Businessday 10 jun 2018

BDSUNDAY BUSINESS DAY

‘Christians must stop being selfish and greedy to win souls for Christ’

Exchange posts N8.30bn gross earnings as 34 new securities debut

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Sunday 10 June 2018 Market & Commodities Monitor Brent Oil

5yr Bond

$76.60

-0.22 13.62%

Gold

10yr Bond

$1,302.50

0.00 13.30%

Cocoa

20yr Bond

$2,419.00

0.00 13.54%

inside From ship without direction to highest business point in Niger Delta

p. 40-41p.

Vol 1, No. 221 N300

Not just about age Money politics, inexperience, structural defects impeding youth participation – analysts Advocate overhaul of political structure

CHUKS OLUIGBO & INIOBONG IWOK

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he victory of Emmanuel Macron in the May 7, 2017 French presidential poll spurred a new wave of political awakening as well as optimism among young Nigerians that with the right political mobilisation

and action, they could take charge of affairs in their country and offer the much-needed leadership that older generations of politicians have failed to offer. Macron was only 39 at the time.

But amid that sweeping optimism, Richard Ali, a lawyer and writer, in a Facebook post drew attention to the structural defects and “institutional and constitutional

bars” in the Nigerian system that would possibly prevent a replication of the Macron magic back home. Many of those who commented on his post agreed.

“That extant system that allowed Macron to emerge at such a youthful age and at the highest level of political governance does not exist here. A certain Macron at 39 would

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We are laying solid foundation for economic well being of our people - Emmanuel

L-R: Akin Kekere Ekun, chairman of Board of Trustees, American University of Nigeria (AUN); Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and founder of AUN, and Dawn Dekle, president of AUN, at the 10th Commencement Ceremony and Presidential Inauguration at Lamido Aliyu Musdafa Hall, AUN, Yola, Adamawa, recently.

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Nigerian art sector gains traction with country’s leadership of global art body p. 37

10 years after, Adedibu’s aura still envelops Oyo Remi Feyisipo, Ibadan

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amidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu was born on October 24, 1927 at OjaOba, Ibadan, a member of the Olupoyi chieftaincy ruling house.

Born to a Muslim family in Ibadan, his father, Adegoke Adeduntan was from the Olupoyi chieftancy house and his mother was a kolanut trader. He earned the name Adedibu from a senior brother of his mother, Bello Adedibu. He had his education at Mapo Elementary and at the Ibadan Boys

High School.

He started working for a government catering service in the late 1940s before branching out on his own and later entering politics.

He was introduced to politics during the

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IssueOfTheWeek What’s their grouse with anti-grazing law?

CHUKS OLUIGBO

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t is becoming clearer by the day that Mansur Dan Ali, Nigeria’s minister of defence’s adamant stand on the anti open-grazing law in operation in some states of the federation is the official government stand, as unfortunate as it is. If this were not so, the presidency would have said otherwise. And if you think President Muhammadu Buhari may have made a mistake in the kind of people he appointed to high offices, you had better think again.

Dan Ali had, at the end of a National Security Council meeting presided over

by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, called on states operating the anti-grazing law, especially Benue and Taraba, to suspend it as a way of stemming the tide of the bloodletting by Fulani herdsmen.

“There is need to employ other channels with the affected states to reduce tension by suspending the implementation of the anti-open grazing law while also negotiating safe routes for the herders,” Dan Ali was quoted as saying.

The minister also reportedly spoke about the urgent need to hasten the establishment of a National Commission on the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria and for the Nigeria Police and Department of State Services (DSS) to prosecute all the suspects arrested in states.

The call by the minister could have been pardoned as a slip of tongue if it were a one-off. But no, it was not the first time such a statement had come from the minister or some other top-ranking officials of the Buhari government.

In January, at the end of yet another meeting of the National Security Council presided over by Buhari, Dan Ali had blamed the killings, especially in Benue and Taraba States, on the anti-grazing law as well as blockage of grazing routes across the country.

“Since the nation’s independence, we know there used to be a route whereby the cattle rearers take because they are all over the nation. If you go to Bayelsa or Ogun, you will see them. If those routes are blocked, what do you expect will happen?” Dan Ali had said. “These people are Nigerians. It is just like one going to block the shoreline. Does that make sense to you? These are the remote causes of the crisis. But the immediate cause is the grazing law.”

That such statement has usually come at the end of a National Security Council meeting presided over and dominated

by Nigerians of a certain ethnic stock and religion says a lot about the kind of deliberations that go on in there. But that’s by the way.

To further confirm that it is official, Ibrahim Idris, Inspector General of Police, another member of the National Security Council, in February reportedly told the Senate Committee on Police Affairs that the anti-open grazing law implemented by the Benue State government was to blame for the attacks in the state, particularly the ones that claimed about 73 lives in Logo and Guma Local Govern-

Mansur Dan Ali

ment Areas early in 2018. Idris, according to reports, had specifically asked for suspension of the law until ranches were provided, then the law could be gradually implemented again.

Many Nigerians have described such utterances as tragic, insensitive, careless, arrogant and pathetic. Various interpretations have also emerged. One analyst said the minister’s statement simply justified the killings and emboldened the herders, much like saying to them, ‘If you don’t like a law, don’t only disobey it, but go and kill people in revenge’. Another said it implies that any state which chooses to pass any law deemed offensive to the nomadic lifestyle of the herdsmen should be ready to bear the consequences. Yet another said it also means that except other Nigerians agree to the terms and conditions of coexistence as articulated by the Fulani, there would be no peace in Nigeria.

Going by these, one could then see in all of this an attempt by the Federal Government and its agents to blackmail the states into submission, much like the failed Grazing Reserve Bill and the bid to force cattle colonies down the throats of the states. It is like saying to the states: suspend the anti-grazing law or continue to die in the hands of Fulani herdsmen.

Long before now, Opeyemi Agbaje, a Lagos-based public affair analyst, had opined that the government’s strategy on the herdsmen issue “appears to resemble official blackmail and terrorism – ‘agree to provide grazing routes for the herdsmen through your areas, or they will continue to kill you!’

Incidentally, the statements by the defence minister and the IGP tally with the official stand of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), an umbrella body of cattle herders in the country. Despite the constantly changing narratives by the presidency and its officials as to whether those perpetrating the dastardly killings are Fulani herdsmen, the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWA), foreigners or remnants of armed bandits from Muammar Gadaffi’s Libya, MACBAN has consistently demanded the abrogation of the anti-grazing law.

But in a motion under Matters of Urgent Public Importance during the House of Representatives plenary on Wednesday, John Dyegh (APC-Benue) reaffirmed the rights of states under the 1999 Constitution to make laws for the good governance of their domain.

“This is not the only state that has made laws for good governance in it. For instance, we have seen states making laws against trading in alcohol and prostitution and such laws are obeyed by visitors and indigenes alike without interference by Federal Government,” Dyegh said.

Also reacting to Dan Ali’s utterance in January, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State offered what is perhaps so far the best argument to deflate the puerile attribution of the killer herdsmen invasion to the enactment of anti-open grazing laws.

“If you say it is because of the law that killings by herdsmen are going on in Benue, is there any law prohibiting open

grazing in Adamawa State? Is there any one in Plateau State? Is there any law in Kaduna, Ondo, Bayelsa, Imo, Ebonyi, Delta or Edo State? In Edo State, cattle have taken over even schools,” Ortom had said in response to the minister’s statement.

Ortom was right. The minister’s statement contradicts the reality on ground, which is that these atrocities by the herdsmen – rape, large-scale destruction of houses and farmlands, and killing and maiming of innocent citizens – had been going on long before some states thought up the anti-grazing law. There was no anti-grazing law in Benue when the Agatu massacre of 2016 happened. In fact, there had been more than 47 armed attacks by suspected Fulani terrorists on Benue State before the enactment of the antiopen grazing law, which only came into effect on November 1, 2017, according to Lawrence Onoja, the state commissioner for information and orientation.

There was no anti-grazing law in Enugu when the Nimbo killings happened in 2016. No such law exists in Ondo, Delta, Kwara, Ogun, Edo, Kebbi, Oyo and many other states where there have been reported killings by Fulani herdsmen. Olu Falae, a former presidential candidate, was once kidnapped and his farm in Ondo State has been a target of perennial attacks by herdsmen, even though there is no anti-grazing law in the state.

The anti-grazing law is currently operational in Benue, Taraba and Ekiti States, where clashes between herdsmen and farmers have led to the loss of thousands of lives and destruction of valuable property. In each case, the law was simply a reaction to the wanton killings.

Only a few days ago, it was reported that the Abia State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill to control nomadic cattle-rearing and prohibit grazing routes in the state. The report quoted the speaker, Chikwendu Kalu, as saying the law, meant to checkmate the worrisome activities of herdsmen who have been a major threat to lives, property and peace of the land, “stipulates that every cattle entering into the state must be registered at the entry point to the state and must be conveyed in a vehicle, failure of which would attract seizure of the cattle and severe sanctions”.

So, if the Federal Government were sincere and had the interest of all Nigerians, not just a section, at heart; if it were not tacitly endorsing “what looks like a strategy of terror and pillaging to achieve an expansionist and hegemonic ambition”, then it would not hesitate to embrace the ranching option, which is practiced worldwide and has been generally accepted, even by the National Economic Council, as the only way forward. And then it would come up with a law prohibiting open grazing. For, as Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State said in a series of tweets on Tuesday, this, indeed, is the time for the Federal Government to support cattle ranching, rather than subjecting these herders “to a life of following cows through the bush from Yobe to Lagos” – unless, of course, there is something “to this old system of nomadic cattle rearing that they are not telling Nigerians”.

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PhotoSplash

L-R: Nehal Batavia, head of sales, Microfinance & Saas (Africa); Christos Panagopoulos, Principal Business Solutions Consultant, all of Temenos; Tope Dare, executive director, Inlaks; Adesemoye Adedeji, Deputy Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision (OFIS) Department, CBN; Renato Sam, Bid Manager, Temenos and Ondrej Valent - Senior Sales Manager Financial Services EMEA, HID at the Banking in the Digital Age forum in Lagos.

L-R: Adedeji Olowe, CEO, Trium Network Ltd; Musa Itopa Jimoh, deputy director, banking and payment system, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Sola Fanawopo, MD/CEO, eMaginationsPR; Christabel Onyejekwe, executive director, technology/operations, Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System [NIBSS], and Yele Okeremi, MD/CEO, Precise Financial Systems and President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria [ISPON], all speakers at the Ennovators Breakfast Series themed Open Banking - Are You Ready? organised by eMaginationsPR in Lagos

L-R: Seye Oyeleye, director general, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), and Adewale Adegoke, MD, Orbital Solutions Global Services, during the signing of MOU of South West Farmers data gathering on in Ibadan.

L-R: Saheed Fijabi, chairman, house of representatives committee on telecommunications; Muhammad Zia Siddiqui, chief operating officer, MTN; Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communication, and, Amina Usman , manager, Northern Regional Operations, MTN Nigeria at the Iftar in Abuja with MTN event recently

L-R: Seni Ogunkola, head, marketing communications, 9mobile; Boye Olusanya, chief executive officer, 9mobile, and Modupe Thani, head, sponsorship and experience, 9mobile, at the presentation of Cristal Awards won by 9mobile to the CEO in Lagos.

L-R: Akpan Ekpo, director-general, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management; Edoyemi Ogoh, head, interconnect and network monitoring/quality of service unit, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Ernest Ndukwe, chairman, Open Media Group/former executive vice-chairman, NCC; Prince Cookey, publisher/CEO of Business Journal, and Tope Smart, Group Managing Director/CEO, NEM Insurance Plc at the Business Journal 10th anniversary lecture and awards on infrastructure & economic growth: exploring the strategic alliance held in Lagos.

L-R: Philip Obi, incoming president, Lighthouse Prestige Toastmasters; Ademola Adewumi, past president, Lighthouse Toastmasters; Salome John , vice president, education, Lighthouse Prestige Toastmasters; Bethy Obieri, founder, Living Fountain Orphanage; Matthew Omoaka, president, Lighthouse Toastmasters, and Adejoke Adeshina, vice president, Lighthouse Toastmasters ,during the gift presentation to Living Fountain Orphanage on Toastmasters end of year held in Lagos at the weekend.

Grace Dababa (l) with members of the Giveback Project Management Team, FGGC Gboko Class of 91 and a cross section of some of the students in front of the newly renovated hostel block after it was commissioned.

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News

2019: Akeredolu calls for deeper unity in APC YOMI AYELESO, Akure

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ll members of Al l Pr o g r e s sives Congress (APC) in Ondo State have been charged by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to be more united ahead of the 2019 general election.

He made the call at the welcome ceremony organised for the newly inaugurated Ade Adetimehin, as the state chairman of APC in Ondo State, at the party Secretariat in Akure.

Akeredolu, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Ifedayo Abegunde, assured the new party chairman of his support for his success in office, calling for deeper unity among party members.

“As a united family, we are fortunate to have a chairman who is a team player but I will like to call for deeper unity among all our party members in the state to form a stronger front ahead of 2019 general election,” Akeredolu said.

Newly elected and inaugurated state Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo State chapter,

Akeredolu

Ade Adetimehin has promised that the party would be more united under his leadership through collective leadership.

He stated this during a welcome ceremony organised by the party to usher him in as the substantive chairman of the party in the state.

Adetimehin, who was welcomed at Akure Airport

BMO lauds Buhari over posthumous honour on Abiola

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ecognition of June 12 as Democracy Day and award of the country’s highest honours to Abiola, Kingibe and Fawehinmi are monumental testimonies of Muhammadu Buhari’s belief in democracy.

This is the view of the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) as it applauds the decision of President Buhari to bestow a posthumous honour on the late acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 presi-

Abiola

dential election, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

In a press statement signed by the Coordinator Austin Braimoh, and Secretary Cassidy Madueke the group says the conferment of the highest honour of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) on the late

Chief MKO Abiola, and the recognition of June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day is a historic decision by President Muhammadu Buhari. “By this singular action he has once more proved that he is a man of integrity who keeps promises,” he said.

“We note also that in keeping with his tradition of fidelity, President Muhammadu Buhari has also recognised the late human rights activist and June 12 campaigner, Chief Gani Fawehinmi with a Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).

“These recognitions have shown the appreciation of the Nigerian nation for the invaluable contributions of some of its past heroes and definitely this will serve as an encouragement for honest and committed Nigerians to continue to contribute to the development of the country.”

The group noted that President Buhari has lifted the spirit of most Nigerians, also with his decision to redeem some past commitments and promises of the Federal Government. “For instance, the Buhari administration has recently kept the Federal Government promise of giving a house to the former coach of the Super Eagles, Bonfere Jo.

by a retinue of party members led by the State Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, noted that through collective leadership right from ward level to state, members of the party would have a sense of belonging as they would be carried along in all the party’s activities.

Promising to be servant to all members, Adetimehin appealed to them to

support the administration of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for successful implementation of all his people-oriented programmes.

“I want to assure you that we shall all pilot the affairs of our party together. I am going to be your servant.

Collective leadership from unit to ward and to state level with this we shall make our party stronger.

“I want to declare here before you that this party will be more united under my leadership,” Adetimehin said.

Soliciting for further cooperation with the Arakurin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu-led administration, Adetimehin said: “I am equally calling upon you to give more support and cooperation for our governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in actualising his visions for our state through his various laudable projects across the state.

Earlier, speaker of the state of House of Assembly, Bamidele Oleyelogun charged the newly inaugurated chairman to leverage on the existing peace and unity among members of the party and chart a new way towards winning all the elective positions in

the 2019 general election, including returning President Muhammadu Buhari to office.

State Commissioner for Agriculture, Otunba Gboyega Adefarati who was among commissioners that accompanied the chairman to the party Secretariat at 17, Oyemekun Road, Akure described Adetimehin as a loyal and consistent progressive.

He charged party members to work with him, Adetimehin, to see the party triumph in 2019 general election.

Among other commissioners present at the event are Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Otunba Timehin Adelegbe, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Lola Fagbemi; Commissioner for Natural Resources, Rasheed Badmus; Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Yemi Olowolabi; among others.

Other government functionaries present included Chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Femi Idris; Special Adviser to the governor on Community Development and all local government caretaker chairmen.

Oyo releases N9.7bn for LG workers’ salaries, pensions Akinremi Feyisipo, Ibadan

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he Oyo State Government has released the sum of N9 billion for the payment of salaries and pensions for the workers under the payroll of Local Government Councils in the state.

Bi m b o Ko l a d e , Th e state commissioner for Local Government and Ch i e f t a i n c y Ma t t e r s , who made the disclosure, explained that the sum of Nine billion, Seven Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Nine Hundred and Thirty Eight Thousand, Sixty-Eight Naira and Eighty four kobo (N9,776,938,064.84) was released for the payment of salaries and pensions for Local Government Staff for various months.

Kolade said that part of the money will also be used for the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries for the months of March and April 2018, Teachers’ leave bonus for 2016 and primary school pensioners’ pension.

Th e C o m m i s s i o n e r

explained that out of the over N9bn, the sum of N4,817,690,039.31 will be used for the payment of primary school Teachers’ s a l a r y f o r Ma r c h a n d Apr il, 2 0 1 8 an d le ave bonus for 2016, while N438,752,827.86 is for payment of retired primary school pensioners.

He added that the sum of N4,520,495,197.67 will be used for the payment of salary and pension for Local Government Staff, and that the money has been disbursed for local government councils across the state for the immediate

Kolade

payment of salaries of their workforce.

Kolade stressed that the money released will reduce the outstanding arrears owed workers at the local government level ranging from one to six months, urging the Local Government Council chairmen to use the money for the purpose for which government has approved its disbursement.

He s t a t e d t h a t t h e government remains committed to the welfare of the workers and people of Oyo State, assuring that efforts are being made to clear the backlog of pensions and gratuities owed the retired primary school teachers.

Th e c o m m i s s i o n e r pointed out that efforts that led to the payment of N200million for gratuities of pensioners at the state level is being replicated at the local government level with the release of over N400million, noting that the government will continue to strive hard to ensure that workers get their dues promptly.

NGO offers solution to arrest farmers/ herdsmen conflicts in the country Victoria Nnakaike, Lokoja

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oseph Shopade, a consultant with Techno serve and a renowned conflict expert, has called on government and stakeholders in the agricultural sector to look into the farmers/herdsmen clashes through removal of the issues that engender the conflicts.

Speaking in Keffi, during a two-day Conflict Management and Resolution training for stakeholders from Kaduna, Benue and Kogi states for effective interventions in farmers/herders conflicts organised by Technoserve and Synergos Nigeria, a nongovernmental organisation ( NGO ), said the Onion Model approach was best option as it enabled resolution of the issues that resulted in the crisis which were mostly threat to livelihood of the parties.

The participants, who were trained on application of 10 modules of conflict resolution, expressed delight that they were now better equipped to handle conflicts of interests between the two warring sides.

BusinessDay equally gathered that the participants were drawn from the Ministries of Agriculture, Fadama and other key departments, Parastatals, security agencies and the media from the three states.

Obosi Philip, Technoserve Project Coordinator for the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA), while explaining the essence of the workshop said the workshop was informed by the prevailing clashes in Benue and parts of Kogi and Kaduna States.

“We deem it fit to have this workshop to re-orientate decision makers in key agricultural sectors as well as security officers on how to mediate and bring about peaceful resolution.

“It also enables the participants to mediate in conflict situations in rural areas because it is affecting the overall agricultural production and key value chains in those states,” Philip.

Contributing, Stephen Faleti, a research fellow at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, said escalation dynamics were ignored at the onset of conflicts, adding that there must have been early signals which were ignored or not adequately addressed.

Also speaking, Professor Ayo Hammed, a Counseling and Personnel Psychologist emphasised that there is need for proper understanding of the background of the conflicts and involvement of various primary and secondary (shadow) parties.

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News 2019: Stakeholders express fear over insecurity, corruption James Kwen, Abuja

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head of the 2019 general elections, stakeholders on electoral matters have expressed fear over the negative consequences of insecurity and corruption on the conduct and outcome of the forthcoming polls.

The stakeholders contended that unlike the 2015 general elections when Boko Haram insurgency in the North East was the only security campaign issue, farmers- herders crises in the North Central and other parts of the country would be another campaign issue in 2019.

They also noted that acts of corruption such as buying of permanent voter cards, buying and selling of votes by electorates experienced particularly in the last Anambra Governorship elections are strong indicators that the forthcoming general elections could be worse than previous elections if urgent steps are not taken.

The stakeholders comprising Civil Society Organisations, election experts and academics made the assertions in Abuja during a policy dialogue on the state of the nation organised by Say No Campaign Nigeria in collabo-

ration with the MacArthur Foundation.

Idayat Hassan, director, Centre for Democracy and Development, observed that the high level of insecurity in many parts of the country presents a difficult task for the conduct of free and fair elections in 2019.

Hassan decried the increasing number of internally displaced persons across the country is a challenge unlike in 2015 when the situation was prevalent only in three North Eastern states and easier for the Independent National Electoral Commission to manage.

She thought of the possibility of sending the IDPs go home before the elections and called on government to do something immediately to ensure that the people return to their homes before the general elections so that they would not be disenfranchised.

“Containing violence in all parts of the country, coming from the Niger Delta, from the Northe East, in the North Central has actually created more challenges.

“Coming to 2019, the herder - farmers conflict will replace Boko Haram as a campaign issue. The pervading issue of insecurity and the ability to conduct election will become a challenge.

Ayade to begin construction of 2nd flyover in C/River MIKE ABANG, Calabar

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overnor Ben Ayade has said that arrangements are in top gear to commence the construction of a second fly-over around Odukpani Junction axis, in Odukpani Local Government Area in Cross River State.

Ayade disclosed this while addressing a mammoth crowd from Generation Foundation who paid him a visit at the Governor’s Office in Leopard Road, Calabar to show solidarity with the governor in his second term bid to serve the people of the state again in 2019.

According to Ayade, the multi-million naira project being handled by a Turkish Construction firm is going to ease traffic in the area when completed; adding that the policy thrust of his administration is to ensure that projects are evenly distributed across the three senatorial districts of the state.

Ayade

“We are constructing the first flyover that is one of the best in Africa in Odukpani junction. We have mobilised contractors to site to commence work,” Ayade said.

The governor thanked the crowd for the solidarity showed him, and promised to reciprocate the gesture when he returns to office in

June 12: APC urges FG to honour Kudirat James Kwen, Abuja

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he All Progressives Congress(APC)has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to also confer national honour on the late Kudirat, wife of MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 annulled Presidential election.

This is as APC joined Nigerians from all walks of life in commending Buhari for declaring June 12 as Democracy Day and granting posthumous award of Nigeria’s highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) to Abiola.

Bolaji Abdullahi, APC National Publicity Secretary in a statement said the party believes that “Alhaja Kudirat Abiola who paid the supreme price with her assassination in Lagos on June 4, 1996 at the heat of the mobilisation for the restoration of her husband’s mandate as the winner of the 1993 presidential election, deserves to be honoured in her own right as a heroine and martyr of democracy in Nigeria”.

According to Abdullahi, APC recalled how Kudirat mobilised market women, students, activists and other human rights community against military rule and the struggle for a truly democratic nation.

He said the party equally commended the decision to honour Abiola’s running mate, Babagana Kingibe, and

the late human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi with the second highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON).

“In taking this courageous and patriotic decision, the President has again displayed a sincerity of purpose and his well-known penchant for doing the right thing irrespective of political and sundry

considerations.

“As a party, we remain resolved in our struggle to deepen our democracy and continue to improve on transparency and credibility of our electoral systems. We reiterate that regardless of its imperfections, democracy remains the best form of government that can best serve the interest of our people.

L-R: Head, Human Resources, Shared Services, Lafarge Africa Plc, Oluwakemi Akinsinde, presenting an award to Head, Corporate and Transactional Banking, Human Capital Business Partners, Tope Popoola; and Head, Learning & Development, Godwin Akpong, both of Stanbic IBTC, at the 2018 Human Resources Practitioners Awards in Lagos recently

2019.

He said that the era when the state used to depend on the Federal Government for oil money is over.

Ayade, who was moved by the chanting by the mammoth crowd from the seven local government areas of Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Calabar South, Calabar Municipality,Odukpan,

Akamkpa and Biase in the Southern Senatorial district of the state, said: “It is very rare to see the governor being praised on seat. Today, I see people send me text to tell me that they are happy that salaries have been paid.”

Earlier, Orok Duke, chairman, Cross River State Sports Commission who is a former deputy speaker in the state, said that with the group behind the governor, PDP has the capacity to capture Calabar to Borno.

Duke assured the governor that because of the strides that he had recorded since he came on board three years ago, members of the group were fully prepared to tackle their political opponents in the field to install the governor in 2019, through popular votes.

Etim Inyang, director-general of the organisation, said that the group had mapped out strategies to win the gubernatorial election and install Ayade as governor of Cross River State again in 2019.

Wheat importation is bane of rising bread price, concern for bakers - Akande

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s the price of bread continues to increase daily across the country, Femi Akande, CEO, Treasure Bakery, blames the sad development on the high cost of importation of wheat, which manufacturers here turn into flour, the major raw material for the bakery industry.

Akande, who wished wheat could be sourced locally in commercial quantity, disclosed the challenges faced by bakers in country recently in Lokoja, Kogi State, while interacting with BusinessDay. He pointed out that lack of local sources of wheat has resulted in manufacturers still depending heavily on importation as custom duties and other payments manufacturers make have been the bakers’ headache.

He called on the Federal Government to reduce all the payments for manufacturers to encourage more patronage from bakers most of whom are planning to down tool due to high price of raw materials.

Akande equally decried

the fact that it takes long for government to listen to the plight of the people.

“It is unfortunate that government listen to the plight of the people often when they embark on industrial action. The federal government should broker dialogue between manufacturers and bakers, and also intervene though some other incentives that will ensure availability of raw material at good rates”.

He urged the Federal government to come out with a programme that will reduce the burden of importation as it will fizzle down the agitation for down tooling.

Akande also urged consumers to look out for quality and nutritious bread with NAFDAC / SON logo, adding that the regulatory agencies are certifying bakeries now.

He further enlightened consumers, saying there is NAFDAC/SON logo on bread now to eradicate bromate and sachrin from bread, adding that bromate and sachrin are poisonous and should not be used.

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News Akwa Ibom moves to actualize Ibom deep seaport project project.

Addressing the Technical Committee on Ibom Industrial City and Deep Seaport, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, consultants and other stakeholders after the conference, Governor Udom Emmanuel told the bidders that they would not have asked for a better investment opportunity than the Ibom deep seaport.

Governor Emmanuel described the proposed Ibom Seaport as being in a good position to serve the southsouth, south-east and middle belt up to Abuja while also servicing the Gulf of Guinea.

The Governor explained the challenges of operating a single seaport in Nigeria and stated that a country of over 170 million people cannot be

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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he Akwa Ibom State Government has made another significant leap in its bid to bring to fruition the Ibom deep seaport project.

The port project has a natural habour and is being developed by the state government as part of the Ibom industrial city project.

Three firms t are pushing for the development of the project following a pre-bid conference in Uyo, the state capital.

The Consortium include Bollore and Power China, China Road Breach Corporation, CRBC and China Harbour Engineering Company of Nigeria are the International firms that are vying for the development of the

Emmanuel

10 years after, Adedibu’s ...

Continued from page 1 pre-independence period and mentored by a leader of the Ibadan Peoples Party, Samuel Lanlehin who was also a former teacher of his; he became a member of the Ibadan People’s Party, and then joined the Action Group under Obafemi Awolowo.

During the Western regional crisis of the 1960s, he was arraigned on allegations bordering on thuggery along with his friend Lamidi Alasaro.

In 1954, Adedibu lost a local government election seat, however, two years later, he won a seat with the help of associates such as Busari Adelakun.

He subsequently became the chairman of the Action Group in Ibadan. He was in the party for much of the politics of the era.

Du r i n g t h e s e c o n d republic, he joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) led by Adisa Akinloye and Richard Akinjide.

He became an increasing force in politics during the military reign of General Ibrahim Babangida.

He saw tremendous success in the third democratic dispensation of the early 1990s, where his group was able to win a number of seats in the local, state and federal elections. He also gained national attention when he was jailed prior to gubernatorial elections in December 1991.

In the mid 1990s, Adedibu earned considerable admonition from many

members of his constituency for his romance with the Abacha administration which had little intention of solving the June 12 political crisis in favor of the presumed winner of the June 12 elections. Though, he was allied with Arisekola Alao who tried to negotiate a conditional bail for the Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the election.

In 1998, he was involved in a 2 million man march for the prolongation of the Abacha dictatorship I n 2 0 0 3 , Ad e d i b u backed Senator Rasheed Ladoja with logistics for the Oyo State seat in consideration for earning a say in government appointees.

However, after the duo became victorious at the

Adedibu

polls, a rift between Adedibu and Ladoja soon surfaced when Ladoja failed to honour most of Adedibu’s list of persons for consideration as commissioners. A Ladoja backed PDP executive council later expelled Adedibu from the party and allegations that Adedibu had demanded the sharing of a 65 million security vote also surfaced. By the beginning of 2006, Adedibu had garnered the support of about 18 loyal state assemblymen to seek the impeachment of Ladoja which was carried out after a panel investigated allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.

Being called “the strong man of Ibadan politics” nobody assumed any political

post in Oyo state without Adedibu’s approval.

His son, Kamorudeen Adekunle Adedibu, was elected Senator for Oyo South in April 2007.Senator Teslim Folarin, elected to the Senate for Oyo Central was his protégé.

[6] Rasheed Ladoja, who became governor of the state in May 2003, was another protégé, although

by August 2004, Ladoja and Adedibu were locked in a fierce struggle over allocation of government appointees.

Adedibu died at the University College Hospital in Ibadan on 11 June 2008, leaving the chiefly rank and title of the Ekarun of Ibadan to be assumed by one of his subordinates in the clan’s royal line of succession.

fed from only one seaport.

“People try to compare our port with others, this is a natural draught, you do not need to worry about dredging or any other thing,” the Governor assured.

He said that the Port will be digital with at least 4 Exits to ease traffic congestion within and outside the facility. The Governor expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the support in respect of the project and assured that the state and other stakeholders involved in the development of Ibom Seaport will get it done in compliance with international standard.

He lauded the technical committee on the project saying “they have worked seriously to get to where we are today. Sometimes I

refuse thanking them but I thank God for the wisdom in setting up this committee.”

He also thanked the Nigerian Ports Authority, the consultants and others, saying that the step taken by Akwa Ibom State to build a seaport is that which shall be of benefit to generations unborn.

He pointed out that latest technology will be applied to make sure goods are cleared at a very fast pace to enable investors realize the return on their investment right on time. The State While presenting an address, the Chairman, Ibom Deep Seaport and Industrial City Technical Committee, Mfon Usoro described the pre bid conference as a milestone in the quest to development the sea port adding that the preferred bidder would be announced soon.

Deji of Akure Calls for ending of zoning of the Presidency on Moghalu’s visit

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he Deji of Akure, His Royal Majesty, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, yesterday, called for the ending of geographical zoning in the determination of who should lead Nigeria as President and Commanderin-Chief.

HRM Aladelusi made the call while receiving in his palace Professor Kingsley Moghalu, aspirant of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in the 2019 presidential election. Moghalu was at the palace to pay a courtesy visit to the Deji.

In an internal arrangement within then-ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the presidency was to rotate between the northern and southern parts of the country, presumably every eight years. But the extraconstitutional arrangement, which presumed a one-party dominance of the presidency, collapsed in 2011 when then-President Goodluck Jonathan contested and won the presidential election after succeeding President Umaru Yar’Adua, who died in office three years into his tenure.

In his unreserved call for merit as the overarching qualifying criterion for deciding who should lead the country, the Deji said: “If President Buhari’s son is qualified, he should be able to run for the office.”

He contextualised this in the example of the United States, where George W. Bush became president

eight years after his father, George H. W. Bush, left office as President.

Moghalu said the advanced countries of the world elect their leaders mainly on the merits of their policies and qualifications.

He said choosing leaders on the basis of their capacity, competence and character, as opposed to their ethnicity, is critical for any country to make progress, and that this principle applies to Nigeria.

“Zoning has failed. After 19 years of zoning, the country is divided, the economy remains weak and more Nigerians are trapped below the poverty line,” he said.

Moghalu said he is running for President in 2019, based on his education, leadership experience gained over 17 years in the United Nations (during which period he rose from the entry level to the highest career rank, helping to rebuild broken nations, including Croatia, Cambodia and Rwanda), knowledge of economic management as a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and his vision to lead Nigeria into the 21st Century with great ideas and resolve.

He further echoed the Deji’s view of “zoning” by asserting that the framework is not in the Nigerian constitution.

He said: “I am running for president, not as an Igbo candidate, not as a Yoruba candidate, and not as a candidate of the north. I am running as a well-qualified Nigerian.”

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Benue varsity VC warns freshmen against cultism, alcoholism, others ...as Institution matriculates 5,770 Benjamin Agesan,Makurdi.

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enue State University Makurdi, weekend matriculated 5,770 students into its various undergraduate programmes during its 26th matriculation ceremony out of the 28,390 candidates that took the university as first choice.

Addressing the matriculating students, Moses Kembe, vice chancellor of the institution, charged them against relishing their freedom in wanton abandonment of cardinal purpose of being in the university, but to attend classes, undertake all assignments and study hard for examination and knowledge.

Kembe, who is the fifth vice chancellor of the university, stressed the institution’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice/ misconduct, cultism, improper dressing, drug abuse, homo-sexualism, lesbianism, alcoholism, prostitution, romantic engagements between students and staff, among others, adding that appropriate disciplinary measures would be meted out to erring students.

While appealing to publicspirited individuals and other relevant stakeholders in the

university to assist in the overall development of the students, the vice chancellor urged the students to always remain focused and dedicated to their academics by constantly patronising the university’s ultra modern library and book shop, which according to him, were wellstocked with current titles, insisting that the sale of hand-

outs and books by lecturers directly to students was illegal and was prohibited.

He urged the students to report to the appropriate authority on campus any compellation by anybody to purchase any material.

Kembe, who identified some of the major challenges confronting the institution to include lecture halls, lecture

theatres, offices and hostel accommodation, among others, thanked the visitor to the university, the State Governor, Samuel Ortom, for his immense investments and interest in the university as well as other well-meaning Nigerians, who he said, were contributing their quota to the growth and development of the university.

L-R: Chuks Oluigbo, assistant editor, BDSUNDAY; Peter Ehigiator, managing director, Orasopee Communication Ventures; Ellen Kolawole, senior pastor, Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP); Bishop James Kolawole, national overseer, COGOP, Nigeria/Ghana; Olalude Oluwasegun, head, IT Services, Orasopee Communication; Adeyemi Adetayo, head, Training, Orasopee Communication, and Praise Owonubi, resident pastor, COGOP, at the official inauguration of Orasopee Communication Ventures in Lagos, recently.

June 12 Democracy Day not political - Ojudu

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pecial Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu has disagreed with the insinuations that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent declaration of June 12 as the new date for Democracy Day is politically motivated.

Ojudu, who spoke exclusively to Business Day, noted that as a responsive leader, Buhari has only done the

bidding of most Nigerians after 25 years and it is not targeted at scooping votes from the South West as wrongly speculated.

He stressed that South West remains the President’s stronghold and the massive votes he obtained there in 2015 would rather increase in 2019, hence the new democracy day is not a campaign strategy but affirmation of the actual date democracy was rooted in Nigeria. “It is a welcome development and it has nothing

to do with politics or 2019.

The President has done a lot of things to earn him second term. So, the June 12 democracy day instituted by the president is not in any way connected with the 2019 general elections”, Ojudu maintained.

Buhari on Wednesday announced that Nigeria’s Democracy Day has been shifted from May 29 to June 12. The president also announced that the late Moshood Abiola who was the winner of the annulled June

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overnor Samuel Ortom has stated that no matter how long it takes, ranching as the best method of animal husbandry will eventually be accepted nationwide.

He spoke on Friday in

Naka, Gwer West Local Government Area, during the traditional marriage between his friend, Asema Achado and Freda Nguamo Damna.

Governor Ortom also noted that Benue’s position on the matter is being vindicated daily. He sighted resolutions of the Northern and Southern Governor’s fora, National Economic Council,

as well as, the most recent enactment of the law by the Abia State Government as indications that ranching was inevitable in the 21st century.

The Governor stated that just like the case of the June 12 presidential election, it took 25 years for the federal government to officially acknowledge that Moshood Kashimawo Abiolo won the

The experience of Elizabeth (Queen Nwokoye), Professor Johnbull’s daughter, in her home-teacher job with the wards under her tutelage, is a must-seeforpatronsofhomecall teachers.

Entitled Expensive Schools, the new episode will first be broadcast at 6.00 p.m. on Sunday on DSTV Africa Magic Family and GOTV Channel 2.

There will be a repeat broadcast on Thursday at 9.30 p.m. on the cable TV channels and on NTA Network, NTA International on DSTV channel 251 and NTA on StarTimes at 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday. Anambra Broadcasting Service will also broadcast on at 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday.

Viewers who tune in at those times will see the dramatisation of the nexus between the huge amount of school fees paid by parents and the brilliance or academic attainments of their children.

They will have a good laugh seeing products of less expensive schools compete with their counterparts in less prestigious institutions.

In addition, the fate of parents who leave the training of their children entirely to the teachers because the school fees are high and the true face of schools who have turned the education profession into gold mines will be on display in the satire/comedy.

Ooni signs treaty with Brazil to name Bahia as headquarters of Yoruba in America BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA

12, 1993 presidential election would be posthumously awarded the highest honour in the land, GCFR conferred only on presidents and heads of state in Nigeria.

Since the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election adjudged as the most free and fair in the Nigeria’s history by Ibrahim Babangida, the then military president and with the return of democratic rule on May 29, 1999, there have been agitation for June 12 to be made Democracy Day.

Governor Ortom urges President Buhari to accept ranching Benjamin Agesan, Makurdi.

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anayo O. Kanayo or KOK in Globacom’s blockbuster drama series, Professor Johnbull, has taken up the cause of children’s education and in the next edition of the show.

