BusinessDay 01 Mar 2020

Why bill for agency for ‘repentant’ Boko Haram must die - Experts

Transcorp leads in female appointments as companies strengthen boards 39

We are focusing on infrastructure to lift our people from poverty - Fashola 22

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Airport authorities not doing enough in fight against coronavirus - Passengers

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BDSUNDAY BUSINESS DAY

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Vol 1, No. 302 N300

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Coronavirus: Nigerian ports to suffer decline in ship traffic, cargo volume in Q2 As shipping lines, airlines cancel sailings, flights to China, others

Government revenue to drop as Italian See page national brings virus into Nigeria

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The Almajiri Purchase of 820 system: buses: Northern political Ambode, House of class and Sanusi’s lone Assembly await Appeal voice Court on probe

10 Nigeria sitting on goldmine without knowing it - Maduike

L-R: Larry Agose, chairman planning committee; Bismarck Rewane, managing director/CEO of Financial Directives Co. Nig. Ltd. (keynote speaker); Rtn Jide Akeredolu, district governor, and O. Olumide Phillips, chairman, Board of Governors, Dowen College Lagos (chairman of the occasion), at the 2020 World Peace and Understanding Day event organised by Rotary District 9110 in Lagos.

18 Aje Festival: Homage to Oduduwa for blessings

Is Nigerian Supreme Court on trial?

There’s no loss of confidence in judiciary - Ajulo Innocent Odoh (Abuja) and Obinna Emelike

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ncreasingly, the Supreme Court appears to be losing its respect. Until now, any judgment by the highest law in the land was

regarded as sacrosanct and swallowed like a sermon from a church pulpit; no questions! Reviewing cases already being adjudicated over was unheard of. But it appears that such era is gone.

Pundits say that the various calls for review of

Huge economic losses over court-ordered changes - Analysts

cases adjudicated by the Supreme Court, in recent times, appear to convey a no confidence vote in the apex court and by extension, the Judiciary.

In recent times, some of the Supreme Court’s judgments that have become controversial include the

Emeka Ihedioha Vs Hope Uzodinma (Imo); David Lyon Vs Duoye Diri (Bayelsa) and the Muhammadu Buhari Vs Atiku Abubakar.

Today, there are calls for a revisit or review of these cases because some people believe that there was a miscarriage of justice in

such judgments.

The decision of Ihedioha and his party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to apply for a review of the judgment, appeared to have opened the floodgate See page 11

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Cover Coronavirus: Nigerian ports to suffer decline in ship traffic, cargo volume in Q2 …As shipping lines, airlines cancel sailings, flights to China, others …Government revenue to drop as Italian national brings virus into Nigeria AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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here are indications that Nigerian port industry would in the second quarter of the year, suffer decline in ship traffic as well as drop in the volume of imports coming into the country and exports originating from Nigeria to other countries, analysts have predicted.

According to them, this would be largely due to the aftermath of Coronavirus outbreak in China, United States of America, and India (Nigeria’s major import trading partners with 31.34 percent, 11.35 percent and 7.49 percent of the country’s total imports coming from these countries, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) third quarter report).

Given the decline in the volume of import and export cargoes, analysts also predicted that there would be corresponding drop in government revenue as Federal Government agencies such as Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other agencies that generate revenue from authorising these cargoes, would also lose out significantly.

Currently, Coronavirus, which originated from China, has gone beyond being Chinese disease to becoming global sickness as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), officially named as Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has spread to 54 more countries apart from China sending alarming signal to public health authorities across the world.

BDSUNDAY search shows that a total of 83,386 (including 78,927 in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau) confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection including 2,858 deaths (with 2,794 in China, 26 in Iran, 17 in Italy, 13 in South Korea, four in Japan, two in France and one each in the Philippines and Taiwan) have been reported across the world as of 28 February 2020.

With the confirmation of the presence of this disease in Nigeria after an Italian national (a country that has become the worst affected in Europe with at least 650 cases and 15 deaths), tested positive to the 2019-nCoV, the country has also joined the list of countries with the virus.

“This situation is going to affect Nigerian Maritime industry seriously because close to 50 percent of imports into Nigeria especially machineries, raw mate-

rials and finished products come from China and other Far East Asian countries,” Tony Anakebe, managing director of Gold-Link Investment Ltd, a Lagos-based clearing and forwarding firm, said in a telephone interview with our correspondent.

According to him, importers no longer travel to China to buy goods while the people already there before the outbreak of the disease are currently stuck because airlines are also cancelling flights from China due to rejection in destination airports.

Anakebe, who stated that airlines flying international routes are becoming more conscious of the effected countries, also said that many foreign shipping lines are canceling sailings into ports in countries like China and others with high cases of the virus in Far East Asia and Europe.

“Currently, vessels with laden goods do not come regularly to Nigerian ports due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China. There is presently drastic reduction in movement of cargoes into Nigerian ports and as it is, we do not have an idea of what the situation would be in the next one or two months,” he said.

Anakebe however, expressed optimism that global as well as Nigerian economy would only get respite if the World Health Organisation (WHO) finds solution to the Coronavirus outbreak because “if it continues, it would definitely affect volume of businesses in countries like Nigeria”.

BDSUNDAY can recall that the government of People’s Republic of China had to extend the country’s New Year holiday over the outbreak of Coronavirus.

As a result, major shipping liners and alliance slashed sailings by reporting blank sailing to ports in China due to shortage of cargoes following the closure of factories in China.

A blank or void sailing is a sailing that has been canceled by the carrier, which could mean that a vessel is skipping one port, or that the entire string (a set of ports served weekly by a carrier) is canceled.

Presently, reported Coronavirus blank sailings on the transpacific trade have reached 25, with carriers on the Asia-North America West Coast trade lane announcing 23 blank sailings.

For instance, liners such as Maersk, MSC and Hapag-Lloyd among others recently announced additional blank sailing to match reduced market demand over slow activity during post Chinese New Year holiday period, combined with the health situation in China.

Consequently, the Coronavirus caused some major disruptions at Chinese ports due to the lack of stevedores and truck drivers render services in the ports, thereby slowing down vessel turnaround times.

Analysts believed that the rapid and mass-cancellation of sailings to china is very likely to cause capacity shortages for ship-

ping companies in the next two to three months.

Ac c o r d i n g t o Se a - I n t e l ligence report, exports from China had been slashed by up to 350,000TEUs per week, costing the industry around US$350 million every week.

In his view, Jonathan Nicol, president of Shippers’ Association of Lagos State, confirmed in a telephone interview with BDSUNDAY that the outbreak of the virus will not only affect number of ship calls into Nigerian ports but also volume of import goods coming into the country.

“Certainly, it will affect volume of cargo after a few months from now. A lot of cargo had been exited before the outbreak of the virus in China, Europe, America and other Asian countries,” he stated.

According to him, Nigeria will start to notice the lull especially in regard to goods from China as from second quarter of the year because some of the cargoes from Far East Asia may be trapped due to closure of Ports of Origin or even transshipment Ports due to the dreaded virus.

“There would be less cargo, less volume and less revenue for government. It might even affect exports due to restrictions at the receiving destinations in India, Europe, China and some other ports,” Nicol added.

Meanwhile, Musa Abdullah, aea controller of Customs, Tin-Can Island Port command, feared that the command might

not meet its revenue targets for 2020 owing to the impact of Coronavirus which is already causing a decline in volume of imports.

“The outbreak of the coronavirus is yet to affect the revenue generation of Tin-Can command, but we have concerns that the declining cargo volume from China would ultimately hamper the revenue of the command,” said Abdullah at a recent sensitisation programme on Coronavirus held in Lagos.

It has been discovered that Europe, apart from Nigeria , has started experiencing the impact of the virus in its port business as analysts have predicted likely reduction of volume in Europe.

Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of British Ports Association (BPA) said: “We are beginning to see the impacts in terms of trade flows and there are figures which suggest that in the first three months of 2020, there will be six million fewer container shipping movements globally and also the China-Europe trade is expected to fall by 20 percent during this period.”

So far, in the United Kingdom, 7,690 people have been tested for the virus and of the 16 that have tested positive, eight are said to have so far been discharged from hospital.

In China, where the virus originated, 78,497 cases have been reported, while 2,744 deaths have been recorded.

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News Airport authorities not doing enough in fight against coronavirus - Passengers … Nigeria needs effective, efficient health profiling at entry point …Don’t panic, simply observe safety rules – FG, others tell Nigerians …Experts see possibility of containment of deadly virus IFEOMA OKEKE, INNOCENT ODOH and ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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assengers who have passed through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in recent times have said that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Port Health Authority have failed in their responsibility of carrying out proper screening on passengers coming into the country.

This indictment is coming after the Nigeria government confirmed one case of the coronavirus in the country, a case of an Italian, according to the Federal Ministry of Health, marking the third confirmed case in Africa.

The infected passenger who got into the country on 25th of February was carried

by Turkish Airline.

A passenger, who identified himself as Chinedu, said he recently passed through MMIA and realised that the airport authorities have been lackadaisical in screening and beefing up activities in fight against the virus at the airport.

“When we arrived February 7 from Addis Ababa we found out that the forms on passengers’ identity, address and health conditions which were supposed to be distributed to airlines, which airlines ought to share to passengers before arrival in Lagos, was being given to the passengers on arrival. This gave rise to chaos.

“In that crowded situation, there was no due process to screen the passengers accurately on arrival.

What should be critical is the screening and the result of the screening and not the filling of the forms. Nigerians naturally tell lies without prompting, so the information supplied on the forms can barely be reliable. But it is all for documentation,” he explained.

Another passenger, who craved anonymity, said after passing through the airport, she realised that the forms distributed at the airport for documentation purpose was not collected back from her.

The passenger wondered how the airport authorities would be able to monitor passengers who had contact with an infected person without proper documentation at the airport.

John Ojikutu, former commandant of the Murtala

Muhammed Airport said at this point, the country needs effective and efficient health profiling at the point of entry.

“Do we have the necessary equipment and do we have skilled manpower in health management at the point of entry or ad-hoc manpower? Lagos State health departments seem to be sufficient for such emergency among the 36 states, what preparations are in place at the other states health services?

“If MMA is being complemented by the Lagos State health services, what are we expecting to do for other major airports of Abuja, PH, Enugu and Kano? I hope this situation would not lead to flight disruption as the neglect on the Instrument Landing Systems did?” Ojikutu pointed out.

Speaking on the Italian victim, an aviation expert who craved anonymity said it was also possible that on his arrival the virus might not have manifested as to change his temperature, adding however, that the airport should be tightened.

“FAAN and Port Health staff should download videos on how China is dealing with the case. Since two days ago, the rate of spread in China has ebbed. There is really no need for panic but to do the right thing because in a tropical, humid place like ours, COVID-19 does not have high chance of survival more than one and half minutes outside the body. We might overstretch ourselves by panicking,” he said.

Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health has assured all Nigerians that it has been beefing up preparedness capabilities since the first confirmation of cases in China, and it will use all the resources made available by the government to respond to the case.

The case confirmed was confirmed is an Italian citizen by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control states that the patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had identified Nigeria to have higher risk for coronavirus.

The virus has affected more than 82, 294 confirmed cases globally.

However, the Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Health has been strengthening measures to ensure an outbreak in Nigeria is controlled and contained quickly.

The multi-sectoral Coronavirus Preparedness Group led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has immediately activated its national Emergency Operations Centre and will work closely with Lagos State Health authorities to respond to this case and implement firm control measures.

There is nothing to fear, Immigration Service assures The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has assured that its men stationed at all the border areas of Nigeria were very much at alert to tackle the menace even as it asked the nation not to panic.

Speaking to BDSUNDAY on Friday, Public Relations Officer of the Immigration Service, Sunday James, said the Service was the first agency of government that set up the containment process.

“We have done sensitisation and campaign on the essence of observing standard first aid measures for taking precaution against the virus.

This campaign was as a result of the directive given by the Comptroller General of the NIS to all the commands having ports of entry into the country such as the Airport, the Sea port and the land frontiers’’ he said.

James added that the directive is that all the officers who are the first contact should get insulated so as to make sure that the nation contains the spread of the virus.

“We handle passport and somebody would have traveled not necessarily through international flight. Somebody from the West African coast would have travelled to any of the vulnerable areas but for the fact that they are going to come into their own country and start coming to Nigeria, that is why the CGI gave that directive long time ago,” he said.

He pointed out that the airport command has been so sensitive, saying that officers at the airport now use the hand gloves, the face masks and hand sanitizers to handle the passports of anybody from some of those vulnerable countries.

“They (officers) take extra measures in handling

their passports because you can contact the virus not necessarily through human being but thorough materials. So, we are very conscious of this. Our officers are insulated, we are working together with health officials at the airports, and there is nothing to fear,” he assured …Experts see possibility of containment of deadly virus Meanwhile, some experts have expressed optimism over likely possibility of containment of the Coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria as the deadly virus spreads across the world.

Oladoyin Odubanjo,

chair, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN), Lagos Chapter, said that there were possibilities of containment “Nigerians must not be fearful or panic but most importantly, we should know the right precautions and strengthen the country’s surveillance,” Odubanjo said.

Odubanjo further said: “Nigeria needs to continuously check virus outbreaks; it is a responsibility of individuals, government, health workers to be at alert always.”

The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Health has given the assur-

Tips on prevention of coronavirus

Source: AVON

ance of strengthening measures to ensure an outbreak in Nigeria was controlled and contained quickly. “ Th e m u l t i - s e c t o r a l Coronavirus Preparedness Group led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has immediately activated its national Emergency Operations Centre and will work closely with Lagos State Health authorities to respond to this case and implement firm control measures,” the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, assured all Nigerians.

He further said: “We will use all the resources made available by the government to respond to this case.”

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Sunday 01 March 2020

News Nigerians to experience more hunger, poverty over lingering food inflation - Analysts …As Rotary District 9110 marks ‘World Peace and Understanding Day’ AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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igeria would see inflation going up to 13.5 percent as the current food inflation would linger till the next two to three months before Nigerians would begin to see decline, analysts have predicted.

According to them, many Nigerians would likely experience more poverty and more hunger over a period of time due to increase in the market price of foods.

These were the views of economic analysts, who spoke in Lagos last Tuesday at the event organised

by Rotary District 9110 to commemorate the 2020 World Peace and Understanding Day with the theme: ‘Promoting World Pace and Understanding through Food Security.’

Bi s m a r c k Re w a n e , managing director/CEO of Financial Directives Co. Nig. Ltd., who stated that food is used to measure growth in a country, said Nigeria’s recent GDP numbers show that the country grew at 2.27 for the whole of 2019 and 2.5 for the last quarter of 2019.

“This was good in terms of nominal understanding but in terms of population growth, which is about 3.2 percent according to National Population Commission and 2.6 percent

according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Food production is also affected by climate change,” he said.

According to him, the discovery of oil in the 60s has led to the neglect of the Agric sector such that Agric sector barely expands above 3.0 percent in recent times while its contribution to GDP fell from above 60 percent in the 1960s to 25.16 percent in 2019.

Drawing a line between insecurity and food production, Rewane stated that there have been only two conventional wars, which were that of Iran and Kuwait while other conflicts in the last few years, have been internal in the form of terrorism and insurgency.

He further pointed out that insecurity is not just a northern phenomenon due to insecurity in other parts of the country including Niger-Delta. “We talked about water pollution, which affects fishing and other aquatic lives, we also talked about deforestation and desertification but the only way to deal with these issues is to increase the level of investment, equity in the distribution of opportunities and income so that the environment would be much more peaceful for growth to thrive,” he stated.

The President of Nigeria, he noted, said his vision was

to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years. “To do this, we need to grow at a rate of about 6 percent per year, to be equal to our population we have to grow at about 3 percent while to transform our economy we have to grow at about 8 percent per year.”

He however stated that growth would not come without investment and collaboration between the Government and private sector.

On other factors that cause inflation, Rewane, who described border closure as a temporary measure, which led to spike in prices of certain products due to supply gap in the country, stated that it was in Nigeria’s own best interest to open up the borders in order to dominate those markets.

To him, the border closure would not be definite because the Federal Government would open it again after addressing the concerns it has with the neigbouring West African countries.

Larry Agose, chairman planning committee for the World Peace and Understanding Day, stated that the event was organised to buttress the critical role Rotary Club plays in the promotion of world peace.

He said it was only when government does the right thing by ensuring that there is good farm-

ing, storage and irrigation system that the country would have food security.

On his view, Mezuo Nwuneli, managing partner, Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Ltd, said border closure was a mixed-bag in the sense that some sectors such as rice and poultry have benefited from the closure, while other Nigerian farmers and manufacturing companies, who rely on export to thrive, are presently losing out.

Nwuneli, who stated that Nigeria would continue to have more poor and hungry people over a period of time, pointed out that Nigeria needs to broadly distribute growth without concentrating on growth driven by Lagos and Abuja alone.

He said that distributing growth would discourage or reduce the high rate of urban migration.

Nwuneli also stated that an average Nigerian spend about 56 percent his or her income on food, which is high when compared with South Africa and others, adding that such limits income at hand.

He listed seedling, low mechanisation, poor irrigation and availability of infrastructure as issues affecting agricultural productivity in Nigeria. “It is important to incorporate technology into agriculture to boost productivity and increase efficiency,” he said.

Navy Commodore Daniel Atakpa, Aliyu Samaila, Mezuo Nwuneli, Biodun Adedipe and Rtn Dare Adeyer at the event

DPR seals off gas stations in Kogi for operating in unsafe environment, others VICTORIA NNAKAIKE, Lokoja

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he Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has sealed off five cooking gas dispensing stations in Ka b b a , Ko g i We s t Senatorial District for operating in unsafe environment and without licence.

Za n g i Mo h a m m e d , Operations Controller, Lokoja Field Office of the DPR, conducted the raid on the illegal stations in a surveillance exercise.

The controller lamented that some of the gas stations in the area were operating too close to schools and residential areas, thereby constituting danger to the safety of people living in the environment.

The DPR team sealed off AOC Gas station on Iya- Junction, Kabba, for operating without licence and improper installation, being built on combustible materials.

An unnamed station in Korede quarters near St. Paul Primary School, Kabba was also sealed off.

The station was earlier sealed off but continued to operate secretly only for the operators to lock up

and vacate the premises on hearing that the DPR team were in town.

Eric Gas, on NTA road in GRA, as well as two branches of Bolaat Cooking Gas each in Kabba and Aiyetoro Gbede, Ijumu LGA, were also closed down for operating without DPR licence.

He said the stations were sealed off “in the cause of discharging our statutory obligations of ensuring that gas marketers in the state comply with the laid down procedures and regulations of DPR”.

Mohammed equally advised operators of gas stations in the town to formerly approach the DPR for regularisation of their operations, saying failure or refusal to adhere to the guidelines would be met with stiff penalties.

“It is a must for marketers to comply with the law or they close their businesses. In as much as the government wants them to operate, it is imperative in the interest of the safety of Nigerian citizens for them to operate within the ambit of the law,” he said.

According to him, “There is a guideline that stipulates distance between a source of heat and the gas stations. We will revisit the guidelines and do the needful to cut sharp practices”.

MPC hails Supreme Court on Imo governorship election judgment review MIKE OCHONMA

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he Mbaise People’s Congress (MPC), a group of Mbaise professionals, have commended the Supreme Court of Nigeria for their decision to review the earlier judgment delivered on January 14, 2020 on the Imo State 2019 governorship election which upturned the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that came fourth during governorship elections as the duly elected governor.

In a statement signed

by Chimaraoke Ben Nnaji, director of publicity and mobilisation, Mbaise People’s Congress, the group said: “We appreciate Your Lordships for listening to the cries of the people of Imo State’’.

The group further said that the people of Imo State and the entire Nigerian electorate are expectant and praying that the desires of justice will be met while it called on all lovers of democracy and justice all over the world to pray

along with them to God Almighty to steer the hearts of the eminent Justices of the Supreme Court to the path of justice in this matter, as they seek to discharge this all important responsibility.

Ac c o r d i n g t o Ca r l Azudibia, national president of Mbaise People’s Congress, the Nigerian judiciary has had a distinguished and honourable history and have earned international acclaim, producing some of the most brilliant justices world over.

He recalled that the roles of jurists like Charles Daddy Onyeama, Teslim Elias, Chukwudifu Oputa, Udo Udoma, Kayode Eso, Mohammed Uwais and a host of others who distinguished themselves overtime in the temple of Justice cannot be overemphasised.

MPC therefore, calls on the present bench to seize the opportunity of the moment to live up to the legacy bequeathed to them and write their names in gold.

“It is our hope that the mandate freely given by the good people of Imo State be restored in the interest of democracy, rule of law and good governance,” the group concluded.

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News Imo activates health platforms Buhari retires Oyo-Ita, as takes over against Coronavirus disease Yemi-Esan …Suspends Dokubo, Amnesty boss Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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ollowing the confirmation of one case of the Coronavirus d i s e a s e (Covid19) in Lagos by the Minister for Health, Osagie Ehanire, the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma has ordered the activation of all health platforms to protect Imo citizens against the dreaded disease.

The Coronavirus disease outbreak has been ongoing in Wuhan China and some other countries since it was identified in December, 2019. It manifests with respiratory symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, sneezing, chest pain and pneumonia.

The virus has a natural reservoir in certain animals, especially bats, birds, reptiles, cats, etc. Persons who recently travelled to

the endemic areas, and those who show the symptoms are high-risk suspects.

As a r e s u l t o f t h e g o v e r n o r ’s d i r e c t i v e s , Imolites are assured that the health system has enough capacity to promptly diagnose the disease. However, the citizens have been advised to note the following: avoid crowded locations, observe cough etiquette, regularly wash hands with sanitizers, and report any suspected case to the nearest health facility.

As part of measures to contain the disease, the Imo State Ministry of Health, through the Public Health Department and the Primary Healthcare Agency has instituted robust emergency response measures with the procurement and pre-repositioning of personal protective equipment, enhanced border surveillance,

community awareness and mobilisation, distribution of hand sanitisers together with clinicians/other health workers sensitisation, according to the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary/ Media Adviser, Oguwike Nwachuku.

The measures which the Imo State Government has taken will complement the precautions already announced by the Health Minister which include: Staying informed on the latest developments on COVID-19 through official channels on television and radio stations, and to be wary of unfounded information on social media that are designed to cause fear and panic.

Government reiterates her commitment to proactively ensure that all Imolites are adequately protected in the face of the challenges posed by the coronavirus.

Tony Ailemen, Abuja

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has approved the retirement of Winifred Oyo-Ita as Head of Service of the federation (HoS), with effect from Thursday, 27th February, 2020.

A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Olusegun A. Adekunle, stated that the President, while thanking her for the invaluable services to the nation, said the action is without prejudice to the ongoing investigations of the former Head of Service.

“In approving the retirement, President Muhammadu Buhari affirmed that it would be without prejudice to the on-going investigations into certain allegations against the immediate past Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

In a related development, the statement said President Buhari, in exercise of the powers vested in him by Section 171 (2) (b); and in compliance with Sub-Sections (3) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) has approved the appointment of Folasade Yemi-Esan as the substantive Head of the Civil Service of the Federation with effect from Friday, 28th February, 2020.

The President also approved the suspension of the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Charles Dokubo.

This was contained in a statement signed by Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina.

Adesina in the statement said this followed numerous allegations and petitions surrounding the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

The National Security Adviser (NSA) had earlier set up a Caretaker Committee to

look into the activities of the programme, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Part of the Committee’s task was to ensure that allocated resources are properly utilized in consonance with government’s objective of alleviating problems in the Niger Delta region, and stamping out corruption in the Amnesty Programme.

The statement noted that “Consequently, the NSA recommended to Mr President that the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Quaker Dokubo be suspended, a recommendation that has been approved and which takes immediate effect.

The President has also directed that the Caretaker Committee set up to review the programme should oversee the running of the programme henceforth, with a view to ensuring that government objectives are achieved.”

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Sunday 23 February 2020

News

Kwara explains reason for new policy on salary payment SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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L-R: Akin Abayomi, a professor and Lagos commissioner for Health; Babajide SanwoOlu, Lagos State governor, and Gbenga Omotoso commissioner for Information and Strategy, during a press briefing on the first case of Coronavirus in the state at Lagos House, Marina, on Friday.

Akwa Ibom elders question rationale behind FG’s execution of special projects

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ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

kwa Ibom elders have questioned the rationale behind the execution of special projects by the federal government being undertaken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said to be to the tune of N43billion.

Under the aegis of Akwa Ibom leaders’ vanguard, the elders frowned at the alleged execution of the special projects that are being paid for by the NNPC saying the corporation as a key revenue earner for the Federal Government should instead be remitting the money to the national treasury for disbursement according to the revenue sharing formula.

Anietie Okon, leader of the group, told reporters in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, that the Federal Government owes Nigerians explanations on the rationale behind such projects and their locations as published in this month’s Federal Accounts Allocation Committee executive summary.

“The location of the projects must be identified and duly communicated, our nation continues to spiral in security and safety concerns with little or no positives beyond outrageous debits from Excess Crude accounts or the scandalous infighting between the cabal and officials of state,” he said.

Okon, a former senator demanded an explanation from the NNPC on the criteria for the location and distribution of the special

projects as none has been seen in Akwa Ibom State, adding that it was surprising why Akwa Ibom State has not been considered fit for the location of any of the NNPC’s subsidiaries.

While demanding “executive orderliness in the dispense of appointments, investment, infrastructure, promotion of genuine security, Okon asked for the immediate review of the skewed elements of the constitution as it affects internal security, community and state policing.”

Noting that the elders had observed the flagrant abuses of our commonwealth, dignity and threat to the safety of our people, they expressed concerns over the depletion of our reserves and demanded that the National Assembly should investigate the matter.

Partnership for development...

Abubakar Suleiman, CEO of Sterling Bank(r); Kemi Lala Akindoju, Nollywood actor (l); Gbubemi Fregene, celebrated chef and founder, Fregz-Ducation, and Orondaam Otto, executive director, Slum2School Africa, during Fregz-Ducation’s Fundraising Dinner, powered by Sterling Bank in Lagos.

he Kwara State government has clarified that the directive given workers to open new salary accounts with commercial banks of their choice is neither punitive nor designed to cripple micro finance banks in the state.

The government said that the move, among other measures to be taken, was to fight the menace of ghost workers which continues to gulp millions of public funds at the expense of development.

The officials and members of the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), Kwara State Chapter had last Wednesday appealed to the state government to rescind its order, mandating state civil servant to register with commercial Banks if their salaries would be paid.

Briefing journalists on the stance of government on the issue, Rafiu Ajakaye, the chief press secretary to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, said: “We want to clarify that the decision of the government is not a punitive measure targeted at anyone. We also want to

clarify that this initiative was long conceived before this administration. Perhaps, the difference here is that this administration is mustering the courage to do what is right in full appreciation of the mandate of the people of Kwara State and save scarce public resources.”

According to him, “The government has actionable intelligence from various security agencies that the much-talked about ghost worker syndrome is deeply enabled through transactions involving some of these institutions with the collusion of some unscrupulous government functionaries. This is a cancer that continues to eat into public resources at the expense of development.

The government has a duty to end the circus.”

Ajakaye noted that the decision formed a part of the effort to clean the government’s pay roll — a move he added has been further necessitated by the pressure to meet workers’ demand for minimum wage and other obligations.

“To clean the payroll, the administration has adopted some measures which include making sure that salaries are paid only through commercial banks for easy

monitoring; physical head count of workers through cash payment; electronic clock-in; and biometric verification. The decision to use only commercial banks to pay salary is the first leg of these multi-pronged approaches.

“We wish to clarify that this policy does not seek to kill our micro finance banks or local businesses.

Workers or pensioners who wish to keep their accounts with these banks reserve the right to keep an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) with their commercial banks to transfer their salaries to their respective micro finance banks once the government first pays into them (commercial banks). The policy also does not hurt people in the villages where the commercial banks have no branches. Such workers can place an ISPO with their commercial banks to forward their salaries to their MFBs accounts.”

According to him, “The MFBs have complained that some of these workers are indebted to them and that taking their salaries away could leave them in debt.

The government has allayed this fear.

How outbreak of coronavirus stalls Ibom science park project ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

T

he outbreak of the coronavirus in China which has spread to other parts of the world has left a devastating impact on human lives and has hit the economy of many countries in many ways.

With hundreds killed and thousands infected in Asia and Europe, it has continued to spread with new infections reported on a daily basis. This has taken a toll on economic activities and brought to abrupt halt the execution of many multi-million naira projects, including the Ibom Blue Science and Technology Park in Akwa Ibom State.

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel had performed the ground-breaking of the Ibom Science Park last December renamed lbom Blue Sea Science and Technology Park with Chinese firms as the major investors.

The governor had at the event said that the state government would meet its commitments to the project to ensure its timely completion.

However, less than three months after the ground-

breaking ceremony, which attracted captains of industry and stakeholders including officials of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, the project has yet to get off the drawing board.

Iniobong Essien, commissioner for science and technology, said the work had been delayed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

“On behalf of the State Government, it is hereby brought to the attention of Akwa Ibom State and the general public that the actual commencement of work on the project has been delayed following the recent outbreak of a global epidemic known as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China late last year,” Essien said.

The project was to be executed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between the State Government and the Blue Sea International holdings Limited of China “The core personnel to drive the project dispatched to the state who went for new year vacation with the work plan to return to the state by second week of February this year to start work on the site

in earnest could not return as they were caught in the web of travel restrictions placed on China and her people around the globe following the global epidemic, coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“Consequently, it follows that due to this unexpected development, work on the project had to be put on hold while waiting for a medical breakthrough that will ameliorate the present spread of the viral infection and turn things around soon.

“We are in constant touch with the management of the Chinese firm and they have affirmed their readiness to commence work at the site as soon as COVID-19 has abated and travel restrictions lifted.

“We therefore, call on Akwa Ibom people and indeed the general public to continue to keep faith with the Completion Agenda of Governor Udom Emmanuel administration,” especially in his untiring effort to make science and technology the driving tool for our industrialisation.

The Ibom Blue Sea Science and Technology Park is work in progress, the statement by the commissioner stated.

Sunday 23 February 2020

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Abia HoS decries level of degradation, nonchalance in public service UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

O

n y i i Wa m a h , Abia State head of service, has decried the level of degradation, nonchalance and naivety being exhibited by directors who allow junior officers to endorse correspondence and mails leaving their various offices for other establishments.

Wamah, who disclosed this during a meeting with directors, deputy directors and heads of department (Administration) in various M DAs , d e c l a r e d s u c h attitude as unacceptable which amounted to abysmal performance of Administrative officers in the present day Civil and Public Service.

Wa m a h , a p p a r e n t l y worried that the same cadre of officers was endorsing letters meant for the office of the Head of Service, asserted that such practice amounted to dereliction of duty and insult to the exalted office of the HoS. The HoS, who made it clear that annual leave was a must to all Abia workers,

warned that stiff penalty would be meted out to any public servant who fails to comply with the directive.

He described as unholy and a debasement of the civil service norms all manner of indecent and shabby dressing, and threatened that he would not spare with such unwanted dressing.

Okechukwu Ihedioha, p e r m a n e n t s e c r e t a r y, Bureau of Establishment and Pensions, earlier in his remarks, admonished them to rise to the challenges before them, adding that “the labours of our past heroes in establishing the Civil Service should not be allowed to go into extinction.”

Iyke Ogbonnaya , president of Administrative Officers Association of the state, in his vote of thanks, appreciated the HoS for the concerted efforts he had been making to re-engineer and restructure the Civil Service.

He assured the HoS of the workers’ untimely support to make the Civil Service more effective, responsive and proactive.

G-Money: NIRSAL partnership will produce over 100 millionaires in Cross River – Ogaidang MIKE ABANG, Calabar

C

hris Ogaidang, special adviser to Governor Ben Ayade on Industry, has said that the state government had entered into partnership with Nigeria IncentiveBased Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc. Og a i d a n g s a i d t h e collaboration was in furtherance of efforts to help trickle down the benefits of the Ayade Agro-Industrial Revolution for the state.

“From primary production to processing, and marketing , Ayade t h e v i s i o n a r y, s e e s the emergence of tens to hundreds of green millionaires in the state, as citizens invest in agriculture and industries,” he said.

He said that the aim of his visit was to seek partnership with NIRSAL to open up opportunities that abound in the organisation for the benefit of people of the state In his response, Head of NIRSAL Plc, Calabar, Progress Uduzeli, said he was excited about the opportunity to partner the Cross River State Government.

He added that Cross River State was currently a leading state in AgroIndustrialisation in the nation, and NIRSAL wants very much to be part of the success story.

He further added that the NIRSAL had marked out, for support, a few agriculture value chains where Cross River had comparative advantage, including those which the state industries will be off takers like rice, maize, cotton, cocoa, etc.

Mixed reactions, mild drama as Port Harcourt experiences first rain in 2020 Ignatius Chukwu & Sam Esogwa

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ort Harcourt is used to rains even on Christmas days, but this season, rains stayed away for months, until Thursday, February 27, 2020, some hours after noon.

This seemed to throw residents of the Rivers State capital in mixed moods as some jubilated while a few others bemoaned it.

Before now, the social media space was rife with lamentations about what they called “heat wave” in the state.

A lot of drama accompanied the sudden rain that took the residents by surprise, especially in such busy areas of the city as Ikwerre Road, Mile 1, Diobu.

At the famous Education Bus Stop, Mile 1, one middleaged woman almost lost her items to the rain as she was running to take cover under the yellow-painted four-storey building adjacent to the Conoil Filling Station.

In the process of speeding away from the rain, her small nylon load tore and four plastic bottles of what looked like Kunu, a

popular local drink in Nigeria and some fresh pepper, fell down and rolled on the ground.

Moved with pity, a goodspirited, dark-complexioned lanky man, dressed in white shirt and black trousers, rushed out of his own hiding corner under the same building, defied the rain and picked two of the bottles for the woman, all in a speed of lightning. The woman, who thanked the man for his good gesture, also managed to rush back into the rain to pick up the remaining items.

At the Iloabuchi Park, Mile 1, the drama continued as the rain kept pouring down. Passengers, as soon as they alighted from the taxes, ran either to the nearby Conoil Filling Station or the adjacent Education Building for cover.

Given the speed of these passengers as they raced to take cover, some of them could beat America’s Ben Johnson could they be paired for an Olympic 100 metres race.

In his haste to take cover, one pot-bellied fat man, dressed in a worn-out black suit, almost got hit by a rush-

ing bus as he was running without caution, shoving everyone who mistakenly blocked his way. As he ran, his Makossa-dancing pot belly completed the drama, sending people into a rib-cracking laughter spree.

Although long expected, the rain, as usual, is generating mixed reactions from Port Harcourt residents.

