BusinessDay 16 Dec 2018

BDSUNDAY BUSINESS DAY

Child rape: Watch, the enemy is within – Faith Tom-Babs

p. 12

‘Many pastors today are seeking bread and material things, not God’s kingdom’

p. 38

Equity portfolio investment ?? takes a back seat as FDI rises by 352 percent p. 43

Sunday 16 December 2018 Market & Commodities Monitor Brent Oil

5yr Bond

$60.25

-0.01 15.28%

Gold

10yr Bond

$1,243.7

-0.02 15.81%

Cocoa

20yr Bond

-0.12 15.53%

$2,232.00

National Discourse As the 2019 General Election draws near, BusinessDay will be introducing a daily political commentary section titled National Discourse, on Monday, December 17, to acquaint readers with topical political trends and perspectives. Look out for it.

Vol 1, No. 244 N300

Beyond the peace pact Nigerians say hateful utterances negate spirit of accord Call for signing of electoral bill

CHUKS OLUIGBO & INIOBONG IWOK

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residential candidates of some political parties last week appended their signatures to the 2019 Presidential Election Peace Accord brokered by the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee, committing to

upholding decency and focus ahead of and during the election.

Whereas the signing of the peace accord should ordinarily give reason to cheer, given the volatile nature of elections in Nigeria and the tendency of supporters of candidates to resort to violence, not many Nigerians are cheering.

The pessimism stems from perceived

insincerity of the major actors in the presidential election to the terms of the peace accord.

Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), signed the peace accord on Tuesday, alongside some other candidates.

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of

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inside

BDLife Sunday 16 December 2018

inside

LIFE&LIVING

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It’s Christmas,

Shop on Budget p 21

Beyond gridlock, residents and businesses still bleed in Apapa p. 29

I foresee massive rigging because of desperation to stay in power - Kusamotu

L-R: Akin Oke, chairman, Oyo State All Progressives Congress; Abiola Ajimobi, state governor; Bayo Adelabu, governorship candidate of the APC in the state; Samuel Eegunjobi, his running mate, and Mojeed Olaoya, state secretary of the APC, during the flag off of the party’s governorship campaign at the APC secretariat, Ibadan... weekend.

Excruciating pain!

Tales by Badagry residents working in Lagos city centre AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

p. 34-35

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agos, situated in the south western geo-political zone of Nigeria, is unarguably the most economically viable state in the country. The state,

according to statistics, is not only the nation’s largest urban area, but also the major financial centre, estimated to be the fifth largest economy in Africa, if it stands as a country.

With a population size of approximately 16 million, Lagos

State was rated as Nigeria’s most populous state apparently due to the high concentration of businesses, major seas and airports, industries and government agencies in the city centre.

Many Nigerians migrate from their country homes in the North,

East, and South-South and from other states in the South-West to reside in Lagos following the quest to secure lucrative paid employments after graduating from higher institutions.

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Cover

Atiku commiserates with Nigerian Army at burial of murdered Melete officers Iniobong Iwok

F President Buhari signing the peace accord

Atiku Abubakar (r) signing the peace pact

Beyond the peace pact Continued from page 1 the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was conspicuously absent, as well as Kingsley Moghalu of Young Progressives Party (YPP) and Oby Ezekwesili of.

Atiku and Ezekwesili later signed on Wednesday.

But before the ink would dry on the paper, the two major political parties in the election, APC and PDP, were at each other’s jugular, throwing mud and casting aspersions.

The APC said Atiku’s eventual decision to sign the peace deal was a face-saving move following widespread condemnation that greeted his initial refusal to agree to the peace deal, adding that Nigerians had taken note of the “dangerous and ominous signs the PDP and Atiku have inadvertently shown” in the lead-up to the elections.

On its part, the PDP said the APC was hallucinating over its imminent loss in the 2019 election and clinging to a straw, adding that Buhari “cannot campaign since he has nothing to tell or show Nigerians as achievements”.

Beyond the ceremonial act of signing a document, therefore, many analysts say they would want to see real commitment on the part of the candidates in terms of checking their utterances. They say they would especially want to see the candidates calling their supporters to order, failure of which may lead to violence.

Again, many say while incumbent President Buhari has done well in signing the peace pact, he should extend the same gesture towards the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, which would go a long way in ensuring a peaceful electoral process.

Femi Careena, a chieftain of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), described the signing of the peace accord by the presidential candidates as an indication of their readiness to have a peaceful election and maintain peace. He added, however, that the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the amended Electoral Bill

into law had made a mockery of the exercise.

“The signing of the peace accord is a welcome development. It tells you that the presidential candidates intend to have a peaceful election. However, there is a caveat. The refusal by President Buhari to sign the amended Electoral Bill into law makes mockery of the process,” Careena said.

“But I don’t want to lose hope yet; I believe they are still discussing except the people close to the President don’t want it. The signing of the bill would have sealed the process and made us look forward to credible general elections; even the international community would have been happy with us,” he said.

Lekan Lawal, an analyst, applauded the initiative, but doubted President Buhari’s sincerity to restore sanity in the electoral process and conduct free and fair elections in the country because of his refusal to sign the amended Electoral Bill into law.

Lawal warned that the decision of the President not to sign the Electoral Bill could have an adverse effect on the conduct of next year’s election, while urging the National Assembly to veto the President and pass the bill into law.

“Well, with the current state of affairs in the country, I think we need to ask at what level this peace accord will be effective.

The amended Electoral Bill would have helped in the smooth conduct of the general elections, but the President refused to sign it,” Lawal said.

“He is already inviting chaos to the polity. But I want to believe the political parties are for peace, and I still want the National Assembly to do the needful and veto that bill into law to give credibility to our election. The action of Buhari shows he is not sincere and ready to conduct credible elections,” he said.

Tunde Daramola, Lagos State chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the peace accord signed by the presidential candidates was necessary, but stressed that signing the Electoral Bill into law by the

President would have given next year’s election more credibility.

Daramola urged the nation’s leaders to take necessary steps to conduct credible elections, warning that only a free and fair process would guarantee peace in the country.

“I believe there is need for a peace accord, but also there is the need for democracy to prevail.

The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill would have restored transparency in our elections.

“The problem we have is that Nigerians don’t have confidence that their votes do count, which the bill would have helped to solve.

Why are you saying people should not fight when the fundamental issues have not been taken care of?

“It is like window dressing. Let us deal with the fundamental issues, then we can have peace. It is like beating a child and telling that child not to cry. The problem we have is that we are not always serious in this country to face the issues,” Daramola said.

Raising concerns over the coming elections, Ayodele Kusamotu, chairman and principal counsel at Kusamotu & Kusamotu law firm (The Greenfish Chambers), said, “I personally don’t think there will be any election or anything like handover in May next year. I think we may end up with an interim government. That is my reading of the signs. Electoral Bill is not signed; many things are happening – people are moving from one party to the other; so much crisis in the land.

“In this kind of atmosphere, I am afraid. Even if elections happen, there might be so much crises that at the end of the day, everybody will just be screaming, ‘stop all this mess’, ‘let everybody bring their own representatives to make up a government’. So, I foresee serious crisis.”

Kusamotu also expressed fears that the polls, if held at all, would witness massive rigging because of too much desperation to stay in power.

Shortly after the signing of the peace accord, the United States had advised that there must be a level-playing ground in next year’s

poll if the accord would achieve its desired purpose.

This was contained in a statement by the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, Public Affairs Section.

Part of the statement read: “The United States warmly congratulates the presidential candidates and parties who have signed the Peace Accord for the 2019 Presidential elections.

“We also congratulate all those advocates for peace and democracy who have worked together to achieve this important result.

Your peace accord is a great step towards the goal shared by all Nigerians of national elections that are free, fair, transparent, credible, and peaceful.

“Achieving your goal is critical to the credibility and effectiveness of the next government, and it is essential to advance Nigeria’s unity, prosperity, justice, and security.”

The US added that it anticipated that all parties and leaders would honour the terms of the new accord just as faithfully as the 2015 pact, as it looks forward to a positive effect on the 2019 election.

“We note that, for elections to be free and fair in 2019, the campaign period already underway must itself go forward on a level playing field and be a fair and transparent process.

“Campaigns enriched by positive ideas and actions will unite Nigerians in a common democratic debate, even as they differ by advocating for competing candidates.

“We urge all Nigerian candidates, party members, civil society groups and citizens to speak out for policies that advance the good of all Nigerians and speak out against violence, misinformation, and hate speech.

“Finally, we reiterate our strong support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and for all those Nigerian citizens, public servants, and civil society organisations who will together facilitate peaceful, credible, and transparent elections,” the statement added.

ormer Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has commiserated with the Nigerian Army, officers, men and families of the 157 Task Force battalion Metele, over Saturday’s funeral and burial ceremony held for its officers murdered by Boko Haram /ISWAP, recently.

In a statement to the media, Saturday, Atiku, expressed sadness over the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to attend the funeral or send a strong representation to the funeral ceremony of the fallen heroes.

Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), berated the President for prioritising to host Nollywood stars, against officers who had sacrificed their lives for the country.

He further urged President Buhari to learn from French President, Emmanuel macron, who on March 28, 2018 took a whole day off to attend the funeral of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame, who was killed by a terrorist, while urging the president to honour the dead officers.

“I saw the pictures of the funeral of the officers and men of the 157 Task Force battalion of the Nigerian Army based in Metele and who were killed by Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorists and my heart went out to the men, their families and to our entire armed forces.

May their souls rest in peace and may God grant their families fortitude at such a trying time.

“I am further pained that neither the President nor his vice were in attendance at the funeral and that the Federal Government did not send a high powered delegation to represent the government at the funeral.

“This is sad and totally unacceptable. This is beyond politics.

This touches our shared humanity. What would it cost for the President to take a day and fulfil his role as head of state by attending the funeral of such men of honour and valour?

According to him, the sad part of it is that a day before their funeral, President Muhammadu Buhari took time out of his busy schedules to host Nollywood stars at the Presidential Villa.

“I appreciate Nollywood and I have personally done a lot, both in my private capacity and when I was Vice President, to promote that vitally important industry.

“I am in deep mourning and my grief is further compounded by the fact that the Federal Government ignored my advice to them to declare a few days of national mourning so that the nation could pay its respects to these men who gave so much that we may have peace. But it is never too late to honour those who died for Nigeria”.

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News

Duke to challenge judgment removing him as SDP presidential candidate

Guber 2019: Araraume takes campaign to Imo indigenes in Lagos

Iniobong Iwok with Agency report

…Gets Okigwe zonal congress’ endorsement

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residential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Donald Duke, has said he would appeal the judgment, removing him as the party’s presidential flag bearer.

An Abuja Federal High Court sitting on Friday, declared Jerry Gana, a former Nigeria’s Minister of Information, as the lawful presidential candidate of the SDP. Duke had been declared as the presidential candidate of the party after the primary election held in October 2018 in which Gana was also an aspirant.

But Gana had rejected the result of the primary and instituted a case against Duke in court, basing his case on the zoning and rotation formula of the party.

Giving his ruling, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, faulted the emergence of Duke who was from the same Southern region of the country with the party’s Chairman, Olu Falae, adding it was against the constitution of the SDP. “In this instance, the party’s Chairman, Olu Falae, is from the South and Duke is from the South too; the law is clear; there is nothing to write in-between.

Jude Ofoegbu

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he Okigwe zonal congress in Lagos and in the Diaspora has endorsed Senator Godwin Ifeanyi Araraume for Governor Imo State on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) come 1919.

The endorsement was made at a congress which attracted many sons and daughters of the state in Okota, Isolo area of Lagos State.

Among the political heavyweights present at the occasion were Okey Ikoro, director-general Araraume Campaign Organisation and chairman Camella Vegetable Oil; Rtd General Sunday Chikwem, George Maduagwu. Hon. Chikwem Onuoha, Hon. Ugochukwu Nnodim, PDP House of Representatives candidate for Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, and Barr.

Ebere Osuji, media assistant to Araraume.

In his remarks, Ikoro said that Senator Ararume’s mission was to

Araraume

restore the lost glory of Imo State allegedly battered by the current Governor Rochas Okorocha administration.

Ikoro described Araraume as the most credible candidate with the right credentials, experience and expertise to lead Imo “in this critical

time of our political history.”

“He is an administrator, a former banker, an entrepreneur, a distinguished Senator for eight years whose contributions led to the inclusion of Imo and Abia as NDDC states; a philanthropist and a man of his words, a knight of the most prestigious knight of St John of the Catholic Church worldwide,” he said.

According to him, “It will be exciting to use this privilege to invite all Imolites to the dedication of the Catholic Church he single-handedly built for his community in Mbano, Imo State on 24th December under His Lordship. Dr. Amatu, Catholic Bishop of Okigwe Diocese,” he further said.

While fielding questions from journalists at the occasion, Araraume said he was running on the Platform of APGA to duplicate and if possible double the achievements of Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State.

He promised to deliver Imo State from the “shackles of backwardness to forwardness; pay civil servants salaries completely, promptly

and clear all the arrears.”

Araraume also promised to reassess Imo’s educational institutions and re-invigorate the sector for free and qualitative education,” adding that he would restore local government autonomy through the conduct of Local Government elections within one year of assumption of office.

On the health and agricultural sectors, the governorship candidate said he would bring them to work effectively and efficiently.

He also pledged to recover and restore all properties of the state allegedly diverted by individuals, “strengthen the security agencies in the state, encourage inter-agency collaboration, and run an inclusive government where I will be accessible and available to my people.”

Araraume also, among other promises, said that if voted into power, he would ensure the restoration of the overall master plan and review all illegal land allocation and acquisition in Imo State, while restoring the Local Government to full autonomy “in terms of funds and administration.”

The Worship Centre announces 2019 conference, …Says, ‘focus is spirituality as against religiosity’

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Duke

“The law has crystallised that political parties should abide by the regulations which they have made by themselves.”

According him, “the claimant laid sufficient evidence to have the judgment in his favour; it is a clear violation of the party’s constitution; the court cannot wave right over illegality.”

The Judge further declared Duke’s votes null and void and declared Gana the lawful winner of the election.

The SDP was also ordered to forward Gana’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) as its candidate for the 2019 general election.

But reacting to the judgment, in an interview with journalists in Lagos, Duke rejected the judgment, saying that it was a violation of his fundamental human right and against the wish of the party members who had given him the mandate. “While we await a copy of the judgment for a detailed review, it is imperative we reiterate our constitutionally backed belief.

he Worship Centre (Assembly of Sons & Daughters of Christ Apostolic Church) has announced a two-day annual Apostolic Fire Conference tagged ‘Beauty of Holiness’, slated for 11th & 12th of January 2019.

Announcing the event at a press conference addressed in Lagos, Seyi Adeyemi, senior pastor, said: “The Lord inspired us to start this conference in 2016 and the inaugural edition came up in January 2017 with the theme ‘Tongues as of fire’. The

2018 edition had the theme ‘Eyes on Eternity’ and we look forward to the 2019 edition the theme of which is Beauty of Holiness’.

“With these series of themes you can deduce our direction and focus as an assembly. We are focused on spirituality as opposed to religiosity.

We believe the church will be more impactful to the nation and society if we live up to God’s expectation.”

Adeyemi, who was flanked at the event by other pastors and elders of the church, noted that “Nigeria has been a ‘work in progress’ since

independence. The comments I heard as a young boy is what I’m still hearing as an adult.

“The citizens of this nation have become more impoverished than ever before. This then results in a national question: where is the progress? There may have been some developments here and there but by and large, we’ve become the poverty capital of the world.

The responsibility lies squarely on the shoulder of Leadership which has been the bane of the Nigerian project.”

L-R: Ibukun Ozigbo, curate pastor; Soji Akinrinade, elder and Seyi Adeyemi, senior pastor, at the press briefing ahead of the Apostolic Fire Conference, in Lagos.

According to him, “Our upcoming conference is set to position the issue of Holiness on the front burner.

This is God’s expectation of his people. He says in the scripture; ‘Be ye holy for I your God I am holy’. You don’t hear much of this in Christian discourse these days but the word of the Lord stands firm. Forever, his word is settled in heaven. Christians need to get back to the requirement of holiness. This is not just the exhibition of piousness but the character of uprightness, forthrightness, godliness and purity in thought and action.”

“At this conference we shall be having impactful life changing messages and song ministrations.

Our speakers include Pastor Tunde Bakare, presiding overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly); Rev. Janet Onaolapo, general overseer of Abundant Life Gospel Church); Pastor James Ademuyiwa, senior pastor of In His Presence Christ Terbanacle, UK, and Pastor Abraham Ekebafe, senior pastor of Christ Apostolic Church, Light house Assembly.”

“The citizens of this nation have become more impoverished than ever before. This then results in a national question: where is the progress? There may have been some developments here and there but by and large, we’ve become the poverty capital of the world.

The responsibility lies squarely on the shoulder of Leadership which has been the bane of the Nigerian project.”

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Abe, Wike’s groups rejoice in vain over Appeal Court ruling – APC chieftain Ignatius Chukwu

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he jubilation said to be going on in the camps of Magnus Abe and Gov Nyesom Wike is in vain, so said a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze. The Appeal Court had dismissed all appeals filed in the case filed by Abe’s camp against the conduct of the party’s congresses in the state from May 2018.

A High Court had ruled that the congresses were illegal and should be cancelled.

The APC and some other individuals went on several appeals against, some seeking to be joined in the matter.

The Appeal Court ruled on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, throwing out all the appeals. This was said to have sent the Abe camp into jubilation for the mere fact that the main faction which produced the APC candidate (Tonye Cole) would lose at last.

Reacting , Eze asked members of the APC to ignore the alleged misinterpretation of the verdict by those he described as enemies of the party. Eze who gave the advice in a statement in Port Harcourt

Abe

Thursday, December 13, 2018, noted that the celebration of a partial court’s ruling, which he said had no categorical pronouncement or judgment, was an exhibition of ignorance or an attempt at confusing and misleading ignorant followers who have no idea of judicial processes.

“It would be recalled that there were wild jubilations in the camps of the Rivers state governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, Senator Magnus Abe and the State’s Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the reported dismissal of two suits instituted against an earlier High Court judgment,” he said.

Consumers laud Airtel’s five days of love initiative

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or the fourth year r u n n i n g , Ai r t e l , one of Nigeria’s telecoms giant in a move to appreciate the people in the spirit of Christmas kicked off its five days of love campaign in Lagos on Monday. The campaign which toured five states of the country in five days also fed 5,000 people in total.

Segun Ogunsanya , CEO/MD Airtel speaking at the opening of the event this year said, “the exercise is just about the company giving and not trading since it is not expecting anything in return. “It’s a sign of showing love during the Christmas season; we think it is very important to share.

Sharing our time, our money and everything we have so we are here to give.”

In times when CSR has taken to so many different approaches by different companies in the sector,

Airtel has come up with an initiative which is believed to be of direct impact to the people as food insecurity is something we currently face as a country.

Mayowa Ojo, a participant at the event expressed her gratitude to the company for the laudable step as she says “Airtel is doing something very important today. They have shared food and I even got a phone, may God Almighty continue to bless them”.

People from all walks of life were invited to come partake of the activity as it was seen that there was no particular criteria to those being given food.

Okoboshi Alexander, also a participant said that Airtel is trying to give to people what people have given to them. He commended the firm saying that events like these are very good for its consumers at large.

Wike

Eze however, pointed out that the full judgment, which had been suspended till after an expected Supreme Court decision is doing so to achieve some dubious ends.

“These people know very well that the ruling of the Appeal Court has noth-

ing to do with what they are causing their followers to celebrate; it was a ruling dismissing suits, which made no categorical pronouncement on the status of our candidates, they know the judgment is suspended until after the Supreme Court gives its decision on another

pending matter, which had been adjourned till March next year.

“So if they are aware of all these and still went ahead to give their ignorant followers a fool’s hope, then they are only out to achieve some dubious ends. To us, they are out to achieve two things; one, to keep their people in a state of delirium until the truth catches up with them and they have a reason to cry foul and cause chaos. Number two, they hope to cause panic in Rivers APC and dampen the spirit of our loyal and devoted members.

“However, we will encourage all true members of the APC in the state to ignore the fool’s day joke which the trio of Governor Wike, Senator Abe and their party, the PDP, are delighting themselves with. It is all a silly joke, which has no reality in law and justice.

“These two gentlemen

failed to appreciate that despite these seemingly setbacks, it is important to state that, the APC still has three subsisting appeals before the court of appeal namely: CA/PH/267/2018, CA/196/ 2018 and another, challenging representation by counsel and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain. These appeals are all still alive and are pending before the court of Appeal, Port Harcourt division and have not been determined”, he said.

Eze also noted that the Supreme Court had heard some aspects of the interlocutory appeal pending before it and had adjourned for judgment on 8/3/19, saying “so with all these pending cases that are still subsisting and not determined, what is it that warranted the wild and ignorant celebration by Wike and Abe at the Rivers state Government House by yesterday?

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News African ICT Foundation rebrands, seeks nomination for new Board members Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

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s part of its rebranding and reengineering process, which began few months ago, the African ICT Foundation has begun the search for a new Board of Trustee to position the Foundation to meet its key objective beginning for 2019.

African ICT Foundation is an independent not-forprofit, and non-partisan empowerment and educational organisation whose mission is to formulate, evaluate, and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovations and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity and progress in the ICT ecosystem Africa.

The African ICT Foundation was established in 2009 to discover new opportunities in ICT that will positively impact the African economy.

According to Emanuel Bassey, the executive secretary of the Foundation, a key aspect of the Foundation’s rebranding process is the inauguration of a new Board

of Trustee to drive its affairs in the coming years. “The Foundation is rebranding for effective delivering of its objective hence the need for a new board,” he said.

“At inception it had as its board members: Samuel Ikiddeh – NNPC as Chairman, Emmanuel Ekuwem-Phd – Teledom group, (now SSG to

the Akwa Ibom State government), Lanre Ajayi – former ATCON president and Pinet Informatics Ltd. CEO, Aliyu Ibrahim - (NCC), Usman Rufai, Faculty of Science, Computer science Department, University of Lagos, and others. The Foundation is poised towards providing policymakers in the continent with high-quality information, analysis, and recommendations they can trust,” Bassey said.

While expressing confidence of the new Board of Trustee to meet the objectives of the Foundation, he promised that in all ramifications, it will adhere to a high standard of research integrity with an internal code of ethics grounded in analytical rigor, policy pragmatism, and independence from external direction or bias.

Osun Varsity chancellor tasked Nigerian leaders on provision of quality healthcare services Ngozi Okpalakunne

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eaders in Nigeria have been urged to ensure that citizens have access to qualitative medical services as it is only a healthy nation that can be productive and prosperous.

Making the appeal during the ground-breaking ceremony of a 250 bed-teaching hospital donated by Modupe

and Folorunso Alakija to Osun State University during its convocation ceremony, Folorunso, who also is the chancellor of the university, noted that it is only when a nation is healthy that she will talk of development.

According to her, the donation of the hospital was born out of love for children, mothers and humanity in general and for the advancement of medical education.

Alakija further added that the donation was also in fulfillment of the pledge made when she was appointed the chancellor by the former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola.

“If you are to be relevant in your generation, you must be ready to acquire more skills and potentials and be prepared to develop such skills. You must figure out your purpose because your

Rauf Aregbesola, immediate past Osun State governor (2nd right), laying the foundation of a 250- bed teaching hospital at the Osun State University recently donated by Modupe Alakija, chairman, Famfa Oil Ltd, and wife, Folorunso, chancellor of the University. With them are the newly inaugurated Governor, Gboyega Oyetola (1st right), and others.

passion will lead you right into purpose. “Others can inspire you, but ultimately the only thing that empowers you is what lies within you and learning how to better utilise what you have been given,’’ she noted.

While declaring that the university’s convocation was symbolic, Alakija added that seven represents perfection.

“Seven is a representation of perfection; l pray that God will perfect everything that concerns our new graduands in Jesus name. l urge you to be good ambassadors of Osun State University and do not tarnish the reputation of the institution. I also rejoice with your parents and guardians; their sacrifice over you shall not be in vain,’’ she said.

The hospital when completed will consist of a world class community health unit, maternity, neonatal medical research and diagnostic laboratories. Other components include, state-of-art operating theaters, scan facilities, x-ray and radiography suites.

The teaching hospital will also provide an avenue for medical excellence, job creation and bring relief to humanity.

2019: ADP promises to fight poverty, emancipate youths Iniobong Iwok

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s the 2019 general election approaches, the Action Democratic Party (ADP), has said it would strive to alleviate poverty among Nigerians and emancipate the youths

if the party’s wins the 2019 general election. The Lagos state chairman of the party, Adebowale Adewale, stated this in an interview with BDSUNDAY over the weekend, urging Nigerians to vote for the party because it had initiated a roadmap which would take the country out of its current doldrums.

Adebowale added that the Nigerian youth will be the focal point of the party’s programmes, adding that the ADP would create jobs and empower jobless youths across the country.

“The ADP will run and all inclusive government that is for Nigerians. Our party would emancipate

the youths and create jobs, that would take them out of poverty and empower the youths.

“Our party will be supreme, and there would be no order from above, everybody will participate in the government the party would be supreme,” Adebowale said.

Customs impounds 22 armoured vehicles in Edo, Anambra SABY ELEMBA, Owerri

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he men of the Nigeria Customs Services have impounded 22 exotic cars including armoured vehicles of various models, bags of foreign rice bearing an overall Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N591 million, the items were impounded by the Benin Mobile Patrol Team of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone C of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

There were two Toyota Land Cruiser of 2014 and 2016 models with DPV of N60, 750,000 and N76, 167, 850 respectively, Toyota Land Cruiser of 2017 model (DPV N81, 700,000), 2018 Toyota Hilux model with a DPV of N95, 650,000 as well as a Range Rover 2007 model bearing a DPV of N10, 268,013.

Others were 2014 two Mercedes Benz models DPV N12, 351, 670 and N14,482, 988 respectively, a 2016 Honda pilot model which had a DPV of N14, 836, 290 as well as a Toyota 4 Runner 2016 model with a DPV of N17, 864, 456.

Olusemire Kayode, Unit AreaControllerwhothiswhile briefing newsmen on the seizures at the Benin premises of theNCSalsolistedaMercedes Benz ML 550 2013 model which had a DPV of N13, 348, a Range Rover Evoque 2015

model (DPV N16,771, 860), two Toyota Camry cars of 2018 and 2012 models with DPV of N10, 143,670 and N7,114, 573 DPVs, a 2008 Toyota Hiace bus model DPV N10,539, 725, in addition to a ToyotahighLander2009model with a DPV of N4, 927,200.

Olusemire stated that six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures which took place between the Onitsha and Benin axis and would soon be charged to court. Aside the seized imported costly vehicles whose duties were not paid, the customs Unit Area Controller disclosed that 675 and 1,296 bags of 50kg foreign rice smuggled into the country had also been confiscated in Calabar and Enugu.

He warned Nigerians to desist from the business of importation of exotic expensive cars and evasion of payment of duties on such cars, lamenting that this had continued to sabotage the nation’s economy “These cars do not have valid documents and the end user certificate is necessary to ascertain the authentic owners so that they do not get into the wrong hands. We are ever ready to intercept any vehicle imported and the owners of such vehicles should be prepared to pay duties on them.

From the car dealers, ask of the C N0 which is usually at the right hand corner of the assessment declaration.”

CHI limited bags top 50 Brands Nigeria Award

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HI Limited, has this year again been recognised amongst the foremost brands at the recently held Top 50 Brands Nigeria Awards. As Nigeria’s leading manufacturer of fruit juices, dairy products and snacks, at the heart of this recognition are innovative products like Chivita and Hollandia which are benchmarks and definitive standards in their respective categories.

By identifying needs and meeting them, adopting innovative approach to consumer trends, delivering on their value proposition and effectively communicating same to the consumer, Chivita and Hollandia have become household names in Nigeria.

By using specific criteria including brand popularity, category leadership, innovation, national spread, Corporate Social Responsibility and online engagement to measure brands, the Top 50 Brands Nigeria Awards evaluate and celebrate top brands that have consistently maintained leadership position in their categories, living up to their promises to become a part of the popular culture, own-

ing properties and associations that evoke positive emotion from consumers.

According to Taiwo Oluboyede, CEO of Top 50 Brands Nigeria, the top brands for this year are those that are fast growing in value and have succeeded in delivering their promise to the consumers. He noted that these brands have adopted a winning habit of delivering something special by often doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways.

“Chivita and Hollandia from the stable of CHI Limited are two brands that have stood out in their categories for their conscious effort to build equity by offering healthy products with superior value and insightful consumer engagements that shape how consumers experience the brands,” he said.

For CHI Limited’s Marketing Director, Probal Bhattacharya, the recognition from the Top 50 Brands Awards is a welcome development for a brand that has prioritized consumers’ expectations and need for health, nutrition and refreshment with the best quality juices and value added dairy products.

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News Unsigned Electoral Act: 75 parties meet to boycott 2019 elections OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja

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he last is yet is to be heard about President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to decline assent to the amended Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly, as 75 political parties are set to meet to decide whether or not to boycott the 2019 general election.

Although the political parties under the aegis of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) had earlier threatened to boycott the election should the President fail to sign the bill, BDSUNDAY gathered that some members of the Council had insisted that another meeting be called on the next line of action.

Confirming the development to BDSUNDAY, Chairman of IPAC, Peter Ameh, revealed that a General Assembly of IPAC will be called any moment from now.

While expressing displeasure at the President’s refusal to sign the bill into law, Ameh said this could jeopardise the chances of other political parties win-

Buhari

ning the forthcoming election.

On whether IPAC has changed its earlier stance of boycotting the polls, Ameh who doubles as National Chairman of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), said: “Our position hasn’t changed. We have not called for a General Assembly. You know the decision (to boycott the election) is beyond me. I am just the

chairman of the Council.

And then there is a General Assembly because one of the ingredients for multiparty democracy is for the other new political parties to have the opportunity to participate in an election and also win. Because if you are participating in an election that is on an unfair footing that does not create level playing field for everybody, then there is that

Edo Assembly raises committee to probe delayed take-off of TayoAkpata University IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

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do State House of Assembly has constituted a 6-man ad-hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the delay in the takeoff of the TayoAkpata University of Education.

Speaker of the House, KabiruAdjoto, who constituted the committee at plenary session, said it was unacceptable that few years since the former College of Education was upgraded

to a university status after the approval by the House, the university was yet to take off.

He listed the committee members to include OjoAsein (APC) representing Owan West constituency as chairman, Henry Okhuarhobo(APC), Ikpoba -Okha, Patrick Iluobe (PDP), Esan North-East, Festus Edughele (APC), Esan South- East, NosayabaOkhunbor (APC), Orhionmwon East and Elizabeth Ativie (APC), Uhunmwode.

The constitution of the

committee was sequel to a petition by 11 host communities of the institution to the house protesting the abandonment of the University few year after it was approved by the state government.

The House, had earlier constituted similar committee to probe the nonfunctioning of the new 200bed ward Central Hospital constructed by former governor of the state Adams Oshiomhole and commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, October 27, 2016.

Oil bearing states urged to commit to transparency, accountability ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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il producing states in the country have been urged to commit to transparency and accountability by signing up to the Open Government Partnership as a veritable tool in the fight against corruption.

Niger Delta Open Government Observatory (NOGO), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) made the appeal in a state-

ment made available to the media to mark this year’s international Anti-corruption Day. Jointly signed by Tijah Bolton-Akpan and Ken Henshaw of Policy Alert and We The People, the NGO said that it has become worrisome that despite the region being rich in oil and gas resources, it has remained region with high incidence of poverty.

“Despite its abundant natural resource wealth which oils the wheels of the national economy, the region

remains steeped in underdevelopment while critical infrastructure continues to deteriorate, the statement said.

It added that several development indicators, including life expectancy, health, education and employment, the region’s performance remain below the national average” the statement said.

“The biggest culprit why things are the way they are is corruption. And a novel approach to dealing with the issue is to sign on to and implement the OGP.

tendency that other parties might not rear their heads successfully at the end of the election.

“Any game that is to be played, there must be an unbiased referee. And for us if this legal framework is not put in place, it will jeopardise our ability to win election.

“We are going to call for a meeting and present to them that he (Buhari) has refused to sign. And look at what National Assembly is doing, whether they are doing something about it because there are processes for overriding the President.

So, if that process is finally concluded, we will call for a General meeting and speak to all political parties chairmen”.

President Buhari had on December 7 declined assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill for the fourth time.

In separate letters addressed to Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, the President explained that signing the amendment bill close to the 2019 elections could “create some uncertainty about the legislation to govern the process.

“Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the elections may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process”.

He, therefore, asked the National Assembly to specifically state in the proposal that the amended Electoral Act would come into effect after the 2019 General Elections.

The bill makes the use of smart card reader statutory as the only instrument of accreditation, thereby permanently doing away with Incident Form - a manual accreditation process that has been subject of manipulation in previous elections.

The proposed legislation also makes the backend result of the card reader an evidential tool for nullifying elections where infractions are perpetrated; e-collation of election results; stiffer sanctions for erring INEC officials and media houses; capping of election expenses among others.

On whether the National Assembly can garner the constitutional two-third majority to override the President’s veto, Ameh said:

“If they see that the overriding interest of Nigeria supersedes that of the President, they should go ahead and do the needful and give us a legal framework that will be able to give us a free, fair and credible election because we are in the eyes of the storm and we must remain a shining light not only for the West African sub-region but also for Africa and the whole world”.

It would be recalled that 75 political parties had earlier threatened to boycott the election if Buhari failed to sign the amended Electoral Act. The parties that attended the IPAC meeting where the resolution was taken include the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), Better Nigeria Political Party (BNPP), All Grand Alliance Party (AGAP), Coalition for Change (C4C) Alliance for a United Nigeria (AUN), New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGP), People for Democratic Change (PDC), Restoration Party of Nigeria (RP), Young Democratic Party (YDP) among others.

Otti vows to retrieve, reconstruct Abia …Threatens to recover stolen funds UDOKA AGWU

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lex Otti, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate for Abia State in the 2019 general election, has vowed to retrieve and reconstruct Abia if he emerges the governor.

Otti, who stated this in Umuahia when he formally kicked-off his campaign, said the ceremony marked the beginning of the journey for Abians to the Promise Land.

“Abia is on the way to the

Otti

Promise Land. In the past 20 years, Abia has been a caricature of a state, the least developed in Nigeria because of bad governance,” Otti said.

He said the problem with Abia was not that Abia is not rich but bad leadership who had stolen the state dry.

The APGA governorship candidate threatened to recover all the stolen funds from past and present administrations.

“They must bring back our money. We have decayed infrastructure. I have come to serve Abia people. I

am dedicating myself to the service of Abia people. The Egyptians you see today, you will see them no more.

Nkem Okeke, deputy governor of Anambra State, earlier enjoined Abians to vote Otti so that Abia would look like Anambra and even better.

“We want purposeful leadership and security in Abia. If you make Otti your governor next year, your lives will change for better,” Okeke said.

Jerry Chukwueke, the vice presidential candidate of APGA, in his speech said his party was running for presidential to win.

He disclosed that APGA has a clear agenda for Nigeria in general.

Chukueke appealed to Nigerians to give his party chance salvage the country, adding that the present administration has failed Nigerians.

“We have a clear agenda for restructuring Nigeria based on zonal levels. APGA is out to fight poverty in Nigeria, reduce cost of governance, enthrone quality education and ensure that all the geopolitical zones are economic zones,” he promised.

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News

OXFAM, ECOWAS deepen commitment to gender parity, agriculture Innocent Odoh, Abuja

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X FA M , t h e Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other stakeholders have deepened their commitments to gender parity and to enhance the status of women in the acquisition facilities for agriculture in the sub region.

This was the crux of a seminar to address gender parity in the agriculture sector through the establishment of an inter-parliamentary network held at the ongoing Second Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja.

The Country Director, OXFAM, Constant Tchona, who commended the ECOWAS parliament for its commitment to gender equality added that ECOWAS quest to ensure that agricultural investments were of benefit to women and men in the

region has been encouraging.

The seminar was jointly organised by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), OXFAM International, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Women in Law and Development in Africa.

Sekou Sangare, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, said that women and youth could not be left out in any agricultural transformation process.

“As an institution and together with our partners, our commitment to you and this network is to consistently engage and extend our technical expertise and experience and any other support within our ability to make sure the network lives up to its objectives,” he said.

The network has mapped out strategies to address impediments to achieving sustainable agriculture in the ECOWAS sub- region and also exploit the efforts

of ECOWAS Parliament to focus on addressing gender and social inequality in agricultural investments and promote best practices to ensure inclusive local development.