Acting as Professor Johnbull, the erudite and allknowing community pedagogue of a cosmopolitan community in the heart of Enugu town in South Eastern Nigeria, KOK cautions parents against shovelling the child-training responsibility to teachers.

The penchant of many parents and guardians to send their children and wards to expensive schools, believing those schools are synonymous with good education calls for urgent scrutiny. The edition presents to viewers the great pains parents go through to sustain their children in expensive schools in a bid to keep up with the Joneses.

Viewers of the show this weekend will see KOK counsel his “proximate people” on the place of money in getting rounded, moral and sound education for children and postulate on what constitutes complete academic exercise, and which roles society, educational institutions, proprietors, teachers and parents should play in the upbringing of their children.

...says Brazilian cities have much Yoruba colouration

…It should take effect next year - Hassan James Kwen, Abuja

TV series cautions parents against abdicating child-training responsibility to teachers

presidential election.

He commended President Buhari for the courage to acknowledge the truth and urged him to accept the same principle in the matter of ranching.

Governor Ortom stated that his concern for now was for peace to return to Benue communities more than any other thing else.

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ba Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife and imperial monarch of the Yorubas, has signed a cultural treaty with the Brazilian government naming Bahia, a state of Brazil, as the headquarters of Yoruba race in America, just as he described the city of Ile Ife, Nigeria as a twin city to that of Salvador, the capital of Bahia State in Brazil.

The agreement was signed in Casa-Pefetora, office of the Mayor of Salvador

by ACM Neto, the mayor, after the bill had been passed by the Congress sequel to the motion moved by Hon. Mauricio Trindade.

Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, signed the treaty on behalf of Ile-Ife and entire Yoruba race during his ongoing 10-day tour of Brazil.

Giving insight into the benefits inherent in the treaty, Ayo Omidire, director, Institute of African Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, said Ile-Ife being declared a twin of the city of Salvador, has opened a

gateway of relationship between the city of Ile Ife and Salvador; a town with the second largest population of blacks outside Africa.

Omidire said the city of Ile Ife, with the treaty has been given opportunity of cultural exchange, artistic and economic empowerment.

A statement by Moses Olafare, director of media and public relations, Ooni’s Palace, quoted the treaty as saying “authorities of Bahia State will send the treaty to the Ministry of External Affairs to give it diplomatic backing.

“The treaty is for the entire Yoruba race. Ile-Ife was mentioned specifically being the headquarters of the Yoruba race. So, as Ife is the recognised ancestral home of the Yoruba people, Bahia is henceforth seen as the headquarters of Yoruba race in Americas. All Yoruba speaking states will benefit from the opportunities listed in the agreement.”

The agreement reads in parts: “With this agreement, the city of Ile Ife has been twinned with the city of Salvador, the capital of Bahia State, Brazil.

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President Muhammadu Buhari signs the Not Too Young To Run Bill into law

Not just about age Continued from Page 1 have waited here for one year to meet the constitutional bar of section 131(b) before he began his movement, waited on INEC to register his En Marche as a political party,” wrote a certain Abdul Mahmud.

Another wind of optimism is currently blowing across the youth population in the country following the signing into law of the age reduction bill, popularly called #NotTooYoungToRun Bill, by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 31.

But at the same time, the signing of the bill has also once again drawn attention to the same old structural defects in the political system, with many analysts and players in the political process saying age had never been the issue. They argue that even though the age qualification for the office of the president had been 40 all along, the country had never produced any president within that age range since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

They are also raising questions regarding education, experience, capabilities and preparedness of the Nigerian youths to hold high political offices.

The bill, as assented to by President

Buhari, reduces the age qualification for the office of the president from 40 to 35; House of Representatives from 30 to 25, and State House of Assembly from 30 to 25. The age qualification for governor and Senate was retained at 35 years.

But those who spoke to BDSUNDAY stressed that while the signing of the law was a good omen for democracy, it may not make the needed impact because of the complexity of the Nigerian political system.

It’s beyond age Chidi Okoro, a frontline governorship aspirant in Imo State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), acknowledged the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ law as a step in the right direction which could expand and open up the Nigerian political space.

With youths making up over 65 percent of Nigeria’s population, Okoro said it was important to open up the political space for them to play more direct and active part to shape a future that would largely be theirs.

He, however, contended that age had never really been the main issue in Nigerian politics and governance as there

were also issues of competence, as well as funding, which deter participation of more interested people, especially the youths.

“It’s been more about competence – the preparation and readiness including capability of the persons we elect into office. That’s a major clog that we should look to unlock,” he said.

As part of the process, Okoro advocated that the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ law should be followed up with more actions, especially the Independent Candidacy Bill, which would further open up the space for everyone, especially the youths.

“But the youths have to prepare for the burden that leadership is. We must put more emphasis at enabling our youths to build that capability,” he said.

“One radical way to start to do this more will be to reserve minimum of 30 percent of political office appointments for youths. This provides our youths with a fast-track development to build capability. The other more conventional way is to develop our education, especially the basic education, to prepare our younger ones for life in leadership,” he said.

He also called for empowerment of the youths through job creation, which

would prepare the youths for leadership in a more consistent manner.

Nkem Akinsoto, US-based writer and trustee, Strategy and Innovation for Development Initiative (SI4DEV), a nongovernmental organisation registered last November in Nigeria, is of the view that age was never the biggest barrier for younger people to participate in elections in Nigeria.

“Only a handful of names come to mind as I think of young people running for the presidency; people like [Nuhu] Ribadu, [Dele] Momodu, and probably Chris Okotie, and these people were nowhere near 40. Goodluck Jonathan emerged as the youngest president at over 50 years after climbing up the political ladder, and aided by a series of fortuitous events,” Akinsoto said in a Facebook chat with BDSUNDAY. “In summary, the problem isn’t just age limit but the political atmosphere in the country, which is toxic turnoff for a lot of law-abiding young people. The steep nomination fees are so insurmountable that many aspirants resort to illegal activities to meet up. Older corrupt politicians are there to take advantage, offering filthy lucre in exchange for connections and

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votes,” she said.

Akinsoto said she was more interested in seeing the clause for independent candidacy pass, which unfortunately did not happen. If it had passed, Akinsoto said, the Independent Candidacy law would have allowed young people and not-so-young aspirants run on their own terms and avoid the dirty and sometimes dangerous tangle of party politics.

She, however, said with the consistency and tenacity of the young people who pushed the bill and saw it to passage, all hope was not lost.

“Because the young people who saw this bill from infancy pushed it through to this point, I definitely believe they are fully capable, committed and resolved to see their dreams to reality, same as if they were to run and secure any political position,” Akinsoto said.

“One young man caught my attention during the last Lagos State local government elections, Mr. Rhodes Vivour, an experienced and competent professional.

There are more like him, some of whom I’m working with in SI4DEV. I look forward to having men and women like this run and win elections in Nigeria,” she said.

Babajide Ogunsanwo, data analyst, while appearing on Channels Television Sunrise Daily on Friday, June 1, said it shouldn’t be about age but about performance.

“If you look at the United States, even though their constitution allows them to have a 35-year-old president, never in the history of the country have they had a president in his 30s. The three youngest presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, were in their 40s,” Ogunsanwo said.

“So when we look at the performance of a government, we should not focus on age, we should focus on deliverables and the things that they actually do,” he said.

Ogunsanwo said rather than talk about age, he would want to see aspiring young leaders being more specific about how they would grow the Nigerian economy.

“As long as the youth focus on their age as their right to democracy, they wouldn’t go too far,” he said.

Ayo Kusamotu, a lawyer and former House of Representatives aspirant in Osun State, said the coming onboard of the law was a plus to the political system.

He, however, stressed the urgent need for government to equip the youths and provide an enabling environment for their development.

Kusamotu advocated for a total overhaul of the political system in the country and enthronement of internal democracy within the political parties, adding that few youths could make inroad in the current political system in Nigeria even with the law.

“Yes, the law may be a progress, but it goes beyond that. I would advise government to concentrate on providing enabling environment for youth development in the country, build schools, give soft loans to young entrepreneurs, and build hospitals.

That is what we need,” Kusamotu said.

“However, I think our political system, as it is, is very complex. So, it goes beyond just the law, we also need a total overhaul of the system. Look at the political parties, there is no democracy, there is godfatherism, the process is highly monetized. All these need to be checked if we are to make any headway,” he said.

Nigerian youths urge President Buhari to sign the Not Too Young To Run Bill

Babalola Olumuyiwa Aschor, a youth leader in Kowa Party, while advocating that certain percentage of positions be reserved for the youths, charged government to check the monetisation of the electoral system if any progress would be achieved.

“The Not-Too-Young-To-Run law will only improve youth awareness and consciousness in Nigeria’s politicking; that’s the best it will achieve. The law won’t get youths into governance,” Aschor said.

He said that if the government was serious about opening up opportunities for youths to participate in the political process, it must create level playing ground for them as well.

“Reducing age limit to run for public elective positions does little. Political parties must be made to allocate 50 percent of their elective positions to young aspirants within the ages of 25-40. Government should look into election funding. Cost of nomination forms within political parties is way too high for an average Nigerian youth. I ask for this aggressive approach because we need to put an end to this recycled system. Nigeria has recycled leaders more than any country in the world,” Aschor said.

For Aliyu Yero, a Political Science lec-

It’s been more about competence – the preparation and readiness including capability of the persons we elect into office.

That’s a major clog that we should look to unlock

turer at Kaduna State University (KASU), Nigerian youths are not yet ready to take up the mantle of leadership of the country.

Yero advised young people aspiring to run for any political office to first seek guidance and mentorship from experienced hands versed in Nigerian history and politics for effective leadership.

He argued that Nigerian youths lack the required skills to run a political office effectively due to their poor quality education, calling on government to restructure the education system for the youth to have access to qualitative education that would make them better citizens.

“There is no doubt that the future of Nigeria is in the hands of the youth, but young people of today are not like those of yesterday. The literacy rate is low compared to other developed nations,” Yero said.

“Inasmuch as there is a need for new ideas as the world is gradually turning to a global village, the youth must have qualitative education first before running for political office. Education plays a vital role in the development of any nation.

Therefore, government should give priority to qualitative education that will be accessible and affordable. It is the only tool that will reshape and reorient the youths towards developing their nation,” he said.

Diaspora voting Chris Nwokobia, a 2011 presidential candidate under the platform of Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN), told BDSUNDAY on phone in May last year that for the optimism of the youths to bear fruit, there was need for Nigerians to ask for a legislation that would allow Nigerians in Diaspora to vote in 2019. He added that if the bill is eventually passed into law, about 5 million Nigerians resident in different countries could vote in embassies and online and that would make a huge impact.

“The bill is already before the National Assembly. I think some of the lawmakers are already getting the wind of what is happening. The bill that they passed on collation of results in polling units it is their greatest undoing; it means that at that points where most elections are rigged may just be difficult for them now,” Nwokobia told our correspondent.

“If from the polling centres election

results are posted they are going to have problem if they attempt doctoring the results posted already. All things being equal, the level of transparency in the next election will definitely be higher,” he said.

Reality check For the #NotTooYoungToRun Movement which championed the bill, all of the above facts are not lost on them.

In a statement issued at a press conference following the signing of the law by the president, the movement acknowledged that the signing of the Bill marked the beginning of a new era in Nigerian politics, which would enhance “democratic development, deepen intergenerational dialogue and learning, reduce political violence and instability, enhance competitive politics, but above all, fulfil an essential requirement of democracy which is to facilitate the implementation of the fundamental right of political participation for Nigeria’s youth, which form 65 percent of the population and 53 percent of registered voters”.

While hailing the signing of the bill as “an affirmation of our belief in inclusive democracy” and that “the campaign has shown that democracy thrives when citizens assert their sovereignty through effective, strategic and systematic engagement with democratic institutions”, the movement also recognised the fact that that alone was not sufficient to guarantee youth representation in political offices.

“It will require reducing the cost of politics, democratic primaries within political parties, affirmative action/quotas and, most importantly, credible and peaceful elections,” it said.

The movement, therefore, demanded, among other things, that “political parties should reserve 50 percent of party tickets for capable, competent, and morally upright youth aspirants across all elections in 2019”; that the National Assembly should “expedite action on assenting to electoral reform bills bordering on limiting campaign expenditure and cost of securing party nomination”, and that political parties should “uphold the principles of transparency, democracy and accountability in party primaries”.

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Feature From ship without direction to highest business point in Niger Delta At 60, Emi Membre-Otaji, leader of the OPS in Rivers State reveals to IGNATIUS CHUKWU how he cut from medical brilliance to a topmost entrepreneur and investor.

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mi Membre-Otaji, president of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), 60 today, June 10, 2018, had blazed away with academic brilliance from the Baptist High School in Port Harcourt and continued this at the University of Lagos (LUTH) where he graduated on the dot in medicine.

In an exclusive interview, he revealed how he was fascinated by politics and became the board chairman of the West Africa Glass Industry (WAGI) early in life. This forced him to study deeply at business schools to cope. Soon after, he chose to be Commissioner for Commerce/Industry instead of Health (though it did not materialise), just to apply the tricks of recapitalising government-owned companies without government funds.

The prospects in entrepreneurship forced him to delve fully into business and investment, only just returning to medicine. Today, his dream and aims are wide at sea; maritime, off-shore fishing, location service jobs, oil/gas, movement industry, etc. He wants everyone to understand his life as that of ship at sea without an engine or propeller but remotely controlled by unseen forces.

Below are excerpts: Love for military medi-corps I wanted to join the military after doing my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1993 Port Harcourt at the Military Hospital, but I was dissuaded due to fears of possible stunted career for not being a core soldier. The highest you could get to was Major General.

I was raised by a single parent (my mum) after my dad’s death.

For her sake, I did my NYSC in Port Harcourt, but certain to reside in Lagos and from there travel to the S, not UK. LUTH was the envy of all.

I completed my NYSC in 1985. Just before I left for Lagos, I just dropped a letter of application at the Teaching Hospital in Town area of Port Harcourt where the old General Hospital was but without any serious consideration, and zoomed to Lagos. I was working in Lagos in a private clinic.

Again, I say, my growing up was like a ship in a sea without engine or propeller but remotely controlled.

This is because even when I came back to Lagos, I did not have a plan.

I eventually loved to go to the US because I had relations there doing well in the medical field. My life was about getting to the bridge and cross it, not about planning ahead.

Today, I tell my children, plan before you get to the bridge. I took what came to me. So, I got set to go to the US. One day in my uncle’s house in Ikoyi. His name is Lloyd. One day, we had a visitor; Nimi Briggs (then Dr, later Professor, and much later Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt). He came with a letter of offer from the Uniport offering me a job in the Department of Gynecology. See, my five years visa was in my hand. All I needed was ticket and I could pick it up any minute. I was dreaming of earning $23,000 per year in the US. Now, this offer! I was depressed and confused.

Yes, I had made up my mind to be a gynecologist, but I was not going to be in small town, Port Harcourt. I told myself Port Harcourt (1985) was

See America waiting for me, though an unknown world to me.

He looked at me in the face and said, well, Port Harcourt may be a small place but there is one man there called Professor Kelsey Harrison in that hospital. He had done a research work quoted worldwide on maternal health.

So, my HOD said, if Professor Harrison is in a hole, my son, follow him

a civil service town. Lagos was it, but LUTH wasn’t going to take.

I went to LUTH to my HOD and said sir, this is my dilemma, what do I do? A teaching hospital has given me a full time job and in my choice, gynecology. See America waiting for me, though an unknown world to me. He looked at me in the face and said, well, Port Harcourt may be a small place but there is one man there called Professor Kelsey Harrison in that hospital. He had done a research work quoted worldwide on maternal health. So, my HOD said, if Professor Harrison is in a hole, my son, follow him.

I went home and remained confused for three months. If this Prof Harrison is in a hole, follow him. I went to Port Harcourt and the job was still waiting for me. People were hustling for such jobs. I resumed job, did my studies; passed my initial exams, etc.

A restless soul Business bugs: By 1988, I started a 5-bed clinic in Trans-Amadi, called the Princess Hospital. I usually like to take on a lot of tasks in my life. They said I was a restless soul. Doing a specialist programme is huge work, doing a full time job, is too much, now a clinic.

Politics bites: Now, there was Fafah AdamPrincewill running for governor of Rivers State, a brilliant young man, and it attracted me. I said, ah, politics, my friend is there. There, I found Ada George also trying to be governor.

He was more serious. I aligned myself with Ada George, on a part time basis. Then, in 1990, the then Military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida said no more double timing; either remain in government or resign to be a politician. He was changing the goal post and people said he did not want to go.

I looked at consultancy and decided I could do better than what I saw there. Then, I went to my HOD, the professor, Nimi Briggs, and said I was not going to work anymore. He was alarmed. He said; you are brilliant, young, and intelligent. You are passing your exams. You can’t go. I went to the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, a chief and doctor, Owaru LongJohn, now chairman of the board of the NLNG, and said the same thing. He too said no way.

I took my leave and dropped my resignation letter, not that I had any clear thing to do.

The ambitious man without

Emi Membere-Otaji, CEO, Elshcon Group and President, PHCCIMA ambition That is why my 60th birthday is important because I repeat, a ship in the sea, without engine and propeller, but remotely controlled by God. I could have just been anything.

Imagine; a 5-bed hospital. I could have been one small thing in life because I did not have a bigger picture. I left but I did not have a bigger plan for leaving. I did not even leave for politics. Politics was not lucrative and nobody knew when Babangida was going. No serious person doing something better would go into it, except those who did not have any important thing doing. I was not even running for a position.

If my father were alive, he would have slapped me, but my mum, ah, she would support anything direction I wanted to go, so long as it was not evil.

So, in 1991, Ada George won the election. I remember being in a car with him and he said, Ami, you will be my commissioner for health. Remember the Chief, Zebulon Abule.

He had everything. Ada George was the underdog but I liked him; soft-spoken, nice. I was not looking for where my bread would be buttered. Abule was disqualified in the primaries and Ada George won and went on to win the main election.

I stayed with him because he was always smiling with me, not because he had a chance of winning.

My life is one kind. God just packaged my life.

My local council gave him the second highest votes outside Okrika (with Ogu Bolo). Moat people would go to the main contender (Abule) while I was with Ada George the

underdog. I was running my clinic while going around with him when free. He just liked me, and said I should be commissioner. I was set to be commissioner, but IBB pegged number of commissioners per state at seven. It was unitary government in action. Imagine old Rivers State (then with Bayelsa).

My dabbling into the corporate world of business My Abonnema-Buguma entangle Again, there was an issue in Buguma; a petty rivalry between Buguma and Abonnema. I have an interesting background.

My father’s father was Abonnema but my father’s mother was Buguma. My father was raised by his mother in Buguma. He was raised by his mother in Buguma as a Buguma boy; he schooled there (primary, secondary) and built his home in Buguma and died and was buried in Buguma. Everything about him was Buguma, and Kalabari peole do it a lot. He was Buguma though, he was answering an Abonnema name, Membre. My mother was 100 per cent Buguma. In politics, anything can be used against you.

We had a Buguma Improvement Association (BIA), a socio-cultural association that governed certain affairs of the community, and people lobbied and used them against me.

They said I was Abonnema and that Ada George should not give me commissioner. So, I was not made.

Also, the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA), at that time, thinking that I was going to be Commissioner of Health, also kicked, though it could not have stopped me because

I could have been Commissioner in any other sector.

So, Ada George said, Emi, you are not going to be commissioner, you will be chairman of RISONPALM. This was the biggest commercial enterprise belonging to the Rivers State government then. Eventually, I did not become chairman of RISONPALM. I became chairman of West African Glass Industry. Rivers State was to produce the chairman.

So, here I was, a young doctor, fresh from the clinic and hospital, sitting on the board of a structured company like WAGI. This was the first public quoted company east of the Niger with institutional investors with corporate gurus on the board. The Germans were technical partners. I had not had training in corporate governance. So, I went to the Lagos Business School as the first batch or pioneer students.

I read a lot to know what corporate management and politics were all about. I also went to the NSE where I met Ndi-Okereke, being from Rivers State too. She took interest in me and mentored me, made me meet the right people, get the language and be informed. Incidentally, the Lagos Business School in 1992 did not have a structured institution.

They only had the big names that volunteered; The Christopher Kolade, Gamaliel Onosode, etc, the heads of big banks, big manufacturing organisations.

I was just introduced to a different world. I can tell you, whatever I am today; God was just preparing me to be the corporate personality I am today. I was nurtured there.

Even though the WAGI was a

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Feature structured system, but they were having cash problem and production problem. So, they could just give me my sitting allowance as board chairman. It was not a government board where money was to be made. You do not even get an office. You just cheered a meeting. The gain, they made me to go through much training. So, by 1993, the Abacha administration came on the scene and the military was taken aback. I was removed because the administration that appointed me was removed. I just went back to my five-bed hospital. I was just married then. I took each step as it came. By 1994, I started a company called Elshcon to augment my clinic.

I had no ambition of having a bigger hospital then.

How June 12 strike crippled WAGI By 1993, because of the NUPENG strike for June 1993, the oil workers were on strike. The glass industry depends on a lot of gas to power their system, the gas was turned off and the molten caked and the company shut down.

The stakeholders however were still there. They wrote to the then Military governor to reconstitute the WAGI board because the Rivers State Government must produce the chairman. So, they wrote that that young man should be re-appointed.

I was in my house in 1996 when then Adokie Amasiamaka, the AttorneyGeneral of Rivers State, came to my house and said the Governor wanted to see you. I was scared. I went to Government House and they said, your former colleagues have asked for you. So, start work. The next day, I resumed as chairman.

Learning to operate without government fund The state government said they would not give me money. We were to source for funds. They said they were not to give us money. Go and be chairman. The government did not own it alone and will not give money. Foreign investors were not coming in because Nigeria was then a pariah state under Abacha. So, I became chairman.

Luckily, Sona Breweries needed a company where they would get their bottles. They indicated interest.

They would bring money to revamp the factory but you would know that he who pays the piper dictates the tune. They procured the lawyers to write the MoU. The government did not care and gave them the plant. I stood my ground to protect government interest. But, few years ago, the Rivers State Government wrote a letter to me to commend me, saying the steps I took for the interest of Rivers State saved the state. It was great. Yes, these were expatriates (Indians) and they were versed in these things. They knew what to do and would show you the money, and they did show me the money.

If I had wanted, I would have made millions those days to sign whatever they wanted.

Their lawyers brought an agreement to sign and I said not yet. I met my friend, a lawyer, and begged him to draw an agreement for me.

He is now a king in Bayelsa. I could have signed anything. He drafted something that tied their hands and reluctantly they signed. I was looking at my name’s sake for tomorrow. I wanted to pay him from my pocket but he said no, Emi don’t pay.

In 1999, the company started to produce glass and that same year, I became the Commissioner for Health. I had to leave the board. I was also member of Pabod which was partly owned by WAGI. Why I chose Commerce and Industry above Health and key things in my mind at that time.

Many have asked me why I picked Commerce/Industry instead

Emi Membere-Otaji, CEO, Elshcon Group and President, PHCCIMA of Health ministry. See, I had come to learn that Government should not be in business and must not have to bring their money for businesses to thrive. It was all about fixing the enabling environment. We were able to do it with WAGI and the company boomed. I therefore felt that we could use that model to make the Government to revive all the small, medium and large scale enterprises.

In Odili’s first term, there was no 13 percent and so no much money in the South-South. Odili’s focus was on power. He was the first to start power and he saw much in it.

All other sectors were just managing. This is the way Gov Wike is on infrastructure. Most funds were devoted to power. Most of all those health centres, general hospitals and even the BMH now being built were proposed by that time but they were not the priority, but power.

Fear over failure in Health ministry I looked ahead and said, oh my God; the years were running fast and nothing much to show in my ministry. So, I ran to the late Chinyere Nwokidu, she used to be a commissioner years back. She is the elder sister to my permanent secretary. I went to her and said, Auntie, advise me oh, what am I going to do? She said, when time passes, you will never be able to explain to Rivers people that you had no money. Whatever you have, do the best you can. So, I began the following: Free Medical Health Scheme for U-6/O-60.

We got Free Medical Care Scheme for Under-6 and Over 60 years. This was how this was done in my tenure. It did not involve contracts. It was about using the government hospitals in existence.

The truth is that with dedicated medical personnel alone, you can take 70 per cent of the ailments in this part of the country. You do not have to have a big structure.

We did the EMS. We found that when people get involved in emergencies, the hospitals would dump them. So, we said, govern-

ment will handle the first 48 hours so you would be stabilized and begin to pay. It worked. It did not require a lot physical structure. It added value and the people appreciated it.

When a call came, the nearest ambulance would dash there and evacuate to the nearest hospital. It was successful.

We did not build hospitals but social infrastructure. I was the chairman of commissioners of health at that time (1999-2003), and so, I represented the commissioners of states in the National Health insurance scheme being considered. So, we fine tuned the documents and so, we tweaked it to start it for Rivers State. It did not start before we left.

We also fought against HIV/ AIDS by forcing our people to accept it was real. So, we organized massive campaigns through the one million man march. We set up free HIV treatment point which is active to this day. We were the first to set up the State Action Committee Against AIDS (SACA). Without building physical infrastructure, Rivers State was a leading state in healthcare with many commendation letters from the Federal Ministry of Health and others.

So, I put N10m in the barge and N9m to the building, at least to roofing. Siemens took the building (a floor), finished the building, and stayed there for many years. I finished the barge and named it ENL Miracle.

(Echcom Nigeria Limited). If my mother was not there, demurrage would eat up the initial investment. That barge didn’t have a job for over a year. Then, Saipem came along and took it for five years consecutively. That was the turning point in my business life.

Full time business (Elshcon) So, in 2003, I left as Commissioner of Health due to intrigues.

So, Odili said, okay, can you be Special Adviser on Investment and privatization? Remember you wanted to be Commissioner of Commerce. T took, but it was not the same thing. In 2005, I left to start full scale business. I had had a stint in the oil industry, supplying chemicals to NAFCON (now Notore), location jobs at Kolo Creek, Afam, etc for Shell. I was also doing movement service for Shell, moving things for them. So, I was in three businesses.

Now, we are structured. The business suffered when I was away but in 2005, I went back to my business. I had a piece of land in Woji.

Before the first Slaughter Bridge was built, Woji was one track to enter. I had this waterfront land because I like staying at the waterfront. They now built a bridge and it passed in front of my property.

So, the Woji end of Town now became Trans-Amadi because of the new bridge connecting two ends of two big towns. Oil companies were looking for a place to take off to their offshore locations. So, my place became handy. They said, go and look for tug boats, barges, cruise boats. I would put N5,000 mark up.

So, I started building my first barge. Before I got into the government, I had built my second house.

So, now, I was building an office in the GRA. So, now, 2005, I found I had no more money to complete the barge and the house. I was at the crossroads, and I went to my mother. I said, this is my life oh, I do not know what you can do oh. She said ok. She sold her piece of land somewhere at N19.5m and gave me N19m, and said, go and start your life. She died the next year.

Turning point in my business So, I put N10m in the barge and N9m to the building, at least to roofing. Siemens took the building (a floor), finished the building, and stayed there for many years.

I finished the barge and named it ENL Miracle. (Echcom Nigeria Limited). If my mother was not there, demurrage would eat up the initial investment. That barge didn’t have a job for over a year. Then, Saipem came along and took it for five years consecutively. That was the turning point in my business life.

From there I went into other barges, tug boats, cruise boats, offshore equipment, fabrication, and my businesses took a new turn. Sadly, my mother passed on a year after that seed capital she sowed into my business. (Few weeks before she passed on, she invited me to a church programme in her Pentecostal church and at a point, the man, Bishop Idahosa, asked her to pray for me. It was a word of revelation from God. She poured blessings. Two weeks after, she died in a minor surgery despite top surgeons.

Today, my spirituality has increased. I now plan and pray. I do not wait to get to the bridge before I would plan. In fact, I have developed a life plan package and gave to my children.

Business feats and positions I am now the president of PHCCIMA, member of NACCIMA, board chairman of ClearLine, and some few others. I own some companies.

I am into things. We are building one of the biggest private hospitals in Nigeria to be commissioned in the next few weeks.

Because of NACCIMA, they put me in a lot of many committees, federal boards, etc.

From a ship without direction to the highest business point in the Niger Delta.

Today, I read and I still pray.

Lessons Life has taught me that there is God and God factor in everything.

I am a better Christian. Things do not happen by chance. Work hard, and pray hard. Take your situations to God for direction, guidance, blessings and protection.

Forward ever, backward never.

I learn from my mistakes, I do not dwell on them. For me, yesterday is not history, it’s a learning centre.

It shapes my tomorrow.

People hurt me but I do not have enemies at all. I sleep like a baby. You hurt me, I will tell you about it, but I ensure you do not hurt me again. I move on. I do not hurt people back.

Pastor David Ibiyomie said you may sow a seed in one spot but you can reap in another spot where you did not sow. It will hurt God if you remain ungrateful. Do not fight me because I am not fighting you. I can only avoid people, I don’t fight them.

I read a lot, books written by men of God. I play a lot. Biographies and autobiographies fascinate me because I want to know how great men lived their lives so as to shape mine. My children do benefit from this.

Dearest business or investment Marine! God used it to transform my life. It will always be dearest to me. At my gate, you see the wheel symbol at my gate.

This house is called the Ship Wheel house. I am into oil service, fabrication, construction, maritime, oil/gas.

We are trying to get into non-oil and gas shipping. We are building the biggest private healthcare facility in Rivers State- The Princess Hospital that we kept on standstill for 30 years.

Nigeria is diversifying, so we diversify to your area of best knowledge. I am a medical doctor and am getting back into it as an investor. The place will open next month.

Where next?

Offshore fishing or industrial fishing is the next port of call. Feasibility study is already done. We are expecting our trawlers.

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Feature

Infrastructure as a building block of diversification VICTOR OBAYAGBONA

T

he dependence on oil and the need to diversify sources of revenue was one of the topics for a panel discussion at the inaugural FT Nigeria Summit hosted by Financial Times Live in Lagos on May 31, 2018.

In a panel moderated by David Pilling, Africa Editor, Financial Times, experts across the power, manufacturing and waste management sectors analyzed the importance of infrastructure as the ‘Building Blocks of Diversification’ in Nigeria.

One of the panelist, John Irvine, CEO of environmental utility firm, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, highlighted a dire infrastructure deficit as one of the core factors fueling the ocean plastic pollution problem in the State and other emerging markets. Irvine extensively shared insights on the vital role of waste infrastructure in emerging markets.

He went on to say, “Emerging markets need to embrace and accelerate the development of waste infrastructure considering that these countries are the highest polluters and source of ocean plastic pollution in the world.”

Lagos, for example, generates over 13,000 tons of municipal waste daily, with plastic been 12% of it. With no structure in place to recover the plastic waste, they end in the Atlantic Ocean that lines the entire expanse of the State. The State currently gets its water from Ogun and Owo Rivers tributaries, which run in from Oyo State.

The water from the lagoon in Lagos; polluted by waste from open garbage, untreated sewage disposed of in the water and open defecation and urination is unsafe for use. Authorities claim that while the water provided could serve 50 percent of the 22 million residents, over half of it is contaminated in the distribution network, resulting in high incidence of diarrhea, dysentery, and worms that render it unusable for various household activities.

Beyond the environmental, health and economic effect of ocean pollution, there is also the impact to the ocean and freshwater ecosystem. Endangered sea mammals including whales, turtles, and sea-lions have washed up on several beaches on Lagos Island mostly due to poisoning and oxygen depletion in the water bodies.

While many residents in these climes are not immediately concerned about preserving ocean life, the effects on the entire food chain tell on human health as we feed on animals and plants that are contami-

nated by the polluted water. Attention to environmental issues has become more important especially in the global fight against climate change.

Adequate infrastructure like a standard materials recovery and recycling facility is required to ensure that waste is diverted from being pollutants and environmental hazards to become resources.

Visionscape Sanitation Solutions came into Lagos State’s waste management framework with the mandate to manage infrastructural development.

The company has since begun the construction of an Eco-park in the state to feature numerous facilities for processing several types of waste. Among these are the materials recovery facility, a recycling facility as well as the PET & HDPE Washing Line. In addition to the MRF, Visionscape also has in its strategy, a plan to integrate materials recovery in every phase of the waste management process in the state, beginning with sorting of waste from source, to providing facilities for sorting at the transfer loading stations it manages in the state.

Speaking further at the FT Nigeria Summit, John Irvine explained that the core of the company’s business remains sustainability, which is reflected in their closed-loop business model and focus on building infrastructure that redirects the improper disposal of waste and turn them to valuable resources.

Emerging markets are responsible for almost 70% of the global ocean plastic pollution; a

result of poor systems to manage the collection and disposal of waste especially in growing urban areas. With rapid economic growth and increasing

Emerging markets can turn their high levels of waste generation to an economic advantage with requisite infrastructure, and the use of cutting edge technology

consumerism, the reliance on plastics remains high as packaged products get imported in droves and plastic bottles take the place of insufficient clean water for drinking. The use of plastic bottles and other materials is not commensurate to the structures put in place to manage the waste materials as they are generated.

This challenge was one of the topical issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London recently, where heads of governments agreed to a concerted effort to tackle ocean plastic pollution. With the UK government’s promise of £61m to boost the fight against ocean pollution,

the 53 Commonwealth countries were encouraged to begin implementing policies and strategies to promote research capacity and improve environmental infrastructure and increase efforts to shift their nations towards a green economy. A major concern for the Commonwealth was providing the needed technical, research and resource assistance needed by her member nations with emerging economies.

In the wake of the Commonwealth Blue Charter, John Irvine shared his thoughts on how the company’s infrastructure development projects were in alignment with meeting the global objectives to curb ocean plastic pollution. He said: “The support and attention for plastics pollution especially in our oceans could not come at a better time.

The Commonwealth’s commitment highlights the need for effective public-private partnerships that connect expertise with the resources required to ensure that we meet the goals of the global initiative to curb ocean plastics pollution.”

During his conversation on infrastructure development at the FT Summit, Irvine also highlighted the opportunities that waste infrastructure provides across the economic spectrum.

Beyond environmental protection and ending ocean plastics pollution, he explained how the presence of the materials recovery facility and many other facilities would provide job openings and improve personal economies across the State.

He spoke about technology

being at the heart of the company’s activities. According to him, the company’s flagship project – the Eco Park been built in Epe, will feature an Anaerobi Digestion Plant. This waste-to-energy facility will be the first and a prototype in the State, the country and the entire West Africa. Receiving waste ranging from agricultural waste to household organic waste and industrial sludge, the plant will generate energy and provide power for the Eco-Park as microorganisms break down these materials. Excess energy generated will be distributed to surrounding communities as part of the company’s CSR activities. The successful deployment of this pioneering facility is expected to open the market and encourage more public and private investment in waste-toenergy projects.

Beyond generating energy and to guarantee the completion of the cycle in a zero-waste loop, sub-waste from the ADP serve as rich fertilizing material for farmlands in the vital agricultural sector. From farmland waste to energy generation and back to providing fertilizers for the farmlands, ensuring that nothing is wasted.

Rounding off, Irvine said: “Emerging markets can turn their high levels of waste generation to an economic advantage with requisite infrastructure, and the use of cutting edge technology.”

“This is what we provide across the companies in the Visionscape Group” He concluded.

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Focus

Who will save our union?

…can two work together unless they agree?

OLALEKAN IPELE

L

ack of unison on a number of fundamental issues surrounding Nigeria’s unity is no doubt a causal factor for the political turmoil plaguing the country, hence the need for a candid and constitutional on the terms of the union, but who will champion it?

Ladi Thompson, a security expert and political commentator said, “As a nation, Nigeria is a product of failure engineering. The Nigerian program produces a people that cannot work together, a divisive people.”

The 2015 presidential election is to many a testament to how deeply divided, across ethnic and religious lines Nigeria is. Election results show the candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian and Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim and candidate of the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) winning by very high margins in their respective regions of origin.

Yinka Odumakin, The secretary-general of Afenifere, said, “What we really need is a national conference with full constituent powers, whose decision will not be tampered with by any authority.”

“The political arrangement pre-independence carried us well in the first few years of our independence, when we had the three federating states, when each region had relative autonomy.

What we saw was competitive development across the various regions.

“Until we go back to those fundamental arrangements reached by our founding fathers, which were based on a federal and state constitution, we are not going anywhere,” Odumakin concluded.

Looking back in history, one of the earliest attempts to discuss issues bordering on the Nigerian state was the Ibadan 1950 conference.

The new constitution Sir Macpherson was drafting (Macpherson constitution of 1951) brought about the

conference which had in attendance political leaders of the three regions (northern, eastern and western).

Discussions at the meeting centered majorly on the political administration of Nigeria, the system of government to be adopted and the revenue allocation formula.

The Aburi Accord of 1967 was another attempt at discussing the state of the nation when the corporate existence of Nigerian came under immense threat and was on the brink of collapsing, following the coup that toppled the first republic.

However, carpeting agreements reached at the meeting among other things, eventually led to the devastating civil war (between 1967 and 1970) and prolonged military rule, during which all the key structures of Nigeria’s federal arrangement were dismantled and things essentially fell apart for.

The most recent attempt at discussing the state of the nation was the national conference of 2014. The conference was the most auda-

cious attempt at evaluating the fundamental structure and system upon which the country is run.

President Jonathan, at the inauguration of the organising committee of the conference said, “I will, like to allay the fears of those who think the Conference will call the integrity of Nigeria into question. This National

Until we go back to those fundamental arrangements reached by our founding fathers, which were based on a federal and state constitution, we are not going anywhere

Discourse will strengthen our union and address issues that are often on the front burner, and are too frequently ignored.”

According to Femi Okurounmu, the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the National Conference, Femi Okurounmu, part of the brief the President gave him, was that the conference is not about how to dismantle or break up Nigeria. “Discussions on the breakup of Nigeria were clearly defined as a “no-go” area” he said.

Recommendations of the conference which had in attendance, 492 delegates and cost Nigeria about N9 billion were described by many as the solution to Nigeria’s age long political and economic instability.

President Buhari in an anniversary to mark his first year in office, however described the confab report as one for the archives.

“I advised against the issue of National Conference. You would recall that ASUU was on strike then for almost nine months.