For Nkechi, a computer operator at a cyber café in Mile 1, Diobu, the rain could not have come at a better time given the scorching heat that has raised a lot of concerns in many quarters.

She thanked God for sending the rain to cool the weather. Nkechi added: “Now we can sleep well, thank God. Since this year we have been expecting this rain and the heat keeps increasing and we don’t know what to do. My sister’s baby is even having heat rashes all over his body because of the heat. If not for this work I’m doing now, I would have gone out so that this rain can touch me and cool my body small.”

But James, a handset repairer, described the rain as a good thing happening at a wrong time.

Consteng CEO launches foundation to support young engineers …unveils new book KELECHI EWUZIE

D

etermined to provide the needed support for aspiring and practising young engineers in Nigeria, Hamed Olugbenga Babajide Lawal, chief executive officer of Consteng Limited, and president of Ikorodu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has launched a Foundation.

This was part of activities to mark his 70th birthday.

The event also provided an

opportunity to launch his book titled ‘Instinctive Iman’ in Ikorodu, Lagos.

The event, which took place at the Oluwatoyin Lions Activity Centre, Ikorodu, Lagos attracted professionals from all walks of life.

The Septuagenarian, Fellow and Life Member of Nigerian Society of Engineers is a firm believer in the principle of Total Quality Management (TQM) and management by objective (M80) and planning.

Lewis Binitie-Cassidy, chairman of the occasion

while speaking at the event, noted that from being a student of Civil Engineering, Lawal rose through the ranks in a challenging and inspiring career at one time or the other as the Chief Engineer, Site Ag Project Development Engineer before finally honourably in 1980 teamed up with fellow Nigerians to establish Moulds (Nig.) Limited, where he worked as the Pioneer Technical Director till the inception of Consteng Limited in 1982.

Binitie-Cassidy hailed Lawal’s tenacity and sense

L-R: Tunde Makanju, book reviewer; Alexis-Vincent Gomes, chief guest of honour; Hamed Olugbenga Babajide Lawal, celebrant; Lewis Binitie-Cassidy, chairman of the occasion, and Kabiru Adewalee Shotobi, the Ayangburu of Ikorodu at the commemoration of Lawal’s 70th birthday, book and foundation launch in Ikorodu, Lagos.

of excellence, noting that his exploits as a civil engineer is a testament to the indefatigable spirit of hard work and resilience common with Nigerians.

According to Binitie-Cassidy, “We are proud of all that you have achieved and the many more innovative ideas you are bringing to change Nigeria’s design and construction landscape. Achieving excellence in construction industry has never been an easy task, but HOB Lawal has redefined the practice with his expert handling of a lot of projects.”

“It is only with a rare mix of dedication and hard work that you have been able to manage a company like Consteng Limited, which employs and grooms Nigerian Engineers directly and indirectly,” Binitie-Cassidy further said.

Niyi Lawal, a member of the planning committee for the ceremony and the celebrant’s son, described his father as a very objective personandsomeonewhoalways tries to attain perfection.

“Before the Foundation, my father had a history of helping the under-privileged people which is one of the objectives of the Lion Club which is about helping humanity.

8 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 01 March 2020

PhotoSplash

Abia State First Lady, Nkechi Ikpeazu’s representative and Deputy Governor’s Wife, Vivian Ude Oko Chukwu (l) in a warm embrace with Odochi Ewurum during the inauguration of the latter as president, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Abia State Chapter, in Umuahia, recently.

L-R: Abdul-Moeine Gargoum, 1st secretary, Libyan Embassy; Babayo Saidu, co-chairman, NIFIAN, and Adetokunbo Kayode, president, ACCI, at a press briefing on the Halal Expo Nigeria 2020 in Abuja.

Pic by Tunde Adeniyi

Group of Nigerian and European journalists during an information sharing round-table on China influence in Nigeria and Sub- Saharan Africa organised by the International Center for Journalists (ICJ) held recently in Lagos.

L-R: Ogochukwu Agu, business development manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc; Uche Unigwe, sales director, Nigerian Breweries plc; Fuad Atanda-Lawal, chairman, Ikoyi/Obalende, Local Council Development Area (LCDA); Chisom Onyeka, corporate affairs advisor, Lagos, Nigerian Breweries plc, and Taiwo Danso, director, treasury and revenue, Ikoyi/Obalende LCDA, at the handover ceremony of toilet facility donated by Nigerian Breweries Plc to Ikoyi/Obalende LCDA in Lagos

Oguwike Nwachuku(r), chief press secretary/media adviser to governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State,receiving an award from The National Federation of Catholic Students, (NFCS), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka on behalf of the governor.

Presentation of Pampers diapers at the Primary Health Care Centre Raha, Bunza LGA, Kebbi State by Zainab Bagudu, first lady of Kebbi State, and Temitope Iluyemi, P&G director for Africa, Global Government Relations and Public Policy, as part of P&G’s donation of 1 million Pampers diapers to support maternal and child health in Kebbi state.

L-R: Ibiyemi Okuneye, head, Transaction Banking Standard Chartered Nigeria; Amit Kansal, group treasurer, Olam International Singapore; Adenike Emiloju, treasurer, IHS Towers Nigeria, and Sola Bakare, acting head, Global Banking Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria

Lion Blessing Umebali (4th r), Region 6 chairperson, Lions Clubs International, District 404B2 Nig; Lion Marce Anyanwu (5th r), Zone 6B chairperson; Lion Amarachi Uche (3rd r), president Lagos Royal Lions Club; Lion John Oriazowan (2nd l), president, Ikeja Metro Lions Club; Lion Adeshola Adu (4th l), 1st vice president, Lagos Apex Lions Club, and Lion Abiodun Wilkey, Leo Advisor, Ikeja Unique Lions Club, all at the Parade ground on Awareness Campaign on Childhood Cancer, at the 6th District Convention in Ajilete, Ogbomoso in Oyo State.

Sunday 01 March 2020

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Coping with extreme heat wave

Publisher/Editor-in-chief

Frank Aigbogun

editor Zebulon Agomuo DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

9

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Tayo Ogunbiyi Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

T

hough it rained recently in some parts of the country, experts have, however, maintained that the intense heat wave being currently experienced across the country might persist for some time. Trust the social media to trivialize even the most bizarre occurrence. Of late, the extreme heat situation has become a butt of jokes in the social media.

Video clips of people intermittently pouring water on themselves as they walk and even drive are now awash in the social media space.

Now, talking more seriously, medical experts have disclosed that excessive heat has damaging effects on victim’s health as it can lead to dehydration-due to excessive loss of water, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and sometimes death.

Among others, critical danger indicators to pay attention to in hot weather include weakness, tiredness, and dizziness, shortness of breath, vomiting and general body disorder.

Experience from across the globe actually validates the reality of the menace of excessive heat. In August 2003, Northern France had a nasty experience of rare extreme heat for over three weeks. The result was catastrophic as it led to the death of over 15,000 people.

Same year in England, over 2,000 people died as a result of a 12-day heat wave.

With the current state of heat wave in the country, one only hopes things won’t become worse.

In Lagos, the situation is even more unpleasant as the metropolis is presently experiencing a protracted heat wave which has ushered in strange hot weather with temperature over and above 32.2oc.

Experts have offered useful tips on how to keep abreast of the situation, and a good eating habit, that is effectively complemented with drinking of plenty of hygienic water at intervals, has been acknowledged as quite essential.

Naturally, to fight dehydration, the body requires constant supply of water. Reduction in the intake of caffeinated or intoxicating drinks is also one of the recommended antidotes to the consequences of excessive heat. Also, ensuring good ventilation in residential places as well as regular bathing at nights has been recommended It is, however, important to emphasize that, being a direct consequence of the global warming challenge which the entire world is currently contending with, long term solutions as against immediate remedies would be more ap-

propriate and effective in dealing with excessive heat. In this respect, one would like to make a strong case for tree planting.

Trees have been scientifically proven to be very useful as first line of defence in the fight against global warming as they absorb the carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, replenish the air with oxygen and also contribute immensely to the aesthetics of the environment.

They also check erosion and stem the tide of windstorm by serving as wind breakers. On another note, trees are brilliant cleansers. They remove other pollutants through the stomates in the leaf surface.

It is considered that trees act as what some call a Carbon Sink, storing the gas in its branches, trunk, leaves etc. instead of leaving the gas to become free floating and further polluting the atmosphere.

In this natural function alone, trees directly reduce the growth of the Greenhouse Effect and counteract Global Warming.

Trees also serve the purpose of overall air quality enhancer, and a much needed one at that. They provide natural habitats for many small creatures, and reduce the temperature by providing shade.

All in all, a tree is not just a beautiful work of nature standing amongst the many phenomenal picturesque settings of this world; it is a powerful and vital tool for human survival.

As the world concentrates on global warming and its adverse effects, the public must be more educated and enlightened on ef-

fectiveness of trees. Although planting of trees has long been a suggestion to better the earth, there is a need for sustained action at making it not just a mere annual ritual, but what everybody, especially land owners, must embrace if we are to take the decisive trend of climate change serious.

According to climate experts, human-induced global deforestation is responsible for 18-25% of global climate change. The United Nations, World Bank and other leading non-governmental organizations are therefore encouraging re-forestation and other activities that promote tree planting to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Ironically, as simple as tree planting process is, only quite a few pays adequate attention to in this clime.

This is not surprising since we are used to waiting for disaster to occur before doing the right thing.

Undoubtedly, tree planting is one of the most valuable tools available to help to provide environmental stability. It is, thus, in order to optimally key into the reality that governments across the world encourage the culture of tree planting.

Hopefully, in our country, more individuals, corporate bodies, community leaders, religious bodies and NGOs would give sufficient attention to tree planting. In view of the enormous importance of trees to the quality of human life, it would be foolhardy to neglect this simple and less expensive venture that is naturally endowed with life giving aura.

Imo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Afolabi Oladele Vincent Maduka Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Mezuo Nwuneli Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan Eyo Ekpo Wiebe Boer Paul Arinze Boye Olusanya Ayo Gbeleyi Haruna Jalo-Waziri Clement Isong

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Purchase of 820 buses: Ambode, House of Assembly await Appeal Court on probe Stories by JOSHUA BASSEY

F

ollowing the ruling of an Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Yetunde Adesanya that the Lagos State House of Assembly has constitutional power to investigate the activities of the former governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, and the appeal filed against the ruling by Ambode, parties to the case are now waiting for the decision of the Appeal Court on the matter.

No date has been fixed yet for the hearing of the case at the appellate court.

In ruling that the legislators have powers to investigate the former governor, the Ikeja High Court had struck out a suit earlier filed by Ambode in which he sought to stop his probe by the assembly over the purchase of 820 buses for the Lagos Bus Reform Initiative (BRI), a project undertaken by

Obasa, speaker, Lagos Assembly

Ambode.

The former governor had approached the court at the heat of the moves by the state legislators to compel him to appear before the assembly adhoc committee to explain the purchase of the buses “without the approval” of

Ambode, former governor

the house while he served as governor of the state.

The lawmakers had suspended the probe after Ambode secured a court order which directed parties to the suit to maintain status quo.

But at the hearing of case on Thursday, Justice

Lagos moves to sanitise Mile 2 axis …as task force set for demolition of illegal structures from Monday

I

n what is aimed at restoring lost aesthetics and rescue the area from suspected robbers who now use it as hideout, the Lagos State government is moving to demolish all illegal structures erected around the Mile 2 axis of Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

The state task force on environmental and other special offences had issued a seven-day notice to owners and occupants of all illegal structures in the area to vacate or faced forceful eviction with threat of arrest.

The notice expires on Monday, March 2, 2020.

The task force, it was gathered, is gearing up to move in midnight of Monday with bulldozers.

Structures around public schools at Mile 2 area and its environs would be brought down. They include shanties, mechanic workshops, petty traders, containarised kiosks and commercial bus garages.

Chairman of the agency, Olayinka Egbeyemi had during a meeting with affected owners, occupants and sectional heads of the National Union of

Road Transport Workers (NURTW) directed them to leave the vicinity of the schools within the stipulated seven days.

He said the directive to the occupants to move out became imperative following outcry by concerned residents, particularly public schools such as Imoye High School and Amuwo Odofin Junior Secondary School where criminal elements have reportedly turned into hideouts to carry out their nefarious activities thereby making the environment unsafe and unpleasant for learning.

“It is disheartening seeing these illegal business operators like mechanics, Iron benders, food, fruits vendors and others turning the entire perimeter fence of these schools into illegal trading spots.

“In addition, they have littered the entire area with refuse and waste metal materials posing serious health hazards to residents,” the task force chairman said.

According to Egbeyemi, investigation conducted revealed that those illegal structures/shanties which

serve as abode to criminal elements who rob unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables along highways on LagosBadagry Expressway, do not have any permit or operating license from the state government.

He said after the impending demolition, the agency would embark on a clean-up exercise in the area.

Egbeyemi cautioned traders and occupants not to attempt circumventing the removal order, by trying to bribe officials in order to prevent or stop enforcement, stressing that Governor Babajide SanwoOlu has, on compassionate ground, has approved monetary compensation for those who deserve it.

Meanwhile, commercial motorcycle (Okada) operators have returned to the Mile axis weeks after they were banned by the state government.

The motorcycles Okada are seen daily crowding around the Mile 2 Bridge and even riding against traffic flow (one-way), as the Lagos Road Traffic Law, 2018 is seemingly not being enforced in the area.

Adesanya held that the adhoc committee set up to investigate Ambode was a fact-finding committee.

According to the judge, an investigation is not an indictment.

“The claimant (Ambode) has not been indicted. An invitation by

an agency of government cannot in anyway cause a breach of the threat of the fundamental rights of the claimant.

“I hereby find that the claimant’s action is an invitation to the court to cripple the legislative exercise of the statutory power of the Lagos State House of Assembly under section 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution.

“That is not the function of the court, and no court of law should accede to such invitation. The claimant’s suit is hereby struck out,” she said.

Ambode had instituted the civil suit against the house of assembly, the speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, and the clerk of the house, A.A. Sanni.

Other joined in the suite were Fatai Mojeed, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee constituted by the house to probe the procurement of the buses, and eight members of the committee.

The former governor

had come under strong criticism by the house shortly after leaving office in May 2019, for, according to the lawmakers, going ahead to purchase the buses without their approval.

Months to his exit from office, the relationship between the former governor and the legislative arm of the state government had worsened, as the house threatened him with impeachment over claims of breach of constitutional provisions.

The former governor has appealed the ruling of a Lagos High Court. In the notice of appeal filed by his counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, before the Lagos division of the Appeal Court, Ambode prayed the court to set aside the decision of the trial court and allow the appeal.

Besides, the former governor prayed the appellate court to remit the matter back to the High Court to allow the chief judge to reassign it to another judge of the High Court for trial.

LASUTH offers to assist curtailing COVID-19

T

he Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) says it is prepared to collaborate with the state government to contain the spread of Coronavirus outbreak which has been confirmed in the state.

Adetokunbo Fabamwo, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LASUTH, said this was in line with the global best practice and precaution to screen, isolate and treat suspected patients and protect people in the state.

Fabamwo said the hospital has a Disease Infection Preven-

tion and Control Committee in place.

According to him, the hospital for more than eight years and has been training workers on standard and transmissionbased precautions.

“A crisis management committee was also set up five weeks ago and a triage protocol in screening, isolation and notification of highly infectious diseases. These are not limited to Lassa fever, Ebola fever and COVID-19 was developed and is being strictly adhered to.

He said that medical personnel have already been trained to

take all precautionary measures to prevent, protect against, respond to, and mitigate the effect of an emergency incident.

“As part of the hospital’s preparedness, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) had been procured four weeks ago and deployed on Jan. 27 and January 28 to all entry points.

“The PPE is used only based on risk assessment and when seeing patients after which they are appropriately disposed off into colour-coded bins. They are not to be worn as part of dressing when not attending to patients,” he said.

RRS busts notorious ‘One Chance’ gang …as gang leader, dismissed air force personnel, opens up

A

dismissed air force personnel and leader of “One Chance” robbery gang operating with a Toyota Sienna car in various parts of the Lagos metropolis, has been arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the anti-crime outfit of the Lagos police command.

The suspect, Matthew Tokeme, 50 years old, was tracked down after one of their victims reported the gang’s modus operandi to the RRS. Tokeme with his four other gang members, investigations revealed, operated on Ojodu -CMS, Abule- CMS, IyanaIpaja to Ikeja routes between 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m targeting mostly women as passengers.

Tokeme, whose other gang members operated with nicknames- Papa, Brown, Oyeewo and Segun, it was learnt, maintained a closely knit gang.

The dismissed air force personnel, who is the owner of the Sienna car with registration number APP 488 FH, confessed to the police that the blue Sienna car was sent to him by his friend based in Germany.

The gang after taking their victims dispossessed them of their valuable before dropping them off in desolate locations early in the morning.

One of the victims (name withheld) narrated her encounter with the robbers to the RRS commander, Olatunji Disu, a deputy superintendent

of police (DCP) before he (Disu) ordered the RRS decoy to go after the gang.

The victim revealed that the gang dropped her off on Billings Way, Ikeja at dawn after dispossessing her of an HP laptop, hard drive and money.

Confessing to the crime, Tokeme said: “my friend who is based in Germany, bought the car for me to use for commercial purposes. He bought the car for me because he realised my business was not going on well.

But I started using the car for ‘One Chance’ and was operating between Abule-Egba and Ijaiye from 5:00 a.m to 6:00 a.m,” the suspect confessed.

Sunday 02 February 2020

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BDSUNDAY 11

NewsFeature

Nigerian Supreme Court on trial Continued from Page 1 of doubts and loss of confidence in the Supreme Court.

The Apex Court had, on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 sacked former Governor Emeka Ihedioha and declared Hope Uzodinma of the APC, who had come a distant fourth the winner. The Supreme court relied on some cancelled votes in about 388 polling units, which it claimed were valid, to rule in favour of Uzodinma. This judgment, perhaps presented the apex court with a dilemma, as the judges appeared to have failed to explain how the number of votes cast came to be more than accredited voters.

The case of Bayelsa was also unbelievable to many members of the party. David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who had been declared winner of the November 16, 2019 gubernatorial election, was stopped by the apex court just 24 hours to his inauguration. He was sacked because his running mate, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo, was said to have presented forged documents to aid his election.

Ihedioha

Lyon

Buhari

Duoye Diri of the PDP became the beneficiary and has since been sworn in. Irked by the turn of events, the leadership of the APC went back to the Supreme Court for a review of the ruling.

Apparently basking in the euphoria of the realisation that the

Atiku

Apex Court can indeed review a judgment, and having seen the APC approach the court to press for the sack of Diri and return victory back to Lyon, the national leadership of the PDP also decided to go back to the same court to demand a review of a ruling on the Presidential election that had favoured the APC and its candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari against the PDP and its candidate.

Th e Su p r e m e C o u r t o n Wednesday October 3, 2019 had dismissed the appeal by the Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his party, against President Buhari.

The seven-member panel led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Mohammed held that having gone through all the documents and exhibits two weeks earlier, the panel discovered that the appeal lacked merit.

“We have examined the submissions of parties in this matter and the exhibit adduced and we have come to a conclusion that this appeal lacks merit, appeal is hereby dismissed,” the panel said.

Mohammed ruling affirmed the earlier stand by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which had ruled in favour of President Buhari.

Allegations were rife at that time that the Supreme Court ruling on the presidential election dispute perhaps, did not come as a surprise based the issues that led to the unceremonious sack of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, shortly before the 2019 general election.

Speaking to BDSUNDAY on Friday, a legal practitioner based in Abuja, Kayode Ajulo (PhD) said he did not believe that the Nigerian people have lost faith in the Supreme Court and to a large extent the Judiciary. He cautioned those with such impres-

sion to be very careful, stressing that the politicians are the only ones losing faith in the judiciary.

“I don’t want to believe that people have lost hope in the judiciary. We need to be careful on what we say. I am saying this as a legal practitioner and a politician because when it comes to the issue of politics, people tend to be biased. We always want to believe that people seem to lose confidence in the judiciary.

“When it comes to judgment, it must be for some groups it must be against some groups or some persons; that is why any case will have two parties and sometimes any party on the losing side believe that something bad has happened,” he said.

He disclosed that both the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court since the beginning of this year have dispensed over 50 landmark cases from January to February but nobody will raise any issue about that because they are not political cases.

“The truth of the matter is that you cannot use one or two political cases to judge how well your judiciary fared in a given context,” he said.

On the specific case of the disputed governorship election in Imo State between ousted Governor Ihedioha and the current Governor Uzodinma, Ajulo said: “The truth in Imo is so clear that at the polling units some votes were declared only at the ward level and INEC cancelled such votes. So, if after looking at the case the court in its wisdom believed that such votes ought not to have been cancelled, then that decision is right.”

“And it is an age-long procedure and law that once INEC made a declaration it should not be the same INEC that will still cancel votes, they cannot be appropriating and reprobating .Once they have made declaration so be it. It is only the court that can change it.

“So in Imo case, INEC initially gave a declaration and gave form EC8A and they now canceled the results. And if today all the votes are counted and it is now believed that it is Hope Uzodinma of the APC that won, then that is the position of the law,” he said.

He pointed out that there is a perception that by the time one looks at the election, there might be an impression of over-voting based on technicalities. He however, said that the PDP did not raise the issue of over voting in court, saying that the Supreme Court gave a sound judgment in Imo even as he contended that the PDP lawyers did a bad job.

He also emphasized that the Bayelsa case is well known, stressing that it is a joint ticket.

He said that what the Supreme Court did in the case of Bayelsa was just to affirm what the High Court has done even as he commended the judges for the verdict they gave.

“So, party faithful may have lost hope in the Court verdicts, it is expected of them. But the generality of Nigerians have not lost confidence in the judiciary,” he said.

On the issue of the reviews sought in court by aggrieved parties, Ajulo noted that the Supreme Court cannot change its position even if it discovers that it made mistakes in a particular case, saying the Supreme Court can only use another case to correct a mistake.

He advised those seeking review of the cases delivered by the Supreme Court to save their time and resources.

Also speaking on the issue of the economic cost involved in successive litigations and the implications, another legal practitioner, who did not want his name on print, said that first of all the individual litigants and their parties, that might have Continues on Page 12

6 BDSUNDAY 12 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 01 March 2020

NewsFeature

Nigerian Supreme Court ...

Continued from Page 11 lost the elections would have to count their losses.

“Pursuing a case up to the Supreme Court is very expensive as the cost of protracted litigations runs into hundreds of millions.

It might turn out well for those who win at the end of the day especially in political cases as they will occupy offices and try to use state resources to recoup whatever financial losses they might have incurred. This might eventually to corruption in the system,” he said. …Huge economic losses over court-ordered changes In recent times, the most populous country in Africa is ranked top among countries that conduct the most expensive elections in the world.

With cost growing since 1999 when the country returned to civil rule after military interruption from 1979-1983, Nigeria’s election is nearing trillion of Naira, going by the 2019 general election, adjudged the most expensive election ever in Nigeria and even in Africa.

The cost excluded those of Ekiti, Edo, Anambra, Ondo, Kogi and Bayelsa states, which are conducted at different times due to court rulings that nullified the legitimacy of sitting governors, swearing in new ones and changing the timetable from the general one.

Again, the 2019 election is still throwing up many intrigues that are further reordering the election timetable, especially in the case of Imo State, which has joined states that do not conduct elections same day with the rest of the country.

It is sad that it took over six months to review election petitions filed by all parties involved in the Imo State gubernatorial election case.

With the ruling of the Supreme court which sacked Ihedioha and enthroned Uzodinma, the election timetable is changed in the state, but most importantly, dreams of people and hopes are dashed, enormous funds wasted, and more to be wasted as new set of leaders are in place to empower themselves.

Imagine all the political appointees of the ex-governor, who resigned their previous appointments, abandoned or left flourishing businesses in the hands of incapable people, imagine contracts or good initiatives initiated by the sacked government, all these may not be quantified in money as lives are involved.

Looking at the cost, Uzor Amajor, an economist, noted that probably the APC, the incoming governor, in the case of Bayelsa, his family and friends may have spent over N100 million in preparations for the inauguration that never held. “The funds are from

Mahmood

Tanko

oil companies, banks and other companies because of the assurance from ‘power from above’ that the state is already taken.

Yet, dreams and many have even developed serious health conditions since the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the PDP in Bayelsa State.

Of course, those who see politics are business invested huge sum from both political parties in the state. It is truly a gamble, but some are already paying for losing out as the Supreme Court sealed their hope with its final ruling on the case recently.

Imagine a situation where the Supreme Court reviews the Imo State case and recalls Emeka Ihedioha. It means another round of looting has happened without the state having a taste of the dividend of democracy. It also means the present governor will vacate with all his appointees, looting alongside and drawing the state backwards as the new governor will start afresh and his tenure starts counting when he is sworn-in. The trend is sad for the people, bad for democracy

Diri

Uzodinma

government coffers and private pockets hoping for appointments and contracts, but how would they recover the money?”

Amajor asked.

Preye Wilberforce, a media personality, who worked for the disqualified governor in Bayelsa,

was among the unlucky ones.

The middle-aged man resigned his appointment at a thriving television station because of the strong assurance of an appointment in the cabinet of the incoming governor. There are some who left prominent positions in

The funds are from government coffers and private pockets hoping for appointments and contracts, but how would they recover the money

and drawback for development.

Again, no one can imagine how much the parties paid their lawyers for the several appearances in the court for the case.

Well, election tribunal is also rumored to have collected huge sum of money to influence cases in favour of some people.

All the money may have come from government coffers.

It is also difficult to imagine how much must have been expended by both PDP and APC during the Presidential Election Tribunal hearing. The judges, senior advocates of Nigeria and other lawyers involved, the INEC and other stakeholders must all be smiling to the banks afterwards because money (huge sum) really exchanged hands.

For those still in doubt of the sources of the funds for the execution of the expensive court cases, Bidemi Okenla, a political economist, explained that politicians have their way, especially budget padding, which is often smoothened by the civil servants.

“Budget padding has always been there, it is just that the money was so much that was why we heard of it in recent time. Politicians pad budgets with funds they want to use for electioneering campaigns, court cases and for lootings too”, he said.

However, Okenla does not wish the review of the President Election Tribunal ruling. He imagined the events across the country if the Supreme Court reverses itself and rules in favour of Atiku Abubakar.

“The violence, especially by supporters of the incumbent would be unheard of. If the court rules on rerun, the cost would be more than the expenditure for the main election because the ruling party would empty the coffers to retain power. But the money can also start the foundation of a new modern city like Abuja somewhere in Niger Delta or South East,” he said.

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BDSUNDAY 13

Analysis Peace now a scarce commodity as insecurity escalates Nigerian economy takes the heat ZEBULON AGOMUO

F

or the second time in one month, Christians marched against the disturbing level of insecurity in Nigeria. Last week, Catholic faithful during the Ash Wednesday, dressed in all black to register their pain over the unprovoked killings across the country.

Matthew Kukah, a bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, led a procession of members to peacefully protest the increasing killing of Christians, particularly in the northern part of the country

by Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and Fulani herdsmen.

While leading the procession, Kukah said Nigeria had bled enough, urging the Federal Government to put an end to incessant killing of Nigerians by insurgents, kidnappers and bandits.

“The situation in the country where one cannot sleep with one’s eyes closed is worrisome.

Nigeria has bled enough and it is high time for those in authorities to rise up to their responsibilities.

Many have become widows and orphans. Nigeria is going the way of Rwanda,” he said.

Earlier in the month of February, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had declared a prayer walk which took place in some states across the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. In Lagos State, the march was led by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

Recall that Bishop Kukah, in his homily during the recent burial of Michael Nnadi, the seminarian killed by his abductors, had called out the Federal Government over the seeming kid-glove manner the war against insurgency and general insecurity was being prosecuted. He pointedly blamed the escalating insecurity on the incompetence of those saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and property of citizens.

Before Kukah’s widely publicised outburst, Reverend Supo Ayokunle, the CAN president, had written a strongly-worded open letter to President Muhammadu

Brutai

Buhari on the issue of insecurity.

Ayokunle’s letter was written following the beheading by members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, of the CAN Chairman in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Lawan Andimi and a student of the University of Maiduguri, Ropvil Dalyep.

Ayokunle had said that the attacks were targeted at Christians and urged President Buhari to rise up to his responsibility of protecting Nigerians, irrespective of their religions.

“Our President should rise up and up his game. If the attack is not religious don’t let there be attacks on Christians again. The killing of the young man going to Maiduguri is still fresh in our minds. When they were killing him, they said it in Hausa or Arabic that it was because he was a Christian,” he said.

“The killing of the CAN chairman was because he was a Christian; they rejected ransom. The incarceration of Leah Sharibu was because she is a Christian and she refused to convert to Islam.

Boko Haram didn’t mince words; Abubakar said he was out to plant Sharia from the North to the South. So why are you saying it is not religious? Nigerians be hopeful; your God will fight for you,”

the CAN chairman further said.

Last Wednesday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) accused the Federal Government of manifesting insensitivity and unwillingness to end the spate of killings by the Boko Haram insurgents and herdsmen in the country.

The Catholic bishops, who made the observation in a statement by their President, Augustine Akubeze, and Secretary, Camillus Umoh, said the failure of the government to arrest the criminals showed its insincerity and lack of commitment to protecting lives and property in the country.

The body appealed to the international community to come to the aid of the Nigerian government in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and Fulani terrorists.

“The level of insecurity in Nigeria today is such that whether at home or on the road, most Nigerians, in all the parts of the country, live in fear. The repeated barbaric execution of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom linked to the same group and other terrorists have traumatised many citizens,” the bishops said.

According to the CBCN, “That the perpetrators of these heinous crimes make public shows of them on social media and Nigerians do not hear of any arrest or prosecution of the criminals raise grave questions about the ability and willingness of the government to protect the lives of the ordinary Nigerians. To make matters worse, many communities are constantly threatened, harassed and sometimes even sacked by herdsmen, as they seek to take over more territories to graze

their cattle forcefully.”

The Catholic bishops therefore, appealed to the “government to immediately put a stop to this unprecedented wave of violence and brutality aimed particularly at Christians. We also call for the arrest and prosecution of all those behind these senseless killings that sow the dangerous seeds of hate and distrust among the various segments of the Nigerian society.”

Recently, a woman was kidnapped in one of the South eastern states a few days after her husband marked his 80th birthday anniversary. The kidnappers were said to have demanded N50 million ransom. They killed her after collecting N4 million. That was the same fate that befell Philip Ataga’s wife earlier in the month of February. Ataga is a Kadunabased medical doctor. His wife was kidnapped along with their two children.

Various communities across the country have been burying their dead who were killed by bandits, who always get away with the dastardly acts.

Last Thursday, a video made the rounds on the social media about an alleged kidnap of a young man from Mgbidi, in Oru Local Government Area of Imo State.

However, it was gathered that while the kidnappers were trying to move him out of the state, they were discovered.

The level of insecurity in Nigeria has received the attention of the United States of America government. Recently, Fox News reported President Donald Trump, decrying the unfortunate development, saying: “We are deeply concerned by religious violence in Nigeria, including the burning of churches, the killings and persecution of Christians.”

Trump also urged the Nigerian government to do everything within its power to meet the security needs of the people in the affected communities, and to protect innocent civilians of all faith.

For a long time now, the Nigerian highways have been taken over by bandits and kidnappers.

The ubiquitous road blocks being manned by soldiers have not been able to check the wave of terror being visited on innocent travelers on a daily basis. Increasingly, travellers are being ambushed, kidnapped, abused and in some cases killed, even when ransom must have been demanded, paid and collected.

Last Monday, South-Eastbound travellers had their journey delayed for several hours somewhere in Benin. A band of killers had taken over the road, after killing over eight people, according to unconfirmed reports.

Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, a retired Army general, has continued to sound the warning that enormous danger looms ahead.

Nigeria’s rating on peace is disturbing Toki Mabogunje, president, La-

gos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, alluded to this recently at the 4th edition of Security Meets Business held in Lagos.

Mabogunje said: “Nigeria was ranked 148th out of 163 countries on the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2019 and was placed among the five least peaceful countries in sub-Saharan Africa along with violence-ridden countries such as Somalia, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic.” She remarked that these rankings for Nigeria in the area of security give cause for concern.

She also noted that the current security situation had significant implications for the business environment, including increasing cost of providing additional security by firms as they would not be able to conduct their business without providing additional security.

“As a promoter of private enterprise, it is our firm belief that we must continue to adopt innovative ways to address legacy and emerging security issues,” Mabogunje said.

Economy takes the heat The worsening insecurity is putting businesses in difficulty.

Since 2015, terrorism, banditry, herdsmen attacks, armed robbery and kidnapping in various parts of the country have continued to wreak incalculable havoc on the nation’s economy.

Many farmers have fled the tense states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, and manufacturers have long withdrawn their staff and relocated their businesses after destruction of their factories and killing of staff members.

It is also on report that telecoms masts running into billions of naira have been destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents, with some of the players avoiding many parts of Borno and Adamawa.

No part of the country is peaceful. The north central states, particularly Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa, are having it rough. The south-east, southwest and southsouth have also been invaded by terrorists, who ambush farmers and travellers.

Although the Federal Government has continued to reassure citizens of its commitment to restoring security, efforts have yet to match assurances.

Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, at an event in Lagos recently said the government was making efforts to provide sustainable solutions to ensure security in the country.

On his part, Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, said: “The Nigerian Army has continued to upgrade its tactics and mode of operation.

However, Nigeria does not own its security architecture. We need to own ourselves and our country.

Nigeria needs to develop its own solutions where strategic partners can contribute.”

14

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Politics Why bill for agency for ‘repentant’ Boko Haram must die - Experts Innocent Odoh, Abuja

M

ore Nigerians have called on all stakeholders to rise and stop the proposed bill for the establishment of a federal agency for the rehabilitation and de-radicalisation of ‘repentant’ Boko Haram members, which has passed the first reading in the Senate.

According the sponsor of the bill, Ibrahim Geidam, the senator representing Yobe East under the All Progressives Congress (APC), the proposed agency would help repentant insurgents to “re-enter mainstream politics, religion and society.”

He added that it would also promote reconciliation and national unity.

He further said that “The agency when established will help rehabilitate and reintegrate the defectors, repentant and forcefully conscripted members of the insurgent group Boko Haram to make them useful members of the society and provide an avenue for reconciliation and promote national security.”

The immediate past governor of Yobe State, further said that the bill “will also encourage other members of the group who are still engaged in the insurgency to abandon the group, especially in the face of the military pressure and enable the government to derive insider-information about the insurgency group for greater understanding of the group and its inner workings.”

