recognised and appreciated. I was invited to the national team for youth games and now I am at the top level of my career winning medals, and not just ordinary medals but gold and three at a time. I am really grateful to God and I am ready to do more. Eyes on Rio 2016 Olympics I was at 2012 National Sport Festival and I won three gold medals in 69 kg. Before then, I was in Egypt in 2010 for youth games qualifier, I picked three silver. That was my first international assignment before the Kenya Senior Olympic qualifier where I won three silver. This is the real thing that has happened to me, the big event. If my performance is okay for the Olympics, by the grace of God I shall be there to make the country proud as well as my family. I've been inspired by a lot of people and the first person I saw when I started was Juliet Ekueboh, a police officer, with her height and the way she carried herself but later left Nigeria and met another senior colleague who is in heavyweight category, Mariam Usman. She encourages one to always go for the best and a very determined athlete, so she is my role model. Of course, I would have been happier if Mariam (Usman) had won a gold medal here; that she won silver does not mean she is not good, it has been destined to be because she is a go-getter. It's a game and we all came here to win. What happened has happened, she still deserved the honour. She inspires me a lot.

GRASS TO GRACE SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015 It's no news that religious organisations across Nigeria own and run football clubs, what is news is that the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, MFM, has become the first church team to qualify to play in the prestigious Nigeria Premier League, reports Ilugbekhai Emmanuel

How Olukoya transformed MFM into Premiership club

HIS is coming nearly two decades since Lagos State last had a team in the elite division of Nigerian football. All credit must go to Dr Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, the General Overseer of one of the largest pentecostal churches in Africa, a man whose large appetite for empowering the youth is legendary. The world is aware of his regular scholarship awards to first class graduates from various tertiary institutions ‎who are members of MFM scattered across the universe. He took this a notch higher with his Youth Repositioning Agenda, a divine instruction he received from God in 2006 with the birth of a football competition amongst MFM branches across Africa. Sports was part of his 70 point-agenda for youths. Four years into the competition, precisely 2011, MFM got into the amateur ‎League Two. And a season later, the team gained promotion to amateur division one. But while getting ready for the new season, there was a divine promotion to the more illustrious Nigerian Division One League, which is one step lower than the Nigerian Premier League. This opportunity came in 2013 when Alhaji Toyin Gafaar, proprietor of famed Ikorodu side, Bolowotan football club, gave up his place in the NNL to MFM. "I had to take a decision which was, firstly, listening to what God was saying to me to give my pet club to an organisation that would take very good care of it. The choice was obvious, it had to be MFM,” explained Gafaar."Secondly, Lagos needed a team in the Nigerian Premier League in no distant future and I was confident that MFM can do it. “I had this at the back of my mind, the reason I rejected millions offered me to sell it to clubs outside Lagos. Looking back now, I thank God I took the right decision. They have just gained promotion to play in the NPL which is a dream that has come to pass for me," noted the football enthusiast. With a strong financial base, moral and spiritual backing of Dr Olukoya, the sky was going to be the starting point for MFM FC. According to Godwin Enakhena, who is the chairman of MFM FC, the team was condemned to doing very well because of the support from its financiers. "From 2007 when MFM FC was founded, Dr Olukoya has not stopped giving us all we need to excel. "With a befitting hostel, regular payment of salaries, feeding of the players and their officials, the boys knew

Pastor Olukoya with Enakhena they had to deliver. A testament of how well motivated the players were manifested in December 2014 when MFM emerged the first church to win the maiden Church World Cup in Goa, India. "Gaining promotion to play in the Nigerian Premier League is a dream come through for us all at MFM," concluded the sports journalist. An obviously delighted chairman of Lagos State Football Association, Barr Seyi Akinwunmi, also expressed his delight on the promotion of MFM FC to the premier league. "I'm very happy for Lagosians and by extension the FA and MFM that after 23 years absence, football is back in Lagos. Truth is, if I decide to quit this post today, I will be satisfied because football is back in Lagos." ‎For MFM, the team's promotion to the NPL is one achievement that has caught the attention of the world in the last two weeks. Aside loads of goodwill messages, the management of MFM FC has revived tons of coaching applications from coaches within and outside Nigeria who want to lead the newest baby in Nigerian football. The number one football person in Nigeria, Amaju Pinnick, who is the president of Nigeria Football Federation, was at MFM's Yaba headquarters on Sunday to celebrate with the church. Pinnick, who described MFM FC's rise to the top of Nigerian football as a model for others to follow, promised to support the church to ensure it stays at the pinnacle of football for a long time. "MFM has made history as the first church to qualify to play in the Nigerian Premier League, this is commendable. I salute the General Overseer, players and officials of the team

for this youth development policy. I urge other religious organisations to borrow a leaf from MFM.” ‎It is on record that MFM FC produced players for the Nigerian under 17 side, popularly called the Golden Eaglets, en route to victory at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Abu Dhabi in 2013. MFM also had three players in the Nigeria U-20 side, the Flying Eagles, that won the Africa U-20 Championship in Senegal this year. Aside goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo who was in goal for the Flying Eagles, midfielder Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Belgium-based Wilfred Ndidi‎, Akinjide Idowu and assistant coach, Nduka Ugbade, is the Technical Director of MFM FC. For the records, MFM is not only about football. Wrestler Odunayo Adekuoroye who won gold at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, is a product of the church. This is not forgetting Africa and Commonwealth long jump gold medallist, Ese Brume, and sprinter Divine Oduduru who were discovered at the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Dr Olukoya National Under 18 Athletics championship which the GO has sponsored nonstop since 2012. Asked how MFM FC plans to keep pace with the big boys in the Nigerian Premier League, Enakhena who doubles as the Sports Director was confident that there won't be problems: "MFM FC didn't get into the league by default, we were ready from the word go, we planned and bided our time for the right opportunity to make a statement by qualifying for the Premier League. "Truth is, there's nothing special about the NPL. We've been ready since 2007, so, there's no cause for alarm. MFM FC is ready to play in the big league,” he noted.

Neymar: 'Robinho was my biggest hero’ Romario, Robinho, Dani Alves and Javier Mascherano have all graced the pitch during Neymar's lifetime. The Brazil and Barcelona striker explains how each of them have influenced his development. Neymar is simply and compellingly spectacular. He has everything it takes to become better than Messi. Messi has already made history with what he has achieved, and Neymar can do the same and perhaps take things even further. Who knows how many more World Cups Messi will feature at? In any case, Neymar still has the chance to play at several more World Cup finals. Who is your greatest role model? Robinho, without a doubt. I admired him when I was a small boy and then had the great honour of playing alongside him for not only Santos but also the Brazilian national team. Which players, past or present, would you most like to play a match with? I'm a big fan of Romario. He's someone I would really, really have liked as a teammate. The same is true of Zinedine Zidane. I once had the chance to take to the pitch with Ronaldo; it was his last-ever match for Brazil, and I wish we'd had the chance to partner each other more often. Who do you rate as the strongest defender you've ever had to go up against? Wow, that's a really tough question to answer. There

are so many top defenders: Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos are just some of them I could go on and on. Who is your best friend in the world of football? I'm fortunate to have made many great friends. I was particularly close to Paulo Henrique Ganso during my time at Santos, but unfortunately we lost touch with one another a little after he moved to another club. These days it's Dani Alves; he's one of my best mates. What do you consider to be the best goal you've ever scored? I've scored so many special goals that were significant at different points in my career so far, and I'll never forget any of them. But if I have to choose, then it'd probably be my goal against Flamengo. That's the strike that won me the FIFA Puskas Award.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

THE NATION ON SUNDAY Vera Onyeaka-Onyilo is a development communications specialist, social entrepreneur and co-founder of TheoVera Foundation. The foundation has supported several charitable causes in some parts of the country for which she has won wide acclaim both locally and internationally. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, she shares her success story thus far. Excerpts:

INNING the Life Changers Women of Influence award in London I feel highly honoured to be recognised for this award. It brings a great feeling when you are of service to the society without expecting anything in return and you are being appreciated. This will certainly spur me to do more in my spheres of influence. Tell us about your organisation I'm a development communications specialist, social entrepreneur, an advocate, co-founder of TheoVera Foundation. I work in the development sector, particularly health, governance and agricultural sectors. Our foundation caters to needs of widows and orphans, career guidance and counselling for young people, skill acquisition and financial literacy trainings for women, community outreach and advocacy. I have been involved in this endeavour for the past eight years. Source of inspiration I was privileged to participate in a British Council InterAction Leadership Programme in Zambia in 2007 with 22 countries participating and there I learnt about Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a Southern African term which means human kindness and is often used in a more philosophical sense to mean 'humanity toward others.' I was truly inspired by that conference and upon our return from Zambia, some members of the N i g e r i a n delegation pulled our personal resources together and embarked on some community projects such as d o n a t i n g borehole a n d

‘You don’t have to be a politician to impact lives’ education materials to some communities in need in Nasarawa State and since then I have not looked back. I believe if you live for yourself you live in vain and that has been my driving force. I would say I have enjoyed the journey so far. Though it has not been rosy all through, I see trying moments as stepping stones and opportunity for me to learn lessons. Staying power The difficulty of a task is not an excuse for avoiding it. My motivation is my passion for the kind of work I do. I'm passionate about making a difference; transforming lives and empowering rural communities, especially women and youth. You don't have to be a politician to serve people. Each one of us can make an impact in the lives of others. That's the essence and major ingredients of happiness. You can serve people at any level; it shouldn't be the position you occupy but the people you are serving. Challenges of humanitarian service The major challenge has been funding. We have not had oppositions to our work and we usually collaborate with other NGOs and development partners to achieve our goals and objectives. Partnership is key for us and it has been wonderful collaborating with people of like minds making a difference. Balancing family life, career I must give glory to God who first of all created women as special beings and imbued us with amazing gift of multi-tasking; combining the role of helpmate, motherhood and contributor to the wellbeing of the family and society. I also thank God for giving me a good husband and family that understands and supports me. It's not e a s y balancing work and home, but how well y o u

manage this can make a significant difference to your relationship with your family. I do not take my family for granted, so I plan ahead. The key is to focus on a plan, get organised. Figure out your family's priorities and ensure they get your attention. Don't take office work home and use your weekends to spend quality time with your spouse and children. Source of finance Many NGOs experience funding issues but that does not mean we should stop working for the good of the society. We would love to undertake more projects but we are constrained due to financial challenges. So we continue to strive to make impact in the society. We do receive support from some corporate organisations and technical support from donor funded projects, but it is not enough and so our personal resources go into sustaining the work of the foundation. Beneficiaries A lot of people have benefitted from our work directly and indirectly. About 5000 lives have been touched directly through our community outreaches, mentorship, capacity building etc. But if we want to look at our partnerships, more people have been touched. For instance, I was part of the coalition that mobilised and led about 5000 women to the National Assembly to advocate for the passage of the National Health bill that will improve healthcare system in Nigeria and benefit the people, especially women and children. The bill was passed, signed into law and is now the National Health Act. Projections for the next five years I see us getting bigger, expanding our frontiers, transforming more lives. Women in leadership Women are doing well in all spheres of endeavour even as leaders, but the challenge has remained getting more women into leadership positions. I am an advocate for equal opportunities, rights, resources etc for men and women because I believe women have what it takes to contribute to sustainable development of the society. We need to have more women take up political leadership. 55 years after independence, we are yet to have a woman elected as a governor, president or vice-president in Nigeria. I am writing a book on women and elective politics in Nigeria, which by God's grace will be published later in the year. We need to get more women into the highest level of leadership as that is where decisions on issues affecting both men and women are made. There needs to be continued advocacy on the part of women on leadership issues in the society, disproving the age-old beliefs and advocating a new paradigm shift. I also want to e m p h a s i s e mentoring of emerging women

leaders. It is the responsibility of women leaders to mentor younger women, so that when they quit the stage, they will have effective representatives to carry on the mantle of leadership. Women education is paramount if there should be meaningful progress towards women empowerment. Education is very key. The late Madiba, Dr Nelson Mandela, once said education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. We need to tackle the problem from the root, educate the girl-child to the highest level and she is equipped and has the chance of a better life and achieve her God-given talents. For women who were not opportune to get formal education, they can still learn vocational skills which will help them earn a living. Government needs to create an enabling policy environment that would enable women access credit to grow their business. We need to consider quota system and affirmative action in women political empowerment, also Information Communication Technology, mentoring and networking, among others. Idea of mentorship Mentoring is very important to raise good and strong women leaders. My first role model is my mum who taught me early in life what it means and takes to be a virtuous woman and not to think of myself alone but to render selfless service for the good of others. My other role models include Dora Akunyili of blessed memory, Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who is the first female in Africa to be elected as president. I met her in 1997 when she visited Lagos and I was inspired by that encounter. I have also received mentoring from women like Mrs Moji Makanjuola, Mrs Felicia Sani whom I fondly call “mama market”, especially for her mobilising skills, the Country Rep of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ms Atsuko Toda, I have learnt a lot from her leadership and management style. Hobbies I enjoy travelling to rural communities, especially to work with women and youth, reading, writing, listening to music, nature lover and adventure, playing table-tennis, football. I am a very humorous person. In my family, we crack jokes a lot and so no dull moment. At times, when I am under pressure and stressed, rather than cry I just begin to smile or laugh and it helps me relieve the burdens in my heart. Lasting legacy I want to be remembered as an advocate, a change agent who contributed to the development of our fatherland in many ways, be it in the health sector, agric sector, politics and international development. Last word Don't give up. It's never late, so keep hope alive and you will get to your destination! Look at President Buhari, after four attempts at the presidency, he achieved his dream becoming Nigeria's current president at 72! No matter your age, you can still make it if you remain focus.

Beauty

IN VOGUE By Kehinde Oluleye

Tel: 08023689894 (sms) E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

Opulent fabric with modern details

F you're an unconventional bride who wants to push the envelope on your wedding day, take a cue from ready-to-wear trends and consider bridal separates. We're obsessed with the two-piece wedding dress trend for one big reason: versatility. You can mix and match your favourite pieces for a look that easily transitions from ceremony to reception to after-party. For instance, if you're having a formal wedding ceremony, pair a dramatic long skirt with an embellished bodice can be a great asset. When your reception rolls around, you can change up your outfit with a party-perfect embellished mini skirt. The best part? Unlike a full-blown gown, you can wear bridal separates again. And even if you opted for a classic wedding dress, try a sleek pantsuit or dramatic caplet and trousers for your dinner dress. You can also add some serious drama to your ceremony with a detachable ruffled organza overlay. When you remove this for your reception, it would reveal a more streamlined wedding dress silhouette. Alternatively, you can turn heads in a romantic fuller silhouette, but with a daring twist: an embroidered crop top. For a perfect after-party look, pair this textured top with sleek white skirt or trousers. If you love the feather trend but aren't ready to commit to a full-feather wedding dress, opt for a fun mini skirt. A cocktail-length outfit with some plumage. This would definitely be festive enough for an after party without being too over-the-top. Another great option is an orgami-inspired strapless top puts an edgy, architectural spin on the wide-leg trouser trend. This fashion-forward look is perfect for the chic rehearsal dinner. If you're really brave, then you can go for a daring lace bralette for a sexy reception or after party look. Pair this skin-bearing top with a high-waisted skirt for a look that's sultry but not too revealing. A perfectly tailored white power suit has stylish staying poweryou can wear it again to a gala or other formal event. If you're having a winter wedding, consider a luxe fur wrapit adds texture and vintage flare to any wedding dress. A longer chantilly lace crop top and tea-length skirt put a cool spin on classic lace. You'll stand out from the crowd, but still look elegant and polished in this traditional bridal fabric. Another plus: Statement accessories will pop against this simple silhouette. A crop top and detachable train give traditional jacquard a one-of-a-kind feel. We love this juxtaposition of opulent fabric and modern details. And, you can always remove the train once you're ready to dance the night away. Formal wedding style is back and better than ever. Pull off a regal look with a sweeping sheer cape, it offers all the drama of a train or veil, but feels a bit fresher.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

New WOMAN

PILLOWTALK 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

The Nigerian Bar Association etc., the police, the judiciary and a member of the student union to carry out an independent investigation on cases of sexual harassment and assault in our tertiary institutions. And if the allegations are proven, the following steps should be taken: 1. The National Universities Commission must blacklist the lecturer involved and sanction him from being employed by any tertiary institution in Nigeria. 2. The police must charge him to court. 3. The judiciary must prosecute the offender and make him and the institution where he lectures pay financial restitution to the victim. 4. The offender must serve a jail term. 5. The professional body he belongs to must withdraw his license and make him unable to practice their profession. 6. This person must not be allowed to work with females from age 6-40 and barred from being around schools and school children regardless of gender. 7. An appropriate protocols and procedures of protection should be set for students. 8. All universities and higher education institutions must set protocols for lecturers on how they should conduct themselves with students. For instance, during office hours when a student has to see a lecturer in his office, there must be a secretary around just like nurses chaperone doctors when examining patients. 9. The National Universities Commission must have an independent standing committee in every university and higher education institutions to investigate every allegation of sexual harassment and assault. 10. As American universities are currently doing, the National Universities Commission must start ranking Nigerian universities and other higher education institutions on the risk of female students being raped by faculty members and fellow students on their campuses. This will force universities and higher education institutions to be proactive in the

molaralife@yahoo.com

Stuck with post-dated cheques

President Buhari must read this

N the last few weeks, I've received desperate reports of more rape cases in some Nigerian tertiary institutions. How can a rapist who walks freely around campus lord himself over female students who have to sit in class and take his lectures? Thousands of girls are going through hell and are too afraid to even tell their parents because they can't stand being further victimised by school authorities. In fact, I've gotten reports from different quarters about a Dean of a Law faculty in one of the federal universities who has not only been notorious for sexual harassment for several years but recently raped a female student who was hospitalised while the university authority is doing all it can to bury the case. This is just so horrifying and would never have degenerated to this extent but for the entire society's lackadaisical attitude towards sexual harassment. However, we want a change which must take effect as soon as possible. Thankfully, President Buhari administration has promised us change and we are assured we won't be disappointed. To start with, government cannot trust the universities and other tertiary institutions to police themselves. When a university claims to have committees set up to investigate allegations of sexual harassment/assault committed by faculty members, because the committee members are usually members of the university faculty they would rather protect the reputation of their colleague, the faculty and the university name than objective fact findings even when the committee is headed by a female faculty member. Never should these allegations be left alone to the universities and other tertiary institutions to investigate because they have proven to make investigations complicated and unrresolvable. Imagine Dr. Baruwa, the University of Lagos lecturer who recently raped a teenager being disowned by the university even when another lady who was a former student of the university boldly exposed how he sexually assaulted her years ago and with proven documentary evidence too. I'll be shocked if the National Universities Commission and the federal ministry of education are not currently conducting their independent investigations on this rape allegation and how rampant sexual harassment and assaults are in University of Lagos. This is why the federal government must set up a committee immediately in every university which should comprise the National Universities Commission, professional bodies like

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

prevention of rape and sexual harassment and every other form of sexual assault by faculty members and fellow students on their campuses. 11. There must be a strong advocate with legal knowledge to champion this cause and I volunteer myself to fight and protect our female gender from being sexually, morally and emotionally abused by people who have supervisory functions over them. I am poised to ensure every tertiary institution in Nigeria has a standing incorruptible protocol for preventing and dealing with cases of sexual harassment and assault. 12. I am young, energetic and courageous, passionately committed to the well-being of the female folk and possess the right mental capacity and capability. The Girls Club of Nigeria is aimed at influencing a positive change in the female folk and re-orientating the Nigerian girl. Amongst other things, to promote and enhance the development of girls by instilling a sense of selfworth, competence, usefulness, belonging and influence while of course restoring traditional moral values and encouraging the girls to toe the paths of righteousness. If this generation can make amends, the next generation will come out clean. Dear fans of Girls Club, The lecture series on “The amazing power of the spirit-filled girl” continues next week.