The teachers in the tertiary

institutions were on strike for more than a year, yet that government had about N9billion to organise that meeting (National Conference) and some (members) were complaining that they hadn’t even been paid.

“I never liked the priority of that government on that particular issue, because it meant that what the National Assembly could have handled was handed to the Conference, while the more important job of keeping our children in schools was abandoned.

“That is why I haven’t even bothered to read it or ask for a briefing on it, and I want it to go into the socalled archives.”

Bala Tanko, a public affairs analyst said, “As the race to the 2019 presidential elections gathers momentum, this is a call on whoever is returned elected as president to consider bringing all components of the Nigeria state under one roof to discuss issues bordering on the continuous peaceful coexistence of Nigeria, as we have more to gain staying together in peace and harmony.”

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Sunday 10 June 2018

Perspective Okorocha’s Channels TV interview

A

ETHELBERT OKERE

fter watching Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, in an interview with the popular Lagos-based Channels Television on Monday, May 28, from my place in London, I felt I should share some thoughts with people back home, but alas, of the six people I called, including politicians and my colleagues in the pen trade, only one acknowledged to have watched the programme. The excuse ranged from “no light” to the normal “I have been very busy”. One fellow responded that he has since stopped listening to Governor Okorocha. But when I asked if he watched the interview given two days earlier by Senator Ben Uwajumoju to TVC, he quickly came up with the “No NEPA” (even when there is no more NEPA) excuse. That’s by the way.

As for me, I watched the interview with keen interest and for obvious reasons. His Excellency was characteristically eloquent but he was inchoate, boastful and said things that are not altogether true. In my view, it was a very bad outing not only for the governor but also for the entire people of the state.

How did I come to such a conclusion?

One, the governor said any public office holder that does not have a “second office” would steal public funds to be able to make ends meet. The question then is: what is this “second office” and what is my own governor’s second office. It is a well-known fact that the Constitution of Nigeria does not allow public officers to hold office in the private sector. Apparently, His Excellency has made a revelation that, though might sound obvious, requires further interrogation at the national level not just Imo State.

Two, His Excellency claimed that he was not aware that his current chief of staff, Uche Nwosu, was in a relationship with his daughter before he appointed him a commissioner in his administration.

According to the governor, he would not have appointed Nwosu if he knew of the relationship because he expected that a “certain class” of people should have come for his daughter. I am aware that some people may disagree with this history (of the relationship) as given by the governor but my own take is that the claim should embarrass both Mr Nwosu and his wife, Governor Okorocha’s daughter. It is a talkdown on both of them and does big harm on the governor’s insistence that Nwosu should be the next governor of the state.

If a mere six to seven years ago, Mr Nwosu was not of the class that should come for a daughter of Chief Okorocha, who was just coming in as a governor, then how did he, Nwosu, rise to a level, within the same period of time, in a manner that the governor has become so crazy of him that today, it is Nwosu or nothing?

Three, the governor claimed, for the umpteenth time, that no single politician of note was on his side when he ran for the office of governor in 2011. Again and as we have pointed out severally before now,

Okorocha

that is a blatant lie. Again we ask: What of the Agbasos, the Chris Anyanwus, the Onyeaguchas, the P. C. Onuohas, the Fabian Osujis and, even if they are not “politicians”, the numerous Catholic clergymen?

Then, His Excellency’s claim that the then president, Goodluck Jonathan, was on the side of the then governor, Ikedi Ohakim, was another big lie he told to his interviewers. It is no longer a hidden matter that President Jonathan and his administration were behind the emergence of Rochas Anayo Okorocha as governor in 2011. Again, I refer him to my wellreceived book, ‘Democracy by Military Tank’, published in 2012.

His Excellency took pleasure in mentioning names on national (actually international) television. He was too free in reeling out the names of his opponents: the Izunasos, the Uzodimmas, the Araraumes, the Nzeribes, the Iwuanyanwus, etc. That is not entirely dignifying. In particular, his claim that the national working committee (NWC) of the APC used Senator Osita Izunaso, a member of the committee and a citizen of Imo State, to get at him for opposing tenure elongation for the committee is a pointer to lack of sophistication and tact. Yes, Izunaso is a member of that committee but he is first and foremost a citizen of Imo State who chose to be on the side of the people in opposing Governor Okorocha on his wrong choices. It is a matter of coincidence that he happens to be in that committee at this critical time. Governor Okorocha is not the only APC stalwart that was against tenure elongation. Why hasn’t Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the very fellow who spearheaded the anti-tenure elongation matter, accused the NWC of also masterminding

the crisis in Lagos State where there were even parallel congresses?

In the interview, the governor gave two reasons why he thinks Imo APC stakeholders moved against him even though he postured as still being in charge. One, according to him, is his son-in-law’s (Uche Nwosu) matter. The other, the governor said, is the issue of zoning especially of the office of governor. And this was how he attempted to dismiss the two issues: On Nwosu, the governor enthusiastically stated that Nwosu “is not a blood relation”.

He then went ahead to compare himself and Nwosu with the Bush and Clinton families in America. According to the governor, President Bush had one of his sons as president and another as state governor; President Clinton had his wife as Secretary of State and later a presidential candidate.

Every Imo citizen should be pained and embarrassed by this show of little understanding, by their governor, of the inappropriateness of his analogies. President George H. Bush did not hand over the US presidency to his son, George W. Bush, and Hillary Clinton was not appointed Secretary of State by her husband. Her presidential candidacy, which Governor Okorocha also alluded to, happened fifteen years after her husband left office.

On the issue of zoning, His Excellency pointed at President Shehu Shagari, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, all of who come from the same North-West geo-political zone. Then, he went on to try to rub in the fact that both Yar’Adua and Buhari are from the same state. The above allusions are also quite curious. Drawing a parallel between the politics of the Nigerian presidency and

the zoning argument in Imo State is both mischief and an assault on the collective psyche of the citizens of the state. The politics of the Nigerian presidency is about North and South, not between geopolitical zones, and it is for this reason that some elements, especially in the North, dismiss the clamour by the Southeast geo-political zone to be deliberately allowed a turn in the presidency. Even so, who told Governor Okorocha that the fact that all the presidents so far are from one geo-political zone is not an issue among the people of the entire North? Of course, he knows better.

Needless to say, it is hard to see any Nigerian who would be impressed by Governor Okorocha’s spurious analogies because apart from being what they are, it has since become clear that they are put forward for selfish reasons. It is for this reason that the Imo APC stakeholders decided to stop him from doing further damage to the image of the party as the 2019 general election approaches.

In my article on the outcome of the APC congresses in the state, I pointed at the fact that Imolites as a whole, not just APC members, expressed so much joy on realising that the governor is no longer to do with the APC entirely as he wished. I also noted that that realisation or feeling has put the rating of the party over and above that of the other parties. Not unexpectedly, at least three rejoinders have been written by PDP enthusiasts in an attempt to debunk my claim. But that is a topic for another day. Before the recently held congresses, it was not a hidden matter that the governor had completely demarketed the APC in Imo State with his style of administration and even personal conduct. Of course, he should have by now realised that he was merely deluding himself in believing that the other stakeholders, considering especially their calibre and exposure, would have continued to allow him go the way he was going. They were not alone.

The concern went beyond the state as it was no longer a hidden matter that the party stood the chance of losing the state if things continued that way. The feelings were palpable because the entire citizenry felt that the APC as a party was behind the governor’s high-handedness, especially in the wake of his administration’s socalled urban renewal programme which the people believe is being implemented with cruelty.

Interestingly, Governor Okorocha, in the interview under reference, gave the impression that it is just a matter of time before he will undo what the entire APC collective in the state has done. He talked so fondly of Governor Adams Oshiomole, widely believed to have been anointed as the next national chairman of the party, and in such a manner that leaves no one in doubt he is certain that the in-coming leadership will reverse the outcome of the congresses in Imo. The people are waiting.

Okere wrote in from London.

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For the Record I am being hunted by Buhari’s government for incessant criticisms - Obasanjo

F

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

ormer President Olusegun Obasanjo has alleged that the Muhammadu Buhari administration was on a secret and selective mission to silence and gag him from further criticism of perceived mediocrity and incompetence that are hallmarks of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that Buhari’s government has put his name on security watch list.

Obasanjo also expressed worries over perceived sinister moves by government to either seize his international passport or mobilise the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe him on series of phantom corruption cases in order to unduly punish the ex-President for unfounded crimes.

Obasanjo however, challenged Buhari-led Federal Government to go ahead with his probe if it deems it fit to investigate him on perceived corruption cases during and after his sojourn in government as the President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, but he requested for objective and credible panel of enquiry to do that.

Speaking in Abeokuta on Friday through a Press Statement signed by Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo’s Media Aide, the statement wholly reads, “Since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo declared in his State-of-the-Nation Special Statement on January 23, 2018, the desperation to frustrate, intimidate and blackmail him into abandoning his divine mandate to protect the rights of the people to better life and living continued unabated and has even taken a bizarre dimension.

“Impeccable security sources have alleged Chief Obasanjo’s name is on their Watch List and that the security of his life cannot be guaranteed.

“According to these informants, many of who are in the top echelon of the Nation’s security management and close to the corridors of power, the operatives are daily perfecting how to curtail the personal liberties of the former President and hang a crime on him.

“Ordinarily, we would not have dignified these reports with a response but for the fact that many of these informants are not known for flippant and frivolous talks. Secondly, this Government has demonstrably exhibited apathy, and in some cases, encouraged by its conduct, daily loss of lives and property in many States of the country, the office cannot be indifferent.

“We are currently in a nation where the Number Three citizen is currently being harangued and the Number Four citizen is facing similar threat within the same Government they serve. There is a groundswell of our nationals that live in fear that they could be hounded,

Obasanjo

harassed, maimed or even killed as the battle for 2019 takes this worrisome dimension.

“For Chief Obasanjo, this is a joke carried too far and being someone who do not act on unofficial information, he had cautioned all informants and adopted a wait-and-see attitude to the bestial propositions allegedly being contemplated to cow, cage and embarrass him.

“The content of the alleged beastly designs, it was learnt are two-fold for now. One, to seize his International Passport and clamp him into detention indefinitely, in order to prevent him from further expressing angst on the pervasive mediocrity in the quality of governance, economic management and in the protection of lives and property by the Government.

“But, since that could expose the Government to a swath of international condemnation, embarrassment and outrage, it is said that another plot being hatched is to cause the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-open investigation into the activities of Chief Obasanjo’s administration using false witnesses and documents. This will be a re-enactment of the Abacha era in which Chief Obasanjo was one of the principal victims,” the statement stated.

“The same EFCC that had conducted a clinical investigation on the activities of Obasanjo in and out of Government, it was said, would now be made to stand down the existing report that gave Chief Obasanjo a clean bill of health on the probes are now to get him indicted,

fair or foul for possible prosecution and persecution like it is being done to real and perceived opponents, enemies and critics of this Government. Dissent is a fundamental principle on which liberal democracy is predicated. A true democrat must be ready to live with and accommodate dissent and opposition.

“While it is regrettable how the Government has sunk in its shameless desperation to cow opposition, a resort to blackmail, despotism and Gestapotactics being employed by the goons of this Government would not hold water.

And no government ever remains in power forever.

“For the record, Chief Obasanjo reiterates his readiness to face probe again after that of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the ICPC, and

The content of the alleged beastly designs, it was learnt are two-fold for now.

One, to seize his International Passport and clamp him into detention indefinitely

the EFCC, but before an independent, objective and credible panel of enquiry to account for his stewardship in Government and beyond. Chief Obasanjo reiterates that he has taken a principled position to ensure that the ship of the Nigerian State does not capsize and he remains steadfast in his resolve to turn the tide of maladministration, poor economic management and rudderless governance model that has tore Nigerians apart on account of religion and ethnicity which is a great threat to our democracy.

“We would like the Government and its supporters to understand that no amount of campaign of calumny, no matter how well contrived, orchestrated or marketed would deter Chief Obasanjo from calling a spade by its name. Chief Obasanjo is a patriot whose sole agenda is to ensure that the country’s unity, progress and democracy are not negotiated on the altar of incompetence and provincialism and mediocrity.

“It is important to point out that chief Obasanjo is one former President and Head of State who has engaged the current administration privately and in a bilateral manner on several issues of direct interest to the government and other matters of national concern. That channel of private engagement remains open and continues.

“However, should there be the need for public engagement, the right to free speech will always be exercised and jealously guarded, again in the best interest of Nigeria and the government.”

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June 12 and sanctity of truth

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Sunday 10 June 2018

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

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he news of the resurgence of June 12 jolted many like a thunderbolt. The more antagonists of June 12 thought they had finally nailed and buried what the date represents, the more its ghost continue to further hunt and prick their conscience.

Several calls for the immortalization of Chief MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12 election, were continually rebuffed. Same goes for the calls to recognize June 12 as the nation’s official Democracy Day. But like it is often said, truth is constant. Though it can be suppressed for quite a while, it cannot be permanently obliterated. Truth has a way of coming back. Over the ages, ruthless men have variously tried to repress the truth. Some murdered those they thought hold the key to the truth. Others proscribed mediums they believed could help in preserving the truth while others did everything they could to silence the voices of truth. But then, historically, conspiracies against the truth have always

failed woefully.

In the annals of our country’s political history, June 12 remains a watershed. That is the truth that many do not want to hear. But then, truth does not become truth because it is validated by man. No matter the depth of denials, truth remains truth. No more, no less.

The truth is that, no matter how hard its opponents try, for many reasons, June 12 will continue to be a watershed in the annals of our nation’s political history. It was the day that Nigerians redefined and reshaped the nation’s political scenery. Prior to that time, our politics sharply reflected our palpable religious and ethnic divides. But on June 12, all that changed. Chief MKO Abiola, who was the presidential candidate of the defunct SDP, had more votes in the northern part of the country than Alhaji Bashir Tofa, his northern challenger from the defunct NRC. One other remarkable feature of the June 12 election is the electorate disposition to religious sentiments and concerns. In 1993, the defunct SDP was bold and daring in its conviction that fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket (Abiola and Kingibe) would not jeopardise its electoral success.

The party went ahead with its conviction and recorded a resounding success at the polls. But for the annulment of the poll’s result, such audacity could have

effectively checkmated religious contemplations in our political scene.

Now, the resurgence of June 12 should draw attention to certain fundamental issues that need to be critically addressed in our nation. One is the need to banish ethnic and religious sentiments from our body politics. This is a fundamental lesson from June 12.

Closely tied to this is the need to always ensure that future elections in the country are free, fair and credible. June 12 election has been adjudged as one of the freest in the country. Perhaps, that is why its ghost has continued to hunt its adversaries.

Equally, it is important, at least for the sake of posterity that Prof Humphrey Nwosu, the Chief umpire of the election comes out to give the true picture of what transpired, especially leading to the annulment. At what point was he prevailed upon to annul the election? Who were those that tried to suppress the voice of the people? Why has he kept silence for so long? Perhaps, more importantly, there is a need to have an official release of the complete result of that historic election.

Furthermore, it is imperative to further propel the wheel of justice as evidenced in the posthumous honours bestowed on Chief Abiola and Chief Gani Fawehinmi, a leading pro June 12 voice. Those who conspired to

‘kill’ the people’s mandate must be made to face justice. The truth is that evil triumphs in any society where evil continually goes unpunished. Those Also, it is imperative for political leaders across the country to always weigh the future import of their actions, especially as it concerns posterity. Only God knows how the man that annulled the June 12 election and his collaborators would be feeling right now. Right in his lifetime, a significant step is being taken to redress an injustice he perpetrated. The political class, at all levels, must take a cue from this in all they do.

When he wrote In Julius Ceaser that the evil that men do live after them, legendary Writer, Williams Shakespeare, was alluding to the fact that evil deeds in history are often more easily remembered than the good ones. A cursory dip into any history book will confirm this. In Julius Ceaser, one of the purposes of Mark Antony’s speech is to mitigate any evils that Caesar may have committed while highlighting the good that he did.

Now is the time to unravel some of the mysteries associated with the June 12, 1993 election.

We really need get closer to the truth behind the story of June 12!

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

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Sunday 10 June 2018

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Milestones of made-in-Aba project

OKEZIE VICTOR IKPEAZU Ikpeazu is the Governor, Abia State.

A

ba, the commercial rendezvous of South-East Nigeria, is evidently responding to multifaceted rehabilitation therapies which we are conscientiously administering. What informed the patriotic drive to re-jig and inject life into the infrastructural and business life of Aba is located in the practical necessity of ensuring that the city conforms to modern trends and latest innovations in the dynamic world of business with particular reference to Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (MSMEs). The twopronged approach of proudly brandishing and hyping madein-Aba products and engaging blue-chip construction firms to restore the city’s pride of place is evidently paying off.

Having grown up in Aba , I am naturally compelled to constantly engage in a retrospective juxtaposition of what obtained several years ago and the unacceptable state of what currently obtains; hence, the avowal to re-direct and restore

COLLINS OPUROZOR Opurozor is media director to Okey Ezeh, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Imo State.

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he above article published in BusinessDay of Sunday, 6th May, 2018 refers.

The said article makes reference to the events in Imo APGA during the 2015 elections and, to some extent, the role of Mr. Okey Ezeh, a governorship aspirant of the party, in those events.

First, Mr. Okey Ezeh, just in that article, is said to have organised a parallel congress.

Also, he is said to have taken the party to court. Finally, he is said to have supported a PDP governorship candidate.

Let me be clear: lies, more lies and lies again won’t stop an idea which time has come.

the lost glory of Enyimba City.

Engaging Aba constructively is the vital tonic which MSMEs desperately require to make far-reaching and positive impact in their business. Tremendous in-road has also been made in getting our small scale manufacturers to purge themselves of the inferiority toga which has over the years hampered in no small measure their ability to globally showcase their ingenuity. I am excited to flaunt the achievements of made-inAba products given that that is boldly represented in our gubernatorial blueprint.

Having inculcated in our people the inevitability of developing the can-do spirit, the old practice whereby products were manufactured in Aba and flown to Dubai and then relabelled and imported as foreign products is gradually being confined to the trashcan of history as most of the products are now proudly inscribed “made in Aba”. This follows from our result-yielding vigorous promotion project propagated in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and beyond.

As the chief marketer of made-in-Aba products, which I have unrepentantly patronized and proudly modeled over the years, the expected and exhilarating signal from our national government has also birthed the “made-in-Nigeria” singsong.

Great things, they say, start from small beginning.

The Federal Government

became the first to be counted as Abia played host to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during his flag-off of National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises clinic.

Made-in-Aba products have largely become the most cherished and patronized following from the vice president’s charge to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to source locally-manufactured products.

It also energized our earlier business overtures made to government establishments like National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), Nigerian Armed Forces, para-military organizations, the 36 states of the federation, et al.

The encouraging outcome is that before long, very scarce foreign resources which would have been expended in procuring 50,000 pairs of military combat boots abroad were ploughed back into the economy as Aba SMEs proudly and qualitatively came to the rescue.

Consequently, the Nigerian Navy, Civil Defence and allied agencies have keyed in. Where there is a will, there will always be a way. The pathway to relevance may be fraught with daunting challenges but only the never-say-die spirit prevalent in us as a people will symbolically prove to the world that we cannot be ignored.

Little wonder, therefore, that TBWA Concept, a virile advertising and marketing firm, in liaison with Ford Foundation which took the bill, decided to sensitize the global audience le-

veraging CNN to showcase the ongoing trail-blazing milestones of SMEs in Aba. Accomplishment, they say, banishes insult and we do not intend to backtrack on the gains so far made. This truism motivated us to recently sponsor the training of 100 youths, who will be travelling to China in batches with a view to enhancing and manifesting their skills in the use of automated shoemaking technology. Arrangements have been faithfully perfected to procure and install comprehensive range of automated shoe-manufacturing equipment (modern-day mass production enabler) in Aba. On completion of their phased capacitybuilding programme, our youths will be deployed to handle the state-of-the-art shoe-producing factory being inaugurated in Aba. This will reasonably free them from the multiplicity of setbacks and irritations inherent in having to produce manually.

We acknowledge the inevitability of energy as the driving force of any given economy and have proactively factored its unavoidable place in the end success of what our mandate is programmed to achieve. This is located in the recent and audacious giant step of having to encourage Ruyi Holdings Group, Shandong China currently interfacing with Geometric Power Company in association with Enyimba Economic City Limited for the attainment of uninterrupted power supply in Aba.

It is expected that with this arrangement, $530 million will be injected into Aba Integrated Power Project.

On completion, the energy consumption status of Aba and its environs would have been revolutionized given the over 500 megawatts of electricity that will be up for generation and maximal utilization.

The Aba Independent Power Project being driven by the tenacity and doggedness of Geometric Power Company has seen to the construction of several sub-stations in Aba and recently, a 140km power-line and gas supply infrastructure.

These critical sub-stations will be released for deployment of power as soon as work is completed on the Independent Power Station.

My implicit confidence in the strategic importance of MSMEs in invigorating any given economy, especially in our clime, motivated us to bifurcate and separately inaugurate a fully-fledged ministry for MSMEs. This move will undoubtedly provide the vista for us to fast-track the longoverdue growth of MSMEs. As I recently expressed during my keynote address in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, our outstretched hand of fellowship will constantly reach out to states and nations for a symbiotic bilateral relationship aimed at manifesting and economically harnessing our latent potentials.

Let’s proudly say welcome to made-in-Aba.

Re: Imo looks to APGA for salvation in 2019 Sponsoring falsehoods won’t help any aspirant, because in the final analysis, people will remember you not for what you succeeded in destroying but for what you were able to build.

For those who weren’t in the party by 2015, some clarifications are in order here. There was never a time that a parallel congress was organised

by Mr. Okey Ezeh. As a bona fide APGA aspirant in 2015, Mr. Okey Ezeh participated only in the congress held at Rosey Arts Theatre, Ikenegbu Layout, Owerri. At that time another faction of APGA was in existence, which was led by C. C. Nwaka. Their grouse was what they saw as an unconstitutional truncation of their tenure and they had gone to court to challenge it. That case

had been in court even before Mr. Okey Ezeh joined the governorship race.

Now, follow the narrative.

The same day and time the Ezeobi-led APGA was holding its congress, the Nwaka-led faction was holding its own as well at, as I later read, NUJ Secretariat, Owerri. The outcome of what happened at Nwaka’s congress could have possibly been read by Mr. Ezeh on the pages of the newspapers because he knew nothing about it. We were all at Rosey Arts Theatre.

Indeed, the 2015 congress did not favour Mr. Okey Ezeh because of the brazen irregularities that characterized it.

The situation was so bad that Mr. Okey Ezeh had been denied nomination and expression of intent forms by the party. This

angered some officers of the party in the state who took a protest to Abuja and unfortunately got involved in a very tragic road accident.

On the day of the congress, delegates were beaten up, teargassed and shut out by hefty, stern-looking thugs who were drafted into the exercise by an anointed aspirant. Mr. Okey Ezeh was rigged out in a very painful manner which observers never believed could have easily been forgiven. But Mr. Okey Ezeh forgave and forgot almost immediately.

There was never a time Mr. Okey Ezeh took the party to court. I challenge anybody who makes any claim to the contrary to publish the details of such court action.

Finally, the claim that Mr. Okey Ezeh supported a PDP

candidate sounds absurd. Let me give you a practical example. My strong bond with Mr. Okey Ezeh is well known.

But I worked as the LGA collation officer of APGA in Ideato North in 2015. Go get the 2015 governorship result sheet and see if it’s not Prince Collins Opurozor, one of Okey Ezeh’s allies, that signed as Capt.

Ihenacho’s LGA Agent. So there was never a time Mr. Okey Ezeh did anything against the party. Never did he tell us or tell anyone else not to work for our party!

Please, aspirants and their rented supporters should learn to stop being obsessed with Okey Ezeh and focus on what to do for Imo people if elected.

For Okey Ezeh, it’s about the rebirth of Imo State and the time is now!

We cherish readers’ reactions to stories and articles published in BusinessDay. All such reactions, which must not be more than 250 words, should be sent to bdsundayletter@businessdayonline.com with names and addresses of writers. The star letter every week will be rewarded.

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Sunday 10 June 2018

TheWorshippers ‘Christians must stop being selfish and greedy to win souls for Christ’ Abayomi Emmanuel, a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), a teacher and preacher of the word, and a marriage counselor, is the head of administration at the ICT Department of RCCG at the Redemption Camp. A full member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Pastor Emmanuel, in this interview with SEYI JOHN SALAU, speaks on the role the church in Nigeria should play in society and why Christians should be active players in the political space. Excerpts: Looking at the recent cases of attacks on places of worship in the country, what are the lessons for the clergy, the laity and the church in Nigeria? here are a lot of lessons to learn from the recent incessant attacks. You will recall that this has not always been the case.

If the church had positioned herself well decades ago, we would have taken over the nation. It was the giants we refused to conquer in the past that have become thorns in our flesh. If we refuse to win souls as we should, it would be worse than this in the future. Meanwhile, we must learn to be more security-conscious.

The church must do everything at her disposal to prevent such assault going forward.

These giants you talk about, how can the church now reach them with the gospel?

Love and exemplary living are the keys.

Love is contagious. When the church stops being selfish and greedy and discards acquisition of material wealth and demonstrates love to the unbelievers, they will be drawn to Christ seamlessly.

We should do less of preaching to unbelievers but more of living and giving. The scripture says, ‘Let your light shine before men, so that they can see your good works and glorify your father that is in heaven’.

When we live a good and godly life, others will come to Christ, but when our life is not different from theirs, they will never come to us.

With the present state of things in Nigeria, do you think the church has done enough, and in what areas can we do more?

The truth is that the church has not done enough at all in nation-building. For the church to build the nation, we must be grossly involved in every sphere of the national activities. We must take the lead in every profession including politics and demonstrate how it should be done.

We must beat them, but not join them in singing songs of corruption. Nigeria is

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Very Revd. Olubukola Balogun; Dame Funmilayo Agbato, KJW, (Lay President); The Rt. Rev. J. Olu Akinola (Bishop of Lagos North); Abosede Shodimu (2nd right, representing the wife of Lagos State Governor, Abimbola Ambode); and Sarah Akinola (President, Diocese of Lagos North Women Fellowship) during the Methodist Church Nigeria, Lagos North Diocese Women Fellowship 7th Annual Conference in Agege, Lagos.

blessed with very intelligent people in all walks of life. However, corruption has eaten deep into every fabric of our system and has crippled the economy. However, it is never too late, Nigeria can be great again. The onus lies on the Christians to redefine leadership and set the pace for transformation.

There is so much religiosity and less spirituality in Christendom in Nigeria; what can be done to grow the faith?

Definitely, there is so much commitment to religion in Nigeria possibly because of our cultural background and tradition. However, we need to note that Christianity is actually not a religion. There has never been any record of a certain place where religion has positively im-

pacted the life and economy of any nation in history. Religion does not bring about transformation. It is man’s attempts and efforts to appeal or serve the deity. In the real sense, this is what has saturated our country Nigeria. They are activities void of reality. Christianity, on the other hand, is a way of life. It is a life patterned after Christ.

Christ was known to be holy, righteous, peaceful, patient and anything godly. A life different from this is not Christianity. It cannot affect an individual positively talk less of a nation. The solution to the Nigerian problem is not about going to church but going to Christ. Jesus is the answer.

Some argue against Christians going into politics; do you think it’s time for Christians to get active in the political

space?

If we do not get involved in politics, how do we positively change the nation? Someone said, ‘I prefer my own way of doing it to your own way of not doing it’. You have no right of blaming anyone for doing the wrong thing until you are able to demonstrate that it is possible to be a Christian politician.

Those who say Christians should not go into politics are either ignorant or myopic.

It is true that it may be difficult for a genuine child of God to succeed in politics in Nigeria, but it is not impossible. With God all things are possible. I recommend that Christians should participate in politics and rule the nation in righteousness.

Looking at the current dispensation, do you agree with those who say the Buhari administration has not done enough to deserve a second term in office?

Actually, things had gone so bad before the present administration took over and it should be understood that changing things in such a big nation like Nigeria is a herculean task which cannot happen overnight. No one is actually expecting a sudden change. However, it appears as if change is rather too slow and very insignificant. Nigerians have put so much hope in the present administration and have met so much disappointment. Considering the merciless massacres in different parts of the country, I do not think that this administration deserves any second chance. Before they begin to clamour for another chance, it is advisable for them to take advantage of the first chance to restore peace in the country and also make our economy buoyant. I urge the administration to try and earn the love and respect of the people they lead. Nigerians are very patient and forgiving. If incessant killings end and the economy is revamped, Nigerians may still give them another chance. Suffice it to say that we must mature to a level where we allow our election to speak. Leadership must not be by hook or crook. I pray we will get to that level where it is only people that we vote in that will get into power.

Cleric urges Nigerians to strive for peace and holiness

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he Bishop of Lagos North Diocese, Methodist Church Nigeria, Rt. Rev. Olu Akinola has called on Christians and Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, ethnicity and class, to live in peace and holiness through their words, deeds and actions.

He made the call during the 7th annual conference of the Diocese Women Fellowship held at the Methodist Cathedral,

Agege, Lagos.

“To manifest the fruit of the spirit, we must daily promote peace and live a life of holiness among ourselves, because without holiness, there cannot be peace and progress, and to make progress, we must depend on holiness to experience peace and peace for progress,” said Akinola.

He therefore urged Nigerians to live a life of holiness and peace through determined

efforts.

Highlight of the conference was a special recognition award of honour to the wife of Lagos State governor, Abimbola Ambode, who was described as an epitome of encouragement to women, and a strong pillar of support to the amazing success recorded by the governor in the state.

The wife of the governor, who was represented by Bose Shodimu, in her remarks

appreciated the honour bestowed on her and reiterated that the ultimate dream of the state governor was to see residents of the state live in a comfortable and stable environment of a mega status.

She appealed to the state residents to continue supporting, encouraging and cooperating with the state government in ensuring that Lagos works and that there is progress for all.

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BDSUNDAY 19

Inspirations Greatest need of humanity PASTOR I.S JAMES TEXT: PSALM 92:12-15

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ver the years, and through many seasons of life it has been established scientifically and spiritually that the most important, most treasured, innate quest in man besides food and others is his PEACE. You have not begun to live until your PEACE is intact. Let’s go spiritual and find out what God has to say about the importance of this hidden treasure.

Over 365 times in the bible we are admonished to fear not.Why would that be part of the demand that God would make of us? If this is not important or life dependent, God would not have had to emphasize this. The only threat to your PEACE is FEAR, and God knows PEACE

is your power in this life.To know how important this is to God and how needful to us, it was part of the gift He handed over when Jesus was about to take his leave. He said my PEACE I give unto you...(John 14;27). Jesus was known to be the prince of peace, in fact at his birth it was announced to be the harbinger of peace to the whole world (Lk 2:14).

Here the epitome of peace deemed it fit to talk about it, and to leave behind for us as a gift.

Why would he do that?

Since the fall of man, chaos, wanton destruction, wasting, and every evil work was born. So for every precious child of God to live a successful and beautiful life, while still on earth, PEACE is a prerequisite. Many times people act like peace is insignificant but the absence of it, is the source of sorrow, despair and despondency. Many times we ignore it, when we enjoy it to a certain degree and so we take it for granted.

For instance many of us in Nigeria take it for granted that we are not at war (except for the insurgency in the North).

Imagine what life would have been if you were one of the displaced people in the North East.

Have you also noticed that the presence of money and other material things does not guarantee peace. There are many rich people in our world today that are willing and ready to relinquish their wealth if only they could have peace of mind just for one day, let alone for a whole lifetime. They have discovered

that with all the money they claim to have they are still not rich enough to be able to afford peace. Looking at the entire world you will discover that there seem to be need for peace.

So if this peace is so important and the source of a life of pleasure and beauty, surely it must be available for sale. Yes you are right that it must be available for sale and it is, but the only problem is that the currency for the purchase of peace is not money or material wealth. If peace was physical and can be touched there would be none available in the market for the poor to buy, only the rich would have it. So God in his infinite wisdom made it in such a way that it will be available to all and accessible to all through the death and the resurrection of His son Jesus. Thank God Jesus saw how relevant it was and He decided to leave it behind for us to walk in it. John 14:27 What makes it possible for Him (Jesus) to be fast asleep in the midst of a storm, not to flinch at the sight of death is this PEACE and it is yours for the taken if you want. It is his and he gave it to you at a cost of his death so you can have it freely. Now that we now know who owns it, who has it, it has become easy for us to know where to find it. Jesus was the prince of peace, He was the order that brought disorderliness to an end, and it is with him you have access to this PEACE.Bible says great peace have they that love him (Psalm 119:155).If you think the need for this in your life is important,then your search for peace

ends here.Your search for peace in materialism is needless. That is what the whole world is doing but you cannot find it there, likewise your search for peace in fame.They are all futile and wasteful.

The abundance of this peace that the whole world is looking for is resident in JesusChrist only, and it is free.The only loving demand from God is your acceptance of the person of Jesus as your Lord and savior and accept what He did for YOU on the cross of Calvary and the PEACE is yours.

If you are a child of God, and have made Jesus the lord of your life, you need not look for the peace of God elsewhere, it is with you. When this truth has not come home to stay in your life you think you do not have it. Jesus said my peace I give unto you…, all you need to do is to receive it by believing that what Jesus said is true. Your understanding of the mighty power of God that brings deliverance calms you up in every situation.

Until we become the doer of the truth of the spoken word of God in our lives we can never benefit from the blessing in the word of God. Remain blessed. @spiritonomics.org

Dr. Iruofagha James is the Founding Pastor, Glory Christian Ministries, Odo-Olowo Street, Apapa/Oshodi Expressway, Ijeshatedo, Lagos. www.isjames.org Tel: 08060599144

Pearls before pigs

...Treasure in a Trash Can

REV. YOMI KASALI

@rev.yomikasali

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he two wisest men that ever walked on earth shared the same opinion on the subject of Trash and Treasure; yet in two different books separated by hundreds of years in between them. The thought rings loud in my heart today; Solomon and our Lord Jesus warned us about not putting our precious Pearls into the custody of Pigs in life.

The two scriptures are found in Prov. 11 v 22, ‘Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion (like saying money miss road)’, while our Lord and Savior Jesus counseled us in a different way in Matt. 7 v 6, ‘Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast you your pearls before pigs, lest they Trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you’. It is clear that we should heed both counsels and make sure we don’t give our precious things to Pigs and Dogs.

I am inspired by the above counsels and will love to share my modest opinion on what I believe should be considered Pearls and Holy to all men who have their hearts glued to scriptures for wisdom. Before I explain the pearls,

let me quickly inform you about these dogs and pigs mentioned in the passages above. The Jews considered Pigs as very unclean for food or as pets, in fact that is why it is forbidden to be eaten by very religious Jewish community of old and now. They also considered the Gentiles as Dogs which is why Jesus used those two animals to describe what should never occur in life with respect to one’s precious pearls and stones.

The mention of Pearls simply means what is highly valued and precious to someone, they are one of the most expensive precious stones in the days of Christ, like what diamonds are to us today. Which is why we cannot afford to miss the Wisdom in the counsel of our Lord. I am challenged to dig deep and share my humble opinion on what I consider Pearls to a wise believer today.

PEARLS TO PROTECT FROM PIGS TODAY YOUR SOUL: A man is known to be unwise when he gives his ‘body’ to the best doctors on earth but ignores the nurture of his ‘soul’ to any pastor. The choice of a good pastor is better than that of a good doctor. I have seen this evil under the sun in modern day world, where people do not care about who they call Pastor yet will never call just anyone their doctors.

The Bible tells us that Pastors watch over the ‘souls’ of men (Heb. 13 v 17) YOUR HEART: The Heart of Man is the seat of emotions and feelings. How convenient for some people to fall in love with just any woman or man, hence give the most precious

they abandoned Him in their youthful days.

Your time should be spent well and not wasted (Eph. 5 v 16; Col 4 v 5) YOUR CHILDREN AND FAMILY: Many People regret not spending quality time with their children, while several other young people have adopted the evil schemes of the West by ‘outsourcing parenting’ in today’s world. We should never cast the precious gifts (children) of God to dogs and pigs. Some of us have mentally outsourced parenting to teachers in school and House helps at home.

Please train up your child the way he should go... (Prov. 22 v 6) thing to dogs or pigs. There are so many broken marriages because of broken hearts in relationships, we are quick to give our hearts to men and always find ourselves ‘heart-broken’. The Bible says we should ‘keep our hearts...’ or ‘guard our hearts...’ for Out Of it comes the issues of life (Prov. 4 v 23) YOUR TIME: The most precious thing in your life that is given to you by God and not within your control is Time. You have to redeem the time for the days are evil, beware of time wasters who do not do anything good with theirs and want to lure you to waste yours as well.

They are gossips, backbiters, lazy people who just wander about doing nothing good with their time. One day they will wake up from their slumber and discover they are in their late 60s and then try to serve the Lord when

YOUR FAITH AND TRUST: This is the last but certainly the most important, you must not put your faith and trust in Man but God. Never ever put your trust and faith in Man for they will fail you unlike God. This is very critical and hope we understand this point very well, the best of Man is still a Man, even some of us Men Of God have failed our members and we should let you know that we are frail and human at best. The Bible tells us to put our trust ONLY In God. (Isa. 31 v 1; Jer. 17 v 5) I hope you have been inspired by these points above, please Protect Yourself by not giving your pearls to pigs.

Blessings.

Rev. Yomi Kasali is Senior Pastor, Foundation of Truth Assembly (FOTA), Surulere, Lagos

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Sunday 10 June 2018

Politics

Buhari’s honour to Abiola still attracts verbal tackles INIOBONG IWOK

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egarded as probably the most free and credible election in the nation’s political history.

Memories of the June 12th, 1993 presidential election, widely believed to have been won by the late philanthropist, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola remain green in nation’s psyche.

The subsequent annulment of the election result by the then military regime headed by General Ibrahim Babangida, threw the nation into a state of turmoil, giving rise to agitations, uprisings, protests and strikes by different unions, organisations and virtually all sectors in the country ground to a standstill.

For many Nigerians, perhaps it was a miracle that the nation escaped sliding into another civil war.