“It will enable government to use the defectors to fight the unrepentant insurgents.

It will help disintegrate the violent and poisonous ideology that the group spreads as the programme will allow some repentant defectors or suspect terrorists to express remorse over their actions, repent and recant their violent doctrine and in the long run, re-enter mainstream politics, religion and society,” he also said.

Despite widespread opposition to this bill, Geidam appears to have stuck to his guns, which has prompted more Nigerians to plan some protests against the bill.

Experts are horrified that a serving

Ahmad Lawan

Ibrahim Geidam

federal lawmaker will propose such a bill at a time the Boko Haram insurgency is still raging like wildfire even as they called on non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations to rise against the bill.

Speaking to BDSUNDAY, a security expert and columnist, Ben Okezie described the bill as very unfortunate, stressing that such agency will not work during the peak of crisis. He also condemned the idea of trying to de-radicalise already highly radicalised Boko Haram members.

“To de-radicalise them, you start from before they join the insurgency and not when they have entered. By the time they join the insurgency; their mind is twisted and made up. The ideology they have imparted into them is like opium just like Karl Max said that the opium of the people is religion. That is why they can shoot and kill anybody.

“We heard about a Boko Haram man while in operation, his mother was among those on sight and he just killed the woman.

If you want to carry out this type of exercise, you wait until the war is over and they surrender just like the Niger Delta militants,” Okezie said.

He added that the attempt by the sponsor of the bill and those who allegedly back Boko Haram to compare the Niger Delta militants with Boko Haram insurgents will not work, arguing that the Niger Delta militants laid down their arms and the government sent a delegation and struck an agreement with militant leaders and based on that an amnesty was declared for them.

“The Niger Delta militancy is different from Boko Haram. Niger Delta is fighting for what belongs to their father land that they think that the Nigerian state is taking without compensation for them. But in the case of Boko Haram in the north, they have nothing to show that they are fighting for except religion and religion in the Nigerian constitution is a personal thing that should not matter to anybody.

“So, what this lawmaker is agitating for

is completely wrong and this is the type of attitude that prolongs this war. Boko Haram should not be pampered and I will not support a situation where government will channel scarce resources to them.

“So, if a senator who we expect to know his right from his left is the one clamouring for this kind of bill, it IS an unfortunate situation. These are the people the government security agencies are supposed to keep close watch on and monitor them because they might have other motives.

“We have heard of how politicians sent money and other things to Boko Haram. So, they should stop this nonsense and stop making things difficult for our soldiers,” he said.

Okezie called on all NGOs and civil society organisations to stand up and confront that bill and stand against it, adding that there is an ulterior motive and the security agencies should look into it.

A Public Affairs Analyst, Katch Ononuju (PhD Economics), dismissed the bill as inconsequential, stressing that it will not see the light of day, because the sponsors are desperate but lack depth.

“That bill will not see the light of day. The sponsors of the bill don’t have the depth of intellectual interrogation; so, it should be ignored. They have destroyed Borno State and the north east. They will go nowhere with the bill and they will bear the weight of the insurgency which they have organised,” he said.

Another security expert and a columnist, Majeed Dahiru, said the only solution to the Boko Haram crisis is to address the root cause of it, which he attributed to disdain for Western education in the north and the quest to entrench the Islamic revivalism sweeping across the world.

“It is important to understand that Boko Haram is product of a uniquely northern Nigerian Muslim culture that holds western education in contempt and upholds the need for a jihadist revivalism in the contemporary world. These two factors combined birthed the Boko Haram insurgency. Whereas we have jihadist movement across the Middle East and North Africa, they do not abhor education they are simply struggling to revive puritan Islamism.

“But Nigeria has a twin problem of having a population that for several decades has been indoctrinated to hold western education with contempt and suspicion.

They see Western education as a ploy of the Judeo-Christian World to convert Muslims to Christianity or Judaism. And this has now merged with the Islamist revivalist movements in the larger Muslim world.

“So, we now have a Boko Haram that on one hand represents a violent resistance to anything modern or western including education as well as an aspiration to install an Islamic state in place of the current and secular Nigeria’s multi-religious state.

“This is a product of a uniquely northern Nigerian Muslim culture. So, it has a hydra-headed dimension and until that culture is fundamentally changed from the grassroots across the north, Boko Haram will remain intractable because for every single jihadist you kill in the field, be rest assured that there are hundreds willing and able to replace that fallen Mujahideen,” Dahiru said.

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15

Politics Southwest PDP moves to resolve Lagos chapter crisis …As Makinde, Ibori meet Bode George, others … George lacks power to convene reconciliation meeting - Adewale Iniobong Iwok

T

he Southwest chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said it was committed to finding a lasting solution to the lingering crisis in the Lagos State chapter of the party in order to reposition it ahead of 2023 election.

The Lagos PDP is currently enmeshed in factional crisis, which has become subject of litigation between two chairmen, namely; Dominic and Deji Doherty.

Dominic is being backed by a group led by Olabode George while Doherty enjoys the backing of the national leadership of PDP. National vice-chairman of the party, Eddy Olafeso stated this while in a telephone interview with BDSUNDAY Friday, while reacting to the meeting by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; former Delta State governor, James Ibori with Bode George and his faction members.

Olafeso said though there was an election which brought in Deji Doherty as the state chairman, that politics was about numbers, stressing that the zone was ready to resolve all issues that could lead to peace in the Lagos State chapter.

“We are aware of the meeting held at Bode George residence; we started the peace process two weeks ago. We appreciate Governor Makinde and James Ibori for their effort; we are just trying to make sure that we unite all groups in the state ahead of 2023 election. We don’t want anything that would set us back again,” Olafeso said.

The reconciliation meeting which was held at Lugard Street, Ikoyi, with George in attendance; a former Lagos State deputy governor, Kofoworola Buknor-Akerele; Remi Akitoye, Adegbola Dominic, among others and lasted for more than three hours.

Also in attendance were the former Minister of Transportation, Ebenezer Babatope and former governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Babatunde Gbadamosi, who recently defected to the PDP. Speaking after the closed door parley, Makinde told newsmen that leaders that were in attendance were able to resolve some issues and made some progress.

Makinde said he and other leaders were in Lagos, which he described as crucial, to make the PDP work better, adding that the reconciliation talks were in progress to reach out to other faction of the party to achieve such goal.

According to him, “We were able to resolve some issues. It is pertinent to say the party has made some progress.

“You don’t jump the gun, it is one step after the other; it is one step at a time. Why we’ve come here this morning is to make our party work better. PDP in Lagos State is sacrosanct.

It is like we are putting APC on notice that they need to be informed of what is coming to them in Lagos State,” Makinde said.

Also speaking, George lauded the meeting, saying that solutions to move the party forward were agreed upon despite the differences among stakeholders within the fold.

According to the party chieftain, who is also the Atona Oodua, the groups that met spoke brilliantly and solutions that would be worked upon proffered to move the party forward, saying that the PDP leadership would need the kind of wisdom applied by biblical Solomon in respect of the two women claiming ownership of same baby to resolve the matter on ground.

Seyi Makinde

Bode George

James Ibori

Segun Adewale

He expressed the hope that the crisis rocking the Lagos PDP chapter would be resolved based on the fact that the party was blessed with leaders and not emperors.

“We have the solution that we have all agreed on. Unless you want to deceive yourself, there will always be issues, but it will take the grace of the Almighty for you to be able to resolve whatever differences we have.

“And we spoke brilliantly; they spoke and we proffered solutions we would come out and accept so that we can work together,” he said.

Expressing hope on the reconciliation moves, George said he was confident that all issues would be resolved.

“It would work. Yes they erred, that’s why they went to him (Secondus) to come and talk to calm all the frayed nerves now because in the end, is there anybody that is infallible?

“That is the beauty of politics; we don’t have emperors in our party; we have leaders who consult and whatever is suggested here would be implemented.”

Gbadamosi, in his own remark, dismissed insinuations that his re-entry into PDP was being blocked by certain forces, even as he

paid tributes to both George and Deji Doherty for efforts made to warmly welcome him into the fold.

“I think it is important to avoid the activities of rumour mongers. There would always be people out there who would always try to stir up and foment trouble.

“Doherty is a very good brother and a very good friend of mine and he invited me to the party. Chief Bode George also invited me. In fact, I came to see Chief Bode George and discussed with him. He welcomed me with open arms and said do the needful and I interpreted that to mean I needed to return home,” Gbadamosi said.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the party in the state, Segun Adewale, has dismissed the meeting, saying that relative peace had returned to the party, hence no need for any emergency reconciliation as put together by the George’s camp.

In a statement to journalists at the weekend, a copy which was made available to BDSUNDAY, Adewale said that party members must understand that, George as an elder in the party, can host any dignitary, but the meeting held at his Lugard office, was not on behalf of the PDP, as nobody at the

National level communicated to the state on any reconciliation committee or meeting “The only reconciliation that is needed has been done by the Chief Ben Obi, Senator Biodun Olujimi and Engr. Muktar committee, who came to the state before the election in 2019.

“I understand that Chief Bode George is only trying to use Governor Seyi Makinde (GSM) and Chief James Ibori to launder his image, therefore, to cause confusion amongst members that he is the authority in the state,” he said.

According to him, “Bode George is an elder, but what he has done is an affront on the power of the National leadership of the PDP, which should be meted with appropriate sanctions; his action is a calculated attempt to rubbish all the efforts of the National leadership that is working very hard to bring peace and stability to Lagos PDP, so that it can have a good outing in 2023.

“For those of us who understand Lagos politics to a large extent, the state cannot be won by just mere making noise in the media, but rigorous activities at the grassroots, which we have done before and will still do better again,” Adewale said.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Politics ‘Insecurity is worsening because of failure of intelligence or deliberate refusal to use it’ Fagbenro Byron was the presidential candidate of the KOWA Party in the 2019 general election.

In this exclusive interview with INIOBONG IWOK, he reflects on the election, why the opposition parties’ alliance failed, the worsening security situation, among other issues. Excerpts: Many people were surprised that you were inactive in the presidential race at the latter stage; what happened? think up till November 2018 if you count seven or eight candidates in the race my name would always be there. But when they started doing polling for candidates who would take part in the debate, prior to that time there were also talks about the presidential candidates, especially among the young candidates, I was in all the discussions especially the one that had Sowore, Donald Duke, Ezekwesili, Moghalu, we went to several of those meetings, but why we could not arrive at an agreement is issue for another day.

And you would realise that even the Kowa party we were in the CUPP and that was the platform and strategy that we thought we had a good opportunity.

For two things, if you read my development plan I warned that these things happening now would happen.

I was very clear in what needed to be done and how we needed to do it. So, when our party decided to join CUPP it was predicated on three reasons. Firstly, the need to restructure the country and secondly to upstage APC and thirdly to form a broad-based government.

The argument was that PDP on its own could never win APC, for the fact that people were disgruntled with APC does not mean that people had forgiven PDP. PDP ought to have realised that they had a major image problem.

The only way you would go into an election like that no matter how rich you are is to form an alliance with people who have a more credible image than you.

APC could never have won the 2015 election if it did not go into alliance with other parties.

Buhari himself had a credibility problem in 2015; people had the fear that he was extreme in his religion and ethnic beliefs.

But in order to redeem this he had to associate with others. PDP should have done the same thing under CUPP, but they allowed pride and believe in money and it pushed the party into reneging on its agreement with CUPP. The agreement was that all the presidential candidates under CUPP should come together and choose a presidential candidate and a vicepresidential candidate. It was agreed that this was not an entirely a PDP affair, but a coalition affair. At the CUPP, it was agreed that the president and the vice should not come from PDP, but they just picked their vice and forgot all of us at the CUPP after all that. And then we also had a meeting where the presidential candidates were asked to come and endorse the presidential candidate, Obasanjo, Oyinlola were there, I never stepped down; I refused.

There were other forces pulling in the APC and PDP. This is just to say that I did not step down; the only platform I would have stepped down for is the CUPP platform.

Going back to pre-November, I said that I was not invited to the debates, which makes it look like I was no more in the race.

But in August last year, after the 2019

have come from the southwest to go directly at APC. Osinbajo played a key role in APC’s victory. The Southwest was the battle ground. It was a failure, but they did not listen and learn. I know how they operate; I contested for a chairmanship position in PDP in 2001 so I know how they operate.

I

So you agree APC and Buhari won?

APC won the election, someone has to win.

We can see for the fact that someone won.

I did not say he won the election free and fair. When you throw your valuable on the floor, when someone pick it up you don’t call that person a thief.

The votes from the Northern states like Kano, Borno and the rest have always been suspicious, but the PDP had benefited from it before so you have to come to equity with clean hands.

I was not in a position to challenge the votes in Borno, I was not there. But you know Nigeria’s politics, on the day Buhari was campaigning in the North, 600,000 people walked into Nigerian border from Niger unchecked by custom, immigration and the police.

They said they came to campaign for someone they called their brother. If 600,000 people can come in during campaigns, imagine how many would come in during election. So, that is why we are saying when you have power, restructuring is inevitable.

Fagbenro Byron

election and they had assumed office, I got this letter from the organisers of the poll and debates; that it was a computer error that excluded me in those polling which was why I was never invited to any of them.

I was in the race and had a pedigree; even Oby Ezekwesili came out to say that the person he wanted to debate with was me. So, I think I was deliberately excluded.

But I am happy that the organisers admitted that in the letter. I was a candidate and I never endorsed Atiku, probably if the CUPP platform had worked, maybe I would have stepped down, while a candidate emerged.

PDP was a bigger party; but if the vicepresident was chosen from another region, the party would have done better in the presidential election.

But the PDP was arrogant, short-sighted and it was clear that the arrangement was met to fail.

But the assumption then was that most of you were bought over by the ruling party to scuttle Atiku’s ambition?

That was the fault of INEC by registering more than 35 political parties in a day. It was part of an attempt to delude the system; it was called divide and rule.

But the Kowa Party had integrity and I was a strong candidate; we had our own supporters.

But apart from not being invited to debates; you were also not visible with campaigns and not seen on the street?

Yes, I must admit this, there were issues and there were internal problems in the party. Funding was part of it. Atiku did not win but he had funding, for me there

was deliberate sabotage on my campaign from within the party. The debate thing was very critical too. But within the party it was misunderstanding, people who did not believe in themselves, some within the party were dragging us toward APC; some toward PDP. People wanted to see your hand, and I told them I was not backing out.

There were episodes on television, even on national television where we had these CUPP thing discussed and I said I would not back down. But as we were pushing, forces were pushing us back; I needed just one debate to prove.

But is consensus candidate a bad option considering the system we have?

It is not bad at all; that is why I emphasise the role of CUPP, and I say today the only way opposition can win in 2023 is to resuscitate and solidify the CUPP. Without that PDP cannot win in 2023, it had not yet found its credibility. They must step down from their high horse.

They must admit their inadequacies, it is not about money, spread, and it is about attitude and credibility.

Since you contested, do you agree with the result of the presidential election; the PDP server claims?

For me, I would not get into all that server issue. Personally, I think the strategy of the opposition was wrong and they gave opportunity for Buhari and APC to win. Yes, there was rigging in all sides. APC won, but having a vice-presidential candidate from the Southeast was wrong. The Southeast was not going to vote for the APC in the first place. So, it was wasted energy, the vice-presidential candidate of Atiku should

You are also a lawyer, do you agree with the Supreme Court’s ruling on Atiku petition on the election?

Atiku went to the tribunal on wrong premises; if I was his lawyer I would do my argument on the bases of where I noticed that votes were manipulated and inflated.

Everybody saw that there was underage voting. You can’t say on those bases the election was not credible. But PDP did it in other areas. PDP should have challenged the results in some states.

Someone sold Atiku a dummy on the server thing; if you say I have a server and I said I don’t, how do you want to hold me?

The bad spot were questionable votes in some states by the time you cancelled the votes it would have reduced Buhari’s votes in total.

The Kowa Party has just been deregistered by INEC; how do you react?

No, we won election in the past. The current speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly was elected on the platform of the Kowa Party, but he defected. Do INEC want to make Nigeria a one party state?

They want to make it a winner takes all, that is the logic. I know 70, 80 parties could be cumbersome for INEC but not all parties should contest election.

Some parties may not be registered to contest election; their intention may be toward public service. Others may not have agenda to win election outside Lagos State.

I may be in a party to advocate for environmental issues and so on; we have the Green Party in the UK and several of them in the UK. But INEC should be sophisticated enough to say if you have not won elec-

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Politics Wike doles out N100m to women groups for blocking guber election rigging Ignatius Chukwu

W

omen of Okrika and Ogu-Bolo have been awarded N100million

by Governor Nyesom Wike who said their heroics in blocking election rigging in March 2019 had made them defenders of democracy.

The governor, who played host to the Okrika women on Friday, February 28, 2020, in Government House in Port Harcourt, called it Empowerment Fund for Wakrike Women.

Wike also announced numerous projects that would come to the area in honour of the women.

It will be recalled that some blocked the backyard of the compound where

collation was going on at night and said they blocked persons dressed in military fatigue that allegedly jumped into the yard. The women said the ‘solders’ were coming to smuggle in fake results.

Wike decried what he called the inability of the country to conduct credible elections after several years of practising democracy. He said: “It is unfortunate that the giant of Africa lacks the capacity to conduct credible elections”.

While commending the Wakirike women for defending the Rivers mandate against the invading soldiers, Governor Wike urged Rivers people to always ensure that their votes count during elections.

He said that out of the N100m meant for the empowerment programme for the courageous women of Wakirike ethnic nationality, N50m has been reserved

Wike

for Okrika LGA and N50m for Ogu/Bolo LGA. Governor Wike commended Wakirike people for maintaining peace in the area, saying that his administration would fulfill key developmental pledges to them.

He stated that he will extend electricity to Okrika Local Government Area and work towards the construction of the Jetty at Isaka.

The governor further noted that he will link Ogu and Wakama communities as he promised during his campaign. He added that the next phase of Okochiri internal roads will be completed by his

Women protest election rigging

administration.

On the Okrika Grammar School, Governor Wike urged the leaders of the area to write to the Anglican Church for the school to be released to the state government for total reconstruction.

In an address on behalf of the Wakirike ethnic nationality, George Sekibo, said that they were at the Government House to congratulate the Rivers State Governor on his well deserved victory at the polls.

He urged the Rivers State Governor to reach out to the Wakirike women who courageously defended Rivers votes, despite the deployment of soldiers.

‘Insecurity is worsening because of failure of intelligence or ... tion in certain places or certain number of elections; you would be limited to state election or local government election only.

But once a party is registered, you have admitted that they are qualified; so a party that was rigged out in an election you would say they are not qualified to contest again?

You never know the sense or nonsense in a decision until you stress it to the extreme. Are you saying if a party won second place in a governorship, or presidential elections they have not done enough?

There is a problem with the process; nobody begged INEC to register large number of parties in the first place.

The assumption is that most of the parties are being used as front and are not on ground?

It is up to INEC to do investigation before registering them. When did ANC win election in South Africa? But they were formed around 1920’s, but they did not win any election until in 1994.

So, INEC is behaving much like a service agency of the ruling class and the ruling class mentality; that if you don’t have money, if you can’t have this go away.

Their claim that the majority won is not true because democracy is not for the majority. It is for the people who include

the minority, it is to protect the minority.

You can’t say that if a company doesn’t make money for something it should be deregistered. A company is formed for economic reasons; political party is for political reason. It is wrong.

What is your view on agitation for power shift to the South in 2023?

What I would say is that rotation of the presidency is internal agreement of the PDP; so you know many people in PDP joined APC. But personally, this arrangement of sharing positions is not based on merit but a gentleman agreement. I don’t know when it was decided that we should rotate power.

But is it now fair, considering the diversity of Nigeria?

No, the fairest thing is to allow someone who can deliver emerge; contest and win election on merit.

Even if you have a president from the North, the zone would still suffer poverty.

If you have someone from the South, they would still suffer same poverty.

Rotation is not the solution; it would only guarantee fairness to political distribution of the money. It would not guarantee fairness and good governance to the North or south. When you bring someone who

lacks the capacity to deliver, the people would suffer.

If people can hire staff based on competent, why not do same for Nigeria? And they would not because of the love for sharing of the country’s resources.

I can say that it is not a question of North and South, if you restructure Nigeria into workable and manageable system it does not matter who becomes the president it would work.

When you have a structure that is based on rent system and distribution then you are not calling for capacity you are saying it does not matter.

El-Rufail says power should go to the South; I would ask him to seek for the restructuring report first and read what it says.

Most leaders in the Southwest don’t care about the presidency now; we have had it before, it did not yield anything.

Most leaders in the zone are clamouring for restructuring of the country. There are many Nigerians questioning the basis of having one country and those people have legitimate reasons.

But the Igbo think it is their turn?

People would continue to be marginalised because there is a history. During the country’s first coup, second coup and the

civil war, opinions were formed about the different ethnic groups. So, I agree the Igbos are victims of marginalisation but everybody is being marginalised in some ways. Who is more marginalised than a woman and child in Borno State and a woman in Zamfara State who is trying to walk to the farm?

The security situation is bad and it was predicted. The government is using kid-glove for Boko Haram; the right thing is to review the security apparatus and personnel. The President does not want to widen his scope. I believe there is plenty of collusion. So, what is happening is failure of intelligence or deliberate refusal to use intelligence or intelligence going to wrong ones.

Do you regret contesting the 2019 presidential election?

No, contesting in the 2019 presidential election was the best thing I ever did, because firstly; I was able to throw out the issues. I did what God wanted me to do. There was fire on the mountain and I shouted. Though, the financial implication may be much, if I want to be president I must be ready to make sacrifice.

Secondly, it was a beautiful education that I would never learn in any school. If another opportunity comes I would contest in 2023.

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Nigeria sitting on goldmine without knowing it - Maduike -- Possible cure for HIv, Cancer, and even Coronavirus may be available in the country Professor Maduike Ezeibe claims he has cure for viral diseases, abnormal cells and antimicrobial-resistant infections. He has said this for years, and though the Federal Government appears to have proven his claim, the scientist is at a loss why nobody is escalating the discoveries that could place Nigeria on a global map, positively, and attracts tons of foreign exchange to her. The professor shared his experience with IGNATIUS CHUKWU at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State.

T

My story Science does not know race he global trend or issue is that so many people have made so many false claims that the world has become skeptical. That is talking about the world. In Nigeria, our own case is even worse because we have lost confidence.

We even write off ourselves by saying, how come Americans didn’t do it, how come Chinese didn’t do it, how come that Europeans didn’t do it, a Nigerian says he did it? But science does not know race.

From known to unknown What we are discussing is that it is an already established in science that opposite charges will make something bind.

If one is positive and the other is negative, they will bind. It is also known that every virus has electrical charges. I didn’t discover it, am quoting medical literature. Coronavirus is negatively charged and is a DNA virus, same with Lassa fever and Monkey pox. This is because we have two main types of viruses; RNAs and DNAs. RNAs are positively charged while DNAs are negatively charged.

RNA includes measles, HIV, bird flu. In medical literature, there is a medication that has been in existence for long, it’s a mineral mined from the soil. It is called Aluminum Magnesium Silicate (AMS). The molecules are made of smaller particles that are only 0.96 nano-metres (nm) thick, that is super nano-particles because nanoparticle is not more than 100 nano-metres, that is from 100 downward are nano-particles.

But this one is only 0.96 which means less than one, very, very small. Those particles are positively and negatively charged.

Where I came in That is where I came in. One; this is already existing medicine. For something to be classified as medicine, it must not be toxic. This one has the two charges, which means it does not matter which charge the virus has; if it has negative, it will use positive to trap it; and if it has positive, it will use negative to trap it. That is where the logic ends. Anybody can find out what Ezeibe is saying. Is it

because it cuts off immunity.

Measles virus is not a death sentence because when you treat it well, immunity will go and clear the infection. But HIV will knock off immunity and there will be nothing to help you bounce back to help out.

Lassa fever is not an immunedeficiency disease. They are simple to cure because they do not affect immunity. This is a principle.

Demystifying HIV: why can’t it be cured?

HIV for instance, the smallest one is 110 nanometers. The medication I am talking about is 0.96. HIV (an RNA) is positively charged, the medicine is positively and negatively charged. Every infected cell and every cancer cell (abnormal cells) are negatively charged. I did not discover this.

I am quoting medical literature which everybody has right to read. If you can verify all this and it is true, why don’t you believe me? Because HIV is small

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Professor Maduike Ezeibe

true that viruses have either positive or negative charges?

Does this medicine have both negative and positive charges?

Why HIV is deemed ‘incurable’ I want to educate the world on why HIV is deemed incurable. There is nothing mysterious about this. Virus generally is so small that it can reach where most medicines cannot reach. If you now decide to design a medication that can inhibit the biochemistry of viruses (biochemistry of viruses and that of human cells are very, very close), you are on the right path. So, whatever you wish to design to destroy the virus will also destroy human cells. The medicine will

become toxic and can kill the human being. So, how do you separate the two to deal with the virus and spare the cell?

So, we say, let’s leave out what will inhibit the biochemistry but design something that will trap the virus only.

We call it bio-medical marker.

You begin to find out: is there any difference between this normal cell and the one that you want to target so you can design something that can kill one without touching this other one? If you want to design something that will physically touch the virus, it has to be small enough to reach where virus can reach.

HIV trick HIV is very difficult to cure

I do not know why it happens in HIV. HIV is the only infection where antibody will vanish while the person is infected.

But I tell them, I am not the first person to report this. If a couple is affected and if one is negative, we ask him to keep coming for six months without further exposure

110 nanometres, and I say the medicine we are using is only 0.96, in order words, if you multiple it by 100, you get 96, which is still smaller than 110.

It is thus more than 100 times smaller than HIV, so it can get to wherever HIV can get to.

If this be so, why is HIV still incurable? Is it any mystery?

No. Because of the small size of HIV and being close to human cell, you cannot inhibit the virus by designing something that will inhibit biochemistry, it will be toxic. But, if you design what is physical, that one has to reach the virus individually and physically.

For instance, you do not want to use rat poison in your house because it may contaminate food. So, you decide to use traps, but rats can run into holes and start avoiding traps.

W h e n e v e r yo u m o v e yo u r trap, the rats will start coming out. That is what HIV has been doing. So, you have to design a trap that can pursue them into the holes, and that trap has to be small enough to get into the holes with them and trap them.

Sanctuary Cells Blasphemy? Sanctuary is where God alone is believed to live. It is secure. HIV is now boasting that it is in the sanctuary or that it is a sanctuary cell; that whatever you do, it will not reach me. But, we have designed something smaller that can reach that sanctuary. That is what we call it, aluminum magnesium silicate. We don’t have it in Nigeria, but we have aluminum silicate (kaolin); we also have magnesium silicate.

Why are they so similar and looking for aluminum silicate, now we have aluminum silicate and magnesium silicate.

Research I went into books and found that from their chemical formula , we can get what we are looking for from what we have. I was able to react one volume of aluminum silicate with three volumes of magnesium silicate to get two volumes of aluminum mao-silicate (AI4{SiO4}3+3Mg2SiO4— 2AI2Mg3{SiO4}3). The equation is Nigerian made. Nobody has doubted it anywhere in the world. That is why I now call it medicinal synthetic; the one

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FOCUS we generated here in Nigeria and those we want to use as medicine we call as medicinal synthetic. Another huddle is that the medication is also not absorbable; if you swallow it, it enters into your stomach and it should be able to pass into the blood. If not, it will simply pass out and so not absorbable.

Research continued.

Breakthrough The principle in biochemistry is called arterial transportation. It says you can use simple sugars to carry electrically charged molecules across mucous membrane to blood; arterial transport. So, we used dextrose to carry it across to the blood and the blood will circulate it all over the body so that it will use its negatively charged end to bind to HIV while it uses the positively charged end to destroy HIV cells that are abnormal cells including the so called Sanctuary Cells and thus unmask the virus.

Our experience so far Our experience so far is that when you treat HIV patients in the first month, CD4 count will come down (level of immunity) when the patient expected it to go up. Viral load (VL) is a measure of infection.

You expected CD4 to go up and VL to go down; but instead, the CD4 will go down and VL will go up. The patient would panic.

I said, take it easy. What is happening is that the tests you did were not able to capture all the viruses because of hidden cells (Sanctuary Cells). The medication is able to unmask them all including infected ones. The infected ones will be destroyed and at this point, the CD4 will go down while VL will go up, giving the impression that the infection is growing. No, what is happening is that you can now see it all.

On second month, God being on our side, the CD4 count will now start going up and VL starts going down. I tell them that if you see Nigerian soldiers driving into the Sambisa Forest, it means Boko Haram is on the run. Normal CD4 count is 500. As it gets to 1000 and above, there is no way this number of soldiers will be parading the territory that enemies will still lurk around.

Some, before the CD4 count gets to 1000, become negative.

Success: We are the first We are the first to tell this to the world. When we said this, many people challenged us; how can we say that antibody vanishes when infection is still there? It is strange. I do not know why it happens in HIV. HIV is the only infection where antibody will vanish while the person is infected. But I tell them, I am not the first person to report this. If a couple is affected and if one is negative, we ask him to keep coming for six months without further

exposure. It is when we record negative for six months without further exposure, we then declare you HIV-negative. The six months is what we call the window period. That is when someone can test negative but may be infected. I am not the person who said. HIV will get to a level before antibodies will appear. So, if it is reduced to a level, antibody may disappear but you are still infected. But if you continue to six months, the infection will now go. When CD4 is up to 1500 and above, we now send them to viral load test, then antigen test, which is a test for the virus. This one gives either positive or negative. If they test negative, they are now negative in antigen and in antibody. We then de-

cured, they beg you to keep giving them medication. If you say no, they return to their ARV (anti-retroviral) from hospitals. You can’t even say whether it is your medication or ARV that is working now but this one was disciplined to obey till 10 months. We published it in one journal in the US. Many people have become negative in both antibody and antigen. It is curable.

Nigeria sitting on goldmine without knowing it Nigeria is sitting on a goldmine with this invention but is looking ignorant. We have said this time without number, and I am beginning to wonder at what the problem could be. Is it lack of confidence we have in

Professor Maduike Ezeibe

clare them cured.

Doubts persist but we insist Yet, doubts persist. Somebody asks, are you sure it will not recur. I say, it is not scientific to recur. We were lucky to get a patient who continued to come even after becoming antibody and antigen negative with CD4 at over 1500, for 10 months. We kept recording negative without him taking any other medicine. Most of them, when we declare them

Nigeria to say; Look at what we can do? We are in a position to tell the world that we can help.

Let the world answer me this question; is it true that cancer cells are negatively charged? Is it true that AMS is both negatively and positively charged?

Is it true that opposite charges attract?

Cancer Along the line, we found that cancer cells are negatively charged, not just viruses. As long as opposite charges at-

“

It protects other drugs from being degraded in the body and so they remain in the body for a long time. When this happens, the potency of the drug increases, the normal dose becomes overdose

tract and we have a medicine that charges at both ends (positive and negative), we can use the drug to handle cancer cells. We call it mopping them out. That is the principle. It is a silicate which is a stimulant.

Because of the attraction, it is able to mop out viruses because this medication has both charges. It is able to mop out cancer cells which are negatively charged.

Because it is a silicate, it enhances immunity. Silicates are immune stimulants. So, if there is anyone it cannot clear, immunity will clear it.

The immunity game changer This same medication is a stabilising agent, to protect against destructions. It protects other drugs from being degraded in the body and so they remain in the body for a long time. When this happens, the potency of the drug increases, the normal dose becomes overdose. So, you reduce the dose, and thereby achieve your treatment target with lower dose. This means reducing side effect of the medicine and also enhances immunity further. By this, you handle the disease better.

There is second infection syndrome which even kills more.

You are now effectively treating second infection, mopping out the viral infection, enhancing the immunity level. All this put together can terminate any viral disease.

Economy of AMS Most importantly, it is a m o n e y s p i n n e r, i f Ni g e r i a knows what to do. Remember I said it will potentiate other

medicines. There are millions of drugs in the world and there is no pharmacy that would not buy this medicine to potentiate their medicines and thus reduce dosage and reduce cost of production and you are making your medicine work better. The biggest challenge the world over is anti-microbial resistance. You develop a drug today and soon, it is not working any more because germs develop resistance. So, this medicine is able to make the other medicines recover their potency against organisms. We have made our efforts and put in more than necessary just to convince our people that what we are saying is true. One good thing is that they have not been able to prove us wrong.

I went to the Nigerian Academy of science to say, look, you people went to court with Dr Abdullahi Abalaka, now come and investigate my claims.

They say no, you are doing the right thing. I am begging, come and test this. You say Abalaka said he will not tell you his formula but I say come and see my formula. If you are convinced that this is true, tell the world that I am doing the right thing.

You seem to be interested in those who are telling lie, not those telling the truth.

Challenge to FG on Coronavirus The FG said they will give some money to anybody that finds a cure for coronavirus, but how are they to confirm a drug? Are they able to test it?

They should be able to test it.

Coronavirus is not in Nigeria and as a rule, we cannot go and bring in the virus here. I am challenging the FG to tell the World Health Organisation (WHO) that we have a drug that can handle it. I can go to any laboratory in the world to test it. I can also give them and tell them what to do and they can do it.

I want to tell the world that I have every cause to believe that my medication is what Nigeria used against Ebola. I want it on record. I say so because there was a statement by the FG then that a Nigerian scientist brought in nano-silver to treat Ebola. Everybody heard it. I texted to Onyebuchi Chukwu, the health minister that it is not called nano-silver but nano-aluminum silicate.

Suddenly they said they didn’t use anything. How could it be? How can you say you used something and suddenly you didn’t use anything? Government is too complex to say they didn’t do anything. I also met a doctor who confirmed to me they used something. I asked him what it was but he didn’t want to tell me. I suspect they used my medication because it is not secret. This equation is all over the place.

The only thing is that it is not Continues on page 20

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FOCUS Nigeria sitting on goldmine without....

Continued from page 19

What you are saying is that some human beings have been treated and discharged by you?

We have been very careful.

You do not say by me, let’s say by this university. I am a veterinary doctor, my duty is to treat animals and I have treated very many animals on cancer and viral diseases perfectly. When now I ventured into human treatment, I needed to collaborate with physicians. So, what this university s doing is very clear. They constituted a committee. If a patent comes, he goes to our medical centre.

After investigating and confirming its HIV or whatever they know we can handle, they give this letter (shows a copy) to come to me. You can see the address, MOUAU, Maduike Ezeibe, the person will come here. I now serve as the dispenser. It is Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria , that has been treating many people with HIV, cancer, fibroid, prostrate cancer, hepatitis B, Hepatit C, etc. When they get there, they will send them here. Most of them have recovered. Nigerian government is investigating this because some other hospitals in Nigeria have used this and they are getting wonderful results.