OR more inspiring articles and prayers against sexual perversion (masturbation, lesbianism, addiction to pornography and immoral thoughts etc.) please visit my blog www.temiloluokeowo.wordpress.com

For our sisters in captivity

HE voice of God that shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh and discovereth the forests, roar at the enemies of Nigeria and release the captives of Sambisa forest in Jesus name. Amen.

FINAL WORD

HASTITY does not belong to the past. It saves you a lot of trouble, preserves your beautiful destiny and stands you out from the crowd. You are better off not engaging in pre-marital sex. Stay chaste! Pastor Temilolu O.Okeowo is the founder and Head girl of The Girls Apostolic Ministry of All Nations an apostolic ministry for girls in theirteens and twenties and Girls Club of Nigeria an NGO for Nigerian girls aimed at influencing a positive change. She published her debut-book for girls-THE BEAUTY OF LIFE as an undergraduate and has other books and publications. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003 and is a Certified Forensics Examiner.

ANKRUPT! Yes, that aptly describes the state that Veronica is in at the moment. She owes some of her creditors and they have given her deadlines to repay the debts. The only assets she could boast of are three postdated cheques in her drawer, but they just wouldn't be useful now. Like her financial status, her emotions are also tottering on the brink. “I was abandoned by men that I really loved. They all ran away when I needed them most. Now, some of them are back just to tell me that they are sorry and that I am the bride they wished they had. They are all married and I am still single, left with emotional promissory notes in the 'dream' bank. They actually ran away with ladies from rich families, who had more money and better jobs.” In banking, a post-dated cheque is a cheque written by the drawer (payer) for a date in future. It just can't be cashed or deposited before the date written on it. Of course it is filled with material (emotional) promises, suggestive of a better future, but you just cannot make use of it. So, who needs a post-dated cheque that's gathering dust in the drawer? These cheques are frequently used by customers (lovebirds) who take out payday loans. You buy (love) now and pay later. Sometimes, it could be a guarantee that the loan (love invested) would be paid back. The big question here is when it would be paid back, a matter of time though. Sometimes, this can also be uncertain. What if the account that you want to draw from goes red? Sadly, if this should be the case, no matter the number of emotional cheques in your custody, you just can't draw from them and it can be really frustrating. There is a deliberate payment delay that is synonymous with uncertainty. A recent study by researchers found that the more a couple fights about money, the more likely they are to split. In fact, couples who disagree about finances once a week are more than 30% more likely to divorce than couples who disagree about money a few times each month. Even couples who do not end up in divorce court cite their finances as a source of relationship strife. Conversely, the way you and your spouse save, spend, earn and invest can actually be points of bonding and affection if approached in the right way. It is, therefore, important to manage your money as a team to ensure that you have a stronger, more fulfilling relationship. Understanding your partner's spending habits will also help you get to know each other better? Think that the eyes are a mirror to one's soul? Finances may be an even better bet. Each of our saving and spending habits is a reflection of who we are, how we grew up and our general perception of life. Delegating money tasks is another way to build trust and improve communication. While it is common for money to be a source of suspicion and resentment in relationships, it can also be a tool cementing the bonds of your relationship. This reminds you of the song, 'Aint Nothing Goin but the rent' by Gwen Guthrie, the American singer, songwriter and pianist who stole the show in the mid 80s. Naturally, the song took lovebirds to reality zone, talking about the materialistic side of love. 'You've got to have a j-o-b if you want to be with me/No Romance without finance.' The song which was also sampled by numerous dance and hip hop artists is referenced in Eddy Murphy's monologue, 'No Romance without finance'. An example of emotions gone blank, lost in the affectionate vault happened a few weeks back with Madonna and her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie. Interestingly, Guy Ritchie just had a lavish wedding ceremony and you would have expected that he wouldn't want to 'upset' his new bride scrolling back to the emotional events of the past. Obviously, he had a post-dated cheque that needed to be cashed and so Rocco's 15th birthday could not be ignored. It was a low-key affair but you wonder how low-key an affair it can be when Madonna was there. A short video clip showed Madonna, her former husband, their other son, David, presenting Rocco with a huge cake as they sing 'Happy Birthday' together in love. Madonna also posted a cute picture of herself and Rocco as a baby, captioning it “15 years have gone by too quickly!! Happy birthday Son!” That was not all. They were actually reunited for one night only. Divorced seven years ago - and there's been a few digs from both sides since they separated in 2008 - but Guy Ritchie and Madonna put their differences behind them to celebrate their son Rocco's 15th birthday as a one big happyish family. Sadly, neither Madonna nor Guy has had many good things to say about their eight years together. Earlier this year, the queen of pop spoke candidly about how she felt trapped in her marriage. She told The Sun: “There were times when I felt incarcerated. I wasn't really allowed to be myself.” However, the positive side of the emotional story is that they managed to bury the hatchet for this big occasion.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

At Freedom Park, agidigbo meets poetry

ANY keen followers of the agidigbo brand of music would think that it is dead now. But it is not. This brand of music which surfaced in Nigeria in the early 1970s was invented with wholly local instruments. The music is basically folkloric in its pattern and presentation, dwelling on stories of human lives and other emotional encounters that define what man sees and does from day-to-day. Last weekend at the Freedom Park, Lagos, Captain Jimi Badmus, one of the few survivors of the agidigbo music performed, not only to thrill the audience, but to also bring back memories of this brand of music that hinges on true life experiences. With him also was Akeem Lasisi, a Lagos-based journalist who has consistently turned poetry performance into an elevated platform to draw people's attention to love, romance and social issues. The combination of poetry and agidigbo was done purposely to introduce an entirely new and noble approach to entertainment. It was an infusion that paid off handsomely, for it enabled most thespians and traditional Freedom parkers to feel a new lease of romantic atmosphere imbued with soothing euphoria of music and chants and theatre. With a six-man band, Badmus took over the stage most of the evening rendering soulsearching renditions that truly pierced the heart. The Agidigbo drums, the maracas instruments and the continuous singing and beatings further melted the heart of many, as people sat in clusters of three and four, sipping their drinks and savouring the beauty of the evening. Soon it was time for Akeem Lasisi to join the band on stage. His introduction of poetry into the arena, along with his Songbirds singers indeed added more vibes to the arrangement. Lasisi explained that what took place was a foundation for a regular performance that would soon take off. It is a foundation where traditional music meets poetry in a way to marry the two for effective musical jamboree. "Yes, it is for us to perform poetry with the traditional agidigbo music. It is also a way to see how modern poetry can work

At the Freedom Park, Lagos, a new entertainment experiment has been put in place to see how traditional music of agidigbo and poetry can be fused together for weekend relaxation. Edozie Udeze reports.

â&#x20AC;˘Lasisi and Badmus performing on stage with some traditional genres of music and other forms of entertainment," he said. "Tonight was the first time I'd be performing with an agidigbo musician and the first time, I'd be playing with my new Songbirds, a team I have just constituted. This was why I had to do just three chains of poems. The first one was just an Ijala, a way to mount the stage and introduce myself and my group. Ijala, as you may know, is Yoruba hunter poetry of old. It is a part of my old collection of poetry entitled Wonderland."

Using the Ijala to pay homage to the people present, Lasisi and the Songbirds went on to render performances on Eleleture which means not a small word. It is a love poem which touched on the need for people, mostly lovers and couples to give time enough to love issues in their lives. After that, a poem dedicated to the Late Bola Ige, was rendered in a way to pay tribute to the Cicero of Esaoke. The last one titled Udeme was really too romantic that a few lovers took to the stage to romantise the music. "Yes,

we went back to poetry here, to soften the night," Lasisi intoned. And because the atmosphere was ripe to make people feel love in the air, the Udeme output was totally in tune with the mood of the people. "We went for love poetry also to enable guests relax because this was not an academic atmosphere" Essentially, Lasisi has continued to work on his poetry to redefine it as a way to make it musical both in approach and presentation. This is why he has continued to produce musical albums based on that. As at now, he has an agreement with some marketers at Alaba International market who will be handling his works very soon "I am happy that as of now, I have up to fifteen poetry videos. I have exposed up to 3 to the market and others will soon follow." For Badmus, however, the joy of being on stage with his band emboldened him with renewed energy throughout the whole evening. An old man of 74 years, he did not even feel fagged out as he practically took over the night, singing away and making the drums appeal to the people. Formed in 1979, the Salam Salam Agidigbo Natural Band led by Badmus was the trend in those days. In an interview, Badmus shed more light on the genesis of his musical career. "I learnt to play the guitars as a kid but I chose the agidigbo drums because of the flavour it gives to my brand of music. When I began to sing in the 1970s, agidigbo was popular and that was why I joined in playing it," he said. Although he has not waxed any record yet, he finds solace in playing at social functions. His greatest worry now, though, is how to raise funds to put things right. "I make small money here and there, but it is not enough to push me on. People appreciate me and what I do, yet all I need is the necessary push to get to the top." For now, Badmus and his band perform regularly at the famous High Society Club, Fola Agoro, Lagos, where the high and mighty go to watch him most weekends. For him, agidigbo has to come back now; it is good for the soul.

'The ideas behind our Season of Plays' Mrs. Olaitan Otulana, the director of the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture, in this encounter with Edozie Udeze, speaks on the Season of Plays and other issues pertaining to the council. possible. "Yes, this is in forms of education and

â&#x20AC;˘Otulana

OR sometime now, the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture seemed to have gone into oblivion, with little or no activities to register its presence in the state. Just last year, the director of the Council, Mrs. Olaitan Otulana along with her team introduced what she termed Season of Plays. It is a bimonthly affair to do plays that have binding messages and meanings to the society. It is an idea to draw theatre lovers out of their cocoons and also see how live theatre can be made more permissible to the people. Essentially, the Season of Plays has gone places, having been staged at different locations to curry for audience acclaim and appreciation. According to Otulana, who assumed office barely two years ago, "it is an idea mooted by us to make people have a better perception of the Art Council. If in the past, people had a different perception of us, that we were not visible at some

Federal art events, that might be correct. In the past years, it had been very challenging for us in terms of paucity of funds to execute most of our programmes," she said. Those years were not the best of times for the Arts Centre, hence there were very few artistic and cultural programmes to showcase. All along, the government of Lagos State only paid lip service to the funding of the sector. While the Council made several requests for funds to be released, the artistes waited with almost a forlorn hope to be involved in active performances. Owing to this, Lagos State which hitherto took top positions in most national programmes, could not even attend either the Abuja Carnival or the National Arts and Culture Festival (NAFEST). But Otulana explained that the zeal to achieve and re-register the presence of the Council has led her to invent new programmes that are of deep cultural values to the people. Even though she pays more attention to infrastructural development at the cultural centre for now, her natural love for artistic aesthetics has led her to renovate the halls and made them more presentable for shows. "While we waited for money, we looked inwards to see what we could do to sustain the tempo here. Last year alone, therefore, we had four stage plays that spanned

the bi-monthly period of our activities." Also in furtherance of this, Otulana decided to open her doors to corporate and individual sponsors. Some group of traditional religious organizations also came in within this period to show their solidarity and identify with the Centre. For her, the centre has more in the offing when most of the facilities would have been completed to make it a totally artistic centre in all ramifications. "It is only a pity that most Nigerians do not know how to relax. But by the time we've made the necessary adjustments and preparations in these premises, people will naturally love to come in here on their way home from work to relax." Beside the programmes already in place, Otulana hopes to build more recreational facilities that will help the staging of plays more alluring. "For now, the plays we have had pricked mostly on people's consciences. Even though the funding challenges remain, we hope in the nearest future we will be able to do more to be able to perform more programmes. With the drama and documentation departments and others, we have restructured so far, we have been able to move on ahead in the best ways we could." The programmes which the centre has initiated so far, in the reckoning of Otulana, are meant to impact on the people in every way

entertainment. The driving force behind it is to have quality programme. This is basic. This is why we also do comedy, we also do total theatre in different modes and styles. We also do literature plays, especially those in secondary school programmes and then take them to schools." So far, many of such works have been performed to help students understand the plays they do in JAMB or WAEC. This way, it is easier for more students to take to Literature, concentrating more on drama and plays. What the centre needs most now is funding to reach out to more areas of the state. Every two years or so, new Literature books are recommended and it takes a full task to put the drama in a format that the students will appreciate and follow up. Even though Otulana appreciates the harsh economic reality of the nation now, she explained that she still finds it near impossible to maintain the artistes, buy costumes and props and other materials to make production happen. "If you do not have good costumes, constantly changed, the essence is defeated. Our last show at the Terra Kulture was to shift attention away from here. We also participated at the Countdown programme in Lagos. We took a play there and we need to appeal to more people to show interest in live theatre.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

ARTS

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

OU look so alert and agile at 83; how have you managed it? I think I owe it all to God. It's God's design and destiny that we're following. And every day I wake up, I thank him. Every step I take and everything I do is thanksgiving to God. You are a global artist of repute with great works as a printmaker, painter and sculptor. Which of these aspects are you still active in? I'm still in all of them, but specially, I've built a classroom for myself, which is the Agbarha Otor workshop. I'm still active there, teaching and also doing my own work and allowing the younger ones to inspire me in what I'm creating. So I'm learning from the younger ones, as well as learning from the environment and learning from everyone who can teach me. As an artist of teacher of over 50 years, how fulfilled are you? Very fulfilled. But one of the secrets that keep me going is the fact that I'm relating to young people. It makes me feel quite young. Let's talk about your work at this exhibition? Well, I have these installations on display. It's a tribute to the Chibok Girls and their plight. You can see the kidnappers hidden behind the leaves; the pillars in the installation represent

At 83: Onobrakpeya says it's fallacious to say Buhari is too old to rule Renowned artist, art teacher and UNESCO Human Living Treasure winner, Bruce Onobrakpeya recently clocked 83. Gboyega Alaka caught up with him for a brief chat at a recent art exhibition held at the sprawling Greenhouse Empowerment Centre in Olambe, Ogun state. the Chibock girls, you can see they are all behind the bamboos in the forest; the central piece shows denied or delayed laurels; don't forget that the girls would have been inching nearer their goals of becoming great people like the women shown thereDora Akunyili, Oby Ezekwesili, Deziani Allison Madueke and co; if they had not been kidnapped. So it is our prayer that they are rescued alive soon, so that they can attain the potentials that God has reserved for them. Do you think the present government is doing enough to secure their release? I think government works mainly underground. We cannot tell exactly how much effort they are putting in. All I can say is that God will give the government and other people working towards the girls' release enough strength to accomplish. I have faith

•Onobrakpeya

that God will release them to us alive. Would you say art is well appreciated in our society?

Art is getting very well appreciated in the society. It wasn't as appreciated as this when we started years ago,

Wewe displays sweet sixteen at Moorhouse

OVER the last several years, this Ondo State born renowned Nigerian artist, Tola Wewe, has had solo arts exhibitions in prestigious museums and galleries across Europe and America, as well as group exhibitions with local and international artists. Wewe has been able to create an identity for himself. His works range from abstract to impressionism, with explorations of sexuality, culture, and individual identity. The simplicity, originality, surface texture and mastery of colour are things of consideration which stand Wewe's works out. Only those who are familiar with the spirituality and philosophy of Wewe's works can decode the message he conveys with his pieces. His style is unique. Most of his subjects are usually women. His upcoming solo art exhibition entitled Sweet Sixteen, will open on Saturday, September 26 and runs until September 30 at the Moorhouse in Ikoyi, Lagos, where he had a show sixteen years ago. Thus the theme of the exhibition was inspired by this date. The exhibition will feature sixteen paintings and sixteen terracotta pieces of Wewe's recent works. Aside the date attached to title, Wewe stated that figure 16 plays a significant role in Yoruba

Poem

Hullabaloo By Edozie Udeze

There on the crowded pavement We sat together hurdled in clusters Amid the suffocation of voices Time ticked by intermittently Tears streamed down our cheeks Voices called to say hello In this hullabaloo of confusion But how would this happen? As more tears rolled and more People gathered in a volcano of voices Hisses followed in deep remorseful recourse What we saw shocked us, What we discovered tore on our Hearts, unnerving our recesses Aha! Our hearts bleeding in trickles More fell to the ground Then the sound came-boom! Boom!!