Sangare, who was represented by Ernest Aubee, Principal Programme Officer and ECOWAS Head of Agriculture Division, said the network was critical to realising objectives of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy 2025.

He added that the commission had put mechanisms in place to achieve food and nutrition security in the region.

“One of such frameworks is the Regional Agricultural Investment Plan 2025 and the National Agricultural Investment plans for food and nutrition security which all the ECOWAS member states are working on.

“And we are very hopeful that by the end of this year we will be able to complete this process,” he added.

L-R: Tokunbo Abiru, managing director/CEO, Polaris Bank Limited; Ebunola Anozie, CEO/founder, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (C.O.P.E.); Osato Giwa-Osagie, emeritus professor and chairman, COPE, and Kolade Ojo-Osagie, group head, corporate planning and strategy, Polaris Bank, during a thank you visit

by Trustees of COPE, a cancer-focussed NGO, to Polaris Bank for the lender’s support in the fight against breast cancer in Nigeria, recently.

L-R: Ayii Akol, managing director, Trinity Technologies; Kanayo Awani, managing director, Afreximbank Intra African Trade; ‘DeRemi Atanda, executive director, and Demola Igbalajobi, group executive, international business, both of SystemSpecs, at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Trinity Technologies and SystemSpecs in Cairo, Egypt, recently.

Anyamate Kio’s Divine Icon hotbed:

The Garden City incubator where music ‘EntrepreStars’ are hatched Ignatius Chukwu

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t the back side of Garrison Junction in Port Harcourt, an unassuming building houses a centre where the hottest music talents in Nigeria gather every year to contest for the topmost seven slots that launch the lucky winners into stardom.

The proprietor of Wisdom2-Wealth (W2W), known by close associates as the Prince of the Niger Delta, Anyamate Kio, told BDSUNDAY in his top-floor office that ‘Divine Icon’ is only one of four schemes aimed at leading Nigerian youths to self-discovery through entrepreneurial mentorship and deep training in music.

The music contest comes in the form of housemates in seasons since 2013 that lead to a breakout into stardom.

Last weekend, the stars spilled out on a large stage, the Atrium, on Ken SaroWiwa Road in the glare of the whole world. Kogi-born Lasis Wealth who bagged instant N500,000 plus huge offers and enlistments.

Kio calls it an inspirational music talent hunt programme out to train music artistes from 16 years and above to become music celebrities. “You enter as nobody, you depart as a superstar’, he tells his mentees who eye the N2.5m deal as well as the exposure it brings.

Wealth, the winner, testified that before he came to the house, he saw music from a very narrow perspective, but after the housemanship, his mind was blown. He thinks and sees professionalism.

“My plan is to work W2W and push the frontiers”, The contest at Atrium was as hot as anything that promises stardom to Nigerian youths with four Deltans, three Rivers music talents joining the others from Imo, Kogi, Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi states in search of fame.

At the long run, Wealt led Akwa Ibom-born Mfon Inyang (N300,000) and Delta’s Emmanuel Ubiebifaye (N300,000); as declared

by Asu Ekiye, Chinelo Dillimono, Rev Ken of Wish FM, Laura Ozere, and King Buskie who were the judges.

Kio’s dreams: The whizkid has other packages in W3W scheme including what he calls ‘Loans Without Collateral’ which tries to match training with seed capital, unlike other entrepreneurship training schemes around. “We call ourselves the NGO for mind, business, and project

Lasisi Wealth; winner at Divine Icon Music Contest, set to stardom

development towards sustainable leadership, peace and prosperity.”

He went on: “The third platform is the Vocational Training Platform where we give skills to the trainees on different vocations such as soap making, bead making, hair dressing, computer training, web development, etc. That is the capacity and vocational platform in house. The fourth one is what we are bringing on board, Icons Mind Magazine, a celerity magazine that is going to showcase achievers in various endeavours.

They will have to give their stories that would serve as stimulus to beginners to realize that if this person can make it, after going through this, I too can make it.”

Kio uses his own experience to motivate others, having lost his father early in life, yet, he graduated at 21, with a mother who has little or nothing. “My mother had no money to train me even to a secondary school.” He said he now teaches young persons the secret of success. “For instance, in teaching Economics, make the students not just to learn to speak its language; using the techniques of need and want; demand and want, etc. Some persons ask for salaries without even proving they are employable.

Always endeavour to offer more than you earn so your employer can keep you at all cost. Your success in life does not depend on anybody but on you.”

Journey to stardom: Kio revealed the steps.

“We started with over 500

contestants in Season 6 in 28 states in Nigeria and Abuja plus two African countries (Liberia and Zimbabwe).

I had to stop the African countries leg because this year, we limited it to Nigeria.

From this, 58 were chosen to come for the quarter finals after which the performance and voting were able to get 25 to go to the semifinals. Five dropped out at quarter finals and the rest 20 remained in the house.

Elimination continued continue every weekend until November 25, 2018, when it was time for the grand finale with about eight contestants where Lasisi Wealth stole the show.”

Kio said he felt fulfilled: He said 2018 witnessed the launch of celebrity magazine to promote excellence in the oil region. He said the cash award would increase to N600,000 in 2019 or in Season 7.

Awards were presented to outstanding persons in the oil region. One of the awardees, Smith Nwokocha, said: “This award is proof that African Youths and Niger Delta youths are very enterprising. I urge every youth here present to contribute their quota to the development and growth of Nigeria, and of course Africa as a rising continent.”

Conclusion: The ‘Divine Icon Music Talent Hunt Season 6’ started with Red Carpet around anchored by the winner of Season 5, Ebenezer. Everybody who spoke praised the Prince of the Niger Delta, kio, for the initiative and called for it to be sustained.

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PhotoSplash

Victoria Okorie, Nnamdi Anyim, and Omotayo Omoyeni, all of Flying Doctors Nigeria, on board a medical flight with a patient lying on a medical stretcher through their Emergency Transport Unit (ETU) with their multipara meter monitor, mobile ventilator unit among other equipment in Lagos. Pic by Pius Okeosisi

Tope Dare, executive director (Business Development and Infrastructure), Inlaks, flanked by students of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls at the completion of eight-week Inlaks Energy sponsored programme, a certificateissuing and knowledge sharing initiative of Inlaks that empowered the students on the importance of alternative source of energy in the economy value-chain at the school premises at the weekend.

L-R: Olutunde Lalude, chief of surgery and group medical director, Reddington Hospital; Laure Beaufils, British deputy high commissioner; Adeyemi Onabowale, chief executive officer, Reddington Hospital, and Dr Babaseyi Oyesola, chief intensive care and medical director, Davison Critical Care Centre, at the Inauguration of Davison Specialist Surgery and Critical Care Centre in Lagos.

L-R: Isa Garuba, beneficiary of Tradermoni; Edozie Ugwuand, chairman, National Association of Nigeria Traders FCT, Mark Idoko, Agent of Tradermoni during the tradermoni at Wuse Market in Abuja.

L-R: Ernest Orji, director, Southern Sun Ikoyi; Mark Loxley, general manager, Southern Sun Ikoyi; Cliff Shiridzinodya, deputy general manager, Southern Sun Ikoyi, and Alex Goma, managing director, PZ Cussons, at the Southern Sun Ikoyi Year End VIP cocktail in Lagos.

L-R : Kayode Thompson, LOC member; Tominiyi Oni; human resources director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO; Victor Agali, ex-International; Peter Ndife, captain of the winning Peak Choco Team; Ben Langat, managing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO; Ifeanyi Udeze, ex-International; and Kenneth Omeni, LOC chairman/treasury manager, after final football match, Season 14 of FC WAMCO Games, played at Agege Stadium, Lagos recently

L-R: Olusegun Mcmedal, chairman, Lagos State Chapter, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations; Bunmi Oke, key speaker, CEO/Lead Consultant, Ladybird Limited; Odion Aleobua, managing director, Modion Communications; Demola Akinlabi, chairman, Photojournalists Association of Nigeria (PJAN), and Adesegun Ogundeji, director, Public Amaju Pinnick (l), president, Nigerian Football Federation, presenting a customized Super Eagles jersey to Manish Rohtagi, business head, Simba Group, in recognition of the company’s close ties and support for Nigerian football during the NFF’s recent visit to the company’s office in Oregun, Lagos.

Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Education, during the presentation of Award to Odion Aleobua, at the 2018 annual conference, entitled: the impact of Photojournalism on brand building; The Corporate Communications Perspective, by the PJAN, in Lagos..

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NewsFeature ‘The Experience’ going beyond gospel concert to creating economic benefits to larger Nigerians ModestusAnaesoronye

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he Experience” held on the 7th of December 2018 by House on the Rock, and now the 13th edition of its annual gospel concert has come and gone but with a lot still to be remembered . The event is reported to have attracted an estimated crowd of over 700,000 Nigerians to the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) venue in Lagos, with several overflow sitting areas around the venue filled to maximum capacity.

The Experience, said to have started as a thought inspired by God in the mind of the convener and metropolitan Senior Pastor of all House on The Rock churches, Paul Adefarasin is now unarguably the most anticipated gospel music event in Africa among Christians and non-Christians alike. Averaging a yearly attendance of over 500,000 people at the venue, with millions more watching online from all over the globe, the event has grown to become the largest gospel concert anywhere in the world.

Much of the allure of The Experience is its interdenominational stance and penchant for unifying people irrespective of nationality, faith, gender, status or political persuasion. The Experience has become one of the major highlights on the calendar and a keenly anticipated date with destiny in December for many.

The Experience and the Nigerian Economy The Experience is a significant contributor to both national and the Lagos State economies through tourism and its associated

Pastor Paul and Ifeanyi Adefarasin flanked by Lagos State gubernatorial candidates for APC and PDP, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (l) and Jimi Agbaje (r) and their wives at the 13th edition of The Experience concert, at The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Lagos, last weekend.

businesses. Entrepreneurs have developed and birthed various enterprises which substantially contribute to the economy in areas of human capital development, hospitality, commerce and industry. The Entertainment sector of the economy has also blossomed over the last 12 years of The Experience.

This is evident as many of our indigenous gospel artistes who featured on its platform have become highly sought-after internationally, with significant changes in their personal economies.

Several international collaborations between our home-based music ministers and their foreign counterparts have been birthed on this very platform. But that’s not all; homegrown gospel music now enjoys significant airplays in both the mainstream and alternative media. As a result of the vast

improvement in quality, several gospel songs now compete favorably with secular music, oftentimes debuting at the Number 1 spot on music charts. Before now, American gospel songs were the norm in our services. Today, our indigenous songs are favorites in many American Churches. In a statement by Paul Adefarasin, senior pastor at a press conference for The Experience in Lagos, the preacher noted that “while we do not take all the credit for the growth of the Gospel industry, we are proud to say that The Experiencehas played a very prominent role in this regard. The socio-economic impact of this mammoth occasion is evident and lends credence to scriptures in the Psalms which attest that God blesses and causes the earth to yield its increase to His people whenever He inhabits their prais-

es” he said.

The Experience and the upcoming 2019 Elections Themed ‘Jesus our Peace’ Adefarasin says The Experience 2018 is significant because it precedes a crucial election year. He explained that the inspiration behind the 2018 theme is to highlight who Jesus is, especially in the world we live in today – the Prince of Peace.

Speaking further on the strategic theme, Adefarasin emphasized that regardless of the outcome of the forthcoming elections; peace is the ultimate candidate that we should all support, and must be the candidate that wins. “Peace (as I know it) is not the absence of tension but the presence of Justice” he said. The 2018 concert according to him, will be a continuous reminder that the God of Peace is with us.

Speaking further on the theme

and its significance, Adefarasin encouraged Nigerians, stating that “Despite many challenges Nigerians may face, we cannot afford to lose faith in God’s ability to turn things around for our good, choosing to see a bright future, the Nigeria of our dreams, one that we can proudly bequeath to the ‘nextgenerations.’

Drawing a note from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s Independence Day Speech on 1st October 1960, Adefarasin stressed that “our elected representatives can no longer afford the selfish luxury of focusing on their own interests; rather they must be fully capable of managing our affairs. The populace can no longer sit back and complain of a lack of clear direction. It is time to become change agents, nation transformers and the solution that Nigeria has long awaited” he said.

The Experience 2018 proved to be an evening of edifying enjoyment as a constellation of some of the world’s finest gospel artistes led the crowd in unrestrained praise and worship. Making their debut this year were the Planetshakers, Ada Ehi, Vickie Yohe and JJ Hairston. Frequent performers, Donnie McClurkin (dubbed the ‘Reigning King of Urban Gospel’ by Variety), Mike Aremu, Tope Alabi, Don Moen, Kirk Franklin, Chioma Jesus, Eben, Travis Greene, Glowreeyah Braimah, Nathaniel Bassey, Tim Godfrey and the multi-talented Lagos Metropolitan Gospel Choir featuring Timi Dakolo, OnosAriyo and Chee also performed to the delight of everyone.

Viewers at home weren’t left out as The Experience was streamed live on the House on The Rock YouTube channel to viewers from all over the world.

Tour of the grassroots:

How bullets failed to stop Tonye Cole

…As Princewill blames unbridled violence on alleged US, UK impotence

Ignatius Chukwu

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hen the oil business billionaire, To n y e C o l e , emerged gubernatorial flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State few weeks ago, many said he was unknown in his state, may miss his way in the creeks, and may not pull in the votes. The moment the oil magnet however, set out to tour the rural areas and prove his mettle with the village folks, guns boomed on his way to Degema last week.

A shootout was said to have occurred on the way with hoodlums, but Cole seemed to put the encounter behind him and has continued his tour of the grassroots, meeting groups in various localities of the riverine state. Inside sources said after the local council level, the flag bearer would now take the ‘Discov-

ery’ to villages and kindreds. He is said to be excited by the outpouring in the villages and the fact that he has met areas never before visited by any top politician.

All this may not excite some of his close associates who have berated the international allies for doing nothing when known politicians endorsed a non-violent pact in 2015 only for more killings to rather ensue. They say the US and UK have failed in showing enough guts against the known leaders of the parties that engaged in violence.

News broke out last week that Cole was ambushed on his way to Degema, apparently to sensitise the communities to go pick up their permanent voters’ cards (PVCs). The attack came few days after the rival PDP group was allegedly attacked at Ipo in Ikwerre Local Council Area also during a PVC sensitisation rally.

Now, one of the strong pillars behind Cole, the Kalabari prince, Tonye Princewill (formerly of the PDP, later Labour Party, and now a staunch

APC loyalist) who even rested his gubernatorial ambition just to ensure a united Kalabari or riverine front in 2019, raised the alarm.

He said after the incident: “I want to thank all those who reached out to our candidate with messages of sympathy and support after witnessing the act of sheer desperation the other day by our opponents during his visit to Degema LGA. It should be of no surprise to anyone

Tonye Cole

to know that Tonye Cole is not only still active and well, but even more determined to push forward until sanity is restored to our politics again. He is neither bowed nor subdued, but is rather emboldened by his faith and his purpose. He’s here to win. By God’s grace, he will.”

He went on: “I want to use this opportunity to first call on the security agencies that are responsible for keeping the peace, to set an example that such acts will never go unpunished. It is the absence of consequence that provides the climate for this type of lawlessness.

While Castro said ‘it is unlawful to be lawful in a lawless society’”.

Tonye maintains that “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”. Many of us were not with APC immediately after 2015, when being a member of APC was an invitation to write your will. We won’t accept that. We expect this set of security chiefs to mirror their successes elsewhere. The Niger Delta is the wealth of the nation and

Rivers State is the treasure base. It must be secure.

“Secondly, let me remind the international community, particularly theUS,UKandEUambassadorsthat previousattemptsathaltingviolence did not work because none of your governments had any teeth. Known candidates engaged in known violence and nothing came out of it. No travel bans, no targeted sanctions and no withdrawal of support. I was there, every step of the way. It’s that impotence that provides a cover for no consequence. The result is a recurring cycle of violence. If we want to stop getting what we are getting, you have to stop doing what you’ve been doing. Friends should tell each other the truth.

“While we appreciate a lot of the good work both you and the security agencies are doing, it is clearly not enough in Rivers state and the cost of failure is too high. It’s measured in people’s lives. Condolences, shuttle diplomacy, and speeches are simply not going to be enough.”

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LASTMA officials as endangered species

Publisher/CEO

Frank Aigbogun editor Zebulon Agomuo DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja assistant EDITOR Chuks Oluigbo NEWS EDITOR Patrick Atuanya EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SERVICES Oghenevwoke Ighure GENERAL MANAGER, ADVERT Adeola Ajewole ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Patrick Ijegbai CIRCULATION MANAGER John Okpaire DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

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

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

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ecently, there was chaos along Ikorodu Road, following the mayhem reportedly orchestrated by two policemen attached to a bank in the neighbourhood. According to reports, the two policemen unleashed maximum terror on two officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA. The whole sad episode began when a mobile policeman who allegedly drove through the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) lane was blocked by the ill-fated LASTMA officials. In the resultant squabble, the two policemen purportedly beat up the LASTMA officials, vandalized their vehicle and assisted the erring mobile policeman to escape.

In response to the distressing happening, the Lagos State Government has declared a zero tolerance for such uncivilized conduct by members of the public against LASTMA officers while on duty.

According to Mr Ladi Lawanson, the State Commissioner for Transport, 18 LASTMA officials have so far been killed in 2018 alone; while

24 were debilitated by ‘hit-and-run’ vehicles and violent attacks. This has become a recurring evil.

In an emotion ladden voice, the Honourable Commissioner for Transport cited another case involving Late Rotimi Adeyemo, the LASTMA officer, who was recently killed by a triggered happy police officer. Mr. Lawanson revealed that the Late LASTMA officer, who was born in 1977, had a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Degree in Economics and left behind a 105-year-old father, an 88-year-old mother, a wife, Eniola Adeyemo and three children, including a set of twins.

It is, indeed, ironical that LASTMA officials, who are employed to ensure Lagos residents have a pleasant motoring experience, have suddenly become objects of undue assaults and barbaric attacks by same people whom they are being paid to serve.

In-spite of the difficult environment it operates, Lagos residents have continued to feel the impact of LASTMA’s good job as areas hitherto notorious for traffic gridlocks during peak periods now relatively experience free flow traffic.

However, regardless of doing its utmost to ensure sanity exist on Lagos’ roads, no other government agency has been most vilified, maligned and mis-understood like LASTMA. The war of attrition between motorists, security operatives and LASTMA officials have been so heightened in recent times, culminating in brutal attacks, unwarranted hostility and needless deaths of LASTMA officials.

Meanwhile, the State government has continued to ensure that LASTMA is abreast of the latest and best global trends in traffic management. Consequently, it had organized series of training for LASTMA personnel in order to serve as a role model to other States in the country. It is important to state that some States in the country have established their own traffic management outfit tailored after LASTMA. Currently, LASTMA officials are being trained on incident management, traffic management and modern road traffic arts among others. The state government is desirous of creating an attitudinal change and rebranding LASTMA officials. Part of the training objective is to provide the basic knowledge and skills necessary to accurately monitor and manage the road in order to reduce travel time and ensure effective traffic control plan for the safe movement of people and goods.

Nevertheless, as with other regulatory and enforcement agencies across the country, it may not be unusual to find a few bad eggs in LASTMA, since they are products of the society. Some may truly be culpable of the some allegations usually leveled against LASTMA officials. Government, on its own, is not unaware of this as it has continually been making efforts geared towards solving the problem of black sheep in LASTMA. Sometimes ago, a corrupt LASTMA official who was caught in the act was not only dismissed but prosecuted

by the government and eventually jailed.

Equally, over the years, a few LASTMA officials have been sacked for various acts of misconduct while various disciplinary measures have been meted out to others who have been found culpable of various acts of misconduct. All these form part of the measures to maintain discipline among officers and also to sanitize the rank and file of the traffic control authority.

It is, thus, important to stress that rather than vilify LASTMA, members of the public should come up with collaborative ideas that could make the agency work better for the good of the society.

Those who have genuine contributions to make to governance in the state should avail themselves of the novel opportunity provided through the various e-mail addresses and phone numbers of members of the State Executive Council which are now public properties. LASTMA officials are our brothers and sisters; we should respect their right to life.

Finally, the case involving the two erring policemen, and, indeed, other such unruly individuals, must be seen through to a logical end and all persons involved made to face the full wrath of the law. Anything short of that would only empower criminals to continue to be more audacious and malicious. This, of course, is not in the best interest of the society.

Ogunbiyi is of the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Crime watch

Child rape: Watch, the enemy is within – Faith Tom-Babs

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Ignatius Chukwu & Favour Ichemati

he World Health Organisation (WHO) says only 10 per cent of those who rape children are strangers to them. The rest are people known to them or within what is called the circle of blood, being friends and relations, expected to act as protection agents. Now, according to Faith Tom-Babs, founder/executive director of Heal the World & Care for People Initiative (HWCPI), there is now moral pollution. Walls of protection found in the respect for blood relations seem to have since crashed due to excessive exposure to pornography and violence.

Tom-Babs resides in Bonny Island of Rivers State, a city that juts into the Atlantic Ocean at the southernmost tip of Nigeria but serves as the export terminal for most of Nigeria’s oil and gas as well as the headquarters of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) from where 22 million tonnes of gas is exported per year, fetching billions of Dollars. Yet, moral walls have been affected by petro-dollar, thus the relevance of the Faith Tom-Babs’ Heal the World & Care for People Initiative that caters for children, widows, and community at large.

In an exclusive interview with BDSUNDAY in Port Harcourt, the activist said: “Our mission is raising world-changers with creativity and integrity. We dish out advocacy, teen mentoring and community services. For now, I have focused mainly on child protection because I see that there is a need to actually catch them young.”

Madam Faith, as she is popularly called in Bonny these days, agrees that a lot of things are going wrong with your child.

“The child’s sexual abuser may be right under your nose. There is rape. Children that ought to be in school are not. They are hawking, against what we have in the Child Right Act.” “In April 2018, we started a campaign which they tagged ‘War Against Child Sexual Abuse’ which has taken them to schools, teaching children to identify sexual predators, safety rules, how to protect the body, etc. She said they incorporate parents and school teachers, and that it has been a wonderful experience because the feedback they get tells them that there is yet a lot of ground to cover. “Parents are becoming carefree, and teachers just think it’s all about Mathematics and English Language.

Nobody seems to care about the child.”

Her pain especially in Bonny

Island where there are many companies and multinationals, is the huge awareness tools on safety of adults at work such as ‘No PPE No Entry’ rules with emphasis on boots, helmets, goggles, etc, but that there is no tool to protect the child in homes and streets. “Nobody says child safety must be practised in schools and churches.

That is my concern. If we can teach them, they would be who they wanted to be. Some people say Nigeria is full of ideas, ye, there are lots of children out there that have what it takes to excel but their lives cut short by immorality through child abuse.”

She admitted that years back, children were safe in their environments, protected by their distant relations because of a lot of respect for what we may call the ‘circle of blood’. To her, these values of respect for blood relations of any distance and the child seem to fall apart. “I think we have lost family values, and that is why I put much effort in talking about family.

Nobody seems to talk about values in the home anymore. My field experience is that children have little space to feel safe. Even in olden days in Africa, teenage girls only tied wrappers around their chest and many played half naked in the rain, yet their uncles looked the other way. I think the restraint of men is crashing

due to years of erosion through excessive pornography and violence. There is huge exposure to immorality. Due to breakdown in family values, children have been exposed to rape, ritual killing, trafficking, etc. In fact, there is moral pollution.”

To combat the menace of child abuse, the NGO is out to teach sexuality education to teenagers. “We teach them body protection, sexuality education for different age brackets.

We teach them body safety; that the body has private parts and public parts. We teach parents how to identify sexual predators, and what to look out for.

Sexual predators are never strangers. They are part of families, people you trusted. Confidentialities are broken. Yes, the enemy is within. So, watch out.’

She went on: “Yes, we teach some children what to do when being abused; how to say stop it, then shout for help, then run; run to trusted adult.

We give examples of a trusted adult. One girl asked us; ‘What if this trusted adult is the one abusing you?’ She gave us scenario. Their mother travelled and took them to their pastor’s house. At night, the pastor abused her. This trusted adult has turned to a child abuser. That is how bad it is.”

The problem is, she stated, abused child, if not counseled,

end up abusing other children or grow into a prostitute or child abuser. They grow from victims to abusers.

Our organisation is in court with an abuser. If you check the background of a child abuser, he/she was abused by an adult and was not discovered early.

We are calling on parents and other social activists to rise up for the child because the child is vulnerable.

On her method, she said they write to schools and churches, and visit to create awareness where they are invited. They also talk to parents and teachers. They now seek collaborators and desire partnerships to create networks as is already in Lagos. We seek such network so that we could have lawyers and police teams.

We need medical collaborators so that they can help check when someone is raped; the police to help to act, and lawyers to press for diligent prosecution.

The Federation of International Lawyers (FIDA) is helpful but they are not in Bonny, only coming from Port Harcourt.

Her work is well received and she has been accepted into the Bonny community system like a daughter. They now invite her whenever a child is abused. “Even the local council is showing interest, asking for this message to be taken to the grassroots. It makes me feel I am not wasting my time.

I cannot reach everybody and so, if the local government can help, better. The multinationals have been approached but their focus is on promoting values, not child abuse directly. So, I run schools clubs on integrity. We curb vices by promoting values.

Integrity clubs in schools called Project I can.”

Risk is one of her challenges because some of the abusers could become violent. There is issue of security. “I know a lot of abusers but I cannot confront them because of my own safety. The law enforcement agents often compromise investigations and cases are settled behind. In a case, the parents of the abuser were paid off to leave out the case. There is a lot of ‘hush’ money in child abuse cases. Finance is always a challenge. Families would be angry at the beginning but cool off later and seek settlement, leaving out the issue of justice to the abused child. That is the second abuse. Stigma issues are also there. Families murmur the matter but suffer in silence.

The child bears the brunt and grows in pains and later turns wild. This is wrong. The child’s interest is not taken into serious consideration. They do not

care that some children die in the process due to infections and unwanted pregnancies and abortions, etc. There is also the issue of destroying a child’s moral fabrics and walls that would ruin his/her soul. The law should be allowed to take its course at all times.”

She went on: “If you must get a child out of hawking, you may need to take over payment of basic things especially school fees. Some only eat when they hawk. And it is also through this hawking that men trap the children. You see, the child is not supposed to be a breadwinner yet.

“We need more voices in this campaign. We need synergy and all of that. I am happy that more voices are rising in Bonny.

I can say I am replicating myself.

I now have mentees I groom that can now stand and talk just like me too. Sometimes I give them responsibilities and they do it well. They now realize that the abuser was being wicked to the child, but we do not have the big picture, the place of tomorrow.

“It is when I get feedbacks from parents about how their children rebuff or abort an attempt. I will know that the child has been empowered and has used the tools to stop one more abuse. I have girls that come to my house to say how they have rebuffed an uncle or how they no longer greet an uncle because they now know the real intentions of these ‘uncles’.

“Feedback is getting better.

It is motivating, and you want to do more. I see that the people appreciate this work. Parents and teachers are getting excited and interested in this message. Teachers now scold parents on their failings, leaving others to now mentor their children. What we are doing ought to be done by parents. Schools are now like dumping grounds.

Its now left to non-profit organisations and social workers to step in but this should not be so because it cannot be enough.

“My next step is to push further for the safety of children in the house especially how to practice safety in the kitchen.

Safety measures should be put in place. There is bathroom rules, kitchen rules, etc. Parents would be made to teach their children boundaries. Abusers know rooms that are vulnerable. When your daughter runs to sit on the laps of uncles, trouble is starting.

Create the rules and enforce them. We want to encourage Family/Child Safety, the same way companies teach safety in offices. Create early alarm systems so children can report early. Let’s take safety to the homes, churches, etc. Some children get abused in the Children’s Class. Adults focus at the altar but a lot is happening in children’s areas. There are not enough minders to look after the children. A lot of things are going on behind. Teach them boundaries.

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Crime watch Alleged N9.7bn fraud: Senators Ndoma-Egba, Jubrin rented Umar’s property for N25m p.a - Witness

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FELIX OMOHOMHION, Abuja

prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal, Mohammed Dikko Umar (rtd), told a Federal High Court in Abuja Tuesday, that Senator Victor Ndoma Egba and Kano lawmaker, representing Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency and former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, rented apartment belonging to the former Air Force chief in the sum of N25million per annum.

The 8th prosecution witness, Abubakar Abdulkadir, who described himself as estate agent and valuer, said both men paid the said sum for the apartment located at No. 14 Macedonia Close, Maitama, Abuja, for a period of one year before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sealed the property under investigation.

Abdulkadir, who said he managed the property on behalf of another company, Stycon Properties, which he was in partnership with, said he never knew the property belonged to AVM Umar until the EFCC sealed it.

Led in evidence by prosecution

counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, the witness said: “I managed the property from Oct. 15th, 2011 till Dec. 31, 2016. I manage, let it out to tenants, I collect rents and carry out maintenance. My first tenant was Senator Victor Ndoma Egba.

He paid N25m per annum for the apartment. I paid the money into accounts given to me by my partner, Chuka Odjimbu.

“The second tenant was a corporate body known as

Grey Forest Ltd. But Senator Abdulmumin Jibrin came and said he wanted to use it as a guest house. The company paid N50million for two years and I paid the money into the accounts given by my partner, Chuka Odjimbu.”

The witness disclosed that he got to know the real owner when the EFCC marked the house as under investigation.

“My attention was drawn to

it by Jubrin and asked me who is the landlord. I told him the landlord was not in the country because we used Stycon as the landlord, which belongs to Chuka. To my surprise, Jubrin told me AVM Umar was the owner of the property. He said he went to find out why the house was marked and that his friends in EFCC told him. I reached out to Chuka, who confirmed it was Umar who owned the property,” Abdulkadir said.

Thereafter, counsel to the defendant, Hassan Liman moved a motion praying the court to grant the defendant leave for medical vacation.

The prosecution did not oppose the motion.

Justice Nnamfi Dimgba granted the motion and ordered that Umsr’s international passport be released to enable him travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the checkup.

The court adjourned till Feb. 5 and 6 for continuation of trial. Umar is standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on alleged financial misappropriated of funds, amounting to N9.7billion.

The money is said to belong to the Nigeria Air Force between 2010 and 2012.

Sex in public places is a crime, CP warns

I Six nabbed for allegedly destroying campaign posters

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he Lagos State Police Command said its Anticrime patrol team has arrested six young men of TAKE IT BACK movement for allegedly tearing posters of other political parties.

Olagokun Odunayo, Koolkloud Henry, Ugaju Joseph, Damilola Omidiji, Michael Kate and Banwo Olagokun were said to have replaced torn posters with that of African Action Congress, AAC at about 2.30am.

This the Command said is contrary to Lagos State Sinage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) laws which forbade advertisers from pasting posters at no other hour than than the day time.

The Command recalled that a meeting an agreement was reached that no political party should undertake the defacing of campaign posters of other po-

litical parties or the destruction of their billboards.

The meeting which was held at thePoliceOfficersMess,IkejaonDecember 5, 2018, had the INEC, chairmen of all political parties in Lagos State, their flag bearers and chaired

by Edgal Imohimi, State Commissioner of Police,” said CSP Chike Oti, Lagos State Police spokesman.

“The following exhibits were recovered from the suspects : a poster bearing the picture of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, (AAC) Sowore, brush, buckets containing gums and turn off posters of other political parties,” CSP Oti said.

The police spokesman said the State commissioner of police has directed that the suspects be charged to court for malicious damage and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace to serve as a deterrent to others.

mohimi Edgal, Lagos State Police commissioner has warned Lagosians against having sex in public places.

The attention of the commissioner was drawn to an online publication credited to @POLICENG_PCRRU which states that “Sex in a car in a public place is not a crime in Nigeria, according to CSP Chike Oti, the police spokesman.

The publication said provided the location is not a place of worship, the parties are up to 18-yearsold, the act is consensual and the parties are of opposite sex. It also said those threatened with arrest after meeting the above conditions should contact@POLICENG_ PCRRU ‘‘Sequel to the development, the commissioner of police has been advised by the Director of Public Prosecution of the state Ministry of Justice and the Legal Department of the State Police Command, Panti, Yaba with relevant sections of the law,’’ said the police spokesman.

The sections of the law include; Section 134 (a) Criminal Law of Lagos state 2015 prohibits any indecent act in any public place without lawful excuse. The law holds that such person is liable on conviction to 2 years imprisonment.

Section 136 of the Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2015 provides that any person who commits any act of gross indecency with another person in public commits an offence and liable on conviction to 3 years imprisonment.

It must be noted that section 134 which deals with offences

Edgal orders investigation into alleged brutalisation of Actor

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mohimi Edgal, Lagos commissioner of Police has ordered an investigation based on a video on Instablog9ja in which Gideon Okeke, an actor, was seen alleging that some policemen attached to Maroko Division, brutalised him after a minor road accident involving him and one Mosunmola Ilori.

According CSP Chike Oti, Lagos State police spokesman, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, in charge of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, (SCIID), Panti in Yaba to investigate the matter and turn in her report within one week for appropriate action.

“The commissioner assures that nothing will be swept under the carpet and urged all parties in the matter to fully corporate with the investigators,” CSP Oti said.

“The commissioner further assures that findings made during inquisition into the matter will be made public as usual,” the police spokesman added.

CP orders reinvestigation into the alleged torture of good Samaritan

T against morality particularly section 134 (a) have it that indecent act in a public place makes both parties engaging in the act liable to imprisonment for 2 years.

In the same vein, section 231 of the Criminal Code Act which is a Federal law and applicable in states other than the northern states where Penal Code is applicable also make Indecent Acts punishable.

Going forward, CSP Oti said the authorities of the Lagos State Police Command declares that the assertion that sex in a car in a public place is not a crime in Nigeria is misplaced as the provisions of the Criminal Law of Lagos State prohibits such acts in public even if it is done with consent of the other party ‘‘The commissioner of Police wants Lagosians to be guided by relevant sections of the law against such acts,’’ CSP Oti, added.

he Edgal Imohimi has ordered an investigation into a publication on the pages 4 and 5 of the Punch Newspapers on Thursday, December 13, 2018, titled, “Police torture good Samaritan for trying to free extortion victim.” ‘‘Following the publication, the commissioner has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, to withdraw the case from court for reinvestigation,’’ said CSP Oti, Lagos State public relations officer. ‘‘The commissioner further directed the Deputy Commissioner, SCIID to constitute an investigative panel and invite all the parties involved in the matter including the police officer that handled the case for thorough enquiries.’’ CSP Oti said if the officer is found guilty, he would be made to face appropriate disciplinary actions. ‘‘The command frowns on any act of rights abuse against anybody irrespective of their class or background,’’ said the police spokesman. ‘‘The Command assures members of the public that the outcome of the investigation would be made known,’’ he added.

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Politics

‘Why we need genuine, spiritual, God-fearing and knowledgeable people in position of governance’ Seyi Adeyemi, a senior pastor of The Worship Centre (An Assembly of Sons & Daughters of Christ Apostolic Church; former director and head of Trade Products in Citibank Nigeria Ltd and member of the Trade and Investment Promotions committee of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), in this interview on the sidelines of interactive session with the media over the church’s forthcoming Apostolic Fire Conference tagged ‘Beauty of Holiness’. ZEBULON AGOMUO, Editor, was there and here brings the excerpts: One major problem in Nigeria has been bad leadership. Your conference is coming at the right time when the country is preparing for a general election. Now, how may the conference instill the leadership traits in the young ones, to ensure we have a new crop of leaders who will impact positively on the country? hat we must understand is that things change when values are preached. Values are change agents; they are building blocks for the lives of people and for the life of a nation. And this is not something that happens suddenly. Most of the people that exhibit one level of value or the other today are things they have imbibed or grew up with over time.

Now, if you look at the topics that we will be focusing on, these are topics that are key Christian values. If we begin to preach these Christian values as often as possible; as it was being done by our forefathers, it will enter into the consciousness of people. It will begin to change their mindset; so we believe that the impact this conference will have is that the core Christian values that have the ability to change people’s lives; change people’s thinking; change people’s action is what we are putting into the heart of those who will attend the conference. And it is a matter of time; the word of God is very powerful; it has the ability to pierce into the soul of people; it has life of its own that may work in the life of the people. That’s why we say part of the fruit we expect from participants is change of their ways; change of their thoughts and change of their actions in line with God’s expectations. Today, people accuse the church of not speaking truth to people, now the truth is being said clearly, undiluted. We believe it will impact the lives of people.

be dependent on the life of the members; many people always say they think that pastors live on tithes and offering coming into the church, but it is not exactly so. But my own point basically is that we should have bowls of mercy; we should reach out to people. God can bless men or God. It is not only businessmen that have a right to live well; men of God also have a right to live well. However, I do not subscribe to exploiting people. There is no reason a man of God should eat luxuriously. You remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. If there is a Lazarus in our environment, we need to take care of our Lazarus; and that is the responsibility that has been placed on us. It is not just about the luxury, but the purpose for which God has placed a man of God must be to be a blessing to his generation and that’s what is important.