If this is possible, can the ordinary person benefit?

It’s very, very cheap. Let me tell you that a dose costs this University N100. The University is paying for it. If we do mass production, it can even be less than that. So, about N3000 can serve for one month. There is no poor person that cannot afford it.

Apart from treating viral diseases, the same medication can potantiate other medicines. It means the Nigerian economy can be revolutionarised because the whole world will order it from Nigeria to potentiate their own drugs.

I have a summary of this for an oncoming science fair from 16-20, March, 2020 in Abuja. I have written my presentation.

Often, when we ignore our scientists, they get foreign interests and they partner with them and they produce it and Nigeria will now buy. Have you made the international community aware, and are there offers?

I have been traveling the world over until I decided not to be traveling because it is not too easy to be everywhere out there (with such a sensitive discovery). There are many interests. Some of us are stubborn and would not want to leave the shores of Nigeria. That is annoying to some people. I have

Professor Maduike Ezeibe

been traveling to give lectures.

They have been making offers and I am not interested. We should stay here and salvage this country. I am hoping that one day we would be able to force it down Nigeria.

The past minister of health (Isaac Adewole) wanted to stop me at all cost. It’s unfortunate. He was talking as if he didn’t believe my claim is true.

Government then set up a panel to investigate my claim. At last, they gave me a clean bill of health. Why didn’t the minister come out to say, I didn’t know you were right. He kept quiet and vanished. I have come out again to say, try it and either send me to prison or clap for me, depending on the outcome.

He did none of the two. Can’t you see? If a minister came out to say this man is a criminal, if you investigate him and confirm, either deal with him or applaud him. Isaac Adewole is my co-professor. He made all the statements but after the investigations, he didn’t talk again. Is it right? That is the angle I do not like.

If he talked out of ignorance, he should have come out to say, oh, this man is good. Since he didn’t do it, I beg the present minister to do it. If he wants more investigation, he can investigate and tell the world

the result. He can tell the world that Nigeria is not all about corruption.

He can tell the world that this Coronavirus, Lassa fever, HIV, that we can have the medication; moreover, that we can get the medication that makes your medicine better. They should not be looking only for criminals in this country.

This silicate that can penetrate anywhere, did you create it or did you do something to reduce it to be very small?

What was your input?

The input is knowledge. It is an old medicine. What I invented was the use. It was being used as medicine for other things but not for virus. I now reasoned that since it has these charges, it is going to be anti-viral. The problem is, it is not absorbable. It does not get into the blood stream. It was used for stomach issues. What I added there was how to get it to the blood. I made it to get into the blood by using dextrose as artery transport to carry it across into blood. All I did was using scientific knowledge to get it into the blood and if it gets there, it uses its charges to destroy viruses (negative to destroy HIV and use positive to destroy infected cells and Cancer)

Nigeria. It is not found in Nigeria. I now used aluminum silicate and magnesium silicate to synthetic version. If I say people are using my medication, it does not mean they came to my house to steal it. If you get the formula, you can do it. That is why I say they must have used my formula to heal Ebola. Who is that Nigerian scientist you said sent you nano-silver when nano-silver is a toxin? When I shouted, they denied.

Those countries that do not have it can get it by using chemistry to use what you have in reaction to get what you are looking for. That is my contribution.

God created herbal medicine but somebody discovered it.

The world did not know that opposite charges can do such thing. Basic science tells us that opposite charges attract.

Another contribution is that I made it to get into the blood.

I was also able to make those who do not have it to get it through mixing other elements.

The University does not seem to be against them, but have they endorsed your work and what have they done for you?

They have been supporting me. At a point that I wanted to stop, they encouraged me to continue. By June 2019, they continued paying for the medication. Even now, I have applied again to renew it. I am using my

“

God created herbal medicine but somebody discovered it. The world did not know that opposite charges can do such thing.

Basic science tells us that opposite charges attract.

Another contribution is that I made it to get into the blood.

I was also able to make those who do not have it to get it through mixing other elements

own money to produce since January 2020. I am still doing it, hoping they will renew the sponsorship.

Why have they not come out to say they have found cure for HIV? The VC once made such statement. Even the FG has been giving me awards. Now, they have invited me to Abuja.

But, why are they not taking it over? I do not know.

Ni g e r i a ’s H I V ‘ b r e a k through’: separating truth from hope A site, Pharmaceutical Technology, has however, created doubts in the claim, citing what must be done for any claim to go far. The group is not ready to confront the Nigerian scientist on whether or not anybody was cured, but on what must be found before even taking the claims seriously.

I n a Fe b r u a r y ( 2 0 1 7 ) joint statement, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (nCDC) and the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) strongly criticised Ezeibe’s claims, stating that “there is really no basis for a claim to [a] cure [for] AIDS in this study”.

It said: “In the ‘clinical trial’ as reported, there was no evidence of the use of controls, which is the basis of all efficacy trials,” the joint statement reads.

“Without controls, you can neither have randomisation nor blinding, two other critical factors in studying the effects of new medicines.

“Critically, the primary outcome measured in this study was based on plasma viral load levels that are known to fluctuate in patients, even in the absence of any intervention. It is also worth noting that virological suppression (viral load less than 50 copies/ml) was not achieved in six of eight patients. There appeared to be no medical doctor involved in the execution of this study and there was no evidence on where or how the patients were treated or monitored during this study, their clinical and treatment status at the beginning or at the end of it.”

“Many factors, from medical and economic hopes to a popular mistrust of western pharma companies in many African countries, might explain an inherent bias towards a domestically-developed solution to the AIDS crisis. But hard data, peer review and strict trial protocol, not wishful thinking, should be the basis both of clinical research and its coverage by journalists.”

Sunday 01 March 2020

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Sketches

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With Zebulon Agomuo’ 08054691823

Federal lawmakers and frivolous bills

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he primary reason for representative government is to ensure that the interest of the people is being considered and taken care of. The federal bicameral legislature, populated by 469 legislators (109 senators) and 360 (House of Representatives members) was aimed at taking the democracy dividends to the people in their constituencies. Ideally, no representative of the people should on his/her own sponsor any bill without first consulting with the constituents to ascertain the relevance of such a bill to their well being. But unfortunately, things are not taking that shape. All we hear and read about are bills and debates that irritate and aimed at achieving some weird motives. At the Senate, a senator felt it would best serve the interest of his people by sponsoring a bill on “hate speech”. Of all the troubles of problems besetting his constituency in Niger in particular and Nigeria in general; with the huge technological advancement going on in other countries, even in smaller nations of Africa, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, a senator representing Niger North Senatorial District, felt the Nigeria’s felt-need was to shut everybody up in the guise of hate speech threat.

The bill came at a time the actors of the Federal Government were accusing anybody that has a different view from what the government thinks or does of engaging in hate speech. So, when the bill became public, it was very easy to trace the real origin, rightly or wrongly, which also fuelled

L

Senator-Aliyu-Sabi-Abdullahi the anger against it. The masses of this country felt that it was inappropriate to say that people should not air their views over the unfortunate state of affairs in the country, as it were.

Again, while Nigerians were recovering from that shock, another bill that appears Satanic surfaced at the same upper legislative chamber.

This time around, it was a bill seeking to embrace vampires as if they were friends. According to stories, vampires are ghosts; they do not attack people frontally, they come to people like normal human beings, but as soon as they turn to a person’s back, they bare their demonic fangs and pierce the victim’s neck, sucking the blood in fiendish manner. A certain senator of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Geidam, representing Yobe East Senatorial District, came up with a bill, purporting to de-radicalise and reintegrate ‘repentant’ members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, into society. Unfortunately, the bill has scaled the first reading in the hallowed chamber. Geidam is

Senator Geidam

Odebunmi making case for a group of outlaws, blood-sucking terrorists, that have left tears and miseries in many Nigerian families; the former governor was talking about some human beings who appeared to have lost every iota of human feeling and nature of the Creator, a group that delights in severing innocent people’s neck, violate women and engage in all manner of bestiality. How does Geidam deter-

ifeGuide with Emem

mine a “repentant” Boko Haram? Is it by their innocent looks? The senator’s bill is seeking for an agency to rehabilitate confirmed murderers.

The agency that is suitable for such elements is the prison. They should be sent to the prison where whatever de-radicalisation lecture should be given to them. No more, no less!

Not only in the Senate is the odium coming out. A lawmaker in the lower chamber also took a joke too far when he sought, through a bill, immunity for presiding officers in the legislature. The speed with which the bill is moving in the House has since attracted attention from the rightthinking members of the public. The bill has passed a second reading in the plenary. The vexatious bill is seeking an amendment to Section 308 of the Constitution which grants immunity from prosecution to the President, vice president, governors and deputy governors while in office.

T h e b i l l w a s s p o n s o re d by o n e Olusegun Odebunmi, representing Ogo-Oluwa/Surulere Federal Constituency, Oyo State. The trouble with the immunity for these categories of people is that, from experience, Nigeria’s brand of politician appears to lose his head when excessive power is given to him/her; he/she begins to ride roughshod over those who even voted them into power. The question on the lips of many Nigerians is: what relevance do these bills have on the good legislation and by extension, the well being of the masses of this country?

Emem Nwogwugwu is an entrepreneur, author, life coach and certified project manager.

For over a decade she has been working to motivate people to live their best lives.

08033455364

Dealing with suicidal thoughts?

S

uicide is a mental illness but one of main causes of suicide is social isolation and financial issues, poverty, brokenness of the heart from toxic relationships and many other factors.

Self care is very important in all of these and it doesn’t end in just spa dates or massages which are all very good too but examining your entire life’s vision, your purpose, your passion, your finances, what value can you add to the world? Your love life and other relationships, your thought pattern, no one is empty everyone has something great to offer humanity if carefully nurtured.

Overcoming pain the healthy way, not denying it, and living with the intention to thrive in all areas of life can all be daunting tasks but it’s achievable with the right mindset, mentors, good books and a thriving community of like-minded people who hold you accountable to your vision and goals, it can help you a great deal.

Financial management, healthy lifestyle management, leadership management, travel & leisure, work life integration, positive and healthy parenting & entrepreneurship, should be added to our educational curriculum in Africa, especially Nigeria from

reception year, age 5. Make it easy to understand even in their early years.

Social media pressure and self esteem issues should be discussed frequently and taught on mainstream media. Everyone needs to know how to cultivate a healthy self esteem without hurting others. How to be content but not complacent; how to set exciting goals but not life draining and unrealistic goals, and how to heal, so you don’t live your entire life in pain.

Below are tips to help you recover •Speak to a therapist, a Life coach or a Counsellor trained to handle this kind of cases, get the required help quickly, make sure you discover what works for you, join the gym as it will help you greatly, the human body sometimes suppresses a lot of emotions when you workout it helps you to exhale these emotions.

Intentionally create positive affirmations that covers all areas of your life and say it out loud to yourself every morning or anytime you feel your thoughts drifting into negative thinking or record your affirmations on your mobile device by yourself and play it in the morning while you start your day or workout time, hearing yourself speak positively about yourself is impactful.

Get the necessary Doctor’s prescribed medication; there are Doctors who are trained to help you recover.

•It’s not a life sentence. You can bounce back to your happy, driven self. It’s a season; don’t make it your entire life’s journey. Think and expect the best daily. Surround yourself with positive-minded individuals.

•Yes, there is a possibility of recovering from depression or any emotional issues but the person must be willing to push through and follow the steps given to you by your Doctor or support team.

•Develop new social connection, talk to someone, check your nutrition, a healthy food menu plan will help you on your recovery and lifestyle, talk to Ask Damz or Shrederd Gang or you can also download both of their Apps for your daily calorie consumption, check that you sleep well and reduce your stress level and avoid toxic relationships as much as you can.

• Psychotherapy for depression treatment is also recommended as earlier stated. Do not be ashamed to seek help early. Stigmatisation has to stop.

•Treatments take time for some people and it can be frustrating if you

are not cooperative with your Doctor or support system but it’s doable.

•Set healthy boundaries, take your life easy. Cultivate healthy relationships; be kind to others, as it will come back to you too.

•Decide if you want an individual or group therapy sessions that can also help you on your own journey.

• Lastly, have a gratitude jar, where you write down things you are grateful for daily to remind yourself daily and pour them out from time to time to read them all, that helps improve the way you think or see things. There is a lot to be thankful for even in tough times.

Staying strong is something you do for yourself and because your life is a gift and you are precious and we need you here, Africa needs you, we need your talents. Nigeria and the world needs you, you are truly amazing.

Yes, there might be issues going on in your life or environment that has led you gradually into a state of hopelessness but you can bounce back with intentionality and joy.

Fight for your life and make it count, you too can make a difference if you believe and start now. Until next week again.

22 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Sunday 01 March 2020

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The Sunday Interview

BDSUNDAY 23

We are focusing on infrastructure to lift our people from poverty - Fashola Penultimate week, Babatunde Fashola, minister of Works and Housing, embarked on an inspection tour of federal roads and housing projects in the South-south and South-east zones.

He briefed editors on the tour with him in Calabar, Cross River State on various areas his ministry is working hard to make life easier for Nigerians. John Osadolor was on the trip. accrued against the Federal Government.

President Buhari like some of his predecessors agreed to pay but he is the first one who has taken a wholesome approach. I want to know what the total debt is and it came to more than half a trillion naira and that is one of the debts the country is paying back right now because we have now issued promissory notes to the states so that we will pay the debt. So, if you see our debt profile as a country, this is a complement of it. The Debt Management Office can give you more on the breakdowns.

And so it was with this reality and the limited national resources that the government now said okay I am going to pay what I met.

G

iven the paucity of funds to execute your projects, do you feel frustrated that you cannot meet deadline for the completion of your projects?

I will like to see things from the positive side.

When you look at what we started with in 2015 when we were inaugurated as ministers, we inherited a budget from the outgoing administration; the amount of money in that year’s budget for Nigerian roads was just N19 billion for all of these roads. Now we have roads costing N40billion, N80 billion, N2billion dollars and the fact that we can even start those kinds of roads for me is a positive.

We now have a budget of N275billion for 2020. This is by far better than N19billion. But don’t forget that that is not all the resources that we have for roads. We have SUKUK, which are in form of Public Private Partnership (PPP), so those are covering about 28 roads out of over 500 and something road contracts.

We have the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund which is also a form of PPP. Those ones are covering big-ticket items like the Lagos - Ibadan, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja - Kano, the East-West road which is under the ministry of Niger Delta and the Mambilla Power Project, which is under the Ministry of Power. So, we have moved forward from where we started and so that is part of the change that we talked about.

Again, perhaps, the other side of the positive is that at that time I was doing an independent study before I left office as the

governor of Lagos State and I was noticing that contractors and construction companies have started to lay off workers and you cannot disconnect this from the small budget at the federal level.

So, with the better budget that is now employing people, the first purpose of infrastructure is being served to get people back to work, to redistribute wealth, to create growth, supply, services, labour, fabrication, welding, mason and you saw all of these on our tour.

You saw a family, husband and wife, the husband is working on the site while the wife is cooking and selling food to other workers.

From two different states both women said the standard price for a plate of food is N250 and one of them said she makes a profit of N5, 000 per day. If she makes N5, 000 per day for seven days that is N35, 000 in a week and that translates to N140,000 in a month, that is redistribution of wealth and those are the people President Buhari wants to lift out of poverty.

So, imagine that those projects are not there.

Could you speak to the total kilometres of road you envisage to work on?

I don’t have the actual number. From my last report we have completed 660km between August and December 2019.

What is it costing the government and how much has the Federal Government paid and what is left?

Under the 2019 budget we have got the first release of N73billion, then we got another thirty something billion naira, then another

N21billion.

Since money appears to be a major problem at the federal level, why then is the ministry not allowing states that want to handle some of these federal roads to do so?

If you don’t have the full understanding you won’t understand why this is so. After the civil war in the period of national reconstruction, the Federal Government took over a couple of roads that were state roads and that is why the Federal Government now has a lot of roads.

But apart from that if you look at the constitution, we have three levels of government, federal, state and local governments, each level of government has its roads.

The trunk A roads which are roads that connect states are federal roads. On Monday and Tuesday, we travelled from Benin to Auchi that is the road that connects Edo State to Lokoja because it goes all the way to Okene to Kogi State. We bypassed that road and then went to Ewu-Uromi-Sapele road that is the road that connects Edo State and Delta State.

We then went from Asaba through the River Niger Bridge to Onitsha. The BeninAsaba again connects Edo and Delta states on the east-west divide and connects on the north-south divide to Ewu-Benin-Asaba and then Asaba links Onitsha to link Anambra and Enugu then Onitsha links Enugu on the EnuguOnitsha road.

Today, we have come from Owerri to Aba, so we have crossed the boundaries again of Imo and Abia states. We are going from Aba through to Ikot-Ekpene, we have crossed the boundary of Abia State into Akwa Ibom State

and then from that bypass at Uyo into Calabar-Itu road. So, if you move further towards Akpe and begin to head north you are going again towards Katsinaala, so those are the roads.

No state government has the resources to build the roads today. Now, the fact is that in the past those roads were not attended to especially some of them that have become urbanised like the Aba-Owerri road and the Lagos-Badagry road. Governors cannot understandably ignore the sufferings of their people in those urban areas but they are federal roads. Ideally those roads should become state roads.

I have made a proposal to the National Economic Council that any governor who is interested should come and take those roads back but I haven’t seen any request. Now, there are also state roads by themselves where state governments have primary responsibility. Have those governors completed all those state roads? Those are roads from local governments to local governments. Then there are roads that are local government roads that connect wards to wards, those are the largest number of roads in Nigeria and we know the conditions they are in those states. So, if you haven’t solved your own problem, why take on the problem of another level of government when you can’t even finance it?

If in any event you see that the federal government is borrowing money from either China NEXIM Bank, SUKUK or other international institutions, these institutions will not lend to many states. And if they do, they will require federal government’s guarantee.

Many states have intervened on federal roads; I intervened, my predecessor Governor Tinubu intervened, and my successor too intervened. And even as we are coming into Calabar today, we saw an intervention by the state. So, a lot of debts have been

We also saw your intervention in national housing stock. There is an unconfirmed report that Nigeria has 17 million housing deficit. What percentage of this deficit do you target to take off with the housing project that your ministry is vigorously pursuing across the country?

There are so many things rolled into that and the first is the number you quoted. So many people have ascribed it to so many people but all the people they have ascribed it to have denied it. If you cannot measure a problem you cannot manage it. So, those figures don’t exist and we should stop believing the most negative data about ourselves, unless it is proven empirically.

Let us for the want of argument do something.

Housing and shelter are global problems but they are much more replicated in urban centres. Urbanisation has become more rapid in the last 50-60years in the history of human civilisation; more people have moved to the urban centres and that is why this our infrastructure programme is very beneficial for slowing down rural-urban migration because we are taking money to the rural areas. The constructions across states are keeping more people from going to the cities, that is the first step.

In the United States of America they properly name their housing ministry as housing and urban development department or even an urban development department. Housing problem is an urban problem, not a rural problem and that is how I understand it. It is just as traffic is an urban problem because there is no traffic in the village; there are no refuse heaps in the village; so why should housing shortage then affect village. Every town I go to, I take photographs and I see empty houses all over Nigeria, so how real is this shortage?

Then how many people are in cities living in a one bedroom apartment that have left a five bedroom house empty in their villages. So, is that data that you are banding around of 17million housing deficit factored in the empty houses?

So, first of all, what we are doing at the ministry now is to try and conduct a survey in two of the most populated states in each geopolitical zones while we are waiting for the national census because it is the census that will really tell us the state of our

housing stock.

So, even when they consulted our ministry to make inputs into that questions, this was one of the questions I sent to them. How many people own houses, where are the houses, who is occupying them and where are the owners of the houses living now? Are they living in their own houses or not? Do they want to buy houses, and if they want to buy, how much are they willing to pay? That data will help us to really dimension the problem we are facing and then deal with it.

We are a federation and you quoted the Land Use Act. The federal government doesn’t own land in reality unless lands allocated to it by the states. So you will see that in all the sites we visited, they were lands given to us by the state.

We asked for five hectares to do a demonstration scheme, that we will test for acceptability and we will test for affordability before we can then roll out and so that is the state we are.

But that is only what the ministry is doing; we have parastatals - Federal Mortgage Bank and the Federal Housing Scheme. Federal Mortgage Bank is funding housing construction and it is funding housing acquisition mortgages, so it is funding developers and buyers.

We have the Federal Housing Authority that is also building. So, all of that is also going on and we are going into cooperative housing on a massive scale. We should have started the launch in February but we moved it to March, we are launching it in the six geopolitical zones.

We want to use cooperatives the way they work in the transport sector, in farm settlements, in markets, let a cluster of people who have a shared interest go and acquire their land, bring the title, register yourself as a cooperative and design what you want to build.

So, it is not government building for you, you choose by yourself. So we are trying to bridge suspicion and mistrust associated with housing when you do it by yourself.

Now, get your state to give you approval so that they won’t say it is a slum and then come and demolish it. When you have all of that come to Federal Mortgage Bank, we will give you the estate development loan just like we are funding other developers, go and build at your own pace. When you now finish we will then give you a mortgage to buy, so we want to roll that out.

We have shared it with all the states at the National Council on Lands and Housing which is a meeting of the minster and the commissioners for lands and housing and they have approved. So, that is going to kick off again to increase the number of housing.

There is affordability issue in empty houses and there is acceptability issue in empty houses; so if you don’t involve the stakeholders and you just go and build a house, they will

‘

I have made a proposal to the National Economic Council that any governor who is interested should come and take those roads back but I haven’t seen any request come and say it is fine but I cannot afford it or I can afford it but it is too small or I can afford it but it is too big.

Do you have a figure as to the number of houses you want to do for a period of time, either in phases under the cooperative scheme?

The more the merrier. We want to see appetite because that is what the federal government should really do. As I told you the lands is in the states, the people are residents of the states, they are not residents of federal capital territory, so if they have their own plan then we enable them to achieve it.

It might interest you, the housing and urban development department in the United State of America, they don’t build houses, and they spent 84% of their $47 billion budget in 2017 simply helping low-income people to subsidize rent. All the housing is done at the state and county level.

We must understand that we are not a

unitary government like the UK or Ghana, we are a federal republic; the strategy must change and this is the strategy I am canvassing for. Government use your fiscal and monetary policy to go and break the back of the problem, let the people buy their lands by themselves.

Given the paucity of funds and how it has taken us so much in terms of manpower, cash to reconstruct, repair and maintain existing road network; is there any plan to have new roads come on stream any time soon?

We are a democratic republic, for now and I think for the foreseeable future, the budget is a not a product of executive action alone, it is a product of executive action and legislative inputs. So, we see roads being introduced that were not ours by plan. If you listen to the president’s budget speech he said he wants to focus on completing road projects but once parliamentarians put it there in the budget in response to what their people who elected them want and it is passed, it becomes law and within the limit of our resources we are duty bound to execute those laws. So, that is the balancing thing.

But have we built all of Nigeria’s roads?

Certainly not. So, in the next 100 years roads will still be built because communities that are today forest will open up. Population will grow.

If you listen to President Bush’s inauguration speech, the first sentence there was infrastructure. Every nation is committing to expanding its infrastructure because the economy is growing, population is growing, the developmental aspirations are continuing and no nation has fully built up all of its lands.

You are like a mother who has many children in terms of the number of roads on the hand and given the fact that you have done so much by way of rigorous thinking but in spite of this you are still being criticised by Nigerians every day. Are you worried, do you lose sleep over this kind of criticism in spite of what you are doing?

In my public life experience, criticisms inspire me. I see it as a validation of their belief in my ability; if they didn’t think I could do it they wouldn’t be asking me to do more; they will tell simply me to leave.

Criticism challenges me but I don’t have time to dwell on what people say because there is so much to do. After each day when I am tired, I just pack it and plan the next day. So, it is my media people who say okay they said this about you; they said we should do more, okay let’s go and do more.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Arts Aje Festival: Homage to Oduduwa for blessings OBINNA EMELIKE

N

o doubt, IleIfe is the acclaimed cradle of the Yoruba race. The ancient town, which is a melting pot for cultural gatherings, and warehouse of many priceless heritages, is also the seat of the Ooni, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, who is the paramount ruler of Ife kingdom and natural father of the entire Yoruba race.

However, Ile Ife seems to be attracting more visitors since the Ooni ascended the throne on October 26, 2015, especially African Diasporas who visit to trace their roots, pay homage or participate in cultural events.

One of such cultural events is the Aje Festival.

The Aje deity, according to Yoruba myths, is in charge of wealth, commerce and economy just like Ogun is in charge of iron and Osun is in charge of waters. The festival holds annually on a Monday traditionally known as ‘Ojo Aje’ in Yoruba parlance. During the festival, participants including foreign tourists, business men and women would purchase a white pigeon each, which is symbolic of purity and peace.

This year’s edition was spectacular. On Monday February 24, 2020, Ile Ife wore beautiful colours as the Ooni led thousands of Ife indigenes, market men and women, tourists, financial experts and business tycoons from across Nigeria and abroad to celebrate the Aje festival.

The colour was evident with the participation of over

50 African Diasporas from Cuban, Brazil, United States of America, United Kingdom, among other places.

But it was more spectacular when Ooni Ogunwusi, with white pigeons in his hands, led the procession of participants from ‘Ile Oodua’, his palace, to the Aje shrine known as ‘Idi Aje’. It was a long but leisure walk amid cultural performances to the shrine located a kilometer away from the palace right inside the Ejigbomekun market believed to be oldest market in the world. On getting to the market, the Ooni offered prayers for economic and commercial prosperity of the participants and the Oduduwa race worldwide and Nigeria.

The highlight of the festival was the release of white pigeons into the air by the Ooni, moments after the prayers, to signify peace and prosperity.

As expected, the African foremost monarch explained the rationale for the Aje Festival celebrations, saying that it is a unique way through which the Yoruba people

The Ooni releasing white pigeons in the air to signify peace and answered prayers at Aje Festival

globally remember the Aje deity known for wealth.

“Aje is a deity, which is known for wealth and riches.

Its annual celebration as you have witnessed today is to acknowledge its relevance to us as a people, especially its indispensable nature to us.

“Did you see the struggle for it during the procession to and from the Aje temple?

Some foreigners at the festival

That is the spirit of Aje, all of us are not rich because it is not easy to accumulate wealth”, he explained.

For the foreigners and others who baffle at the spraying of money at the festival, the Ooni cleared the air saying, “We are not devaluing the currency by spraying it to our people, we only do it on a special day like this to spread happiness. In

the olden days, it was cowries, sometimes ago it was coins, nowadays it is Naira notes and we hold it in a very high esteem”.

However, Ooni Ogunwusi decried the fact that Nigeria has a population of few men and women controlling the economy while countless others are languishing in poverty, a sad situation he said should not continue as Aje’s blessings is for everybody.

“For us to progress as a country, we must ensure that our wealth go round, especially to the poor and other vulnerable members of the society. We cannot keep having strikingly rich few Nigerians and uncountable ones wallowing in abject poverty”, the Ooni lamented.

For Toyin Kolade, a princess and coordinator of Aje Festival, this year’s edition recorded a massive turnout of participants from within and outside Nigeria, a pointer to the fact that the festival is beginning to be well ap-

preciated by the Yoruba race and African Diasporas.

Speaking further on the relevance of Aje deity, Oba Isoro Abiodun Molato, the Obaluru Oranfe, said, “Aje is a goddess that provides wealth and fortune for people. She was among the 401 deities sent to the world by Olodumare and her primary assignment was to ensure a smooth transition of the country’s economy. For this, she is always being celebrated and commemorated by the people of Ife and other tribes of Yoruba so as to laud her past good deeds and also how she has diligently improved people’s welfare and the commerce of the country”.

But the visitors, especially the Diasporas also expressed their views. Speaking on behalf of the international participants, Rodrigo Abdon, a Brazilian, described the festival as awesome representation of the African rich cultural heritage.

“What I see here today has further represented the economic potential of the enviable Yoruba cultural heritage and Africa at large. I see arts, dance, music, paintings and many others like we have in Brazil. The people are also receptive, very accommodating and it shows the good nature of the land. We are really feeling at home”, Rodrigo noted.

Top among the dignitaries at this year’s festival include; Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun State, Helge’s Samuel Bandeira, consular general of Brazilian Embassy in Nigeria, several traditional rulers and Nollywood stars.

Musiliu Haruna Isola, the Apala music maestro, thrilled the guests.

Judges announce longlist for 2020 International Booker Prize

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he judges of the 2020 International Booker Prize have revealed the 13 novels longlisted for the International Booker Prize, the prestigious award celebrating the finest translated fiction from around the world.

The prize is awarded every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of quality fiction from all over the world and to promote the work of translators.

Both novels and short-story collections are eligible. The contribution of both author

and translator is given equal recognition, with the £50,000 prize split between them.

Each shortlisted author and translator will receive £1,000, bringing the total value of the prize to £62,000.

This year the judges considered 124 books at the end of which only 13 were longlisted.

However, the longlist is dominated by Europeans, with three Latin American authors, two Asians one Iranian and one African in the contest.

The African longlist is Red Dog by Willem Anker, from South Africa, written in Afrikaans and translated by

Michiel Heyns and published

by Pushkin Press.

The longlist was selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by Ted Hodgkinson, head of Literature and Spoken Word at Southbank Centre. The panel also includes: Lucie Campos, director of the Villa Gillet, France’s centre for international writing; Man Booker International Prizewinning translator and writer Jennifer Croft; LA Times Book Prize for Fiction-winning author Valeria Luiselli and writer, poet and musician Jeet Thayil, whose novel Narcopolis was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2012.

Ted Hodgkinson says:

‘What a thrill to share a longlist of such breadth and brilliance, reflecting a cumulative artistry rooted in dialogue between authors and translators, and possessing a power to enlarge the scope of lives encountered on the page, from the epic to the everyday. Whether reimagining foundational myths, envisioning dystopias of disquieting potency, or simply setting the world ablaze with the precision of their perceptions, these are books that left indelible impressions on us as judges.

In times that increasingly ask us to take sides, these works of art transcend moral

certainties and narrowing identities, restoring a sense of the wonderment at the expansive and ambiguous lot of humanity.’

The shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Prize will be announced on Thursday April 2, 2020 at an event at Ennismore Sessions House in London.

Together, the two Booker Prizes reward the best fiction from around the globe that is published in English in the UK and Ireland. The Booker Prizes are sponsored

by Crankstart, the charitable foundation of Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman.

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Arts Netflix Naija: This is war!

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etflix has declared war on Nigerians. Wait!

I know we are still celebrating the good news that Netflix has officially landed in Naija. I don’t mean to ruin the moment. I just don’t want everyone to get carried away. Why is this war?

First, let’s think about the most important stakeholder here – The Audience. Nigerians have a love-hate relationship with Nollywood. One moment, we are raving about Aki and Paw Paw’s performance, the next we are complaining about the repetitive storylines, poor production quality, among many other things anyone can complain about. The industry and its practitioners have been called many names (good, bad, ugly) by its audience.

However, in the recent years, we’ve seen a fresh set of filmmakers emerge, popularly called the new Nollywood.

These ones have transformed the industry with their topnotch, quality production. The audience knows this. They love it. Yet, some still hate Nollywood. Why? Most complain that the stories are still drab.

Things escalated when Netflix started to acquire the rights to and stream Nollywood content. We’ve seen comments on Twitter from some fans and viewers talking down on some movies that made it to Netflix. Infact, a Twitter user accused a popular Nollywood director of blocking him after he made unsatisfied remarks about the filmmaker’s project airing on Netflix.

In the past few months, we’ve watched Nollywood come under attack on Twitter.

What makes matters interesting is that most filmmakers

Scene from Elevator Baby by Niyi Akomolayan

don’t take it lightly when such fans come after them. They release their full arsenal and come at such fans. You’ll read tweets like “Put your money where your mouth is. Invest in Nollywood if you want better content. You think sey to shoot nabeans?”

Both parties have valid points – the audience thinks Nollywood can do better, the filmmakers are challenging the people to invest in the industry. Now that Netflix is in Naija, what will change? Will we have better stories and improved quality of production?

Let’s talk about stories.

When Nigerians accuse Nollywood of having poor stories, screenwriters become defensive. Most times, the excuse is always that writers are not paid well and they are always rushed to deliver on projects within a short time frame.

Okay… How would Netflix’s presence in Nigeria positively influence this? Will storytelling improve? Does this mean more job opportunities for writers? Does it mean more income for Nigerian writers?

If that happens, maybe we’ll get better stories and make the viewer’s happy!

Next are the Filmmakers. Nigerian filmmakers are passionate about raising the quality of Nollywood films.

They want to deliver better content to their audience and also meet global demands.

However, every time we talk about filmmaking in Nigeria, lack of funding tops the list of challenges producers face.

That’s why we have a lot of “Let’s just do it like that” kind of projects. Fortunately, some filmmakers have been able to move past that. Drawing from their experience in business and their wide network of rich and powerful partners, they’ve been able to raise large funds to invest in huge movies that have turned out to become blockbusters. Will Netflix provide bigger funds for these producers to keep making higher quality content? Or will it remain business as usual? What happens to the producer who doesn’t belong to the right network and doesn’t enjoy the privileges

of access to funds? Will it be a fair game for all?A school of thought believes that international companies rushing to court Nollywood might not necessarily be interested in increasing production budget but to milk as much profit as possible from the industry.

Well, time will tell.

Talking about production budgets, that brings me to the Cast and Crew. Oh, the beloved Nollywood Cast and Crew. What’s your fate in all of these? Despite news of some new movies raking in millions of naira at the box office, one cannot boldly state that Nollywood is a lucrative business for an average cast and crew member.

Shall we discuss the poor working conditions for crews and actors which have not seen significant change in the recent years because most producers run on low budgets and quick shooting schedules?

At the end of the day, the take home pay of an average actor or crew member is nothing to write home about. So you ask, why do people still do it? For

the passion? Limited choices or what? Whatever reason you assign to it, the fact still remains that this is an industry that is run by people – talents (actors) and crew members who are paid poorly, lack any form of insurance, work under harsh conditions with little or no welfare package among other things.

What will Nollywood’s latest lover, Netflix do about this?

Will it insure its actors and crew members? I once heard a joke about an international filmmaker who came to shoot in Nigeria. During a meeting with the Nigerian producers, he mentioned welfare and insurance. The narrative is that, the Nigerian producers just laughed it off and told him/her that there’s no need for breakfast, “the actors will be fine” and he should forget insurance “God is our protector.” Do I need say anything further?