•Wewe By Udemma Chukwuma

Land. "The last time I had an exhibition with them (Alliance Française; the organisers of the exhibition) was in 1999, that is exactly sixteen years ago, and when they asked me the title of the exhibition, I told them Sweet Sixteen. However, he said "figure 16 has a numerical significant meaning in Yoruba land. 16 is perfection. The figure 16 has great spiritual connotation in the Yoruba traditional religious corpus. 16 is 4 x 4 where 4 stands for perfection. When repeated in 4 places, excellence is achieved. That is the numeric's of the spiritual dimension." During a preview session the works displayed by the artist were full of mysteries, motifs, nudity; vibrant colours that will make you wonder if it was a painting or maybe your imagination is playing a trick on you. To confirm this statement, Wewe said: "Sometimes

but all that is changing. And the people; are they willing to pay for it? What is important is not the payment for it, but the life that art helps the people to live. Art is something that enlightens you; that sets up your spirit; that records your history and gives you inspiration for life. That is what art is. And once we can attain that level of consciousness, then the money aspect becomes a little part of the whole show. You're saying that it is more about fulfilment for the artist. Yes, fulfilment for the artist and fulfilment for the general populace. Art is something that elevates the people for whom the art is meant. Young artists of this generation seem to be more about the money.... The thing is that as they

grow and get attention, the need to make money or charge a lot of money for their work will become less. As they grow older, the tendency would be for them to work hard for the true interest, rather than hope to always make millions from every creation. What's the highest price you've sold a work for? Really, I would like to play down on the money aspect of my work, but to satisfy you, I think the highest a single work has fetched me is about 10 million naira. You look so strong at 83, yet there was so much uproar about becoming president at 73; what do you think of that argument? I actually think that was a fallacious argument. Even in the Far East, people don't get near being heads of state until they are 70 and above. So a person who is 70, 75, even 80 is qualified to be head of state. At that stage, it's the thought that come from them that is important. All other active things will be carried out by the people that work with them. Finally, are you afraid you may be nearing the end? It is my belief that man really does not die. We don't know when we're born and we don't know when we will die; but the important thing for me is to live every day as if it is the last; and also live as if I will never die.

II when I produce a piece I wonder if the work was done by me." Last year he had two solo shows and this might repeat itself again before the year runs out. A breath-taking piece, Daughter of the River, and fascinating, will be on display. Looking at the piece from afar you would think the subject is a fish, but when you take a closer look, you will discover that the subject is a nude teenager, lying on her belly. She is looking at you and at the same time backing you. Her legs positioned in an awkward way. You cannot but marvel at the composition and its rich alluring

colours. Other works will be Ibeji (series), Awon Agba, Truth, Sweet Six Teens, etc. What Wewe thinks and imagines about Sweet Sixteen is what he puts on his canvases. Some of the works are suggestive and stimulating. The works celebrate the finest in the artistic study of human anatomy. Wewe was born in 1959, trained and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Ife in 1983. He obtained a Masters degree in African Visual Arts from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State in 1986. And he worked as a cartoonist before becoming a full time studio artist in 1991.

The sounds of the shocking discovery, Of fear and torrents of nugget There, Lucia stood and stared, blinking And we on the verge of tatters Clattered and whimpered and scattered It was boom! Boom!! Boom!!! A different form of Haram Nearing the scene of Hullabaloo And so did Lucia snigger, wondering: Was this a basket of broken promises? As if the fear had petered out And there still stood Lucia who stared and Stirred, as we all scampered in different Directions, wondering in reminisces: It was yet time to rave And say that Hullabaloo was yet over!

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Exchange rate: Different rates for different banks

Page 52

NSIA, Ogun, Lafarge sign MoU on landscape restoration •Uche Orji

•Emefiele

Page 53

‘How industrialisation can succeed in A\Ibom’ From Uyoatta Eshiet, Uyo

HE business community in Akwa Ibom State has expressed readiness to partner the state government towards effective implementation of key policies and programmes on industrialisation. Speaking in an interview in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the President, Building Materials Association (BMA), Uyo branch, Elder Ubong Bassey Obot, expressed hope that Governor Udom Emmanuel’s industrialisation policy would work if the right steps were taken. Obot, who doubles as the Managing Director, UBOTEX Nigeria Limited, said the business community in the state has been galvanised to create the enabling environment for the policy to thrive. The businessman, who said plans have been concluded for Alhaji Aliko Dangote to fully invest in Akwa Ibom, said the entry of Dangote Group into the state has brought in its wake some market dividends, including the drop in the prices of cements from N1,700 to N1,500 per bag. Towards a smooth industrial take-off in the State, Elder Obot advised the governor to work with seasoned entrepreneurs with a view to achieving success in the industrialisation drive. On his business trips abroad to woo investors, Obot urged the governor to always travel on such trips with seasoned businessmen instead of politicians, explaining that the contributions of entrepreneurs would go a long way to aid the development of industrial culture and entrepreneurial spirit in the state.

Firm hosts annual safety forum

•From left: Chief Nutritionist, UNICEF Nigeria, Arjan de Wagt, guest, Prof. Babajide Elemo and representative of Chairman/Chief Executive, Nasco Group Nigeria, Idris Nasreddin, during the Nutrition of Nigeria 45th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference held in Lagos at which NASCO was given the society’s Award of Excellence. PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

BoI secures AfDB’s $100m facility for SMEs

O aid its development financing objectives, especially to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the Bank of Industry (BoI), has secured a $100 million line of credit from the African Development Bank (AfDB). According to the bank, the line of credit, which is designed for on-lending to SMEs engaged in export-oriented businesses, is the first of such foreign facility accessed by BoI after its reconstruction in 2001 out of the defunct Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB).

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie The bank, in a statement at the weekend, explained that already, the first tranche of $50 million was recently disbursed to BoI from AfDB for on-lending to small businesses engaged in export-oriented businesses with capacity to generate foreign exchange. BoI added that the credit approval was received as a result of the implementation of various strategies and plans which have enhanced its operations and repositioned it to better tackle the current challenges of Nigerian small busi-

nesses. “In order to deepen the impact of the facility, BoI hired an international firm, Messrs. BDO/GBRW, based on African Development Bank’s quality selection procedure, to render capacity building services to BoI staff and the prospective SME customers. The capacity building services would enhance the business capabilities of the SME customers thereby enabling them to better manage their businesses and mitigate risks. The capacity building would also strengthen the ability of staff members to

manage small business loans and the related risk management issues. “BoI wishes to acknowledge the support of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) among other stakeholders for facilitating access to the Line of Credit”, the statement read in part. The bank however urged prospective entrepreneurs engaged in export-oriented businesses with potential to earn foreign exchange to submit their applications to facilitate access to the facility.

Ibom airport to commence int’l flight June 2016

HE Akwa Ibom state Governor Udom Emmanuel has assured that international flight operations will begin at the state-owned international airport from June 2016. “As the Ibom Interna-

From Uyoatta Eshiet, Uyo tional Airport gears up for International Flight Operations, the terminal building and other facilities are to be redesigned to accommodate the expected influx of local and international passengers.”

The governor dropped the hint during the inspection of the intended runway currently being upgraded at the airport. He observed that the taxi way is designed to carry 747 and 380 series of international airbus cargo which he said would touch down the airport

from June next year. “The main runway can take any kind of aircraft. It can take Airbus A380, Boeing 747 aircraft. The length of the runway can meet any category of highest grade in terms of airport development. We are building for the future.”

Edun optimistic economy will improve

HE Chairman, Chapel Hill Denham Group, Mr Wale Edun has express optimism that youths can make it in the country despite the biting economic crunch. Edun spoke at the weekend while addressing students at the Arise Africa Foundation graduation ceremony held in Ikoyi, Lagos. According to him, the competition abroad is high compared to what obtains in the country. While admitting that

By Udemma Chukwuma people get good training in other parts of the world, he however said, living and working in Nigeria was enough motivation for any youth that is self-driven. “You can compete a lot easier here than somewhere else. Abroad people compete to extort you, elsewhere in the world there is real competition. There are a lot of good people there but they can’t get a job. Instead of crossing to Europe and America where the econo-

mies are tight and everything is on hold, stay here.” The one-time Lagos State Commissioner for Finance also acknowledged that the virtue of hard work was worth imbibing, especially for youths desirous of making good in life. “Besides hard work, good manners and goodwill make you admirable to everybody. If you have good manners you will come on top. You will be surprised how easy it is to become rich. “It is critical and I will emphasise to you that in

everything you do, maintain goodwill.” Edun also introduced a platform to the graduants which he called a technological platform which will enable them earn money with less stress. Also present at the event include Africa’s premier Life and Behavioral Change Coach, Mr Lanre Olusola, the Managing Director, Africa Security Ltd, Managing Director, United Capital Security, Mrs Lilian Olubi, Mr Jude Chiemeka, Tola Akerele and a host of others.

ICHARDSON Oil and Gas Nigeria and Process Safety Reliability Group (PSRG) USA is set to host its annual health safety and management forum. According to Mr. Akin Osuntoki, Chief Executive Officer, Richardson Oil & Gas Ltd, this year’s event, scheduled for September 22nd and 23rd at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos will attract world-class technical presentations in Health, Safety, Security and Environment. “The forum is an annual event for practitioners to meet, discuss and analyse issues on Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) practices in their individual industries. It is an avenue to share industry challenges and proffer workable solutions to issues related to Health, Safety, Security and Environment,” he said.

Dangote Group, others shortlisted for African Business prize By Adeola Ogunlade

FRICA’S leading Omni-Media Group, Red Media Africa has been nominated for the African Business of The Year award and Best Corporate Social Responsibility award at the African Business Awards 2015. The nomination, which sees Red Media Africa contend with other leading African businesses like Dangote Group, Ison BPO, Universal Auto Distribution Holding and Chandaria Industries in the African Business of the year category, comes as Red celebrates its 10th year anniversary. In a statement issued by the Managing Partner of Red Media Africa Chude Jideonwo, said: “We at Red are delighted about these nominations for a number of reasons. First, these prestigious nominations have come at about the same time we are celebrating 10 years of impacting and inspiring Africa.” The Awards which is now in its 7th edition accompanies the African Leadership Forum, which takes place during the UN General Assembly and has become the definitive business awards in Africa, recognisng leadership and excellence on the continent, as well as companies that are driving Africa’s rapidly transforming economy and creating new economic opportunities for citizens and communities all over the continent.

‘New CBN rule can spur online market activity’ AREK Zmyslowski, Managing Director of Jovago Nigeria, has applauded the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive which placed withdrawal limits on Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) and foreign transactions on all existing debit cards. According to him, the move will drive the modernisation of payment system in line with Nigeria’s vision 2020 goal of being amongst the top 20 economies by the year 2020. “So if we have more people engaging in transactions via the internet, it will expand customer’s ability to make easier purchases on quality products and services online and then drive companies who function within this space to deploy state-ofthe-art technology and security measures to support the increase in patronage. As oil struggles to make a comeback, this is something our economy needs right now,” he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

BUSINESS

HUGE industry has been built around the sale of hard currencies, especially the greenback (dollars). Of course, the forex dealers in the parallel market have always been getting a kill anytime the naira falls, as they are most certain to exchange the dollar higher for a weaker naira. But thankfully, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is the apex regulatory body for banks has always risen to the occasion anytime it feels the value of the local currency is being undermined through different policies such as reviewing the exchange rate. Only recently, the CBN banned commercial lenders from re-selling central bank dollars among themselves, which was an attempt to curb speculation on the naira. Besides, the apex bank had barred 41 items from access to foreign exchange. It had directed that as from August 1, all foreign exchange transactions in any Bureau de Change must have the BVN of applicants as foreigners were said to have invaded the nation’s foreign exchange market. Conscious of its mandate to strengthen the local currency, the apex bank had in a circular released signed by the Director of Trade and Exchange, CBN, Olakanmi Gbadamosi, “The Central Bank of Nigeria has considered the recent statements by deposit money banks concerning the large volume of foreign currencies in their vaults and the decision to stop accepting foreign currency cash deposits into customers’ domiciliary accounts as a welcome development. “Therefore, in its continued efforts to stop illicit financial flows in the Nigerian banking system which aligns with the anti-money laundering stance of the federal government, the CBN hereby prohibits from the date of this circular the acceptance of foreign currency cash deposits by DMBs. “For foreign currency cash lodgements made prior to the date of this circular, the account holder has the option to either withdraw his or her foreign currency cash or the Naira equivalent. For the avoidance of doubt, only wire transfers to and from Domiciliary Accounts are henceforth permissible. “The CBN advises individuals that wish to source foreign currency for eligible and legitimate purposes such as BTA, PTA medical, mortgage, school fees, goods etc. to do so through recognised channels with the use of Form ‘A’ for “invisible” and Form ‘M’ for ‘visible’ transactions. By this circular, those who deposited foreign currencies into their accounts before the directive will now have to withdraw the cash as they are not going to be allowed to transfer the funds.” The fire this time The apex bank in line with its mandate also place limitation on spending. In the new arrangement, all ATMs that were hitherto enabled for domestic and foreign transactions have been restructured to limit naira cash withdrawal at ATMs to N60,000 per day while foreign currency is $300 per day. Hitherto, the domestic withdrawal limit was N150,000 per day. The new arrangement has separated traditional ATM from MasterCard credit card where the

Exchange rate: Different rates for different banks

Although the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stipulates that banks should sell forex for eligible persons who have legitimate request based on the official and interbank exchange rate, investigation shows that majority of the deposit money banks sell forex at arbitrary rates outside the officially approved rate, reports Bukola Aroloye

•Emefiele

former has now been deactivated and can no longer be used for transactions abroad. Hitherto, a single ATM card serves for transactions for both domestic and abroad. Also, the restructured cards now have spending limits on POS/ eCommerce (online shopping) pegged at $300 (about N60,000) per day. Before this, the limit was N2 million per day. In the new arrangement, a bank customer with multiple debit cards (ATM cards), only the one linked to the primary transactional account will be enabled for use abroad. Hitherto, such customers could transact with any of the cards that is funded and changer high than the official rate. The fire this time It is however instructive to note that most money deposit banks have also join the league of money speculators. Investigation by The Nation shows that the official exchange rate is N199 but at the black market, it is N209/210. The Nation investigation showed that many banks don’t use the official rate given by CBN. Some of the banks officials who spoke with our correspondent while admitting that did not denied it but don’t want their name to be mention. GTbank, N225 to dollar, via debit card transition, UBA N210, Fidelity Bank N220, Skye Bank, 210 FCMB 210, why the official rate is 199.25 as at today. A banker who spoke with The

Nation explained that, if you deposit N1million with any bank in Nigeria today saying 10% can only trade with N390 thousand the remaining N610 is sterilised by government hence cost of borrowing will always be high. At the moment MPC is at 13%. How much is treasury bills today? These are the barometers for you to understand average cost of borrowing as a business man. For instance, Standard Chartered Bank has asked its customers to request a complementary ATM card for domestic use only so that the original N150,000 daily cash withdrawal limit can be restored and also reactivate POS/ online purchase limit of N2 million per day. Meanwhile a banker in one of this new generation said that, why most of the Nigerian banks charge more than the official rate is that since the apex bank has give them directive to source for foreign exchange outside CBN, it is not possible for us to give it at the official rate for transaction, he also accused CBN of devalue the Naira. While Zenith allows online transactions the GT Bank chose not to. As one banker confessed, while in the past banking cards linked to naira accounts enjoyed the official exchange rate when used abroad, banks are now using the parallel market rates, removing any previous incentive to adhere to the cashless policy. In a CBN circular of July discussing limits and controls on corporate and individual naira de-

nominated cards being used abroad, one of the instructions was for banks to inform customers “the banking industry has instituted a tracking system on the use of naira denominated cards”. If this is possible why put limits on the use of anyone’s money? Set certain triggers for amount and frequency and investigate those flagged. An entrepreneur who wanted to pay $2000 to a software developer outside the country, was informed by his bank that he would have to fill out a form and get CBN approval for an exemption to make the payment. Apart from the time-is-money cost that this process entails, this surely is an inefficient use of CBN’s time and resources. The news about the stash of dollars found in Akwa Ibom State House recently indicates that in the long term, the CBN’s current policy is futile. Those who have access to the type of money that keeps Nigeria at the top of the table for illicit financial flows ($15.7b annually) do not need the banks to keep their dollars safe – they have the state security to do that for them. Two, despite the installation of a special task force at the international airports to harass travellers about how much foreign exchange they have on them, those with access to the type of money which needs to be tracked, either travel on private jets thereby skipping this process or are social and political untouchables who will be waived through by the same members of this task force as has been

recently observed and reported. Finally, if part of this current regime of restrictions is to address the high levels of corruption by federal and government officials in the successive administrations, then what happens to the money already out of the country, safely in foreign banks and easily accessible with Barclays or CitiBank cards? If these people have no intention of bringing this money back into Nigeria how does the CBN intend to track their transactions? The bank also required their customers to apply for a foreign currency denominated ATM linked to domiciliary account which would be enabled with no daily or annual international transaction limits. Earlier, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc had informed its customers of its decision to reduce the daily international spending limit on their Naira MasterCard to $300. In a communication to the customers, the bank explained: “In view of the increased difficulty in sourcing foreign currency to settle international transactions on Naira MasterCards, we have reduced the daily international spending limit on your Naira MasterCard to $300.This means that you can only spend up to $300 daily when using your GTBank Naira MasterCard for international payments via POS and online. “You will, however, continue to have the option of paying for medical bills, school fees, mortgages and credit cards using Form A, as these are eligible transactions for foreign currency. Simply visit any GTBank branch to complete a Form A along with the required documents to make these payments.” A statement from the CBN added that already all the legitimate demands for such transactions through recognised channels have so far been fully met by CBN. The statement stated: “The CBN hereby directs all authorised dealers in foreign exchange in Nigeria to henceforth treat as top priority all legitimate demand for foreign exchange for eligible transactions. “The CBN once again advises individuals that wish to source foreign currency for such eligible transactions to approach their banks with their legitimate demand as the CBN has made adequate provisions of foreign currency for all such legitimate and eligible purposes.” According to Tolu Ajayi a business man told The Nation is expresses with one of the new generation bank, “when I call their customer care line they told me it is N225 and as at that time it was N210, later the rate come back to N197 still they did not change the rate to the official one. What is going on? What is the official rate? Some banks are even helping to smuggle hard current out of Nigeria ,I was told at the rate between N237 and N240, is Emefiele saying is not aware? Are Nigeria banks now working for the politicians who drilled holes into our treasury or are they the one working for Mallams? Were all quite while this taking place or am I missing something.” An aggrieved customer with one of the old generation bank said: “70% of Nigeria banks don’t even use the official rate for online transaction and this is a way to defraud customers especially those who use the money to pay school fees, those who buy goods from outside the country were affected.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