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Since 1999, we have had leaders who are Christians, but it appears that the word they hear in their various assemblies have not impacted their lives as there seems to be no reflection of it on the way they go about their work in public office in the country. What do you think is the missing link?

Well actually, when people practise religion as opposed to being spiritual; this is the kind of thing you get. I said earlier that people have been more religious than spiritual. You can go to church; you can participate in religious activities but what is most important is; is God working through you? Are you living up to God’s expectation? That is where the demand of spirituality comes in. What has hap-

Seyi Adeyemi

pened before is the fact that a number of people have laid claim to Christianity simply by their baptismal name – I was born and my name is Peter, therefore I am a Christian. Is that really the definition of a Christian? No. A Christian is someone that has encountered Christ; given his or her life truly to Christ and has accepted to walk in his ways in all aspects of life. We can’t live people’s life for them. The role of the church will be to teach those values; insist on those values and then let people live their lives according to those values; but where people fail to live their lives according to those values, then Christ is not resident in them. Anybody can come to Church; it is a public place, it doesn’t make you a true child of God. So, the desire of the church and that’s what we are hammering on, is that time has come that Christians need to resemble Christ. And part of the ways in which we can resemble Christ is by demonstrating holiness. To a large extent, people whose Christianity is based solely on their baptisimal names without any spiritual character, have failed us. We need genuine, spiritual, God-fearing and knowledgeable people in position of governance.

different motives. If the motive for the gigantic structure is to expand the structure to accommodate more people who want to worship God; I think that’s a good motive. If the purpose of expanding the structure is to be of benefit to more people, I think that motive is great. People talk in governance that we need to do the greatest good of the greatest number. Don’t forget that to a large extent the church is bridging the gap for government. The areas where the government has failed in providing for the need of people in terms of basic needs; in terms of education; in terms of healthcare; the church has come in to bridge the gap and that is why you see that there are structures that are being built in order to fill that gap. So, I maintain my point that if the motive is to be a blessing to the people, so be it. On the other hand, if the motive is to show off; to show that my church is bigger than your own; then God is not pleased. And that is now left for individuals to decide the motives behind what they are do. The population explosion that is being experienced in the world today, particularly in our nation, is such that there’s a need to accommodate more people.

It appears there’s a competition among Churches to come up with gigantic worship centres (buildings); some critics say that’s not what the society needs at this time but to be impacted spiritually. What is your take here?

You know we can do several things with

There is the criticism that many pastors are engaging in ostentatious living nowadays on the tithe and offering of poor members. What do you have to say on this?

It is very dangerous to generalise. We cannot say that the life of a pastor must

What is your take on Christians going into partisan politics?

If you were to be a student of political science; or a student of Governance or a student of Politics, you would know actually that politics basically is the act of governance. You will agree with me that politics itself is simply a responsibility of providing for the people; that in itself is not a bad thing. That in itself puts a lot of responsibility on people. So, politics in itself is for the purpose of doing the greatest good of the greatest number. It is a fantastic thing. God himself instituted politics by putting people in positions of authority, putting kings on place; putting judges and leaders in place to rule and lead the people. Politics started right from the time of Moses when God appointed him to lead his people. So, politics in itself is not a bad thing. But when people begin to introduce things that are unhealthy into it, that is politics becomes dirty. Now, the issue basically is, I honestly believe that we Christians have no moral right or justification to complain if we sit back and don’t get involved in the political activities. And very clearly from the biblical standpoint, the Bible says, the people rejoice when the righteous are in authority. So, it is important for Christians to be a part of it. Now, the issue is, whether you will join them if you can’t beat them. There are examples, biblically-speaking of people that had been involved in politics even in ungodly and dark nations. Joseph was a politician in Egypt. The Egyptians never know God. Daniel was a politician in Babylon; we all know the story of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar; an ungodly king; yet Daniel was there. The Bible says something, ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they

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Politics ‘Why we need genuine, spiritual, ... may see your good works’. So, the question is not about the political terrain, the question is the Christian himself. If you go into politics with the right motives, then you will be incorruptible. But if you are going into politics because you want to make money, that’s where the problem begins. If people know you and what you believe and what you stand for, they won’t even want to suggest certain things to you because they know you won’t play ball with them. If you are going into politics to serve the people, not to buy votes and engage in brigandage; if people know you are bringing value into the system, they will come for you. Look at Jephthah in the Bible who was initially regarded as an outcast by his own people, but when the chips were down, those who had rejected him, went and begged him to come and deliver them. That is how it should be. We must let our light shine before men; so that we will not be the one pushing ourselves to go and serve but people will be coming to us to beg us to come and help them in governance.

A number of Churches today build schools and universities with the money contributed by members, but children of such members, particularly the indigent ones, cannot go there because of the high fees, how morally correct is that?

Listen, we need to first of all understand the fact that it is the responsibility of government, for goodness sake, to provide people with education. It is not the primary responsibility of the church. It is the government. Thank God that the church is again, bridging the gap. How many people in Nigeria today would want to send their children to public schools, even at the primary level? Go to most of the primary schools today owned by government and see the level of decay in terms of infrastructure. Even the teachers are not being paid. Secondary schools have become dilapidated and universities are on strike forever. It is because of the

Continued from page 17

has a good chance at the national level.

But again, there is also the problem of numbers, where do you have preponderance of the supporters of the candidate of the PDP or the candidate of the APC? Who are they inclined to vote for regardless of their knowledge and information at their disposal. There is still that godlike image that President Muhammadu Buhari still parades, particularly in the North. Finally, I will look at both candidates more than the party because one of the things that is clear to me today is that Nigerians are a lot wiser that nobody is going to chaperon them into going to say PDP or APC, no!

Seyi Adeyemi

fact that governance has failed that the church is now doing what government is supposed to be doing. So, if the church is trying to bridge the gap, yet we are still making comments, hitting the church and buffeting them; it is not fair. The amount of money required to build a university is not a joke. If government is struggling- go to government-owned universities and see the infrastructure there and see the ones in the private universities; you will know that people are sweating to put this money down. So, if that is the case and at the same time you want to build standard; so, the question you would have asked is; if the church has bridged the gap for government, why wouldn’t government provide scholarship for people they cannot educate to come to these schools? Why must it be the church that is responsible for everybody? The church is not a government. Now, you want to maintain the standard; pay the lecturers and other staff; that costs a lot

of money since there is no subvention coming from anywhere, they have to raise all the money and where does the money come from? It has to come from the fees. But one thing people overlook is that a lot of these private universities run by churches provide scholarship to some indigent students. Don’t also forget that these universities need to have their courses accredited; and do you know what it takes to be accredited in a particular course? These things take a lot of money. Government is not giving any help. Don’t also forget that a university built by a Church is not meant for only members of the church. So, when people go there; and in order that, that quality of education and standard have to be sustained, there has to be funding which comes from the fees. So, if you want these universities to bring down their fees, then let government also complement the church the same way the church is bridging the gap.

CUPP did not adopt Atiku because ...

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of whatever other Nigerians follow, they just go by themselves. Now, we had more troubles in the past than most of these zones. I think that the President enjoys a very strong comfort in the North East especially in the more populated part of the North East. However, if His Excellency Abubakar Atiku can offer a lot more to the people there could be a tussle in the North East. It is a shame that I don’t have any definitive winner but you should consider that the North East is very fluid , today it could be Boko Haram harassing my people, tomorrow it will be the herdsmen. Both are a little bit calm now but what do will know will happen closer to the elections? we don’t know. So, someone that can reassure them of not just security but liberty, better education and the exact security of being able to get food on the table for your family.

A lot of institutions IFC, the African Development Bank, EU even the United States are giving a lot of donations to rebuild the North East but it hasn’t trickled down to

I’ll facilitate a better standard of living...

the people. There is still a lot of anguish and a lot of uncertainty with the people. So, let’s hope the two Presidential candidates can really separate themselves and be able to assure and get through to the people.

Since it’s a part of Nigeria where there is no linguistic difference as such between the two, I am sure that whoever can coin better future to the people can get their votes.

What is your advice to Nigerians as the country march into the elections?

One of the nice things about the political time table in Nigeria is that it is very close to Christmas. Both main religions in Nigeria do believe in the source of this merriment.

The Christians see Him as the Saviour and a man of peace. The Muslims also know Him to be of Immaculate Conception and one of the greater workers of God’s will.

Even better still is that, voting starts about February 16 which is just a few days after Valentine’s Day. So this is an atmosphere of love and we should all remember that the other person that we may want to fight is as loved by his family as we are. None of

the politicians ever put their children out to go and die for them; so don’t die for any other else’s father or mother. If somebody asks you to go and fight, tell them to tell their children to do the fighting. If somebody says you should kill yourself because somebody hates your religion or Prophet or whatever, why don’t you ask them to do it first as an example? We all bleed red!

So, religion, ethnicity, part of the court that you come from does not matter, we are all loving people, we love our own, we should continue to do that. Politicians that have not represented us very well should be voted out. People that think along with us, that we know can represent us well or that have done in the past should be voted back to continue but most importantly, nobody deserves to take our lives except the God that created it. I love this country with all my heart; a Nigerian dying of unnatural reason should be too much. So it is festive period, it is a period of love let us love ourselves. If we love ourselves we will not do harm to others because it is do unto others as you want done to you.

How do you view AbiaState in terms of development initiatives?

If it is a race I will say that we started well in 1999, but over time we have lagged behind.

We have not made much progress, we are held down by the peoples’ inability to question certain situations and events around them. Again, maybe in our attempt to elect our representatives we do not make the right choices. We had in 2015 a situation where there was a balance between the PDP Assemblymen and the APGA lawmakers, but overnight what happened?

The APGA Assembly men disappeared into PDP. Of course, everybody understands how those things happen that people are usually induced to decamp.

This is for me a call for our electorate to ensure that anyone you will send to the state Assembly should be a person of consequence, who has a mind of his own and who understands that the responsibility he bears is first to his constituency and second to the administration. We are not too many in numbers in Abia, we don’t carry much burden and we have three major cities to explore. Any state in this country that has Aba alone does not have to request anything from the Federal Government, but we need to harness these and turn them around to become who we should be.

Biafra resonates 50 years after the civil war, the resurgence in the agitation for Biafra do you think it’s a product of injustice or that of the desire of a people to have their republic?

It’s not about a people seeking to break out.

Before the civil war we were one people, by virtue of the DNA we carry as Igbo people we are not contented in staying in one place. There is nowhere in the world you will not find an Igbo man, it’s impossible. It’s acknowledged nationwide that anywhere you didn’t find Igbo man better not stay there, that’s the way it’s now. We are witnessing the fact of historical injustice. When the war ended and we knew we fought a war of attrition, no attempt was made on helping to rebuild the Biafran enclave. And we also have lingering issues in the memory of the fathers and to some extent the children of this enclave. Our fathers were denied whatever money they had in the bank and they were only qualified to receive 20 pounds. Such official policy of impoverishment is what I think the Federal Government should apologiise.

There are other sentiments that give rise to some of this Biafra logic. But be that as it may, I don’t believe that Nigerians of this side called Biafra really want to break away. They want correction of some of the injustices and of the fact that we are part of the project called Nigeria.

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Politics CUPP did not adopt Atiku because of money - Balewa Dr. Abdul Jhalil Tafawa Balewa is the Co-Chairman of the National Intervention Movement (NIM) and member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP). In this exclusive interview with JAMES KWEN, the Nigerian International Medical expert and PDP Presidential aspirant in 2014 explained how Atiku Abubakar was adopted as the CUPP Presidential Candidate for the 2019 general election. Excerpts: As the Co-Chairman of the National Intervention Movement(NIM) and a member of the steering Committee of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) can you tell us why and how CUPP arrived at the decision of adopting Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential Candidate in 2019 general election? e at the steering Committee decided that we will have a selection Committee; members of the steering committee that are not Presidential candidates and some members of CUPP, especially those who were in the blueprint and manifesto committee to be able to get together. We had about three different forms worked on by members of CUPP to give the criteria to different qualities of the candidates but the letters were written and the forms were given to the parties of these Presidential candidates for them to be able to fill on behalf of the Presidential candidates of their parties and returned to CUPP for evaluation.

When this was done, there were so many different questions especially on the qualities of the Presidential candidates and what their parties have done in the past.

How many Presidential elections their parties have entered into, what offices; local offices may be Senatorial and House of Representatives and State House of Assembly they have done and so on and so forth. And five of these parties, there were about 27 parties that qualified vaguely but five of them rated above all the others.

Out of those five that were submitted by this election committee to the steering committee it was obvious that by very far, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and its candidate was shoulder higher above everybody else and that was why it was announced when we reached this conclusion that it was His Excellency, Abubakar Atiku and the PDP. So, it was deftly done. There will be questions or there were questions why the Presidential candidates were not invited to the interview and so on and so forth but if you look at the sections that everybody is talking about, we said presentations. Presentations can be written form, it can be oral, it can be in video, it can be in any of these communicative forms. But in the third paragraph it was explained that, the data of the materials submitted by the parties were not talking about individuals, they were talking about parties, it was the parties that represented their Presidential candidates. That was how it was done.

large as it used to be, it isn’t a topic that is so daring. We need to focus on issues, we haven’t seen that yet in both parties.

How do you think the decline of assent to the 2018 Electoral amendment bill

by President Muhammadu Buhari will impact the 2019 general election?

I think politicians are being touchy really because if we work very closely, even with the 2010 amendment we can still see relatively peaceful and reproducible elections.

After all, we thought that 2010 was very good. Some of the improvements on card reader and being able to report immediately and having the INEC agents being more cooperative with the political parties and so and so forth; I think there will be good improvements but even without that, we can still have a credible election. So, I don’t want us to waste time on something that isn’t. Let’s look at what we have, can we work with it? I think, yes we can.

W

The perception of the public, let’s say the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) about the choice of Atiku differs from your explanation as they said it was because of his perceived wide political tentacles, financial capacity and PDP being a strong opposition?

All of the above are correct but that was not why he was chosen. He was chosen because he was the best of all that presented. All of these factors that you mentioned combined, really made him the best possible.

Now, what can you say are the chances of Atiku and President Muhammadu Buhari

Abdul Jhalil Tafawa Balewa

who also enjoys large political support especially in the North where they both come from?

It is going to be upwardly difficult but you know it’s very much like a good boxing match, this time instead of the punches it is the ideas that will be thrown at one another. I expect a very good vibrant electoral period coming.

Are there written agreements between CUPP and PDP and its candidate, in terms of appointments when they eventually emerged victorious at the elections?

Nothing that definite has been done.

However, all the members of CUPP met with His Excellency Atiku Abubakar and His Excellency Bukola Saraki and we spoke at length and all was positive. There were glitters of participation and the Presidential candidate said there will be an all inclusive government so I assume that’s what you are alluding to.

As a patriotic Nigerian and a critical stakeholder in the politics of the country, how will you want political parties to carry out campaigns?

One of the things that is happening in these campaigns and I must really thank God for the creation of NIM because the formation of CUPP which is really based on main ideas of NIM have douse a lot of violent interventions within the political space. As I said on one of the television programmes that by now we would have been hearing of so many people limbs that are cut off, so many villages attacked, politicians attacked by other politicians and so and so forth. We do not have that.

People are a lot better educated politically and they are listening and they want to hear from the politicians what can be done for them. There has been a very good campaign against vote buying, against violence and I must say NIM and CUPP have been very very involved and are instrumental in promoting such non violent part of the

campaign. So, I expect a very good, calm, less violent political campaign with the best man winning.

Following the adoption of Atiku Abubakar as its Presidential Candidate, has CUPP collapsed its political structures into PDP ahead of the 2019 campaign?

There has been some dissent within CUPP from some of the political organisations but by and large, the large majority of the political parties have collapsed their platforms into CUPP and into the Presidential campaign of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, not necessarily into the PDP campaign structure but that of the Presidential candidate so that they may still go alone into gubernatorial, senatorial, House of Representatives and other elections but the large majority have collapsed their structures into the Presidential aspiration of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar.

As a prominent Nigerian politician from the North, what do you have to say about the allegation that the crowd present at the PDP Presidential campaign flag off in Sokoto was imported from Niger?

You know Nigeria is still evolving. We may never know where the crowd came from.

Some of the things that used to happen before is that the large number of crowd will be bought, put on trains or put on some other traffic to be able to get where voting is done. It is very difficult for anyone to say that a lot of the people came from Niger Republic since we all look the same.

However, it is quite possible. This is politics, opposition politicians will like to dent the integrity of the other party and it is what they said that they think might stick. What we should do is to focus on ideas. What is it that you can do for me that this person has not been able to do for me or what is it that am going to do for you that this other group may not be able to do. That’s what we need to focus on. These other ones are already getting out of our system, it isn’t as

All politics is local so how is the political atmosphere like in your home, Bauchi State with the sitting Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, former FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed and former Minister of Health, Mohammed Pate in the contest for governorship election?

I think the political atmosphere in Bauchi is very vibrant. Dr. Mohammed Pate, a very good politician who has his winds spread both in Nigeria and the United States would make a good Governor. The Governor has been trying to get into the populace but the former FCT Minister has been a Senator, one of the longest serving Ministers in the former administration of Goodluck Jonathan, and like Dr. Mohammed Pate comes from the larger more densely populated part of Bauchi State which is Bauchi South. There is power of incumbency with the present Governor.

So, it’s going to be a fairly good competition. I just hope there will be no violence because one person dying in Bauchi to me, is too much and I think the campaign will be very, very vibrant but it would be peaceful by the grace of God. The recent locust in Bauchi is nothing political it is just some young people got very exuberant about what culture dictates and what religion dictates and so on and so forth. But that has been calmed down and I hope that more of these youths will learn about who can do the best for them out of these three great Bauchi indigenes. I expect as I said earlier, a good fight.

Dr. Pate’s party (PRP) is relatively new even though it is an old party; it is relatively new to the large majority of Bauchi people because we have a lot of young men that never know of the existence of this old party. The two main parties and his party will have a very good slug out that will be clean, calm and may the best man win.

What can you say are the chances of Atiku Abubakar in his North East region comprising Bauchi where you are from, considering the fact that Buhari also enjoys wide support from the zone?

The North East has always been different from all of Nigeria. They go against the tide Continues on page 15

Sunday 16 December 2018

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Politics I’ll facilitate a better standard of living in my constituency- Ekeledo Reverend Sam Ekeledo is the Ikwuano/Umuahia UPP House of Representatives candidate in the coming elections. In 2002, he contested as the candidate of the defunct NRC for the same seat. In this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, the former Executive Chairman of Umuahia North Local Government Council talked about his plan for his constituency, his regrets over the state of Abia, the national politics in relation to 2019 and the agitation for secession by some groups, which he said was a product of historical injustice. Excerpts: It’s over two-and-half decades since you contested for the Federal House of Representatives as the candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), today you are back as the standard-bearer of the UPP for the Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency. How did it happen? e are interested in history and the decision of 1992 to run for the House of Representatives was hinged on one or two different factors. It was a decision we made at the time to reflect the circumstances of that era. In my view not so much has changed since 1992 to date; a period of about 26 years. It’s instructive that a whole new generation has emerged, a new crop of young men and women have come into maturity, yet virtually little has changed.

I will not place the blame on any particular person, however, my aspiration now is to get back to the federal House of Representatives and propose exactly those same bills I had in mind 26 years ago and see how they could help to rejig the system.

cottage industries in a three-year period within your constituency. That can absolve at least 360 people and of course there will be requirements to train people. We can also work out a plan for ownership and transition, that’s not a big deal. If one accepts your role as representative of the people, you must be ready to give back a lot of your earning to that your constituency.

We are ready to do so to ensure that life is facilitated to a better standard.

W

Are you saying that 26 years down the line nobody has thought of the ideas you had in mind?

Not one of them, I don’t think thinking is a special forte here in our clime, I don’t think we are deep thinkers.

What are those bills you want to sponsor now?

Close to the idea of restructuring is my own thinking that states as organ of government represents a bogusness that is not effective for political administration. I believe in what I call a two-tier administrative arrangement- Federal Government and local government. We believe the Federal Government need not retain more than 15 percent of the revenue. That way we will curb urban migration, and again Nigeria will operate on a more even way because there will be a plethora of leadership all over the place. So, it’s not just about one person emerging governor of the state and he is like the emperor, whereas there is multiplicity of leadership with 774 local government areas. It will improve things.

Do you think this idea is feasible in Nigeria given the fact that local government councils have a reputation of not performing?

We don’t have local government as they should be, what we have particularly here in AbiaState are parastatals of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. They are not councils that deliver some of those dividends of democracy. We have a situation where in terms of staffing, appointment or promotions or even sack, the local government in Abia is totally subjected to the Local Government Service Commission. On the other hand, the administrative control whether it’s budgeting or receipt of allocation, they are again

Ekeledo

subjected to the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs. Ask the Accountant General, no local government chairman can authoritatively say that what the Federal Government publishes as their allocations is what they actually receive.

In my time, you only appear at the JAC meeting and what you are given is what you take back to the council. In view of this kind of foundational deficiency, you can’t expect anything better. What I advocate is local government system as it should be, as it is practised all over the world whether it’s USA, UK, or Hong Kong. It’s a different ball game because when you are a local government chairman you are in charge.

The other two is the fact that I always believed that a more healthy and productive society is built by what we call youth acculturation. What we have today as NYSC scheme should be abrogated and in its place we should have compulsory universal military service. To me, this is the best way we could build back our nationhood. We are a divided people now, but we can build back our nationhood by making this a three-year programme. It’s universal in the sense that it’s not your graduation from the university that qualifies you, what qualifies you is attainment of a certain age across board. At 18 years you become eligible, and you will be drafted into the compulsory universal military service, so that you can actually get to serve your nation whether male or female. All this idea of trying to train people in entrepreneurship skills etc will be subsumed in the

programme. That is to say that people will pass out after three years full of skills, of discipline and of course greater zeal and sense of patriotism.

Do you think Nigeria is ripe for this kind of programme?

What are we ripe for, armed robbery?

But our system…

It’s easy, what we will do is utilise the standing army to train the reserve army, that’s it. During the three-year period, they are active, at the end they are discharged into the reserve, it’s simple. Then you carry it out in phases, every year we take a certain number. It’s for our own good and we are not lacking in military facilities, then we expand them. We are actually delaying the development of our capacity. I can tell you again that one of the things it will ensure is that there will be no crime again in this country because every other person is trained.

The third one is very dear to me, we continue with the agitation for N30,000 minimum wage for civil servants, but we cart away N13 million every month as representative of the people. The question I ask myself is that when you have been made representative of the people, does all that money belong to you alone and your family. I think we should find ways of investing it around our constituency to energise youth employment and productive capacity around.

My research shows that in a three-year period, with selfless accountability one can apply that money to set up at least 18

Are you saying you are not satisfied with the performance of the present Assembly men and women?

It’s obvious I have just enumerated three simple ideas to present, and in 26 years no one has come near any of these ideas.

Again, those who have represented us, can we do a small assessment? Yes, some of them have made impact, but I don’t think the present man we have there that after four years he is deserving of a second term.

His case is even made worse by the fact that we have in place a rotational system of doing it from one local government to the other. Why do we want to allow abuse of our system, it is a rotational system we have adopted and it has been working for us since 1999. I don’t see why the Ohuhu people should allow anybody to steal the lot of our inheritance. The consequence of that can linger, it can make life difficult. We must not allow it to happen because these are issues of justice and fairness. Any attempt to disrupt the arrangement will have catastrophic consequences.

What kind of representation do you want to offer the people of Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency?

It’s called constructive and productive engagement. It’s not about going to wear the toga of honourable member, no; it’s about ensuring that there is accessibility.

You have to see and touch your representative. That’s guaranteed, anyone who knows me will attest that I’m available. The second will be to have an engagement with the youth, and the only way I can think is creating a productive environment where they can be fully trained and engaged. I’m not going to talk about going to establish health centres and giving out machines etc. We are going to have direct productive engagement with the people. It’s the people that count.

As a former chieftain of PDP, do you think the party stands a chance to win back the presidency come 2019?

I was a member of PDP, and I can also say that they have made their mistakes and learnt their lessons. As for me, it’s not entirely an examination of party but more of a focus on the prevalent life in the society. The economy, the standard of living and those issues that affect people in the society, if we zero in on them I will then want to argue that it’s possible that PDP Continues on page 15

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Politics

2019 and hate speech: All parties are guilty Zebulon Agomuo

E

xcept the political parties in Nigeria want to be economical with the truth, none of them is free from the so-called hate speech. They verbally tear at one another with venom. But observers congregate on the opinion that it all began with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

What we see nowadays is a situation where a ruling party will be committing atrocities against the people and against the state, and at the same time intimidating people and threatening them with arrest and prosecution for verbalising their frustration.

Observers believe that the current APC government at the centre is quick to shout hate speech, but its actions and inactions are manifestly anti-people.

“If a government policy is pro-people, it would be talked about and praised, but if otherwise, it would receive castigation. You don’t beat a child and deny him the luxury of crying. That is what the APC-led government wants to do. But that cannot be possible,” Francis Ali, a publicist, said.

A public affairs analyst, Ayo OyozeBaje, noted: “Ordinarily, candidates to the various posts should be telling us what exactly they hope to do; to better our lives. But what do we read on the pages of newspapers, the online media and see on our television screen these days? Most posts and comments are nothing but murk-raking; vile-filled vituperation with character assassination, insults, innuendoes and the so-called hate speech.

“Old files are being dusted up and sooty cupboards flung open to reveal some dark and ghoulish skeletons!”

Ibikunle Amosun, who is embroiled in political schism with the national leadership of his party, who has also vowed to support an anointed godson, Adekunle Akinlade, who has moved to Allied People’s Movement (APM) in anger, pledging to work against his party at the gubernatorial election, but supporting Buhari at the presidential, recently urged politicians to shun hate speech and violent tendencies.

Apparently concerned by the rash of slanging matches going on, particularly between the two major political parties, the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and other Foreign Missions in Nigeria recently urged politicians to refrain from hate speech and violence capable of truncating the elections in the country.

The advice was contained in a cross press statement signed by the European Union (Delegation to Nigeria), France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, Australia , Austria , Bulgaria , Canada , Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

“We urge all involved – political and non-political actors – to refrain from using hate speech and take a firm stance

Adams Oshiomhole

against violence. The 2015 Peace Accords played an important role in that regard and we welcome new efforts towards that end.

“We were gravely concerned over widespread incidents of intimidation, interference and vote-buying during the recent gubernatorial elections. We were also perturbed by irregularities and violence during party primaries, and noted with particular concern that several women candidates were disenfranchised,” the statement said.

In January 2018, Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali, minister of Defence, said that the Federal Government was going to commence the monitoring of the social media to checkmate hate speeches emanating from notable Nigerians.

He announced that there was “the need by the relevant security agencies to, as a matter of urgency, tackle the propagation of hate speeches, especially through the social media particularly by some notable Nigerians.”

It would be recalled that the idea came to government when the likes of former president Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari early in the year, detailing his disappointment over the mal-administration of government and the need for Buhari to resign.

Since the Obasanjo letter, a former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida had also written on the same subject matter, and many other individuals and groups have spoken up and out against what they consider as mis-governance.

The more criticism against government mounts, the more uncomfortable government becomes, hence, the alleged move to silence critics, it appears.

A group, League of Nigerian Columnists (LNC), a few days ago, came down heavily on the Federal Government’s

Uche Secondus

move in signing the hate speech bill, blaming government for the advent of hate speeches across the country.

The group, a professional body comprising all major columnists in Nigerian newspapers, set up to ensure good governance as well as hold government accountable, at a public lecture ‘Hate Speech’, noted that the current administration set the dangerous pace.

Tola Adeniyi, a former managing director of Daily Times, and chairman of LNC, said: “Hate speech originated from the current government, the unity government that we run at the centre. Signing the hate speech bill into law is geared towards gagging the press, those who will draw attention, those who would have spoken about the deficiency of this government, the failing of this government which is all open in the market.

But they do not want people to speak against them, or shout about them. They feel they can say or talk about them, but we, Nigerians, will refuse that kind of nonsensical legislation.”

By the same token, Ray Ekpu, a renowned columnist and co-founder of Newswatch Magazine, said: “There are 26 countries out of 200 countries that have specific legislation on hate speech.

That tells you that either those countries already have legislation that can take care of something that is close to hate speech or hate speech itself or they think that the society does not need any more of such legislation in an era where people are talking about free speech.

“They also might say that they do not want any more imposition particularly in countries like Africa where normal things are turning to abnormal things.

In Africa, South Africa has legislation on hate speech; I do not know if there is any other African country but of course, we know the peculiarity of South Africa and even with that legislation, you have

Xenophobia there. What is the government doing about it?”

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the APC, on Wednesday, employed a heavy dosage of what looked like hate speech, when he verbally taunted former president Obasanjo, Uche Secondus, national chairman of the PDP and Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP. Oshiomhole said: “Nobody has ever said Buhari is a thief. But who said the other person is a thief? It was his boss (Obasanjo). When you are working with me and I say you are a thief, God will punish me if I support you. And when you are confused because your supply line has been chopped off and then you enter into a new deal, you now turned around to support the same person.

“That God that you called with your name to punish you if you support the person is about to go to work. And He will go to work in February and He will punish him thoroughly and the person he is supporting, in favour of Nigerians”.

Jude Okouwa, a lecturer with a state university, said: “The Federal Government cannot be serious about criminalising hate speech. What is hate speech by the way, and who started it all? When they came in, hatred was sown into the polity. President Buhari’s speeches are full of hatred; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s speeches rankle. If you listen to Fashola, it is hatred all the way.”

“Today, Nigeria is torn apart by the words they utter. They were voted into power based on the claim they made that they knew how to move the country forward; but more than three years now, they are full of excuses. They are not forward-looking; they keep looking down and looking back, dragging the country down with their negative aura,” Okouwa further observed.

Sunday 16 December 2018

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19 Inside Lagos

Concerns grow over high volume of illegal structures in Festac Town, Ojo, Amuwo-Odofin …LASG threatens demolition at trade fair complex, Alaba electronics market

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Stories by JOSHUA BASSEY

agos State government has raised an alarm over high volume of structures without the requisite building plan approval in Amuwo-Odofin, Festac Town and Ojo areas of the state.

The government said it has discovered many defective buildings posing danger to the occupants and the general public in the affected areas.

According to officials, the state government might be compelled to roll in the bulldozers at the Lagos Trade Fair Complex, Alaba International Electronics Market and some new estates springing up at the back of Festac Town, to avert building collapse and loss of lives and property.

Lagos has a frightening record of building collapse with several lives and property lost over the last one decade to such incidents.

It was gathered that developers in the affected had always resisted attempts by the relevant agencies of Lagos State to enforce the physical and urban development laws on the grounds that the areas are under the control of the federal authorities and not Lagos State.

But the Lagos State Building

Demolition scene in Lagos

Control Agency (LASBCA) said there would be no compromise this time, as it is set to enforce compliance with the state’s laws.

“Every house owner/developer in the state whose property is not covered by a valid building approval plan, must regularise and ascertain the structural stability of their buildings,” said Olalekan Shodehinde, the general manager of LASBCA, who led a team of inspectors to Amuwo-Odofin, Festac Town and Ojo, last week.

LASCOPA removes more expired products from superstores

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n continuation of its efforts to guarantee the safety of consumers in from unwholesome products, the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has evacuated expired products from more supermarkets in the state.

The expired products were removed from the shelve of a multi-chain store in Magodo G.R.A and along Mobolaji Johnson Way, Alausa, Ikeja during a routine monitoring exercise.

Kemi Olugbode, the general manager of the agency, said the expired products had to be evacuated from the supermarkets so as to avoid being sold to the consumers, adding that the unwholesome products would be destroyed.

She said that compliance notices had been issued pursuant to the provision of section 4(a) of the Consumer Protection Agency law with a view to protect against the marketing of goods which are hazardous to life Continuing, she said that the agency observed that some traders in the local markets, shops, retail outlets supermarkets and even the multi-chain stores were taking advantage of the festive period to sell unwholesome products at a ridiculously low price to consumers.

She stressed that the agency will not relent in the actualisation of its mandate to ensure that consumers in Lagos State are protected and get value for their money.

Shodehinde lamented that many structures within these areas were built without the prerequisite approval plans or regularisation with the agency, and as such, do not conform to the building specifications and standard of the location.

According to him, regularisation and validation of buildings are necessary to avoid disruption of trading activities, particularly at the trade fair and Alaba market where many illegal buildings have

been identified.

Shodehinde said some buildings have already been sealed at Earlylife Close, Kuje, in AmuwoOdofin, and more served with contravention/stop-work notices and within the trade fair, AmuwoOdofin and Alaba in Ojo. “Virtually all the buildings within the axis do not have appropriate approval plan even from the inception of the construction, which implies they are illegal buildings from the beginning. Some of the build-

ings sealed at Amowu-Odofin are already showing signs of distress.

“Lagos State government will not fold its arms and allow avoidable collapse which will invariably result to loss of lives and property.

The objective is to match-up with necessary infrastructural developments, to achieve a sustainable and well-planned environment,” Shodehinde said.

Olatunji Silva-Ope, assistant director, LASBCA, said that the requirements and costs of obtaining building approval plan have been made affordable for applicants.

According to Silva-Ope, every property/building must be validated and regularised in line with the specifications of approved by the physical planning and urban development laws of the state.

“This can be done by submitting ‘As built Design Drawings’ to LASPPA’s district offices or submitting electronic format of the drawings online through Electronic Planning Permit (EPP) platform,” he said.

Silva-Ope said the agency should not be seen as trying to make life unbearable for the residents.

“The motive for the whole exercise is to ensure a conducive and well-planned livable environment for all,” said Silva-Ope.

Why Lagos workers should embrace strategic planning, says Ambode

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agos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has highlighted the reason why civil servants must adopt strategic planning in service delivery, saying it will lead to better performance and increase productivity.

Ambode spoke during oneday training for top civil servants in Ikeja, where he emphasised the need for the workers to be articulate and tactical in decision making.

According to him, the leading strategist must count on the employees or members of the organisation to make sound operational decisions.

Represented by Benson Oke, his commissioner for establishments, training and pensions, Ambode said to ensure that such decisions are well made; strategic planning must be applicable and clearly related to the issues that people face.

“An effective strategy allows flexibility so that the direction of the organisation can be adapted to changing circumstances. A rigid strategic direction seldom turns out to have been the best course of action.

To assure that your organisation is nimble and able to react to changes, it is essential that your strategy is flexible and

adaptable.

“As a strategist, you will count on timely and accurate information about prevailing relevant conditions. It is essential to build and employ effective mechanisms for observing and listening to what is going on in the environment. Real-time information, in turn, must feed on-going strategic and operational shifts and deployments,” he emphasised.

The governor stated that managers of men and resources were must ensure that “your strategic team is ready to make effective decisions, look carefully in the mirror.

Yuletide: Security operatives charged on safety in CBD

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elevant agencies and security operatives have been advised to synergise their operations within the Lagos Central Business District (CBD) in this yuletide season.

Special adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Central Business Districts (CBD), Olarenwaju Elegushi stated this at a during a sensitisation programme organised for security agencies and other government agencies operating

within the Lagos Island CBD. The Lagos Island is notorious in violent crimes especially during festive seasons, as rival cult groups and two factions of a popular transportation union often clash, sometimes leading to loss of lives.

Speaking at the workshop tagged “effective team work among government security, traffic and emergency agencies”, the Elegushi said that all relevant agencies must see themselves as one and be fully

ready to ensure that security challenges associated with the high influx of shoppers and traders into the island usually experienced towards the end of the year are curtailed and well managed.

He stressed that all agencies of government must work in harmony and unity of purpose to attain the desire goals of making shopping and trading on the island stress-free.

He said “over 3 million shoppers and traders commute to the

Lagos Island daily and this number is expected to double during the yuletide. This high influx of people brings its attendant security, waste, traffic and emergency issues which only one agency cannot handle. We must therefore synchronise our operations to meet the attendant large volume of issues daily”.

He disclosed that CBD in conjunction with other government agencies will form a committee that will embark on massive joint patrol

of CBD enclaves to ensure that traffic, waste management and security challenges are addressed.

While disclosing their various strategies and plans for a hitch- free festivity within the CBD, speakers at the event drawn mainly from LASTMA, the police, street cleaners, emergency responders, the fire services, agreed on the need for proper harmonisation of functions for effective service delivery during the period.