The subsequent struggle to validate the June 12 mandate led to the death of Abiola, his wife Kudirat, Alfred Rewane, some Journalists, and other Nigerians, while several other prominent Nigerians were incarcerated, including late Lagos lawyer and Human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi.

The advent of democracy in 1999 also marked a turning point in the struggle, as virtually all the governors of the south-western states, which were initially controlled by the Alliance for Democracy, (AD) held programmes to commemorate the day, while also declaring June 12 a public holiday.

However, over the last few years, the euphoria of the day seems to have gradually waned, while the political class has done little or nothing to honour the late MKO Abiola. This can be judged by recent events; as only a few states in the southwest region now declare June 12 a public holiday or hold programmes to commemorate the day.

It is interesting to note that many political office holders in the country today were either Abiola’s cronies or had benefited from his generosity.

In 2002, that National Assembly moved a motion urging the then government in power, headed by Olusegun Obasanjo to immortalise Abiola and name the Abuja National Stadium after him. This resolution was ignored by the former president.

Also, In 2012, former president Goodluck Jonathan renamed the

President Buhari U n i v e r s i t y o f L a g o s , ( U N I L AG ) to Moshood Abiola University of Lagos, in honour of the late MKO Abiola, but this decision was

I don’t agree that he was forgotten by the Yorubas, but if you say that he could have been honoured earlier

by Nigeria, I agree and I also think Abiola deserves more than this.

This one by Buhari is too late

widely condemned by some sections of the general public, with students of the institution staging several days of protest against government decision, while the institution alumnus also vehemently kicked against it; Jonathan had no choice but to reverse the decision.

Political observers are of the opinion that Nigeria has done little to honour Abiola and his ideas. They however applaud Buhari’s recent move to bestow the highest national honor to the late politician.

They further urge the president to officially declare Abiola the winner of the 1993 presidential election and give him his full salaries and other benefit deserving of a president posthumously.

The leader of Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, however disagrees that Abiola was forgotten, especially by leaders of the Southwest region, but admitted that he could have been honoured earlier by previous administrations before Buhari’s announcement, which to him was belated.

“I don’t agree that he was forgotten by the Yorubas, but if you say that he could have been honoured earlier by Nigeria, I agree and I also think Abiola deserves more than this. This one by Buhari is too late”.

President, Arewa Youth Consul-

tative Forum, Shettima Yerima, said the change of government in some states and political events may have informed that, but lamented that the political class had forgotten the ideas of democracy Abiola stood for.

“The change of government in the states you are talking about is what you should consider; you know in Nigerian every government wants to implement their own agenda. But I think what Abiola stands for, what June 12 represents has not been exemplified by the present leaders in the country.

“Mere declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day is not enough.

Abiola should be declared president posthumously and all necessary entitlements given to his family,” Yerima said.

Also, former second republic governor of Kaduna state Balarabe Musa, has urged president Muhammadu Buhari to immediately declare the full result of the 1993 presidential election and give full entitlements deserving of a president of the country to the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

“We should commend the president for having the courage to take such decision. Previous governments could not do this,” Musa said.

Sunday 10 June 2018

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Politics Saraki’s police ordeal matters arisen INIOBONG IWOK

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erhaps, Bukola Saraki is one of the most controversial Senate presidents that Nigeria has had since the advent of the current Fourth Republic.

Saraki has in the last three years been entangled in several battles and controversies.

The President of the Senate, who had earlier ruled Kwara State from 2003 to 2011 as governor, was among the major political actors who defected from the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to form the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in an alliance of four major opposition parties in the country.

However, Saraki’s trouble started after he controversially emerged as the Senate president, after striking a deal with the opposition party, PDP Senators, who voted massively for him, while one of their own, Ike Ekweremadu subsequently retained the Deputy Senate president seat.

In what was then termed as a “coup”; this development was however, against the wish of his party’s leaders, and even the presidency, who had favoured northern Senator, Ahmed Lawan, who days earlier had won the mock primaries conducted by the APC for the position.

The first battle for the Senate president was when he was slammed with a 13-count charge of corruption by the Code of Conduct Bureau; In a suit ABT /01/15, dating September, 11th and filed before the Code of Conduct of

Bukola Saraki Bureau.

Saraki was accused of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of asset to making false declaration of assets in the forms he filled before the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was the governor of kwara state.

Other alleged offences include acquiring asset beyond his legitimate earnings, while also being accused of operating a foreign account while being a public officer as governor and senator.

The Senate President was subsequently tried, discharged and acquitted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal of these accusations.

Also recently the governor of Kwara State, through his media aide, Muyideen Akorede, had

raised an alarm over plan to implicate him and the Senate president with some suspected cultists, who were paraded for alleged murder.

The drama took another twist, when last Sunday Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood issued a statement summoning the Senate President, for questioning over his alleged relationship with suspects arrested following the bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State, Moshood had said that five of the 22 suspects arrested in connection with the April 5 attack on five banks in Offa, which also led to the killing of 17 people, including nine police officers, confessed their allegiance to the Senate president.

However, as the 2019 general

election looms, political observers are of the opinion that these occurrences may just be a grand plan to muzzle the opposition and to silence those perceived as political opponents, in a bid to achieve the current administration’s plan of re-election.

They stressed that Saraki could be seen as likely presidential candidate who could pose a threat to the APC presidential candidate, or in a situation he chooses to defect with his fellow nPDP colleagues to an opposition party.

Analysts say that this fear could be better understood perhaps by the way Dino Melaye who is seen as a loyalist of the Senate President was recently treated.

Melaye’s subsequent reaction after returning to the Senate, by tactically defecting to the PDP and choosing to sit in the row of the PDP senators in the upper chamber, even with the approval of the Senate president may have been a pointer that he had Saraki’s support and the Senate president’s defection to the PDP was only a matter of time.

However, politicians and political analysts have expressed divergent views on the development, with calls for caution and suspicion and over the sincerity of police allegations.

A Chieftain of the green party (GP) and political analysts, Chief Oye Jolaosho, however, noted that most politicians in the country were guilty of using political touts, which they often abandon after winning election, but added that this incident may have been

planned as a set up to humiliate the Senate president considering his recent problems with Security agencies in the country.

“This has been going on for long, all politicians have been using political touts in the country; they use them to win elections and later abandon them; they all know this.

“What is happening is unfortunate, but you can see that what is happening could be because of the invite that was extended to the IG by the Senate, as a result of the poor security situation in the country, I doubt if this is not to embarrass the Senate President but Nigerians are wiser now and I think they would stand up for what is right,” Jolaosho said.

A national officer of the Advance Democratic party, (ADP), noted that he was not surprised with the travail of the Senate President, adding that it was obvious that several personalities in the APC saw him as a threat toward realising their ambitions.

“Of course, are you surprised with what he is facing? The handwriting was there when he became Senate president that they did not want him; they were not happy with the way he emerged and you can see the way he has been treated.

“But what is happening is hard to believe; I can’t really say.

But obviously Nigerians would want to think it is because of the 2019 election; opposition voices are been silenced; what of Melaye? Several PDP members were arranged last week, are all the APC members now accused of corruptions”.

Mixed reactions trail FG declaration of June 12, Democracy Day …25 years after June 12: Our long wait for justice is ending – Hafsat Abiola …A ploy to bribe the Southwest - Omokri SEYI JOHN SALAU

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he Nigerian democratic trajectory has taken a new dimension with a recent declaration of June 12; Democracy Day by the Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government (FG) by an executive order. Prior to this, May 29 has hitherto been celebrated as Democracy Day in Nigeria, since the return to democratic governance in 1999.

However, the declaration by the president has been met with mixed reaction in different quarters of the country, especially when the timing is put under consideration as the declaration came in a pre-election year, and therefore calls to question the sincerity of the federal government in going this route.

While Hafsat Abiola, daughter of MKO Abiola said the move by the FG is Justice to the annulment of the June 12 general election, others like Reno Omokri, Fani Kayode and some political analyst disagree with the Federal Government on the timing and sincerity of the gesture.

Hafsat Abiola, in a statement made available to BDSUNDAY said it was expected that the

handover from military rule to democracy would be held on the 12th of June. That the action would have signaled the completion of a circle that began with a dream deferred and somehow became fulfilled. However, that hope and aspiration was short lived and for her the wait was in vain.

“Today when President Muhammadu Buhari gave an executive order to declare that June 12 was Nigeria’s Democracy Day; and to confer on MKO the title of GCFR, an honour reserved for presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; to confer on Gani Fawehinmi, the dogged fighter for justice, and my father’s running mate, Babagana Kingibe, the title of GCON, the second highest in the land.

“And in one day, demonstrated to my bruised heart that integrity, fairness, honour were alive and well in a country for which both my parents had sacrificed their lives. There are no words that can capture the depth of my gratitude or the breadth of my joy. I thank God that I am alive to witness this day.

“May we live to witness many more days when justice triumphs

over injustice, when sacrifice and service win over arrogance and fraud, and when the blood of our heroes reach from across time to boldly claim the reward that their actions wrought. May the sacrifices of our past heroes and heroines never be in vain, said Abiola.

Reno Omokri, a onetime assistant to former President, Goodluck Jonathan, in a swift reaction said the APC led Federal Government is in desperation for the southwest vote; “He has declared June 12, Democracy Day and have given MKO Abiola a posthumous GCRF. What hypocrisy; this was a man who served Abacha while Abacha jailed Abiola.

“It is no surprise. A man who gave dead men political appointments will definitely have no qualms in exploiting a dead man whose life he never added value to. While Abiola was in Abacha’s prison, Buhari was in Abacha’s parlour enjoying and preparing for Abacha’s self-succession,” Omokri tweeted.

Femi Gbajabiamila, Federal House of Representative member, representing Surulere Federal Constituency while com-

President Buhari menting on the legality of the president’s declaration said, “I will not jump into such fray, for to do so will be to debase and reduce the value of this particular award to this particular person.

“I believe politics should never be taken to the level that may tend to blunt the beauty and symbolism represented by actions such as this taken by the President. We must be careful not to kill the joy of the Abiola family in an attempt to read the President’s mind and motives.

Now even if it wasn’t done in good faith, a suggestion I completely disagree with, it should have been left alone if only for the sake of the memory of the

man who paid the supreme price for the democracy we are all a part of today,” he stated.

Gbajabiamila however said he would rather limit myself to the legality of a posthumous award under the National Honours Act. “I think I know a bit about the National Honours Act being a legislator and having been a nominee (though not a recipient), some years back. At the time I studied the Act to see how we could improve on it so it could achieve its objective as intended by its framers. This one award is perhaps the most deserving in the history of the awards system in Nigeria,” said Gbajabiamila.

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Sunday 10 June 2018

Politics

I have a vision to transform this CHINEDU ONYEIZU, a petroleum engineer, who currently works with a multinational energy corporation in Nigeria, is aspiring to contest election in 2019 to represent Abia-South Senatorial District of Abia State in the Senate. In this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, he expressed disappointment over the alleged neglect of his people, the poor state of affairs in the country and his determination to contribute a significant quota in order to pull, not only his senatorial district, but his state and the entire country, out of the abyss of hopelessness in which they have wallowed over the years. Excerpts:

M

ay we know what is motivating your political aspiration this time around?

I have a vision to transform this country and I am passionate about contributing immensely to any genuine effort or process of moving Nigeria forward. Every day, events in the country remind me that we are light years behind our counterparts like Singapore for example.

However, I am of the firm belief that good leadership can trigger a different leadership pattern in Nigeria - an industrial revolution that will tap into the high energy level of our youths, a boom in the Agro industry that will ensure that the produce of our mothers are valued 20 folds more than they are today, a reformed petroleum sector that will make events like fuel scarcity and lack of access to gas powered electricity history in our land. Yes, we can collectively improve the security situation in our country, revamp social life and turn around the economy and keep our children from the drive to risk their lives for greener pastures in places like Libya and other parts of the world.

However, going forward, I see a leadership void in Nigeria and as a result, I have declared my intentions to represent the good people of Abia South Senatorial District, other Nigerians in different parts of the country and the new generation of Nigerian youth most of who are still struggling with the decision to come out of their shells to lead Nigeria. The Nigerian youth must not only be good for votes, my message to them is that ‘the Time is Now’ for them to be voted into political offices.

I am resolute towards re-writing the Nigerian story for the good of all.

Obviously, I recognise that the task ahead will be quite daunting but we must be reminded that our generation has lost it all to years of waste and restlessness. I need their support to rescue some remaining fragments for our children and then we must school them to ensure that their own children save it all for the ones that will follow.

This is why I am using this opportunity to appeal to you, members of the fourth estate of the realm to support this worthwhile course by sending out the message that I am giving you today. We must ensure that every young Nigerian is sensitised for this noble course of nation building. We are not asking for a violent resolution; we are demanding for a clear direction to economic development, more employments and wealth creation in our country.

Which party platform do you intend to leverage on to actualise your aspirations?

Thank you very much for that question. I have consulted my creator, family and friends on my desire to go

to the Senate and I read manifestoes of different registered political parties before deciding the party platform I will use. After all, I found that the programs of the APC tally with my expectations. Additionally, the All Progressive Congress (APC) manifesto caught my fancy because it’s loaded with issues that touch on the lot of ordinary people. I challenge Nigerians to look deeply into the manifesto of this great party; they would find out that APC designed its programme deliberately for the good of greatest majority of Nigerians.

Abia has been People’s Democratic Party state for a long time now. Why do you think your party will win either the senatorial or governorship election in the state?

As you rightly observed, APC is not the dominant party in Abia State. But that impression has been consigned to the dustbin of history. The correct position of things now is that our party is going to sweep the three senatorial seats in 2019 and crown it all with taking over the government house in Umuahia. If you have been following developments in the party, you will notice that a good number of heavy weights have since joined APC and almost on daily basis influx of decampees from other parties are recorded. However, I think we should not be bothering so much about how long a party has ruled or dominated the political space of a state. It is more important to focus on individuals who are aspiring for positions.

To my earlier point, the APC has a well-articulated manifesto with the potential to transform the sociopolitical and economic landscape of this country. To beat heavyweights like Dr. Eyinnaya Abaribe is very easy in my view and how I wish we can meet in a televised election debate – well I am almost certain he won’t come. There is nothing to show for 12 years of bad representation in the red chamber – our federal roads are in their worst conditions, including the road passing his country home in Ohuru, we record high mother and child mortality ratios at general hospitals that should benefit from the districts constituency funds.

Apart from the fact that our people are disgruntled and disappointed with his performance over these years, I am better positioned to emerge victorious in that election because I am coming with fresh ideas and unique perspectives on how to alter the living standard of our people for good. I am going to offer innovative ideas that will radically transform Abia, I will work closely with the president and the governor to ensure that Aba is given special status as the entrepreneurial hub of the country. I am passionate about seeing that youths in my senatorial district and Abia as a whole are inspired. I am familiar with issues that

border them and the demographics are to my advantage. More than 65 percent of voters are the youth and I am going to leverage on that strength to distort and disrupt Abia PDP’s prearranged system of democracy.

So you think that the issue of the youth versus the old brigade will play a major role?

Yes, it will play a role. Let me tell you, ever since I decided to join partisan politics, I have been spending a lot of time with the youth and I will continue to mobilize them because they are key to credible election victory. I want to let them know that the future is theirs and the only way they can connect to that message is when they see their kind take up the challenge. I don’t only espouse youth leadership, I also emphasise that the candidate must be competent and passionate about leading Nigeria out of the woods. In that senatorial district, we have a lot we can do for our young people. We have a lot of young, industrious, smart and energetic minds and because we don’t have leaders that carry them

along we record a high level of unemployment in that part of the country.

Your interest and work in petroleum refining is well known. Now that you want to represent Abia South Senatorial Zone in the Red Chamber of the national assembly, what policy or law do you think should be made so that oil producing communities would benefit more?

I plan to deal on policies that will strengthen the oil and gas institutions when I get into the Senate. If they are strengthened we’re going to make recommendations that will capture the plight of oil producing communities in my constituency, the issues PENGASSIN and NUPENG have been pushing for would be attended to. If you look at the other parts of the world where oil and other minerals are extracted, the communities are developed partly by the companies that operate in those communities. If you look at Cote D’Ivoire and Botswana in particular, you have an effective partnership between the indigenous communities and the companies

that extract solid minerals from these communities.

For instance, is it not sad to learn that residents of Ukwa East and Ukwa West, where most of the oil in Abia State is deposited lack access to affordable and reliable electricity? As a senator, I will be restless until something is done for the participation of the multinationals in reversing the ugly trend. I will achieve this by ensuring that oil companies operating in these communities come up with a genuine road map that will guarantee 24 hours’ constant electricity supply in less than 2 years. They need to work out a realisable roadmap that will help bring about electricity for these communities – this is a given.

Do you think that this kind of agreement has not existed before?

I believe that efforts have been made in this direction before, but one thing is the approach that stakeholders adopted. There are effective models which I hope to advocate for when I get to the senate. I will make sure that penalties associated with gas flaring within those communities are potent. There are more effective measures that will ensure the oil companies comply unlike what cur-

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country – Abia Senatorial aspirant rently exists.

Is Modular Refinery model the solution to PMS importation and regular fuel scarcity?

Your question reminds me of the nation-wide fuel related crisis that occurred in 2012 under former President Goodluck Jonathan administration. In fact, government was almost shutdown because of fuel scarcity across the country then. Airplanes couldn’t fly and cars couldn’t run. In the middle of the crisis, I talked to myself that I should be able to take up this national problem as a research study in a University. Fast-forward, I took a year’s study leave from my work and went to MIT to seek for a solution. I remember that one of my findings was that Modular Refinery could be an option but I realised that it could only offer a temporary solution to the fuel scarcity problem we are having in Nigeria. In my recommendation, modular refineries will provide a quick fix solution but in the long run, it won’t be economic since the benefits of economies of scale and in most cases economies of scope only come with the installation of conventional refineries.

However, the beauty of modular refineries is that if President Buhari decides to end fuel scarcity problem in Nigeria today, in 6 months, 12 sets of 30,000 barrels per day capacity of modular refineries could be flown into the country and they will start operation immediately. On the long term, a conventional refinery installed at source is the way to go. When I graduated, I documented these recommendations and handed it over to the present government for implementation. It is shameful that we have over 38 billion barrels of crude oil in our reserve as a country, it is shameful that we produce 2 million barrels of this crude oil every day, even on a Sunday, it is shameful my fellow Nigerians that we ship our own crude oil out to either Europe or Asia where it gets refined and then the byproduct, fuel is returned back for us to consume. We pay subsidy and we are charged 10 dollars per metric ton to import this same product back to Nigeria. It is ridiculous! And that’s the height of the corruption we have in Nigeria.

One analogy I share with people whenever I think of the Nigerian petroleum downstream sector is that as it is those western countries where our crude oil is exported to for refining will be running business plan forecasts based on our inability to refine a God-given product in our backyard. I assume they will be running scenarios were Nigeria continues to be in this mindset for years. In their view, it will constitute a risk to meeting their business plan targets should Nigeria achieve energy independence. In other words, why should we as a people continue on this path? Every government is locked in this vicious circle of not being able to find a permanent solution to our energy situation.

What do you think is responsible for government’s inability to build more refineries despite promises it made and considering that in the foreseeable future, oil may not be as attractive because of innovations in other sources of energy?

It is a fact that in some parts of the world oil is regarded as dirty energy largely because of the externalities that are associated with crude oil and its bye products. The truth is that governments in developed countries don’t build and run refineries – even in the US. Refineries are gigantic projects that are better managed by the private sector. But for you to attract private sector participation or foreign direct investment (FDI) in the crude oil refining sector of your economy, you need to be able to create the enabling environment. Investors look out for key determinants of FDI before they move in.

As a country, we should be focused on those determinants. We should be asking what incentives and policies work for investors in the petroleum downstream sector. Some of these determinants are political stability; they look at exchange rate trend, access to affordable labor, access to skilled labor etc.

I urge our government to study public private partnership models that have worked in other countries for best practices. Government role should remain oversight functions.

I believe a robust PPP model will proliferate construction of refineries in Nigeria. The market for it exists in Nigeria and immediate neighboring countries in West Africa. We have a population of about 200 million people that consume tons of energy on daily basis. Again, if you allow the private sector to drive the sector, it will no longer be a jinx rather Nigeria will be a global hub for refinery products exportation.

To your second question which borders on whether we should be concerned about new technologies coming to challenge our dependence on oil. It is a valid point. However, I would say that we are not there yet.

We should not be overtly bothered about electric cars and what have you coming to replace fuel powered engines. I always tell people, let us first put food on the table of the common man and when we get to that level where food is no longer an issue then we can start looking at these luxuries.

So let’s first take care of pressing issues that we have like our mothers not being able to take their farm produce to the market, our young engineers not getting jobs after graduation, our young entrepreneurs with smart ideas not being able to leverage on any loan to grow their businesses and capacities. These are the things I am more concerned about not the threat of electric vehicles.

According to some people, the development of Aba will to a large extent determine the health of the state’s economy. Currently, Aba is regarded as a sore sight. If you get elected as a senator representing Abia South, what do you intend to do for the area?

There are enormous opportunities in Aba that are not yet tapped. I was born and raised in Aba. In fact, my second name among my friends and peers is ‘Aba’ because of how passionate I am about the great city. Aba people are energetic. The resilience and tenacity to survive and to make something out of nothing is the spirit of Aba. If you read my biography, you will see how I started life in Aba. I had my primary and secondary education in Aba and the Aba spirit has taken me to heights I never thought I would climb to in my life. Back to your question, what you consider as ‘sore’ is actually wealth.

The waste bin can be transformed into wealth by people that generate the waste. If you bring in private investors that can convert that waste into wealth and pay the individuals that generate the waste, you would have solved the problem of waste in Aba. If you do that, you see mothers, children and virtually everybody living in that town looking for waste to sell. That’s one point.

Do you see the unpopularity of APC in the South East as a major challenge for your success and that of your party?

What I tell people is that we should focus more on the individuals running on the APC platform. Parties are vehicles and decisions are taken by individuals that contest on the party platform.

I think that is the way it should be.

Whether the individual follows party manifesto or decides to toe a different line is essentially an individual thing.

So, it is important that our people see beyond party affiliations and look at what individuals have for them as their leaders. However, a growing number of Igbo leaders are in APC. People like Jim Nwobodo, Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu, Dr. Ken Nnamani, Dr. Uche Ogar, Dr. Nkechi Nworgu and other notable people are stalwarts in the party. I don’t think it is correct to say that Igbos are lethargic about the party; APC is a national party and above all, I think our country will be better if we look beyond regional politics and focus more on our country as it were; Nigeria and her citizens should come first.

The other point is the entrepreneurial spirit of Aba man. What will help us harness that opportunity is setting up industrial parks or industrial clusters. Building a gigantic industrial park that will cover over nine thousand hectares of land currently being contemplated by the incumbent administration is a good idea. However, it may take some years before such a project will be commissioned.

My approach to solving entrepreneurial capacity in Aba is to negotiate with foreign and local investors to set up small scale industrial clusters within two acres of land for instance. Just set up a cluster where equipments will be installed in order to commercialise the products of an Ariaria shoe maker that uses his hand to produce one thousand pairs of shoe a day. In fact, I met one Mr. John who produces high quality shoes with his bare hands. If you see him, his fingers are almost incarcerated and he told me that he produces one thousand, two hundred beautifully made shoes every day and he has done that for 23 years. He also told me that he has customers from Cotonou, Cote D’Ivoire, Cameroun and other neighbouring African countries. You can imagine when you avail Mr. John the opportunity of using machines that can enable him produce one million pairs of those same shoes a day, could you imagine what that could mean to his life and life of others around him? Interestingly, there are many of them like that languishing for lack of good leadership and representation. If you set up a system like that and ensure it is sustainable, it will work. With the model of industrial parks, I have in mind for entrepreneurs in Aba, power generation companies will fly into the country to provide the power needed to run the clusters efficiently. If you provide power for a man who produces one million shoes, his capacity is enhanced and he is able to pay for the power. So, it is all about innovativeness and that is

what I am bringing to the table. I want to champion issues that touch on the root of the struggling majority and the underdevelopment in the country.

Are you contemplating any law or policies to effect meaningful change in this case?

Yes. My thoughts on this are to espouse a law that makes Aba a national entrepreneurial hub with annual budget allocation from the federal government. The funds will be used to grow local capacity and facilitate counterpart funding for entrepreneurial development projects or investments that will require government participation as a third party.

Accessing government counterpart fund is crucial and it could act as an incentive to attract FDI’s. If you have that kind of policy and others like tax regimes or holidays, a lot of investors will be attracted to Aba. How united and powerful is APC in Abia State to withstand the challenge of major opposition in the state?

APC stands a chance of forming a formidable opposition in Abia State.

The party is more united now than ever before. Yes, you don’t rule out disagreements in a major political party like APC but what matters is that after the disagreements the feuding parties reconcile. I think APC in Abia state is one big family poised to win elective positions in the state in 2019.

Are the new comers creating any problem?

I don’t think so. I think it is more appropriate to say that the new comers into the APC fold have strengthened the party to emerge victorious in all elective positions in the state during the forthcoming elections. I said earlier that we are recording influx of decamps from other parties daily into our fold and that is not a sign that problems exist.

What we have in the Senate are an army of retired and tired politicians, many of who do not make any comment on the floor of the senate on any issue. How do you intend to work with such geriatric?

Well, I am going there to serve and demonstrate that you don’t have to be a retired general in the army or an ex-governor to aspire to any elective position in the country. Good a thing, our president has signed a #NotTooYoungToRun bill into law which I believe will spur youth aspiration to contest elective positions. It also further assures us of his confidence in the capacity of young Nigerians to lead this country to greater heights. If I become a senator, I will employ my negotiation skills to push and persuade for the laws that will enable my vision and good plans I have for my fellow Nigerians to be passed.

PROFILE Engr. Chinedu Onyeizu hails from Abayi Ohanze village in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.

He is below 40 years of age.

By way of educational background, he had his tertiary education at the Federal University of Technology, (FUTO) Owerri, Imo state, where he graduated as a petroleum engineer.

He is a holder of Masters in Business Administration from the prestigious Machasseuchets Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He also holds a Post Graduate certificate in Emerging Leadership Programme from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, which is a branch of the Harvard University in the United States of America.

After his programme at MIT, his focus has been on African governments at state, national and regional levels. He uses his start-up company, AfriPERA to discuss issues with representatives of these governments to come up with innovative solutions on how best to solve challenging policy and economic problems on the continent and particularly Nigeria.

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Politics We are laying solid foundation for economic well being of our people - Emmanuel Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom State, in this interactive session with journalists in Lagos, spoke about his administration’s effort to change the face of Akwa Ibom State. The governor, who says he is a professional in politics, insists that his focus is to lay a very solid foundation for the economic well being of the people and not bothered by the tantrum of gainsayers. ZEBULON AGOMUO was there. Excerpts: You marked three years in office recently; may we know the basis for the celebration and how your administration has impacted on the people? s soon as we came into office; we hit the ground running because we knew why we came into office in the first place. In the past three years that’s what we’ve gone ahead doing. Has it been rosy; the answer is no, are we facing a lot of challenges?

The answer is enormous (enormous challenges). In Akwa Ibom State, we have about 3,000 units, and I have gone round. I have visited all the units severally. That’s why you can now understand that even certain policies that you put in place might not even work because of the feeling of what the grassroots people are facing on daily basis.

That’s how you will now understand that it is not when you sit in the Government House fanning yourself and saying you have put in place policies for compulsory education and you think everybody is in school; but you just discover that a lot of people cannot even go. You meet a family and ask, why didn’t your child go to school, and they tell you ‘sorry I have not even eaten since yesterday’; what do you do as a governor?

You now say go to school I will pay your WAEC fees; if he doesn’t eat, he cannot even write WASC examination and pass very well.

You now discover that things we used to take for granted are no longer so. I remember in those days when a child is hungry you say ‘go and drink garri’. Today, garri is difficult to come by. So, we started to look at our blueprint once again, because the blueprint you draw when you are aspiring; the blueprint you draw when you are campaigning is different from the blueprint that you experience when you are having adequate feedback from the grassroots. But by and large the principles are the same. We look at everything and see how we can do a proper execution that can take things up to the grassroots. And see how you can live for a cause that you came into the office; not for an applause that probably we are known for in this part of the world, because you just discover that you can play the politics in different way, not so much into the applause, but we are concerned about what we can actually do to get back to the grassroots.

You see somebody who would probably have just a slight fall in the bathroom, before they run around looking for a clinic, a doctor or even a syringe to inject the person, the person is gone; something that is that minor happens regularly and you have a heart break as a governor.

It will be difficult for me now to start counting all that we have done in the last three years. We have done a lot on

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infrastructure and we are doing and we are also going to do more.

One thing I also experienced is that we can actually do so many things simultaneously. Somebody may be surprised to ask, ‘you are building infrastructure, what about other sub-sectors?’ Not even a single sub-sector is neglected, but it is subjected to resources. You know resources are limited; we do not have open-end resources to carry out all that we want to put in place.

Someone asked me some time ago how I am able to do all that we are doing in the era of recession. I said well there are two situations here. I have a situation of cash and a situation of money.

Cash I don’t have; money can I create?

The answer is yes. I find a way to create money to do certain things; I may not have cash. That’s what makes a whole lot of difference. A lot of people may not really actually understand that, and that’s why you read all the things you read and they don’t actually come out with the true position of things.

Today, I have just discovered that minor staple foods we eat as a people we do not even have enough; and till tomorrow we do not have enough.

Even where we borrowed the presidential system of government from, that’s America, there is hardly any state

in America that cannot produce; I think about 83 percent of what any state consumes is produced in that state in America.

So, I just challenged my people and that’s why I went and picked a professor from a university and said to him, come and head a technical committee on Agric and Food sufficiency! Now, how can we be evergreen from January to December? And once there’s a little bit situation around us people wouldn’t

For instance, garri was about N21,000 (Twenty One Thousand Naira) a bag, but today, it is N11,500, at most N12,000 depending on our output at that point in time, I just discovered that even the local fabrication yard, we can actually patronise them, if you see our garri-milling factories, about 90 to 95 percent are fabricated locally

even find garri to buy in the market. There must be something wrong somewhere. God has provided us with everything, that we need but the problem is that we are probably not doing what we are supposed to do.

What has been the impact of your intervention in the agric sector?

Today, I can tell you for free that the price of garri in Akwa Ibom State has drastically reduced from what it used to be when we came into power.

That was as a result of our conscious efforts. For instance, garri was about N21,000 (Twenty One Thousand Naira) a bag, but today, it is N11,500, at most N12,000 depending on our output at that point in time.

I just discovered that even the local fabrication yard, we can actually patronise them. If you see our garri-milling factories, about 90 to 95 percent are fabricated locally; people go ahead fabricating the processing system and I try to take people round and show them how those processes work; and they work perfectly well.

That’s how you’ll know that in Nigeria we have the capacity; all we need is just to challenge the mind of our people. One of the fabricating yards recently did a corn-shredding and drying processing system for me and I discovered that the quality that came out after the shredding and drying of the corn can actually be sold anywhere in the world; so right now

we are actually importing similar technology to also do cocoa because I also discovered that because of our vegetation – our weather, our soil, we have one of the best flavours of cocoa on planet earth, but it is the processing system that makes us non-competitive in the international market. So, our people just suffer a whole lot, they don’t get competitive pricing. So we have to import technology now to process that and see how that meets the international standards that will be required or needed by big companies like Nestle, for chocolate, etc.

Once we get that right, then we change the face of things and fortunes of our people.

Similarly, we look at our environment and said; one day oil might not be always there. There are new commodities that are coming up in the market (emerging market); if you go to Bloomberg you see cocoa Nikel, all the prices of corn, sugar, coffee and the rest of them. You will never see the price of things like crude coconut oil because it is not available in large qualities and cannot even meet 20 percent of the world demand.

So, we said to ourselves we have a shoreline that is very conducive for certain hybrids of coconut. So we went ahead and acquired the areas, to do 2 million seedling of coconut; so we are about 60 percent to completion on our refinery where we would refine crude coconut oil and it is something people do not know until we pointed it out; the federal ministry of Agriculture, NIFOR are with us now.

The same way, the same technology that we can use to process coconut oil can also be used to process palm kernel oil without even changing any pan. If you check, the white palm that we have in South-South is so rich in kernel, but very poor in palm oil so, why should we allow those kernel to waste?

And that’s where appropriate pricing also comes in. So when our own women sit and get cracking kernel, we should be able to buy it at international market prices; and that’s how you create an economy, because once you process it, you have off takers that will be buying it from us. These are things that are not rocket sciences; just making use of what you have in your community to get certain

I can’t remember when last I saw any factory in this country specialising in wood works; but everything in this country we go to South Africa, outside this country to buy, meanwhile we have a lot of wood everywhere things to work.

Where is your administration on the wood factory project?

We are from a region where you have wood all round, but believe me, I can’t remember when last I saw any factory in this country specialising in wood works; but everything in this country we go to South Africa, outside this country to buy, meanwhile we have a lot of wood everywhere. So, we are setting up a factory to also process wood and also make plywood to be as good as the ones being imported, and as good as what you find in your car chrome and also be able to play in the international market.

All these things abound, but we have to look inwards and see what we can do.

You see that typical politicians might not be interested in doing what we are trying to do; because people may not applaud what you are doing because they are interested in only today and not tomorrow.

But we are laying a very solid foundation for the economic wellbeing of our people. These are things we call paradigm shift and that has been our focus in the past three years.

What some do not understand is that as you are doing this good thing, laying this good foundation people will appreciate because you are touching lives directly and that’s how you, at the end of the day, get loved by the people.

What do you think was responsible for the reported massive crowd at the venue of the Democracy Day event in Uyo on May 29?

Those who saw the huge crowd that was at the stadium on the Democracy Day were shocked. The good thing is that 99 percent of the people who came that day came on their own to show solidarity; they came to show love for the government that has touched the grassroots. That day, if we did not open all the emergency exits there could have been a serious stampede. Even the policemen could not do parade because there was

no single space; the people outside were almost as equal as the people inside; we couldn’t do a match past; we had to just give goodwill messages and opened all the emergency exits for people to go out.

People are trying to say, fine, you might call any party you want in this country but as much as we are concerned this is our own party; is like a religion here, we will live and die with it. That was the message they were trying to make Nigerians to know. This is because they have seen the impact of good governance on the grassroots and the people.

Despite the achievements your administration has recorded in the areas of infrastructure, investments and raising the quality of life of the people as you have highlighted, criticisms still abound. Why is it so?

Of course, there must be those who will deliberately deny the good efforts and the changes in their environment. They have chosen to live in denial, but we are not surprised about that. They use the social media to send out falsehood. Well, like I said we are not surprised because

it didn’t start today. We Christians know that even in the Bible, even after the good man had planted wheat, the enemy still went and sowed tares. It is always there. So, no matter what you do, there are those who would be somewhere throwing in sand and stones, calling you names, but we try not to answer them because we are not going to the same direction.

But I tell you for free that I am one governor that knows what is happening in all the 31 local government areas and in almost all the MDAs in my state. So, there’s no single area that I don’t know what is happening there. I do not need a paper or call on any of those working with me to update me with what is happening in any area in my state; whether local government areas, wards and even to the units. We signed on in this business and we will do it with every amount of sincerity and passion; and then try to see what amount of result we can get.

As I told my people and as I say always, I am a professional in politics, not a professional politician, and this is what has continued to drive my passion in the service of the good people of Akwa Ibom State.

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Politics Why we must enthrone true democracy in Bayelsa in 2019, by Welson In this interview, Ekiyor Welson, executive director of Campaign for Democracy and Development in Bayelsa (CDDB) and lecturer with the Niger Delta University (NDU), highlights the challenges of choosing a people’s governor and efforts to address violence and other sundry matters ahead of the election in 2019. Welson, a one-time chairman of Bayelsa State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), publicity secretary of Ijaw National Congress (INC) and Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said CDDB has found a leader who will have the pain of the people at heart. Excerpts:

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May we know what CDDB is all about?

DDB is an acronym for Campaign for Development and Democracy in Bayelsa. It is out to promote two things: development and democracy. These two concepts go hand in hand and one eliminates the other. So, we are basically trying to promote democracy through development. Some people think that democracy leads to development.

That is not true, it is development that leads to democracy. Why Africa cannot practise democracy is because we are backward, we are not developed. Why is it so easy for the western world to practise democracy? Because they are developed.

And what is development? Human capacity. So, can we mobilise Bayelsa people through some kind of teaching and sensitisation for them to understand the need to be democratic? They need to take part in the democracy of the state. When they begin to take part, then it will become easy for the political class.

is likely to be a change. Let me tell you one thing. When there is an election, and the people that are contesting do not connect with you, you will want to profit. But when you connect with any of them, you will not want to make profit. For example, among the people contesting an election, none of them is your person, you will ask yourself, ‘What have I got to gain? I don’t know any of them.’ Mundane thinking, of course!

But if one of them is somebody you know and you know that if he wins, you will benefit, you won’t collect any money from him. You are likely to vote for him. So, what we have done now; we want to create a situation where Bayelsa people will vote who they require. By owning him on Election Day, they will support him. They will just go there and do what they need to do. Bayelsa has never been blessed by a popular candidate. Go back to 1999.

Look at this last election, what they had to do was like trial and error. They did not know what to do. Whatever they got, they got. But this time around, we are seeing it.

You took your sensitisation campaign to all parts of the state. Havng done that, what is your conclusion?

The conclusion now is this; the people at a point believed that they had no part to play. And all they were made to do was on Election Day, they come out and collect whatever they can collect and vote for whoever gives them the highest amount of money. So to speak, the highest bidder.

But now we have come to realise that they are actually willing to take part in the political process. Now, how do you take part in the political process? It is to watch out for the kind of people that can serve you. The problem we have in this part of the world is that the people that want to be served do not take part in who serves them. So, the reverse is coming up now.

Bayelsa people now are looking for the kind of people that can serve. They now know that they can actually choose and participate in the political process. That is why you see that there is a lot of enthusiasm in the state now for what we are doing. That is our final conclusion, a lot of enthusiasm. So, we are building on it now.

Last time out, you remember the violence that characterised the election.

How do you expect the people to defend their votes because the main thrust of the matter is for the people to defend their votes?