BUSINESS

Non-oil sector key to economic revolution T a time like this when the country is facing the challenges of dwindling foreign exchange earnings and depleting foreign reserves, there is need for concerted efforts to develop the nations numerous commodities with a view to diversifying the economy. Thankfully, presently the non-oil sector holds the key to an economic revolution that would catapult the nation into an economic super power. Given the potentials of the sector to turn the economy around through diversification of the nation’s revenue base from oil to non-oil coupled with its capacity to provide the need for the economic planners to formulate policies that would help stimulate robust activities in the sector Before now Nigeria economy has been run solely on oil, practically all government at all level depend on proceeds from oil. The Ministry of Trade and Investment has clearly articulates the industrialisation roadmap of the nation in the Nigerian Strategic Export Products, NSEP, to

By Franca Ochigbo, Abuja replace oil. Experts have called on agencies of government and commercial banks to deepen their support for Small Medium Enterprises SMEs, through the provision of affordable funding in order to boost non-oil export activities in the sub sector. They requested that NEPC should be present in all 36 states of Nigeria to drive the promotion of non-oil exports effectively while sourcing alternative funding to enhance its operation. Recently, nine Nigeria firms had an impressive outing in Las Vegas, United States, where made in Nigeria fashion accessories were

lot by doing just that, and it has worked for her tremendously. The Morin O Company is all out to promote made in Nigeria, all her products carry ‘proudly Nigeria’. She said NEPC should keep doing what they are doing, stating that it shows they have significant interest beyond just taking artisans to fares. The Executive Director, CEO, Olusegun Awolowo who was represented by Special Adviser Technical NEPC, Morine Idozu said the Export Promotion Council is working round the clock to ensure diversification of the economy. She maintained that a lot of leather seen worldwide comes from Nigeria. Recent development in the

international economic and political scene has provided a wakeup call on the need for a game changer for Nigeria. It is time to galvanise a new initiative to reduce our over dependence on oil and diversify the economy. Since reaching its peak in June 2014, the price of crude oil has fallen roughly by 60%. There has been a steady growth in non-oil exports with the country raking in $2.970billion in 2013, a 15.9% increase over $2.561bn in 2012 with agriculture dominating in 2014 by contributing $1.465b and 53.99% of non-oil exports. All this gains are being threatened by the re-curing issue of rejects of Nigerian exported agricultural commodities and food items.

Foundation to empower women in business

OUTH for Technology Foundation has hinted of plans to provide seed funding for women that have participated in their training programmes in Nigeria. The President and CEO of

NSIA, Ogun, Lafarge sign MoU on landscape restoration IGERIA Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ogun State Government and Lafarge Africa Plc for the Ogun State Forest Landscape Restoration Project. While commenting on the project, Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun said: “The restoration and enhancement of our forests benefits the environment and creates jobs in rural communities. Increasing the pace and scale of restoration of forests is critically needed to address a variety of threats - including fire, climate change, deforestation and others - for the benefit of our ecosystems and forest-dependent communities. This project will show that enterprise and achieving strong mitigation are mutually supportive in tropical agriculture.” Mr. Uche Orji, Managing Director/CEO of the NSIA, said: “The NSIA Act permits us to participate in infrastructure projects of this nature. We are therefore committed not only to promoting economic development but also to stimulating greater environmental responsibility through the projects we support and par-

showcased. The accessories which enthralled lots of visitors as Nigeria products had neat and impressive finishing. Among participants in the fair is Morin-O Ltd, Monrin Obayewa who is into leather works such as bags, Purse, wallet and Puffs. Obayewa has lots of praises for the NEPC, for the opportunity she has so far in showcasing her products outside the shores of Nigeria, in an exclusive interview with The Nation, Obayewa said she sources her leather materials from tanneries in Northern Nigeria of Kano particularly, she is not using one tannery alone she spreads round by moving from one tannery to the other so she could get the best, so far she has achieved a

ticipate in. We view this project as an important investment in sustainable development and remain focused on facilitating incremental participation in initiatives that reduce carbon footprint across the country and reverse deforestation for the benefit of future generations of Nigerians.” Mr. Peter Hoddinott, Group Managing Director/ CEO Lafarge Africa in aremark said: “Our strong commitment to the environment and social sustainability of our operations and of the communities within which we operate leads us naturally to support Ogun State projects that promise strong positive impact on these issues, particularly on climate change. The use of agro-ecology and agro-forestry principles in these projects will increase their productivity, ensuring the land becomes one of Nigeria’s best carbon capture areas and generating biomass that Lafarge intends to use to fire its cement kilns.” In December 2015, France will host the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

By Adeola Ogunlade Youth for Technology Foundation, Mrs. Njideka Harry, who spoke in an interview with The Nation at the entrepreneur and information and communication technology training for over 100 women and youths in business in Lagos organised by YTF in conjunction with MasterCard Limited. According to Harry, the fund set out to provide support for women in business, especially in social services, manufacturing and hospitality business which will com-

mence by November, 2015. She noted that the financial System Strategy 2020, a forward-looking initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria, highlights that SMEs represent about 96% of Nigerian businesses are faced with numerous challenges such as infrastructure and knowledge gaps, in addition to a poor financial support and credit environment. She lamented that women in developing countries often don’t have access to financial resources, expertise, advisory support and networks needed to start a new business, refine

their business models, become profitable and grow. She opined that with an adults in population of 85 million and the with more than 159million phone subscription , there is great potential for agent banking and other models which enable remote access to financial service in Nigeria. In her response, one of the participants at the training, Mrs. Abosede Giwa said that the training has helped to open her eyes to the importance of financial literacy and use of mobile technology for her business.

Group tasks Ambode on abandoned school buildings By Jonathan Olafioye UMAN Development Initiative (HDI), a nongovernmental organisation in collaboration with the Education Project Team has appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration, to complete the construction of abandoned modern school buildings in three public schools across the state. Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, the Acting Executive Director, HDI, Mrs. Olufunso Owasanoye said the abandoned three-story modern buildings with 24 standard classrooms and four staff rooms are situated in four public schools in the state include Onike Girls High School, Yaba; Fazil Omar High School, Iwaya; St. Francis Junior Grammar School, Iwaya; and Igbobi Junior High School, Igbobi. She bemoaned the deteriorating state of the modern buildings, saying they constitute a nuisance. “The buildings almost at the stage of completion with roof, doors and windows were abandoned by the immediate past administration and have continued to deteriorate thereby constituting nuisance”, she said.

Firm launches anti-fungal cream

N indigenous pharmaceutical company based in Lagos, Kuka Consumer Healthcare Limited (KCH), in partnership with Zheijiang Jingwei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd China, last month in Lagos organised a media launch for the introduction of Xkinash plus cream, an antifungal brand of drug product into the Nigerian pharmaceutical market.

‘’It is a product of high quality designed for the treatment of skin disorders’’, Chris Ukah, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company said during the launching which took place at the corporate headquarters of KCH in the Gbagada area of Lagos. He explained that the product is a four-way action drug cream because it has An-

tifungal, Antibacterial, Antiinflamatory and Antipruritic capabilities in addressing common skin related diseases. According to him, Xkinash plus comes in a 20g tube white to off-white cream adding that it has little or no side effects when used properly, but also warned that special precautions must be observed dur-

ing use by pregnant mothers and children. On the partnership with Zheijiang Jingwei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., the KCH boss said that the Chinese company is a top rated pharmaceutical group ‘’entitled as National Key Hi-tech Enterprise, National Pilot Enterprise of Innovation, and China’s top 500 private enterprises.’’

Security not for quacks, says new NSCDS boss

HE newly appointed Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu has impressed on private security firms, the need to screen out quacks from the sector. Professionally trained security personnel, he said, should be allowed to handle

From left: Head Business Development, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Ltd, Mrs. Nike Bajomo, Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo; and General Manager, Compliance, National Pension Commission, Mohammed Umar during a meeting with private school owners organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Education

the work of security. Private guard companies, he further stressed, ought to come together and set standards for others to emulate and learn from. The commandant general made this call when the management team of Brain and Braces paid a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja recently. “If a high standard is

formed by all private guard companies, there will be no rooms for mediocre and quacks in the security system any longer.” Echoing similar sentiments, the Managing Director/CEO of Brain and Braces, Augusta Peter said all the suggestions made by the NSCDC boss was the way to go. She also pledged all her

support to the corps, promising that she and her team were ready to work hands in hands with the corps with the aim of taking security industry to a greater height. To achieve this, Peter solicited the assistance of the NSCDC boss to collaborate with the private guards companies to raise the bar in the industry.

From left: Sandra Boyo (Head Corporate Services), Dr. Nnamdi,(Head Private Guard Companies Department) Augusta Peter, Managing Director/CEO Brain and Braces, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, Commandant General, NSCDC, Rotimi Eyitayo, Chief Operating Officer, Afi Nshadi, Administrator Guard Services Abuja, during a visit to the headquarters of NSCDC in Abuja

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

BUSINESS

How DStv empowers startups with skills customers carrying their device to MultiChoice office each time there is a technical hitch or each time the subscriber wants to recharge.

Recent efforts by MultiChoice Nigeria to train Nigerians and empower them with modern technology tools through its DStv installer training initiative, has not only enhance its after-sales support but also boost job creation among, reports Bukola Aroloye

NE major challenge facing Nigeria as a country is the growing rate of unemployment among young school leavers. As government tries to address the situation, which has become a scourge to the Nigerian economy, industry stakeholders have suggested a shift from the regular school curriculum inherited from the colonial masters after independence in 1960, to a more practical oriented curriculum that focuses more on entrepreneurial skills, such that students will graduate with skills that they could further develop to become their source of livelihood, rather than the long and unending wait for government white collar jobs. Determined to contribute its quota in addressing the unemployment situation in the country, coupled with the need to satisfy its premium customers and other category of DStv customers, MultiChoice, last week, empowered over 500 Nigerians across the country with modern technology tools, after giving them intensive skills acquisition training. MultiChoice Nigeria unveiled some of the DStv device installers, who will join the existing base of installers and will be responsible for new installations, as well as the provision of maintenance services to existing DStv subscribers. Tricycles that have been stocked with high quality installation equipment, that will ease their travel logistics, during the cause of carrying out their support service programmes, were also provided for some of them. Some beneficiaries of the tricycles, such as Stanley Nwachukwu, Ameen Adesola, Micky Joe, Tope

•John Ugbe, MD/CEO MultiChoice Nigeria

Adeogun, Ibrahim Akinsemohin and Chima Igwe, were grateful to MultiChoice Nigeria for the training and empowerment. Motive and selection criteria Speaking on the motive for embarking on the training and the criteria for selecting the beneficiaries of the tricycles, the General Manager Marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. Martin Mabutho, said MultiChoice became motivated to train installers because there was need to meet customers’ demand, in line with technology growth. “As technology advances, it becomes important to raise support team that will address some technicalities in our device installation. More so, those that were trained some years ago, may not be able to address the technical issues of our modern devices, so we need to train new installers on our new technology,” he said. “This initiative is aimed at providing the best service to our customers. We train and certify installers, and also ensure that they are equipped with high quality installation tools that will guarantee reduced hitches and minimise repeat installer visits to our customer’s homes,” Mabutho said. He also urged new and existing subscribers to make more use of the self-help options and convenient payment options such as Paga, Quick Teller and ATMs to resolve

DStv issues and payment challenges quickly. Mabutho said the introduction of the tricycle-scheme remained MultiChoice’s way of stretching its economic empowerment drive by engaging Nigerian youth through a private sector entrepreneurial scheme. “We are helping to create a new pool of expertise through these MultiChoice trained satellite television installers and engineers which will consequently grow the nation’s economy,” he said. Mabutho explained that the tricycles will be used by a selected team dubbed “Elite Installers. The first recipients of the pilot phase of the nationwide scheme are six installers but before the end of the year, more beneficiaries will be selected from major cities across the country. In addition, 125 installers in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt have undergone a refresher training course this month,”he said. Beneficiaries’ testimony One of the 500 trained DStv installer beneficiaries, Richard Egorerua, a graduate of Electronics Engineering from Igbinedion University, Benin, Edo State, who expressed his joy to he said they were trained on practical skills on how to install DStv home devices. “We learnt new information on the existing devices. We were also thought how to use a particular

From left: Director General of Federal Institute Industrial Research Oshodi, (FIRRO) Dr. Mrs. Gloria Elemo, Director General, Bio-resources Development & Conservative Programme (BDCP), Prof. Maurice Iwu and Director General, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Etatuvie Sam Oghene at the media briefing in Lagos. PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

software application to monitor the relationship between the customer and the installed system. We learnt how to track the system, take different readings from the system, in order to determine the state of the installed system at any point in time. The essence is to maintain the required standard set out by DStv on all their devices, and it was an intensive training, which I benefited from because it added to my already acquire knowledge as Electrical Engineering graduate,” Egorerua said. “The training has been ongoing, with the introduction of new devices and the training has been very impactful. I am posted to cover Lekki area of Lagos, alongside with other installers and I am happy that I have a Job and a dependable skill,’ Egorerua added. Addressing customers’ complaints According to the General Manager, Marketing, “With the recent complaints from customers and Consumer Protection Council (CPC), we felt there was need to address those complaints, through the training of our device installer on the new technology surrounding our current devices. We have introduced new technologies like Explorer into our devices and it takes a trained installer on the new technology, to be able to handle the technical issues surrounding it.” According to Mabutho, it is a proud moment for that MultiChoice is empowering DStv installers with modern technology tools, after given intensive training on modern technology. “Customers will be seeing our installers on their streets and they are free to call them to fix any challenge they may have with their installed DSTV devices. We have some designated numbers written on the tricycles and people could reach the installers on the number at any time of the day. This is like after-sales support initiative and the next thing we will be doing is to carry out a campaign of customer education, that will increase customer awareness on DStv devices and installation and maintenance,”Mabutho said. He explained that they discovered that most of the technical challenges that their customers face are minor and could be addressed by their trained installers, which will solve the challenge of

Impact The installer training initiative will impact so much on the subscribers and the Nigerian economy in several ways. “Apart from helping customers to fix challenges on their devices, it will help to reduce unemployment in the country, since it is already employing Nigerian youths,” according to Mabutho. He explained that the rate at which unemployment is growing in the country is alarming and “we are using this medium to address the situation. Again, DSTV products are fast penetrating into every nook and cranny of the country and we need technicians to address the possible challenges that are associated with rapid technology growth.” “Some installers that have been trained in the past, do not understand the new technology we are introducing and some are using obsolete equipment and materials, hence after they must have fixed the challenge faced by a particular DStv device, the challenge still remains, because they either do not understand the new technology or that they are using substandard equipment and tools. It is for this reason that we contracted an American company to supply us genuine and modern tools, with which we trained and have equipped our installers. “We have been in this market for several years and over the time, technology has evolved and we are changing with technology evolution, hence the need for the training and empowerment, which we think, will every impactful to Nigerians and the Nigerian economy,” he added. NBC’s view Assistant Director, Monitoring, National Broadcasting Commission, Lagos zone, Mrs. Ijeoma Theo-Obodo, said she was impressed with what MultiChoice is doing about training and empowering installers. She said most times subscribers call the wrong people to fix technical challenges on their devices and that such people end up creating more challenge for them by either damaging the device or condemning the device outrightly. According to Theo-Obodo, with the trained installers who will be visible on most streets, subscribers will be sure to get the right people to fix up any technical challenge they may face with their devices. “The good aspect of it, is that the trainers, will from time to time, undergo additional training in new areas as technology evolves, and that will help boost the integrity of the brand and also maintain customer satisfaction,” TheoObodo said. “As a broadcast regulator, I believe this initiative will help DStv garner more subscribers to their network, being a premium brand, and it will also help to them address customers’ complaints, “she said. Theo-Obodo commended MultiChoice Nigeria for organising the training programme, saying “Broadcast technology is ever evolving and for MultiChoice to keep up with broadcast quality and standard, there is the need for training programmes of this nature.”