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Focus

Endless nightmare on Lagos-Badagry Expressway ...Businesses, residents still groan 9 years on CHUKS OLUIGBO

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hen the Lagos State government under Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2009 awarded the contract for the reconstruction and expansion of the LagosBadagry Expressway to 10 lanes, with a BRT lane and a light rail track, James Okon, who resides at Okota area of the state, quickly gathered up his savings and acquired a plot of land at Okokomaiko, just off the expressway.

Okon, a banker who works at the Marina branch of a tier-2 Nigerian bank, was full of hopes.

Once the road was completed, he had thought, going to and from work would be pretty easy. He would not need to drive to work most days. He would either catch a train from Okoko to Marina and back or take a BRT. And so, a year after work commenced on the road, Okon began to build, committing every spare naira that came his way into the housing project. Block by block, his house stood completed.

Today, three years after he completed work on his fivebedroom bungalow at Okoko, Okon is still squeezed into a twobedroom flat with his family at Okota, where he pays N650,000 per year, while his house into which he has committed all his resources lies fallow. Not much progress has been made on the reconstruction work and the gridlock on the expressway does not seem like it is going away anytime soon.

“I had projected that I would move into my house in 2015, but that dream never materialized because I don’t think it is a good economic decision for someone to leave wherever he is at the moment to say he wants to go and live on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. That would be like signing one’s own death warrant.

The health, economic and social implications are just too numerous,” said Okon.

Like Okon, businesses, residents and property investors on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway are yet to heave a sigh of relief nine years after work commenced on the reconstruction and expansion of the expressway. The work has progressed at a very slow pace, leaving a sour taste in the mouth of businesses and residents as grinding gridlock leads to loss of man-hours, business opportunities, health hazards, and even deaths.

Lagos-Badagry Expressway’s strategic economic importance stems from its position as the gateway to Nigeria’s West Coast neighbours of Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, etc.

The chaotic traffic situation at Lagos International Trade Fair under-bridge, seen from atop the bridge, Thursday, December 6. Pix by Chuks Oluigbo

It is also home to West Africa’s largest electronics hub, Alaba International Market, Lagos International Trade Fair Complex which currently harbours four major markets, the proposed Badagry Deep Seaport, Lagos State University, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, the Nigerian French Language Village, among others.

When completed, the reconstruction/expansion project is expected to transform the face of Lagos, unlock the gridlock on the expressway that is prone to heavy traffic flow, and open up opportunities for greater investments and regional trade between Nigeria and its neighbours on the West Coast of Africa.

The work has, however, dragged on endlessly. BDSUNDAY’s recent tour of the road showed that apart from skeletal work on the flyover bridge around Finiger Bus-stop, the contractor handling the Lot 2 (Mile 2 to Okokomaiko) of the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. (CCECC), has practically vacated site as there was no sign of the company’s workers anywhere else.

Meanwhile, virtually all the major junctions on the expressway – from Alakija to Abule-Ado, Trade Fair under-bridge, Ojo Barracks, Volkswagen, Iyana-Iba, etc – harbour nightmarish traffic jams depending on the direction you are headed.

Businesses located on that axis are groaning. Traders at Alaba International Market told this reporter that the bad shape of the road has adversely affected volume of business activity in the market.

“When you talk of the effect on trade, the bad road has reduced trading activities in the market by more than 90 percent.

An average Alaba trader today depends on waybill to survive because the direct customers are no longer coming as a result of the bad roads,” Christian Oguike, treasurer, Alaba International Market Association (Electronics), said.

Oguike said customers coming to Alaba from some parts of Lagos, like the Island, Ikeja and environs, must access Mile 2 road before getting to the market, and those coming from the West African side, Cote d’Ivoire, Republic of Benin, Ghana and so on, also have to use the same Badagry road. But most of the customers have diverted their patronage rather than having to spend several hours and sometimes the whole day trying to access Alaba.

“No one who has had that experience would want to repeat it because of its effect even on health as well. So, directly or indirectly, it affects trading activities in the market. That is why we are pleading with the Lagos State government to do something urgently on the road. The road needs an urgent attention in

order to boost commerce. Alaba as a market employs not less than 1 million workers, directly or indirectly. The market helps the economy of not just Lagos but Nigeria as a whole. It is the hub of electronics in West Africa, but the road has messed everything up,” he said.

Maduabuchi Adiukwu, general PRO, Alaba International Market Association (Electronics), said business had been slow because of the bad state of the road.

“Some of the customers call us to complain that they spend several hours, sometimes four to six hours, on the road trying to get to the market. If you set out from your house for Alaba International Market as early as 10am and by 4pm you are still in traffic, you have no choice but to go back home, and you wouldn’t want to come back,” Adiukwu said.

“Governor Ambode tried at the inception of his administration, but for some time now work has stopped on the road. I am using this medium again to appeal to the Lagos State government to, as a matter of urgency, facilitate the project, especially now that we in the dry season, so that our customers will have easier access to us. People suffered terribly on the road last rainy season, and if the road remains this way till another rainy season, that will be disastrous,” he said.

But perhaps even more pathetic is the story of ION Filling Station, located between Ojo Barracks and Abule-Oshun on the Mile 2-bound section of the expressway. Motorists no longer use the service lane where the filling station is located as the Abule Oshun-Trade Fair under-bridge stretch of the road has failed completely. The few motorists who ply the road divert into the inner Old Ojo Road through Abule-Oshun, causing traffic jam, discomforting residents and piling pressure on Old Ojo Road, already breaking under the weight of tankers and articulated vehicles.

“The terrible state of the road has reduced our sales,” Rotimi Owokuti, manager at ION Filling Station, said. “Before now, we used to sell up to 20,000 litres of petrol per day, but now, because of the bad state of the road, our sales hover between 2,000 and 3,000 litres a day. The worst is the bad spot between Abule-Oshun and the Trade Fair under-bridge.

Sometime ago we even tried to see whether we could repair that bad spot but we didn’t have the resources.”

When reconstruction work on the expressway gathered momentum in 2016, in the early days of the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, businesses, residents and road

users began to cheer, reawakening the hope of the massive development that the completion of the road would bring about in the area.

“It’s going to really help everyone that has a business along this area and also bring about so much development. People don’t want to come and work or live here because of the traffic they experience. But if the road is completed, I believe this area will also measure up with other parts of Lagos in civilization and development,” Emmanuel Oshobajo, then manager at ION Filling Station, had told BDSUNDAY. “Businesses will thrive and people will come, knowing they can drive down to this place without traffic. Hopefully, the train section will also come on board, and considering that Badagry is just around the corner, with a seaport being planned around there, all this will bring development to this area beyond imagination,” he had said.

But then, the work had slowed again, dashing all hopes and expectations. It has now completely stalled following Governor Ambode’s failure to secure his party’s ticket for his second-term bid. It is the belief of many that nothing may be done on the road until a new government comes onboard in Lagos State in 2019.

But a ranking official of the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure said the government is not unaware of the trauma the residents and motorists go through on the road.

The official, who pleaded not to be quoted, however, said the section of the expressway stretching from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko remains under contract, and as a result, there is a limit to which the government can directly intervene on those critical areas like the Trade Fair under-bridge.

What the government is doing, the official said, is to encourage the contractor, CCECC, to fix some of the very bad portions so as to ameliorate the situation.

He, however, admitted that the contractor had been starved of funds, which poses a major challenge to the road construction.

“The point is that the contractor is awaiting payment,” said the official, adding that the outcome of the October 2 All Progressives Congress (APC) state primaries and the campaigns for 2019 general elections were taking a toll on the progress of work on the road.

“But the government is not folding its arms. On December 5, a team led by a director from the ministry was dispatched to see what is happening on the road following avalanche of complaints, especially around the Trade Fair axis,” said the official.

BDLife Sunday 16 December 2018

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LIFE&LIVING

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It’s Christmas,

Shop on Budget

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Life&Living

Dressing appropriately for the occasion

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Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

ecember is typically the ‘turn-up’ season in Lagos. It is the time when there’s a party or event almost every single day, and of course everyone wants to look their best because you never can tell who you would bump into at the event. This is Lagos and believe it or not there are weddings every single Saturday of the year.

Sometimes you might even have two or more weddings to attend on the same day, especially this Christmas season.

Well, since it’s grooving season this holiday and everybody is out to slay and not leave the slaying to the “I just got back” (IJGBs) – a name typically given to people who live or study abroad and just come back to Nigeria for the holidays; I thought it right to write some things about dressing appropriately for different occasions and how to avoid going over board, because sometimes, it really is best to keep it simple and classy.

Apparently, some people think it’s ok to just look pretty and get going and sometimes some people just get so distracted and caught up in the excitement of going to flaunt their sexy selves to the available eligible bachelors at Lagos weddings.

Thereby forgetting that there are several unwritten rules for wedding guests. Apart from the basic character and etiquette expected of you at a public function e.g arriving on time, making sure you bring your invitation, eating appropriately, not looking for take away food or drinks e.t.c guests are also expected to dress a certain way. Here are some tips I’d really like you ladies to hold on dearly to when

going for a wedding; 1. Don’t wear anything that’s too revealing. Remember that it’s not a club party and although the couple and their friends are young happening people, their parents, aunties, uncles, bosses and older relatives would be present.

Anything too tight would look trashy.

You can wear a nice strapless dress but make sure the length is appropriate. When showing legs remember to cover up your chest and if you feel like a

little cleavage wouldn’t hurt then make sure your dress sits comfortably on your knees or just a little above. Always remember to do things in moderation.

Nobody likes the uncomfortable stares of judging eyes.

2. Never wear white. You don’t want to compete with the bride on the happiest day of her life. It’s not a “who wore it better” competition, it’s her special day so let all the attention be on her.

3. I wouldn’t wear black to a wedding either, this is because black is a gloomy sad colour and a wedding is a happy occasion. If you absolutely must wear a black dress, make sure you brighten it up with a little colour in your accessories and shoes. All black from head to toe is a big no-no for such a joyful occasion.

4. Some of you ladies plan to dance the day away, especially when the couple is a relative or a very close

friend and so you make up your mind to wear flat sandals or flat plain pumps which are not formal enough for weddings. Add class to your dressing by wearing heels and if you are not a high heel wearing person then try wearing sparkly embellished flat pumps or sandals instead of bland plain ones.

Ijeoma Azubuike, a celebrity stylist based in Lagos says that a real issue with ladies and dressing appropriately is the inability to mix and match. “ Alot of women don’t know how to mix clothing items perfectly. Some things should be downplayed if there is already something loud, prominent or eye-catching already in the mix.

For example, you should not reveal cleavage and legs at the same time.

Something should give for the other.

If your lipstick is bright red, then try to keep the eye makeup subtle,” Ijeoma told BDSunday.

For music concerts and festivals this December, try to be as comfortable as possible, especially because you’ll be on your feet dancing almost throughout the event. Remember that you can look chic, classy and comfortable all at the same time. “If you are not a fan of sneakers or flat shoes then wear the most comfortable pair of heels you have that are not very high,” Aduke Olatunji, event planner in Lagos advises.

For official Christmas parties, remember that you will be in the midst of corporates and professionals. Of course you don’t have to be all professionally dressed up like you’re going to work, but try and keep it classy and decent. Nothing too trashy or revealing, as you wouldn’t want your boss having second thoughts about you.

A nice midi dress, jumpsuit, classy top and trousers will do just fine.

It’s Christmas, shop on budget IFEOMA OKEKE

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nce again, Christmas is around the corner. As much as the festive period ushers in love and sharing, it is also a time to spend more on gift items and quality presents for family members, friends, and colleagues.

However, to avoid stressful shopping and especially, running bills that will deflate one’s pocket this festive season, you need to have a shopping plan or rather, a spending budget. The budget will enable you to know how much to spend, items to buy, where to buy and when to buy because rates are usually high at the peak of festive seasons.

As simple as the shopping budget sounds, it is effective. It will help you to be organized and more prepared going into the New Year with less debt and more money in your pocket!

For many, while the lights are up and the tree decorated, there is nothing under the Christmas tree yet. You

may not have bought a single present or even budgeted for presents. Here are nine easy, last-minute Christmas shopping tips for busy people trying to do their shopping on a budget.

Make a shopping list Write down the list of people you plan on buying gifts for. Critically consider who should be on your gift list and do not be afraid to trim it.

Start with your immediate family and close friends, and selectively add to your list from there.

Set a spending limit Many people overspend on Christmas gifts by letting their emotions get the best of them. It is easy to feel guilty when it comes to holiday spending. You do not need to spend N100,000 on every one of your nieces and nephews.

Figure out the total amount of money you want to spend on presents, and divide it up among each person on your list.

For example, if you decide to spend N200,000 on presents, that

might be N80,000 for your spouse, N50,000 for your parents, and so on. And if this is the season to pop the big question, there are ways you can save money on engagement ring.

It is the thought that counts, not the price tag.

Pay in cash The easiest way to not go into debt is to use cash instead of credit to buy gifts. You will be forced to stick to your budget. When you use a credit card, it is way too easy to lose track of how much you have spent and on who. Plus, an extra N10,000-N5,000 here and there go unnoticed but add up quickly.

Use the cash budget – you will thank yourself in January when you do not have any Christmas debts to pay.

Shop by yourself If you shop alone, you will likely spend less money, especially if you have friends with poor money habits. A shopping partner can distract you from your plan by convincing

you to buy something unplanned and unnecessary. It is very easy for someone else to spend your money.

This is the season to give, not buy This is the season for giving, not receiving. If you find something you cannot live without, add it to your wish list. If nobody buys it for you, pick it up on sale after Christmas for yourself.

Shop for sales at discount stores To get the most out of your holiday budget check out the discount stores where you can find discounted items and great deals. To save even more, look to buy discounted gift cards to pay for your purchases.

If you shop exclusively online, remember Amazon may not always have the best price. Be sure to check out eBay, Walmart, and specialty stores.

Do not go crazy on the kids How many toys can a child play with at once? You got that right – one. Try this gift-giving idea where each child

gets four presents: a want, a need, a wear and a read. There are a lot of ways to save money on babies and toddlers too.

Wrap a lot If you are giving a Christmas gift that has several parts to it – tools, an outfit, kitchen utensils, – wrap up each item individually. Your recipient will have more to unwrap and a fun time doing it. If you care about doing an awesome wrapping job, learn how to wrap a present.

Buy a combined gift You can save money while still giving great gifts by giving a slightly more expensive gift to two or more people instead of buying individual gifts for every person.

For instance, items such as video games, board games, play sets are perfect combined gifts for children.

For couples, you can go for an experience, weekend getaway among others, while framed family photo, tickets for shows are good ideas for families.

Sunday 16 December 2018

Off Duty With

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BDSUNDAY 23

Bolatito Adebola Mobile: 08053859391, email - iambolatito@gmail.com twitter - @iambolatito

Top Businessman, Tunde Ayeni remains unscathed

Funke Opeke honored

he unfolded scenario about what happened to this top Lagos bizman, Tunde Ayeni, last week is not in any way palatable; but the enterprising and debonair corporate guru is one person that cannot easily be relegated when it comes to corporate issues that are knotty and very volatile. Contrary to the recent unwholesome yet to be substantiated allegations surrounding him as the former Chairman of defunct Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank, that he was hounded by the antigraft agency, will not rattle or unsettle him. The mercurial lawyer-turned-businessman has remained undaunted, even in the face of stiff oppositions to his being derogated by his adversaries. Reportedly, he was said to have arrested and subsequently

o person has ever been honoured for what he or she did not receive, but honour has always been the reward for what they give to deserving and their immediate environment. This perhaps justified why the dynamic businesswoman, Funke Opeke, CEO MainOne, was honored by the Data Centre Dynamics as Business Leader of the Year at the Data Centre Dynamics (DCD) Awards in Royal Lancaster, London on Thursday, December 6, 2018. The Business Leader of the Year Award is the recognition of a company or individual that has done the most over the past 12 months in review, to build the profile of the data centre industry to key stakeholder groups, including investors, shareholders, financiers, the media and or government.

Selected by an independent

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detained by the agency for alleged monumental fraud committed while he was chairman of the bank. There are, however, now clear and emerging indications that he was never arrested or detained, but was only invited for questioning and interrogation by the anti-graft body, after which he was released.

Rumour peddlers, however,

went to town with malicious stories that Tunde Ayeni was indeed detained at the Abuja office of the agency, which is not the true position of things. Many are even mouthing that the financial expert and businessman of note is not having the best of times, and this is not again agreeable with the solid pedigree of the industrious and

well-composed man, over the many allegations being levelled against him. Tunde Ayeni, as all now know, has since been released unconditionally, dispelling the rumours making the rounds that he was arrested and detained by the agency. This must have put the rumour mongers to shame, as the man of substance has no skeleton in his cupboard to hide, because if he had any, he wouldn’t have willingly submitted himself to the invitation of the agency, and eventually released. To boot, his business empire, with many and diverse interests, which many even touted as having suffered a big setback and blow, is still flourishing and ever solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, without any threat of extinction, as his detractors are trying to make people believe.

Segun Agbaje roots for wife @ 50

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hen a man has plunged himself into his work and career for many years at the detriment of his immediate family, it is only meet and proper to set aside a day or period when his other half hit the golden age of 50. And to celebrate 50 years on earth in good and sound health is a thing of joy and a milestone, so when one adds another year to his or her age on earth, albeit eventful and momentous, especially when it is a milestone age like golden age, he or she deserves all the celebrations known to humanity. This is the lot of the daughter of Nigeria’s first female chartered accountant, Toyin Olakunri, Derin Agbaje, wife of astute and consummate banker,

Segun Agbaje, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank.

The man decided to celebrate his wife of inestimable value who had stood by him through thick and thin over the years. Little wonder, Segun Agbaje, regardless of his tight schedule rolled out the drums to savour his wife, Derin in her moment of joy and splendour. Part of the golden jubilee celebration galore is the globe-trotting schedule of the couple in company with their selected friends and family, wallowing in the euphoria of the august occasion and also so reminisce of the good old days when their love, which eventually culminated in marriage was still maturing and now still blossoming. Segun and

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Derin Agbaje most have had a swell time during this period and will always

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from one neighborhood to the other in anticipation of the Xmas and new year season. Right now, the son of National chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Party, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a former two-term governor

panel of data centre experts from hundreds of entries from across the world, Opeke was recognized for her role in leading her company, MainOne, to success in West Africa, taking on the task of building a Tier III Certified Data Centre from the ground up with cables connecting it to the rest of the world, as well as her ability to assert herself, deliver results and actively take on challenges within a male-dominated field while encouraging other women in her team to do the same.

The Aura of Otunba Subomi Balogun

have similar opportunities to replicate this many year to come.

Loatsad Boss, Seyi Tinubu goes SANTA!

he man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own, and he is thought of mainly as a jolly good fellow in full red, just like the Christmas season is in the moment, but many do not know that Santa Claus is the real reason for the season. According to history, from time immemorial, Santa Claus is a cheerful and generous giver, and this is where our subject in this story falls in. The wavemaking LOATSAD boss, Seyi Tinubu has been making good statements with his philanthropic gestures of late, especially in this Yuletide. This season is not an exception for this youthful and enterprising Seyi, has he doled out sundry gift items to the less privileged, indigent and the have-nots,

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of Lagos state, this young but very enterprising guy, Seyi Tinubu is the sing-song on the mouths of indigenes, and will make a bold statement when the time comes to ripe what he has been showing honestly and in-

discriminately, although his primary occupation now his is job which he is committed to wholeheartedly without any let or hindrance. He has now made himself known to his people, and they have accordingly recognized him as their son, in whom they are proud of. Away from his father’s solid pedigree as a politician, Seyi Tinubu, has been a cheerful giver, in his homestead, Lagos base, and he has never stopped doing good things for the people; just as he and his team at Loatsad Promomedia started doing same for the visually impaired children of Pacelli School for the Blind, Surulere, Lagos. That’s the hallmark of a humanitarian without boundaries and this is exactly what Seyi Tinubu represents.

f there is one thing that many famous, successful and wealthy individuals often complain about, it is the fact that they don’t totally enjoy the luxury of privacy.

They are either being stalked by news hounds who want to know some things about their lifestyles to whet the appetite of curious readers or some hangers-on for personal advantage. Interestingly, here in Nigeria, Olori Omo Oba, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Chairman, First City Monument Bank, FCMB has fairly carried on without so much intrusion into his private life. This, perhaps, explains why many are wont to say he is a mystery of sorts.

Some of his business associates and contemporaries are said to claim that he is almost

inaccessible. In fact, you can hardly catch up with him at public functions because he rarelyhonourssuchinvitations with his physical presence.

The name, Otunba Subomi Balogun, means many things to many people. To some, the name stands for courage, tenacity, while it means inventiveness, brilliance and distinction to others. Balogun, a colossus in the Nigerian money market, is a man of excellence, integrity; he is also a trail-blazer and pioneer extraordinaire in the sector.

Although he was trained as a lawyer, he came into the financial sector just when the country was seriously in need of top intellectuals like him. In no time, he reshaped the industry and became a household name.

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Arts Meet the next art masters at ‘La Floraison’ OBINNA EMELIKE

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f you are a fan of legendary visual artists, that is fine and thanks for following the ‘big names’. Of course, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Yusuf Grillo, David Dale, Kolade Oshinowo, El Anatsui are top among the living art masters today.

Yet, there are interesting and emerging visual art legends out there. They are masters in their own rights not necessarily by age but by their creative ingenuity, mentorship, impact on younger artists and the art scene generally.

However, while there are many emerging masters, there are 15 artists that standout and are already stepping into the ‘big shoes’ of the living art legends. Aptly called the next masters, these 15 great artists were unveiled on December 8, 2018 at La Floraison (The Bloom 1), a revealing exhibition at Alexis Galleries on 282 Akin Olugbade Street, Off Idowu Martins, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The exhibition, which is the first edition of La Floraison is featuring 30 incredible works by15 great visual artists who have become art masters overtime with their creative pieces of works. The highlight is that each

A painting by Sam Ovraiti

artist is exhibiting two of his most breathtaking works, hence there are going to be masterpieces on display.

These next art masters are: Segun Aiyesan, Sam Ovraiti, Duke Asidere, Dominique Zinkpe, Zinno Orara , George Edozie, Fidelis Odogwu, Diseye Tantua , Reuben Ugbine, and Abiodun Olaku.

Others are; Gab Awusa , John Oyedemi, Alex Nwokolo, Edosa Ogiugo, and Gbenga Offo.

More also, these artists have stood the test of time and hence

‘Two weeks in Lagos’ movie set to premiere soon Ifeoma Okeke

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ovie lovers are in for a thrill and an exciting moment as ‘Two Weeks in Lagos’, a faith based movie is set to premier soon.

Speaking during the press briefing to announce the movie at the RCCG olive Banana Island Lagos, Kathryn Fasegha, director and writer said, “The movie is a faith based movie; a Christian movie that promotes true love. The movie centers on two characters with very strong Christian believes and moral ethics. The story takes them through twist and turns, trying to validate the authenticity of their Christian faith and the moral ethics they hold so chastely to.

According to her, the movie is not centered primarily on making money but on bringing out the true value of Christianity, promoting true love, answering many questions as regards true love and resolving doubts about the existence of true love.

Present at the press briefing were some of the movie characters ranging from Toyin Abraham, Joke Silva, Beverly Naya, Deyemi Okanlawon and several others According to Beverly Naya one

of the casts, she said, “I Love the simplicity of the movie. It has helped me in my spiritual life. When I read the script, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the movie, because I will be using my role to bring people closer to God and I’m very excited about it.

According to Toyin Abraham, “This movie is totally different from my kind of movies. I put on a totally different character from my real identity. I have never been a quiet character in a movie, one who always gave quite responses and peaceful advice. In this movie, I sought out for everyone’s good and comfort over mine. This movie made me realize I could be such.

And I’m grateful to the writer and director.

Joke Silva who couldn’t hide her excitement about the movie. She said “I’m thrilled to be one of the casts in this movie. The writer just told a story that has been burning in my heart for years. My role in the movie is just an exciting one and I will be teaching younger ones what true love really is.

For Deyemi Okanlawon, he irrevocably fell in love with the movie the first time he got an idea of the storyline. “The director is just the best to work with; other characters are amazing and supporting. In short this is just the best crew to work with,” he added.

were all critically considered and selected to sustain the drive to hold The Next Masters exhibition every year in Alexis Galleries.

On the reason to visit to see these great works, Patty Chidiac Mastrogiannis, founder/director, Alexis Galleries and also the curator of the exhibition, said, “Their works are an exquisite crossover between traditional and contemporary art, a skill they have impressed on global art connoisseurs, in their various exhibitions across the world. They have

achieved this feat by brilliant fidelity to their traditional roots, while also playing in the contemporary artistic genre”.

She noted further that Alexis Galleries wishes to establish an ongoing relationship with the commune of artists, so that, together everyone can renew and sustain their artistic vision for mutual benefits and for the good of the respective communities and countries.

Moreover, whenever you visit, lookout for an interactive op-

portunity with the artists, see and buy their works. On hand to receive you are Duke Asidere, a celebrated contemporary artist with a keen following locally and internationally, as well as, realistic paintings and functional structure

by Diseye Tantau among others.

As w e l l , Sa m Ov r a i t i w h o brings his gentle and philosophical soul to his works awaits your visits, while Zino Orara and George Edozie feature paintings that delight the eyes.

The exhibition runs till December 22, 2018 and is supported

by Pepsi, Maikano, Delta Airline, Amarula, Nederburg, Cobranet Internet Service Provider, Cool FM, Wazobia FM/TV, Chocolate Royal, The Avenue Suites, Art Café and The Homestores Limited.

It is worthy of note that in eight years, Alexis Galleries has engaged in the presentation and dissemination of contemporary art in the media of painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture.

It has established itself rapidly as one of the best galleries in Nigeria, a meeting place for artists, collectors and enthusiasts of art.

Visiting to see these works at Alexis Galleries and other exhibitions ongoing at other galleries across the country will truly engage you this festive season.

Felix King bags Lifetime Achievement Award in the US

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or an umpteenth time in 2018, Dr. Felix King Eiremiokhae, the Africa rising entrepreneur cum philanthropist, has been honoured with the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award by Donald Trump, president, the United State of America.

Dr. Eiremiokhae was decorated with the honour in the United State of America last week.

According to the letter to the honoree from the White House and signed

by President Trump, the US President said, “Congratulations on receiving the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.”

“You have served as a model of the American spirit. Your many hours of service have strengthened the bonds of cooperation and trust that bring people together, while helping to address some of the greatest challenges of our time.” He said “One of our Nation’s greatest strengths remains the compassion of our everyday citizens, who give so willingly of themselves and their lives for the benefit of others.”

Trump ended by saying, “Thank you for your enduring commitment to serving your community and our Nation.

I trust that you will continue to work for the betterment of others and even stronger future for the people.”

Dr. Eiremiokhae who had brought back to conscious of the people in Nigeria the International Widows Day through the Felix King Foundation works in empowering indigent widows across Africa had won several awards

and honours in that regards.

After receiving the award, Dr. Eiremiokhae stated that, the least he could expect this year was an honour from his mentor and president of the United States of America.

“It was delightful to be one of the African entrepreneurs and philanthropists to earn this award. This will only invigorate me to do more and help the indigent women across Africa,” he added.

Early in the year, Dr. Eiremiokhae was conferred with honorary Georgia Citizen of State of Georgia by the State of Georgia and Doctor of Philosophy from Trinity International University of Ambassadors.

At that time, the Secretary of the

Felix King Eiremiokhae

State of Georgia, Brain P. Kemp, said the award affords Dr. Eiremiokhae to travel to other states, and to nations beyond the borders of the United States of America, or wherever he may hereafter travel or reside with the ease and privileges of a citizen.

Reading the proclamation on the Senate Capitol in the State of Georgia, Gloria Butler, Senator representing District 55 of the state described Eiremiokhae as a philanthropist extraordinaire.

According to her, Eiremiokhae started his Foundation in 2015 without enlisting the support of people and institutions, but with key objective of giving hope to the poor and vulnerable widows and their children in communities across Nigeria through different programmes such as business start-up initiatives, farm aids programme, free food distribution, educational grant and medical aids are in line with the principles the people of Georgia live by.

“In the process, the Foundation has helped more than 1000 women and 3000 children. Much like the State of Georgia, Felix is interested in the protection of women and children,” she added.

In 2016, Dr. Eiremiokhae through his Foundation presented a bill to the Edo State House of Assembly, to help more widows Dr. Eiremiokhae is the founder of Mayor Biscuit Company (MABISCO), a growing biscuit brand in Nigeria, Oracle Experience, a 360 degree experiential marketing agency in Nigeria with capacity to compete globally.

Sunday 16 December 2018

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Arts Femi Odugbemi, ace filmmaker with plethora of awards

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t the recently held Zuma Film Festival in Abuja, the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), under the auspices of the Nigeria Film Society, honoured renowned filmmaker Femi Odugbemi with the Movie Rock of Fame Award.

According to Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, the managing director the body, in his nomination letter to Odugbemi, the Lifetime Achievement award is “to recognize and reward excellence and immeasurable contributions towards the growth of the film industry.”

Organised by NFC as part of the film festival, which is now in its ninth edition, the awards truly go to deserving movie makers.

So far, the year 2018 has certainly been good for the prolific filmmaker. From being inducted in June as a Voting Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Organisers of the annual OSCAR awards) in the United States, to being appointed as the MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy Director for West Africa.

Between 2002 and 2006, Odugbemi was president of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN) where he

Femi Odugbemi

championed professional training and workshops for the then nascent Nollywood industry. He also led the organisation of the Lagos Forum on Cinema and Video, which focused on the business of content marketing and film distribution.

Odugbemi’s career in

the film industry boasts of many milestones. He was the pioneer and three-time Head Judge of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA). He has also served as a head of jury of the Uganda Film Festival in Kampala for three consecutive years. He is a co-founder

and executive director of the popular iREP International Documentary Film Festival, which has gathered filmmakers from across the globe to Lagos in the last eight years. iREP has provided training and workshop opportunities free of charge to many emerging filmmakers

Burna Boy, Wande Coal, Teni, Daddy Lush celebrates women Showkey for GOtv Boxing Night 17 …Mercy Johnson, Tubo win big

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he Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, will on December 28, 2018 host the heavyweight clash between music and boxing. The occasion is GOtv Boxing Night 17, which is tagged “Boxing Jams Music”. Performing live at the show are Burna Boy, Wande Coal, Teni da Entertainer and Daddy Showkey.

With its combination of boxing and music, the event, according to Flykite Productions, the organisers, is the ultimate entertainment package for the festive season.

“Music and boxing are major sources of entertainment.

It is why we have contracted four of the country’s top musical acts to add plenty of spice to the show, which will feature eight bouts, including the World Boxing Federation Intercontinental super feath-

erweight title bout. Our aim is to provide a well-rounded, year-end entertainment package for Nigerians,” said Jenkins Alumona, managing director, Flykite Productions.

He added that adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure fans feel safe in and around the event venue.

“Security is very important. One of our partners, KSquare Security, is a leader in the sub-sector. The firm is vastly experienced in handling events of this magnitude. In addition, we will also have government security personnel. There is nothing to fear. Since the event began in 2014, there has not been a single untoward incident in and around the venues we have used. This event is conceived with the family in mind,” he explained.

especially those focused on the less glamorous documentary film genre. Odugbemi through iREP has convened academics, intellectuals, historians and filmmakers under one umbrella to integrate their artistic vision, with thematic explorations of archiving, post-colonial narratives, cultural renaissance, impact of new media and technology on storytelling and many other salient inter-disciplinary approaches to film engagement.

Odugbemi established his pedigree as a documentarist of international repute with documentary titles like the AMAA-Best Documentary film ‘Bariga Boy’ and many others.

The general focus of his documentary work has been to preserve our culture, as well as, use film as an advocacy tool to bring to fore burning issues in the society, as a way of keeping the leaders in check. His most celebrated documentary is the award-winning ‘Makoko’ a story on poor primary school education in Makoko, a slum nestled in the Yaba area of Lagos. Makoko brought to light the impoverished state of the community, which attracted well meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the

at the ELOY Awards

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nce again, women from all walks of life were celebrated at this year’s edition of the Exquisite Ladies of The Year (ELOY) Awards. The awards, which is now in its 10th edition was spectacular this year with the collaboration of Lush Hair, a fashion and lifestyle brand, from the stable of Lucky Fibres PLC. The highlight of the glamorous event was the presentation of awards across 21 categories to deserving women who through their reputation and influence have made the society a better place.

Out of the 21 categories, Lush Hair sponsored Fashion Designer of the Year and Actress of the Year.

The Fashion Designer of the Year category had seven nominees including; Nonninstics, Style Temple, Tubo, Moofa Fashions, Wani Fuga, Imad Eduso and Gozel Green. The category was eventually won by Tubo.

As expected, the Actress of the Year category of the award witnessed more nominations including; Mercy

residents.

Perhaps, where Odugbemi really displayed his ingenuity has been in the television space where he was a founding producer of Tinsel, one of the longest running TV series in Africa. His current production ‘Battleground’ is one of the most watched TV series on Africa Magic channel, attracting millions of viewers to its compelling narrative of love, betrayal and revenge.

What really stands Odugbemi out among his peers is his quest for excellence.

Expressing gratitude for the award, Odugbemi urged young filmmakers to pursue artistic excellence in their work.

“It is good to show all the glitz and glamour but if the essence of your story is lost, then you have not done a job. We need to find that untold story that reflects our history and the magic of the African culture more, not cloning stories informed only by pecuniary gains.

Our stories should not only entertain but also inform and inspire. Filmmaking is a powerful tool, which most of us are yet to fully grasp.

Nollywood can and should be the most powerful voice of the black race.”

L-R: Sukhmbir Pannu, brand manager, Lush Hair; Sandrah Tubobereni (Tubo), winner, Fashion Designer of the Year Award, and Oluwatoyin Iyoha, marketing representative, Lush Hair, at the ELOY Awards in Lagos.

Johnson Okojie for her role in Seven and a Half Dates, Toyin Abraham in Ghost and a Tout, Bimbo Ademoye in Backup Wife, Bisola Aiyeola in Payday, Zainab Balogun in Sylvia, Chioma Omeruah in Crazy People and Bukunmi Oluwashina in Ranti.

But Mercy Johnson Okojie won the category with her wonderful role in Seven and a Half Dates.

Congratulating the winners of the awards, Sukhmbir Pannu, brand manager, Lush Hair, revealed that the two categories were

sponsored because they are from industries in Nigeria that have supported and allowed women to express their creativity.

“Lucky Fibres, the parent company of Lush Hair, has supported ELOY Awards for the past five years. This year, our newest brand, Lush Hair, is supporting the event because it is in line with the brand vision. The Lush Hair brand stands for confident, modern and trendy women. And that is what ELOY Awards is all about”, Sukhmbir said.

“In the fashion and movie industry you find women exhibiting their strength and passion. Both winners in the categories sponsored by Lush Hair are women who are on top of their games as an actress and as a fashion designer respectively.”

In her remarks, Tewa Onasanya, CEO, Exquisite Magazine, the organiser of the Eloy Award, said Eloy awards is meant to celebrate and bring to limelight hard working women who against all odds have thrived in their chosen fields and careers. “ E LOY Aw a r d s i s a n award for recognition, honour and respect. This evening is for hard working ladies to get celebrated for having done great, not just for themselves, but also for the society.”

Sandrah Tubobereni, creative director Tubo, and the winner of the Fashion Designer of the Year Award, received Lush products in addition to the award. The surprised winner thanked the organisers of the event and Lush for sponsoring the category.

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Entertainment

DBanj, Davido, Tiwa Savage, others to perform at ‘Born in Africa Festival’

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he biggest names in Africa’s creative and entertainment industry will be showcasing their immense talent at the Born in Africa Festival (BAFEST) on December 16, 2018 at Eko Atlantic City. The event, which is powered by Access Bank and brought to life by Livespot, is a celebration of the unparalleled dynamism of the African spirit.

In line with the theme of the event, which is retelling the African story, the organizers have put together an impressive lineup of artistes including Awilo Longomba, Sho Madjozi, Olamide, Tiwa Savage, Timaya, Davido, Kizz Daniel, Yemi Alade, Falz, Dbanj, Burna Boy, Flavour and other surprises.

Not leaving out other facets of the creative industry, some of Africa’s most prolific models and fashion designers such as Oluchi, Millen, Magese, David Tlale, Torlowei, Blingshiki and Tiffany Amber will also be showcasing.

Confirming the upcoming event, Tiwa Savage said, “I am delighted to be a part of Born in Africa Festival. This feels like Coachella Live in Africa and I can’t wait to give the best of African sounds to the World.”