I believe that our election is still far off.

When we get close to the election, we should be able to sit down and map out the kind of strategies that will curtail the violence. You can sit down and do some calculations. Why did the violence come up in the first place? Who are the perpetrators of the violence? The two main contenders were violent. They both brought in militants. Why did they bring in militants? Who allowed them to bring in the militants? What can we do to stop them from bringing in any militant? Can we interface with those militants? We are working on all of those things. We are talking with the militants themselves.

What is their interest? Is it any person that pays them, they work for the person?

Can we go to these people and tell them there is no point fighting if we can agree on the person that will come and protect our interest? So, we are coming from very scientific angles to see how we can nip the problem of violence in the bud because they have conflicting interests. Can we unify their interests? If we can unify their interests, the fighting will disappear.

Do you actually see the people voting their choice going by past experiences?

Yes! We know that in philosophy the past does not necessarily resemble the future.

There is no connection like it happened like this before, it will happen like this tomorrow. So, now based on reorientation - it is tough, I tell you it’s tough - when you think of limited resources and you think of limited scope, you will realise that what we are doing is almost passing the camel through the eye of the needle. But, we are going somewhere. We are going somewhere. The people are made to realise that indeed they can take part and it is beginning to dawn on them. And so, we

Ekiyor Welson

are seeing a situation where they believe that they can now vote for the kind of people that will serve them. They are now believing that their votes can really create a difference, especially when they look at their experiences, what they are facing.

So, they are willing now to consciously look for the kind of people that will serve them and make them happy.

The political parties will come up with the candidates and the kind of candidates they come up with may not necessarily be the kind of people that the ordinary man is looking for to serve him...

We have nipped that in the bud. We have nipped it in the bud. I meet people who are also concerned about the political happenings in Bayelsa State and they

When there is an election, and the people that are contesting do not connect with you, you will want to profit, but when you connect with any of them, you will not want to make profit

say things like, ‘We are going to wait for all the people that are interested in any particular office. We will now screen’. The question now is ‘How do you pick from the worst?’ Plato says the best must lead the rest; meaning that you must consciously look for the best. Therefore, what we have done this time around, we have worked within the parameters of development to search. We are starting from the top. From the top, we carried out a process that took us four months. Who do Bayelsans think being in Government House will carry their interests in his heart? And we announced to the entire state, please subject yourself to our scrutiny. Three people did and we sampled Bayelsa people and from the sampling we arrived at Okoya. Our responsibility now is to take that man to every nook and cranny of this state to achieve what we want to achieve. So, right now, the people have chosen. From our last press release, we are calling on all the political parties that operate in Bayelsa State to adopt our product because our product came out of a process by the same people that will vote. We have cut across all strata, all sectors of the Bayelsa society. Miraculously, as I speak to you right now, it is a popular movement. So, the political parties now will look for those that can win elections for them.

The last time, we know that money for vote was a big issue. Do you see any change in 2019?

Based on our scientific projections, there

We have the PDP and APC as major parties. Are you sure that you have the capacity to bring them to the understanding that you are canvassing?

We are not going to the parties. We are going to the people they engage for the violence. They are the people we are going to. They are our people. Surprisingly, some of them that perpetrated the violence then are already working with us. So, we

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Politics are not bordering ourselves with the political parties. We are bordering ourselves with the people that they normally engage for the violence. For example now, their boys. The boys are talking with us. They are telling us they are also tired. So, we are going to create the kind of situation that will make them not to be interested in carrying guns.

From your sensitisation so far, as you said, you have zeroed in on Arch Reuben Okoya. Can you tell us about him?

The first characteristic that you notice about Reuben Okoya; he is a team player.

He is a team player, a bridge builder and he is also a bridge. Politically, you can’t find Reuben in a situation of having political enemies. All the political blocks in this state are favourable to him. All the political blocks, and the first thing he did in this state; he is a unifier, somebody with a personality that can unify everybody. And that is what we have found in Reuben Okoya and he moves around all the political gladiators in this state freely. And he has the ability to be a friend to all of them. That is his best characteristic. If you watch well, any other person is in a way divisive. Some people, if they become governor today, there is a section of the state that will be sidelined. Reuben is a man that cuts across party lines, as they say in America, across the aisle. He is a man that both the PDP and APC need. Because of what? He is going to create the kind of development that all of them will benefit from. That is his first quality. His second quality is he is a man that likes working.

You know that Okoya is a hard worker. He works to make something tick. Number three, he is a man that has overcome greed and self-aggrandisement so to speak. He is a satisfied man. For the first time, we are seeing the person that wants to be governor from the positron of advantage.

He doesn’t need to travel to anywhere he has not been before. He does not need to drive the kind of car that he has not driven before. So to speak, a man that is full, you put him in charge of food. When you put a man that is hungry in charge of food, you have a problem. So, from ‘99 we’ve always had problems. We had people coming and wanting to acquire. When you find a man who is already satisfied, what he needs to do is to work and give back to the people.

So, with these kind of qualities, he is a man that is kind-hearted, a man that is generous, a man that feels what the people are feeling and a man that is very, very simple.

These qualities are the qualities that he has and understands what development is. These are the qualities that we want in a leader and we have found these qualities in him. So, we see it as a very rare privilege.

Somebody like Reuben Okoya is presenting himself.

There is something about politicians.

While you are doing your calculations, he is also doing his. Are you sure that his calculations will not include trying to satisfy some godfather somewhere because that is the bane of Nigerian politics?

He is going to satisfy the Bayelsa people.

As we speak right now, he is a product of the Bayelsa people. He is not being sponsored by any individual. I know where he is coming from. He is a product of communication between him and Bayelsa people.

Nobody is sponsoring him. Today, every one Naira he spends is the one he gets. He is not going to satisfy any godfather. And so, every other person is looking at him to organise himself and he is doing his best to organise himself.

We know that CDDB is not a political party and for Okoya to run, he needs a political party. Of all the political parties, looking at their antecedents, which one will he run on?

He is a full-blooded member of PDP. But I know as we speak, close to 40 political parties have adopted him. But he is a full member of PDP. He is going to ply his trade in PDP. And I don’t see anybody beating him in PDP. You are sure he will run on PDP? Yes. No second option. No option B. He will emerge candidate. You know where my calculation is coming from? One of the things that I know Dickson is concerned about is who takes over from him.

Who will protect his legacies? Who can protect the little achievements he has made? Who can build on the foundation he has laid? Dickson has carried out some revolutions in the state even though we have very poor media managers. There are some things he is sound that people are not reporting that today if somebody builds on, the person can build a giant superstructure. He needs somebody that will come with knowledge to build on it - not a neophyte, not somebody that will be there, but be needing some kind of directive. Dickson does not want somebody to control after he leaves office. He wants somebody he can confidently trust so he can enter this state and be safe, be comfortable and be honoured. It’s only Reuben that can do that, only Reuben. Any other person he brings or that comes will mess him up and create problems for him by being ineffective and incompetent. So, he himself knows that the only man that can make sure that he rests and sleeps isReuben Okoya. And I’m very, very sure Dickson is thinking in that line.

Apart from choosing him, what else do you need to do to ensure that he emerges governor at the end of the day?

Mobilising. The sensitisation, mobilisation and networking for Reuben Okoya has been very, very unprecedented. Unprecedented. Beyond anybody’s imagination.

Sometimes, we feel like shedding tears.

The kind of people that come to us and some will say ‘I know this man. I have worked for him. Bayelsa is going to be blessed’. So, beyond endorsing him, we are his foot soldiers. After endorsing him, we have become his foot soldiers. We have hit the ground running and by this weekend, we are moving, going to places.

Why are we going? We are going to tell them, help us. Let us collectively make this man our leader so that he can come and serve us. And that is not difficult. Not difficult.

Buhari

‘NotTooYoungToRun’ could signal hope for a new Nigeria

T

ADEROJU JONATHAN he youth are the leaders of tomorrow is a saying millions of Nigerians have heard for almost 60 years of the country’s independence, whereas the same generation of old leaders continued to hold sway in every sphere of governance.

But today, the possibility of young people holding the reins of governance, appears to be coming into reality with the not too young to run legislation.

“We passed the #NotTooYoungToRun Bill because it is a crime against humanity to exclude youths from politics and governance. They are our greatest assets in #Nigeria,” wrote Yakuba Dogara in a tweet after the legislation became law.

It appeared millions of young people across the country have suddenly become invigorated at the prospect of holding public office at ages earlier than previously permitted. But then as Ibrahim Dankwabo, governor of Gombe state tweeted “the greatest way to achieve #NotTooYoungToRun is for all youths in the country to support fellow young people. Politics will always be a game of numbers.”

Till date, a substantial part of the large youthful population in Nigeria could be described as tools used by politicians in subverting the democratic process, particularly through violence and manipulation of votes. With the new legislation, however, the youth can now stand for elections, instead of being used by others for mostly selfish gains.

Nigeria’s population which is now put at over 190 million has the youth accounting for over 60 percent. This is considered to be one of the highest percentages of youth in any country; representing both a challenge (in meeting the demands of the youthful population), but also an opportunity to utilise the young, agile population to the country’s advantage.

The Not Too Young To Run Bill is an amendment of Section 65 (1), 106(b), 131 (b), 177 (b) of the 1999 constitution.

Prior to the amendment, the Constitution

required anyone vying for a seat at the National Assembly to have attained the age of 35 years for Senate and 30 years for House of Representatives; section 106 (b) stipulated that a candidate must attain the age of 30yrs before contesting for a seat at the state House of Assembly; Section 131 (b) the age of 40 years for candidates vying for the office of the President; while Section 177(b) Age of governorship candidates as for 35 years.

But now, the age for Presidency has been reduced from 40 to 35 years, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly from 30 to 25 years, while Governor and Senate were retained at 35years.

It appears to be widely expected that with more young people in government, the vibrancy and dynamism of ideas will help Nigeria improve rapidly.

Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, expressed the view that the “#NotTooYoungToRun Bill has energized our youth and will further democratize the governance of our nation.”

Young people in Nigeria are expected to take on a more active role in policy making now that the opportunity has been provided. They can now aspire to follow in the steps of France where Emmanuel Macron was elected president as a 39 year old in 2017, and the country appears to be witnessing a new wave of economic stability.

Macron has been able to create a new momentum, a new energy, and it is transforming the landscape and the conditions of producing goods and services in the country. The reforms are said to be helping France reduce unemployment. Nigeria equally has youths who have great, interesting qualifications as that of the French president, and Nigeria could learn from France in other for the economy to get the best from its youthful population.

With the not too young to run bill, it is expected that young Nigerians will step up their game, not forgetting that as a youth that is aspiring for a political position, there is also a need to be intellectually sound so as to represent the country well amongst world leaders.

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Sunday 10 June 2018

Politics Is Tinubu’s political hegemony in Lagos crumbling?

JOSHUA BASSEY AND INIOBONG IWOK

T

he crowd at Eko Hotels and Suites, venue of the recent 66th birthday colloquium of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, March 28, lent credence to his influence on Nigerian political scene.

The guests led by President Muhammadu Buhari, cut across party lines, religious and ethnic divides; from the National Assembly, to the federal executive council, states and local governments.

They came in their numbers to pay respect to a man many would describe as a “god-father with many political sons”.

Tinubu, who dominates the Lagos political landscape like a colossus, rose to stardom in his political career when he contested and won an election into the Nigerian Senate in 1992 to represent the Lagos West Senatorial District.

After the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election presumed to have been won by late MKO Abiola, Tinubu, alongside other like-minded politicians, co-founded the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a platform they used effectively to agitate for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria and recognition of the annulled June 12 presidential election.

Tinubu went into exile in 1994 when the military regime of the late Sani Abacha became furious and posed danger to the NADECO agitators.

He returned to the country in 1998 after the death of Abacha, and in 1999 contested for and won the governorship of Lagos State on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD).

He sought for and secured his re-election in 2003, thus making him the only re-elected AD governor in southwest, as others in Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ondo were defeated by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which held power at the federal level.

Upon finishing his second term in office in 2007, Tinubu sponsored his then chief of staff, Babatunde Fashola in the governorship race, in what saw many of his appointees who were interested in succeeding him, defecting to other parties in protest.

It was no surprise that in 2014, many of the aspirants at the federal and state levels including Akinwunmi Ambode, the incumbent governor of Lagos, relied almost entirely on Tinubu to secure party’s nomination and ticket ahead of the 2015 general election. It paid off, as many of the political office holders including serving members of the state House of Assembly rode on the endorsement of Tinubu to secure their current positions.

Since leaving office as governor in 2007, Tinubu has continued to maintain his hegemony on the Lagos politics, with the magic wand of deciding who becomes what in Nigeria’s richest state. Rather than waning, Tinubu’s influence has continued to grow not only at the state and party levels, but also at the grassroots, as aspiring politicians- young and old- look to his blessing and endorsement to get into political office.

Tinubu unilaterally decided the fate of the immediate past state executives of the APC led by Henry Ajomale, when he barred those who had served two to three terms in office from seeking re-election in the recent state congress of the APC, during which two factions: one led by Tinubu’s loyalist/Tunde Balogun on one hand, and another, led by Fouad Oki, who emerged chairman at another different locations.

Since the emergence of parallel executives of the APC in the state, pundits have been asking whether the development signalled a gradual end of Tinubu’s dominance of the

Tinubu

Lagos politics.

Until recently, Oki a loyalist of Tinubu and the immediate vice chairman, central of Lagos APC, was also a former campaign director for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s 2015 gubernatorial contest. Oki also acted in that capacity for both Tinubu and former governor Babatunde Fashola.

He had in February, launched the Broom United Movement, a faction of aggrieved party members, to challenge the dominance of Tinubu.

At the APC factional congress which held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Sanni Oloye and Wole Oshodi became deputy state chairman and secretary, respectively.

But the congress conducted at the party secretariat on Acme Road which had the backing of Tinubu and witnessed by Uche Ekwunife, a national officer APC, saw Tunde Balogun, a former commissioner in Lagos State, emerged as chairman. He has since been sworn in by John Odigie-Oyegun, national chairman, APC. Sunny Ajose, a former head of service in Lagos State, also emerged as the deputy chairman, with Funsho Ologunde retaining his vice-chairmanship position of Lagos West; Kayode Olusanya as vice-chairman, East and Hakeem Bamigbala as vice-chairman, Central while Wale Ahmed emerged as secretary.

Speaking after the parallel state congress held at the Airport Hotel in Ikeja, where he emerged the factional state chairman, Oki had said the lack of internal democracy, lack of justice in the party and the manipulation of the congresses in the state to favour some individuals informed his decision to hold a parallel congress.

Oki added that the conduct of the congress in the 35 Local council development areas (LCDA) in the state by the Tinubu’s loyal faction was against the electoral law and

Of course when you even look at history, political empires around the world do not last forever; where is Lamidi Adedibu in Ibadan with all his influence

election guidelines, adding that his faction was the authentic APC in the state, having staged election in only the twenty local government of the state recognised by law.

“The congress held at Airport Hotel is the only legitimate one. I’m not aware of any parallel congress, what we did here was the election of one party, the APC. This is a coalition of different groups, namely; Justice Forum, the Mandate and United Group,” “We ask them that election must be conducted in only recognise 20 local government area and they said no it must be 377 and we said ok, and we saw the consequences people have been killed in the last LG congress.

“They said we want to do state congress and we said no; you cannot do that when there are issues pending from the last Local government exercise. And when they are electing the national delegates they reverted to the 20 local governments why did they do that if they know they are not wrong?

“The people that were send from Abuja was chase away with teargas We made several attempt to do reconciliation but it was met with brick wall it is only the NEC of the party that can resolve this.

“Under our watch as state chairman, internal democracy will be strictly adhered to with a deliberate policy to return ‘real’ power to the people. No more imposition, no more impunity. Every member of this party can from this moment, consider him or herself, an equal shareholder in our common destiny. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians of goodwill, to embrace and support this new Executive Committee in this quest for a new APC. In particular, I reach out to our old members who for one reason or the other are deeply aggrieved to please be rest assured that a new dawn is here”.

“The thrust of this assignment therefore, is to Rebuild and Rekindle the Progressive energy of our members with the freedom to choose their leaders, fair play, equity and justice as the principle to move the Party forward. Let me assure you great members and leaders of our party, that by the grace of God and with all hands on deck, we shall take the Party to greater height transparently without let, fear or favour. We have it the ground running determined that genuine reconciliation of all members”.

But the state Chairman of the Tinubu’s led faction, Tunde Balogun said in an interview with newsmen that whichever congress held outside the party office was null and void, adding that only congress held in the secretariat of the party and supervise by the national officers

of the party was legitimate.

“This is the only recognise congress in the state any individual or group holding congress outside this venue is null and void, you can see the present of officials from the head quarter of the party and INEC”.

However, Political observers have questioned if the factionalisation of the Lagos APC which was unprecedented in the state, was an indication of a receding political influence of the Asiwaju of Lagos and the national leader of the APC in the state and indeed the southwest.

Analysts expressed divergent views, while some noted that Tinubu had built a strong political empire in Lagos that would take a long time to erase, adding that the current crisis in Lagos APC may have been instigated to embarrass him.

Some were of the view that political dominance in any society does not last forever and was bound to be challenged at a certain point by the citizenry, stressing that Lagosians and even Nigerians were becoming more politically conscious.

Kayode Ojikutu, a political analyst and politician doubts if the leaders in the Oki-led APC faction in the state had the political clout to rival Tinubu’s political dominance in the state.

“I don’t think what is happening in Lagos APC is much of Tinubu’s influence waning or whatever you call it. Don’t forget that all these boys, either you call them federal or Abuja boys were made by Tinubu. What is the political strength of Fashola structure in Lagos? Does he have any? None of them can challenge Tinubu in the next eight years I can assure you that,” Ojikutu said.

Tinu Olaoye, a politician, however, said that the current crisis may have been instigated to shame the APC national leader, admitting the intrigues that had rocked the APC for several months now on who becomes the national chairman.

“Of course when you even look at history, political empires around the world do not last forever; where is Lamidi Adedibu in Ibadan with all his influence? But if I think Tinubu is still in charge here, he may not weigh that much influence in the southwest again, but I want to think that what is currently happening in Lagos is meant to embarrass him, considering what is happening within the APC at the national level for some time now,” Olaoye said.

But lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) David Bayesha stressed that Nigerians were becoming more politically-conscious, wondering if the APC faction could sustain the current rebellion against Tinubu.

“Well, nothing lasts forever, in such places they should be looking for challenges people are looking for self-expression too, even the dominant influence of America in world politics is been reduced. Personalities with such political power should be looking for such because the people are now becoming conscious they want to express themselves that is what is playing out. But again we need to ask the question; can they survive on the current reality? This is what we should consider, people would fight for independent but how far they would go is left to be seen,” Bayesha stressed.

Emmanuel Oreke, a political scientist, noted that Tinubu had deep-rooted political structure in Lagos that would take some time to erase, stressing that the current move by the Oki faction would however, give other politicians the courage to challenge his dominance of Lagos politics.

“Yea, it may be; he cannot be there forever, but don’t forget that having been in charge of politics in this state for long he is in control of the political structure in Lagos; he made most of them, but I think by having the courage to challenge Tinubu in the state alone would give other politicians the courage to rise up in the shortest period,” Oreke said.

Sunday 10 June 2018

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AssemblyWatch From the Red Chamber With

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE

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igeria is a land of unending drama. A day without drama in the ‘Federal Republic of Drama’ is like a day without the sun.

The face-off between the National Assembly and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, assumed a new dimension last week when the police invited Senate President Bukola Saraki over his role in the April 5 banks robbery in Offa, Kwara State, that killed 33 persons including pregnant women and 12 police officers.

In what is fast becoming a fashion, the National Assembly rose from a joint closed door session and resolved to ‘impeach’ President Muhammadu Buhari if he fails to address incessant kill-

When will National Assembly stop being a toothless bulldog? ings across the country, persecution of perceived political enemies and growing rate of unemployment across the country.

In veiled reference to the rift between the federal legislature and the police boss, both legislative chambers resolved that President Buhari must be held accountable for the actions of his appointees, even as they insisted that the President must be ready to sanction those that carry out acts that endanger the country’s democracy.

Although some persons may view these resolutions as a game changer ahead of the 2019 general elections, I strongly believe the Eighth National Assembly has not only lost its relevance in the scheme of things but has become a toothless bulldog.

In my May 13, 2018 article titled: “As we await Senate’s funeral”, I pointed out that National Assembly members were only interested in issues that would feather their nests and not their constituents. They pretend to be with the masses when the Executive arm of government takes certain actions only to chicken out at the end.

For instance, the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on President Buhari’s payment of $496 million to the United States

Government for the purchase of twelve Tucano military aircraft without National Assembly approval has been swept under the carpet. This should have been submitted in the first week of May. What happened to the report of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs on the alleged harassment of the Chairman, Senate Public Accounts Committee, Matthew Urhoghide, for asking his colleagues to invoke Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution against the President?

In the same vein, the report of the Aliyu Wamakko-led Committee mandated to investigate the allegation of $25 billion contract scandal levelled against the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu is yet to see the light of the day. The nine-man panel was inaugurated since October 2017.

In April, both Senate and House of Representatives also summoned President Buhari over incessant killings and nationwide insecurity. But two months after, the President is yet to appear before both chambers.

I can list other instances but suffice it to say that when you only talk of impeachment to win public sympathy and end up doing nothing, nobody takes you serious. You

become a toothless bulldog.

This is what has become of the Eighth National Assembly right now. And this partly explains why an appointee of the President will shun Senate’s summon on three occasions.

On a lighter note, IGP Idris has become the butt of a joke in most gatherings, following the viral video in which he fumbled midway and mentioned ‘transmission’ several times while reading a prepared speech at a recent event in Kano State.

President Buhari’s letter to the Senate last week on the ‘Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (Amendment) Bill 2018’ turned out to be a comic relief of some sort when Saraki mimicked Idris by repeating the words ‘transmission’.

The letter titled: “Transmission of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Amendment Bill 2018”, which was read out by Saraki, became a subject of laughter among senators when Saraki mentioned the first word ‘Transmission’.

The Senate President feigned a serious face to re-read the letter and paused when he got to the word, ‘Transmission’, leading to uncontrollable laughter by his colleagues.

Also at an event organised by Situation Room - a coalition of over

National Assembly’s subtle move to take Buhari aback

I

t’s cheering to report that the House of Representatives and National Assembly has completed the 180 days legislative days, in compliance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The latter days of the third year of the 8th Assembly under the leadership of the Senate President, Senator Bukola and Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives however came with unprecedented hullaballoo and rancour with the Executive arm which heated the entire polity.

This is coming barely eight months to the 2019 general elections.

But I perceive the days ahead aren’t going to be like before!

Like any other Nigerians, Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari may consider the steps taken by the National Assembly and his supposed supports for granted! Commentaries from various social media platforms weren’t helping matters as well. For those close to Mr. President, they must have gone to bed and start jubilating that the National Assembly has one on recess, and encourage Mr. President to breathe a sigh of relief of using the next few days to settle down and prepare for the National Convention of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC).

I imagine what will be going on in the minds of President Buhari, Saraki and Speaker Dogara when they eventually converge next week Friday. But I’ve taken time to reflect on the outcome and gravity of the outcome of the heated joint session held on Tuesday,

5th June, 2018, where the lawmakers issued 12 point resolution, including the threat notice to evoke Constitutional powers if nothing is done to address the above resolutions. The resolutions include: issuing marching orders to security agencies to immediately curtail the sustained killings of Nigerians across the country and protect life and properties of Nigerians as this is the primary duty of any responsible Government; end systematic harassment and humiliation of perceived political opponents, people with contrary opinions including Legislators and Judiciary by the police and other security agencies; strict adherence to the Rule of Law and protection for all citizens by the President and his appointees; sincerity in the fight against corruption by not being selective, also prosecute current appointees that have cases pending against them; protect the sanctity of the National Assembly and preserved the Federal Government of Nigeria by not interfering in Legislative business as well as prosecution of those who invaded the Senate to seize the mace.

They also vow that the President will be held accountable for the actions of his appointees and be ready to sanction those that carry out any act which will ridicule or endanger our country and democracy; ensure that democratic elections are competitive and inclusive by removing the present reign of fear and intimidation particularly ahead of the forthcoming 2019 elections; and take immediate steps to contain the growing level of unemployment and

poverty in Nigeria especially now that we have advantage of the oil price having risen to $80 per barrel.

While both chambers of the National Assembly passed a vote of confidence on the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the entire leadership of the National Assembly, the reaffirmed the earlier resolution of ‘vote of no confidence’ on the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim “who does nothing other than preside over the killing of innocent Nigerian and consistent framing up of perceived political opponents of the President and outright disregard for constitutional authority, both executive and legislative.”

As a reflection of the fairy tales during the military junta of which many Nigerians and their families are still counting the cost, the lawmakers resolved to liaise with International Communities through the IPU, APU, ECOWAS, CPA, Parliament, Pan African Parliament, EU, UN, US Congress and UK Parliament to secure Nigeria’s democracy as well as synergize closely with Civil Society Organisations, Trade Unions and NGOs to further deepen and protect our democracy. Of course, all these parties fought hard to combat the military junta.

Examining critically the above listed issues, partial provisions of Chapter IV, Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which stipulate what could constitute ‘Notice of any allegation’ has been fulfilled in principle. All it takes is to transmit the document/resolutions

to Mr. President and get the acknowledgement copy for the record.

This will form part of the evidence to be tendered at the Court when the joker is to be dangled on the day of reckoning! Perusing the process of impeaching of a Nigerian President as encapsulated in section 143 and 144 of the Constitution (as amended), all the needed do is to mop the signature of at least one-third of the 469 members from both chambers, thereby fulfilling the provisions of Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution.

The only condition left is for the panel to be constituted and file the report thereafter. The next line of action is for the Chief Justice of Nigeria, at the request of the President of the Senate appoint a Panel of seven persons who in ‘his opinion’ are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, to investigate the allegation as provide in this section.

The President whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person and be represented before the Panel by legal practitioners of his own choice.

Section 143(9-10) further provides that “Where the report of the Panel is that the allegation against the holder of the office has been proved, then within fourteen days of the receipt of the report at the House the National Assembly shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of each House of the National Assembly supported by not less than two-thirds majority of

70 civil society organisations - in Abuja last week, Idris also became a subject of another joke when INEC National Commissioner, Solomon Soyebi, was explaining to participants that the Commission had developed a technology that would enable it to transmit election results electronically direct from polling units to its states’ headquarters.

The moment he mentioned the word ‘transmission’, the hall burst into laughter. Initially, Soyebi was confused but immediately he caught the drift of what was happening, with some participants warning him to be careful, he retorted, “It’s not that transmission we are talking about but we have started transmitting our results from the polling units to a central server.....” His failed attempt to distinguish his ‘transmission’ from that of Idris’ evoked uncontrollable laughter among guests.

No doubt, this joke will fizzle out with time just like the ‘Oga at the top’ scenario. The latest is the use of the word, ‘Iberiberism’ which Imo State, Rochas Okorocha claims is in the dictionary.

But I am yet to find it. Nigerians are renowned for their sense of humour, hence we moved four places up from 95th to 91st happiest people in the 2017 United Nations World Happiness Report.

From the Green House With

KEHINDE AKINTOLA all its members, the report of the Panel is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report. No proceedings or determination of the Panel or of the National Assembly or any matter relating thereto shall be entertained or questioned in any Court.

To finally nail Mr. President, section 144 (1a & b) simply provides that: “The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office, if - (a) by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all the members of the executive council of the Federation it is declared that the President or Vice-President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office; and (b) the declaration is verified, after such medical examination as may be necessary, by a medical panel established under subsection (4) of this section in its report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

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Sunday 10 June 2018

2019: Sowore, a dogged fighter goes for the youth AKIN PAUL

T

he media especially the social segment has been awash recently with the return to the country of a presidential aspirant, former students’ leader, Omoyele Sowore. It would have gone unnoticed like most incidents of the day but for thetumultuous crowd that came out to welcome him and the traffic snag that it generated within the precincts of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and the interconnecting roads.

Like hurricane, it has been mammoth crowds that follow his entourage wherever he goes since his emergence on the political scene while the fully packed town hall meetings at various parts of the country that followed the Airport incident express a real intent of a determined shotat the nation’s highest seat of power.This is remarkable for an aspirant who has not announced any affiliation with any existing political party but currently running independently and thus does not enjoy benefits of any party structure as it should be.

For those who could spare a little time for students’ union politics in the universities in the late eighties and early nineties, the name would need very little or no introduction except perhaps to be very sure of the true identity. Sowore is the brave young man who held the reins of Students’ Union government as the president of the University of Lagos Chapter and had ceaseless battles with the university authorities, student cultists and the then military government of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Significantly, because of its several anti-people

policies, the IBB administration experienced several students’ riots that often spiraled out of the campuses onto the adjoining streets and areas to mobilise the masses against the government. It could be argued from a generational perspective that students’ unionism reached the peak of radicalism during this period; it was incessant just as it was profound on scale.

It would appear rather simple now to conceptualise for the uninitiated but to take on a brutish military Gestapo at that timerequired the indomitable courage of the steelhearted, very few would attempt it because of the dire consequences.

Indeed, for the writer, at the time he was to start academic activities at Unilag in the mid-eighties, a very close cousin who had taken much liking to the Late Tai Solarin whose column he followed regularly in one of the newspapers, told me he wanted me to be very controversial and radical. I replied that I would only if he was a lawyer and would be there to bail me out each time I got into trouble.

But I chose to stay out of trouble and out of students’ union activities (except to pay the mandatory levies) knowing my humble background and the reality that I would be on my own if I dared to join in the fray.

While it was convenient for one to join in innocent students’ mob action within the fringes of the campus, it was a no-go area to be in the forefront or to be involved in any activities outside the campus.

Sometimes, it takes being a coward to stay alive and as a friend would put it then, it is the coward who would point out a desolate house to his radical and daring son who wants to conquer the world, “a brave man used to live there but he

is no more”.

Therefore, there is everything to admire in a students’ union leader of that era because they put their lives on the line if they must make impact. It is much easier now because most students’ leaders compromise and have become ready tools in the hands of greedy politicians. No wonder students’ riots are now rare.

Sowore did not only confront the establishment but equally endangered his life in the even more dangerous battles with cult groups when cultists ruled the universities and their activities riled the minds.

The young man suffered untold hardship by way of various arrests and detentions, endless threats to his life (there is an account that he was forcefully injected with poison by cultists) and rustication. That he survived all these difficulties showed an indefatigable spirit and that God had other plans for him.

Sowore has displayed singular bravery once again by aspiring for the topmost position of presidency, not even governor of his state, nor senator of his senatorial district, House of Representatives Member nor local government chairman for that matter. As an online critic put it,it shows that he is not afraid to tread where angels dread. His take it back message is very apt for the times and conforms to the vision and philosophy of his campaign.

He has taken his message to far and beyond tothose in the Diaspora

notably Canada, US, UK and others, and back home in Nigeria, he has visited several cities and met with relevant prominent personalities to drum up support because he believes in consultations. At these fora, he discussed the prevailing problems of Nigeria, challenges ordinary Nigerians face and constantly reassures them that their days of facing these problems were numbered. His followership cuts across ethnic lines and certainly beyond his Yoruba tribe. The barrage of reactions to online publications indicates there are many who believe in his vision just as some think that he is a pretender which is normal. On the Instagram, he generated over 12, 972 likes which is quite impressive.

Sowore has displayed singular bravery once again by aspiring for the topmost position of presidency, not even governor of his state, nor senator of his senatorial district, House of Representatives Member nor local government chairman for that matter

He is organised, focusedand smart with a clearcut strategy on how he hoped to wrest the presidency from the hands of “looters”.

He has also denounced any close relationship with the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu contrary to the thinking of many who thought that he was a stooge of the latter. His on-line publication, Sahara Reporters has been of immense benefit in unraveling shady deals involving power brokers and giving a bite to the voice for justice.

For now, Sowore has not announced his political platform and the issue of independent candidacy is not yet clearly defined in the country’s constitution nor tested in practice. He certainly needs a good platform to actualise his vision.

Although largely in the garbs of military government, the youthful segment of the population has had some shots at the topmost position of leadership in the country.

Most heads of state by their official agewere less than or barely 40years old when they mounted the saddle of power and it is not much different at the lower levels. However, with the advent of democracy, the “oldies” have taken over control and not in any hurry to quit the scene for the younger generation. It was not always so though because the likes of Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and others had an early start at leadership; some of them while they were yetstudents, they enlisted in the country’s agitation for independence and it is the same experience for the rest of Africa.

It is gratifying to note that a young man like Sowore has the confidence to come out boldly to indicate his interest to occupy an exalted seatwhere many perennial veterans have failed and even killed. He has an impressive resume better than those of many office holders; he is not perfect but it is not saints the country needs but those that will perform. Still we live in a world of paradoxes: women want a female president but when they have the chance to elect one, they would ignore her and choose the male candidate instead. The youths have long sought for a president who is youthful and just one of them.

Significantly, the population of youths in Nigeria makes up 60 percent of the voting population. Will they embrace the chance or blow it? But whether Sowore becomes the president in 2019 or not, the political landscape would no longer be the same, it certainly would have been redefined. What is more is that Nigeria cannot be isolated from the political gale that is blowing in certain parts of the world, not for too long.

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31 Inside Lagos

New dawn on Ojo-Mile 2-Marina ferry route ….as LASWA gives Sifax Group go-ahead for operation Stories by JOSHUA BASSEY

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illions of residents within the Ojo axis of Lagos now have a choice between riding in buses on congested roads and taking a safe ride in boats to connect Mile 2, Apapa, and Marina following the flag off of ferry services by the Sifax Group, a multinational with interests in maritime, aviation, haulage, oil & gas and hospitality.

The group is deploying two 30-passenger capacity boats for a 12-hour (7am-7pm) operation from Ebute-Ojo ferry terminal to Apapa and Mile 2.

Each of the two boats comes with 500 horse power engines, with in-flight entertainment for passengers onboard.

Damilola Emmanuel, managing director, Lagos State Water Authority (LASWA), the industry regulator, told BDSunday on Friday that the commencement of operation

by Sifax signaled government’s commitment to continually open up the waterways and build passengers’ confidence.

According to Emmanuel, millions within the Ojo axis, now have the option of leaving their vehicles at home and take a boat ride to and fro work without the usual loss of manhour on the roads.

The MD, who described the Mile-2-Apap-Marina route as

Suspects arrested by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command, with some of the physically challenged children.

a viable, said the government was working hard to open more routes across the state.

He confirmed an ongoing channelisation of four routes; Ijede to Badore, Ijede to Marina, Ebute Ojo to Marina and Bayeku to Ajah.

“We started the channelisation in 2017 and they would be completed this year,” he noted, adding that enforcement of safety standards has

since been stepped up, and this has resulted in safety on the waterways.

Sifax is one of the operators that we have granted the license to operate Ebute OjoMile 2-Marina route. They have deployed their boats for operation. As a regulator, we’re making sure that safety standards are strictly observed including lifejackets for passengers onboard any boat on

the Lagos waterways.

Olugbade Ibrahim, managing consultant to the SIFAX ferry terminal, Ojo, said the decision to venture into this was borne out of the desire to increase transport options for commuters and support the efforts of the Lagos State government to develop the state’s water transportation sector.

“We are conscious of adding value and bring new in-

novations to the waterway business. Our business goals and objectives are well aligned with that of the Lagos State government in the massive development of the waterways.

This has prompted us to acquire these two ferries, which we are starting with, as we have plans to increase the number soon. The ferries we use are the same with what is obtainable in advanced countries. It

is safe, fast, convenient, spacious, durable and manned by experts with tested experience.

Our onboard safety procedure is excellent,” said Olugbade.

He further explained that the ferry service together with other facilities at the terminal would leave provide passengers with long lasting experience.

“The two boats that service the Ebute-Ojo ferry terminal to Apapa and Mile 2 have 500 horse power engines each. As a company that is safety conscious, we have acquired the best brand of life jackets too.

In-flight entertainment is also guaranteed for our customers that come on board. We have excellent customer service personnel to also attend to customer’s complaints and suggestions too. In no time, we will add more ferries and open up more routes across Lagos waterways. We also want to make the service first class. The terminal building itself will be equipped with wi-fi, eateries and also banks,” he said.

Speaking also, John Jenkins, group managing director, SIFAX Group, said the group’s investment in the water transportation was part of its strategic plan to deepen its commitment in the country’s transport sector, create more jobs and support the state government’s drive towards integrated public transportation.

RRS arrests 7 for using physically challenged children for alms begging

LASCOPA urges consumers to check product details

he decoy Team of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos police command has arrested seven suspects for importing eight physically challenged children into Lagos for alms begging.

The seven suspects along with six of their eight beggars were arrested mid-day along the Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, after almost a week of monitoring by the decoy team.

The arrest, according to the RRS commander, Olatunji Disu, was based on intelligence received from one of its social media platforms, indicating that some group of people were importing physically challenged children into Lagos and were using them as beggars.

Amongst the suspects arrested are Sanni Isiaku (40),

ag o s St at e C o n sumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has advised consumers to always examine product information and other vital details before making purchases.

The agenc y said that checking the vital details of products would not only enable consumers of perishable products get value for their money but also guarantee their protection from the harmful effect of hazardous product Kemi Olugbode, the general manager of LASCOPA, gave the advice during a session with newsmen about the activities of her agency.

According to her, it has become very necessary to educate consumers on the need to do a regular check on the details of all consum-

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Abubakar Gahu (50), Abdullahi Mohammed (45), Nasiru Yusman (21), Mato Abdullahi (20), Nura Idris (17) and Sagiru Ibrahim (26).

The physically challenged children found in their possession are Aminu Kabiru (12), Yusuph Nasiru (9), Amina Kabir (12), Ayuba Idris (12).

During preliminary interrogation, Mato Abdullahi narrated: “I hired Amina Kabir from her mother who happened to be my sister. I bring her early in the morning to ‘under bridge’ to beg.

She begs while I wait around.

“At the end of the day, we make between N3000 and N4000. Depending on what we made, I take my share and hand over the balance to the lady.

“Before, we made between N5000 and N6000. But now, things have changed.