WITH JILL OKEKE jillokeke@yahoo.com, 07069429757, 08158610847 THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

IANT beverage company, Coca Cola Ltd, has brought a new innovation into the Nigerian fruit juice market with the entrance of its fruit juice drink, 5Alive pulpy orange drink. Though the Nigerian fruit juice market is littered with a plethora of drinks, the brands which have been making the greatest impact are brands from the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) - Five Alive variants - the Chivita juice drinks from Chi Ltd, and the various juice drinks from FUMMAN. Other brands are Dansa, Choppee, Formosa, Danico, Ice fruit juice from Scoa, Delite berries fruit drink from UAC, etcetera. However, the new drink from the stable of NBC is entirely different from what Nigerian consumers have been exposed to. It’s an orange pulpy juice drink with bits of dietary fibre which you bite into as you have the drink and somehow makes it seem slightly as if one is having a natural orange juice. At the launch of 5Alive orange pulpy drink, at the Federal Palace Hotel Lagos, the Director, Stills and New Business, NBC, Mr. Prahlad Gangadharan, said that the con-

Coca Cola brings new innovation into fruit juice manufacturing

•From left: President/CEO, Transcorp, Emmanuel Nnorom, Dealer, One Way Pack (Mushin), Tosin Ojuri, Operations Marketing Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Peter Ekunkoya and Director, Stills and New Business, Nigeria Bottling Co, Prahlad Gangadharan, during the launch of 5 Alive Pulpy Orange at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

tent and packaging of the fruit drink was as a result of feedback the company got from consumers. “Consumers asked for or-

NUT scribe lauds Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative

HE Secretary General of Nigeria Union of Teachers, Obong Ikpe Obong, has praised the Nigerian Breweries Plc-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund for instituting the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative. According to the NUT scribe, other corporate bodies should emulate the good example being set by the brewing giant and its corporate principle of ‘winning with Nigeria’. Ikpe Obong made the charge during a meeting with the representative of the company, Mrs. Emete Tonukari, the CSR /Sustainability Manager of Nigerian Breweries Plc, inside the union’s national head office in Abuja. He said the union is delighted with the calibre of personalities selected by the organisers of the Maltina Teacher of the Year to serve on the panel of judges. “It shows the thoroughness and transparent manner you people went about the selection process,” he said. He revealed that the body will explore the possibility of featuring NB Plc. as a critical

stakeholder at the World Teachers Day celebration on 5th October during which the company will be accorded the opportunity, not only to present a good will message, but exhaustively outline its programme for the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative. The NUT Secretary General expressed the optimism that more teachers will key in to the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative in the coming years. He, therefore, enjoined organisers of the initiative to make provision for primary school teachers’ category in next year’s edition of the project. Responding on behalf of the Initiators of the project, Mrs. Tonukari expressed appreciation to the NUT for the cooperation and support the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund have received from the union in the course of running the initiative. She promised to always provide the union with updates on plans and programmes concerning progress on the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative.

From left: Mr. Emmanuel Hwande, Public Relations Officer, of Nigerian Union of Teachers, EmeteTonukari, CSR/Sustainability Manager of Nigerian Breweries Plc, ObongIkpe Obong, Secretary General, NUT and Chief Wale Oyeniyi, Deputy Secretary General, NUT, during a courtesy call at the Headquarters of NB Plc in Lagos.

ange juice that will give them the feeling of eating real orange; that is why we came out with a unique juice drink made from real oranges with real orange pulp with no added preservatives,” stated the Director. Explaining the uniqueness of the drink, Gangadharan said that whereas other 5Alive variants are a blend of five fruits, the new 5Alive pulpy is made from only oranges, thereby making it a mono flavour, adding that it is a new way to enjoy the taste of real oranges. The visibly excited Gangadharan said the production of the drink is also another

way of stimulating the Nigerian agricultural industry as the oranges for the production are sourced from farmers across the nation through the leading fruit processor, Teragro Ltd. “It is a new beginning for juice in Nigeria. We are changing the way juice is done in Nigeria,” enthused Gangadharan. Adeola Adetunji, the Managing Director of Coca Cola Nig. Ltd, commented on two aspects that highlight the significance of the product. “First, 5Alive pulpy drink, having no added preservatives and coming in a PET pack, represents the leading innovation for

which Coca Cola is renowned globally as well as a game changer for the juice business in Nigeria.” Secondly, he noted that the drink being made from locally-sourced oranges represents a breakthrough “in our longstanding commitment to develop local supplier capacity for our juice concentrates.” Speaking, Senior Brand Manager Stills, Coca Cola Nig. Ltd, Samuel Alugo, said that with the new drink, the company wants to give consumers the smell and taste they get when they eat an orange. Emphasising that the oranges used in the production are also sourced from farmers in the country, Mr. Alugo added that this guarantees a steady, qualitative source for production while also helping to develop the local agriculture value chain. Commenting on its introduction, the Marketing Director, Coca Cola Nig. Ltd, Patricia Jemibewon, said, “We have had an excellent response down our other variants with a reused value to the drink, and with the national launch of 5Alive pulpy orange, we are stepping to extend Coca Cola Nigeria’s market leadership in the fruit flavoured drink segment.” The pulpy drink comes in a distinctive shaped 40cl PET bottle with a top stimulating a real orange segment and juice sac. The product which is already in the market is retailed for N150. However, some consum-

ers are already complaining that the drink with only 12% orange juice in each bottle is not 100% orange juice and as such should be priced lower, but more consumers are of the view that it is in a higher class than the regular soft drinks and for that reason should not be sold at the same price. Mrs. Ifeoma Okoye, a major distributor of soft drinks at Alade Market, Allen Ikeja, said, “This pulpy orange drink has a lot of health benefits. It is rich in vitamin C. I think the price is worth it.” “It has some health benefits unlike your regular soft drinks that are made up of only water, sugar and colouring. It should not be sold at the same price as those ones even though it comes in a smaller bottle,” stated Bayo Adetutu of Rain bow PR consultative firm, Surulere. However, a nutritionist, Mrs. Emmanuela Umoh, working with a government establishment, said health benefits or not, she would rather not take it as the drink has a sharp taste of saccharine. “Out of curiosity after watching the advertisement, I bought it but was disappointed with the high saccharine taste. I would rather stick to my natural water.” Different strokes for different men, you may say. One thing 5Alive pulpy fruit juice drink has going for it is that it is the orange drink that is closest to natural orange, in terms of smell, flavour and taste. Another thing which is of great importance is that it is not filled with edible starch or ‘filler’ to increase bulk. Most fruit juice drinks in Nigeria, even some of the ones touted as being 100% fruit juice, have a lot of edible starch in them.

StarTimes subscribers win free trip to Germany, 175 win consolatory prizes

IGITAL TV service provider, StarTimes, has announced names of the first five winners of an all-expenses paid trip to Germany to watch and enjoy the thrills and sporting actions of the German Bundesliga, and meet the super stars. The company, at the first draw held in Abuja, picked the first five winners out of the 10 slots up for grabs in its ongoing ‘Win A Trip to Germany’ promo while the remaining five winners will emerge at the end of the promo this month. The company also held draws which produced 175 other winners of various household items that include 25 units of 40 inches LED television sets, 50 units of 2.5 KVA generating sets as well as 100 Solar 5 smart phones respectively. On the whole, 77,559 subscribers qualified for the first draws. The event was witnessed by the media and regulatory bodies, including Deputy Director of the National Lottery Board Commission, Mr. Sabo Haruna, representatives of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, as well as the Consumer Protec-

tion Council, CPC, in Abuja. In his remarks, Mr. Sabo Haruna said, “the lottery board is present at the event to ensure that everything goes as advertised. Everything a company promises its customers must be fulfilled as announced. We are quite satisfied with the StarTimes promo draw witnessed today as it was very transparent and properly done.”

According to StarTimes’ Public Relations Manager, Mr Israel Bolaji, the promo, which commenced last month, is part of the grand plan to mark the company’s fifth anniversary and excite its entertainment loving subscribers. Bolaji said StarTimes signed a five-year deal to exclusively broadcast all the top Bundesliga league football matches and three years’ ex-

From left: Public Relations Manager, StarTimes, Mr. Israel Bolaji, Chief Executive Officer, StarTimes Nigeria, Mr. Jack Liu, Deputy Director, Regulation and Monitoring, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Sabo Haruna and Asst. Director Marketing, Nigeria Television Authority, Dr. Barnabas Gbam during the StarTimes Win a trip to Germany Promo draw in Abuja.

clusive deal to broadcast the Serie A football live in Nigeria and across Africa on its sport channels – Star World Football, Star Sport Premium, Star Sports 2 and Star Sports Focus – as part of its renewed bid to boost sports offerings. “To qualify, a StarTimes subscriber should recharge for two months and get a guaranteed 50 per cent discount on the second month while new customers within the period can also do the same,” he noted. Bolaji remarked that as a mark of honour for customers, the pay TV firm decided to organise a landmark engagement and content to further excite customers in recognition of their support for the brand in the last five years in Nigeria. Customers can participate both on our digital terrestrial and satellite platforms (StarTimes and Star Dish TV). As a family brand, StarTimes is interested in providing as much entertainment and engagement for subscribers and as it continues with the promo in the spirit of its 5th anniversary, both new and old customers can be lucky winners.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

INTERVIEW

'Christians should learn to speak with one voice' The South West chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Magnus Atilade, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the new administration and issues affecting the Christian community. Excerpts:

HAT is your assessment of the c u r r e n t administra-tion a little after 100 days in office? I will say even without doing too much, things are already falling into places in the country. Mr. President has just been focusing on security, especially the Boko Haram insurgency but we are also seeing improved power supply and restoration of discipline. So, I'd say it is so far, so good. A lot of stolen monies are being recovered. More looters are being exposed. Since we voted for him to be there for four years, we should be patient. Do you support the thrust of the new administration on stoppage of sponsorship of pilgrimage? Yes, I do support it one hundred percent. The constitution is clear that the state should not be involved in religious activities. If you want to go to Jerusalem or Mecca, you should go on your own. Public funds should not be used to promote one religious practice, convention, culture or activity. That is the clear demarcation we must support. If you want to worship God in India, America or anywhere, it is your business. Government should not use our collective wealth to send someone to Mecca or Jerusalem. Islam says you should go to Mecca once in a year but there is a condition that you must be able to afford it. Recently, Lagos State government closed some churches over alleged noise pollution. What's your

reaction on it? We have warned churches over noise pollution not to erect external speakers. That is what the law says. It's been there for long. Over 20 years ago when I was CAN chairman in Lagos, I had cause to report a church in my neigbhourhood that was always disturbing us with speakers. The church would hold vigils and the community won't be able to sleep. You wake up the next day not refreshed. The fact is your right stops where others start. So, I believe you don't have to shout before God hears you. He is your maker and He knows what you need before you ask Him. So, churches must comply and avoid noise pollution. But some Christians wonder how many Mosques have been shut over this too… …As far as I know, the mosques are complying. But if there is any mosque that does not, let's not hesitate to let the government know and then we'd see what they would do then. Until then, we should obey the law and do the right thing. But can't the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) help to regulate churches over this? The problem is that many churches do not belong to CAN. The Muslims respect the Sultan and once he makes a pronouncement, everyone falls in line. But our people, claiming to be Bishops and Archbishops, operate as Islands on their own. We should learn to speak with one voice. That

is why CAN exists. CAN represents us all. It is the umbrella body for our unity as Jesus prayed for. We must respect its President as the number Christian citizen in this country. He is the Primus Inter Pares, the first among equals, and accorded respect worthy of his post by Christians and nonChristians. No ridiculous, unsubstantiated allegation should be leveled against him, especially by Christians. We must all obey his directives and follow his leading. Some people have alleged you are a political preacher, especially when you clamoured for a Christian governor in Lagos State. How do you react to this? On the Lagos governorship thing, we realised there had been an imbalance and injustice over the years against Christians. Christians have been shortchanged over the years. We did a research into what was happening in Lagos. Christians were not being appointed or placed on meagre salaries. Many people had to lie about their faith to get jobs and positions in Alausa. It was that bad. They won't agree but that is the truth. The governorship position was also occupied by people from a particular faith for 16 years. You see when something has gone on for too long, it becomes the tradition. That slot was almost being reserved for a particular faith. I prayed about it and the Holy Spirit gave me the assignment to work against

that. I encouraged Christians to be involved in political process. We then said a Christian should become the governor otherwise we would take it that it was for a faith. Many Christians vilified me. They said I was bringing religion into politics but they missed the point. They criticised me but I thank God we have what we prayed for today. As for being a political preacher, I don't understand what they mean. I'm only doing what I think is in the interest of God and the Christian community. Last week again, you made another case for a female governor in Lagos State. Can you clarify that statement? Part of my divine assignment is to challenge the status quo. When I was in the United States, I was honoured as one of the challengers of norms in my community. I saw something not happening and I asked why not? I saw something happening and I asked why. I just like to ask questions and know the basis for happenings around us. I saw Christians were not becoming governors in Lagos and I asked why not? I saw that women are better prepared and talented and I'm wondering why they are not becoming governors too. There is nothing to show men are superior to women. So, why can't women be elected as governors? But we have a governor who has not even done a term… … I'm not saying it has to happen now. I'd support Governor Ambode to go for two terms. A female

•Atilade

governor doesn't have to happen immediately after him. But I'm preparing our people to start reasoning what is wrong with having a female governor. Why does it have to be in Lagos first? That is because Lagos is a mini-Nigeria. Whatever happens here will happen elsewhere. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria is proposing age limit for leadership of religious bodies. Is that a good move? It is a sore point in the history of religious bodies in Nigeria. The State should not have any regulatory mechanism over religion. In the same way, we don't want religion to be taken into governance. What they are proposing will not stand. The Bible does not put age limit into practice of the clergy. There is no retirement for servants of

God. You serve until you die. So, old age is not a minus because the older you are in the spiritual world, the better you become. You need the wisdom and experience of old people in religion to regulate things. So, what they are proposing will not stand. Religion should be self-regulatory. The government cannot tell religious organisations how to function and operate. There were speculations that the Aso Rock chapel would be relocated… …Well, we should be careful with hearsays. But all I will say is to caution that if there is such plan, it shouldn't happen because it is a very sensitive matter. There is only a chapel in Aso Rock whereas there are three mosques within the same place. So, why relocate the only chapel? If there is such plan, it should be stopped because it will be misinterpreted.

NEWS

HURCH music enthusiasts last Sunday converged on Our Saviour's Anglican Church, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos for a concert that ended the 6th annual international music course and conference. The conference was organised by the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Nigeria in collaboration with Lagos Music Academy. A brand new choir mentored during a weeklong programme of intensive

Thrills at Lagos church musical concert By Sunday Oguntola training of music leaders, song writers and producers was on stand to entertain guests throughout the evening. The choir was directed by a highly professional team of world renowned organists led by the RSCM Nigeria Country Director Mr. Sunday Olawuwo, a distinguished organist & choirmaster at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral.

He was ably supported by Mr. Gordon Appleton, a former Director of RSCM for Northern England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, Paul Carey, Music Director of Our Lady and St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church, Harrow London and Mr. Tayo Oginni of RSCM Nigeria. Part of the concert was dedicated to the memories of two music icons, Late Mr. Peter Carter, former Deputy

British High Commissioner to Nigeria and Late Mr. T.A Olawuwo, father and mentor of Mr. Sunday Olawuwo of RSCM Nigeria. Some of the dignitaries at the show were a former Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe; Mr Olutoyin Okeowo, Chief Dipo Bailey, Sir Abayomi Williams, Mr Muyiwa Kupoluyi, Mrs. Chinwe Ngonadi and Mrs Elem Ebilah.

•Sitting from right: Former Director of Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) for Northern England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, Mr. Gordon Appleton; RSCM Nigeria Country Director/ Choirmaster at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Mr. Sunday Olawuwo and Music Director of Our Lady and St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church, Harrow London, Mr. Paul Carey with members of the mass choir… after the concert.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

NEWS

HID AWOLOWO: PASSAGE OF A MATRIARCH

R E S I D E N T Muhammadu Buhari yesterday extended his commiseration to the children, grand children and great grand children of the "Jewel of Inestimable Value" on the death of their famed matriarch, just a few weeks before her 100th birthday. Chief (Mrs.) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo died yesterday. The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, said he joined millions of admirers of her late, revered husband, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in mourning Chief Awolowo, "who will be long remembered and celebrated as the famous spouse and pillar of strength of the late nationalist, political leader and sage." The statement added,

Buhari pays tribute "President Buhari believes that Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo will always be honoured too for the indelible legacy of very significant, behind-the-scene contributions to communal, state, regional and national development which she has left behind. "The president prays that God will comfort Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo's family, relatives, friends, associates and admirers, and grant them the fortitude to bear her loss. "He also prays that the Almighty will receive the late matriarch's worthy soul and grant her eternal rest from her long, earthly service to her renowned spouse, family, community and country."

She exemplified the best of the progressive spirit, says Tinubu

HE National Leader of the All Progressives congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said the late Mrs. Awolowo, "exemplified the best of the progressive spirit and concern for all of humanity." In his tributes yesterday night he said, "We mourn her passing but we also must continue to move forward in order to celebrate her life and the ideals for which she stood. I don't believe she would have wanted us to respond in any other way. "She was a devout Christian and her life touched man. May her soul rest in peace. Her life spanned nearly a century of change and challenge in the world and in Nigeria. Through it all, she remained true to great and noble ideas and did so with dignity, spirit and compassion. "Just a few weeks to becoming 100 years of age, she passed on. However, for nearly a century, she remained committed. In her gentle but strong way, she held forth the banner and nurtured the progressive legacy after her husband, the revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo passed on. "This great jewel of the people withstood the test of time and weathered the political storms of dictatorships and mis governance. Never did

she bend or reject her principles and beliefs despite the pressures that came. She stood firmly in the courage of her convictions. "Our Mama, HID Awolowo was the Awolowo philosophy personified. She remained a constant source of knowledge, inspiration and wisdom. Her faith in the Nigerian nation was unwavering and revealed an uncommon, visionary political bearing. She gave a mother's love to all Nigerians irrespective of political differences and through her we learned that unity through diversity is the precious gift we must construct and give ourselves. "While we mourn, we must also take solace in the fact that she lived long enough to see the advent of progressive government at the federal level. "She has bequeathed to us a great legacy, a political legacy of intelligence, courage conviction, hope and belief in the goodness of the people. As such, we will miss her presence and are grieved by her departure. Yet, the story of her life commands us to do our best to turn Nigeria into the nation she dedicated her life to and that we all honor her every day by each one of us becoming better citizens, better Nigerians."

Nigeria lost a great mother, says Akpabio

ENATE Minority Leader Godswill Akpabio has described the death of the matriarch of the Awolowo's family, Yeye HID Awolowo as a national loss. He said Nigeria has lost a great mother and an exemplary woman. Akpabio, in a statement by his media aide Jackson Udom, noted that though Mama Awolowo served the nation as the wife of a foremost nationalist and politician. He said she also laid good

examples for womanhood, regretting she died only two months shy of her centenary birthday celebration, which would have helped to showcase her ideals and encourage other women across the world. The former governor of Akwa Ibom praised Mama Awolowo's lifetime as "memorable, exemplary and excellent". He noted since the death of her husband decades ago, she has remained committed to his ideals and has remained a mother to all politicians irrespective of political leanings.