The festival is designed to celebrate music, art, film and fashion which promote the African story

to a global audience.

“We are proud to be showcasing the best of African vibes at this historic event. It is the climax of all our efforts to change the Nigerian and African narrative,” said Amaechi Okobi, group head, communications and external affairs, Access Bank Plc.

“Our string of event partnerships such as the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Art X Lagos, the African International Film Festival and the finale, the Born in Africa Festival all aim to change the continent’s negative narrative as well as to project it as a hub for entertainment and creativity.

BAFEST is a day-long event which kicks off at 9am with the Fashion, Art and Film Park, where various artistes and fashion designers will exhibit their works, while some of Africa’s finest Filmmakers will host movie screenings. The main concert featuring Africa’s biggest talents starts at 6pm,” Okobi said.

M-Net announces Animania Festival on DStv

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ome of magic movies, M-Net says it will kickoff its Animania festival on M-Net Movies Smile channel. The festival will not only offer some of the best animated movies around, but is expected to spark the creative genius in everyone with arts and crafts ideas, games, singing and dancing throughout the festive season.

Adorable, irresistible band of fun-loving CGI-animated playmates, the Zanies, who debut this year, are Princess Puff a stylish, sassy, sweet and super smart 10 years old human with a magic wand as well as Singo Star who is regarded as a true performer, an extrovert, outgoing, confident, optimistic and talented human aged nine.

“M-Net is proud to offer subscribers the best in entertainment in all M-Net Movie channels. The festive season is a great time for family and friends to come together, and we are making those moments extra special with world-class content on our platforms,” said Martin Mabutho, chief customer officer MultiChoice.

Among the movies that will also be screened on M-Net Movies Smile all day long are Moana, Trolls, Escape from Planet Earth, The Lego Batman alongside many other great stories like Norm of The North, Sing and Maya The Bee.

Top celebrities attend MTV Base ‘Back To The 90s’ party

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ust before the Christmas season gets hectic with an array of ticketed events, a free-entry ‘Back to the 90s’ themed party was organised

by MTV Base and refreshed by Coca-Cola with support from Tecno Mobile.

The event, Club MTV Base, which took place at Quilox Night Club, VI on December 8, saw both celebrities and fans dancing the night away in their favourite ‘90s outfits.

The celebrities in attendance include Olamide, Juliet Ibrahim, Chike, Sensei Uche and SMADE, one of UK’s biggest concert promoters.

And then there was DJ Colex, who had the crowd excited with a spectacular music mix of thrill-

ing songs from the same era.

DJ TTB, host of MTV Base DJ Takeover, also had his visual mix of thrilling songs from the 90s which featured both local and foreign hit songs.

Before getting enthralled by the DJ performances, guests were welcomed to the club with an array of Coca Cola Mix cocktails and an entertaining Tecno Mobile photobooth.

At t e n d e e s a t t h e e v e n t danced long into the night as the ambience of the event became increasingly elated.

Many in attendance at the event showed appreciation to the brands who put the event together and only had one question after the event: ‘When’s the next one?’

MTN, MUSON cap the year with donors’ concert

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t was a night filled with serenading performances from students of the School of Music as MTN Foundation and the Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON) hosted the society’s donors to an appreciation concert in recognition of their continued support in the year.

The star-studded event, which held on December 10 at the Agip Recital Hall of the MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos, saw MUSON board members, prominent donors, friends of the Society and MTN Foundation officials reflect on a successful year in the cultural and creative space and pledge their support for its continued renaissance.

“We commend our scholars for the beautiful performance tonight.

We are proud of the MUSON School of Music and have been

since 2005,” Dennis Okoro, director, MTN Foundation, said at the event. “It is because of the great work that the MUSON continues to churn out that makes us immensely proud and committed to extending our support to Nigerian arts and culture fully.”

As a country with a rich and diverse history, supporting Nigerian arts and culture has been at the core of the MTN Foundation’s mandate. Part of the Foundation’s support is the scholarship programme for students at the MUSON. This has produced graduates who have also become notable music directors for internationally acclaimed musicals like Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, Kakadu, and Legends.

In November, the Foundation sponsored a masterclass for stu-

dents of the MUSON School of Music as part of its longstanding partnership with the School dating back to 2006. The class was held with the Canadian duo: Daniel Taylor, a countertenor, Head of Early Music and Professor of Voice at the University of Toronto and Ellen McAteer, a Canadian Soprano and two-time recipient of the prestigious Richard Bradshaw Graduate Fellowship in Opera As part of its continued support for the arts and culture in Nigeria, MTN Foundation is currently sponsoring six critically acclaimed art productions, a slate of programs lasting till the end of the year that have already produced well-loved and celebrated shows as Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, the Life in My City Art Festival, Our Son the Minister, and Legends.

Sunday 16 December 2018

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Bliss with Nonye Ben-Nwankwo

BDSUNDAY 27

Email: chiwuagwu@yahoo.com Phone number (sms only) 08057511893

No more gay roles for me – Benson Okonkwo

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elf acclaimed Nollwood most handsome actor, Benson Okonkwo has said he is no longer going to act gay roles again. Benson, whose sexual preference has being a subject of controversy, has been accused by not just a few, to be a homosexual.

In fact, the controversy was fuelled when he acted as a gay in not less than three nollywood movies.

However, the actor, in a chat with Bliss, has said such roles are no longer for him as he doesn’t intend to act such roles again.

“I am a versatile actor. I can play any role. I showed the world that I can be a homosexual in movies and I know I played it well. However, I don’t think I am going to take up such roles again.

I am done. If producers see you play a role very well, they would always want to cast you in that role. But for me, I don’t think I will accept to play a homosexual in any movie again. The wahala is just too much.”

Benson said he has switched to playing the role of a lover boy in romantic movies.

“People should go and watch Planet Love. At least, I played a lot of a romantic guy in that movie.

Now, people would know I can also play love with a woman. I am sick and tired of the stories peddled around me. Anyway, I am not even bothered. I still love the people talking nonsense about me,” he said.

Even as he said he is done with gay roles, Benson said it doesn’t mean he is ready to settle down with a woman yet.

“I am not getting married soon. Not at all, and not in 2019. I was away from the industry for a while. In fact, I was away for five years. Now that I am back, I need to focus on my career and be there all the time. Marriage would tie me down. I want to focus on my movies, produce movies and keep winning awards.”

Benson who has close to 20 awards in his kitty, said he is grateful for the organisers of all the awards for recognising him and showering him

I’m here to snatch Lagos girls’ boyfriends – Bobrisky

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with accolades.

“It is not easy. I have received so many awards and people keep inviting me for more awards. I am not like some of my colleagues who would want to be paid before they would go and pick up an award they were given. How can somebody give you an award and you still expect the person to pay you to make an appearance t the event? It is not proper. It doesn’t spell humility at all.”

Benson said he would also focus on producing his own movies in the coming year.

“Yes, I would produce my movies. I am grateful to Andy Best for all the support he has given me so far.”

elf acclaimed Nigeria’s Barbie doll, Bobrisky, sure knows how to draw attention and he is doing it without caring whose ox is gored.

Now looking every inch female, the Nigerian cross dresser has said Lagos ladies should get ready as he is out to snatch their boyfirends from them.

In his post on his social media handle, Bobrisky also revealed that his backside, which has gone bigger, is real.

Posting a suggestive and seductive picture on his handle, Bobrisky added, “A lot of ‘dis mofos’ can’t afford money for surgery’s; that ass is real ‘mehnnnnnnn’. Wait for my bikini pic. Dis girls think no one can share all this Lagos billionaires with them.

I’m here to snatch him away from you live! Even with your so called pu***y . Dis is the style I will give him to come from the behind.”

His post attracted a lot of comments with some people criticising him and so many others commending him for the level of fame he has attained with his controversial stance.

With the handle, @white_ winch13, one of his followers said, “You guys will be surprised Bobrisky ain’t gay. He is just doing all this for fun and for his business.”

And with the handle, @helennaboth one of his fans posted, “@bobrisky222 you still need to bend it more wella; it will shock those Lagos babes when they will wake up and can’t find their men.”

But with the handle, @ gen2sol, another follower condemned bob saying, “I pity you because hell fire its real.”

Bolanle Olukanni, Tobi Bakre host The Future Awards Africa

Tiwa Savage, Davido, Dbanj ready for Access Bank’s BAFEST

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hen the biggest names in the music industry in Africa storm one stage, there is bound to be an explosion! And it seems that will surely happen this Sunday as the likes of Davido, Tiwa Savage, Dbanj and other incredible superstars showcase their immense talent at the Born in Africa Festival (BAFEST) Eko Atlantic City, Lagos The event, which is powered by Access Bank and brought to life by Livespot, is a celebration of the unparalleled dynamism of the African spirit.

Fresh out of the Global Citizen Festival in South Africa, Nigeria’s very own Tiwa Savage and D’Banj will be performing alongside other African artists at BAFEST 2018. Confirming the upcoming event, Tiwa Savage said, “I am delighted to be a part of Born in Africa Festival. This feels like Coachella Live in Africa and I can’t wait to give the best of African sounds to the World.”

The festival is designed to celebrate Music, Art, Film and Fashion which promote the African story to a global audience.

Speaking about the upcoming event, Amaechi Okobi, Group Head, Communications & External Affairs at Access Bank Plc, said “We are proud to be showcasing the best of African Vibes at this historic event. It is the climax of all our efforts to change the Nigerian and African narrative. Our string of event partnerships such as the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Art X Lagos, the African International Film Festival and the finale, the Born in Africa Festival all aim to change the continent’s negative narrative as well as to project it as a hub for entertainment and creativity. BAFEST is a day-long event which kicks off at 9am with the Fashion, Art and Film Park, where various artistes and fashion designers will exhibit their works, while some of Africa’s finest Filmmakers will host movie screenings. The main concert featuring

Africa’s biggest talents starts at 6pm.”

In line with the theme of the event which is retelling the African story, the organizers have put together an impressive lineup of artistes including Awilo Longomba, Sho Madjozi, Olamide, Tiwa Savage, Timaya, Davido, Kizz Daniel, Yemi Alade, Falz, Dbanj, Burna Boy, Flavour and other surprises.

Not leaving out other facets of the creative industry, some of Africa’s most prolific models and fashion designers such as Oluchi, Millen Magese, David Tlale, Torlowei, Blingshiki and Tiffany Amber will also be showcasing.

M

edia personality, Bolanle Olukanni and ex-Big Brother Nigeria housemate, Tobi Bakre are all set to host the 13th edition of The Future Awards Africa holding in Lagos this Sunday.

Bolanle and Tobi will do the honors as hosts to celebrate 100 nominees and unveil 20 outstanding individuals whose relentless hard work and unparalleled impact positions them as a symbol of a new

tribe of exemplary Nigerians.

Themed Nigeria’s New Tribe, the Awards which has been described as the ‘Nobel Prize for Young Nigerians’ by the World Bank, acknowledges inspiring young people aged 18-31 making a difference through social enterprise, social good, and creativity.

The Future Awards Africa 2018‎ is presented by The Future Project, Guaranty Trust Bank, and H2oh.

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THINGS TO DO IN LAGOS It is another Sunday Funday and as always, I have somewhere for you to be at! Here are a few events happening today that will thrill you:

Happening at 42 Imam Dauda Street, Surulere, from 5pm.

Lagos Jazz Society Hangout.

This iconic event will be the gathering of all things Jazz in one place and it will serve as year-end hangout /Christmas party. It will hold at Pearly Homes, 7 Ibejige Close, Agungi Lagos, from 4pm.

The Born In Africa Festival For more on what will happen next weekend, please visit www.therealgist.

Chill Out is a gathering of mature singles being thrilled to an evening of com or watch Things To Do In Lagos This Weekend on our IG page and stay jazz, spoken word, drama, comedy and Karaoke. It is a night to mingle! updated always.

We are gradually getting to that time of the year where events happen back to back. If you think you’ve had enough from January to now, please have a rethink because your greatest music and award shows are just about to happen.

See the amazing lovely things happening today It’s Olamide Live in Concert guys! Get your dancing shoes on.

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Feature

Beyond gridlock, residents and businesses still bleed in Apapa

W CHUKA UROKO

hat readily comes to mind whenever and wherever Apapa is mentioned in Nigeria is the snarling traffic gridlock that has transformed the premier port city into a suffocating crucible. But there are a lot more to the port city than gridlock.

To residents, business owners and sundry workers, gridlock is just an aspect of their woes, though it is the grandmother of every other challenge they face. Many erstwhile thriving businesses have either died, dying or left Apapa for good. People’s investments are either decaying or collapsing like a pack of cards, just as jobs that depend on port and maritime activities are lost almost on daily basis.

What this means is that while casual visitors worry about the interminable fleet of trailers and tankers that snake their way into the port city, causing the gridlock that keeps motorists on the road for hours, little do they know that residents and businesses are bleeding.

In the last five to six years, Apapa has and continues to redefine and redirect people’s lives in a manner that compels them to ask endless questions about existence and the real essence of living.

As Nigeria’s premier port city, Apapa harbours the two busiest seaports in the country, accounting for over 70 percent of the nation’s export and import activities. The economy of this port city is

estimated at N20 billion a day and could have been more if its environment had been enabling.

The two seaports, Tin Can Island and Apapa, account for about 80 percent of non-oil revenues going into federal government’s coffers. Import duties and levies are collected by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); royalties, rents and dues by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); dues and levies by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), while certification levies are collected by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

In 2017, NPA declared its annual revenue estimated at N299.56 billion which exceeded the 2016 figure of N162.20, representing over 80 percent increase. In the last five years, the authority’s revenue profile has been on the increase and, according to a source close to the ports authority, in 2013 it generated N154.50 billion while the revenue increased to N159.30 billion andN180.50 billion in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

What this means is that in the last five years, NPA alone generated about N956.06 billion for the government. Unconfirmed report has it that the Customs Service (NCS) surpassed its revenue target of N1.2 trillion in 2017, while NIMASA and SON also declared revenues that ran into billions of naira.

Yet, in the midst of all these, Apapa is in a mess, gradually degenerating into a wasteland where infrastructure has collapsed and the entire environment is degraded. As

a port city, Apapa has a nearperfect masterplan which, if implemented, will make it rank among the best port cities in the world.

The masterplan remains a mere draft because both the Lagos State and the Federal Government lack the political will to deploy part of the huge revenue they rake in from Apapa to address the many challenges of the city including roads infrastructure, a standard rail track, a functional loading bay for trailers and tankers, motorable and well maintained bridges, etc.

For these actions or inactions of government, many

No one has been to hell or heaven but from our experience, we can liken the situation in Apapa to hell.

Apapa used to be a place for good businesses and, in those days, both residential and commercial property were in high demand

landlords, especially retirees who invested in property, hoping to live on rents from the houses for the rest of their lives are today biting their fingers as over 50 percent of houses, residential and commercial, in Apapa are empty, depreciating in value.

“You can’t compare the situation now to how it was before. No one has been to hell or heaven but from our experience, we can liken the situation in Apapa to hell.

Apapa used to be a place for good businesses and, in those days, both residential and commercial property were in high demand”, a landlord who did not want to be named told BusinessDay. “I built houses here and gave them out to tenants.

I used the rents I collected from those houses to train my children in school, but today virtually all the apartments are empty and nobody is showing interest”, the landlord lamented.

Joe Akhigbe, an estate surveyor and value, confirmed the sorry situation of the Apapa property market to BusinessDay, saying that property value there has come down by over 40 percent in the last five years. “I have a block of nine flats in Apapa; it has been in the market for more than two years; we have reviewed the rent downwards twice to attract tenants, but nobody is showing interest. It is as bad as that”, he said.

The high volume of maritime and other business activities used to create jobs for both skilled and menial workers who were either residents and people from the surrounding areas like Ajegunle,

Ijora, Yaba, Oyingbo, etc. Not anymore. Many of them that had one form of job or another there have lost same, meaning that household income is crimped, and children’s school fees and house rent payment has become a huge challenge.

Nebolisa Okon is a middleaged man living in Ajegunle with a wife and six children.

Okon was first a port worker from where he graduated and became a clearing and forwarding agent. As an agent, Okon saw money, but today, “there is no more business at the ports; even to get to Apapa and come back takes a whole day; it doesn’t make sense to go out any longer”, he told BusinessDay out of frustration.

Because of his present situation, he revealed, his first daughter in the university is in and out of school; the second one finished secondary school two years ago, but cannot proceed because the younger ones’ school fees payment is often negotiated with school authorities, while their landlord is unrelenting in his demand for his house rent.

Similarly, most businesses in the port city are struggling.

Wharf Road and Commercial Road used to be Apapa’s ‘Central Business Districts’ where high net worth firms and banks had their offices and branches respectively. A walk through these ‘districts’ shows that most of the banks have either relocated or have the number of their branches reduced.

On Wharf Road alone, more than 10 banks and two eateries have shut down their branches due to the pain and difficulty in accessing these branches, leading to loss of substantial customers in the area. Eateries like Tetrazini has shut down, Tantalizer with three outlets has reduced to one and the only Mr Biggs eatery in Apapa on Creek Road is now out of the market. Film House Cinema inside Apapa Mall has also shut down.

Even the famous Apapa Amusement Park which used to be a source of joy for the kids has shut down due to low patronage. Major hotels like Rockview, Excelsior and many others are groaning for lack of patronage as most of their rooms are empty.

Chains of events that require renting their halls are no longer frequent.

The popular Eleganza complex that used to house over 1000 offices is virtually empty because the tenants have relocated or are out of business. The few tenants, who are still hanging on, owe several months of rent. The complex which used to be the centre of activities is now a ghost of itself, empty, deserted and dilapidated.

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Feature

Excruciating pain!

Tales by Badagry residents working in Lagos city centre

L

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

agos, situated in the south westerngeo-politicalzone of Nigeria, is unarguably the most economically viable state in the country.

The state, according to statistics, is not only the nation’s largest urban area, but also the major financial centre, estimated to be the fifth largest economy in Africa, if it stands as a country.

With a population size of approximately 16 million, Lagos State was rated as Nigeria’s most populous state apparently due to the high concentration of businesses, major seas and airports, industries and government agencies in the city centre.

Many Nigerians migrate from their country homes in the North, East, and South-South and from other states in the South-West to reside in Lagos following the quest to secure lucrative paid employments after graduating from higher institutions. Others relocate to Lagos to run their businesses because it is presumed that business activities are usually viable in Lagos giving the high level of patronage associated with high population.

Today, economic experts say that Lagos has become densely populated at the expense of other cities in Nigeria. The situation, no doubt, comes with its own challenges as the city of Lagos is presently battling with congestion, which can be attributed to increased pressure on the available basic and social amenities.

This is why the number of Lagosians that go after the few houses in the city centre has continued to increase, thereby, resulting in high cost of house rent, especially in the choicest areas of Lagos popularly known as highbrow areas. These areas include Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki, Ikeja, Apapa and other areas in the mainland including Surulere, Yaba, Festac, Magodo, Ojudu, Amuwo-Odofin and others.

It is a known fact that a good number of working class people who live in Lagos have their offices

located in these choicest parts of Lagos but ironically, less than 10 percent of them can afford to live and work in these areas.

Consequently, a large number of them live in Lagos suburb and satellite towns, and commute on daily basis to their offices. Many of such people reside in the suburb communities that are located along Lagos-Badagry axis of Lagos.

Along Badagry axis for instance, there are popular suburbs including Ajamgbadi, Iba, Okokomaiko, Ijanikin, Agbara, Ilogbo, Oko-Afo andBadagry,wheremanyresidebut work on the Island, Mainland, Ikeja and Apapa. Many of these towns are well developed while some are still developing communities with a good number of Lagosians residing in those places.

Surprisingly, Lagos-Badagry Expressway is the major access into the above listed towns. But given the present deplorable state of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, residents in the towns along Badagry area always have agonising stories to share.

Joshua Godspower, a journalist with one of the leading national newspapers that is headquartered in Apapa metropolis, recently shared his story with BDSUNDAY. “I have been shuttling between Badagry and Apapa on a daily basis.

I hardly come by road anymore because if I had to come by road, when I get to Iyana-Oba or Okokomaiko, I disembark and take bike to Mile 2. I do this on a daily basis

The danger inherent in moving at night is that the bad boys take advantage of the bad road and the traffic gridlock to dispossess people of their belongings such as phones, bags and other valuables.

unless on a day that I suspect that the road might be relatively free. In some cases, the traffic around OjoBarracks alone can keep you on a spot for over 30 minutes on a good day,” Godspower said.

According to him, “The hazard of going by road is such that these commercial vehicles that operate on Mile 2-Badagry axis are poorly maintained. When I leave your house well-dressed in the morning, by the time I get to Mile 2, my clothes will be all messed up. So, going by road on that axis has not been a very good way to travel and is also very expensive too. The cost is high and it has continued to rise because of the bad state of road.

“Before,frommybus stop,which is immediately after Oko-Afo to Mile 2 used to be N200 and it later went up to N250. Presently, to go to Mile 2 from my bus stop is between

N300 to N400 depending on the timing. In the morning hours when there is rush, you can pay as much as N450- N500 to Mile 2 depending on the vehicle that you see. But going to Iyana-Oba will cost between N200 to N300, which was N200 about four to five months back.”

“Alternatively, if I have to travel with bike from Iyana-Oba to Mile 2, it costs between N500 and N700 but this cost can be shared if you allow the bike-man to carry you with another person. However, if the traffic is too bad, the bike-man will charge like N1,000 but can take two passengers at the same time and split the cost at N500 per head.

“But, when I am going to Apapa, I will stop at Agbara under Bridge and take a boat. The boat takes about 20 passengers and if it is fully loaded, it will collect N900 per person but when is anything past 10am, it will become difficult for the boat to carry full load. Then, everybody on-board will pay N1,000 and the journey is usually very easy, quiet and my clothes will remain clean when I get to my destination within 30-45 minutes,” Godspower said.

“For us, the problem is also coming back home. Due to the nature of my job, I close late every day, when there won’t be boat to go back with because at that time, the boat operators have closed for the day and this will leave me with no other option than to go by road. In this case, I must go with bike from Mile 2 to Iyana-Oba or Okokomaiko and it is still the same thing because the

traffic situation determines how much you will pay.

“The danger inherent in moving at night is that the bad boys take advantage of the bad road and the traffic gridlock to dispossess people of their belongings such as phones, bags and other valuables. The situation has not been funny and until something is done about the road, the misery we face everyday will continue. For me, I am thinking of getting a smaller accommodation outside the Badagry area, where I can stay from Monday to Friday, to go back to my family house at weekends, until the road is fixed,” he further said.

Continuing, Godspower said: “When I used to go by road, from my bus stop to Iyana-Oba takes approximately 40 minutes to one hour.

Then, Iyana-Oba to Mile 2, which supposed to take 45 minutes, now takes more time. In all, if the road is free, from my bus stop to Mile 2, takes about 1hour 30 minutes but when the road is bad, from my bus stop to Okokomaiko can take 2 hours while Okokomaiko to Alakija can take up to 4 hours. Meaning that, a journey of 1hour 30 minutes can take 4 to 6 hours in all.

“The situation has become so bad that one gets to work very tired and worn out. Most times, I would need to relax a little before I can do any reasonable job. My job is a mental and intellectual one, as a result, I would need to relax, put myself in order before I can do any work.

“I built my house in Badagry axis that was why I moved from where I was staying before. I have my own property and I cannot be paying rent when I have built my own house.

Moreover, where I was staying before was Iba community, which also falls under that Lagos-Badagry

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Feature

axis,” he said said.

The ordeal of traveling along the Lagos-Badagry axis to work in Lagos city centre on daily basis is not peculiar to Godspower, as a woman named Nkechinyere Peters, an accountant with food company located in Isolo Industrial Estate, who about 10 months back, relocated to Oko-Afo community (about 15 minutes drive to Badagry) from Festac town, after she and her husband completed a 3-bed bungalow in the community, narrated her experiences to BDSUNDAY. Peters said: “We left Festac town in February 2018 to our own apartment in Oko-Afo community very close to Badagry. Though, it was such a long distance when compared with Festac, but the experience at first was exciting because of the feeling of living in one’s own house, without having to pay house rent and tolerate several inconveniences of being a tenant. Going to work was also exciting as I used to leave my house by 6am in the morning and maximum of 2 hours, I will be in the office, which tallies with my resumption time of 8am.

“Unfortunately, the table turned at the peak of this year’s rainy season around June-July when the Lagos-Badagry Expressway became impassible. At that time, the transportation cost and the manhour spent on the road became issues of concern to me. Before then, with a total of N1,000 I was able to go to the office and come back.

Meaning that, if I put aside a budget of N25,000 it would cover for my transport fare on monthly basis. But, when the road situation worsened, the cost doubled such that I was spending between N45,000 and N50,000 on monthly basis on just transportation alone.

“The pressure then became too much as I was no longer able to meet my financial needs and even the profit from the small business that I also opened somewhere close to

my house at Oko-Afo, was also put into transporting myself to office. I was also not able to meet up with the resumption deadline in the office as it was taking as much as 4 to 5 hours to get to office and that became a bigger problem for me.

My concern those days was when I will get home, rest; take care of my children, sleep, wake up in the morning and set out for the day.

“The situation became traumatising for me such that I broke down and was hospitalised for days due to pressure, trauma and frustration.

That was when; I told my husband that I could not take it anymore.

Then, we decided to move again but before we moved eventually, I had to attach myself with a friend until we were able to secure a small apartment in Festac where we are now but my family and I make it a point of duty to visit our house on weekends.

BDSUNDAY discovered that a good number of Badagry residents commute easily by boats using the inland waters. But, most Nigerians have phobia for water even when it is perceived as one of the fastest and cost-effective means of transportation. Water transport in this part of the world is characterised by negligence in terms of supervision

and none adherence to the safety rules and regulations, thereby putting human lives in danger.

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), an agency of the Federal Ministry of Transportation together with the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), is saddled with the responsibility of regulating the water transportation in the country to ensure strict adherence to the rules, but industry close watchers believed that the reverse has being the case. Instead of developing the inland waters and safeguarding lives on inland waters, both agencies have been at loggerheads with each other, thereby resulting in the underdeveloped state of inland transportation in Lagos State.

Many Lagos residents have lost their lives due to the inability of the authorities concerned to safeguard the waters. Okechukwu Madu, an Apapa-based clearing and forwarding expert, who resides in Agbara, a community along the Badagry axis, recently told his pathetic story to BDSUNDAY. “Due to the congestion and gridlock along the Badagry expressway, I usually board boat from Agbara and sometimes in Iyana-Oba to go to Apapa-Wharf where I work. Returning home at night, I most times board ferries to Iyana-Oba from Liverpool jetty in order to avoid the difficulties of travelling by road, which has been killing in recent times.

“One fateful Wednesday evening, I did not close work on time as I had a container to load from Apapa port to a warehouse in AlabaInternational Market. After completing my transaction at the port, I proceeded to Liverpool jetty to board ferry and as God may have it, there was a boat to Iyana-Oba, which I boarded. Shortly after we took-off around 8pm at night, the vision became poor due to lack of illumination on water, that was when

our boat collided with another one coming directly in front of us, and the boats capsized.

“It was God that saved me that night because out of 10 passengers onboard, we were only two that eventually survived the accident as the other eight passengers were not found alive even after the rescue team came to our aid. All my life, I have never swum, because I have phobia for water but it was God that saved me from that ugly incident. Since then, I had sworn never to board boats at night no matter how bad the traffic situation on Badagry Expressway is. But the daily experience on that road can be traumatic. This is why we the Badagry residents have been calling on Lagos and Federal Governments to come to our aid by making the road motorable,” Madu pleaded.

The story of another resident, Adewale Ojo, a landlord in Ijanikin community along the Badagry axis, who works with a firm in Ikeja, was also not different from the experiences of others.

According to Ojo, “The situation of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway has not been encouraging and it’s worsening by the day. I have lived in that axis for close to 10 years and it has never been this bad. It seems as if government has abandoned the road. I have two cars, one for me and the other for my wife. Recently, the two cars were badly damaged and I spent close to N500,000 to repair them due to the poor state of the road.

“One day, I was coming back from work, the road was so bad that there was no vehicle from Mile 2 to Iyana-Oba due to heavy traffic.

Water transport in this part of the world is characterised by negligence in terms of supervision and none adherence to the safety rules and regulations, thereby putting human lives in danger

I trekked from Mile 2 to Alakija until I was able to see an Okada man, who charged me as much as N2,000 to Iyana-Oba. The question that was running through my mind was what if I don’t have extra money on me? Living in Badagry even in your own apartment, has become very costly due to the road situation and it has become miserable that I have concluded to relocate my family to places like Okota or Ago.” To safeguard lives and businesses along the Badagry axis, residents believe that the Lagos State Government needs as a matter of urgency, to continue the abandoned 10-lane road construction project on that axis while the Federal Government on the other hand needs to go back to the old method of using its agencies, such as Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), to execute palliatives on the road in order to make it motorable.

Also, the NIWA and LASWA need to put their houses in order by ensuring strict adherence to the safety regulations guiding inland water transportation to encourage large number of Badagry residents to use water as an alternative means of travelling.

Travelling by rail just like other commercial hubs in developed countries of the world such London and South Africa, is also a good option that government needs to pay attention to if the problems associated with commuting within Lagos will be laid to rest.

A young man who simply gave his name as Damola, used to live in Badagry until about four months ago when he decided to relocate to Surulere.

Speaking to BDSUNDAY on his experience while he lived in Badagry and worked in Marina, he said it was an awful experience.

“I used to leave home at about 4.30am and getting to the office around 6.30 or sometimes 7am. I would then sleep till 8am because our office hours begin at 9am. When I close at 5pm, I would board a bus going to Orile, then from there to Alakija. On some occasions, I had to trek from Alakija to Barracks or even to Iyana-Oba before boarding another bus heading to Badagry.

The holdup from Alakija is always dreadful. Most times I get home 10.30 or 11pm,” Damola said.

According to him, “In terms of cost, in the morning hours, the fare is usually cheap, but going back in the evening, you pay through your nose.

Most times, you don’t get to continue with the bus that picked you from Alakija, because the road is always blocked. In that case, you can choose to sit still inside the bus as the driver will not refund anything if you decide to get off the vehicle. So, what I used to do was to get off the bus and trek to a very long distance to join another bus. On a number of occasions, I was drenched in rain because once there is rain, there is no hiding place on the road.”

On why he did not consider the option of using ferry, he said: “Where I lived is far from the ferry point. So, it is easier for me to get a bus from where I lived than going to board ferry very far away. The stress was just too much and it was telling on my health. That was why I couldn’t continue staying there, but relocated to a place that I can easily access my office.”

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Feature Raising skilled teachers for 21st Century challenge In Nigeria, the challenges confronting the teaching profession continue to mount as a considerable percentage of schools are disadvantaged when it comes to getting a critical mass of skilled teachers required for the 21st Century knowledge transfer.

This hiccup may impact the economic future of the country negatively if not tackled. KELECHI EWUZIE writes on the collaborative strides of private sector organisation to address this.

I

f knowledge is power, then teachers must be the power house. For most societies, the root of success in all sectors is traced to the teaching profession. Indeed, the long chain of all other professions originates from the teaching profession.

Teaching is regarded as an art of guiding and imparting knowledge and the best suited for this are professionally qualified and trained teachers.

Experts also describe teaching both as a profession which is focused on human resource development and as a social function that aims at growth in others. Not a few experts also agree that teachers are regarded as the interpreters of a nation’s educational plan and philosophy.

Teachers play a vital role in training, coaching and determining the quality of education, which is critical to sustainable national development.

They are regarded as the builders of the future and wealth of nations and therefore deserve to be encouraged and celebrated.

However, scholars are worried that the teaching profession in Nigeria is deteriorating which has been the fallout of factors such as underfunding of the sector, economic downturns, students’ unrest bedevilling the sector and a general fall in the standards of living in the country.

At every World Teachers’ Day celebration on October 5, the welfare of teachers always agitate the minds as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) would reiterate its call for an improved welfare package for its members across the country. The union has also been calling on individuals, institutions, corporate organisations and government at national and state levels to rise up to the challenge and uplift the status of teachers.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Nigeria in providing good quality education that promotes sustainable development is inadequate funding by all levels of government to the extent that funding has been in response to conditionality imposed by International Financial Institutions (IFTs).

Statistics show that Federal Government expenditure on education was below 10 percent of overall expenditure between 1997 and 2000. What is worse, the national expenditure on education cannot be properly computed because various state governments’ expenditure on education cannot be determined, in relation to the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent of national budgets.

Meanwhile, the challenges confronting the profession continue to mount. These include the best brains not willing to embrace teaching, and lack of adequate welfare and reward for the teachers. Teachers too have also been accused of not demonstrating the required professionalism and passion.

Others include low wages, poor

motivation and welfare, absence of a professional education academy, lack of professional and in-service trainings, high teacher pupil ratio and lack of autonomy by NUT. In all these, education stakeholders have repeatedly called on the government to intensify efforts to attract and retain the best hands in the teaching profession for an effective nation building. They particularly emphasised the importance of teachers and the teaching profession in the quest for the nation’s growth and development.

Alloy Ejiogu, a professor of Educational Management at the University of Lagos, maintained that teachers are unarguably extremely invaluable drivers of societal norms, values and growth and no other person could have such an overarching influence on the life of the young members of any society other than the teacher.

He noted that the teachers’ impact is not only outstanding by its success stories, but also by its potential and real time errors. He explained that while the medical doctor buries his mistakes, and the engineer dies with his own errors, the entire society perishes with the mistakes of the teacher.

“Then, can you ever imagine a Nigeria without any teacher – preprimary, primary, secondary and tertiary? Or what more, a Nigeria replete with demotivated, disgruntled, unqualified and incompetent teachers who cheat their way through this sublime and noblest of human responsibilities? What would we have in return? Ejiogu queried.

In recognition of this, Nigerian Breweries Plc, in line with its philosophy of Winning with Nigeria, resolved in 1994 to play a more active role in the development of education

in Nigeria when it established the Nigerian Breweries – Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund with a commencement capital of N100 million.

Jordi Borrut Bel, managing director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, explained that in 2015, the company’s intervention in education was expanded to include teachers when the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative was launched. The initiative, he said, was hinged on the realisation that teachers hardly get the recognition they deserve despite the pivotal role they play in determining the quality of education and the future of the country.

Borrut Bel maintained that over the years, the Education Trust Fund has impacted on over 25,000 students with more than 400 classrooms, 30 libraries and laboratories built in over 40 communities across Nigeria. According to him, the intervention which has become an integral part of the company’s sustainability agenda, and has covered primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.

The initiative has provided a platform for exceptional teachers to be identified, showcased and rewarded.

It is also aimed at restoring the pride of teachers and the dignity of the teaching profession.

With prizes worth over N50 million annually, the Maltina Teacher of the Year has been rewarding commitment and diligence to duty by exceptional teachers wherever they may be in the country. Since its inception in 2015, the Award has also demystified the long-held belief that the teacher’s reward is in heaven.

Since its debut, the Maltina Teacher of the Year has produced four grand prize winners. At the inaugural edition in 2015, a teacher with the Federal Government Girls College,

Onitsha, Anambra State, Mrs Rose Nkemdilim Obi blazed the trail, while Mr Imoh Essien, a teacher from Special Education Centre for Exceptional Children, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, won in 2016.

Last year, Felix Udochukwu Ariguzo, a teacher with Mastercare International School, Asaba, Delta State, emerged winner, while Mr Samuel Olasunkanmi Opeifa from Government Secondary School, Abuja emerged champion of 2018.

Each of these overall winners was rewarded with N1 million instantly plus N1 million every year for the next five years and a block of classrooms built in each of their schools.

Also, every year, the first runnerup received N1 million, while the second runner-up got N750,000, plus a trophy. All state champions were each rewarded with N500,000 each.

At the flag-off of the 2018 Maltina Teacher of the Year on May 25, Ngozi Osarenren of the Department of Educational Foundation, University of Lagos, led other stakeholders to emphasise the importance of teachers and the teaching profession in the quest for the nation’s growth and development.

They explained that teachers are invaluable drivers of societal norms and the teaching profession must be respected to attract the best and the brightest.

The experts listed factors that could attract the best brains to the profession to include professionalising teaching, reasonable and guaranteed salary, job security and competitive entry requirements for would-be teachers.

Not a few analysts believe these could uncover a new path to addressing the challenges facing teachers and the teaching profession in Nigeria.

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Interview ‘Success in entrepreneurship may be impossible without the right mindset’ Afolabi Olayinka, chief executive officer (CEO) of International Youth Empowerment Summit (IYES), in this interview with VICTORIA NNAKAIKE in Lokoja, Kogi State, emphasised the need to encourage youths and adults alike to embrace a positive attitude for growth and to develop entrepreneurship mindset. He also said that his passion is to see youths discover their potentials. He also spoke on other issues. Excerpts:

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ould you briefly tell us what IYES is all about?