We don’t make up to that

anymore. A lot of us are here now. Before you get to one car, another set of beggars have gotten there”.

“We have other people we settle daily. He is like our overseer. He has his own cut in what everybody makes. He comes through for us whenever there are problems like arrests.

According to Abubakar Gahu, “I use my son for begging. There are five of them.

He is physically challenged.

Three others are in school in Agege. The last one is still very young.

“He is the money making machine while his brothers go to school, I bring him here for begging. It is whatever we raise daily that we use in maintaining the family.”

Disu said the case has been handed over to the Gender Department of the Lagos State police command for further investigation.

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able products before buying them.

She said that it has been discovered that some supermarkets and retail shops display consumable products without vital details such as expiry date, production date, batch number etc, for sale to consumers.

Continuing, she said that retailers of products without adequate inscription of the vital details, were constantly being educated on the need to insist that only products with the required information are purchased from their suppliers She noted that ever y consumer has a right to adequate information on any products to be purchased, as such basic information would show whether or the product was in good condition.

She said that LASCOPA monitoring team as well as the consumer education unit were deployed regularly to check and ensure that displayed products in supermarkets were not hazardous while also educating traders on the importance of displaying wholesome goods for sale to consumers “Our monitoring team ensures that all expired products discovered in any retail shop or supermarket are removed immediately so as to ensure they are not sold to consumers,” she said.

She therefore called on producers of consumable products to ensure that the required vital information for consumer education was boldly written on not only the carton of the product but on the product itself.

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Sunday 10 June 2018

SundayBusiness We are determined to end energy poverty in Nigeria – TellCo Europe Nigeria …Marks World Environment Day …As Switzerland consul general pledges support to firm Zebulon Agomuo

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ellCo Europe Nigerians has said it was determined to end the energy poverty in Nigeria.

Speaking at a media event to mark this year’s World Environment Day at its corporate office in Lagos, Wale Omole, a professor and chairman of the company said the coming into the country of the brand of the TellCoSol off-grid solar system, launched a few weeks back, was the beginning of a conscious effort to end energy challenges in Nigeria.

Speaking on the reason for the celebration of the Environment Day, Omole lamented the destructive and dangerous activities of human beings, noting that such activities had contributed to the diseases and infirmities besetting the citizens of Nigeria.

“Human beings are the ones to protect ourselves but we are not; we are destroying ourselves and our environment. Now the main reason for the celebration is to remind us from year to year that the Creator provided everything for us (that’s what is called nature); nature will always be there but human beings have come to cause a whole lot of problems for themselves – they cause erosion; we want to have energy we dig the land to get coal.

Here we are dealing for petroleum and fossil fuel, and for this we devastate our land. You know the issue of Ogoni land; we are flaring gas and all that. That’s not the job of the Creator. His intention was for us to enjoy and manage the environment well; but because we are looking here and there we are destroying the environment and by extension, ourselves,” he said.

Advocating a change of attitude, he said: “What we should do and campaign for our country is the need for us to manage the environment. There is Environmental Protection Agency all over the world, but each of us must be an environmental protection agent.

Something should be done right.

Everybody in Nigeria must know that we should not throw garbage in gutters and streets. These are the issues we are dealing with.”

“So, World Environmental Day is the day we should remind ourselves, most people did not know the meaning of this and here is where the media comes in. It is to tell each and every one of us to take care of our environment. We cannot change nature; if we don’t cooperate with nature so that we can live longer, so that we can have a better world and also enjoy the grace of God, if we do otherwise, we are the ones that will be killing ourselves.

Speaking on the mission of TellCo Europe Nigeria to emphasise and propagate alternative source of energy, Omole said: “By the way, can’t we have another source of energy? Must it be fossil fuels? I know we have crude oil; it has been more devastating than otherwise because there is an alternative – clean and renewable energy. We have a whole lot of sun in the tropics yet we are suffering from energy poverty. But fortunately, our organisation is tapping into the sun to get solar energy and to end the energy poverty in Nigeria.”

Yves Nicolet, consul general of Switzerland, who was on an official visit to TellCo Europe Nigeria office, said: The technology TellCosol is from Switzerland and the head office of TellCo Europe is situated in Switzerland. As a consul general

L-R: Fodeke, Opadokun, Nicolet, Omole and Akinwunmi at the event.

my duty is to support and follow the Swiss companies here. We have a lot of them here and in many sectors. We are trying to bring more and more investors into Nigeria; particularly in the Cleantech sector.

This is so because the problem of energy is known in Nigeria, so if we can use solar energy in my country where we have less sun than in Africa; I think this technology is a future for this continent and particularly for Nigeria. The biggest challenge for Nigeria is to improve its energy, electricity, etc. I will see and follow the future of TellCoSol in Nigeria and we are always here to support you if you have any challenge”.

Victor Fodeke, managing direc-

tor, TellCo Europe Nigeria, emphasised that Nigeria has come of age and must move from energy poverty status to begin to appropriate the abundance of energy that nature has endowed the country with by virtue of the amount of sunlight in this part of the world.

He said that the company came to Nigeria at a very right time when many citizens had begun to crave for a better alternative like the type being provided by the new firm.

Presenting the TellCo Europe Nigeria’s position on the celebration of the World Environment Day, Olawale Akinwunmi, executive vice chairman and CEO, said: “Our overall five cardinal goals and objectives

as our corporate contributions towards global energy security are as follows; to create new continental economic opportunities for growth and development through powering the MSMEs with efficient clean energy; increase access for affordable and sustainable energy; reduce carbon emissions and champion low carbon development through clean efficient energy systems; support nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and end energy poverty in Africa for sustainable continental and equitable development.”

Present at the event were Ayo Oni and Ayo Opadokun, both directors of TellCo Europe Nigeria.

Live a purpose-driven life - young women charged at mentoring session

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oung Muslim women gathered to be empowered and mentored at the second edition of the ‘Dare to Inspire’ event which took place at the Laroche Leadership Foundation, Gbagada, Lagos.

The second edition of the event, themed ‘Living a purpose driven life’, brought together thoughtleaders and influential personalities in business, advocacy and other fields. The event provided an opportunity for young Muslim women to engage with and learn crucial business lessons from accomplished female entrepreneurs and experts in different industries.

Addressing the women, the keynote speaker, Access Bank Plc

Chairman ‘Mrs. Mosun Belo-Olusoga’ laid much emphasis on how women can successfully navigate the complexities in life and work.

“As women, we have to be very competent and can’t afford to leave any room for excuses! We need to be different and always push the boundaries to get better,” she said while giving her speech.

The event also featured panel discussions and question and answer sessions. The first panel session focused on the topic, ‘How to achieve professional renaissance in your career.’ The panelists, Mrs Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Ghaneeyyah Sulaiman-Olokodana and Halima Garuba shared important secrets of continued career growth and

success. The second panel, ‘Building your brand and value as a Muslim woman’ with Saidat Badmus, Zahra Zakariya Abdulkareem and Hauwa Ojeifo highlighted how Muslim women can make an impact in their personal and professional lives.

The insightful event was anchored by versatile presenters blessed with voice and brains ‘Ruqayyah Giwa’ and ‘Nimah Bello’. Participants at the event were involved in extensive discussions as well as light entertaining sessions of spoken word

by Sofeeyah Peters and Maryam Thaoban who dazzled the audience with their creativity and talent.

Participants also engaged in mind games and a speed networking session aimed at allowing the women to

make new connections and expand their circles of influence.

As an annual knowledge-exchange and mentorship event between present and emerging Muslim leaders, the Convener of Dare To Inspire, Mrs Bunmi Adebimpe encouraged women to live a purpose driven life. In her words “Living a purpose driven life is to realise one’s destiny and at the center of realising this eternal responsibility is identifying one’s core beliefs and values.

When women are empowered and helped to nurture or reinforce their positive values, it inspires a powerful change in the world”.

The event came to an end with a closing speech from Bimpe Afolabi who urged participants to find ways

to apply all they learnt during the event and stay connected to build a strong community of Muslim women. She also thanked all the speakers, participants and stakeholders for their contribution in making the second edition of the event a success.

DTI 2.0 was organised in partnership with Laroche Foundation, YNaija.com, DottsmediaHouse, PenzaarvilleAfrica, DemolaExpoze, VPcubeStudios, TheMpowerCircle, Fesoda Integrated Services, The Accubin, SuperHeads International, Her Network, ARABEL Exclusive Islamic Materials Ltd, Deentalks Nigeria, Women of Rubies, The Ummfariha Network, Muslimah Style Guide, Bedouin, HalTV Africa and Impreme Studios.

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BDSUNDAY 33

SundayBusiness Food & Beverages With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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Introduction s the World Cup kicks off on June 14, 2018 global attention will be riveted on the host country, Russia. And more so, on superstars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jnr, Isco, Suarez and of course, our own Mikel Obi and Victor Moses amongst several others. By their training they are used to jogging, running, tackling opponents and taking net-shaking shots. Through these exercises they sweat, breathe rapidly and think fast on the next move on the field of play. But how best they will perform and influence the outcome of the matches of their respective countries would depend on a lot of factors.

Best food for footballers One of these that will come into play is how physically fit and focused the players are. Self-discipline is part of the mixed milieu for ultimate soccer success. Which is why Germany, the defending Champion has banned its players from all manner of frivolities including sexual intercourse, banned drugs and the use of the increasingly distracting social media.

Another factor is in their choice of food. So, what should members of our dear Super Eagles be taking?

According to Amanda MacMillan, writing on August 20, 2013 for Nature Magazine, energy-giving carbohydrates are important- but for top-notch performance, it’s just part of the story. Listed below are food items to supplement the training of athletes. They are healthy eats that will help you build strength, sustain energy, and recover faster.

According to sports nutritionists, Barbara Lewin and Jill Pluhar, eating for athletic performance should not just take place after the gym or right before a big event.

“It’s something you should be conscious of at every meal and every snack. Your strategy should involve more whole foods and natural nutrition than the factory-manufactured kind (food supplements, energy gels, to protein powders and meal-replacement bars,).

Here are tips on how to make the most of their nutritional benefits.

Beans and legumes For vegetarian athletes (or those who just want to go meat-

less once in a while), plant-based sources of protein are a must.

These include soybeans (and tofu), lentils, peas, and all varieties of beans—black, pinto, white, kidney, you name it. “Most people don’t eat enough of these or they say they don’t like them,” says Lewin. “But really, you can do so much with them: add them into salads, make a three-bean chili, eat hummus... you don’t have to just eat them straight out of a can every day.”

Beans may not be the protein powerhouse that steak or poultry is- a cup of black beans has about 114 calories and 7 grams of protein, versus 168 calories and 33 grams of protein for 4 ounces of skinless chicken breast. But unlike animal protein, beans have no saturated fat and are also a good source of fibre, which can help keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Bananas At about 100 calories a piece, bananas are a great source of easy-to-digest sugar and natural electrolytes. “They may not be as convenient as bars or gels, but they’re a good option for people who are looking for a natural, less-processed alternative that basically does the same thing,” says Pluhar.

They’re also a favorite postevent recovery food, and for good reason: One medium banana contains 422 mg of potassium, which your body needs to regulate fluids and prevent muscle cramps and spasms. Because athletes sweat out potassium during physical ac-

tivity, it’s important to replenish as soon as possible afterward.

Salmon fish Oily fish, like salmon, mackerel, and trout are good sources of lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

These help reduce inflammation that can hamper athletic performance and contribute to chronic conditions like heart disease. Wild salmon generally contains fewer cancer-causing chemical contaminants than the farmed variety, but it can be expensive or hard to find at your grocery store. But one should consider using canned wild salmon in chowders, salmon burgers, salads, or pastas.

Most experts on nutrition agree that eating seafood twice a week is a good amount to reap its antiinflammatory benefits. And stick to the fish instead of pills.

Quinoa Although it’s really a sprouted seed, quinoa is usually considered a whole grain- and a super one, at that. It’s got nearly twice as much protein (8 grams per cup) as other grains, and it’s one of the only foods to contain all nine essential amino acids our bodies need to build lean muscle and recover from tough workouts. Quinoa’s also a great source of fibre and carbohydrates, says Lewin. It can be eaten like a breakfast cereal with cinnamon and honey, or served in place of rice or pasta.

Berries Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E help protect against oxidative stress and free radicals that form in the body during

strenuous physical activity- and berries are one of the best sources out there, says Lewin. (Bonus: Eating lots of antioxidants also seem to help preserve muscle strength as you age, according to a 2009 study).

“Choose berries with the most intense colors-blackberries, raspberries, blueberries- because they have more of those phytochemicals and protective substances,” she says. Toss them into a smoothie, add them to your morning cereal, or just eat them by the handful Pasta Protein may be important for building muscle, but carbohydrates are still the single most important component of an athlete’s diet.

“Our bodies burn carbs as fuel,” says Jill Pluhar, R.D., a nutritionist who works with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “We can also burn fat or protein, but we have to convert them into carbs first, which is more work for the body.”

So what kind of carbs should footballers or athletes eat? Most of the time, whole-grain varieties are best. They have more fibre and, usually, less added sugar than their refined white counterparts.

The night before a big competition, though, switch to the simple stuff- plain pasta with red sauce at a pre-race pasta party, for example.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media

Fallout of Indorama investments in Eleme Eleno rescues 111 undergraduates with N22.2m Ignatius Chukwu & Godwin Egba,

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lano Investment Limited manages the 7.5 percent equity holding of the host communities in the highly successful Indorama-Eleme Petrochemicals Limited near Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Now, Elano has rescued 111 undergraduates from the host communities with bursary awards.

In the month of May, 2018, the company under its chairman, the chief, Gomba Okanje, kick-started the first leg of its bursary project and commenced disbursement of the sum ₦22.2million to 111 undergraduates in various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria for their 2018/19 academic year.

To critics, the magnanimity of the Okanje-led Elano Investments Limited is a demonstration of CSR approach anchored on sustainability, stake holding and partnership on principles that reject anything to the contrary.

Okanje at the award ceremony presented a cheque of ₦200,000.00 to each of the beneficiaries, announcing that, “the bursary is one of several educational based initiatives funded by Elano and it will be an annual grant designed to support students, especially the indigent undergraduates drawn from the host communities of IEPCL and other communities in Eleme”.

In his speech at the LA Kings

Event Centre, Stadium Road, PortHarcourt, the Elano chairman said the company, “is keen to promoting human capital development and has embarked on the bursary payment exercise to ameliorate the financial hardship faced by students in the pursuit of their studies at various institutions of higher learning across nation”.

The grant, according to Okanje, would go a long way to helping the benefiting students in the area

of school fees payment and other educational needs while he urged the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously and judiciously utilise the grants; “It’s not for us to see anyone become a school drop-out due to financial constraint. Therefore, Elano will pay bursary annually to students t encourage those who are in school, especially the indigent ones in the host communities.”

The Elano CEO also listed some of the educational programmes

of the company which include sponsorship of its students to study master’s degree abroad; training of another set of students at the maritime Academy, Oron, AkwaIbom State; and skills acquisition training of some other group at the University of Port-Harcourt.

Other community based projects embarked upon by Elano company include construction of several internal roads in Eleme and the on-going freeHeathmedicalCareProgramme

Saurabh Prabhuzantyeead, head Business Development, Middle East and Africa, Freshworks, Praddeep Kumar Swaro, head, IT,West Africa, Godrej Consumer Product, and Richard Amafonye, chief information officer, Wema Bank, at the seminar on challenges of consumerisation of Information Technology in Lagos .

that has received a basketful of commendations from the poor and middle-classElememenandwomen with one ailment or the other but financially handicapped to access adequate medical treatment.

The Chairman of the Education Committee of Elano Investments Limited, the professor, Walter Ollor, said the beneficiaries of the bursary awards were picked from a competitive process in which the current performance of the student in their institutions was considered.

Each of the beneficiaries, he said will get ₦200,000.

He said Elano decided to invest in human capital development in the hope that the benefits will long outlive the beneficiaries and generally lift the quality of life of the people.

He urged the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously as subsequent annual awards will be based on their academic performances.

The Deputy Managing Director of Wider Perspectives Limited, consultants for the scheme, Edughom Hanson, urged the recipients to make the most of the opportunities that the bursary will offer them.

The President of Elano Youths Council, Sunday Agba Ngofa, congratulated the Board of Elano investments Limited for finally rolling out the bursary scheme.

“Having to go to school when you do not have to struggle to pay your fees is a great relief”, Ngofa said, as he advised the beneficiaries to be committed to their studies.

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Sunday 10 June 2018

SundayBusiness New initiatives for increased liquidity in mortgage market

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ecognising or identifying an existing problem, it is believed, is half way into solving the problem and this exactly is what is happening in the mortgage market in Nigeria where liquidity is a big issue.

From different fronts, initiatives are being brought up as means to solving the liquidity problem that has held the market down for ages. The driving force, perhaps, is the understanding that the inequality created by lack of affordable housing in Nigeria places a moral obligation on all housing stakeholders to use every tool at their disposal to find solution to providing access to sustainable affordable housing finance.

Nigeria has heavy housing burden with a ‘constant’ housing deficit estimated at 17 million units and low home-ownership level put at a little above 10 percent. All these easily find explanation in the country’s mortgage system that has remained a fledgling, unable to fund even low cost housing.

The coming of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), a secondary mortgage institution that is private sectordriven with the public purpose of developing the primary and secondary mortgage markets

by raising long‐term funds from the domestic capital market as well as foreign markets for providing accessible and affordable housing in Nigeria, was aimed to address this problem.

Government’s attempts at addressing the country’s housing problem with the establishment of both the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMBN) and National Housing Fund (NHF) to provide low interest rate on mortgage loan for people to build or buy houses, have been anything but successful.

But the last couple of years have seen spirited efforts by the ‘new’ refinance company to not only reposition the country’s mortgage sector, but also to break down barriers to home ownership by providing liquidity, affordability, accessibility and stability to the housing market.

The company has the vision to be the dominant housing partner in Nigeria by providing liquidity and access to affordable housing finance and, in line with that, it has come out with ambitious and innovative initiatives aimed to improve mortgage market transactions and also fast-track affordable housing delivery.

When the company was established, the mandate given to it was to promote wider spread of home ownership, accessibility and affordability which explains

the setting up of what the company calls ‘Housing/Mortgage Market Information Portal (MMIP)’ aimed to enable it to gather data for intelligence and profiling of federal, states civil servants and informal sectors (off-takers) for affordable housing.

This is an effective policy and decision making tool on land allocation, infrastructure and concessions and, according to the officials of the company, “MMIP enables decision on creating polycentric cities in order to decongest major urban centres”.

The pilot implementation of this initiative is already taking place in six cities including Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Bauchi, Enugu, Port Harcourt.

Another initiative the company has come up with is the NMRC Mortgage Market System (MMS) which is a transformational change that integrates the entire housing market, covering construction finance, primary and secondary mortgage.

The system which is available to all players in the housing industry has the benefit of removing duplications of effort in gathering data and documents; improving the turnaround time, reducing the cycle time of transactions and helping in making homes more affordable.

Described as a world class system that aims to bring all play-

LG Electronics advocates for friendly environment CHINWE AGBEZE

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n commemoration of this year’s World Environment Day, LG Electronics, a global leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, mobilised members of its staff to plant trees at Government College, Maroko in Lagos State.

The decision to beautify the school and donate some cleaning tools was informed by this year’s global theme, ‘Beating Plastic Pollution’. The aim was to create a more nature-friendly environment which will in the long run guarantee a sustainable environment.

“It is only in cleaner and safe environment that we can achieve meaningful growth and development in the country,’’ said Taeick Son, managing director, LG Electronics West Africa operations. ‘‘This is what has informed us as a company to embark on this tree planting and cleaning exercise in order to address the issue of environmental degradation in the society to mark the world environment day,’’ he said.

The event had staff of LG Electronics Nigeria, Fouani Nigeria Limited, Y&R Lagos, students, staff and management of Government College, Maroko participate actively in the exercise.

The World Environment Day

(WED) is a widely celebrated global day for positive environmental actions. WED is usually celebrated with colourful activities such as street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, school competition, tree planting, recycling and clean-up campaign activities across the globe. Over the years, LG Electronics has consistently marked the WED with various activities which has earned it recognition from the government. ‘‘This is the reason why we continuously design products that would meet world environment standard thereby helping our teeming consumers experience cleaner and greener lifestyle. Let me reiterate that people all over the world need to engage more in activities that will help safeguard the environment and the inhabitants,” Son said.

He said the company has consistently maintained its commitment in ensuring a clean, healthy and eco-friendly environment where it operates all over the world through the green initiatives programs which has been replicated across the globe. ‘‘It is not just about propagating for a cleaner and more nature friendly environment but is about translating words into action which is exactly what LG has been doing by designing products that are human-centric and environmentally friendly in all ramifications,’’

the managing director said..

Responding to the gesture, Abiodun Awujoola, principal of Government College, Maroko expressed appreciation to the company for choosing their school out of many.

“We are really happy that the company chose our school out of all the many schools in Lagos to observe this year’s World Environment Day, by planting trees on the field of Osborne school complex and the surrounding of Government Junior College, Maroko,’’ said Awujoola. ‘‘It is indeed an honour and we are appreciative of this initiative. We would ensure that the trees planted here today are taken good care of and the tools donated would be put to good use,” the principal said.

LG Electronics is still actively involved in the business of churning out cutting-edge technological products for the utmost satisfaction of its consumers. The All New Gencool air conditioner, NeoChef Microwave Oven, Instaview Refrigerator, FH2 sound system, Twin Wash Washing Machine, OLED televisions are some of its line of products.

The company is matching words with action by embarking on the tree planting and cleaning exercise to demonstrate its full commitment towards ensuring that a cleaner and friendly environment is achievable for all.

Talking Mortgage with CHUKA UROKO (08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com) ers in the mortgage and housing market into a centralised technology ecosystem, MMS allows a systematic market to operate and concentration of activities to take place.

What the system seeks to achieve, besides bringing credibility and attracting investors to the mortgage market, is also to let players and sundry individuals know what is going on in the market. “People come here asking about the market but they cannot get verifiable and dependable information”, said Inyangete, noting that the system creates a marketplace where there is information flow and people can see what is going on.

The system is a national market that is not only about mortgage but also the entire housing finance and so the new system allows NMRC to see the pipeline projects and know who is bringing what to the market, and as refinancers, it also allows the company to time and determine when to go to the market to raise bonds.

MMS also allows market op-

erators to track all the activities within the construction industry.

With it they can see which developer is doing what and in which location. It also allows them to begin to compare prices and know which property is being sold and in which location. This way, the developers will begin to be more competitive in the way they do their thing.

For the mortgage banks, the new system allows them to begin to manage their own systems by themselves using the uniform underwriting standards which NMRC has produced and, with that, they can evaluate their applications based on the underwriting standard.

It is hoped that the use of these systems, especially the MMIP, for federal and state governments, mortgage asset registry will reduce cost of homeownership; eliminate breaks in the chain of title; improve hard naira savings on each loan for homeowners and lenders, and reveal identity of servicer and investor available to homeowners via phone or internet.

“33” Export excites brand loyalists with friendship experience parties SEYI JOHN SALAU

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igeria’s premium lager beer brand, “33” Export has rounded off the first phase of its friendship experience parties with an end-ofthe-quarter friendship parties in Umuahia and Eket. The Friendship Experience Party which kicked off its 2018 edition in March has recorded successes in the host cities.

As with every friendship experience party, consumers were rewarded with exciting prizes in the games. Some of the prizes won at the events included refrigerators, generators, standing fans and many more. In all, there have been 30 friendships parties held in 12 different cities across Nigeria this quarter with many more planned to hold second half of the year.

Emmanuel Agu, portfolio manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout brands, Nigerian Breweries Plc, in highlighting the importance of the friendship parties to the brand said, “33” Export Lager is big on promoting friendship which explains why it always delight in creating platforms and opportunities that celebrate real friendships.

“You will agree that friends matter and the memories created with them enrich our lives and make us

happier. In the next phase of the friendship experience parties, we plan to do even more for our friends and loved ones in line with our commitment to our consumers,” said Agu. The friendship experience parties highlight “33” Export’s commitment to helping consumers share memorable moments and deepen friendship connections across different divides.

The friendship train has moved from Lagos to Enugu, Uyo to Calabar, and Onitsha to Warri; the friendship experience parties were attended by the locals everywhere it made a stop. These past weeks, the friendship party train landed simultaneously in Umuahia and Eket and the experience was no different as residents came out in large numbers with their friends and families to witness the event.

On the impart made by the friendship party, the few celebrities like DJ kentalky, ace comedian I Go Save, Mc Shakara and other top-rated entertainers who witnessed the event said it lived up to its strong friendship credentials, as attendees were treated to plenty comedy and music as well as other fun activities including games such as Connect 4, Jenga, and beer pong game.

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Equity Market Exchange posts N8.30bn gross earnings as 34 new securities debut ... Optimism rises as equities gain N672bn in a week SEPLAT clarifies position on local content

TELIAT SULE

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he Nigerian Stock Exchange has announced N8.30 billion total income for the full year 2017 as against N4.46 billion made same period in 2016.

Transaction and listing fees accounted for most of the revenue generated last year.

Transaction fees rose by 130 percent from N1.63 billion in 2016 to N3.76 billion in 2017, and thus accounted for 45 percent of the group’s total income. Similarly, listing fees increased by 111 percent during the reference periods from N813.06 million to N1.71 billion and thus accounted for 21 percent of the total income generated last year. Thus, 66 percent of the revenue earned by the nation’s bourse in 2017 came from both the transaction and listing fees. This compares with 55 percent which was their weight in NSE’s total revenue in 2016.

Furthermore, the Exchange recorded 42 percent growth in market capitalisation just as it listed 34 additional securities to raise its total listed securities to 312 in 2017.

In addition, the NSE trained 1,279 individuals through its X-Academy, recorded 57,600 participants in its literacy programs as well as boosted the market turnover by 120 percent.

“The financial performance of the NSE bears testament to the vastly improved operating environment of 2017. Total income to the Group

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amounted to N8.30Bn, up 86% from 2016. This was mainly driven by rejuvenation in trading activity following the introduction of the market-based foreign exchange regime in April 2017. Buoyed by improved ease of market entry and exit for foreign portfolio investors, transaction fees jumped 130% yearon-year to N3.6Bn, accounting for 45% of the Group’s total income in 2017”, Oscar Onyema, NSE’s CEO said.

In 2017, the launch of the FGN Savings Bond in conjunction of the DMO/FGN enhanced the Exchange’s value proposition. This was supported by joint mutual fund

trading platform with FMAN, completed draft rules, product specifications, pricing framework and liquidity enhancement frameworks for the maiden derivative product, held 175 financial literacy programs just as it paid N6.40 million for 17 claims in 2017.

Furthermore, the group’s total assets rose by 17 percent from N22.79 billion in 2016 to N26.69 billion in 2017. Group’s total equity hit N23.13 billion, up 19.3 percent from N19.39 billion in 2016. However, the number of persons employed by the NSE fell by 10 percent from 266 individuals in 2016 down to 239 persons in 2017, although the wages

Transcorp appoints Christopher Ezeafulukwe as executive Director

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ransnational Corporation of Nigeria has notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that the board of directors of Transcorp has approved the appointment of Christopher Ezeafulukwe as an executive direc-

Christopher Ezeafulukwe

tor with effect from July 1, 2018.

Ezeafulukwe currently serves as the general counsel and head of business development of Transcorp. He holds an LL.B degree second class upper division from the University of Lagos and a B.L from

the Nigerian Law School. He also holds an LL.M from the same university and another LL.M in Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources Law from the University of Huston, Texas. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administration of Nigeria (ICSAN), Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN).

With over 17 years working as an executive level professional, he has extensive experience in legal and transaction advisory and support services, company secretariat and related practices and lately, business development. Prior to joining Transcorp, Ezeafulukwe was the company secretary of Bank PHB Plc (Now Keystone Bank). He also served as the head legal services and company secretary of Platinum Bank Plc. He started his legal career with the law firm of Paul Usoro and Co. Until recently, he was a member of the Executive Council of the Association of Power Generating Companies.

and salaries of employees increased by 10 from N2.44 billion in 2016 to N2.67 billion in 2017.

Meanwhile, the equity market has returned to the positive territory. The market capitalisation closed last Friday at N14 trillion compared with N13.34 trillion last week, meaning that rising optimism caused the value of equities to increase by additional N672 billion in just a week. The All Share Index (ASI) closed at 38,669.23 basis points as against 36,816.29 basis points in the previous week, translating to a year to date returns of 1.11 percent as against -3.73 on June 1.

EPLAT Petroleum Development Company Plc together with its subsidiaries the , a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange, announces that contrary to recent press speculation regarding the Assa North/Ohaji South (“ANOH”) project, Seplat has not violated local content policy. The ANOH project is still in development and has not yet achieved Final Investment Decision.

SEPLAT in consultation with the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) wishes to state that: (i) the NCDMB has reviewed the contracting strategy for the ANOH project; and (ii) both the NCDMB and SEPLAT will continue to work together to obtain all applicable approvals which capture Nigeria content commitments. This announcement is made in accordance with the provisions of Rule 17.10 (Dealing with Rumour), Rulebook of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, 2015 (Issuers Rule), where Seplat is required to publicly state its position

GTB decries circulation of fake news from Supreme Court

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uaranty Trust Bank Plc, one of the leading deposit money banks in Nigeria, has decried the circulation of fake news against it.

The news which is now being circulated in the media was purported to have emanated from the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the effect that it has been mandated to pay fines to the tune of N14 billion to one of its debtor customers.

There has been a running battle between the bank and one of its customers, Innocent Chukwuma, the chairman of Innoson Motors, Nigeria’s first indigenous vehicles assemblage plant.

Below is a press release from GTB: “The attention of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has been drawn to false, mischievous and malicious statements circulating in the news and social media in respect of a purported directive of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the bank to make payments to one of its debtor customers. The bank’s customers and the general public are hereby

kindly urged to disregard these fake statements as nothing could be further from the truth. There was no directive or order issued by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the bank to make any payment to any of if its debtor customers.

“The bank as a highly responsible corporate citizen will in accordance with its culture and tradition refrain from making comments about ongoing litigation matters and will continue to focus on using legal means to recover its bad debts. It must be emphasised that the bank remains undeterred in its recovery drive against recalcitrant debtors.

We again reiterate that there is no iota of truth in the falsehood being peddled by desperate and mischievous elements and the general public should disregard same in its entirety. The bank remains committed to providing best-inclass customer experience to all its valued customers”, the bank stated through a note to all its stakeholders sent to the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) during the week.

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BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

Why Dano brand is deepening conversations on milk consumption During the 2018 celebration of World Milk Day on June 1, Dano brand partnered Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Lagos State Ministry of Health to initiate and drive conversations on milk drinking this year with theme #RaiseAGlass &#NourishNaija”. It did not only achieve that, it set a World Guinness Record on Drink Pouring Relay using milk. Daniel Obi writes.

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ince 2001, the World Milk Day is marked globally on June 1 every year. It is a day established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognise the importance of milk as a global food.

The celebration of World Milk Day provides an opportunity for stakeholders and consumers around the world to focus attention on the benefits of milk consumption. As scientists said, Milk is filled with some essential nutrients that are important for health living.

The nutrients include calcium for building healthy bones; protein for building muscle tissue; Vitamin D for maintaining bones; Vitamin A for maintaining immune system, helps normal vision and skin; Vitamin B12 for maintaining healthy red blood cells and nerve tissue; and Riboflavin for converting food into energy.

Consumers, especially youth and children therefore risk malnutrition with lack of these nutrients. Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) recently said that about 52 per cent of children born in Nigeria die before their fifth birthday due to malnutrition. The society said that infant mortality in Nigeria is largely caused by malnutrition.

World Milk Day 2018 In solidarity with nutrition stakeholders all over the world, premium dairy brand, Dano milk at this year’s World Milk Day celebration in Nigeria deepened the conversations on the imperatives of milk consumption and healthy living to commemorate 2018 World Milk Day in Nigeria.

The brand brought undergraduates of tertiary institutions across Lagos, school children, mothers, representatives and officials of the Lagos State Ministries of Health and Education at Muri Okunola Park, on Victoria Island not only to key into the celebration but create awareness about the importance of milk consumption.

Th e e v e n t s h o w c a s e d regular milk intake by the young and old. Conversations around the event were hinged on#RaiseAGlass and #NourishNaija.

Further emphasising the importance of milk to the audience numbering over 800,

Lagos State commissioner for Health, Jide Idris said milk contains valuable nutrients that offer a range of health benefits.

He said milk is a product that helps children grows fast; milk is a rich source of high-quality protein, containing all of the essential amino-acids.

“Promotion of breastfeeding for children who are less than 24 months and promotion of milk and milk products for older ages would go a long way to improve the healthy nutritional status in Nigeria and all over the world. As such there would be overall improvement in our nutritional status indicators”, he said.

According to him, Lagos State government is committed to improving the dietary intake of its pupils, hence the implementation of sustenance of child supplementation programme (The School Milk Programme) since 2003 where milk sachets are being given to primary one pupils in the state primary schools.

In her speech at the occasion, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State Idiat Olurenti Adebule while congratulating TG Arla Dairy Products Limited, maker of Dano for being one of the foremost dairy manufacturers in Nigeria and its consistence in marking the World Milk Day, the deputy governor

noted that June 1, every year has become symbolic when the whole world comes together to focus attention on the importance of milk consumption and important contribution of dairy sector to sustainability, economic development, livelihood and nutrition.

Listing the importance of milk consumption, she said Nigeria’s adaptation to this year’s theme for the World Milk Day titled ‘Raise a Glass, Nourish Naija’ is aimed at increasing awareness of the benefits of milk consumption as well as driving conversations around the benefits among the consumers of milk products particularly children.

She said she is delighted by the continued advocacy of TG Arla Dairy Nigeria and therefore enjoined the company to continue to spread the gospel of the benefits of milk consumption and also enjoined people across the country to tap into the goodness of milk.

First Lady of Lagos, Bolanle Ambode described the World Milk Day as pivotal to bringing out the best in children, youths and adults.

“The Lagos State Government is passionate about giving the best in children, youths in schools and institutions across the state. Contributions by other stakeholders are equally

important to building the mental capabilities of children, youths and adults and helping them to soar in their pursuits.

The World Milk Day is pivotal to this drive as contributions from stakeholders will position milk as an important component of mental and physical development.

In his contributions, Managing Director, TG Arla Dairy Nigeria, Mads Burmester assured that the brand would boost its commitment to offering nutritious products to Nigerian households.

He commended stakeholders in attendance at the event whilst communicating the brand’s position to promoting healthy living and lifestyles among Nigerians.

“As a dairy advocate, we can’t afford to downplay the importance of the World Milk Day. This influenced our decision to bring stakeholders together in seeking solutions to malnutrition and upholding the importance of healthy living.

We have propelled this by putting Nigeria on the global scene as a country that is passionate about health and nutrition”.

Milk Pouring Relay Record Dano did not only celebrate and create awareness about the importance of milk to health but it broke Guinness World Record of Drink Pouring Relay using milk.

The brand used 700 participants at the Muri Okunola, Victoria Island Lagos during 2018 World Milk Day celebration event to achieve the longest drink pouring relay with milk.

It is said that before Dano recent record, the longest drinks pouring relay was achieved by 550 participants at an event hosted by The Coca-Cola System (Venezuela) at the Centro Comercial Ciudad Tamanaco, in Caracas, Venezuela , on 9 November 2013.

Part of the objectives of setting the new Guinness World Record is to create indelible memory on milk-drinking and healthy living. Arla Managing Director, Mads Burmester emphasised this when he said “One of our creative steps to boosting the 2018 World Milk Day is a Guinness Record event that will not only serve as a means to engage our customers but also emphasize the importance of milk to the human body”.

Airtel promotes corporate philanthropy at Touching Lives initiative season 4

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elecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, has reaffirmed its positioning as a key promoterofcorporatephilanthropy and responsible social investments as it calls on corporate Nigeria to embrace the culture of giving.

This was during the premiere of season 4 of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, Airtel Touching Lives.

Speaking during the event, in Lagos recently, the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, urged Nigerians, especially corporate organizations, to support laudable causes in uplifting underprivileged Nigerians.

“I want to thank everyone in this room and to encourage you again; there is no limit to how kind any of us can be. My message is don’t spend your time asking why there are poor people in the world; it’s a waste of time.

“The right question is what can we do to change it? We are always going to have poor and unfortunate people amongst us.

What next is what you can do to affect their circumstances and I am encouraging you to do something,” Also speaking at the event, the Vice President’s wife, Dolapo Osinbajo, commended Airtel for its commitment to helping the underprivileged.

“I remember attending Airtel Touching Lives Season 2 in Abuja

and I still remember how inspiring it was. I congratulate you on the Corporate Social Responsibility “I look forward to watching the episodes, I look forward to hearing the stories of those who need help and have found help, I look forward to it being an encouragement to all of us that can share to help those that need. I wish you a delightful event; once more, congratulations Airtel Nigeria.”

Minister of Communications Technology, Adebayo Shittu, encouraged other corporate organizations in Nigeria to follow in the footsteps of Airtel Nigeria in extending a helping hand to those in need.

“I think that the companies doing business in Nigeria who have been benefiting from the enabling environment in Nigeria and the individuals and businessmen who have been benefiting must certainly come to the rescue and multiply what Airtel has been doing,” he said.

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Arts Nigerian art sector gains traction with country’s leadership of global art body …Runsewe promises to move WCC headquarters to Abuja, praises tourism writers OBINNA EMELIKE

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or the first time in the history of the Nigerian art sector, a Nigerian was elected as the president of the World Crafts Council (WCC) African Region.

The honour and recognition was well-deserving, especially for Olusegun Runsewe, the director general, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), whose efforts at repositioning Nigerian arts and culture, since assuming office last year is recognized even at global level.

The development is also applauded and appreciated across the Nigerian art and culture community by stakeholders, government and related agencies because of the huge impact the leadership of WCC by a passionate Nigerian will make in the sector.

Known for his passion, Runsewe, who left track records while at the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) as the director general, is working to take advantage of his leadership of WCC to better African arts and craft and Nigeria in particular.

Already, he has promised to move the headquarters of WCC to Abuja for sustainable impacts and development of the arts and craft sector.