Akume: She was a true nationalist

ORMER Senate Minority Leader George Akume has described the demise of the HID Awolowo as a great loss to the nation. In a press statement by his Media Aide, Becky Orpin, Akume said the deceased was a true nationalist like her late husband who loved Nigeria.

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

Akume lamented that the matriarch of Awolowo's family died at the time her wise counsel on democracy would be needed and pray God to give the Awolowo family to bear the loss.

Ambode mourns 'backbone of progressive ideas'

•Late H.I.D Awolowo

'She remains a jewel of inestimable value'

NDO State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has described the late Mrs. HID Awolowo as "a supremely intelligent, kind-hearted, loving and caring mother of the Yoruba nation." He said Mama "as no one would doubt remains a jewel of inestimable value even in transition to glory." According to him: "As the mother of the Yoruba nation, Mama made invaluable contributions to the Awolowo School of progressive politics encap-

sulated in the social democratic mantra of life more abundant during and after the life time of the great sage. "She was a rallying point for all Yoruba sons and daughters irrespective of political affiliations as the co-chairman, with the late Ooni of Ife, of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), a movement dedicated to the advancement of Yoruba cohesion, progress and advancement within the Nigerian matrix."

End of an era - Aregbesola

OVERNOR of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, described the death of Chief Mrs. Awolowo, as the end of an era. In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor joined the progressive family in mourning the glorious exit of a matriarch. He described Mama Awolowo as a solid pillar

beside the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was alive. According to the Governor, Mama stood by her husband during his lifetime and even after his demise. “They set examples for politicians when they were here with us. The couple typified the best of what politicians should strive to be in their families in our society.”

'She lived an exemplary life'

KITI State Governor Ayo Fayose has said the late Mrs. Hannah Awolowo lived an exemplary life and provided great lessons for discerning minds. In a condolence message yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose described her death as "the loss of the real conscience of the Oodua nation, an end of an era and the fall of the biggest iroko tree in the forest of the Yoruba land." Fayose noted that HID's untiring efforts at building and sustaining the unity of

She lived a development centred life -Wike

IVERS State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that the late Mama Awolowo lived a development-centred life, worthy of emulation by Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity and political affiliation. He described the passing away of the matriarch of the Awolowo family and the cofounder of the Nigerian Tribune as an irreparable loss to the entire nation.

From: Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado Ekiti

the Yoruba nation and ensuring its worthy pride of place within the context of Nigeria's federal structure will be sorely missed by all. According to him, Mama Awolowo not only wrote her name in gold in the history of the Yoruba race and Nigeria at large but proved truly that behind a successful man, there must be a good woman. Fayose said: "After the demise of her husband, Mama stood tall to carry on with the great legacies of Baba Awolowo. "Even when the vicissitudes of life brought some challenging issues across her path, despite that there was no Baba to lean on, she stood like a rock. "Mama Awolowo's life was not only exemplary but one that provided great lessons of life to the discerning mind. "She has fought a good fight. She came and conquered. She left footprints in the sands of time and she has gone to a deserved rest."

AGOS State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has described the late Mrs. Hannah Awolowo, wife of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo as a "backbone of progressive ideas." The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, said he was one of mama's many followers looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday just few months away. "Mama would have clocked 100 on November 25 this year. It was going to be a milestone, not just for her but for our great country. "She was the matriarch of the Awolowo family, a well respected dynasty in the history of Nigeria." He added: "Mama's demise at this time is painful, especially coming at a period when Nigeria is gradually en-

CHANGE OF NAME ODINAKACHI Formerly addressed as Miss DIALA VERONICA ODINAKACHI, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHUKWUEMEKA VERONICA ODINAKACHI. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. OJUGBELI Formerly addressed as Miss ESTHER NDUDI IFEKANWA OJUGBELI, now wish to be known as Mrs. ESTHER NDUDI IFEKANWA ALIU. Former documents remain valid general public take note. OKON Formerly addressed as Miss CURLYN PANTON OKON, now wish to be known as Mrs. CURLYN PANTON OAMHEN. Former documents remain valid general public take note. OSUEKE Formerly addressed as Miss OSUEKE, MUNACHI PRECIOUS, now wish to be known as Mrs. BUDUKA, MUNACHI PRECIOUS. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. ONWUKA Formerly addressed as Miss AUGUSTINA TOCHUKWU ONWUKA, now wish to be known as Mrs. AUGUSTINA TOCHUKWU OKORO. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. EZE Formerly addressed as Miss EZE, JULIET OGECHI, now wish to be known as Mrs. EKWUEME, JULIET OGECHI. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. NWADIKE Formerly addressed as Miss NWADIKE, CHINWENDU MAUREEN, now wish to be known as Mrs. IBE, CHINWENDU MAUREEN. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. OKORO Formerly addressed as Miss OKORO, NKEIRUKA CYNTHIA, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHIMA, NKEIRUKA CYNTHIA. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. IHEMEJE Formerly addressed as Miss IHEMEJE, CHIDINMA JOY .S., now wish to be known as Mrs. ONYEJEKWE, JOYCLINTON ALBERT. Former documents remain valid general public take note. EKEH Formerly addressed as Miss HELEN CHINENYE EKEH, now wish to be known as Mrs. HELEN CHINENYE EKEH NWANKWO. Former documents remain valid, general public take note. AGWUNA Formerly addressed as MISS AGWUNA EBERE AGATHA, now wish to be addressed as MRS OKONKWO EBERE AGATHA. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note. KING Formerly addressed as Miss King Rukayat Busayo, now wish to be addressed as Mrs Rukayat King Lawal. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

joying democratic bliss, which her late husband, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, fought for till his death. "We, however, take solace in the fact that she lived a fulfilled life. We celebrate her for what she stood for, uniting the Yoruba race for a common course and keeping her family together since the demise of her husband. "She was the pillar behind Chief Obafemi Awolowo's legacies. She was the backbone of the brand of progressive ideas that defined the politics of the South West in the First Republic and in subsequent Republics." The governor prayed for the peaceful repose of her soul, urging her family to draw strength from the legacies she stood for while she was alive.

CHANGE OF NAME ADIBE Formerly addressed as MISS ADIBE OBIANUJU COMFORT EZUOMIKE PRECIOUS, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. UDE OBIANUJU EZUOMIKE PRECIOUS. Former documents remain valid. NYSC, Parklane Teaching Hospital, Diamond Bank, GTB, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria CGFNS and general public take note.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

58 CHANGE OF NAME SOMIDE Formerly addressed as Somide, Folake Victoria, now wish to be addressed as Akanni, Folake Victoria. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. OWOICHO Formerly addressed as Audu Emmanuel Owoicho, now wish to be addressed as Audu Emmanuel James. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. AYODELE Formerly addressed as Miss Ayodele, Damilola Davina, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Akogu, Damilola Davina. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. AKANDE Formerly addressed as Miss Adebisi Abimbola Akande, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Adebisi Abimbola Akande-Jimoh. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. LAWAL Formerly addressed as Miss Adebimpe Hairat Lawal, now wish to be known as Mrs. Adebimpe Hairat Shekoni. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. AYEMOMI Formerly addressed as Ayemomi Yetunde Oluwakemi, now wish to be known as Adenuga, Yetunde Oluwakemi. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OKAFOR Formerly addressed as Miss Okafor, Ozioma Blessing, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ezike, Ozioma Blessing. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OLAYIWOLA Formerly addressed as Miss Olayiwola, Busola Racheal, now wish to be known as Mrs. Adekunle, Adeola Busola. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. IGHODARO Formerly addressed as Miss Blessing Osuom Ighodaro, now wish to be known as Mrs. Blessing Osuom Efosa. Former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note. IMOUKHUEDE Formerly addressed as Miss Selinah Ohomoime Imoukhued , now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Edozie-Onwuli, Selinah Ohomoime. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. AKANDE Formerly addressed as Miss Adebisi Abimbola Akande, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Adebisi Abimbola Akande-Jimoh. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. ALAFE Formerly addressed as Alafe Shakirat Abiola, now wish to be addressed as Nelson-Adeyemi Shakirat Abiola. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. JOKOTOYE Formerly addressed as Rashidat Olubunmi Jokotoye, now wish to be addressed as Rashidat Olubunmi Anjorin. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. KAMWAI Formerly addressed as Kamwai Lisnaan Clinton, now wish to be addressed as Joseph Lisnaan. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. SULEIMAN Formerly addressed as Miss Suleiman, Bilikis Eniola, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Adeditan, Bilikis Eniola. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. WUCHE Formerly addressed as Esther Chizzy Wuche, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Esther Chizzy C. Nwachukwu. Former documents remain valid.General public take note. AKINDELE Formerly addressed as Mr. Aderounmu Akindele, now wish to be addressed as Mr. Olalekan lsaac Oluleye Akindele. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. NJOKU Formerly addressed as Mr. Njoku David Alphonsus, now wish to be addressed as Mr. Uzoma David Alphonsus. Former documents remain valid. Faulty of Education, Human Kinetic Health Education, Ul., Command day Secondary School, Odogbo Barracks Ojoo, lbadan, Oyo State, First Bank, wema Bank, Gtb, Ecobank and general public take note.

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ADENIYI Formerly addressed as Miss Adeniyi, Oluwatoyin Adedolapo, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Famurewa, Oluwatoyin Adedolapo. Former documents remain valid. Union Trustees Limited and general public take note. ADELABU Formerly addressed as Mrs. Adelabu-Soule, Monsurat Atinuke, now wish to be addressed as Miss Odusina, Monsurat Atinuke. Former documents remain valid. Hakeem Adelabu-Soul,LASG, Civil Service Commission and general public take note. AJIBEFUN Formerly addressed as Miss Oluwaseun Victoria Ajibefun, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Ebiama Oluwaseun Victoria. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. SABIU Formerly Miss Sabiu Modinat Abiola now wish to be known and address as Mrs. Olaofe Modinat Abiola .The entire Lagos State Public Service and the general public should please take note. YUSUF Formerly addressed as Miss Yusuf Salamot Ladidat, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Lawson Salamot Ladidat. Former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

BISONG Formerly addressed as Miss Bisong Nora Dajie, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Odu, Nora Dajie. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. HAMSAT Formerly addressed as Hamsat Taiwo Ibrahim, now wish to be addressed as Adekayaoja Taiwo Ibrahim. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. NWANERI Formerly addressed as Miss Nwaneri Ugochi Salome, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Opara, Ugochi Salome. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OJO Formerly addressed as Miss Ojo Moradeke Blessing, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Idowu Moradeke Blessing. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME Jimoh Surajudeen Adewale is the same and one person as Oguntayo Suraju,Amusa Suraju Adewale and Jimoh Surajudeen Adewale.. Former documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public take note. OMIGBENLE Formerly addressed as Omigbenle Babatunde Olusegun, now wish to be addressed as Olusegun Babatunde. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OGUNJOBI Formerly addressed as Ogunjobi Olawumi Olutayo , now wish to be addressed as Olorunfemi Olawumi Olutayo. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OGUNJOBI Formerly addressed as Ogunjobi Joseph Oluwafemi, now wish to be addressed as Olurunfemi Joseph Oluwafemi. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. UME Formerly addressed as Miss Ume Oluchi Glamour, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Samuel Oluchi Glamour. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. ADEDIBU Formerly addressed as Latifat Adedibu, now wish to be addressed as Latifat Adebayo. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OLASEHINDE Formerly addressed as Miss Olasehinde Blessing Christianah, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Oyeniyi BlessingChristianah. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. MRONYEU Formerly addressed as Mronyeu Kwuchidinma Angela, now wish to be known and addressed as Mreze Chidinma Angela. all former documents remain valid.NYSC and the general public should please take note. MATTHEN Formerly addressed as Miss Matthen Onyinyechi Happiness, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Okey- Agbai Onyinyechi Happiness. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. MATANMI Formerly addressed as Miss Matanmi Abolore Kafayat, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Badmus Abolore Kafayat. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME Adeshola Daniels Fatuberu is the same person as Aduraleke Adeshola Daniels St. Joseph . Former documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public take note.

UZOHUJU Formerly addressed as Miss Uzohuju Rosemary, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Nworahuju Rosemary. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

OLANIRAN Formerly addressed as MISS KEMI FELICIA OLANIRAN, now wish to be addressed as MRS. KEMI FELICIA KOLAWOLE. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. NWIKA Formerly addressed as MISS NWIKA BLESSING BARINE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NWILENE LAWRENCE BLESSING BARINE. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. EWUZIE Formerly known and addressed as MISS EWUZIE CHRISTIANA OGECHI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NJOKU CHRISTIANA OGECHI. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. SULEIMAN Formerly addressed as MISS FATIMA SHUAIBU SULEIMAN, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. FATIMA IBRAHIM MOHAMMED. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. BOB-MANUEL Formerly addressed as MISS BOBMANUEL, DABEBARA DON MORGAN now wish to be addressed as MRS. ABBEY DABEBARA MINAIBIM. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. ENAIGWEH Formerly addressed as MISS ALBERTA OGHENEKEVWE ENAIGWEH now wish to be addressed as MRS. ALBERTA OGHENEKEVWE IGBALAJOBI. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. OKERE Formerly addressed as MISS OKERE, OGECHI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ODINAKA N. OGECHI. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, CHINEYE GODGIFT IKEZA and CHINEYE CHUKU refers to one b and the same person. Now wish to be addressed as CHINEYE GODGIFT IKEZA. Former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, OBERA BABA JOHN and OBERA BABA refers to one b and the same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as OBERA BABA JOHN. Former documents remain valid. General public please take note. OKONKWO Formerly addressed as ANNABEL NKIRUKA OKONKWO, now wish to be known and addressed as ANNABEL NKIRUKA EZEILO. Former documents remain valid. INEC and the general public should please take note. OKON Formerly addressed as MISS EMEM EDET OKON, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. EMEM ANIEDI NSIKAK. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. OKAFOR Formerly addressed as Miss Okafor, Joy Ifesinach, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ikpo, Joy Ifesinachi. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. BALOGUN Formerly addressed as Olubunmi Agbeke Obilade Balogun, now wish to be known and addressed as Agbayewa Olubunmi Alaba. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. SUNDAY Formerly addressed as Imeobong Akpan Sunday, now wish to be known and addressed as Imeobong Amanam Asuquo. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. ALIMI Formerly addressed as Alimi Folashade Bola, now wish to be addressed as Alimi Folashade Deborah. Former documents remain valid. General public should take note. SOWUNMI Formerly addressed as Mrs. SOWUNMI OLAYINKA, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. OPALEYE OLAYINKA .All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. ONUGBU Formerly addressed as Miss Emetonjor Katherine Chinedu, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Onugbu Katherine Andy. Former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I Mr. Akinmola Michael Abayomi is the same and one person as Mr. Sunday Michael Abayomi now Mr. Akinmola Michael Abayomi. Former documents bearing the above names remain valid. Ondo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), and general public take note.

EBOSE Formerly addressed as Miss EBOSE FEYISOLA SUSAN now wish to be addressed as Mrs. ADEBOWALE, FEYISOLA SUSAN. Former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ONYECHERE Formerly addressed as Miss Chioma John Onyechere, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Chioma Godwin Obi. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. ADEYEYE Formerly addressed as Adeyeye Adediran Adeoluwa, now wish to be addressed as Adeyeye Adediran James. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. NNAMANI Formerly addressed as Miss Ogechukwu Favour Nnamani, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Ogechukwu Favour Okoh. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. MICHEAL Formerly addressed as Miss Endurance Micheal, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Endurance Egbunonu. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. SUTO Formerly addressed as Sutoidem Pizarro Sunday, now wish to be addressed as Suto Praise Sunday. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. ADEYEMI Formerly addressed as Miss Adeyemi, Josephine Oluwaseun, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Abulatan, Josephine Oluwaseun. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. ADEYEMI Formerly addressed as Adeyemi, Noah Adetola, now wish to be addressed as Olaleye Adetola Eunice. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. LAMIDI Formerly addressed as Lamidi Saheed Oladimeji, now wish to be addressed as Oladimeji Lateef Owolabi. Former documents remain valid. Banker, NIBBS and general public take note. OYINLOYE Formerly addressed as Noah Oluwadamilare Oyinloye, now wish to be addressed as Noah Alabi Olobi. Former documents remain valid. Banker, NIBBS and general public take note. ADELEKE Formerly addressed as Miss Adeleke Anthonia Omolara, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Olabiran, Anthonia Omolara. Former documents remain valid. general public take note. AKINRINSOLA Formerly addressed as Miss Damilola Funmilayo Akinrinsola now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Ogonnoh Damilola Funmilayo. Former documents remain valid. General public should take note. JOSEPH Formerly addressed as Miss JOSEPH, FUNMILAYO OMOYELE now wish to be addressed as Mrs. LAWAL, FUNMILAYO OMOYELE. Former documents remain valid. General public should take note. ONUOHA Formerly addressed as Miss ONUOHA, SUSAN CHIAMAKA now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. NWOSU, SUSAN CHIAMAKA. former documents remain valid. General public should take note. MAJI Formerly addressed as MISS MAJI BLESSING OJONE, now wish to be addressed as MRS. ENAPE BLESSING OJONE. Former documents remain valid. General public take note. OGBODOBRI Formerly addressed as FANNY MODUPEOLA HADIZAH OGBODOBRI now wish to be known and addressed as FANNY MODUPEOLA SERIKI. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. AGUDEE Formerly addressed as MISS ESTHER BARISUKA AGUDEE , now wish to be addressed as MRS. ESTHER BARISUKA OKEKE. Former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SULAIMON Formerly addressed as Miss SULAIMON, MORILIAT ABIOLA now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. ADEBAYO, MORIDIYAT ABIOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ABDULYEKEEN Formerly addressed as Miss Abdulyekeen Maryam, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Ayanbimpe Maryam. Former documents remain valid. Federal College of Wildlife Management, new Bussa and general public take note.