We still have more players in this new war declared by Netflix – the Competitors (read MultiChoice, IROKOtv and others). It’s no longer news that Netflix and MultiChoice have been at loggerheads for some time. Last year, MultiChoice launched ShowMax; an on-demand video service with intentions to compete against Netflix ahead of its launch in Nigeria.

One cannot deny the massive impact and contribution of South African pay TV giant, MultiChoice to the growth and development of Nollywood.

Putting into consideration that MultiChoice through its Africa Magic channels provide a wide distribution platform for the industry across Africa. Same as IROKOtv (dubbed the ‘Netflix’ of Africa) which continues to provide multiple distribution networks for Nollywood movies through its IrokoTV

app, and its ROK channels on cable networks within and outside Africa. Reports say it’s the world’s largest distributor of African movies. While MultiChoice has made its stance known in South Africa that it wants Netflix to be more closely regulated, we don’t know what IROKO’s demand is or would be. Now that these giants are at war to win the heart of Nollywood and its audience, let sit down, sip a cup of coffee or ice-cream (whatever your preference) and watch things unravel before us. This is a good time to be alive.

Finally and most importantly, because this is very dear to my heart – Budding Talents. What happens to new and upcoming talents in the industry – screenwriters, actors/actresses, and other crew guys who are just walking their way to the top of the Nollywood ladder? What does Netflix have for them?

I love what Niyi Akomolayan is doing at Anthill Studios, placing a bet on fresh talents.

His successful box office movie, Elevator Baby which was released last year was directed by a first-timer, a young brilliant lad named Akay Mason. Most of the people who worked on the project are young and fresh faces. He is working on a new project with his new army – a team of young energetic, creative, innovative, forwardthinking, outstanding filmmakers whom he has 100 percent faith in. He is opening doors for new folks in the industry. Will Netflix do the same?

Let the war begin!

Olabode Emmanuel Olawumi, the writer of this article, is an cctor, writer, filmmaker and founder, the OYA Company. He is also the Business Development Analyst for GetUpInc

Alexis Galleries to showcase two budding artists …partners with WARIF to celebrate ‘Women History Month’ OBINNA EMELIKE

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gbezin Bamidele George and Luke Osaro, are two budding visual artists that Alexis Galleries has billed to showcase as special exhibitors in its space in Victoria Island, Lagos, to commemorate the Women’s History Month anniversary in the month of March, 2020.

The art exhibition titled, “Treads of Infinity” slated to open on Saturday March 14 and run till March 21, 2020 are works done in two media, paintings and sculpture; a combination of two ideas by two longtime friends, aiming at a sole purpose of depicting and reincarnating the divine attributes of human using different media of art.

Agbezin’s art addresses

the everyday’s life issues. His works are resolutely stylized, maintaining a curious balance between the gestural energies.

With his latest study of the quilt art, he now manipulates relationship between colours, pattern, design, and forms on rigorously textured canvases that he calls ‘words and opposite.’ Meanwhile, Osaro loves to share his experience of human activities in a new found medium called ‘bonded stone’, bronze cast and glass fiber. The duo’s projects are being carried out as they live out friendship, love, dreams and hope.

Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis, founder and director of Alexis Galleries, ably represented by Bimpe Owoyemi, the galleries’ curator, said during a media preview of the works, that Alexis is passionate about contemporary art in Nigeria and has contributed a lot by dedicat-

ing its space to the development of growing artists, sponsoring and promoting them. In doing that, she said that the gallery has also engaged other ways by partnering with some NGOs over the years such as Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), a non-profit organisation that has been in the

forefront of responding to high incidence of sexual violence, rape and human trafficking among women and girls in Nigeria. According her, this comes as a contributing project to mark the women’s history month celebrated in March every year.

“Last year we did a similar project with WARIF that has to do with women and children and this time we are continuing to make deeper case concerning the challenges women face in the society,” says Mastrogiannis.

Agbezin Bamidele George is a Nigerian-born Togolese visual artist who has been active in studio practice since his discovery

by Artzero Art Movement in 2004, after a successful outing in “Art on the Mainland” show, while Luke Osaro, a Fine Art graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, hails from Edo State and has also been very active when both

were discovered by the same Artzero.

Speaking about his art career and style, Agbezin who has adventured between Nigeria and Togo in the quest to hone his craft said he was inspired by a residency project he had in a Togolese studio where he discovered a peculiar motif that changed his art vision. “Last two years I had a residency with a gallery in Togo that helped to broaden my scope in the art practice. That move actually drove me to new ideologies. I used to paint in oil on canvas until my encounter in Togo where I met a new idea through a book, there I saw a particular motif that caught my attention called ‘word and opposite’, since then, I have been incorporating it into my art,” he said. Agbezin will be displaying 16 works all done in oil on canvass medium.

Osaro, whose journey into

sculptural art started by a divine discovery, said that during the “Art on the Mainland” exhibition organised by Artzero, he was approached by one of the organisers who saw in him, a peculiar zeal to excel in sculpture. From there, he picked up and had eventually done great in that line of art. He said he was inspired by a cartoon character called “Votron” and the energy in that character reflects in his creative works today. “I will be exhibiting 17 sculptural works done in the various media but the most exciting work on display is done on one of my special media called ‘bonded stones’. It is a combination of marble dust, resin and calcium; a unique discovery by me that is meant to withstand all weather conditions for both indoor and outdoor sculpted works.

I found it more durable than fibre glass,” he said.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Life&Living How to get more value with less money

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Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

ver wondered how everybody seems to be living the rich life on social media. Sometimes you scroll through pictures on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat and just see people living as if they are children born to Bill Gates or Aliko Dangote.

Captions on pictures such as ‘living my best life’, ‘champagne chilling’, ‘living my life like it’s golden’, you only live once (YOLO), gets you wondering if you are the only one with problems in this life, because the social media personalities seem to always have fun – jetting out the country ever so often, eating at the fanciest restaurants and wearing all the latest fashion trends, and you wonder how you could possibly live this good life on your small budget.

Everybody wants to have fun, relax and joy enjoy, sometimes, especially after all the hassle and traffic of Lagos and Nigeria in general.

However, living on a small budget does not mean you have to give up the good life. There are ways to eat well, travel the world, and dress like a million buck without having to break the bank.

Tips to get the most mileage out of your money Eat well on less money: Instead of spending your whole paycheck in

an expensive restaurant, that probably serves the most tasteless food but has a good ambiance for nice pictures, you can use a tiny fraction of your money for grocery shopping and make cook book recipe style meals at home that picture nicely when plated properly. Look on Pinterest or Instgram for food plating suggestions. Also if you’d like to have that restaurant feel, then you should opt for brunch or lunch rather than dinner. Lunch menus are priced

slightly lower than food during the dinner rush.

Take advantage of nature for fun and exercise: Explore the world around you for free. Go for a run, walk, hike or swim on the beach and picnic in the park. Chances are that the scenery outside beats the view of the wall at your local gym. A picnic with your loved ones will most definitely save you more money than hanging out at the cinema or going out for dinner. Chances are

that it’ll even be more fun with good music from your speakers and Ipod or mobile phone.

“I enjoy going to the mountains and hiking,” said Michelle Jackson, founder of the blog Michelle Is Money Hungry. “Typically, my friends and I will carpool and have an Instagram-worthy day. There’s nothing better than enjoying what’s in my hometown’s backyard.”

Significantly cut your cost of travel: You can do this by looking for

off-peak season travel tickets and booking way ahead of travel date to ensure you get the lowest price possible. Also, you should explore your options for mode of travel. Taking a coach or train could save you a lot more than booking a flight. You could also cut down on travel expenses by planning to stay with friends or family at the destination instead of booking a hotel. Take short trips instead of long vacations, that way, you’ll even have more fun, as everyday will be booked for a different activity. You might also want to consider group bookings. Apart from the usual ‘the more the merrier’, there are always discounts on fun park entries and tourist attractions for a large group of people or families.

Buy fairly used designer items instead of brand new: Although this is not as common in Nigeria, thrift stores in the United Kingdom and United States stock up on fairly used designer clothes and accessories. You could also easily attend auctions, garage sales to get quality items at a fraction of its original cost.

Expensive clothing items such as wedding dresses can also be rented rather than bought.

Look out for sales and coupons for non-DIY things: You can easily wash your hair at home or paint your nails at home by yourself. But to get a haircut, spa session and other treatments, you might have to wait for when the stores are offering discounts to save money on luxury.

Secure your devices: Your conversations may be tapped

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Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

ave you ever wondered why some people block out the webcam on their laptops or desk tops with sticky tapes? Or don’t you think it’s weird that you had a telephone conversation with your friend, talking about how you desperately need a pair red shoe, and suddenly, all you see on your social media pages are adverts, promotions and conversations about red shoes?

We have all heard the (continually refuted) rumours that Facebook’s apps secretly listen to our conversa-

tions to know what ads to show us.

Well, it seems that a lot more mobile apps are doing the same; using or microphones and cameras to see exactly what we are up to. With the increased adoption of artificial intelligence, your patterns, biometrics and all personal details can easily be checked on and used, so we need to watch what we say and do with our phones and online.

“I called my husband to tell him that I was on my way to a venue in ikeja for a friend’s wedding. The conversation only lasted for about one minute and when I got into the car, I opened my google maps to get

directions to the venue. As soon as I typed in the first letter, the wedding reception venue popped up as the first suggestion. This seemed strange to me because I had never been to that venue before,” Winifred Okafor told BDSunday.

As more people use virtual assistants like Siri on iPhones — and let those assistants listen out for a command like “Hey Siri” or “OK Google” — people have grown more worried about the privacy implications, and whether these assistants pick up conversations outside the command.

Cybersecurity experts have said

that we are not being paranoid and that these smartphones are not called ‘smart’ for fun – they are actually listening in.

How to stop your phone from listening to and recording your conversation: For iPhone users, open the Settings app, tap Privacy, click on microphone. On the next screen, you’ll see a list of any apps you’ve granted microphone access to. Toggle the switch to OFF (white) next to any app you want to revoke access from.

For Android phone users, open settings on your phone and tap Apps & notifications. Tap see all X apps

to get a full list then scroll down to Google and select it. Finally, tap permissions and disable the Microphone slider.

It is important to note that Google could have a record of everything you have said around it for years, and you can listen to it yourself. The feature works as a way of letting people search with their voice, and storing those recordings presumably lets Google improve its language recognition tools as well as the results that it gives to people.

Also, if your laptop or desktop has a built-in webcam, be sure to have good computer security software installed because many webcam hackers use Trojan horse malware to secretly install and run remote desktop software without your knowledge.

Webcams are easily compromised even when it is not in use, and unsecured cameras on your computer could provide a malicious hacker with a direct window into your life.

And once they’ve watched you for long enough, chances are they ‘ll try their luck blackmailing you with something they’ve seen. So the best way to keep yourself safe is to cover in up with plaster or a sticky tape, especially if you don’t use it often.

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Travel African ministers see need to foster tourism through investment OBINNA EMELIKE

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n February 20, 2020, tourism ministers from some African countries g a t h e re d a t A b i d j a n Sofitel Hôtel Ivoire, Côte d’Ivoire, to deliberate challenges and way forward for tourism development across the continent.

It was a timely conference, especially now that Africa is regarded as the last frontier going by its enormous natural and cultural tourism potential, yet the continent still struggles in attracting global tourists.

Currently, Africa attracts less than 70 million tourists from the global total of over 1 billion visitors that travel the world round last year for tourism purposes.

This is the crux of the matter, which is also giving great concerns to conscious tourism stakeholders on the continent.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is also concerned, especially the secretary general who keep looking for ways to make Africa count in the global tourism equation.

Therefore, the ministers conference, which held as part of the events for the UNWTO Global Tourism Investment Forum In Africa was a veritable platform for UNWTO and African countries to partner on development of the continent’s tourism.

Again, the UNWTO tourism forum was holding for the first time in Africa, thanks to Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary-general, UNWTO and his team, for taking decision action that has persuaded Africans to seek the needed collaborations with the global tourism body.

Looking at the ministers’ conference, the theme explained the rationale for the meeting.

Themed, “Fostering African Tourism through Investment”, the ministers’ conference, which was

President Alassane Ouattara welcomes Zurab Pololikashvili to the seat of Government organised in the framework of the 1st UNWTO Global Tourism Investment Forum in Africa, truly made the participants to rethink tourism, roadblocks to vibrant tourism economy, need for collaborations, as well as, reached a communiqué that should not be disregarded like others from thousands on meeting already on tourism development that that yielded no results afterwards.

Siandou Fofona, minister of Tourism and Leisure, Côte d’Ivoire, Abdoul Karim Sango, vice chairman, Regional Commission for Africa, Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary-general, UNWTO and tourism ministers from Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Central African Republic, Gabon, Zimbabwe and Zambia, who were observers, all put their heads together in strategising for thriving tourism sector in Africa.

Of course, the discussions were cordial and productive, going by the communiqué reached and other collaborative agree-

ments signed, amid UNWTO support and backing.

The deliberations focussed more on how to boost tourism investment, ensuring security and growing tourists’ receipts in Africa, as well as, seeking relevant partnerships, especially with the UNWTO. A c c o rd i n g t o F o f o n a , t h e ministers were able to identify measures to facilitate access to African destinations and to highlight the conditions needed for the proper control of threats in order to better attract and secure investments.

The ministers tackled some topical issues top among which are; poor air connectivity, difficulties in obtaining visas for tourists in most of the states, high cost of African destinations, improving Africa’s image in the media, creation of a Community Fund for Tourism and Hotel Investment and Development.

Thinking out of the box, the ministers proffered some solutions. They recommended the institutionalization of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), by establishing the

legal and regulatory framework necessary at the national level to allow its full establishment; cooperation among transport authorities, tourism authorities and other ministries; formulate a marketing and promotion strategy supporting the development of tourism products, adopt solutions for opening up visa regimes among others.

As well, in the communiqué they reached at the conference on security, the minister recommended the establishment of a reference system compiling good practices and the best responses, use of Toolbox for Crisis Communications, creation of tourism police among others.

Zu rab Pololik ashvili, Sec retary General, UNWTO, was impressed with the cohesion and determination to make a difference by the ministers. Seeing them as people with passion for Africa becoming number one global destination, with tourism creating more jobs, growing economies and changing Africa’s narrative, the UNWTO secretary general, assures of supports and collaborations

in initiatives that would grow tourism in Africa, empower the people and lift the continent’s destinations to a must-visit for global tourists.

For him, Africa can earn unimaginable foreign exchange from tourists’ dollars, it can build its needed infrastructure and its economies on tourists dollars if the countries collaborate, remove barriers, improve on standards, skills among others.

Pololikashvili also expressed his appreciation to Alassane Ouattara, president of Cote d’ivoire, for the support to host the maiden event, which aimed at selling bankable African tourism products to the world. He reechoed the need to develop the sector and create employment opportunities with investments into the sector.

Now the conference and forum are over, Pololikashvili expects Siandou Fofana to use his leadership both in Cote d’ivoire and at the regional level, to sustain the cohesion achieved, bring others country who were absent into the fold and have actionable plans to ensure focus on the objective of the investment forum and also to be able to measure results from engagements and project implementation.

For the over 800 delegates that attended the conference and forum comprising of experts, investors, public officials including tourism ministers, it is not about the talks, but all about actions, collaborations and measurement of results going forward.

The conference witnessed over 800 delegates comprised of experts, investors, public officials including tourism ministers from Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Central African Republic, and Gabon, with Zimbabwe and Zambia as observers.

Continent Building partners AU-ECOSOCC Nigeria to put Agenda 2063 on the front burner

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he recent appointment of Wanle Akinboboye, founder/president, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, as advisor on the actualisation of Agenda 2063 by the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU- ECOSOCC Nigeria), has been commended by stakeholders in the tourism and culture sectors.

The appointment was due to the pedigree of Akinboboye, who is also the founder of Motherland Beckons, Atunda Entertainment and Corporate Guards, among others. He is a cerebral and passionate devotee of the African culture, and widely renowned for his many engagements in the areas of tourism, culture, arts and music.

Following the development, the move towards the actualisation of AU-ECOSOCC Nigeria’s Agenda 2063, has gone unto a good start as a team from the AU had a brainstorming session last week with Continent Building, Akinboboye’s group, to fashion out roadmap for the realisation of the assignment ahead.

Led by John Olasunkanmi Adebusuyi , its Nigerian representative, the AU team also include: Quadri-Adu S. Kehinde, consultant, policy and projects implementation; Anthonia Obiora, senior officer, partnerships and inter – governmental; Peter Anyim, senior programme officer; Victor Ndubuisi, head protocol and Charity Danladi, programme officer.

Agbusuyi (3rd from left) and Akinboboye (4th from left) with other members of the team The Continent Building team was led by Akinboobye, with Aminant Thompson, executive assistant to Akinboboye, Ayodeji Adeoye, special assistant administration and Etomi Idemu, continent builder.

Why Agenda 2063 According to Adebusuyi, ‘‘Agenda 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and

master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the Pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress, and collective prosperity

pursued under the Pan-Africanism and African renaissance.’’

He explained that the agenda is broken into five sections, with each focusing on different issues that are related to the mandate of the organization. He further revealed that a 10-year frame is given for the realisation of the

various programmes at the end of which progress made is reviewed, with a view to adopting new strategies and projects.

The Nigerian representative also underlined the aspirations of Agenda 2063, which according to him, have been delineated into seven distinct areas. These are: prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development; an integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the vision of Africa’s renaissance.

Others are: an Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law; a peaceful and secure Africa; an Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics; an Africa, whose development is people – driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth and caring for children; and Africa as a strong, united, resilient and influential global player and partner.

Based on these, the two bodies after an extensive session, agreed on a 10-point programme; a broad based one, which encapsulates the aspiration of the AU and in line with the underlining principles guiding Agenda 2062, which formed the basis of the socio – economic and cultural cooperation between the two bodies.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Travel

How Nigeria’s aviation sector attained zero accident rate in five years - Experts Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE

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xperts in the aviation sector have attributed the zero accident rate in commercial aviation in the past five years to training and retraining of personnel.

Abdulsalami Mohammed, the Rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, who spoke at the opening of a training for aviation reporters in the college, applauded airlines, government and aviation agencies for spending a lot of money in the development of infrastructure.

Mohammed stressed that if the personnel are not well trained, whatever was spent in the physical infrastructure would not function efficiently.

“Airlines, government and agencies have spent a lot of money in

developing infrastructure and a lot of them do not tend to spent money in training people who would either maintain or use the infrastructures,” he said.

The NCAT rector said the Fed-

eral government had acquired million of dollars worth of equipment for the college in the training of personnel in the sector.

He listed these recent acquisition to include, fire simulator,

aircraft simulator and 6 Diamond aircraft.

According to him, the fire simulator had been installed in the school, while factory acceptance test had been done on the the Boeing aircraft simulator and the Diamond aircraft ready to be ferried into the country soon.

“The fire training simulator has been installed awaiting commissioning, we are just working on the final civil work, the contractor is still on site, the simulator itself has been installed and function tested.

“The six Diamond 30, we did the factory acceptance also last month, the NCAA just finished their own inspection of the aircraft, so they are going to be ferried across to Zaria.”

Mohammed assured that the college was replete with well trained personnel with the requisite facilities for training.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Musa Nuhu,the director general,

Caverton signs Factory Acceptance of Thales Reality H simulator

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averton and Thales have signed the Factory Acceptance of the AW139 Reality H full-flight simulator in Cergy, France on Thursday, 27th of February, 2020.

This development is coming less than one year after the contract signature and before it’s departure to the Caverton Aviation Training Centre in Nigeria.

The Thales Reality H Full Flight Simulator level ‘D’, which is one of

theworld’smostadvancedcommercial helicopter simulator, will be used to provide superior scenario-based flight and mission training to AW139 helicopter operators across the African continent as well as Caverton’s pilots and crew.

With this simulator, Caverton will deliver state-of-the-art training: including Initial Type Rating, Recurrent Training and Proficiency Checks for both Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), off-

shore and onshore missions as well as VIP operations to unprepared landing sites.

This simulator will enable pilots become certified to fly the AW139 under various Civil aviation Authority approvals. It will be one of the most popular helicopter platforms in Nigeria and in the region to be fully immersed in a realistic virtual environment representing Nigerian operational locations and learn to handle a multitude of system fail-

L-R: Lolade Abiola, executive director, strategy & innovation, Caverton Helicopters; Thales, Peter Hitchcock, VP, training and simulation; Aderemi Makanjuola, chairman, Caverton Offshore Support Group; Modupe E. Irele, Nigerian Ambassador to France, and Rotimi Makanjuola, managing director, Caverton Helicopters, at the factory acceptance signing ceremony of Caverton Level D, Full Flight Simulator held in Cergy, France.

Pic. Caverton Helicopters

ures and overcome very complex malfunctions should they arise in the real world.

Pilots can thus train safely in highrisk mission scenarios in a range of adverse weather conditions.

Caverton is a leading indigenous aviation and marine logistics player for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

The company aims to provide an accessible platform for advanced training and create opportunities for the sector in Africa.

This move is a major step forward in Caverton’s strategy to diversify its portfolio of services to include flight simulation training services and thereby support safer helicopter logistics operations.

Rotimi Makanjuola, managing director, Caverton Helicopters Ltd said “This is an important milestone, not just for Caverton as an indigenous company, but for Nigeria and the African continent.

We pride ourselves in being pioneers in safety innovation and are committed to providing enhanced training opportunities for our pilots in-country as well as to third party operators across Africa.

“With this significant investment and with the support from Thales, a globally renowned company, we believe that the simulator will ultimately benefit our customers and increase accessibility to world class flight simulation training services.”

Peter Hitchcock, vice president of Training and Simulation business of Thales, comments: “we are very proud to share a trusted relationship with Caverton and we are committed to help the company improving flight safety across the region thanks to the first helicopter full flight simulator to be installed in Africa.”

NCAA said this is not entirely unexpected as the industry has zero accident in commercial category in the last five years.

Nuhu who was represented at the event said this is against the background of consistent successes in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Recertification, various International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Audits and the Transport Security Administration (TSA) approvals.

“It will however, be appropriate to mention that this feat is an industry feat and not only NCAA. The other agencies similarly deserve commendation for their roles in the zero accident run.

“The Airline Operators in Nigeria have taken self regulation of their operations a notch higherand much more seriously. This is due to increased awareness, quality staff and additional investment in training” he added.

Dana introduces additional flights to Lagos, Abuja, PH

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s part of it route consolidation and route expansion project, Dana Air has introduced additional flights on it Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Uyo routes.

The additional flights which would be operated by the airline’s latest Boeing 737 aircraft, will bring the total number of flights operated by the airline to 36 daily.

Speaking on the route consolidation efforts of the airline Kinglsey Ezenwa, the Media and Communications Manager of Dana Air said, “we have created additional flights in commitment to our strategic route expansion program, and our promise to our guests to provide seamless connectivity and altruistic options to meet their travel needs.

“The additional flights include: Lagos –Port Harcourt at 6.48 and 12.06 daily, Port Harcourt to Lagos at 17.01 and 13.50, Abuja to Uyo at 8.37am and Uyo to Abuja at 10.35am, Lagos to Abuja at 19.11 and Abuja to Lagos at 7.20am and these flights will be operated by the 2 newest aircraft addition to our fleet – The Boeing 737-300.

“We are happy that our guests can now choose from the multiplicity of flight options available at Dana Air and currently, we are reviewing other destinations.

Very soon we would introduce more routes as part of our consolidation efforts.”

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Ogun Watch Ogun begins Ijebu-Ode-Epe road to ease gridlock on Lagos-Ibadan expressway

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Stories by RAZAQ AYINLA

riven by massive socio-economic benefits which the critical road infrastructure such as Ijebu-Ode-Epe-Lagos road will bring to Ogun state, Governor Dapo Abiodun has mobilised engineers and builders to the site, signifying the immediate commencement of the 14-km road construction that links Ogun and Lagos states from the Epe end of Lagos State and Ijebu-Ode-Ikoto axis of Ogun State.

The road, which lies at the border area and connects Nigeria’s economic nerve centre - Lagos, and the country’s largest investment hub - Ogun, was awarded to Craneburg Construction by Governor Abiodun under the publicprivate partnership arrangement which can later be graduated to Build, Use and Transfer scheme, having included toll plazas where tolls will be collected for roads maintenance.

According to Ogun State government, the Ijebu-Ode-Epe road whose its construction officially

began on Wednesday with a flagoff ceremony conducted by Governor Dapo Abiodun, members of the State Executive Council and engineers from the Craneburg Construction at Ikoto in Odogbolu local government area, will be a dual-carriage road with 10 lanes - four lanes on each side with one pull-out section, while the toll collection points consist 14 lanes for easy payment of tolls.

Speaking at the flag-off of the 14-kilometre road project held at Ikoto starting point of the road project in Odogbolu, Governor Dapo Abiodun noted that the construction of IjebuOde-Epe road meant to connect Epe-Ajah-Victoria Island in Lagos state, would provide a perfect alternative always locked-down Lagos-Ibadan expressway due to annoyingly ceaseless gridlock.

He explained the construction of Ijebu-Ode-Epe road would save travellers annoying traffic gridlock which so common on the road where lots of priceless man hours are lost on hourly basis as he assured that the construction would be followed that of Sagamu-Ojigo and Sango-Ota-

Abeokuta roads, among others if Federal Government agreed to code the roads to the State Government.

He said: “Today’s event of the turn of sod of Ijebu-ode-MojodaEpe 14km Road is, therefore, a symbolic testimony of our Administration’s commitment towards creating an enduring economy of our dear State, and ensuring the well being and welfare of all the people of Ogun State. It is on this premise that I join others to welcome all of us to this epoch making event.

“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in the last nine months, we have improved the business climate in our dear State within the context of Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP) Agenda and a robust approach to good governance that is all-inclusive and participatory. The result has been a continuous growth in the economic development pattern of our dear State.

“We are determined to sustain this momentum. Our duty is to ensure a strategic allocation of resources on projects that have direct and positive impacts on

the ‘Building our Future Together,’ agenda.

“Perhaps, what makes this particular road very important is the fact that we cannot realize the full socio-economic benefits of the road if it is half-way done, particularly, that Lagos State has completed its side of the same road. Our people in both states want and deserve good governance. Let me, therefore, use this opportunity to restate our Administration’s commitment towards the infrastructural development in all parts of our dear state.

“In fact, we will be unveiling two major roads in Ota, Ogun West Senatorial District, in a matter of days. These roads also link our dear State with Lagos.

We should also keep in mind that Ogun State and Lagos State are still in talks with the Federal Government for the release of the rehabilitation of Lagos-Sango Ota-Abeokuta Expressway and Sagamu-Ogijo-Ikorodu road.

“As I have said earlier, we can only take full advantage of our proximity to Lagos, the 5th largest economy in Africa, if we pro-

OGSG expands hygiene, water supply coverage to prevent cholera resurgence

L-R: Oba Yinusa Adekoya, Dagburewe of Idowa; Ade Akinsanya, commissioner for Works and Infrastructure; Oba Babatunde Ajayi, Akarigbo of Remoland; Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; Noimot SalakoOyedele, deputy governor and Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, Alake of Egbaland, at the commencement of 14-Km Ijebu-Ode-EpeLagos road recently.

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World Bank funds micro projects in Ogun community with N9m

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n order to alleviate poverty and improve citizen’s standards of living, Olorunkuse Abule Teachers’ Community in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State has benefited from the World Bank Community assisted projects worth over N9 million through the support of Ogun State Community and Social Development Agency.

The Board Chairman, Ogun State Community and Social Development Project, Oladipupo Odeyemi made this known during an inspection visit to the projects formations in Ipokia, disclosing that the projects comprised of Community Town Hall, with provision of potable water facility scheme worth N6, 704,229 and

vide good infrastructure which will help to put into economic expression, the proximity. It is more cheering and encouraging to note that Lagos State has demonstrated commitment towards partnership for the development of infrastructure in the border areas. This is why our two States are coming up with the Lagos-Ogun Joint Development Commission.”

Earlier, Ade Akinsanya, commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, who gave further explanation on the road project said, “Today, marks a watershed in the annals of our dear State as we are here to witness the ground braking of the 14 Kilometer Ijebu OdeEpe Road construction which is expected to uplift and promote the Socio-Economic Status of the people as well ensure that productive hours on this roads are fully maximised.

“It is expedient to say that the present Administration in Ogun State, under the able leadership of Prince Dapo Abiodun has left no one in doubt about its resolve to rehabilitate and construct both inter and intra city roads where the needs arise.

the extension and distribution of power supply worth N3,235,954, for the people residing within and outside the community.

According to him, the agency, in partnership with the World Bank is supporting communities with the construction of Health centres, boreholes, electrification, schools, community hall among others, saying, the World Bank provided 90 percent of the total expenditure, while the community raised the remaining 10 percent.

Odeyemi thanked the leadership of the community for judiciously utilizing the first tranche of the largesse for the benefit of the people, saying such dedication, transparency and commitment to

selfless services exhibited, would go a long way in affirming Ogun as a truthful and reliable State among comity of states.

In his contribution, the Chairman, Ogun State Community Development Council, Rasaq Ikupoluyi stressed the need to see the project as a source of revenue, especially the Community Hall, saying revenue generated should be further dedicated to pressing challenges in the area.

In his welcome address, the Agency Operation Manager, Ibiyinka Amosun, disclosed that over 800 communities has shown interest of participation but due to technical and operational issues, some could not benefit, saying, ‘’the agency’s door is open

for enquiry and advise’’.

Appreciating the State Government and the World Bank for the generosity, the Caretaker Chairman of the Local Government, Hon. Shuaib Adeoshun said he was happy that these magnificent projects were executed during his tenure, urging the people to see the projects as their personal ventures and protect them all the time.

In his response, one of the Community leaders, Obanla Joseph while calling on other communities in the State to avail the agency on project demanding urgent attention, thanked the State Government and World Bank for their support at improving the living standard of the people.

gun State Government has said that it was ready to partner stakeholders to prevent resurgence of cholera outbreak in the state, by ensuring that more than 80 percent of the citizenry, particularly rural dwellers, enjoy adequate and hygienic water supply.

The State Commissioner for Rural Development, Taiwo Oludotun, stated this while receiving in his office, team from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Abuja, who were in the state to sensitise and educate the joint WASH Sector Emergency Working Group on Monitoring, Assessment and Intervention, in response to cholera outbreak in the state.

Oludotunwhonotedthataccess to potable water in the State has risen from 40 percent to 67 percent in the rural communities, appreciated the team for visiting the State at the peak of dry season, when the risk of water borne diseases was high, urging them not to monitor the cholera hotspots alone but all communities in the urban and rural areas.

The Commissioner emphasized the need for the Federal Government to give necessary support to the State for improved water supply to rural areas.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Lekan Lukan, represented by the Director, Planning Research and Statistics, Adekunle Oyesanwen, noted that the Ministry, being the closest to the rural dwellers, would take the campaign against cholera to their doorsteps, assuring of continued measures aimed at preventing further outbreak.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

Perspective

Ndigbo in search of capable leadership (2) UCHE OKWUKWU Buhari’s Odyssey with Ndigbo

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ho is Muhammadu Buhari? He is a Nigerian who rose through the rank and file of the Nigerian armed forces to serve in various capacities as governor, minister, Head of State and Commander in Chief; Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), and finally civilian president since 2015 after three other attempts in 2003, 2007 and 2011. So, what is his relationship with Ndigbo?

This is a man who as a soldier under command between 1967 and 1970, even though he was fighting on the Nigerian side, distributed relief materials to Biafrans in Awka, Elele and many other places. And when he decided to make an incursion into civilian politics in 2003, his first vice presidential candidate was an Igbo, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, a cerebral scholar.

Buhari has no university degree on record and has never said he had one. But he was willing to work with a PhD holder, lecturer of repute and former Senate president. He was willing to learn working with somebody whom he believed was intellectually superior without feeling threatened.

In his second attempt in 2007, his vice presidential candidate again was an Igbo, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, a reputable lawyer and former Speaker of the House of Representatives between 1979 and 1983. Buhari is not a lawyer. He has never been in a House of Assembly or Reps and has never been a speaker. But he still settled for one of the greatest Igbo lawyers. He took the best among us to be his running mates. On one occasion, he took a former Senate president and on another a former Speaker of the House of Representatives. He did not come to Igboland to take Uche Okwukwu. He came to pick the very best.

In the two instances, he lost elections and went to court. The head of his legal team was an Igbo, Chief Mike Ahamba, a cerebral lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former minority leader in the old Imo State House of Assembly between 1979-1983. Buhari was comfortable working with the best minds from Igboland. That shows the respect, trust and love he has for Ndigbo.

So, the argument must be properly balanced for Ndigbo to see where this man is coming from. There is no truth in the allegation that he does not know Igboland, or hate Ndigbo.

The late Nnamdi Azikiwe

In the same 2003, he chose some of the most respected Igbo sons as governorship candidates in his All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). In Rivers State, he picked Chief Sergeant Awuse, undisputedly one of the most respected Ikwerre politicians and leaders alive, as his flag bearer. In Abia State, it was Enyinnaya Abaribe, former deputy governor to Orji Uzoh Kalu. Regrettably, not minding that he chose Igbos to work with, Buhari never gained any serious ground in Igboland.

Ndigbo and adoption of Presidential candidates A thematic review of the efforts of Ndigbo in this direction requires serious study and analysis. Under the leadership of Ambassador Ralph Uwechue in 2011, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide adopted the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the personality of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Again in 2015, under the leadership of Chief Garry Igariwey, Ohanaeze adopted President Jonathan as the presidential candidate of PDP. The Igbo argument in 2011 and 2015 was that Jonathan was partly an Igbo man having come from the Ogbia tribe that was part of the old Eastern Region. Secondly, Jonathan’s endorsement would heal the wounds of old, namely, distrust, mistrust and acrimony between the minorities of the old Eastern Region and the Igbo. This can be reasonable but it is unjustifiable since what Ndigbo required was strategic engagement and not putting all their eggs in one basket.

Jonathan lost the presidential election to Buhari in 2015 and

we cried wolf.

From 2015 the Igbo agitation got to its peak with allegations of marginalisation and exclusion against the government of Buhari. Conscious that one of the most outstanding and visible indices of marginalisation is the uneven structural composition of the geopolitical zones, Buhari made it clear that he was going to create an additional sixth state for the South East.

Ohanaeze recommended the creation of Aba State only for its President-General, Nnia Nwodo, to block it. The Ohanaeze constitution is clear in the sending and receiving of documents. The Secretary General has the duty to transmit correspondences and receive same. But this constitutional provision was aborted through blackmail and outright falsehood. Nwodo kept us where we are today, trapped in five states.

Ohanaeze has been reduced to a reactionary organisation that responds to events. Instead of finding solutions to the problems of Ndigbo, it behaves like a student body obsessed with holding press conferences!