IYES represents I n t e r n a t i o n a l Yo u t h E m powerment Summit (IYES), where we bring youths and adults together and we try an atmosphere of positive mindset for growth, for entrepreneurial mindset. We bring in not just facilitators from various walks of life, but those who we can verify the result of their works and creativity. Most of the facilitators are those who are practising and also have result to show. That is the whole idea; we don’t want you to sit idle at home. Even the Commissioner for Agriculture, Kehinde Oloruntoba in spite of his office, he is a farmer. You are sitting on huge, huge capacity of opportunities as you are saying the country is not good. It is that you have not discovered the thing that you have. That is why we have gathered here today that each and every one of us will have something that the market needs that can, through institutional body, people look and see it, people look and get the right information at the right stage. Then, they can be exposed, they can be impactful; that is the core purpose of IYES. You have been in this programme for three years now; what are your achievements so far?

Oh fantastic; we have motivated people who have gone out to invest; people like Morgan Victor, and Tobi Emmanuel who have been on this platform and have gone out to create creative platforms, where youths can get means of discovering themselves and be useful to the society. And so many also who started their own ventures either individually are adding value in cooperate organisations.

And then if you look at our platform, you can see a lot of investors coming up, talking about Treasure Bakery, Siglar and so many others.

Every year universities churn out graduates into the labour market; how has the organisation been

Afolabi Olayinka

carrying the youths along to help them find their feet in the labour market?

Like I said, we are not saying everybody will create business. But we are saying even if it is an employee it takes a CEO to run successful organisation. So, we try to build in them the lucrative mindset of the CEO. Let them know that they are not just who they are. Even if you are managing somebody’s business, you need the creativity, also the desire, the energy to do it well. We create a right mindset, a mindset for perseverance, mindset for discipline and mindset for results.

No matter what you do, the point is the result that will differentiate, and that is what we let them know that going out there, do not settle for less, don’t settle for little, don’t settle for mediocrity. Go there, understand business like what Tobi Emmanuel was saying about business modules; it works.

This is what we want them to know. You don’t just join the workforce with the usual mindset. You join because you want to make a change.

And you see market is paying for those who are ready to make a change.

If you get to an organisation and you are able to turn the structure around and

My passion is to see youths churn out well with quality as leaders and as entrepreneurs.

And honestly, I will give everything to ensure that it happens. That is my own contribution to our nation, Nigeria.

You can’t just talk and then nothing happens. This is about taking actions, ensuring that we are passing information across.

they are making money, definitely you are going to gain from the wind fall. So, we are not just training employees, we are not just churning out the youth to continue the mediocrity that we have observed in the system, but we are churning out youths who are going out there, either as employees or employer, purposely to enhance brand while also creating your own.

So most times that we churn out people out, they are those who have passed through International Youth Empowerment Summit (IYES) platform. I got a call yesterday from someone who was on our platform in 2015 and he told me ‘watch in 2019, you are going to invite me as a speaker’. Those are the kind of mindset we create; people who go out to pursue nothing but excellence.

What have you done to bring the state government into the programme?

Like you see today, we brought Commissioner for Agriculture, Kehinde Oloruntoba. We also reached out to Chief of Staff, Edward Onoja and other people but because of their tight schedule they are not here. But every year, Kogi State government has always been involved in what we do. We always bring them in because they are the policy makers and they run the largest capacity in terms of employment, talking about civil servants and others. So they are paramount in what we do. So, every year we ensure that state government attends.

And this year, we have the honour of inviting Hon. Kehinde Oloruntoba as one of our guests. We also heard him speak about government policy on Agriculture and how the youth can take advantage of it in terms of solving employment problems rather than staying at home, as farming is the money-doubler.

In terms of support, we believe they can do more. We are also using the platform to invite organisations. Look at what we are doing, look at the result, look at the policy we have today. These are the things government should also give in. I know there are

platforms that will be given support but will not deliver.

Ours have over the years delivered. That is why we want to get more support from them. We will like to work with them in policy, making strategic development and how to enhance the livelihood of youths and also how to get result on them. So, we believe that we have been able to move forward.

You have been carrying this alone; where did you draw your inspiration from and how do you cope with the resources?

Like I said, my desire has always been that youths should be creative and not idle. We are having leadership tussle in the country and I believe one of the ways to stop them is to encourage the youth to build their own empire and manage it well.

A l i ko D a n g o t e , I b e l i ev e , has been able to perform his leadership in the area of business; that is why he is successful in his business empire.

My passion is to see youths churn out well with quality as leaders and as entrepreneurs. And honestly, I will give everything to ensure that it happens. That is my own contribution to our nation, Nigeria. You can’t just talk and then nothing happens. This is about taking actions, ensuring that we are passing information across.

That is what we will continue to do until we get the better Nigeria we all yarn for.

What advice do you have for the resource persons and participants?

The resource persons, the only yardstick for them to come and share with us is if the result is the opportunity to churn out quality. And to the participants, everything they have heard today, like I said we have the problem on situational syndrome or mental syndrome. So we know that there is a problem and that is why we ask them to sign up with our mentoring programme. So that we can continue our discipline and to ensure that the participants don’t just go out the week and forget what they have learnt but put them to use and measure their results.

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Interview I foresee massive rigging because of desperation to stay in power - Kusamotu Ayodele Kusamotu is a barrister, chairman and principal counsel at Kusamotu & Kusamotu Law firm (The Greenfish Chambers). He is a public affairs commentator and takes interest in discussing political matters. In this interview on the State of the Nation with ZEBULON AGOMUO, Editor, and INIOBONG IWOK, Kusamotu takes a serious look at the political activities in the country in relation to the preparations towards 2019 general election, expressing fears that the polls, if held at all, would witness massive rigging because of too much desperation to stay in power. Excerpts: One of the most serious criticisms many people have against the current government is on the economy. They believe that nothing much has happened in that aspect in the last three-and-half years; may we have your perspective or your rating of this government, economywise? o be very fair, Nigeria is a very complex country; and it is very difficult to govern. And there are very many challenges. We thank God that at least for the almost 20 years, we have been able to have smooth-running democratic government, which is an achievement on its own.

But it is a learning process. I think Nigeria has greater potentials that have not been actualised and we need a catalyst to help us actualise it, and it doesn’t seem that this present administration is able to do that. I think Nigeria deserves better than that. So, after almost four years of being in government, we have not seen any significant change that can give one the comfort of saying that this government is the kind of government one would like to continue in power.

Well, the major issues have to do with the distribution of resources in the country; the allocation of powers within the federal and state governments; I think this is the major problem. Again, when people talk about restructuring; they talk about justice, fairness within the system. It requires our constitution to be amended. It is one of the most important things that need to be done in Nigeria, because we do not have any other country. So, Nigeria must really be restructured. Our constitution has to be amended to bring equity and fairness.

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You know, the opinion you are canvassing may be different from what some other people hold. So, are you saying that in all departments of governance, the present government has scored zero?

To be very fair, I am struggling with that.

General Buhari who is actually a military general; very experienced general at that; we thought that his major attribute is his ability in the area of security; and we thought that Nigeria would be a lot more secure with him coming in. But since his coming, you can see what has been happening in the country; firstly, we have the issue of herdsmen/farmers’ crisis which is a very serious matter. In fairness to them, the problem has been going on for a very long time, but the way this issue has been handled and the way people feel about it is quite saddening. Secondly, every day we are reading about Nigerian soldiers being killed; every other day they are saying they want to buy arms and ammunition. But security was one of the major reasons for which we voted him in. Also, in the North, places like Zamfara State, 20 policemen were recently killed there.

In Kaduna State, the cases of kidnapping have increased. My very good friend’s wife who was a Buhari fanatic (I was also a Buhari fanatic to be honest with you); but when we were discussing issues about the country the other day, she had to agree that kidnapping cases in Kaduna State have gotten to another level. So, we can’t say he has done well in security, right? Can we say he has done well on the issue of corruption? Well, I struggle again on this issue of corruption. You will see a politician who has a case with the law enforcement agents; as soon as he crosses party, the next thing that will happen is that

Ayodele Kusamotu

you don’t hear about it again. So, you see those kinds of things happening; it looks like double standard. And I always say that there are other things that are even worse than corruption. Corruption is not the worst thing we can think of; there are worse things than that. Can I talk about the economy? When this administration came in, the exchange rate was about N150 to a dollar, now it is N360 to a dollar.

So, what areas can we say government has done well? Even in the area where they are trying to promote economic activities, say in the mining industry, government will tell you that you will bring in your items dutyfree; but as a lawyer, I have seen that when people do that and they apply, they don’t get these waivers. So, I am struggling to see the areas that I can score government good. I am sure there might be some areas where government may have done well; but from my own perspective; as far as I am concerned; there is nothing; even in the area of legal reform where we have a very eminent Professor Osinbajo as the Vice President; I as a lawyer cannot tell you that there is serious reforms in the administration of justice as well, which is a pity, because rule of law is so critical but many lawyers in this country today cannot safely tell the client that if this and that happen, and you go to court; there is the likelihood that it would go this way.

Yes, there’s separation of powers in the country, the Executive is separated from the Legislature, but part of the administration of Justice too is these enforcement agencies and what have you.

What is your view on the controversy over the trader moni as a means of empowering people?

To be quite candid with you; I think any way that Nigerians can get the dividends of democracy, I don’t have any issue about that, as long as the money you are talking about gets into the hands of the people and it is not about inflated amount that is being looted, I have no problem with that.

The card every presidential candidate is playing is restructuring; may we know your own idea of restructuring?

My wish is that the will of the people be done and I think we are in-between the devil and deep blue sea in Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar.

But I have a feeling that people would rather want Atiku for change

Already, there appears to be apprehension in the land over the 2019 general election. Again, some people are raising concerns over the role of INEC and security agencies in the conduct of the elections. What advice do you have for the arbiters in relation to the discharge of their duties in the election?

First of all, there is this ongoing issue about the Electoral Act amendment.

From my own investigation; I think it is quite important that the President should sign that particular Act. It is very, very important. All these issues about incident forms and things like that should not arise.

When that is signed, that gives us one step forward. The role of the INEC and security agencies, I worry a lot about it, especially the role of the police and other security agencies. I think they need to be properly indoctrinated to have loyalty to the Nigerian people above the people who are in government. They should serve the people and not politicians.

That brings us to the issue of institution. From what you have seen so far, is it possible to have institutions that are detached from the apron strings of government in power?

I really think that those amendments need to be made in the constitution so that those who should be neutral in their job would not be overtly indebted to those who appointed them; which is usually the Executive. You find such people behaving like puppets. That is why people keep talking about restructuring the system; some of these things are actually taking place in other countries too; how are they being done in other countries? We must need to urgently do something because it is clearly not working as it is right now.

Lets come to Lagos politics. Why are you not contesting any political office this time around?

First of all, you know I am from Osun State.

In 2011, I wanted to go to the National Assembly. I got my form, but in our locality, they decided they wanted a particular person and they asked all of us to step down.

Although we were not happy about it, we did. Then in 2015, when the election was coming up, I actually paid for the nomination form but they didn’t give me the form; I went to court and my case is still on at the

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Interview Supreme Court. Judgment will be given a day before the (coming) election. So, when I look at everything; I said it would be weird for me to go and pay for another nomination form when the last one I paid for they didn’t give it to me. And I can report to you that even in the 2018 primaries they did, they did not hold any primary in APC in my own constituency. They just picked one person and simply gave him the ticket. I think some other people have gone to court now. But the good thing about this is that people who criticised me for going to court in 2015 are now all going to court because they suffered the same fate. So, I am saying that nothing has changed; it is the same people and I have decided I won’t run; I will just face my own career. That’s the first thing.

Secondly, I thought what really can I bring to the table at this point? I realised there is nothing I can bring to the table the way things are done in the system. If I go to the National Assembly, I am not going to make any significant change or difference. I also question our mentality that everybody believes that the only way you can make a change is by being in politics; that’s the first thing that troubles my mind.

That you have to be in politics to make any impact, I question that and I question myself for that too. Certainly I ask myself; am I really the best person to even do this thing? What makes me that person? I am not convinced I am. That’s the second issue. The third issue is that, the way it is being done today, it is as if that things are not working properly; they are not following the rules; they are not following the way it should be. My senior friends and mentors who have gone into politics came back with a bad story to tell. These are some accomplished people in their careers.

Some of them Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) who went into politics; today, they are being tried, for money-laundering just because they went into politics and if you read the whole story, very unfair. People who have been doing very well in their individual careers, in practices, to offer the country good service, but they are today having serious problem by just going into politics. They have a lot to offer the country and quite distinguished compared to other people, but just going into politics has caused all sorts of things for them.

We are interested in Nigeria; we love this country; there’s no other place for us to go; but we have to sit down, think very well, and form a critical mass of people and fashion our way forward. I am not convinced that this set of politicians is the one to take Nigerians out of the woods. I am not convinced. Also, there is that spiritual aspect that God will punish you when you steal money that belongs to the people.

What concerns do you have for the 2019 general election?

I personally, I don’t think there will be any election or anything like handover in May next year. I think we may end up with, an interim government. That is my reading of the signs. Electoral bill is not signed; many things are happening – people are moving from one party to the other; so much crisis in the land. In this kind of atmosphere, I am afraid. Even if elections happen, there might be so much crises that at the end of the day, everybody will just be screaming, ‘stop all this mess’, ‘let everybody bring their own representatives to make up a government’. So, I foresee serious crisis.

There is quite a number of presidential candidates going in for the election in 2019. Two are prominent – Buhari and Atiku. Could you please attempt the chances of each of these two major

say we want to support Atiku should make us come to the reality that something is definitely wrong with the current administration. It reinforces my own view point that there is need for change.

So then, what chances does Atiku have?

For me, I think Atiku will win on the Election Day, but the result will have Buhari as the winner. Atiku would win the election but the result would reflect something else, unless of course, our Electoral Bill is signed and those necessary things are done before the elections. That’s also reminds me of one of the reasons I left politics. I realised that you can’t impose yourself on people. When I was in APC, I saw that this is the way my people want to conduct politics. Whenever we help party meetings with the bricklayers, the plumbers, the drivers, mechanics, the ward leaders and all of that, and when they don’t hold primaries the party members don’t mind; they say ‘Ok, this is the way they want to conduct it.’ I now go back to the point that you have to accept what the people want.

candidates against the backdrop of the recent adoption of Atiku by some members of the CUPP? I am going to talk about what the wishes and what the realities are. My wish is that the will of the people be done and I think we are in-between the devil and deep blue sea in Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar. But I have a feeling that people would rather want Atiku for change. But from our finding, it seems that there have been significant change in the voters’ registration and numbers, about 84 million, and the way, elections were conducted in Osun State as well and in Ekiti, I am afraid that the people may want PDP, but the figures may reflect APC. That is my own fear. If elections happen and this is where the crisis may take place.

So, you are saying that elections may not be credible?

I really believe that there will be massive rigging because there seems to be a serious desperation to stay in power.

Where does this leave the INEC? You don’t believe that INEC will deliver free, fair and credible poll?

Well, going by their track record; from what we could see in the recent elections it conducted, I have my fears.

The issue of generational power shift has been on the front burner in recent times.

Do you see the youth take over power in the next 10 years the way things are going?

Let’s define youth. Youth is meant to be from 35 years downward to 20. What baffles me the most is that our population is predominantly made up of the youth.

They are in the majority, but I don’t know why it doesn’t translate into political power for the youth. I can’t relate it, but organisation matters. If the youth want power, they have to organise themselves very well. They have to shun those material things of life; those acquisitive tendencies. I think that’s the honey that is used to take the eye off the ball; if they can do that, there is a good chance. But the problem is this poverty mentality. When we talk about poverty, we are not just talking about material things but mental

poverty. For instance, how many youths read in this country?

What is going on in the universities?

University is the bastion of intellectualism, and everything noble; but what is going on in our universities? Most of the time, they are shut. So, our youths have remained mentally retarded; so to that end, chances of the youth taking up power in the next 10 years are almost zero. Majority of them have been mentally retarded by the system. Our greatest assets, ordinarily, should be our youths but they have been incapacitated by the system.

Given the level of youth unemployment and the likelihood of many of them being recruited by politicians as thugs as we go into the election; do you foresee possibility of widespread election-related violence in 2019?

Again, you can see that there has been a lot of infiltration of arms into the country, from all corners. Today, because of the crisis in some parts of the country, some natives in those parts of the country have some arms to protect themselves. The only thing is that the financial inducement may overshadow the violence; what you may actually see is massive deployment of cash. The people may have a choice, they may drop the guns and use their money and pay the highest bidder. The money may take the role of arms.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has made his stand known on what he wants in this election. How in your own opinion may his support for Atiku impact the presidential election and its outcome?

In all honesty, General Obasanjo is an enigma of sorts. He has been a military head of state, a civilian present for two times, he is renowned around the world.

The international community usually seeks his opinion; I think he would have an impact. His role will have impact in some quarters and this is someone that had been at loggerheads with Atiku, but he has had to make an about turn because of the situation, which tells us that something is fundamentally wrong with the direction of this government and I think that no matter how things are, for him to turn round to

You followed the governorship primary that took place in Lagos APC and what happened to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; if you were Ambode what options would you have adopted- leave the party or hang in there?

To be sincere with you, if I were Governor Ambode, I would quietly leave government. This is because even among thieves, there is honour. That is just a quote.

Ambode, we all know, was assisted into power by Asiwaju Tinubu, therefore, he has no other choice than to toe that line.

So, you don’t bite the finger that fed you; just quietly leave government and go your way.

What is the chance of Jimi Agbaje in Lagos State?

I have sampled opinions and there is a strong belief that the APC will carry the day in Lagos in a free and fair election.

This is because I am not really sure that the PDP can do the necessary campaign and the work that will be required to win the governorship election in Lagos State.

If you want to take over power from APC that has been in power for years in the state, a lot of work needs to be done.

There is this concern in the polity- the increasing incursion by clerics into political matters. Rather than being apolitical or neutral, they are now campaigning for politicians from the pulpit. Does this portend many dangers for the country?

The church, the mosque and other worship; centres should be sanctuaries. I think they should try as much as possible to stay away from political fray. I think they should encourage their members to go and exercise their franchise and not they now getting involved in partisan politics. It is not proper. We need to have a place where we go to talk to our God and receive his words and others. These clerics are supposed to be a compass for the people. But when they leave their spiritual calling and start dabbling into politics two things could happen – one, they lose the respect of their members; two, they cause divisions among their members. So, it can’t be in the best interest of our nation.

What advice do you have for the electorate as the country goes into the 2019 election?

I want to encourage people to have their cards ready and I want to encourage them to vote with their conscience and what they believe will make Nigeria great.

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Interview PDP lacks the moral fibre to demand IG’s resignation – Umohinyang Emmanuel Umohinyang, social commentator and analyst is the convener of Re-elect Buhari Movement (RBM). He speaks on recent national issues, saying that there is no basis for the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resign as recently requested by the opposition.

Excerpts:

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hat is your reaction to the call by the PDP for the resignation of The Inspector – General Of Police and the INEC Chairman?

I think the People’s Democratic Party, known for its antics, does not have the morality to ask heads of institutions to resign because under the Sixteen years maladministration of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), we saw how the abuse of institutions was carried out during that era. Under the PDP, the office of the IGP was an appendage of the ruling party. We also saw that under the PDP, INEC, which is now truly independent, was not, so, when a party like that begins to make insinuation, one begins to wonder whether, we have lost our sense of history. Funny enough, their call is targeted at the person of Ibrahim Idris, the IGP, but I think instead of PDP calling for his resignation, Nigerians should be calling for the IGP to be given an extension of office because in the last couple of years, he has done creditably well. Don’t forget that IGP Idris is UN-trained. He has worked in various missions abroad. He has been a pillar of strength to so many countries where he performed creditably well.

He is a man who has won several awards including UN awards. When a party like the PDP makes such insinuation, it baffles me, and I think we must commend President Muhammedu Buhari, who made Idris IGP. Under his watch, he has brought sound, workable, credible reforms of the police.

He is pro-welfare. He ensures his men are properly taken care of. Recently, you saw the increment in the salary of the police. This may have been started by other IGPs, but he ensured that he brought that process to a conclusive end by getting the President to approve an increase in salary for his men. Idris does not sit down in the comfort of his office and push out orders, he leads his men from the

Emmanuel Umohinyang

front line. Those calling for his resignation over claims of partiality do not know who IGP Idris is because if they do, they would have known that this is a man who will never allow any of his men to be used to circumvent the will and wishes of Nigerians. Under his watch, we have had the conduct of elections which have been adjudged as credible by foreign observers. On the INEC Chairman, I have not seen any area where INEC has performed below expectation under the administration of President Buhari. I think such insinuations are largely due to the fear of where Nigerians have decided to pitch their tent in 2019. I think Nigerians should forget the PDP because they do not enjoy their supports.

Having gone through the era of stealing is not corruption; nobody would want to return to that era.

Don’t you think the call for IGP’s resignation over the repeated changes of Commissioners of Police in Bayelsa State is an issue?

It is not the duty of any governor or political party by reason of the police act to decide how long a commissioner of police is to stay in a state.

The IGP is the one in charge of the operations of the police.

The information the IGP has you and I do not have. Don’t forget that the disadvantages and advantages of the police staying long in a place. If a police officer stays too long in a

place, familiarity may be taken advantage of, and there is the danger of compromise which may throw up security risk. The IGP has necessary information and it is on the strength of such information that he relies on since he owes it as a duty to Nigerians to pull out CPs who may no longer be able to carry out the policing of that State or those who have over stayed in such a place. The argument of some of these governors is that staying long will allow better policing of the terrain, but that is not enough because it is not the CP who goes after criminal elements. His own is

INEC had been working with the previous electoral act in preparation for 2019, so the President felt signing the new bill may cause confusion in the polity. Don’t forget that this President believes in the improvement of our electoral system because he has been a victim of a spurious election on three occasions, but he was a beneficiary of a credible process in 2015, thanks to the card reader.

to give directives to his men.

Even when he leaves, his men are there to do the job on the field. The police act gives the IGP the powers to regulate the affairs of the police; it is not the duty of governors or political parties to interfere.

How do you see the role of the police in the recent Akwa Ibom House of Assembly crisis?

Those who make allegations against the police are those afraid of their shadow. They think we are still operating the old order where the magic of 16 is greater than 19 in the governors’ forum election under the past administration. Under the Buhari administration, institutions have been given the power to work independently. Look at what the EFCC is doing. We no longer have a situation where EFCC is let loose on political opponents.

We don’t have anything like that. You should know that the party that is complaining has always had the habit of abusing institutions of government, and so they think the present administration will do same, but they got it dead wrong because under Buhari nothing like that will happen. Accusing the IGP of interfering in the House of Assembly crisis is ridiculous. The IGP will never stoop so low as to interfering in an issue connected with the House of Assembly of a state. What for? Does the IGP want to become the speaker of the State House of Assembly? People who make these kinds of statements are people who have lost substantially.

Nobody will use the police for political advantage in 2019.

Whosoever has such intention should bury it, not under this administration. The President will not allow the wishes of Nigerians to be truncated because he is involved. That is the President and that is the President Nigerians will return by the grace of God in 2019.

What is your reaction to CUPP’s adoption of Atiku Abubakar as consensus presidential candidate in 2019?

I think the endorsement by CVPP should not take anybody

by surprise. All the officials of CUPP are PDP, and some of these political parties like Festus Keyamo said are husband and wife political parties, but I tend to disagree with Keyamo’s position. Husband and wife means they are two.

I believe they are cousins and nephew political parties. They don’t have offices. They have no structures, no organs of the party as it is outlined in the constitution. What they do is fronting as political parties with a common goal, going back to where we are coming from. If you look at them too, you will discover that they are almost children of the same parents. They all started PDP and returned back. Endorsement does not translate to victory in an election, if it does, former president Goodluck Jonathan would have continued in office. It is Nigerians who will determine their President in 2019, not political parties without structures.

What is your position on the President’s refusal to sign the election bill into law?

I think our constitution made it very clear that where the President withholds his assent, the Parliament with two-third majority can override the President, but can this parliament muzzle two-third?

The answer is no.

The President did not refuse to assent the bill as people may want to say because he feels it will work against him, no. This bill was passed on the 20th of October, 2018. The president looked at the closeness of signing the bill and the 2019 election, two months and some fractions away from now. INEC had been working with the previous electoral act in preparation for 2019, so the President felt signing the new bill may cause confusion in the polity. Don’t forget that this President believes in the improvement of our electoral system because he has been a victim of a spurious election on three occasions, but he was a beneficiary of a credible process in 2015, thanks to the card reader.

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Interview We will assist state government to address challenge of perennial flooding in Kogi - Omotoso Akin Omotoso, newly elected chairman of the Ajaokuta branch of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), in this interview with VICTORIA NNAKAIKE in Lokoja, Kogi State, talks about his programmes for the branch; the relationship between the group and state government; the role of the Society in mitigating the incessant flooding incidences in the state; expectations from up-and-coming engineers. Excerpts:

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s the new chairman of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), what are the things you are going to do differently from what your predecessors have done during their tenures?

Thank you very much.Winners don’t do different things but they do things differently.

Coming in to this office, I have achieved in the four cardinal points of our branch, Obajana, Okene, Itakpe, Idah, Ayingba and all our members within Ajaokutabranch can attest to that.

Number one thing is to maintain the membership drive, to see that members are committed to the operations of this noble branch. It is to see that the welfare of membersis upheld. Another thing is to make sure that this branch moves to the next level. Before now, we have been having our programmes within Ajaokuta and KogiState, by the grace of God we have more of our public lectures, more of technical talks that will go deeper into professionalism in order to broaden the ideas of our members.

Our refresher course is going to take a new dimension so that everyone will be kept abreast of the present professional norms. And our attendants at our national programmes, especially national and international conferences by the grace of God, will be more. And this branch will be taken to the next level.

What was the situation of the society like when you took over the mantle of leadership?

I must tell you I have been in the corridors of Exco for some years and the condition of the branch was very intact before I took over. And I am promising that it will go higher and higher.

The condition was intact, we have a norm, we have an operation, we have a standard in the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) Ajaokuta Branch. We have a standard, it is expected for any new chairman or any new executive committee inaugurated to build on that standard to make sure that the branch is taken to the next level. So, the

Akin Omotoso,

situation was okay, and intact.

Dr. Abraham Lincoln said:‘I don’t reckon with a man who is not better than who he was yesterday and today.’

And the biggest room on

We have a mutual relationship with that ministry and so the relationship within us is very cordial. Whatsoever occasion that will warrant us to come together to practise professionalism, we are there.

earth is the room for selfimprovement. We are going to improve by the grace of God on whatsoever we have met on ground. Take for instance, the area of facility tour, industrial businesses the branch has been doing her best but has not been doing more in that area, but in this regime God keeping us, we are going to visit some industrial facilities within and outside KogiState.

What has been the relationship between the society and the state government. Or do you think the relationship is very cordial.

Or is there anything NSE Ajaokuta branch is going to do to make sure that the synergy between the society and the state government is intact so that in the execution of developmental projects, the society will be 100 percent on ground to give expertise advice?

Yes, we have a very cordial relationship with the state government. For instance, the Hon. Commissioner for Works and Urban Development Engr. AbdulmuminSadiq, happens to be a fellow of our great society. We have a mutual relationship with that ministry and so the relationship within us is very cordial. Whatsoever occasion that will warrant us to come together to practise professionalism, we are there.

But some engineers say that the relationship between NSE and state government is not cordial, and that the state government does not carry engineers along. What is your take on this?

Just as I have mentioned one of our fellows is the Commissioner for Works and Urban Development and with this we are kept abreast with the goings-onin the state.

But there is always need for improvement. Am not saying that it has gotten to 100 percent standard but we continue to keep on keeping on.

Any advice to KogiState government?

We will just encourage the government of Kogi State, first and foremost in this period where people are threatened with the situation of flood. If you look around some areas in the state, you will see where people are being afraid of what will become of their properties. Am saying that we are behind the state government to see that the situation is being professionally managed. And we want to encourage the state government to keep on keeping on to do more in addition to what the state has been doing, to do more in the area of infrastructure.

Talking about flooding, there are some areas that people have vacated from and flood has taken over.

But some of these people who built houses in those areas prone to flood knew the situation before they embarked on such projects.

What do you think government should do in this circumstance?

Yes, there is need for what we call stakeholders’ meeting. Who are the stakeholders? The government and the people who are having those properties along those riverbanks. Bring such people into affiliation. So, let there be a stakeholders’ meeting. Stakeholders come together where a decision can be taken, where advice could be rightly given and then government and stakeholders will follow suit in order to bring permanent solution to this. Remember in 2012, it happened and then for such to happen again it is not okay for the community.

What words do you have for engineers?

Let the upcoming engineers be focused. Let them practise and follow the code and conduct of our profession. We have codes and ethics of Engineering practice, let them follow this and do all that they do with integrity. They should not be too anxious. With determination and hard work, they will all get there.

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TheWorshippers

Many pastors today are seeking bread and material things, not God’s kingdom – Apostle Olufunmilade Apostle Alabi Michael Olufunmilade, presiding apostle of the Apostolic Mandate Ministries International, Ogba, Lagos, speaks with SEYI JOHN SALAU on the ministry’s mandate. He also touches on some national issues. Excerpts: What is the focus of the Apostolic Mandate Ministries International? t is a ministry that God gave to us to win souls to His kingdom, to preach good tidings to the meek, comfort those that mourn, open the prison doors to those that are bound, give garment of praise for heaviness of heart, proclaim liberty to those in captivity, proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord, and also to educate people on the implication and application of salvation, because people don’t really know the implication and the application of salvation. We have a branch in Cape Town, South Africa.

We have a programme we do annually, called ‘Global Prayer Investment Summits’, and we are waiting for God’s direction for the next summit.

What doctrines does the ministry believe in and practice?

We believe in God, in Jesus Christ and in the Trinity. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and that the gospel should be preached to all the members on the earth. We believe that Satan exists to reclaim the mandate of God, and we are not taking anything for granted. We partake in all the celebrations in Christendom, like Christmas and Easter. We are not sentimental; we preach the gospel in truth and purity of heart.

As an apostle, what do you desire to achieve with your mandate?

My desire is to preach the gospel, so that people would know the implication and the application of salvation, because many people go to church and they don’t know the implication and application of salvation, as I noted earlier. Salvation is not go-

I

Apostle Alabi Michael Olufunmilade

ing about and saying one is born again; it is not in the confession but it is in the implication and the application. By implication, I mean knowing why Jesus died and shed his blood for you. And after you are saved, you apply your salvation in enhancing your destiny.

What is your view on the church in Nigeria today?

When we talk of Nigerian church today, I grew up in an orthodox church, most of us have moved from the orthodox to Pentecostals and charismatic churches. The bottom line is the motive. Today, the motive of an average Nigerian pastor is what God is interested in. You would see what is going to happen between now till end of December,

My advice for Christians is to watch for fake pastors and satanic temples that look like a sanctuary.

Immediately you enter a church and you are asked to bring money to sow a seed for every prayer point, and the pastor is calling your phone number, informing people about you, then you know you are in a wrong place

many churches would be having harvest and thanksgiving services; what is the motive of the thanksgiving? Is the thanksgiving truly to God, or the pastor just wants to gather fund for his family Christmas? In today’s church people are materially inclined, but our Lord Jesus gave us a pragmatic command, that the first consideration is the kingdom of God. As the Bible stipulates in Mathew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and every other thing would be added unto you.”

But today people are not seeking the kingdom of God first; they are seeking the bread and the material, that is why we have chaos and division everywhere.

More churches are springing up and more people are claiming to be Christian, yet more evils are being done in the land, which makes one to wonder. If the gospel is well preached the way it is supposed to be preached, you don’t need to appeal to somebody to do good; all the person needs to understand is the implication and the application of salvation. For instance, what are the implication and the application of education? The implication is that when I am educated I would be enlightened, I will be useful to myself and the society, then the application is for me to apply it to whatever that I am doing to enhance my destiny.

If the gospel is preached, and

the centre of the gospel is the message of our Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ personified, His death, His earthly ministry, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His coming back; these are the focus of the gospel, anything outside it negates heavenly mandate.

Does having large membership signify the anointing?

The answer is capital no. We have musicians that pull crowd, yet they are not anointed, they are just inspired by natural gifts.

Having multitudes does not signify that the man is anointed, that is why Jesus narrowed it down that where two or three people are gathered in His name, He will be there in their midst. What matters are the persons that gathered, where they gathered, and in whose name they gathered, and the most important thing is the presence of God there. Some people can gather in a cathedral and the presence of God is not there, while some people can gather under the tree and God’s presence would be there.

Recently, the Lagos State government approved the use of hijab in public schools. Do you think it is a good idea?

Everything has been politicised in Nigeria. How does hijab add to the living standard of Lagosians? What does it add to the educational sector? It is just politics. I don’t see anything sensible about the approval. When I was growing up, as a Yoruba person, every family in the South West did not have one religion, because you have Christians, Muslims, and traditional worshippers in a family. Bringing in hijab is another way Satan wants to divide us the more.

Many pastors shy away from politics, are you one of them?

I am not politically inclined.

I don’t like politics the way it is played in Nigeria. Politics in Nigeria is full of lies, full of diabolical and mysterious things.

I am not discouraging any pastor or Christian that wants to participate in politics. As long as they can withstand the pressure there, then it is ok.

The recent dedication of Dunamis’ 100,000-capacity auditorium was criticized by many. What is your take?

There is nothing wrong in building such auditorium. Traditional rulers have shrines for their gods, why won’t somebody build a comfortable place of

worship for God? I congratulate Pastor Paul Eneche and his family and the church members on the dedication of the auditorium.

Anybody criticising success does not know what success and achievement mean, even those that think the money used in building the church should be channeled to helping the poor.

Let me say that poverty is a thing of the mind, it is not about having money. Remember, the Bible says the poor will always be in our midst.

How do you feel about the rise of diabolic pastors in Nigeria and other parts of Africa?

The issue is that in becoming the servant of God you must be called, you must be anointed, ordained, and commissioned.

Those that are involved in diabolic powers are not called; even if they are called they are not anointed, they are not ordained or commissioned. Every true servant of God must be called, ordained and commissioned, to be an apostle, prophet, pastor or evangelist. Many pastors are involved in this act because of material inclination. When you see somebody that claims to be a servant of God or a pastor quoting your phone number, calling your father’s name, telling you your home or office address and telling you everything on a spot, know that such act is a scam and the person is not a true servant of God. God can never show you everything, He shows things in parts; so when you go to church and the person there that claims to be a pastor is calling your phone number, telling you to bring cane, to bring padlock, telling you to bring coconut, he is a spiritual thief, he is not a true servant of God. My advice for Christians is to watch for fake pastors and satanic temples that look like a sanctuary. Immediately you enter a church and you are asked to bring money to sow a seed for every prayer point, and the pastor is calling your phone number, informing people about you, then you know you are in a wrong place.

On 2019 election, what message do you have for the electorates and the politicians?

I am not a politician; let everybody go and vote, and vote right. I don’t have a candidate.

My prayer is for the will of God to be done in Nigeria. Let God intervene at this particular time when as a nation, we don’t know what to do because we are confused.

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SundayBusiness Rivers would have been making N15bn per month by now, if … Osila, first RIRS executive chairman

When Rivers State under Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi decided to reform the tax system in the state and make it the pillar of government income, they picked one model of girl-child education, Osila Onene-Oshoko, as first executive chairman of the newly autonomous Rivers State Internal Revenue Service then patterned after the Federal Government and Lagos systems in 2012. The new law made the RIRS the last bus stop in tax matters in the state and removed it from the civil service system with independent staff system and spending autonomy. IGR moved from N4.5billion to between N8billion and N10billion due to these reforms while she was yet to unveil her masterstroke, PUSH, for the informal sector, and High Networth Scheme for billionaires that looks like today’s VAIDS. She was, however, abruptly removed soon after a new administration came into office in 2015, even as she said the reforms were yet to take roots.

Regional Editor, IGNATIUS CHUKWU, ran into Osila in a faraway location outside the state and extracted explosive remarks. Excerpts:

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an you explain why you left Port Harcourt and relocated to Lagos after your stint as the pioneer executive chairman of the autonomous Rivers State Board of Internal Revenue Service, RIRS? Port Harcourt no longer remained conducive to me now.