Runsewe is determined to make Nigeria the capital of global crafts and he disclosed his strategies towards achieving the feat to members of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Editors of Tourism (ANJET) who paid a courtesy visit to his visit in Abuja on Tuesday to felicitate with him on his appointment as President of the World Craft Council (African Region).

According to him, the tourism writers have formed the backbone of his many accomplishments in the service, noting that they were also the first professional body to formally congratulate him on his WCC African Region appointment, ‘outside of a couple of government agencies.’

Runsewe who described his appointment as a plus for Nigerian crafts industry as well as its practitioners, added: “This is a big platform for showcasing art and craft. It is big business representing a veritable platform for showcasing Nigeria and its arts and craft industry to the world.

“I am moving the headquarters of the WCC to Abuja, and that is one of the tasks I have at hand for now. I have concluded arrangements to that effect and have been given the go-ahead to

Olusegun Runsewe, director general, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and president, World Crafts Council (WCC), demostrating locally made whistle and ‘shekere’ for use at the World Cup in Russia.

commence the groundwork and when we are through, you shall be the first to know. I can describe myself as the culture’s Clemens Westerhof, who turned the fortunes of Nigerian football and footballers around for good.

“Just like our footballers who were not reckoned with outside the shores of the country.

Nobody knew them before Clemens Westerhof came to Nigeria. Let me say that with my appointment as the chief executive of the WCC Africa Region, I have come to turn around the fortunes of Nigerian artists and craftsmen who were also not previously reckoned with but now by virtue of my position at the WCC, the time for Nigerian crafts industry to shine has come”, Runsewe assured.

On his other plans for repositioning the industry in Nigeria and Africa, Runsewe said: “I am incubating a great project and vision for arts and craft for Nigerians, which will yield even greater returns for them. My being at the WCC is for a purpose, and with time the world will see it. I am also going to change the narrative for the industry

in Nigerian and Africa, as a whole.

“Gone are the days of mere showcasing of art and crafts for the sake of it. It is all about the presentation and packaging. It is how the Nigerian artist and craftsman package his works that he will be defined by. So we are going to address that, which is why I said the days of showcasing is gone.

Art and crafts means money. I have seen other countries package what ordinarily is worthless, but end up branding it as rare and exotic works just to rake in the money. With me at the WCC, now is the time for our artists and craftsmen to also acquire that exposure”.

Ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the NCAC boss said his agency has come up with entirely locally-produced souvenirs for fans of the Super Eagles which, according to him, the supporters’ club has commended.

“Since the FIFA people have barred us from using our drums and trumpets, which we are known for, we at NCAC have come up with an ingenious idea of locally defining our support

instruments for cheering the football team in Russia. The Supporters’ Club people were here to see and they quite like it.

“I am also presenting to you here with some literature produced by the NCAC and personally handed to the various delegates who attended the 61st United Nations World Tourism Organisation/Commission for Africa (CAF) Meeting in Abuja. The literature contains information about Nigeria, cultural festivals and calendar, pins, and many others, all produced by us”.

The NCAC boss also used the opportunity of the tourism writers’ visit to appeal to warring factions of the National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) to sheathe their swords and embrace dialogue, even as he advised them to consider the nation’s interest and the damage the squabble has already caused the country in the international scene.

“With a Nigerian at the helm of WCC Africa Region, all eyes are now on the country. The world is now looking at us, so this kind of industry discord is not good us. It is even saddening that some parties in the disagreement have taken the fight abroad destroying each other’s hard-earned reputation. This does not show us in good light, so I am using this forum to appeal to them to come together and talk it out. That remains my overall interest.

Earlier, in the congratulatory letter presented to Runsewe by Andrew Okugbowa, chairman of ANJET, the group noted that the appointment coming barely a year of his coming into office as director general of the NCAC, only goes to confirm that ‘you are indeed a man that is widely known and recognised by many for your vision and resounding commitment to the development and promotion of humanity and that you hold an uncanny belief in the furtherance of the frontiers of not only Nigerian but African arts and culture.’

“We have no doubt in our minds that you have the capacity and ability as well as the intellectual acumen to function effectively in your new office and carry high the banner of African arts and culture. With your new position, the world would soon know and see a different aspect and perspective of African arts and culture because we know that you would as always immense yourself in the actualisation of the vision of the World Craft Council in a manner that has never been witnessed before in the annals of the organisation,” the writers said.

Photography exhibition opens to unearth, reclaim a new becoming

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he Wheatbaker is proud to host Gbam!Unearthing and Reclaiming a New Becoming, a photography exhibition co-curated by A White Space Creative Agency and SMO Contemporary Art. The exhibition consisting of 25 photographs, question our continual unearthing, uncovering, discovering and re-imagining perfection by drawing on our history and identity as Africans. Gbam! presents evocative photographs by Daniel Obasi, Kadara Enyeansi, Kola Oshalusi, Lex Ash, Noma Osula and Ola Ebiti, six avant-garde fashion photographers exploring who we are, and who we aspire to become as we explore our collective GBAM! These bold, new-generation photographers sift through our rich fashion, culture, traditions, narratives and symbols to challenge our aesthetic identity as we project a renewed understanding of perfection from a millennial standpoint.

For example, Noma Osula’s powerful portraits of perfectly chiseled tribal marks across his subject’s striking Bantu features are juxtaposed against fine pink fabric, whimsically wound around a stout physical presence.

Osula’ explores traditional scarification and our concept of beauty and traditional symbolism against the interplay of striking whimsical adornment.

On the other hand, Kola Oshalusi’s documentary depiction of youth in Northern Nigeria presents an emotional naiveté, a clustering of untainted stillness and repose within an arid, harsh landscape. His powerful black and white images present a lyrical expose of young adults, always in clusters, facing forward with resilience despite their stark surroundings.

“GBAM! showcases the exciting diversity of images currently being created by a new generation of Nigerian visual artists,” explained Papa Omotayo, exhibition co-curator and founder, A White Space Creative Agency.

“The works are fluid, referential, charged with self-reflection and steeped in the narrative

Ekpere by Lex Ash, photography

and contradictions of modern contemporary African identity and style. “ “Gbam! broadens the common perception of fashion photography as an art form, and spreads its tentacles wide to provide socio-economic critique as it questions perfection vis-à-vis identity, equality and traditional norms and expectations,” said Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, the Wheatbaker’s long standing art curator and founder of SMO Contemporary Art. “The simultaneously presenting a balanced sometimes ambiguous whole, one that belongs entirely in the present six photographers draw on cultural historical roots and attempt to divine their essence whilst, and may, possibly point to a new, bolder, more beautiful future” comments MazziOdu, Nigerian fashion editor and writer.

Gbam! runs from June 9 to September 15, 2018 and is supported by Louis Guntrum Wines and the Wheatbaker.

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Arts ‘You need to show people that they can be plus-size and yet stylish’ There is one woman who is passionate about giving fashion a meaning to people who are plus-size. Temi Aboderin-Alao, founder of Golden Curve Agency, the first plus-size agency in Nigeria, is truly pushing the boundary for people of her size. In this interview with Obinna Emelike, she unveils her passion, trends in her business, forthcoming event, among others.

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When did you venture into the plus-size business? started in 2012 when there was almost nothing about plus-size. We kept going, even when we got laughed at. At shows, you will hear people saying, ‘what are these people going to do, they are going to fall’. There was hostility because people thought we were promoting obesity and kept asking if fat girls can catwalk. Over the years it has improved because with our persistence in the plus-size, suddenly around 2015, everybody started doing plus-size. By 2016, it was everywhere.

Al s o, I h a v e a l w a y s grown up being plus-size.

My father, James Olubunmi Aboderin of Punch Newspaper used to call us princess.

So that was what gave birth to my initial brand, James Princess Kingdom. Prior to that, my mum has also been quite fashionable, so I have always had that stylish feel. Obviously, growing older and becoming a mum, I have not really kept up with the way I used to be excessive with fashion. But I have always had that love for fashion. It was one of my friends in England that told me, back when we were still there, that I can be stylish with my size and I am. So, you need to show people that they can be stylish and plus-size.

That was what gave birth to the JP Kingdom. I was

still very much UK-based then. So 2012 was when we did a physical launch over here. The truth is when we started, nothing like that was around. When I was in secondary school in Nigeria, I remember that I could never buy anything from here. I would have to find something from abroad and even then, it was still limited. It really isn’t that case now. Now it’s everywhere.

Almost every high street store abroad has a plus-size section now.

How do you describe your designs?

I like things being shiny. I do not look at what is in demand. When it comes to JP Kouture, for me it is living vicariously through fashion.

It is just me doing what I like.

I can turn around and keep doing Ankara which I tried to do with that but as you can see, I still threw shiny stuff on it. I have been told that I need to think like other people but it is a hobby. If I was thinking along the lines of it being wearable, then maybe I would do the other stuff that people want to wear. But for me, it is just having fun.

What is Plus-size Fashion Week Africa all about and impact so far?

There are so many plus-size designers who do not have a platform. So, that is what Plus-size Fashion Week Africa is all about. Both designers here and abroad that want

because I am a perfectionist there is a way that I have mastered that craft. I do not shy away from any challenges.

At a recent plus-size fashion show, it was only the models trained by my agency that the crowd clapped for on the runway. Not my show, this is another show. There is a difference in how we train our models and how other people do.

How do you treat challenges?

Sometimes I do feel like packing up and leave because I was not getting recognitions

Why did you start training plus-size models?

I am the best when it comes to training plus size models because it was something I wanted to do myself and

Do you copyright your designs?

I trademark everything. I am British. Everything is trademarked and copyrighted.

You can tell a design that is popular. A design that gets an interest the most, then you go ahead and trademark. You cannot do it for every single piece that you have. It will be too expensive.

That is not my primary focus and that is the British person in me talking. It is for me to have fun. Even though people are telling me I need to reprogramme my thinking when it comes to fashion but for me my business or what I see as the business is this Plus-size Fashion Week Africa. All the training initiatives we want to put in place for the new age of designers and then obviously the modelling competition that was part of the show is designed to bring out a plus-size model from here and take her international stage. This has never happened before.

that can resolve this rather multifaceted situation ensuring that youths are perceived as viable assets” Some young Nigerians who have shown interest in contesting for president include; Fela Durotoye, motivational speaker, Omoyele Sowore, activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, and Ahmed Buhari, CEO of Skylar Inc. The signing into law of the ‘not too young to run’ bill recently by President Muhammadu Buhari has further strengthened the youth quest in aspiring for political leadership positions.

Speaking further, the author stated, “I believe that more young Nigerians should join the campaign

while others show more support. Not just for the presidential race but in every aspect of governance.

Our participation in politics is very paramount. It is the only way that we can make our stance known and applicable on the various issues that are of concern to us now and in future. We need to set an agenda of how we ought to live and not live by how older politicians believe we should live. It is also important to state that this new movement should involve a lot of young women as the female gender has not been well represented in Nigerian politics compared to their male counterpart”.

The drive is to change the

perception of politics among young people around African political leadership, which is peculiar to having septuagenarians and octogenarians in contrast to many of its European counterpart who boast of young leaders even at the highest level.

Stranded seeks to change the narrative of how Nigerian Youths are represented in the social, political and economic discourse of the country. The book is another effort by a young PR professional to gear young Nigerians towards political participation and effective nation building. The e-book version of Stranded is available for free download at brandeffect.com.ng/stranded.

Temi Aboderin-Alao

to expand their brand can come and showcase. So, it is for designers who would not be known if they did not have this platform.

That is the aim of the platform and it has also inspired a new generation of plus-size designers. As well, after seeing Plus-size Fashion Week Africa, designers who do standard sizes, were excited and they extended their range to the plus-size market. It is important because it is not just about my brand it is about the plus-size community. It is about everyone and that is why at the beginning of the runway show, you have a video of the designer talking.

for my efforts.

Those were moments I felt like I do not belong here.

For instance, last year, it was a lot of work to put the show together and the fact that the event held successfully was by God’s grace.

I was confused as to how people were easily manipulated to absorb the negative as opposed to the positive. I also felt like I had wasted my time coming back to Lagos. I think that was the breaking point for me.

Another thing I found out when I came back to Lagos is that everybody believed that if you are not on the island then it is not happening.

That kind of mentality also shocked me a bit because as a kid, people lived on mainland, island and it was not a problem.

And then certain people will send spies to come here to try and understand what our training program is like and to copy our designs.

Then I thought to myself that if they keep sending people here, it means there is some value here that even I am not seeing. So, I have no other choice but to keep to keep going because there must be something here. Instead of backing away, we are now standing our ground.

A lot of standard size designers are also opening their doorway into the plus-size market. Another standard size designer who just travelled was saying that someone in the US ordered her piece on the runway at PlusSize Fashion Week Africa.

It is working. Even if some plus-size people want to be petty and do whatever they are doing, the truth is, it is going to open the doorway for all the standard size people who want to expand.

Book set tongues wagging

…bemoans geroncratic government system in Nigeria

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n the wake of renewed calls from several quarters for youth participation in politics, a book which focuses on the need for a paradigm shift in Nigeria’s political space has been launched. Written by Dipo Mohammed, a prolific political analyst and strategist, Stranded seeks to revolutionize and spike conversation in favour of youth representation in the various aspects of socio-political and economic life of young Nigerians.

The book paints different scenarios that align with the possibility of youth leadership in a rather complex socio-political environment.

It further gives practical

suggestions in which young Nigerians can be geared towards nation building focusing on themes such as youth identity, psychological competence, gender equality and good moral conduct.

According to Mohammed, Stranded was written putting into consideration the changes that have occurred with young Nigerians based on government decisions. ‘‘There has not been much deliberate effort in capacity building for young Nigerians through government actions. It is thus commendable that despite that, some exceptional young Nigerians are at the fore of making a difference in our polity. We need to build long term politi-

cal structures that young Nigerians can ride on from the grassroots to the top so that they can have more stakes in the mainstream politics. The concern is to ensure that we have a different approach

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Book Review Dominant logic is not always right …2 views on Chidi Okoro’s Another Perspective James Odiase

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hat Nigeria is faced with a myriad of problems is common knowledge. However, despite the seeming consensus in identifying and analyzing the problems, the solutions remain far-fetched. Why? There is the widely-held view that Nigeria’s problems are hinged on corruption and, therefore, if we stamp out corruption, most of the country’s problems will be addressed. This is where Chidi Okoro’s perspective is instructive – he asserts through the pages of this book that at the root of the nation’s problems is the glorification of incompetence across all segments of our national life and that corruption has taken its foothold only because of the absence of competent and visionary leadership.

Therefore, attempting to cure the corruption problem without addressing the fundamental issue of competent leadership is tantamount to curing the symptom rather than the ailment. Unfortunately, this is the current state of affairs in Nigeria – we are working hard to fix corruption whereas the absence of purposeful leadership is causing increased dislocations in our governance systems allowing corruption to thrive uncontrollably. This is why we are where we are.

The corruption problem has widely been promoted as the dominant logic to the extent that the global media defines corruption as Nigerian, the corrupt calls Nigeria corrupt, the people accept it and are helpless, the government claims it is winning the fight against the hydra-headed monster, yet we remain the same.

Chidi Okoro’s treatise is that the call to leadership is on all of us and not just on those in government – the aggregate of the little contributions from all can set Nigeria on the path of greatness. The vice-chancellors and their lecturers should take responsibility for revamping university education.

The Police hierarchy should not wait for a visit of the President to know the rot in the Police College or the force in general.

Parents should live up to the responsibility of ensuring good upbringing for their kids.

Governors and local government chairmen should take responsibility to generate sustainable economic growth in their areas of control rather than wasting the commonwealth on fruitless trips to Lagos, Abuja and abroad with their usual retinue of support staff. Chidi is not under any illusion that the required transformation can happen overnight and in no way suggests that there exists a silver bullet to fix all our problems, but he advocates that those who are in position of leadership should have the competence and commitment to do the little and right things that can set Nigeria on path of progress ensuring growth no matter how slow. The leaders and the led should commit to long-term vision sustained on the platform of organic growth. “Short-termism” seems to be well ingrained in our DNA and is depriving us of a robust future.

This book is not all about problems!

In the following pages you will find very simple and pragmatic solutions presented in very compelling fashion and you will find suggestions that will provide the necessary leverage for you as a citizen to make your contributions and present solutions in your

area. Solutions presented are based on Chidi’s rich and vast management experience.

While we are constantly driven by dominant logic majorly propagated by the media and the inevitable bandwagon effect it generates, it is very easy to lose our individual perspective on issues around us.

This book, apart from articulating a robust perspective probably different from the norm, will enable the reader challenge the pervasive dominant logic and help shape his/her own perspective. My opinion, however, is that what Chidi has presented here as “Another Perspective” should be seen as what it really is – The perspective.

It holds the truth to our development as a people and this is my perspective.

From the Foreword.

Dami Ajayi

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nother Perspective” is an aptly-titled debut book that reflects on Nigeria and its multi-pronged predicaments. At a time when our book shelves are stacked with dummy guides and How-To books, this is a book with a voice that speaks directly into the Nigerian condition.

The lasting rationale at the book’s core is an advocacy for a change in outlook.

There is a challenge against what is called the Dominant Logic, which is simply a deductive approach synthesized from popular and resonating opinions. Domi-

“

He asserts through the pages of this book that at the root of the nation’s problems is the glorification of incompetence across all segments of our national life and that corruption has taken its foothold only because of the absence of competent and visionary leadership

nant Logic is a derivative of empiric appraisal; it is the mantra being chanted on the street by the chorus of average men.

It has elevated itself from repeated hearsay into a democratically imbibed falsity being bandied as the truth. The Dominant Logic, this book proves in numerous ways, is neither correct nor appropriate. We are enjoined to look beyond the status quo. For instance, corruption is touted as Nigeria’s major problem. This is the Dominant Logic; but with very succinct and appreciable insight, Mr. Okoro persuades that incompetence might be the devil at the wheels.

Mr. Okoro is a concerned citizen of Nigeria. He has the rare luck of having travelled around the entire country by road. He has watched the country’s pitch like an unfortunate billiard ball in a postcolonial era. He writes about a two-sided coin perspective his travels have brought him; he has seen clean cities with functioning basic amenities; he has also watched these facilities crumble from disrepair and overuse in these same cities.

In “Another Perspective”, he offers an array of cures for this deeply-ailing country. To be exact and unbiased, his solutions are simple, practical and contemplated. When argued for, in his characteristics passionate and colloquial narrative, they are not only agreeable but also attainable without much fuss.

For the problem of insecurity, he simply argues for illumination; the presence of lamp and light bulbs will reduce crime, for crime thrives better in the dark.

While the slant of this book is political, a scattering of other issues permeates Mr. Okoro’s consciousness. He launches into various fields of life. Education gets priority and reasonable mention.

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises are treated delicately and analytically like the harbingers of soaring national development indices they are. Even our choice of food is touched upon. This book manages to be imbued with the range of a travelogue, the exactness of a report and the report of a personal letter.

Without being a motivational or inspiration text, “Another Perspective” advocates for virtues in youths in a refutation on the employability of Nigerian graduates. It brilliantly declares that not only university education should enjoy the scrutiny of our probe; he sends us back home and makes a case for soft skills which are synonymous with virtues – patience, perseverance and humility – meant to be inculcated at home.

The performance of our current democratic era also comes under examination.

Whilst a fair mark is given and accounted for with reasons, the government is chastised for irresponsible behavior and enjoined to develop infrastructure both soft and hard. Nigerians are instructed to critic the government constructively, less abusively. We are told to be better citizens; told to own a copy of the country’s constitution so that we know what is expected of our public officers.

This book is a must-read for every Nigerian. It is a delightful way of confronting old debates. It is an insightful plunge into the mind-wracking problems of nationbuilding undertaken by a brilliant citizen whose voice resonates with refined truth.

It is another perspective, a suitable one, and perhaps, the best in the face of our status quo.

From Preface to the book.

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THINGS TO DO IN LAGOS Upgrade X Corporate conference Date: Sun, June 10, 2018 Time: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM WAT Venue: The Village, 371 Borno Way Spencer Yaba, Lagos

If you missed out on the fun activities that kicked off from Friday, remember Sunday is still a weekend.

Take a look at some of the events happening today: The Governor’s Magazine Launch Date: Sun, June 10, 2018 Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM Venue: Sheraton Lagos Hotel 30 Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Lagos.

SWORTE (Stories Worth Telling) Talks 10 - Speak Out! Breaking Social Taboos Date: Sun, June 10, 2018 Time: 3:30 PM – 7:30 PM Venue: Muson (Musical Society of Nigeria) Centre Muson Access Road, Onikan, Lagos

Nigerian Child Summit and Awards Date: Sun, June 10, 2018 Time: 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM Venue: Lagos Oriental Hotel, 3 Lekki Road Lagos

Oaken Events Brings The Third Edition Of ATIN’DA

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tinu’da is a Yoruba word meaning “creativity born from within.” The event was birthed by the founder of Oaken Events, Mrs Ayiri Oladunmoye. It celebrates the creativity and uniqueness with the aim of emphasizing its importance as an essential tool required for increased growth and development in the events industry in Nigeria. The theme of this year’s conference is “The impact of event industry in Africa.”

The event industry is said to be worth billions of dollars, and there’s still so much to tap out of, so the goal of Atinu’da is to create a platform that allows growth and development take place. One that identifies, creates and drives excellence.

Atinu’da will help in building and sharing young entrepreneurs who make the decision to pursue this path. This event is positioned to create and improve standards in the events industry.

Billed for the 6th and 7th of June 2018, speakers who graced the stage include Sarah Haywood (Vogue’s number 1 international wedding planner of the year 2018), Ron Ben Israel (a celebrity chef), Elie Berchan (Luxury Event designer), Tope Abulude (the Balloon expert), Anita Ershine (media mastermind), Toni Breiss (Celebrity wedding event designer), Dr Harry Benjamin, Ngozi Princewill Utchay (founder of Atelier Lifestyle), Oke Maduewesi (CEO Zaron Cosmetics), Samuel Egube, Uloma Ogbuebile, Yemande Zaccheaus, Seyi Olusanya and Kamil Olufowobi.

During the press conference Sarah advised that Brides find wedding planners within their budget.

She has noticed that Nigeria has a growing market and wedding planners are trending in the wedding space, so she advices you find a planner whose service will be worth the money you’re paying for.

Mrs Ayiri was positive about

this year’s conference which held at The Landmark Events center and all she promised came through. No certificates were handed after the event but mentoring and development opportunities were created.

There is a great demand for “A Nigerian Wedding” both within Nigeria and outside Nigeria, so Ron advised that if Nigerians can build a market and business around ‘Nigerian Weddings’, then people around the world will be more receptive to it.

It was a beautiful experience and we look forward to a bigger one next year.

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MarketPlace with founder and executive director of style house files, Omoyemi Akerele Omoyemi Akerele is a perfect blend of beauty and brains. We say brains because she must have more than one brain to carry all her massive ideas and big creations, which she unfolds through Style House Files. She is also the woman behind one of Africa’s biggest and most successful fashion shows, Lagos Fashion Week. Excerpts.

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ell us a bit about style house files Style House Files is a Fashion Business Development Agency. The company started initially as a business resource tool for people to engage with the fashion industry. It was a source of inspiration too, in terms of interviews and what’s happening on the scene, but primarily focused on the business of fashion in Nigeria. Fast forward into a few months, we realized that the business of fashion in Nigeria wasn’t mature enough to sustain the content. There was need for us to do more and get our hands a bit dirty. We decided it was important for us to focus on five key areas: access to market, education, opportunities for skills acquisition, discovering new talents and creating an opportunity for people to show their collections to a target audience. Lagos Fashion Week, Young Designer Of The Year initiative now called Fashion Focus, SHF Trainings which is in partnership with Nigerian Export Promotion Council and Master classes with British Council all started to support the vision.

So you can think of SHF as that company that has at the heart of it – how do we ensure that we are catalysts for change making impact in the Nigerian and African fashion industry. We see ourselves as problem solvers as we create opportunities for impact, opportunities for education to thrive, opportunities for designers to have access to new market be it in Ghana, London, New York or any part of the world. But most importantly opportunities for skill acquisition, because over the past 14 years of doing this, I’ve realized that one thing that is ultimately missing is access to Human Capital. These are the geniuses behind scene who ensure that the dress you’re wearing gets an opportunity to be in the market for buying purposes.

How difficult/easy was it for you when setting SHF up?

It’s still difficult honestly. I say this because in Nigeria, prior to the last 4/5 years, fashion wasn’t a main stream concern for private and public sector companies. Everyone was focused on investing in the telecoms industry or buying shares in companies that

really expensive, do you think the pricesshould be reduced or left the way They are now?

It’s really sad but it’s true and it probably has to be sometimes. As we speak, this facility (NEPC Human Capital Development Center) is being powered by a generator. If you think about the cost of production you will know that it’s very expensive producing in Nigeria. From diesel/fuel cost, to sourcing fabrics or even sourcing for trimmings to cost of labour. The people who are able to benchmark their products at an affordable price consistently, are making a super conscious effort to keep things as basic as possible. If you look at brands like Mr Price and Pep who sell products for lower than 5000 naira, they are not producing here.

They have access to power, infrastructure, raw materials and cost of labour and transportation is cheap.

So back to your question, Yes I understand that made in Nigeria products are expensive due to cost of production/ manufacturing and I also know that some people are overpriced, but that is a different ball game entirely. There is a major difference between the

can provide quick returns, or lobbying for oil contracts. Fast forward to 2018, every day you see a new bank or organisation that’s pushing the fashion industry and its value chain as a sexy tool for communication and increasing their market share. Before this, we literally had to beg for fashion to be included on the agenda as a possible contributor to the Nigerian economy. I remember our first sponsor at the time, MTN Nigeria, said to us that fashion was not one of the things they were focusing on and it really wasn’t for years. We had to keep knocking on their doors and eventually, we launched Lagos Fashion Week with MTN in 2011. Since then, we believe we’ve succeeded in inspiring people that fashion can be used as a tool for reaching your target audience. Since we achieved that, fashion’s been seen as a tool and we have succeeded in having access to some of the funding that we need to make our initiatives and programmes come to life.

For Lagos Fashion Week, it’s our 8th year. We are currently working with Heineken as our title sponsors. Regarding other projects like our partnership with NIgeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) owned Human Capital Development Center, SHF is constantly on the look out to find partners or companies that believe in the project and this can be difficult.

Sometimes we think it’s about timing, but it’s really about meeting the right person, at the right place, at the right

Londe Thompson is right there, Fashion Business Series has Ronke Adeola and the person who ensures we’re communicating all this effectively Ijeoma Ndekwu and her team at Red Rick PR. They all work with several people in each team working together to make SHF programs a success. Our people are our greatest resource. Our greatest strength is not me but the people we work with.

It’s a huge task organising LFW, but do you manage any other businesses?

Just think of Style House like an umbrella, which has different programs / initiatives under it. But in terms of having other ‘businesses’, please tell me where to go and I will be there.

What challenges do you face as a fashion business?

I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I think one of my greatest frustrations is working in an environment that is not as developed as some of the work that we want to do. We need room to grow and get more work done. I won’t call that a challenge but it frustrates me.

Then you have the other things like convincing people to work with us, ac-

time, who will listen to your ideas, believe in you and commit to partnering with you. So trust me when I say it’s not that easy. How do we provide skill acquisition, sewing machines, pattern making classes for people at no cost at all? We need sponsors to pay for them, so that people who walk off the street can be empowered with skills for job and wealth creation.

How do you ensure that profits are made from SHF? Style House Files is a for profit organization, meaning that the business was set up to be able to make profits and the main source of this is our consultancy fee.

products being expensive compared to imported goods and unnecessarily overpriced.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the business of fashion in Nigeria? And why?

The creativity in Nigeria is unbelievable but in terms of the industry to support that creativity, we currently experience a huge gap. Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of people are focusing on just creativity and not the industry that you need to support it. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is still a lot of work to be done so I’ll give it a 3/10. But this is why the work that we do is so important to me, because I want us to contribute in our own little way and make sure that we tip the scale and at least reach a 7 in no time.

Made in Nigeria fashion products are

How do you feel being the leading woman behind the most successful fashion show in Nigeria?

Style House Files is primarily successful because of the people that we work with. I don’t necessarily see SHF or LFW as a success because of me, I see it as being the people. Right from the top, if I think about the role that my husband Tokunbo Akerele plays as chairman, always there to offer advice and making sure a lot of things happen, to everyone who works on different projects. If I think about the heart of SHF I think Tobi Idowu and Onyinye Fafi Obi, SHF Runway Shows and initiatives, Zara Okpara is leading the team, SHF Trains, I think Morenikeji Akinsola and Chichi, Fashion Focus,

cess to funding, power, infrastructure, retail, raw materials and the list goes on.

How do you deal with competition?

Competition is great as long as it’s not messy. It puts you on your toes and makes you want to be and do better.

Primarily, it helps you redefine who you are and what you’re trying to do. It helps you stay focused and committed to your goals.

We at SHF don’t try to compete, we just go back to the drawing board and reconnect with who are we as a company, what we are trying to achieve and what our goals and objectives are. We stay true to ourselves.

Where do you see HSF and LFW in 5 years?

Global domination.

Interview By Uzochikwa Akumah

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Kiddies The bird with two heads

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nce upon a time, there lived a great bird named Uluku on the banks of

a lake.

The bird was strange because he had two necks with two heads, but shared the common body. One day, as the bird was wandering, it found a delicious looking red-golden fruit.

One of the heads mumbled, “Oh, what a delicious looking fruit. I am lucky to have found it. I am sure the fruit is sent from heaven only for me”. On saying so, he started eating the fruit with pleasure. While eating, he kept on praising how it was the most delicious fruit he had ever eaten.

Hearing and seeing all this, the other head requested, “Oh dear, please also allow me to taste the fruit that you are praising with all your heart”.

The first head did not want to share it, so he laughed and said, “we share the same stomach.

Whoever amongst us eats the fruit, it goes to the same stom-

ach. It makes no difference on who eats the fruit. Moreover, since I am the one who found this fruit in the first place, I have the right to eat it myself.”

This selfishness of the first head hurt him very much, and he went silent with disappointment when he heard the first head’s reply.

Few days later, as they were wandering the second head found some fruits.

The fruits were from a poisonous tree. He declared to the first head, “You are a deceitful person.

The other day you had insulted me by not sharing the delicious fruit. Now I am going to eat this fruit and avenge your insult”.

Th e f i r s t h e a d p l e a d e d , “Please don’t eat this fruit, it is a poisonous one. We share the same stomach. If you eat it, we will both die” Mocking the first head, the second head replied, “Shut up!

Since I am the one who found this fruit in the first place, I have the right to eat it myself”.

Cross section of the participants at the workshop

Knowing what would happen, the first head began to cry.

The second head ate the poi-

U.S. facilitates drone technology workshop for Nigerian students NGOZI OKPALAKUNNE

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nited States Consulate General Lagos in collaboration with Baltimore-based Global Air Media, recently concluded a two-day drone technology workshop for students and

women Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) leaders.

The training was held at the Cedar STEM and Entrepreneurship Hub, and American Corner at Co-Creation Hub (CCHUB), both in Yaba, Lagos. A team of three drone ex-

perts led by Global Air Media co-founder Eno Umoh facilitated the series of workshops.

Thirty elementary and high school students were coached on the basics of building a drone from the scratch, as well as the requisite skills for piloting and landing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

In addition to the students’ seminar, thirteen female STEM leaders were mentored on the evolving technology needs of the 21st century, particularly in the fields of real estate and construction, cinematography, as well as humanitarian and emergency response.

Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate Lagos, Ms. Darcy Zotter, explained that the hands-on workshop was designed to stimulate the interest of the participating students in math and science, as well as careers in the STEM fields.

“STEM enables us to find solutions to some of the most pressing issues of today such as alternative energy or even food security. Creating inventions to solve global challenges can be a catalyst for a country’s economic development,” Zotter said.

According to her, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria has funded a number of projects to increase STEM education in different parts of the country.

sonous fruit without bothering the first head’s requests. As a consequence of this action, im-

mediately the poison digested, the bird died. Thus, both of the heads lost their lives.

FGGC Gboko Old Girls Association remembers alma mater with renovated hostel block

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he Old Girls Association of the Federal Government Girls College, Gboko, Benue State, Class of 1991, has formerly presented a newly renovated hostel block, Charity House, to the school’s management. The presentation was made recently in a colourful ceremony.

The decision to renovate the hostel was borne out of the fact that some of the structures had become dilapidated and the hostel was no longer safe for the young girls living in it. The renovated hostel was part of activities earmarked to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the association.

Speaking on the occasion, Class of ‘91 Project Management Team lead, Chisom Ajaero, said: “As we commemorated the 25th-year milestone since leaving school, we learnt of the deplorable and unhygienic conditions of some hostels and welfare facilities. We were moved to tears as to what had become of our great school and were confronted with the magnitude of neglect of this once prestigious learning institution and even more importantly, the imminent threat to healthy living and academic achievements of students in the school.”

Ajaero continues, “Whilst recognising that the responsibility to improve and maintain living and learning conditions in the school is not our association’s primary responsibility, the current situation serves as a call to action to give back to this learning institution, which we are products of and this we did with selfless contributions from our sisters, which has culminated to this joyous occasion.”

In her address, Principal, FGGC Gboko, Grace Danbaba

expressed joy for the project, which she said was a seed that was nurtured in the hearts of the students and had thus grown into the numerous intervention projects being carried out by the alumni.

“We salute the courage of our ‘Gboko Angels’ from the class of 1991 set, especially with the very high standards they have set with this project.

We are indeed appreciative of the giving spirit because lasting happiness does not come from what you get but from what you give to make other people’s lives better,” Danbaba said.

“I also want to emphasize here that the Federal Government is committed to providing quality education to the masses through its determination to sustain the unity colleges evidenced by the huge current and capital expenditure expended on the 104 colleges yearly,” she further said.

Frank Omale, a director with the Federal Ministry of Education, also commended the Class of ’91 alumni for their selfless giving and assured the students that the government takes education seriously and will continue to do everything to improve the quality of education and infrastructure.

In her vote of thanks, the school’s Head Girl, Blessing Kave, thanked the Class of ’91 for their selfless service, saying the students will never forget the gesture and will also emulate the spirit of giving back even after they leave the school.

Highlight of the event was cutting of the tape by invited dignitaries and a tour of the newly renovated hostel which was immediately opened for occupation.

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Life&Living Things we hate to see men wear JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON

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ave you realised that nowadays in Nigeria, a lot more men have come out on social media to define themselves as ‘Fashionistas’? Some of these so called fashionistas try to look edgy and fashion forward and so they dare to try pieces of clothing items that are far from the ordinary look of a normal man, forgetting that when it comes to the way you dress, perspective is everything.

You may think you look great, that your sense of style has no flaws, and that you are presenting yourself to the women around you as a desirable, attractive and fashionable man, but in the meantime, women may be looking at you thinking you look ridiculous and that your style is way off, so you end up coming off as someone they want to run away from as soon as possible.

Although women can be outspoken, most women are aware of the male ego and as such, they make a cautious effort not to hurt the ego of a man.

So how would you know that your woman thinks you look like a dork if she wouldn’t say so herself you may ask? I took my time to ask a few women from different parts of the country what they dread their men wearing and here is a list of the things you should not be caught dead wearing.

Extremely tight jeans/trousers: “I know skinny jeans for men

is trendy and can look sexy if worn appropriately, but some men over do the whole skinny jeans look and wear extremely tight trousers that look so uncomfortable and we can see the whole shape and size of their male organs. It is a total turnoff,” says Nkechi Ogala, a fashion stylist and personal shopper.

Sunglasses indoors: Dear men, there is a reason why they are called ‘sun glasses’ for goodness sake. When

there is no sunlight, there’s no need to shade your eyes. 10 out of 10 women interviewed say they totally hate the idea of men who feel cool wearing sun shades in enclosed spaces, especially in church or in a night club where it is pitch black with very little or no light at all.

Vests: 8 out of the 10 women I interviewed are of the view that vests should never be worn as tops and should remain inner wears.

However, two of them thought that vests worn by buff, muscular men could look sexy, but it is a turnoff for skinny men and I totally agree with that. We agree that not all men can be gym buffs and have muscles like Morris Chesnut or Idris Elba.

Same way not all women can have a Beyonce or Kim Kardashian body.

However, please know the category you fall into, and if you’re slim, please stick to your tee-shirts and button up

shirts and don’t be caught wearing vests out.

Tons of Jewelry: I know it used to be cool to wear loads of ‘blinged out’ neck chains, hand chains and earrings back in the 90s when Tupac Shakur and Biggie smalls (American rappers) were you roll models, but please guys leave those things in the 90s. Women hate to see men all decked up in too much accessories.

Keep it simple, especially if you are not a gangster rapper.

FlipFlops: Flipflops and open toe sandals are for well pedicured feet only. If you do not take time out to cut and file your nails and wash and mosturise your feet, then you have no business wearing flip flops. Women do not think ashy looking, ugly feet are sexy.

Ill fitted suit: when your suit is either too big or too small, it is a total turn off for women. “It just irks my soul when I see a man swimming in a suit that looks like he stole from his fat uncle or father,” says Sola Williams.

Extremely pointed shoes: Nigerian men love their pointed toes Italian shoes. Some of them even wear the extremely pointed ones that curve up like clown shoes. Most women hate these shoes, so please men avoid wearing them.

Beanie hats in warm weather: Beanie hats were made to shield the head from cold weather, but some men have turned it into a fashion statement and now, you see them wearing beanies in really hot weather with tee shirt or even worse, VESTS, which is a total turnoff for most women.

Accenture: Raising women that take the lead IFEOMA OKEKE

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ender equality is fast becoming a cliché and an eroding subject of discussion considering the numerous roles women now play in the society.

Everywhere you go, whether in the home, companies, businesses and society at large, women leave their positive foot prints; such that one could even wonder if gender equality is a matter of discussion anymore. As these women live daily, they do not just canvas for equality but live it by doing unprecedented things across the world.

Nigeria is definitely not left behind in this development. It has been variously described that women constitute more than half of the roughly 180 million Nigerian population. While some women have hit the ground running and are making history through their various inventions, some others are far behind in this regard.