Nwodo and Buhari I emphasise this fact so that no Igbo leader should make his personal problem an Igbo problem like Nwodo did.

In 2003, Nwodo contested the ANPP presidential primary against Buhari and lost. Banking on his experience as former minister, he then appealed to Buhari to take him as running mate but Buhari preferred Okadigbo. Undeniably, Okadigbo had very impressive credentials as political adviser to former President Shehu Shagari, 1979-

1983, and Senate president.

Once you serve this nation as Senate president, you have a huge experience as the number three citizen. So, Buhari settled for Okadigbo and Nwodo never forgave him.

Buhari inherited the present 1999 Constitution as amended.

He never wrote that constitution; neither was he the Head of State nor served in the cabinet of General Abdulsalam Abubakar that produced it. The man who publicly defended that constitution as a people’s constitution, progressive constitution and a constitution that would heal the wounds in the land was Nwodo. That’s what people don’t know. He presented the constitution to Nigerians as information minister to Abubakar. The question is, didn’t Nwodo as a lawyer read the constitution he defended?

Today, he argues that contrary to all the federal constitutions, the excessive powers the 1999 Constitution gave the centre undermine the states.

He laments that the component units allocated to the geopolitical zones favoured the North, particularly the North West.

This zone has seven states with Kano alone boasting of 44 Local Government Areas, (LGAs). No doubt, these are facts. But he presented and defended the constitution.

I was not the one that presented that caricature to Nigerians. Nwodo did while overlooking its authoritarian nature. That is the bane of leadership. If you don’t agree with a particular thing, ab initio, you must oppose it. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, if he was alive, would have opposed the 1999 Constitution. In 1978 he was nominated among the 50 Wise Men to concoct the 1979 Constitution but he declined as members were not elected but selected by the military; and therefore, could not produce a people’s constitution. A wise leader must have the courage to resign and not defend the 1999 Constitution as it was not written by the people.

Nwodo could have opposed the constitution, ab initio, as it was not made by the people and as such indefensible. But joyously, he unveiled the constitution only to start lamenting face to face with the consequences of his own action.

So, who’s telling the truth and who’s telling lies? That is the kind of situation we find ourselves. This takes us back to what the Igbo need in a Leader.

The Zik approach A leader must identify the odds against him. Secondly, he must identify persons and institutions to help him surmount

the odds. Above all, he must know when to go into verbal war as a political leader and when to retreat and negotiate.

Every negotiation gives you more ground. You lose ground when you go for outright war.

Nelson Mandela even negotiated from prison. Meetings were held in Norway between representatives of his African National Congress, (ANC), and the Apartheid government. The ANC accepted that if it came to power, the death sentence would not be part of the South African constitution. This gave respite to Apartheid leaders and security operatives that committed murders.

The great Dr. Nnamdi “Zik” Azikiwe of Africa remains in history as one of the most visionary Igbo leaders that lived. He picked Ndigbo from the bottom to the top through strategic political engagements. He had his own limitations, no doubt.

But he worked with some of the best minds in Igboland. His negotiation skills helped the Mid-West secure its own region in addition to creating the opportunity for an Igbo man, Denis Osadebey, to emerge as premier. That was negotiation at its best - the capacity of a leader to get things for his people without war.

Zik’s strategic engagement between his National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), took Igbos to the greatest political height. He did it again in 1979 between his Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), and the northern National Party of Nigeria (NPN), before the likes of Nwodo frustrated the accord in 1982. As young rascals, they felt they could rig the election in Igboland. Igbos in the government of Shagari advised him to frustrate the accord and it was done. The resultant effect was the violence used in rigging elections in Igboland in 1983.

The highest level of electoral violence in Igboland was witnessed in 1983 in the old Anambra where Zik was rigged out.

The records are there. When a man says he was a former minister, it must be understood that he benefitted from the butchery of his own people. Butchery made him junior Minister of State for Civil Aviation in 1983.

It was the liquidation of Zik’s political visions and ideals that balkanised Igboland. Till date Ndigbo have not been able to come together under one party or speak with one voice on national issues. The truth must be told.

Dimm Uche Okwukwu is secretary-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. Phone: 080 3708 7483. Email: uokwukwu@ yahoo.com.

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Feature

Going cashless: We’ve given enough time for people to adjust – CBN Mercy Enoch, Asaba

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rom the ending of next month, March, the full implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Cashless Policy would kick off nationwide as the apex bank has said it had given enough time for people (Nigerians) to adjust.

The bank said since the policy was established about twelve years ago (2012), it had only been implementation in Lagos, Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory ((FCT), Abuja.

Speaking during CBN Fair held in Asaba, Delta State on February 17th and 18th, with the theme, ‘Promoting Financial Stability and Economic Development’, the Apex bank’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, said there was no going back on the cashless policy as the policy would now be fully implemented nationwide including Delta State.

“From 31st March, we will move into the full implementation of the Cashless Policy. The policy is not that people should not use cash but it is that they should reduce the volume of cash they use, and embrace electronic payment systems that are cheaper, more convenient and even more beneficial to the economy. And, that conforms to what is happening everywhere you go across the world.

So, we have given enough time for people to adjust. We have postponed it several times; this time we are going on fullblast implementation. That is where we are on the Cashless Policy. We have been educating people. More jingles will still come out so that people will understand why they need to do that.”

The policy prescribed a cash handling charges on daily withdrawal above N500,000.00 for individuals and N3million for corporate bodies.

Okorafor said: “We have provided charges for those who go beyond the limit. Those charges are not because people want to make money. No, they are to discourage people from excessive use of cash, which hurts the economy; and, which costs us a lot of money to print the bank notes. At this rate, I think we cannot continue this way because, for example, we use more than N20 to print a N20 note.”

How to stay safe under the Cashless Policy Many Nigerians have kicked against the policy considering the increasing rate of criminal activities that have resulted in most bank account owners having their monies wiped out even when they didn’t withdraw any money from such accounts.

On this, Okorafor said: “In order not to expose oneself to

…As full implementation begins March 31

Isaac Okorafor, director, CBN’s Corporate Communications Department, addressing participants at the CBN Fair held in Asaba theft under Cashless, let me tell you, nobody can break into your account in the bank unless he has any of the vital security identities you have. Your PIN is very important. If you expose your PIN, bad people will use it.

When you misplace your ATM card, when they have your PIN or they are able to clone it, they can use it and clear out your money.

So, people should learn to keep secret their PIN and ATM cards. ‘’This practice of people saying this is my card, use it to withdraw money for me is wrong.

Even if it is your child, you cannot tell. Maybe, out of good intention, he may reveal it to another person and they use it against you.

“So, in the security of your money, there are two people who are responsible. One is the bank that will make sure their system is secure. The other person is you; you also make sure your identities are secure in various ways in which you identify yourself.”

According to him, “If your phone is missing and you have vital information in your phone, run to your bank or through a phone call. That is why your Account Officer is important. If

you don’t have one, you should have your bank number always in your head or somewhere, so that when such a thing happens, you can call them to block your account temporarily until everything is clear. That is why when your ATM card is stuck in the machine; once it is retrieved it must be destroyed. We destroy it to protect you, because between the time it was stuck and the time you got to know about it, anybody could clone that card and use it.”

One of the topics handled at the fair was on proper handling of naira notes. Okorafor offered explanations on why it appears the apex bank has been reluctant to enforce the defacing or abuse of the naira.

He said, “The CBN Act makes it an offence punishable by six months imprisonment or N50,000 fine, or both imprisonment and fine. And, how do you abuse the naira? By writing on it, by squeezing it, by ‘spraying’ it or dancing upon or defacing it in any form either with chemical or whatever it is.”

He however said, “It is not the job of the CBN to enforce laws. What the CBN does is to collaborate with the police and

A cross section of participants at the fair.

give them whatever assistance we can. We are embarking on raids of those places where they hawk money, which is also an offence punishable according to the Act. We can only do what we are able to do within limitations of our mandate and our power.”

He talked about the Federal Government’s numerous interventions embarked upon by the apex bank to develop the agribusiness and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to improve the nation’s economy through the Nigerian IncentiveBased Risk Sharing in Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and Deposit Money Banks.

Therefore, the fair provided a rare opportunity for participants to contribute in discussions where majority of them accused relevant authorities of politicising the CBN loans. The aggrieved participants said efforts made by farmers and business operators in the Southern Nigeria, to benefit from the Federal Government’s interventions (loan) often hit brick wall as the loans were politicised and given on stringent conditions.

Okorafor referred the question to NIRSAL official who also claimed ignorance of alleged

negative activities perpetrated

by NIRSAL officials to prevent the real farmers and SMEs from accessing the loans.

On his part, Okorafor blamed loan seekers for not doing the right things most times before approaching banks for loan, a situation he said leads to dismissal of the loans.

He said the inability of people to keep daily records of their business transactions often hinder them from accessing loans.

“No bank approves loan request without seeing records kept and the bank accounts to confirm that the business is active by frequency of deposits and withdrawal,” he said.

He said CBN loans support agribusiness and agric value chain, and that the commodities promoted include rice, tomatoes, maize, cassava, cotton, oil palm, fishery, livestock and cattle.

BDSUNDAY learnt that NIRSAL Micro-Finance Bank (MFB) Limited has already disbursed N18 billion from the AgriBusiness/ Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) fund to about 5,000 applicants across the country.

Bankers’ committee on Tuesday, February 18, raised the paid-up capital of NIRSAL MFB from N5 billion to N7.5 billion to enable the expansion of the branches across the country.

Why CBN Fair in Asaba Asaba Branch Controller of the CBN, Patience Ukwu said that the two-day exercise was meant to ensure that stakeholders and the general public in Delta State, had a clear understanding of the various policies and interventions churned out by the CBN in a bid to attain the objectives of the Cashless Policy and other financial stability and sustainable economic development initiatives.

Ukwu said the fair was meant to address questions agitating the minds of certain members of the public on some of the Cashless Policy and Charges on excess withdrawal as well as enlighten consumers of financial services on their rights and responsibilities.

Conclusion Though the event was greeted with low turnout of participants in the first day, Okorafor blamed it on poor publicity, saying it was not given publicity to avoid attracting wrong people to the venue (Orchid Hotel), which he said was the case in the past.

He then appealed to those present on the first day to invite their friends and colleagues to come the next day to get informed and benefit from the bank’s interventions even as the cashless policy is fully implemented starting from next month ending.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

TheWorshippers With discipline and self-sacrifice we can overcome our national challenges - Olalusi Pastor Isaac Oluwatayo Olalusi of Christ Apostolic Church, Land of Fulfilment, Lagos, in this interview with SEYI JOHN SALAU, speaks on the essence of fasting and prayer and why the church observes an annual 21 days’ fasting and prayer. Excerpts:

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What influenced the annual 21 days’ fasting and prayer? his 21 days’ fasting and prayer is an annual intervention that came as a revelation from God that we should observe it on a yearly basis. This year’s fasting started on 3rd February and ended on Sunday 23 February. This is the 5th edition of the annual event because we have been observing this prayer and fasting since the year 2016.

Is it just a coincident that the church’s fasting and prayer is ending same week Lent is starting?

Yes, it is just a coincident to the church. However, it also signifies that the church is supposed to be strong in prayer with revelation from God. It used to keep us busy and at times the Lord moves in a miraculous way, so that people will testify to the work of the Lord.

Is the church still going to be part of this year’s Lent; that is the 40 days prayer and fasting?

Yes. Lenten season is a period of sacrifice for the church; why are Christians not tapping into this?

We cannot say Jesus sacrificed for the church and then we His children will not sacrifice for the church. Salvation is sacrifice; to serve God is sacrifice, and if you are in a church not donating to move the things of God forward in that church; you are not serving God. We need money in the church to build the church of God for you to enjoy His service.

Therefore, we cannot say Jesus made sacrifices for the church while we are not making sacrifices for the church as Christians.

Our life as Christians is a life of sacrifice; every day we live is a sacrifice – so anything given to the church is given to God in sacrifice unto Him. I noticed that the congregation is dressed in white; but yours is not a white garment

church, why the white apparel?

You have noticed well. Yes, we are not a white garment church, but it is a revelation from God. Last year similar thing happened; the prophet that came said we should dress in white apparel.

This year again the ministering prophet said we should dress in white, which is a revelation from God through him and he delivered the message to us. We used to have three prophets during the annual fasting and prayer event which means one prophet for one week. The prophet God is using for the final week this year is Prophet Adepoju Ademola from CAC Ojodu Berger.

This is not his first time in the church because he used to visit us during our programme tagged, ‘Glorious Morning’ which is ‘Ite mojumo Ogo’ in Yoruba, a special service on the first Sunday of each month. The special Sunday service starts by 6am and ends by 9am, after which we observe the Holy Communion service every first Sunday of each month.

Away from church to issues of governance and policy; what is your take on the recent Keke/ Okada ban in some parts of Lagos?

Well, about the ban on Keke and Okada I believe it’s a welcome initiative by government as part of the measures taken to ensure security of lives and property of Lagosians.

If you say the ban was taken to ensure security; are you not disturbed that the rate of crime across the country, not just Lagos, has been on the rise?

Looking at the level of insecurity in the country at the moment, my advice to government would be to take issues of security in Nigeria very seriously because the country is not at peace. But, what I am saying is that it’s high time the government realised that it was the duty of the government to protect the citizens, and for government to do this

Isaac Oluwatayo Olalusi

– it must be sincere with the appointment of the security chiefs and other security personnel and that must be done with merit; if it’s not on merit, we will continue to have the challenges we are having now. So, I would urge government to take issues of security very seriously across the country.

CAN recently declared 21 January a ‘Day of Prayer’ in honour of Christians killed by insurgents; is this enough for the departed faithful?

Well, if we call God within a minute with a clean mind; God is going to answer. Declaring a day is enough as long as Christians across the country can unite with our numbers in calling on God and together we will pull the hand of God to answer us speedily.

The anti-corruption crusade has been on for a long time now; what would be your assessment so far?

I think the only way to get it right with what corruption has

done to us as a nation is for us to make sure we go back to the basics: and what I am talking about is that we should start from the grassroots and start bringing people up with the fear of God. I don’t want to say our generation has failed this country when it comes to corruption because I don’t know how we can change that overnight; even an average youth will tell you that he is only looking for an opportunity – when he gets to that office he is also seeing that as an opportunity to amass wealth. Even some are not afraid to go to prison; they say after amassing the wealth they will still come back from jail to enjoy their loot, because in our society we unfortunately celebrate these corrupt people and that is sending wrong signal to the youth because we celebrate corrupt people. Until we get it right by going back to the nursery and primary schools inculcating the fear of God into their lives, we may not be out of the trouble.

Finally, as you conclude this year’s prayer and fasting; what is your message to the Church and to Nigerians in general?

The message I have to leaders of the church and Nigerians is that we should go back to God; we should be disciplined, and obey His law. When we talk of discipline, self-sacrifice, contentment, that whatever God has given us, we take it with a heart of appreciation and we should not be greedy. Our leaders have been greedy, self-centered; so we are calling on our leaders to stop this act of greediness; it’s even madness the rate at which people are embezzling money and how people are looting the treasury of the country. It is out of selfishness and unless we go back to God’s discipline, self-sacrifice, contentment, and teach dignity of labour and obedience to the word of God, then it will take time before we come out of this situation.

Umuahia Anglican bishop charges knights to be vessels of honour UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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eoffrey Obijuru Ibeabuchi, bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Anglican Communion has charged the Knights to be vessels of honour, sweetness and flavour and to resist being portrayed as among people who lack wine in their lives.

Ibeabuchi further implored Knights in the Diocese of Umuahia, to identify and embrace Jesus Christ as the Author and Finisher of their faith.

The Umuahia Anglican Bishop gave the Knights the charge during a one-day rededication service and retreat with the theme ‘Remaining the Good Wine to the End.’ In a sermon at the 2020 re-

dedication held at St Stephens Anglican Cathedral, Umuahia, Abia State, Ibeabuchi admonished Knights, Dames and Ladies in Umuahia Diocese to strive to be “good wine made by our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Taking his Sermon from John, Chapter 2:3, the Bishop who titled it, ‘They have no wine’, charged the Knights in the Diocese to be the water that Jesus turned into

the good wine and so be sweet and add value in their environment in order to make Umuahia, Abia and Nigeria a pleasant place for all.

Ibeabuchi, who described wine as a major source of reception and entertainment in Igbo tradition, insisted that Knights must be vessels of honour, sweetness and flavor.

“As Knights, you should be

Mary who told Jesus that there was no wine convinced that Jesus would turn water into good wine.

You must obey the word of God as Mary charged the disciples to do whatever Jesus directed them to do. You should also emulate Jesus who added value by turning the wedding that was to be a failure into the most successful wedding in the land of Canaan in Galilee,” he said.

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TheWorshippers Inspiration With Rev. Yomi Kasali

info@yomikasali.com

T

he feeling of power and control I experience when using my television remote control is unbelievable! I flip through channels and stations to satisfy my entertainment hunger, I move back and forth searching for something to educate, entertain,

Some things you cannot control enlighten, deepen my spiritual hunger pangs and so on. It is very satisfying and gives me the pleasure of being in Control.

However, I have learnt that there are many things that I cannot control, and it makes me feel helpless at times and weak.

I shared these thoughts with one of my daughters in faith recently during a brief counselling session and she agreed very reluctantly that the matter was above my pay grade and she couldn’t Control the circumstance. We both agreed this is why Our Father In Heaven comes to play; He is in Control of all things on earth and can Control what we cannot.

The Patriarch Jacob, also shared the same opinion with me when he barked at his wife after she gave the impression that he didn’t make her pregnant, read what transpired between them and make your conclusions about who was in Control over the matter, ‘and when

Rachael saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachael envied her sister and said unto Jacob, GIVE ME CHILDREN OR ELSE I DIE, and Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel and he said, AM I IN GOD’S STEAD,’. (Gen. 30 v 1-2). Jacob simply said, ‘I’m not in Control but God Is’ There are many people who can control many things through the remote control devices but need to know that there are many things we Cannot Control because they are in God’s sovereign hands and we should simply adapt to those situations and de-

rive our happiness from scriptures.

4 Things you cannot control The weather: God controls the weather daily and there is nothing we can do about it, but we Can Control what we wear.

This is how to ensure we accept the will of God without questioning Him. The weather may be out of my control but my clothing are within my Control.

The man to marry: This is for the women read-

ing this piece, a Man can propose to any woman anytime but it’s only wise for young ladies to Wait for the Man of their dreams and not think they can Control the coming of appearance of the same. I told my daughter during counselling that she Cannot Control the time the man will show up, but she should be prepared for God’s timing as She Controls herself while waiting for the man.

Time: Many people think they can Control Time (I don’t mean watches that we twist to control), this is in God’s mighty hands and there is nothing we can do about it. He gives His blessings to His favoured whenever He deems right. There is Time for everything and it is all in God’s hands.

Politicians can attest to the fact that unless God crowns you, the efforts may be futile. The president ran for 4 times and failed until God’s perfect

time for him.

Death: Life and Death are in God’s hands; He will decide when to leave the earth for all of us that have breath. He told the rich fool when it was time for him to leave the same night the man was planning to enjoy his accumulated wealth. Let’s make the best of Life before Death shows up.

Drop me a note of acknowledgment and encouragement and also follow me on my Social media handles below: Instagram: @yomi_ kasali Twitter: @yomi_kasali Facebook: www.facebook. com/revyomikasali Youtube: www.youtube. com/revyomikasali Be Inspired!

Rev Yomi Kasali is Senior Pastor, Foundation of Truth Assembly (FOTA), Surulere, Lagos.

The Next Conference set to Bliss storm Lagos this March Filmhouse Group hosts exclusive screening of

I

t is that time of the year again when young people across Nigeria, Africa and the world at large get to enjoy the supernatural release in all ramifications as the second edition of ‘The Next Conference’ is set to shake up Lagos.

‘The New Church’ hosts extraordinary men of God including; Dr Kayode Ijisesan, Pastor Poju Oyemade, Dr Tony Rapu, Debola DejiKurunmi, Tobi Adegboyega, Pastor Shola Okodugha and others as they impact young individuals in the areas of ministry, business, career among others.

Set to equip a generation of young believers, especially those who sense a call to ministry and leadership, to lead the national transformation agenda within

convener, Dr. Tony Rapu

and outside the church, this year’s edition of the Next Conference is themed “The Builders” (Isaiah 61:4). “We are all a part of this movement of builders, there is an idea, a business, an empire, a technology, a thing you are building, which would add up to the puzzle for a world class economy in a number of years called Nigeria”, the organisers explained.

The rationale for the conference is that fact that first world countries have grown their economies with manpower and ideas, which stemmed from renowned business owners, ideologists and tech gurus that have not only made their economy leading examples but also world class. Nigeria, with her teeming and blossoming youth population is in the best decade to utilize her human resources to drive the change that it needs. As a church called to leadership, The New Church is excited to bring you a lifetransforming event called ‘The Next Conference’ on March 28, 2020 at Grandeur Event Centre Oregun Lagos.

The organisers assured that through the conference, a generation is rising out from Africa, a people who would change the narratives and in a number of years build Nigeria into a world class economy.

Queen Sono, first original African series by Netflix

W

est Africa’s leading filmentertainment group, Filmhouse, owners of Filmhouse Cinemas and FilmOne Entertainment, hosted the exclusive screening of the first original African series by Netflix, titled Queen Sono.

The screening held at Filmhouse IMAX Lekki Thursday, February 27th 2020, and was its first public viewing to a selected audience. Queen Sono releases globally on Netflix from 28th February 2020.

The event had several dignitaries in attendance, including A-list Nollywood actors such as Omoni Oboli, Sola Sobowale and Osas

Ighodaro, to mention a few.

Speaking after the screening, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Filmhouse, Kene Okwuosa expressed enthusiasm; “It is phenomenal to be a part of this milestone. Being the first African drama series on Netflix, we look forward to its great performance and expect that it would open doors to many more in the nearest future.” Group Executive Director and Managing Director of FilmOne Entertainment, Moses Babatope was excited; “It is good to see the global acceptance of our stories becoming the norm.

We hope that this would be the first amongst many African series to be given an

international platform such as this.”

Queen Sono tells the story of a secret agent who effortlessly fights crime, but has serious problems to deal with in her private life. Famous South African actress Pearl Thusi features in the lead role as Queen Sono.

She is known for her roles in Bullet Proof (2020), The Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018) and Catching Feelings (2017), amongst others. Other members of the cast include Kate Liquorish (Madiba, 2017), Shane John Kruger (Bloodshot, 2020) and Natasha Loring (The Wedding Year, 2019). The series is set in South Africa

and was produced by Tamsin Andersson and directed

by Kagiso Lediga, the same team behind the Netflix original film Catching Feelings.

In 2019, FilmOne Entertainment was licensed to distribute over 30 Nollywood feature films on Netflix. The company has gone into partnership with several international film companies, some of which include Warner Bros, 20th Century Studios, Empire Entertainment and Huahua Media.

Filmhouse Cinemas is the largest cinema chain in Nigeria, with 12 cinemas across 6 states. The company owns the only IMAX and MX4D theatres in Nigeria.

Yeye Cabaret set to hold 7th edition of annual event

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n honour of the 2020 mother’s day, Yeye Cabaret, an entertainment brand is set to specially celebrate mothers, with an evening of celebration and recognition of passion as well as a tribute to womanhood including daughters, mothers and sisters who engage in significant roles in the family and society.

The 7th edition of the annual event is set to hold

on Sunday, March 22, 2020, at The Podium, Lekki and is themed, ‘This Woman’s Work’. The event also aims to raise awareness about maternal mental health especially Postpartum Depression (PPD).

Speaking to journalists, the conveyor of the event, Ayodele Ogundipe said, “We want to celebrate women beyond the domestic aspect of just taking care of

the home, we have mothers juggling careers, family, businesses and they are doing well however, they need to be celebrated” As an entertainment brand promoting the culture of Mother’s Day celebration in Nigeria, we also want to help raise awareness on medical issues that affect women especially mothers in our society through theatre.”

He said the 7th edition

aims to create awareness about PPD for the general public especially for men and provide sensitization on how it can be cured, “we can only be emphatic, we don’t know how it feels, we need someone to educate us,” Ogundipe said.

Yinka Jibunoh, a Psychiatrist, said “PPD is real, it causes a lot of issues and if not properly controlled, it can develop into more problems.

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Business Interview Why it is doubtful Nigeria will be ready for AfCFTA implementation by July - Eluma Jude O.C. Eluma, a doctorate degree holder in Chemical Engineering is the chairman of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN), Imo/Abia branch. He is also a lawyer. Eluma, who also is the managing director and chief executive officer of ELCHEM Limited, in this interview with SABY ELEMBA, speaks on what he described as the harsh environmental condition facing manufacturers in Imo and Abia States; his scorecards since his inauguration, other focus of his executive as well as Ease of Doing Business in the country. Excerpts:

C

ould you please, tell us how your members have been faring in their business judging from the reports you received?

I have spent the past months visiting factories in Abia and Imo; I have also visited the Industrial Layout in Owerri to have a firsthand information and feelings of industrialist and members of the manufacturers Association of Nigeria in Imo and Abia. The economic situation generally is bad; manufacturers are not finding it very easy. There have been challenges here and therechallenges that have persisted before, and challenges that have come this time around as a result of various government policies and insecurity in the land. In general, manufacturers and industrialists are having it very, very hectic to the extent that some of them rarely operate; those who operate are operating far below their installed capacity.

You have visited the industrial layout which contains over 260 industrial plots; the place looks like a ghost city. What do you intend to do there?

I have made a position paper to the governor and we have visited the governor as a group; I led all the industrialists in the layout. In our position paper, we need the master plan of that industrial layout to be restored, we also asked the governor to come and reconstruct or repair the roads now pending when the government is ready to reconstruct the roads. The amenities and infrastructure there are in decay, we also requested for a piece of land in the industrial layout for manufacturers to come together to synergise, encourage investors that will be coming into Imo State.

And the governor right there and then promised to visit the layout and he did visit the layout.

I was there, we took him round complained about the burrow pit which very many people come in to excavate sand and subject that place to serious environmental hazards. They use the roads so rough that nobody cares and the governor before me instructed the Imo State Commissioner of Police to stop forth-with those who are going there to excavate

Jude O.C. Eluma

sand and we are so glad about it.

Implementation is what we are expecting next; so, generally we have sensitised manufacturers and gave them hope of further things to come as promised by the governor.

Apart from this, could you tell us exactly what you intend to do in your area of jurisdiction- Imo/Abia branch?

Specifically, I intend to make manufacturers proud and put them ahead and make them feel that they are the real employers of labour in Imo and Abia States.

And during our last visit to the governor, I requested and which, in fact, I have put into action to ask the governor to make sure that members or a member of MAN is represented in the governing council of all the tertiary institutions in the state. Because members of MAN have the technological know-how, they

“

The roads have been too bad, there have been taxations and multiple taxations; there have been extortions by agencies of government, police, VIO’s, FRSC, so the Ease of Doing Business is still far below what we manufacturers expect

employ industrial trainees from these Colleges and they impact knowledge and impact practical skills to them. And therefore in line with what the federal government is doing to MAN, and through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) MAN is represented in various agencies of government at the federal level, so I do not know why Imo State and Abia State will be left behind.

We also requested MAN’s representation in ports and parastatals of government of Imo and Abia states, particularly that which has to do with science and technology and manufacturing.

They cannot actually do much without involvement of members of MAN who are really on ground in their various industries to impact knowledge to these people. I have that mind and we are already doing it.

We are preparing a letter to the speaker of the House of Assembly to put it into their legislation making it possible for the government to involve members or at least a member of MAN in various MDAs of government of Imo and Abia States.

How do you intend to boost the membership in Imo/Abia branch of MAN? Yes, like as I have said, over the past two months we have been visiting factories and industries in Abia, particularly Aba, I have visited 90 percent of the factories in Aba, I have also identified the ailing ones. And in Owerri I have visited some factories like Reagan Remedies Ltd, Aluminum Extension industries and some other factories. We visited some factories about two in Ngor Okpala, Luxury Buildings and Accessories Ltd, etc, we are bringing them on board to attend MAN’s meetings and activities.

We will also help them in advocacy especially in sourcing for loans- BoI, SME’s, Oriented Loaning organisations etc. and they assured me that they will come on board.

How is the Ease of Doing Business in Imo and Abia?

Honestly, the Federal Government has been trying its best to promote Ease of Doing Business but it has not been easy; the problems are still there. You can see power fluctuation or no power at all. Some factories

don’t even rely on the municipal power supply, some run on generators, spending their scarce resources on diesel. The roads have been too bad, there have been taxations and multiple taxations; there have been extortions by agencies of government, police, VIO’s, FRSC, so the Ease of Doing Business is still far below what we manufacturers expect. I am sure that you know

by July this year, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will come into full implementation. So, about 54 countries have signed onto it and there will be common industrial and manufacturing village in Africa. The question is, is Nigeria ready with all these barrages of challenges facing manufacturers who will now be confronted with external products from member countries? So, it is still a far cry?

We urge the government to fix these infrastructures; otherwise, manufacturers will face more challenges.

Finally, to what extent has the closure of borders by the Federal Government positively or negatively impacted the activities of manufacturers in Imo and Abia?

Closing the border has with it attendant benefits and also attendant disadvantages. One, on health ground, some products that came into the country before were unchecked especially vegetable oil that does not meet our health standard is now being checked. It has also exposed our agricultural value chain; there were quite a lot of products that were brought in through the border, especially gizzard, turkey, frozen chicken, etc, that were not fit for human consumption.

Now that the border has been closed, most of these cannot be found. It means that our agric and agricultural value chain investors have a lot to do; that they cannot even feed our population if not for these other products that come through the borders.

Closing the border also has encouraged the local consumption; you can see the benefits.

But then with this AfCFTA coming into place and closing the borders, it is a diametric opposite intention of that agreement. So, I hope that before July when the implementation takes place that the borders will be opened.

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Interview Running a school requires being passionate about children - Obi Ndidiamaka Juliana Obi, proprietress of Bescom Primary and Secondary School, in Ijegun, Satellite, Lagos in this interview with Monday Festus Aghaeze, speaks on her passion, vision and mission for establishing the school. She also speaks on the challenges of running an educational institution amid dearth of basic infrastructure in the country. Excerpts:

M

ay we know how you started?

This whole thing started as a result of my vision for children. I was asking God if I could have something like my own private business that would enable me to take custody of kids and develop their potential. You know kids have potential. When you stay with them, you can learn something from them. If you are someone that loves children like I do, you can tap something from them. So, that’s the old dream but I didn’t have a support immediately I graduated, but with the help of my husband, the dream came true.

To have school in Lagos is usually capital-intensive. One thing that the Almighty God told me was to register my school name first so as to impact on the lives of the children. God will ask you how you are able to impact the children. It’s not about collecting money from them but making an impact in their lives. I went to the University of Lagos. After my marriage, with the assistance of my husband, I was already teaching some private schools, while I was still attending my school and I was teaching very well about how to read and write, and children of those schools loved me so much because of the way I handled them. This was because I have interest in teaching people, even adults, and when I teach you, you will understand it immediately because it was a gift from God to me.

When I got the revelation that

Ndidiamaka Juliana Obi

I had to register the school, I called a friend to register the school in Abuja. She said, ‘You are reading English and you want to go into education?’ She also said: ‘I want to advise you to work first’. Though, I didn’t have money to start, but it kept reverberating in my mind to start a school. Finally, I started asking questions and I registered

with the Ministry of Education in Lagos. I registered it and kept the certificate but it kept recurring in my mind to start the school fully. So, I thank God, I registered Bescom Schools- Primary and Secondary close to seven years now. Our children are increasing both primary and secondary. What we practise here is the British curriculum, a little

bit of the Nigerian curriculum and a bit of Montessori. The Montessori aspect of the curriculum is just telling us that we need to use visuals, audios to teach the kids. If you are teaching a kid, you should show them what it is unlike in those days when people grew up memorising sounds. Now, you show them how to put square pegs in square holes.

We have the Phonetics teacher; the Montessori teacher and all of them are qualified. The British Council certifies them all. We have the crèche and the nursery.

What does it take to run a school, and can we have a rough estimate how much you have invested?

To run a school, you must have the passion, the vision and the mission. It’s not just about school fees.

In fact, every morning, you must read your mission and vision.

You need to raise kids that and beyond. I got finances from different sources—loans, support from parents and family members. I owe my success to my husband, friends and family members who share my vision. I started with Two Hundred Thousand (200,000) to purchase chairs and tables, make provision for salary for teachers, and my husband provided space for me. In fact, I started in small way.

Thank God I was able to withstand the storm; God kept me going. We rose from small space provided to me and now a full building.

What are your long-term plans?

In the next three years, I want to see the kids go out there and compete with other kids in differ-

ent states, and even abroad. You know, they have international students in Lekki and I want kids here to compete with them and win. In five years’ time, I want to have a boarding school. We also want to have branches in Lagos, and other states.

How worthwhile is school business?

Yes, it’s worth the while if you know what you are looking for. I want these kids to call me tomorrow and say to me, Madam Ndidiamaka Obi, I was a former pupil of Bescom School Primary and Secondary, and now I am a chairman of this or that company, or I am in the Senate, a director of different organisations, etc.

Tell us about your expansion plan?

The little I can tell you is that we should be having new intakes in every section. We have already put things in place and we know the number of children we are expecting. We have pre-ordered their books for one year.

We have a policy that makes teachers attracted to the school.

We train our teachers regularly. We will expand but we won’t leave this place completely.

What’s your advice for upcoming entrepreneurs?

Pray and God will show you your path. Then, there is something you have passion for. It’s not all about money; if it is, I can make more money in editing people’s scripts and help schools write about how to set up school. But it’s all about passion. Don’t give up. Challenges will come but don’t give up.

Nigeria represented fastest growing market for Dubai in 2019 –Envoy INNOCENT ODOH, Abuja The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nigeria, Fahad Al Taffaq, has said that Nigeria represented the fastest growing market for Dubai, one of the UAE emirates, with an impressive 33% increase in visitor arrivals in 2019 adding that nearly 200, 000 Nigerians visit Dubai yearly.

The envoy disclosed this in his speech at the West Africa Road Show 2020, organized by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) held in Abuja on Wednesday ahead of the Dubai 2020 Expo billed for October. He

…As non-oil trade between Nigeria and UAE hit $1.5bn stressed that this development is a testament to the success of Dubai’s market diversification strategies, its global appeal and the excellent work of Dubai Tourism and other stakeholders.

He noted that in the past few years, Dubai has experienced a strong growth within the tourism sector and continues to welcome more international travelers.