People should not be made to live in their past. I lived in Lagos and later came over to Port Harcourt on a critical assignment of pioneering the autonomy status that was by an act of parliament just granted to the Rivers State Internal Revenue Service, RIRS. The job ended abruptly due to change of government. I tried to continue life in Port Harcourt but I found that everywhere I went to, people would only see me in the image of chairman of RIRS, not as a professional going about her business. So, I moved back to Lagos. I had to take this decision because the way people were going, if one did not take time, you would miss your way.

I had to move to a place where your past does not matter but your tomorrow. For me, Port Harcourt was not providing that atmosphere for me.

Can you say you fulfilled the mission to Port Harcourt and to RIRS, considering how critical the then government said your task of laying the foundation for a professional tax collection process was?

Yes, I was able to prove to myself that it is human beings that make government. I applied myself to the work and made impact.

I tried to create a level-playing field for people. People had the mindset that tax collection was another civil service work. They would stroll to work, some after 11am, of course, with plenty of excuses, but I would not accept it. There was big transformation.

What did you achieve at RIRS? People understood the essence of doing their work.

That was personnel work, what about other areas?

Tax payers understood their responsibilities under the law due to steady engagements. They saw a new seriousness in the RIRS and they saw a set of people now interested in tax administration.

People in RIRS began to go back to school because of a new hunger for knowledge. I was putting out notice that motivated them, that challenged them. Human capital is very important, plus the environment to excel. We created an environment for them; training, etc.

People were rushing to seek job

Passengers setting down from a coach in Kaduna Osila Onene-Oshoko opportunities in RIRS not because of being employed but the career that was sprouting out there.

There came a sense of zeal for the brand. Dignity of labour came to the fore.

This rubbed off on tax collection processes. It coincided with the political crisis in the state and shutting down of the courts. The autonomy was won in 2012 and the political crisis in the state started also in 2012). This prevented us from getting court orders on tax matters.

Despite that, revenue did not come down. We rather achieved a flow with the taxpayers and they could even write us asking for shifts.

Staff would go out well dressed.

This gave confidence to the RIRS officials and it further created mutual respect. It created a lot of goodwill for Rivers State.

Was there an unfinished business at the RIRS, things not done?

We were just starting a process. The staff did not yet see the end of the tunnel because we did not firm up our structure due to the sudden end. We needed to launch the informal sector programme called PUSH. We did not have time.

The end was abrupt.

If you had completed the processes, what would have been the

monthly IGR of the state by now?

That’s a tough question, but I am positive that it would be over N15billion by now because we would have stabilised. We had in mind getting every agency and arm of the government into the tax synergy. The judiciary is an important organ because of the need for due process in tax matters.

What advice do you have for state governments on nonviolent tax systems?

IGR is the nerve of any administration. Tax must be professionally managed. You must have the right professional leadership and the right structures that prevent leakages. Next, you must get public buy-in. You must study the tax laws and respect them.

At every time, you are having a conversation with the tax public, not threats and shouting match.

Get more people to pay tax and your IGR will shoot up. Autonomy of tax administration is key. The staff of your Revenue Board must be adequately rewarded to avoid self-help. Also, show evidence of what the IGR is being used for.

This is what will make people trust you with their taxes and ease collection tasks.

Next, make people realise that they can make money for doing the right thing. This way, people in the

revenue system would not need to steal to make it. If any government collects taxes, let them pass it round through effective project implementation to boost purchasing power.

This way, people will be happy; and the money will come in. Do not cut corners, else, the revenue coming to your state will cease and people will hide their money. That does not augur well for any state.

As the new minimum wage is about to take off, many states are jittery and may fall back on IGR, which is already poor; what do you advise the governors to do in IGR to escape from the quagmire?

When you say IGR is their hope of paying minimum wage, you know they need to first look at their payroll sizes. You know that it is the civil servants that get minimum wage. So, the state governments must look at their payroll. We had an experience at the RIRS and had to do a staff audit. We found that the month we did not pay, people who had not showed up for work for years just showed up because they did not get alert. Those are the things that must be treated before they can say they cannot pay minimum wage.

I have a lot of reservations about minimum wage issue but

the issue is that if a lot of money spent by government is looked at, a lot of them can pay it. There is huge wastage going on. What one or two other persons (in political positions) take home is too huge to talk of N30,000.

Are the states going to force money out people’s hands? Even if they did so without reviewing wastes, they will still not pay. The states should review spending, ghost workers, etc, that way they can cope.

How are you deploying your experience and human capital for Nigerians, now that you are out of the RIRS? I am now into management turnaround and process management. This is due to my huge experience in both the public and private sectors. A lot of things going wrong in companies is because of how management is doing things. They need to look at the processes and the objectives already laid down. They must cut out some excesses to meet their targets. Now, I am into process reengineering and re-branding.

Is there any other message?

I think state governments that put in great efforts to lure experts and professionals to serve them in critical positions must protect these experts. The practice of engaging somebody to do an assignment for a state but you just wake up and shut out that person is not good in developing the system. May be, due to political considerations, leaders want their own persons but there are ethical requirements and rules of engagement for professionals working for you. If the professional did not commit any offence, if you get that person out to bring in your own person, there must be severance package, else, the new person will learn from the sad experience and want to settle himself first.

I am still trying to grapple with the situation such as this. It is difficult to accept that you can be thrown out without committing any offence in a tenured appointment backed by law. The hostility there is too much.

Government cannot run that way. For me, it was a thing of pride for one to work for one’s state.

It is sad that such sacrifice only attracts hostility. The whole idea is for professionals to come in to help build the state; and if anyone breached it, there should be processes to punish the person.

There should be reward for those who did well and punishment for those who committed offence. It is bad to lump everybody together as if the law does not exist.

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Sunday 16 December 2018

SundayBusiness The National Root Crops Research Institute, Food & Beverages Umudike bridging the food gap With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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he gap which still exists between robust research findings and the people they are supposed to benefit, including the farmers remains a challenge towards the development of agricultural practices in Nigeria. There is little doubt that agriculture is the most sustainable and dependable anchor for the mainstay of the economy. That is, in terms of food security, employment generation and national output. But what would be the aim of any project that does not serve the purpose of the expected beneficiaries?

Indeed, after a thorough research work with the title, ‘The Role of National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia State in Agricultural Development’ conducted by Messrs Akparanta, C.D., Ugwu, J.N.,Nwawe, C.N., Utulu, S.N. and Erumwenbibi, B.O they came up with the position that ‘agricultural research in terms of national development is not meaningful if their results neither

Spiritonomics

Debo Atiba

www.spiritonomics.org

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od is just a wonderful, humorous God. His desire is that we His children get to know Him and His modus operandi.

Jesus Christ said “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given (Matthew 13:11)”. What a privilege, what a blessing!!! The purpose of God appearing in Jesus was to make His ways known unto us. Every

reach nor are accepted by the majority of farmers. The nation’s past agricultural policies and programmes, which adopted a top -down approach to agricultural research and development, have not been able to provide adequate momentum to the stagnating agricultural sector’.

One cannot but agree with their position. Farmers must be carried along and their active participation sought throughout the research and development process. But how can this be achieved?

From years of experience on the field, one has discovered that most of our research institutes are not well funded. Grants come in severally at the wrong time. There are no credible data base to work with in terms of linkage between the institutes and the famers on one hand, and the organized private sector on the other. There is also no linkage between the Ministry of Science and Technology at the state and federal government levels.

Running of research institutes is therefore, left at the mercy of power-seeking politicians, some of who care less about how the research findings could add value to the national economy through modernized farming techniques and economic growth. There the NRCRI, Umudike comes in.

It is an agricultural research institute whose origins can be traced back to an experimental f a r m e s t a b l i s h e d a t Mo o r Plantation, Ibadan on January 1, 1923 by the Nigerian Department of Agriculture. The School of Agriculture was established in 1955, and the two establishments were combined as the Eastern Nigeria Agricultural Research and Training Station (ARTS) in 1956, with headquarters at Enugu. In 1972, the institution assumed

federal status as the Federal Agricultural Research and Training Station (FARTS). In 1976 it was renamed the National Root Crops Research Institute, coming under the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria. In 1995, the training wing was split off as the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu.

The institute conducts research into genetic improvement of economically important root and tuber crops such as cassava, yam, cocoyam, sweet potato, Irish potato, ginger, Hausa potato, sugar beets and Turmeric. It also researches subjects such as crop cultivation techniques, storage, processing and utilization of the crops, concentrating on requirements of farmers in the south-east zone of Nigeria. The institute provides training of middle level agricultural workers, awarding National Diplomas and Higher National Diplomas and providing specialized vocational training to farmers.

It also researches subjects such as crop cultivation techniques, storage, processing and utilization of the crops, concentrating on requirements of farmers in the south-east geo-political zone of the country. The institute runs a diagnostic survey of the farming systems of the zone to obtain information on status of agricultural activities and to identify production constraints and opportunities.

Furthermore, it conducts upstream (on-station) research to tailor down commodity research results to suit farmers’ conditions.

It carries out Monthly Technology Review Meetings (MTRMs) where scientists from research institutes and universities train the Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) from the state Agricultural

Development Programmes on improved technologies.

The institute provides training of middle level agricultural workers, awarding National Diplomas and Higher National Diplomas and providing specialized vocational training to farmers. Technology generation is influenced by determination of needs, and research and management of technology generating institutions (World Bank, 1994).

The institute has received funding from the Generation Challenge Program and the National Agricultural Research Systems to establish a modern laboratory for research into improvements to cassava genetics using molecular markers. The institute collaborates with other regional research centers through the Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network, funded by USAID. Matching words with needed action, it is providing incremental improvement geared to the capabilities of resourced - poor farmers. By these the programs of these farmers can be raised one step at a time. To this end it is gratifying to observe the beginning of the close collaboration development between the farming system, research programmes of the nation’s research institute and agricultural development project.

This is a right step taken because previous research reports blamed ineffectiveness in technology generation on conventional research activities operated in Nigeria. These have poor consideration of farmers’ problems, skill and scale of operation and financial status and orienting of research to journal publication.

According to Van den Ban and

Hawkins, 1992 in developing countries such as Nigeria, the acute lack of collaboration between the social and biological scientists on farming system research (FSR), has limited research efforts. This is especially so in generating relevant technologies. As he rightly stated, ”The net effect of FSR adopted as a policy in the activities of the agricultural technology generation sub -system is the involvement of technologies best suited to farming system and accepted by the farmers themselves”.

Also, most research efforts in technology generation in developing countries are wasted due to mainly to their inadequate orientation to the farmers’ needs and archaic farm practices.

Solution should be found to the challenge of choice of the right type of agricultural technologies.

Another issue is the best methods to employ in communicating relevant technologies to small scale farmers. Generally, an agricultural technology is considered appropriate, if it provides a costeffective level of productivity and has minimal effects on the environment.

All considered, for any nation to be self sufficient in the food value chain it should employ progressive agricultural practices.

And this can only be achieved if agricultural research institutes and government could play their partnership roles in providing both the framework and the finance when it matters most. Good enough, NRCRI Umudike has set the template for others to emulate.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media ayobaje@yahoo.co.uk; 08057971776

Challenges: Minefield of blessing act of Jesus, His miracles, utterances, way of handling of issues were all pointer to us to act in the same manner. The moment we fall short of this understanding we are no different from the ordinary man, our results are no different.

If there is any work, we are meant to do that is worthy of great result to heaven’s standard it is to know Him and His ways (Dan. 11:32b). This implies seeking first His kingdom and His way of doing things (Matt. 6:33). Getting this means we have access to the dynamic operation of the kingdom of heaven that causes to be wonders in our world.

For instance, many people live in fear of likely problems that show up in life and cause difficulties and pain. Such situations sap our joy and enthusiasm to function in life. God in Jesus saw this ahead of time and warned

us that in this world we would face trials and tribulations, but we should be of good cheer for He has overcome the world.

What a blessed assurance. The statement is like a big container where the problems, challenges or difficulties of life however big they may be may be poured.

When He tells us to count it all joy, or rejoice forever more (1Thess.5:16) and He goes further in verse 18 to say that in everything we should give thanks, to the uninitiated this does not make any sense. We may even come to a conclusion that this God is uncaring, but to the initiated this where the wisdom of God resides. From time immemorial, the blessing of God has been hid in what appears to man as problems or challenges. If you do not know God and His way of doing things you will miss out big time.

The blessing of David was hid in

Goliath; the blessing of Isaac was hid in the famine in the land. The blessing of Jehoshaphat was hid in the armies that were arrayed against him. When God gave Jehoshaphat victory, he had to use his entire army to carry the spoil of war for three days. Joseph became prosperous because he was sold into slavery, same goes for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, their difficulties and challenges brought about their lifting. These and many other examples show us that God knew what He was saying when He told us to rejoice and count it all joy.

This is because it is in these problems, challenges and attacks that our blessings hide.

Without us having the right understanding and right attitude we lose out and it looks as though the enemy has won. No!!!! The only place where God can hide

our blessing and where no one can contest it is in our problems and all the negative things that hell is unleashing against us. God tells us that “it is with joy that will draw it out… (Isa.12:3). Never forget, doing business is all about problem solving.

So beloved, we are in for a great time of manifesting the blessing of God because we now know where they are kept.

We don’t grumble anymore or murmur because they are needless, rather we rejoice with joy unspeakable full of glory. We count it all joy, we celebrate the goodness of God in the face of every problem or challenge that life may throw at us. And as we walk in this new light I see you enjoy untold blessing that has been waiting for you in darkness.

Isaiah 45:3.

Remain Blessed.

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SundayBusiness New leadership in NMRC and expectations from mortgage market

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he emergence of a new leadership at the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) early this month has raised fresh hope and expectations in the mortgage market that the fortunes of the struggling market might improve significantly.

Expectation is that with the experience, antecedents and strength of character of those who constitute the core of the new leadership, whatever was the knot that tied the refinance company and prevented it from meeting market expectations in the past four years would be untied and new heights attained.

Coming as a child of necessity in a mortgage environment where credit facility and liquidity drought was/is legendary, NMRC was received with open hands and dreamy heads by stakeholders, especially the home seeking Nigerians whose homeownership dreams have, over the years, been dashed by dearth of affordable housing finance.

Though a private sector-driven company, NMRC has the public purpose of developing the primary and secondary mortgage markets by raising long‐term funds from the domestic as well as foreign capital market for providing accessible and affordable housing in Nigeria.

Its mission is to break down barriers to home ownership by providing liquidity, affordability, accessibility and stability to the housing market.

In line with this, the company, three years ago, raised N8 billion from

the capital market with which it refinanced mortgages originated by primary mortgage lenders.

The benefiting mortgage institutions included Stanbic IBTC which got N1.8 billion and Imperial Homes, N1.7 billion. Other beneficiaries included Sterling Bank, N1.6 billion; Sun Trust Mortgage Bank, N1.3 billion; Trustbond Mortgage Bank, N700 million; and Homebase Mortgage Bank which got N500 million.

Adeniyi Akinlusi, CEO, Trustbond Mortgage Plc and a shareholder in the refinance company, is of the view that with this and a few other things, NMRC has a positive story to tell for its four years as a secondary mortgage institution.

“A lot of things are being done by the company. A major issue they have is that of land titling, but the company has been able to get some states of the federation to sign the model mortgage foreclosure law”, he informed, citing Lagos and Kaduna states which have keyed in.

“In Kaduna state today, it takes less than a week and 3 percent to perfect your title. A lot of things are being done; they may be moving slowly, but they are very impactful; the money given by NMRC to mortgage lending institutions are meant to expand home ownership and that is working”, he noted.

But both home seekers and close watchers of the mortgage market think otherwise. The impact of all these activities on affordable home seekers in the last four years remains to be seen. Mortgage interest rate

Procurement and Supply Chain

with Gob-Agundu Uche Branch chair (CIPS), Nigeria

Bola Afolabi

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any nations worry about insufficient funding to actualise their development plans. Corporate entities also face dwindling profits due to stiff competition in the market place.

Nigeria’s 2018 budget stood at N9.12trillion after being raised by the National Assembly from N8.61trillion. However, this improved budget compared to the developed countries is grossly insufficient to deliver developmental projects to the citizenry. This is why government is making efforts at diversifying our economy to increase the GDP of the country.

Empirical evidence has shown that up to 75percent of this sum is spent on the acquisition of goods & services. Funds that we need will never be enough but what is paramount is the need to spend what we have in the most prudent manner, culminating in strong cost control and robust financial

discipline. That is what makes good governance and by extension engenders success of a nation. In other words, cost reduction is of necessity in the face of inadequate funds. As it is in matured economies, the supply chain practitioners are playing prominent roles and being challenged to develop strategies capable of reducing cost and improving positive margins.

The primary focus of this article therefore, is to demonstrate how Supply Chain Management (SCM) practitioners can play such roles effectively in their respective organisations and institutions.

In today’s world, what keeps most CEOs awake are the challenges of increasing value creation, growing the business, higher profit potentials, reducing costs, managing stakeholders and ensuring sustainability. These challenges are the cornerstone of SCM job descriptions.

In the not too distant past, Procurement and Logistics experts were looked down upon as a cog in the wheel of progress of most companies thereby non-performers were placed at the heart of the company’s business. Procurement

remains high and so, mortgage is still inaccessible and unaffordable to those who really need it.

Nigerians are chronic optimists and that is why the leadership of the company led by Charles Adeyemi Candide-Johnson and Kehinde Ogundimu as chairman and managing director/chief executive respectively has raised expectations that better times are here.

Ogundimu is a thorough-bred finance professional who, according to Akinlusi, “is coming from the position of knowledge and experience” having been in the company since inception as chief finance officer (CFO) and acting managing director prior to this new appointment as managing director.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ibadan and obtained an MBA from the University of Lagos. Ogundimu started his career at Price Waterhouse Coopers and subsequently worked in various capacities at Chevron Nigeria and in the Washington DC region at Pepco Energy Services, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and finally at Capital One Bank, where he was the Head of Debt, Derivatives and Securitization before joining NMRC. Ogundimu’s stint at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which are NMRC’s equivalent in the US places him in good stead to make NMRC realize its full potential and live up its vision ‘to be the dominant housing partner in Nigeria by providing liquidity and access to affordable housing finance’.

Talking Mortgage with

CHUKA UROKO (08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com) Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae account for the high homeownership level in the US which is over 70 percent as opposed to Nigeria’s 10 percent. It is expected that Ogundimu will be able to bring his experience from that company to bear on his management of NMRC which, at the moment, owes Nigeria’s housing stakeholders a lot of explanations.

Candide-Johnson, who takes over from Charles Okeahalam was, until his new appointment, a nonexecutive director at NMRC and a senior partner at Strachan Partners, a leading commercial law firm based in Lagos and Abuja. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1984 and conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2003.

He received an LL.M Degree from the University of London in 1985 and between 1984 and 1990 was Counsel in the leading chambers of Jon B. Majiyagbe in Kano, Nigeria. He moved to Lagos in 1990 to establish the Lagos practice of that firm and in 1994 led the founding of Strachan Partners.

Both Ogundimu and CandideJohnson have come to NMRC with wealth of experience acquired over the years, and are expected to oversee the affairs of the company with a clear mandate to grow the primary

and secondary mortgage markets and promote home ownership in Nigeria.

Is also expected in the mortgage market that the new leadership should sustain some of the good initiatives of the former leadership such as ‘Housing/Mortgage Market Information Portal (MMIP)’which is aimed to enable the company to gather data for intelligence and profiling of federal, states civil servants and informal sectors (off-takers) for affordable housing.

MMIP, according to officials of the company, is an effective policy and decision making tool on land allocation, infrastructure and concessions which enables decision on creating polycentric cities in order to decongest major urban centres.

Another initiative is the 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 efforts in gathering data and documents; improving the turnaround time, reducing the cycle time of transactions and helping in making homes more affordable.

The role of supply chain management in national and corporate competitiveness practitioners were perceived as merely price cutters, stock keepers and disposal officers. In today’s world however, the trend is vastly reversing because of the huge sums entrusted into the acquisition of goods, works and services and the need to be prudent so that little funds can deliver mighty works. SCM professionals and practitioners are now at the helm of affairs of many blue chip companies making serious decisions and partaking in corporate politics. They have become the anchor to success of their organisations. Today’s practitioners must therefore have sufficient skill set and product knowledge to excel in their trade and gain respect of their counterparts in other professional departments in the company. This is the whole essence of Category Management and Integrated Supply ChainManagement.SeasonedSCM practitioners should continuously create value to the business through a number of critical paths: a) Ensuring sustainability of the supply base When an average citizen eats a bar of chocolate what does he worry about? Many will argue that he worries about the taste. Well, the Category Manager will worry about the continuity of supply and how the cocoa producer can keep the quality in his faraway country. In the event of a political crisis in the source country, there will be no chocolate to produce by the manufacturer if total reliance is kept on that grade and type of cocoa without ensuring continuity of the supply base. A

competent SCM practitioner will worry about how to support the farmer to avoid drought in his farm land. He must assist the Production Director to ensure consistency in the same taste profile irrespective of where the cocoa beans are grown. Conversely, the interest of the farmer has to be sustained because as time passes by, he may no longer see cocoa as a profitable business thus he might diversify into growing another crop. The role of the SCM practitioner in this stead is to focus beyond reducing cost but ensuring that the company remains a going concern. In other words, he will ensure that the manufacturer does not stop producing. b) Managing supplier risk index Globalization has added another complexity to the growing trend in supplier risks management. The increased focus on sustainability and regional regulations undermines perceived benefits in the local market because trading in the international plane had widened the gap of price and quality of service. c) Driving efficiency through the value chain National development cannot be achieved in quality time if in most government entities non procurement experts are responsible for managing budgets which in turn leads to low budget performance. This is a fundamental issuewithservicedelivery. Empirical evidence suggests that the Nigerian budget is usually not released until

late Q’1 or Q’2 in most years. This leaves only six months or so to deliver contracts. In some instances, it takes an average of four months from enquiry to goods delivery; therefore the people suffer due to poor budget performance.

One of our greatest problems today in Nigeria is non-coordinated supply chain. The provision of road transport is not seamlessly linked with nodal networks like rail and marine transportation. Integrated supply chain is somewhat missing in our developmental chart. A big contrast is in the developed world. Preparation for the London Olympics, for instance, started even before the UK gained the rights to host the event. For those conversant with London, you will notice that the Mayor introduced a pay to train system whereby you park your bike at the tube station and retrieve it at the close of business. Similarly, people are encouraged to bike within the city, to keep fit and healthy, save cost, reduce congestion and reduce pollution. The benefit of this singular idea makes a greener, cleaner and healthier city.

...To be continued Bola Afolabi, PhD, FCArb, FCIPS Bola Afolabi is a Supply Chain Management Leader. He is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, CIPS and also Fellow of Institute of Chartered Arbitrators. He is the President/CEO of Canal International Services

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Sunday 16 December 2018

BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

Promoting moral values through leadership

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he last three years of Udom Emmanuel’s tenure as governor of Akwa Ibom State have seen a relentless promotion of the moral values for which the state and its people have been known for decades. This has accounted for the peace and stability that have reigned in the state since he assumed office.

The first task the governor performed on assumption of office in 2015 was taking the state back to God and improving on the virtues and values for which the state was known for.

Akwa Ibom, a state where the fear of God permeates every facet of life, had suddenly become a place where all manner of vices reigned supreme. The vices included cultism, armed banditry, kidnappings and disappearance of human beings without trace. It also included promotion of such fetish practices as swearing of oath of allegiance (what is known in the local parlance as mbiam, which had long been forgotten), to individuals who had made themselves tin gods supposedly with the power of life and death.

Udom needed to make a fresh start on a sound moral footing, to signpost the core values on which his administration would be built.

The governor organized the first ever inter-denominational Solemn Assembly that involved committing the affairs of the state during his tenure into the hands of God for divine direction.

In recognition of the fact that practical running of the state and making it work would be done by humans, the governor

Access Bank presents ‘Born In Africa Festival’

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rue to the cause of developing new functional initiatives and constantly pushing boundaries, Access Bank is introducing to the African entertainment and lifestyle scene, a highly entertaining fusion of Music, Art, Film and Fashion - Born in Africa Festival (BAFEST). Designed uniquely to retell the African story globally and better connect the world to Africa, BAFEST is set to today.

The Born in Africa Festival is a celebration of the unparalleled dynamism of the true African spirit, birthed from a need to tell the true African story in all its glory. A full day’s event where Africa’s finest creatives showcase their talents to the world.

Speaking about BAFEST 2018, Amaechi Okobi, Group Head, Communications & External Affairs, Access Bank Plc in a statement said “We are proud to be showcasing the best of African Vibes at this historic event. It is the climax of all our efforts to change the Nigerian and African narrative.

Udom Emmanuel

took the bold and unprecedented step of banning cultism in the state and making it a crime to operate or belong to cult groups.

On March 12, 2018, he signed the Cultism and Other Violent Behaviour Prohibition Order proscribing 33 cult groups operating in the state. The governor took the bold step after investigations revealed that otherwise respectable members of the society, including politicians, belonged to cult groups, and were those fuelling crises in the past.

The reaction of many people to the development was skepticism and cynicism, since such had not been witnessed in the state before.

But the skeptics and cynics obviously underrated Udom’s resolve and political will to cut the tap root of moral decadence among youths who are the future leaders of the state.

That singular action by the governor has today reduced immorality in the state to the barest minimum, as the youth have since embraced the virtues of hard work, discipline and honesty – the ingredients the state needs to uphold the moral values for which it had been known before.

As proof that the law banning cultism is working, the Akwa Ibom State Police Command recently announced the arrest of 312

youths suspected to belong to cult groups. The then State Commissioner of Police, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, said 244 of the suspects were undergoing investigations, while 68 were already serving prison terms for involvement in cult activities.

Udom followed up on the religious aspect of returning the state to the path of moral rectitude by launching the Dakaada philosophy in 2015. The philosophy has many objectives, but three are most outstanding. One, it is a call to unity and love for the state and the country, and it is hinged on the virtue of selflessness and need to always put the interest of the state above

self interest. This is what is needed to achieve greatness for the state.

Second, it is a call to awaken in Akwa Ibomites the can-do spirit that is inherent in every human being; to make them see possibilities in every human affair; to have an abiding faith in God and to believe that with Him, all things are possible. This objective challenges Akwa Ibomites to shun mediocrity and strive for excellence in everything they do.

Another objective of Dakaada, and perhaps the one that drives every other objective, is the call to embrace the highest standards of morality and virtuousness in personal and official dealings. It is the foundation on which the Akwa Ibom of his dream is built.

The governor followed up on the emphasis on morality by strengthening the Ethical and Attitudinal Reorientation Commission (EARCOMM) to perform its statutory role of driving the moral revolution that will usher in a new Akwa Ibom where citizens will not only do things right, but will always do the right things.

In the last three years, EARCOM has taken the crusade for moral rectitude to all nooks and crannies of the state, including primary and secondary schools where pupils are imbibing the virtues of honesty and hard work. This has been very easy to achieve because of the Dakaada Creed which every child in the state has committed to heart and has made a necessary tool of existence.

As the build up to the 2019 elections heightens, it will become clearer to the people of the state where their fortune lies.

6 Nigerians eye $20,000 in Pan-African Maltavator competition

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ix Nigerian youth have emerged champions at the season two of keenly contested Maltavator Challenge TV show final held in Lagos recently. They will represent Nigeria at the Pan-African challenge next year.

The six are Melvin Enoch, Oge-

chukwu Eudora and Otobong Idoresit from Lagos; Leo Obienyi, Abdullahi Azabo Ibrahim and Michael Ehiene from Abuja.

Twenty contestants had emerged after regional auditions which took place in Enugu, Benin, Ibadan, Abuja and Lagos.

They contested in a series of

mentally challenging obstacle games such as scrabble and they will compete against Cameroun, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Ghana for a chance to win the grand prize of $20,000.

The Maltavator Challenge is a platform Malta Guinness has put together not just in Nigeria but across

14 African countries to showcase how consumers can turn the Malta goodness into greatness, the brand owners said.

Ifeoma Agu, senior brand manager, Malta Guinness Nigeria had said that this is a brand promise of Malta Guinness which exists to fuel the can-do spirit of Nigerians.

Capri-Sonne promises more fun with beach ball promo

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apri-Sonne, the fruit drink of children in Nigeria, has launched a new national consumer promo tagged the “Beach Ball Promo”. The promo, which includes a free Beach Ball in every carton of Capri-Sonne, is expected to create more fun moments for kids by ensuring a stimulating unboxing moment and encouraging them to play some more.

The “Beach Ball Promo” will offer children across Nigeria one more reason to enjoy their favourite fruit drink, as nothing speaks to a child’s playfulness like a bouncing beach ball which can be used in all sorts of exciting

games.

For a brand universally associated with creating fun moments for children, the Capri-Sonne “Beach Ball Promo” will seek to enhance brand affinity and product consumption through activities that encourage active play for kids whilst having a taste of fun.

The promo is being amplified nationwide with an effective media campaign running on major regional and national television channels and radio stations in the country. It will also be simultaneously driven through advertisements on billboards, engagements on digital platforms, point of sales outlets and experiential

consumer engagement platforms in various cities to connect with consumers.

According to the Deepanjan Roy, the Managing Director of Chi Limited in a statement, the Capri-Sonne “Beach Ball Promo” is another unique platform to reward fun loving consumers across Nigeria.

“The Capri-Sonne Beach Ball Promo is an opportunity to give more fun moments to millions of children, and reward them as they relish the delicious taste of fun and excitement in every carton of their favourite drink purchased within the promo period,” he stated.

Sunday 16 December 2018

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EquityMarket Equity portfolio investment takes a back seat as FDI rises by 352 percent TELIAT SULE

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quity investment through foreign direct investment (FDI) rose by 351.72 percent year on year at the end of the third quarter 2018, the analysis of the capital importation into the country for the period ended September 30, 2018 has shown.

Based on the capital importation data as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), investment inflows into the Nigerian economy take the forms of foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investment (PI) and other investments. FDI is further divided into equity FDI and other capital FDI. Portfolio investment is divided into equity PI, bonds PI and money market instruments PI. Similarly, other investments have sub-groups which are trade credits, loans, currency deposits and other claims.

With $530.63 million imported into Nigeria between July and September 2018, equity FDI was 351.72 percent better than $117.47 million capital imported for the same purpose in the third quarter of 2017. And when compared with $255.71 million equity FDI capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter against the third quarter of this year, equity FDI recorded an improvement to the tune of 107.51 percent quarter on quarter.

Our analysis further shows that since 2015, this is the first time equity FDI would rise year on year. In full year 2015, equity FDI declined by 36 percent to $1.44 billion compared with $2.26 billion recorded at the end of full year 2014. Equity FDI further declined by 28 percent in full year 2016 to $1.04 billion when compared with its level in the previous year. In 2017, equity FDI fell by 6 percent to $979.44 million compared with that of 2016.

In third quarter 2018, total capital importation amounted to $2.85 billion, representing a 48.21

percent decline quarter on quarter, and a 31.12 percent slide year on year. For the first three quarters of 2018, the total capital importation amounted to $14.67 billion, which translated to a 20 percent increase over $12.23 billion capital imported into the country for the entire 2017.

Portfolio investment accounted for 60 percent, or $1.72 billion of the $2.86 billion, the capital importation into Nigeria in the third quarter of 2018. FDI and other investments accounted for 19 percent and 21 percent respectively in the same quarter.

But in terms of performance during the third quarter, at $1.72

billion, portfolio investment recorded 58.17 percent quarter on quarter decline, and a 37.74 percent year on year slide. Equity portfolio investment fell to $394.47 million in the third quarter representing 62.37 percent and 79.58 percent quarter on quarter as well as year on year decline respectively.

Capital market analysts have attributed the decline in capital importation to different factors among which are the current performance of the nation’s capital market, sentiments around the general elections and location of investment instruments that are likely to give investors the highest

Zenith Bank, AxaMansard, Trans-Nationwide Express effect board changes

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enith Bank Plc has announced the retirement of Baba Tela from the board of the bank with effect from October 2, 2018. Tela served the bank for twelve years as an independent non-executive director. The retirement was approved by the board of directors at its meeting of November 15,2018.

Similarly, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc has notified its esteemed

shareholders, stakeholders and the general public of the resignation of Frederic Flejou, a Non-Executive from the board of the company with effect from November 30, 2018. The resignation has also been unanimously approved by the Board. The board and management of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc commended Frederic Flejou for his leadership and overall contributions to the growth of the company during

the period he served on the board.

Trans-Nationwide Express has announced the retirement of its managing director, Chidinma Iheme, with effect from December 12, 2018. The board of the company expressed their profound gratitude to her for the services rendered to the company and wished her all the best in her future endeavours. Theodore Chikelu has been appointed as the acting chief executive officer.

returns.

“For foreign portfolio investment, it is more of apprehension about downbeat emerging market narratives ad political tensions ahead of the elections, while foreign direct investment is more of the funds flowing where yields are attractive”, Kemi Akinde, senior investment analyst at Meristem Securities said.

In addition to the above factors, analysts at the United Capital, one of the leading investment banks in the country further cited policy normalisation in the United States of America as contributing factor to sustained decline in foreign portfolio investment.

“In our view, the downtrend in FPIs is not surprising owing to the risk-off sentiment across emerging and frontier market during the period. This was triggered by policy normalization in the US which spooked investors away from emerging markets assets generally in the better part of the quarter.

More so, political tension in Nigeria added to volatilities in the global space, further unnerving investors.

“Evidently, FPI inflow into equity, bonds and money market instruments trended southwards in the quarter even as the NSE relayed a 44.3 percent slowdown in Foreign Inflow to The Exchange between Q2-18 and Q3-18. Our expectations for Q4-18 remain tepid amid unrelenting uncertainties. Relatedly, we believe capital flows are unlikely to rebound in Nigeria until the 2019 election outcome is clear”, United Capital said in a note to clients.

Except in 2017, equity portfolio investment has maintained a downward trend since 2015. As at the end of full year 2015, equity portfolio investment fell by 59 percent to $4.66 billion as against $11.45 billion equity portfolio investment into the country in 2014. It further fell by 82 percent in 2016 to $859.06 million. The trend changed in 2017 with 323 percent increase to $3.64 billion compared with its value in the previous year.

While the total capital imported for portfolio investment in the first three quarters of 2018 was more than what was brought in full year 2017 by 42 percent, investors attention was on the money market instruments which rose by 133 percent to $7.49 billion in the first nine months of 2018 compared with $3.21 billion capital imported for the same purpose in full year 2017.

Portfolio investment into bonds also rose by 60 percent to $773.49 million compared with $482.84 million brought in for bonds investment for the entire 2017.

The nation’s capital market continued its downward trend last week as the All Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange fell further to -19.80 percent year to date.

Linkage Assurance appoints Adelagun as executive director

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inkage Assurance Plc has appointed Okanlawon Adelagun as an executive director, technical ,with effect from January 7th, 2019. The ratification of his appointed was done by the Board of Directors at its 66th board meeting held on December 7th , 2018.

Until his appointment, Adelagun was the principal consultant, Okadel Consultant, a consultancy firm that offers independent advisory services to corporate

institutions on operations, underwriting, business and product development. He had formerly served as executive director, business development at Union Assurance Plc, and Managing Director, IGI Insurance (Ghana) Limited.

Adelagun is a sociology graduate of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Insurance of both Nigeria and London.

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Travel

Escape to dare this festive season Obinna Emelike

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oah! Christmas is here again, and so there is no reason not to get out of town or look for a memorable escape even within.

Of course, it is a season of sharing, family reunion, and memorable holiday escape.

If you usually jet out of the country to foreign destinations for your festive holiday, you should have a rethink because there are some nice local destinations to explore this festive season.

As long as your expectations are moderate, you will get the most experience while being hosted in some of these destinations.

If you are within Lagos, I recommend Inagbe Grand Resort and Leisure; it is relatively new, sparkling, inviting and exclusive. Set in-between the Lagos Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean, the resort offers a rustic living in a lush island haven, resonating air of simple luxury and refined elegance that makes it an ideal family escape this festive season.

There, you are in your own world, do things your own way, with Mother Nature as the only witness. There are many accommodation options, games, facilities and most importantly, nature to enjoy-all at pocket-friendly rates. Still in Lagos, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Ilashe, and Epe Resort also have exclusive offerings.

If you are outside Lagos, Nike Lake Resort in Enugu is one place that is evergreen because of the pristine environment and therapeutic impact of the natural lake resort. A few metres to the resort, you will behold with great awe the natural lake stretching over three kilometres with its incredible and rare aquatic population.

The resort offers 210 well-appointed and tastefully furnished rooms and suites, suitable for all taste and budgets. You can enjoy a ride on the lake with trained boat riders, or if you are more daring, you can join the local fishermen. Pictures taken afterwards will tell the story of how much you enjoyed the Christmas escape.