In deepening its footprints in Nigeria and expanding more corporations comprising of women engaging in great business ideas, Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services firm that provides strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations services

recently sponsored the 2ndannual WIN Nigeria Conference and Exhibition.

The event was organised by WEConnect International in Nigeria, a non-profit organisation that identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women’s business enterprises that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by one or more women.

WEConnect is also a global nonprofit organisation, representing 80 multi-national corporations that are committed to buying from women in businesses and bringing them into the supply chain.

The event, which drew various professional women in different sectors of the economy focused on ‘How Women Win, the Role of Leadership, Society and Technology.’

Speaking during the event, Lape Mobolaji-Lawal, Business & Integration Architecture Manager, Accenture Technology said digital and business owners can leverage digital and win more customers in their businesses.

On how women in Nigeria are taking the lead in the society, she said “We have a room full of women who run businesses and who are trying in different ways to incorporate digital in their day to day, whether it is just social media, mobile apps, websites or online profiles. I think there are still a lot to be done and women are definitely playing that role, and are taking the re-

sponsibilities and putting themselves out there as digital leaders.

“In Accenture, we are very supportive of our women. We have a target of 50percent women to men ratio in 2020. The core of our business is helping our clients understand digital. We want to be digital internally before we can take that to our clients and the role of a woman is essential.

We have a saying in Accenture that ‘If she rises, we all rise.’ So, if the woman rises, every other person rises and she takes a whole generation with her.”

She noted that Accenture just concluded the international women’s

day where it held a conference about technology and how young women can be brought more into technology roles, adding that the organisation is doing a lot to showcase women and their roles in the corporate world and even in business but in terms of technology.

She explained that the event has broadened the minds of people who came. According to her, “It is targeted at women business owners and helping to connect them with global value chains and just looking at the mix of the women in the room, some own bigger businesses, while some are

L-R: Shade Ladipo; country director, WEconnect, Ibilola Amao; principal consultant, Lonadek Nigeria, Lape Mobolaji-Lawal; business & integration architecture manager at Accenture Nigeria, and Yemisi Aiyedun; food & lifesyle blogger, after a session on Women on the Web - Digital Leadership at the 2nd Annual WIN Nigeria conference and exhibition, held in Lagos recently.

micro enterprises but everything we spoke to could meet them at their levels, whether it was how to be a good leader, how to win, or using digital to win more customers.

“It spoke to different businesses across different industries and different value chains. It is a good initiative.”

Greta Schettler, chief operating officer, WeConnect International, mentioned that there are 7000 women in businesses in its network all over the world and Nigeria is one of the countries it focuses on, adding that its corporate members want to find more women in businesses that they can buy from.

According to Schettler, “Nigeria is a hub for a lot of corporations and a lot of growth is happening in emerging markets and it is extremely competitive to be ahead of the game. So, as a corporation, you need to make sure you are having innovations and new product ideas coming into your company as well as building strong brand recognition and making sure you are bringing local content, that is how you are going to stay competitive.”

She hinted that if 80percent of organisation’s customers are women, they should be buying from them because it builds all kinds of competitive advantage and brings innovation, adding that WEConnect is in Nigeria and wants women to be more innovative.

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Travel

Nigerian tourism on spotlight at UNWTO CAF meeting …Secretary general, minister satisfied with hosting OBINNA EMELIKE

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igeria, with her over 180 million people across several ethnic groups and breathtaking tourism attractions that dot her landscape, was on the spotlight at the 61ST United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commission for Africa (CAF) meeting.

The meeting, which held from June 4-6, 2018 at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, witnessed over 500 delegates, including 26 ministers of tourism from Africa and 166 foreign delegates from 34 countries, who took out time to deliberate on issues affecting African tourism, finding solution and resolving to collaborate in realizing the goals of tourism under the mandate of UNTWO. The seriousness of issues deliberated at the meet ing was underscored by the theme, “Tourism Statistics: A catalyst for development”. According to Zurab Pololikashvili, the new sectary general of UNWTO who was in Nigeria and Africa for the first time, the theme was timely because of the need for correct tourism measurement for improved policy making and economic planning across economies

Pololikashvili with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja can only be done properly when the relevant information is available in order to better measure, plan and manage.

The secretary general, who is impressed with Nigeria’s effort at putting in place infrastructure that enable tourism and incentives to woo global investors, noted at a joint press conference with Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, that the

Pololikashvili said.

As well, Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism, noted at the meeting that the essence of CAF was in line with AU’s economic development agenda, which hopes to lift the continent to prosperity.

However, she noted that for any meaningful development to take place in Africa member states must remove barriers to economic and trade integrations, support open skies, remove challenges at the borders and form a common front at global issues.

She challenged the delegates at the meeting to deliberate on issues that would inform broader UNWTO collaborations in development projects across the continent.

Earlier at a reception in his honor by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja, Pololikashvili noted that it was the commitment shown by the President to tourism development that

motivated the UNWTO to renew its interest in Nigeria.

He particularly commended the visa-on-arrival policy which, he said, has made Nigeria one of the most accessible countries and urged other countries to emulate the policy.

In same vein, Najib Balala, Minister of Tourism Kenya and chairman of CAF, commended the Nigerian visa stride noting that to grow Africa, Africans need to travel more within the continent and that cannot be possible with barriers such as visa and issues of open skies.

Speaking further, Pololikashvili said the meeting in Nigeria has provided a veritable platform to discuss and articulate concrete steps towards the development of tourism on the continent.

“We had very interesting discussions with ministers and we made very concrete decisions on how to continue and how to work with African continent, which has full support from our organisation,

The delegates at one of the sessions in Abuja in Africa.

Explaining further on the rationale for the theme, the UNWTO boss noted that despite that 1.3 billion international tourists travelled around the world in 2017, the 62 million visitors share of Africa in worldwide tourism is still comparatively modest and does not fully reflect the huge potential of the tourism and travel industry of the continent.

In order to build a strong tourism sector, it is paramount to implement the adequate strategies and policies, which

meeting in Abuja was one of the most successful events of the global body in recent time.

He assured that the UNWTO would leverage on the success of the meeting to promote Nigeria to become a top tourist destination in the world, and commended the minister and his team for putting Nigeria on the global tourism map.

“Thanks to the Minister that is pushing Nigeria as a new tourist destination. We are here to support Nigeria to be the most important and most attractive place to come to visit to enjoy the culture”,

The Ekemini Theatre Group performing in Abuja

and we are very glad that we are going in the right way.

“We have an ambitious plan. We want to promote Africa as one of the main and most important tourism destinations in the world,” he said.

In his remarks, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, said he was satisfied with the conduct of the meeting.

“I know it is for our guests to assess the event, but I must say that I am quite satisfied with the way the meeting has gone, the impressive attendance, the quality of contributions, the spectacular nature of the social events and, in particular, the passion and commitment of the SecretaryGeneral, who has attended all the key events.

“Without being immodest, we are very proud of the hosting of the 61st Meeting of the UNWTO CAF. We are very proud of the role played by the UNWTO and CAF. We are happy with the attendance of delegates and we are happy with the events overall,” he said.

Truly, Nigeria was a good host, flavouring the serious discussions at the meeting with thrilling cultural performances, stage plays and dinner outings. Top among the performances were; Nkwaumuagbogho, Seki Dance Drama, Ekemini Theatre Group, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, and documentaries on Ogun and Lagos states.

Another highlight of the meeting was the award of UNWTO Special Ambassador for Responsible Tourism to Aliko Dangote, chairman, Dangote Group, for his support to tourism development in Africa by Pololikashvili. The award was received on behalf of Dangote

by Ali Munsur.

Aside the table discussions in Abuja, the delegates had a unique engagement in Lagos, where they were shown the Eko Atlantic City, a huge tourism project that will further consolidate Lagos as the commercial and tourism hub of West Africa on completion.

Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor of Lagos State, who received the UNWTO entourage, disclosed efforts of his government at making Lagos the tourism hub of the Nigeria, especially massive investment in infrastructure.

As expected, Pololikashvili assured Lagos the support of UNWTO in her sustainable tourism drive.

The next African Commission meeting will take place during the second quarter of 2019.

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Travel

Smarter regulation, global standards, infrastructure key to securing aviation future - IATA Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE

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he International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for governments to facilitate the growth of global connectivity by avoiding creeping re-regulation, maintaining the integrity of global standards, and addressing a capacity crisis.

The call came in the IATA Director General’s Report on the Air Transport Industry at the 74th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit.

“On aviation’s core mission to deliver safe, secure, accessible and sustainable connectivity, the state of our industry is strong and getting stronger. And with “normal” levels of profitability we are spreading aviation’s benefits even more widely. But there are challenges.

“Smarter regulation needs to counter the trend of creeping re-regulation.

Global standards must be maintained by the states that agreed them. And we need to find efficient solutions to the looming capacity crisis,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO said.

The deregulation of the air transport industry that began in 1978 in the US ignited

global changes that enabled the spread of air transport’s benefits. Competition saw the price of air connectivity fall making air transport much more accessible. In 1978 the average person flew once every 6.6 years.

Today the average is closer to once in two years.

A creeping trend of reregulation, however, puts the gains of deregulation at risk. Citing regulatory actions from around the world, de Juniac noted that regulatory over-reach now includes attempts to prescriptively regulate passenger compen-

sation, seat assignments, the ticket options that can be offered to consumers and prices charged for various ancillary services.

“Regulations must add value. In assessing that, regulators must recognize the power of competition and social media to safeguard consumer interests. Governments should not distort market effectiveness with regulations that secondguess what consumers really want,” De Juniac said.

This is the spirit of IATA’s “smarter regulation” campaign which asks govern-

Etihad Airways Paris flights to go all-Airbus A380

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ffective 1 October, 2018, Etihad Airways will operate the Airbus A380 on its second daily service linking Abu Dhabi and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

This will transform the airline’s operation between the UAE and French capitals into a year-round all-A380 service, joining London Heathrow as the second Eu r o p e a n d e s t i n a t i o n enjoying daily multiple visits

by Etihad’s award-winning double-decker aircraft.

The introduction of the aircraft on the second daily service will provide business and leisure travellers between both cities with more options to experience Etihad’s latest award-winning cabins and products. The airline has operated the A380 between Abu Dhabi and Paris on one of its two daily flights since 1 July 2017, with the service performing very strongly since its introduction.

Pe t e r Ba u m g a r t n e r,

Et i h a d Ai r w a y s Ch i e f Executive Officer said, “Paris has always been a very special destination on the Etihad network and the number of visitors from France to Abu Dhabi, and vice versa has continued to show significant growth.

The route has never been more in demand.

“We have seized the opportunity to place our flagship Airbus A380 on our second daily flight, following the great reception the aircraft has received from our guests, and to ensure we offer product consistency on the route. This will also allow us to significantly increase the number of leisure and premium seats available, providing more options for those wanting to travel point-to-point between Abu Dhabi and Paris, two capitals now also united by Louvre museums, or to connect via our Abu Dhabi hub to points all over the Middle East, Asia and Australia.”

Etihad Airways’ A380s

feature a total capacity of 496 seats - up to two in The Residence, nine in First Class, 70 in Business Class and 415 in the Economy Class cabin. The aircraft replaces the currently deployed Boeing 777300ER on the popular route.

The Residence is an ultra-private, three-room suite featuring a living room with a 32” LCD monitor, bedroom with a double bed, separate en-suite shower room and dedicated personal butler.

The nine First Apartments feature a flatscreen television, a chilled mini-bar, personal vanity unit, wardrobe and a fully equipped shower room.

The 70 Business Studios on the upper deck offer direct aisle access, a fully flat bed and an increase of 20 per cent in personal space.

The Lobby, a luxurious lounge located between the First Class and Business Class cabins, features two comfortable sofas and a staffed bar.

ments to align with global standards, take into account industry input and analyze the costs of regulation against the benefits.

De Juniac noted that one of the most exciting current regulatory developments is the sweeping review of US commercial regulations with the aim of keeping only those where the benefits outweigh the costs to both travelers and the industry.

He called for a vigorous defense of global standards that have guided the safe and efficient development

of aviation. “We must take governments to task. It is unacceptable that global standards are being ignored by the very governments that created them,” said de Juniac.

IATA urged governments to find sustainable solutions to ensure the infrastructure needed to meet growing demand for connectivity.

“We are in a capacity crisis. And we don’t see the required airport infrastructure investment to solve it.

Governments struggle to build quickly. But with cashstrapped finances, many are looking to the private sector for solutions. We need more airport capacity. But be cautious. Expecting privatization to be the magic solution is a wrong assumption,” De Juniac said.

The privatization of airport infrastructure has not lived up to airline expectations. “As customers of many airports in private hands, airlines have far too many bitter experiences. Travelers also sense the problem. According to Skytrax, five of the top six traveler-preferred airports are public. Motivated by our members’ frustration, we did our own performance benchmarking. Privatized airports are definitely more expensive. But there is little difference in efficiency or investment levels compared to airports in public hands,”

said de Juniac.

The results of airport privatizations run counter to the results of airline privatization which saw the cost of travel drop dramatically.

Airlines do not accept that privatizing airports must lead to higher costs. And neither should consumers or voters.

How can making the transport infrastructure more expensive—which means less competitive—be a legitimate public policy objective?” said de Juniac.

While IATA research did not reveal a one-sizefits-all solution to ensure sufficient, fit-for-purpose and affordable airport infrastructure, it did point towards positive experiences for consumers and airlines with variations of corporatization.

The 74th IATA AGM will consider a resolution on the privatization of airport infrastructure calling on governments to: Focus on the long-term economic and social benefits of an effective airport as part of the country’s critical infrastructure, learn from positive experiences with corporatization, new financing models, and alternative ways of tapping private sector participation and make informed decisions on ownership and operating models to protect consumer interests.

South African Airways supports emerging businesses at NewBrandsXPO

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s part of activities to mark the 20year anniversary of successful operations in Nigeria , and in fulfillment of the airline’s corporate social r e s p o n s i b i l i t y, S o u t h African Airways will be sponsoring five travelrelated emerging brands to showcase their business at the NewBrandsXPO holding at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos from 29th to 30th June 2018.

The NewBrandsXPO is a one-stop shop for organizations seeking to launch new products and services in-market.

Exhibitors will cut across different sectors including

travel, financial services, IT & Telecom, consumer electronics & kitchenware, FMCG, health & wellness, personal care, apparel & fashion accessories, food & drinks, and many others.

Commenting on the gesture, Ohis Ehimiaghe, regional manager, West, North and Central Africa, South African Airways, said: “For two decades, South African Airways has been providing world-class air transport services to Nigerian travellers. We are, indeed, very grateful to our esteemed guests for their patronage and to the Nigerian aviation authorities for their support. “ As a m a r k o f o u r

appreciation and commitment to the growth of the industry, we will be sponsoring five emerging travel-related businesses to participate at the NewBrandsXPO 2018.

We identify with the vision of the organisers, which is to provide an ideal space for exhibitors and visitors to nurture the trust and confidence necessary for the realisation of business goals, and we believe that the selected companies will benefit greatly from the experience.”

On eligibility and selection criteria , Olanrewaju Samson, co-promoter of NewBrandsXPO, noted: “To be considered for one of the five free exhibition slots at the South African Airways pavilion, duly registered travel product or service companies that have been in operation for not more than three years, and have online presence, can send an application to exhibit@ newbrandsxpo.com on or before 8th June 2018 introducing their business.”

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Sunday 10 June 2018

Health&Science Risk of leaving goitre disorder untreated

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ANTHONIA OBOKOH

oiter disorder is more common among women compared to men.

It is also more likely to occur in people after the age of 40, who are more likely to have thyroid disorders. But in Nigeria today, women in their mid-30s are already suffering from the disease, say experts.

The most common cause of goiter worldwide is iodine deficiency in the diet.

Goiter is an abnormal enlargement of thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck just below the Adam’s apple. Although goiters are usually painless, a large goitre can cause a cough and make it difficult for you to swallow or breathe.

Goitre is a noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland. It is one out of the four common disorders of the thyroid, which

are Hashimoto’s disease, Graves’ disease, goiter, and thyroid nodules.

Uzoma Onuoha, a gynaecologist at the Federal Medical Centre Keffi, said goiter could sometimes occur when thyroid gland produced too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism), adding that it could also result from an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

“Leaving the disease untreated, the hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism can

cause irregular periods in women and lower sperm counts in men, which can eventually cause problems getting pregnant. However, it could also result to other medical problems such as fatigue, weight loss, irritability, sweating, eye defect, loss of hair and trouble sleeping,” said Onuoha.

Similarly, Bayo sekumade, a gynaecologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said the under functioning and over functioning thyroid could

lead to infertility, weakness and death if more complicated with under- functioning hormones.

“It is important people should be evaluated to know their thyroid functions. Blood tests will reveal the levels of thyroid hormone, many people are coming up with the disease,” added sekumade.

According to researchers’ estimate, goitre affects 200 million of the 800 million people who are iodinedeficient worldwide.

It can affect anyone at any age, especially in areas of the world where foods rich in iodine are in short supply.

Not all goitres cause signs and symptoms. When signs and symptoms do occur, they may include visible swelling at the base of the neck that may be particularly obvious when you shave or put on makeup, tight feeling in your throat, coughing, hoarseness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing.

BioMerieux debuts in Nigeria, to fight infectious diseases MICHEAL ANI

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ioMerieux Diagnostics Solutions, a world leader in microbiology and player in infectious diseases diagnostics through high medical value tests in immunology, and a comprehensive strategy in molecular diagnostics has been launched in Nigeria.

The company which has been in existence for over 50 years with operations in 160 countries all over the world thought it fit to bring its innovations to the Nigerian market.

Although Nigeria is not the first African country to host BioMerieux as a business, the company’s mission and ambition states clearly that it aimed at Pioneering Diagnostics to improve public health especially in the fight against infectious diseases.

Biomerieux is a diagnostics company which specializes in three specific fields: microbiology, molecular biology and immune assays.

The company which has been working on improving public health by focusing and targeting specific health care issues and trends such as sepsis and Anti-Microbial Resistance had come up with solutions that has been able to help reduce death in these areas.

The company disclosed that the target market for these facilities are the clinicians who they help by removing the guess work and giving them the assurance of having the right data, to help simplify operations as well as optimize cost for laboratories and ultimately to improve the

especially in the government agencies.

He disclosed that DCL laboratories are partnering with BioMieurex to bring these devices into the country. BioMieurex is also partnering with Fidelity Bank to provide financing and loan facilities to intending buyers.

The Biomerieux devices include the VIDAS family and RDT for immunoassay solutions, the BioFire FilmArray for the Syndromic testing solutions and their microbiology solutions L-R: Charles Sokei, area business manager - English West Africa which is the ID/AST and blood for BioMerieux; Sinde Chekete, vice president - Africa Cluster and culture. The devices provide test Olugbenga Abiodun, industry business manager for Sub-Sahara results quicker and can better Africa at the launch of BioMerieux diagnostics solutions in Lagos. diagnose ailments with similar symptoms such as meningitis health care system. these facilities.

Speaking at the event, Vianney Lecornier, marketSinde Chekete, vice president ing director for Africa said that - Africa cluster stated that the the solutions they provide company have been fighting would bring additional medical infectious diseases for more value for the patient and public than 50 years and has cur- health in the country, adding rently adopted a Syndromic that the launch of Biomerieux approach in carrying out some is to implement deep strategy ANTHONIA OBOKOH of its diagnoses. to improve health and will be in he Nigerian Healthcare ExcelChekete hinted that al- Nigeria in next 30 to 60 years. lence Awards (NHEA) has though some of their solutions Charles Sokei, Area Businominated over 100 organare recent; their presence ness Manager for the English isations and individuals for the 5th in Africa has been limited to West Africa who is the busi- edition of the award. Some of the Northern Africa, South Af- ness owner of Biomerieux in nominees rica and some Franco phone Nigeria said Nigerian market include; Abia State, Adamawa African countries in the sub is still immature, with huge State, Diamond Bank, Sterling Bank, Saharan region. potentials and there is need Access Bank, UCH, UNTH, Aminu “The company’s objective to help the labs provide better Kano Teaching Hospital, Lagoon Hosis to fight infectious diseases, diagnostic solutions. pital, St. Nicholas Hospital, Clinix, increase knowledge to a highSokei stressed that the aim Pathcare, Afriglobal, Nordica er number of people which is to get reliable diagnostic Fertility Centre, The Bridge Clinic, brings up a need for their ser- solutions for patients, adding Lily Hospitals, Warri, Nisa Premier vices to be affordable,” that the solutions would curb Hospital, Abuja, etc.

He urged the government the rising spate of medical tourThe electronic voting for winners and stakeholders to make this ism in the country as such tests commenced on June 8 and will end on possible as they do not sell could be run in the country.

June 18, 2018. these solutions directly to the According to him, discusThe voting portal can be accessed end users but rather as middle sions are on-going with the on the award website, www.nigeriamen who get affected by slot government through their dis- healthcareawards.com.ng. Winners of factors that ultimately de- tributors to ensure best use of will be announced at a grand ballroom termine the affordability of their equipment is being made ceremony on Friday, June 22, 2018

Football fans urged to take precautions against measles infection in Russia OGHOGHO EDOSOMWAN

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he multitude of enthusiastic football fans going to Russia for this year’s FIFA world cup are being advised to take precautions to avoid contracting the Measles virus, which according to several sources has been reported in some European countries, and including Russia the host country.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat, and it spreads through sneezing and coughing. Symptoms includes running nose, cough, fever, headaches, sore or pink eyes and then a rash that spreads all over the body.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has been alerting the public on this since the beginning of the year, with its latest update in March, stating that between February 1, 2017 and January 31, 2018, there have been 14,732 reported cases of measles. Most cases reported were Romania (5,224), Italy (4,978), Greece (1398) and Germany (906). 57 deaths as a result of the disease have been reported in the EU. TASS, the Russian news agency had in January reported the country was tightening it borders to prevent the disease from spreading to the country from Ukraine or any of the European countries close to it.

“Rospotrebnadzor has tightened quarantine control in checkpoints through the state border of the Russian Federation and draws citizens’ attention to take the above-mentioned information into consideration when planning trips,” according to a report on TASS’ website.

Already, the measles virus now appears to have found its way to Russia, but with the influx of guests for the soccer tourney starting next weeks, the disease could find its way

in more easily. This of course, also means people could get infected and take it back home with them.

Robb Butler, program manager for vaccine preventable diseases at the World Health Organization, in a comment credited to him, said that the measles virus is circulating in Russia at the moment and more than 800 cases have been reported in 2018. He is reported to have also emphasized the importance of vulnerability and risk involved if people do not check their status and get vaccinated before they travel for the world cup.

There are fears that without adequate vaccination, the disease could spread beyond its present scope as football lovers in their thousands, troop to the country.

The World Health Organisation already identified Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest number of unvaccinated children, yet the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is yet to issue a warning or advice for those going for the world cup to get vaccinated.

Sunday Omilabu, a professor of Virology and director, Central Research Lab at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos told BusinessDay that Nigeria is a measles endemic country but majority appear to have developed antibodies that can fight it.

This he says is the product of decades of studying the virus through documentations and monitoring.

“If we don’t have immunity, there will be high rate of death,” said Omilabu in a phone interview. “Nigerians don’t have to worry but if they are not sure, they can check for their status before they leave (for Russia).”

The vaccination is expected to protect an individual for life, and can be provided in most hospitals where immunization services are offered.

Over 100 nominated for the 5th Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards

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at Eko Hotel & Suites Victoria Island, Lagos.

“We received over 2,500 nominations from the public. The Jury is expected to use the number of votes cast and report of the team of experts that will visit nominated facilities to decide the winners.’ Says Moses Braimah, NHEA Director of Communication,MarketingandStrategy.

Other nominees include; DoctorNow, Doctoorahealth, Fyodor Biotechnologies, WellNewme Nig Ltd, Florida Eye Centre, Abuja; I Care Family Vision Center, St Joseph Eye Hospital – Port Harcourt, Eye Foundation Hospital, Primus Eye Centre, Abuja; Bamfak Rehab and Physiotherapy Limited – Abuja, Ageless Physiotherapy Clinic, Body Mechanics Physiotherapy and Wellness Centre, Physiofit Physiotherapy Hospital, Wellpath Physiotherapy, Swiss Biostadt Limited, PPC Limited, GEHealthcare,JNCInternationalLim-

ited, Tuyil Pharmaceutical Industries Limited – Ilorin, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceutical Ltd, Orange Drugs Limited, Nett Pharmacy Ltd, Healthplus Pharmacy, Medplus Pharmacy, Alpha Pharmacy, etc.

NHEA, the Oscar of Nigeria healthcare, is aimed at recognizing and celebrating the achievements of personalities and organizations who have contributed immensely to the growth and evelopment of the Nigerian health sector in the last one year.

In addition, it will recognize the rapid growth of Nigeria’s healthcare sector, the role of technology and the capacity of organizations and individuals to influence and set new performance standards in Nigeria and beyond.

NHEA, is supported by PharmAccess Foundation. The award is organised by Global Health Project and Resources (GHPR) in collaboration with Anadach Group, USA.

Sunday 10 June 2018

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BDSUNDAY 47

Sports

Russia bans alcohol, barbecue Argentina’s Lanzini at World Cup venues ruled out of World Cup

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rgentina midfielder Manuel Lanzini will miss the World Cup after injuring a knee in training on Friday.

“Manuel Lanzini suffered, in today’s morning training, the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee,” the national side announced on Twitter.

The World Cup finals kickoff in Russia next week and the 25-year-old West Ham United player was expected to be a starter in manager Jorge Sampaoli’s squad.

Argentina have been drawn in Group D where they play Iceland

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Stories by ANTHONY NLEBEM

n a bid to prevent a repeat of the ugly scenes from previous tournaments, Russia authorities have imposed measures during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, cracking down on everything from public protests and alcohol to kebabs.

Here are some of the new restrictions that affect Russians as well as international fans during the tournament, which runs from June 14 to July 15.

Sale of alcohol On matchdays and the day before, the sale of alcoholic drinks and all drinks in glass bottles will be banned in fan zones, around stadiums and in other busy locations such as parks and railway stations in host cities.

The authorities also intend to revive the Soviet institution of drunk tanks, run by the police, where drunk fans will be taken to sober up.

Registering with police Both foreigners and Russians who travel to one of the World Cup host cities will have to register with police within 3 days of arrival, displaying proof of identity and showing they have accommodation.

Previously, Russians were only supposed to register with police if they stayed in another city for more than 90 days. In any case, these rules had rarely been implemented in recent years. Foreigners who travel to several of the 11 host cities and stay in each for more than 3 days will have to register multiple times.

While hotels will organise registration, this is more complex for those renting private flats with the owner expected to register them.

Some journalists covering the World Cup have already had problems after failing to register in time on arrival.

Crackdown on protests A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin drastically curtails the rights of Russians to hold protests during the World Cup. Public events unconnected to sport can only be held in certain places and at times approved by the authorities. For example in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals, demonstrations must not involve more than 100 people and can only be held between 2 and 4 pm.

Music festivals planned for this summer in Russia have also had to move their dates to after the World Cup.

Sightseeing While prices for hotel rooms and rented flats have soared, the authorities have also decided to squeeze out organised tours, which are particularly popular with Russians.

Coaches of sightseers will be banned from entering host cities and pleasure boats will not be allowed to sail on their rivers.

The authorities have identified 41 locations over which all of types of flights will be banned during the World Cup, while the use of drones

on June 16, Croatia on June 21 and Nigeria on June 26.

They lost in the World Cup final to Germany four years ago, but only qualified for this year’s tournament by winning their final qualifying match.

Lanzini, who battled a persistent knee injury towards the end of the Premier League season, started Argentina’s 4-0 friendly win against Haiti at the end of May. Argentina have been training in Barcelona, home to forward Lionel Messi, before travelling to Russia.

is banned in a 100-kilometre radius around the host cities. A special army squadron will be deployed to set up electronicjammingaroundstadiums.

In Moscow, known for its snarled traffic, as well as in other big cities, some streets in the centre and near stadiums will be closed, risking further jams.

The mayor of Kaliningrad, one of the host cities, has even urged residents to leave the city and have a relaxing break in the countryside during the matches.

Barbecue ban Already hit by sanctions banning European meat and other foods, Russians will now find it harder to fire up barbecues to grill their beloved kebabs (known as shashlik).

Due to forest fires that have spread over large areas this summer, particularly in Siberia, the authorities have ordered tougher restrictions on lighting fires outdoors during the World Cup. The rules to be implemented by the host cities call for bans on campfires, setting fire to grass and cooking meat al fresco in areas that lack special facilities.

Chivita Active connects with consumers in new campaign

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hivita Active new marketing communication campaign tagged C’mon Get Active is gaining traction with consumers.

The campaign which is designed to inspire consumers to get active and encourage wellness through active health, while reinforcing Chivita Active’s position as a high quality wholesome fruit juice and an enabler for a healthy active life.

Deployed across different communication channels including TV, Radio, Print, etc., the C’mon Get Active campaign aligns with the growing consciousness amongst Nigerians to stay healthy by embarking on a journey of active health. The C’mon Get Active campaign tells stories of ordinary people who in their own special ways say YES to active health, by simple and engaging workouts across various parts of the day.

With the ‘Chivita Active Power of 6 Citrus’ offering already building brand relevance through its positioning for active health, further complemented by the

introduction of ‘Chivita Active Vegetable Fruit Nectar’, has been an innovative approach at integrating healthy lifestyle and enhanced nourishment.

Chivita Active is filled with the power of Vegetables and Fruits perfectly blended with the goodness of vitamins and fibre with no preservatives. It is a smart and tasty way to get the right dose

of antioxidant and stamina for a healthy active lifestyle, as well as the go-to fruit juice, whether at home, work, or on the go.

Tolu Fatusi, a fitness instructor at the National Stadium, Surulere, emphasized the need for Nigerians to embrace a regimen for active health to promote wellness.

“For me, I take a 2km walk everyday in my neighbourhood

to stay smart, active and be more productive. Part of my routine includes taking a pack of Chivita Active Fruit Juice along for the walk because it is a high-quality fruit juice with great taste and dense in nutrients for enhanced nourishment. It is an essential enabler for my active health routine,” he stated.

Hassan Belgore, a communication analyst with WingPlus Communication stated that the Chivita Active C’mon Get Active commercialunderlines the relevance of Chivita Active to the Nigerian consumers, who are increasingly striving for wellness through active health.

“It is a campaign that definitely highlights the brand promise of Chivita Active and attempts to stimulate positive consumer experience for the brand by positioning the brand as the go-to fruit juice for active health,” he noted.

Commenting on the new campaign, Chi Limited’s Marketing Director, Probal Bhattacharya,

said that the new Chivita Active campaign C’mon Get Active is a call to consumers to get active by connecting with their aspiration for living an healthy active life.

“In an era of growing health consciousness, when consumers are proactively looking for enablers for a fit healthy active life, Chivita Active is undoubtedly their go to brand of fruit juice. With this new communication we want to give the fit & healthy at heart a friendly nudge to overcome the inertia and step right out to enjoy the aspired healthy active life, each one in their own special way,” he noted.

Since its introduction into the Nigerian juice market, Chivita Active has been well received by consumers, and its success and market leadership have been underscored by its brand proposition and superior quality. Chivita Active is available in four exciting blends of 6 Citrus Fruits and the Vegetables + Fruits variants: Carrot and Orange, Beetroot and Grape, Beetroot and Apple.

BDSUNDAY

NEW YOU CAN TRUST

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SUNDAY 10 JUNE 2018

Nigeria’s education manifesto; learning in a challenged nation

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or a country such as Nigeria, the exigency of re-inventing our entire learning system cannot be overemphasized, and Nigerians do realize this. The current structure is too broken to provide the framework needed for widespread innovation and technological advancement. It’s also too unconnected and unsuitable for kick starting the entrepreneurial revolution that this country direly needs within its worsening national job crises. There is a need for a meaningful shift in the national learning system – mainly from a conceptual perspective. There are several models that could be adopted, but the most essential dimension to the discussion on renewing the Nigerian education system is the inclusion of ideas – probably radical ones – that reflect the scale of the challenge in the education sector and the economy at large.

Around the world – Stanford and MIT notably - radical innovation in the way people learn is becoming mainstreamed.

In some countries, the need to totally rework education and learning systems emanate from the sheer fatigue and perceived inefficiency, of century-old systems of education that has become ubiquitous around the globe. Many countries are reviewing the learning structure and Nigerian should begin too. I believe that the business of education in Nigeria should proceed in a way that is 1) Focused 2) Straddled with “doing” 3) and With a Hybrid Curriculum.

Focused LEARNING Recent discoveries, inventions and modern science have created a very wide array of academic sub-disciplines, such that students could be easily lost in the growing sea of data, superfluous knowledge and their equally superfluous utilization options. The traditional broadspectrum curriculum can therefore become “a bit of everything and enough of nothing”.

In essence, a reasonable portion of learning (about 70%) should be focused while a smaller portion (30%) follows a wider spread. Student should no longer arrive in

class to study just business management, rather to learn the management of specific businesses or to solve specifically identified business problems. In the traditional learning methodology of faculty-dominated instruction, a focused model might seem hard to implement. However, if a focused learning approach is co-executed with the model of semi self-determined curriculum, then the quality of learning will be improved. In this model, learning therefore begins with the definition and proper understanding of each student’s learning expectations (i.e. the focused problem(s) that students are looking to solve or value they are looking to create).

CHIJIOKE MAMA Mama is the founder of Meiracopp Nigeria Limited (MNL) and a Doctoral Researcher at University of Port Harcourt (m.chijioke@meiracopp.com)

Straddled with “Doing” I believe that an effective education system for a country such as Nigeria must be optimally practical. There is an essential need for proper balance of theoretical learning and practical exposures. I am of the opinion that the impact of undergraduate education for example, will be great when it is closely woven with a real activity and within possible demonstration environments - for a sufficiently long time. That the opposite model worked in other countries does not imply it will work in a complex, developing and challenged nation, such as Nigeria. The immediate application of what is leant or the ability to learn from application (i.e. participating in real organizational problems) should be the summit and dominating aspect of education in Nigeria. Consequently, students should learn, practice and stimulate further learning within practical activities. Class room isolation and theory-dominated approaches have delivered little for this very country.

A HYBRID curriculum Students should learn by using a curriculum with significant “self-contribution”. The diversity in personality, learning expectations and knowledge application also means a single objective curriculum will have less impact than a “hybrid curriculum”. A hybridcurriculum is a product of a student-created curriculum and a standard objective curriculum. Through this, individual learning expectations will be well met and projected use of

One curriculum could work only to the extent where their goals are similar. But a useful curriculum should immediately diverge once student’s learning expectations and intended applications diverge

knowledge effectively achieved.

If students come to class with unique goals, they should be thought with unique curricula. Nevertheless for a small number of student in the “pre-eureka phase” (prior to self-discovery and vision definition) a standard “faculty’s opinion curriculum” should be an available option. A useful learner should arrive in class with a vision and the most useful schools should assist the student achieve that vision completely.

This implies that an effective curriculum will have reasonable inputs from the students.

Completely Inflexible curricula and which is often disconnected with personal aptitudes and career goals have also not lived up to expectation in Nigeria .In spite of the necessity for some level of uniformity and standardization, there should be a reasonable difference between the curriculum for a student learning in other to find an enterprise solution to the North-East’s water crisis and another student who wants to catalyze business expansion in Aba, Nigeria.

One curriculum could work ONLY to the extent where their goals are similar. But a useful curriculum should immediately diverge once student’s learning expectations and intended applications diverge.

The way we learn is simply sub-optimal and unsuitable for the kind of problem we are trying to solve as a nation. Re-inventing century-old systems would surely come with some costs, shocks and challenges.

And will entail even far reaching decisions/ concepts than already outlined. But these hurdles do not provide significant reasons for continuing on a trajectory that has led to nowhere.

Quick Takes

Off the Cuff Invoking the Abiola spirit

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n politics, everything is employed to get an upper hand against an opponent. It is said that power is not serve ala carte, but involves a struggle that opens the pores of the skin to let out some sweat.

It takes a lot of thinking and politicians are said to function optimally when men have slept.

So, it appears that whoever that came up with the suggestion to President Muhammadu Buhari to honour the late MKO Abiola, must have thought it out when the world was asleep. The person really scored a bull’s eye!

The applause which the President’s action has elicited in the southwest geopolitical zone is unprecedented. Before the pronouncement, the President’s actions and inactions were getting on the nerves of many people so much so that it was the talk of the town how he hoped to return

to power.

But in a twinkle of an eye, there appears to have been a rash wave of adulation and unfounded love for the chief occupant of Aso Villa.

Abiola’s family is enraptured, political associates of the President many folks of the South West extraction are clinking glasses over it.

Could this be the much expected game changer? In a gush of delight, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: “Along with all democratic and fair-minded Nigerians, I welcome the news that June 12 will replace May 29 as Democracy Day. I too applaud President Buhari for making this courageous and rightful decision. “June 12, more than any other day, symbolises the struggles and sacrifices made by countless Nigerians to establish democracy as our way of national governance.

Chief MKO Abiola and others gave their lives that we might have democracy, that the will

N288bn

of the people would be sovereign and not suppressed by the will of the few.

This proclamation by President Buhari will forever memorialise the sacrifices made by these patriots who gave of themselves in service of such a noble and rightful purpose.”

Hafsat Abiola, daughter of MKO, said: “May we live to witness many more days when justice triumphs over injustice, when sacrifice and service win over arrogance and fraud, and when the blood of our heroes reach from across time to boldly claim the reward that their actions wrought. May the sacrifices of our past heroes and heroines never be in vain.”

However, in the midst of the celebration and lavishing of praises, there are those who strongly believe that gift may be a Greek one. Days ahead will tell.

This is the amount of money said to be spent by Nigeria on fish importation, annually.

nPDP and politics of ‘chop chop’

The chieftains of the defunct nPDP are not happy right now and they make no pretence about it. They are pushing hard to belong and to be recognised. They pulled out from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) shortly before the 2015 general election and worked for the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Today, nPDP members are aggrieved that they are being left in the cold.

They complain of marginalisation and maltreatment by the leadership of the APC. They want a piece of the action. Talk of ‘stomach infrastructure’!

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