“In 2019, Dubai announced that a record-breaking 16.7 million international guests visited the Emirate, representing a 5.1 percent year-on-year increase in comparison to 2018,” he said.

Al Taffaq said further that Dubai welcomed a record of

12.08 million international overnight visitors in the first 9 months of 2019, adding that the strong 4.3 percent increase in volume growth compared to the same period in 2018 was supported by contributions from both traditional and emerging markets.

According to him these statistics not only further reinforced Dubai’s global position as one of the world’s top tourist destinations but is also a step towards reaching the vision to make Dubai the most visited destination with over 23 million visitors by 2025.

He pointed out that the road show, which is a preparatory ground for the 2020 Dubai Expo,

serves as a platform to explore opportunities for tourism while highlighting areas that will further increase visitor growth.

He said the 2020 Dubai Expo with the theme “ Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” is the world’s biggest event that would be held for the first time in Dubai, is not only the first in the Arab World but the first ever to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

He expressed delight that Nigeria has confirmed its participation in the Expo, adding that the event will involve the participation of over 200 countries and more than 25 million expected

visitors.“With tourism as one of the main pillars of Dubai’s economic growth and diversification, it is crucial to focus on this sector by marketing all that Dubai and the rest of the UAE has to offer to the wider global audience,” he said.

He added that the Road Show paves the way for partnerships with public and private organizations that operate in the tourism sphere and beyond.

On the bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and UAE, the envoy said “our economic cooperation and tourism growth has been fuelled by enhanced connectivity between both nations.

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BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

Evolving sustainable business relationship in Nigeria’s Out-of Home advertising industry Joe-Eugene Onuorah

O

ut-of-home (OOH) advertising is a very crucial, perhaps indispensable, arm of the advertising industry. It used to be considered a support medium in the execution of marketing communications campaigns.

Today, however, we have seen successful marketing communication campaigns in which the out-of-home platform is either the major plank or the sole plank of the campaign. Also, the evolution of out-of-home advertising has involved tremendous improvements in the structure of the platforms as well as the dynamics and processes of its value-delivery.

Once upon a time, purchase of the outdoor media used to be on a per annum basis. Today, advertisers have the option of purchasing the platform on a quarterly, monthly or even weekly basis. This makes the medium more flexible and amenable to the exigencies of campaign strategy and budget constraints.

The emergence of digital technology has greatly expanded the value delivery of the OOH advertising media, bringing it in closer competition with the broadcast and, to some extent, the social media platforms.

In his presentation at

the 2019 National Advertising Conference, Emma Ajufor, President of OAAN boasted that “Today, the smart phone….has bridged the divide between digital and OOH, however, OOH display, unlike TV and radio, cannot be switched off at will, it cannot be blocked or skipped like in digital and it is relatively cheaper than these other mediums. This is an indication that the OOH platforms are still the most relevant, most flexible and the cheapest’’ In spite of these bright potentials, it is common knowledge that the marketing communications business and practice generally and the OOH segment, in particular, is

facing life-threatening challenges.

Speaking at the same 2019 National Advertising Conference, Biodun Shobanjo, the chairman of Troyka Group expressed worry that, “at a time when global marketing support appropriation has continued to witness an average annual growth of 4%, with a global spend of $628.63 billion in 2018, Nigeria’s support appropriation has been declining, year on year, over the past 6years, resulting in a paltry spend of N88 billion or a mere $291.3 million within the same period, in a market of 200 milliom consumers’’ In addition to situating the challenges faced by the

Nigerian Breweries rewards trade partners for outstanding performance

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igeria’s foremost brewing company; Nigerian Breweries Plc has restated its commitment to its business partners across the country. This was evident at the 2020 Distributors Award ceremony held in Lagos recently to reward outstanding trade partners who excelled in 2019.

The company gave out over 245 awards in various categories which included; National Volume Champion; Achievers Award - distributors that met delivery volume target; Millionaires Award; Premium Category - Heineken and Tiger; Funding Performance Award; Malt Category A, Malt Category B, Stout Category, Mainstream Lager Category A, Mainstream Lager category B, National Premium Category and National Key

Transporter Award, among others.

Speaking at the award ceremony, the Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel stated that, the celebration is a clear demonstration of the company’s appreciation for the huge support, patronage and loyalty received from the trade partners throughout the 2019 business year.

“We are delighted to express our profound appreciation to you, our esteemed trade partners for your commitment to our diversified portfolio of brands over the past 12 months. We are aware that this has not been an easy journey but we are happy that you have chosen to partner with us to achieve great results”.

Also speaking during the event, the Sales Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Uche

Unigwe gave big kudos to all the trade partners for being an integral part of the success recorded by the company both in sales and volume growth.

Some of the awardees include, Kenneth Maduakor (Ken Maduakor Group Limited) who once again emerged as the National Volume Champion having recorded the highest depletion of cases. He was trailed by J. Ogungbola and Sons Limited and Chrisemua and Sons Limited who emerged second and third respectively.

Similarly, ANCAPS Global Investment Limited from Kaduna once again reaffirmed its leadership status in the logistics side of the business as it won the National Key Transporter of the Year award receiving a Mitsubishi Truck and plaque from the company.

marketing communications industry in the generally low productive capacity of the Nigerian economy, the poor attitude to branding, declining professionalism among marketing communications practitioners, among others, Shobanjo challenged the regulator, APCON, to play its regulatory role more fervently, particularly as it relates to practice by non Nigerians, multiple taxation and inconsistent policies of state governments in the out-of-home industry as well as “the vexed and perennial subject of debt within the industry between clients, service providers and media owners’ No less an authority on client –agency business relationship than Lolu Akinwunmi had asserted that ‘Clients find it convenient to access interest–free credit through agencies and will not always honour agreed payment terms. Sadly, many agencies are not empowered to push back on this ----without ruffling feathers’ a situation which, according to him, practitioners in several other economies find curious.

The threat which rising debt profile poses to the marketing communications business in Nigeria has become virtually endemic and unfortunately, defied attempts made to stave off the threat.

We recall the efforts put into resolving the media debt burden by APCON Coun-

cil under the chairmanship of Chris Doghudje through the famous APCON Special Committee on Media Debt Issues (ASCOMDI).

Today, in the OOH industry, we observe a situation where advertisers and media buying agencies issue media orders without a clear commercial (payment) terms and the OOH companies proceed to execute the orders without a clear service delivery terms. Eventually, payments for the order are made randomly and unpredictably, at the convenience and discretion of the advertisers/buying agencies who, often times, are not satisfied with the quality of services received. The OOH company who is constrained by inadequate funds to finance his operation and uncertainty regarding when he would receive payments, or who is inefficient or negligent executes the order haphazardly, thereby distorting the strategy of the campaign and the desired value delivered.

With all the complications engendered by the absence of a sustainable terms of engagement, committed to by the parties involved, every one----the advertiser, buying agency, the OOH operator, the regulator----loses revenue and value, one way or the other. Rather than push the blame for consequential loses, it pays the stakeholders to come together and, giving consideration to the

situations and circumstances of all parties, agree the guiding principles for an out-of-home advertising contract and commit to jointly enforcing the terms of the contract on any defaulting stakeholders.

Here in is the purpose of this meeting. It is our expectation that all stakeholders will look beyond whatever advantages the present state of affairs may confer on them and see the bigger picture which is the longer term health and sustainability of the out-of-home advertising industry and the Nigerian economy. We are all invited to approach consideration of the draft Standard Operation Procedure, SOP, put before us dispassionately and lend our voices and experiences to the process of evolving a mutually beneficial and acceptable template for the conduct of out-of-home advertising business in Nigeria.

If we rise from this meeting with an SOP agreed by all stakeholders and a commitment to abide by and enforce the provisions of the SOP, we would have achieved a great milestone in the development of the practice and business of out-of-home advertising in Nigeria. I am sure we would all be proud to have been part of the milestone.

Keynote paper delivered by Joe-Eugene Onuorah of APCON at a meeting on Standard Operating Procedures for out of home advertising business forum in Lagos recently.

La Casera Company unveils new bold variants ...restates commitment to consumer satisfaction

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n its bid to ensure that its consumers continue to be uniquely refreshed, the La Casera Company Plc. has unveiled three new variants of its Bold soft drink, in addition to the existing Bitter Lemon flavor. The Company launched the Orange, Tropical and Ginger variants of the iconic drink to the admiration of guests at a grand event in Lagos.

Unveiling the drink, the Managing Director of the

Company, Chinedum Okereke said the addition of the new variants was the Company’s response to the quest of its esteemed consumers who have continued to enjoy Bold since it was first launched.

“The heart of our operations is innovation driven by our desire to continuously satisfy our consumers.

Today, we are fulfilling our promise to our consumers, which is to always be there to satisfy their thirst and their taste whenever they think of refreshing themselves.” The group-marketing director, Emmanuel Agu said .

In his reaction, Kanu Nwankwo, a guest speaker at the launch said the Bold brand represents all that is

required to drive your dream and succeed. “The name of the drink we are launching today resonates with happiness, because when you are BOLD, you take decisions that make you happy. When you are BOLD, you will display the creativity in you and that brings you satisfaction,” Nwankwo said. Nwankwo, a member of the famous 1996 Atlanta Olympic Winning team, added that “What impressed me most is that the La Casera Company does not confine its production to just one kind of drink.

The dealers and distributors present at the launch expressed delight at the opportunity to provide consumers with other distinctive choice of drinks.

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BDSUNDAY 37

SundayBusiness Self employment using FIIRO products Food & Beverages With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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ith the recent revelation by the World Bank that the unemployment rate in Nigeria, especially as it affects the youths has escalated to 23.9percent, investment in agriculture has been touted as the most sustainable way out of the wood. In this wise, it has become necessary to let the job-seeking Nigerians realise that they could capitalise on research findings and products by the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, FIIRO, Oshodi to become gainfully employed.

Over the years the Institute has put the results of its R&D at the disposal of interested Nigerians, using technology transfer services to enable them exploit such results for better living ad economic benefits. Towards this end, it transfers the process technologies of its ready-for-commercialization projects to the public, through scheduled training courses, technical assistance services, acquisition of machinery and equipment and licensing.

The technologies for which training courses are organized includes: Mechanized cassava flour production,mechanizedproduction of fufu, cassava chips and pellets production,palm wine bottling and preservation, edible mushroom production, cassava-wheat flour composite bread production, and dry milling of grains and legumes.

Others are :Instant pounded yam flour production, fruit juice extraction, Zoborodo drink production, and essential oils extraction (from lemon grass, eucalyptus and citronella leaves). other technological breakthroughs which Nigerians can delve into for bothfoodsecurityandemployment/ wealth generation are:Cassavawheat flour composite bread production, mechanized production of gari, lafun, fufu and starch from cassava roots,production of glucose syrup from cassava starch,production of noodles from cassava,mechanized production of cassava flour,production of cassava chips and pellets, soy-ogi production from local cereals, fortified with soybean (a weaning food for infants as substitute for imported baby food), production of potabale alcohol from palm wine and other fermentable worts.

In a similar vein there are other areas of agriculture and its allied products that job seekers could be trained in are the: production of table vinegar from fermented palm wine, preservation and bottling of palm wine, improved traditional fish and meat smoking techniques, production of brewer’s malt and malt beverage from sorghum, production of ale from sorghum malt, production of livestock feed antibiotics, development of composite flour from local cereals and wheat for confectioneries baking, production of ethanol from

cassava peels, detoxification of cassava starch for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and edible mushroom production.

Research and Development (R & D) projects The Institute’s research projects have relevance to the technological and economic problems of the Nation. They are initiated in-house in pursuance of the Institute’s mandate and as a demonstration of its problem-solving posture. Such projects are in consonance with the set objectives of the Institute and are embarked upon after thorough investigations of the desirability through market research and enquiries. Results are documented and can be obtained by interested individuals. Those that have high potentials or commercial prospects are transferred to entrepreneurs.

Biotechnology R & D projects

Soy-Gari Production Gari is a cassava product that serves as a staple food for most Nigerians. It is in the form of tiny granules which can be consumed directly, or after soaking in water, with or without any supplement.

In order to make it more nutritions, its protein level could be raised from about 1percent to 10percent by enriching it with soy beans. The Institute successfully carried out research into the production of a high protein gari using soybean.

This will reduce the incidence of protein deficiency diseases among the consumers.

Detoxified cassava starch production The biggest shortcoming of cassava starch is hydrocyanic acid, which limits its use in industries especially the pharmaceutical industries. Detoxification is the process through which it is removed and the starch becomes safe for use, not only in the textile industry but

also in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Production of glucose syrup from cassava starch The production of glucose syrup from cassava starch using glucoamylase which was obtained by solid state fermentation of rice bran with the fungus Aspergillus niger on laboratory scale has been established. The enzymic hydrolysis of cassava starch gave a glucose syrup which has a pH 6.0’ specific gravity 1.0’ total reducing sugars 30.4percent, total solids 80percent and dextrose equivalent 38percent.

Glucose syrup is a sweetener used industrially in Nigeria, for example in the food, soft drink and confectionary industries. The establishment of a process for conversion of cassava starch to glucose syrup would enhance the local capability of glucose syrup production.

Soy Dawadawa Microbiological, biochemical, chemical and nutritional studies have been carried out on this food condiment made from soy and locust beans. Other studies on it include investigation of enzymes of significance in the fermentation processes,fermentationequipment and control system for optimisation and scale up of traditional fermentation technology.

Production of clarified fruit juice The production of clarified fruit juices from mango, apple, banana, pawpaw, cashew and guava using locally produced pectinase enzymes have been successfully established at pilot scale level. The biochemical and microbiological safety of bottled clarified juices were analysed and found satisfactory. The pH of the fruit juices were in the range of 4.0-4.8 and the sugar level 8-150 brix. The bottled clarified fruit juice

has a longer shelf life compared to cloudy juice.

Edible mushroom production Mushrooms belong to the family of fungi and are found growing on dead wood and other decaying organic matter. They are rich in protein, vitamins and mineral salts, and may serve as a substitute for fish or meat. Mushrooms are of two types: the edible and the poisonous. FIIRO through research breakthrough has been able to demonstrate the possibility of producing edible mushroom commercially.

For those interested, a visit to FIIRO, Oshodi would also reveal that apart from the above stated areas of self-employment they could consider the following less cost intensive agric-related ventures to be their own boss.

These are: Beniseed (sesame seed) oil extraction, production of maize flour and maize grits, grains dehulling and degerming, production of Iru (dawadawa) from soybeans, production of cowpea flour for akara and moin moin, instant pounded yam flour production, groundnut processing into paste and snacks.

With minimum capital outlay the job seekers could employ themselves in the areas of: Production of juices from Nigerian fruits, production of clarified fruit juice, production of wines from Nigerian fruits, production of jam and marmalade, processing of ginger roots, production of peanut butter, dry milling of grains and legumes, destining of cereal grains and legumes, processing of cassava for poultry feeds, biogas and biofertilizer production.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media ayobaje@yahoo.co.uk; 08057971776

Lupita Nyong’o shares salient moments with Chimamanda Adichie’s works Modestus Anaesoronye

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upitaNyong’o,Oscarwinning actress, has revealed her salient moments the first time she came across Nigeria’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s works.

This was revealed in Lagos when globally renowned writer Chimamanda hosted a reception in honour of Hollywood actress, Lupita Nyong’o in Lagos. It was a star-studded affair with some of the biggest names in Nigeria’s corporate andcreativeindustriesinattendance.

Adichie hosted Nyong’o who was visiting Nigeria in preparation for the screen adaptation of Americanah into a limited television series.

The Kenyan actress will be playing the lead character in the book Ifemelu, acting alongside other Hollywood stars like Zackary Momoh, Uzo Aduba, and Corey Hawkins.

A poignant moment of the night was when Lupita shared how much of a Chimamanda fan she’s been.

Revealing sweetly that the writer was her only Google alert at the time Americanah was released. Having read the first two novels - Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun -

by Adichie and loved them, Nyong’o said she pre-ordered Americanah before it was released in 2013 and then went on to pursue the writer before getting the rights to the book.

“I was awestruck by her ability to capture such exquisite character in

a way that made me laugh but also made me feel seen,” the actress said while addressing the audience in Lagos penultimate Saturday.

“I remember finishing the book and falling madly in love with Obinze… At this point, he’s like the

standard man that I’m still looking for, but I just felt like this is a character that I would love to embody on screen because what I do is act and her characters were just so actable,” she said. “…So, I’m here (in Lagos) to

L-R: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, renowned writer; Femi Anikulapo Kuti, iconic Nigerian artiste; and Lupita Nyong’o, award winning actress, at a private reception hosted by Adichie in Lagos.

immerse myself and learn as much as I can in order to do the story justice,” she added, sharing that part of Americanah will be shot in Nigeria. She also revealed that she is learning Igbo language and Pidgin.

She praised Chimamanda for writing a novel that captivated her, speaking to some of the most important issues in contemporary times.

“As writers, we write hoping that our work will touch another human being. When Lupita wrote to me, I was very moved. She was genuine and true; it was clear my novel mattered deeply to her. Of course, a screen adaptation is never going to be exactly like a novel but I think it’s important that whoever adapts a novel should care about it in a very personal way. AMERICANAH is my ‘baby’ and I’m happy leaving my ‘baby’ in Lupita’s care,” Adichie wrote in a beautiful bookmark inserted in signed copies of Americanah which were placed on guests’ seats at the reception.

Notable guests at the event included D’banj, Dakore EgbusonAkande, Ruth Osime, Waje, Omawumi, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Toolz O, Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, Femi Kuti, Onyeka Onwenu, Seun Kuti, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Omoni Oboli, IK Osakioduwa, Flavour and many others.

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SundayBusiness Made-in-Nigeria: Oyo, MAN opt for industrial sector revamp REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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yo State government has expressed its readiness to partner the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) towards revamping the industrial sector in the state.

The state government had recently called on the public to participate in partnering the government towards revamping most of its moribund industries which include manufacturing, agricultural, lands and many other assets.

The Director-General, Oyo State Investment and Public-Private Partnership (OYSIPPP), Segun Ogunwuyi said this in Ibadan while playing host to the Executive Secretary, Man-

ufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) in his office.

Ogunwuyi, who was represented by the Coordinating Director of the Agency, Akinola Makinde, asserted that the state had positioned itself in readiness for industrial growth by making available, all the needed variables like good road network, secured environment as well as opened up the agricultural sector, calling on the manufacturing association to partner the administration for the overall progress of Oyo State.

“We are delighted to inform you that Oyo State has made available all required variables that drive industrialisation of a state, be it good road network, security of lives and property and empowerment of the citizens in small scale busi-

nesses and in agriculture.

“We know what a potential investor wants in an environment and that is what this present administration has been putting in place since its inception, there are ongoing road networks across the state that will make transportation of goods and less stressful on people, workers can heave a sigh of relieve because of our free education policy and our youths are no more idle, they are into agriculture or small scale businesses.

“Most of the moribund assets of the state are being revamped to create wealth and job opportunities for the people and we seek the support of MAN to make this achievement sustainable,” he maintained.

In his statement, Nanzing Rinder, the executive secretary, MAN (Southwest), covering Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, promised to make sure the Association key into the vision of the state government.

Rinder said MAN remained the best development partner in order to advance in the manufacturing industry, stressing that the establishment of the Association was motivated by the desire to have a focal point of communication and consultation between industry on the one hand, and the government and general public on the other.

Glo-sponsored African Voices celebrates female bikers

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wo female mountain bikers are being featured in the latest edition of the weekly CNN African Voices, aired by the Cable News Network and sponsored by Nigeria’s foremost telecommunications company, Globacom.

South African, Kirsten Landman, and Kenyan tour guide, Grace Mwari, will share their life stories with viewers of the popular programme this weekend.

The first person to be showcased is Landman, who started her romance with bike-riding at age 8, inspired by her cousin and uncle. She continued to nurture the interest till she launched a professional career in bike riding at the age of 22. She has since made a name for herself globally through her exploits in the

field of hard enduro racing.

She became the first female to finish races such as Redbull Romaniacs, Redbull Sea to Sky, Redbull Megawatt 111, Redbull Braveman and the Roof of Africa , among numerous international races.The second person featured is, Mwari, an off-road motorcycle tour guide at Offroad Adventure East Africa.

Mwari who was influenced by her friend to embrace racing, now takes tourists who are interested for safaris in little known places to experience wildlife, culture and the most spectacular scenery.

She has ridden for five consecutive years, making her the only female enduro racer who has been consistent for so long.

She has since ridden in

South East Asia, Southern Africa, East Africa, Morocco and parts of Europe.

Recalling how she got into bike-riding, she said she had housemates who were riders and they thought she was capable of doing it as well.

“I was living and working in India and when they invited me on a trip to the Himalayas, I did not think twice about it. I got hooked after that trip and have been riding ever since,” she said.

Catch African Voices Change Makers on DSTV on Friday at 9.30 a.m. and on Saturday at 12.30 p.m., 5.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m.

Other repeat broadcasts come up on Sunday at 5.00 a.m., 9.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m., with more repeats on Monday and Tuesday at 5.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. respectively.

Lord’s Dry Gin introduces Tobi Bakare as new brand ambassador

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s part of its mission to celebrate distinct leadership, Lord’s Dry Gin has announced Tobi Bakare as its brand ambassador.

Bakre has distinguished himself as a maverick with his commitment to personal and professional goals which are in line with the brand’s mission to recognise and celebrate individuals who made a positive impact locally and globally.

The Marketing Manager, Mridul Sharma said that Bakare was made a Lord’s Dry Gin ambassador for being an inspiration to millions of people who are motivated by his drive to be different.

“We are happy to have Tobi Bakare onboard. His dedication and commitment, as well as his positive attitude have contributed to the growth and success he

has achieved so far. His work ethic, confidence and dedication are attributes which are greatly encouraged by Lord’s Dry Gin,” Mridul said.

On his part, Bakare expressed his excitement, saying: “I am thrilled to be given

the chance to be a source of inspiration while representing one of Nigeria’s prestigious brands. This is such a great opportunity to inspire the rise of individual achievement and I am proud to champion this movement.”

Lord’s Dry Gin has enjoyed unanimous leadership in the Spirit market, surpassing its counterparts and is breaking grounds by announcing its first-ever brand ambassador.

As an enterprise of Grand Oak Limited renowned for its prominent marketing and distribution of Spirits and Wines in Nigeria, Lord’s Dry Gin is made of exceptional, international quality and has been in the market for 34 years. Lord’s Dry Gin endowed with leadership in the spirit market, is enjoyed among sophisticated ladies and gentlemen.

Petty traders protest imposition of N18,000 levy in Aba GODFREY OFURUM

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etty traders in Eziukwu Road Market, Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, have decried the imposition of N18,000 market levy on them, by the executive of the market.

This is as they also condemned the blockade of their shops, by soldiers, engaged by the market taskforce, led by one Hilary Anucha, against court order.

The petty traders, who were all women, numbering over 200 with placards, during a protest match to the secretariat of Aba Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) at 61, St Michaels Road, Aba, appealed to the Abia State Government to intervene in the matter, saying they do not have the capacity to pay such a levy.

Wielding placards with inscriptions like, “Military has taken over our market, thugs everywhere, Abia state

is a devil state, no rule of law in Abia and Hilary Ogba aka achouru”, they appealed to the State Government to instruct the market’s taskforce chairman to withdraw soldiers from the market, as well as remove barricades, leading to their shops to enable them carry on with their business, which is their only source of income.

They argued that sealing off their shops was contrary to the ruling of the court, which ordered the central chairman of the market to open the place for them to move in and continue with their business.

Rebecca Njoku, who led the women on the protest, explained that the chairman of Eziukwu Road market in 2019, circulated information that they were going to pay N18,000, after they had paid N2,500 levy for central security and another N2,000 levy for zonal security.

She noted that the chairman insisted that every shop must pay the N18,000 levy, which according to him, was

an instruction from the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Njoku stated that all efforts made by petty traders to be exempted from the levy, was rebuffed, by the market leadership, which prompted them to consult a lawyer for advice.

According to her, “We have no option, because the total ware of some of us is not up to N18,000. If you come to the market, you will see women, who sell soft drinks and snacks and you want them to pay N18,000 levy. Where will they get such amount of money from?

“We told them that we cannot pay such a levy, but they insisted that we must pay, or they will lock-up our shops, which they have done.

“The lawyer wrote the market chairman, but he failed to respond. And after the expiration of the letter, we took them to court. They failed to appear in court and didn’t reply any of the summons, by the court.

Ayoola Foods to absolve VAT increase, assures consumers’ of stable prices SEYI JOHN SALAU

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ollowing the recent increase in Value added tax (VAT) from 5 to 7.5percent by the Federal Government and the resultant effect on consumers’ spending, Ayoola Foods Limited, manufacturing of Ayoola Poundo Yam and other food flour items has assured its customers of actions taken by management to absolve the 2.5per cent VAT increase to maintain stable prices of its goods.

“There are some things

we cannot push to the consumers. I look at it and knowing the situation in the country right now and I know that our prices will affect consumers; so we have absolved that and it has again eaten deep into our profits, but we believe it is better for us to leave it that way than to increase the price,” said Segun Olaye, the managing director/CEO of Ayoola Foods Limited, at the Customers’ Forum 2020 of the company organised annually to encourage and reward its customers.

According to Olaye, the company took the decision to cushion the effect of the VAT increase on its customers noting that, “right now the purchasing power of an average Nigerian is poor; so this is not the time to think about increasing prices because it is better to maintain lower profits and still remain in business,” said Olaye stating that the company spent N114m as incentives to motivate distributors in 2019, which resulted in the recorded 15.8per cent increase in sales under the period.

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CapitalMarket Transcorp leads in female appointments as companies strengthen boards in 2020

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TELIAT SULE

ranscorp Group, a publicly quoted conglomerate with strategic investments in power, hospitality, agribusiness, as well as in oil and gas sector, has made the highest number of female appointments among the listed firms that strengthened their boards in the first two months of 2020, the analysis of board appointments by BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU) has revealed.

Between January and February 2020, nineteen firms effected changes in their boards, leading to the appointment of twenty-six individuals. The firms are Transcorp, Dangote Sugar, Nestle, PZ, UBA, NCR and Champions Breweries.

Others are MRS, Eterna, Fidelity Bank, Unilever, Meyer and Unity Bank.

Two institutions were also appointed. The institutions are Greenwich Registrars and Alsec Nominees Limited, appointed by NCR and SPN Packaging Studio Press as their companies’ registrars’ respectively.

By gender, nine females and seventeen males were appointed to the companies’ boards during the period.

Transcorp, Transcorp Hotels and Transcorp Power, all within the Transcorp Group made six appointments out of which four were females. The individuals appointed and their portfolios included Dupe Olusola, managing director and chief executive officer of Transcorp Hotels; Helen Nwachukwu, executive director and chief oper-

ating officer of Transcorp Hotels; Owen Omogiafo, president and group chief executive officer of Transcorp; and Okaima Ohizua, executive director and chief operating officer, Transcorp Power.

Other companies that made female appointments are Dangote Sugar which appointed Temitope Hassan as the company secretary; Meyer Plc appointed Jane Ijegbulem as the company secretary; Juliet Ehimuan was appointed into the board of Nestle as an independent non-executive director, and Jacqueline Ezeokwelume was

appointed by PZ as the company secretary.

Most of the female board members have first and second degrees in law, MBA while industry experience averaged 20 years.

Concerning male appointments, four are managing directors and chief executive officers. They include Georgious Polymenakos, who is now the managing director and chief executive officer of Champion Breweries; Christopher Ezeafulukwe, managing director and chief executive officer of Transcorp Power; Oliver Alawuba, CEO

of UBA Africa; Carl Raymond R. Cruz, managing director and chief executive officer of Unilever while Austin Oyegha, has been appointed as the acting managing director of Global Spectrum Energy Plc. Other male appointees are for the posts of executive directors, non-executive directors, company secretary and chief financial officer.

As gender diversity gains traction, a number of studies has been carried out to rank companies in terms of the percentage of women on their boards. According to the

2020 Women on Board and Gender Diversity Index, the report ranks companies and regions based on the percentage of board seats held by women on the Russell 3000 Index.

“Women now hold 20.4% of the board seats of R3000 companies, an increase from 17.7% in 2018.

The percentage of women in the 100 largest companies is 27.7%; in the 1,000 smallest companies it is 15.7%. Fifty-two percent of R3000 companies are winning companies, with 20% or more of their board seats held by women, up from 43% in 2018. The number of zero companies(no females on board) decreased by 25% from 497 to 311 companies. Despite these improvements, 41% of R3000 companies still have one or no women on their boards”, the 2020 Gender Diversity Index Report stated.

In another study jointly carried out by Crunchbase, Him For Her, Lauren Rivera, and Kellogg School of management, they found out that only 7 percent of board seats were held by women.

“Of the 1,366 board seats across the 200 companies studied, 101 were held by women. That is just over 7 percent of board seats, compared with 20 percent for the Russell 3000 and 26 percent for the S&P 500”, the authors said.

On why larger companies are more diverse than smaller ones, the analysts attributed this phenomenon to the fact that larger companies are under scrutiny by investors, and are ready to spend more money on their search efforts while smaller companies only appoint people they know.

Verod Capital to acquire 100% shareholding in Law Union and Rock Insurance TELIAT SULE

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erod Capital Management, a private equity firm with focus on Nigeria and Ghana, has concluded plans to add an insurance firm to its portfolio, with arrangement at an advanced stage to acquire 100 percent shareholding in Law Union and Rock Insurance.

Law Union and Rock Insurance currently has 4,296,330,500 outstanding shares. It closed at 90 kobo per share on Friday 28, 2020 which implies that its market capitalisation is N3.87 billion.

Shareholders with over 5 percent shareholding and above include Alternative Capital Partners, 24 percent; Swanlux Solutions and Services Limited, 24 percent; NI Holdings, 19.99 percent and Enko Africa Private Equity Fund, 8.75

percent. Altogether, they control 76.74 percent shareholding in Law Union and Rock Insurance.

Based on the foregoing, the management of Law Union and Rock Insurance has notified the authorities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) and other stakeholders to the effect that it had received a biding offer from Verod Capital Management to acquire all the issued shares of the Law Union and Rock Insurance at an offer price of N1.23 per share.

According to the notice, the offer price of N1.23 per share represents a premium of 208 percent to the 60-day volume weighted average share price and 140 percent of the company’s closing price on 26 February 2020.

“The board has fully considered this offer and will, subject to obtaining all relevant regulatory approvals from the National Insur-

ance Commission (NAICOM), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission , and the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), recommend the offer to the shareholders of the company, for their consideration and approval. Further details would be communicated to the shareholders in due course”, said Stanley Chikwendu, company secretary, through a notice to the exchange.

Before this notice, Law Union and Rock Insurance had declared 12 February 2020 until 24 hours after the audited financial statement 2019 is released to the public, as its closed period.

Insights gained from its fourth quarter financial statement for the period ended December 31, 2019, and which was approved by the board of the company on January

28, 2020, showed that gross premium income of the company rose by 9.21 percent from N4.508 billion in 2018 to N4.924 billion in 2019.

Un d e r w r i t i n g p r o f i t w a s N983.17 million in December 2019 as against N638.16 million in December 2018. Profit after tax for the period skyrocketed by 215 percent from N263.59 million in 2018 to N830.71 million in 2019.

In addition, total equity rose by 12 percent from N6.37 billion in 2018 to N7.12 billion in 2019.

Verod Capital Management is an Anglophone West Africa Private Equity firm that seeks to partner companies with proven business models and high market growth potential. It is led by highly motivated management teams, who aim to build sustainable and responsible regional leaders in their respective industries.

On December 18, 2019, Verod

Capital Growth Fund III LP (Verod fund III) was oversubscribed to close at $200 million hard cap.

“With the current challenges facing the African PE fundraising market, we are very grateful for the confidence that our extremely high caliber set of investors have in our team and differentiated strategy.

We look forward to deepening the successful long-term partnership we have with them”, Danladi Verheijen, co-founder and managing partner of Verod Capital said at the closing of that fund in December 2019.

Verod Capital Management’s current portfolios include Africa Lifetsyle, CSCS Nigeria, Daystar (Nigeria & Ghana), DTRT (Ghana), Emzor Nigeria, Metropolitan Life Nigeria, Niyya Food and Drinks in Nigeria, Oreon Education Nigeria, Shaldac Agriculture Nigeria and Tag Education in Ghana.

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Sunday 01 March 2020

LifeStyleHomes&Suites 360° Ikoyi: Creativity with Diaspora touch Alex Anya

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his is the best time for high-flying Nigerians in the Diaspora to come home and make an exciting difference in the fatherland. One of such success stories is 360 Degrees Towers being built by Femi Osibona, who returned to Nigeria recently, bringing back his wealth of experience and technical know-how in the development of exquisite homes.

Nigerians in the Diaspora who are experts in their host countries in various fields can come home to set up their dream projects if they are certain of the right investment turf. They have definitely heard unfortunate stories of people who dared and got their fingers burnt and this could be discouraging. Regardless, this is motherland, which means they must take that bold step as did the promoter of 360 Degrees Towers, three fine pieces of high-rise, real estate, being built on Gerald Road by Fourscore Homes, whose Chief Executive Officer is Olufemi Adegoke Osibona, a Diasporan with landmark developments in the United Kingdom, South Africa and in the United States of America and from the look of things, has presented something excitingly different in the highpriced Ikoyi enclave.

Real estate market buzz has it that the iconic towers have been over-subscribed, but it was not thrown open to just any client because prospective buyers were profiled to ensure the right clientele. Located at 44B, C & D Gerald Road, 360 Degrees Towers presents very unique features, which instantly attract attention. The towers will encompass smart homes, imbued with accessories controlled with artificial intelligence. There are virtual offices for homeowners and five star board rooms, among others.

Osibona, who reluctantly discussed the project and the reach of his company in Nigeria and overseas, said Fourscore Homes is a member of the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council) in South Africa and Zurich Building Guarantee in Europe, as part of the company’s presence overseas. His company specialises in the building of choice properties in different parts of the world, Osibona said. “We have exhibited our expertise in property development in the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States of America and Nigeria.

Fourscore Homes possesses uncommon capabilities in redefining property development in any market we choose to play in.”

Fourscore Homes has an enviable track record built

by Osibona, better known as “Femi Fourscore”. The company began its foray into real estate in the United Kingdom before branching out to South Africa and later Nigeria. In 2009, when Brig-General Buba Marwa (rtd) was the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa, Fourscore Homes built six luxury units called Fourscore Mansions in Waterkloof, a very exclusive neighbourhood in Pretoria.