If you are a golfer or lover of the rich sport, there are quality golf destinations to take your family, spouse or friends to this festive season.

The foremost of them is the Ibom Golf Hotel and Resort. Life is different and lovely there. The greenness and friendliness of everything around the gold resort will aid a memorable Christmas escape. It will be more fun trying to play golf just for the sake of pictures, or holding the paddle in pretence of ridding a boat at the Nwaniba River in the resort.

There is an expanse of lush vegetation, top-range of accommodation, set out lounge, private balconies and whatever you want for an escape this festive season at the resort.

Another golf destination is Smokin Hills Golf Resort, an emerging destination for golf enthusiasts and nature lovers

Erin Ijesha in Ilara Mokin, Ondo State. On a visit, guests discover beyond the reasons why the resort is ‘smoking’ with leisure.

The resort is set on 140 acres of virgin land carved out of surrounding jungle and rolling hills

that emit smoke early in the morning and also at dawn.

If you want excitement in the northern part of the country, then visit the Fifth Chukker. It is an upscale lifestyle oasis of family fun, recreation, polo and culture that

spread across 2000 hectares in the outskirts of Kaduna. On offer in the resort are 100 rooms, comprising of 3-bedroom duplexes, 2- bedroom villas and 1- bedroom lodges.

But if you are a spa fan, then I suggest that your hubby or lover should take you to Clear Essence California Spa and Wellness Resort. From its outside on #13 Alexander Street, Ikoyi, the foremost spa and accommodation outfit does not tell its true worth. Inside is a different story as garden full of rare flowers and well-trimmed grass lawn ooze out freshness.

But the prime offering is the spa, managed by trained Balinese therapists. The therapists use their talents to send you into a journey away from reality, and that may just be a perfect gift for your loved one this festive season.

The spa offers 10 treatment rooms - a dipping pool, scented steam showers, sauna, a fitness centre with state-of-the-art gym equipment and certified personnel to ensure personalised spa experience.

Families that love nature can also try Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort, Obudu Mountain Resort, among others.

But if you cannot afford any of these places or you are too far from any of these choice places, then try something within. There is always something within; all you need do is to see them with new eyes. Do that and your Christmas and New Year celebrations will be memorable.

Bluewaters, Dubai’s latest island destination

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luewaters Island, the latest island destination in Dubai, is set to open its doors to discerning global tourists.

The island is also home to Ain Dubai, the world’s largest observation wheel that stands at a height of 210metres.

A world-class island destination built to Meraas’ exacting standards in terms of magnitude, design and aesthetics, Bluewaters will add to Dubai’s competitive advantage among global cities. Apart from the spectacular Ain Dubai, it provides comprehensive residential, retail and hospitality options, making Bluewaters a leading tourist destination, as well as, a preferred place to live, work and play.

TheislandislocatedacrossJumeirah Beach Residences, a 20-minute drive from City Walk, and 30 minutes away from both Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum Airport, and just 45 minutes from Abu Dhabi Airport.

Connecting it to the mainland is a sophisticated network of roads, including a direct link to Sheikh Zayed Road, pedestrian access from The Beach opposite JBR and water transport by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The island also features several courtyards, intimate pedestrian spaces and scenic walkways that boast a green and lush landscape.

Central and Sunset Avenues gently separate the three zones, while North and South Walks allow pedestrians to stand at the water’s edge and gaze out at the sea, or the city beyond.

Speaking on the development, Abdulla Al Habbai, group chairman,

Meraas, said: “We are set to achieve many engineering feats at Bluewaters and are delivering a destination, which will establish a new benchmark for modern design. However, we are proudest of the fact that it will bring people together and create enriching experiences to support the growth of Dubai as a global hub.”

The Wharf, Bluewaters’ lifestyle retail area set against the backdrop of Ain Dubai, will have 132 retail and dining outlets dotted across the boulevard in low-rise structures, with walkways shaded by trees, palms and visually striking light features.

Food and beverage at The Wharf

Central Avenue borders the landside of The Wharf, while North Walk and Wharf Avenue edge the waterfront, circling Ain Dubai Plaza beneath the observation wheel. A 265-metre pedestrian bridge, The Wharf Link, connects this area to The Beach on the coast of mainland Dubai. Bluewaters Wharf Station will serve as a dock for water transport. It also boasts over 2,000 parking bays, spanning basement and podium levels.

Bluewaters Residences comprises 10 elegant mid-rise towers featuring 698 apartments, four penthouses and 17 townhouses, set over a podium that offers stunning views of

ous indoor and outdoor space with five bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms and expansive living areas.

Residential amenities include gymnasiums, swimming pools, landscaped gardens, basketball courts and children’s play areas, in addition to a mosque built in a contemporary style. The residential zone also features a central landscaped podium that fosters community living, and dedicated basement-level parking bays. In addition, the buildings host 32 retail outlets for the convenience of residents.

As for the Island’s hotels, Meraas aims to pull out all stops to deliver

the sea or Ain Dubai. With the initial wave of handovers set for December 2018, the island should welcome its first residents by Q1 2019.

Each penthouse enjoys unparalleled 360-degree views of the Arabian Gulf, Dubai Marina, Ain Dubai and Dubai’s skyline, and offers a gener-

Bluewaters’ unique promise of an island luxe vibe, with unparalleled experiences brought to the region for the first time at the Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai, The Residences at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai and Caesars Resort Bluewaters Dubai. The five-star accommodations

Bluewaters Dubai range from licensed fine-dining concepts at the waterfront to quirky eateries, and an eclectic mix of cafés, restaurants and intimate bistros that serve a wide range of global cuisines.

More concepts and stores will be opening gradually over the coming couple of months.

comprising 495 luxury rooms and 80 serviced apartments will be flanked by a 500-seat theatre, The Rotunda, at one end and a state-of-the-art conference centre, Caesars FORUM, at the other. Complementing the glamorous hospitality offerings will be Cove Beach Dubai, a stunning private beach club.

The 194-key Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai, the world’s second Caesars Palace, will feature an outdoor swimming pool, Qua Spa, a fitness centre with stunning views of Ain Dubai, and six cutting-edge restaurants. The Residences at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai will offer an additional 80 premium serviced apartments, ideal for contemporary living. The second hotel, Caesars Resort Bluewaters Dubai, will comprise 301 rooms, two outdoor swimming pools, six unique restaurants, three meeting rooms equipped to provide business services, and a 750-squaremetre event hall.

For visitors keen to get up-close to Ain Dubai and marvel at the spectacular engineering feat that forms the destination’s centrepiece, Bluewaters will provide access to awe-inspiring sights at its base. At 250 metres, it is taller than the 167-metre High Roller in Las Vegas and the 190-metre New York Wheel planned for Staten Island.

Ain Dubai will carry up to 1,400 passengers at a time in its 48 doubleglazed capsules, offering unforgettable 360-degree views of Dubai. Each leg of the observation wheel stands at a height of 126 metres and is long enough to fit 15 London buses.

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Travel

How to manage unruly air passengers Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE

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s Ch r i s t m a s d r a w s n e a r, there are in creasing reports of disruptive passengers, including celebrities, who have been stopped from boarding planes or arrested or cautioned as a result of their behaviour whilst aboard aircraft.

The International Air Transport Association reports there were 8, 731 reports of actions by unruly passengers in 2017.

So what constitutes disruptive behaviour and what action can airlines take to protect their staff and other passengers? This article takes a look at legalities behind the headlines.

International conventions There is no one internationally agreed convention or guidance on dealing with unruly passengers. Passenger behavior is subject to the law of the country the plane is registered in. However, international conventions set out the parameters within which national law is applied.

In respect of authority to deal with passengers and jurisdiction to prosecute unruly passengers, the Tokyo Convention 1963 (as amended by the Montreal Protocol 2014) makes clear, amongst other things that: The plane’s captain is in charge of the safety of the flight, and has the authority to decide how to deal with an unruly passenger, once the

passenger is on board a flight Unruly behaviour includes, amongst other things, the threat of or actual physical assault, or refusal to follow safety-related instructions In addition to the State of registration of the aircraft, the State of the operator (if different) and the State of landing may exercise jurisdiction over offences and acts committed on board It is possible for a State to claim damages, in accordance with national law, from an unruly passenger who is disembarked Whereas the Tokyo Convention 1963 as amended outlines authority and jurisdiction, the Montreal Convention 1971 sets out what constitutes an offence.

Offences include an act of

violence against a person on board and causing damage to the aircraft.

Domestic framework Within the international framework, the United Kingdom expressly defines what constitutes unruly behaviour by defining a disruptive passenger. The UK Flight Safety Committee defines a disruptive passenger as any passenger who, on an aircraft, carries out any action or pursues a course of conduct which is unlawful according to United Kingdom legislation or which may amount to an offence under the Air Navigation Order.

Any offence that can be committed on the ground can also be committed in the air, and would be punishable in the same way. However, there are a number of of-

How Tunisia trained drone pilots will impact agricultural productivity

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ight pilots have successfully passed their drone flight training in Tunisia following a two-week intensive training period organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of Tunisia, the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) and Busan Techno Park.

The training which focused on handling, maintenance and the security aspects of flying drones, took place in Tunis from 19-30 November 2018.

The eight were the first

batch out of 40 candidates selected for the exercise, which envisages training a total of 400 young Tunisians by 2021.

The project will also see the setting up of a training center equipped with training drones as well as computer simulation tools for drone control.

This center is expected to be upgraded to a center of excellence in drone technology. The training also focused on promoting drone-centered activities in Tunisia in view of promoting efficiency and effectiveness.

“It is very good training. I want to share my experience. I would like to participate in this project and contribute for the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in my country Tunisia and my region, Africa,” an air traffic management engi-

neer, who was among the trainees said.

After accumulating 20 hours of flight time and passing the practical flight, they obtained a “Drone Pilot Certificate” recognised by the Tunisian government. The four best trainees from this first batch will undergo further training for eight weeks to accumulate 100 hours of flight time. This will make them eligible to take the certification examination and qualify as drone pilot trainers.

The participants were highly enthusiastic about the training.

“I have also learned many things through Tunisian trainees. It gives us a great chance to understand the local situation for further projects by using drone technologies,” their instructor, Yong-ju Seo, added.

fences that are specific to air travel and those are covered by the conventions, the Civil Aviation Authority rules and Air Navigation Order 2000.

A summary of the rules is set out below.

An airline can lawfully refuse to allow a person on board if, amongst other things, the passenger is: • Drunk or under the influence of drugs • Has refused to allow a security check to be carried out on them or their baggage • Has used threatening, abusive or insulting words towards ground staff, another passenger or a member of the crew of the aircraft.

• Has behaved in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly way towards a member of ground staff or a member of the crew of the

aircraft.

• Has put the safety of either the aircraft or any person in it in danger.

In flight (from the moment when all an aircraft’s external doors are closed following embarkation until the moment when any door is opened for disembarkation), passengers must not be drunk, smoke, disobey a command given by the captain or act in a disruptive manner If the captain deems behaviour disruptive, he/she has the right, together with the crew, to take measures they think reasonable to prevent the passenger continuing that behaviour. In extreme cases, where there is no other way, passengers may be physically restrained until the flight can make a safe landing. However, an airline remains liable under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention 1999, which makes an airline liable for the death or injury of a passenger, including disruptive or unruly passengers.

The usual course of action is to make the passenger leave the aircraft (if necessary under police escort), refusing to carry the passenger on the remaining parts of their journey and reporting the incident to relevant authorities with a view to prosecuting them for any offences that may have been committed. Offenders can face large fines and up to two years’ imprisonment. Passengers may also be banned for life from travelling on the airline. Delta (for a pro-Trump speech) and Jet2 (for drunk

and aggressive behaviour causing a diversion) are two airlines to recently ban passengers.

Practicalities and the way forward Drunkenness, demand for alcohol on board and the resulting disruptive behaviour is by far the greatest issue that affects airlines, their crew and ground staff. With the sharp increase in such behaviour, a number of airlines and connected services such as airport retailers and airport police have signed up to the UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers, taking a zerotolerance approach to such behaviour. One of the elements of the code (reflecting the Tokyo Convention 1963) is recouping from passengers the costs resulting from their disruptive behaviour, including for diversions, damage to aircraft and delays, in the hope that this will be a disincentive to passengers from behaving badly.

Airline personnel are being trained on how to deal with abusive behaviour, and there are more calls to try to prevent these incidents.

Some airlines have now banned the sale of alcohol on board before 8 am on morning flights and a review led

by Lord Ahmad on the sale of alcohol at airports generally was announced in July 2016.

With so much awareness and attempts from nearly all parts of the air industry to curb the problem, perhaps we will start to hear less about disruptive behaviour in the future.

Moroccan Airports Authority partners NAS on innovation to airports in Marrakech

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he Moroccan Airports Authority (ONDA) has partnered with National Aviation Services (NAS) (www.NAS.aero), one of the fastest growing aviation services provider in the emerging markets to launch the first electronic gates (Egates) at the Pearl Lounge in the Marrakech Menara Airport departures area. This is the first of its kind solution across Africa.

With this new state-ofthe-art, self-service check in, guests visiting the Pearl Lounge can access the lounge faster without checking in at the reception desk or waiting in a queue. The passengers simply scan their printed or online boarding pass at the gate and enter the lounge.

The E-gate effectively captures all the boarding pass data, checks eligibility, enters the transaction into a database for billing and

reporting, and opens the gate for eligible passengers - all in less than 2 seconds.

The E-gate also supports lounge membership cards and vouchers.

The same technology will soon be adopted at other Pearl Lounges in Morocco as well as across other lounges in the NAS network.

NAS has been exclusively managing the refurbishment and operations of 16 lounges across nine airports in Morocco, following a ten-year concession awarded by the Moroccan Airports Authority (ONDA).

Hassan El-Houry, group CEO of NAS said “As the exclusive lounge operator for the Moroccan Airports Authority (ONDA) in Morocco, NAS is responsible for bringing world class facilities and services to the local airports. Since kicking off operations in the country, we have invested in infrastructure, resourc-

es and training; provided operational expertise, state of the art technology solutions and industry benchmarked services, to launch and manage refurbished lounges across the country.

“The newly introduced E-gates will help enhance our offerings in the country and amplify our efforts to ensure that Moroccan airports supersede recognized international airports around the world.”

NAS is currently present in 17 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa; providing ground handling services to seven out of the world’s top ten airlines and managing 31 airport lounges. With an expanded portfolio of aviation services and certified by IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO), NAS also has demonstrated expertise in supporting local hub carriers in the Middle East and Africa

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Sunday 16 December 2018

Health&Science

Health benefits of garlic G

JONATHAN ADEROJU

arlic is exceptionally nutritious and has the ability to improve your health.

Garlic is a plant in the onion family that’s grown for its distinctive taste and health benefits. It contains sulfur compounds, which are believed to bring some of the health benefits.

It is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks. Each segment of a garlic bulb is called a clove. There are about 10–20 cloves in a single bulb, give or take.

Garlic is low in calories and rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6 and manganese. It also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients.

In this article we would find out some health benefits of garlic that are supported by human research.

Garlic can combat sickness, including the common cold:Garlic supplements are known to boost the function of the immune system.

One large, 12-week study found that a daily garlic supplement reduced the number of colds by 63 percent compared to a placebo.

Garlic supplements help prevent

and reduce the severity of common illnesses like the flu and common cold.

Active compounds in garlic can reduce blood pressure:Cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes are the world’s biggest killers. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the most important drivers of these diseases.

Human studies have found garlic supplements to have a significant impact on reducing blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.

In one study, 600–1,500 mg of aged garlic extract was just as effective as the drug Atenolol at reducing blood pressure over a 24-week period.

Supplement doses must be fairly high to have the desired effects.

The amount needed is equivalent to about four cloves of garlic per day. High doses of garlic appear to improve blood pressure for those with known high blood pressure (hypertension). In some instances, supplements may be as effective as regular medications.

Eating garlic may help detoxify heavy metals in the body: At high doses, the sulphur compounds in garlic have been shown to protect against organ damage from heavy metal toxicity.

A four-week study in employees of a car battery plant (excessive exposure to lead) found that garlic reduced lead levels in the blood by 19 percent. It also reduced many clinical signs of toxicity, including headaches and blood pressure.

Three doses of garlic each day even outperformed the drug Dpenicillamine in reducing symptoms.

Garlic was shown to significantly reduce lead toxicity and related

Nearly 30 million sick, premature newborns need treatment every year

OVL Foundation organises free medical check-up for 1,000 women Josephine Okojie

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ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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new report by a global coalition that includes United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund(UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) released has shown that nearly 30 million babies are born too soon, too small or become sick every year and need specialised care to survive.

The report ‘Survive and Thrive: Transforming care for every small and sick newborn’ found that among the newborn babies most at risk of death and disability are those with complications from prematurity, brain injury during childbirth, severe bacterial infection or jaundice, and those with congenital conditions.

In addition, the financial and psychological toll on their families can have detrimental effects on their cognitive, linguistic and emotional development, it said.

“When it comes to babies and their mothers, the right care at the right time in the right place can make all the difference,” said Omar Abdi, Unicef Deputy Executive Director, adding that “millions of small and sick babies and women are dying every year because they simply do not receive the quality care that is their right and our collective responsibility.”

According to the report, without a specialised treatment, many at-risk newborns won’t survive their first month of life.

In 2017, some 2.5 million newborns died, mostly from prevent-

symptoms in one study.

Garlic may improve bone health: No human studies have measured the effects of garlic on bone loss.

However, rodent studies have shown that it can minimize bone loss by increasing estrogens in females.

One study in menopausal women found that a daily dose of dry garlic extract (equal to 2 grams of raw garlic) significantly decreased a marker of oestrogen deficiency.

able causes. Almost two-thirds of babies who died were born prematurely. And even if they survive, these babies face chronic diseases or developmental delays, the report said.

In addition, an estimated one million small and sick newborns survive with a long-term disability, it said.

With nurturing care, these babies can live without major complications. The report shows that by 2030, in 81 countries, the lives of 2.9 million women, stillborns and newborns can be saved with smarter strategies.

In addition, almost 68 per cent of newborn deaths could be averted in 2030 with simple fixes such as exclusive breastfeeding; skin-toskin contact between the mother or father and the baby; medicines and essential equipment; and access to clean, well-equipped health facilities staffed by skilled health workers.

Other measures like resuscitating a baby who cannot breathe

properly, giving the mother an injection to prevent bleeding, or delaying the cutting of the umbilical cord could also save millions.

According to the report, the world will not achieve the global target to achieve health for all unless it transforms care for every newborn. Without rapid progress, some countries will not meet this target for another 11 decades.

To save the newborns, the report recommends for round-theclock inpatient care for newborns seven days a week.

It also suggested training nurses to provide hands-on care working in partnership with families and harnessing the power of parents and families by teaching them how to become expert caregivers and care for their babies, which can reduce stress, help babies gain weight and allow their brains to develop properly.

Providing good quality care should be a part of country policies, and a lifelong investment for those who are born small or sick, it said.

This suggests that this supplement may have beneficial effects on bone health in women.

Foods like garlic and onions may also have beneficial effects on osteoarthritis.

Garlic appears to have some benefits for bone health by increasing oestrogen levels in females, but more human studies are needed.

Garlic contains antioxidants that may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia: Oxidative damage from free radicals contributes to the aging process. Garlic contains antioxidants that support the body’s protective mechanisms against oxidative damage.

High doses of garlic supplements have been shown to increase antioxidant enzymes in humans, as well as significantly reduce oxidative stress in those with high blood pressure.

The combined effects on reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as the antioxidant properties, may reduce the risk of common brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Garlic contains antioxidants that protect against cell damage and aging. It may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

VL Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation focuse on empowering the vulnerable groups, organised a one-day free medical check-up for women in Lagos to know their health status.

The initiative was aimed at safeguarding the health and lives of low income and economically vulnerable women in the society.

“During the year we have visited several places for our outreach and we felt that we should have a common platform for women to come together and provide them with free medical check-up for them to know their health status,” Viotor Laniyan, executive director of OVL Foundation said.

“Today’s programme is set out to be a mega concept bringing in artist and medical team for people to check themselves. We are going to empower them with food stuffs especially at this period of the yuletide,” Laniyan said.

The initiative is an evidence of

OVL Foundation’s commitment to provide medical care and financial assistance to economically disadvantaged women in the society.

The free medical test includes sugar level and blood pressure tests.

Also speaking during the programme, Oyinlola Scottigben, said “we are providing free medical check-up to ensure women live economically productive life and attain their potential by ensuring that their health aspect is taking care of.”

“We are here to celebrate widows, single mothers who are economically disadvantaged and other privileged people. We are also supporting them with gift items and medical care,” Scottigben said.

Titilayo Otega, one of the women who benefitted from OVL Foundation outreach appreciated the foundation for their support, saying that the platform has provided them the opportunity to undergo medical check-up for free and gift items for the season.

Sunday 16 December 2018

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BDSUNDAY 47

Sports 2022: Infantino says has Can Man Utd maintain their strong Anfield record? Qatar support for 48-team World Cup F Stories By Anthony Nlebem

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he battle for the prestigious and money spinning English Premier Le a g u e t i t l e continues this Sunday as Jose Mourinho’s struggling Manchester United side travel to Anfield to face rejuvenated Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side who currently top the premier league table.

The Red Devils boast of four seasons without tasting defeat against their Merseyside rivals in this competition. These include goalless draws at Anfield for the past two campaigns.

Liverpool stormed to the top of the table following an emphatic 4-0 victory at Bournemouth, where Mohamed Salah was back to his best with a hat-trick.

Jurgen Klopp’s side lost a 4-3 at the same ground in December 2016, but the German coach hopes his players are now far more robust than that.

“We are really more controlled in these situations now,” commented Klopp. “It was a big step for us; very important.

“Last year, we were really flying and everything was brilliant, until we were not flying. The difference

between flying and not flying was quick last year.

“It was something we wanted to work on. It’s worked out. That’s good.

A few new players have come in and other players are more mature.”

However, the Reds have been less convincing in big matches this term, drawing with Chelsea , Manchester City and Arsenal and only scraping past Everton.

Man United are languishing 16 points off the pace after a troubled start to the season, but there have been some encouraging signs of late.

Jose Mourinho’s men twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Arsenal and then registered a rare emphatic 4-1 win against Fulham.

Ashley Young, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku netted in an impressive first-half display, with Marcus Rashford ending hopes of a fightback after the Cottagers had pulled one back from the penalty spot.

“It was a shame that we could not keep the clean sheet, but it was a very good performance,” said Mata.

“A performance that

the fans I think they have been waiting for and we know that we have to do this more often.”

Mourinho seems to have belatedly accepted the need for more tactical approach and there has been a fresh energy and enthusiasm to United’s play.

This will obviously be a tough test for both sides, as Man United will be hoping to keep their unbeaten Anfeild.

With the new form of Salah, Liverpool look to have the advantage, but the outcome of the game will decided on the side that makes the less errors.

Super Falcons grateful to NFF for fulfilling promises

“We gathered the opinions as well of our members, the federations.Sofar,ofcourse,the majorities are in favour because 16moreteamsparticipatingnot only means that 16 more countries will have World Cup fever.

“But 50 or 60 countries will be able to dream of qualifying for the World Cup. Whether it is feasibleornotisadifferentquestion,” Infantino told reporters.

He said it was unlikely that Qatar, which has been planning

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Abuja on arrival the following day by the Chief of Staff to Mr. President, Alhaji Abba Kyari and the General Secretary of NigeriaFootballFederation,Dr. Mohammed Sanusi.

Speaking after the camp was declared closed, both captains, Rita Chikwelu and Onome Ebi appreciated the NFF for taking care of their welfare and fulfilling all financial obligations.

Chikwelu said: “I want to use this opportunity to thank theNigeriaFootballFederation

for their support throughout our preparation and participation at the Women AFCON. They were there all through the pre-tournament camping programmesinEpeandAbidjan andallthroughthecompetition inGhanaandsincewereturned to Nigeria.

“Wealsowanttoappreciate theNFFforfulfillingtheirpromises, paying all our bonuses and allowances and doubling our match bonus for the Final.

I want to say a very big thank you to the NFF President, the

fora32-teamtournamentsince it was awarded hosting rights in 2010, could manage 16 extra teams on its own.

“Is it feasible to do it only in Qatar? Difficult probably. Is it feasible to have a few games played in neighbouring countries? Maybe this is an option.

“Of course, I’m not naive enough to not know and read the news, and what’s going on, but we are in football not in politics and in football sometimes dreams come true,” he said.

He added that he did not want to share details of discussionswithQatarwiththemedia.

Infantino said a decision needed to be made by March 2019 because the draw for the qualifying competition is in the summer.

He said even with 16 additional teams, FIFA was committedtoplayingthetournamentin the original 28-day period “because it was a difficult enough process to decide to move the World Cup to November or December.”

Hedeniedthatitwastoolate to make the change.

“Forthosewhothinkit’slate, I’ve been told that the decision to move the World Cup in 1998 to 32 teams from 24 in 1994 was also taken only four years in advance so there is already a precedent,” he said.

AC Milan risk UEFA ban over breach of financial fair play

...as NFF clears all outstanding bonuses layers and officials of the Senior Women National Team, Super Falcons, have given big kudos to the Nigeria Football Federation for fulfilling all the promises made to them before and during the 11th Women Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ghana, where they emerged triumphant to third successive time and ninth time overall, returning home with the glittering continental silverware.

Allbonusesandallowances due the team, from the qualifying matches against Gambia as well as entitlements camp allowances pre-AWCON and match bonuses and allowances during AWCON, plus the $10,000 –a –player promise made by President of the NFF, Mr.AmajuMelvinPinnick,have been duly delivered to the players and officials.

It was a very happy Super Falcons’ contingent that left camp during the week to await word on the planned reception

by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. The nine- time African champions, following their penalty shoot –out defeat of South Africa’s Banyana BanyanainAccraon1stDecember, were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,

IFAPresident,GianniInfantino, said a majority of national soccer federations were in favour of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams.

Infantino said a decision wouldbemadebyMarch,2019 although it was still not clear whether an enlarged tournament would be feasible as it would be difficult to stage in Qatar alone.

Qatar has been locked in a bitter dispute with Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain that hascomplicatedtheprospectof sharingmatchesinanexpanded tournament.

Those countries, as well as Egypt, began a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the claims.

FIFA last year voted to increase the size of the tournamentfrom32to48teams,starting from 2026 but, since then, Infantino has been mulling the possibilityofbringingthechange forward to 2022.

Board and the Management, and we pray that God will bless them and all Nigerians for their support”.

Ebi, on her part, said: “I just wanttosayaverybigthankyou totheNFFPresident,Mr.Amaju Pinnick, the Board members andtheManagementandStaff for fulfilling their promises and payingallourbonuses,including the special winning bonus that the President promised us for the Final match. All have been paid. I also want to thank Nigeriansfortheirloveandsupport”.

even-time European champions AC Milan risk ban from European competition if the club fail balance theirfinancialbookbyJune2021, after falling foul of financial fair play rules.

The decision from UEFA comes after Milan successfully appealedagainstatwo-yearban being imposed last summer.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld that appeal and asked for a “proportionatedisciplinarymeasure” to be imposed on Milan.

The Italian club can appeal again to CAS against the new ruling, says UEFA. European football’s governing body rules say clubs cannot spend more than they generate by their own means and UEFA handed out the original punishment after deciding Milan had breached the requirement to break even after spending £200million on transfers.

Milan has two and a half years to balance their books or facemissingEuropeancompeti-

tion in either 2022-23 or 202324, should they qualify.

However, the seven-times European champions did not escape immediate punishment with UEFA withholding 12m euros (£10.8m) owed to the Italian side from this season’s Europa League, a competition they were knocked out of on Thursday.

The club will also be limitedtoamaximumof21players, rather than the usual 25, in their squadforEuropeancompetition should they qualify in the next two seasons.

AC Milan were taken over byaUS-basedhedgefundinJuly afterformerownerLiYonghong missed a deadline to repay part of the loan he used to buy the club in April 2017.

InitsrulinginJuly,CASnoted the club’s financial position had “significantly improved following the recent change in ownership”.

Theclubhaveanagreement to sign Brazilian attacker Lucas Paqueta from Flamengo for a reported £31.4m in January and have been linked with several centreforwards,includingManchester United’s Marcus Rashford, after failing to convince Zlatan Ibrahimovic to return to the San Siro.

BDSUNDAY

NEW YOU CAN TRUST

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Sunday 16 December 2018

C002D5556

Do they know there is Christmas?

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s millions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the globally acclaimed spiritual Saviour of mankind, there are many more who do not have the economic resources to dine and wine, with members of their families and friends. For instance, according to the World Poverty Clock, Nigeria overtook India by the middle of 2018 as the country with the most extreme poor people in the world. Precisely, the 86.9 million Nigerians now living in extreme poverty represents nearly 50percent of its estimated 180 million population. This is worrisome.

So is the recent revelation by the Federal Government that an estimated 40 million Nigerians are believed to be suffering from mental disorders. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, stated this at the mental health action committee and stakeholders workshop held in Abuja.

Linked to the issue of mental disorder is the surge in thoughts of suicide and the act itself in recent years. Mental health physicians have attributed this to mass hopelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, stigmatisation and chronic illnesses often leading to anxiety and depression.

While this rather saddening situation is understandable in some other countries ravaged by natural environmental disasters of drought, seasonal floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons

and tsunamis, or the self-inflicted wasteful wanton wars, it is far from this in our dear nation, Nigeria.

Here, indeed, the victims such as the homeless, the elderly poor, the beggars, orphans and widows agonize over preventable poverty in the midst of plenty!

Not left out of course, are the hapless civil servants owed for months by their cruel and conscienceless state governors that collect different funds from the all-conquering federal centre but simply refuse to pay them. There lies the irony and the pain!

In a report published by Oxfam in 2016, it stated that the combined wealth of Nigeria’s five richest men- - then put at about $29.9 billion could effectively end extreme poverty in the country. Yes, you read me right.

In fact, Celestine Okwudili Odo, Good Governance Programme Coordinator for Oxfam in Nigeria, said: “Extreme inequality is exacerbating poverty, undermining the economy, and fermenting social unrest. Nigerian leaders must be more determined in tackling this terrible problem.”

This has always informed one’s clarion call on the powers that be that they should channel their efforts to combating poverty with the same zeal they do with their lope-sided war against corruption.

Looked at from the perspective of the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a summary measure for assessing the three key areas of long-term healthy life, access to knowledge and decent standard of living, it paints a

parlous picture of pure deprivation of the marginalized masses.

According to the World Bank, Brookings Institution and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2018 Report Nigeria does not rank amongst the Top 10 Fastest Growing Economies in Africa! While countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia and Cote d’ Ivoire post growth rates of 8.3%, 8.2% and 7.2% in that order, Nigeria’s growth rate stands at a miserable1.9 %. Sadly, Nigeria is the only oil-producing country languishing in that shameful socio-economic stratum.

This is curious because Nigeria was ranked Number One in Africa in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, all under the much maligned Dr. Goodluck Jonathanled PDP administration. In fact, as at 2014 Nigeria was rated as the country with the 3rd fastest growing economy in the world but it currently languishes at the 88th position!

Under this administration inflation rate galloped from 13.7% to 15.6%, between May and July, 2016. Compared to that of South Africa of 6.3 %, Republic of Niger of 2.3 %, Zimbabwe of -1% and Mali of -0.4% there is nothing to cheer about. All these take place because the dynamics of consumables and essential needs such as food, kerosene, transportation, housing and utilities are closely tied to fuel hike and inflation. The sudden hike in fuel price from about N97 to N145 per litre on May 11, 2016, from N87 to N145 (66.67%) has had deleterious effects on the quality of life of the average Nigerian.

One had expected, as admonished that Mr. President was going to assemble a team of top technocrats and seasoned economists, who know their onions; irrespective of their political or religious persuasions and be ready to listen to them, back in 2015. But that was never done. As usual, the tightening of monetary policies led to devaluation of the naira. Since we do not produce or export much of home-grown products, importers would spend more naira to the dollar. With the rampaging insurgency in the North-East, which has led to food shortages in addition to hike in the price of farm products, a recycling of economic policies will not get us out of the wood.

How do we reduce the number of the extremely poor people in Nigeria? Firstly, our policy makers should think out of the box. We need the enabling environment such as stable power supply, good access roads and access to soft loans with single digit interest rates to kick start industrialization. We need futuristic approach to quality education delivery for Nigeria to key into the global knowledge economy.

Indeed, there should be technologically-driven industrial hubs to coordinate and facilitate Small and Medium Scale Enterprises across the six geo-political zones.

We should stop transferring our economic fortunes to foreign hands. We need to revisit the policy of liberalisation and the social benefits of privatisation.

There should be fiscal federalism and devolution of the enormous

political and economic powers from the centre to the federating units as it was during the First Republic. This would be better still under a return to the less costly Parliamentary system of government, as being championed by some patriotic lawmakers.

Of similar significance is the need to critically address the obscenely high cost of accessing political power vis-a-vis the huge emoluments of political office holders. These twin evils fuel corruption and undermine good governance that could benefit the poor. Our political leaders should come to terms with the harsh economic realities and tread the path of frugality, to become true servant- leaders as late President Umaru Yar’ Ardua advocated.

We need to deploy the huge sums of money recovered through the anti-graft war to improve the quality of life of the average citizen, especially children, the elderly, orphans, the homeless and widows who are the greatest victims so that they know or have the resources to celebrate Christmas.

N307b

Illegal polling centres, et al

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Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘DRUMBEATS OF DEMOCRACY’

Quick Takes

Off the Cuff he recent controversy on the purported plan by the ruling party to establish polling centres in two neighbouring countries – Chad and Niger Republichas continued to generate concerns from various stakeholders, especially from the leading opposition party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked the allegation; observers want the issue taken beyond issuance of press statement, credited to Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education. Observers see no reason why INEC cannot conduct elections in the Diaspora with the level of technological sophistication available all over! Some analysts have accused the INEC of complacency towards adopting necessary innovations, dynamism and ingenuity in handling electoral matters. It appears that the Commission is just too satisfied with the N45 billion being approved year-in, year-out for payment of salaries and allowances to the staff even during the three years when elections are not taking place, except for by-elections which require little manpower to work with. That takes us to the fact that we may not necessarily need bogus workforce for the electoral commission going forward, but leveraging on ad-hoc staff seems to be the way out.

Both chambers of the National Assembly

Ayo Oyoze Baje

should initiate separate investigations into such weighty allegations of national importance while relevant security agencies such as Department of State Security (DSS) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) should handle the same issue with the speed of light. These are some of the germane issues of concern that may eventually invalidate the 2019 general election. Of course, we’ve heard of predictions that the 2019 general election may not hold as planned.

Despite the call to avoid “hate speech”, politicians are still deep in it; heating up the polity. At the weekend also, I read the reaction of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, alleging that the opposition parties have hired consultants around the world, whose primary objective is to churn out fake news at intervals and confuse the gullible public. Already, the polity is tensed and if all these issues are not well managed, Nigeria may witness another unprecedented crisis during and after the general election. The wise counsel I could offer to all actors is to see beyond the 2019 general election and desist from heating-up the polity considering the fact that we have enough issues to contend with as a nation.

As a matter of fact, President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet must learn to work harmoniously with other arms of government as we prepare for the 2019 general election. My concern at this juncture is about the false statement credited to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, who reportedly blamed the National

Assembly for delaying in giving date for the presentation of the 2019 budget proposal. To the surprise of concerned members of the House of Representatives, including APC lawmakers, the President’s communication dated 12th December, 2018 was sent to the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara for consideration. What a conflict. All of these must be checked by the Presidency, no matter what. Such inflammatory statements coming from a former federal lawmaker was uncalled for. My suggestion is that, as customary with the National Assembly at the inception of every Legislative session, induction programmes should be extended to members of the Executive cabinet and joint induction programme, such as ‘Excellence in Government’ should also be jointly organised for both the Executive and Legislature to ensure smooth running of a country like Nigeria where we have so much diversity. I don’t think this is too much to adopt as a national policy. As it stands, the enmity between the Executive and the Legislature has run so deep that one would not be surprised to see lawmakers stage a walk-out one day when Mr. President steps into the chamber to address a joint sitting at such auspicious occasion! All said and done, something must be done speedily to put the fragments of this country together, as the saying goes, a stitch in time, saves nigh!

Kehinde Akintola

This is the amount of money recently approved by the Senate to be spent from the FG share of the Excess Crude Account for the completion of Ajaokuta Steel Company.

On Point!

“Corruption starts with basic things such as not doingthe right thing at the right time to condoning unethical and criminal behavior within our institutions”. - Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, cautioning lecturers, universities’ officials over unethical roles.

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