OJELADE Formerly addressed as Miss OJELADE, OLUWASEUN MARY now wish to be addressed as Mrs. OYELEKAN, OLUWASEUN MARY. Former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, NWOGU ESTHER C. and NWOGU ESTHER refers to one b and the same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as NWOGU ESTHER C. Former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

KINGSLEY Formerly addressed as Miss Ekeleonu Emenike Kingsley, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ekeleonu Kingsley Lucky. Former documents remain valid. Government of Abia State of Nigeria Hospital Management Board and the general public should please take note.

TOBI Formerly addressed as Miss Joy Uchenna Tobi, now wish to be addressed as Mrs. Joy Uchenna Osagie. Former documents remain valid. General public 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 SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

PDP has launched counter-offensive against anti-corruption battle - APC HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of openly launching a counteroffensive against the efforts of the Buhari Administration to rid the country of impunity and corruption. The party warned that the opposition party will fail in its attempt to take Nigerians back to Egypt. In a statement in Lagos yesterday, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, the ‘’Saturday’s press statement by the PDP is nothing but a thinly-veiled frontal assault on the relentless efforts of the Buhari Administration’s to clean the Augean stable of the last PDP federal government.’’ He added, ‘’With its statement that is nothing but an unabashed support for impunity and corruption, as well as its major actors, the PDP has now confirmed itself as the official ‘poster boy’ for corruption in Nigeria.’’ According to him, the long-winding sophistry about the rule of law, democ-

racy and personal freedoms is aimed at couching the PDP’s abhorrence and disdain for the fight against corruption in democratic clichés,

especially now that the battle is gradually hitting the PDP where it hurts. The party said that for the PDP’s National Publicity

Secretary himself, the persistent onslaught against the Buhari Administration is neither altruistic nor informed by any belief in higher val-

‘Ordinary President of Brekete Family’, Malam Ahmed Isah (l), addressing complainants from Construction and Allied Companies over Unlawful Dismissal and Poor Treatment they received from their employers, during a gathering at the Unity Fountain in Abuja yesterday Photo: NAN

ues, ‘’because the allegations of corruption hanging on his own neck, from within his own party, is a clear indication that he is mortally afraid that the wind will soon blow hard enough to expose the fowl’s rump’’. ‘’Neither the PDP as a party nor its spokesman have the moral authority to condemn anyone, least of all a President that is working hard to rescue Nigeria from the abyss to which it has been plunged by the former ruling party. ‘’For the PDP to brush aside the latest revelation that a government it sired could not account for $700 million from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), or the fact that the party could not account for billions of Naira in its own campaign funds, and then launch a frontal attack against a reformist government, is the height of shamelessness. ‘’For the ethically-challenged spokesman of the same morally-deficient party to continue to spew trash under the guise of opposition politics is totally

Dissecting Prof. Olayinka, new UI VC

HE recent smooth leadership transition at the Nigeria’s premier university-University of Ibadanclearly indicates that the level of political maturity among the academics , particularly in the institution is not only commendable, but serves as a big lesson to the political class. 13 distinguished and eminent professors engaged in a fierce battle to occupy the coveted position that will be vacant on 1 December, 2015. The fiveyear single tenure of the incumbent, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole runs out on 30 November, this year. The selection process which began a couple of months ago was indeed tough and tedious. But, with transparency and honesty of purpose on the part of the Dr. Umaru Musa Mustapha- led governing council, a winner emerged at the end of the rigorous exercise without acrimony. Since the announcement of the new vice-chancellor, there has been peace and jubilation. Nobody threatens to go to court. None of the contestants is writing petition. They gallantly conceded defeat in order to preserve the system. Nothing illustrates political maturity more than this gallantry in thrashing . They should be commended for not heating up the system in pursuance of their ambition. In the same vein, Dr.Mustapha and his team should be applauded for organising a credible and transparent system that produced Prof. Adewole’s successor. With this feat, UI has lived up to expectation as the first and best university in the country. The university is not only providing academic leadership to other higher institutions in the country, Ibadan is equally leading politically as there has not been a serious crisis over appointment of vice chancellor, which is always tempestuous in many other places.

•Olayinka By Sunday Saanu

But then, who is the winner of Ibadan contest? He is Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka of Faculty of Science, Geology department. Born at Odo-Ijesa, Osun State on 16th February 1958, Prof. Olayinka attended St. Bartholomew’s Primary School, Odo-Ijesa, from 1964 to 1969 and was appointed the senior prefect in his final year as a result of his brilliance and exceptional performance. He was admitted into the famous Ilesa Grammar School in January 1970 and completed his West Africa Secondary School Certificate in 1975, in Division one. He entered the University of Ibadan in 1977/1978 to study geology and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.sc) degree (2nd class Honours, Upper Division) in 1981, and he was the best graduating student in his class. He proceeded to the United Kingdom for postgraduate studies in September 1983, first at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London. He earned an MSc degree in Geophysics of the University of London and Diploma of Membership of Imperial College in July 1984. He subsequently received the Overseas Research Students’ Award from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of United

Kingdom Universities (now Universities UK); he utilised this scholarship at the University of Birmingham for his Ph.D. research in Applied Geophysics which he completed in April, 1988. Prof. Olayinka had postdoctoral research experience in Germany, first at Technical University, Braunschweig as a German Academic Exchange Service Visiting Scholar from April till August 1996 and later at Technical University, Berlin, as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow from July 1997 till April 1999. However, beyond sparkling academic attainments, the question remains: who exactly is Prof. Olayinka? Does he have what it takes to lead UI? Is he capable of taking UI to the next level? Is he popular among his peers?. These are some of the questions this writer attempts to answer. With extensive search and research into his background, using some common investigative tools, including content analysis, observation and interview, the subject of investigation clearly comes across as an effective and efficient manager of men and materials who has positively impacted lives in the course of his career trajectory. Using his social media platforms to analyse what his admirers are saying about him, Prof. Olayinka is indeed an embodiment of gentility, an epitome of simplicity, very unassuming, brilliant and kind to all and sundry. As soon as he was unveiled as the 12th VC of Ibadan, his network of acquaintances, exstudents, admirers and friends, cutting across the strata of the society and regions bombarded his Facebook and twitter accounts, fulsome in their tributes to a placid man of extra ordinary mental acuity. His two mobile sets literally collapsed following massiness of messages and calls. Going through some of the messages,

One is convinced that Prof. Olayinka is not only popular but generally perceived to be suited for the job. A senior lecturer in the Department of Communication and Language Arts, Dr. Olusola Oyewo described Prof. Olayinka as a chivalrous and courteous personality who treasures friendship and association. According to Dr.Oyewo “Prof. Olayinka is a great leader. He never forgets to send me birthday messages every year even without prompting. He is good for the job”. A non-teaching senior staff, Mr. Olumuyiwa Olusegun Soyanwo echoed the same sentiment, painting the new VC as an admirable and unruffled scholar-administrator. Mr. Soyanwo said, “He is never under pressure, because he does his work strategically. When offices close by 4pm, you will see Prof. Olayinka driving back to the office in his personal car and works till 10pm. I am sure that UI is lucky again to have his like as the new VC” However, it could be observed that his naturally restrained physiognomy is much antithetical to his robust sense of humour, just as his laconic response to greetings largely betrays his reverential and deferential dispositions to people. Engage him in phatic communication, by saying “good morning sir”, his response will be “Ah!,e pele” meaning well done. So short, almost curtly, yet he is harmless. But when you meet him cracking jokes, you will never believe it is the same Prof. Olayinka who had just answered you as if you were his enemy. It is his nature. He is a man of few words with a large heart. Prof. Olayinka’s popularity began to soar on campus in 2002 when he became the Dean of Post Graduate School. He displayed outstanding resourcefulness, foresight and dogged determination as he repositioned the school as the

flagship of post graduate training in sub-saharan Africa. He used his fund-raising skill to ensure massive fund mobilization with 253 percent increase in total revenue generated. Again, Prof. Olayinka and his team introduced overseas conference grants for Post graduate teachers after a nearly 20-year period of inactivity of such a scheme in the university. The UI PG school scholarship scheme is also to his credit, just as the UI PG School Teaching and Research Assistantship scheme was the product of his imagination. When he was the Head of Department, and later the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) , his sterling qualities kept propelling the machinery of administration to the extent that those who saw his capacity foretold his ascension to the current position. He says he will envision, lead and facilitate principled, transparent and participatory governance. It is therefore expected that every stakeholder will give him support to excel. As it is often been said by the outgoing VC, Prof. Adewole “anybody who is privileged to be the VC is not the best, the brightest and the most intelligent, such a person is just the luckiest among the best, therefore as prof. Olayinka takes over on 1 December, 2015, it is expected that all other best and the brightest in the community will support him to move the university to greater heights. Prof. Adewole has done so well. He has exceeded public expectation in performance , Prof. Olayinka must work harder to be adjudged better than his predecessor . Prof. Olayinka is happily married to an elegant Dr. Eyiwumi Bolutito Olayinka. The union is blessed with children. •Saanu is with the Directorate of Public Communication, University of Ibadan. Email:sundaysaanu@yahoo.com

provocative and absolutely unacceptable. Worse still, the lack of focus in the labyrinthine statements being issued by the opposition party has confirmed the prescience of the APC’s offer to the PDP’s spokesman to take a crash course in how to speak for the opposition,’’ it said.

Confusion over crowning of Oludesignate •Continued from Page 5 He said, “The Ologbotsere is a family stool; only Ologbotsere descendants can be appointed. When an Ologbotsere is to be appointed, the Olu consults with the family. “Let us go back into history: after 88-year interregnum when Ginuwa II was to be installed in 1936, no chiefs and because there was no Olu to appoint chief during the period. But Ebido, as the head of Ologbotsere family performed the function. He was resident in Jakpa, he was head of Ologbotsere and Uwangue families. He crowned the Olu. “By Itsekiri native law and custom, the family stool is never vacant. Ologbotsere family will appoint a person, preferably a chief from the Ologbotsere family, who was installed by an Olu. Ologbotsere has three main functions to the Itsekiri: He gets the name of the Olu-designate from the family, sends the name to the Traditional Council and announces to Itsekiri,” he explained.

Godfrey Emiko is new Olu of Warri •Continued from Page 5 the Secretary of the ILT, Edward Ekpoko, said the choice of Ikenwoli broke the succession tradition of passing the throne from father to son for the first time in about 200 years. The Nation had exclusively reported on Tuesday that the first son of the demised monarch, Prince Tsola Emiko, had been disqualified from the race owing to his maternal lineage, as only princes born by Itsekiri or Edo mothers can be Olu. Earlier concerns that the move could lead to crisis in the kingdom evaporated yesterday as Prince Tsola led his other siblings to Ode-Itsekiri. Meanwhile, the member Representing Warri Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Daniel Reyenieju, commended members of the Warri Traditional Council, and the entire Itsekiri nation for the peaceful conduct of all the processes for succession. Reyenieju expressed joy that the usual rancour associated with such successions in some parts of Nigeria remain alien to the Itsekiri nation Similarly, he described the demise of Atuwatse 11 as “a tragedy of monumental proportion, not only to the Itsekiri ethnic nation, but to the peoples of Delta State and the totality of the Nigerian nation.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

WORLD NEWS

America's 2016 elections: black in the nick of time Hatred in the guiding light of those who choose to be blind R ACE and the prejudices associated with it are the mill and grist of American history. Racism is the single greatest factor shaping American society. In America, the color of a person's skin paints their life experiences. To understand American politics, is to first understand the country's racial dynamics. Trying to decipher American politics without seeing race as a dominant factor is likened to baking bread with neither flour nor leaven. Strangely, although its impact will be publicly understated, race will likely be more decisive in the 2016 elections than in the 2008 election that brought the country's first Black president into office. In 2008, the election was about the race of one man. The election pivoted on whether Obama could prove to enough Whites that he was not the stereotypical Black they loathed and feared. That people would vote for him did not mean they were not prejudiced. For many, it meant Obama was a rare exception to the general bias they still held as valid. That he had to convince so many people that he was unlike those other Blacks meant the stereotype was still accepted social and political fact. That is was untrue mattered not; in politics, belief is stronger than truth, the established myth of the majority outweighs any objective fact owned by a minority. Those who heraldedObama's election as the advent of a post-racial society allowed the joy of the moment to eclipse their better judgment. They were akin to a first time visitor coming to someone's during the moment of a solar eclipse. It would be a leap of naivetĂŠfor the visitor to expect a reoccurrence every visit subsequently made. However, many people were taken by such naivetĂŠ by the Obama elections. Obama was more the Pied Piper than the True Deliverer, more political impresario than biblical Moses. Yet, Black people adorned him in deified garb which ultimately proved ill-fitting. From the outset of the Obama tenure, they determined to seal themselves mute regarding public advocacy of issues specific to the Black community. There was a nearly universal albeit informal pledge not to openly confront the first Black president with matters of racial discrimination of the Black community. They would come to withhold all criticism on all aspects of domestic and foreign policy. This restraint would prove injurious to American itself. Black America had always served as the progressive conscience of the body politic. With that conscience placed in deep freeze, principle and morality were lost to politics. The nation more cynically to the right.

By Brian Browne

Blacks' lone benefit was the psychic uplift of knowing one of their own had become the head of the political host. They were lulled into false comfort by the mellifluous rhetoric of the president. Black people walked into a fog of their own making, thinking they would debouch into a new, better America at the end of the misty trip. Sadly, the fog was but in their eyes only. The new America in which they found themselves was the same America they had left. In ways, it was worse. For the first six years of his tenure, the artful president was sufficiently nibble to dodge matters of a racial nature. Black America had suffered worse than any other part of American during the Great Recession of 2009. However, this greaterpoverty was steady and undramatic. Since Whites too suffered,Blacks would not get any special sympathy. They never did during economic downturns. It is an expected outcome of economic contraction that America's Blacks would suffer more, just as they enjoy economic booms less than their White counterparts. Just as Blacks came out of the Great Depression comparatively worse, they would fare no better seventy years later in 2009. Blacks being the first to get fleeced and the last to the dinner table remains an abiding tenet of the American political economy. The moderate Obama was not going to lift a finger to alter this secular commandment. However, in 2014 events began to happen that would not allow themselves to be hidden. While Black people had basically accepted their beleaguered economic station, they thought their basic civil rights were to be honored. They were no longer to be tormented by law enforcement or to be shot or killed simply for being who they are. In 2014, it became apparent that even this minimalpromise was not categorical. It could be promptly revoked by any police officer, at any time, for any reason or for no good reason at all. Michael Brown was shot in Missouri. Eric Garner was choked to death by a posse of White cops for peddling s few cigarettes in New York City. Garner was only trying to make a few dollars for his poor household. Yet these cops would never dare choke any of those New York bankers who trafficked billions of dollars and brought the global economy to the point of chilling disaster during the 2009 recession. Twelve year old Tamar Rice was killed for playing with a toy gun by White cops who shot first and yet could not be bothered with asking questions later. Walter Scott was shot in the back fleeing a White cop in Charleston who claimed he discharged his firearm because Scott had placed him in mortal danger. How the back of a scared, unarmed middle-aged Black man poses such a danger escapes me. A few miles from that site, a disturbed White supremacist would weeks

â&#x20AC;˘Barack Obama

later walk into a venerable Black church, sit among those in Bible study then shoot dead the Black people who had just befriended this stranger in their midst. While driving to her first day of work, Sandra Bland was stopped and harassed by a White policeman in Texas. Arrested for the most minor traffic infraction, she was later found dead in her jail cell. Her death was ruled a suicide. The truth will likely remain a mystery. Yet, it remains difficult to believe a 28 year old Black woman would end her life by hanging herself with a trash bag. Suicide fortunately is an uncommon thing;even rarer is that a woman would take her life because of a traffic infraction; even rarer is that a young black woman would choose hanging as her method of selfdestruction; even rarer would be that she would come to the point of imagining a trash bag as the instrumentality of her demise and have the ability to convert the bag into a hanging tool. Although possible, the official account does not ring true. In Ohio, a police officer shot an unarmed Black driver claiming that the man was trying hit and drag him with the car. But evidence shows that the man was driving away from the officer.The harassment goes from the deadly to the ridiculous. In Michigan, a police man recently stopped a Black man, giving him a traffic violation. The reason for the stop was the officer was incensed that the man, when driving past the officer, did not look at the officer with the deference the officer thought he was due. The list goes on. In the south, there are few Black men who cannot tell you of someone they know who has not unjustly suffered death or serious harm at the hand of the law supposed to protect them. These incidents, though isolated to one person at a time, have awaken the Black community from its "Obama coma." While willing to tolerate their weakened economic status, many Blacks became incensed by what seemed to be a return to police behavior redolent of the years before the Civil Rights