Osibona was also the first African developer to develop a seven-storey building in the United Kingdom. The property called Fourscore Mansion is located at 113, Albion Drive London Fields, E8, 4LZ, East London. Not only that, he was the first black developer of African origin to build other projects in the UK. The company’s real estate business started in Hackney, London in 1997. “I was one of the people whose real estate developments led to the growth of East London. I bought a house on New Cross Road and renovated it. I also bought a piece of land behind it and built two flats there, and that is what I will call my first real estate project. That was how I started building houses for sale. Renowned Juju music maestro, Ebenezer Obey visited the property when he was in London.”

Osibona said prior to making a foray into real estate, he sold clothes and shoes for a living in London. “I started selling shoes in July, 1991 after I finished my HND in the UK, and later sold suits but I stopped in 1998 and I started real estate development and purchase of property in 1997.

The popular Pastor Ashimolowo never ceases to talk about the testimony and rise of Osibona. I also noticed that many Nigerians at that time were reluctant to go into construction but I believed anything was possible with God on my side.

“I built over 50 projects in London and Manchester and from there, went to South Africa where I built a number of estates.” After developing so many properties abroad, Osibona said he decided to come back to Nigeria to contribute positively to the nation’s real estate development. Osibona also started building in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 2016.

“In all the projects abroad, we buy land and develop and I am the builder, I don’t engage

any builder. I was in Atlanta for only four months before I decided to buy land. It is the same procedure in housing development and if you have done it in one country, then you can do it in another because it is the same principle.”

“I was one of the people whose real estate developments led to the growth of East London. I bought a house on New Cross Road and renovated it. I also bought a piece of land behind it and built two flats there, and that is what I will call my first real estate project. That was how I started building houses for sale.

Renowned Juju music maestro, Ebenezer Obey visited the property when he was in London.”

Apart from developing residential homes, Fourscore also deals in residential light fittings and other building materials. “We are really passionate about value creation, we want everyone who purchases real estate from us to derive maximum value for their money. To achieve this, we go out of our way to ensure we chaperone the entire process from design to completion, ensuring that we adhere to best practice while minimising our costs.

This way, we are able to deliver high quality units at the best value for money. ” Diaspora touch 360 Degrees is strictly a residential facility that evolved from Osibona’s desire to do something unique, indeed, something that has never been done in Nigeria. The concept is to have serviced flats in the three towers and for residents to experience a stressfree lifestyle, complete with a hotel flair. “What we want to achieve is to have people live in their homes as if they’re living in a 7-star hotel. There is security with access control from the entrance on Gerald Road and there is another security post when coming into the buildings. Electricity will be guaranteed 24 hours a day

and there will be cleaning and gardening around the estate, as well as housekeeping/concierge services for those who desire it.”

The design and rendition is targeted at people that are too busy to concern themselves with anything else, Osibona said. “This development will give peace of mind and comfort to the residents, because everything works.”

On the first floor is a suspended platform that serves as a recreational area where residents can unwind and hold a small party, if they wish. Also, there is a five-star lobby where residents can host friends and family members, without compromising their privacy.

The towers have various house types: Maisonettes of about 420sqms each on three floors; penthouses on two floors; and 4-bedroom flats on one floor, with each flat as large as 400sqms – almost twice the size of most flats in other developments in Ikoyi. The penthouses are about 600sqms to 800sqms.

The homes in 360 Degrees Towers, better described as ‘Luxury in the Sky’, are being sold off-plan and directly to people who intend to live there, Osibona said, explaining that “ninety per cent of

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LifeStyleHomes&Suites people that have bought from us are those that own houses.

However, what is happening now is that most people with big, single unit dwellings are now cutting down for several reasons: Their children have left the nest, most of them are in their 50s and they want to really enjoy their lives and are looking for a place that is secure with no headache.

Imagine living in a hotel where your money works for you.”

Land in Ikoyi is highly priced and that is the reason most developers in Ikoyi do all that is necessary to put their money’s worth on the ground and traces of these accomplishments can be seen on both sides of the dual carriageway from Osborne Foreshore through Alfred Rewane Road (former Kingsway Road) to the foot of Falomo Bridge. Turn into Bourdillon Road to see other beautiful buildings, a mix of office spaces and head-spinning residential apartment buildings.

A good number of sturdy pieces of commercial and mixed-use real estate line Alfred Rewane, some evergreen in their rendition like the Kingsway Towers, Mulliner Towers and Heritage Place, the upcoming Famfa Towers and the Dangote HQ, British-America Tobacco building, Rising Sun, Alliance Place, One 6 Temple, among others.

Leaving Alfred Rewane, taller apartment buildings dot the landscape along Bourdillon, Lugard, Alexander and Gerald Roads. Joining the multitude, are the three towers of 360 Degrees, which are already up, rising up to 15 floors and are being serviced by a busy crane. The construction wrappers of the towers, which look like body-hugs, are attention grabbers. Also intriguing is the fact that the towers enjoy very good setback from the road, a feature that shields it from busy and noisy traffic on Gerald Road.

360 Degrees Towers are an improvement on whatever structure that has been built in Ikoyi, according to Osibona.

“The buildings that can compare with ours is Number 4 Bourdillon where 3 bedroom flats and above sell for $1.9 million to $7 million. There is also The Belmonte where apartments go from about $1.7 million upwards. These are on Bourdillon and they are the two properties that can be compared with ours, and our prices are very competitive.”

However, there is an exciting difference that stands 360 Degrees out of the crowd, according to Osibona. “You need to understand something. Anywhere in the world, nobody wants to live on a very busy road, but we also understand that Gerald-Bourdillon Roads are some of the most

Future developments Osibona plans to build another high-rise building of 25 floors on Gerald Road, adding that there is keen competition for the development of skyscrapers in Lagos.

Fourscore Homes also has plans for more accessible housing on the mainland, specifically at Isheri. But they had some challenges that are being resolved. “We are trying to tackle the water challenges in the area,” Osibona said.

Fourscore Homes had secured approval for the development of 420 flats and another set of 110 flats also in Isheri North, less than a minute’s walk from the popular Isheri North estate built by the Lagos State Government, about a three-minute drive from Shoprite, a three-minute drive from the newly built fire station, and two minutes away from the police station, making it the ideal residential estate for prospective homeowners and investors in the property market. The facility is to be built on five hectares of prime land and each flat will occupy 133sqm.

expensive locations in Africa.

So, we are very lucky that we are on Gerald Road but we have a very long setback of about 200 metres. The implication is that you’re living in a place where you can open your windows and take in breathtaking views but without noise because the building is not smack on the road.

Our entrance is on the road but you will need to drive for about 200 metres to get to the parking lot. The setback is our main selling point.”

Added to this is that from the buildings, residents would have scenic views of the Lagos lagoon, the Atlantic Ocean, neighbouring estates such as Banana Island and Parkview, Osborne Road and the Third Mainland Bridge, as well as the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge, among other interesting sights in Lagos.

An issue that becomes very contentious with projects of this nature is parking which can be a challenge with the prosperity of the residents.

This would not be an issue said the promoter of 360

Degrees, as they are building more than 160 spaces for vehicles of residents and their visitors, even when parties are being hosted and with appropriate landscaping with rich green areas. The facility also has water and sewage treatment plants, as well as private and public power sources.

Another unique feature of the development is that at the entrance, there is a huge aquarium on the driveway and can be viewed at both the entrance and exit gates of the property. There is provision for water fountains at strategic positions on the property.

The towers are expected to be completed at the end of next year, Osibona said, and that as things stand, his firm has sold over 50 per cent of the apartments.

“The advantage of buying off-plan is that you’re buying at a discounted price and it always appreciates. You have to understand something about Nigeria; people say the market is not moving but if you do something that is

interesting and unique, then people will buy. I guarantee you that. The market doesn’t bother us, we have always been selling. Remember this is not my first development; I did Nos. 2-4 Mosley Road – The Shalom Apartments in Ikoyi, which we built in 2010.

It has 40 flats with common facilities like a swimming pool, gymnasium, and the estate is powered 24 hours a day amid tight security. The low-density facility is occupied by high net worth personalities. It was sold out.”

Funding and Engineering Real estate developers all concede that funding is a major issue that must be taken seriously. Osibona said 360 Degrees is being built through venture capital and from offplan sales, which is doing very well because of his company’s track record in the industry.

The project is being developed by expatriate project managers, he pointed out, adding “two of them are from England and two from South Africa”.

Social responsibility Cost-effectiveness rules in the real estate market, which is why the talk is always about the bottom-line. While profit is cool, Osibona is also not new to philanthropy, as background checks revealed that he built and donated three buildings for Little Saints Orphanage at No. 15 Joe Ona Agbato Close, Ogudu Garden Valley G.R.A. He also visits and feeds orphans monthly and has an annual feeding programme at Ikenne Ijebu, his hometown. By his nature, he derives more pleasure giving than receiving, saying, “Most of my developments have always enjoyed the favour of God.” A graduate of Croydon University in the UK where he studied Business and Finance, Osibona before proceeding overseas for his undergraduate studies, had his primary education in Lagos and his secondary education at the prestigious Mayflower Secondary School, Ikene, Ogun State.

Nigerians in the Diaspora and at home need to get reprieve from the government, particularly from the scourge of multiple taxation that tends to be predatory. An investor from the Diaspora once said the government in Nigeria budgets on the anticipated earnings of the citizens, particularly on the earnings of the business community. Governments in progressive countries fund the private sector for economic growth, because it is government’s responsibility to see to the welfare of the nation.

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Health&Science Coronavirus: How Nigerians can wrap up with preventive measures to avoid spread ANTHONIA OBOKOH & IFEOLUWA AWOSOJI

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espite worldwide efforts to contain the new coronavirus, hotspots continue to emerge, Nigeria has confirmed first case, marks it the third confirmed case in Africa as number of cases is on the rise globally.

Experts say one possibility is that cases of the disease will start decreasing when enough people develop, precautions, immunity, either through infection or vaccination as the country is dealing with the virus.

Here are the steps that would be helpful before COVID-19 spreads Nigerians should take care of their health and maintain hand and respiratory hygiene to protect themselves and others, including their own families, following the precautions below: Regularly and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water, and use alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

Maintain at least 1 & half metres (5 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

Persons with persistent cough or sneezing should stay home or keep a social distance, but not mix in crowd.

Make sure you and people around you follow good respiratory hygiene, meaning cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or into your sleeve at the bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.

Stay home if you feel unwell with symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. Please call NCDC toll free number which is available day and night, for guidance- 0800-970000-10.

Do not engage in self-medication Stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19 through official channels on TV and Radio, including the Lagos State Ministry of Health, NCDC and Federal Ministry of Health.

Citizens must not abuse social media and indulge in spreading misinformation that causes fear and panic. The Federal Ministry of Health, through Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, will continue to provide updates and will initiate all measures required to prevent the spread of any outbreak in Nigeria.

For workplace In order to prevent the spread, organisations should promote regular and thorough hand-washing by employees, contractors and customers, put sanitizing hand rub dispensers in prominent places around the workplace and making sure these dispensers are regularly refilled ,Display posters promoting hand-washing – ask your local public health authority for these or look on www.

WHO.int.

Combine this with other communication measures such as offering guidance from occupational health and safety officers, briefings at meetings and information on the intranet to promote hand-washing.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessdayonline.com/

Lack of sleep predispose low performance in productivity- Experts ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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xperts say that navigating poor sleep challenges is becoming tougher among individuals both the young and the old, as it has negatively affect work performance in productivity and quality and working relationships.

These experts say, that with work setting in Nigeria, the long working hours, daily traffic the devastating long- term effect of poor sleeping needs to be paid by mental health issues and some common diseases.

Mankinde Moyo , one of the experts from the Department of Family Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said that sleep is very important in one’s daily life and should be observed very well noting that lack of it can aid some diseases and sicknesses.

While the Department of Family Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH)

at their monthly educative series for the benefit of the populace is emphasising on the dangers of not sleeping.

Evidence by researches shows that adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night and regularly sleeping fewer than five hours a night is linked with cardiovascular problems and poor immune health.

Olamide Oluwatuyi also from the department explained that without adequate sleep, employees have more difficulty concentrating, learning, and communicating and could have memory lapses.

“The cost of poor sleep could result in absenteeism at work and reduced productivity.”

She noted that daily sleep duration of less than 12 hours for infants increase glucose thereby leading to obesity. “lack of sleep is associated with CVD (Cardiovascular diseases deaths), lack of sleep causes major depression, bipolar disorder, sea-

sonal affective disorder, premenstrual syndrome, post trauma-stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and also correlates with breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, endometrical cancer and acute myeloid leukaemia,” said Oluwatuyi.

In the other way round, good sleep enhance learning and memory, it increases stamina, it fastens recovery, cools body temperature, and fastens cognitive processing and enables the metabolism work well and strengthens the body for the day.

Also, Wasiu Akanmu placed emphasize on insomnia, apnea and different behaviours patients exhibit when sleeping.

According to him, “There are certain behavioural induced syndrome due to insufficient sleep which is as a result of less sleep, stress and depression.

He advised that longer sleep should be prioritized during the weekends.

Covid 19: MDCAN raises alarm as Kwara lacks testing lab SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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he MedicaI and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) on Friday alerted that Kwara State lacks testing laboratory for any outbreak of dangerous, infectious diseases such as Coronavirus or Civid-19.

Stella Filani, medical practitioner and the National Auditor and Kwara State Chairman of MDCAN stated an interview with some journalists on the recent outbreak of the virus in Lagos by an Italian man working in Nigeria.

Filani, disclosed that samples of any dangerous diseases are taken to Lagos or Abuja for testing and diagnosis, adding that they have to wait for five to six days to get results.

She says: “Our level of prepared-

ness is low, a lot has to be done, however Consultants in the state have the pre-requisite training to contain the scourge.

“Up until yesterday, we were not confirmed with the Covid-19. All hands must therefore be on deck to contain such outbreak.”

Filani stresses that government at all levels must put in place the necessary provisions in the isolation centres and step up retraining manpower in management of patient and also provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Also speaking, Adebayo Mohammed MDCAN chairman of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), equally attested that there is no lab testing facility for dangerous diseases in Kwara.

He observes that “we are not

adequately prepared in the state; we hope the Federal Ministry of Health will brace up and contain this outbreak.”

Mohammed, however, advised people to avoid crowded areas and increase hand washing with soaps, while maintaining distance of about 2.5metres ofanyonewithsymptoms realised in people, such as coughing, sneezing.

The MDCAN Unilorin boss also counsel people to wear masks and be courteous about shaking hands with other people, as he warns against touching the eyes and picking the nose without washing hands.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessdayonline.com/

When you are trying to conceive Contributor

Abayomi Ajayi

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ou have been trying to conceive for at least one year without success. You haven’t got pregnant even though you try to have sexual intercourse while you are ovulating. You have done everything right yet you haven’t hit the jackpot and you are wondering what could be the problem, even when everything appears to check out.

Well you are not alone. There are so many steps and possible missteps in the intricate web of human reproduction that if you’re doing any wrong, you just may be lowering your chances of getting pregnant.

So how do you fix the situation? First thing that you need to do is relax.

Stop freaking out over your inability to conceive, one, because you are not the only one with this challenge, two, there is a solution.

It’s easier said than done not to worry, especially when all you want to do is get pregnant, and nothing seems to be working.

Stress can be a major issue in the baby-making process. When you have an elevated level of cortisol, a stress hormone, it can negatively affect ovulation and fertility.

Stress levels, anxiety and depression affect your fertility and menstrual cycle. In men too, stress is known as a major factor that contributes to a low sperm count or poor sperm motility.

Calm down, relax, and let it happen. Stop trying so hard to plan pregnancy so much. Remind yourself that pregnancy is a miracle that actually happens very often.

Just enjoy yourself with your spouse. Whether you are newlyweds or not, have intercourse every day or every other day during your most fertile period. If you, like so many other women, don’t know when that is, stick to every other day throughout the time you think you’re most fertile.

What is important is not to miss that critical fertility window.

Last week, we recognized the importance of understanding the timing of ovulation. For most women, ovulation occurs midcycle, assuming each has a 28- to 32-day cycle.

Most women ovulate 14 days before the beginning of their period, so, if you have a 24-day cycle, ovulation is around day 10.

All of this info can be confusing if you have irregular periods or just can’t remember when you last menstruated.

Don’t make the common mistake of not counting from the real first day of your cycle. Day one is the first day you bleed, not the day after or the day before. Fertility can literally come down to a matter of hours, it’s important to know your cycle’s exact timing.

But even a regular and healthy cycle doesn’t guarantee pregnancy. As much as you try, pregnancy really cannot be planned. It’s more of a spontaneous event. An

average, normal, healthy couple will take about a full year to become pregnant.

Take your time. And if at least six months have passed and you haven’t been getting regular periods or you’re not sure if you’re ovulating, then it’s a good idea to seek out the advice of a doctor.

If you douche, it’s absolutely not a good idea for baby-making because douches can act like a spermicide, altering the acidity/ alkalinity of your vagina and this has been shown to impair fertility.

Also dump all lubricants, most of which have actually been shown to lower sperm count and its mobility.

There may be impaired ovulation due to disturbed hormonal environment or poor ovarian reserve. This may or may not lead to subtle menstrual irregularities.

There may be interference with the normal development of the egg or its rupture.

To understand the process of egg formation in your body, your doctor may suggest ultrasound for follicular monitoring, which happens on different days of your menstrual cycle.

There may also be abnormalities in the semen like low sperm count and/or motility which may result in failure of conception. A semen analysis can be suggested in certain cases wherein, abstinence of 3-5 days is advised.

The health of the Fallopian tubes is important. For instance, the blockage of tubes is an issue.

To be able to conceive, the tubes should be open and functional.

Sometimes there may be some defects inside the uterine cavity of the woman which may interfere with the embryo’s ability to implant and grow. At times, there may be irregularities in formation and shedding of internal lining during the menstrual cycle which may become a detriment to smooth conception.

A pelvic ultrasound may be required to detect some of these conditions and a procedure called hysteroscopy may be necessary to treat some of these uterine structural problems.

Sometimes there may be unknown medical conditions such as Endometriosis, which may present later in life.

Severe pain before or during their menstrual cycles which can worsen overtime can be a sign of underlying endometriosis and needs appropriate management.

Sometimes, as a couple, you may have unknown fertility problems and few times, there could be no concrete reason behind it as well.

Talking about infertility, the woman’s condition is not necessarily the issue. In fact, cases of infertility are about 40 percent male-related, 40 percent female and 20 percent a combination of both partners. So it is a shared problem. Don’t forget it usually takes a healthy couple between six months and one year to conceive.

This way, if it takes you a little longer to get pregnant, you’ll already know how to handle things.

Abayomi Ajayi MD/CEO Nordica Fertility Centre info@abayomiajayi.com.ng,

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Sports

Coronavirus scare hits Premier League clubs ...No guarantee Liverpool would be crowned EPL champions ...Newcastle ban hands shaking between players and staff ...UK government may cancel sporting events ...Journalists undergo screening before pre-match press conference

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Anthony Nlebem iverpool could be denied their first ever Premier League title should the domestic season be cut short by Coronavirus.

Jurgen Klopp’s relentless winning machine equalled a domestic record on Monday by registering a 19th consecutive victory, moving to within four wins of claiming the Premier League title which has evaded them since 1990.

The rapid spread of the Coronavirus has already had ramifications in Italy where several Serie A fixtures have been postponed, or been played behind closed doors, while next week’s scheduled Six Nations clash between Ireland and the Azzurri has been postponed.

Daily Telegraph reports, there is no Premier League legislation in place relating to the season being curtailed and crisis talks would ensue were the Government to intervene and cancel all sporting events in the country for up to two months.

Liverpool currently enjoy an unprecedented 22-point lead over second placed Manchester City

and are overwhelming favourites to extend that margin with a win at Watford on Saturday, with Pep Guardiola’s side set to contest the Carabao Cup final 24 hours later.

Denying Liverpool the title would undoubtedly cause major uproar but the Premier League would face a difficult decision were they to declare the Reds as champions and, at the same time, relegate the three teams currently in the drop zone.

Newcastle United have already banned shaking hands between players and staff at their training ground, while Tottenham screened journalists before Jose Mourinho’s

pre-match press conference on Friday.

Asked if Liverpool were planning to change their pre-season schedule given they are planning a summer trip to Asia, Klopp told reporters: “Not yet, over pre-season we’ve not thought of changes yet.

The biomedical department, all advice we get from there.

“But if you the media come in here and don’t shake hands, I’m now only two metres away from you, so whatever you have I probably can’t avoid getting it as well.

We had an interview outside and were even closer.

“We take it really serious, but

EL Clasico: Real Madrid seek title redemption against Barcelona Anthony Nlebem

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he biggest club rivalry in world football continues as LaLiga leaders FC Barcelona travel to Real Madrid with a two point lead in the standings, after last week saw blaugrana talisman Lionel Messi score four in a 5-0 win at home to Eibar, while Los Blancos slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Levante.

Sunday’s LaLiga Santander Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu is the highlight of this weekend schedule, which also features key clashes in the battles to qualify for Europe and avoid relegation.

Barçelona have won on each of their last four LaLiga visits to the Bernabeu, but Real Madrid are unbeaten at their own stadium this season in LaLiga and Zinedine Zidane’s side claimed to have the better of the game when the reverse fixture finished level at the Camp Nou last December.

Both teams switched positions in this past weekend’s round of the LaLiga matches, with Barcelona racking up an emphatic 5-0 win over Eibar on Saturday, while Real Madrid slumped to a surprise 1-0 loss at Levante later the same day.

The results saw Barcelona move up to pole position with 55 points, while Real are second with 53.

A further 10 points separate Los Blancos from third-placed Atletico Madrid, underlining how important El Clasico will be in deciding the title.

Barcelona’s big win at the weekend featured four goals from the incomparable Lionel Messi, who

Effiong first to net 10 goals in battle for Eunisell Boot

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will be hoping to add to his record tally of 26 El Clasico goals on Sunday night.

“We have been waiting for a result like this, where everything goes in our favour,” Barcelona boss Quique Setien said as he gears up for his first El Clasico since succeeding Ernesto Valverde.

“In other games, we have not finished the chances we have created, but [against Eibar] we have.

The three goals before the break have given us peace of mind ahead the second half, and we have an important week ahead.”

Real have dropped five points in their last two matches to bring into doubt their ability to reclaim the La Liga title. Their performance against Levante was an abject one and came with two massive blows for El Clasico, with news that Rodrygo is suspended and Belgian attacker Eden Hazard is ruled out with an ankle injury.

“We failed at the most important thing in football and that’s to score. It’s screwed up because in a week we’ve dropped five points, but this is football,” lamented manager Zinedine Zidane. “We didn’t deserve that today. We went from more to less. They made their shots count. We can’t look back now.

“My players gave everything and I’m annoyed. Losing five points in two games is a bad moment for us. We’re playing for everything this week. We’ve got to keep our heads up. We’ve had good mo-

you can’t avoid everything. It’s not a football problem; it’s a society problem, what we all have in common, so I think everybody is thinking about it at the moment.

Hopefully the people who are much smarter than us find a way to end the illness, or medicine, as that’s obviously the big problem at the moment, we don’t have that yet.”

With the virus spreading across Europe in recent days it has led to the postponement, cancellation or playing behind closed doors of different sporting events.

The recent increased spread on the continent could lead the

UK government to ‘opt to cancel sporting events for two months,’ which would include at least part of the 11 games remaining in England’s top tier.

Whilst the title race is already decided what would be more complicated is working out who qualifies for the Champions League and Europa League next season, as well as the relegation places.

There is no guarantee Liverpool would be crowned Premier League champions if the season was curtailed by the Coronavirus.

There is also no guarantee the bottom three clubs would not be relegated, with no specific regulation in place governing such a scenario.

The rapid spread of the virus has raised the prospect of the Government ordering the cancellation of all sporting events in the UK for more than two months, something that could mean some fixtures never being played.

Its is likely crisis talks would take place to determine whether previous results would be allowed to stand or whether the entire campaign was rendered null and void.

ments before and now we’re in a bad one but we’ll come out of this.”

Sunday game begins with an Athletic Club side looking to end a concerning run of four straight LaLiga defeats when they welcome a Villarreal CF team who won 3-0 at San Mames last season.

Things look rosier at Sevilla FC following last week’s win at Getafe, so Julen Lopetegui’s men will be looking forward to Sunday afternoon’s clash with an CA Osasuna team in good form recently, but whose last victory at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan was back in 2006.

Atletico de Madrid travel to bottom side RCD Espanyol having returned to third place in LaLiga Santander with last week’s victory against Villarreal. But Los Periquitos’ record in this fixture is excellent; they have beaten Diego Simeone’s team at the RCDE Stadium in both the last two seasons.

18th- placed RCD Mallorca have a chance to stretch their unbeaten run to three LaLiga games at Son Moix on Sunday afternoon, when the visitors are a Getafe CF team whose recent excellent form ended with a bang at home to Sevilla last week.

kwa United utility man, Ndifreke Effiong has become the first player to score 10 goals in the race to win this season’s Eunisell Boot Award.

Effiong, who plays in various positions from defence, midfield and attack, netted his 10th goal of the 2019/20 season in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) on Sunday when his team Akwa United played host to Warri Wolves at the Nest of Champions in Uyo. However, Effiong’s goal in added time of the second half could only save the blushes of the ‘Promise Keepers’ from defeat at home as they played out a 1-1 draw with Warri Wolves.

The breakdown of the 10 goals scored by the Akwa United man shows that only two have been from the penalty spot while the others have come from open play.

The former Abia Warriors at-

tacking midfielder now sets the pace in the race for the Eunisell Boot Award but will have to look over his shoulders with a very formidable field of chasing pack breathing down his neck.

Effiong is now a goal better than Enyimba forward, Victor Mbaoma who fired blanks in his team’s 0-2 defeat at Nasarawa United on Sunday.

Mbaoma is currently on nine goals.

The trio of Tasiu Lawal of Katsina United, Plateau United’s Ibrahim Mustapha and Rangers striker Israel Abia are on eight goals each.

The Eunisell Boot Award, created by Eunisell, West Africa’s largest independent chemicals and engineering solutions group, aims to help increase the standard of the NPFL by rewarding the season’s top scorer with N200,000 for each goal scored.

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Insecurity, impunity and merchants of blood!

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an it get any worse than this, talking about Nigeria’s increasingly embarrassing insecurity conundrum, that is? We pray not. But let us consider just a few of the recent haunting newspaper headlines that should worry the patriots. For instance, Senator Ibrahim Geidam, representing Yobe East under the All Progressives Congress (APC) has presented a bill titled: ‘National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, Deradicalization and Integration of Repentant Insurgents in Nigeria’. The nebulous aim, according to him is to “rehabilitate, de-radicalize, educate, reconcile and reintegrate purported repentant Boko Haram terrorists into the Nigerian society”.

How did you feel when you read through it? Did you cringe, with moral revulsion like yours truly did? One could not have asked himself how on earth would a concerned Nigerian, bother more about rehabilitating blood-thirsty criminals than taking care of the hapless victims of their terrorizing, blood-letting insurgency.

These are fellow Nigerians left to stew in their hunger, feeding on onion leaves, naked to rape and several debilitating diseases. Something malodorous is oozing somewhere!

According to Wikipedia, of the 2.3 million people displaced by the insurgency conflict since May 2013, at least 250,000 have left Nigeria and fled into Cameroon, Chad or Niger. Boko Haram killed over 6,600 in 2014 alone. The group has carried out mass abductions including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014 and subsequently that of the Dapchi School girls. In fact, Leah Sharibu, the Christian victim who reportedly stood by her faith has, according to recent news item given birth to a baby boy for one of the terrorist!

But Senator Geidam and his ilk are more concerned about protecting the lives of the vampire breed! He is of the opinion that the repentant insurgents would acquire relevant skills, literacy and Islamic Religious Knowledge via the Agency,using our public money.

“One man’s hero is another man’s tyrant” -a popular maxim.

That this unpatriotic idea at a time that ten members of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram have been executed by firing squad in Chad should serve as food-for-thought for us here.All 10 were convicted over their roles in twin attacks on the capital in June, which killed at least 38. A month after the attack, Chad reintroduced the death penalty for acts of terror. Should our country not take a cue?

May God save Nigeria from some of our own political leaders.

And talking about political leadership, how did you feel again when you learnt about the ‘war’ in Aso Villa, between the National Security Adviser(NSA), Babagana Munguno and the Chief of Staff(CoS), Abba Kyari? They have been at daggers drawn for weeks, with the NSA accusing the CoS of undue interference in matters bordering on national security. That role as the Constitution clearly spells out is within the purview of Monguno’s office.

In the said memo, the NSA had warned the president’s ‘all-powerful’ Chief of Staff against meddling in security affairs in the presidency. He also warned the nation’s service chiefs to stop taking orders from Kyari, a civilian, and to be wary of his interferences.

The memo addressed to the service chiefs and copied the president and ministers for foreign affairs, defence, interior, police affairs and Kyari himself, was dated December 9, 2019.

But what has happened recently? The NSA has been given a new appointment!

He was named Co-Chair along with Humanitarian Affairs Minister for the newly formed National Humanitarian Coordination Committee, by none other than Mister President. Again, we suspect that something odious must be wrong,

somewhere. May God save Nigeria from some of her political leaders.

The same president, we wonder has consistently refused to listen to the voice of the people’s representatives at both the Green and Red Chambers. They, like several patriotic Nigerians have been asking that the Service Chiefs take a bow, at least now, when the ovation is still at some audible decibel.

After all, their tenures expired back in 2019 and in spite of all the huge sums spent so far they have been unable to curb the swelling waves of terrorism, banditry, killings by armed Fulani herdsmen and kidnappings.

Even the president woke up weeks ago, shocked at the increasing level of insecurity in a country he swore by the Koran to defend the rights of the citizens and protect their lives and property. But he does not want the Service Chiefs to go! Evidently, the wishes of the people left vulnerable to the wiles of the blood-seeking vandals amount to nothing. May God save Nigerians from the hands of some of their leaders.

Honestly, those who have scarce regards for the pricelessness and sanctity of human life but value theirs,while alwayspoaching for political power only to hound fellow citizens, in any country,should be ashamed of themselves. Those who ride to the pedestal of power,promising paradise to the long-suffering, gullible citizens, but turn it to the throne of blood under a democratic setting shouldremember that someday, somewhere there will be a God sitting in judgment. And He willask them to account for the innocent lives they have wantonly wasted.

So, the burning questions remain: Who are the Nigerians benefitting from the insurgency, the banditry, the killings by fully armed Fulani herdsmen and the series of harrowing kidnappings? Why has it been difficult to identify and bring to book those involved in the killing spree across the land now

Who is thinking for the FG?

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Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘DRUMBEATS OF DEMOCRACY’

greatly enmeshed in the culture of impunity? Why has the intelligence gathering mechanism of the security forces been unable to nail the sources of funds of the insurgents and asphyxiate them at the jugular veins?

So far, there is little value for the huge amounts earmarked as annual budgetary allocations on insecurity, added to that taken from the Excess Crude Account to fight against the criminals. There are certainly the enemies within; the blood merchants of blood.

It has become imperative for the president and his security team to rise up to the occasion and do the needful. Culprits must be brought to speedy justice, irrespective of religious, ethnic and political colourations. Only this will serve as a form of deterrence to other evil minds. Granting them amnesty would lure more idle youths to take up arms against the state, hoping to be rehabilitated someday.

We do not want Nigeria to be turned into what Uganda was under Idi Amin’s state of blood’. We do not want the terrifying tales of the blood-letting that characterized the reigns of ruthless dictators such as Attila the Hun(AD 434-453), Genghis Khan(1206-1227) and Timur (1370-1405) to be replicated here in Nigeria. Let them still remain figments of the imagination.

Let the life of each citizen be equal before the law. May God save Nigerians from their unpatriotic leaders.

Quick Takes

Off the Cuff onsistently, the Federal Government is getting certain things wrong about its perception of the mood in the country at the moment.

Rather than seek the truth from those who mean well for it in order to really understand its rating in the eyes of well-meaning Nigerians, it delights in behaving like the ostrich that buries its head in the sand whenever it senses that an enemy is coming. But the ostrich does so at its own peril because while the head region is protected as it were, the entire body is exposed for the approaching enemy to destroy. One wonders who thinks for the government going by some decisions that emanate from the seat of power. Last Thursday, news filtered in that the National Executive Council (NEC) rose from its meeting at the Villa with some decisions that have left many Nigerians tongue-tied.

The NEC a body comprising operatives of the Federal Government and governments of the 36 states of the federation, ruled out the establishment of regional security outfits, saying that it runs contrary to provisions of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution as amended. It also

Ayo OyozeBaje

said that government was now set for the implementation of the controversial National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) Programme, otherwise known as “RUGA”. One would have thought that the leaders should have saved the country and the people the trauma of revisiting the RUGA issue so soon, given the fragile peace existing in the country at the moment. Before President Muhammadu Buhari decided to suspend the project, there had been a lot of criticism fuelled by the apprehension that government was stylishly trying to acquire colonies for Fulani herdsmen. The fears that moved people to speak out against the project have not disappeared; in fact, they have increased with the escalation of insecurity situation of the country.

At the time the RUGA programme was muted, the South West geo-political zone had not come up with Amotekun to protect themselves from external attacks. At that time also, other zones had not begun to mute the plan to secure their own territories as a result of brutal killing of their people by bandits or kidnappers. Today, it can safely be said that Nigeria’s secu-

rity situation is more precarious than when the RUGA project was muted.

If there was a robust thinking going on about this country and how to serve the people well, leaders should not have come up this time around to pick up a divisive issue at a very “wrongest” time. By the way, we hear that Fulani herdsmen are rushing back to some Benue communities to do more havoc.

Plateau State is boiling, and many other states both in the north and south are reeling under preventable attacks by Boko Haram, bandits, herdsmen and kidnappers.

Who is doing this to us? Can’t the government forget about this vexing project for now, and first address some more urgent need of the hour? Unless government has some sinister motives, the popular thinking about the raison d’etre of every elected government is to serve for the good of those who gave them the mandate they are exercising. A true government should not be more powerful than the people.

Power must and should reside with the people.

$5

Crude oil price last Friday sold $5 lower than the Brent crude, which is the international benchmark for crude oil that traded at $51.95 per barrel.

This figure is $5 lower than Nigeria’s $57 crude oil benchmark in the 2020 budget.

Nigeria depends on crude oil for an estimated 90% of export earnings and more than 50% of government revenue.

“We are in constant touch with the federal ministry of health to harmonise our response to the incident. For us in Lagos, we are doing anything that needs to be done. The patient is stable and every health intervention required is currently being given to him,”.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, speaking on the outbreak of coronavirus in the state and effort to check the spread of the diseases.

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