Movement. Even in this regard, Black people had lived in false comfort. Police behavior had not suddenly grown worse. These incidents as are integral to America as hot dogs and baseball caps. It is just that these injustices were covered. The system would always take the word of the police, even when patently wrong. However, technology has achieved what years of moral entreaty could not. Mobile phones and even police cameras have caught officers in intentional lethal error. They could no longer lie their way out of criminality in every instance. A picture is worth more than a thousand words and a realtime video is worth much more than a single picture. In response to these injustices, BlackLivesMatter was born as a grassroots movement mostly among young Blacks. Again, they could countenance their economic diminution under the Obama administration. However, they because alarmed that there was no such thing as a routine encounter between the police and a black man. Death spied on each such meeting. The people had not yet graduated from poverty but they thought they had graduated from living in fear. That fear had returned and they were made angry by it. But BlackLivesMatter could not remain solely an expression against police brutality.The rough treatment by the police was not the cause of Black degradation. It was one of the consequences. Such maltreatment is a form of control and subjugation. The brutalized never prosper and the prosperous are rarely brutalized. Gradually the movement is expanding from its narrow focus to encompass the political and economic issues enchaining black America. This is timely. It will factor into the 2016 elections. The Obama term nears conclusion. Blacks no longer have to tamp their collective aspirations to ease the job of one man. They can speak without fear of damaging Obama's political future. They are beginning to do so. Moreso than in the past eight

years, they are asking potential presidential candidates to explain what they will do for the Black community. BlackLives activists have commandeered the stage at rallies of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. They have openly booed Sanders and other Democrats for lack of empathy. This would never have occurred against Obama despite the fact that he openly and frequently shied from addressing issues of social and economic discrimination germane to Black America. BlackLives have put the Democrats on notice that their next candidate will not be given the same blank pass handed Obama. Democrats not assume the strong voter turnout essential to Obama's victories. Here, the movement faces several dilemmas. They have largely written off the Republican Party due to the staunch conservatism of their candidates. This makes sense given the oceanic policy difference between Republicans and the bulk of the Black community. However, it also forfeits significant political leverage against the Democrats. The Democrats realize they are the only game in town for Black America. If Blacks want to play, then it will be on the Democrats' turf. The only leverage Blacks have is to threaten not to play unless the Democrats better respond to the policy concerns of the community. The great majority of Black voters will go Democratic. The question will be how many Blacks will vote. The Democrat's path to victory requires a high Black and Latino turnout to overcome the Republican edge among White voters. The other dilemma Blacks have will be who to support in the Democratic primaries. Objectively, the policy stance of Bernie Sanders on economic issues advance Black interests more than the positions of any other Democratic candidate. Unfortunately for Sanders, he has no wellknown Blacks around him; he

does not speak in a language and cadence familiar to the people. Hillary Clinton has deep ties to the Black political establishment and is better versed at speaking in ways comfortable to the average Black person. She also has her husband Bill. Bill speaks in the tenor of the south. He knows how to sugarcoat his words to make the bitter taste like the best honey. The man remains widely popular among Black Americans despite the fact that policies he enacted in the criminal justice system, education, social services reform, financial deregulation, and economic trade have been severely inimical to Black America. If Clinton is the friend of Blacks, we would fare better by having more enemies. However, Blacks still dance at the mention of his name. We seem to be mesmerized by showmanship instead of taking the time to analyze whether the performer is doing what is good for us. Thus, Clinton will call forth Bill and the old Black political guard to appeal the community. However, her real ties are to the corporate establishment that likes the status quo just fine. By delving into politics, BlackLifesMatter will pit themselves against their political leaders. If they remain true to their professed cause, this also included president Obama. This potential collision may not only influence the presidential sweepstakes but may alter the nature of Black leadership in ways unanticipated just a year ago. The 2008 election was about the race of one man. The 2016 edition may be decided by the political action or inaction of one race, those who have returned to being Black just in the nick of time. 08060340825 sms only

SPORTS THE NATION ON SUNDAY

Otubanjo grabs hat-trick in Austria

ORMER Nigerian youth international, Yusuf Olaitan Otubanjo, has grabbed a hat trick for Weiss Linz FC in the 5-2 win over SC Weiz in the Austria's Regionalliga Mitte. Otubanjo who was part of the Golden Eaglets that won Silver when Nigeria hosted the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2009, has been impressive for his new club and has so far scored 14 goals in nine matches in the on-going season. “I'm very happy with the victory on Friday and I really thank God for making it possible for me to score three goals against SC Weiz,” said the former FC Red Bull Salzburg's striker.“ It was an interesting match because they scored first just five minutes into the game but I equalized in the 20th minute; I scored another goal for my club in the 42nd minute and I actually scored the last goal of the match in the 88th minute.” He said his rich vein of form might not be unconnected with a new lease of life at Weiss Linz FC after some torrid time at FC Red Bull Salzburg due to injury from where he loaned to FC Pasching. The 2015/2016 Regionalliga Mitte season which started in July has seen Otubanjo being among the goals in the Regionalliga Mitte featuring teams from the central region including Styria, Carinthia, Upper Austria and East Tyrol.

EXTRA

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Ighalo strikes twice to celebrate Eagles return

DION Ighalo struck twice for Watford at Newcastle United to celebrate his recall by Nigeria to two friendlies in Belgium next month. Ighalo scored in the 10th and 28th minutes to record his fourth goal in the English Premier League and mark his club's second win in the English top-flight league. It was also Watford's first win at St.James Park since 1981. Watford now have eight points, while Newcastle remain winless thus far His goals came just a day after he was named on a 24man squad by Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh for matches against Cameroon and Congo next month. Last month, Oliseh snubbed Ighalo for a 2017 AFCON qualifier in Tanzania despite the striker scoring his first goal for the Super Eagles against Chad in June. His exclusion was widely

RESULTS Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal B'mouth 2 - 0 Sunderland Aston Villa 0 - 1 West Brom Newcastle 1 - 2 Watford Stoke City 2 - 2 Leicester Swansea 0 - 0 Everton Man City 1- 2 West Ham

criticized and he has now been reconsidered by the Eagles. Meanwhile, Ighalo believes the AFCON 2017 ticket is still within the reach of the Super Eagles. Nigeria's Super Eagles are

second in their qualifying group, two points behind leaders Egypt after two rounds of matches. “The AFCON 2017 ticket is within our reach, this is football never say never. We still have to play the group leaders Egypt home and

away, those matches are of great importance to our ambition,” he said. “I think we have chance to grab the ticket as the group leaders even though it is a bit difficult but by God's grace and hard work, we will qualify.”

Chelsea beat Arsenal in bad-tempered match

HELSEA took the spoils in a badtempered game against Arsenal, marred further by two red cards for the visitors. Arsenal started so brightly, Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott combining well from the off, looking lively but lacking a cutting edge.

Diego Costa failed to make any goalscoring impact in the first half, but he did manage to manipulate the game by getting Gabriel sent off in added time. Costa had clashed with Laurent Koscielny in the box, lashing out more than once, and Gabriel appointed himself his team-mate's

protector. After he and Costa had both picked up bookings, he was then lured into a sly kick at the Chelsea man, which sealed his fate. Kurt Zouma scored the first goal of the game eight minutes into the second half, hurling himself at a free kick to take the ball past Cech. Laurent Koscielny

joined his colleague in the changing rooms with ten minutes to go, picking up a red card for a foul on Cesc Fabregas. And substitute Calum Chambers rounded off an afternoon of ignominy when he deflected Eden Hazard's shot into his own net as the clock ticked over to 90 minutes.

Ogba hails Team Nigeria over impressive outing From Akeem Lawal, Brazzaville EAM Nigeria's performance at the All Africa Games, Brazzaville 2015 which ended yesterday has been described as the best ever since 2003. Nigeria placed first position in the 2003 edition of the games hosted by the country and ever since, the country has never come close to top three positions in the last editions of the Games. Disclosing this to NationSport at Revolution Sports Complex during the quarterfinal final of the table tennis was the President Athletes Federation of Nigeria, Solomon Ogba who commended the athletes and the technical officials for the performance, adding the display was the best by Team Nigeria so far outside the shore of the country. He said: "This is the best performance so far by Team Nigeria because everybody athletes struggled to win medals for the country and this really paid off. “Coming second behind the eventual winner when we are not hosting was a good development for our sport and I think our people at home will have a rest of mind and applaud the athletes and the NSC officials for doing a good job.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

QUOTABLE “The anti-corruption agencies and the criminal justice system are largely ineffective against corruption and their personnel often appear corrupt and compromised in their operations and decisions”

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 3344

— Prof. Femi Odekunle, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, blaming anti-graft agencies for aiding and abetting crime

ARRING any legal upset, Kogi State will be electing its next governor in November. The choice is between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Idris Wada, who is the current governor, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abubakar Audu, who was twice governor on the platforms of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) between 1990 and 2003 and the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) between 1992 and 1993 under the Gen Ibrahim Babangida transition programme. Mr Wada is a retired pilot, and Prince Audu a banker and accountant. Both will lock horns brutally and fiercely in about two months from now to determine who will run the affairs of the largely silent and bucolic state for the next four years. There is some idle chatter that the election will be close and the outcome uncertain for two simple reasons: first, that Prince Audu is proud and insufferable, and Mr Wada lethargic and clueless; and second, that the latter is an incumbent determined to deploy the power of incumbency remorselessly, and the former has taken a Lagos-based Kogite with uncertain electoral value as running mate. Those who make such permutations are obsessed with the leisure of theorisation. Not only will the electoral outcome be clear and unambiguous, it will not be close, no matter what partisans wish. Though it is not clear who Mr Wada will pick as his running mate — whether the same Yomi Awoniyi, currently the deputy governor, or someone else — whoever he picks is unlikely to add value to his ticket in excess of his own personal failings and liabilities. Neither Kogites nor the APC, nor yet the rest of the country, should be anxious about the November poll. It will proceed with clockwork precision once it begins, and end in unassailable victory for Prince Audu and his APC. In the last Kogi governorship poll, this column had reluctantly endorsed Prince Audu and predicted his victory. Sources close to the theatre of action in the last poll swore that Prince Audu won, but had his victory upturned through one of the boldest and craziest electoral subterfuge ever. This column also reluctantly endorsed Muhammadu Buhari for the presidency and predicted the APC candidate’s victory. The Buhari victory was undisputable, notwithstanding the damnable scheme by Godsday Orubebe to

Kogi 2015: Wada versus Audu

•Wada

•Audu

ruffle feathers and upset the apple cart. Endorsing candidates and foretelling victories based on confident analysis and factual projections are the forte of Palladium. Kogi 2015 will not be different. APC will win not because this column is partisan, but because the objective conditions on the ground are so plain that the indications of victory are unmistakable. Prince Audu has his drawbacks, liabilities that were exposed in this place when this columnist first endorsed him in 2011. In his first coming as governor in 1999 under the Fourth Republic, Prince Audu was so imperious that when he sat on a chair, everyone around him in the fiefdom he had turned Kogi into sat on the floor. And his brocades were so starched that not a few people hazarded, perhaps with a hint of exaggeration, that they were capable of lacerating the skin of the unwary and audacious politician or aide who flailed an arm near him. Prince Audu, in those days, was evidently proud, disdainful and annoyingly condescending. Has a long time in the political wilderness sobered and tempered him enough to earn him electoral recall and win

this column’s endorsement? Prince Audu has changed, it must be admitted, though it is uncertain whether he has changed enough to earn a quieter, more dignifying sobriquet. Both in 1992 and 1999, Prince Audu was an innovative and hard working governor, full of programmes and brimful of modernising projects, with superior taste, paradoxically cultured outlook, and a productively restless and boisterous disposition. He initiated the Kogi State University, Anyigba and laid a fascinating architectural master plan for it, making it a beautiful campus. He built roads, housing estates, hospitals and schools, and had he undergirded these achievements with a lofty futuristic vision, he might have earned a top spot in the state’s Hall of Fame. What probably elevated his achievements and attenuated his weaknesses was the simple fact that both his successors, the untalented and insular hotelier, Ibrahim Idris, and the excessively do-nothing Idris Wada, a former pilot of questionable judgement, stultified the state’s development almost to the point of rigor mortis.

Buhari presidency more exciting than first thought

ENATE President Bukola Saraki will be the first person to tell anyone who accuses the Buhari presidency of dullness of making a terrible mistake. He should know. Since Dr Saraki’s enthronement in early June as Senate President, or more accurately, since his seizure of the Senate throne, he has not had a day of respite. He is unlikely to have a minute of respite anytime soon. The Nigerian presidency is a very strong one indeed. And while everyone, including his party members and feared federal agencies, is busy reading the president’s body language and secondguessing him, Dr Saraki has chosen to construct a contrasting and countervailing body language of his own, hoping presumptuously that the president would read it and probably subordinate his own beneath the Senate President’s. There is no other way to explain the stalemate in the Senate or make sense of the cold-shoulder the president has given him. Except Dr Saraki himself, perhaps no one else knows what emboldens the Senate President to chart what he whimsically and idealistically describes as legislative independence. Might the president’s “I belong to everybody and belong to nobody” inauguration euphoria be responsible for Dr Saraki’s chutzpah? Or, having fought many battles and won handily, including familial ones, the Senate President has begun to feel invincible and ecstatic. Whatever the reasons, Dr Saraki is standing pat and daring all-comers. He will fight in the hills of the EFCC; and he will brawl in the plains and fields of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. He will neither retreat nor surrender. Nor, apocalyptically, will the president. There is in fact no disputing the fact that on the Senate front, President Buhari will

keep the country electrified and entertained. Furthermore, while the president refuses to shirk any battle, keeping both the country and his enemies riveted on his sanguinary pastimes, he is himself providing more excitement than his languid frame and dour look seem capable of giving at face value. He may be quiet, reserved and distant, yet his sometimes forlorn look belies the searing comicalness and pugnacious vivaciousness lying behind the uncompromising facade. “Back in Nigeria,” he told his bemused US audience during his July visit, “they already call me Babago-slow.” He is, it seems, capable of the most withering self-deprecating humour, indeed more enthralling than former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s unending bucolic and sometimes prurient exclamations. During electioneering, his running mate’s surname was a surprising tongue-twister to him; but after inauguration, even calling the name of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), got inextricably intertwined with his former party, the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC). As the country reveled in his magnificent juxtapositions, out streamed his interminable gaffes. He would discriminate between those who voted him massively and those who were niggardly with their votes, he intoned, with no one sure whether he meant it the way he spoke it — brutally and maliciously frank. Reflecting his considerable unease with scheming politicians, he disclosed in France last week that he was

reluctant to form his cabinet, for ministers were after all superfluous and zestful makers of noise. He probably meant it. To many Nigerians, it was a Freudian slip; but to him, it was an obscenely honest statement that perfectly mirrored his worldview. When he summons his first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, how would he look the superfluous noisemakers in the face? With the same sang-froid disposition that has characterised his neodemocratic experience? Or with the icy, expressionless stare those who voted for him seem to approve of? Despite himself, the reed thin President Buhari will provide capital mirth for Nigerians. He is tinkering with the economy and seems to be recording success without an economic blueprint; and he has midwifed inexplicable fortitude and quietude in the polity, again without a political blueprint. For all anyone cares, he may soon mediate a new social ethos without paying attention to its building blocks. What is, however, evident is that he is giving the country things, to the delight and entertainment of every patriot, and to the frustration of the nitpicking Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The country is in for four years of Buhari drama: let the playwrights ink their pens, the caricaturists sharpen their pencils, and the satirists their wit.

One-on-one, Prince Audu will beat Mr Wada in their Kogi East senatorial district, their birth place — as indeed he beat him even in the last poll — where the latter lost both his polling booth and ward. Elsewhere, especially in Kogi West where the Okun people come from, and where the Ekinrin-Adde native and APC governorship running mate Hon. Biodun Faleke hails from, Prince Audu will run away with clear dominance, even if Mr Wada were to stick to Mr Awoniyi, also from Kogi West, as his running mate. It is argued that Hon. Faleke is a foreigner to Kogi politics because of his long-standing involvement in Lagos politics, and that both the Okun people and other Kogites might reject him. Any thought of rejection collapsed last week as Hon. Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives, received what some observers described as indescribably large turnout of Okun people in Kabba when they welcomed him a few days ago into the fray. With his exposure and pedigree in progressives politics in Lagos where he had won many elections, and the clear support he receives from the APC national leadership, having been Lagos coordinator of the Buhari/Osinbajo campaign, he is bringing to the ticket unmatched advantage. In Kogi Central, the votes may not even be divided as some are speculating. The reason, again, is simple. Kogi abhors being in the cold. In 2003, it turned PDP-ward from ANPP for obvious reasons, and has appeared so far to stick to that unprofitable option. APC is the ruling party in Abuja, and nearly all of the North, minus Gombe and Taraba, have berthed in APC. In November, Kogi will enter the mainstream willy-nilly, especially because Mr Wada, like his predecessor, Ibrahim Idris, has been one of the worst disappointments among Nigerian governors. He is generally judged as incompetent, slow, quiet in a sepulchral manner, and averse to hard work and visioning. There is indeed no trail of him anywhere, not even in Lokoja, the state capital, where he has not built one world-class road or facility. He is as anonymous in Lokoja as he is unknown in all of Kogi West, Kogi Central and to some extent, Kogi East, where he is impervious to their yearnings. As certain as day follows night, Kogi will turn APC in November and vote in Messrs Audu and Faleke. The last presidential poll in which President Buhari was voted in was Kogi’s harbinger of change. That change will be consummated in two months. Bookmakers think former president Goodluck Jonathan may draw sympathy votes for Governor Seriake Dickson in the December Bayelsa governorship poll, but in Kogi, neither Mr Wada’s Igala people nor anyone of substance for that matter will draw any sympathy votes for the governor. He is alone, stripped bare, unaided by the radically morphing politics of Kogi and the spirit of the times. Kogites may sniff at talk of Prince Audu’s behavioural conversion to urbaneness, but voting in November, they will remember all he did between 1992 and 1993, and between 1999 and 2003, and hold their noses gingerly and vote for him with a little foreboding, but nonetheless enthusiastically. The same voters will concede that Mr Wada is not nearly as insufferable as Prince Audu, but they will gnash their teeth that in almost four years he folded his arms and snoozed away the lazy days as the state went slam bang downhill. They will keep everything open —their noses, eyes, ears, etc. — and elbow him out viciously, remorselessly and joyously. Mr Wada may have led Kogi State to collect over N50bn bailout fund from the Central Bank when he is owing only August salary, prompting many to speculate to what end he planned to put the money, whether developmental or political. Local governments are owed about a year’s salary, and pensioners more than eight months. But N50bn is a lot of money, in fact the highest bailout any state is billed to collect. Whatever chicanery Mr Wada may be up to, the November poll will not be about money or soapbox theatrics. It will be about legacy, one thing Mr Wada does not have even a modicum of, and about liberation, which his enervated policies cannot stop.

Published by Vintage Press Limited. Corporate Office: 27B Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos. P.M.B. 1025, Oshodi, Lagos. Telephone: Switch Board: 08034505516 Marketing: 4520939, Abuja Office: Plot 5, Nanka Close AMAC Commercial Complex, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja. Telephone: 07028105302. Port Harcourt Office: 12/14, Njemanze Street, Mile 1, Diobu, PH. 08023595790. Website: www.thenationonlineng.net ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE